February 8, 2007

Getting Closer

Things are continuing to move along in Kazakhstan. We had pre-court yesterday which was 50 minutes of waiting in a small lobby and 10 minutes sitting in a big, hot office while the Chairman (I'm not sure of what) read through our paperwork and asked us a few questions ... "How much do you have left on your mortgage?", "Will this interfere with the adoption?", "Do you understand his medical issues?", "Why do you want to adopt a child with problems?", "How long have your ancestors been in America?", "How often do you see Cearra?", "How big is your family?", etc., then he said ok, we'll accept your application to adopt and move your paperwork along, and then he actually smiled while Bob tried to say hi in Kazakh - which is about 20 letters long and sound a little like "sell met sezs beer".

Court is next up and we are waiting on word as to the date - it should be either Monday or Tuesday. We'll start working on our speeches now and trying not to be too nervous!

The other couples on the same time line as us had similarly good results and last night we hosted a party at our place to celebrate. It was pretty crowded but a good time was had by all. Oleg and his wife Vera and youngest daughter joined us as did Rada and Inna. There's also a new couple here - Joey and Gary from Phoenix - who are adopting a little boy from a town near us, and it was great to welcome them to town and introduce them to the unofficial cocktail of Kaz - yes, cherry juice and vodka.

Today's visit with Owen was wonderful, especially since yesterday he was totally cranky. Of course it was the day they were going to take his passport photo so we might end up with a crying baby picture for that - which is ok considering my passport photo is no beauty shot either. We think he was just hungry and his teeth were bothering him, but today he was back to his happy self. And good thing too as the judge we'll have for court stopped by to see us with him and ask us a few questions about our visits, his medical diagnosis, etc. At the end of the visit he fell asleep in Bob's arms and I asked him what he thought babies dreamed of. And Bob said "mommies and daddies". Hopefully Owen is having very sweet dreams these days - we certainly are.

Sorry no pictures today, the camera battery has died as I was typing this up. I'll make it up to you next post!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Bobby, Jodi and Owen...you are literally taking "baby steps" to bringing Owen home but are enjoying and learning from each of those "steps" in the process. You are forming friendships, learning about Owen's homeland,and creating memories that will last forever. Thank you so much for sharing it all. Love to the three of you. Gene & Pam

Anonymous said...

Great news!! Every day is a day closer to bringing him home! Thanks for allowing us to take this journey with you. It has been an experience for us all!

Anonymous said...

sell met sezs beer......from Westminster!!!

We will be thinking about you this weekend, and sending prayers your way.

I told Sadie about the fall, she said meoooow, wheerre, the old gal cracks me up.

Susan, thanks for pictures!!

Give Owen hugs from his GG, and get the camera working!

((((((Bear Hugs))))))

Sherry & Bruce

Anonymous said...

Hey, great news about your pre-court visit. Thanks for sharing all of your experiences and news with us, I know we all appreciate the updates. Just think as each day passes, its another day closer to bringing Owen home. Take care.
Kelli, Lee, LJ, Julian and Tyus

Anonymous said...

So happy to hear pre-court went well. I will continue to keep your family in my prayers. Good Luck with those speeches!! God Bless you Bob and Jodi!! God Bless Owen!
Krista