We are officially Andrew Paul's parents! We had a very uneventful court experience today, and the court granted our petition to adopt Andrew. I had prepared myself for all sorts of scenarios and questions. Neither the judge or the prosecutor had any questions for us. I did have a speech prepared that encompassed all of the questions we might get asked. Another adoptive family who had been to court recently provided us with all the information we needed to say. It was funny, because another family with our agency went before the judge right after we did, and we basically both used the same speech. We both benefitted from this same information. It is interesting because here in Russia, the 'healthy babies' are not supposed to be adopted by foreigners. So part of the court experience is to for the social worker to lay out the health concerns so that the judge could be satisfied that no one in Russia would adopt the baby. Isn't that just so different? Anyway, the judge ultimately said it was in the best interest of the Andrew for us to adopt him. So, that is over and we now just have the 10 day wait. Thank you all for your prayers. They really meant so much today. I didn't get much sleep in anticipation of court, so I might try to get some rest now.
Tomorrow we go to the notary to sign some power of attorney, and we might get another visit with Andrew in. Wednesday we will leave for St. Petersburg. Our wonderful agency here in Russia made a couple of quick calls and we now have train tickets and a hotel for St. Pete. I am such a travel planner (I know that's a bit out of character - for me to plan anything), but I am so glad I didn't spend a lot of time trying to plan our trip to St. Pete. So, if you stay tuned you will get to hear of our adventures traveling and sight seeing. I am really looking forward to it.
