May 20th

It's official....I am now a Mommy of a beautiful daughter!  I had court this morning in Izhevsk, Russia.  It is the state court closest to her little town of Glazov.  All international adoptions have to go through the state court.   was definitely an experience.  Traveling on Russian roads alone is an experience.  I felt like I was on a horrible children's rollercoaster for 2 hours this morning and 2 hours this afternoon.  My interpreter and now friend, Natasha, went with me so make sure that my intentions and answers were communicated well.  The baby home director, Tatiana, and the social worker, Olga, also had to be there today to give their testimony and recommendations.  Obviously all went well.  The judge was so very nice after the proceedings and the prosecutor was also very pleasant.  Overall it was a lot less intimidating of a process than I thought it was going to be.  Now don't get me wrong it was definitely nerve wrecking but they made it very comfortable for me. 

While I was away today my parents went to go see Micah in the baby home by themselves.  It was probably really good for them to have one on one time with her.  Apparently she has a new walker in her room (which of course she doesn't use) but she discovered that it played music.  Jingle Bells to be exact.  My parents said that she would push it or my dad would push it and she would dance back and forth.  Micah would want it to play again and her little temper would flare when she couldn't get it to work so my dad had to help her and of course she was happy again when Jingle Bells started up again!

I can't wait to see her again tomorrow.  I missed her terribly today.  Now I am starting the 10 day waiting period so I will visit Micah as often as I can and enjoy the wonderful town of Glazov. We have been invited to Sophia's dance recital on Monday night.  (Sophia is Natasha's daughter.  She has met with us twice, the second for dinner at our flat where I gave her a gift from "America," - - Texas Sized Jelly Beans.)  So that will be exciting.  We have also been invited to a BBQ.  I am interested to see how that goes.  There are also some pupils that Natasha tutors in English and she would like us to have Chai and Coffee with them so they can practice their English.  So we will have an exciting 10 days with baby Micah and our new Russian friends.