Sorry for the latestest delay on getting this post up. You guys must be wondering what the heck happened to us today. Well, first things first....my Kaz ISP was having some difficulties last night. I couldn't access the internet at all until 4am on Thursday. That's the other problem...I'm currently operating on no sleep...its exactly 4:50am and my newest webmaster Isabella is helping me write this update (she couldn't sleep)...so if I'm a bit punchy you'll know why.
After Court
Here's the courthouse in the background. Of course, D is in the foreground....Beaming after our court appearance. Gulbanu is the young lady talking to the man (one of the drivers) in the middle of the picture.
The Court Proceedings
Court went extremely well and Yes the court did allow us to keep both kids...Whew.
Special thanks to Gulbanu who helped prepare us the day before. Things went so smooth that it confirmed our selection of WPA and Gulbanu.....This is THE agency to hook up with if you want to have a completely successful foreign adoption.
The Court Process
1) meet with Gulbanu, the day before court, who walks you through the court process (30,000 foot level)
- she'll tell you what time to show up
- she'll tell you what to say when the time comes for you to say your speech....yep you have to talk.
2) Day of Court.....arrive 5 min early....we showed up 10 min early and waited.
3) Go Into Court precisely at 10:00am (on the nose)
4) The Judge sits behind the desk, the prosecutor and representative from Ministry of Education are on the far side of room
-you'll walk into the court and sit on the chairs next to the wall closest to you.
-The Baby House Director sits there with you
-Gulbanu will sit next to you
-we made sure our legs or arms weren't crossed and that we sat up straight
-Make sure your clothes look good. The Judge was very well dressed.
5) The Judge then reads (in Kazahkstan) your request to adopt. Gulbanu interprets.
6) The time comes for your speech.....you stand up with Gulbanu. Our speech went like this: (by the way I recommend memorizing it and going through it with pauses so Gulban can translate)
Denise and I would like to thank the court for hearing our request to adopt the children Alimzahn and Asel today.
Denise and myself have been married for one and a half years and even before our marriage started we knew that the possibility of having natural children of our own would be difficult to impossible. Denise has medical issues that have resulted in two previous surgeries. We also sought out the advice of a fertility doctor who recommended we try IVF. After our IVF failed we were both extremely saddened but turned to adoption as the next step to complete our family. Denise and her two siblings were adopted themselves after both their parents died at an extremely young age. A lovely woman married their father on his deathbed and she took care of Denise and her family and so adoption to us was certainly a positive alternative to having our own biological children.
In terms of the adoption itself we knew we didn't want to have a open adoption in the US. So Denise did a lot of research into foreign adoption. We looked at Russian, China, Korea, the Ukraine and Kazahkstan. We chose Kazahkstan because we happened to know a lot of children who came from there our neighborhood has a very large contingent of families who adopted Kazahkstani children. So we had the firsthand experience of seeing these happy, energetic children. Kazahkstani children just seemed to thrive once they are put into loving US homes and its probably because the children are so well cared for in their native land. Also Kaz kids look a lot like myself which we thought would be good for both the kids and us.
When we traveled to Kazahkstan and met the kids for the first time we immediately fell in love with both of them. We've met them every day for the last two weeks and our love for these children has increased each day. We are totally committed to these children and already consider them to be part of our family.
We know the medical status and history of both these kids. We have already booked appointments for them to see our Doctor in the US. Both Denise and I have great jobs. I work very close to home and Denise works from home with an extremely flexible schedule. We are both more than capable of taking care of these children. They will have access to the best medical care and we live in the best school districts in all of Georgia so they're education will be good too. These kids will have the opportunity to receive the best education so they can learn whatever they want and grow up to be anything they want to be. Of course Denise and I will encourage them to pursue a higher professional vocation. Therefore we'd like to ask the court's permission to allow us to adopt Alimzahn and Asel and allow us to make our family complete.
7) You remain standing and then the prosecutor asks you her questions...
We didn't have any questions from the prosecutor because she said we basically said everything there was to say
(Thanks to Gulbanu who prepared us so well)
8) Then the Ministry representative gets up and speaks regarding the findings from the government on your paperwork
9) Then the baby house director gets up and presents the medical status of the children
10) Then the Judge renders his decision.
Its that simple folks.
Time to Register the kids
Court was easy. The next step is to drive all over town
getting the required paperwork processed for the kids
and immigration. It takes alot longer than you think!!!
Processing Baby House Paperwork
After a couple of hours went by.....we finished registration,
had lunch, collected baby clothes and bought baby house
gifts....then we went back to the house to get our kids.
D presents the Medical Supplies
We brought a ton of stuff to the house
see the list on the right for a breakdown...
Gifts and Donations:
1) 1- 40lb bag of Medical Supplies for the Baby House:
-lots of sutures, bandages, splints, equipment etc....
-Believe it or not this stuff was given to us for free.....Medshare (Atlanta, GA) collects slightly old supplies and ships them all over the world to the needy
Its heavy but well worth it....they really do need all the stuff you can bring over.
2) Gifts for the Baby House Director:
- we gave 1 box of chocolate, 1 bottle of champagne and a flower arrangement
3) Gifts for Asel and Alimzahn's caregivers
- we gave each of them 1 vase, flowers and chocolates
4) Gifts for the Group 3 and 4 caregivers
- boxes of chocolates and 1 big cake for them to share.....
5) 4 Big Bags of Baby Gap wear.....D went to alot of sales ......
- these were clothes for the kids in the Baby House
- lots of socks, shirts, shorts and baby sweats
Saying Goodbye to Asel
This is the chief baby doctor and probably the person
who named Asel. Both D and her were crying.
Saying Goodbye to Jamiela
This was a tough moment for Denise....I don't know why
she's crying...Honey we get to keep the kids.....I can be
so insensitive sometimes......check out Isabella's hat - its on backwards....too cute.
Now That's a Smile
Back at the apartment, Isabella lets loose with a big
ole smile. She's playing in a walker...
I'm The Driver, You're a Pedestrian....Deal With It
Isabella razzes the young Ethan after commandeering
his wheels
Paka Paka Baby House
Isabella models her new duds. Sure
beats the burlap sack I brought along...
(Just kidding)
Boy In His Baby House Breakout Duds
Clean At Last...Clean At Last
Ethan's first bath....I was surprised how
easy this was....we have heard of horror
stories when it comes to the kids first
bath....but he was easy....
Loungin In Style
Here are the 3 couch lumps watching Powell address
