Preparing for Court

When we got to the orphanage we were taken to the directors office. The social worker sat waiting to meet us and observe the doctor and director read all Elena's medical and social history. We had done this once once before so it was nothing we hadn't heard already. They give us many terms that make no sense in English, all made to sound like she has many health problems. Then we say, "well, we should get her to the US soon to be examined" and then they quickly change their tone, reassuring us they are all minor and not a problem.

After signing once again that we still want to adopt her we went to find Elena for our observation with the social worker. I had been praying that she would be in a good mood and not throw a fit when we held her. Thankfully, she smiled and seemed happy to see us. After about 30 seconds the social worker looked satisfied and left. Our visit ended quickly after that though because we had an appointment with our attorney. She is a short, round woman with a big personality. Lots of big hands gestures and emphatic "Niets" when she did not like our answers. We reviewed the questions the judge may ask us and the way she wanted us to answer.

Apparently the judge loves Russia and wants us to tell her all the great things we know about the country. She will love that we have a Russian doctor in our town and wants to know what Russian holidays we will be celebrating. Hmm, there are so many to choose from. Pancake Day, Flag Day, Russia Day, Women's Day, Freedom Day, May Day etc. Not the actual names, but yep, they take a day off for most of these.

The frustrating part, is that this judge used to waive the wait all the time. Well, other regions started complaining so she won't do it anymore. In fact, the lawyer said we can't even ask because the prosecutor could appeal to the supreme court and we wouldn't get our daughter for months. The sad thing is that we wanted it waived so Justin would have time to bond with her before tax season. Well, that just isn't going to happen and on top of it, they want us to lie and tell the judge that he can take off an entire month because she likes for parents to spend lots of time bonding. Well, Duh! Sometimes, it is all we can do to bite our tongue and go with the crazy logic.

In the evening we got to visit Elena again. This time she was feeling extra strong willed. We had many "holding therapy sessions". We are working on teach her sign language and she started saying Mama and Dada! She also says tractor, and brother when she sees Braden's picture. We are excited about the progress we make in such little time. Also, we are sad that after starting to bond, we are leaving her again and will have to start over next month.