Proud Parents!

We are now officially the proud parents of Valerie Diane Hunt!!! Our adoption was approved by the judge today! We were very nervous before court but felt that we had been well prepared by our agency about what would be expected. The judge had each of us stand and state our names then she began questioning Todd about why we wanted to adopt, why this particular girl, his occupation, our finances, Blaine, Valerie's medical conditions, and our ability to care for her. Todd was so calm and did a perfect job of answering all the questions. Then the judge asked me if I agreed with all Todd's answers and if he was telling the truth. She then asked me about how I would discipline her and that was it for our part. Irina, our coordinator added a few comments, then the social worker and representative from the MOE who had observed us at the baby home spoke on our behalf and recommended the adoption be granted, that it was in the best interest of the child. The judge took about a 5 minute recess and came back with her decision to allow us to adopt Valerie. The whole thing took about 50 minutes. We felt so relieved and are thrilled to now officially be a family of 4!

Then it was Catherine's turn for court and we were asked by the judge to leave the courthouse, not the court room but the entire building. We thought that was very strange. Unfortunately, Catherine's court didn't go as smoothly as ours did. There was some problem with a date on one of the documents prepared by the state representative so the judge wouldn't make a decision today. Her court is rescheduled for Wednesday. I really feel for her but she has a great attitude. This is her second adoption and I guess by now she has become accustomed to all the many bumps in the road that are part of this process. We can't wait to celebrate with her on Wednesday! We will probably not be able to get Valerie until Wednesday because everyone will be busy getting Catherine's problem resolved, which of course is the most important thing right now. We just can't wait to get Valerie here with us and begin bonding as a family.

More good news! I have been calling Delta every few hours and until tonight they still did not know where our bags were. They were finally found in Atlanta, are scheduled to go out on a flight to Moscow, then on Siberia Air on to Khabarovsk, where we should be able to get them on June 4! Hallelujah! It will feel so good to put on clean socks again! I've also been very worried about bringing a baby out of the orphanage without any supplies or clothes for her. This is definitely an answered prayer!