Now we are three!

Ziva is officially ours! We had our court appointment today at 3:00, which took about an hour. Scott and I were so nervous, although we didn't really have any need to be. We were asked quite a few standard questions about our age, address, occupations, education, why we chose Ukraine, income, etc.- all things that were already explained in our home study and our documents. Poor Scott, he was asked at least twice as many questions as I was! Then they threw in a few "strange" questions for us and we wondered if they did that just to see if we would reacte. They asked Scott how many square metres our house is and he automatically answered in square feet; he then had to backtrack, do the math, and give the correct answer. This may not seem like a big deal, but when in a Ukrainian court where everyone is very serious and you are very nervous, it is easy to get flustered! They asked me if I had ever been a prisoner! I was also asked, "If Scott and I were ever to have a biological child, would we bring Ziva back to the orphanage?" And the best one was, while pointing at Scott, "Are you married to that guy?" Too funny. The judge spent quite a bit of time reading some approvals and statements, during which I looked outside at the falling snow and daydreamed. Hey, even the judge sounded bored as he read it and the people who understood Ukrainian looked like they were going to fall asleep! After all the statements were read and the questions were asked, there was a 2 minute recess. The judge returned, read another 2 page document, and next thing we knew, he and the other "court people" were shaking our hands and congratulating us! It was somewhat anti-climactic; I guess that is to be expected when you don't understand the language!

So now we begin our 10 day waiting period. January 26th marks the day that we can take Ziva out of the orphanage, but we may have to wait until the 27th because of some paperwork that needs to be done first. We will keep you posted.

We have noticed a change in Ziva this week when we go and pick her up from her room. Before, she would take the time to tell her caregivers that we had arrived and go and get ready. Now when she sees us, she gets very excited- she starts to stomp her feet, shake her arms, and scream! (Which starts the other kids to screaming, which is not appreciated by the caregivers!) She runs as fast as she can over to us, pushing other kids out of the way (who are always crowded around our legs), and just falls into our arms. She then needs to go back and get ready; we can often see her getting dressed and she does the foot stomping, arm shaking, and screaming the entire time. It is the sweetest.

Thanks again to all of you who have kept us in your thoughts and prayers. Today was indeed an answer to prayer! God is faithful!