The Gang’s All Here

After 6-7 hours of segmented sleep, we began Day 2 in Tomsk. Everyone will be happy to know that it was “Spaghetti Wednesday”, my favorite day of the week. Our meeting with Dr. Nina went very well. She was very proud of us for enduring this long wait and for coming back to Tomsk. She went over a lot of details we already knew, but is part of protocol. At the end, she asked if we had any questions. I asked how much Nicholas weighs. Are you ready for the answer? 14 Kilos! If you convert that it is almost 31 lbs. We met this child 14 months ago weighing not even 17 lbs. We definitely will be donating his clothes from last October to the baby home. Those puppies are not going to fit!

Our visit with Nicholas went well. We stayed outside again. In fact, I think we’ll try to do that as much as possible. As hot as it can get outside, there is no air conditioning in the baby home. At least we can find some shade outside.

Luba was with us on this visit, so we learned that he is saying “Bye” (I can recognize it now that I know that’s what he is saying) and “big car”. He also says, “Mama”, but not to me yet. He said it to a couple of his caregivers that walked by. I didn’t take it personally.

In typical 2-year old fashion, he definitely doesn’t like it when he doesn’t get his way. In fact, he won’t budge. He puts his hands behind his back and cocks his head to one shoulder. And, no translation was needed when he said, “uh-uh”.

We also know when he is going to do something mischievous, like throw his toy car into the flower beds. He gets this grin on his face that says, “Better watch what I’m going to do right now.” I actually got a picture of that smile. Too bad we can’t show it yet.

Pre-Court was, um, interesting. Basically, the majority of the 2 hours we were there were spent discussing re-opening our case since we couldn’t come in February when invited. Long story, short – our case is re-opened. The bad news is the judge set our court hearing for next Wednesday, June 17th. We were hoping it would be tomorrow or Monday (Friday is a holiday here), but were thankful it was only a week. The judge suggested a month, but Sergei quickly explained that it wouldn’t be financially possible for us.

As you can see from my blog title, “The Gang’s All Here” that Olga is once again our prosecutor. Are you really surprised? But, she’s not the same person she was 8 months ago. She seems a little more supportive. She still isn’t afraid to challenge and ask questions, but we found her agreeing with us on many issues – including the fact that the court case should be earlier than a month.

Our court case being next week may have an effect on our return date because of the July 4th holiday. We may not be able to come home until the 8th or 9th, unless the 10 days waiting period is waived. So, we covet your prayers right now for everything. We have a better feeling about everything, but yet, nothing is coming easy either. In the meantime, we will continue to visit with Nicholas.

Please pray that we would continue to trust God in this situation. Also, pray that we would not guard our hearts when it comes to Nicholas. Evan and I both want to embrace him wholeheartedly, but at the same time, we remember last October, and get nervous.

Overall, we’re in good spirits. We’re just ready to bring Nicholas home. Keep praying.

Kristin