let the games begin

A week has passed with no Vlad in our lives. Booooo. I miss him. I really do. I miss watching Josh chase him down the hall at the orphanage while Vlad swings his arms and looks over his shoulder expectantly. But make no mistake about it, my friends, we are still chasing Vlad. We have been chasing him since August when we made the decision to adopt him. And we are going to be chasing him all week right into our court date.

PLEASE pray for our court date on Friday. It is the next step in the process to become Vlad's parents. When we go to court, there will be a social worker, an orphanage representative, our facilitator, a judge, and us present. I'm not sure if there will be anyone else like a prosecutor or anything like that. But essentially, the judge will hear the case, ask any questions of us, allow anyone else to speak, and then determine two things. First, she will decide if she believes it is in Vlad's best interest to be adopted by us. So, we could get this far in the process, go to court, and be denied. It is possible. Let's not even go there. Second, she will then decide whether or not to waive the 10 day waiting period. This period of time is essentially an appeals period where any other party could contest the judge's decision to make us his parents. In some regions, the 10 day wait is routinely waived. In this region, it is NEVER waived. So we would either legally become Vlad's parents on Friday in court or we would legally become his parents after the 10 day waiting period is done. In other words, a lot is riding on this court date on Friday. Both for us and for Vlad. And we are SO ready. Ready to see him. Ready to go to court. Ready to start our lives together.

So, as they say, let the games begin. :)