Court Day!!

Court day...one of the best (and most nervous) days of my whole life.

I am trying to write what I thought about today and I am having the hardest time typing out my emotions! They were all over the place. It was so exciting and got me the most nervous I have ever been. I was not worried but I have never stood in front of a judge before. Now I am in a different country standing in front of a judge that I couldn't understand except for a translator. Whew...I was nervous. I did not get that way until we got to the courthouse. I was so nervous because I had to remember to say four statements (yes people only four statements) at the end of the hearing and I was so afraid I was going to get emotional and forget everything. I mean we had to answer questions throughout but nothing memorized except for the last  four things.

Let me tell you about our court date.

 Our court hearing was at 11:00am Ukrainian time. We got to the courthouse about fifteen minutes till wearing our finest. We were dressed in Ukrainian outfits that we bought here because we forgot to bring something nice to wear. Of all things not to bring! Whoops.  We entered the Judges office around 11:15 and our court session began. Those present were: The judge, the jury, the prosecutor, the inspector, the orphanage representative, our translator,  the court recorder and us.

 The judge started the meeting by reading our petition to adopt. He then told us who was in the court room with us, read us our rights, and said that we could see documents or  ask questions throughout the hearing.

 He first asked  to stand one at a time and state our name, birth place address and other questions that we said yes and no to. Then one by one our interpreter, orphanage representative and inspector stood up and said some things (i think about themselves and that they are under oath...I think).

 The judge then asked Ken to stand and tell why he wanted to adopt from Ukraine? What was his education? Where do you work and what do you do? Why do you want to adopt when you are so young (we are 24 and 25)? If you have kids in the future will that affect your adoption? Ken answered this question like this, "He will always be our first child and our first son." I love it! Ok back to what he asked Ken. Can you afford to feed this child? How much do you make in one month? How much do you spend on your house? Do you have insurance? How will you pay for his medical expenses? How will you pay for his everyday living? The judge asked Ken a lot about finances because we are young and he wanted to make sure we knew the responsibility of adopting a child and all the expenses children require.  Then he asked Ken to sit down and for me to stand up.

 Oh boy. I was dreading this. I was fine with Ken answering all of the questions but now I have to talk. He asked  me what is my education? Who decided to adopt first? We decided together. Where do I work? How much do I make? Does my family support our adoption? Do we have a good relationship with our family? How far do they live? He asked me a few more questions but I can't remember...I was just a little nervous. :) He then asked me to sit down.

 The Orphanage representative (Natoshia)  then stood and explained why she thought we are "excellent" candidates to adopt this child. She said how she has observed us being so patient with Luke and had a great connection every time she saw us with him. She mentioned about his speech delays and that my background in education would be helpful or something like that. She said a few more things I am sure they were important but I can't really remember. She was excused and then sat down.

 The inspector  stood told all about our first meeting with Luke. She told the court how it went very well and she was very pleased. She said that she agrees with the decision for us to adopt him. She said a few more things and answered a few more questions that I really can't remember (it was all kind of a big blur). She was then excused and sat down.

 The prosecutor had no questions or anything to add so on we went.

 He then asked us if we wanted to change our decision or have any questions about the petition. We said no. The judge then told Ken to stand and asked him, "What do you ask of this court?" We ask the court to approve our petition, To allow us to adopt (Son's old name) born on so and so date, to change his last name(old last name) to Lovett, his name (old first name) to Luke William, and to omit his father's name, and to write Kenneth and Sarah as the parents. Ken did so good! He remembered everything!! The judge told him to sit and for me to rise.

 Bah!! Now I had to say those four easy sentences. Sounds easy right? Well I forgot one of them and got stuck. I was so nervous! Our interpreter told the judge I was nervous  and he started laughing. Ok good! that made me feel  a lot better and lightened the mood.  I then finished what I had to say and was excused.

 The court was then adjourned so they could make a decision.

 We then came back in and the judge read the courts decision. He read our petition again with the courts decision on it. He told us that ten days from now the courts decision will be final and we will be parents. Yay!!!

 I was so excited and so relieved!! The Lord is SO good!! We are so thankful for all that went on today and for our amazing and humorous judge. I think he was a little more happy today because his grandson was being born during our court hearing.

Outside the courthouse after our court hearing. 

 Court lasted an hour or more so we were hungry and ready to celebrate! We went to this cafe that we go to pretty often and had Pizza and Borsh (a Ukrainian traditional soup).

 We then ran around pretty much the rest of the day getting things signed and notarized. It was a busy day!!

 I was so thankful that we still had time to visit little Luke at the end of the day. We bought him a plastic airplane so our interpreter could tell him about planes and how he would be flying with momma and babushka (my mom) home to the states. Ken is leaving and my mom is coming to help the rest of the time. It was the cutest thing!! He was so excited and told us where everyone was going to sit on the plane.

He pointed to where we are going to sit on the plane. The top of the plane is clear plastic with seats inside. It was a perfect cheap find!

We also found him some cute shoes for pretty cheap ($5!!) while we were out getting things notarized. He was so excited that he had new shoes!! I felt bad that they were so cheap but they were the only ones we could find and we don't really know his size (European size that is). I guess I should look it up.

Look at his shoes. He is so proud!! I love my little fella!!!