Updates!

First of all...Cavin.

He is growing and changing so much. He has been a teething fool since arriving here. He has cut two molars, one lower incisor and the other one is working on coming through. His top gums are swollen as well in a few different places. He is really changing from a baby into a little boy, which is so bittersweet for his mama! He continues to fill our hours with joy, entertaining us, keeping us on our toes and providing strobe lighting on occasion.

He has been amazing, with no schedule, naps on the go, changes in food and everything else. We are so thankful!

-R-

We are falling in love with this sweet little boy! We get to spend two hours with him everyday during the visiting hours at the orphanage. We play ball, play with cars, and color and draw. We are working on teaching him English. He does really well repeating after us and is eager to learn. We can't wait until you get to meet him!

On Saturday the orphanage worker told R why we were there, and that we wanted to be his family. Since then he has been calling us Mama, and Papa (we're working on Dad, as not to be confused with Papa being used in our family for Grandpa), and Cavin as his brother. Not only are we falling in love with R, but so is Cavin. When R came into the room today Cavin's face lit up and he began talking excitedly. They play together really well. Today they played peek-a-book for quite a while. It was so fun to hear both of their laughter and excitement!

-Adoption Process-

Today we went into town to the notary to sign two applications to adopt R. One will go to the SDA in Kiev, asking them for their approval to adopt R. The other will go to the social worker, asking her to write a conclusion of our time spent with R and approving the adoption. These applications will result in letters of approval to adopt which we need in order to get a court date.

In the meantime, Olig and Yuri have also been at work, working on getting all of the paperwork we need to get a court date. We are hoping and praying to get a court date one of the first few days the courts are reopened after the holidays, January 4 or 5.

R is part of a sibling group, so Olig has been working on getting the separation approved. As of right now, we think the social worker has signed off on the separation, so we will not have to go before a consult. Still not 100% on this, but praying we don't have to mess with the additional step of a consult!

If we get a court date on Jan 4 or 5, then we will have the 10 day waiting period (very slight chance of it being waived), and then another 7-10 days to get all of R's paperwork in order to enter the U.S. This would put us back Stateside, estimated of course, on January 21. We're really hoping no longer as we are so ready to be home!

We will continue to keep you updated as things progress. Please continue to pray for things to go smoothly and quickly, and for God to continue to move on our behalf. Please also pray as we continue to get to know and bond with R. Lots of change and adjustment ahead for all of us!