Happy Adoption Day!

It’s official! We are thrilled to announce that we are now officially the parents of Bryce Timur Martin!! We went to court this morning, and it was surprisingly quick and painless. The proceedings were in the judge’s chambers and included us, the judge, a prosecutor, a secretary, a representative from the Ministry of Education, Jamilla from the Baby House, and Gulbanu who acted as our interpreter. After some brief opening statements, we were asked a few questions such as our names, how long we have been married, and our occupations. Sometimes the judge makes the father give a speech, sometimes they do not. Chuck had a speech prepared just in case (and fully expected that he would have to give it), but he did not need it. The prosecutor asked us a few more questions about how long we have been married, our date of arrival into Kazakhstan (for which we presented our boarding passes – Exhibit A, I guess), the number and length of Baby House visits that we made, how we selected Timur, whether or not he could walk, were we aware of his medical conditions and would we be able to provide health care, and asked to see our photos. After that, Jamilla from the Baby House read his medical record, and the Ministry of Education representative gave his recommendation. Then the prosecutor had the chance to ask us more questions. She did not, and she also gave her recommendation for the adoption. Finally, the judge approved the adoption, hit his gavel, shook our hands, and Bryce Timur was ours!! The entire court hearing probably took about 15-20 minutes. It went more smoothly than even the agency expected.

After court we went to take some pictures – not outside the courthouse, but in front of Parliament. The courthouse was under repair, and not a great place for a photo. We also purchased an Almaty newspaper so Bryce would know what was going on in the world on his adoption day (although it’s in Russian). Later on, we visited the Baby House for the final time on this trip. It was a very good visit. Bryce had been cranky yesterday, but he spent today’s visit playing and laughing. Our flight home departs at 3:20am. We get picked up to go to the airport around 12:30am. It will be very difficult to leave for 3 weeks, but at least we know that Bryce is getting very good care in the Baby House. After our 15-day waiting period, we will come back during the first week of May to get his passport, and pick him up to take him home.

Tonight’s dinner was at the Glen Pub, and we highly recommend it to anyone visiting Almaty. We had an excellent meal (although a little pricey), and the atmosphere was nice.

Obviously, court is the biggest thing that has happened recently. We spent yesterday visiting the Baby House, and getting briefed for what was going to happen in court. Our visits, of course, went well. Bryce was a bit cranky again from his teeth we think, so we are learning all sorts of ways to distract a cranky baby. The weather cleared up a bit yesterday – we got some great snow pictures in the morning, but nearly all the snow had melted by afternoon. Last night, we also went back to Tsum to buy some more Kazakh items including a hat, a miniature yurt, a painting, and a mouth harp. We will probably get a few more things during our next trip.

We will post a quick entry when we get home and will pick up where we left off after our 15+ day intermission! Thanks for following along!