Update: February 22, 2007: Our Favorite Day
Day 8 of visiting the baby house is behind us. We are now over halfway through the required 14 days of visitation before we can make a petition for a court date. Nothing is final until we go before a judge, so we eagerly anticipate that day. Once we get a court date, we will actually have two appearances before the judge, one that is known as "pre-court" and then a couple of days later the actual "court" when we would be granted custody of our son. All of this to say--be praying with us for a speedy court date following the required 14 days of visitation and then for smooth proceedings to follow!

Up to this point in our updates, we've recounted quite a bit of action with baby Caleb. Belly-laughing, dancing, crawling all over the place, and being saved by super-dad have certainly been highlights of our time with him. However, today was our favorite day. No…we didn’t walk away with incredible tales of what he did. In fact, our visits weren’t even filled with that much activity.

Instead, he came in this afternoon looking for us. Our interpreter, who brings him to us each day, said that when she went into his room to get him, he excitedly pulled himself up. He didn't see the caregiver who usually hands him to the interpreter, and so he started crying until the caregiver came... it was like he was ready to see us! By the time he made it to the playroom, he had quieted down. When he arrived, we immediately went through the usual routine. We were doing all the normal things--Heather's singing her songs, I'm crawling all over the room trying to get his attention, and we're putting this toy or that book in front of him for entertainment. But he wouldn't have any of it.

For some reason, he didn't seem that interested in playing or crawling or tickling... he seemed most content whenever we just held him. So for almost all of the next hour, Heather and I took turns just holding him in our arms. He hardly made a sound. He would quietly look up at our faces, lean on our shoulders, or sit in our laps. That was enough for him... and it was more than enough for us. Yes, we have loved all of the fun and activity, but what we learned today was that our favorite time with our son is when we simply get to hold him close.

"God, You have given us such incredible memories in our first week in Kazakhstan. But today we thank You most for the simple yet awesome privilege of holding our son in our arms. You have held us close over the last few years as we have waited for this day. And so as we hold this baby, we can only look to You and say, thank You. Thank You for our son. Thank You for the opportunity to hold him as his mom and his dad. Thank You for giving us this precious time with him. And thank You for the precious time we have had with You throughout this entire journey. Thank You for reminding us that our deepest pleasure is found not in our circumstances or in all our activity, but in the simple intimacy of Your loving arms."

We love you and miss you!
--David and Heather

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