Update: March 6, 2007: T'Was the Panic After Pre-Court
Unfortunately, we don’t have time for a rhyme tonight. We’re numb, tired, excited, overwhelmed, and our heads and hearts are full. Let us tell you why…
 
We awoke today and went to our regular morning visit with Caleb. This was an answer to prayer in and of itself because Caleb apparently had a fever last night. As a result, the director was supposed to call us this morning to cancel our visit. But she forgot to call! When we got to the baby house, they ended up letting us visit him because he didn’t have a fever anymore. We had an incredible time with him as he was laughing, playing, and crawling all over the room.
 
We came back for a makeshift lunch of ramen noodles and pancakes (it’s about time we head to the grocery store again). Then we rehearsed our lines for pre-court, got dressed up in nice clothes (a suit and tie for Dave and a dress for Heather), and we were off to the courthouse. As we’ve mentioned before, pre-court is basically a scaled down dress rehearsal of court. We expected it would last about fifteen minutes, at the end of which the judge would declare our official court date. That is the day when we will gain full custody of Caleb. Thursday is “Women’s Day” here in Kazakhstan, which is a national holiday, and so most people are not working Thursday through Saturday of this week. As a result, we were told that our court date would probably be next Sunday or Monday at the earliest.
 
So we went into pre-court. Everything went smoothly until we got to the end. At the conclusion of the proceedings, the judge declared that our court date would be…TOMORROW, MARCH 7, AT 10:00 A.M.! The giddy smiles were back as we quickly exited the room. As soon as we got outside, Heather and I looked at each other in shock. This is really happening! Twenty-four hours from now, we’re going to have a kid!
 
A flood of thoughts raced through our minds. What are we going to do? We don’t have a snowsuit for him in these sub-freezing temperatures. We don’t have enough diapers. We don’t even have any meatballs to feed him! As we calmed down and gained some composure, we were overcome with a surreal sense of what was happening. We have prepared for this day for years, but the whole time – even here in Kazakhstan – a small part of us has wondered if this was ever really going to happen. And now it is…
 
Tomorrow, we will stand before a judge in court. He will ask us numerous questions and then at the end I will have the opportunity to give a speech describing why we should have custody of this child. How can I put that into words? It’s only supposed to be about a minute long (and I realize there’s a lot of people that don’t believe I can keep it under an hour), but I’ve got about sixty seconds to make our case for bringing Caleb into our lives.
 
Needless to say, we’ve got a lot on our minds and hearts right now. We’re going to spend the rest of the evening studying and preparing. This is the last night with just Dave and Heather in the house, and we’ve got a lot to do to get the apartment ready for our little guy. Please keep us in your prayers – especially around 11:00 p.m. CST (midnight EST). If all goes well at court, we will pick Caleb up from the baby house around 4:00 in the afternoon. It’s the day we’ve been waiting for…
 
We love you and we miss you!
 
Dave and Heather

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

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