Life is about the Journey..

Well today we finally got news we were waiting for. Our facilitator told us today that we would have our court date on February 2nd. I know that in the Ukraine, nothing is written in stone, but I am hoping this is at least written........ somewhere. We have been told that this is the day that really decides our fate; are we worthy or are we not? I do not think that there is a specific construct validity test that will be given. I think it is an eye ball test; a matter of personal opinion and bias; the anti-groupthink scenario where one person, not a panel, decides if we can provide better care for Stasik than the orphanage he currently is housed in. If the answer seems obvious, it should be, but it entirely depends on the region the baby is in. Good news for us is that we have heard our region is flexible and the judge is more supportive of International adoptions. That does not make this just a formality, but it definitely reduces our anxiety going into it. We heard that in one region, the judge told the husband that he had 2 weeks to learn the language and he studied as much as he could in that time. The judge wanted to know what lengths the parent would go to to preserve the child's heritage. Even though no one could learn this language in two weeks, they passed the test and took the child home.....Just the way things sometimes work around here.
Stasik had another good day today. He has definitely put on some weight and we can see it in his arms and legs. I tried to put my hand around his thigh like I did on the first day and I can no longer wrap my fingers all the way around. He also will not fit in some of the clothes we bought him. It just seems he is really growing and getting stronger. We are actually very surprised that he is so short in stature. He has long fingers and his feet look like skis. I am assuming he will hit a huge growth spurt once we get him home. We do not think it will take him long to catch up.
Today I actually pulled out the video camera and we just filmed him playing all afternoon. We were not sure we would gather much film a few days ago, but now there is just so much activity to capture. He crawled across the floor, banged on the drum, stood by himself again, and just sat and talked to us for long periods of time. He still says "dada" and reaches out for me to hold him. "Mama" is also now an official word in his vocabulary. The pictures we have taken show the changes over the last dew days, but the video just brings it all to life.
Please continue to pray for our family as we complete this part of our journey. It is amazing what we have seen and been through. When we think about this process and when it first started, it is hard to imagine we would be here. For us this adoption journey is beginning to wind down, but for Stasik, well....his journey is only beginning!