Just a quick update...court is TOMORROW, February 11th!!!!

The day has finally come that we must prove to the judge with answering questions and with our photos that we are the best parents for this precious gift from God.  All I know is Aaron and I will be doing what we were told by Oksana and that is to speak from the heart and be genuine.  The hardest part about this is being almost lumped together with those recent cases where Russian orphans were adopted and abused.  There are two recent cases to note.  I mentioned before on our blog about the child who, last year, was sent back with a one way ticket.  Our coordinator, Oksana, stated that he came from Vladivostok and is still in an orphanage outside Moscow.  It's really, super sad that we have to be judged by what one lunatic does.  Also, here's a recent case that we are very likely to receive questioning about:


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/02/04/russian-uproar-adopted-boys-punishment/

I must comment on this and say that I believe that this woman's expectations for her adopted children were unrealistic.  She obviously had to have had her hands full with the six other children she has...so, she adopted two fraternal brothers from Russia and then abuses them with hot sauce and cold showers.  This I do not understand because having done this myself, I can't see how someone can emotionally go through the stages of an international adoption and then treat the poor innocent children this way.  The majority of acting out behaviors are obviously a direct result of being in an institution and they are most likely behaviors exhibited because the boy(s) wanted attention SO badly.


Let me relate this to our current situation.  Our little Katie is as precious as can be, but she is determined to get what she wants.  She does not like to take "no" known as nyiet in Russian as the final answer.  She also does not always want to follow instructions and often wants things the way SHE wants them.  Okay, so if you use redirection and/or time out to teach the child that these behaviors are not acceptable and it does not work, then you must use another method or seek professional counseling for the child(ren).  She really, really LOVES her Daddy, though. I think she is...nevermind, already has him wrapped around her little finger!!!  It looks as if Daddy Aaron who said he was going to be such a tough parent is going to have a hard time saying "no" to her.  But, there are times when we MUST say no in order to teach her that there are limits and a family comes with responsibilities, even on the part of the child to love, honor, respect and obey her parents.  We will raise Katie in church where she will learn Godly behavior and to love others, share and be the sweet little one we always imagined.  She's such a little cuddle bug.


Today at our visit, we gave her some Cheerios and made the mistake of giving her the whole container. She would NOT let us take them away from her so we went ahead and let her eat the rest, because after all she is somewhat underweight...though we think she HAS grown since our last visit last September 2010.  Also, she LOVES hair bows! I predict in the future there will be a hair bow to match EVERY outfit and lots of red because she looks cute in red!!! 


Her caregiver stated that last night Katie woke up and had a nightmare in the middle of the night and that she had called out for Mommy.  That made me sad because I was not there to comfort her...but soon enough.  Here's a couple photos from today.  We will post as soon as we can about how court went tomorrow, but it is a big day because we go to court and then come back for lunch, then go visit our little princess in Ussyrisk which is 1hr 30min drive, so  sometimes we nap or relax while we are waiting.


Please pray for a positive hearing and that we get a "yes" tomorrow.

Our new favorite family photo

She LOVES Cheerios!!!

She LOVES her Daddy!!!

She's my sweetie and LOVES hair bows!!!