Friday

They are officially ours.....almost....kinda.....soon

Today was our court date. At 10am we went into the courtroom (actually, it was the judge's office). It took about 90 minutes, during which time we 'presented our case', were asked many questions, and then heard from the directors of the Baby House and Children's Village. In the end, our adoption was approved!!!!!

So, as we stated earlier, every court ruling in KZ is not final until after a 15-day appeal period - so they are not 'offically' ours for another two weeks. During this time we just get to wait, and continue visiting. We also learned that our stay in KZ will be a little longer than we thought. Below is a new estimated timeline:

30 May - End of appeal period - adoption is final
1 June - We apply for the boys' KZ passports
10 June - We get their passports
11 June - We send their passports off to be registered by the KZ government
14 June - We fly to Almaty with the boys
15-16 June - We get them checked out by a US doctor, and get US visas for them
17 or 18 June - We fly home!!!!

Of course, this is only an estimate. ;)

To be honest, we were a little depressed when we learned that we'd be here a week or two longer than expected. We had been praying for a while that our stay would be short so that we could get home quickly with the boys. Obviously God has other plans. When we heard this, we humbly accepted this, but were still bummed about spending another 2 weeks without our kids. Then God stepped in. We were then told that if we wanted, we could take custody of Alex immediately. Yay!!! So we decided to give ourselves one last weekend alone, mainly to go buy clothes and get the apartment ready. Then on Monday we become parents! We are not taking custody of Ethan yet, since he is still in school for another week or so.

We are really viewing this as a blessing. We'll have two or so more weeks to get accustomed to 1 kid, and then we can break in the other. It should be fun raising these two kids in KZ, especially since we can barely order food at a cafe. :)

It should be an interesting next few weeks.....

So (drum roll), introducing....


Ethan Artyom Miller


Alex Timur Miller



And the new and improved Miller family

18 comments:

Zach said...

Congratulations!!!

Mommy said...

aaaah... i'm so very happy for you guys. I got all teary eyed seeing the pictures of the boys and you guys. They are adorable!! Look forward to meeting them :-)

amy@flexibledreams said...

I'm with Rebecca, all choked up for you. SO EXCITING!!!! Congratulations!!

Jennifer said...

Yay! Congratulations! What wonderful news.

That's great that you will be able to take immediate custody of Alex!

Congratulations again!

Jennifer
Mama to one Petro cutie
www.ConvergentPaths.com

Anonymous said...

Yeah!!! I was praying for you all morning! Congrats! So sorry your stay will be longer than planned....however, as you know, maybe God has a reason for that too! Never know! That is so great that you will be able to take Alex first. He sounds like he needs that individualized time with you before Ethan joins you shortly after that. Maybe it is Gods way of helping him bond with you a little better since he is showing the signs of RAD. I'll be praying for a smooth transition!! Can't wait to prepare for your homecoming! Let me know about clothing sizes if you figure all that out so I can get the ball rolling on collecting items for you!!

Love you guys!
Julie

Anonymous said...

Add me to the teary eyed mommy group!! The boys are adorable and we're SO happy for you guys!!

Chrissy said...

Crying happy tears for the four of you! What a beautiful FAMILY you are! So exciting!!

Chrissy & Kaleb :)

stacey said...

Yipee! I'm so happy for you. You all look so happy. Praise God!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! We are so excited for you two. Enjoy this time by yourselves with the boys. It really will help with bonding as a family. As an FYI -something that worked for us when going out to eat was to have some basic items written out in English & Russian for ordering food - like beef, chicken, pork, rice, spaghetti, bread, etc. At least that way not all of the meal is a surprise! Enjoy this time and may god bless you all and make this time go by quickly. I spent 8 weeks there with Daniil's adoption and it ended up being exactly what was needed prior to coming home to life with other responsibilities.

Keep posting! Can't wait to hear how the boys transition to their new lives and how they blossom under your love and care.

Janie (The Wyszynski's)

The Whites said...

So excited for you guys! Can't wait to have you and the boys over - Mason can teach them how to play video games. :)

us-in-kenya said...

We are so thrilled! See, we told you that you wouldn't have to go to court 14 times!

Great idea giving them a name that they won't have to constantly spell for Americans, but also retaining their KZ heritage and Russian identity.

Enjoy the next few weeks...the crowded, scary plane full of people with weird smells and accents will be a much better experience since they have gotten to know Mom and Dad better.

OK, OK, I started to get a little choked up too. Don't tell anyone though.

AA said...

Congratulations. We are so happy for you. We hope we get to meet the new Miller family members before we leave.

Emily said...

Yep, completely a teary eyed mess...
Congratulations to the WHOLE Miller family!!!

Mommy Martin said...

I love them. You all make such a perfect family! What a beautiful family! You are all so blessed!

Susanne said...

Beautiful kids! I cannot wait to meet them one day.

Anonymous said...

Yeah!!! Finally, a long-awaited answer to prayer! Congratulations you guys! I can't wait to spoil them! We are so happy for you guys and are excited to see how God's timing always works out. Can't wait to see how the ways you bless so many other people will now be shared with two wonderful boys. We love you guys!

Lisa said...

The tears are streaming- What an amazing God! You are a gorgeous family! God's ways are so much higher-We can't wait to meet "your boys" (I love that!)

Alyssa said...

They are so cute! What a beautiful family! Congratulations!