It's OFFICIAL!!
Katie is officially now my daughter, and I have her with me here at the hotel.
Today was a long day. Court was at 10 this morning and lasted til just before noon. Everything went well. Only one bit of a snafu: the judge didn't initially see the documents requesting citizenship for Katie. Fortunately, I had both a copy and the original, so I pulled that out. Then, they thought that there should have been an updated version. I showed the interpreter the dates and length of validity, so that was ok. And then, the judge went back through the documents that she had and found the apostilled (a state version of a notary) copied in with all of the other documents. For those who don't know about the paperwork, trust me, it is SOOOOO EASY for one to be overlooked in the mountainous volumes of papers! The ten day waiting period was indeed waived, and we were able to go and pick her up in the afternoon.
So, from court, we dropped off three different people, and then went to drop off my court documents requesting a change in birth certificate. Then, we went to get the present/voluntary donation for the orphange: a sewing machine. Then, Cindy and I were dropped off at the hotel at 1320. We were to be picked up to start to process of picking Katie up at 1400. Once we were picked up at 1400, it was off to get flowers for the director of the orphange, pick up Katie's new birth certificate listing me as the mother and her new name, Kathryn Lee, and pick up chocolates and a cake for the people at the orphange. THEN, we got Katie!! We took everything with us that she would need, including a diaper. The probably would have supplied the diaper, but we had them, so better to take one. They dressed her for us, and then we got her into her snowsuit. What a sight! Katie is so tired right now that we will post pictures tomorrow. It was a big day for her!
After picking her up, we went to get her passport photos taken. She was a trooper throughout the car rides and the picture taking. Then, we got her to the room and gave her applesauce, a little carrot, and a bottle. She took to the bottle like no tomorrow! We were a little afraid that it would taste too different, but we should not have been concerned! She loved it!
Then, it was time to have dinner. We had decided to have a nice dinner at the hotel to celebrate her arrival in the family. So that's what we did. Then we came over to use the computer, and here we are!!
Katie has been such a joy today! She is laughing, and crawling, and cruising around. She doesn't quite walk independently yet, but it won't take long! It does my heart so good to hear her laugh, and to see her smile. It has only been in the past few minutes, when she is just exhausted, that she has been fussy. She didn't mind her diaper being changed or her shoes going on, or the flash of the camera in her face! Tonight, we will learn how well she sleeps. I am sure that she will probably sleep well given how tired she is, but then again, she is in a new environment.
I will let you all know tomorrow, and get some photos up!
Christy
Katie is officially now my daughter, and I have her with me here at the hotel.
Today was a long day. Court was at 10 this morning and lasted til just before noon. Everything went well. Only one bit of a snafu: the judge didn't initially see the documents requesting citizenship for Katie. Fortunately, I had both a copy and the original, so I pulled that out. Then, they thought that there should have been an updated version. I showed the interpreter the dates and length of validity, so that was ok. And then, the judge went back through the documents that she had and found the apostilled (a state version of a notary) copied in with all of the other documents. For those who don't know about the paperwork, trust me, it is SOOOOO EASY for one to be overlooked in the mountainous volumes of papers! The ten day waiting period was indeed waived, and we were able to go and pick her up in the afternoon.
So, from court, we dropped off three different people, and then went to drop off my court documents requesting a change in birth certificate. Then, we went to get the present/voluntary donation for the orphange: a sewing machine. Then, Cindy and I were dropped off at the hotel at 1320. We were to be picked up to start to process of picking Katie up at 1400. Once we were picked up at 1400, it was off to get flowers for the director of the orphange, pick up Katie's new birth certificate listing me as the mother and her new name, Kathryn Lee, and pick up chocolates and a cake for the people at the orphange. THEN, we got Katie!! We took everything with us that she would need, including a diaper. The probably would have supplied the diaper, but we had them, so better to take one. They dressed her for us, and then we got her into her snowsuit. What a sight! Katie is so tired right now that we will post pictures tomorrow. It was a big day for her!
After picking her up, we went to get her passport photos taken. She was a trooper throughout the car rides and the picture taking. Then, we got her to the room and gave her applesauce, a little carrot, and a bottle. She took to the bottle like no tomorrow! We were a little afraid that it would taste too different, but we should not have been concerned! She loved it!
Then, it was time to have dinner. We had decided to have a nice dinner at the hotel to celebrate her arrival in the family. So that's what we did. Then we came over to use the computer, and here we are!!
Katie has been such a joy today! She is laughing, and crawling, and cruising around. She doesn't quite walk independently yet, but it won't take long! It does my heart so good to hear her laugh, and to see her smile. It has only been in the past few minutes, when she is just exhausted, that she has been fussy. She didn't mind her diaper being changed or her shoes going on, or the flash of the camera in her face! Tonight, we will learn how well she sleeps. I am sure that she will probably sleep well given how tired she is, but then again, she is in a new environment.
I will let you all know tomorrow, and get some photos up!
Christy
posted by Christy @ 9:09 AM
1 Comments:
At 12:46 PM,
Jeana said…
Christy, I'm crying--but they are tears of happiness for you, of course! Congratulations on your new daughter! I am so excited for all of you!
Hugs!
Jeana
Post a Comment
<< Home