Say Whaaaat?

Talk about a shocker.

We've been waiting for a court date for a couple of weeks now.  I thought surely it would've come last week, but . . . nothing.  I thought surely it would've come yesterday, but . . . nothing.  I may have been getting a wee bit bummed.  Not to the point that I was pouting, but I thought that we would've heard SOMETHING.  Man.

Me and the little kids were getting ready this morning to head to the movies with our buddies.  The phone rang at 8:15 and I saw that it was Lifeline.  Oh, good.  There's that SOMETHING.  Stephanie said, " I just got the weirdest email from Elena".  I knew it was bad.  I knew that she was about to tell me that the judge had looked over our documents, and that he or she wanted new FBI prints.  Prints that would've taken WEEKS to redo, and prints that would've delayed court.  I've been worried sick about those crazy prints. 

"Ooooh, no", I said.  "Oh, its ok . . . its a good crazy."  Stephanie might have sounded a little excited.

She told me that we had court yesterday, then she said that the judge permitted our adoption.  I got really scared at first, because it sounded like she said that the judge PREVENTED adoption.

 It was the fingerprints.  They were too old.  I knew it.

"No, he PERMITTED adoption!" 

That, my sweet people, means that we are now officially Maya's parents.  Somebody's working on getting a piece of official paper that says so.  The little line that asks for parent's names?  That's where our names are gonna go . . . Craig and Paige Stewart.  We're Maya's mama and daddy.  For real.

The official decree of adoption should take about ten days to be in-hand.  Elena is working on getting an appointment for us with the US Embassy in Sofia for visa issuance, and the process of getting a new birth certificate is underway.  The Embassy appointment will be the big determining factor in when travel will take place.  We have to be there for that.  From all indications, it shouldn't be that long of a wait. 

So, our timeline that we had in our heads has been drastically reduced.  The date we've waited on has come and gone, and so has the anxiousness that we've felt!  Its over!  We've just gotta hold on a teeny bit longer for that appointment date and we're THERE!

As soon as we get more info on everything, I'll pass it along. 

We're so excited!

Love,

Paige