Monday, May 23, 2005

Day 14 of the 14 day Bonding Period

Good Monday morning! Dobray Utra! Today is day 14 of the "14 day bonding period." For those of you reading this blog in anticipation of your own trip to Taraz to adopt, the unfortunate reality is that the "14 day" bonding period is really at least 21 days, thanks to NOT being able to file for court appearance until after the 14 days and then the fact that it takes at least 5 days to schedule the court appearance. Sorry for the discouraging news. It's reality. We learned today that the judge is not going on vacation. We will still pray, and God is still good.

Both kids were rotten this morning, and only wanted to be held and would not walk. Later Anne Morin reminded us that it's Monday, and they missed us on Sunday, so, yes, they just wanted to be held. Our not holding them had disastrous results as both L&D threw fits. Evidence of Lena's malcontent below.



Neither one knows how to share with one another yet. One box of crayons, if not for the moderation of K&A, could have started a fist fight, if not just some nasty wimpering. The evidence is not apparent in the pictures below. And, this is somewhat out of character, since both of them sometimes go out of their way to bring the other a toy or give them a gummy bear or something.






Used pull-ups for Dub today. No accidents, but when (we think) he had to go, he started trying to take off his pants (and stockings and shorts and boxers...OY!!) to go garshok. He would not accept my help. I took a look, and everything was dry, so we're again confused.



Great time with kiddos this afternoon...yogurt, sprite, soccer, coloring, lots of fun. Lena continues her reign as the only 3-year-old Sandlin in this family never to have spilled a drop of yogurt. Dub is more like the Tazmanian Devil going after the yogurt container. In the end, the container is empty, but most of the yogurt is on him, the floor, his clothes, us, his hair, and all over his face. Like father like son, or, for those of you familiar with the Austin Powers movie series: Mini Me.






Outside, both kids said they had to Garshok! So Daddy got his first experience helping a 3-year-old girl go potty outside...without squatting...with 3 layers of clothes...and overalls...in high grass! We were successful, and there was much rejoicing. Dub saw this apparent success and decided that he would voluntarily try to garshok, so we took off his sweatshirt (did I mention it was 80 degrees today?), his overalls, his turtleneck, his stockings (of the day), his boxers, and finally his pullups. He didn't have to go. Maybe next time.

Lena showed off something her Mama-Dear (Helen, Angel's mom) will NOT approve of: she LOVES to play "that ol' ball!" Alek Morin got a soccer ball at the bazaar on Sunday, and Lena couldn't get enough kicking and throwing it back and forth with Alek. Dub couldn't have cared less.



So, tomorrow Vera files our paperwork to apply for the court date, which should take place either next Monday or Tuesday, God willing. Vera laughed today when I said that we would still continue to pray that somehow God would change the judge's heart, and he would see fit to waive our 15-day waiting period. Not very encouraging, but nevertheless, we will perservere. If God wants to send us home in early June, great! If not, we'll have sheshlek, samsas, and local brew for a few more weeks. We would love to bring the kiddos home sooner, so please, please pray that God would intervene and somehow cause the judge to waive our waiting period.

And, finally, the look that will soon sweep London, Paris, and New York...the Stockings o' the Day!



More random pictures below. Please, please pray that God will change the heart of the judge, so our 15 day waiting period would be waived.

Blessings,
Kevin & Angel






















3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love those first two pictures of Lena. Looks like she is going to be a handful! Can't wait to meet these two cuties. It is going to be very interesting at Christmas with four under the age of five. Savor every difficult minute. They grow up so fast and then they pierce their ear and shave their head.

Anonymous said...

The children are darling. I can't wait to see them. I am still not feeling very well. I don't know when this will ever stop. We miss you all. Love, Mother.

Anonymous said...

The pictures of the children are darling. Thank you so very much for having the Morin Family picture. Peace and many prayers,
Anne's mom