Thursday October 21, 2010 - Happy Birthday Papa!!!

I get up about 6am feeling another year older but quite excited about our big day ahead! I go downstairs to make coffee and notice that Natasha has indeed arrived while we slept and is sleeping soundly in her room - poor girl is always on the road somewhere, helping Lesya handle the field work while she pulls her miracles in Kiev. And yes, once again Lesya has pulled another rabbit out of her hat and worked out the Interpol issue with the UK. Everything is set for our 2pm hearing with the Kirovograd judge, and Vanya will be coming into town with Alexei and Irina as well.
But first things first - coffee for my lovely bride and a big hug to thank her for giving me three sons on my birthday! My parents gave birth to four boys and a girl and up until today, all grandchildren are girls. Today the Dannemiller name will carry on!

We get ready and Emma makes breakfast, while Natasha comes out from her sleep to give me a birthday hug and to congratulate the new parents. She gives us a Ukrainian childrens story book for a present, and then heads back to bed to catch up on her sleep. Nikolai picks us up at 9:45 to go to the orphanage for our morning visit with Max and DJ. If all goes well today, Vanya will be with us tomorrow when we visit the boys and will never have to sleep in his school orphanage again! On our way, I smile and think about how these two young boys have no idea how their life is about to change today. I think Vanya understands, but I know the youngsters are clueless...

 

It's too cold to go outside this morning so we head up to the gymnasium to await the boys. Once again, that Groundhog Day feeling comes back as it seems like we've been doing this same thing day after day. Funny thing is - not unlike the movie, this repetitive routine will also end with acts of love and caring...;^)
Max and DJ arrive with huge grins and we begin the morning session with balls, toys, and musical instruments - interspersed with mass consumption of bananas, oranges, and yes, grapes. After all, it's my birthday!!! They are in a great mood today, so I wonder if they know about the court date or the fact that it's my birthday.


 

Today we share the gym with a family from Kansas who are adopting a slightly disabled 20 month old son whose hip will need to be operated on when they get him home. He is quite large for his age and his Papa is also a very huge man (probably weighs in at about 300 lbs soaking wet), so once again they've done a great job of match-making!
At 11:45, their teacher comes to take the boys back and we say good-bye to Joe and Michelle from Wichita and invite them to my birthday party tonight. On our way out, we see Goldie and Al and they are very excited about our court date as well as my party. Goldie says she will bring the cake and an Israeli salad to go with Emma's chicken kebab with rice.


 

We head home to grab a quick lunch and get ready for court. At about 1pm, Vanya arrives with Nikolai and Alexei so we all pile into the taxi to head downtown for the hearing. Not sure where we're going, but Natasha, Emma and I are crammed in the back with Vanya on my knee - and "we're off to see the Wizard!" We cross to the other side of town and pull up to an old official looking building where all of the various social workers and teachers are waiting for us outside the entrance. Actually there are lots of people waiting outside, as the doors don't open for the afternoon session until 2pm So we pile out of the taxi and greet everybody ("Dobre Den"), and wait for the doors to open.

 

At precisely 2pm the doors open and everybody files into the building, through a metal detector that probably hasn't worked for years, and we climb one flight of stairs to wait outside the Judge's chambers. Natasha our lawyer is waiting for us, looking all lawyer'ish and slightly worried as if to say we should all be lucky to have such excellent counsel to handle our case (I've been reading a lot of Michael Connelly lately...). She pulls us aside and explains to Vanya what the Judge will probably ask and how he should answer it - one slip by Vanya saying he didn't want to go and it's all over! She does the same to us (through Natasha of course), as if she's preparing an expert witness on how to handle a difficult cross-examination. It's all a bit nerve-wracking, but deep down we know it's going to be okay. We're all pacing back and forth in the hallway with very limited conversation due to the language barrier; Vanya's two representatives, the boy's teacher and social worker, our lawyer and our translator.

 

Finally at about 2:15 we are called in to a fairly small room with tables and chairs lined up on the right side next to the windows with the Judge sitting behind his desk on the left side, flanked by two legal assistants and two microphones. We take our seats in the front row with the two Natasha's on either side of me, Emma and Vanya. Behind us are the four social workers/teachers that will testify on our behalf that we are good parents and that they have all agreed that this adoption is good for all parties. The Judge has a huge stack of papers in front of him, representing six inches of blood, sweat and tears that we have been working on for over a year. He kicks off the hearing and Natasha introduces all of us to the Judge and confirms that we are all here to get a quick ruling on this adoption. After a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo, he asks Emma to stand up and give her details and to explain why we decided to adopt three Ukrainian boys, and then he does the same to me. This goes on for over 90 minutes as each and every person is asked to present their reasons for allowing this to proceed - with follow up questions for each of us, one at a time. He then walks through each page of the file and reads it out loud for the record, while we patiently wait and respond to his comments and an occasional joke to lighten the mood of the room. By 4pm he seems satisfied that we know what we're getting ourselves into and that we can handle it financially and that we will make good parents for these three boys (represented by Vanya). The Judge asks Vanya if he knows what's going on and does he want to move to America with these two people? Vanya shyly responds over and over, "Da...Da"...the Judge comments about how lucky Vanya is and how he will be an excellent footballer over there in America.

 

He asks us to leave his office while he deliberates and confers with his assistants, and we all file back out to the hallway to wait. Five minutes later he calls us back in and tells us "Congratulations - you are now a family!" We thank him and I ask if I can take a picture of the event and he just smiles at me and shakes his head...crazy Americanitz.

Yeah - it's official!! We all head outside and hug each other and congratulate the new parents and pose for a group photo.

 

They say it takes a village to raise a child, and I guess when you look at all the people involved in these three boys, I guess I would have to agree - now it's up to us to raise these little guys!! I think I will need all the help I can get when Emma goes back to work and I take on the role of stay-at-home Dad for the next couple months! Piece of cake, right???

Okay - we have a birthday party to get ready for, so we stop at the Supermarket on the way home to pick up party supplies and champagne. The celebration starts at 6:30pm so we've got some work to do before our guests arrive! This is going to be the best birthday I could ever ask for!

 

Natasha (our lawyer and landlord) shows up about 6pm with the official documents signed by the Judge, along with some candy and cognac for the birthday boy. She tells us that tomorrow we must travel to the towns where each boy was born, along with her assistant Andrew, to pick up the new birth certificates showing their new names and new parents. On Monday we should have their new passports and then we can head to Kiev to deal with the next step at the American Embassy!!

 

At 6:30 Goldie and Al arrive, along with the cake, a lovely homemade salad and a bottle of nice champagne - and so the party begins!! Vanya gets the fire started and I pour the champagne while Emma starts making the kebabs. Al and Goldie take over in the kitchen so Emma and I can celebrate. What a feast, what a party, what a day! And what a great birthday present - three Dannemiller boys. Vanya spends most of the night talking to his gal Natasha back at the orphanage and I think the stress of the day finally got to him, as well as the realization that he probably won't see her again, cuz he spends the rest of the night crying on the couch while we try to cheer him up. Oh well - he's entitled to a bit of crying. Its been quite a ride for him!



 

The party goes on well into the night until the food, cake and booze are gone and we just can't celebrate anymore. Thanks everybody for a great birthday and for making our dreams come true!!

Soon we will have all three boys and our lives will never be the same. Good night everybody - thanks for all your support!!!