Eliana Faith Zeinab Kelley

Eliana Faith Zeinab Kelley

She is ours. It’s for real and official!  This day has been so full and so good and so many emotions!!

None of us slept well last night.  We were all up in the night and all woke up a little cranky and out of it.  Our fabulous hostess here at the guest house prepared breakfast for us.

Side note:  She is not officially opened for business yet, but we came so last minute that the hotels were booked in Akhaltsikhe.  So our hostess agreed to let us stay here!  She is wonderful!

After breakfast we decided to rest a bit before court.  At 2:30 we gathered downstairs and hopped in the car for the short ride to the courthouse.  I was so nervous, Kyle tells me I squeezed his hand much harder than I did when in labor with Matthew!! We arrived in the courthouse and had to wait a few minutes for our case to begin.  Then, into courtroom number three.  We had to leave Matthew in the waiting room where he was the only one who spoke English...with the exception of a police officer who knew a bit. 

Court was...nerve wracking and emotional.  It is difficult to sit still while a group of people discuss your future and that of the child you hope to call yours in a language you don’t understand!  Our interpreter filled us in on what was happening and we had to respond to a few questions.  Whew.

Then the judge took some time to review everything while we sat and talked quietly (all the while I’m watching the clock and thinking about how my first baby is sitting alone in the lobby in a foreign country and when is the last time he went potty and what if he needs to go?!?!).

Guys.  When the amazing moment happened we didn’t even know!!  And then our interpreter and liaison leaned over and told us, “It is done!  She is yours!”

.................

How do you process that?!?!  Just like that, Kelley-party of four!!

From there we grabbed a bite to eat. Ohhhhh the food here is soooooo gooooood!!!!! So good! Sooooooooooo goooooooooood!!!!  Then came the call that the adoption decree was ready (less than an hour)!  Our liaison picked it up and met us as the Justice building where we applied for the birth certificate.

Next we went to our daughter’s foster family’s home.  I cannot find words that describe how wonderful these people are, but I will try.  They have gone out of their way to welcome us into their home.  They did their best to make their little Zeinab feel comfortable with us and they were the first ones to call her Eliana tonight.  They showed us her favorite things to play and talked us through her routine.  I cannot say enough how thankful I am for these people!!  I will treasure these days with them for the rest of my life!

As we were leaving, Eliana seemed disappointed to see us go!  This was a big step!! Because we leave tomorrow for Tbilisi, we decided to give Eliana one more night with her foster family.  This way she won’t transition to the guest house and then transition again right away to the apartment in Tbilisi.

So.  Tomorrow is gotcha day!  Tomorrow we will pick up the birth certificate and our daughter and leave Akhaltsikhe.  Tomorrow we will physically become a family of four.  

God is so good.  He is so so so so good.  

More updates to come!!  We will still likely be here a couple of weeks while we wait for the passport and apply for a visa.  Thank you for your prayers!!! Please don’t stop!