Poteat Russian Adoption

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Court has adjourned



We were picked up at 9:30 am this morning and were immediately taken to our 10am court appointment. Our driver, Vlad, was weaving in and out of traffic at no lie, close to 80 to 90 mph. We were both very afraid for our lives and Michelle was sick to her stomach before we even made it to the court house(michelle never get's car sick). We were met in the court room by a new female translator, the prosecutor and Ethans doctor. The female Judge entered the courtroom around 10:10am and began the official proceedings. The Judge asked us the following questions: how we would discipline Ethan, what our 2 girls thought about having a brother, was I(not Michelle) ready for a son, what American sports would I have Ethan involved in, would we prefer to see another child ect....She mainly focused the questions at me. Ethans doctor spoke and said the bond between Ethan and I seemed to be immediate, which was unusual, as he has been around only females his entire life. She said he seemed to light up when I entered the room. My head was swelling with every word. The case made by the orphanage for us adopting Ethan was centered around me. The Judge only asked Michelle one question. That was ok by me because I was on a mission for Ethan.
The judge took a five minute break to ponder her decision. We truly felt the decision had already been made before the Judges break because of the positive comments and facial expressions of the Judge. As the decision came back in our favor, and as the judge declared him Ethan Igor Poteat, Michelle and I both had to wipe a few tears from our eyes.
We will officially take custody of Ethan tomorrow (his crib is already in our hotel room).
We have enjoyed reading all the comments, thanks to all.
We will post again tomorrow with our little man Ethan by our side.