GUARDIANSHIP APPROVED!

Our court date was scheduled for today, just a few days after we recieved word that our case had been scrutinized! I was so nervous all weekend, because historically judges have been known to not show up, request additional paperwork, or just not hear cases. Well, not this time! He showed, he approved, and now we're on the last leg of our journey.

We have some paperwork to do on this end - apply for visas, fill out paperwork for his visa, gather our paperwork that will be required at ISRC and the embassy. ICPC also needs to happen over here. The big thing we need to wait for now is his passport to be issued in India. And lest anyone think that this has been too easy, there are, of course, problems with the passport office computer systems throughout India. We've been told to prepare for a long wait - approximately 7 weeks. We waited 7.5 weeks for Max's, so we can handle that. It still puts us ahead of our goal of getting him home for Christmas. I am thrilled!

We should have some new video soon, and if I can figure out how to do it, I'll post it here.

I was able to speak on the phone with a woman that I've known via forums for a couple of years today. She played a role in convincing us that Probal was meant to be ours, and it was so nice to hear her voice! She told us that Probal was crawling all over the place - definitely mobile. He seemed like a relaxed, happy guy. She also felt like he was doing appropriate things cognitively for his age. We sent over books, and he immediately opened them, looked through them, and proudly ripped out a page. I cannot wait to meet him!

No pics tonight, I'm too tired :)

School and a New Addition - and Potty Time!

Fall came quickly, and this year it meant sending two of my babies off to school. Madeline started first grade, and Myles started in the Kindergarten for 4 year olds program. Maddie is an old pro at this school thing. She loves it, and knew that few of her friends were in the same class as her. Myles was much more ready than I expected him to be. I expected nerves and protests about Mom leaving, but got none of that. He got off the bus all smiles after that first day. He was excited until I said, "so, you're all set to go back tomorrow?" He quickly replied, "Um, I'm not going back - I was just going today." All was well though. He went off the next morning and has had no problems at all. My big boy - he's still a Momma's boy though :)

Our neighbors were riding their four-wheelers through the field below their house. They somehow spotted this tiny kitten. With no mother around (we gave her over an hour to come back for it) the kitten needed a home. Well, guess where they brought it - of course to those Labonte suckers :) We called the vet, who very compassionately (please read with sarcasm) told us that we could bring it in as a stray, but they weren't going to do anything for it. I asked about bringing it in not as a stray, but as our new pet (please read - I was willing to pay for whatever treatment would have helped) but apparently that wouldn't have mattered. I asked her what we needed to do to care for it here, and she (in a very flat, why are you bothering me voice) stated that it would be very hard to keep a cat that little alive. Thanks for all of your advice, lady. The pet store (the one an hour away, not the one 20 minutes away) was much more helpful. They set us up with bottles, Kitten Milk Replacement, and explained what we needed to do and how often. This all happened on Sunday, and as of today, the kitten is doing very well. He's active, eating, peeing, pooping - what more can you ask for? It's eyes aren't opened yet, and apparently you can't tell gender for a few weeks. We didn't want a cat at all, but now we're in love with the tiny thing.

AND THE BIGGEST NEWS OF ALL: Max is potty trained!!! Day and night, pee and poop! We tried to do it in the spring, but he was not into it at all, and after a week of hardcore, he was no further along than when we started. A couple of days before school started I told him that we were going to start wearing big boy panties again when Maddie and Myles went to school. He said he wanted to wear them that day. From that point on he made no pee mistakes! Poop took a little longer, and lots of promises. What finally did the trick? The promise of a fancy date, just him and his Nana. The next day he did it, and yesterday he donned a shirt and tie and went out to dinner at the Golf Course with Nana. My big boy! For the first time in over 6 years I'm not changing diapers! I'll enjoy the short reprieve until Mason comes home :)

Scrutiny

Hey all. We recieved word today that our documents have been reviewed by the Indian courts and they have recommended that the judge approve our guardianship. We have made it past what they call scrutiny. Now we wait to be assigned a court date where the judge will approve guardianship. This is the hardest part of the wait for me, by far. So even though I've done well with the waiting up to this point, I no longer guarantee my mental stability :)

It sounds like we are close to travel but the next steps are the least predictable. We could travel very shortly, or it could be several months more. I'd hate to think of that being the case, but it's true. So bear with me :)