It's a boy!

Shortly after Alya picked us up to shop she received a phone call from Oleg...they had just rescheduled the court time up to noon instead of 2pm! We were surprised, but were ready for it. We still had some time, so we took a cab to a souvenir shop to buy some things. We bought some Abakan and Khakassia (found out it's pronounced "hakasia" - the first k is silent) things including a small bell with a Khakassia symbol on it that we will put on the Christmas tree for Gavin, some Abakan magnets, and nice picture that has the shape of the Republic of Khakassia hand made in wood. We then went to a book store. We started to pick out a book on Khakassia and a map of Abakan and when we were finished, Alya said, "let me present this to you". She wanted to buy it for us...it was very fitting as she is a native Khakassian...again, we really like Alya, she's so nice and motherly to us. We came back to the hotel, got dressed, and quickly went to court by noon. Court was a closed session, and we are not to discuss the court details publicly...but we can tell you that it went as well as it could go and we are now the proud parents of Gavin Victor All!!! We can also say that the experience was definately trying and very emotional at the same time. We arrived at the orphanage and went upstairs to where Gavin stays (we never saw where they sleep though) ... we gave a caregiver some new clothes, and she went changed him into them, and then handed him to us. He is such a good boy, you cannot even believe it. He gets more cute every second we spend with him. Oleg, Alya, Shannon, Gavin and I then went into the Director of the orphanage's office. She presented to us the notes that the caregivers had written to Gavin with their memories and wishes for him on the stationary Shannon had provided the day before...the director wrote a note too. It's in Russian, so Alya took it home tonight to translate it for us, we can't wait to see what they wrote tomorrow. The director also provided contact information to the orphanage, his typical daily schedule, his eating schedule, and a list of Russian words he knows...again Alya will translate everything for us on paper. She also said some very kind words thanking us for adopting Victor (they call him "Vitya" for short) and we returned some appropriate words as well. You could tell even the director genuinely cared for him and she held him before we left her office. The most emotional part at the orphanage was when we left her office...outside waiting in the hallway was most of the orphanage staff. As Shannon carried him down the hallway, they all waived goodbye to him, smiling and talking to him in Russian...it was awesome to see (the video of this is posted here) .We went outside and took some final pictures with him in front of the orphanage and Gavin saw the orphanage for the last time. We then stopped by a photo-mat to get his passport picture taken. We were changing his shirt when we noticed his lips were pouting and he was getting ready to cry...it became very clear to us in that moment, how overwhelming all of this must have been on him. Oleg walked up and whisked him away and sat with him in front of the camera (he held him so only Gavin was in the pic). Oleg began speaking to him in Russian and was able to calm him down a little while the camera was being setup...now, we're not sure if something was stuck in his eye, but there were tears in Oleg's eyes as he held Gavin for the picture. Oleg is usually very businesslike as he has the responsibility of making the process goes smoothy from beginning to end, including all the paperwork in Abakan, working with all the various people contacts, etc. We had heard about Olegs softer side, but was the first we'd seen it...it was the first time he had held Gavin, so it may have been overwhelming for him too. We came back to the hotel and Alya helped us get setup for the evening, translating some of his foods for us. Alya left and then Shannon, Gavin and I just sat on the bed playing and talking for an hour or so. He was back to his self and was playing with toys, smiling, laughing, making funny noises, imitating, etc. It felt like we continually laughed with him the entire time. Shortly before dark we took him for a stroller ride outside behind the hotel, and then we fumbled our way through ordering a chicken salad (Roman, I flapped my arms like a chicken to the waitress and then read your comment a few minutes ago!) as we had trouble finding the right words in the phrase book. When I came down to post Shannon feeding him a bottle of milk and was going to try to put him to bed. Shannon and Gavin will sleep in one bedroom and I will sleep in the other. That's all I can think of for now, it's been another long day, but very rewarding as we start the next phase of our lives today!

Some other miscellaneous pics of Gavin: