Today we were up before the sun, which has been happening less since we invested in a fan on Monday, but this morning it was intentional, we were off to court! Even at 6am it was still an hours drive into Kampala from Mukono. We arrived with enough time to grab some real breakfast (dry cheerios may cut it for Cara, but Mommy and Daddy needed a bit more).
We headed to court at 8am in hopes to be the first in line for our Judge. Our lawyer had said she was not worried at all about our case, but she was slightly worried we wouldn't get heard since we were added to an already full schedule. We were prepared to sit all day in the waiting room and not be heard but we hoped this would not be the case.
We were called back just before 10am! It was an honor to meet the individuals that connected Isaac to Tenderheart babies home and eventually to us. They didn't speak English but I could tell they were happy for us and enjoyed watching Isaac play with us.
Court was not at all what you would expect. It takes place in a tiny room with oversized pink velvet chairs! The judge announced that she did not have much time so we should get right to the case at hand. After reviewing the paperwork and documenting the names of everyone in the room and their relationship to the case, the judge heard the witnesses. We were told that the judge was very intimidating and that we would feel sick to our stomach for the first hour, yet somehow I found her delightful. I thought she was funny at times and she seemed to truly care about Isaac.
Eventually we were sworn in to testify on our own behalf. She asked about our home, our extended family, our church involvement, our plans for more children and what we intended to do to help Isaac learn his Ugandan culture. She questioned me on the meaning of his last name (victory) and had me pronounce a few words in Uganda (she laughed when I said a Ugandan greeting...I am not sure why, i think it may have been a greeting for children, or i butchered it, either way her laughter felt forgiving).
During this entire time Cara was squirming like crazy on Bill's lap. She wanted to sit with me. She felt squished next to Bill. She was bored. Meanwhile Isaac happened to be holding a tin with a puzzle in it when we were called back to appear in court. He proceeded to bang the tin container on the desk and make loud noises. Then he thought it was funny to open it and intentionally spill the puzzle pieces and yell at me to pick them up (this from the kid who is always quiet!) Next he moved onto the bag of markers we had in the backpack (I think Bill had given them to Cara to color). He proceeded to take them out one by one, take the cap off, make one tiny mark and then hand the pieces to me while he picked a new color. This went on for 30 or more markers and crayons. My lap was overflowing with markers that I was desperately trying not to let fall on the ground... all while trying to maintain eye contact with the judge. At one point I said "mayday mayday" to Bill because the bag of markers had indeed dropped and spilled the last several onto the ground. I know that all of you were praying for us because somehow we managed to contain both kids and speak to the judge with respect.
The Judge did question Cara and made her look directly at her. Cara did very well and thankfully the Judge was brief with her. She mostly wanted to see if knew what was going on..."who is Isaac?"... "My brother" ... "do you want a brother?" ... "yes" etc.
managed to contain both kids and speak to the judge with respect.
The Judge did question Cara and made her look directly at her. Cara did very well and thankfully the Judge was brief with her. She mostly wanted to see if knew what was going on..."who is Isaac?"... "My brother" ... "do you want a brother?" ... "yes" etc.
We did mention Simon and our lost referral. However, our lawyer was hoping I would be more specific. She wanted to see the judges reaction to reopening the case but by the time she whispered to me to say something the judge was clearly wrapping things up and my time to speak was over. I am not sure where this leaves us now with Simon (I'll have to blog about him tomorrow, he is such a riot!) In total we were in court somewhere between 40 min and an hour. This is unheard of! We are thankful the judge had somewhere else to be!
As we left the court room both Ken and Alice, our lawyer, seemed positive. They expect the ruling to be in our favor. The judge promised us a ruling before Christmas. The courts close for the holiday on Cara's birthday so we are hoping to have Isaac with us by then! It would be wonderful if we heard early next week so that we could get the paperwork in for his long form birth certificate, so please pray for favor and a speedy turn around.
(speaking of favor...that's what they renamed the abandoned baby, Favor, she is doing well!)
After court we were allowed to bring Isaac back to our hotel. The Isaac and the nanny were expected to be gone all day for court and we were back at our hotel (2 hours away) by 1pm, so why not spend the day together?!
First we had lunch and Isaac ate everything I fed him (fish, rice, goat, spaghetti, mat-toke, and greens). At one point he cried and Miriam suggested I take him to potty. I had done this once at the babies home but they have super tiny potties. Isaac did all the work for me, I just watched. Now, I had no idea how to take a boy to potty on a full sized toilet. He did great!
After lunch we returned to our hotel room. You could see Isaac was unsettled in a new place. He seemed just on the edge of tears the entire walk over. Bill had the genius idea to get some play doh (they had told us at lunch the day before that Isaac likes puzzles and play doh - hence the puzzle in court incident). As soon as we presented him with it he perked up and began to play. We enjoyed 3 full hours playing with him in our room (he did wave at a white family from the balcony and say "Mama", "Dada"... but what are you gonna do? LOL).
Eventually it was time for him to go. Bill arranged for their transportation and Cara and I rested a bit. Tonight we praised God at dinner and thanked him for the end of a truly special day (and one that is now behind us!). As we left dinner I was stopped in my tracks by the stars. It must be our first truly clear night in Uganda. We were memorized. They truly twinkled like jewels in the sky! It was weird not seeing any familiar constalations but ultimately I was overwhelmed by our big the night sky is and how truly wonderful our God is. The one who made something so vast and beautiful also cares about our little family. He knows every hair on sweet Isaac's head. I am so humbled that he would move on our behalf.
(sorry this was so long)
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