Thurs Oct 3 - She is approved!

From Andrea -  What a day!!!  It was both nerve wracking and joyful...

We started our day by leaving at 7:15am to head to the interview.  The interview was scheduled at 8:30 but May wanted to leave plenty early in case of traffic.  The interview process took 1 1/2 hrs.  I got to sit in during the interview.  There were 6 committee members, Mel, me and May.  During the entire questioning, the head committee member kept stating that he did not understand why Mel would want to adopt from Mongolia when she has the ability to get married and have children of her own.  He even went so far as to state that he could not give his approval.  May warned us ahead of time that this guy would try and question why you are doing this process.  It was a very serious interview and you were on edge most of the time.  They had us step out of the room while they voted and we really did not know for certain that whey were going to give their approval.  When they called us back in, the head committee member tells Melina "We have voted...., and we wish for you to raise her well"....(She is approved!)  Both of us and May started crying.

We know now that the head guy wanted to see how you would react if they told you "no"....he really wanted to see your real emotions regarding adoption from Mongolia.  We did not disappoint them, there were a lot of answers where Mel was choked up because she did not want to start crying.  By the end of the interview the tears were flowing freely.

Jessica went after us and she had a similar interview.  Very stressful and with the impression the whole time that she was not going to be approved.  By the end, she was also approved.

We went to a late lunch at a place called "California".  It was basically the Cheesecake Factory.  They even had the same menu  but just scaled down.  It we very good and very "American".

We ran to the farmers market to grab some more treats for the kids before we headed back to the orphanage.  We also bought some diapers to leave at the orphanage so that they could start using them on Bea.

We got to visit Bea for over 2 hrs.  She is starting to warm up to us.  She was interactive and really played with us.  SHE IS SOOOO CUTE!!!  By the time we left she let Mel pick her up and hug her.  We even got a good-bye kiss from her.  It was so sweet to see Bea interacting with Mel.  Bea would talk and look at Mel for a reaction.  It totally is a match made in heaven.  I can't wait to get her home with us!

Now, it is 8:45 pm Mongolian time.  Mel said I could blog but she (of course) will add her own 2 cents later along with more pictures.  She is taking a quick cat nap on the couch :)

Love to All - Annie