Our petition to be legal parents of Samuel Matvey was granted by the judge today! YAY! We are officially mama and papa! The difficult news is that the 10-day waiting period was not waived. We will be here in Rostov for 13 more days and only able to visit Samuel at the Baby Home each day. And probably not the weekends. Even though he is now really our son, we cannot have full-time custody of him until we leave this region. It will be hard and so we are praying for strength and endurance. We are already missing home. 
We had a great visit with Samuel this afternoon. We were able to sneak up around the corner of the building and watch him play for awhile without him seeing us. As soon as he did see us he put his little hand up in the air as if to say stop and came charging toward us. Ahhh, it's great to be his parents....we love him so much!
Here are some pictures from today. We changed him into his "Howard clothes" and once again some new shoes. The others are worn out already. He loved every minute. He enjoys getting dressed and was very anxious to show off. We also bought some new toys to take to him today. We played right outside the fenced playground in our favorite spot on the steps. It was so sad though, all the other children (about 20) just line up to watch us play through the bars. It's so hard to see the other children with dirty faces and sad eyes. The caregivers are doing their best but they can't give each of them the attention they need. I picked up one little blonde girl and she clung on to me. When I put her down she plopped herself in the dirt and burst into tears. So heartbreaking! Ryan and I convinced Samuel to to into the playground area with us, coaxing him in so we could get some pictures of him with his friends. I kneeled down to snap some shots and quickly they were all around me. You would have thought I had some candy, but no they are just starving for attention and in desperate need of new experiences. Most of them are very docile, but there are some fighters in the group. It has been an exhausting day, so that's all for now. 
5 comments:
Praise God! I am so glad to hear you are the official parents and family of Samuel. We continue to pray for your journey. Love, Elise
Jeff said....
Congratulations! We were praying for you last night, anxious this morning to get word.
Enjoy every moment! Take it all in! Don't regret the time you have there, make the most of it!
Everything happens according to God's design and his plans for your lives. With all the answered prayers I have no doubt you are walking down the path he chose for you. Just keep on walking :-)
With love (from Selma, California today)
Jeff
Congratulations on your fifth! What wonderful news that he is finally yours! I will pray that the next ten days goes by in a flash. I am sure that Samuel will love seeing you each and every day.
Love you all!
Sandi
So happy to hear the good news!! Samuel looks wonderful, "ouchie" and all. The picture of him gazing at Allyson is especially sweet.
We'll be praying that the Lord will strengthen and uphold you both during this waiting time, and that He will continue to prepare Samuel for his new life. What a blessed boy he is!
God is so good all of the time! He is trustworthy yesterday, today, and tomorrow. It is such a privilege to be able to pray for you and to witness God's plan unfold in your obedient lives! Enjoy every moment in Russia and we will continue to pray with anticipation for God's hand in your journey.
We are so thrilled that another orphan's status has changed and that he will know the love of a mommy, a daddy, siblings, and even an entire support system half way accross the world!
Love
Team Wong
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