It is Offical, I am a mama!!!

The title says it all, but for those of you who want all the details, be prepared, this is a long post!
On Saturday, I laid around, slept in and finished a book and checked out at 3:00. My ride picked me up at 5:30 and took me to the airport. This time I rode Aeroflot to Krasnoyarsk and it was a more comforatble flight. Since it was over 4 hours and overnight, I didn't get any sleep. So I think over the lat 3 days I have had a total of 11 hours. But I am doing fine. It will probably catch up with me tonight! I arrived here in Krasnoyarsk at 5:30 AM and it was cold, but there really wasn't any snow. Can you imagine, no snow in Siberia? I slept about 3 hours and then set out to meet the 2 couples who are here from my agency. They both had successful court dates last Tuesday and are waiting out their 10 day stay. Tim and Debbie from Ohio have been my personal guides and have shown me where the good places to eat are as well as the grocery store. The grocery store has amazed me at all that is available there. One of the treats of being at the hotel here is that there is free bottled water available (about $10 a bottle in Moscow) and a breakfast buffet as well as reasonable internet fees. D & T have also told me about a flea market and children's store that I plan to check out later today.
Monday afternoon (hard to believe that was only yesterday) I went to the orphanage to meet Natalie. They brought her into the play room and she had a picture that she has painted to give to me. She has grown by 2-3 inches and has gained about 2 pounds. She was a bit shy at first. The doctor at the orphanage told me that she has been so excited and has told all the children that her mama was coming for her and was going to take her to America. She was so excited that she was unable to sleep for her nap. It was wonderful to see her again after so long. We spent the next 2 hours playing and talking. I got to see the bed she sleeps in , the bathing areas (she showed me how she washes her face) and I also got to watch her eat a snack. They say she is right handed, but I see her using her left hand just about the same amount.
After that, I was prepared by the staff here for court. They asked me questions that I would be asked and helped me to be able to express them correctly. They also told me the order of the proceedings and what to expect. I had heard that it could last up to 2 hours.
I then went out for dinner and came back and organized all my notes. This morning I was up early and Tim and Debbie prayed with me before I left for court. I was a bit nervous as you can imagine. The judge asked me a variety of questions and on her desk was my stack of documents. Thankfully I was not asked for any more documents nor were there any questions specific to my documents. The director of the orphange also spoke. She was very complimentary about the interaction with Natalie and spoke very much in my favor. A representative from the Ministry of Education also spoke and recommended the adoption. There was also a prosecutor, but he also spoke in favor of the adoption. After they all spoke, we left the room while the judge reviewed every thing. I believe we were out of the room about 5 minutes when she called us back. She granted my request to adopt Natalie. The entire process took 50 minutes. I am still sitting here in shock that this has really happened and I am getting teary just thinking about it. I cannot begin to express my gratitude to all you who have prayed, encouraged and supported me in this process. Now I begin my 10 day waiting period. I will be able to pick up Natalie on Saturday, the 22nd. In the mean time I will visit her as often as possible. There are a lot of families here right now from other agencies too. So I think the time will go quickly. I will continue to post updates and let you know how things are going here. Thanks to all of you who have emailed. It is great to hear from you!!!