Is it Thursday or Friday?

We made it through most of the day thinking it was Friday! Whooo Hoooo! Then, we discovered it is only Thursday. Boo Hoo! It’s the little things from home we’re beginning to appreciate the most, like knowing it’s Thursday because Scrubs is on TV. Soft toilet paper, not the kind here resembling paper sacks from the grocery store. Beds with a box spring AND mattress. Ceiling fans. Qdoba. Ice. Dairy Queen. Diapers for Jacob. FYI. They don’t use diapers so you must be very careful when playing with the boy. You’ll have to forgive us tonight. It rained like crazy here yesterday creating the thickest, stickiest mud you’ve ever seen. That being said, plus the continued rain today, prevented us from touring gerbil-land (aka “the track”) so we’re feeling a bit stir crazy tonight. Have we mentioned before that it gets dark here around 10 PM?

On the positive side of things, we found Coke Light in the little corner store today. I am so happy to have my fix. I rushed home and drank one warm. The Coke Light isn’t quite as good as our Diet Coke but it will do…. Yes, it will do….

On the extreme positive side, Jacob was just a hoot today. When we arrive at the orphanage, we head to the “big room” and one of us goes to Jacob’s room to let his caregivers know we’ve arrived. Today, when I walked in the room, Jacob was chillin’ with a few of his peeps in a large, wooden playpen (Yup, Dad. Another one painted with lead-based paint for sure). He looked up as I walked in and started waiving his hands in the air with a gigantic grin on his face, as if saying “dudes, that’s my mom!”. I entertained his peeps while one of his favorite caregivers dressed him in three layers for our indoor playtime. It’s about 80 degrees here today yet they love to bundle their kiddos up.

Jacob now babbles “da da” most of our visits. It makes Tim very proud. Beyond playing piano today, Jacob’s favorite game was shaking a very loud rattle. What is it about rattles that fascinate the minds of the little ones? He was highly entertained by it for at least 5 minutes! I’m telling ya’, this boy has focus!

Our afternoon visit was cut a bit short, as it appeared the orphanage was preparing for a party. The big room was decorated with streamers and balloons and there was a festive feeling in the air. We took pictures of the signs displayed but couldn’t translate them once we arrived back at the flat. Therefore, we have no idea what they are celebrating. However, our suspicion is they celebrate birthdays once a month. Jacob really liked the balloons. But no. For those of you on the arrival committee (and you know who you are J), he didn’t show any preferences for a favorite color balloon as his brother did while still in orphanage care.

We believe we are quasi-confirmed for court on Monday, June 11th at 2:30 PM. This holding true, we plan to jump the 6:00 PM overnight train right after court, arrive in Astana the morning of the 12th, hop a flight to Almaty that afternoon and leave for home on the 13th. If all goes well, we expect to be home by the 15th. We believe the paperwork needed to bring Jacob home should be complete by mid-July so we'll start planning that trip upon our return.

Gotta’ run! Despite the screens on our windows, the mosquitoes have decided I taste really good. It’s time to doctor my bites and begin yet another movie or book.

Thank you for following along! We love everyone’s comments. Cheers!

P.S. We think Jacob may be walking by the time we leave here!

Miscellaneous…

It has been a big two days here in Arkalyk. We would have updated yesterday but the phone line just went dead in the middle of the afternoon. Seems the utilities here are not as reliable as we are used to. Today we had a pretty good rain storm with thunder and lightening and all that good stuff and the power was on and off frequently.

So here is a double update…

Yesterday was a big day for two reasons. Starting at the end, we were invited to have dinner with our facilitator Habiba. We knew what building she was in but not which entrance. Luckily all the kids in the neighborhood were playing in the front yard and a simple “gdiya (where) Habiba” provided simple and clear direction to the correct but sorry looking entrance. Once at the door we were ushered into her double sized flat that as expected is very clean and exceptionally well furnished. Western style chicken, potatoes, rice and vegetables were on the menu and we ate heartily. We brought some peva (beer) and she of course had some very good Russian vodka and we all had a great time. She had invited one of her friends over who teaches English at the local institute because she wanted to practice her English with real live Americans. It did not take much vodka and beer to get the conversation flowing and we all had a great time eating way too much and drinking maybe a little too much.

Earlier in the day when we were at the track, Sherri was stopped by a lady who appeared to be working there. She waved to Sherri to go back behind the stands. A minute or two later I came by and we were both encouraged again to go back behind the stands. Our facilitator has warned us frequently about staying in public areas, not talking too much to strangers etc. The stands are concrete and behind them is a concrete fence that makes kind of a small enclosed area. The small space is pretty much filled with old wood and dilapidated parts from some temporary stands or other long since gone structure. The toothless little old man joined us by this time and provided additional encouragement to go around back. At this point, my security training started to kick in and I had to calculate if this was a worthwhile risk. The little old man and the little old lady seemed nice enough and I was pretty sure I could take them if I had to. But most importantly, I knew I could outrun Sherri if only one of us was to get away. So we decided to head on around back. Much to our surprise, they led us to a pretty well stocked fitness center. There were two clean and well lit rooms that contain weight lifting equipment, exercise bikes, treadmills and various other Ab-o-matic type machines. There was no one else there and we presumed that they kept it open late for us. What a pleasant surprise. One thing to note about the people in Kazakhstan is that they are pretty short in general. We try to fit in here but when you are a foot taller than the tallest Kazakh’s, it is rather difficult. The amusing part of the exercise equipment is that it is all designed for these midgets. The bikes and the machines are all built for people up to say 5’6” or so. I am looking for someone to complain to but so far no one is interested. The best part of the whole place though was the old school butt jigglers. In the center of the room they have two of those machines that have a belt that wraps around your butt and wiggles your backside. It is straight out of the Leave it to Beaver show.

Today was a big day for the adoption process. The birth mother signed the petition that allows Jacob to be adopted. There is still a period of time that must pass before the petition is accepted by the judge, but this is an important milestone. Please keep the prayers going that things continue to move along smoothly. Given this accomplishment and the availability of the other documents the current plan is to go to court on the 11th and then start our way back that evening. This would put us home somewhere around the 14th or 15th. All subject to change but it is progress nonetheless.

Piano Man – when we spend our hour or so with Jacob in the morning we are in a room that is basically empty except for a few pieces of furniture and a piano. The picture of Jacob and his peeps is taken in this room. Like a homing pigeon, if you set Jacob down anywhere in the room, he heads straight for the piano. Mago, you better get yours tuned up because there is some piano playing in your future.

Mr Hyde – We finally saw him. It lasted about 5 seconds and then he was happy again, but here it is. Foreshadowing of things to come…

We had a big evening tonight. I answered email from work and Sherri did laundry. We are living the life of true jet setter world travelers.

Until next time....

Tim and Sherri

Jacob & his Peeps

When we arrived at our scheduled first playtime today, we found Jacob grinning from ear to ear in a walker boogying down to Kaz pop tunes. Interesting fact. The walkers are on wheels (Duh! So the kids can walk!). Here, however, the walkers are tied to chairs so the kids don’t go wheeling out of control across the floor. Next to Jacob, my favorite little dude in his group was walker-bound and thought none-to-highly of Jacob stealing a toy from him. He let out a very loud cry for a little dude but Jacob latched on and would not let go. I practically had to wrestle him for it! Watch out… Orphanage life has not taught Jacob how to share well with others!

Jacob’s “peeps” watched in envy as he was allowed freedom of movement. To console the others, we grabbed several toys from our bag for the other kids to inspect. Mom – the jumping frog is still the biggest hit of the show! Each kid slimed it at least once.

The weather here just couldn’t be any better. It’s about 80 degrees with a nice breeze. We had Jacob outside for our second playtime and we tried our best to entertain him and the kids just slightly older.

We did have an accomplishment on the techy front. No, our phone still stinks and works about 40% of the time. Sorry to all who've tried to call. We're roaming using an Estonia phone # in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Improvement on the phone-front is not likely to improve. What did improve, at least for us, is that our site's function commands are now in English! Not sure what you were seeing but when we logged in, all of the Blogspot info was in Russian. Luckily, I'd played on the site enough to muddle our way through the posts. But, since we have nothing better to do tonight, we grabbed a Russian dictionary, a translation site on the internet and a bit of luck. The result. We're finally seeing our site in English!

We spoke to JC earlier today. He told us all about strawberry picking, riding the Gator, swimming, playing outside, etc. It sounds like he's doing well. I made it through the call without tears (for once!). Looks like our bonding period will end on Tuesday, June 6th. Our facilitator is already speaking to the judge and we're hoping for a court date shortly thereafter. We hate to leave Jacob behind but we cannot wait to get home for JC (and Abby the dog too!).

We had Cognac and super-huge hot dogs for dinner. Let me rephrase that by saying that we both drank Cognac and Tim ate both hot dogs for dinner. No worries, however, I ate the left over cake from yesterday's festivities. No weight loss here... bummer!

Not much more to say here….. things are very routine. I've started watching the Lost Season 1 (thanks Susan & Ernie) and have read 3 books. Tim fills his time working. We miss everyone, especially JC, and can’t wait to come home.

Much love to all! Thanks for your posts!

Sherri had a little lamb…Shots for Jesus…and I can stand!!!!

Our Muslim hosts are extremely gracious and like good Protestants, they look for any reason to have a dinner party. We are not sure the translations are coming through correctly but apparently yesterday was the Muslim holiday where they honor those who have committed suicide? Apparently the traditional way to celebrate a Muslim holiday is to cut a lamb. I don’t think this is like cutting a steak into bites but more like cutting it’s plans for tomorrow a little short. Cutting the lamb is a big family event where all gather around and enjoy the activities with much frivolity, various sorts of spirits and lots of sweets. Kind of like a birthday party but the guest of honor does not get to go home. If you don’t already know, lamb is on Sherri’s no can do list so we were OK not to have been invited to participate in this ceremony.

Today was the big Christian Holiday for the year. When we asked what Christian holiday it was Rose told us it was for the tri (three) the atyets (father), son and the “other guy”. We were fine with filling in the details using our imagination and getting on with dinner. At home when we have 9 or 10 people for dinner we have to get out the extra dishes, the leaf for the table and bring up the chairs from the basement to make sure everyone has plenty of room. When you only have one room and one small table you just do what you can. Our little kitchen table is about the size of a card table but today there were 9 place settings squeezed in tight with small dishes and glasses. The family sized meal centered around a massive plate of noodles, chicken and some greens on top to make the traditional Kazakhstan dish that we can’t remember the name of but it was very good. We are told that this dish is normally served “with cow” but for us they were kind enough to substitute chicken. Adding to the table were various salad choices including stalichniy salat, a Kazakhstan version of German potato salad. To get the religious festivities started off right I was asked to open the new bottle of cognac. There is a prize in every box of cracker jacks and in a similar fashion there is a prize in the cap of every cognac bottle. So Sherri has a new three stone diamond ring from the Marcela bottle. We are no experts in the spirits but we had always thought that cognac was for sipping. Each shot of the strong libation was preceded by a toast from our guests wishing us much happiness and a speedy court hearing for Jacob Miras. Like dinner at grandma’s, Rose ensured that all of us were sufficiently over-served with both cognac and food. After a short rest period where the little girls entertained the crowd dancing to some of the hip-hop music on our computer, it was time for dessert and tea with milk. Today is the Sunday of Memorial day and at home we are sure that there are families squeezing in around the kitchen table eating, drinking and having a good time together. Several continents away, 11 time zones apart, separated by different language and religious choices we find that daily life is not really that different from our own.

Much to our surprise, Jacob was in a wonderful mood today. However, we did find one of his buttons today. He has a little cold and those of you with kids know that means he will occasionally do a walrus impersonation. Trying to wipe his dirty little nose elicits an entertaining little shout of protest. In our family, we like to say “find out what they don’t like and do it to them”. Wiping his nose goes on that list. Not only was he as cute as ever today with his funny little hat, but we finally caught him on film standing on his own. Clearly he is advanced and may soon be giving JC a run for his money. Speaking of JC, it is apparent from this picture that he is suffering the same level of separation anxiety as we are. The boy is going to be hard to keep down on the farm after spending time on the Marine base with Uncle Eric playing on the AMTRAKS and watching the Marine Jets take off and land. Apparently he has now switched over exclusively to Spiderman flip flops from Mom’s fancy slippers so the manning up is going well.

Happy holidays at home and thanks for following along.

Tim and Sherri.

Brad and Angelina part II and Bubblemania…….

Sherri and I are starting to understand how Brad and Angelina must feel when they travel to adopt a child. Yesterday after swimming in the afternoon, we returned to the orphanage within an hour and the first lady we saw, the younger doctor, asked if we enjoyed our trip to the pool. When we went to the track this morning, the boys from yesterday remembered us and again laughed heartily after calling us by name. Then, still at the track the toothless little old man tried to get us to come in and watch the boys play basketball. The boys asked Sherri if I played basketball, where would they get an idea like that, but Sherri tried to communicate that I only ran. Somehow they figured out the word champion and Sherri kindly nodded yes. It would seem that we are making quite the impression here in the small town of Arkalyk.

In the afternoon when we visit with Jacob, it is outside playtime for most of the kids. We always ask if we can go outside with Jacob and usually this is OK. To protect him from the frigid mid 70’s and sunny weather, the caregivers wrap him in at least 2 heavy layers that include very worn wool socks and a funny shaped stocking cap pulled down snugly. He doesn’t seem to mind and what would he do if he did. We wander around the little garden for a while and are always drawn to the yards where the kids are playing. They seem to like the extra attention and Jacob is entertained as well. Yesterday we brought a very small duck shaped container of bubbles and blew them into the yards where the kids were playing. They were wildly entertained by this so today we brought the good stuff. In the yard with the smaller kids we blew bubbles over the fence. Each breath of the soapy balls is greeted with wild squeals and much running around. The smaller kids had to go in after a short while and we were in no hurry, what would we hurry to, so we took the bubbles over to the big kids yard. Blowing bubbles over the fence elicited an even more energized reaction from these kids but the breeze was blowing back against us so the crowding resulted in a few smashed faces against the fence. This would not do so the caregivers invited us into the lion’s den. We spent the next 20 minutes or so blowing bubbles across the small sea of unbridled enthusiasm. Every new batch of bubbles was again met with coordinated squeals of excitement as they chased them around the yard. As soon as the batch was gone they would circle back quickly looking for another bubble fix. Being inside the fence also allowed us to be fully mauled by all 15 kids at the same time. Sherri took the big step of picking one of them up and then the gloves were off for the kids. Bubbles, upside down with Sherri, running between Tim’s legs, tackling each other to get to the next bubble shot, it was out of control and unbridled glee for all. The caregivers seemed to enjoy this almost as much as the kids in that they could take a break from chasing kids and pulling them down from the fence.

The fun was finally over after non-stop bubble production and no let up in sight for the fervor. But when there are 50 kids in the house the schedule must be maintained. There are so many beautiful kids here craving for affection that a session like this is as sad as it is fun. As much fun as it is for the moment you also know that there are only a few of these kids with dirty faces, bad haircuts and odd clothes that will end up in loving healthy homes. This little girl latched on to Sherri like she was grasping for a life vest in the water. It is a good thing that the rules prohibit us from taking more than one at a time because we were both ready to pack up about 5 of them and head for home. But with a thousand more orphanages in a hundred other countries there is only so much that can be done. So we will make a difference for Jacob and JC and believe we have done what we can.

Before we sign off, we want to wish Mago and Papa (Tim’s parents) a happy 60th wedding anniversary. I hope you both know we would only miss the party for a life and death situation. Thankfully it is a life situation. We hope you enjoy the party and please know you have been and continue to be an inspiration to so many. We love you very much.

Until next time.
Tim and Sherri

Another day down.... only 11 more bonding days to go!

Kelly.... JC & Jake will likely fight over who gets to carry your ring or flowers down the aisle! Or, they can hold hands so sweetly, just like Bobby & Chris, down the aisle together!!!!! Let us know about the house purchase! We can't wait for next September's BIG EVENT!

Apparently being from America is totally funny! Today, on my 10th lap around the track (Tim’s 25th…), some 13-something boys asked, “What is your name?” and “Where are you from?” When I answered “Sherri” “America” I sent them roaring with laughter! We may be the only Americans these kids have ever or will ever see and they used up their only English words as I did my Russian. The little old man who works at the track just grinned (he has no teeth) and walked away. He’s kind of funny. Each time I look his way he makes a circle in the air with his finger. Either he’s saying, “you’re going around the track a lot” or “girl, you Americans are crazy!” My guess is the later.

After hitting the track, we walked a few blocks back to our flat. Believe it or not, this is a picture of our front entrance and then our front door. Looks like something straight out of the projects… the ones slated for demolition. However, inside is very clean and nice. We’ll post pics of the inside soon. After all, we have to have some suspense!

Big news! Tim was able to go swimming today. Believe it or not, the town has a wonderful, new indoor pool. It’s very, very nice. However, it was also the first day of summer break for the kids and I think every child in the town was in the pool making lap swim next to impossible. I got a kick watching Tim try to dodge the kids. He finally gave up since he lacked goggles. But, it was an adventure. We’d not brought bathing suits with us so Tim swam in running shorts. Our facilitator took me to the store to buy a suit. My only choices were very, very small two-pieces so I passed on the swim and read my book instead.

Jacob was once again a totally happy kid today. Our first visit was spent crawling around and reading a book we’d brought from home. On our second visit today, we took him outside to watch the older kids play in the playgrounds. There were two playgroups. One with kids around 1 ½ years to 2 ½ years and the other for kids around 3. Tim blew bubbles for the 3ish kids and they LOVED it. They were running around chasing the bubbles and laughing so hard. You really want to take them all home with you.

It’s Friday night in Arkalyk. We’re settling in with some very strong red wine our host provided and perhaps a movie later. Thanks for keeping up with us! We can’t wait to come home!

Gerbil Life......

We have been trustworthy to date so today we were able to get out of our cage and go to the wheel to get some exercise. A trip to the local track for an hour or so run, (sherri walked) helped to get the day off right. I would not consider the town unsafe, but it is just not the kind of place for two people as foreign as we are to venture too far from the main drag. So we will walk the few blocks to the tracks and run lots of circles. And now we know what the gerbils feel like when they are in their cages all day but occasionally get the treat of running as fast as they can to make no progress.

Today was a very good day with Jacob. When we had first visited JC for a few weeks, he finally relaxed enough with us to stop crying as soon as we walked in the room and then to fall asleep on Sherri's shoulder. This was the moment we knew JC would accept us and we could make this work. Jacob must be an early adopter. He smiles brightly every time we walk in the room and today he fell asleep on Sherri's shoulder. He seems to have two emotions, happy and very happy. He enjoys it most when all get on the floor and crawl around together. Sherri brought her computer today so we could look at pictures and listen to kids music. He was glued to the monitor as we played the H-A-P-P-Y song, Mickey Mouse and others while looking at pictures of JC, Sparky, Abby and all the family.

After our morning visit, we went to the local museum with our facilitator and her daughter and she showed us some of the proud history of Kazakhstan and this region. It probably will not compete with the Smithsonian for any awards, but it had some very interesting displays that included a full size Yurt - a traditional home for the nomadic sheperds and farmers, an actual space capsule that appeared to have seen better days and some of the famous people from Arkalyk.

On the way home, we decided to get some water and beer for later. Our facilitator also bought a beer and decided we should have a happy afternoon. So we went to our flat and enjoyed some cookies and beer with Habiba and Rose and talked about Kazakhstan, the adoption process, and other small talk until it was time for our afternoon visit with Jacob.

It was a very pleasant afternoon so we asked if we could go outside for our visit and this was OK with the bosses. In the afternoon, there is outside play time for all the kids. There are two fenced in play yards, one for smaller kids up to about 2 and one for older kids up to about 4. The yards are filled with slightly smudged and oddly dressed but beautiful children. They meander about the slightly bent and multicolored play equipment and sandboxes - more dirt than sand, doing what kids do. Also in the yard of the baby home is a small area with various trees, bushes and flowers among the dandelions. We spent our hour looking at the white and yellow flowers on the trees, looking at the kids playing and mostly chewing on the little tikes phone that Aunt Susie gave JC. Don't tell JC that Jacob has already commandeered one of his toys. If he finds out, it will become his favorite I am sure. We kept him for about 20 minutes longer than we should and returned him to his caregivers who genuinely seem to love him very much.

Then it was back for dinner, noodles cooked in oil, a really big fat hot dog - Sherri's favorite and some cucumbers and tomatoes. Not quite Q'Doba but we have yet to feel hungry.

Tomorrow we will visit the new pool they have in town. Tomorrow is also the first day of summer vacation for all the kids in town so we might have a crowd.

All is well and keep those posts coming, thanks for following along and we love to hear from you all.

Tim and Sherri

Fun with Jacob

Today was a fun day with little dude two. He demonstrated a deep understanding of multi-tasking as he crawled, giggled and clutched the jumpy frog all at once. Don’t let this guy fool you! He may look a tad bit over-served but the dude is fast! We’re also sure we have another climber. Jacob pulls himself up on every table, chair, sofa he could find. In addition, he surprised us by standing on his own. At this pace, he may take his first real steps before we leave Arkalyk. Clearly this little bugger is advanced.

I cannot get over the friendliness of the orphanage staff. Not only do they go well out of their way to give kisses and affection to Jacob, they also allow us more freedom than we imagined. Without asking, they allowed us to feed Jacob lunch and keep him much longer than the stated visiting hours. We’ve also been able to video him sleeping in his crib. Speaking of sleeping, one caregiver laughed when she told us he’d slept two full hours after our first visit today. Guess we’re wearing him out!

On the flip side, we’re about bonkers (already!). I hate to admit it, but I do miss working out at the YMCA. We’ve convinced our facilitator we can make it safely to the city’s track and she’s acquiesced allowing us to go during busy times of the day and only if we go together. So, tomorrow we’ll hit the track. Rumor has it the city has a nice pool. We may try to hit it on Friday. Today, I watched about 5 episodes of Scrubs (thanks, Ro!). Other than Jacob, the highlight for me was the cake slice our cook brought me for lunch. White cake, white icing. It doesn’t get much better!

Before leaving for Kaz, we discovered our Visas would expire before we’d be returning home. Today, we paid more $$$ (we’ve set a lot of new US$100s free in this city), signed a power of attorney and relinquished our passports in the hopes we’ll get our visas extended. In addition, we received what I consider “crisis” news in that our stay will be extended by two days. Apparently, an official has to officially register us as visitors in the orphanage to begin the 14-day bonding period. That official was either sick or on holiday until today so although we’d visited for the last two days, today begins the clock ticking before the bonding period ends and we can request a court hearing. Two days may not sound like a lot of time, but to me, it’s an eternity without home! I really, really miss JC. I miss my dog; Abby and I also miss my daily Diet Coke. So, we add two more days to our stay. Big bummer…

As I begin the sign off, I hear cats hissing in the hallway. I know they are cats but they sound like Cujo. At least the kids shooting off fireworks (I was convinced it was gunshots...go figure!) have cooled it for the night. Tonight’s feature film is Dejavu. Better get it started! Thanks for all of your notes. We’ve loved reading them!

He has hair...mostly...

For those of you who understand what a priority this is, here is evidence that Jacob has hair. However, in true family fashion, he does have an almost bald spot on the back of his head. We are choosing to believe this is a result of too many hours in the crib rather than any genetic link to our family.

It is 1:00 am here in the big town of Arkalyk. This may be the latest we have ever been awake in our lives. That is unless Sherri is calling the police on something that has gone bump in the night. We had a very big day today in that we were allowed to walk to the orphanage instead of being driven. For some reason the walk is 2 blocks and takes about 5 minutes but the drive is about 5 blocks and takes about 5 minutes. I would say that the drive follows the scenic route but that may not be quite accurate.

Walking has it's advantages though because when we were allowed to walk home after our pm visit, though we were offered a ride, we passed a bakery and some kind of a business that was serving draft beer. If we behave in the next few days, perhaps we will be allowed to stop in for a little treat.

We watched the first of the James Bond movies tonight, Sherri was unimpressed but I thought it was great. Diamonds are Forever.... a classic.

Our host who cooks for us asked today if we were Christians. One of the ladies who is providing for us is Muslim and the other is Christian. The Christian lady, a wonderful woman named Rose, who speaks to us quickly and loudly in 95% Russian and 5% English told us of the upcoming Christian celebration on Sunday - vaskrisyen'ye. In true Russian fashion, the holiday is filled with traditions of which one seemed to be most important and that involves drinking Vodka and at our request p'eva - beer. We are looking forward to Sunday.

Keep those posts coming, we check for them frequently, because we love to hear from you and because there is absolutely nothing else to do.

Bye for now

Tim and Sherri

Frilly dresses or Spiderman………….Well, this may not decide that once and for all, but it’s A Boy!

Introducing Jacob Miras Giddens
Born July 1, 2006

Weighing in at a whopping 23 pounds (50th Percentile) this little chunky-monkey has stolen our hearts! We’ve kept his Kazakh name, Miras, as his middle name. We’re told Miras means “sunshine” or “light” and indeed we believe, just like JC, he’ll be the light of our lives. Jacob is observant. With great interest, he watches everything we do. He may think we’re a bit crazy running around the room playing “gotcha” as I believe this is a new and very strange game for him. But, his big brown eyes take it all in as if saying, “OK. This could be cool”. Squeals of giggles erupted today when we discovered he likes us to drum out tunes on Daddy’s knee. Perhaps he’ll have rhythm? That would certainly prove nature vs. nurture! He also enjoyed the finger puppet sent by Aunt Jill and JC’s wind-up jumping frog from GG. This afternoon, we played outside and entertained all of the kids with bubble blowing. There are so many cute kids here…

So now we begin the bonding period allowing us to get to know this sweet dude who will soon, hopefully, be JC’s little brother. We’re not sure yet if our bonding period started yesterday, the first day we met Jacob, or will begin tomorrow when an official from the court is expected to be included in our morning visit. Hopefully, it will be the former. We’re required to spend 14 consecutive days bonding with Jacob before we can petition the courts for an adoption hearing. We’re praying for a court date very soon after the bonding period ends so we can head home to JC. Once at home, we’ll wait about 4 weeks before returning to bring Jacob home. Please know this is not a done-deal. There is still risk that something could go wrong. The officials require that Jacob’s birth mother sign off on our adoption request one more last time. The officials will begin looking for her soon. There are also frequent changes to the documents required for court that may cause delays. Interesting to note, the two-year old girl we were seriously considering petitioning to adopt was visited today by her birth mother. The mother had visited a year ago and reappeared today stating she’d like to take her daughter home. Coincidence? Perhaps, but maybe not. So, we move on knowing there is risk and trusting that what is meant to be will be for us and Jacob.

About 50 children, three years old and under, live in Jacob’s baby home. It’s a typical Russian looking building with an asbestos tiled roof (sorry, Dad!) and likely lead-based painted playpens (again, sorry Dad!). Although run-down by American standards, it is very clean and the staff truly seems to love the kids. The kids are treated to music and massages and you see and hear the caregivers speaking and singing very kindly. It feels like a happy place full of women doing their best for the children. Everyone knows Miras by name and walks by, points and says “momma” and “papa”.

Although the weather is very nice here, temps in the low 80s, we’re discouraged from leaving our flat without an escort. So, my goal is to take a nap each day and only eat one or two of the Heath mini-bars I brought from home. To date, I’m exceeding my goals. Tim keeps busy working and reading. He’s itching to run but I’m sure he’ll be attacked by a pack of wild dogs so he’s planning to work out in the room beginning tomorrow (while I nap, I’m sure!).

We miss home so much! I can’t begin to tell you how much we miss JC. We’ve spoken to him on the phone a few times and he sounds like he’s doing great! Thanks to Aunt Jill, Uncle E, Ju-Ju and Laney, JC’s is well entertained. We have also heard from Chris that he’s doing his duty giving Abby hugs and kisses every day.

More to come! Thank you for your comments!

Da svidaniya!
(That’s good-bye in Russian)

JC Update from Virginia

For those of you that know our son, you'll be surprised to read (from Aunt Jill) he's taken a fancy to Spider Man flip flops vs. Cinderella. Here's the email update we've been laughing at all morning. We miss our little dude sooooo much and know he's in great hands!

From Aunt Jill: "Today, JC, Laney & I went searching for Spider Man Flip Flops. They do have them everywhere, but they were not in his size. We searched and searched. There were a lot of the Teva type sandles...but those simply would not do. Finally I broke down and went to Payless. Not only did they have Spider Man flip flops but they even LIGHT UP! Oh the joy & excitement. When we went to the register to pay, we passed a Spider Man backpack. We simply had to have the matching set. So tonight, your son is sleeping with his sippy cup, puppy, Spider Man backpack, and is WEARING the Spider Man flip flops. Oh to be 2 1/2 again.... By the way, earlier tonight, he donned the flip flops and backpack, tucked puppy under his arm and announced that he "have to go now..." When I asked where he was going he replied.."to Kazakhstan to see Daddy. I'll be right back!" I had to laugh at that one!"

The Presentation of Children

First question:. What gifts did you bring? We carefully and somewhat shyly dug out the “nicer” gifts from the suitcase and reviewed them with Habiba, our facilitator. It was determined we’d give the Orphanage Director a Victoria’s Secret gift box containing samples of all perfumes. Other gifts selected included 2 Victoria’s Secret “Angel” bags with perfume/cosmetic samples and one Chanel bag with samples plus a small bottle of Victoria Secret perfume. Get the picture yet? Victoria’s Secret is hot here. Once the gifts were selected and bagged, we went to the orphanage.

The orphanage is a short walk from our flat but we were driven. The outside looked like any other Soviet-era building. It was two-story, old and had about 50 crib sheets hanging from the clothesline in the back amongst a field full of old metal, discarded equipment along a rutted dirt road. We walked in, exchanged our shoes for our house slippers and went up the stairs to meet with Albina, the Orphanage Director. Through Habiba, we answered a few questions. What age? What sex? Are you OK with Kazakh looking children? We answered, under 2, boy or girl and absolutely yes. She looked at pictures of JC and commented how handsome he looks (the sales part of her job!). Interview over. Time to move to the “big room”. This is a large room with a piano, a few places to sit, 2 large rugs on the floor and a caged blue bird.

With Habiba to translate and Albina in the room, we were suddenly looking at two sweet little girls. They walked in on their own dressed in dresses with matching bows in their hair. They’d both turned 2 this past May. One seemed very shy, the other somewhat interested in us. The shy one, dressed in a blue dress, looked a lot like JC. The other little girl, dressed in a purple plaid dress, was Kazakh as well and seemed more petite. Only a few minutes after the girls arrived, a woman walked in carrying a chunky 11 month old boy. He was handed to Habiba while we continued to try to engage the girls. Only a few minutes later, another worker presented Tim with a 10 month old boy. At this point, there were 4 kids in the room and we were quite confused. I was concentrating on the little blue dress girl. She cried a bit and tried to bury her head into Albina’s lap. I was, however, able to pick her up and show her the bird. Meanwhile, Tim was holding the purple dress girl. Albina said something and a woman appeared. We were told “enough” for the girls and they were escorted out of the room. So, we turned our attention to the boys. The 10 month old seemed very small and frail compared to the 11 month. It was explained that the 10 month old was sick (perhaps a cold?). We saw him very briefly before they took him away and we spent a few minutes with the 11 month old. During this time, another woman appeared with a 14 month old Russian girl with curly hair and green eyes. She was very petite. Soon, women appeared and all the children were gone. We were asked, “which one”? OMG! How to choose? Tim and I talked and asked if we could see each child again. Albina reluctantly agreed and we were able to spend time with the kids again. We had a good interaction with the 11 month old boy. He seemed very engaged with us, laughed a little and even tried to play with a toy that we brought. We also concentrated on the little blue dress girl. Total time at the orphanage was about an hour with maybe 15 minutes with the children.

We were driven back to our flat for lunch. Tim and I spent time asking each other how we’d pick. We narrowed the children down to two, the 2 year old girl in the blue dress and the 11 month old “chunky” boy.

I’ll admit to being a bit disappointed we weren’t presented with younger girls. Two of the three girls had just turned 2 and the other girl was about 14 months. I’ll also admit to feeling a bit disappointed there were no lightning bolts or feelings of “just knowing” which child was meant to be ours. At this point, I just feel a bit overwhelmed, confused, concerned and quite frankly a bit nervous. Do we go with the young, happy boy? Do we go with the 2 year old girl? The girl is only 6 months younger than JC. They’d likely be in the same grade. Is this a good thing? The boy means I won’t get a girl but I’m OK with that although little girl clothes are fun to shop for. Tim must be feeling the same since he’s napping as I write this…. Ha, Ha!

In about 2 hours, we’ll return to the orphanage to spend more time with the two kids.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

How to get to Arkalyk, Kazakhstan

6:00 AM leave on plane from St. Louis
Travel time = 2.2 hours

11 hour layover in NYC
(1.5 hour subway to Times Square – 1.5 hours back)

NYC to London
6.4 hours by Plane

Layover London
7.7 hours

London to Almaty
8.55 hours by Plane

Layover Almaty (Rent a hotel room, sleep, shower)
6 hours (30 min car ride to and from hotel)

Almaty to Astana
2.5 hours by Plane

Layover in train station – Astana
3.25 hours

Train to Arkalyk
13 hours – (25 stops along the way – really, no joke)

Car to apartment where we will stay
5 minutes

Total distance traveled: estimated 7000 miles
Total elapsed time: ~ 60 hours (ignoring time zone changes = Fri am to Sun pm)
Average speed traveled: 116 mph
Drivers/facilitators: Sasha, Eugene, Nikolai, Victoria, Habiba & Brother ~ 6
Baggage: 2 carry on bags ~ 25 lbs each, 2 luggage bags – 48 lbs each, 1 luggage bag for gifts 48 lbs, purse = 6 pcs, total weight of stuff carried ~ 210 lbs
Most important items for trip: Large jar peanut butter, books
Most important unavailable item: Diet Coke for Sherri
Interesting notes from the trip
· In 48 hours we went from Times Square NYC, one of the most crowded, central places in the world to Arkalyk KZ, one of the most remote places in the world.
· Plane from NY to London was about 3 years old, Train from Astana to Arkalyk was about 50 years old and smelled like it. Train's bathroom was cleaned 50 years ago!
· Shortest distance to Arkalyk from St. Louis is over the North Pole.

On our way!

We've finished what will likely be our last ice cream for a month and have about 20 minutes before we board our flight. We spent today touring New York City checking out Times Square and the WTC Memorial. Tonight we'll fly an all-nighter to London and tomorrow night another all-nighter touching down in Almaty Kazakhstan. From there, we'll fly to Astana and then on to the train for our last overnight adventure before reaching Arkalyk and our new son or daughter. We're tired just thinking about it!

Leaving JC was harder than I'd imagined. I've been a blubbering idiot most of the day. However, we talked with him and Aunt Jill earlier and things couldn't be better. Can't thank Aunt Jill and Uncle E enough! My heart hurts but he's in the best of hands.

So.... it's off for a quick hop across the pond for us. More soon!

LOI Received!

It's finally here! We were notified to make plans as our agency has received our LOI. Today we overnighted our visa applications and booked tickets to leave from New York on May 18th. I'll travel to Virginia to drop off JC on May 17th and then hook up with Tim at JFK on the 18th. We're flying Virgin Atlantic through London to Almaty, Kazakhstan. From Almaty, I believe we'll take a short flight to Astana and then a 15-hour overnight train to Arkalyk. Total, it will take almost four full days to journey to Arkalyk. All along we'd assumed we were going to the city of Kostanai. Instead, we're going to Arkalyk, a small city in the Kostanai region.

We have 2 weeks to buy gifts, pack and get "mentally prepared" to leave JC behind for about four weeks. My mind cannot even go there yet. However, he'll have a ball at Aunt Jill & Uncle E's Virginia home playing with cousin Ju-Ju and baby Laney. Mom will arrive at Jill's the beginning of June and then everyone will travel back to my parent's home. Jill will be in Missouri until the end of June. So, JC will spend about three weeks at the beach and then a week at the lake.... rough life!

Now that we have the LOI, the next hurdle is getting the documents and visas on time to actually leave on May 18th! Here's hoping!