Home!

We've been negligent in posting but busy getting Jacob adjusted to life in America. Tim did a fantastic job with Jacob in Kaz and on the long flights home. Speaking of flights, I was to meet Tim & Jacob in New York City and return home with them on their final flight. Guess whose flight was cancelled? Mine! So, instead, I joined the throngs on well-wishers at the airport last Saturday, July 28th, for Jacob & Tim's successful homecoming! What a sight! Friends, family, balloons and banners! There were many happy tears but Jacob only smiled and giggled.

First impression of Jacob at home.... that boy can walk! I can't believe it! When we left Kaz, only 51 days earlier, the little guy could barely take a few steps on his own. At the airport, he was steady and truckin' along! Wow! What a difference a few weeks make!

Jacob has settled in nicely and found his groove about 5 days after arriving. He's now sleeping all night long and napping once each day. The honeymoon period may be wearing off with big brother JC as he asked me yesterday "Can Jacob take that with him to Kazakhstan?". Guess JC's not figured out the little big guy is staying for good.

Everyone's asking, "Will you do it again"? Tim says it is up to me. We'll see..... For now, I feel so incredibly lucky to have two awesome boys to call my own.

Many, many thanks to everyone who supported us during this amazing journey! And, thank you God for the many blessings you've bestowed upon our family!

Finished!

A very happy Daddy called this morning to say "We're Finished!". Tim and Jacob processed through the Embassy a day early and Tim has all of Jacob's final paperwork, U.S. entry visa and Kazakh passport. He's officially ours now! The only thing left to do is play one more day in Almaty before boarding their Friday AM Virgin Atlantic flight towards home. Yippiee!!!!

Tim was attempting another bath tonight and keeping his fingers crossed it would be less loud than the night before! At least he'll attempt a hair washing. Jacob no-like baths! I write this as JC is begging me to take him down to the dock to swim! Hummm.... Jacob has a lot to learn!

We're so excited the little guy is almost home! Only 71 more hours!

U.S. Doctor Visit Complete - Check that box done!

One step down, only a few more to go until Jacob & Tim are free to leave Kazakhstan!

Jacob's visit to the U.S. doctor went well. She confirmed Jacob has a little cold but took him off the medications he arrived with from Arkalyk. Tim's relieved he won't have to administer a suppository each night!!!! I think that freaked him out just a little bit! The advice is a dose of Infant Tylenol if he seems feverish or in a little bit of pain. Little Jacob was totally stressed by the doctor's visit and went straight to sleep afterwards. Tim's using the advice of "when the baby sleeps, so should you" and was preparing to nap when we last spoke last night, which was mid-day Kaz time.

They checked Tim into a two-room suite at the Hotel Kazakhstan and he has a view of the beautiful mountain range which is calling his name for a quick look. I think the Wednesday plans are to try out the new stroller and walk as far as they can around and up the mountain paths and perhaps try out the tourist gondola. The weather is perfect, much better than we expected, in the mid to upper 80s by day and 60s by night. This beats the 100+ we'd heard about given the hotel has no air conditioning!

We think the unease with Jacob's paperwork may have been for nothing. Tim did see Jacob's Kaz passport and they were going for passport pics for his U.S. visa. So, hopefully, all is well.

Despite the cold and needing a hair cut, Jacob is doing very well and Tim is too! More on their adventure later!

Tim & Jacob are together again!

Tim has Jacob!

Tim arrived without incident (minus the stroller) and is in route right now to the U.S. doctor visit required by the Embassy. Word is, Jacob is being treated for a fever and cold and seems to be feeling "just OK". He was all smiles for Tim when he arrived at the hotel.

Something seems fishy regarding Jacob's paperwork/passport. Tim reports everyone being very vague but he hopes to have an update for me when he calls back later tonight. Surely, after 44+ days, they've had plenty of time to get the paperwork right???!!! Let's just hope so!

Tim's traveling without a laptop so we have no pictures to upload. However, we'll report more ASAP.

The journey continues.... Jacob's left the orphanage!

With only 2 1/2 days left until Tim leaves, word from Kazakhstan is Jacob has left the orphanage and is being cared for by Khibbia's Aunt, the same person who will escort the little man to Almaty to meet Tim. Jacob and his escort are ticketed on the overnight train, leaving Arkalyk Sunday and beginning a long journey towards home. They'll arrive in Astana Monday morning, take an afternoon flight to Almaty and check in to the hotel where Tim will meet them early, early Tuesday morning (his flight lands at 4:40 AM). After that, the escort will leave Jacob in the excellent care of his new Daddy.

I have a big pile of "stuff" for Tim to take with him.... and he thought he'd be traveling light! Included in the pile is a really large stack of paperwork needed to process Jacob through the U.S. Embassy to secure his entry Visa into our awesome country. His Visa allows him immediate citizenship when he touches down on U.S. soil. Very cool!

Last we saw Jacob, he was just beginning to take a few tentative steps. We've been told he now walks very well. Watch out JC! Speaking of JC, he heard me on the phone and demanded, in his 2 year old voice, he speak to "Khibbia in Kazakhstan". I put him on the phone with Khibbia and he asked "Are you bringing me my baby brother? I love him!". We'll see how much love he has when Jacob walks in and wants to play with everything JC considers his own! So far, JC insists he wants to share Abby Dog and Puppy with his new brother... I give it about an hour! :)

Tim leaves Sunday! We should have more to post soon! Thanks for following along!

We're so excited! Only 9 more days until Jacob is home!

Back to Kaz in less than a month

Dates to bring Jacob home!!!!

Since our last post, we've learned we need to be back in Kaz on July 24th. Total trip time will be only 7 days this time.... thank goodness. And travel will be back to Almaty, not Arkalyk, since Jacob will be escorted to the "big city" for us. Even though this trip is just 7 days, which seems like nothing compared to trip 1, 7 days is a long time for little JC. Despite many family offers to keep JC, including Aunt Jill & Uncle Eric who did an AMAZING job during our first trip, we've decided I'll stay home and let brave Tim travel to Kaz alone to pick up Jacob.

Tim leaves July 22nd and will arrive in Almaty early on the 24th. Jacob should be waiting for him there. If all goes as planned, Jacob will visit the American clinic for his HIV test and exam on Tuesday and will be processed through the US Embassy on Thursday. Together, Daddy & Jacob will depart for home Friday morning, July 27th, and arrive in New York around 9 PM same day since they'll be chasing time zones backwards. The big bummer is there are no flights home leaving after 9 PM. So, not to miss all of the action, I'll fly to New York that Friday to relieve Tim and reunite with Jacob. Together, the three of us will fly home Saturday morning to introduce JC to his new brother that he now calls "Jakey the Snakey".

We've spoken with Khibiba several times since arriving home and she reports Jacob is doing great. His first birthday is Sunday so Aunt Jill & I will use this as a good excuse to eat some cake :).

We cannot thank everyone enough for all of your thoughts & prayers. We're so excited to be just one month away from bringing Jacob home!

Home Sweet Home!

After 61 hours of not-so-fun travel, we made it home late Sunday evening. Tim & I spent Monday "regrouping" and waiting for JC to arrive with my sister, mom, 2 nieces and 2 dogs from Virginia. They finally arrived around 11 PM and we were THRILLED to see "the dude". I cannot thank my sister and Uncle E enough for actually volunteering to keep JC for the time we were in Kaz. JC had a blast! I think, however, he's in denial about Jacob. You ask "who is your baby brother" and he brilliantly changes the subject. Although during the first of many viewings of our 4 hours of video, he did say "Huggies Jacob" and walked towards the TV with his arms outstretched as if giving Jacob a big hug. We'll see how many huggies are actually given once he learns we have to leave again for about a week to bring Jacob home!

Speaking of bringing Jacob home, we're targeting mid-July but will be calling Khabiba this week to confirm.

Thanks to everyone who followed our blog. We appreciated knowing how many friends and family-members were cheering for and praying us through this amazing journey!

So, that's it for now.... check back in a week or so for a new update on trip two. In the meantime, I have some Diet Coke drinking to catch up on....

Cheers!

Last full day

We have been here long enough to be able to predict exactly what we are having for dinner. We have finished the first season of Lost. We have given a gift to everyone in town. It is time to come home.

This is our last full day here in scenic and entertaining Arkalyk, Kazakhstan. Tomorrow we will go to court at about 2:30 in the afternoon, have some papers signed at the notary, stop by and see Jacob one last time, have dinner and get to the train by 6:40. We are told we have plenty of time but it sounds like a busy afternoon. For you blog addicts keep in mind that we may not have access to the internet until we get home so this could be our last post for a while.

For the trip home we take the overnight train to Astana on Friday night, a flight to Almaty on Saturday, then sit around for about 7 hours until we board a flight to Istanbul, Turkey at 2:45 am, yes AM. Then we have about 6 hours to kill in Istanbul and then on to New York City, more waiting and then finally home Sunday night about 11:00 PM. Then we are going to sleep for a while. Sounds like fun but at least we can say we have been to Turkey.

There is just not much more to say right now except we are looking forward to seeing all of you and being home. Thanks for following along, as remote as we have been it has been very helpful to us to have such strong support and interest from home. We will start up the posts again when we get closer to the second trip.

Jacob hates shoes!

Yesterday we purchased two outfits, including shoes, for Jacob to wear when his escorts takes him from the orphanage in July to meet us in Almaty. To be safe, we decided to try everything on today. He looked sooooo cute in his new digs and was pretty happy about them… until the shoes… It’s safe to say Jacob doesn’t like his new shoes. After putting them on his chunky little feet, he wailed so loud we were concerned the caregivers might think us unfit parents. The shoes fit, but we discovered this was his very first time to have anything other than socks on his feet. By the end of our time together, he was OK with the shoes but not loving them. His wonderful caregivers offered to keep them and let him wear them often so they won’t be so foreign when the time comes to leave and he’ll need shoes.

We had an amazing experience this afternoon. We were offered a chance to visit a special group home for children who have parents but their parents cannot take care of them, mostly due to financial reasons. Twenty-five children live as one big family in a large, very clean building run by several women working for the town’s mayor. The youngest child is four and the oldest is seventeen. Apparently, the children were recently divided and the group leaving the home took with them the DVD player. The kids were missing it, as most American kids would be, and really wanted a replacement. That being said, we were happy to present a new DVD/Game/Karaoke/MP4 player complete with speakers and a microphone to the children. It was awesome to see how excited they all were with the gift. After the gift’s presentation, we were treated to a tour of the very clean and well appointed home and a wonderful tea, including one of the best apple pies we’d ever tasted. Truly delicious! A great afternoon!

Tonight we took a driving tour of Arkalyk. We were able to take pictures of the hospital where Jacob was born and see the sites. To be honest, there is just not that much to see. About 10 years ago, Arkalyk boasted 70,000 citizens. Today, the population hovers around 30,000. As you drive through one end of town, all you see are rows upon rows of 6 – 8 story abandoned apartment buildings. Some had occupants at one time others were never completed. It’s a bit eerie. The tour ended and our Kazakh hosts asked “Vodka”? We exclaimed “No Way”! But invited them in to split our one beer. Somehow, our hosts happen to have three more beers in their trunk so we had a small beer party with us sipping very, very slowly. I think Tim & I shared ¼ of a beer while our hosts and our flat’s owner consumed the rest. We think they were also a little relieved to keep the party short and sweet. We are starting to feel pretty much at home here but if we have to endure any more Kazakh hospitality we might not be able to survive much longer.

That’s it for now! We have two more days until we start the long journey home. We land in St. Louis late Sunday night! Whooo Hooooo! Can’t wait to see everyone, including JC and Abby-the-dog!

Cheers!

Our last bonding day…

Today makes day 14 and the last day of our official petitioned bonding days with Jacob. With the successful completion of today we can now go to court on Friday with a successful bonding period. We had two wonderful visits again today with Jacob and his peeps. He seems to enjoy being the only one not trapped in a high chair or a roll around thingy. On our second visit the caregivers asked Sherri to come back to their room and help with the feeding of Jacob. With about 12 kids to feed every meal, the ladies have a real way of making haste with this process. The kids also seem to know that this is no time for play. As soon as they hit the position you can see the jaws start flapping. It must work though because the kids all seem very well nourished.

After our first visit, it was time to organize the remaining gifts and purchase our authentic Kazakhstan souvenirs. Surprisingly, there are relatively few stores that sell authentic Kazakh goods but luckily our facilitator knows the right places. The store was probably a half mile from our flat so this was too far to walk!! So we took a taxi. The taxi’s here are not quite what we are used to. Both of them that we rode in for the 5 minute trip were from the 50’s at best. They were small Russian made cars multi-colored from the panels replaced over the years. If they had duct tape they could have put it to good use. Inside there was quite a bit of bailing wire and other improvised repairs to keep those old classics going.

It is colder still here today with strong winds making the wind chill feel down into the 50’s. We were prepared for hot weather with lots of heat but not the cold. We both brought one long sleeve shirt and they are getting quite a workout.

We bought traveling clothes for Jacob today. A couple of outfits and some sandals and a cool hat and he is all ready to go. Speaking of ready to go. In spite of all the friends we have made here we are ready to get home. We want to see all our family and friends as well as return to some of the comforts of home. By the way, this is just one of many reasons why we are ready to leave. JC’s big boy bed at home is bigger than this one.

See you soon.

Tim and Sherri

The Day After...

It’s cold here! I mean it. It’s 50ish degrees all of a sudden. Unlike at home, you cannot just “turn up the heat”. So, we’re a bit chilly today. For anyone reading this who has drank vodka with Russians or Kazakh people, you’ll agree that a blast of cold is good for clearing the mind on “the day after”. It is considered rude to turn down vodka from your hosts. Suffice it to say, we are not rude. Enough said except THANK YOU Nuprin and I never, ever, ever, never, ever, ever, ever never want to see, smell or even think about vodka again.

Jacob is taking a few steps on his own now. He gets this silly grin on his face, takes a few steps, falls down and claps his hands. We’re pretty sure he’ll be fast on his feet by the time we bring him home. Since it is cold and breezy here, the “big kids” were bundled up and playing outside this afternoon. They looked like little marshmallows all bundled up. But, I swear, judging from the amount of bundling going on, you would have thought we were in the Artic!

Jacob’s peeps and the kids just a bit older were not allowed out so when it was our time to play this afternoon, we barged in on the goings on with the 1 ½ - 2 year olds. It was really fun. Two of the little boys, probably just shy of 2, know us very well now. They go “hiiiiiiiiiii” and come running towards us arms outstretched for big hugs. There is also a chunky-monkey little girl who I swore was a boy until we saw her once in a dress. She loves to be tickled and laughs so loud and hard it makes you happy and sad at the same time. Another little girl, one of the three we’d been shown on our first day, actually loosened up today and let me hold her. Until now, we’ve seen no emotion from her at all. Just a blank expression. Today, something changed and she actually grinned at me and put her arms up for me to hold her. So many of these kids seem so normal, healthy and happy. Given they met our age requirements, our assumptions are they are not available for adoption. Either they have parents who visit them and just cannot parent, mainly due to poverty. Or, their birthmothers may have signed petitions stating they’d be back some day for their child. When you leave, you feel good about hugging them and making them laugh and really, really sad too.

My sister let us know today one of JC’s upper molars broke through. He’d been, shall I say, a little tiny bit crabby for her and has been picking fights with Julia. Now that the molar is in, Jill reports he’s back to being his normal, happy, plays-well-with-Julia self. Let’s see how long that lasts….

That’s about it from here today. Thanks again for the comments & emails. Thanks also to Katie, Susan, Pete & Ernie for calling yesterday. It was great chatting and we cannot wait to show you all 3 hours of tape and 400+ pictures!

Pulice erder to drink vodca..no blig todya

Sari, no blig tdeay, polise erder to dreenk vowdka..... mere later..

Another day in Kazakhstan

Jacob greeted us with a big smile and cheerful wave this afternoon. We had fun crawling all over the floor, the piano, the chairs, sofa and anything else in his path. He’s either really comfortable with us or we’re wearing him out because once again, Jacob fell asleep on Tim before our first visit concluded. During our second visit, we mingled with all of the other kids in the outdoor play yards. Seemed every time you turned around, a little kid (1 ½ to 2 years old) was taking off his or her pants. Remember, they don’t wear diapers here! I think it was their way of saying “Hey Ladies, it’s 80 degrees here. No more layers!”. The big kids (2 – 4 years old) had it much better. Not only were they NOT bundled up, they were each running around in shorts, no shirts and little hats. I caught a few glimpses of caregivers scolding a big kid or two for trying to strip totally naked. Guess something was in the air or someone, in baby babble, was shouting “Let’s go streaking!”

After our first visit with Jacob, we decided to venture out on our own. We’re turning in to quite the little rebels! Oh yeah, please, don’t tell our facilitator! We wandered to the market expecting to find some good buys. Instead, we found shoes. Literally thousands and thousands of shoes, kind of like Supermarket of Shoes only much bigger, no boxes, outside, and not very organized. I’m serious. There were enough shoes for sale to fit everyone in Arkalyk three times over. Very overwhelming! So, if you need some sturdy shoes or very sparkly high heels, we know just the place! Other than shoes, we found a lot of clothes, some fruit and kid toys. Nothing we couldn’t live without. I was hoping for the duty free shop you see in the Caribbean where they sell the giant Emeralds… As we arrived back to our flat after our secret escape, the phone was ringing. It was our facilitator calling with arrangements for a massage for Tim. A minute longer at the market and we’d have been busted for sure!

Tim had an hour-long massage for US$6 (including tip). The masseuse makes house calls and came to our flat. Our facilitator’s aunt has strong hands and puts them to good use on the Americans who visit. We’ve worked up such pain in our muscles for all the effort we’re exerting here reading books, watching movies, etc. We both need a massage! Ha, ha! In all fairness, we do go to the track for an hour each day and Tim runs hard the full time. He’s logging about 8 miles each day plus he runs up and down the stands. They think he’s crazier than me! Speaking of the track, we had the honor of meeting toothless Track Man’s main squeeze today. At least that’s what I think he told me as he introduced me to a woman who’d brought him lunch. Ahhhhh. The people we’re meeting in Arkalyk!

From a travel standpoint, our passports are finally back from Kostanai with new visa stamps. As you may recall, our visas were set to expire during our trip. Big problem! With passports in hand, our facilitator was able to purchase our train tickets for Friday night. She was worried about the availability of tickets since there is only one train and cabins fill quick. But, I have the tickets so we’re in good shape. We’ll leave court, pop by to kiss Jacob one last time and then hop the Friday 6:40 PM train.

The overnight 15-hour train will take us to Astana where we’ll hop a flight Saturday afternoon to Almaty. To purchase our airline tickets, we had to send cash to a woman in Astana. Get this. To send money, you give an envelope to the train conductor who gives it to your contact at the end of the line. Kind of like Fed Ex but probably more reliable from a timing perspective!

We’ll arrive in Almaty Saturday early evening and fly to Istanbul Sunday morning at 2:30 AM. From Istanbul we’ll fly to New York and we hope to still have time to make it home that day since we’ll be chasing backward time zones. So, if all goes as planned, we should be home by late Sunday night or early Monday morning! Whoooo Hoooooo!

We did get some bummer news today. Sounds like the timing to return to Kaz is going to be longer than we anticipated. Something about Jacob’s passport taking longer because the other two kids going home this month’s passports took longer to acquire. Right now, we’re being told we should plan to arrive back in Almaty (where they’ll bring Jacob to us) on July 22nd. We were really thinking it would be closer to July 10th. Nonetheless, we’ll be happy to reunite with the big guy ASAP.

On a sad note. Most of you know dogs in our family are family. The week before Tim and I left for Kaz, my parent’s had to euthanize their old boxer dog, Sooie. We’d had Sooie for over 13 years and she was loving, happy (although somewhat grumpy) old girl. When it rains it pours. Yesterday, my parents had to euthanize their other boxer, Sparky. Sparky’s cancer had progressed to the point where no pain management was going to keep her “sparky” and she was given a few weeks to live if she’d undergo chemo. Mom and Dad did the right thing and we lost quirky, funny, sweet, affectionate Sparky. I think it has been since I was in 7th grade that my parents have lived without a dog in their home. It’s bad enough to lose a buddy but to lose two buddies in less than a month just stinks. Our hearts hurt. This was one of my favorite pictures of JC and Sparky. Don’t worry, Mom, we’ll wait a few weeks before surprising you with a puppy or the perfect rescued boxer.

Thanks for following along!

Children’s Protection Day and Pleasant Surprises……

June 1, 2007 is called Children’s Protection Day in many Asian and European countries. In Kazakhstan it is a day off of work and a day for parties, music, songs and celebration by and for all the children. At the baby home the middle aged kids, 2 to 4 yrs, put on a wonderful series of skits and sang some songs. I am continually amazed that the caregivers are able to get 15 excited kids to sit in order and stay still. The room was decorated with balloons and streamers and shiny tape on the floor. Each of the older kids had something to say or did a small puzzle for the crowd to show off how smart they are. The highlight of the party was when the rooster showed up. One of the caregivers cock-a-doodled into the room to be met by excited screams and much running around. Apparently this has some symbolism surrounding the daddy chicken looking for his chicks. There were two small areas taped out on the floor. All the children would hide in one of the areas then the rooster would come around and find them. They would then all scream with excitement and run to the other area laughing raucously. This was followed by a puppet show and then it was all kids favorite time of any party – snacktime. Each child was treated to a juice box, a marshmallow cream pie and an ice cream cone. This influx of refined sugar whipped up the already excited crowd in to a frenzy. Jacob slept through the whole thing with the rest of his peeps.

After the first party we took a walk around town to investigate the other festivities. At one of the main town squares, there was a big gathering of people surrounding a decorated stage. A parade of local kids maybe 12 thru 18 were dressed up fancifully and singing songs to loud thumping music. They were not very good because we could not understand any of the words to the songs. But they seemed to be having a good time and the crowd was enjoying the show. We realized just how small this town is because during our 30 minute walk-around we saw every single person we have met here including toothless trackman. Many of the caregivers from the baby home were also in the crowd. Each time we met one of them they would ask that we take their picture with their own kids.

We also received some extremely good news today. As an example of how things can change quickly, our facilitator somehow managed to get our court date moved up to Friday the 8th. That is a week from today! If all goes well this could put us out of Arkalyk that same Friday evening and back home somewhere around the 11th or 12th . This is really big news for those of us who are getting a little homesick for friends, family and familiar food. More to come on this subject but we were so excited today that we plan to celebrate by sitting in our room, watching a movie and drinking a beer. Woohoo….

See you all soon..
Tim and Sherri

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!

"Soon"

An update today from our agency. Our Letter of Invitation is at the Kazakhstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). The MFA will assign it a registration number making it official. Our agency expects to receive the LOI "soon". We're keeping our fingers crossed we can still travel in May but realistically are thinking June.

In the meantime, I thought I'd practice posting pictures to the blog. Here is a recent pic of our sweet dog Abby.

Thinking Summer

New plans for the LOI. Here's the latest. The doctor running the program is not currently available for contact so we cannot get an update on our LOI until late next week (earliest). That being said, we're being told to look for the LOI sometime in May. So, we'll likely travel in June. Needless to say, we're kind-of bummed out. Average temps in Kostanai for June hover around 85 degrees so we'll get to experience summer vs. spring-time weather! The good news... no snow boots so more room for packing!

New timeline for LOI

OOPPPS! So much for four weeks for our LOI. Yesterday we were told to expect our LOI to arrive around the early part of April. So, we wait a little more. The good news is we might miss most of the snow since temperatures hover around 45 degrees in April.

Waiting for our Letter of Invitation (LOI)

Well..... we're still waiting for word on our LOI. Once this is in hand, we can apply for our visas and make travel arrangements.

For now, we're working through our to-do lists. Tim's found a technology solution to overcome the very, very slow dial up internet access available in Kaz. We'll be renting a satellite device that allows us internet access from anywhere in the world at breakneck speed. The device weighs less than 4 pounds and is smaller than a laptop. It's the same device reporters and our military use in the field. It's pricey but worth the cost if it keeps Tim working from Kaz. The only catch is to work effectively, the satellite must face south. So, I've let our agency know we'll need our hotel or apartment to have a south-facing window. I'll bet that tops the list of "strange requests"!

We're still hopeful the LOI comes this week!

Four to Five Weeks?????

Well.... we received word today that we'll likely be required to spend four to five weeks in Kaz, not the three maybe four originally communicated. Apparently, court now occurs 8 - 10 days AFTER the 15-day bonding period ends making trip one a minimum of 27 days. So, we're looking at our options. Neither of us want to be in Kaz that long leaving JC behind (despite the good care and fun I'm confident he'll be having at Aunt Jill and Uncle E's home!). Plus, Tim's concerned that a slow dial-up connection will keep him too far out-of-touch from work for too long.

We've asked if we can make this a three trip process. Come home after the 15-day bonding ends. Travel back 8 - 10 days later for court. Travel home for the three-week + time needed to process our child's paperwork and then travel back to pick up our newest dude-ette! Lots of travel but it may buy us an extra 10+ days at home which is significant when you're missing a little guy, a grumpy old dog and work that pays the bills.

We should learn more soon. The good news is our agency still expects us to receive our Letter of Invitation (LOI) to travel around March 15th making our "wheels up" date around the first of April.