Day 6: Our New Digs

Milon tried to feed Leah today. She wasn’t that hungry. She was very sleepy and fell asleep on my chest. The caregiver said that Leah gets excited when she changes her in her bonding outfit. She says she knows she is about to see us. They all seem to enjoy having Davis around. They laugh at him and he tries to speak to everyone. He hasn’t grasped the concept that no one speaks English!!

Here are pictures of our apartment. It is comfortable and we feel safe. It isn’t according to US standards, but we didn’t expect it to be. Actually, it is much nicer and bigger than expected! I am in love with the gas stove! It boils water in seconds! We both agree that is going to be a requirement in our next house!

The washing machine drains into the bathtub which is quite funny!

It is so cold here that the inside of the lobby door has ice on it!

Here is a picture of the playground that Davis wants to play on! Somehow I don’t think he would make across the monkey bars but the slide might be exceptionally fun!

We are finding out a lot about Kazakhstan’s traditions from our translator Ainura. She said the youngest son is responsible for taking care of his parents. This means that he and his family lives with them. Ainura says she only dates men that are not the youngest in the family because of this! She said there is great pressure to have a baby as soon as you get married so she is not ready for marriage yet. In Kazakhstan they eat a lot of meat. She said she loves horse and it is her favorite of all the meats! Aktobe has 3 big distilleries of vodka and is sometimes known as the “home of vodka.” Ainura said that most Kazakhs don’t drink vodka. They think of it as an alcoholics drink! They also only drink room temperature water! We made the mistake of giving Ainura cold water from the refrigerator!

Everyone has their rugs hanging on clothes lines here. They actually cover them in snow, hang them up and pound them out to clean them. Seems strange but I guess it works. Ainura said no one really uses clothes dryers. Everyone hangs their laundry out. Believe me, it doesn’t dry very well when it is negative degrees out! Our wash at the end of the day is still soaking wet. We then hang it inside!

We also found out that Ceric’s (our driver) wife is a coordinator with a different adoption agency. Ceric is now driving the Spanish couple to the baby house everyday as well.

I conquered my fear of the grocery store today!! Milon went with me but made me get the groceries and pay! We picked the worst day to do this because it was slammed with people. I did fine and am over my fear...even though people do push a lot around here!

Davis has not wanted to walk anywhere the entire time we have been here. He keeps saying his feet hurt and I have blown it off, thinking he was just being lazy. Today when we walked to the grocery store, I had him wear the boots our coordinator let him borrow when we didn't have our luggage. He walked the entire way there and back. These boots are much larger. I think his boots are too small! Bad mommy! Look at the difference!

Day 5: Ground Hog Day

We are starting to feel like we are in the movie Ground Hog Day. We get up and have the same routine everyday!

Leah was in a great mood today. I fed her the porridge at both visits today. It was a struggle but she ate it all. I finally found out at the afternoon visit from the nanny that she doesn’t know how to eat well. She sticks her tongue on the roof of her mouth when she eats. I thought I had really forgotten how to feed a baby until I heard this!! The afternoon nanny also said she can tell that she misses us and cries when we are gone. This of course makes us feel horrible that we have to leave! We can see a remarkable difference in her already in just the 20 hours we have been with her. She now can stand with support and roll over from front to back and back to front. She is starting to babble much more also.

Check out the ugly hat they hat on her today! Ainura said she looked like she had a chicken on her head!

We met another couple that is on Day 1 bonding form Spain. They are adopting a 1 yr old Kazakh girl with the fairest skin. She is very cute. They will be in the bonding room with us from now on.

It’s amazing how 3 toys can entertain a 3 yr old for 4 hours a day. Here are the toys that he plays with!

I forgot to mention what happened in the baby house yesterday. Milon had to go in time-out. He was kicking a ball with Davis and tried to kick it the entire length of the bonding room and hit the chandelier! We told the nanny who didn’t seem to care, but Davis made it a point to tell on Milon over and over.

We had a special treat of pizza today for lunch. It was a nice change from the usual. I finally saw the infamous hole in the ground toilets that Milon has always told me about. I really wanted to take a picture but it smelled so bad I could go back in. In fact, I let Davis stand and use them but couldn’t bring myself to!

I found out a little about the next step in the process. I had thought that during the appeal period was when the mother was contacted to sign the release, but apparently, that is done before court. They “try” to contact her meaning they send a note to the last known city of residence the birth mom lived in and try to get current address information. If she doesn’t live in that city then the attempt was made and no more has to be done. If they can find her, they have her sign the release.

There is some confusion whether we have to be here during the appeal period or not. We were told we did, but others did not have to. Our agency is checking into the correct answer. It would help greatly if we could just come for court for a few days, go back home for 2 weeks and come back once we have custody for 3 weeks.

Davis is having fun with our driver Ceric. They have a running joke with a mandarin orange. Ceric gave Davis an orange one day and Davis carried this orange with him for a few days. He never let it out of his sight. Finally, he ate it and loved it. The next day, Davis wanted to bring Ceric and orange. He gave the orange to Ceric in the morning and in the afternoon, he asked for the orange back! Ever since then they have been giving each other various oranges! Today, Ceric pulled out a surprise and gave Davis an Apple!

This is a picture of the outside of the baby house Leah is in.

Day 4: Those Lashes

Check out the lashes on Leah!

We arrived at the baby house to find Leah very tired. The caregivers said she was up all night coughing. She was in a good mood but was pretty sleepy. She drank half of the spiked apple juice. I am not sure how much of the vitamins she actually got. I think we might try and squeeze them in her mouth when no one is looking to be sure she gets a full dose. I am not sure if we would get in trouble for this or not. She is very congested and wheezing. I worry she will develop bronchitis or pneumonia. I know she has been sick for 5 days now and it seems to be getting worse. I asked about antibiotics and they said they do give them medicine, but she is not receiving any. I would love to sneak her some of Davis’ “just in case” antibiotics that his pediatrician gave us but I know I would get in a lot of trouble if they caught me! Once again, it’s tough to not be able to take care of your child! She fell asleep in Milon’s arms today. Once she was reclined the cough started again. I can see how she was up all night coughing. She only took a short cat nap and was up again.

They had her dressed in the outfit and hat we brought. The 6-9 month outfit actually fit her pretty well although I am sure the 5 layers of clothes underneath helped fill it out!

Leah broke my necklace today. I guess my brain has really forgotten the baby stage or I would have not worn one on this trip! It’s funny how fast you forget!

Davis was exceptionally tired today also. We brought the computer so he could watch Handy Manny. Leah was fascinated watching the video also! It’s amazing how fast these little ones progress with some TLC. She rolled over twice today! She also is now able to stand with her legs locked! Just 4 days ago she had no idea what to do when I held her up! I caught Davis giving her a hug and kiss as they watched Handy Manny. He didn’t know we were watching. He was explaining who all of the tools in the show were. He asks everyday if we are bringing her home today. I don’t think he understands that we have to come back and get her. I can already see the tears coming when we leave without her.

I finally found out the temperature here. The other day it was 0 degrees. Yesterday was 5 degrees. I have never felt cold like this before. When you open the door it literally takes your breath away. Milon coughs every time.

We are amazed at how long it takes the sun to come up! It doesn’t fully come up until 9:00am! It is like ghost town until about then. However, people go to bed very late. At midnight it looks like it does at 5:00pm!


Sunday we walked to the mall. We didn’t buy anything other than baby powder which a very nice caregiver at the baby house had asked us to bring. (Apparently, Leah has very sensitive skin and they use powder on her bottom rather than lotion.) The mall was very crowded and not stroller friendly at all! It would never pass in the US! Ainura, our translator said she would go with us next time so she could help us find some souvenirs.

We made chicken noodle soup for dinner which was great! I brought bouillon cubes from home to make a broth. We will have that for leftovers tonight.

I am still not terribly homesick or bored. We really don’t have time to be bored. I thought at night we would be going stir crazy but Davis is asleep by 7:30 and we fall asleep on the couches at 8! I am sick with a sinus infection but I am hoping in a few days I will feel better. No kisses for Leah from me today!

We found out we might as well live in Kazakhstan. The earliest we will be able to leave is January 14th, which puts us home on January 15th. Then we have 40 days to wait for our court date and we come back for 5-6 weeks. Milon of course won't be able to stay that long. My mom will probably come to help out with the two kids!

Here are some tips for future Aktobe travelers! Some of these may be apartment specific!

Pick a flight schedule with the LEAST amount of layovers!! We had 15 hours worth of layovers and made the trip twice as awful!
Bring a queen fitted bottom sheet….they don’t have fitted sheets here and all night I am pulling the bottom sheet over so I am not lying on the mattress!!
They have coffee here but it’s instant, no granola bars, no peanut butter
My 1500 watt hairdryer works fine with the adapter
The apartment we are in has an iron, clothes line, washing machine
Bring coffee mugs and large plastic cup
If traveling with kids, bring balloons! It’s our major source on entertainment!
We haven’t found the need for lots of stuff on most adoption travel packing lists like, towels, duct tape, funnels, bungie cords, ice cube trays, sink stoppers, cutting boards
Bring a good knife
Bring pants that are almost too small b/c after wearing them over and over and washing them without a dryer they never get to shrink!

Day 3:Our Newest Addition

Leah Ekaterina Hill

Our daughter was born on April 26, 2008. Her birth name is Ekaterina but her caregivers call her “Katya.”

Leah has dark blonde hair, fair skin, big brown eyes and the longest eye lashes you have ever seen! Even the international doctor said in her 13 years of practice she has never seen such long eyelashes!! She will be one lucky chick when she can wear mascara! She just turned 8 months old and weighs 13 lbs….yes that is right, 13 lbs. She is healthy and has no known medical problems, which is quite rare in international adoption. The doctor observed a video we sent and was surprised at how developmentally on target she is for being institutionalized. She was born 6lbs 12 oz and the doctors feel once she is given adequate nutrition she will gain weight quickly. I am spiking her apple juice with some baby vitamins today!

We have enjoyed getting to know her and can already tell she recognizes us when the caregivers bring her in. She doesn’t cry anymore which the caregivers find amazing. We are so blessed that God has chosen this sweet child for us! It is true what we have been told…you will get the child you are meant to have. She was worth the wait.



Davis has been the best big brother so far. He is very interested in her and wants to hold her a lot. He is always giving kisses to her and brings her toys and shows her how to play with them. When we tell him we are going to the baby house, he gets all excited about seeing his sister. He even brought his blanket to the baby house so he could wrap her up in it. When the caregiver brought Leah in, he ran over to get his blanket. She is just as interested in him. She is thoroughly entertained watching him do anything. When he holds her she is so interested in looking at him and touching his face. I think the two of them have found a playmate for life!


We couldn’t be happier and can’t wait to take her home. As exhausting as this trip has been, it is an experience of a lifetime. We are so grateful that God has chosen this path for us and picked the perfect child to share our life with.


We'll post some videos when we are able to get a high speed connection.

Day 2: We Slept!

Today was Day 2 of bonding. We got off to a great start by sleeping from 8pm-3:30. Davis woke up at 5:00! Woo hoo! We feel much better today. And to make the day even better, our luggage arrived! We all took showers and changed into new clothes and boots! I even had a late cup of coffee with the coffee press and my Dunkin Doughnuts coffee!

We met with the orphanage doctor today. We got all we need in order to send the medical report to the international doctors. There were no major findings in the medical report so that is one huge concern lifted off our shoulders. Now we just want the international doctor to give the all clear and we will post pictures! We should have this Sunday or Monday. Milon and I had a good laugh when the orphanage doctor says “she looks like her father!” I think everyone who has seen the two of them has commented on the resemblance.

We got to see her from 9:30-11:30 and from 4-6. She was in a great mood and LOVES to stand. We discovered she smiles from ear to ear when you kiss her! We are falling in love with her more and more each day. At this mornings visit, she had a hat on that was so tight that her head had a red ring around it. She had so many layers on that she was sweating. They had an undershirt, 2 outfits, and a fleece jacket and pants, tights, and 2 pairs of socks! It is very tough to see this and not be able to do anything about it. I did bring a new hat for her for our afternoon visit. They firmly believe that you get sick from being cold. Even our young coordinator believes this.

We were able to feed her rice cereal mixed with potatoes to stretch the servings. She ate just a little for us. The caregiver says she usually eats it all. We fed her Keifer at the afternoon visit which she gulped down. She is very skinny and I asked if I could bring in baby food for her but the caregiver said they don’t allow it. She loved all of the new toys we brought. I also gave them a ton of clothes, although most I am thinking are too big for her.

Davis enjoyed playing kick ball in the bonding room and the baby enjoyed watching! We are working on naming her so hopefully we will be able to call her by name soon!

I have to say the caregivers truly love these babies. They have all been exceptionally nice and very interested in the babies well being. In fact, at our afternoon visit, a caregiver came in to see who her new parents were. She said she was so excited when she heard she had a new family she had to come meet them. She said the baby was her favorite. She also mentioned that Milon and her have the same eyes.

We will only have a morning visit tomorrow since it is Sunday. We will try to do some sightseeing and souvenir shopping in the afternoon.

Day 1: Bonding

I woke up to the midnight intruder last night again. This time I heard footsteps, went into the den and found the light was turned off. Davis wass lying on the counch in the pitch dark and said he didn't want to wake us! Needless to say it was a horrible night again. Davis went to bed at 9:00 and was up for good at 1:30am. Milon and I slept at most 3 hours last night. And that is with tag teaming all night. He wakes up and is bouncing off the walls. I think we are going to try to keep him up all day today and put him to bed as late as possible and see if that works. Anyone have any suggestions? We are going nuts. My throat is killing me and I am so tired I feel dizzy and nauseas. We are really contemplating how to work the next trip or 2 so we don’t bring him. I think by the time he adjusts, we will be headed home.

We were able to visit the orphanage from 4-6 today. The “baby” didn’t cry when handed to me! She is enjoying her new found legs! We hold her and let her stand and she gets very excited. She cries when we sit her back down. She was dressed in the same orange outfit that we met her in the first day. She had on so many layers! She had an undershirt on, thick footed tights, long sleeve long pants onsie, then this orange all in one outfit, and socks and of course the same yellow hat!

We were told to bring in diapers for her. She is size 2 and of course I had to bring Pampers! We are able to feed her dinner starting on Monday. I need to bring in outfits, but will have to wait until the luggage comes. I need to go to the store to by tights, new hat and thick socks. I am worried my outfits will be rejected! I only brought 1 or 2 size 3-6 month outfits which I don’t think are that warm.

We were told we would meet with her doctor today but something happened and he didn’t show up. We are getting a little discouraged by the lack of medical information we have received. Basically none. We are eager to get the pictures and information to our international doctor for their seal of approval. That seems to be the last hurdle we have left to overcome. Meanwhile, we did more research on what is normal for her age. She seems to be not very far behind. The caregiver says she can babble and says ma ma ma. She said she is very active and can hold her own with the other babies. She was able to lift her head up and chest leaning on her arms. She was also able to respond to sounds, follow objects, pick up a small object off a table, and keep her head erect when being pulled up from lying down position. All are good signs but we won't rest easy until the International Doctors agree!

Here are some pictures of the bonding room we will spend 4 hours a day in. We have to sit on the couch with her because they say it's too cold for babies to sit on the floor. They truly believe babies get sick from being cold. We had to keep her in a huge blanket and of course this time I remembered to wrap her legs as well! They are very concerned about Davis being cold. Gulnara our coordinator gave us boots for him to wear which was very nice. We have not left the apt with him because of his shoes. One of the doctors said Davis needed a scarf to wrap around his neck. Of course, I don't have one so that is on the list to buy. I am quickly learning to do "whatever" it takes to please. I can agree, I would like him in a sweatshirt and thicker socks in the bonding room but until our luggage comes I can't do anything about it.

This is a picture of our translator Ainura. She is a 22 yr old girl who lives with her parents. This is her second job which she fills in with. She works as a manager’s assistant as her full time job. Ainura loves to play with Davis and is always worried about him being cold. Ainura said that Kazakhstan won the bid to hold the next winter Olympics. She said that Kazakhstan has a long term economic and social plan that they hope to complete by 2030. In the bonding room, they have a poster with a picture of the president and the year 2030.

Our driver Ceric is a very nice man with limited English. He has 5 children. He is very interested in Davis and always is speaking with him, although Davis doesn’t understand a word of what he says! Ceric asked us about what we thought of Obama becoming president. They are very worried here because they said how our economy is doing determines how their economy does.

After seeing the same people day after day it is evident that people have limited means here. We have seen several people that have worn the same outfit since we arrived 3 days ago. There are always people digging in the dumpsters for food by our apartment. It is quite sad. I love to sit at the window in our apt and watch people go by. Everyone is dressed up and looks so nice. Women are walking in ice and snow with high heel boots! Fur coats and hats are everywhere.

Our Christmas Present

Merry Christmas everyone! We actually forgot it was Christmas! We miss everyone but can't think of anywhere else we would rather be. Other than at home with all 4 of us!

We got to see the baby for 2 hours from 4-6pm today. This doesn’t count as the official 15 day bonding period but it was nice to see her. This time the caregiver handed her to me and she cried for maybe 2 minutes. It was a dry cry as she didn’t have any tears. After that, we sat on the couch with her and Davis. We forgot a blanket to put on the floor as they don’t like babies sitting directly on the floor due to the cold.

She was wearing a pink outfit today with the same red socks and yellow hat. She had an undershirt on under the pink outfit and tights on under that. They brought a blanket to wrap her in because they said it was too cold. It was probably 69 degrees in the bonding room. Although, I can say the bonding room was much colder than I was anticipating. I was also anticipating her having a snow suit on! We did get scolded because when the caregiver came back to take her she said we didn’t have her legs covered in the blanket. Now, I was holding her on my hip with the blanket wrapped around her and I guess she didn’t like the fact that her legs were exposed. I know others that have adopted from this orphanage got yelled at as well, and yes I will learn to do what is expected soon! Okay enough of that…

I had brought a play cell phone that lights up and makes sounds. This was a big hit. At first she just watched but then reached for the phone. Davis was so interested in her. He sat with us on the couch playing with her the entire visit. He copied everything I did and said to her! He tried very hard to make her laugh and was able to crack a smile a few times. He brought her toys one by one and showed her how to play with them. I wanted to see if she was able to grasp for items which she readily did. She even transferred toys from one hand to the other. We blew a balloon up for Davis and she was able to follow the balloon as he hit it across the room. She would work hard to get a toy if she dropped it. Davis asked to hold her several times and we let him (of course holding her also). She loves toys! Every toy Davis brought over she would look at and kick her arms and legs in the air and start babbling and smiling. At the start of the visit she was very serious. It took standing on our heads to get her to crack a smile. Towards the end of the visit she definitely came out of her shell. I held her letting her stand up on her legs and it was evident she wasn’t sure what to do. By the end, she got the hang of it and was jumping.

We still have not gotten her medical records. Supposedly, tomorrow we will speak with the head doctor. I can say from everything I have read she is achieving a lot of the major milestones for 8 months. She has a slight rash on her forehead where her hat rests and under her neck in the folds. It looks like prickly heat from sweat to me. It isn’t anything serious, just looks like an irritation of some sort. I am sure some butt paste would take care of it, but I am not sure if I am allowed to put it on. We haven’t been told very much as far as what we can bring her. Our translator said we needed to bring juice (which of course I will spike with some vitamins), clothes and diapers. We might need to go shopping because I didn’t bring that many 3-6 months outfits which I am guessing she is in. I know I didn’t bring wool socks and tights!

We are told we will visit only once tomorrow from 4-6pm because of paperwork that is being submitted at 10am. They said it will still count as Day 1 of bonding. We are told we will meet with the head doctor tomorrow.

On to the rest of the day. I woke up to what I thought was someone in our apartment! I heard foot steps in the apartment around 12:30 and freaked out! I had left a light on inside so if we need to get up we would be able to see since I have no idea where the light switches are. I walked into Davis’ room and looked in the bed and didn’t see him. I walked around the apartment and finally saw him sitting on the floor in another room. He said he tip-toed quietly past our room so he didn’t wake us up! Is this the same kid that is afraid of shadows at home? Needless to say, we didn’t get very much sleep last night. We watched Tom and Jerry in Russian!

Adjusting to the new time zone is going to be harder than we thought for Davis. He was up from 5:30- 10:30 with only having slept 6 hours. I took the 12:30 to 2:30 shift. Milon took the 2:30-5:30 shift and I took the 5:30-7:30 shift. Davis did nap for a few hours until 12:30.

Taking Davis on this trip has added a whole layer of complications. He isn’t eating very much and is having difficulty adjusting to the time change. If it were just Milon and me, we could sleep during the day to catch up but that is not possible with him. All in all, he has been a trooper so I won’t complain. I would never have guessed he would be able to sit still for 7 hours, multiple times within a 24 hour period! We use to gobble our food down because he couldn’t sit still at a restaurant for 10 minutes!

We are realizing we should have brought a DVD player and some more movies. TV is in Russian, even though he doesn’t seem to care. We are playing movies on the laptop but that means the laptop is occupied. I did bring Handy Manny, Scooby Doo, and Dora videos and quite a few movies but I can see where we will be sick of seeing them by the end of this trip.

I think once our luggage arrives we will find this trip easier. We packed a ton of toys and comfort items which we are finding uncomfortable to live without! Like my hairdryer! I wound up using the iron they have here to flatten my hair! It was so frizzy from air drying. It didn’t really work so I just wore it up. I have been in the same shirt now for 4 days! By the time our luggage arrives it will be 6 days! Milon forgot to put the extra shirt that I had out in the carry on luggage. They do have a washing machine so we are doing wash everyday so at least our clothes are clean although we only have soap for 1 more wash. Our jeans are very stiff from air drying and I didn’t realize how much I rely on the dryer to shrink my pants after wearing them! On a good note, the coffee isn’t bad. We found some instant coffee and what I think is milk. It isn’t bad although the coffee will get better once my coffee press and creamer arrives!

The weather here is cold and there are a few inches of snow on the ground. I would guess it’s in the 30’s but windy. Everyone here wears fur coats or fur collars and sleeves. Hats are a major fashion statement. I am glad I brought my dark blue pea coat instead of my lime green Nothface jacket. I would have really stood out as most wear dark colors and are pretty dressed up.

Milon made a run to the store again. He bought some mortadella, salami and some more bread. Davis ate cheese, salami, mortadella and olives for lunch. I feel like we are in Greece instead of Kazakhstan! The grocery stores are pretty small. Maybe half the size of Trader Joes. The only vegetables we could find were cabbage and potatoes. Fruit is pretty sparse as well. We did find bananas, mangoes, lemons and limes.

Me, the homesick queen, am so far doing okay. We do have a lot of downtime and with it being so cold and not having boots and warmer clothes, Davis and I are staying inside. I am missing a few things pretty badly like diet soda (which I did just find), salt (which I need to look for), my coffee press (which is coming). Other than that, I am excited for our visits to the orphanage and getting on a schedule will be helpful.

We Finally Met you!

We were asked if we wanted to go to the orphanage the same day we arrived or wait until the morning. We of course wanted to go right away. We realize things won’t settle down until the first few days are out of the way so we wanted to get the process started, not to mention finally meet our daughter!

We were driven to the orphanage at 3 o’clock. We pulled up to the pink babyhouse which we knew from others blogs was the older child babyhouse. We weren’t concerned because Gulnara, our coordinator here in Aktobe, had told us about the baby we were going to meet. She was the only baby girl at the orphanage.

Our interpreter had said that it was standard practice to show us additional children before they showed us the baby. We were okay with that. We walked upstairs and sat outside the orphanage director and doctor’s office. We walked into the Head Doctors office and sat down. He asked us for our passports. We forgot to bring them! Gulnara had a copy and showed him. We then go downstairs into a large bonding room and waited for them to bring us children. Accompanying us was our translator, coordinator and a guy from the Ministry of Education which witnesses the initial meeting. We stand around for a few minutes nervous as can be. We are then told that they won’t show us any children in this orphanage since all they have is boys and we already have a boy. We get in the car and drive to the blue babyhouse. In the car our interpreter says the guy from the ministries said Davis wasn’t dressed warmly enough. He had on a huge ski jacket, gloves, and a hat! I will admit he did have on Keen shoes that aren’t the warmest but his snow boots are in our missing luggage! Gulnara explained to him that our luggage was lost and these are the warmest clothes we have. Nothing like criticizing your parenting skills straight away!

We walked into the bonding room that I so well recognized from others blogs. In a split second a caregiver walks in holding a baby. We had no idea if she was “the one” or not because we were told we would be shown a boy as well. She was dressed in a very old orange outfit with red socks and a yellow hat. She had a few bumps on her forehead and seemed to have a slight cold. They hand her to me, she cries and reaches for her caregiver. I knew from reading books this was a great reaction for a child to have because it shows the ability to bond to their caregivers. She cries and cries and I hand her back so they can calm her down. They hand her back to me and tell Milon to walk on the other side of the room because she is not use to seeing men. I didn’t think this is why she was crying but I am wouldn’t question them. They hand her back to me and she cries some more. I walk around with her trying to distract her. We look out the window, I hand her a toy, we look at some Christmas decorations. She finally stops crying (this seemed like eternity to me but in reality it was about 5 minutes!). For about 2 minutes more I was able to distract her enough that she forgot who was holding her and every now and then would look up at me and cry! After that she was fine! Talk about pressure…I had 4 people watching this! The MOE guy, coordinator, translator and caregiver! What would happen if she didn’t stop crying! I knew it is typical for the babies to cry but didn’t realize I would be on stage trying to get her to stop!

They did bring in another baby boy who appeared to be around 12 months old. They asked Milon if we were interested in meeting him and Milon politely said we were interested in a girl.

Meanwhile, Milon was on the floor playing with Davis. I had wrapped 2 new surprise toys for Davis because I knew he would need to be entertained during this important time. At one point Davis wanted to run over to me to show me the toys and Milon called for Davis to stay with him. They all said no, no that it was fine for him to come see me. The baby was very interested in Davis. I could tell Davis didn’t really get he was looking at his sister.

After she had calmed down I handed her to Milon. She didn’t cry at all and he sat on the floor with her and she was mesmerized watching Davis play with the toys.

I am not going to give out too many details right now until we have all of her medical information and have gotten the okay from the International Doctor. She is almost 8 month old Russian girl. She’s gorgeous and she looks EXACTLY like Milon!! We all laughed so hard when we saw him holding her! I have to say I think she looks more like Milon than Davis! The very serious MOE guy was even laughing and commenting on the similarity! She has brown hair that is very short, and eyelashes to die for! She is small, although it could be that I am use to a big kid now! I would guess she’s in 3-6 month clothes! Our bonding will officially start on Friday since some paperwork needs to be completed in order to start the process. This will probably add 2 extra days onto our trip but that’s okay. It was evident that the caregivers and employees at the orphanage really care for the children. As we were filling our paperwork, several caregivers and 2 medical doctors came in to see if we agreed to bond with her. They all seemed very happy she would have a home and congratulated us. We made the mistake of wearing shoes on the bonding room rug. I remembered reading it in others blogs, but totally forgot once they handed her to me! I totally understand them not wanting babies crawl around on a dirty floor, especially with the dirt that comes in from wet snow.

We both agree it is a very strange feeling and doesn’t quite feel real. It all happened so fast and we were so exhausted, I felt like I was in a dream. We only were with her for about 20 minutes. We are going to have an unofficial bonding day tomorrow where we can see her for 2 hours, but it won’t count as the 15 days. We can’t wait to get to know her and see her again! We were told we could not take pictures until we officially start bonding which will be Friday. We hope to be able to share more and post pictures soon!

Touchdown in Aktobe!

We have finally arrived safe and sound in Aktobe. The flight was extremely long, we are exhausted but have finally settled into our apartment. Sorry for the delay in posting. We just got our internet card so I am retroactively posting entries.

Davis did great on the plane rides. He spent the plane ride to Philadelphia looking out the window. Didn’t have much of a layover in Philly but he found a young boy to race cars with in the airport. From Philadelphia to Frankfurt he finally fell asleep at 10:30pm and was able to sleep 3 hours before we landed. Then we had a 7 hour layover in Frankfurt. We were able to use the Lufthansa lounge because Milon is a United 1K member which helped out a lot! I haven’t a clue how we killed 7 hours but we did and Davis was entertained the whole time. We then had the flight from Frankfurt to Almaty which he fell asleep before take off and woke up once the plane landed. In Almaty, we were met by a young coordinator named Marina. She showed us a little restaurant in the airport we could wait for the next flight. We could have gone to a hotel near the airport, but figured for 6 hours it wasn’t worth it. Plus, Davis had just woken up from a 6 hr nap. He did great in the restaurant and even found friends playing peek a boo with the waiters! By the time we boarded the plane he was wiped out but wouldn’t sleep on the 2 hour and 45 minute flight.

We were met in the Aktobe airport by a very sweet interpreter named Ainura and driver named Ceric. They took us to our apartment and Davis fell asleep on the 5 minute drive. He slept for 4 hours and boy did he need to.

Our luggage was somehow lost in all of these connections…surprise, surprise. We do have 1 carry-on which we packed with hats, gloves and an extra outfit and PJs for Davis, all which we are grateful for. I am sleeping in an undershirt the airport gave us in a complimentary “We lost your luggage bag.” They think it should arrive in Aktobe on Saturday.

Our apartment is located across from a stadium in a big cement building. It is quiet large and has 2 bedrooms. The furnishings are old, and the floors are wavy linoleum but it’s comfortable enough for us to stay. It is VERY hot inside. We have all of the windows open in order to cool it off. There is a very small (like the size of a US closet) store beneath our apt where we bought some water, apple juice, bread and pasta. We had spaghetti with what Milon thought was tomato sauce but turned out to be tomato paste and bread for lunch. We made it to the larger store later in the day where we were able to buy some eggs, olives, cereal, yogurt, and coffee and milk. I feel like I am camping! It’s hard to make meals without a lot of ingredients and no spices or seasoning. I had packed a lot of food such as oatmeal, mac and cheese, syrup, etc but we will have to do without until our luggage comes.

And Away We GO!

Today's the day we embark on a whirlwind journey across the world! No one slept well last night, including Davis. He was up from 3-6am. We both could not sleep either. I took Ambien and then added a dose of Advil PM on top and that finally knocked me out only to get up a few hours later with Davis. I have a feeling he is fighting a cold. He is starting to slightly cough and his lymph node is swollen on his neck. My throat slightly hurts and I have drainage. I am sure in 30 hours we will have much more to complain about!

Davis is very excited. I am not sure how much of all of this he gets. He knows we leave today and jumps up and down when he mentions it. Of course, when I asked him why he was up last night he said he thought Santa Clause was coming to our house, so who knows! I think his world is slightly screwed up right now, but it will only get worse in a few days!

I am praying the airplane ride goes well. Here is a snapshot of our trip. We leave RDU for Philly which is about 1 hr. Have an hour layover in Philly. Leave for Frankfurt which is a 8 hour flight. Have a 5 hour layover in Frankfurt. Leave for Almaty, Kaz which is a 7 hour flight. Have a 7 hour layover in Almaty before getting the 2 hour flight to Aktobe, Kaz.

Doesn't that sound fun? Especially with a 3 yr old! I am not sure who is going to be grouchier. Us or him!

Milon and I are still in disbelief. It hasn't sunk in that we are travelling today to meet our new daughter! We are so excited to see her little face and get to know her! I think once we pull up to the orphanage I will be shaking in my boots, literally! Not sure how much will be from the cold and snow and how much will be nerves! The weather looks like it will be in the 30's and snow off and on. Davis will be excited to see the snow. Hopefully, we will have a chance to play in it a little.

Well, this is officially my last post from home. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We will miss everyone but I can say there is no place we would rather be this Christmas and New Year.

By the way, I never got a chance to do Christmas cards!

Love to all,
Susan, Milon and Davis

LOI Finally Arrived!

The long awaited, infamous Letter of Invitation finally arrived!

We decided to take a side trip to California this past weekend to get away and attend Milon's grandmother's 90th birthday party. We had no idea that the day after we got back our coordinator would call and say our LOI was finally done. They had guessed it might be done the 19th but we didn't put much faith in that date because we didn't want to be disappointed.

So the scramble was on to get our Visas. They were shipped out the same day and were in NY just in time for the blizzard! We were extremely nervous about getting them back the very next day, but GO FED EX they arrived (a few hundred dollars later) on Saturday.

We are optimistic about the plane ride with Davis. He was an angel on the way to and from California! He didn't nap and I have no idea what he did for 5 hours, but he sat quietly and was entertained the whole time. It was a great trial run. I did learn to bring toys that he can do things with rather than toy cars, etc. I am stocking up on playdough, legos, books, etc.

We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Another Brick in the Wall

Our tickets were booked, bags were packed, house was clean, Christmas taken down, paperwork ready...and we aren't going anywhere.

I thought my next post would be from Kazakhstan but apparently, that is not going to be the case. We got a call that our registration numbers have not arrived and therefore, we cannot get our visas.

Why? We are still trying to figure it out. I could buy the idea that they just haven't been processed yet IF we are talking about delaying a few days. But when we are talking weeks, I have a harder time buying in. Unless of course the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing which is quickly becoming apparent to me. Is it because there are now no more children available for adoption and we are back "in the queue"? This seems more plausible, but we don't have confirmation of this.

When? We have no idea. Could be days, weeks, months, I have no idea.

What about this process is best for the child? What is best for the adoptive parents? How do we make sense of this to a 3 yr old when we can't make sense of it ourselves? How do I continue to have a "normal" existence when nothing is normal about it?

It was suggested that I not post about travel dates, possible child, etc which is partly why I haven't mentioned exact dates, etc. I thought long and hard about even posting this entry but I reminded myself that this blog is for one person ONLY....our daughter. I want her to know how difficult this journey has been and how much she is truly wanted. I feel like I have just had a miscarriage. The excitement of the pregnancy quickly turns to sadness as it ends. Enduring Negative pregnancy tests over and over again is easier emotionally than this adoption! I don't know at what point it is "safe" to be excited! Surely not today.

So at this point, I don't have any answers. We are trying to make sense of it ourselves and hoping over the next few days we become comfortably numb. (yes, for who get the Pink Reference...I have been with Milon way too long)