Lilypie Waiting to adopt Ticker
"No I didn't give you the gift of life, but life gave me the gift of you!"

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Blog Now Open To All Readers

I just wanted to quick post that if you want to pass on our journey/blog to other adoptive families, or if you would like to add a link on your blog to our blog, please feel free, I have un-password protected our blog now that we are back safe and sound. Is un-password protected a real word/phrase? :)

I plan to post one last post soon and then we will be starting a new 'family' blog.

Congratulations Karla and Ben, as of today, they should be in Aqtobe to meet their child!

Friday, February 22, 2008

Sleeping in a Cardboard Box




Nearly a week late on my post, but better than leaving you hanging. :)

Our plane ride went very well all things considered. I realized on the plane that it truly does take a village to raise a baby. :) I am not sure what I would have done without my mom and sister on our trip home. Truly, it is way more stressful than you even think it will be. We left Almaty at 8:20 a.m. on Sunday, that meant we had to leave our apt. at 6:00 a.m. which meant we had to be up at 5:00 a.m. and when you get to sleep around midnight - 1:00 a.m. 5:00 a.m. comes fast. Did you get all of that? haha When we arrived at the airport, a gentleman helped load all of our luggage on to a cart and brought it inside for us. I thought that I was being more than generous when I gave him 1000 tenge, this is about $9.00 He then told me that it was 2000 tenge. What? That is ridiculous! Isn't that supposed to be a tip job? I guess that I know what job I will do if I ever live in Kaz. 5 minutes of work and he made nearly $20. Crazy!

On both flights, us 4 girls scored bulkhead seats! Total Score! Originally when we got on the flight from Almaty I was upset because the lady at the desk that spent nearly 20 minutes 'getting' us bulkhead seats, didn't really get us bulkhead seats. Not even Z and I had bulkhead seats, and to top it off, my mom and sister were way in the back of the plane and Z and I were up front in a normal aisle seat. Grrrr! But 2 wonderful flight attendants to the rescue, and once the plane filled, she had set us up in great bulkhead seats. So nice!

They brought the bassinet to us but didn't hang it on the wall; Z is just under the recommended weight limit at 18 lbs, so instead we just set the bassinet on the floor. When I saw how small it was, and knew how tall Z is, I laughed. There was no way she was going to fit in there nontheless sleep or be content in there. But, much to our surprise, when we put her in the bassinet to play, she was great! This kid is unbelievable! It really makes me think that maybe they have small independant cribs at the baby house. That is the only explanation for her content in this tiny little crib. She did end up sleeping in the bassinet during part of the flight too.. On the second flight, she even slept in the bassinet attached to the wall of the plane. Yikes! There wasn't any floor room on this flight to just put her bassinet on the floor so we tried out the traditional wall mount bassinet, and it was good. It was kind of funny though, on this flight, the bassinet was soft, so they put a carboard box in the bassinet to give it shape and then they filled it with pillows. My girl had to sleep in a cardboard box.













We also learned that Z is a flirt. She loves boys, from afar of course. She was smiling and peek-a-booing with several men on both flights. It was great! We heard several times that she was just beautiful and that we had a remarkable baby. She was a total doll on both flights, barely a cry out of her. (She did cry, but it was so little that we can say that it didn't count.) On the flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis, there was a large, very tattooed gentleman that sat next to us in the bulkhead seats. When he saw that he was to share a row with 3 women and a small baby, he sighed outloud. By the end of the flight, he and Z were smiling and flirting with each other too. It was great!

Sad news, our flight from Almaty to Amsterdam was nearly 2 hours late, so we were not able to meet up with Kristi at the Amsterdam airport. So close but no meeting. That was disappointing to say the least.

Tip - If you are bringing Russian Vodka home for your man (or a friend or family member) pack it in your checked luggage. We had zero problem carrying 3 .5 liter bottles on the plane from Almaty to Amsterdam, not even a ? in Almaty, but in Amsterdam they wouldn't allow it. If it were up to me, I would have thrown away all of our bottles but my sister was determined to get this Vodka back to the States. Now, my sister is not a drinker at all, I have probably only seen her tipsy twice (not even drunk) but she had paid a lot of money for this stuff, so we just had to find a way. In the end, we emptied Z's backpack of stuff, wrapped mom's coat around the vodka and checked the backpack at the security gate. Z's backpack items just went into a plastic shopping back which we then carried on to the plane and all was good. I am happy to say that all of our Premium Russian Vodka safely made it back to our boys. Feweee!

Z had fun listening to the kid's cartoons on the airplane, how cute is this!






When we arrived in Minneapolis, we took Z through the immigration line (after standing in the wrong line for 15 minutes) and within a matter of 5 minutes and maybe 5 questions, we were given the good to go. Z is now a U.S. citizen! How awesome is that! At this point we only have a Kazakhstan Passport for her and a U.S. Visa, but her U.S. passport is underway! As soon as our little girl breathed that Minnesota air, she officially became a U.S. citizen.

Then it was off to baggage claim where we found all of our luggage along with our Vodka backpack. Score! Then through another security line with our luggage, and bam, we might have meat in Z's baby food so off to the scanning line. Just an fyi - no baby food with meat people. After having to put all of our luggage through the scanner, we found out the my mom brought a huge back of nuts back into the U.S. Yikes! Luckily they didn't see this, but it was a good laugh after the fact. You can bring these items out of the U.S. but not back in, even if you initially brought them with you and are bringing those same nuts back in the States, it is a no no.

After going through the immigration, customs and security hoops, we were greated by my sister's family just awaiting our arrival. Ty, Izaak and Elijah (my nephews, mom's grandsons and Becky's children) Dan (Becky's husband). It was great! They had big heart balloons and gifts for Z. What a great gift.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

More on our Almaty Adventure











Hi all, so sorry for the delays in posts, I am learning that being a mom takes a bit of time. :) Time well spent of course. I wanted to include some addtional photos of our 'girl time' in Almaty. Mom (Grandma), Aunt Becky, Zahri and I have great memories from our time there, although our time was minimal, and jet lag was setting in, we have many great memories that will stay with us for a lifetime.

Our visit to the U.S. Embassy was wonderful, the gentleman that helped us (by giving us our immigration paperwork and conducting our little interview) was so wonderful. You could tell that this man understood the magnitude of the situation and the joy that our family was experiencing. The Embassy is on the 17th floor of a building in downtown Almaty and I was told that there are only elevators, no public staircase. That made me nervous; I guess there is a secret small staircase, but even my translator, who visits the embassy often, didn't know where it was.

In Almaty we shopped at the Tsum Market 3 times, it was a lot of fun! There were really reasonably priced souveneirs and tons to choose from; this mall was much more reasonable than the shopping in Aqtobe. We also went to a jewelry store just across the walkway from the Tsum Mall, and I bought a beautiful aquamarine and silver ring. Both Z and I were born in March, so our birthstones are aquamarine, so I thought it would be fun to get a ring to pass down to her when she is 16 or 18. :) We did learn that the diamonds are real at the front of the store, but nearing the back they are actually cubic zarcons, which was a sad realism after my mom bought $400 in jewelry and found out that the diamonds are not even real. Ugh! It was still a nice purchase, as the Gold is a bit different (Russian Gold) but she probably would have passed on the $200 bracelet had she known about the diamonds.

As mentioned before, our apartment was very cozy and super clean and updated. Here are some photos, the inside photos just don't do it any justice, but I had to hurry and take snaps at 6:00 am as we were leaving for the airport.






















This is the great little coffee shop that we visited several times, it is called Biscuit.












We also weren't so adventurous when it came to eating out, I think that we ate Italian like 3 times. hehe











Check out the ice on the street. Holy Cow!













Here is a photo of Marina (my rockin' coordinator in Almaty), Zahri and I.











Here are mom, Becky, Zahri and I at the Chinese Calendar monuments just across the street from our apartment. It was so cool, there was an indoor underground ice sculpture building and then the Chinese / Kazak Calendar monuments were in a park just beside the ice sculpture building. The ice sculpture place wasn't yet open so we didn't get to see it. :(









My sister made Z the sweetest travel blanket, it matches her snowsuit that Aunt Becky also bought for us. Both are the cutest ever..........and they aren't even pink. :) The blanket is even embroidered with Z's name, it is the best and came in super handy in the chilly weather. This is a photo of Auntie Becky showing us the blanket for the first time!










Although Almaty was a pretty nice city with many current shopping centers and very nice buildings and restaurants, there still were some older, pretty run down looking, soviet style apartment buildings. I found this huge apartment building in downtown Almaty interesting.







Here is a photo of Z and I, Z is in the Kozy carrier which I love, in front of a monument of a Kazak man with his Dombra. I really should know more about this statue, but I don't, so here it is. haha









More to come on our plane ride home and life at our home!! :)

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Leaving on a Jet Plane

So much to post, but have way too much packing to do. Love the LMI team here! They rock and got us out of Almaty as scheduled! Leaving on a jet plane, us 4 girls, tomorrow morning at 8:00. Yahoooo! Once the plane hits the Minnesota soil, Z will officially be a U.S. citizen. :)

I have many additional photos and a couple more Kaz experiences to post, but I wanted to keep everyone updated that we are in fact on OUR WAY HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday, February 15, 2008

Great News!


So much great news to share today!

After a little stress and much hope and faith in my team here in Kazakhstan, it is official, we are coming home this Sunday the 17th! Yahooo! How weird is that to say!! After nearly exactly 2 months here (left for Kaz Dec 19 and leaving on Feb 17), we are heading home as a family, us 4 girls! Because the chief judge didn’t count Saturday as the last day of my appeal period, and instead said that it would be Monday, that put us 2 days behind in paperwork. My passport application left Aqtobe for Astana on Wednesday last week, and didn’t get back to Aqtobe until this Wednesday, a week in transport. Yikes! I was stressing! That meant that Wednesday morning Gulnara needed to run my paperwork to get stamped and notarized that day and get it on the plane to fly back to Astana that night; which in turn meant that Thursday our LMI Astana coordinator needed to get the passport application back to the necessary people to have it signed off on and get it on the plane Thursday night to fly it to Almaty; which in turn meant that Marina needed to pick up the paperwork late Thursday night at the airport in order to set up our U.S. Embassy appointment Friday morning for Friday afternoon. Of course, being that it is winter, this all hinged on a bunch of team work from LMI’s Kazakhstan coordinators (in all 3 regions) and the weather, if any flight was delayed at all, or any coordinator ran late on the schedule, this would push back our U.S. Embassy appointment until next week. This would mean more money for an apartment, food, and grandma and Aunt Becky would then need to pay to change their airline tickets. Ugh! But all is good, and we are all set to fly home this Sunday! U.S. here we come!

Great news #2 – As you may know, Kristi in Guadalajara, is flying out Saturday to meet her beautiful daughter in Semey. I had emailed her to congratulate her on her travels, and let her know that I was disappointed that we would be missing each other in Almaty by just one day; Kristi flies into Almaty Monday and we fly out Sunday. Kristi works for the U.S. Embassy in Guadalajara and we have many crazy similarities: both named Kristi / Christy, same age, both single, both middle children, both have an older sister named Becky and we are both from the Midwest. Crazy hu! Anyhow, here comes the fantastic news, we will both be in Amsterdam at the same time on Sunday so we are meeting up at 1:00 in the airport to officially meet. Out of 365 days in the year, God has put us in the same place at the same time to have our chance meeting as friends. Life is great!


Wednesday was a tough day, we had our doctor’s appointment at the SOS Clinic. Why they chose to take blood for the HIV test first I do not understand! Why wouldn’t you schedule the owie appointment as the last doctor the child sees?????? They pricked Zahri’s little finger and squeezed it while she screamed, they filled an entire little tiny vile. I would say that the vile is the size of ½ of a pen’s ink tube, it is about that size in diameter and about ½ the length. It was so terrible, poor little bean! When we got out of that appointment she kept looking at her little finger with the band aid. Ugh! The next 2 doctors we saw there were easy, one just weighed Z and took her height, and the other looked in her ears, throat and such. Again, why wasn’t the HIV test done last??????? Grrrr!

Today the four of us girls visited the Tsum Mall again and spent about 3 hours shopping on our own, it was a great time! We actually found so many fun gifts for our friends and family back home! Z, of course, was a complete trooper, she slept for about an hour in her Kozy Carrier. I love that carrier! She is still snuggled up to me but it frees up my hands and tired muscles = perfect! After shopping we went to an Italian Restaurant on the corner, just about a block from the Mall, I believe that it is called Mama Mia. They have an English Menu and amazing food and service, we were so thankful for the great recommendation by our rockin’ driver Sam. Sam speaks great English too, which was a total bonus; in talking with Sam, we found out that Sam speaks 7 languages. Wow! We love the team here in Almaty too! Marina is the head coordinator for LMI in Kazakhstan, so she takes care of all of our paperwork, setting us up in our stellar apartment, scheduling, etc. Kate, is our translator, and we absolutely adore her too! Kate is totally spunky and a ton of fun! Both Kate and Marina are in the mid-later 20s. The entire team here, during our brief one week stay, has been more than accommodating, they are always saying, ‘You call us anytime, if you need anything we are here.” At the SOS clinic Kate even put on mine and my mom’s boot slippers for us, it felt weird, but how nice of her! She also makes sure that she carries my mom’s shopping bags. Wow! She wouldn’t let us walk 2 blocks with Z to get groceries (no parking near that store I guess), as our interim driver had suggested, instead she had him drive us to another grocery store with curbside parking. The little things make such a difference! I was pretty specific in asking for a nicer apartment here in Almaty, since mom and Beck were traveling ½ way around the world for only a week stay & we had initially wanted to stay at a hotel but the prices for rooms that accommodated 3 adults and 1 child were ridiculous, and Marina did a ton of searching for us. When Kate showed mom and Beck the apartment, as they got here before I did on Monday, she made sure to say that if they didn’t like this apartment she and Marina would make sure to find us better accommodations, no worries! Wow hu! They are really great here too!

On to the best stuff: Zahri!

I shared with Marina that Zahri keeps saying ‘da da da da,’ and it was making me feel guilty. Haha j/k And Marina calmed my fears and told me that da da in Russian means ‘give me,’ so I feel much better now knowing that Z isn’t already asking for a dad. Give your mom some time girlfriend!

Zahri loves bananas, she can eat an entire banana no problem!








Here is Z taking a bath in our Almaty apartment. How cute are these photos! Thank you Aunt Becky for taking such great photos and for really washing Z’s hair for the first time. I must add that after the bath, Z was all bundled up in a towel, and we were cuddled………..when I felt something warm on my leg, yep she peed on me!










Today Aunt Beck and Z played a new game called ‘Kickin.’ Aunt Becky holds Z up in the air and says kick, kick, kick and Z goes crazy kickin’ her little legs. This is the best photo ever! I am learning that I need 3 people to raise this little girl. Uh oh! It is such a great help to have the extra hands and entertainment when mixing her bottles, changing her diapers, making her porridge, etc.




Z now officially has 7 teeth! You just have to smile when she smiles, she is so damn cute! Sorry everyone, but I got the best little girl in Kaz, it is official!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

We are in Almaty Safe & Sound









Grandma, Aunt Becky, Zahri & I are officially in Almaty safe and sound! I am sorry that I haven’t blogged as of yet, but it has been quite hectic since arriving. Marina, our Almaty coordinator, really hooked us up here in Almaty. Our apartment is about 2 blocks from the Kazakhstan Hotel, the tallest building in Almaty, which is a really nice location. And the apartment itself is a 2 bedroom, with a living room and is totally spectacular. Inside is filled with true hardwood floors, beautiful furnishings, an updated Kitchen with new appliances, including a microwave. There is also a washing machine here. Some total perks are the non-smelling lavatory room (with a toilet that doesn’t constantly run), outlets that are connected to the wall, a doorbell (sounds strange but I missed Bayana several times at my last apartment because I couldn’t hear her knock through the 2 doors), clean beds with fluffy blankets and real pillows, sink stoppers in all sinks and the shower and a clean tub. We are so comfortable here, and it turned out to be quite a bit more reasonable than staying at a hotel. The outside of the building is a typical Soviet style old concrete building, the hallways seem spooky and cold because they are all concrete and old metal railings, but once you get inside the apartment you are totally at home!

Z was a rock star on the trip, she is such a trooper. As long as I am there, she is okay. On the plane, she didn’t even cry. She got antsy and a bit winy, but never a cry or a scream. My fear was having that screaming child that you couldn’t calm, that nerved out all of your poor neighboring passengers, but I again was blessed. It was so wonderful, at the Aqtobe airport, Bayan totally took care of checking in my luggage, getting me a bag of chips and tea, and staying with us until we boarded. Bayan even asked the man ahead of me in line to please carry my carry on onto the plane for me, and he kindly helped out, both getting on to the plane and getting off the plane in Almaty. Many times, between getting on the plane in Aqtobe and arriving at my apartment, we were helped by people letting us go first, cut in line, carrying our bags, etc. It was so nice! In the Aqtobe airport, I was so thankful that we were befriended by other passengers, in fact several people smiled at Z and I. We were blowing bubbles in the airport, singing songs, and such and other people really responded in kind which was so nice. You just don’t know here how you will be taken sometimes.

Backtrack a bit; here are a couple photos of Z playing with herself in the mirror at our first apartment in Aqtobe. It was so darn cute! She also found a 5 Liter water jug to play with, cute photos!




Zahri already adores Grandma and Auntie Becky!!! She puts out her arms for them to hold her, she has wined when they left the room, she peek-a-boos with them, she really loves their company! You should see all of the gifts they brought Z, she is in heaven! Auntie Becky brought the sweetest powder blue and green snow suit and hat, and she made the most wonderful blanket that matches her snowsuit and it has her name embroidered on it! I love it! Needless to say it has come in super handy outside already. Auntie Becky, well actually Uncle Dan, bought her a sweet bib and burp cloth with her name embroidered on them too; these will only be used for special occasions when orange spit up shouldn’t be involved. Grandma brought several texture books (that Grandpa picked out for us), a bright yellow duck toy and the best stuffed puppy that you can either heat up his belly or freeze it to help sooth your baby. And then John picked us up the most perfect Halo Sleep Sack, and because our room in the apartment is pretty chilly, it has been perfect for Z to sleep in. Thank you Ms. Marla for packing up all of Zahri’s clothes, burp cloths, bibs, gifts for the caregivers, onsie shopping for us, etc. We are so happy to have everything here with us!




Zahri is doing just awesome! She is such a trooper! The car ride in Almaty was quite interesting, holy cow, be careful and hold on is my advice! Yikes! Much crazier than driving in Aqtobe that is for sure. The majority of the drivers here are men, very few women drive, and about 1/3 of the cars here have the steering wheels on the right side of the car; Kate, one of my Almaty translators (whom we love so much, she is so fun and spunky), said that the cars they buy from Japan with the steering wheel on the right are about ½ the price. Hmmm interesting, but in about 10 years Kaz will ban all cars shipped in that are not set up for left side drivers. Big change!

Mom and Becky are such troopers too. I know that they are so pooped, traveling ½ way around the world takes a lot out of a person, and the jet lag sinks in and your body is so crazy. They are totally loving on Z, helping me dress, undress, feed, and hold, love on her, etc. Man are babies a lot of work! Haha Just getting them dressed in their winter gear is a monumental task. The extra hands and love are so nice right now, and Z is really eating them up!


Today, we were all going to go out to breakfast and I needed to put Z down for a quick nap, usually she only sleeps for about 20 minutes. When I came back out of her room, mom and Beck were cuddled up in the blanket on the Living Room floor sound asleep. So cute hu! They were pooped! Needless to say, we didn’t eat anything today until about 1:00. Ugh! Of course Z was taken care of, but us big girls were a bit starving. At breakfast a couple ladies commented on how beautiful Zahri was, I was quite proud! She is beautiful!

Tonight Zahri is having quite a trying night of sleep, I have noticed in the past couple nights that she is a crazy sleeper and tends to sweat and have what seems to unsettling sleep, but tonight I think she is having real night terrors. Tonight she has woken up twice already (in 4 hours) screaming and crying, I speed in to hold her and comfort her, and within about 3 minutes she is calm and back to sleep. The first time I came in she was up on her hands staring at the wall crying and the second time she was still lying there sleeping crying really hard. The second time I picked her up and reassured her that I was there, I am not leaving, I am your mommy now and will never leave you and twice she pushed herself back from my chest to look at me to be sure I was me (at least that is what I think her intentions were.) My heart breaks just wondering what is going on in that little mind of hers. Today was a big day, as was yesterday, we did a bit of shopping at the Zoom Mall and then went grocery shopping (remember how I mentioned how terribly stressful grocery shopping is, yes it is still horrible here in Almaty.) With all of the people, new sights, and such, I wonder if it stirred up fears in her little changing world.

Here is Z’s piggy bank. I love it! She was born last year, in the year of the pig, so I thought it would be fun to buy a piggy bank in Kazakhstan for her tenge. Cute hu!







This is the best toy in world, you must pick (pardon the pun) one up! This is not only a handy dandy boogie sucker, but it is also a wonderful chew toy (when clean of course), a toy that blows cool air on a hot baby (again when clean of course), a fun toy to hit on the floor, an easy toy for a baby to squeeze, a great size for little hands, and one of the most popular choices for Z to play with. It travels well too and doesn’t take up much space. Several uses here! A must buy!

Lastly, I wanted to share a photo of the clothes that I brought for me for my 2 month stay here in Kazakhstan. Crazy! If you know me personally, this should be quite comical. Yes, this means that I wore the same things every couple days. Who says that a girl needs a walk-in closet all to herself filled with just her winter clothes? Ummmmmmm ME! Hehe The 2 fingers I am holding up are to show you that this small pile of clothes is for an entire 2 month stay here in Kaz

Izaak, Elijah & Ty 'Bear'

Izaak, Elijah & Ty 'Bear'
Cousins (Izaak wants to name my daughter (his cousin) Isabella, Sant (for 'Santa') or Hershey (his friend's dog's name.) Hmmmm I told him that if we name her 'Hershey,' that would mean that we get to give her a lot of kisses.

Kolter Matthius Simon

Kolter Matthius Simon
Littlest Cousin......possibly. Kolter may indeed be the same age as his little girl cousin in Kaz. :)