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

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Our First Day at the Apartment :)

Here we are officially leaving the orphanage as a little family.




Just stepping outside on the front steps of the baby house, Zahri was blinking her eyes and scrunching her cheeks trying to figure out the cold.






Here we are in the car leaving the baby house, you can see how nervous Z is by her blank expression.









Looking out the window at all of the sights. I am so cuious what she was thinking and feeling. What a huge day for this little girl.








Walking up the the stairs to our apartment, our first home!









Z playing with her new one eyed walker; I did end up taking that other eye sticker off too, to creepy.










This is Z before her nap playing with her new teddy bear. This is the teddy bear that I have slept with for months. I only had this one at the orphanage for a day or two and then brought it back to the hotel with me because the fur on the bear collected all of the nasty stuff on the orphanage carpet, not good.










This is Z fighting sleep, hahaha, she got so fun when I was trying to get her down for her nap. Full of laughs and coos and smiles!








Zahri's first nap with mommy.


I sit here quietly typing away on my computer while my little one sleeps on her sofa chair bed, I made the bed by turning both arm chairs to face each other and put a blanket on them to form a little bed. She is so darn cute! It took awhile to get her down, but she wasn’t fussy, actually she was as playful as she has ever been. I tried some of my dog training techniques on her, from the Dog Whisperer (can’t remember his name right now) or maybe they were more of that British Nanny’s tricks, in any case, they didn’t work this time. I was very quiet, I didn’t talk or coo or laugh at her. When she kept getting up to play, I would gently, without talking, lay her back down. It was quite interesting, every time that I laid her back down, she would just lie there for about 20 seconds and just suck her thumb, as if she knew the drill. She didn’t fight it at all, but in the end she was so excited about playing that it took her a bit to actually fall asleep. I hadn’t yet been with her when she took a nap, so it was a first for us. I learned, at least this time, that she is quite giggly and talks a bunch to herself while she lays there. She was making a ton of mouth noises, like clicking her tongue and such, things that I hadn’t heard her do before. I am sure that this is (was) how she entertains(ed) herself while fighting off sleep at the orphanage.

So, it is 6:00 pm now. Z is fast asleep and I am drinking tea. So far, she has been asleep for about ½ an hour, just long enough for me to do the dishes, put a load of laundry in, pick up our coats and make some tea. Perfect! I am about falling asleep too; when Zahri was fighting off sleep I booted up our lullaby cd that John bought for us, and it continues to play as I type. It is a good one, thanks baby! Crazy, I can call John baby on my blog now! I couldn’t speak of him much up until this point as I was too worried about the adoption, I didn’t want to throw out any red flags, but now I can say it as it is because Z is officially my daughter. For those who don’t know John, he is my man.

Fast forward 4 hours later and I am now at my computer again and Z is back to sleep hopefully for the night, or at least a couple hours. I kept her up an additional 1 ½ hours past her scheduled bedtime since we were an hour and a half late on the entire day. When it was time for bed, we cleaned up our toys, I laid her down twice and she was out. I think that she missed her first nap today and her second nap with me was only half an hour, so I think that she is pooped. She seems more happy here than at our bonding visits at the orphanage. Today really makes me so thankful for the past month and a half of bonding because Z is so much more at ease now than she would have been had we done the hand off in a hotel without any bonding. Both times we got in the car today she whimpered a bit, but maybe just for 5-10 seconds and then we cuddled and she was quiet. It was so interesting to watch her in the car, to just wonder what she must be thinking and feeling. My heart really went out to her. When I took her from the orphanage and she felt the cold air outside, she froze. She just looked up and kept batting her eyes and squishing up her cheeks, she wasn’t sure of it at all, but in true Z fashion, she didn’t complain.

She is restless right now, and because she is so mobile, I am incredibly worried about her crawling or rolling right off the sofa chair arms, so I will sleep in the Living Room with her I think, or possibly move her to the bedroom with me. ??? I was just in the Kitchen grabbing something to eat, supper at 10 pm, and I heard a weird sound coming from the Living Room (yes, when I am out of the Living Room I check on her about every minute, no kidding, I do), when I peaked in I could hear that it was Z making sucking noises in her sleep, so cute!

And for those of you adoptive parents, I best add that so far so good on the potty. Big Smile here! I have heard of many babies not going for 4+ days and it is a nightmare for both parents and babies, but so far so good for us tonight. Yahoo! I was also worried that because they had already started ‘potty training’ her she may be reluctant to go in her diapers, um, not a problem there either! Sigh of huge relief there. Hopefully all continues on well in this department. For some of you this may have been too much for you to read, but in the adoption world, this is a large concern so I wanted to share that we are good………so far. Sure wish that I had a Diaper Genie here though. Again, maybe another luxury item in the States, but one that I would say is an essential that I just can’t give up.

Mom, do you remember when I babysat the neighbor’s little white dog on LaMesa? Reggie was his name; can you even believe that I just remembered that? Seriously traumatic. I am having terrible flashbacks as I sit here tonight with Z. Ugh! I will probably obsessively check on her every hour to be sure that she is breathing.

2 new families came to Aqtobe today and experienced their selection process; I am sure that it has been an incredibly emotional couple days for both couples. While I was picking Zahri up from the orphanage, I got to meet both couples and talk with them for about 10 minutes which was great! We plan to get together for supper yet this week to chat about everything. Both couples traveled to select boys, but that is all that I know so far.

20 comments:

Karla and Ben said...

How beautiful! I have tears rolling down my face. I'm so happy Z is home with you now. John is one lucky guy to have the two of you. :-)

Suzanne said...

Those pictures of you leaving the orphanage with Zahri gave me chills. What a huge day! Welcome home - Part 1!

xo
Suzanne

Anonymous said...

Good news all around for you two!

So glad to hear she is "going!" I put the dirty diapers in a plastic bag and then tied it and hung it out a window. Mine were the kind that you would wind to open. That way I didn't have to directly deal with it until I threw it in the garbage in the hallway. It was interesting because it was like a laundry shoot. You put the garbage in and it disappeared!

And, if it makes you feel any better, I remember a friend called to see what I was doing and I said well, just sitting here watching her sleep and making sure she is breathing!! He got quite a chuckle out of that one and didn't seem to recall that I saw him on the night of his first born!!

Sounds like you are doing well.
I'm so happy for you!!

Matthew Ruley said...

Love your blog. It is so incredibly real. Z is a cutie! Love the pic of her sucking her thumb. I learned two new Russian words today - "poopska" and "peepska" which fit perfectly with the potty talk.

Great news! So glad you brought her home to your apt with you now! More to read about!

Sandi said...

Christy,
I am reading this at my desk and I have tears in my eyes. That is so awesome for you, I can't begin to tell you how happy I for you. Welcome home to house#1, I can't wait in a few days grandma and auntie will be meeting her.

xoxo
Sandi

Stacy Peters-Walters said...

CONGRATULATIONS! I about burst into tears and whooped in my office, but then I thought I better not! I did share your pics with everyone who has come into my office!

I obessively check Kaidan to see if he is breathing. In fact, I can't go to bed at night without checking each one of the kids and if I get up in the middle of the night, I recheck them if I think they've been sleeping "too quietly".

I'm so happy for you and Z. It sounds like she made a wonderful transition! Had she ever been outside since she came to the baby house?

Liz said...

What a wonderful day! The picts of you leaving the orphanage brought tears to my eyes! You sound like an old pro at this motherhood business! Reading your blog is helping Brian and I with the discussions we are going to be making pretty quick here. Thank you for that!

A few more days and your mom and sister will be there and than you will be home! Can't wait. I am glad to hear you talk about John, I was kinda wondering about that.

Good luck tomorrow, a full day of officially being with Z!

Jill

Angela said...

So glad you all finally broke out! I found this post so incredibly sweet and comforting. I hope everything continues to go well with your full-time life together. CONGRATULATIONS!

Karen, Glenn, Allie, Max, and Sam said...

Congratulations, Christy. We are so happy for Z and you. Thank you for sharing so many details (even the diaper details -- LOL). Every detail helps as we prepare for our own travels. Continued best wishes!!!!

Unknown said...

So ok, you finally did it---you made your Mom lose it at school!!! I opened your blog and started to bawl! ---too many emotions to express verbally! My heart is so full for you!! My heart is so full for our family!! My heart is full for Z!!! Your journey has touched so many lives! My sub told me to just take some time to myself and let it all out---tears of joy!
Love ya,
Mom

Liz said...

this is so great! As i was reading, i was thinking back to the day you told us you were going to adopt. wow, the time has gone by so quickly! give Z a big hug from all of us thinking of her in MN! (my students included, they are still asking!) See you soon!
Liz

11Aimee27 said...

Christy,

I"m Jill's neighbor Aimee.... I"m a faitful reader of your blog and what an amazing journey it has been to read about!!!

Those pics of you and Z outside the babyhouse made me weep as well!! You are already such a fantastic mom you are both lucky girls!!! I love the one of her sleeping sucking her thumb!! What a sweet thing!

Aimee Hagen

Sandy said...

I'm so happy for you Christy and I can't wait to meet Z!!!!! Awesome!!!
Sandy

Rebecca said...

YOU DID IT! I waited all DAY for this blog update! Look at that girl. She is so strong, just like her mama. Everyone at work is counting down the days for me--every one of them is ready for her to come home, too--and now they all know where Kazakhstan is! Do you remember that time after Ty was first born, the first time I drove him to St. Cloud. You were in the car with me. It was night, it was raining, and I was driving about 45. You were so frustrated. Now, I imagine you know how I was feeling. Such an awesome, awesome responsibility you can hardly breathe sometimes worrying about marbles and outlets and icy roads. She is a precious gift. Precious to our entire family. I cannot WAIT to meet her, and I cannot WAIT to see you again.

four days to take off....

Auntie Beck! It's official now!

Kelly and Sne said...

Wow - a lot of 'firsts' in your post today! What an amazing day you've had! It was incredible reading about it. Thank you.

Susan said...

Congrats Mom and Z! what a great post. I meant to read it much earlier, but I am MOM today too a 9 month old. One of my best friends son, Ryan, 9 months, is staying here with me. WOW! I forgot how much work babies are. He was into everything. He is so cute though, sleeping now in baby kaz's crib like an angel. Sean was a huge help with him too. It was fun, but man, so funny what you forget. I forgive you in advance if you blog a lot less with z.

The picture of you and her outside the baby house was amazing. :)
I'm so glad she's so happy with you now. I knew she would be...with her FOXY MOMMA!
I LOVE her boots. :)

by the way, ryan was in my ergo all day today. I hightly recommend one if you don't already have a baby carrier. what a lifesaver!

Diana said...

Perfect! Simply Perfect.

Regina said...

Wonderful pictures and a wonderful narrative to go along with them. What a breathtaking couple of ladies you make. Z is as sweet as honey and that picture of her laughing is priceless! I'm so happy for you to both be together forever at last!!!

By the way, it is Cesar Milan and Jo Frost (the Dog Whisperer and the British Nanny from Supernanny). I'm a big fan of both!

Alysa said...

Ditto what everyone else said. Beautiful and touching end to Phase 1, and even more beautiful and moving beginning to Phase 2. Well, maybe that potty part isn't so beautiful, but necessary! ;)

Take care,
Alysa

Amy said...

What a great first day!!! So happy for you Christy!! I head to Ust on Thursday of next week!!!

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. :)