The Story of My Daughter

December 2008 Update

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:33:00 +0000

Wow, how time flies! Today I was just thinking back, this coming Sunday, December 21st, marks the one year anniversary of the day that I met my daughter. Wow, how life can change in just one short year. :) So many blessings! Our God is so Good!

I remember being taken to the Ymit Baby House in Aqtobe Kazakshtan. We entered the front doors and I was immediately taken into a small office right off the entry. The office was maybe 7x8', stark white walls, one small old desk, a filing cabinet and a small sofa like chair to sit on. When they brought in Zahria, they put her in my lap. Immediately she looked to her caregiver, then at me, and with a quivering lip started to cry for her caregiver. I was touched immediately, it was positive to see that she had some kind of attachment to her caregiver and some concern about me. After maybe a minute or two, Z was cautiously interacting with the little frog toy that I brought for her. We still have that same frog in our car. :) I was able to hold her for only a couple minutes and then they took her back to her Baby Room. I asked some additional questions of the Head Nurse and learned that her birth name was Zukhra, so close to the name Zahria I had connected with but hadn't committed to. I also learned that Z's birthday was March 3rd. That is my birthday! So many signs. Okay, so later I learned that her birthday is really March 30th, a small translation error, but still a connection nonetheless. That day I committed to start the bonding process. I left that little white office wondering what in the world had I committed to. I had such little information. What if.....? What if......? and what if.....? So many what ifs, but something in me told me that I was meant to bond with this little girl. Bonding was a slow process, filled with many emotions, but never did I have a moment where I questioned if this little girl was to be my daughter......she just was!

Fast forward to today, nearly a year later, and Zahria is a ball of personality! This girl has the best sense of humor out there!!! She runs around like nobody's business and dances up a storm, we call it 'Rocking Out!' Zahria is speaking in small sentences now too, some of her favorites are:

Oh No, What Happened?
Polka Dot
Mommy's House
Rock On Dude
Okey Dokey (LOVE this one!)

She is brilliant I tell you! This girl puts things together in her little mind that there is no explanation for. She is so smart!!!

All that I can say is that I am incredibly blessed! My daughter is my daughter 100%

June 2008' Update on Z

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:50:00 +0000

I just have to post an update, since this is a public blog now. I know that it is fun to see how babies grow, learn, attach, etc. when researching adoption.

I can honestly, with my entire heart, tell you that Zahria is my daughter. She is my complete heart. She is attaching tremendously. She is brilliant, not just because I am her mom and a tad biased, but because it is the truth. I have been teaching her sign language, as a way for her to better express her desires, and she is catching on like wildfire. So far, Z knows: more, all gone, eat, hat, swing, bubbles, cat, dog, monkey, car, turtle, bird, ++++ She is just amazing!!! Zahri is now walking, mind you she couldn't crawl when I met her a mere 6 months ago. She is eating like a champ, nearly sleeping through the night (minus a couple bad dreams here and there), says 'momma and puppy', off the bottle and on to whole milk (lactose free), she loves music, is a freak about water / loves it, loves her puppies and kitty, ++++ I can't say enough amazing things about my daughter.

The following photos were taken by Nancy at Jane Bailey Photography. If you are from the Twin Cities / St. Cloud, MN area, Nancy does phenominal work!!!!! Check her out at www.janebailey.com

New Blog is Up

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:28:00 +0000

Hi all, just wanted to give everyone a heads up that I sent out emailed invites to our new family blog today. If you didn't receive an invite, please email me, or post a comment with your email address, and if I know you :), I will send you an invite. By no means is the blog ready but I had fun news to share. :)

That's a Wrap

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 03:38:00 +0000

Day 1 of Bonding

Today :)

This will be my final entry on our adoption journey blog; it is now time to start a new blog dedicated to our budding little family. Thank you all SO very much for following along on our journey, your comments and support have been nothing short of amazing. I have met so many amazing amazing people on this journey, something that I had never expected to happen. Who knew that adoption would bring together so many wonderful people and that the Internet, and this addiction we call blogging, would foster so many true friendships. What a bonus! :)

A special thank you to my favorite Ms. Suzanne in California, my first true friend I met on this amazing journey. You are a friend for life! I can't wait to meet your little 'soon to be' daughter from Kryg! :) Just a little over a year ago we were drinking wine in front of our fireplaces, emailing each other about agencies, websites, great books to read, our dreams, our fears, and just talking about our days and now I am home with my most perfect Z and you are soon to be traveling to Kryg to meet your little girl. Life is crazy amazing!

I also wanted to give a special shout out to Sandi, Kristi, Eileen, Susan, Shannon & Alysa. You are all amazing people and I am so excited to continue our friendships past our initial adoptions!

Thank you also to my cousin Stacy for following my journey and for printing off every entry for my grandma to read, I know that this helped ease my grandma's fears of having me overseas, on my own, adopting a little one. Thank you also for our wonderful blanket and for the collages of our time in Kaz, both collages are now framed and hanging in Z's nursery - they are perfect!

It goes without saying, a BIG thank you must go out to my entire family, thank you for all of your support throughout my journey. I know that I somehow tend to stretch the comfort in the family, but you all are amazing at your unconditional support. I am SO lucky to be blessed with the best family ever. I mean who else gets to have both their mom and their sister join them in Kaz? ME ME OVER HERE - ME! :) We all agree that Z is the most amazing little girl, she has such a wonderful spirit, and just meeting her you know 100% that she was absolutely meant to be in our family!

And to my friends here at home, a HUGE HUGE thank you for all of your support at home! My greatest friends Angie, Sherree and Marla, you 3 rock! Thank you for taking care of our business, paying my bills, getting my mail, feeding my dogs / kids, helping with gifts, packing my bags, skyping me while in Kaz, planning our shower, loving my little Z......... To the 2 greatest sisters in the Midwest, Jill and Liz, thank you for following our journey with such genuine interest and love, I loved getting your comments and Z loved meeting you last week! You 2 are amazing people, genuinely! I love you all.

My new blog address is www.blessedwithz.blogspot.com this blog will also be an invite only site, so if you were already invited to this blog, you will be receiving an invite soon to our new family blog. If for some reason you don't recieve an invite in the next 2 weeks, please email me for an invite. :)

THE BEGINNING

Let's Try This Again :)

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 04:22:00 +0000

Okay, so this time I will be sure to press save before trying to publish my post. :)

It is Wednesday, March 5th and I am now 32. Wo! I am old! I started this journey to adopt Z one year and 2 days ago, on my 31st birthday, that is the day that I mailed out my application to LMI. And look how life has changed in just one short year. I now have the most perfect little munchkin lying upstairs in my home in her crib. How much more lucky could I be. (No question mark there.)

Well the last couple weeks have been filled with getting settled, recovering from slight jet lag, figuring out sleep schedules, dreaded doctor's visits (more on that to come), insurance coverage information, daycare dilemnas, many kisses and great hugs.......... It has been great! Z is so adaptable! Seriously, she amazes me more and more each day! I keep wondering when the little monster will pop out and it still hasn't surfaced. :)

Our day at the doctor was horrific. I nievely thought that it was just an initial consultation, no shots I assumed. Ummmmm nope, not just one shot, but 4 and 4 viles of blood drawn too. You know when a baby is born and their screaming so hard that they can't scream and their face is just beat red? Well that was Z. By the end of her 4th vile of blood that was drawn she was drenched in sweat, as was I since I was cheek to cheek with her. It was a sad day! But, for the 5th time, we have now confirmed that Zahri in fact is HIV negative! How many times do we need to do that darn test? :) Anyhow, her pediatrician only said that she is slightly Anemic so we need to give her a multi-vitamin with extra Iron, which I was already doing. Good Mommy!

Zahri is a rockstar in her car seat, in fact she often just falls asleep. She went right into her highchair no problem. She loves bath time now, in fact last night she was splashing up a storm with her feet and hitting her stacking cups in the water to make big splashes. She is crawling up a storm and pulling herself up on everything too, in fact, it is much more difficult to get her down for her nap now that she knows she can just pull herself up and look at me and give me her cheesy, I am so proud of myself, grin. Currently Z is sleeping in my room, we have a travel crib (same as a regular crib just a wee bit smaller) next to the bed. The first couple weeks she slept right in the bed with me which was great, that way when she woke up, she knew that I was still there to comfort her. Now, I can still be right there for her, but she isn't necessarily in the bed with me (that is until about 4:00 am when she wakes up for her bottle and I keep her in the bed. hehe) At nap time I still lay on my bed while she goes to sleep in her crib, but in the next month I hope to transition her to her own room. We will have to see how that goes. ;)

She is warming up to the puppies. At first she wasn't so sure of them, so I didn't push. My dogs are mainly outside dogs, they have a very posh kennel in my heated and insulated garage that then walks out to a nice concrete kennel with a wood deck just for them, so no worries people, the dogs have it made here. Anyhow, I bring them in almost nightly and Z gets to see them. Slowly she warmed up to getting closer to them, and now she giggles and gets all excited when she sees them. 2 nights ago she let Diesel give her many kisses.

She loves mommy's headband. How funny is this? She didn't even try to take it off. haha

Auntie Becky and Uncle Dan bought her the sweetest Pottery Barn Easter Basket, our Fave store, and they also bought her this sweetest little Cabbage Patch Doll. Did you know that the Cabbage Patch Kids are all adopted too? And this doll was born on March 26th per her adoption certificate, and Z was born on the 30th; how crazy is that? To top it off her CPD is also Kazak! :)

Thank you SO very much Eileen and Pat for Zahri's cutest little hedgehog ever! I adore this little guy, he is so bright and textured, and his nose is perfect to suck on........that is if you are 11 months old and teething. :)

Slacker Blogger Mom Here :)

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 04:29:00 +0000

Okay, so I just spent 1/2 an hour typing up a good post and then it didn't save. Grrrr! It is now 11:00 and I am so pooped that i must hit the hay without retyping. Grrr! Both Z and I have the cold so I have little extra energy. :) I promise to post soon with some great photos! We are awesome!

Blog Now Open To All Readers

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 04:38:00 +0000

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!

Sleeping in a Cardboard Box

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 01:22:00 +0000

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.

More on our Almaty Adventure

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:24:00 +0000

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!! :)

Leaving on a Jet Plane

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 16:13:00 +0000

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great News!

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:14:00 +0000

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!

We are in Almaty Safe & Sound

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 15:36:00 +0000

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

Mom and Becky are in Amsterdam

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 17:34:00 +0000

Today I logged on to check my gmail, quick because I am packing up our stuff for tomorrow's journey to Almaty, and there were 2 emails from my mom and sister. The first photo is of the 2 of them in Minneapolis, before taking off.

This second photo is Mom and Beck in Amsterdam; they didn't end up taking advantage of any of the 'coffee shops' in Amsterdam as we told my Dad they would. :) No magic brownies for mom! :) Sounds like the flight was great! The were able to see the ocean and channels just before arriving, so that was fun. Remember, my mom has never been over the ocean, so this was BIG time! My sister went to London in High School, but this was her first venture over the ocean since then. So fun and all for Z!

I believe that I already posted, but there are now 2 new couples here in Aqtobe from the States. :) Both have selected their little boys and are currently in their bonding period. This week, both couples came to my apartment and brought supper and chatted, it was so nice to meet them. And wouldn't you know it, we didn't take any photos of our group. I actually am okay with this though, as showering for me right now is a bit tricky and make up is an absolute, don't have time for yet. :) Hopefully I didn't smell too bad! Haha!

Here are Eric, Kami and Lincoln. Lincoln is just 2 weeks younger than Zahri. It sounds like he is a champ! He can already crawl and sit up and has quite a personality I hear. He is from Baby Room #4, so he shares a room with Laurie's little man Kyson!

And here are Joel, Gen and Gabriel (Gabe.) Gabe was Z's roomate! Rock on hu! He too is in Baby Room #3, so he is lucky, I really liked our caregivers there. Today I heard that Gabe was also getting his groove on a bit, it must be something about Baby Room #3 that makes their babies dance. :) I have already asked if Z can hook up with one of these 2 boys later in life. No pressure! haha

As for Z, she is still awesome! I didn't have any time today to upload our new photos and resize them for today's blog, but I will later this week. We are finding that she LOVES the mirror, she thinks that it is the funniest thing ever. Today she played in her walker in front of the mirror for quite some time, she couldn't figure out why that other person's hand (her reflection) kept doing the same thing she was doing. She kept trying to beat it to the mirror and then looked so puzzled when it was a tie. haha She also found on of my empty 5L water jugs and thought it was a great toy, who knew! It is like the cardboard boxes we played in for hours when we were young, they were the best! Before bed tonight we also took another bath, but this time it was more of a true bath than before. Zahri was still a bit leary, but she played with her toys a bit this time and let me actually wash her hair. It was so great! You could tell that she felt great when she got out. I lathered her up in Baby Oil again, and she smelled great! Is it smelled or smelt? :) Smelled looks funny! Now that I think of it, I think that Smelt is that nasty fish that people gather in MN to eat once a year at the Legion gatherings. Hmmmm

COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:03:00 +0000

2 More days and Grandma and Auntie Becky will be here with us in Kazakhstan!!! In just 9 hours they fly out of Minneapolis, MN! I can't wait!!! Today, Grandma is flying in from Colorado, so Becky and the Boys will pick her up at the airport (hopefully just about now they are doing that) and then they are off to celebrate my nephew Ty's 10th Birthday at the Mall of America! A day filled with amusement rides at Camp Snoopy and eating at the Rainforest Cafe. I really wish that I could have been there to celebrate with you too Ty!

Z is snoozing. She has had very short naps and a really emotional last day and a half, so hopefully she gets a good snooze in tonight. :) She seems to be a good night sleeper so far. Ooop she is crying, gotta go.

Zahri's First Bath

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:36:00 +0000

Today we took our first bath, or should I say that I put about 1” of water in the very front of the tub and Zahri sat in it? It was nice because I brought in her stacking cups and linking rings, toys that she has played with for nearly 2 months now, and they really helped her calm. At first I had her stand in the water, which she wasn’t so sure of but she did, and then I sat her down. Yep, a little squeal for a bit, then she looked right up to me like ‘help me mom,’ and then she calmed in the frozen position. After a couple minutes she started to relax a bit, and I was able to at least slowly put water on her back and her hair, by no means was it a ‘I’m totally getting her clean bath,’ but it was a start. Afterwards I snuggled her in the towel and then put baby oil on her, thanks Linda for your wonderful Arbonne treats for Z. Once she was in her pjs she was so darn happy; I can only imagine how great in felt to be semi-clean. I hadn’t tried a bath until today, I didn’t want to overload her on too many new things. I really wanted to come right home and get her in the tub, but I resisted. Look how darn cute she is!

Regarding naps, I had asked if 3 naps a day is normal on my last post, thanks for your responses. Seriously, who knows! I do think that they probably slept more than what is normal to allow the caregivers some reprieve throughout the day, but I am telling you that after 2 hours of playing she is pooped and needs a nap, however, I am learning that when she naps, it is usually only for a half an hour or 45 minutes, no 2 hour naps for Z. She gets very needy (normal) and starts lying on the floor and sucking her thumb. When she sleeps, she always sucks her thumb. It is so cute, when she isn’t quite ready to sleep, we lay on the bed and she talks up a storm. She also makes so many noises with her mouth, ones that I haven’t heard before, I love it! I learned 2 things in the past 2 days regarding naps:

1. If I lightly touch her forehead and face and neck she gets drunk eyes and falls right to sleep. Sweet!
2. Yesterday I was putting her down to nap, and she had 2 toys in her hands. After awhile of playing with them, I took both toys away so she could concentrate on sleeping. She then grabbed for her burp cloth near by to play, so I took that after just a bit. The she found her socks and played with those, again I had to take those too. Then it was my watch on my wrist (which I took off), then she crawled up to the headboard to feel that, then she pulled the blankets back to feel the mattress, then she found her toes, and then she started with her mouth noises. I couldn’t take away her toes or her mouth (haha); I guess this is how creative you get with what little you have to play with while you are in the orphanage. It was so darn funny! Each time I took something away she didn’t squeal, she just found something else to play with.

Really, I don’t just put my child in her walker and let her be all day. I promise! Really! It is just the best time to get descent photos of her since my hands are not full of her. Here are a couple cute ones of her scooting around! I am so glad that I invested in this cheap walker for the week that we are here. It only cost 3000 tenge at the outdoor market (Sulpak – best place to buy cheap walkers). 3000 tenge = about $25 since the dollar is so terrible here. Ugh! We get only 118 tenge right now for $1.00 and that is super low. Even when I first got here we got around 120 tenge for a $1.00; I guess a couple years back your money went very far here but with the decline in the value of the dollar and with all of the new oil and gas rigs around here, it is quite expensive. You think, oh I will buy a fur coat, tall stiletto boots and a tall Russian fur hat, they must be cheap since the demand is so high and everyone wears them. This is not the case.

Angel?

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:57:00 +0000

(Is this a bit obsessive on the amount of blankets I have on the bed for bumpers? As you read on you will understand more about the safety measures I now need to take to keep this girl safe.

If you enlarge this photo (the 3rd photo) you will see a little toe(s) in the top left corner, this is a great trick of Z's, she now is trying to suck her toes. Hahaha, I still think that she may be a gymnist.

I think that my baby is an angel. I am not kidding you! What child goes down for all her naps with smiles and sleeps completely through her first night with a new mom? I put Z to bed last night around 10:00 and she slept until 6:00 this morning with only one small wine (the crying kind, not the kind that mom loves that comes from a tall glass bottle) around midnight. I have learned that she is a crazy sleeper though, I ended up moving her into my bed to sleep since I just knew that she was going to take a dive off the sofa chair bed (okay, so she did take a dive off the sofa chair bed, mom freaked out to say the least, and moved her to the bed, a much safer choice..........don't tell my agency or the judge here though or they may take her back. I promise I was watching her but she was too darn fast.) All night long she tossed and turned and nearly was sleeping sideways at times, needless to say I didn’t sleep sound, but I actually got a couple good hours in so that was better than I was expecting.

Okay, so here is our daily schedule:

6:00 Wake up and Eat Breakfast (Formula)
6:30 – 7:30 Play & Go Potty
7:30 – 9:00 Nap time
9:00 – 10:30 Wash Faces, Eat Porridge and Drink Juice
10:30 – 11:30 Play
11:30 – 12:30 Nap time
12:30 – 1:30 Eat Mashed Potatoes or Vegetables
1:30 – 4:00 Play
4:00 – 5:00 Nap time
5:00 – 6:00 Eat Porridge with a sugar free cookie
6:00 – 8:00 Play
8:00 – 8:30 Formula
8:30 Bedtime
11:30 Formula Again?
12:00 – 6:00 Sleep

Do you see how many nap times this girl has? Is this normal? I thought that there would be no way that she would actually sleep every ‘scheduled’ nap time, but she does (at least so far.) I thought that maybe they say sleep on the schedule given to me by Z’s caregivers but really that is code for, ‘put the kids in their cribs and let them lay there.’ It isn’t though, she really does sleep, without a shot of whiskey or other sleeping aids. Haha (but that was another fear that I had at the baby house. I worried that they possibly ‘helped’ the kids sleep, but she is good with her naps.)

Well, I just heated up her mashed potatoes (see 12:30 – 1:30 on the schedule – good mom Christy) and I put a bit of finely shredded carrots and chicken in there as well as some Keifer. Keifer is a kind of sour tasting milk they have here and the babies enjoy…….I guess. I actually have given it to her twice already and she seemed to love it, so Keifer it is, at least for this week. I will need to start her on normal formula this week too since we don’t have this Keifer stuff in the States.

The caregivers said that she wasn’t a very picky baby and didn’t have any known food allergies, so far so good on not being picky.

IN 5 DAYS WE GET SO SEE GRANDMA AND AUNT BECKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM SO PUMPED!!!! Z IS TOO OF COURSE!!!!

I brought a couple board books with me, “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” and “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” were two of them. She loves those books because I sing the songs to her. So today, I popped in Rudolph the movie, and she loved the music! She didn’t intently watch the movie, but she liked the music. As for me, I cry every time I see that darn movie. I hate that Rudolph is so sad and that nobody wants to play with him. I boycott the movie actually, hadn’t seen it in years.

Ohhh such funny 'getting Z to nap' stories from later today, but I best get to bed, I will save those for another day.

Our First Day at the Apartment :)

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:44:00 +0000

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.

No Z Just Yet :(

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 15:47:00 +0000

No Zahria at our apartment yet. I got word this morning that the chief judge didn’t count this Saturday as the last day of our Appeal Period since it was on the weekend (???? weird, since last weekend’s days counted, but what do you do), so today was the last day of the Appeal Period instead. Sorry mom and dad, looks like you had a drink for no good reason other than that it was Saturday. Haha You best have another drink tonight! So, tomorrow I get Z. I visited Zahri this afternoon at the orphanage and apologized for not seeing her this morning; Bayan called me to see if I wanted to visit, but they would have come to get me in like 10 minutes, and I wasn’t prepared to go. I hadn’t showered or anything and I was in the middle of cleaning the floors and such. Check out the handy mop I made.
Haha, it is a broom that I just found, wrapped in a towel that is being held on by clips that were being used as clothes pins. Smart hu! Tomorrow it is! That gave me tonight to make up some mashed potatoes for a couple lunches for Z this week. I plan to add a little chicken (in the oven baking now) and carrots, to them to jazz them up a bit. My oven is totally a gas oven. No, no, no, not like our gas stoves, not only do I have to manually light the burners but I even have to light the oven to get it heating. Scary hu! Other than that we have porridge, formula, fruit juice, carrot juice, jarred baby food, teething biscuits, gold fish crackers, animal crackers, etc. I think we are good. We will see hu!

I am not yet sure if Z and I will share the bed, I made a blanket bumper just in case, I don’t want her to roll off. Or maybe she will sleep on the two sofa chairs that I put together to form a little bed. Hmmmm, no crib here so we have to get creative. I must say that this past month and a half of living lean has really helped me see just how little you truly need to get by, now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that I am going to give up ALL of the finer things due to this journey (I still need facials & toilet paper, the essentials, haha, as if toilet paper is an essential.........gotta have facials still at least, hehe) but I am learning that I can live without a lot. I always thought that I would marry fairly young, mid 20s and our first home would be a little fixer that we would need to put pans under the leak from the roof to catch the rain (inside the house), like we used to as kids when I grew up, but that just didn’t happen. I guess that I get to live part of that life now! (Too funny, while writing this blog post, I just read my mom's comment on yesterday'spost that talked about my parents first home 30+ years ago and how my apartment reminded her of their first home. That is crazy that I was just writing about my home as a child and how we put pans under the leaks from the roof when it rained and my mom was thinking the same thing.) Uh - Oh, the lights keep dimming and getting brighter in my apt. Eeek! I did see where a couple tall candles were, but they aren't in holders or anything. Oh yeah, I have the rockin' flashlight that John sent with me, and I just put it in my backpack since I am now in an apartment, so I should be fine if I lose power. :) haha probably won't but gotta be prepared.

Here is our apartment play area, just like at the orphanage. :)

Here are a couple additional photos of our apartment building from the front, our room is on the third floor if you check out the set of 5 stacked apartments. I caught a couple fun photos of both men and women with their tall fur hats! I love it! There is also a photo here of the neighborhood park, this park is pretty normal for a kid’s park in Aqtobe. And last there is a photo of our little neighborhood convenience store, this is something that I love about Aqtobe, they make it so convenient for everyone to just pop in for bread, meat, pop, chocolate, canned goods, etc.

Since Z wasn’t able to come to the apartment today, I decided to put her frozen jump suit in her walker and stroll it around the apartment. Okay, I didn’t really do that, but look how funny this photo is!
I learned that hanging your clothes in the freezing cold porch, better yet outside on clothes lines, DOES NOT in fact dry your clothes, it just freezes them. I know that sounds obvious, but when you see everyone hanging out their clothes you question if there might be some way they are drying. I mean, why else would everyone hang their clothes out in this weather? You think, maybe the air is dryer here and they do dry, maybe they dry with icicles, but maybe they still dry???? Don’t laugh at me; you would have wondered the same thing had you come here first. Haha Anyhow, I talked to Bayan about this today, and she said that they don’t dry, I am right; they just freeze them to seal in the freshness and freeze any bacteria. Hmmmmmmm maybe that makes sense. She had told me about the bacteria thing a couple days back, but she never verified that the clothes do not dry, I still thought that they must dry somehow. Yah, Yah, you laugh but you are the ones that thought the dog in my trash photos was the bobcat that I talked about, when in fact the bobcat was the piece of machinery taking away the trash, not the dog that was in fact a dog, not a bobcat. Come on girls, I am in Kazakhstan, there aren't any bobcats (the animals) here. That was way too funny to read on my comments........from 2 people.

I must warn you, the following map rocks! Davy, Evy’s husband, is my John here, well; you will see what I mean. Look at this map, it is a map of Aqtobe, with all of the great sites to see and places to shop platted out for you! If you are coming to Aqtobe for your adoption, or just for sight seeing (haha j/k) enlarge and print this map out; boy do I wish that I had had this map when I arrived here in Aqtobe. I have a legend for this map too, I think that I will add this to my main page of the blog for future families to access easily. For those of you that don’t know my John, this is exactly what he would have done had he been able to make the trip with me.

Our New Pad - Our First Place :)

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:35:00 +0000

It is official, I have now moved for the 3rd time in a month and a half. Haha If you are looking for a good reference on both Hotel and Apartment life here in Aqtobe, I will be the one to chat with as I have first hand experience in 2 Hotels and 1 apartment now. (Plus I have been in 2 additional apartments here in Aqtobe, so I can say that I have a good feel for living options here.)

I must say that so far so good. Moving into this apartment is a really nice change. Tonight I made supper in my own kitchen, I did some laundry in a washing machine & hung my laundry in the 3-season porch like a true Kazak. I am now watching fun Russian MTV videos and sitting at a true desk, on a real chair, typing on my computer. Yahoo!

Here is the outside of my apartment building, a pretty normal concrete Soviet era apartment building. Check out the front door to my stairway, they must have been serious when installing these doors, they are steel and super heavy duty. The entry doors are secured by a code to get in, but often they are left open so you don’t have to use your code. No elevators here, and I am on the 3rd floor. Really it isn’t bad at all, but getting my heafty luggage up was a chore for Ceric, Bayana and I. Good thing I have them!

This is the door, or should I say doors, there are two, to my apartment. The outside door again is a super heavy duty steel door with a bolt about 2 inches long, no body is getting in this door, but if they do, just in case, there is a second door that they now need to get through too. I guess I would say that I am safe and sound inside my apartment here. I am sure that my mom and dad are happy to hear that!

Is it just me, or is this outlet not up to code? Haha

Code? What code?

Outlet covers to protect children? What? Nope, not here, not in this apartment. Instead I get exposed wires and extension cords to run the washing machine (that drains into the bathtub.) haha At least I have a washing machine I say, it rocks!

After scouring this place, and sweeping the floors, yes this was my broom, I decided to shred some carrots. I want to put carrots in mashed potatoes, like Evy and Davy did, such smart parents, so I went to the local indoor market to buy some carrots. Holy Shit! Look at the size of these things! I think that the carrots are on steroids, and yes, most of them that I have seen look like this. Must be something in the soil here, could it be oil? Yuck, bad thought!

Well, I can’t say that I am ready, but I am sure trying to be ready. I am a little scared I must admit. I sure hope that our transition is fairly smooth. Poor little bean has so many changes ahead of her, but this is one thing that I loved about the Kazakhstan adoption program, we have now bonded for a month and a half so Zahri has learned that I am a constant for her and I believe that she trusts me to some degree already. I am trying to keep things as normal for her as possible. I have all of her favorite toys with me here, her stacking cups, Itsy Bitsy Spider Book, Frog toy, linking teething rings, etc. And I purchased a cheap walker and a blow up beach ball for our time here, she loved both of these toys at the baby house, so I thought that would be fun for her.

Sorry, I didn’t take any photos of Z today, bad mommy, but here are some fun group photos that Davy and Evy just gave me. I must say that Zahri's mohawk is starting to fill in nicely. :)

IT IS OFFICIAL, I AM ZAHRI'S MOM!

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 16:23:00 +0000

Today was Day #15 of our Appeal Period, so tonight at 6:00 our appeal period ended, and I am now officially Zahri's mother! Yahooooo! I can't even believe it. I think that I am in shock.

It doesn't feel real at all. It feels as if I have just been visiting this beautiful little girl each day and that is that. It doesn't truly feel that I am even 1/2 way around the world. It is all way too surreal. When does it sink in? I mean even the being so far from home, it really doesn't feel real still, and I have been here for a month and a half. You just expect it to be SO different, and it is quite different, but people are still people, they look fairly similar, and they live in houses like we do, and they have families like we do, and the eat similar foods, and they have similar styles in clothing and they laugh at the same things. I am not sure what I expected. It just affirms that this is a really small world and that we are all such similar people, only seperated by water, land and language.

As for Zahri, the most important part in this entire life journey, she is my daughter! I can say it! She is my daughter! Weird hu! I have a daughter! And Z has a Mommy! We now have each other! :) That little girl 1/2 way around the world that I dreamt of for so long, that I wrote of at the beginning of my blog, I have found her and she is even more perfect than I first dreamed. I mean, you let faith take its' course and you fully rely on your agency and the gifts of God. You do your best to step back and just do as you are asked. You give up much control in this journey, which is so darn difficult at so many times throughout the process, but you learn that you must. And here I am, only 11 months after submitting my application to my agency, in Aqtobe, Kazakhstan with the most beautiful daughter. It just isn't real. I can't even imagine what it must feel like on this very day for those adoptive families that have been through years of fertility treatments prior to choosing adoption. To have what you have always dreamed of is surreal really. I can only imagine that giving birth to your child would be the same, surreal. I can't imagine that it really feels real for a couple months. What a monumental change in life! For both me and for Z.

To just take in what she will be feeling in the next couple months both hurts my heart and gives me a million goosebumps of happiness. Her little world is about to change so much! I know that Monday will be emotional for me, to take her from the orphanage, this will be a day of so many mixed emotions. This is all that she knows. This has been her entire life, her home, for nearly all 10 months of it. And then on the following Monday, the 11th, to take her from Aqtobe will be filled with a billion more mixed emotions. Today I looked at her, and I talked with her about how her little world will be changing, completely, in just 2 days. And she just continued to play. :)

The only sadness in this whole journey is losing the luxury of sleep. :) hahaha Okay, so it is a fair trade. Maybe tomorrow I will have a funeral for sleep. I have a feeling that from here on out, at least for the next 20-25 years (as I hope to add another child or two to our family), I will not have the luxury of sleeping in until 9:00.....or 10:00.....or noon. Oh my heavens, what have I done? hahaha just kidding of course.

My daughter is Zahria Alia! Or Zahri! Or Z! Or Z Bean! Or Zukie! I like to sing to her, "Zukhra, Zahria, Alia." Her birth name is Zukhra (pronounced a bit like Zukara), so I sing her names to her, so she can relate what she has known as her name with her given name. :) She now knows her birth name, given name and Z. :)

Up Close & Personal

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:15:00 +0000

I love these photos! Look at those long eyelashes, chubby cheeks and pursed lips. Oh yeah, and the drool.

Continuing on with our new game of Peek-a-Boo, I threw the blanket over Zahri's head, and said, "Where is Zahri? Where did she go?" and then I popped my head under the blanket with her, like the forts/tents we used to make as kids, and she laughs and laughs. She loves it!

Just another sweet photo. Bayana put Z's feet up on the sides of the walker and pulled her around, she of course had a great time!

Here is the hospital where Z was born. The hospital itself probably takes up a couple blocks and has several different buildings for specific matters, but the brick building shown here is the maternity building.

Okay, just a cute photo of Z's new winter boots. Check out the fur and the little rinestone broch on the front of the boot. The girl has to have stylin' boots, right! No stilletos yet though, not until she is 4 or 5. hahaha Okay 12. j/k

So, today I did some last minute shopping. It is amazing that I have been here for neary a month and a half, and I am hurrying like a crazy woman to get more shopping in. I went again to Sulpak, the 3 story huge mall and outdoor market with everything under the sun, and I couldn't find a darn thing. Actually, there is so much stuff that I can't shop. Isn't that strange. And shopping here is really difficult, and honestly not a ton of fun. You can't speak the language so you feel bad. They follow you around and watch your every move. You tell them nicely that you only speak English and they continue on in Russian trying to sell you things. They pull out their entire stock trying to get you to buy just something, and then you feel terrible that they just went through so much work and you didn't want to even see what they pulled out for you. Ugh! But in the end I did purchase a cheap walker for Z at the apartment, I fear that without this one crucial item, we will be in a heap of trouble. :) I will need to make supper, cook her porridge, give my arms a break, etc. And she will need to zoom around and feel that freedom, she just loves that darn walker. I am sure that she doesn't get to really be mobile much, so she just eats it up. I also, all by myself, got a bunch of photos developed at a one hour photo shop. I had to get some photos off of a cd and others off my memory card in my camera and it worked! Yahooo! Proud!

Yesterday we had a great lunch at Davy and Evy's apartment, a stellar pad I must add, and it was so nice. Evy cooked a really yummy pork stew and made Belgium French Fries, it was great, just like home............ or better becuase it was a home cooked meal. It was too funny, Evy came back into the Dining Room with her pot of stew and asked if anyone would like a bit more, and many of us said yes, including Bayana. Somehow the type of meat came up, and Bayana had thought that it was beef, even after eating it, and when she found out that it was pork she slightly freaked (not huge but it was a big surprise to her.) Bayana has never had pork, she can't have pork, I believe it is against the Muslim religion. hahaha Here are a couple photos from our lunch:

Life in Aqtobe

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:59:00 +0000

A fun post today. Here are some photos of life in Aqtobe.

The steam from the basement of the apartments pushes the snow/frost up the apartment to nearly cover several windows and balconies.

Yes, here is a clothes line that is actually in use during the freezing winter months, and this is the only clothes line out in the city, this is just one of probably...........a million in just Aqtobe. I guess the clothes do dry, even though they may dry as icycles. The people then bring their clothes inside to dethaw in their balconies and it is said that they are very fresh and all bacteria are now gone. Check out the icycles on the sweater. Crazy!

Garbage and garbage removal. Check out the bobcat, there is a blanket over the engine, man is it cold.

Here are a couple photos of kids in Aqtobe. One of my favorite things about life here is seeing the little kids all bundled up like marshmallows being pulled by their parents on these little wooden sleds.

Apartment Here We Come!

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:41:00 +0000

Well, today I went to see our new digs, looks like as of this Sunday, I will be renting an apartment for our last week in Aqtobe; that sounds weird, ‘our last week in Aqtobe,’ this too will be Zahri’s last week here. Mixed emotions! My hope is that Monday I will have official custody of Z, and that afternoon I will bring her to our new one bedroom apartment. Thank you all SO very much for your opinions on bringing Zahri to my hotel / apartment versus continuing our normal daily routine at the orphanage. After much thought, I agree that this will be best for both of us. This time alone, with just Zahri and I, will give me that time to know her routine, to get to know her tummy, her signals, her sleep patterns or lack there of, her choices for food, etc. It will also give us time for her to connect to me as her sole security. I want for her to feel some comfort with me before we board the plane, and I think that a week alone will help her see that I am safe and that I will take care of her. So my plan is to do my last bits of shopping Friday and Saturday, and then on Sunday I will be moving and visiting the grocery store to load up on a week’s worth of groceries for both of us. It is so crazy, I have had nearly 5+ weeks of shopping and such here, and now that I know I have only 2 more days to shop for souvenirs and gifts, I am stressing at how to get it all done.

Yesterday Bayan (one of my favorite caregivers) and Bayan (my favorite translator) and I went over Zahri’s daily routine. They let me know when she eats, what she eats, when she sleeps, when they play, etc. And then I asked about Zahri’s tummy, is she regular, what should I be expecting? I know that this has been a hurdle for many families once they take their children from the baby house, so I wanted to know if Z had any issues as of late. The good news is that it sounds like she is pretty regular and that she is not a finicky eater at all, the bad news (and a major decision maker for me in deciding to take the apartment no matter what) was the knowledge that they had started to ‘potty train’ Zahri. I put ‘potty train’ in quotation marks because I was desperately hoping that they hadn’t started this practice yet with Z, but indeed they have. For those of you that don’t know how they potty train it is just about as warm and fuzzy as how they feed the babies. They don’t have time to hold each child on the potty until they go, they don’t help the boys practice shooting cheerios, they don’t read them books about going pee pee in the potty, nothing fun by any means. Needless to say that diapers are quite spendy so they must potty train asap. Anyhow, this was enough to solidify in my mind the need for me to have her with me as soon as we possibly could. So Monday at the apartment it is! Crazy!!!!

Today Sarah, Geert & Ganna officially became a family, as did Evy, Davy & Ilyan! Yahooo! This afternoon the babies were picked up at the orphanage and both families are now enjoying their time together in their apartments as a family. It is just amazing really, what a crazy feeling! Tomorrow we are all going over to Davy and Evy’s apartment for a celebratory Belgium meal consisting of beef stew & dark Beer. I can’t wait! I am bringing some local smoked cheese for the beer too. Mmmmm! Yesterday at the orphanage, Evy made Belgium Pancakes, which are what I remember as Crepes from my trip to Paris, and they were phenomenal. Evy had made the pancakes the night before and then we heated them up with my hot plate at the orphanage, put butter and brown sugar on them, rolled them up and mowed them down. They were fantastic! The first photo is of Geert, Sarah and Ganna and the second photo is Evy, Davy and Ilyan.

Here is Zahri yesterday, she was playing with the huge mouse in the playroom. We thought that we best pull him down since it is the year of the rat/mouse. It was a warm and sunny day, warm being like zero degrees, but warm to us nonetheless, so we opened the blinds and let the sun shine in.

Here is also a photo of the Mosque a couple days ago, we had a wonderful snow, and the photo turned out perfect. Several University students were walking hand in hand with their stiletto boots, fur coats & cute hats. The photo was a fun one to take, a great memory of my time here.

What would I want if I had been adopted?

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:35:00 +0000

HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY TY 'BEAR'!!!!!!! I can’t believe that my oldest nephew, my first godson, is now 10!!! That is just crazy!! I love and miss you all and can’t wait to see you when we get home! (Ty is on the far left of the photo, and next to him are his brothers, my other beautiful nephews, Elijah and Izaak.)

Today is Day #10 of 15 of our Appeal Period!!!! Wahoo! Our Appeal Period ends this Saturday, so I should get the final ‘final’ approval from the court on Monday. So here is now my next decision to make, one that I am now contemplating and looking into. On Monday, if everything is signed off in the morning, I can then take Z from the orphanage in the afternoon and have her with me from here on out if I choose to. Here are my dilemmas: First, I am currently in a tiny hotel room that would not suit 2 girls, and even if I trade up to a normal hotel room, what are we to do for a week in a hotel room? That just wouldn’t be ideal at all, and because I don’t want to take her out much in this cold, we would grow very weary of our tight living situation. I just can’t see how that would be a very healthy transition for her. So, I have Gulnara, my coordinator, looking into finding an apartment for a week for me. If we are able to rent a clean, safe apartment for only a week (hard to find – I mean it is hard to find an apartment that will rent for only a week), and for a reasonable price, I might do this. At least with an apartment we have room to play, we have a bath tub, we could cook her porridge and heat her formula in a real kitchen, we can wash her bibs/burp cloths in a real washing machine, etc. Or, do I just continue visiting her as I have done for the next week and pick her up the day before we travel? My question is this; would a week together be beneficial to us, to get a routine down, to learn each other on a more ‘real’ basis, to not worry about her while she remains at the orphanage, etc? Or, would it realistically be better to not disrupt our routine? To only spend a week with a whole new routine, to then spend another week with a whole new routine in Almaty, to then fly home with yet another new routine, is that first week of a new routine really a good idea? Would a week of change away from her normal routine really be the best for her, for us? Would I be better rested, and Z be more at ease, if I were to pick her up the day before we fly out? Part of me thinks that the fewer times we change up her routine, the better. And then of course there is that other part of me that just wants her with me, with MY care, asap. Ohhhh what to do! I would love your thoughts!

Can I say that I adore this girl enough? Z just has so much darn personality! God really did do a great job of pairing us up! Zahri seems to have some definite independence in her, she might be a bit strong willed, she definitely has tons of light in her heart, she is amazingly smart and she has a dynamite personality! I absolutely delight in her giggle! I relate to her love for music and her need to just shake her bootie. I am continually amazed at how smart she is! Today, Bayana played Z’s favorite song on her cell phone, and Z went straight for Bayana’s phone (she loves the tv, camera, cell phones, etc.) Bayana then quietly moved her phone to the other side without Zahri seeing, and Zahri then walked herself around Bayana (in her walker), to see if the phone was indeed on the other side now. Smart!! As I mentioned yesterday, she knows where the puppies are. When I mention, “Where are the puppies? Should we get the puppies?” she looks straight to the top of the piano. When I put the small stacking cup in the large stacking cup she knows to shake it very lightly so it doesn’t fly out right away, and when it does fly out, she waits for me to put it right back in the yellow cup so she can do it all over again.

Since I met Z, I have been making many noises with my mouth, like clicking my tongue, vibrating my lips, kissing, puffing my cheeks, etc. About a week ago she started to imitate me and starting also vibrating her lips…………might I remind you that she is forever drooling, so this is quite a messy new trick, but fun. Well just a couple days ago, when I was vibrating my lips and making noises, she reached up with her fingers and moved them up and down on my lips. What a fun game! She discovered that when she did this, it made really fun sounds, so now this is becoming a really fun new trick. I will have to pull this one out on the airplane………a couple times I am sure.

Here is our favorite black and white puppy. Zahri loves this puppy! I want to frame this photo for her room, as sort of a memento of our time at the orphanage together.

Oh yeah, I am totally pumped! I asked Aina if she could please get me the name of the hospital that Zahri was born at, and Aina gave that to me today, so this week we are going to stop by the hospital for a photo. I also asked Gulnara today if they ever took a photo of Z when she was brought to the orphanage. After some thought she said that the only photo that would be on file is the photo they take for her file at the Department of Education, but they won’t give that to us. I then asked if we could try to at least get a photo copy. Neither she nor Aina really understood why I would ask for this, and I said, I am just trying to think of what I would want if I had been adopted, and I would love a photo of me as a very small baby. I would also love a photo of the hospital where I was born. I would love anything that my family could gather for me to help me visualize my life before adoption. Anyhow, Gulnara said that she would ask if she could please at least get a photo copy of that photo for me. Ohhhh I sure hope that she can, that would be so awesome! I am not sure that I had mentioned this yet either, but a couple weeks ago I had asked if I could please trade the orphanage for the sweater that Z was wearing the day I met her and again on our first day of bonding. One of her caregivers said that she would quietly let me do this, please just buy a new sweater similar to the one Z was wearing and we would trade. So I now have that sweater also for Zahri’s hope chest. Here is a photo of our first day of bonding, the pink sweater is the sweater that I now have for her. Yeah!!!

Well, I learned something new this week; I learned how the caregivers feed our babies. Ugh! Our group had some talks about what is best, and we can see the reasoning behind their feeding style, but it sure isn’t very nurturing. The caregivers sit on the small little wooden chairs that you might have seen in my photos of the playroom; these chairs are maybe a foot off the ground, so when an adult sits on the chair, their legs bend perfectly at 90 degrees. The caregivers then lay the babies on their thighs, with the child’s head close to the caregiver’s knees, and the start to feed the child while laying flat on their legs. Ugh! No attachment, no real nurturing, just getting the job done. I can tell you that if I had to feed 10 babies, 3 times a day, the way that we feed them, lying in our arms, my arm would seriously fall right off after just one day. So, I am sure they just do what they need to do; it just hurts my heart to think that Z hasn’t had much connection while being fed. Here in lies one of our talks in our group, is it good for the children to attach to their caregivers? I mean, so far Z has been in her birth mom’s tummy and learned her sounds and her emotions, she was then in the hospital being cared for by the nurses for a month, and then she was in group #2 for a couple months being cared for by the 6 caregivers in that room and now she is in group #3 with her 6 new caregivers. If the caregivers intentionally care for these children with attachment in mind, is that best for them? This is a tough question! I said that it sure would be nice for the same caregivers to take the children from 1 month to 2 years and then if they had not yet been adopted, they would move up to the older baby house. But when I think of that, is that the best? I just don’t know what is really the best, but at least I can say that ‘for the most part’ I really like the caregivers in Z’s baby room.

Growing Leaps & Bounds

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 16:01:00 +0000

I can’t say it enough; it is just amazing how much these babies change in just a month’s time. I look at all of the babies, and they are growing and learning at amazing leaps & bounds. Just over a month ago Zahri had no leg strength, she would just sit back and watch me build a tower of stacking cups, she couldn’t get enough of watching everyone else but didn’t interact with me much, she would hold a toy but wouldn’t much play with it, she would look up at me without emotion yet with a look of please help me but I am not sure if I should trust you. Now, she is interacting with all of her toys; she is hitting toys together intentionally to hear the noise, knocking over the stacked cup tower, playing with the tags on the side of her Itsy Bitsy Spider Book, hitting the buttons on the walker intentionally to hear the music and such. Zahri is nearly crawling to grab those things that she wants, basically running in the walker, jumping, sitting on my lap while I read her a book, dancing, interacting with me on a one on one. So much growth!

In the past 2 days, I have noticed 3 new things with Z. First, she now understands how to make herself go forwards, backwards and sideways in the walker. She can move herself to any object that she wants to get at. At first she would just play with the toys on the walker but wouldn’t use her legs at all, and then she would put her feet on the ground but not make herself mobile. Then she figured out how to move her feet thus move her around the room, and now she moves in all directions with purpose. It is so fun to see! Yesterday she was dancing in her walker, dancing to Bayana’s music on her phone and dancing to Geert’s piano playing. Today, she was zooming around nearly screaming in delight. She loves it when I stomp my hands on the floor while crawling towards her and say, “I am going to get you.” She usually screams and laughs in anticipation.

Second, today Zahri truly understood Peek-a-boo. She had sort of gotten in the past but never really played back with me, but today she was looking around the tiger to find me. She was so darn cute.

We have also been playing a lot with the 2 stuffed dogs in the playroom and a bit with the big Tiger too. I want for Z to get comfortable with the puppies, so we pet them & I bark and pant and whine. (Yes I do this, only for the sake of Z………..or maybe more so for the sake of Diesel and Rylee, my little pooches waiting back home, we need to get her ready for them.) At first she wouldn’t even get close to the dogs. She would back away from them. Then she would at least look at them and not back away. Then she started to pet and tap on the dogs and play with the black dog’s nose, and just today, I said, “Should we get the puppies?” and she looked right to the top of the piano where they sit. She knew what I was talking about. I talked about the puppies a couple times before getting them down off the piano and she looked up to the piano each time. She is so darn smart!

Here we are feeding our little ones breakfast; this day it was some grayish brownish cream of wheat, pretty nasty looking I must say, so Z and I had some bananas too.

INTERESTING BELGUIM TIDBIT: So last night we (both Belgium couples, me and Bayana) went out to eat at a Ukrainian Restaurant and then went out bowling. While we waited for our lane to open up at the bowling alley we ordered drinks, beer and Coke. Davy then poured Coke about 1/3 of the way up in his glass and then he added his Becks beer to the Coke. Yikes! Beer and Coke? Together? On Purpose? They told me that this is very popular in Belgium, kind of like our Tomato Juice and Beer perhaps, so I tried it too, and I must admit that it was pretty tasty. So interesting.

Today, after our morning visit, Davy, Evy and I went to Sulpak. Sulpak is a great indoor mall with 3 floors plus a fourth level with a cafeteria. This is one of the nicer malls in Aqtobe that we have found, and the prices are fairly reasonable (I mean, reasonable compared to the other crazy prices in Aqtobe, still not cheap by any means.) Just outside the indoor mall there is also a huge outdoor market, and YES, even in negative a billion degree weather, the outdoor market is still open. It was freezing, but it was kind of fun too. These merchants must be crazy to do this year round! You can find anything from kid’s toys, to hats, to clothes, to rolls of material, shoes, pots & pans, etc. out there. There are also 2 smaller indoor markets inside the outdoor market too. So, we would spend about an hour outside and then head into one of the smaller indoor markets to shop and de-thaw and then back out to the market, it was great fun! I highly recommend shopping here if you stay in Aqtobe.