Glad she is Mine!

How does a girl go from 8+ hours of sleep each night to an average of possibly 2? I have no idea either, but I am still functioning so I will just go with it! Last night I didn’t get a full hour of sleep, in fact I am not sure that I ever fell asleep. When will this change? Makes a girl really consider doing this adoption in one trip versus two; I will be useless if I have to go ½ way around the world twice in 2 weeks.

Our day: Zahri is starting to really recognize who I am when caregivers bring her up to the playroom, it is great! Today I did try out some of your suggested songs with Z too, she loves Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, I squeeze her close and sing in her ear and she just chills. Thanks for the suggestions Beck, Matt & Suzzanne!! I have also found that I can nearly put Z in a trance by blowing on her neck, immediately she pauses from whatever she is doing and just sits there with her eyes ½ closed, she loves the cold air on her neck. I am sure she is a bit toasty with the 7 layers on. We also have our ‘up’ game figured out, when she is lying on the blanket and is ready to get up, she puts out her arms and grabs on to my fingers and I help her up to her feet, I really can’t believe that she is already that strong. I tell you the first day that we bonded, I am not sure that she even knew that she had any legs, seriously they were jello and now she wants to stand and dance all the time. It is quite amazing what just a couple days, and only a couple hours each day, can do for a baby! She is the only one in our group of 4 babies at 9 months that initiates standing and is trying to get up on all fours. Go Girl! I have also found another favorite of Z’s, I am not yet sure if she is bound to be a t.v. head or if she may be a tad bit vain, but she loves to look through the photos of us on my camera. After we look through a couple of our pictures, I put down the camera, and she peaks around me looking for the camera. She loves looking at those pictures, it is so cute!

You know what is great? Today I looked around and I thought, I wouldn’t want to have chosen any other child in this room, I am so glad that Zahria is mine! And the great part of that is, I think that all 5 sets of parents would say the exact same thing! It is weird how that happens; I had heard that this is the normal feeling, but I worried that I would feel differently somehow. Thank heavens all worked as it was supposed to & Z is mine! Z is in group #3, here is the door to her sleeping / hanging out quarters. :) I also added in a photo of our playroom, the stairway heading up to the playroom and the waiting room, this is the room that you first see when you enter the baby house.






Between visits today Laurie and I ventured out shopping again and we stopped into a Ukrainian Restaurant for lunch. We decided to share the “Shashlik” which is a combination of barbequed (not like our bbq – no sauce) Chicken, Pork and Lamb. I must say that it was quite tasty. Good luck so far on all of my food selections, no tummy aches yet, and I have a really sensitive tummy! I have drank their milk too and no problems. Lucky? The Ukrainian Restaurant that we visited is right by the Mosque and the indoor Mall for future Aqtobe families, and they do have an English Menu. Score!



My team here in Aqtobe has been great! Marina is my translator / head coordinator in Almaty and she initially met me in Almaty at the Airport to help me buy my tickets for my Aqtobe flight. My flight was a couple hours late and then my connecting flight was delayed about 7 hours and she stuck with me, sitting on the airport floor due to lack of space, for the entire time. And now, even though I am in Aqtobe, she still calls every couple days to ask how things are. Aina is my translator here, and she is just great too! For past Aqtobe families, Aina has her son that is now 2 and a little 6 month old daughter, yep a girl! Her son just started Kindergarten; this is what they call daycare. Aina said that her job is to keep her families happy, and they do a good job of that! Ceric is my driver, and for those that know Ceric, he is wonderful. Ceric is that person that you just know is a good soul, he makes little jokes here and there, both in broken English and Russian. Good man! And today, I started working with a second translator too; Bayana will now be with me on my afternoon visits to the orphanage and Aina with me in the morning. Bayana is in her early 20s and full of life, I loved her energy today. She talked with all of the other families in the play room and was down on the floor with the babies, it was great to see.

Things that I love about Aqtobe:

*The little kids are so bundled up they look like little marshmallows!
*The parents pull their little kids (bundled like marshmallows) around on those old time wooden toboggans.
*People hang their laundry out to dry (?) in -30c weather.