What great kids!

Karis and Kai are doing so well together. Karis just loves to take care of her baby brother, and he loves to have her around. He is adjusting so well. People can’t believe that he has been here only three weeks. Again, we have to attribute his great personality and resilience to the baby house in Kazakhstan. They did a phenomenal job raising him.
Kai is still a strong eater, although he is getting more particular. Carrots are out—he doesn’t even want to try them anymore. I can always count on him eating a cup of yogurt at mealtime, if all else fails.
He had his first bubble bath last night. Thank God it was decent bubble bath, because he loved to put his face in the bubbles. I swear he was a fish in another life. He has been to the playground, and is getting strong enough to pull himself up on the “ladder” and climb on the playscape. His favorite toys are still his cars (“machine-ah”). He can never get enough of them. We’re still working on becoming friends with the dog. Apparently, this will be a very long process!
The kids do irritate each other for about a minute and a half a day. Yesterday was our first encounter in the car with “He’s looking at me!” Later in the afternoon, he stood in front of the TV while she was watching cartoons. He had both arms and legs spread out in a big “X”. She told him to move, and, when he didn’t, she simply went over and picked him up and moved him. No tears, no fuss. Mission accomplished!
We went back to the orthodontist this a.m. What a tough morning for the little guy! They took two different views for x-rays, both upper and lower molds of his mouth, digital pictures, and an impression of his bite. He was quite the trooper. I won't say he enjoyed it, but I will say that he was good about everything. They will next put an "expander" in his mouth to align the three segments (both sides and the front) before the oral surgeon closes the gap/repairs the palate. The expander will be there for about three months (John or I will tighten a screw daily to position the gum line properly) before he has surgery. He will have surgery on his lip following the oral surgery. There is so much involved with the cleft; teeth that are yet to come in, hearing that could be affected (we've been very lucky to this point), psychological issues that could arise from others' comments, possible bone graft to support new teeth, etc.. We are well informed from the Cleft Palate Foundation as well as from his doctors. What a difference these people will make in his life.
Kai has met so many of our friends and family. We can't wait for him to meet all of you! Our friends from church are having an “adoption” shower for us this weekend. We truly appreciate what everyone is doing for us—toys, clothes, visits, information booklets—how do you know exactly what we need when we don’t even know? The support we have never ceases to amaze me. We love all of you!

The Bear That We Live With...And Why A 3' Child Would Be Afraid...

Need I say more?

What a Life Changing Experience!

First--I must apologize for taking so long to update the blog. What a whirlwind it has been. Let me just say that the trip home was 31 hours, and a really bad experience, but Kai (Aidar) was a great traveler, and we couldn't have been happier with him. We owe HUGE thanks to Marsha and Ray for picking us up at the airport and driving us home. And, of course, to Shannon and Rachael for lending us the car seat for the ride home. We now call him "Kai", but we kept "Aidar" as his middle name, and often call him a combination of the two.

We've been back for one and a half weeks, and you would think that this child grew up in the States. He acts like he has been going to church, playgrounds, the mall, restaurants, the doctor, etc. every day of his life. He is a happy, happy little boy, and everyone is impressed at how well he is adapting. He isn't doing very well with the dog, however; he is terrified of Boo. But, I can empathize. It's like us moving in with a ten foot bear, and having someone say "It's OK. Look, he's a nice bear." Yeah, right!

Kai's sign language skills are growing every day. It is great that he can communicate with us almost as well as we can communicate with him. His favorite sign: "EAT!" The doctor has already put him on a diet. He is is underweight for his age, but weighs more than 95% of other children his height. We're giving him a lot of fruits and vegetables, and letting him burn it all off by playing--something he probably didn't get to do very often at the baby house.

Karis is a phenomenal big sister. She wants to help Kai with everything. Sometimes he gets irritated with her trying to help him do things he has been doing for years (like walking), but he is a patient little boy and loves her attention. He absolutely adores her, and gives her hugs and kisses when she sits still for a moment.

She couldn't wait for him to come home with us so that she could take him to Build-A-Bear. She went to town there and built a bear with every accessory she could find in the store--shoes, socks, a dress, purse, coat, you name it. Kai chose a dog (surprisingly, since he is scared to death of our's), but then started choosing Cinderella dresses and silver purses for it. John just shook his head. John was able to convince him to buy a NASCAR shirt for it, and Kai chose a camouflage hard hat, which didn't match, but was more masculine than a silver purse. I thought he might at first be going for the "Village People" look.

He has gone to see both his pediatrician and a member of the Cleft Team at Duke Hospital. His pediatrician is going to run a few more tests, and it looks like we will have to have all of his immunizations again, since Kazakhstan did not give us complete records. The Duke Team feels he should see an orthodontist first to see if the three segments (both sides and the front) in his mouth can be better aligned before he has surgery. We're not sure how long this will take, but we're concerned about his baby teeth falling out and his permanent teeth coming in before surgery. I guess it's one step at a time, though, isn't it?

We're so glad to have the major aspects of the adoption over with. Thanks to all of you for keeping up with our story and for your prayers and well wishes! More to come shortly.

Our New Family of Four

We made it home. Not with out incident but most importantly, we made it home safely. We are so thrilled to be home as a family of four in the GREAT USA! We hope to see everyone soon. Here is a picture of our new family when we arrived home Saturday night.

Blessings to all-

Day 33--The End of Our Final Trip

Day 33-- February 20, 2009

Today is our final day in Kazakhstan. The end of one journey and the beginning of another. Aidar woke up as a happy little boy, of course, which can only start our day with a smile. We visited with Aziz, our translator from our last trip, and went to see his wife’s store. It is in a market area that is just as you would imagine it—small shops, fruit stands, a little bit of everything with people everywhere. We couldn’t stay long because we had to get to the embassy, but it was so nice to spend time with someone so kind.

Ducien, our driver, picked us up and took us to the embassy. He, too, is one of the kindest people you would ever meet. Just as we arrived, it began to snow. It was a really pretty, wet snow—the perfect kind for a snowball fight. We met up with Olga, and went up to the U.S. Embassy. It’s not at all what you would expect. It’s on the top floor of a bank building. It’s a waiting room similar to DMV (except no one is ever there), and we simply went to a window to pay for Aidar’s visa ($400—Yikes! We didn’t see that one coming), and then to another window to pick up our documents. The entire process took maybe fifteen minutes.

We went back to the apartment, where we left Aidar with Ducien, and Olga, John and I went to meet with Assya, our translator, and Aidar’s father. He is such a kind man who is so incredibly sad. His tears broke my heart. His wife did not have the strength to come. He wanted us to know that they would have kept Aidar if only they had the money and the resources in Kazakhstan to help him. He also wanted us to know that he and his wife are healthy, and they don’t understand how Aidar was born with a cleft lip and palate. They do have one son who is older than Aidar, and he showed us a picture of this handsome little boy. I think his wife feels incredibly guilty; thinking it somehow must be her fault. He said that since Aidar was born, his wife has simply existed, and that they’re afraid to have more children. He asked us to tell Aidar when he grows up about them; that they love him and would not have given him up if they could have kept him. We assured him that Aidar will always know—not only when he is an adult. We told him that Aidar will know that he has two sets of parents: one in Kazakhstan and one in the U.S. He cried probably three or four times. It was so sad. I hope we gave him some peace in his heart.

So we leave tonight with both joy and sadness. Olga said that this is the first meeting that she knows of between birth parents and adoptive parents. I know she feels his anguish as well. We are almost in disbelief that we are leaving….but we’re not on the plane yet. Hopefully, we’ll be home Sunday and you can all meet the little guy in person.

Day 32--It Couldn't Last Forever

Day 32-- February 19, 2009

Well, it was a good run while we had it. We knew it couldn’t last forever! The knocking on the door and waiting…forget it. The going to bed and not getting up….nix that, too. Not liking raspberry preserves and apple juice….he was just kidding. Still, just when you think you couldn’t love him any more, you do.

Our day turned out to be not so busy after all. Our driver showed up unexpectedly and told John that he and John were going to the embassy to drop off the documents—no wife and no baby. That was great because I wasn’t ready, and they were back in no time. We took a taxi to the museum near the Ministry of Education. It cost about $7.50 USD each way. The museum was only about $1.50 for both John and me! What a deal! We spent the afternoon there (about 2 ½ hours), which was relatively quick, considering most of the displays had information only in Russian and Kazakh.

We went to dinner, and again, Aidar ate everything—his dinner, half of my dinner, most of the bread. When we got home, he went straight to the kitchen and pulled out a chair to eat again! I swear this child has a tapeworm in his belly! The thing that really surprises us is that he never spills his food, even though he has a bilateral cleft palate and lip. He eats yogurt with no problem, and tonight, he had chicken noodle soup. His clothes are as clean after eating as they are before he eats. I hope I don’t jinx him by writing that!

We don’t know if we’re meeting with his birth parents tomorrow. We haven’t heard back from our translator on that. We have to be at the embassy at 3:00, and our translator has a class at 5:00 (she’s in college), so there won’t be much time in between to meet with them.

As for our trip home, Lufthansa canceled Aidar’s ticket yesterday, after having reinstated the return portion of the original roundtrip ticket (that they had also canceled) last Friday (a one-way ticket would have cost around $8,000, so I bought a round trip ticket for $1500 thinking he could just use the second half of the ticket; they canceled it when he didn’t fly the first leg). Their explanation for reconsidering was that it would cost almost $3,000 for the flight, so they were canceling it again. This happened two days before we’re to fly. John sent them a note saying he was really disappointed that it came down to the dollar for them, and that the fact that we’re adopting a special needs child with dates that keep changing is irrelevant to them. I guess we’ll have difficulties to the end. God knows that I will be happy in more ways than one to get home.

FYI, the picture of the building is the museum where we spent the day.

Day 31--The Perfect Child Gets Better

Day 31-- February 18, 2009

OK, it only gets better with this kid. He knocks when doors are closed (and waits for a response before entering), he goes to bed at 8:00 (and doesn’t get up after we leave the room), and he is happy from the moment he wakes up (which is too early for me) until the moment he goes to sleep (which is too early for him). He LOVES taking a bath—especially when John dumps water on his head again and again. Just before going to sleep, he loves for us to “relax” him as we call it with Karis; his favorite body part to be touched ever so lightly are his feet.

We discovered another food that he doesn’t like: raspberry preserves. I had some toast today, and he wanted no part of the piece that had the preserves. Of course, he scoffed up the other piece that had just butter! He has also taken a preference of water to apple juice (that’s a good thing), and doesn’t like to drink milk, but will eat it with his cereal. He is also an ambidextrous eater. He must have a fork and spoon—one in each hand—for virtually every meal. He eats pizza with a fork, as hard as we may have tried to let him know it was OK to pick it up with his hand. John taught him how to tip the bowl and drink the milk out of the bowl when his cereal is gone. And I thought Karis learned that on her own. Silly me!

Our day started off slowly, revved up quickly, and then ended slowly as well. We spent the morning waiting for our driver to call/arrive to take us to the medical center and to have Aidar’s passport photo taken. I swear this kid is going to think we’re wealthy; what a disappointment it will be for all of us to not have a driver when we get home. As I’ve said before, I just close my eyes when we’re on the road. You don’t want to look forward, but you don’t feel any better when you look out the side windows, either. Our driver says that 50% of the drivers are crazy and 50% are stupid. It’s like NASCAR on every street.

Once we got on the road, we got everything we needed to do accomplished in record time: we picked up the translated documents; we had his photo taken for his visa; while the photo was being developed, we bought toys for the baby house (Marianne--the children’s store in the same building as the Russia grocery store is great for this (not too expensive)); and we bought flowers for the doctor of whom we have become so fond at the baby house. Our driver dropped us off at the baby house, and we delivered the wonderful surprises. Unfortunately, the doctor was sick, but we wish her a speedy recovery. Flowers always help you to feel better!

We walked to an indoor strip mall where we bought some items in the past, and we bought Aidar the cutest little slipper boots that look like colorful horses. Two stores (one across from the other) were competing for the sale, so had him try on slippers in both stores. When we asked him to choose which pair he wanted, he went over and picked up his very own shoe! Too much pressure!

We had a relaxing late afternoon at home before dinner and a bath. Aidar is asleep in bed now, and John is asleep on the couch, as your day is just beginning. Tomorrow is another busy day for us at the Embassy. For those of you wondering, I am still pretty sick, not sleeping, and still cannot talk. But, as I’ve said, being sick doesn’t preclude you from being a mom, does it?

Our coordinator asked if we would like to meet with Aidar’s birth parents on Friday. I am so glad to know that they would like for us to stay in touch. I also like that Aidar will grow up knowing them. I think meeting will bring peace to their hearts. And it brings a sense of fulfillment to mine so that I am not worried about them and how they feel to lose the child they cannot help. John is a little more nervous than I that everything could change even as late as just before our flight if they decided to change their minds. I think we all have to have faith that this is the right thing to do.

Day 30--The Perfect Child!

Day 30-- February 17, 2009

What a perfect child! He comes to us already potty trained, he eats anything, he can play quietly by himself, he puts everything away (including our stuff), and he stays clean. What a child! He woke up a very happy boy this morning. He and John slept in the bed, and I slept on the couch (I can’t get rid of this cold for the life of me). We took him to the SOS clinic this a.m. where he was given a clean bill of health. The doctor kept talking about his little Buddha belly, since he ate so much last night and for breakfast.

We took him to Silkway City (the mall with the playscape). As we entered, John stopped to pick up a phone card, so Aidar and I stood by a storefront to wait. He looked up at me and said “Hey!” and pointed—to a manikin! He was totally amazed at this fake “person”. He actually went into the store to touch it. There are so many “firsts” for him! Another first was the playscape where played for a little while; he wasn’t too fond of the balls or heights, which leaves a lot out in a playscape!

We went back to the apartment and met up with our coordinator to go over the documents for the Embassy. Kai (Aidar) sat in the other room and put a puzzle together while we talked. What a good boy. When we were finished, we headed over to Café Ajour, which also has a playscape. Again, he’s not big on it. He didn’t even want to go in this time. So, we had dinner, and he played with his Matchbox cars. We did find two foods he doesn’t like: pickles and ketchup. I’ll give him the pickles—not many people do like them—but, ketchup? I’ve never heard of a child not liking ketchup!

Once we got home, he went with John to do all of he things a good boy should do at the end of the night: he went potty, washed his hands, and brushed his teeth before he was to go to bed. The thing that truly impressed me was that he came to me and signed that he was doing all of that! We are truly blessed to have him.

The journey is almost at an end. Tomorrow, we go to pick up his translated medical documents and get his picture taken for his visa. We go to the Embassy on Thursday, and then pick up all of his documents from the Embassy on Friday. We head back late Friday night/early Saturday morning, but must spend the day in Germany because there are not enough seats on Saturday’s plane without paying fees that would buy the plane itself. We’ll be home Sunday night!!!!!!!!!

I want to thank all of you who are posting comments to our blog. I’ve tried replying to your comments, but did not have access to you. I want you to know how much we appreciate your thoughts, and that your little ones are absolutely ADORABLE!

New addition to Our Family

Day 29-- February 16, 2009

We have Aidar with us now!!! Olga picked us up about 10am and took us to the “baby house”. Our translator was sick so we could only have translation over the phone. We were instructed to take clothes for Aidar to change into before he leaves the baby house. Ohhhh…. that’s a problem because half of his clothes were in Cindie’s luggage that had not arrived. We did have a shirt, jacket, mittens and a hat though. Well they were just going to have to let us take him home in the pants and stuff from the orphanage. After we arrived at the baby house, we met with the Doctor of the baby house that we like so much, Batama. We showed our passports to her and we signed in her book. We were very anxious to see Aidar. She then escorted us down stairs and asked for the clothes we had brought. She opened the door to Aidars room and all the kids were already dressed to go outside, including Aidar. We saw Aidar just for a moment through the door way, we waved but it was so chaotic we not sure if he saw us. The door closed and we were told to wait.

The video camera on and ready, I was waiting to capture the moment. Finally, at 10:30 Olga said I could go back with the camera. A bit shocked as we have been told not to go in the rooms before, but off I went. I was motioned back into the play room where all the kids and care takers were ligned up for a picture by one of the other caretakers. When they had finished taking pictures, I took a picture of Aidar with the caretakers. Aidar came to me and I picked him up and gave him a big kiss. We went out to the hallway were Cindie was and he went over and gave her a big hug. Olga took our fist picture of us with our new little boy.

After a few more pictures, we left the orphanage, with Kai Aidar! Olga took us back to our apartment. Our new life with a little boy begins. After playing with some of the familiar toys it was about 11:30. We showed him around the apartment, albeit its only 3 rooms and a bathroom, but he was amazed at everything.

Hooray!!…. Cindie’s luggage arrived; Olga picked it up from the hotel we had stayed at.

Time to eat, and for Kai Aidar, it was eat, and eat and eat. Good thing I went to the store the day before. He loves crackers and just like our last trip, he loves apple juice. After lunch we tried naptime, although that was the plan we had for Kai Aidar, that was not his plan. I tried to lay down with him to get him to rest, then Cindie tried but it just was not happening, for him at least. We could have slept for a couple of hours, but Kai was not going to let that happen.

We decided to get out side and let him use some energy on the little children play scapes in the courtyard. He had fun until he walked right into a puddle of melting snow that turned out to be even deeper than I thought. Of course he started to fall but I managed to catch him by his coat before he completely went down. Good thing the other suitcase arrived, he needed some dry pants.

We then ventured off to the grocery store to pick up a few more items and water. We can only imagine that this was his first trip to the grocery store. Just like other children, he wanted to grab everything off the shelves. We loaded up the basket and made our way back to the apartment. By this time, our little guy was hungry again, and he will fit into the family just fine, he loves bread and crackers. This held him over until he ate some yogurt before the main course. The main course was supposed to be shrimp, rice and peas. Well the shrimp and peas were right, but when I opened the box of “rice” Cindie picked out, it was not like any rice I had ever seen. Turns out, they were buckwheat grouts. What……? Well the directions were just like instant rice. All and all, it turned out fine, could have used some flavoring but not bad considering the very limited kitchen with no seasonings. Kai Aidar ate his bowl full though. Then we gave him a chocolate chip cookie for desert.

Then it was bath time, or first time giving him a bath. Again, he had an excitement look on his face as I was filling the tub. Although he seemed to know what to do, he started to take off his pants. He enjoyed putting his face in the water and when I scooped the water over his head. My guess is that he is not use to a tub with as much water and him the only one in it. This hopefully means he will love swimming.

Finally, it was time for bed. We put him in a one-piece footie pajamas and I tried to read him a story. Although he wanted to just turn out the lights, so no story. He was restless for a few minutes but he finally went off to sleep. A big day for us all!

Tomorrow, we take him to the International clinic to verify his immunization records for the visa. Tell our little sweetie at home we love her and send kisses and hugs! Love to all our family and friends! Until tomorrow. --JH

Day 28--Last Trip!!!!

Day 28-- February 15, 2009

John and I made it back to Kazakhstan in record time—a mere 23 hours. So, what’s the only thing worse than traveling when you’re really sick? Arriving two days before your luggage. That’s right, my luggage didn’t make the Washington to Frankfurt flight, and since there is only one flight per day from Frankfurt to Almaty, I must wait until Monday a.m. to get my clothes. A good piece of advice for anyone traveling with more than one bag: put a set of pajamas, clothes, toothbrush, etc. in each suitcase. Fortunately, we stayed at a hotel the first night, so I at least today had soap, shampoo and a new toothbrush/toothpaste—and access to John’s clothes.

We slept the day away, and met up with Olga late this afternoon to take us to our apartment. It is really, really nice, and in a great location. There is a great playscape here, the restaurant with the indoor playscape is just up the street, and the mall with a playscape as well is relatively close by. The grocery store—the “Harris Teeter” of grocery stores--is only ½ block away.

We go tomorrow a.m. to get Aidar for good!!!!! I hope someone has explained to him what will be taking place. I know he will miss his friends and the staff at the baby house. We didn’t get to see him today since we were awaiting Olga’s call this a.m. and were going to the apt. this afternoon during visitor’s hours. I am so worried that I will get him sick. I guess that’s the only thing that’s worse than traveling when you’re sick: forcing your child to travel when he’s sick.

We will go to the SOS Clinic on Tuesday to get his medical clearance. Thursday will be a busy day: his passport is due back (we think it includes his visa), and we have our interview with the U.S. Embassy. We’re scheduled to leave early Saturday a.m. (around 4:30), but will spend the day in Germany, since there are not enough seats on the flight back to the U.S. for the three of us. We can’t wait to bring him home to meet everyone! We brought a number of pictures of our family and friends so that he will recognize everyone when we get back to the States, and won’t be so overwhelmed.

Thanks to all of you for your warm wishes, your help, and your prayers. It looks like this is finally coming to fruition!

Court Paper Work Should be Complete!

Monday the 2nd of February 2009 - Court Paper work is supposed to be completed. Our agency says everything is "fine." In that case we celebrate our new addition. We will not see him until the 12th of February when we go back to Kazakhstan. We can now post and show everyone a picture of him.


We brought Aidar a treat to celebrate after our court approval by the judge on our 2nd trip. He sure did enjoy this lollipop!

WE cannot wait until we go back and can bring him home. This process is starting to wind down but our excitement is ramp-ping up. Then our new journey with a family addition takes off. (Pun Intended) We still have to work out some flight arrangements to bring him home but we will have that set before we leave the US. We will schedule flights to return to the US on the 21st. The thought of packing for 3 is almost surreal. We can pick him up the day we get there so we will take clothes, shoes, everything for him to wear.
Until we post again, Many Blessings to all!

January 22, 2009 (Thursday)

(Pictures of our rooms in Hotel Alma-Aty)

We arrived home Saturday night after a 35 hour trip. We went through Istanbul, and had eggs and sausage along the way. Since Turkey is four hours behind Almaty, we were able to try the eggs a second time on the trip from Istanbul to Munich just in case we weren't sure about them on the first trip. The trip from Germany to the U.S. is the one that always gets to me. It's the last 1 1/2 hours that makes me so antsy. We flew from Munich into Philadelphia, and then home. Oh my gosh, were we tired. We cannot thank Beena enough for taking us to the airport on the way to KZ, and Beth for picking us up.

It was an exhausting trip, but it all melted away the moment we saw Karis. She was so excited to see us, and we were just as excited to see her. She has been such a trooper through all of this.

We are preparing to head back, and have sent Jeff our passports to have the visa updated. We need a couple more passport photos, and need to sign more forms since we've already run through those that we already had with our first two trips.

A tip for those of you yet to pick up your child: you will need ten passport pictures of your child for all of the documentation.

We will go back to KZ somewhere around Feb. 11th. We will take Aidar to the SOS clinic for his medical clearance on 2/13 and then will wrap up his visa, passport and other docs the following week. We have an interview with the U.S. Embassy on 2/17, and should be able to bring him home immediately following the interview.

Aidar has no idea how many wonderful people have waited so long to meet him. I think this journey is virtually all of your's as well as our's, and we thank you for going on it with us. It takes a village to raise a child, and we live in the best village of all.

We'll write more as the next excursion approaches.

Day 27--Court Date #2 and #3--January 15, 2009

Day 27-- January 15, 2009

And the verdict is…………………………………….court was delayed until 1:00. Agh!

(11:40 a.m.) We didn’t have enough time to visit Aidar, so we changed clothes and went out to walk off some of this nervous energy and practice for the 700th time what we will say in court if given the opportunity. Our 1st court day the judge asked us very little about Aidar himself, and Olga suggested we talk about the emotional side of the adoption—how much we love him and he loves us.

We were at the court at 12:00. Our translator did not want to get held up by traffic, so we were early. We waited in our translator’s car and chatted. We saw the judge arrive, and the prosecutor leave. Then we saw what we thought was the judge leaving. OK, John didn’t think it was the judge in the first place, but Azziz and I were convinced.

1:00 p.m. Still waiting…….

1:30 p.m. The judge leaves the courtroom and passes through some doors to the world of the unknown. Uh-oh. Are we going to be delayed again?

1:32 p.m. Everyone starts speaking in Russian and stands up. Is this good or bad? They said it was time. But where was the judge?

1:33 p.m. They ushered us through the doors to the world of the unknown, and up some stairs. My knee is still blown out from falling the other day….ouch…ouch…ouch…with each step. They take us to an office. And then an office off of the office.

1:36 p.m. The judge arrives, sits down with two huge sets of documents and begins looking through one as our translator begins speaking to us while the judge speaks. John has rehearsed in his head a thousand times what he is going to say about the love we have for Aidar and how it is reciprocated, but the judge doesn’t ask us if we have anything to say. The judge apologized for the delay, that he was running behind because of criminal cases, he thanked us for waiting, etc. etc. etc. Finally……

1:42 We are approved!!!! John was grinning from ear to ear (or as he says “Like a mule eating briars”). Hooray!!!! I was listening to our translator continue on—did I really hear what I thought I heard? The judge asked us to not let Airdar forget his homeland, to bring him back to visit. Yes, it must be true! The judge said that maybe he would come to visit the U.S., smiled, said congratulations, and then we were whisked out of his office as quickly as we had come into it. We all signed our names on a couple of sheets of paper, and that was it. Can you believe it? If anyone wants to hear John’s speech, I’m sure it will be in his head for the next couple of years.

We then went to lunch with Olga to celebrate, and learned that when Olga spoke with the judge on Tuesday evening that he had asked her to again contact the birth parents and have them come to court on Friday. Olga was able to convince him that with the two documents she had from them relinquishing their rights to Aidar, that they are certain that they will allow this adoption. As such, the judge agreed to approve us today without pursuing any further action with his birth parents.

It is mind blowing to me how we can go through so much, and it can all disappear with a phone call. Or two.

I later thought that this was a lot like having a baby in that you forget all of the pain once you actually have the child. But, unlike having a second child, I don’t think I could go through the anxiety that goes with an adoption again. Thank God for Aidar and Karis. They are all we could ever want in children.

We saw Aidar this afternoon and decided that we must usurp his energy in the morning sessions because he was full of energy this afternoon. John bought him two more cars, and we played with them for a while. We brought him some apple juice again (shhhhhh—don’t tell anyone), and he loved it. He was so affectionate this afternoon. We’d like to think that he knew something was up. We were told that they’ve explained to him that he will be coming to live with us. We hope that he is excited about that and that he won’t miss his friends too terribly when he leaves. We know that he will be happy that he will only have to wear one layer of clothing.

John is already planning Aidar’s hunting license. Can he become a redneck that quickly?

We meet with the baby house in the a.m. to get Aidar’s passport photos, and then we meet with Olga at 1:00 to go over the embassy documents. Aidar will become our’s officially on January 30, 2009. Olga had requested on Monday that the judge waive the 15-day appeal period, to no avail. We wish we could bring him home today, but we know that we will have government documents to be finished.

We leave at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday to return home via Istanbul…and Munich…and Philadelphia. If we don’t get a chance to blog tomorrow night, we’ll fill you in on the much-anticipated details when we see you.

Thank you, everyone for following along with our blog, and thank you for your comments. We don’t feel half a world away when we know our family and friends are so close to our hearts.

Day 26-- January 14, 2009

Day 26-- January 14, 2009

Today was actually restful. We tried not to dwell on our court day tomorrow and just spend some time together, with Aidar and rest if we could. We went to Aidar’s house at 10am to spend the morning with him. He did not play with any of the toys coloring books or the puzzle we brought this morning. He only wanted to listen to the ring tones of the cell phone and dance. It’s hard to imagine that we could spend an hour and 45minutes playing with a cell phone but we did. We taught him to say the word “up” the other day so we practiced that a few times when he wanted to be picked up. He likes us to hold him so we can dance with him in our arms. We are trying to teach him some rhythm and moves, but he definitely seems to like music. Another sign that he will fit into the family just fine! Although we could all use help with the rhythm and moves.

Cindie and I came back to the hotel after our morning time with Aidar to eat a sandwich from items we bought from the store. We ate lunch watching it snow and listening to music on the computer. It was very peaceful. Cindie caught up on some reading and I caught a nap.

For the afternoon time with Aidar, we stopped by the convenient store and picked up some apple juice for him. For the past few days he has been very lethargic and seemed to just zone out when we got there and took him to the playroom. Again, we picked him up today and sure enough he wanted me to just hold him. I did that for a little while then he wanted to get the flashlight out and play with it. That is when we broke out the apple juice. Ahh…., nothing like sugar to get a Kid going right. Needless to say, he loved it. He wanted to drink it all at once and he would have if we would have let him. Well that was the trick. After he drank some juice, I asked him to get the “machinea” Kazakh for car, and we played with the matchbox cars for a while. Then he wanted to color in the coloring book. He is actually doing a lot better at that by not scribbling all over the page and just in small area with little strokes. Then he pulled out the “Sesame street” puzzle, it’s only 24 pieces and forms about a 10”x12” picture. We took it over to the side off of the Persian rug so it would be on the hard surface of the floor. I told Cindie we would let him try it all by himself. Other than flipping a few pieces over on their correct side, that was it. He started by a small section of “Big Bird” Oddly enough, he started with them upside down. That was bugging Cindie. After he put about 5 pieces together, with the picture facing upside down, Cindie could not stand it anymore and turned it around so the picture would face him correctly. Much to my satisfaction, on his own, he turned it right back around so he could assemble another piece. Finally, after assembling one complete side and most of the top portion, he rotated the assembled piece’s so the picture would face him correctly. Cindie was then satisfied. He worked diligently at it for almost 20 minutes. Then he was finished with the masterpiece. He was proud and then turned to us for hugs. After that, we played with other toys until time for him to go back to his room. Of course he reminded us that he still had apple juice to finish.

We decided we better just head back to the hotel and finish leftovers to save some money. After all, we may be celebrating Thursday night. We will let you know the verdict after court tomorrow.

We did talk to Karis before she went to school Wednesday. She sounded so happy but told me that she was calling for mommy last night. Karis talked to Cindie for a little bit and wanted us to bring her a present, and then she started to get sad while talking to Cindie and started to cry. She wanted us to come home. Hopefullly she did not cry long. Usually not if there is a cartoon or something she wants to eat near by. We completely understand her pain. We think this is a crazy process also, to be required to be here so long. We feel like crying too Karis! Give Karis big hugs and kisses for us and we will see her real soon. Thanks again for taking Care of her while we are going through this. --JH

Here is another view from our hotel at. We have to enjoy while we have it so we wanted to share! The moon was out so it lit up the mountains in the background. Of course I had to slow the shutter speed down to capture it all.

Vew from Almaty Hotel Balcony

Day 25-- January 13, 2009

Well…..you can put the champagne on ice. We were told today that the judge is reviewing our documents, and everything looks fine so far. We are tentatively set for approval on Thursday. Yea!

The picture above from our hotel balcony helps us look past some of the challenges!

Aidar had a good day as well. When we arrived at the baby house this morning, guess who was out for the day? Aidar! They apparently had a field trip to an animal show. How sweet. So, John and I went to Silkway City, a shopping mall that is three levels high, but still small compared to those in the U.S. John bought a new tie for court, and I bought a cute pink Kazakh wool hat. (From JH-Cindie made me buy some new dress socks for Thursday, I told her that if my socks we a deal breaker then we were definitely in the wrong place :-)

We went back to the baby house this afternoon, and had a fun session with our little guy. The odd thing is that lately, he doesn’t want to play with any of his toys, but prefers to be held by John, and then just having John catch him whenever he tries to walk away. He absolutely adores John. He is really getting that “male bonding” thing going. I still get hugs and kisses, but John gets the “toss me around” part that kids love so well. Aidar also loves the flashlight. He plays with the light on the wall, under our hands, looking in our mouths, eyes, ears, whatever he can find. Aidar is trying out some English and sign language, but we pretty much know what he is asking for when he does speak. He desperately needs the cleft team’s help. We’re going to try to set up an appointment as soon as we can.

This evening, we ended up having to go back to our original hotel with our translator to get some billing straightened out. Apparently, when we checked out a day early, that was something that they overlooked. We got it taken care of, but I’m afraid that they may make the girl who did our final expenses pay for the extra day. I really hope not.

This is a Kazakhstan New Year from the end of the Soviet era, so someone is setting off fireworks every night.

Mom, I hope Boo is behaving himself. Maybe you can set up a play date with Jamima.

Hope you all are doing well and staying warm. We’re FREEZING here!

Day 24--January 12, 2009

Day 24-- January 12, 2009

OK, don’t break out the champagne yet. John and I went to court this a.m. only to be postponed until Thursday. We were bombarded with questions by the judge, who didn’t seem to like our response to “Why are you adopting from Kazakhstan?” We told him about the low childcare giver to child ratio (so there aren’t bonding issues), that the country is economically developed, that the children are essentially given up for social reasons (e.g. single motherhood), but he asked John the same question three times and he asked it of me once. We answered all of his and the prosecutor’s questions as best—and honestly—as we could. The regional director of the Almaty orphanages was there and explained that the parents had been contacted and still agreed to give Aidar up for adoption. The assistant director of the baby house was there and gave positive feedback regarding John and me and our visits to the baby house. Our coordinator went through the judge’s checklist with him (was a criminal background check done, was a homestudy done, are our documents in order, etc) and she recommended that we be allowed to adopt Aidar. Even after all of that, the judge said that he wanted to review our paperwork, and that he is continuing our hearing until Thursday. We don't think that we did a great job, but we also don't know how we could have done better. Our translator did a fantastic job; he got tripped up a little bit, but didn’t really get a break, so we give him great kudos.

Back at the homestead, we had to send our laundry to be done by the hotel. I called the front desk to ask how it is charged (e.g. by weight or by item), but they just told me to call X-1236--where no one speaks English. They did bring a price sheet for drycleaning and repairs, and even a charge for “urgency”, so who knows when we’ll get how clothes back (maybe Friday?) and how they will come back. I pray they don’t dryclean our socks and charge us for it.

On the downside of the hotel that I fell in love with: there are absolutely no English channels on TV—not even BBC. Also, the restaurant isn’t nearly as good as Hotel Kazzhol, but it is much more pricey. They have a small “cafeteria” that John would have loved to have eaten at, but you know me…….So, we’re having peanut butter and jelly (again) and crackers and cheese. My drink of choice here is Fanta orange soda. I’d pay anything for a Mountain Dew. Speaking of paying anything, John ordered a 1-liter bottle of Coke at a restaurant, and was charged $10! It’s water for him from now on!

We saw Aidar this afternoon, and he put his puzzle together almost all by himself. He is an amazing child. We can’t get over how tiny he is, though. We brought shoes that are size 8, and they’re actually a little big for him. I think Karis was in a size 9 by that age (4 years, 4 months).

Aidar really fell into his comfort zone this afternoon. He loves the cell phones, and recently discovered the various ring tones. He loves to have us hold him and dance and then stop when the ring tone ends. He plays another to have us dance—and then stop. Sooooooo, John played his MP3 music from his phone, and after a few songs, Aidar just rested his head and truly felt like he could relax and just be content. This lasted for probably twenty minutes. How could a judge say “no” to that?

We’ll write more tomorrow, but want to let you know that we think of you all day, every day, and miss you. We can’t wait for this to come to a close, and for all of you to meet our new little guy.

The Big day ahead, we hope!

Day 23-- 11, January 2009

We have a "tentative" court hearing tomorrow, Monday. We are supposed to meet with a Judge and a legal representative for the rights of Kazakhstan Children. Cindie and I will have GOD with us, and a translator. Please lift us up in your prayers and that the officials allow this process to move forward and without further delays.

We did not get much rest today as we went to the Orphanage to spend time with Aidar and had to reschedule our air travel. Easier said than done when you are in another country well at least here in KZ! I needed to buy another phone card before I could change half of the arrangements because I needed to call out of the country. Then the local office for the one airline, Luftansa, that gets us out of Kazakhstan is only open from 11:30 am to 8 pm local time. First I had to figure out how to get a touch tone phone to get through the menus of the phone card and air lines. Yes, they are still behind in technology in some cases, our phone in the room did not have a switch to change from Pulse dial to tone dial. You should have seen the face of the Hotel receptionist when I tried to ask for another phone. “Ohhhhhhhhh What you say? You have phone in room Yes…..!” Right, they were not getting it! She then asked for the number I was trying to dial and she then dialed it for me from the phone at the front desk. Great! At least they have a phone that works with tone dialing. However I did not want to stand at the front desk in the hotel lobby trying to change several sets of itinerary’s calling 3 different countries and try to hear over everything that happens at the front desk of a hotel, a large one at that. I then thought she understood that I was asking for another phone to be brought to my room, she motioned for me to go to my room. (Mostly to get rid of me from the front desk I think). Cindie also asked for a hair dryer, and I though someone would bring me a phone so I went back to the room. By this time Cindie needed to go to the orphanage to spend time with Aidar, after all, we only get four hours to spend with him there a day over two visits. SO………. I waited for the phone delivery, 15 minutes later, a knock on the door, GREAT, a phone,………….Nope! a Hair dryer. Good for Cindie not so good for me, most of my hair is gone now because of this trip! Then I remembered reading somewhere or hearing of a way to change to tone dialing by pressing * or # or some combination. Or was it click your heels while snapping your fingers and patting your head. Well Finally, I got it. Use the pulse dial to get an outside line, then press *, pause, then dial the number. So easy.... Wonderful, I am in business now. Except after changing two 3rds of the flights I needed, the phone card was running out. OK, I can go back to the store, or Another thought, call Dad and wake him up with a great assignment on Sunday morning. Well...... he saved us and made the changes from the US using my information. I think it even took him an hour from the US to get the changes.

!!!!THANK YOU DAD!!!!!

Well that was the entertainment for the day here, Cindie calls it stress, for us. I am going to get some sleep now. I made Cindie take a sleeping pill earlier so she could get some reset. If I hurry to bed I can get in 5 hours if I actually fall asleep. Sue, tell Karis we said hello and we love her! Until next time, Blessings to you all. __JH

Day 22--January 10, 2009

Day 22—January 10, 2009

What a busy day. John and I got up early, packed, had breakfast, and stored our luggage, headed out the door for a whirlwind of a day. Of course, we began with a visit to Aidar. We now call the baby house “Aidar’s House”. He’s a little under the weather, but we still had a lot of fun. He loves to play with the phones and see pictures on the camera. Someone left some balloons in the playroom. He’s really good at hitting the balloons into the air over and over again. Great hand/eye coordination. After our visit, John and I walked around the city looking for a hotel that he had seen on-line. No luck. He tried calling someone about an apartment, but we can’t use our cell phone to a landline phone, so that was out.

We ended up going to a hotel (Hotel Alma-Aty) that is directly across the street from the opera house. The opera house is gorgeous, and sits in the forefront of snowcapped mountains. The price was the same as where we had been staying, so we checked in to our room. Let me say rooms—plural! We have a sitting room with a china cabinet (filled with tea cups and whiskey glasses), a love seat, chair, and refrigerator enclosed in a wooden stand upon which the TV sits. The next room is an office area with a chair/desk and a sitting chair, and then the last room is the sleeping area. Each room has a Persian rug in it. The shower room is off of the bedroom, and leads into the bathroom, which leads into the sitting area—a walk-through. We even have signature bathrobes. I love this place! The reason it is the same price as the other hotel is because it has not been renovated. Let me say that it has all of the charm of the Grove Park Inn without even half the cost. Our view is incredible. The opera house is lit with Christmas lights in the evening, and the mountaintop has several light displays. Hotel Kazakhstan is just off to our left.

After checking into our room, we headed back out to the slushy sidewalks of Almaty. We had some lunch (we passed on the restaurant that was serving chicken bowels), went back to the other hotel, called a taxi, retrieved our luggage, went back to Hotel Alma-Aty, and then finally headed back to Aidar’s house. He was really queit today, and this was one of those times when you wonder what little thoughts are running through his head. Was he just feeling miserable? Was he sad? Did someone make fun of him? Did someone tell him that he would go to live with us, and he was going to miss his friends? This was one of those times when you really hated that language barrier. All we could do was hold him, and we held him for a very long time. You know something is wrong if a four year old sits in your lap forever when he has a bag full of toys at his feet. We read his counting book twice, and we sat in silence for a few minutes. We looked at pictures on the camera. And then he got up and put his Sesame Street puzzle together. It’s a quiet activity, and he is amazing at it. We’re so proud of him. He absolutely adores John on this trip, and wants John to carry him everywhere. One side benefit of carrying him: you get kisses on your cheek! We hate to leave him each day, but are happy to see him run off to join his friends in whatever activity they’re engaging in when he returns to his room. That tells us that he can adjust well to change.

Another family should be arriving today. I spoke with the mom about a couple of months ago. Her name is Anna, and I can’t wait to meet her. She is incredibly nice—and funny. Hopefully, we’ll meet within the next day or two.

Until tomorrow…………..

Day 21--January 9, 2009

Day 21—January 9, 2009

Today was a disappointing day for us. We were told that we were not going to court today, and that we will go on Monday, but to change our return date by another 5 days. That will mean that we have scheduled 10 days for a court date to allow for any further questions and any additional documents that may be required. We’re concerned about all of the time John has had to take from work. And I’m also nervous—what other questions could they have that would take days to answer? What kind of documents would they need that we have not already provided? And how could we even get these documents—we’re halfway around the world. I hate the unknown, and this is a biggie.

John and I spent both this a.m. and this afternoon with Aidar. He is quiet again, but beginning to open up, and we can tell he loves us as much as we love him. There are more toys in the playroom, and we play with those as well as the ones we brought on this trip. He put the Sesame Street puzzle together both yesterday and today. He loves the Viewfinder that we brought, and, of course, the cell phone.

John and I are going to move to a different hotel tomorrow. It is only two blocks from the baby house, and is the same cost as where we are now. I really injured my knee when I wiped out on the sidewalk yesterday, and that forty-minute walk turned into an hour-long walk today. The sidewalks are mostly dirty snow on top of ice. It’s very difficult to get around.

That's it for now. We'll know more soon, and let you know more.

Day 20--08Jan2009

8^th, January 2009

We arrived safely to Almaty Kazakhstan around 12:30am on the 8^th. We left the US on the 6^th, we can definitely say the 7^th flew by. We are staying in a hotel on this trip so we have some amenities that are more typical of home, although multiple towels and washcloths are not some of them. They were really nice when we asked for them, and brought them to us right away. Our room is nice—standard bed, TV, desk and bathroom.

We met up with Olga (our coordinator) and Azziz (out translator for court). Olga wanted to go over the questions that we can be expected to answer in court. She also gave us some news that is both exciting and terribly intimidating: the court asked Olga to find Aidar’s parents and notify them that we were coming to adopt him. It was a horrible ride for them—they were told in the hospital when he was born that he would not survive. They felt that they had to let him go at that time. To learn that he is alive, happy, and could be receiving the best medical care in the world must have been such a shock. They took a week to consent to relinquishing their rights as the parents. Olga said that they asked if we could stay in touch with them and let them know how Aidar is doing. Of course we said we would—a child cannot have too many people to love him, could he? I’m just very nervous that they might re-think their decision, and come either tomorrow or within the 15-day appeal window.

We did get to go to the baby house and see Aidar this afternoon. He was thrilled to see us. He saw John first, and went straight into his arms. I think he was a little apprehensive at the same, time, but then fell right back into his comfort zone within minutes of spending time with us. We are about a 40-minute walk from the baby house, which was easy “directions-wise”, but difficult in the actual walking. The sidewalks are covered with snow and ice, and I went down on my back in a heartbeat. I’m fine, but may have injured my knee (it really hurts), and was incredibly embarrassed.

Olga will pick us up for court, which starts at 9:00. I have no idea where we fall within the court queue. We’ll let you know…..