Were Home

Well, we arrived last night at 10:30 pm in Charlotte. What a long day it was. To think that we actually lived June 16th twice, once in Kazakhstan and then in the USA. We are still fighting a little jet lag and missing the kids. We will keep you all posted for when our return trip will be.

It's Official

It's offical!!! We were granted TWO wonderful children on the 13th of June. Sorry we didn't post sooner. There was a tidal in our wave that was unexpected, but there is clear sailing ahead. We celebrated many things last night. My birthday, our new parenthood, Lillie's birthday (Annie is her mom), Owen's birthday (Kathy is his mom), and Annie's new parenthood. The poor waiters in the Apollo restaurant had to call in the reinforcements who spoke some English. I had my 1st beer in Kazakhstan it reminded me of Coors Light. We all had a guessing game at the store to buy a cake. It turned out to be okay. They use a lot of marshmallow in their baking. Maybe that explains why these people are so skinny. We had a great afternoon at the orphanage, being we were in court for our morning visit. I recorded Chandler racing the other kids in Alayna's group, boy is he out of shape. Nate sported his new ball cap with tools all over it. Jason you would be jealous! He will get a Jets or Panther hat once we get him home. These pink hats have to go. We will have our last two visits today. Our interpreter will help us talk with them so they won't think that we left them forever. These will be our hardest visits yet. This is going to be our last post for now. We will be heading to Almaty tomorrow the 15th and leave there on the 16th for Charlotte, NC. Thanks to all who followed our journey and posted comments. They have helped us get through our long days here. We will post again once we return home.

The Big Day

Well everyone, tomorrow is the BIG DAY! You all guessed right, my birthday. Ha Ha no really. It is our COURT DAY. We will be in front of the judge at 10:00 am and you guys will be sound asleep. Afterwards we will be partying with the care givers at the orphanage and then another party back at the hotel for all the new parents. Today we get just one visit being that it is Sunday. We are going shopping this afternoon for souvenirs. I want to get Nate and Alayna something from their birth country that they will always have. Yesterday we recorded a short video of the orphanage and the kids for all to see. Our days here are starting to fly by now. We have been able to pass the time with other families here in the hotel, but we still miss home. Some days we all feel like we're on "Survivor". We sit at the tables while eating our Ramen Soup and talk about how when we get home what we want our first meal to be. So far burgers are the top choice followed by a steak on the grill with baked potatoes. When we touch down in Memphis I will be heading for Starbucks, then on to this barbecue place we ate at on the way over here.

We are in the home stretch

We have had sunny skies the last few days. What a world of difference in all of the kids. We brought the carry pack with us the last few days to see if Nate would go for it and he does. He is a little heavy for it but it will get us through the airport on the way to the USA. He liked it so well that he fell asleep for the last 30 min. of our visit. Alayna has figured out how to work our camera, which is good and bad. She does well with picture taking, but she is told NO when she wants to take off with it by herself which causes a litte pouting. We both can't wait for her to learn a little more English. We do have the basics down now though so we can communicate for bathroom needs. She has also begun to drink her milk that she never would do, but that is with the help of Nestle Quick, thank goodness for the rabbit. When I went to get Nate yesterday morning a doctor was in examining all the kids, it is amazing what they use for equiptment. A baby had a tablespoon put in its mouth for a tongue depressor. Poor kid was screaming and gagging so much. We need to show them the popsicle stick. Here is a short touching story, Christina a girl in Alayna's group who is 6 years old was going to be sent to another orphanage due to her age by the end of summer. Well her dreams came true yesterday when a Spanish lady came in and met her. She has since decided to adopt her. This little girls face was priceless when asked is she going to be your mother and she smiled and says yes! Talk to you all tomorrow. A & C

I bet there were some sad faces in the morning and we are truly sorry. We stayed up and watched Chronicles of Narnia until 11:45 pm. What a great movie. It is the cheapest to post before 8 am and those of you who know me know that I love a good sale. ( I am a little frugal) Well, both days went well. We went shopping in town again on Wednesday with friends. Finally we were able to get a chicken from the chicken lady. It was so good, we had it for two meals and that's after sharing with friends. Next week at this time we will be heading for home. Nate and Alyana had their first taste of a lollipop. As you can imagine Nate had it everywhere even the stick would stick to his hands. Alayna had her 5 ponytails in the other day and she looked so cute, I think she was getting sick of the camera. They are both doing so well, Alayna had a lesson in sharing the other day. She didn't go for it very well but in the afternoon she was sharing her cookies with her brother. I guess when you try to keep other children from taking your food and toys sharing is hard to understand. She is catching on and continues to progress. See you all soon.

A Day of Surprises

We started off our day with our morning trip to the orphanage. Sunny weather finally and most families went outside this morning. We definitely were one of them. Alayna had a hat on that reminded me of a artist today, she was to cute. Poor Nate had his shirt on that says "Big Girl". Although he did have the "Marvel Comics" on his underwear today. We all had a good visit. As we were packing up to go Lena said that we won't get a afternoon visit, we had to have our interview with the officials who grant guardianship. I guess it is best that we were surprised with this so we don't start the nerves up. We were given questions that they could ask us which are all in our home study. In between visits we were able to go and visit with Bob and Gina, who are also adopting. They are staying in an apartment which is on the other side of town about 10 minutes away. We think of it as they are in the city and we are in the country. We walked everywhere and had a great time. They took us to a restaurant they like and I had chicken pancakes which were pretty good. Chandler had schnitzel with potatoes (like meatloaf in a patty form). We went to a few malls and specialty shops that we hear others talk of. Then 4:00 came and off to the interrogation we went. There were two women and one guy in the room with us and Lena (our interpreter) . We had to tell about ourselves and what we do. They aren't to fond of medical professionals around here. They are concerned that we are adopting for organ donation. I was a little taken back by that who could ever do such a thing. After we left I did realize that I was complemented by them saying you are to young to have two children. Little do they know that there are many women at age 29 with three or more children. All in all we think it went okay. They just try to get under your skin a little, but not us we are here for a reason and are planning on bringing them home.

We all need a Sunny Day

We had our usual day today, two visits to the orphanage. Our morning visit went well. Nate and Alayna played in the balls and on the swing. Everyone in her group had at least 3 or more pigtails in today. They all just crack me up. Our afternoon visit wasn't a time to remember. When we arrived we went to get the kids as usual and Alayna was sleeping in Nate's room in the bed next to him. The care givers were so funny. They brought us in the room where they were sleeping and of course we had to take a picture. Once they woke, our day went down hill. Alayna wanted nothing to do with anyone, as with all the kids. It rained here all day so they were stuck inside. Trust us, there is not much to do inside. Creativity is key at that point. I think all of the parents were going stir crazy inside. Nate was the only one in the bunch who kept on laughing and running around. There are two families leaving tomorrow to go to Almaty for the last few papers to be signed. They have been here since the end of April. Congrats to them. One husband said that when his plane lands in Washington he is going to kiss the ground. He is so ready to go home. Our kids will officially be home on July 7th if all goes as planned.

A Rainy Sunday

We had showers on and off today. We only get one visit on Sunday from 10-12. Of course it was a fun one. Nate and Alayna played on the see-saw in the big play room for a while. It was their first expirence. Alayna, our "no fear girl," had a blast. Nate was unsure at first, then he was all smiles. During our last 30 minutes the skys cleared up and we went outside for family walk around the orphanage. We then attempted another family photo. I think if we keep trying we will end up smiling at some point. For the rest of our long Sunday we spent with the other two American families in our hotel. First we walked outside for a good hour before the down pour came. Then we all sat around a table and played 4 hours of Disney UNO. It is amazing how competetive people can get with the game. Chandler and I then joined Garrett and Dee Dee for dinner in the Apollo restaurant for Madrid chicken and fries. We know you guys are probably lying on the couch taking a nap on a lazy Sunday, and look all you missed out on, four hours of UNO. Besides from visiting Nate and Alayna I did get to hear from home today, which helps the day start off great. Thanks for all the posts. Nate and Alyana will love to see them all as part of their journey to the great USA.

Just another fun day in KAZ

We had a great day yesterday. Nate and Alayna were ready to go at both sessions. All of the families got a good laugh in the morning with a change of weather. We decided to take the kids outside, but neither were dressed for it. Now just remember it's 70 degrees out. We took the kids back to their rooms to get changed. We knew that a sundress on Alayna and shorts and a t-shirt for Nate was not going to cut it in KAZ. Alayna came back with jeans, t-shirt, and jean jacket, while Nate came back with tights, sweatpants, 2 shirts, jean jacket and a tobagan. He looked like the poor kid on Christmas Story all bundled up. He's hot natured so that outfit did not help. We had some weather like Charlotte. It would get really windy and down pour for 5 minutes and then the sun comes out. The only problem is that when it rains here all of the pot holes fill with water and the streets become a muddy mess. This also make for an amusement park ride back to the hotel. We finished off our day with 2 1/2 hours of gin rummy with Dee Dee and Garrett from SC. Belly dancing must be a big sport here like cheerleading at home. In our hotel last night there was a belly dancing competition with girls of all ages. It was really neat to see all the costumes and a few practiced in front of us. I just don't have that hip action going on. We all know Chandler doesn't have any rhythm or hip action. We hope our kids will have some sort of rhythm, because they will never learn it from us. See you all soon. A & C

Quick Note

Yesterday Alayna was excited to see us and played hard both sessions. We went outside in the morning to let the kids run around. Alayna ran around at least. Nate fell asleep in his momma's arms for a hour. Nate has started crying when we first see him in the afternoon. He only cries about 2 minutes if he's held. At the same time he's becoming more interactive and playful with us. One big problem we've seen is since there is no one-on-one child care, these kids are often bribed with things like candy. When Nate was crying, the caregiver came into our little room and gave Nate a piece of candy to stop him from crying. Great for the teeth. I can't wait to get them home to let them splash around in the tub and enjoy being a kid. Schedules are nice but theirs is to extreme. We finally got cool weather here, in the 70's. The orphanage feels that it is to cool and here comes the heat. They do things very differently here. If a child has a fever they bundle them up in clothes and blankets; we strip them almost naked and try to cool them off. Poor kids. Only 2 weeks left for us here and 5 weeks left for Nate and Alayna in the orphanage.

A Bunch of Everything

Well, you guys keep requesting sizes. Alayna is in about a 3. She is pretty skinny. She loves hair accessories. Everyday her caregivers have given her a new do. The clothes that we bought for her to travel to Almaty all have elastic in the waist in hopes they will stay up. Nate, he is in 24 months. Although the other day they had 12 month shirt on him. I think we will be safe in 18-24 month. We were only able to visit once yesterday due to a celebration party that the orphanage had. Alayna was so excited to see us. She pointed out all of the balloons that were up. Nate, the poor kid, was tearful all afternoon. He just doesn't understand all that is going on. He also was dressed in a pink and red outfit which couldn't of helped his ego at all.
I was ready to loose it yesterday. It rained here the other day and the mosquitos decided to take up home in our hotel. Our room was full of them, as was the other families. We all don't understand how they got in with our window closed. I slept with a long sleeve jacket on with a hood and those puppies bit up my hands and face. I look like a person with some disease. Lena came to the hotel with a notary today. We signed more documents for court, which by the way is in only 10 days along with my birthday. Lena went and bought us these raid plug-in's for our room and this morning we are mosquito free!! We will have our usual day of AM and PM visits to the orphanage.
We are half way through our first trip towards finalizing our adoption of these two wonderful children. We'd like to take a second to thank everyone for all the thoughts and prayers that have helped us in our journey. We have been blessed more than we could ever imagine. This will certainly be a trip we'll never forget. We will continue to keep you all informed.

Nate and Alayna's Living Quarters

Nate is in room #3. There are at least 10 other children in his room ages from 11 months to 2 years. He has about 4 different caregivers who rotate out. He seems to be happy with them, so it makes us feel more secure about leaving him for two weeks. They have a washroom with a shower, washing machine, and 4 little sinks. When we get there in the afternoon at 4 pm they are all waking up from a nap and sitting in a circle all on potty chairs. It is really funny to watch, as they are probably all wondering what to do. Nate is usually sitting on his as well but at least his parents bought him some pampers to wear. His bed is the 4th one from the window. It is so cute, reminds me of the seven dwarfs with all of the beds lined up. Nate has always been in this room since he arrived to the orphanage. Alayna arrived shortly after him and was put in room 3 as well. She then noticed her brother and continued to help care for him as she did before. As she grew she was moved to room #6. Her room is bigger with more kids in her age group. They have a large fish tank in her room with about 4 goldfish in it. We think that she is the boss in her room. Chandler has become a big hit in her room as well. They all call him papa. Her bed is the one next to the window with the character on the blanket. They have blue wallpaper with stars on it in their bedroom. Her big room has all the chairs lined up against the window. They both have nice caregivers and a clean place to stay. We showed Alayna pictures of us with the dogs and family yesterday and her expression was priceless. She took each picture and pointed to us in them. We are going to get a photo book to leave with her. Hopefully the other kids will leave them alone. Nate saw the pictures and wanted to bend them in any direction possible. She saw her new house and where their room will be. Christine, she pointed to you and I told her that you were her cousin and will show her the ropes. Only 4 1/2 weeks left until they get to come HOME!! Get ready everyone because they are wide open.