Impressive Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_oc1j5NakY


(P.S. Oops, this link is no longer valid. Here's another version, but it cuts off the first half: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlY8STkhopc

If that goes away too, just Google Anita Renfro Total Momsense. This is her version of the William Tell Overture, with the lyrics being everything a mother would say to her child during an entire day. Funny stuff.)

Holy Needlestick, Batman!

I know what we can do today! Let’s drop $630 smackaroos to go get injected with a bunch of horrible viruses!

Yes, the time had come to visit our friendly neighborhood travel clinic to get vaccinated in preparation for our adoption trip. The nice staff made this as painless as possible, and we now have superpowers against the following lovelies:

- MMR - Measles, Mumps and Rubella
- Hepatitis A & B (Just 'cause Pam Anderson has it doesn’t mean it’s cool.)
- Diphtheria & Tetanus
- Typhoid (we got capsules for this)

Check out the CDC web site that advises travelers of which vaccines they should consider for which countries. It's chock full of interesting information. For instance, did you know that September 8 was World Rabies Day??? Me neither! I would have celebrated by doing a little foaming at the mouth.

We didn’t get the Rabies vaccine since we don’t expect to do much frolicking with woodland creatures because the temperature will probably be consistently below zero while we are there (shiver me timbers!)

We will have to go back for two more Hepatitis booster shots before we’re officially through. Youch. It’s all for you, Baby R!

The Room

This part is tres exciting, no?

As Frank said, seeing the nursery come together is strangely awesome. Yes, we realize that all this hullabaloo is mostly for us. Our baby surely won't arrive criticizing the decor. We keep joking that Habibi would be content to sleep in a drawer. (Any Simpsons fans know that line???)

I had already painted the walls when we moved in 6 years ago -- waaay back when we thought we'd never want the responsibility of children. This paint job was my 3-day long, arm-breaking masterpiece, done during a time when I was addicted to the Trading Space show on HGTV. (Coincidentally, I recently participated in a day-long meeting with Laurie Smith, the much-loved, red-headed designer from that show. The company I work for is considering working with her on a project, but that's top secret right now so I can't tell you or I'd have to....you know....kill you.)

Where was I? Oh yeah, the walls. They are a faux finished, mottled Tuscan orange. I worked so hard on them and still really like them, so I don't want to re-paint until Habibi has ideas of his/her own. (I can hear it now -- "Mom, I want BLACK walls to go with my new goth look!" "No honey, just because your father and I were goth doesn't mean you can do it. It really wasn't that cool then and it's not cool now. Trust me on this.") But I digress... So we used the Tuscan orange as a jumping point for the color scheme, which is orange and cream, with touches of tan and sage. I really dig it. It's soft, warm and serene, plus it's conveniently unisex!

Here's a link to the organic cotton bedding, which coordinates perfectly. We don't really have an overall motif, but I realized that we're accumulating a few elephant things. I like elephants -- with the trunk up for good luck-- and they had fit well with my original plan to do a Moroccan room (too difficult to find baby stuff and no time to make it myself.)

Although the room is nowhere near finished, I've posted a few sneak peek photos below for your enticement! The adorable, blue ribbon winning painting above the changing table was done by Frank when he was about 4. It was for a state fair contest, and sparked the beginning of his art career. All together now: Awwwww!

Last I heard our dossier is still in the translation process. Our whole life story is currently being turned into Cyrillic, which kinda looks like something you'd see on the master controls of an alien spaceship on an original episode of Star Trek.

We love all the comments. Keep 'em coming!

Франк и Реджина
(Frank and Regina)

Click to enlarge

A Stranger in a Strange Land

Hi everyone. This is Frank. I thought I would give Regina a break and post this entry.

I've never been in Babies R Us until last Saturday. We went shopping for a crib. We were excited and it was fun, but surreal.

I couldn't believe we were actually going to buy a crib.

I was a stranger in a strange land. It started the minute we got out of the car. Everyone in the parking lot was unloading strollers from their trunks and loading babies into them. They were streaming in from all directions. This was definitely not the Home Depot! We walked in the front door and stood there looking around. I felt disoriented. Where was the hardware department? Where were the tools? Regina made a beeline for a little outfit that caught her eye, and I scanned the horizon feeling disbelief. I had no idea you needed so much stuff for one little person. Finally, I saw the furniture in the back. I pulled my wife away from the cute clothes and we got down to business.

I couldn't believe we were actually shopping for a crib.

After making two circles around the department, we decided on a crib and a matching dresser/changing table. They were a nice wood tone, the perfect style and we both were happy. Whew, task accomplished! Oh, but then Regina informed me that we also needed to get a mattress, mattress pad, changing pad, changing pad cover and an entire bedding set with a sheet, bedskirt, bumper pad and blanket. You mean that stuff is not included? And what's a bumper pad? Does this have something to do with cars?

A few more decisions were made, and with my Honda Element packed like a sausage we carted our loot home. I got down to business putting the crib together. Easy as pie.

But I couldn't believe I was putting together a crib.

Then came the changing table, which was more of a pain but we got it done. We added all the soft stuff, arranged the room in a trial layout and surveyed our results.

Very nice. But I couldn't believe I had just put together a crib. OUR crib.

Since then, several times a day we find ourselves looking in the bedroom. We say to each other, "Hey, did you know there is a crib in here?" Seeing this tangible evidence of a future child is bizarre for both of us. Not bad bizarre -- good bizarre. It's kind of like when we decided to have a family. The world was suddenly different.

I think we will feel the same way when there is an actual baby inside that crib. We will look at each other and say, "Psssst....there's a baby in that room!" I guess by then I will feel like an old pro at Babies R Us. I might even have to be dragged away from the cute outfits.

Edumacation

Talk about a learning experience.

I am a research junkie anyway, but in the past 6 months I have read hundreds (thousands?) of articles, websites, blogs, books and web group postings about anything and everything to do with our adoption. Not a single important decision has been made without sufficient research.

I've found the adoptive community to be incredibly supportive and helpful, especially through the several internet message boards for adoptive parents in Kazakhstan. Everyone is so generous in sharing their experience and advice on every little detail you can imagine.

I am no expert yet, but I've learned more than I ever thought possible about different adoption programs & processes, the best agencies for each program, the political history, culture and customs of Kazakhstan, international travel tips, the best strollers/carseats/bottles/cribs/food, which pediatricians specialize international adoptees, potential medical problems and so on... I even know the difference between an embassy and a consulate, as well as how to pronounce 'apostille' and what the hell it means!

If that's not enough to make your head spin, we were also required by our agency to complete an online course from www.adopteducation.com. This was nerve-wracking since the topics were mostly about problems that can arise in some children from being institutionalized. Most of the research is derived from extreme situations, so we had to keep this in mind as we read about a few jaw-dropping cases. We took this information seriously, but we certainly can't dwell in our fears of a worst case scenario, just as a pregnant couple should not dwell in theirs. You just have to have faith, trust and pixiedust. :-)

So our next big thing is to learn a little conversational Russian! (It's more widely-spoken than Kazakh, the official language.) We will have a translator with us most days, but we will spend a lot of time over there and will probably need it. Plus, it's the respectful thing to do, and being able to say even just few social niceties is deeply appreciated by the locals.

We have only just begun dipping our toes into parenting techniques, the best toys, books, schools, local events and resources. We're even noticing signs in restaurants that promote free kids night! A new door has been opened and it leads to an enormous world of information. It can be overwhelming. We will prepare as best we can, but in the end we will have to trust our intuition and just start parenting. Imagine that!

Speaking of Russian, our dossier is officially in the translation phase! I wonder how you say "woo-hoo" in Russian. "Voo-hoo?"

The Name Game

Please cast your votes in our new baby name polls! They are in the right margin of this page.

We feel that a uniquely beautiful name is a lifelong gift you can give your child. We've narrowed it down to a few top runners, but please tell us what you think by voting for your 5 favorites for each gender.

We also welcome other suggestions. Feel free to share them with us by adding them as a comment on this post.

Just for fun, here are some of the duds that didn't make the cut:

- Bootsy
- Nipsy
- Onions
- Tron
- Tootie
- SuperDoppler5000
- Mr. Higgins
- Gaylord
- Chimenea
- Kokopelli
- Chachi
- Anorexia

Maybe next time we'll go with Nipsy Tron or Tootie Chimenea.

Check out this neat baby name site:
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/
I like to browse the top 1,000 list of names from the 1800's (on the bottom right). They had some pretty funky-fresh monikers for a bunch of pioneers!

Timeline (Updated Regularly)

I thought this would be a good time to share with you our adoption timeline. I will keep this updated as we pass new milestones.

THE PAST

April 21, 2007 -- Application sent to Little Miracles
May 3, 2007 -- Home Study Home Visit
June 4, 2007 -- Agency Contract Signed / Sent
June 28, 2007 -- Filed I-600A Form
June 12, 2007 -- Home Study Complete
July 13, 2007 -- Immigration Fingerprints
July 27, 2007 -- Received I-171H
July 29, 2007 -- FBI Fingerprints
Aug. 20, 2007 -- Received FBI Fingerprint Clearance
Aug. 23, 2007 -- Dossier Completed & Sent to Coordinator
Aug. 31, 2007 -- Dossier Sent for Apostilles by Coordinator
Sept. 11-16, 2007 -- Dossier in Final Review by Agency
Sept. 17-Oct. 5, 2007 -- Dossier in Translation
Oct. 5-Nov. 7, 2007 -- Dossier in Limbo Waiting on Missing Info
Nov. 8-Dec.10 -- Dossier at the Consulate of Kazakhstan in NY
Dec 11, 2007-Feb 11, 2008 -- Dossier at the MFA in Kaz
Feb 12-Feb 18, 2008 -- Dossier held for region search
Feb 19, 2008 -- Assigned to Aqtobe
March 4, 2008 -- Dossier at MOE
May 8, 2008 -- Received Letter of Invitation
May 8, 2008 - Received LOI!
May 14, 2008 - Received Visa/Left USA
May 16, 2008 – Meetcha Day
July 14, 2008 – Court Day
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THE FUTURE

? Estimated July 30, 2008 -- Gotcha Day
? Estimated August 15, 2008 -- Touchdown USA

“Is there anything better than to be longing for something, when you know it is within reach?” - Greta Garbo