We are having an issue with internet access on our computer, but we hope to have it resolved soon. We are at an internet cafe -- which is not even a cafe -- just a yellow room with about 6 computers. It costs 7 tenge per minute.
We just wanted to let everyone know we are still doing well. We expect to be flying out of Aqtobe on June 1, and out of Almaty on June 2 if all goes according to plan.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Jeepers Creepers
We were listening to Louis Armstrong the other night and burst out laughing when the song Jeepers Creepers came on. “Jeepers creepers, where’d ya get those peepers? Jeepers creepers, where’d ya get those eyes?” How suitable!
Milan’s eyes are so interesting to watch work. As I said before, the right one is dominant and the left one is usually crossed, but there are times when the left one seems to take over and the right one will cross. Occasionally they both cross. This usually happens when he is looking at something up close. You can see all the different eye positions in the “Apple of My Eye” video below. He sometimes gives his head a good shake while concentrating on something, and we imagine it is to “re-set” his eyes because he is seeing double.
It’s funny, we don’t really notice his googly eyes anymore. It will probably be strange to see them straight once they are corrected! It will be a very minor outpatient surgery, and perhaps he will need to wear glasses, but maybe not. We also may have to patch his stronger eye at times to help develop the weaker eye, but we won’t really know until we get him to a specialist. Strabismus has many variations and many different options for treatment.
We went shopping for some summer clothes for Milan because most of what we brought is either too big or too warm. He is pretty small – he wears a size 12 months, yet he needs a size 5.5 shoe. If his feet are the same kind of indication as puppy feet are, then we will have ourselves a tall boy. The orphanage doctor thinks so. We found that what other parents have said about Kazakh kid fashion is true – it is pretty darn hideous. We settled for blue camouflage shorts and found some standard blue and white t-shirts, even though our boy would look good in a paper sack.
Milan is getting more active and gregarious during our visits. He doesn’t seem to want to waste a moment of fun time, and his giggles are music to our ears. He grabs our fingers and takes us all around the playroom. Our walks outside are such a discovery time for him. He saw his first kitty cat today. He does get pretty tired towards the end of our visits, and yesterday he nearly fell asleep in my arms as I hummed to him. He popped that thumb in his mouth, and just as his eyes were getting heavy the door flew open and a caretaker came in to take him away. I never realized how quickly 2 hours can pass. He cried and reached out for us with both arms as she walked out of the room with him. It was the second time he has reacted like this. It’s so hard on all of us, and only getting harder.
Yesterday we started feeling a little homesick. Last night we finally dug into our video stash for the first time. We watched back-to-back episodes of one of our all-time favorites, Scrubs, and laughed hysterically. It helped a little. There is nothing stranger than watching Kazakh television. One minute it’s Paula Abdul’s Opposites Attract music video, the next it’s a B horror flick in Russian, and the next it’s Malcolm in the Middle with Russian overdubs. We’ve seen some freaky fashion shows, random babes and rap music videos sprinkled in for good measure.
We went to the supermarket and among our very safe purchases, like pasta and fruit juice, we included a bottle of camel’s milk, which is very common here. Frank shook it up before he opened it and it kept fizzing up like a soda, so we haven’t tried it yet. We will report on it next time. We ate lunch today at a Kazakh restaurant. It was delicious and so flavorful. We had the traditional fare of "Five Fingers" which is a lot like pot roast, but with big, flat noodles added.
Here are lots more photos and videos below. We are still very happy, even though we miss our home and our loved ones. Our sweet Milo makes it all worth it! Have we told you lately that we are head over heels??? Oh yes, only about a hundred times. Sorry, but I guess that makes us parents, right?
Da-Svee-Dahn-Yeh! (Goodbye!)
VIDEOS:
The Apple of My Eye
Gimme Five (Di Pyet)
Dinner Companions
Milan’s eyes are so interesting to watch work. As I said before, the right one is dominant and the left one is usually crossed, but there are times when the left one seems to take over and the right one will cross. Occasionally they both cross. This usually happens when he is looking at something up close. You can see all the different eye positions in the “Apple of My Eye” video below. He sometimes gives his head a good shake while concentrating on something, and we imagine it is to “re-set” his eyes because he is seeing double.
It’s funny, we don’t really notice his googly eyes anymore. It will probably be strange to see them straight once they are corrected! It will be a very minor outpatient surgery, and perhaps he will need to wear glasses, but maybe not. We also may have to patch his stronger eye at times to help develop the weaker eye, but we won’t really know until we get him to a specialist. Strabismus has many variations and many different options for treatment.
We went shopping for some summer clothes for Milan because most of what we brought is either too big or too warm. He is pretty small – he wears a size 12 months, yet he needs a size 5.5 shoe. If his feet are the same kind of indication as puppy feet are, then we will have ourselves a tall boy. The orphanage doctor thinks so. We found that what other parents have said about Kazakh kid fashion is true – it is pretty darn hideous. We settled for blue camouflage shorts and found some standard blue and white t-shirts, even though our boy would look good in a paper sack.
Milan is getting more active and gregarious during our visits. He doesn’t seem to want to waste a moment of fun time, and his giggles are music to our ears. He grabs our fingers and takes us all around the playroom. Our walks outside are such a discovery time for him. He saw his first kitty cat today. He does get pretty tired towards the end of our visits, and yesterday he nearly fell asleep in my arms as I hummed to him. He popped that thumb in his mouth, and just as his eyes were getting heavy the door flew open and a caretaker came in to take him away. I never realized how quickly 2 hours can pass. He cried and reached out for us with both arms as she walked out of the room with him. It was the second time he has reacted like this. It’s so hard on all of us, and only getting harder.
Yesterday we started feeling a little homesick. Last night we finally dug into our video stash for the first time. We watched back-to-back episodes of one of our all-time favorites, Scrubs, and laughed hysterically. It helped a little. There is nothing stranger than watching Kazakh television. One minute it’s Paula Abdul’s Opposites Attract music video, the next it’s a B horror flick in Russian, and the next it’s Malcolm in the Middle with Russian overdubs. We’ve seen some freaky fashion shows, random babes and rap music videos sprinkled in for good measure.
We went to the supermarket and among our very safe purchases, like pasta and fruit juice, we included a bottle of camel’s milk, which is very common here. Frank shook it up before he opened it and it kept fizzing up like a soda, so we haven’t tried it yet. We will report on it next time. We ate lunch today at a Kazakh restaurant. It was delicious and so flavorful. We had the traditional fare of "Five Fingers" which is a lot like pot roast, but with big, flat noodles added.
Here are lots more photos and videos below. We are still very happy, even though we miss our home and our loved ones. Our sweet Milo makes it all worth it! Have we told you lately that we are head over heels??? Oh yes, only about a hundred times. Sorry, but I guess that makes us parents, right?
Da-Svee-Dahn-Yeh! (Goodbye!)
Our First Family Photo
VIDEOS:
Under the Table
Friday, May 23, 2008
The Time of Our Lives
Privyet! (Hi!) Kak de la? (How are you?) Ochen hirasho, spaseeba. (Very well, thanks.)
We are still rocking and rolling from halfway around the world. It’s getting hot, so thankfully we have a kick-butt air conditioner in our apartment! We needed an extension cord for it, and purchasing one was a quest. We were taken to three different hardware/houseware stores to find one that was not made in China. Apparently they do not trust Chinese-made products here, as the quality is even less than what is allowed into the US. They were hoping to find us a Russian-made cord, but we had to settle for a Turkish one. Who'da thunk? So far so good. The stores we went to were very interesting. Such a mish-mash of products and lack of visual merchandising.
Answers to a few of your questions:
Milan is pronounced just like the Italian city (since he will probably be a famous shoe designer to make up for the trauma of having to wear his big orange clown shoes.) It’s pronounced as a cross between Me-Lahn and Ma-Lahn, with the accent is on the Lahn.
Yes, we did take the “No Jet Lag” pills during our travel, but not as often as the directions suggested. They seemed to help, but we did hit a wall at the worst possible time – about 10 minutes before meeting the children!
We are both behind the camera in our photos. In the photos with both of us in them, those are taken by one of our translators, either Aina or Bayanna (pronounced Bye-Ah-Nah.) Bayanna is also who you see in the video below. They are both great! In fact, the whole team here is great and we feel very comfortable with them. We are pretty well taken care of.
The name of the wi-fi coffee shop is Black and Brown. It's near the Business Center (where they have great pizza!) The staff is very friendly here. We gave them one of our band’s CD’s. They start playing it whenever we come in. ;-)
A Few Tips
Photos: Because internet access in Kaz is mostly dial-up most families have some degree of trouble uploading photos because of the file size. If you don’t have Photoshop to resize your photos for web, there is an awesome, quick, free software program that will help you resize your photos easily to a much more manageable size that won’t take nearly as long. (It saves them as a new file so you don’t lose the original.) It’s called PixRESIZER and you can download it here: http://bluefive.pair.com/pixresizer.htm
Language: We are still loving our Pimsleur CDs (we got halfway through the Russain II series), but also found a GREAT web site to supplement our Russian lessons: http://www.mangolanguages.com/
You can do a bunch of them for free and they are so user-friendly.
Multi-Use: We packed some puppy training pads to use as disposable changing pads, as well as a mattress pad to guard against leaks once Milan is in our custody (which won’t be until our second trip now.) I like them tons better than the disposable changing pads, and they’re less expensive.
Vitamin Drops: These are a good way to sneak in a little extra nutrition. We put some in a sippy cup of juice we bring him every day. We are starting slowly, so we don’t shock his system. We are using Enfamil Tri-Vi-Sol vitamin drops without iron. We also have a more vitamin-rich Poly-Vi-Sol formula, and a Poly-Vi-Sol formula with Iron. The iron formula will have to wait until we get him home because it can clog up his system.
Dust Control: Aqtobe is a very dusty city. If you bring screens for your windows it may not be enough to keep the dust out of your apartment. Bring a cheap sheer curtain to tape to the window instead. (Luckily we have an air conditioner and our street isn’t as dusty as some, so we have not had to do this, but I know of some families for whom this was a big problem.)
Ring: I purchased an inexpensive “stand in” wedding band and left my real wedding rings at home in our safe. Just in case... But we feel safe here.
We are having the time of our lives. Milan is the most amazing, kindhearted, good natured little boy. He is such a delight to be around and we feel like the luckiest people in the world. We have never felt more alive, and our hearts are singing.
There is so so so much to share, but not as much time to write as I thought we'd have. We will share lots more soon, but for now here are some more photos and videos of our precious few moments here. Much love to everyone!
We are still rocking and rolling from halfway around the world. It’s getting hot, so thankfully we have a kick-butt air conditioner in our apartment! We needed an extension cord for it, and purchasing one was a quest. We were taken to three different hardware/houseware stores to find one that was not made in China. Apparently they do not trust Chinese-made products here, as the quality is even less than what is allowed into the US. They were hoping to find us a Russian-made cord, but we had to settle for a Turkish one. Who'da thunk? So far so good. The stores we went to were very interesting. Such a mish-mash of products and lack of visual merchandising.
Answers to a few of your questions:
Milan is pronounced just like the Italian city (since he will probably be a famous shoe designer to make up for the trauma of having to wear his big orange clown shoes.) It’s pronounced as a cross between Me-Lahn and Ma-Lahn, with the accent is on the Lahn.
Yes, we did take the “No Jet Lag” pills during our travel, but not as often as the directions suggested. They seemed to help, but we did hit a wall at the worst possible time – about 10 minutes before meeting the children!
We are both behind the camera in our photos. In the photos with both of us in them, those are taken by one of our translators, either Aina or Bayanna (pronounced Bye-Ah-Nah.) Bayanna is also who you see in the video below. They are both great! In fact, the whole team here is great and we feel very comfortable with them. We are pretty well taken care of.
The name of the wi-fi coffee shop is Black and Brown. It's near the Business Center (where they have great pizza!) The staff is very friendly here. We gave them one of our band’s CD’s. They start playing it whenever we come in. ;-)
A Few Tips
Photos: Because internet access in Kaz is mostly dial-up most families have some degree of trouble uploading photos because of the file size. If you don’t have Photoshop to resize your photos for web, there is an awesome, quick, free software program that will help you resize your photos easily to a much more manageable size that won’t take nearly as long. (It saves them as a new file so you don’t lose the original.) It’s called PixRESIZER and you can download it here: http://bluefive.pair.com/pixresizer.htm
Language: We are still loving our Pimsleur CDs (we got halfway through the Russain II series), but also found a GREAT web site to supplement our Russian lessons: http://www.mangolanguages.com/
You can do a bunch of them for free and they are so user-friendly.
Multi-Use: We packed some puppy training pads to use as disposable changing pads, as well as a mattress pad to guard against leaks once Milan is in our custody (which won’t be until our second trip now.) I like them tons better than the disposable changing pads, and they’re less expensive.
Vitamin Drops: These are a good way to sneak in a little extra nutrition. We put some in a sippy cup of juice we bring him every day. We are starting slowly, so we don’t shock his system. We are using Enfamil Tri-Vi-Sol vitamin drops without iron. We also have a more vitamin-rich Poly-Vi-Sol formula, and a Poly-Vi-Sol formula with Iron. The iron formula will have to wait until we get him home because it can clog up his system.
Dust Control: Aqtobe is a very dusty city. If you bring screens for your windows it may not be enough to keep the dust out of your apartment. Bring a cheap sheer curtain to tape to the window instead. (Luckily we have an air conditioner and our street isn’t as dusty as some, so we have not had to do this, but I know of some families for whom this was a big problem.)
Ring: I purchased an inexpensive “stand in” wedding band and left my real wedding rings at home in our safe. Just in case... But we feel safe here.
We are having the time of our lives. Milan is the most amazing, kindhearted, good natured little boy. He is such a delight to be around and we feel like the luckiest people in the world. We have never felt more alive, and our hearts are singing.
There is so so so much to share, but not as much time to write as I thought we'd have. We will share lots more soon, but for now here are some more photos and videos of our precious few moments here. Much love to everyone!
VIDEOS:
Beach Ball Giggles
Gonna Git Choo
Runnin' and Huggin'
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Stirred, Not Shaken
Thanks for all the wonderful comments. They turn us to mush – almost as much as Milo does!
We still cannot access the internet in our apartment. The computer says we have established our dial-up connection, yet it’s just not working. Other families have gotten online from this apartment, and Frank is very computer savvy, so we suspect it’s a Windows Vista thing -- I told you it stinks! (Does anyone have any ideas? Adrian???)
So we still must go to the coffee shop to use their wi-fi. It’s a nice place – as nice as any Starbucks – and seems to be frequented by hip young adults. Because of our limited access and time I’m sorry I haven’t been able to reply to all your e-mails or keep up with other blogs. We will try to catch up soon, and also answer any of your questions in our blog. I hope we can get to the coffee shop every day from now on, but it might be ever other day. You would be surprised at how busy we are just with visiting the baby house twice a day. Our times are from 10-12 am and then 3-5 pm. We get 1 visit on Sundays from 10-12.
We are getting more comfortable with our surroundings. The edges have softened and we have a little routine. There are many nice places here to shop and eat. We have tried a couple, but we have mostly eaten in the apartment and bought a few groceries from the supermarket. The fruit juices and yogurt are fantastic (far better than the US), the bread and jelly are great. We will venture out to some restaurants a bit more now that we are settled. Until now eating and sight-seeing have been the last things on our minds, as just getting through the first 3 or 4 days is all-consuming. But we are ready to start trying more local fare and experiencing more culture.
Ch Ch Ch Ch Changes - We have a big change in travel plans. The adoption laws in Aqtobe have changed recently. The court process here is now just like many of the other regions. Frank and I will both be making 2 trips. For this trip now, we will only be here a total of 15-16 days. Then we will both go home for about a month, and leave Milo here. : ( When we return in about a month for our court date, we will both be here another 3 weeks. Then we will return to the states for good with our son. There are many good sides to this coin – the biggest being that I won’t have to be here alone for a month. But it will be so painful leaving our son behind.
For those who asked why we weren’t staying in the hotel as originally planned, we were strongly encouraged to stay in an apartment for several reasons. If you are coming to Aqtobe and you were planning on staying in a hotel and using your credit card, you need to contact your agency about it. Our apartment is not bad. I just wish we could do something about the constant smell in the toilet room. Luckily it is separate from the shower/sink and has a door. We will post photos of the apartment soon.
Milo is doing great and showing more personality every day. We have not decided on a middle name for him yet. We were hoping to use his Kazakh name, which we will share publicly once our adoption is final, but it just doesn’t work very well with his first and last names (although it is a nice name.)
His vision seems excellent in his good eye. He sees very small things and picks them up. His left eye is usually crossed and his right eye is usually straight, but depending on what he is looking at (how close it is) they can both cross, or the left eye can move out quite a bit and seem to take over. This is rare, but we have seen it. That poor little eye tries so hard to see. ;-)
He has been making lots of eye contact with us. He allows affection, and returns our hugs. In fact he loves hugs! He even loves kisses, and has kissed me back twice, although open-mouthed and slobbery. We cannot tell you how good his hugs feel. It melts us into puddles.
He especially enjoys books, stacking cups, water bottles (likes to peek at me through the plastic or shake them up). He also digs balloons and the ring stacker. He likes to be swung around, held upside down and chased. We go for a walk every visit and he likes being outside. He picks up rocks and gives them to us. He picks the dandelions and has everyone smell them.
He is a thumbsucker, so he has a pretty nice overbite which we actually find really cute. But we can’t wait to get our hands on that mullet haircut!
He eats a ton of food. We sometimes get to feed him or at least watch him feed himself. It’s so entertaining (and sad) to see these kids feed themselves. They sit at these tiny tables in their tiny chairs, with big bibs. Their plates and bowls are put right up to their chests, they are given a big spoon in one and a piece of bread in the other and then they just go at it! He loves to dip his bread in his soup before he takes bites. There is another family in the playroom from France. They are adopting a little blonde 2-year old boy, so he and Milan sit at their little table together and we all gather around them to help and ooh and ahhh at every little slurp. It’s quite the scene. They look like two little old men who are dinner companions. The caretakers prefer that we don’t feed him but instead let him feed himself, but we try to help a lot, as it can only be good in promoting attachment.
We have heard some good babbling the last couple of days, and we have seen him respond to commands in his native language. He has giggled and laughed a lot and seems to have a great sense of humor.
Ok, now what you’ve been waiting for…. Let the next photo montage begin. I hope you're not allergic to awesome!
We still cannot access the internet in our apartment. The computer says we have established our dial-up connection, yet it’s just not working. Other families have gotten online from this apartment, and Frank is very computer savvy, so we suspect it’s a Windows Vista thing -- I told you it stinks! (Does anyone have any ideas? Adrian???)
So we still must go to the coffee shop to use their wi-fi. It’s a nice place – as nice as any Starbucks – and seems to be frequented by hip young adults. Because of our limited access and time I’m sorry I haven’t been able to reply to all your e-mails or keep up with other blogs. We will try to catch up soon, and also answer any of your questions in our blog. I hope we can get to the coffee shop every day from now on, but it might be ever other day. You would be surprised at how busy we are just with visiting the baby house twice a day. Our times are from 10-12 am and then 3-5 pm. We get 1 visit on Sundays from 10-12.
We are getting more comfortable with our surroundings. The edges have softened and we have a little routine. There are many nice places here to shop and eat. We have tried a couple, but we have mostly eaten in the apartment and bought a few groceries from the supermarket. The fruit juices and yogurt are fantastic (far better than the US), the bread and jelly are great. We will venture out to some restaurants a bit more now that we are settled. Until now eating and sight-seeing have been the last things on our minds, as just getting through the first 3 or 4 days is all-consuming. But we are ready to start trying more local fare and experiencing more culture.
Ch Ch Ch Ch Changes - We have a big change in travel plans. The adoption laws in Aqtobe have changed recently. The court process here is now just like many of the other regions. Frank and I will both be making 2 trips. For this trip now, we will only be here a total of 15-16 days. Then we will both go home for about a month, and leave Milo here. : ( When we return in about a month for our court date, we will both be here another 3 weeks. Then we will return to the states for good with our son. There are many good sides to this coin – the biggest being that I won’t have to be here alone for a month. But it will be so painful leaving our son behind.
For those who asked why we weren’t staying in the hotel as originally planned, we were strongly encouraged to stay in an apartment for several reasons. If you are coming to Aqtobe and you were planning on staying in a hotel and using your credit card, you need to contact your agency about it. Our apartment is not bad. I just wish we could do something about the constant smell in the toilet room. Luckily it is separate from the shower/sink and has a door. We will post photos of the apartment soon.
Milo is doing great and showing more personality every day. We have not decided on a middle name for him yet. We were hoping to use his Kazakh name, which we will share publicly once our adoption is final, but it just doesn’t work very well with his first and last names (although it is a nice name.)
His vision seems excellent in his good eye. He sees very small things and picks them up. His left eye is usually crossed and his right eye is usually straight, but depending on what he is looking at (how close it is) they can both cross, or the left eye can move out quite a bit and seem to take over. This is rare, but we have seen it. That poor little eye tries so hard to see. ;-)
He has been making lots of eye contact with us. He allows affection, and returns our hugs. In fact he loves hugs! He even loves kisses, and has kissed me back twice, although open-mouthed and slobbery. We cannot tell you how good his hugs feel. It melts us into puddles.
He especially enjoys books, stacking cups, water bottles (likes to peek at me through the plastic or shake them up). He also digs balloons and the ring stacker. He likes to be swung around, held upside down and chased. We go for a walk every visit and he likes being outside. He picks up rocks and gives them to us. He picks the dandelions and has everyone smell them.
He is a thumbsucker, so he has a pretty nice overbite which we actually find really cute. But we can’t wait to get our hands on that mullet haircut!
He eats a ton of food. We sometimes get to feed him or at least watch him feed himself. It’s so entertaining (and sad) to see these kids feed themselves. They sit at these tiny tables in their tiny chairs, with big bibs. Their plates and bowls are put right up to their chests, they are given a big spoon in one and a piece of bread in the other and then they just go at it! He loves to dip his bread in his soup before he takes bites. There is another family in the playroom from France. They are adopting a little blonde 2-year old boy, so he and Milan sit at their little table together and we all gather around them to help and ooh and ahhh at every little slurp. It’s quite the scene. They look like two little old men who are dinner companions. The caretakers prefer that we don’t feed him but instead let him feed himself, but we try to help a lot, as it can only be good in promoting attachment.
We have heard some good babbling the last couple of days, and we have seen him respond to commands in his native language. He has giggled and laughed a lot and seems to have a great sense of humor.
Ok, now what you’ve been waiting for…. Let the next photo montage begin. I hope you're not allergic to awesome!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
It's a Boy!
We are madly in love!
Please say hello to our son-to-be, Milan (Milo) Ruopoli.
Please say hello to our son-to-be, Milan (Milo) Ruopoli.
(We are having internet issues, and it won't let us upload more than a few photos. We will add more asap.)
He is almost 21 months old, and he is precious beyond words. We believe he is a mix of Kazakh and Caucasian. He has medium brown hair, almond-shaped brown eyes, chubby cheeks, pouty lips and a button nose. And he is tall, like us!
He has such a sweet spirit. He is so gentle, smart, funny, silly and incredibly cute cute cute! We are completely over the moon and can’t get enough of him. His personality fits our family perfectly. We feel that we are kindred spirits who have been waiting for each other for a very long time. We can hardly believe what a glorious feeling this is, and any tears we’ve shed lately have been only tears of pure joy.
We are so sorry for the delayed introduction. We wanted to wait until we met with the orphanage doctor, and consulted with our international adoption doctor in the US before announcing him. All is well and he is a healthy boy.
So what has been going on the last few days? Well, we would be remiss to not tell you that we had a shaky start. Here is the full story…
We actually were hoping very much to meet Milan when we came to Aqtobe. We knew of him from reading about him on a couple of other families’ blogs. Several families had met him, but had not chosen to adopt him for reasons I will explain later. But he intrigued us, and we were very much looking forward to meeting him.
When we landed in Aqtobe, we were met by our coordinator, Gulnara (pronounced Gull-nar-ah), one of our translators, Aina (pronounced I-na) and our driver, Ceric (pronounced Sare-ik). We were immediately taken to meet with a man who is the director of all Aqtobe orphanages. His office is in the toddler house. In just that much time, we found ourselves in culture shock. We exchanged brief greetings and he asked us about our families. Frank and I each spoke for about 1 minute. Then he asked to see our passports. After checking them over, he and Gulnara spoke for a few minutes in Kazakh or Russian as we sat on the couch, trying our best to look relaxed and natural. We said goodbye and we were taken to our apartment to do some paperwork with Aina, and freshen up for about an hour before meeting the children.
Ceric and Aina picked us up and took us back to the toddler house. We were met there by Gulnara and a woman from the Ministry of Education, who by law must witness this process. We all went into a colorful playroom and one of the caregivers brought in a little blond, 3-year old girl. She was a cutie pie, although very shy. We spent about 10 minutes playing with her, and managed to get a few smiles. She was darling, but was not the right child for us. Soon we were all off again to the baby house. We were taken into the baby house director’s office and Frank and I sat in 2 chairs while they all spoke for a few minutes. Before long they brought in a sweet 2 year old boy with severe disabilities. He was endearing, although not right for our family at this time. Then they brought in the boy we wanted to meet! We knew it was him and we were so eager to see him.
He toddled in slowly…so slowly…holding the hand of his caregiver. She picked him up and stood in front of us for a minute as he checked us out. He didn’t make a peep. Someone took the 2 year-old boy from Frank’s arms, and the caregiver brought Milan over to us. She placed him in my lap and he sat there, stone faced and still. I talked sweetly to him and tickled his belly a bit. Showed him a couple of toys. He was completely catatonic. He was drooling. He was checked out. Comatose. Frank took him from me and held him on his knee for a while. Frank cooed and spoke sweetly to him. He showed him the toys too. Still nothing. Completely unresponsive. Just more drool. I thought maybe he was mentally retarded. The head doctor told us a little about him…that he is healthy, can even feed himself, and that he had just woken up from a nap. I got down on the floor and sat in front of them, and Frank put Milan down on his feet. I reached to his hands with mine, and he very loosely held on to both of my fingers. I briefly caught his eye, I smiled and cooed, and thought I saw his lips move toward a smile – but almost imperceptibly. Did I imagine it? We looked him over a little as he stood there. His legs looked so long in comparison to his body – way out of proportion. His head looked a little deformed on top. He was wearing a girl’s shirt, disco jeans and big orange sandals. He was a sight! His caregiver then came for him, took him by one hand and they walked out of the room. We watched him go down the hall. So slowly and so stiffly. He could barely walk. His development seemed very delayed for a 20 month old – even for an orphanage child. (It is normal to expect a 1 month delay for every 3 months in an orphanage, i.e. a 20 month old will be more like a 14 month old in even the best of orphanage settings.) But even so, he seemed really far off.
They announced that these were the only children available for adoption at this time, and asked us if we wanted to start the bonding process with this child. We looked at each other and didn’t know what to say. I asked if we could talk it over in the hall for a moment. No problem and no pressure.
“What do you think? What do YOU think? I think we should give him a chance. You think? Yes, let’s give him a chance…he deserves a chance. He just woke up from a nap. And he's scared. Ok. Alright. You sure? Yeah. Ok.”
We let them know, and then we went to lunch with Aina and signed a few more papers. We returned to our apartment for the afternoon. Our first bonding visit would be in the morning.
We were like zombies walking around the apartment, unpacking a few essentials and trying to wrap our minds around everything that was happening. It is unbelievably surreal once you land and start this process. On top of that, we were terrified of the decision ahead of us. We felt pretty sure that we were going to have to go to a different region, as LMI promised if things didn’t work out in Aqtobe. “Don’t unpack yet” we said to each other.
Andrea called and said she heard we had found our baby. I sadly told her that I really didn’t think this was going to work out, but we just wanted to give him a chance – at least for one 2-hour bonding session – since we have heard that orphanage children often are terrified upon first meeting them. They are rarely ever out of their own living areas, and almost never see men unless it is a doctor. He might just be scared stiff.
As we laid in bed trying to sleep when our bodies were on US time, we talked it over a little more. We were so distressed. We considered canceling the bonding session and just going to another city as soon as possible. This little guy just seemed too delayed and we were very concerned about his cognitive development. We decided to follow through with the morning session to show that we at least tried, but to just not do an afternoon session and call Andrea to let her know we’d need to transfer to another region.
We arrived to the bonding playroom – the very one we had seen so many times in other families’ photos. There was the blue carpet with the little bears all over it, the old pianos, the big stuffed animals, the little wooden chairs and the white window blinds. I desperately wished I could have felt happier about it. Aina went to get Milan and he was brought in to us. We sat on the floor with him for a few minutes, showing him all the cool toys we brought with us. As expected, he was still catatonic. We tried everything. When Aina came over to ask me a question, I could not hide the tears in my eyes. I felt bad about her seeing that.
After a few minutes Gulnara told us to try walking around the room with him. Frank scooped him up and we walked around and looked at the big stuffed animals. We looked out the window at the cars. After a few minutes he suddenly pointed to the window with his slobbery finger. Hmmm… he can point. We walked around some more and acted silly with him. I gave him a teething cookie and helped him put it in his mouth. He would not eat it, but just held it in his hand. I took it from him, but as soon as I did he very quickly reached out and took it back. Cute.
We sat back down in our play area and Frank and I laid on our sides with him standing between us. Out of the blue he squatted down and started nesting the stacking cups we brought. Our jaws dropped. We wouldn’t have been any more surprised if he had done a back handspring. Over the next hour he played with the stacking cups, ate all of the cookie, made eye contact several times and gave us some big grins when we tickled him and held him up in the air. He enjoyed the affection we gave him and did not pull back from any of our hugs and kisses. He enjoyed cuddling and being in our arms. Whoa… there IS someone in there! And he is adorable!
During this first visit, we also realized that his big, orange shoes were about 2 sizes too big and stiff as a board. No wonder he was having trouble walking! His mis-shapen head? Simply a bad haircut and the need for a better brushing. His extra long legs? His disco pants were too big for him and practically pulled up to his armpits! All the drooling? He is still teething.
We looked forward to the afternoon visit.
When we arrived in the afternoon he took about 20 minutes to fully warm up to us, but after that it was over. He was a completely different child. He was AMAZING. That was on Saturday. Since then we have had several more visits with him, each one better than the last. He is so good natured, loving and affectionate. Yes, he does have a little catching up to do with his development, but he is normal.
After only a few days together, we are sure that he is “nosh siun.” Our son.
We tell you all of this in detail because we want other adoptive parents to know about our experience. All of the experts tell us to expect this type of behavior upon first meeting some children, especially with toddlers, but there is really no preparation for it, and it totally goes against our nature not to trust such strong first impressions.
Parents, please don’t give up on these kids too soon. It breaks our hearts to imagine not knowing this little guy for who he really is!
So about the reason why Milan was not selected by other families…
He has a very minor correctable medical need. He has strabismus in one eye (it turns inward.) We believe that he hasn’t been adopted up until now because people don't expect this when they travel blind, and therefore are not prepared for it and generally don’t have much knowledge about it. They would naturally feel shocked to see it, and have fears that they don't have the time to research fully.
Having gotten a heads up from reading other blogs, I did a ton of research, consulted with the staff at MUSC Storm Eye Institute in Charleston, and spoke to many parents whose children have had it as well as several adults. It’s such a correctible thing, and medical insurance covers the costs.
Soon I will post more photos fully showing both of his eyes, but for now we just want you to see him, not his eye. He is so beautiful.
We have very limited internet access, but we will post another update as soon as possible!
Much love to you all,
Frank, Regina and Milan
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Alive and Well!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
We’re here! We are having trouble with the internet connection in our apartment, and it has been a whirlwind since we landed. We finally made it to a coffee shop with wi-fi and wanted to give everyone a quick update.
We don’t have baby news to share just yet. We are still going through the initial process. We hope to share some good news with you within a couple of days.
We made it to Aqtobe with hardly a hitch, and so did all of our luggage. We had 4 checked bags and 2 carry-ons. What a surreal experience the travel alone has been. From sitting shell-shocked in the Charleston airport to arriving to the dusty tin building that is the temporary airport in Aqtobe, our bodies and our emotions have been all over the place the last few days. But no worries -- we are doing just fine.
Each leg of our journey brought different accompanying emotions with it. Leaving Charleston was very mournful. More so than we ever thought. We were in shock that were actually leaving our loved ones behind for many weeks to go on this extreme journey. During the Memphis to Amsterdam leg our focus slowly shifted back to our child – and the future undertaking at hand. Amsterdam to Almaty was a mix of utter elation and sheer terror. It was the wildest feeling sitting in the Amsterdam airport waiting to board the plane to Almaty. That’s when you start seeing many Kazakhs and Russians and hearing Russian being spoken. The first word I recognized was “see-vode-nya” which means “today.” I felt like an idiot being so excited to hear it, but it brought tears to my eyes.
TIP FOR ADOPTIVE PARENTS – The Amsterdam airport has a hotel within it that is convenient to your terminals. It’s called Hotel Mercure. We came across it while looking for the Meditation Center. Since we had a 7 hour layover we thought our ultimate purpose would be better served if we checked in for a few hours and catch some z’s rather than tour Amsterdam. The hotel charged the same price as a full night stay -- $85 euros single/$95 euros double -- but it was worth every penny, and they take credit cards. It was a simple, clean modern room with a comfy bed, so we were able to get a few hours of solid sleep and a quick shower. Very refreshing.
Almaty to Aqtobe was stressful at first because we nearly missed it with the tight layover timing and some confusion with baggage overage payment (they didn’t accept credit cards as we thought, and we didn’t have enough Tenge, so Frank had run back outside to the money exchange.) After we finally got settled on the plane, the trip was surprisingly relaxing. Oh, except for when Frank was accused of smoking in the restroom by an infuriated male flight attendant. (Frank has never smoked a day in his life!) The restroom smelled smoky when Frank went in, but the flight attendant was passing by as Frank exited and began accusing him and yelling very loudly. Frank held his ground that it must have been the guy before him…he even invited the flight attendant smell his breath (which he did) and look at his non-yellowed fingers. They ended up coming back to me to vouch for Frank not being a smoker. It was nuts. All of that was made extra weird by the fact that we were the only Americans on that flight as far as we could tell and we already felt conspicuous enough.
We were met by the Aqtobe LMI team and whisked off to meet with the head doctor of all the orphanages to be interviewed. It was very quick, and we simply answered a couple of questions about our family. We then were brought to our apartment and settled in here for an hour. Then we went to meet a few children (more on this next time) and were brought back to our apartment for the day.
Our apartment is inside an old, concrete Soviet era building. It is cozy, with a living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom, along with a small porch overlooking the street. (This is the same place Christy S. stayed after she got custody of Zahria. Thinking of you!)
We ventured out to the supermarket tonight all by ourselves and successfully procured our very first Kazakh groceries, which included 1 loaf of bread, 2 containers of yogurt, 2 apples, a large bottle of water and a bottle of cheap vodka to use for sterilization. We had pizza earlier with our interpreter, and it was pretty good. We brought peanut butter, crackers, oatmeal, granola bars, etc., to hold us over until we can make a bigger trip to the supermarket.
Some other random thoughts….
The weather today was nice. Sunny and mild, even if with a cloud of dust.
The Kazakh people are indeed beautiful. Stunning.
Gold teeth are all the rage in older generation.
Lots of people walk around the streets holding transistor radios.
In some areas, scenes from the movie Borat aren’t actually that far off.
We have been going non-stop and haven’t had the time or ability to take many photos yet. It’s something we really look forward to doing once we are settled. We brought our small Canon for snapshots, and Frank’s Nikon for the good stuff.
As we write this, it’s 1:00 am Aqtobe time early Saturday morning, but 4:00 pm Friday for Charleston. We just finished some green tea and James Taylor is playing the iPod. We shouldn’t have any trouble sleeping, as we have hit a wall. We occasionally wonder if we will wake up and still be here? It all still feels very dreamlike.
More soon…
We’re here! We are having trouble with the internet connection in our apartment, and it has been a whirlwind since we landed. We finally made it to a coffee shop with wi-fi and wanted to give everyone a quick update.
We don’t have baby news to share just yet. We are still going through the initial process. We hope to share some good news with you within a couple of days.
We made it to Aqtobe with hardly a hitch, and so did all of our luggage. We had 4 checked bags and 2 carry-ons. What a surreal experience the travel alone has been. From sitting shell-shocked in the Charleston airport to arriving to the dusty tin building that is the temporary airport in Aqtobe, our bodies and our emotions have been all over the place the last few days. But no worries -- we are doing just fine.
Each leg of our journey brought different accompanying emotions with it. Leaving Charleston was very mournful. More so than we ever thought. We were in shock that were actually leaving our loved ones behind for many weeks to go on this extreme journey. During the Memphis to Amsterdam leg our focus slowly shifted back to our child – and the future undertaking at hand. Amsterdam to Almaty was a mix of utter elation and sheer terror. It was the wildest feeling sitting in the Amsterdam airport waiting to board the plane to Almaty. That’s when you start seeing many Kazakhs and Russians and hearing Russian being spoken. The first word I recognized was “see-vode-nya” which means “today.” I felt like an idiot being so excited to hear it, but it brought tears to my eyes.
TIP FOR ADOPTIVE PARENTS – The Amsterdam airport has a hotel within it that is convenient to your terminals. It’s called Hotel Mercure. We came across it while looking for the Meditation Center. Since we had a 7 hour layover we thought our ultimate purpose would be better served if we checked in for a few hours and catch some z’s rather than tour Amsterdam. The hotel charged the same price as a full night stay -- $85 euros single/$95 euros double -- but it was worth every penny, and they take credit cards. It was a simple, clean modern room with a comfy bed, so we were able to get a few hours of solid sleep and a quick shower. Very refreshing.
Almaty to Aqtobe was stressful at first because we nearly missed it with the tight layover timing and some confusion with baggage overage payment (they didn’t accept credit cards as we thought, and we didn’t have enough Tenge, so Frank had run back outside to the money exchange.) After we finally got settled on the plane, the trip was surprisingly relaxing. Oh, except for when Frank was accused of smoking in the restroom by an infuriated male flight attendant. (Frank has never smoked a day in his life!) The restroom smelled smoky when Frank went in, but the flight attendant was passing by as Frank exited and began accusing him and yelling very loudly. Frank held his ground that it must have been the guy before him…he even invited the flight attendant smell his breath (which he did) and look at his non-yellowed fingers. They ended up coming back to me to vouch for Frank not being a smoker. It was nuts. All of that was made extra weird by the fact that we were the only Americans on that flight as far as we could tell and we already felt conspicuous enough.
We were met by the Aqtobe LMI team and whisked off to meet with the head doctor of all the orphanages to be interviewed. It was very quick, and we simply answered a couple of questions about our family. We then were brought to our apartment and settled in here for an hour. Then we went to meet a few children (more on this next time) and were brought back to our apartment for the day.
Our apartment is inside an old, concrete Soviet era building. It is cozy, with a living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom, along with a small porch overlooking the street. (This is the same place Christy S. stayed after she got custody of Zahria. Thinking of you!)
We ventured out to the supermarket tonight all by ourselves and successfully procured our very first Kazakh groceries, which included 1 loaf of bread, 2 containers of yogurt, 2 apples, a large bottle of water and a bottle of cheap vodka to use for sterilization. We had pizza earlier with our interpreter, and it was pretty good. We brought peanut butter, crackers, oatmeal, granola bars, etc., to hold us over until we can make a bigger trip to the supermarket.
Some other random thoughts….
The weather today was nice. Sunny and mild, even if with a cloud of dust.
The Kazakh people are indeed beautiful. Stunning.
Gold teeth are all the rage in older generation.
Lots of people walk around the streets holding transistor radios.
In some areas, scenes from the movie Borat aren’t actually that far off.
We have been going non-stop and haven’t had the time or ability to take many photos yet. It’s something we really look forward to doing once we are settled. We brought our small Canon for snapshots, and Frank’s Nikon for the good stuff.
As we write this, it’s 1:00 am Aqtobe time early Saturday morning, but 4:00 pm Friday for Charleston. We just finished some green tea and James Taylor is playing the iPod. We shouldn’t have any trouble sleeping, as we have hit a wall. We occasionally wonder if we will wake up and still be here? It all still feels very dreamlike.
More soon…
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Let's Roll
Today the real adventure begins.
It has been a frenzied 24 hours, but we are as ready as we will ever be. Please keep us in your thoughts, prayers and meditations during our journey.
~ May we stay safe and healthy.
~ May our child stay safe and healthy.
~ May we find the right child for our family.
~ May the legal process be swift and smooth.
~ May we fully embrace this exciting experience and find strength during its challenges.
~ May we lean on each other in times of uncertainty.
~ May we represent Americans and adoptive parents in their best light.
Thanks for everything. See you on the flip side!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Vertigo
During the last couple of days, a strange sensation has occasionally drifted over me. It's the very real, physical sensation of falling. It's different from the rush I get before a performance, as it's centered more in my eyes and head than in my chest and stomach. I've never felt quite this way before. It's a new kind of fear, and it has taken me completely by surprise.
What am I afraid of?
Well, there is the obvious: Traveling halfway around the world to a developing country to live for many weeks; making a lifelong decision to adopt a child we've never met, with little information, little time and on limited sleep; being so far away from home in these post-9/11 times; hearing about a devastating earthquake in China knowing my friends are there now adopting a baby girl; having complete responsibility for someone else's health, safety and happiness; knowing that our 'perfect' dreams will most certainly become an imperfect reality; and thinking about those long flights home with just me and the baby.
I also keep remembering the time I asked a new dad what his biggest surprise/adjustment to parenthood was. Without hesitation, he said in his best hippie voice ...
"It's just so constant."
We all laughed, but it's true. This ain't no babysitting job.
Even more than all of these things, I think it mostly terrifies me that in order to experience the depths of joy and love that a child brings, one has to be vulnerable to the depths of pain.
What am I afraid of?
Well, there is the obvious: Traveling halfway around the world to a developing country to live for many weeks; making a lifelong decision to adopt a child we've never met, with little information, little time and on limited sleep; being so far away from home in these post-9/11 times; hearing about a devastating earthquake in China knowing my friends are there now adopting a baby girl; having complete responsibility for someone else's health, safety and happiness; knowing that our 'perfect' dreams will most certainly become an imperfect reality; and thinking about those long flights home with just me and the baby.
I also keep remembering the time I asked a new dad what his biggest surprise/adjustment to parenthood was. Without hesitation, he said in his best hippie voice ...
"It's just so constant."
We all laughed, but it's true. This ain't no babysitting job.
Even more than all of these things, I think it mostly terrifies me that in order to experience the depths of joy and love that a child brings, one has to be vulnerable to the depths of pain.
Am I still excited about all of this? Oh, you betcha. Am I still overflowing with faith, hope and love? Absolutely, sister. Am I scared? Hell yes, I'm scared.
But somehow ... somehow ... I know that everything will be alright. Even if it's not alright.
“The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.”
- Charles DuBois
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Happy Mother's Day
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there --
old moms, new moms and moms-to-be!
And to our own wonderful mothers,
we love you and miss being with you today.
Know that we feel assured about our parenting abilities
because we were taught by two of the best in the business.
old moms, new moms and moms-to-be!
And to our own wonderful mothers,
we love you and miss being with you today.
Know that we feel assured about our parenting abilities
because we were taught by two of the best in the business.
Christina
Regina’s Mom
(I’m the baby.)
LaNell
Frank’s Mom
(He was a hairy baby.)
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Still Sinking In
We leave in FOUR days.
Our flight departs this Wednesday, May 14. Yes, we had to pay for the whole seat, even though we'll only need the edge!
We are flying KLM/Northwest from Charleston to Memphis to Amsterdam to Almaty. We will buy our tickets to Aqtobe after we land in Almaty. It will be about 35-40 total hours of travel time!
We have a long layover in Amsterdam, so we might take the train into the city for a few hours. Lots of people do this because the train leaves right from the airport and takes you to city center in 15 minutes, and there are lockers at the airport to store your carry-ons. Cool!
The LOI call came at 10:06 am Thursday (my morning theory was correct!) I was on the phone with a friend, and running late for a 10:00 meeting. When I answered all I heard was Andrea’s familiar voice streaming “It’s here it’s here it’s here it’s here it’s here it’s here!!!!” What a rush.
After many happy tears and a brief conversation with her, I started to call Frank. I remembered that I had our small digital camera with me, which has a video function. I grabbed it out of my purse and sat it down on the desk, pressed "record" and dialed. Frank had no idea I was recording. He was actually at home from work, not feeling well. I wasn't really planning on sharing this intimate moment with the world, but then I reconsidered because, as they say, a joy shared is only multiplied. I'm glad I did. :-)
I couldn’t update the blog until 8:30 pm. I had a crazy day with many calls, preparations and happy dances with my co-workers, who have been so supportive (especially you Marlene... mwah!) I also had to run some errands after work, and once I got home it took a little time to edit the video (I cut out about half of our conversation.)
So here we are… in our last weekend at home as a family of two. I feel like we should be having a wild and crazy weekend...dancing, drinking, and getting frisky in every room of the house! We considered it last night, but took a nap instead. Hey, it was an exhausting day!!! ;-) I think we’re ready for the parental lifestyle.
Thank you everyone for all the loving support and well wishes in your comments, calls and e-mails. You are so uplifting! You have enriched this experience for us more than you will ever know.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Habibi,
I've been wondering a lot about our first meeting. Will we just know that you are our child? Will we fall in love with you at first sight, or will it take a little while longer? That is how it was when your papa and I first met. Sure, we each thought the other was cute, but only after a few weeks of really knowing each other did the love bug hit us like a ton of heart-shaped bricks. And that was the best thing that has ever happened to us.
How will it all go down? Will you take one look at us and burst into tears? Or will we be the ones who burst into tears? Will you be frozen with fear? Maybe we will be the ones who freeze up. Will you be curious and interested, or suspicious and wary?
I wonder what your laugh sounds like. I wonder if you like music ... bananas ... bubbles … books ... Are you laid back and cuddly, or boisterous and inquisitive? Maybe a little of both. What tickles your funny bone? How did you get to where you are? Are you ready to be loved? Will it take a little convincing, or a lot?
The answers to these questions and thousands more will be answered soon. We will try not to put too much pressure on you. After all, you're only a little munchkin who is doing the best you can to cope with the strange emptiness you feel inside, despite a comfortable routine and having people around you who sincerely care about you. To you, we will just be two wide-eyed giants who talk funny. But we are prepared to do what it takes to earn your trust, little by little, and teach you how to love and be loved in a whole new kind of way.
Our flight departs this Wednesday, May 14. Yes, we had to pay for the whole seat, even though we'll only need the edge!
We are flying KLM/Northwest from Charleston to Memphis to Amsterdam to Almaty. We will buy our tickets to Aqtobe after we land in Almaty. It will be about 35-40 total hours of travel time!
We have a long layover in Amsterdam, so we might take the train into the city for a few hours. Lots of people do this because the train leaves right from the airport and takes you to city center in 15 minutes, and there are lockers at the airport to store your carry-ons. Cool!
The LOI call came at 10:06 am Thursday (my morning theory was correct!) I was on the phone with a friend, and running late for a 10:00 meeting. When I answered all I heard was Andrea’s familiar voice streaming “It’s here it’s here it’s here it’s here it’s here it’s here!!!!” What a rush.
After many happy tears and a brief conversation with her, I started to call Frank. I remembered that I had our small digital camera with me, which has a video function. I grabbed it out of my purse and sat it down on the desk, pressed "record" and dialed. Frank had no idea I was recording. He was actually at home from work, not feeling well. I wasn't really planning on sharing this intimate moment with the world, but then I reconsidered because, as they say, a joy shared is only multiplied. I'm glad I did. :-)
I couldn’t update the blog until 8:30 pm. I had a crazy day with many calls, preparations and happy dances with my co-workers, who have been so supportive (especially you Marlene... mwah!) I also had to run some errands after work, and once I got home it took a little time to edit the video (I cut out about half of our conversation.)
So here we are… in our last weekend at home as a family of two. I feel like we should be having a wild and crazy weekend...dancing, drinking, and getting frisky in every room of the house! We considered it last night, but took a nap instead. Hey, it was an exhausting day!!! ;-) I think we’re ready for the parental lifestyle.
Thank you everyone for all the loving support and well wishes in your comments, calls and e-mails. You are so uplifting! You have enriched this experience for us more than you will ever know.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Habibi,
I've been wondering a lot about our first meeting. Will we just know that you are our child? Will we fall in love with you at first sight, or will it take a little while longer? That is how it was when your papa and I first met. Sure, we each thought the other was cute, but only after a few weeks of really knowing each other did the love bug hit us like a ton of heart-shaped bricks. And that was the best thing that has ever happened to us.
How will it all go down? Will you take one look at us and burst into tears? Or will we be the ones who burst into tears? Will you be frozen with fear? Maybe we will be the ones who freeze up. Will you be curious and interested, or suspicious and wary?
I wonder what your laugh sounds like. I wonder if you like music ... bananas ... bubbles … books ... Are you laid back and cuddly, or boisterous and inquisitive? Maybe a little of both. What tickles your funny bone? How did you get to where you are? Are you ready to be loved? Will it take a little convincing, or a lot?
The answers to these questions and thousands more will be answered soon. We will try not to put too much pressure on you. After all, you're only a little munchkin who is doing the best you can to cope with the strange emptiness you feel inside, despite a comfortable routine and having people around you who sincerely care about you. To you, we will just be two wide-eyed giants who talk funny. But we are prepared to do what it takes to earn your trust, little by little, and teach you how to love and be loved in a whole new kind of way.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Restless
Our elusive LOI is still MIA.
Maybe the MOE has PMS and needs some TLC. Or maybe a BLT. Perhaps even an EKG. I won't call them an SOB or they will just LOL and send our LOI off to RIP with the KGB. Then OMG, we would be SOL!
This Friday is Victory Day in Kazakhstan, and we all know by now that a Kaz holiday never lasts for just one day. So I think we are going to definitely be on the longer side of the “3 to 4 weeks” time estimate. We’ve been on the long side of every time estimate at every stage of this process so far, so I guess this wouldn’t be any different. (Do I sound whiny? I don’t mean to. I’m not the whiny type, but ….. Waaahhh! There, it’s out of my system and we can proceed with today’s regularly scheduled blog.)
Have you seen those advertisements for Restless Leg Syndrome? Well, I think I have Restless Mind Syndrome. Or maybe it’s Restless Heart Syndrome. I’m usually a champion sleeper (seriously, I could win awards) but not so much the last few nights. I guess my mind is just doing the best it can to manage the flurry of thoughts whirling around in it lately. I’ll be alright, but I wish we could just plug ourselves into a charger to refresh. That could be a good use of that residual belly button of ours.
Despite being short on sleep, we had a great weekend. A highlight was attending an awards ceremony for our 9-year old niece, Gabrielle, whose artwork was selected to adorn the halls of MUSC Children’s Hospital for a year! It’s part of their “Happy Halls” program. The ceremony was upstairs at the MUSC Storm Eye Institute, where she and the other winners received a blue ribbon and a gift card. Then we went to the lobby for a reception and viewing of all the winning art. This is such a neat program and we were so proud of her. Gabby’s piece was a really cool, abstract drawing of birds, which was created with markers.
Another highlight of our weekend was taking a day trip to two of our favorite, best kept secret places: Old Santee Canal Park and Mepkin Abbey (a former plantation.) Both places are so tranquil and full of marvelous views. It really does the spirit good to connect with the natural world. Frank and I love taking nature walks, canoeing, camping, swimming, exploring, etc. South Carolina is an excellent state for being outdoors. There is such amazing bio-diversity, from the mountains in the upstate all the way down here at the coast. There are many rivers, lakes, streams, swamps, estuaries, islands, beaches and a huge variety of wildlife. We are especially looking forward to many fun family adventures al fresco. It will be exciting to help Habibi discover the fascinating world we live in.
On another note, my employer has finalized their adoption benefit package. It is a reimbursement program that is pretty fair and well thought out. I am very pleased and thankful that they instituted a formal policy. I don't think I ever really mentioned my day job in the blog. Our jazz band is just for fun and extra money, but my full time job is actually something I enjoy very much as well. I work for one of the largest decorative home lighting companies in the US (advertising copywriter, newsletter editor, media relations, public relations, design trend research, corporate communications, script writing, product naming, etc.) It's enjoyable, creative, and the people are great.
For those who asked about the nursery walls from the last post, they have a handpainted faux finish. I started with an orange base and dabbed on a glaze of brown using cotton fabric. I let it dry 90%, and then lightly swept the surface with a soft, wide brush to blur it a bit. (New blog readers can see more nursery photos from my "The Room" post in back September.)
I have lots more ramblings, but I'm going to try to get some z's now, before another strange acronym storm moves into this restless head of mine. Goodnight and sweet dreams.
Maybe the MOE has PMS and needs some TLC. Or maybe a BLT. Perhaps even an EKG. I won't call them an SOB or they will just LOL and send our LOI off to RIP with the KGB. Then OMG, we would be SOL!
This Friday is Victory Day in Kazakhstan, and we all know by now that a Kaz holiday never lasts for just one day. So I think we are going to definitely be on the longer side of the “3 to 4 weeks” time estimate. We’ve been on the long side of every time estimate at every stage of this process so far, so I guess this wouldn’t be any different. (Do I sound whiny? I don’t mean to. I’m not the whiny type, but ….. Waaahhh! There, it’s out of my system and we can proceed with today’s regularly scheduled blog.)
Have you seen those advertisements for Restless Leg Syndrome? Well, I think I have Restless Mind Syndrome. Or maybe it’s Restless Heart Syndrome. I’m usually a champion sleeper (seriously, I could win awards) but not so much the last few nights. I guess my mind is just doing the best it can to manage the flurry of thoughts whirling around in it lately. I’ll be alright, but I wish we could just plug ourselves into a charger to refresh. That could be a good use of that residual belly button of ours.
Despite being short on sleep, we had a great weekend. A highlight was attending an awards ceremony for our 9-year old niece, Gabrielle, whose artwork was selected to adorn the halls of MUSC Children’s Hospital for a year! It’s part of their “Happy Halls” program. The ceremony was upstairs at the MUSC Storm Eye Institute, where she and the other winners received a blue ribbon and a gift card. Then we went to the lobby for a reception and viewing of all the winning art. This is such a neat program and we were so proud of her. Gabby’s piece was a really cool, abstract drawing of birds, which was created with markers.
Another highlight of our weekend was taking a day trip to two of our favorite, best kept secret places: Old Santee Canal Park and Mepkin Abbey (a former plantation.) Both places are so tranquil and full of marvelous views. It really does the spirit good to connect with the natural world. Frank and I love taking nature walks, canoeing, camping, swimming, exploring, etc. South Carolina is an excellent state for being outdoors. There is such amazing bio-diversity, from the mountains in the upstate all the way down here at the coast. There are many rivers, lakes, streams, swamps, estuaries, islands, beaches and a huge variety of wildlife. We are especially looking forward to many fun family adventures al fresco. It will be exciting to help Habibi discover the fascinating world we live in.
On another note, my employer has finalized their adoption benefit package. It is a reimbursement program that is pretty fair and well thought out. I am very pleased and thankful that they instituted a formal policy. I don't think I ever really mentioned my day job in the blog. Our jazz band is just for fun and extra money, but my full time job is actually something I enjoy very much as well. I work for one of the largest decorative home lighting companies in the US (advertising copywriter, newsletter editor, media relations, public relations, design trend research, corporate communications, script writing, product naming, etc.) It's enjoyable, creative, and the people are great.
For those who asked about the nursery walls from the last post, they have a handpainted faux finish. I started with an orange base and dabbed on a glaze of brown using cotton fabric. I let it dry 90%, and then lightly swept the surface with a soft, wide brush to blur it a bit. (New blog readers can see more nursery photos from my "The Room" post in back September.)
I have lots more ramblings, but I'm going to try to get some z's now, before another strange acronym storm moves into this restless head of mine. Goodnight and sweet dreams.
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