Thursday, March 29, 2007

Monday, March 26, 2007

Back in the USA!

We made it home (finally) on Tuesday night, March 20th! We were greeted by cheering family and friends at the airport. Caleb was smiling and seemed to enjoy the attention. When we arrived at our house, we were surprised to find it decorated with welcome home and new baby items. Our pantry and refrigerator were both stocked with goodies. Caleb also had some gifts, food, clothes, and supplies! Caleb is lucky to be joining two wonderful families! (They had collaborated to make our homecoming even more special than it already was.) Caleb got to meet his 10 month old cousin Ashley and learned to dance like her, rather than just shake his head back and forth when he hears music.
Caleb wore his red, white, and blue fire truck outfit that Matt, Courtney, Reagan, and Madelyn had given him in honor of him becoming an American citizen as soon as we landed on US soil. He looked so cute!

On the first flight from Almaty to Amsterdam, we had a row of four seats all to ourselves! Caleb did well on that flight. He slept in between us for part of the way. He also could walk between us some, but he had a hard time turning around in the tiny space of economy class seating. You should have seen me trying to change stinky, dirty diapers in those tiny restrooms! I think he had four dirty diapers in all on the two long flights. The take-off and landing didn't seem to bother him on any of the flights. The second flight from Amsterdam to Memphis was more difficult. It was longer (10 hours) and there were no empty seats. He wasn't quite as good on that flight, but he did manage to win the heart of our flight attendant. The last flight from Memphis to SA was great! There were at least four other babies on board, but he was the best!

It has been quite difficult for Caleb to get on our time zone! This of course means that it has been difficult for us, as well. I think we may finally be making some progress. He loves his new home and all his stuff. Friday night, he threw his arms up and just started walking across the living room! Brad and I couldn't believe it! He is still very shaky, of course, and crawls most of the time when he wants to get somewhere fast.

He is very clingy to both Brad and I, which I think is to be expected. It's just hard to get any of the millions of things that need to be done accomplished, and I already have to go back to work on April 4th.

Caleb loves his high chair and enjoys going places in his car seat. We were worried about both because he doesn't like to be strapped in, but he does well.

Thursday Caleb met his 13 month old cousin, Tyler. Tyler wasn't too sure about having to share his Aunt Pet, his Grandpa, but mainly his Grandma with someone else! He also met his seven year old cousin, Anthony. He kept watching Anthony and was fascinated by everything Anthony would do.

Sunday we took him to church, and he was "introduced" to the congregation. He clapped his hands and bounced to the music.

Congratulations to Rod, Kym, and Aray who should be in Almaty by now. It's their last step before going home, and I know they are ready! They are hoping to leave for home on the 29th of March but it could be April 3rd. We can relate!!

Tomorrow, March 27th, Caleb will be one year old! Wow, we just made it home for his birthday! We'll post pictures from his parties tomorrow (hopefully).

I know...I was much more detailed in my posts while in Kaz. Well, first of all, there wasn't that much else to do there. Second of all, I am now the mother of a one year old! (Of course you mean we were more detailed and we are now both parents. I gave input on all our posts also. I can't help it if I type slow :0.)

Wow!!! These pictures are practically flying on the page. It's nice to have high speed internet again :). (See, I typed this - Brad)



Rod, don't tell the Kazakh officials - He is only wearing one shirt!















The T-shirt Caleb is wearing says this:
Adoption is Love.
Love is Family.
Family is Forever.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

WE'RE HOME!!!

Hi everyone!
We just wanted to let everyone know that we made it home last night (Tuesday) safe and sound! The internet in Almaty wasn't working the last 2 days we were there, so Monday I had typed a blog entry in Word on our laptop. I'll get it posted later, along with other pictures and details of our trip! We're exhausted, as you can imagine, and Caleb is raring to go!
Bye for now.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Sunday, March 18

Well, it's Sunday and we're not in an airplane right now, so I guess we'll be home Tuesday night around 9:20pm.

Yesterday, we went and ate lunch at the mall again. This time instead of the food court, we went to an Italian restaurant. Remember how good Caleb was at the food court? Not so much in the restaurant. He was loud. When he was happy, he was loud. When he was angry, he was loud. A group nearby us changed tables...I assume it was because of us. Anyway, at least the food was really good!

Today, we've just been hanging out in the hotel room because it's dark, dreary, and drizzly outside. The other days we've been in Almaty, the weather has been beautiful! It's been sunny but cool--you know, nice spring weather. We've been dressing Caleb with a t-shirt or onesie and a sweatshirt on top and warm-up bottoms or jeans. Plus, we always put his hat on him. He is still the child with the least amount of clothes on here, but he is always sweating. If we were still in Taraz, people would probably stop us and tell us to put more clothes on him.
Since we've stayed in the hotel room today, we've been able to stick to Caleb's schedule a little better. This, of course means that Caleb is better! One of the keys to a very happy Caleb is to keep him well fed. (I know, that's a key to many of us being happy, thus the reason I've whined so much about food while being here.) Anyway, it's just hard to know how much is the right amount to give him. What we received from the BH was all in grams. The baby food, formula, and juice are all in milliliters. We're not even sure exactly what most of what they fed him at the BH was...and it's translated in English! We've just been doing our best...trial and error. He gladly eats whatever we give him...from a cauliflower and broccoli mix to a turkey, carrot, and potato mix.

It's funny, many people have commented here that Caleb looks like Brad. Some of them knew he was adopted and some of them didn't. There is one picture on one of our last two posts, I'm not sure which one, where Brad and I both think he looks like his Uncle Brent in a picture of him when he was little. It is one where Brad and he are on the bed in our hotel room in Taraz. I think they are both wearing green.

Today, he enjoyed watching The Wiggles on DVD. Thanks Cousin Ashley for letting him borrow it and the Elmo one we've watched once a day for 3 days! The problem with these videos is that Brad and I get those songs stuck in our head for the rest of the day! Ha-ha! Anyway, he clapped and bounced and sang with The Wiggles today.

Notice in the pictures below that Caleb is wearing his US Astronaut's onsie with NASA One Small Step socks and the jeans that Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Erwin gave him. He looks so cute, and he's ready to become a US citizen on Tuesday!!! (It sounded like I was narrating a fashion show there for a second!)


Daddy and Caleb watching The Wiggles.


Caleb playing with the ball Rod and Kym gave him while we were in Taraz.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Friday/US Embassy Interview/Pictures

This afternoon we went with Bulat to the US Embassy. Our appointment was at 3:00. We got there about 2:45. We were in and out of there in no time! Ahh, the US! We were actually out of there right around 3:00. The embassy was located on the 16th or 17th floor. There was an awesome view of the city and mountains up there, but we weren't allowed to take our camera up with us. For our "interview" all we had to do was say that everything we put on our paperwork was correct and sign 2 things! That was it! Now all adoption requirements in Kaz are complete!!! As soon as our plane touches down on US soil, Caleb will be a US citizen! Woohoo! Now all we have to do is catch a plane. Still no luck on that front, by the way. Tomorrow, we'll try one more time to get on the flight for Sunday.

After the US Embassy, we walked to the Ramstore. It's actually a real mall with some familiar stores and a foodcourt and everything! It also had a very large grocery store, almost like we would call a superstore. We bought lots of baby items, 2 sodas, 2 waters, and a Glamour Magazine in English! Our bill was almost $80! When I looked at the bill later, I almost flipped out...the magazine cost about $12! The US price is $3.99!
Caleb was so good on our outings! He really likes riding in the stroller. It's seems so funny to think that just a few days ago, he'd hardly ever even been outdoors. I told him that with me, he'd be seeing a lot more malls and stores!!! Ha-ha!

Caleb really likes his Gerber Banana Puffs we brought from home. We gave him some today to try. The rest should be a big hit on the plane rides!

Oh, a special congratulations to Rod, Kym, and Aray! Aray was able to go to the hotel with her Mommy and Daddy today! (Their coordinator let them bring her to the hotel after the 15 day waiting period.)

The internet here is supposedly faster than it was in Taraz, but it's going so much slower. Since I've been promising pictures for days now, I'll just have to wait it out today!

Bye for now from Almaty, Kazakhstan!


Caleb's breakfast on the train from Taraz to Almaty. Whoa, I look terrible!


The tall building on the left is where the US Embassy in Almaty is located, with mountains in the background.



Brad and Caleb reading Rod and Kym's blog.


Caleb enjoying his banana puffs.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Things Are Going a Little Smoother

It is Friday morning as I type this, and we should be boarding a plane right now. We haven't been able to change anything, yet, so for now we're still leaving Tuesday. We are still checking with travel agent/airlines etc., so we'll let you know if anything changes.

As the title states, things are going a little smoother since my last blog entry. We were exhausted that day, and there were many temper tantrums and meltdowns...some were even by Caleb! Ha-ha!

We worked out the crib problem by placing it tightly between the two beds, so if he decides to nose dive, he'll land on a bed. As for the string and plastic bag holding up the corners, they seem to be working okay.

We haven't ventured out of the hotel yet. We have been to the restaurant and been to the shopping center that is connected to the hotel. We didn't bring nearly enough baby food/items with us from Taraz, unfortunately, so we've made a couple of trips to the grocery store (in the shopping center.) It's crazy how much more expensive things are here than in Taraz. Of course, we thought we'd only be here a couple of days. The food in our restaurant is pretty good. I ordered tomato soup, which is yummy, and a green salad, which was not so yummy. It had nasty dressing on it. Brad ordered chicked fajitas, and they pronounced it fageetas. They didn't come with tortillas, but it did come sizzling on the grill pan to the table. It had grilled peppers and tomatoes, too. They were good...I liked them more than Brad. He thought the meat was too tough. Not me...I was soooo glad to get some white chicken meat! In Taraz, everything with chicken came with chunks of dark meat, except for the chicken noodle soup. The fajitas weren't like back home or anything, but, hey, I ate some more meat!

We gave Caleb a bath yesterday. He screamed his head off the whole time. I guess they didn't give too many baths at the BH. It may take some time before Caleb becomes a water baby!

He also watched part of an Elmo video yesterday, which seemed to be a big hit. He would clap and "sing" along. It was really cute.

This afternoon we have our interview at the US Embassy. After that, all our adoption business in Kaz will be complete. YIPPEE! Now, we just have to work on getting out of here.

Well, Caleb is waking up, so I guess that's it for now! Sorry...pictures will have to wait!

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Well we made it to Almaty, BUT...

we're not going to make it home Friday. Some government place didn't work today, so it would be impossible to leave Friday. (We don't know why Bulat didn't tell us this before!!!) So, we tried to change air tickets to Sunday which is the next time KLM flies, but it's all booked! Brad asked if we could change tickets to Tues., but get put on the waiting list for Sunday. The KLM lady said that that would be useless. AAAGGGHHH! To top it off, we had to pay a fee for changing air tickets again...we only had 1 free change. AAAGGHH! So, we bugged Janet to hurry and get us here for nothing! It would have been better to stay in Taraz for a couple more days because the hotel here isn't kid-friendly. The "crib" is medal and held together at one corner with a plastic bag and another corner with string. Also, the mattress part is permanently high, so it doesn't work for a baby who likes to stand up! He's already tried to do a nose dive out of it...luckily Brad has very quick reflexes!

The train ride went fine. He slept the whole time. However, we did not get much sleep. We made it to the hotel, dumped our bags in the room, and had to rush over for Caleb's medical evaluation at the SOS International Clinic. He didn't even cry when the lady pricked his finger and drew his blood. Next, we went with another lady who measured and weighed him. He is 19.8 pounds and 29 inches tall. Finally, the doctor looked at his medical records from the BH. She talked about his diagnosis that we already knew about, and again told us that all orphans are given that diagnosis here. She also mentioned a hip problem that she needed to examine. This was the first we had heard about it, but she said she didn't see anything wrong after examination. We can not see anything at all in his movement that would indicate anything that is wrong so we are not too concerned either. She also said, though, to get it x-rayed when we get home. Then, she said that he has a umbilical hernia, which we had already researched and diagnosed this for ourselves. We knew that his outie belly button wasn't just a plain old outie belly button. She said that it usually would have gone away on its own by now if it was going to, so she said he'll probably need surgery. The research I did on it was that it usually goes away on its own by the age of 4. So, we'll have to ask the Drs. back home. She said he seems healthy and is within the normal range for height and weight. Everyone was very nice and we didn't even have to wait much for him to be seen.

Did I call Caleb an angel yesterday??? Just kidding, he's still being rather good, considering the circumstances! Before we left the Gazovik last night, we ate at the hotel restaurant with Rod and Kym and two new American families. One family, the Smiths, is from Laredo. The Florres family is from Phoenix, Arizona. Caleb wasn't exactly the perfect little boy he was the night before. He was really excited when the Smith children came in, and he began screaming...not sad or scared screaming...happy, going-bonkers screaming. Since everyone was having trouble hearing each other over us, I took him on up to the room. As Brad and I were getting things ready to leave for the 11:30 pm train, he fell asleep in his crib. (You know, the crib that he won't actually nose dive out of? It wouldn't pass for a safe crib in the US, either, but it was much better than the one in our $180 a night hotel here in Almaty.) He woke up when we had to bundle him up to leave, but he did great in the car ride to the train station.

Jeannie and Austin had left yesterday for Almaty to catch their flight early this morning, but it was cancelled! So now they can't leave until Friday.

Rod and Kym will be getting custody of their baby girl on Friday, so finally some of us have good news! They can't wait and I'm sure she can't either. They are now showing the new families "the ropes" of Taraz, so we left the newbies in good hands!

Tomorrow we will go down to the airline office to see if we can find a way to get home earlier. Brad even asked about Business Class on the Sunday flight (which excited me), but the lady said that there is only 1 seat available. Anyway, we'll keep you posted.

Well, I'm exhausted! Since Caleb is asleep, I need to sleep!

Monday, March 12, 2007

Pictures!


I snatched this picture from Rod & Kym's blog. They won't mind. The caption under this pictures was "Couple escapes with baby...film at 11"







Well, his BH schedule said he sleeps from 9pm to 7am. He went to sleep a little before 9 and woke up at 6:56 am. He wiggled a lot but never woke up. He also didn't cry when he woke up this morning, he just sat up and smiled at me!

He's been such a little angel!

We Got Him!!!!

Yes, we were able to take him home today, and now it finally feels real!! We thought after the court it would feel real. Nope. Then we thought after the appeal period it would kick in. Nope. Now that we physically have him with us and are caring for him, it feels so right!
We still had to be at the BH the two hours this morning because his passport wasn't ready yesterday. It was ready today, though, so Janet came and told us we could take him. The doctor had to check him before we left and told us to use nose drops for his nose. Luckily, we had brought some Little Noses from home. The director came and congratulated us, wished us all well, and hugged us goodbye. When we were walking out of the orphanage, Rod managed to snap a couple of pictures. Thank goodness, because we were just thinking about getting him out of there before they changed their minds and didn't even think about taking a picture.

He was nervous at first in the car again but soon relaxed enough to fall asleep in the 7 minute car ride to our hotel. It was a nice, sunny day today, but of course we had to bundle him up. By the time we got back to the hotel and got his coat, hat, and mittens off, his head was totally soaked with sweat!

According to his BH schedule, it was time for his lunch. So we fed him some baby food. Then Brad and Rod walked to Gros to get some necessities. Brad hadn't even left the building before Caleb was asleep! The hotel staff hadn't even brought the crib up yet. When they did bring it in, Caleb woke up. He only had a one hour nap, as opposed to his 3 hour usual BH nap. He was up, though, and ready to play! Rod and Kym stopped by and gave Caleb a few toys they went out and bought! They are sooo nice! They have gone above and beyond for us, and we appreciate them so much! Austin and Jeannie also stopped by before they left for their Guardianship. They commented on how relaxed and happy Caleb was. They said at the BH when they had seen him he always had this worried look on his face. It's true...we've been surprised at just how relaxed he has been! He's also happy not to have 4 layers of clothes on!
We changed his clothes before dinner, and that was the only "meltdown" he has had since being at the hotel so far. I think he was hot and getting hungry. We relaxed him with a little juice, and then he let us put the outfit on without any problem!

The I-10 Gang all had dinner downstairs at the hotel. We had three things to celebrate: Caleb's escape from the BH, Rod and Kym are getting custody of Aray on Friday, and Austin and Jeannie's Guardianship went well! Rod secretly had Valentina, the waitress, bring us some Kazakh red wine to toast all of our accomplishments. The wine was really good. We had a great time! We were surprised at how well behaved Caleb was. At first, when we put him in the high chair, he was a little uneasy. We brought out a toy, and he was fine. I ordered chicken noodle soup and mashed potatoes for us to share. He really liked the potatoes! Then a family that just got here came in to eat. There were six of them and we all started talking at once, introducing ourselves, etc. Caleb began to get a little nervous again but calmed down quickly and was smiling and making noises at them. The signs of him getting sleepy began to show, and before you knew it, he was asleep in my arms. When we were all saying goodnight to each other, Rod teased me that I'd better let everyone at home know about this ASAP. He said that he had posted it on his blog before we even did! Well, truth be told, I started this entry earlier, but the pictures weren't working, so I stopped. Unfortunately, the pics still aren't working, so tomorrow's blog may be mostly pictures!
We think we will take the train tomorrow night to Almaty. Please, please, please pray that we are able to do this and that we finish everything in Almaty in the two days. This way, we'll be able to make the flight on Friday.
Bye for now from the two happiest parents in the world!

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Sunday, March 11



It's early Monday morning. I have just a short blog entry this morning to update you on what happened Sunday. Hopefully later this afternoon, I'll have another blog with good news.
Sunday we went to the BH in the morning again. We started out in the music room, but we had an unwelcome visitor...a bee. So, we ended up moving to the small room. Caleb fell asleep not even halfway through the visit. He did this one other morning, too. We woke him up after a few minutes and gave him his bottle. While we were at the BH, Janet was checking to see if his passport was ready. By the time we left, she was still waiting for the guy at the place to get there! So, we didn't get to take Caleb to the hotel with us. It ended up not being such a bad thing, though, because Brad wasn't feeling too well with cold/allergy symptoms. I had stomach problems or what Rod refers to as The Wrath of Khan. Just like Mexico has Montezuma's Revenge, Kazakhstan has The Wrath of Khan. Great timing, huh? Well, I feel much better this morning, of course I've only eaten a few pretzels since Saturday night. Hopefully Brad feels better...he's asleep right now. Anyway, we don't know if Janet was able to get his passport yesterday or not. We think we're going to the BH this morning to pick him up, so, I need to get ready! We'll let you know when we bring him home. Brad and I keep referring to the hotel as home...it's been our home for most of 2007!


Pick me up, Daddy!

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Fri., Mar. 9 and Sat., Mar. 10

Friday and Saturday we visited the Baby House in the morning. Both were good visits with Caleb. When Assyl brought him in today, she said that one of his caregivers said that today when they finished feeding him, he started to cry because he wanted more. She said that others in his group do that, but he is usually satisfied with the portions they give. We said that he's been getting more exercise with us, so he needs extra. He's actually been doing that with us the last two days with his juice. Before he wouldn't drink the whole bottle. Yesterday when he had drank about his usual amount I tried to take it away, and he started crying! He did the same thing today.
Something else that has been funny for the past few days is that we play Duck, Duck, Goose. Okay, not really, but sort of. Caleb and I are sitting on the ground and Brad walks around us, taps our heads and says, "Duck." Caleb smiles, follows Brad with his eyes, and says "duck." It's more of a variation of his "da" that he says, but it's cute!
When we were leaving today, Assyl said that we will go to the BH tomorrow. She said that if we get Caleb's passport tomorrow (pray!) that we will talk with the social worker again to see if we can bring him to the hotel.
We came back to the hotel and ate lunch. Then we walked with Austin and Jeannie to the bazaar. We actually found some more Kazakh traditional items that we had never seen there before. This was our third time there, and I know we still haven't seen everything! We bought a decorative cloth saddle bag with a traditional Kazakh design. (It is nothing like a western saddle bag.) There used to be nomadic tribes in Kazakhstan, and they depended very much on horses. There was this little old Kazakh lady selling it, and we told her we didn't speak Russian (in Russian-ha-ha!) She was trying to explain what it was, and Brad said, "Da" and started making horse noises. She shook her head to say yes and was cracking up! She was so cute!
When we left the bazaar, we walked to this bookstore and bought a English Kazakh/Russian picture dictionary and a map of Taraz.



Playing the piano is hard work...I need a little break.

It's official! I'm a mom. I've got the stain on my sweater to prove it!



Thursday, March 8, 2007

Woman's Day, March 8

Today was the big holiday! I even received a flower from our translator and from Janet's husband (who is also one of our drivers!) Because of the holiday(s) we went to the Baby House in the morning. We will go in the morning Friday, Saturday, and from what I understand we'll actually get to go to the BH on Sunday, too! When we first got to the BH, our translator went up to get Caleb. I followed her up because I wanted to, but also because we had pictures of him to give to his caregivers. If you'll remember, when we took his passport photos there was a blue background. We had to pay a little more because the background had to be white. Well, we received the ones with blue backgrounds and that's what we gave them. I had Assyra show me how to write Roman (because that's what they know him as) in Russian. I wrote his name and the date the pics were taken on the back of them. (By the way, I realized the other day that I've been calling our translator by the wrong name. So, The Translator Formally Known As Assyra will now be known as Assyl. When some people say her name, Janet for instance, they say it with an "ah" at the end. I don't know...I'm confused, but anyway it has an "l" in it!) Back to the original story, I went up to the baby room. Caleb's caregivers were putting our clothes on top of his other layers. (It did get much colder today. It snowed a little.) When he saw me, he was smiling and talking to me! I think it was probably driving the person who was trying to dress him crazy. In fact, she even put his camo pants on backwards! I stayed up there and carried him downstairs while Assyl took Marina down. Marina and her new parents, Jeannie and Austin, joined us today in the music room. At first Caleb was really clingy and nervous. When he gets nervous, he holds on to the back of our hair. He had a runny nose Tuesday and Wednesday, but seemed better today. Marina, however, was really congested! She's a very happy little girl, so today she was trying to laugh and play but just didn't feel really well.

When we left the BH, our driver had a hard time getting us to our hotel because of all the activities going on in the square for Woman's Day. There was a lot of people. I can only imagine how many people would have been there if we had gorgeous weather like yesterday, rather than really cold weather.

One thing I haven't missed about home is the South Texas allergies! For the first time since being here, I sort of felt like that today. I figure I might be coming down with Caleb and the rest of BH Group #3's cold. Brad is beginning to feel the same way. If we'd only been able to take Caleb out when we'd first wanted to, he wouldn't have caught the cold that the other's had. Assyl had told us last weekend that there were babies in his group that had colds. What? You mean kids can get sick even when there is a doctor there? Okay, that's all my sarcasm for today, I promise!

We were able to call KLM and got booked on the March 16th flight, so pray that we get everything completed before then! (For those of you who have our flight itinerary, it is exactly the same...the date is just the 16th rather than the 9th. So, if all goes well, we would get to the SA airport (ah, home) on Fri. the 16th at 9:17pm.) We'll let you know if anything changes!!






Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Wed. March 7th




Today we went to the Baby House at the usual time. We had a good time today. Brad brought out the baby carrier for Caleb to try out. It was cute...both Brad and Caleb seemed to enjoy it. Caleb would kick his legs and wave his arms up and down. The faster Brad would walk, the more Caleb would "talk" and laugh. Caleb also took about 7 steps on his own today! He had been doing 2 or 3 at most, but today he took off, "talking" all the way! By the time it was time to go, Caleb was pooped out! They had the music room all decorated today for "Woman's Day" (you know the holiday that is 1 day but govt. offices are closed for 3 days...the one that's messing up our plans?) Woman's Day is actually tomorrow, but since most of the staff won't be there tomorrow, they celebrated at the orphanage today. The 2-3 year olds had some kind of performance this morning in the music room. Since Rod and Kym visit their daughter, Aray, in the mornings, they were able to see the show. They videotaped it and are going to give us a copy:)

For dinner, The I-10 Gang went out to the same restaurant as a few days before. (Rod came up with that name because the three families are from LA, New Orleans, and SA.) Something very unusual happened at dinner...I ate some meat for the first time here!!!! Yippee! Everyone was quite proud of me! I had a hot dog. The meat was a cross between what we would call a hot dog and a sausage. It was on a large hamburger bun sort of thing. The menu said it came with carrots, mayo, and ketchup. I told the waitress I didn't want any of those things, and it actually came without them! It came with tomatoes and very salty pickles instead. I just used half of the huge bun because the hot dog itself wasn't very big. It was really good!!! I'll have to have it again!!

Melissa emailed me this morning that my kids at school did awesome on the TAKS test!!! I am so proud of them!!! We'll have to celebrate when I get back!

Our flight was scheduled to leave Almaty this Friday. We had emailed our travel agent to change it to next Friday. Unfortunately, he just emailed today and said that the flights for Friday, the 16th and Sunday, the 18th are completely full! AAAGGHH!! I think we're just going to buy some property here. Ha-ha! So, I don't know what we're going to do. We'll try to call the airline office in Almaty tomorrow and see what they say.






Tuesday, March 6, 2007

WE'RE FRUSTRATED!!!


We left an hour before we were supposed to go to the Baby House in order to get some paperwork notorized. Two hours later we finally got to the Baby House, so we were only able to visit Caleb for one hour. We asked our translator to be sure and remind Janet that we wanted to take him today. She said she would. A little bit later, Janet came in with the social worker, not the director. The social worker happens to be Janet's good friend! She asked how we were doing. We said that we were fine. She said she could tell we were doing well because I had a smile on my face. She told us that they couldn't let us take him until Monday. We said that other families we've talked with have taken their babies to the same hotel. She said that it is new (how convenient) and because he isn't one year old yet, they couldn't let him go. We went round and round with her for a while. Then I told her that I wasn't smiling anymore. Janet said, "Oh, Pethrie." I said,"I'm not kidding! I am not happy!!!" So we have an empty crib in our room!!

To make things worse, Thursday is National Women's Day here, but offices will be closed for 3 days. In other words, Caleb's passport will probably be delayed even longer. I told them that we had already rescheduled our flights from this Friday to next Friday, and Janet was worried that we might not be able to make that flight even. I don't think I'm ever going to eat really good food again!

We forgot to take our camera to the orphanage today, so we don't have any pictures of Caleb:( We took off all the layers of clothing he had on underneath because we were planning on him coming with us. Then, we put back on his 12 month old clothes...the pants dropped right down! We also had brought a 9 month old outfit, so we put that one on. The pants were still too big...I had to fold down the waist so that he wasn't "saggin."

We ate dinner with Rod & Kym and Jeannie and Austin here at the hotel. They are all upset that we aren't able to get him, too, but we were also reminded that it could be worse. It's true...we've heard stories! We at least know that he is 100% ours, and a few days can't change that.

Monday, March 5, 2007

Monday, March 5

Well another day has come and gone, and we still don't have Caleb with us at the hotel. We went round and round with Janet today. She said we wouldn't get him until Monday. Then after some arguing, she said after 4 days. Then after a lot more arguing (all this arguing is through the translator, of course) she said she would talk to the director again tomorrow. We don't believe that she even talked with the director at all. I asked Assyra if she thought Janet had really spoken to the director, and Assyra said that she didn't know. We are planning to take him tomorrow no matter what. We have arranged to have the crib from the hotel in our room tomorrow afternoon. We are going to take all those layers of clothes that belong to the orphanage off, and he's coming home with us!!!

On a happier note, we had a great time with Caleb today. He giggled and laughed more than we've ever seen him. We didn't take many pictures or videos today, though, because he wouldn't "perform" for the cameras and we were just having too much fun! First one of us would hold him facing away from us and we would "chase" the other one around the room. He thought that was so much fun! Later, he would try to crawl away from me, and I would grab him and tickle his stomach. He giggled and laughed so hard! Then when he would start to crawl away from me, he would stop and wait for me to "get him." He laughed just like Tyler used to do when someone would hold him up and chase Anthony. It was so funny!

This evening, all three families went out to a new restaraunt that Austin and Jeannie found. They have the best pizza we have found here, and the menu had English descriptions. The prices were very reasonable, well cheap...six of us ate there for about $20. Rod and Kym had bought a cake to celebrate the fact that we are about to get custody of Caleb. We all sat around the little lobby area right outside our room and enjoyed cake, Soviet champagne, and conversation! I know I've said it before, but I'm soooo thankful to have other families here!