Humoring Ourselves

As I type, I realize we may have hit an all time low. We thought playing a full game of war was bad…we are now completing a full episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos. If that’s not bad enough…it’s in Russian. The worst of it all, is that we think it’s funny. Okay, that show is over and A-Team just came on. We are in for a fun afternoon!
We were in the playroom today which makes the 2 hours fly. We played with everything and Wyatt was full of smiles again. He has begun to make a new face, as you can see in the pictures. Our coordinator took our dossier to the court and we are currently waiting on our court date. We hopefully will find out later today or tomorrow.
After the baby house, we came home to finish the soup from yesterday. Tonight we are meeting Jenn and Peter out for some dinner. I think we may try the Chelsea English Pub. We’ll let you know how it is in tomorrow’s post.

One Milestone Down

The official bonding time (14 days) is complete. We are now officially waiting for a court date. From there we will have a general idea about when to book flights home. Right now we’re thinking the end of May.
Wyatt was happy again today. We were in the music room was a little on the warm side (86.5 degrees to be exact). We learned that he LOVES soccer. We started rolling the ball first, with him sitting with Michelle and Jason rolling it to them. Michelle stood him up and swung him so he was kicking it. He was a trip. Cracking up every time! We had to take turns because our arms were getting tired from swinging him. He would get so excited, he’d bounce between kicks. That absolutely wore him out. After a diaper change…no tears, only a little whining today… he fell asleep in Michelle’s arms.
From the baby house we went to Buharah for lunch. Michelle had a salad with apples, peas, black olives, yellow peppers and a little olive oil. The salads here on not lettuce based. They are usually fruits, veggies, eggs, meat or potato (or a unique combo of any or all of those) with mayonnaise or salad/olive oil. Michelle also had Lagman, but prefers Shymkent’s. Jason had pilaf (still prefers Astata Market’s…by far) and a beef kabob. Of course, we had some of their awesome bread.
After lunch we came home for our usual TV/nap time. We have completed the Sex and the City series and are now on to the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Jenn and Peter have loaned a few seasons. Neither of us has watched it before and are really enjoying it. We’ve finished one of the disks already. After the nap, we headed to the Ramstore, where a young employee, Ardek and Jason are now on a first name basis.
Now, we’re ready to enjoy some chicken noodle soup and back to Mary Tyler Moore!

Happy Days Are Here Again

We had a much better day today. From the minute he was brought into the room, Wyatt was full of smiles. Was it because we saw him yesterday? Was it because his clothes matched? Was it because he wasn’t dressed like it was 20 below? Or was it because we were in the playroom with no indication that we would go outside? Whatever it was, we don’t care…our boy was back!
We played the entire two hours today...going from the ball pit to the blow up trampoline, to his toys on the floor, to the tambourine (Robers’ girls, that’s a tribute to you!!!); he was a mover and a shaker. He’s beginning to imitate us more and blowing raspberries is the new cool thing to do. There is one new behavior that has been consistent for the past 2 days…crying when we change his diaper. We’re not exactly sure why he does this all of a sudden, but we think it may be due to the fact that he doesn’t want to lie down and stay still for those few minutes. And, the new parents are exactly the speediest of all diaper changers.
After the baby house, we walked to Camobar (the Russian Café). Jason stuck with his old faithful goulash and chicken pancakes, while Michelle branched out and tried the chicken stewed with fresh veggies and rice. It was another tasty lunch, as it always is there. After lunch we headed to Astana Market to pick up some groceries, you know, the typical pop, oatmeal and milk that expires next year. We headed to the deli and were trilled to see that we could by the noodles that are in the Lagman soup that we love. We bought a package and will be experimenting with those tomorrow.
Tonight we’re lying low, watching some TV and cooking some spaghetti at the apartment. Looking forward to tomorrow…our last day of the official bonding period.

Some like it hot...Some don't!

The big man was not happy today. Let’s analyze why this could have been. After all, the high is 80 today and the sun is shining. Mom and Dad are happy as can be in tee shirts enjoying the great weather. Then there’s Wyatt…in one pair of pink pants, one pair of purple pants, one pair of plaid shoes, one white short sleeved onesie, one grey hooded sweatshirt, one blue light weight jacket (the one we bought him yesterday so he wouldn’t have to bundle up in a snowsuit) and to top it off, one red winter hat. Could it have been the clashing outfit? Could it have been because we didn’t visit him yesterday? Or the fact that he may have needed sunscreen…never mind, the sun couldn’t even touch his skin though all of is clothes! The poor guy was not enjoying life outdoors, so after a while we headed in. The playroom was locked, so we went into the music room. It was pretty warm in there, so we popped open a window and stripped Wyatt down to cool off. He played well for a while and then got a little tired and whiny. His nap is at 12, so this usually occurs around 11:30. Once we picked him up and held him, he was fine, so as usual we gave into this request. We’ll take a smile anyway we can get it.

After the baby house we went back to the Amstel tents that we ate at yesterday for lunch. Jason had the exact same thing as yesterday. Michelle branched out and tried something new…surprise, surprise (don’t worry, no tongue this time). It was huge piece of very thin flatbread with sliced chicken, pickles, carrots, a french fry or two, ketchup, and a mayo or sour cream sauce. There may have been some cabbage or something else in there as well. It was wrapped up like a burrito and heated in a panini-like grill. It tasted pretty good, however now after reading what all was in it; I can see that you may think it sounds a little on the weird side.

It’s now 3:30 and we are off to go for a run along the river walk. The weather is supposed to go back down to the 50’s tomorrow, so we are going to enjoy this weather while we can. Then tonight, we’re going to meet Jenn and Peter out for a drink at the North Wind English Pub (connected to the Ramstore/Astana Tower).

Happy Easter/Pussy Willow thing Day

No visit today, as it was Sunday.

Yesterday, we agreed on a meeting point for lunch with the translator and coordinator at 1:00. We decided to eat under the Amstel tents outside of the Astana market (our new favorite grocery, et. al.) We each had a beef sheshlik (kabob) each, Michelle started with a cucumber-type salad, Jason had the Uzbekistan rice pilaf (plov here in KZ). All of the food was incredible…the best food we’ve had yet!

After lunch, we walked couple of blocks from the Astana market to “Pucha” a 3-story children’s-only shopping mall. We bought Wyatt a ‘stolen from a Chinese factory making Gap clothes’ Gap lightweight jacket. The jacket may have been hot, but the prices weren’t. The jacket was a somewhat-reasonable (although clearly not discounted) $20US. We are hoping that the caregivers will allow him to wear this outside as it is forecasted to be 80 F tomorrow. We’d hate for him to have a snowsuit on when he could reasonably wear a swimsuit.

After that, the coordinator went home and the 3 of us walked down the river. We sat down on a park bench along the riverwalk. A few minutes later, a group of 7-10 ten year olds were hanging out within earshot of us, speaking Russian of course. The translator kept us apprised of what they were saying. They new that Michelle and Jason were Americans, but were unsure of the translator as they’d only heard her speak English. The loser of the Rock, Paper, Scissors game had to come ask us what time it is to see if the translator could answer. She did, and the ½ the kids that lost the bet moaned in disgust…evidence that ten year olds are the same regardless of their hemisphere of residence.

Yesterday, Michelle discovered that the Astana Market has boneless, skinless chicken breasts. So we prepared them for dinner, walked back to the Astana Market for dessert (which like most desserts here was not very sweet), found a park bench, sat a spell, and back home (de moy).

Happy Easter! Today was Easter here at the Russian Orthodox Church and as a sign of new life/Spring parishioners were given blooming pussy willow branches (kind of like Palm Sunday in the US).

Tomorrow we’ll see Wyatt at 10. Here’s hoping for no snowsuit.

Good Weather!

Saturday’s are bittersweet for us. We are glad to cross another day off, but a little sad that we won’t be visiting the big man the next day.

Today brought beautiful weather. 70 and not a cloud in the sky. We get to the baby house at the usual time and see that everyone is outside working to keep the property surrounding the house (including wonderful playgrounds) in shape for Summer.

We are to take Wyatt outside for the first half of the 2 hour bonding period. He was a bit overdressed, but not the usual snowsuit, so no complaints. After about 20 minutes, we were approached by the caregiver that was upset that we weren’t wearing masks when we visit him. She was upset because although he was clad in winter wear complete with adorable snow boots and stocking cap (read toboggan in Kentucky), he was not wearing a scarf. So our apologies to Wyatt for risking frostbite and hypothermia.

After the hour o’ sweatin’ outside, we went into the play room….it was probably 80 degrees in there, but at least no snowsuit was required. Wyatt played very well today. According to the other caregivers, he had eaten in the morning, his first morning meal in 2 weeks.

Wednesday is our last day of bonding. At that point, our coordinator is able to begin working with the authorities on a court date. In Astana, standard procedure is for court to take place no sooner than 10 days following the official bonding period. After court, a 15 day waiting period, then to Almaty for a visit with the US Embassy where they will process Wyatt’s citizenship paperwork. Roughly 3-5 days after arrival in Almaty, we will depart for Amsterdam. From Amsterdam to Detroit. Upon arrival in Detroit, Wyatt will become a US Citizen and then on to Lexington…we may never leave home again.

After the babyhouse, we came home for a couple of hours before departing for an interesting restaurant. The restaurant was very nice, had about 8-10 tables and a large window which looked out into the horse riding ring. That’s right; at this restaurant one could eat and ride horses without leaving the property. The meats at this place were cooked on a hibachi-type grill (one for the restaurant, not per table). It also had a firing range where our coordinator took Jason to fire off a few rounds with a Soviet rifle (never once hit the target, but it was an experience nonetheless).

En route to the restaurant, our coordinator pointed out the car in front of us. The car had Minnesota license plates…long drive, eh?

5 more days of the Bonding Period

Today’s visit was one that we will never forget. We spent the first hour of it outside on the playground. About 10 minutes into our visit, the older group came outside to play. These children were about 3-4 years old. It all began with one girl coming up to us full of smiles and taking our camera. After the caregiver told her to give it back, she did so and ran back to her group, still smiling. This girl was a trip. Watching her on the playground was hilarious. She clearly ruled the roost. I was with our translator and Jason was rocking with Wyatt on a swing. I look to him and see him with 2 little girls and Wyatt. I go over to see what is going on. We cannot understand them, they cannot understand us, but we just all “played” for a few minutes. Then our translator asked Jason if he could pick one of them up and spin her around. Wow, let the games begin!!! There was a line. Jason, ready to puke from dizziness, was the hit of the party. He came back and joined Wyatt and me on the bench. There was one girl in particular that couldn’t help but be by Jason. She went back to him again and made it obvious she wanted on his lap. After about 10 minutes of playing on his lap, her caregiver told her to get down. She obeyed, then gave the puppy eyes and cried. It worked for her and up she was again. About 5 minutes later, it was time for us to go in. Once again, a little bit of our hearts were left with that group. It is important to know that not all of the children we see are available for adoption. Some may still be on the national registry, some may have biological families that occasionally visit (enough to keep their parental rights) and some may be in the process of being adopted. We will never forget those two little girls and pray that they all find wonderful homes.

After an hour of outside play, it was time to go to the music room and play with the big man. He was talking and moving around like crazy. He was even beginning to pull some chairs down in the music room. We have realized we have some baby proofing to do when we get home! A woman from the Ministry of Education was supposed to witness the bonding process but was not able to make it today. We assume she will be joining some time next week, since our official 14 day bonding period ends next Wed. Yeah!!!

Dinner tonight was at the Oasis which was a very nice (and inexpensive) place about ½ a block from our door. It accepts credit cards and has at least 2 English menus.

Leave the baby and go away!

Today, we took Wyatt outside. The good folks at the baby house recognized that it was nearly 60 degrees out today, so Wyatt wasn’t required to wear his scarf or hood. Just the -50 rated snowsuit. We were outside nearly an hour before it was time to go in. Not one step in the door our translator interprets “She is telling us to leave the baby and go away”. After a couple of minutes of discussion between the head nurse and the translator, we learned that a television station was coming to do a story of some sort about the baby house and our presence would become a story about us. So, we walked out to the street haled a Taxi (more on that below) and went to the Shymkent Café (photo above) for lunch with the translator. Something interesting about this trip to Shymkent…after paying the check we noticed we received all of our change, minus 50 tenge, plus a pack of gum. Jenn and Peter told us that this also happened to their translator once. If they don’t have exact change, they give you something that costs about that much. Sometimes they give matches, I guess we were lucky with the gum! The visit with Wyatt was 1 hour shorter than the typical 2 hours, but we’re hoping Wyatt doesn’t hold a grudge. We’ll find out tomorrow.

After lunch we came home, watched “The Bourne Identity” (okay, Jason watched the movie, Michelle slept through it). Then we met the translator and went for a long walk around the river and through the amusement park. We stopped at the Astana FC to find out when opening day of the Astana professional soccer team was (May 6). At the end of the walk, we found an incredible market adjacent to the Mall near our apartment. It has a full bakery (with breads and sweets), a deli, a liquor store and a grocery. We went to look and left with bags of bread, sweets and salads. The new food for the day…salad (not lettuce, its mixed veggies with a vingarette) with cow tongue. Jason won’t touch it, Michelle’s review, “it’s actually not bad.” We will be back, but probably opt not to purchase the salad with tongue. Unless of course, we have any takers out there, I’m sure we could bring some home!

Taxi

Taxi rides in Astana are no different than hitchhiking except for the part where you pay. You simply stand near the street with your arm out (sans the thumb up). A car will stop and pick you up (not a taxi, but just some guy who’s going the way that you wish to go). You ask if he can take you to your destination. If he agrees, you then negotiate a price. If he doesn’t agree, he drives off and it’s not long before the next one stops. We’ve taken a cab on only a few occasions (never without our translator, and only when the driver/coordinator is working on our behalf at another location). The translator has requested that we not speak prior to her negotiation of the fare as it is typical to charge foreigners a premium price. We went a few miles (10 minutes tops) for 3 dollars today.


Russian lesson:
Excuse me: iz vin eet ya

Halfway Point

Today marks our halfway point in our bonding process. Seven days down, seven days to go! We had another good day with Wyatt. We started off bouncing from room to room...first the playroom but there was a caregiver playing with 3 kids, so off to the hall, then back to the playroom, then to the music room. After settling in the music room we played as usaual. He is really working those legs. Still moving like an inchworm, but wanting so badly to stand up. He'll get in a crawling position and then straighten his legs. He can balance for a minute and then boom...okay, lets try it again! He's cracking us up with new noises and expressions everyday. Today we were able to see where he sleeps. We included a picture of his name (in Kazakh) on his crib. He sleeps in a room with 3 other children. The caregiver was not thrilled about showing us this room without us wearing masks as she was afraid we were going to infect the other children with germs (who were not in this room), but did anyways. She talked the whole time and didn't seem very happy, but I guess sometimes it's a blessing we don't know Russain! There is also a picture of his group name included today (the flower). This is outside of the door where the children are while they are awake. There are two large cribs (about the size of 2 kitchen tables put together) with a bunch of toys inside them and hanging above them. There is also some carpet space where we've seen caregivers playing with small groups of kids and couches where they feed the babies. There is a little changing room, bathtub and kitchen prep area attached to the room as well. After the baby house we went to a mall and ate at a cafe called the Maxium Fast Food. We all had pida (pronounced pita). It was a bread crust with spiced mean and cheese in the middle. Kinda like a pizza, but shaped like a boat. Okay, maybe not the best description...but it was good. And cheap! We are champs at finding the cheap food! We carrying over those skills we learned in college. After that, we came home to relax, watch some tv and maybe sneak in a nap. Decided to stay in for dinner and then went on a long walk including a trip to the Ramstore. We didn't want them to think there was something wrong, since we are there everyday! Now, it's time for some Will and Grace reruns and sweet dreams.

FYI for those soon to travel to KZ: Visa is much more widely accepted at stores and ATM's than Mastercard. You can find Mastercard ATM's and merchants, but not as readily as Visa.

Russain lesson for today:
Da = Yes
Niet = No

Law and Order

Sorry no post yesterday. Let’s sum up last night…phone line was dead, cable was out, ATM was out of service and somebody rang our doorbell for 10 straight minutes around 9:45 pm. Now for today: the cable man came and fixed the cable, the phone man came and fixed the phone, I went to the ATM and assume it was being fixed due to a woman with a hefty duty bag putting something into the ATM and a man with a good sized gun standing in front of her, and no strangers at our door. It gets better by the minute!!

Oh, wait, as I type, the doorbell has begun to ring. Jason answered (as it’s been a revolving door of repairmen all day). This time, it was 2 detectives from the police wanting to know if we are foreigners (1. Isn’t that obvious? 2. Really wish we wouldn’t have answered the door, but thought it was another repair guy and its only 3PM) So, when we figure out that its not a repair man, we dial the translator and hand the phone out the door. The men want in the apartment, but Jason won’t let them in (in fact won’t crack the door more than the inch it takes to pass the phone out). The wonderful translator fixes whatever the men want (turns out there are looking for a man who has at one point used our address; which we don’t even know, as his). Whew, that’s enough of that!

We had 2 great days with Wyatt. Both days he’s met us with smiles which makes us all feel great. It definitely shows the effectiveness of this bonding process. We see him from 10-12. For the first hour he is gung ho. Getting into everything, giggling, talking, playing, etc. At about 11:15 he hits the wall. Usually a big yawn is the dead give away. Yesterday, he fell asleep while Michelle was holding him at about 11:45. Today, he made it the whole day, but was fighting his sleep hard. It is so obvious that he has Mom wrapped around his little finger already. He has learned who to whine to and gives a “I knew you’d pick me up” look as soon as she picks him up. Mom is a sucker!!

Tonight, we went to a café called Shymkent with our friends from Massachusetts. The restaurant was very good and very inexpensive. After dinner, we crossed the street (which may sound like its not a big deal, but to the contrary, its like human Frogger) and went to Corso, a very nice coffee bar for 4 cappuccinos. Jen and Peter are wonderful people and we are excited to meet their son Medet who promises to be the Red Sox next big fan.

As a side note, we picked up some more groceries today:

1. Milk is not refrigerated. Instead it is “Ultra Pasteurized.” It expires in 2007. (Refrigerate after opening)
2. There is a refrigerated milk product, but it happens to be carbonated, and according to Jen and Peter it is very, very nasty.
3. Eggs are neither refrigerated at the store nor washed before packaged. That’s right, warm eggs at the grocery with whatever the chicken left on them.

Lazy Sunday

A relaxing, yet fun day today. Earlier in the week, we invited our coordinator and translator to come to our apartment today so we could cook them lunch. They’ve never had Mexican so we took it upon ourselves to give them their first experience. Yes, two Americans in Kazakhstan cooking Mexican. The meal consisted of beef and chicken fajitas, chicken quesadillas, black beans, tortilla chips and salsa, and apple pastries for dessert. It was a hit. After about 2 hours of eating and chatting, we called it a day and made plans to meet at 9:45 tomorrow to see our boy. It was still a little chilly today, so we decided to stay in. After about 4 episodes of Sex and the City (we’re now at the end of Season 4) it was time for dinner. Out comes the Mexican for round 2! Full again, we decide to play some cards. Rummy and then War. You read it right…war. Jason made a crazy comeback to win the first game of war that either of us has ever finished. From there we moved on to checkers. Michelle forfeited that one. Enough is enough! We look forward to tomorrow when we can see the big man once again. Today marks our 3 week anniversary of being here…we are shocked at how fast time has gone.

Day 3 April 8

Today we woke up to snow and cold, cold wind. We went for a short walk before our 9:45 pick-up this morning. It was FREEZING!

Then on to the Baby House. We were waiting in the playroom for Wyatt this morning and a woman from Atlanta and her mother from Chevy Chase, MD walked in. They were visiting their 9 month old daughter Isabelle.

Wyatt came in first and we began our play date. A few minutes later, Isabelle was brought in and Wyatt and she couldn’t (or at least didn’t) take their eyes off one another. Both babies were on the floor and Isabelle made her move and crawled (at seemingly light-speed) over to Wyatt “the Ladies Man” Schlafer. They just stared at one another (or at least one another’s toys). They played very nicely for a few minutes and then Isabelle broke some unwritten (but evidently VERY serious) rule by wanting Wyatt to share (or give to her) his coveted teething-rattling-reflecting Frog toy. This was the first woman to break his little heart.

Although he played well and seemed to enjoy the additional company, it was evident to everyone that he was a bit jealous of his mom and dad’s time. Whenever she came near us (note that neither of us ever touched her or showed her any affection) he was sure to place a hand on one of us as if to say “your mine”. It was heartwarming.

The caregivers told us that he is still not eating before seeing us. In fact, according to them, he was staring at the door waiting for us prior to our arrival. Tomorrow will be a long day for him…and us.

After the visit, we came home for a short rest prior to meeting Jen and Peter (family from Boston) at the Bowling Alley for lunch and a couple of games of cosmic bowling, complete with LOUD, disco-type music. Fun times.


Today’s Russian lesson:
Zdrastvuite; Hello
Pazhalusta; Please

April 7 Photos

Bonding Period Day 2

Today started as many other have here in Kazakhstan. A couple of trips up and down the river walk at 8 AM. Then picked up by our translator and coordinator in the white Mercedes (a lot of nice cars here in Astana) and on to the Baby House (Departure time: 9:45 AM; Arrival time: 9:55 AM). Regardless of the day’s activities, our driver has been on time every day that we’ve been here (this is contrary to what we’ve read the experience of others has been, and we are grateful for the wonderful service provided to us).

First, we unshoe ourselves (a custom when entering any house/home including this one), then hand over our coats (which our interpreter calls “undressing”) to a very friendly Kazakhstani woman who serves as the receptionist and cloak room attendant. After that, we sign a log book evidencing our presence for the day and head up to the play room where we wait for one of the gracious caregivers to bring our boy to us. On our way to the play room, we poked our head into the Music Room where the 3 year olds were assembled. We quickly (although inadvertently) caught their attention. They began saying “Mama, Papa”. We kept moving, but we left a piece of each of our hearts there in the doorway.

Today, Wyatt was incredible. He spent the first few minutes waking up for the day, and then he took off. He was jumping (on all fours; of course) across the floor for his toys (he loves any teething toy; anything that’s not a teething toy, soon becomes one). He stands (with assistance, but bears 100% of his own wait). He loves to bounce himself from a stand to squat and repeat. With about 30 minutes left in the visit, Michelle discovered how to make him laugh. She’d tickle his stomach (which he learned to anticipate) and he’d belly laugh. It was incredible.

After visiting Wyatt, we went to the Notary Public to complete some paperwork, then to a new grocery (new to us, not newly constructed) and then back home (Russian for home: Duh Moy which sounds similar to Des Moines).

We took the coveted frozen chicken (which has been very difficult to find regularly) up to the freezer and then left for lunch.

We walked (just the 2 of us) to the Russian Restaurant. Michelle got an appetizer of pickled things (pickled tomatoes, pickles, and sauerkraut), and goulash. Jason got goulash as an appetizer and Russian pancakes (which are more like crepes) stuffed with ground beef and mushrooms. We each had a glass of water, requested the bill in Russian (which somehow was understood) then walked to the café in the mall for dessert and cappuccinos.

Since then we’ve come home (no running water in ½ of the apartment; unfortunately it was the more important ½, but it came back on a few hours later) and watched a couple of episodes of “All in the Family” (per Jason’s request) and “Sex and the City” (Michelle).


Today’s Russian lesson:
Duh Moy; Home
Spa See Bah; Thank You

Photos from Official Day 1

Selection Process

On the way to the baby house the first day, we stop by the Ministry of Education and pick up a representative of the Ministry. It’s our understanding that a representative must be present when families first meet their child. For us, this woman was wonderfully friendly.

Upon arriving at the baby house, we waited briefly outside the Director’s Office (full of anxiety). A few minutes later, we were escorted into the office. In the room was our translator, coordinator, the representative from the Ministry, the Director of the Baby House (who is often referred to as the Head Doctor), and the two of us. The Director and the Ministry rep. talked for about 5 minutes (which seemed like an hour). Our translator kept reassuring us that they were discussing other business and that we were not a topic of their discussion.

Minutes later, the Director called up to a room and down came a caregiver with a little boy. We each held the boy for a couple of minutes, but neither of us felt as if this boy was meant to be our son. He didn’t seem very healthy or alert and the Director told us that we should expect this of children from an orphanage and that they’d give him a massage and feed him and present him to us again. Our guts told us that although he’ll be a wonderful addition to someone’s family, he wasn’t right for ours. We communicated this via our translator and stood in the hall while another woman (from Spain we were told) entered the Director’s office to select her little girl. She selected the 2nd girl brought to her. We were then invited back into the Director’s office.

In came 2 care givers, one behind the other, each carrying a little boy. We turned to one another and in unison told one another that we wanted to hold the 2nd of the 2 boys. I’m not one who typically subscribes to love at first sight, but this was different. A second after laying eyes on him, we both knew that this boy was family.

Michelle held him for a second and then Jason approached him. He screamed bloody murder and didn’t stop for 20 minutes. Everyone in the room was so supportive, reassuring us that this reaction was a good sign. An indicator that he recognized that we are different. In fact, Jason may have been the first man that he’d ever interacted with.

After a LONG, break we returned and the break made all the difference. As you can see from the photos, this boy is no longer the screaming, crying boy. We are one happy family.

Astana

If there is any curiosity about what we’ve been doing since we’ve been here, it can probably be summed up in a couple of words: eating, walking.

As far as eating is concerned, we’ve had the following types of cuisine since we’ve been here:

Korean; a very inexpensive café that had wonderful food (don’t go without a translator as they don’t have an English menu and offer dog as an entrée)

Russian; this place is about 2 blocks from our apartment and is extremely tasty, offers an English menu, and very inexpensive (we’ve been there several times on our own) Our lunches have been about 600-1000 Tenge per person ($4.65-$7.75US/person) and we’ve never been without buying beer.

Pizza; in the mall a block from our apartment; good plate sized pizzas, English menu (but sausage means bologna and smoked sausage is more like polish sausage) Accepts Credit Cards. Pizzas range from 600 Tenge to 1000 Tenge each and feed 2 comfortably ($4.65-$7.75)

Pancake House; actually in our apartment complex (although we didn’t know this for nearly 3 weeks), lots of variety of pancakes and soups, no English on the menu. Lunch for 4 today was 2300 Tenge (about $17US total)

Kazakh; this place is called Buhara (Boo-hah-rah) and represents the cuisine of Eastern Kazakhstan. This is were we first tried horse. We’ve been here a couple times. It is reasonably priced (lunch for 4 was around 4000 Tenge/$31US)

American; on the 2nd floor of Astana Tower (accessed via the lobby of the Ramstore). “Neighborhood Grill). All English menu, filled with American/British bankers and construction workers. Has Diet Coke. Reasonably priced (don’t remember how much) and accepts credit cards.

Georgian; a block from our apartment (to walk you have to cross the Republic Avenue, which is synonymous with attempted suicide). This place is VERY good, but relative to the other restaurants/cafes we’ve enjoyed, its quite expensive. Lunch for 4 was around 9300 Tenge/$70US


As far as walking/running is concerned, about 50 paces from our front door is the river that divides Astana. We live on the side of the river with a wide/paved walking path which bustles with people all day. Families with babies, business people commuting to work, etc. A day hasn’t passed that we haven’t walked up the river at least twice.

On the other side of the river is a park with lots of trees, more paths, and park benches. There is also a small amusement park (similar to a fair, but permanent). There is a path that leads from the river walk though the amusement park to a wonderful sitting area with lots of benches and people relaxing, roller blading, biking or taking their little ones for walks.

The weather improves everyday, which makes our days pass quicker as we can explore more of Astana on foot.

We're Here

Wow, what a trip. Thirty six hours of planes and airports. A nap and a shower have never felt so good. We set a new napping record with a 4 hour nap! The travel was pretty uneventful, which is a great thing. Only one delay on the flight to Astana and we think that was becuase of fog. Our coorinators were waiting at the airports for us here in KZ which was so comforting to see.
When we first got here (Astana) our coordinator and translator met us at the airport and took us to our apartment. We are very happy with the apartment. It has a washer and microwave and is located right down town. We can walk to many shops and restaurants and to the jogging trial (yipee!!). They showed us around the apartment and left us to rest and shower. They picked us up this evening to meet another woman who is here (will be leaving next week) and to go to church with them. From there, we went to the Ramstore (grocery) to pick up some food and I-cards for the phone and internet. After getting everything home and settled, our translator and coordinator left for the night, and we ate some dinner (rice pilaf with meat and veggies with meat). We are now trying to wind down to get some rest for the big day tomorrow.
We are getting picked up tomorrow morning to go to the Ministry of Education and then the Baby House. This is the day we have been waiting for so long for! With this comes an array of emotions...excitement (we're meeting our baby), nervous (will we know which is meant to be ours), and anxious (I wish tomorrow was here!).I'm sure it is the range that any first time parents go though, but that doesn't settle us too much. Tomorrow night, this time, I think our stomachs will be much more settled. Till then, the excitement will carry us through.

Travel Day 1

We sit here in the 2nd of our 3 hour layover at the Detroit Airport before heading to Amsterdam. We both were filled with anxiety for the last 2 days as we ran around Lexington collecting last minute "necessities" for the trip.

After we got checked in at LEX, we both felt our stress levels plummet and the excitement finally has set in for the two of us.

Thank God for small airports. Bluegrass Airport does not have a scale with which to weigh luggage at the Northwest counter so, no overweight luggage charges for us.

I'm sure this won't be the case on our intra-Kazakhstan flight, but we've heard that luggage overage fees are far less significant in KZ than in the US.

We've also learned that our flight from Detroit to Amsterdam is equipped with OnDemand music, video and game equipment as well as power ports for laptops/DVD players. This should make this 8ish hour flight seem a little shorter.

We hope to check in again from Amsterdam tomorrow morning upon our arrival there. In the meantime, Go Cats!

Itinerary

The following is our itinerary from Lexington, KY to Almaty, Kazakhstan:

Friday, March 17
Depart Lexington 2:35PM Northwest Flight 5888
Arrive Detroit 4:10PM
306 Miles

Depart Detroit 7:05PM Northwest Flight 54

Saturday, March 18
Arrive Amsterdam 9:05AM
3,920 Miles

Depart Amsterdam 2:10 PM Northwest Flight 8417/KLM Flight 409

Sunday, March 19
Arrive Almaty 2:00 AM
3,265 Miles

Good Friends

The Village staff helped us celebrate the adoption with an Open House yesterday. People popped in and out all day to wish us well and generously give to the adoption and baby Schlafer. Thank you to all that contributed and Anna, Kelly, Andrea and Brittany for organized and hosting it. From there, it was a girls night enjoying the last Saturday before becoming a Mom.
Todays list of to do's is book plane tickets and create lists of to do's for the next 5 days. Friday's big to do...Leave for KZ! 5 more days...

Special Delivery Shower

A special thank you to those who have been showering us with gifts. Grandma Peggy hosted a "Special Delivery" shower in which family and friends from all over the country sent gifts through the mail. Peggy did a wonderful job creating handmade invitations. We received many wonderful and generous gifts. Thank you to everyone!! Gifts from this shower continue to arrive.

For those of you interested in the procedural end, I (Jason) who am in charge of the procedural dealings of this deal for the Schlafer's (Michelle's a lock for the emotional president of this family), I'll attempt to explain from my point of view what has occurred in our lives over the past week.

Wednesday, March 1: Andrea (our adoption coordinator extraordinaire in Chicago) calls to inform us that our Letter of Invitation is being processed and should be ready to pick up by Erken (our adoption coordinator in KZ) by Friday the 3rd. If not Friday, then most likely Monday.

Friday, March 3: We talk to Andrea who informs us that Erken has been to pick up the LOI and it isn't ready. The letter itself is ready, but the government had yet to assign the necessary numbers to each letter.

Monday, March 6: Andrea calls us again to inform us that Erken has been back and the gov't still has not assigned the necessary numbers.

March 7-9: Repeat Monday the 6th only add some emotion, stir, serve in a chilled glass with Olives.
During this stretch, I take all of our notarized documents (updated medical forms for each of us, copies of our doctors' current licenses, psychiatric evaluations, copy of the license of our psychiatrist, copies of our passports, etc, etc) to the county clerks of Jessamine, Fayette, Boyle and Franklin Counties. At each County Clerk's office the clerk (or its designee) signs a form certifying that the notary is indeed a valid notary.

After my treks around the Bluegrass, I headed to the State Capitol to the Secretary of State's Office. At the Capitol, I somehow ended up in a rally against the governor's platform of making the Commonwealth a 'Right to Work' state. Yep, me and 5000 Union representatives from around the state. ANYWAY, I met with one of the Secretary of State's designees and had each document Apostilled. The clerk at the SOS office told me that she is basically looking to see that the County Clerk's designee is registered to sign on behalf of the Clerk.

Friday, May 10: Got the great news (which you can read about below), contacted the bank to order some more crisp Ben Franklins, a travel agent or two to find out how best to give the airlines a couple of month's pay, and off to FedEx to send off our application for travel Visas from the Consulate of Kazakhstan in NYC.

Now, we are both exhausted. We shall get some sleep tonight, but with a travel date of next Friday, our days of sleep are no doubt numbered. Thanks for reading.

"It's a Beautiful Day"

Wonderful news...we received our LOI (letter of invitation) today! Andrea called the school around noon today and we have been on cloud nine ever since. We will be leaving for Kazakhstan a week from today. The feeling we have today is indescribable and I'm sure it only gets better from here.

Waiting for the LOI this past week was the most difficult time we've had. It was 7 days of constant emotional ups and downs. Waiting by the phone, checking emails, stalking poor Andrea (sorry Andrea!!), and going crazy wondering when we would get the good news. Our friends and family put up with some major moods (Okay, more Michelle's than Jason's!) and we thank you for your support.

Our posts will become more frequent as our travels begin. We can't wait and hope you will enjoy the journey with us.

March Madness

What a weekend. It all started at 3:00 pm Friday when Andrea called to tell us we will most likely be traveling in March. I can't begin to explain how excited we are! That evening, my parents and the Williams (long time family friends) came in for the weekend. Saturday was the first ever baby shower for Baby Schlafer. Thank you to Kim, Sarah and Beth for putting it on and to all of those that attended. It was a blast. Today we checked out the packing list and went to Sams, Babies R Us, Old Navy, Target and Meijer to complete it. Since then we have been washing clothes, pacifiers, dishes and bottles. Then yes, putting them straight into the suitcases. I can't believe it. It is actually time to think about what to pack. Next month we will be meeting our baby. We can't wait!!!

On to the MOE

Had a great update today! We are through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our dossier is now in the Ministry of Education. February starts the baby fun with a Kazakhstan family lunch in Kenosha WI and the first baby shower on Feb 25. Wow, reality is sinking in. Baby Schlafer, we're getting ready!

Dossier Update

Last night we got the good news that our dossier was enroute to Kazakhstan to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Hopefully we'll be on our way to Kazakhstan in a few months and home by the beginning of summer.

Thanks to all of you for all you do for us.

Off to the Big Apple

We got great news on Friday. Our dossier is translated and should arrive at the Kazakhstan Consulate in New York on Monday. We were pleasantly surprised at how quickly translation went. Now we're looking at about 6 weeks (plus a week for the holidays probably) in New York and off to Kazakhstan.

Thanksgiving

We spent the weekend of Thanksgiving with Michelle's family consuming turkey, football and all the fixins. On Friday we went to Babies R Us to buy Baby Schlafer's crib, but it was not in stock or even in the warehouse. So, being the patient people we are, we went to Cincinnati on Sunday to buy it. After 8 hours of driving, PF Chang's, and shopping we returned to set it up. Suprisingly enough, it was very simple and the room is really looking like a nursery. We also got a car seat and high chair from some friends. This house is changing to fit a family of three and we can hardly wait.

One GIANT step down, lots to go.

Good news...we sent our dossier off to Texas for translation today. The past two weeks have been filled with changes, signatures, notaries, certifications and finally apostilles. Then off to the bank and at about 8:00 tonight, the packet we have been bonding with for 3 months was in FedEx's hands. What a weight off of our shoulders. We put poor Andrea (thank God for Andrea) through the ringer today with call after call about details, and she of course calmed us down and got us ready to go. The poor woman is probably dreading the week before we leave!!! We will probably not post for a while, as there won't be any new info until translation is complete (unless; of course, any of our dossier documents need to be corrected). We are both learning to "go with the flow" so to speak. Thanks for keeping up with our journey. We are thankful for all of you.

Yippee!

Since our last post, we dealt with more changes. We found out the medical form changed once again and we had to get a psychiatric evaluation and letter written saying we are fit to be parents. Michelle had hers done last week (yes, she passed)and Jason is getting his done next week. Then the letter will be written. We are still waiting for the FBI prints, but they should be coming any day. Now for the good news...
OUR I-171h FORM CAME BACK TODAY
This is very exciting. At first we weren't expecting this until the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We called Andrea right away and she said this sets us up to be right on track. Once we get our letter and FBI prints back, we send everything off to translation. She said it should be done with translation just about when the New York Consulate opens back up again (they were closed for a little bit for training due to the new Kazakh requirements).
We are now off to celebrate with a little sweet from Starbucks! Yippee!!!

Roll With The Punches

We have had an event filled week or so. It began with the Kazakh government changing the required paperwork for fingerprints and medical information. Not really a huge deal, just something else to do...just when we were patting ourselves on the back for getting done so quickly. We immediatly got our fingerprints done and headed off to the doctors. This also meant that we needed our homestudy updated. Thankfully, Julie is absolutely wonderful and had it done in less than a day. We are now waiting on the FBI fingerprints to return so we can get everything certified and apostilled. Then we are REALLY finished (until we get our I 71H back). Louisville is working on I 600A forms turned in in late August...we turned ours in early Sept. We're getting close!
We met with Andrea last weekend. We were in Chicago to visit Pam and Scoop (aunt and uncle) as well as Jami (Jason' s sister) and thought it would be a great opportunity to meet Andrea if she was willing to meet us for lunch. She agreed and she brought her husband and daughter (beatiful girl...3 years old this week...adopted from KZ) as well. We had a great time - a 2 hour lunch! We are so appreciative for her taking time out of her Sunday afternoon to meet with us. That just makes us even happier with our decision to use Little Miracles to pave the way for us to unite with our child.

"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break." - Ancient Chinese Proverb.

Start the Waiting Game

We just spoke with Andrea. Our side of the paperwork is completed. She just sent everything to be certified. When she gets those back (hopefully by the end of the week) she will send everything off to Frankfort to get Apostilled. When all of that jazz is finished, it goes straight from Frankfort to Texas to be translated. Once translated we continue to wait for our I-71H to be completed in Louisville. Julie told us they have been taking approximately 65-80 days to be approved. We recently heard of somebody else getting approved in 53 days. We have our fingers crossed (cross yours, if they aren't already please - and keep them that way for about the next 7 months!). The I-71H finalizes our dossier. We will keep everyone updated as changes occur. But as it looks now, it will probably be a little while before we have any big news.

Thank you guys for keeping up with our journey! We appreciate all of the notes of encouragement, thoughts and prayers. It has been wonderful to feel all of the support from our friends and family. You guys are the greatest (next to Baby Schlafer, of course!) Thanks!!

Processes

To allow everyone to better understand how this process works, I'll attempt an explanation of the paperwork to this point.

After signing, notarizing, paying and returning our contract to our agency, we received an acceptance letter and instructions to find a home study agency (a list was provided). We contacted a home study agency in Danville, Kentucky. Our social worker (home study) sent us an application, we returned it with a fee, requested a lot of paperwork and set up a meeting with her (Afternoon off work #1). She interviewed us in her office and set up a meeting with us at our house for a Monday evening. She came into our house interviewed us individually, and then together and then did a brief (1 minute) tour of the house. She wrote up here findings (a six page document that is our life's history; all but ready for A and E's Biography show).

Documents required for Home Study and Dossier:

Home study agency's license

Home Study Report

Copy of birth certificate-wife

Copy of birth certificate-husband

Copy of marriage license

Copy of Federal and State tax returns-past 3 years

Statement from bank stating how long you have been a customer, that you are in good standing and the current balance in savings and/or checking accounts

Letter from employers stating job title, length of employment, salary and probability of continued employment

Three letters of recommendation

Copy of city water bill

Medical forms for each adoptive parent

State Police criminal check

Child/Spouse abuse registry check

Residential History Form (citing all residences for past 10 years)

Local Police Clearance

FBI Clearance

All of the above as well as a few more forms and the final copy of the Home Study Report must all be individually notarized. We then take the notarized documents to the county clerk in the county in which the notary was registered for certification. Upon certification, I take the certified and notarized documents to the Kentucky Secretary of State's office to be Apostilled (stating that both the county certification and the notary are valid).

After this is done, AND we receive our approval (I-71H) from immigration, our dossier (the above documents) is sent to be translated into Russian (not the official language of Kazakhstan which is Kazakh, but the official business language of Kazakhstan; who knew?)

Once that happens, it's sent to the Kazakhstan Embassy in New York, New York (the city so nice, they named it twice) for approval by the Kazakh Embassy. Then it's off to Astana, KZ to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for approval. Then on to the Ministry of Education who will send us a letter of invitation to travel to Kazakhstan (we'll have a couple of weeks to pack, get the proper Kazakh Visa's for our passport) and we'll leave for a couple of months and go pick up our child.

We've heard it over and over again, but you never believe this stuff when its not you. This is all God's time and it all happens at his pace. It's different for everyone. Another oft told truth is the feeling that you aren't waiting to adopt a child, you are waiting to get the child that is already yours, but just waiting far away to come home. We aren't (contrary to some perceptions) going to rescue a child, we are traveling to pick up OUR child.

Crossing more off the list

Wednesday, we both took a day off of work (what a horrible time of year for that) to go to Louisville where the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office is. We'd heard that a 3-4 hour wait to get fingerprints taken for the FBI security check was the norm. So, we left the house at about 8:00, got there at about 9:15 walked in filled out a form, and got the prints taken. This 3-4 hour process took us about 15 minutes (the longest part being the actual fingerprinting, there was no wait for us, like VIPs). Back in the car by 9:30.

We took advantage (I guess) of the extra time by heading to the Mall; more specifically, Pottery Barn Kids. We bought a quilt for the crib that we don't yet have (yes, our cart is often before our horse) and registered for complimentary gear.

Came home after that and painted what will be the baby's room a lime green color. It turned out very nicely.

24

We have had a big 24 hours. Last night's homestudy visit was painless. As we suspected, it was much less invasive that we feared. The only problem we had was our dog with some gastrointestinal issues.

Julie from Adoption Assistance is absolutely wonderful. She had a draft of the homestudy in our hands this afternoon. We spoke with Andrea this evening to discuss our dossier. She is going to get all of our paperwork ready for us to simply sign and notarize. We should be receiving that by the beginning of next week.

Tomorrow we go to Louisville to get fingerprinted. Once our fingerprints are done and the homestudy is sent to Louisville it takes approximately 70-80 days for our I-71H approval. The I-71H will be the last piece of the puzzle for our dossier. Once our dossier is completed and translated (we are thinking December), it is sent to the NY consulate. Around 6 weeks later, it is sent to the ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education. It hopefully makes it's way out of the Ministries in 2 months. Little Miracles begins to look for regions and placements once the dossier is sent to the Ministries.

Squeeky Clean

Lots has happened since the last blog. We have decided to let Andrea do our dossier to ensure accuracy. No need to let either of us slow this process down!! We met with Julie to answer a few questions. We are very happy with our choice to go with her. She has adopted from all over the world. We spoke with her on a Thursday, and by that Sunday she had written it up and was ready for our home study. We've gotten our physicals completed (no problems, of course) and our letters of recommendations from various friends, family members and employers. Tomorrow is our home study. Needless to say, we have been cleaning machines!!! Cleaning parts of the house we've never even seen before. Now, it is 9:00pm and we think its ready to go. We've heard it is really no big deal, but the thought of somebody coming into your home and interviewing you is a little nerve racking. We will both be much more relaxed at this time tomorrow. We will be speaking with Andrea for a check up on Tuesday and will be fingerprinted in Louisville on Wednesday. We couldn't be more pleased with the process and assistance we have been given so far. Not to mention the awesome support from family and friends.