Walking Will!

Home at last

Will and I got home Wednesday evening. It was a grueling 24+ hours of flights for both of us. Poor Will was sick and even barfed on the plane seat just as we landed in Atlanta. He didn't really want to eat any food, but did drink lots of formula.

He is slowly adjusting to his new life, as are the rest of us. I am praying he starts to feel more comfortable and begins to be the happy, active boy we know he is!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

Final Day

Well, this is it. Our last day in Kazakhstan. Honestly, thank goodness as the last few days have been challenging. The doctor said Will is great and on track for his age, but does have some sort of infection (cold type with green snot – I know, TMI), so he prescribed some antibiotics and told me to give Will some Tylenol before boarding the plane. Will is just so cranky, doesn’t really want any food (just formula in a bottle) and sleeps sporadically. Poor Dave said that Katie is sick at home too. Said the preschool called on Monday to pick her up. Yep – some sore of ear/nose/eye infection. I gather it has been raining for days in Atlanta, so everyone has been stuck inside, no wonder she is sick. Dave and I were thinking a man-on-man strategy for these two kids, but we might have to play zone for a while. WWTTD?? (What would Tim Tebow do? - I know, I know, he doesn't play defense.)

I will go to the US Embassy today at 3pm where they do a quick exit interview, give me Will’s passport, visa and a special sealed envelope with papers to hand the US immigration when we land in Atlanta. I assume it is just all of the official document required to file with the government. Our plane leaves at 2:30am (charming, huh?) so I assume the driver will get us at about midnight. As soon as I get through the check in and get on the Lufthansa plane, I breathe a little easier as they have normal food and speak English!

Overall, the people here have been kind to us and the adoption teams were great, just like the first time. We were fish out of water in this country, but endured to the finish line. I’ve said it before and will say it again, international adoption is not easy, not any part of it. But to have these kids in our family, that would otherwise have a very different fate, makes the pain of the process wash away. We won’t be back again, so I will bid a final adieu to Kazakhstan tonight.

I’ll post again when we get home to Atlanta. Thanks for reading and all of your support.

Love, Kelley

In Almaty

Picture is of Will waiting patiently at the Karaganda airport.

After spending Thursday evening and all day Friday in Karaganda, Will and I boarded a plane this AM for Almaty. Will has been such a good sport these last few days. He is very active and mostly happy - but VERY clingy, so if I took one step out of the room, he would cry and start crawling my way. I felt really bad for him the first night in the crib. I realized that this was the first time in his whole life that he was sleeping in a room with no one else. I'm sure the silence was deafening to him. He always cries for about 5-10 minutes before he falls asleep – just enough to make me feel awful.

It was -17F when we got to the airport, but a sunny, clear, beautiful day. The flight is about two hours long, and Will fell asleep as soon as they turned on the plane engines (and propellers – not kidding). He was pretty good the rest of the time, a little squirmy, but as was I. I had a backpack as my carry-on, and a man carried it for me to board the tram, then another man picked it up and carried it to baggage claim. It was really nice – and really out of character for these folks. They usually just go about their business not noticing anyone else exists.

We arrived at the airport and I had to wade through the sea of taxi drivers wanting my business. Nyet! One problem, there was no smiling face waiting for me! I knew our flight arrived early, but come to find out it had arrived 40 mins early! So I stood there with a brave stern face, but as I wondered if they were just late, or had they forgotten me…my nerves started to swell. Just before I panicked, Sasha came rushing in apologizing. He said he checked the flight and saw that it arrived so early – so he rushed over.

We made a quick stop to drop off the paperwork, then went to the Ramstore for some water and baby food, then on to the apartment. I gave Will some food, then put him down for a nap (yes, crying ensued, but now he is out). The plan is just to stay here tomorrow, then Sasha will pick us up at 9:30am. We will go get Will’s visa photos taken, then to the adoption agency (the Sisters) then to a medical exam. They take the information from the babyhouse and translate it into something I can take to the pediatrician in Atlanta. After that, we will go to Lufthansa to buy Will’s plane ticket. So that is all for now.

The boy is ours!

Hi all!
It is Thursday and I am in Karaganda safe and sound. Vadim, Oxana and Natasha were all at the Astana airport waiting for me when the plane arrived at midnight. Luggage arrived ok, as did I! It is bitterly cold here with a thick blanket of snow on the ground and about –9F during our drive home last night, probably in the single digits today and snowing.

We just got back to the apartment – yes – I said WE! Will and I said our goodbyes at the babyhouse, (snow)suited up and promised to never look back! The care givers were happy to see me and both came to give hugs (very unusual) – they were very sweet and wished him a happy life. There is nothing to sign or do officially (which I think is odd), so off we went into the big world!

We will be here in the apartment until Saturday morning, when we will leave Karaganda for good and venture to Almaty for a couple of days to wrap things up. Love, Kelley

Leaving again soon

I will be going back to Kazakhstan this week to pick up sweet Will! My flight leaves Tuesday afternoon from Atlanta, and I arrive in Astana at 12am on Thursday. I'll spend a few days in Karaganda then off to Almaty with Will on Saturday, 12/12. We will go to the US Embassy and for a medical exam, then back home on Wednesday, 12/16. I can't wait!!

Videos

Here are a few short videos of Will. Enjoy!

We are home!

We made it home late on Thursday evening. I think we were both delirious from almost no sleep in over 24 hours. Katie seemed to have grown and matured a year over the 30 days that we were gone! Though we are missing our boy, it is so great to be back home!

Now that I am back on a high-speed internet connection, I have gone into some previous posts and added some additional pictures.

Court Decision!

The judge said YES! Our court time was 3pm, and the prosecuting attorney was late, so we started at about 3:25pm. We met in the judge’s chambers this time (for Katie’s adoption, we were in a courtroom). We each gave a speech, the doctor and social worker both spoke on our behalf as well. The judge looked through and read each and every document in our dossier, they asked us a few questions, then said to come back in an hour for a verdict. He was stern, but seemed fair and thorough. We went back to his chambers an hour later and got the good news!

We had one last visit with Will this morning, it was very sad to say goodbye to him. I know he is in good hands, and I will be back in about three weeks to get him. We will leave for the airport in an hour and then spend the night in a hotel in the Astana airport. It is with mixed emotion that we end this part of the journey, but mostly I am relieved that this part is over so I can get home to Katie. I will post again when we get back to the US and add some pictures.

Thanks for reading and all of your great comments! Your love and support mean the world to us.

Day 26 - Almost there!

I have not been able to get into the blog lately...technical issues at the internet cafe. Today is Monday and we have court tomorrow afternoon. We both have speeches prepared to read, and the doctor and social worker will be there on our behalf as well. I assume we will get a decision be end of day tomorrow. Assuming all goes well, we will go to the notary on Wednesday and sign some papers, then go visit Will for the last time. Our flight leaves at 5:45am on Thursday morning from Astana, the capital city about 2.5hrs away. We will be driven there on Wed. afternoon and spend the night in a hotel since we have to be at the airport around 3am!

I have mentinoed our interpreter from last time, Anna. Her parents invited us over for dinner again last night (we went 3 years ago as well) and we had quite a feast. I will post pictures later, but we had a wonderful time with them. Poor Anna had to translate everything as they don't speak a lick of English. Anna's brother, Sasha and his 2.5 year old daughter, Alina, were there too. Sasha speaks a little English from some time he spent in Hungary.

Day 24 - We have a court date!

Hi all. We had precourt yesterday and all went well. We now have a court date of next Tuesday at 3pm. I am so excited to hopefully get home a couple of days early.

We will miss Will while we are gone, but he is not a very picky baby, so he will be fine!

Day 22

Hi all. We got good news this morning! We will have our pre-court on Friday morning at 10am. From what I understand, it is really quick, maybe 15 minutes at most. They check our passports and then set up the formal court day and time for next week. Keep your fingers crossed that our court date is early next week!

Our friends from Belgium, Kathleen and Geert had successful court yesterday and left this morning for home. It was very sad for them to leave as we had gotten very close. I am glad for them to finally go be with their other son. We promised to watch after their boy for as long as we are here.

Day 21

Sorry I didn't post yesterday, we had lunch with our interpreter from Katie's trip, Anna. It was great to see her and catch up on her life. We are going to try to see her again before we leave.


No word yet on precourt. The judge was out sick yesterday, so the two families that were to have court got pushed to today. I felt really badly for them. Neither family was at the babyhouse this AM, so I pray they were both in court. Also, I am praying we hear some good news today about our precourt date. I have been wishing there was an expedite fee you could pay to speed things along!

Will had a rash that now appears to be almost gone. He also has quite a cough, so the doctor has ordered breathing treatments twice a day. Dave said the machine is like an asthma treatment and Will doesn’t mind it at all – not sure it is really helping, but that may just be my skepticism of the medical practices here. I know as soon as we get him home, he will be fine!

Day 19

So the internet cafe is back in business! I am here with Donna, from Delaware. She and I always use our laptops while our husbands go use the public PCs.


Will still has a rash, so the doctor had us stop at the pharmacy to pick up some cream and some herbs to bathe him in for ten days - total cost was about $14. I think he just has sensitive skin that is easily irritated. Poor thing is white as a ghost too.

This picture has Gert, from Belgium playing with Will. Gert and Kathleen are a very nice couple and we really enjoy their company. They have a son, now 7, that they adopted from Russia when he was three. They said the orphanages in Russia were awful and the kids were basically starving. They said their son grew 30 cm in the first year! They also take in a girl from Belarus each summer. I guess she has a ton of radiation in her body and being on their farm for just a few months each year helps her health dramatically. Now they are adopting a little boy about the same age as Will.

Our interpreter, Julia, was able to get in touch with the interpreter from Katie's adoption, Anna. We are going to meet her for lunch tomorrow and I am very excited. She is a really nice girl that visited us in Atlanta. It will be great to catch up with her.

Hockey Game

Day 18

Well, I can't get my laptop to work at the internet cafe today, seems they can't get the wifi to work - and yes - I said I was at the internet cafe. Figures. So no pictures today.

We went to a hockey game last night, it was the first I had ever been to. There was a big fight in the 2nd period with lots of players thrown in the penalty box. Karaganda lost to the opposing team - oh well - it was something different to do for a few hours.

Will is great, he his very rough and tumble and enjoys taking toys from others. He is most happy playing with the other babies in the playroom, so we spend most of our time there.

The other two familes had successful outcomes at court. Kim is on her way back to NJ now, and the other couple is staying here during the waiting period. We should go to pre-court this week, though we don't know which day. At pre-court, they just look over the documents quickly and set our court date, usually 4-5 days later. I pray we go to pre-court at the beginning of this week!

Day 16

Hello! The other two families are having court today. We are praying that all goes as planned for them. Kim, the single mom will go back to NJ on Sunday, and the couple from Brooklyn will stay here during the waiting period. We have been enjoying the company of the new couple that arrived a few days ago. It is nice just to talk with someone new as we go through this experience.

Will is doing great. He always eats every bite of food and never complains or fusses. Wait until he gets to taste real food! There is another little boy that he loves to play with, named Temore (sp?) - it rhymes with Seymour. A very nice couple from Belgium are adopting him. It is amazing all of the languages that the European couples can speak. They are from all over, but can always find a mutual language. We are such dumb Amercans to only know one language!

We have been watching the World Series in the mornings - live feed with Russian dub. We are glad we get to see it. I think we are both slowly starting to feel better, which is good since we are almost out of the vat of cold medicines I brought.

Day 15

So I will keep numbering the titles of each day by the days of our visitation. I added a picture of my best girl that Bibi sent. Sounds like they have been having lots of fun in Atlanta going to fall festivities!

We got picked up early this AM and went to the notary to sign some final documents needed to petition for court. I had forgotten that once the documents are signed, they are actually stitched together with a needle and thread, then a little piece of paper is glued to the back of the thread, then it is all stamped by the notary.

Will was happy as usual this AM, though we missed feeding him the porridge and the caregivers took care of it since we were late. Some of the families are starting to go to court and pre-court, which is encouraging. We hope to go to precourt by next Wednesday, but there is really no advanced warning of when we will go. The other two families that are here were just told one day at noon that their precourt was at 2pm - so they only got two hours notice. We will continue to visit Will twice a day until our court hearing is complete.

We are finally on the last half of our trip. Marking off the days on a makeshift calendar somehow makes the days go faster. In an odd way, I already feel a little melancholy about the thought of leaving. This will be our last adoption from Kazakhstan (or anywhere). While every singe thing is different here than what we are used to, all in all, the people are the same. They want to provide for their families and live the best life they can. We are grateful to all that we have met during or travels.

Day 14!!

We made it to our final day of formal visitation with Will. We will go this afternoon and print our photos (we are required to have on each day with a date stamp proving that we visited with him each day).  Tomorrow, we will go to the notary and sign some papers so that our petition for court can be filed! I am so very excited!!

Another couple arrived from Delaware yesterday, they are very nice! It is just good to have some new folks to chat with. It is their first visit to Kazakhstan, so we can show them the ways of the land.

Day 13

Here are a few pictures of around town and Dave in front of our apartment, before the snow. It is already melting on the streets, so we just have to be on the lookout for ice while walking around town.

The two other families that are about a week ahead of us in the process got some good news yesterday, they will go to court on Friday, which s several days earlier than they had thought. I am praying that we follow their schedule which means we will be able to come home a few days sooner. As Dave says, I shouldn't put the cart before the horse!

Will was happy this morning, though he woke with a red face full of a rash. It seems like when I find him face down in his crib, his face is always red. As the morning went on, it faded. He does have sensitive skin and I assume clean sheets in a clean house will help dramatically!