Happy Halloween!!!

Today is Halloween! Upon arrival to the infirmary ... the caretaker motions for me to follow her and she leads me upstairs only for me to find that Noah has GRADUATED!! He is out of isolation and has joined the other children! Yippeeeeee!

My good friend, Nancy Ferrell, sent some Happy Halloween surprises to me through Crystal. I got a card, bottles of wine, two Halloween candles, and two bags of caramel, chocolate nut, popcorn! Well ... I decided to put a white ribbon around one bag of this "crunch" today and give it to the caretakers. They were so surprised when I did and soooooooo appreciative! Then, they put a "My First Halloween" outfit on Noah that I had brought for him for this special day!

For lunch, we went to a chinese restaurant that was pretty good and then Larissa took us to a small bookstore where I bought a DVD on Semey, Kazakhstan.

At afternoon bonding, we started off by feeding the children their SAME EXACT LUNCH THEY GET EVERY DAY! In the new area, I had to sit my big rear end on a tiny chair (for a two year old!) to feed Noah. Noah was kind of cranky ... I'm sure it's the teething thing!

A big joke in the bonding room is waiting to see who gets "slimed" next! All three babies are teething ... and every time we bond, they have just finished eating. So, you can only imagine all the drool and spit up! I never knew that baby spit up smells just like vomit! It is sooooo gross wearing clothes all day that smell like baby vomit. Across the bonding room, you'll hear ... "AAAAAGH!" and we all know who got it. Then, we'll hear, "GROOOOOOOOOOSS!" Yep ... happened again! Ha! This goes on and on!




A shout out to my twin brother, Wayne ... here is Noah in his first ride in the Baby Bjorn baby carrier that you gave me! "We" are going to practice with it some before we make the "big trip" home! Thanks, Wayne! We love it!

The Semey Bazaar

After bonding was over today, Larissa ... our FABULOUS interpreter, took us to the Semey Bazaar. It is both indoor and outdoor. We had such a GREAT time. There is something about having Crystal around that keeps everyone in stitches. There were so many times I thought Larissa was crying she was laughing so hard at things that would come out of Crystal's mouth. What a pleasure Crystal has been!!

We were looking for souvenirs ... but spent NO MONEY until we got to the food area ... fresh vegetables, necessary grocery items, fresh breads, etc. It was here that everyone started pulling out their money!!

Larissa tried to give me a hard time for buying a big tin of shortbread cookies without her there. She said they "lied to me" and sold it to me for $18.00, 18,000 Tenge ... that I was taken!!! I stopped her mid-sentence and said, "I DON'T WANT to hear it! Please don't burst my bubble!!!!!" I was so excited about finding those cookies, I'd have paid a hundred dollars!

Now, there was one HUGE open area that we practically ran from and that was the part of the building with RAW MEAT. EVERYWHERE ... STINKY RAW MEAT lying and hanging PROUDLY on display!! I wonder if I'll ever look at meat the same way again!

I found the "Tickle Box!"

Watch the adorable video below!

Laughter is the BEST MEDICINE!

Progress each day!

The families continually comment on the progress each child has made in just nine days. We realize they have had more stimulation in these few days than they have had in their entire lives! The first two days, I tried to FIND ways to get Noah to smile and I couldn't ... now, he will laugh with his whole BODY!! He has made some progress toward a crawl. He can now stand up while holding on for a looooong period of time. You will see on the back of Noah's head ... not much hair. It is obvious that these children lay on their backs the majority of their lives so hair just doesn't grow there. He is also trusting me and becoming attached. I see it in his eyes, his smiles, and his body language. This is all SUCH A MIRACLE!!!

You will see a couple of pictures of Crystal with Noah! Crystal is NOT used to being surrounded by so many babies ... but she is doing quite well! The only meltdown she has had so far is when she was next to Noah today and he fell and bonked his head. He didn't cry ... but I thought Crystal was going to!!

You'll also see a group photo of FIVE families from American adopting right now out of Semey. The Poag Family is from Hawaii, the Behrmann family is from Illinois. They both leave for Almaty Wednesday as they already have been to court and have custody of their children.

An added ray of sunshine!

Bonding was excellent today. During the morning session, we were observed by the orphanage director and we expect to be observed 3 times this week by the Minister of Education. At the end of the week, we will be trained for our speech for court. We will meet with the interpreter and coordinator a couple of days later to practice our speech and then they will let us know if we are ready! Today, I finished my 8th day of bonding and I have 7 more to go. When this is finished, I wait 3 -4 days for my court date with the judge here in Semey. The judge here has been granting immediate custody ... so I could have Noah with me in the apartment full time ten days from now and be officially his mother. After this, there is about a week to week and a half wait for papers to be readied. This includes Noah's passport, adoption certificate, and new birth certificate. Once ready, I am cleared to travel back to Almaty where I will stay for 4 - 5 days. Here, I will meet with an American doctor to have Noah evaluated and tested for HIV (again). I will also have an appointment at the American Embassy. Once cleared by the Embassy, Noah and I can fly back to Atlanta, Georgia!!!

It was so wonderful to share with Crystal her first full day in Kazakhstan! After the day was over, Larissa, the interpreter, said that Crystal had added sunshine to the day!! Sam, the driver in Almaty, loooooooves Crystal. Pasha, the driver in Semey, wanted to take Crystal home with him! Noah giggled and smiled for her! Crystal is going to definitely leave her mark on Semey, Kazakhstan!

Ater the first bonding session, Crystal told me she needed to use the restroom. I said, "Just wait until we get to the restaurant for lunch." Well ... we drove 30 minutes out to the country to Pasha's favorite hole in the wall. Here they serve ONLY pork shish-ke-bobs, grilled onions, and bread! Well ... when we got there, Crystal asked Larissa, "Where is the restroom?" Larissa said, "Outside." All they had was an outhouse! Ha! OH, I just had to follow Crystal out there and get a picture! PRICELESS! They cooked the shish-ke-bobs outside on this little grill amidst about 4 stray, scraggly, dogs that were just hoping upon hope for a bite.

After the afternoon bonding session, Larissa took us bowling. Semey did not know about bowling until 6 years ago ... so they are very proud of this bowling alley. We had a super relaxing time as we played. Who won? Crystal, of course! We had a couple of beers there and laughed and laughed. Then we went to have pizza at a Korean restaurant ... yeah, I know ... very strange. The pizza was very good ... and again ... we laughed and laughed.

It was such a good day!

Five Toes!

Well ... I decided enough is enough! So, I pulled off all the many layers of Noah's clothes to make sure he has five little toes on each little foot!

Apartment Life!

This posting is to show you were I live. The first picture is the apartment building. In the lower front of the picture is the terrible trash area. There ARE trash cans there and I can't understand why people don't USE them. It's pretty nasty.

You enter through the blue door. Once the door opens, you are blasted with the smell of sewer gas, so I always hold my breath! I go up stairs to the 3rd floor. It is so dark in this stairwell that when the driver escorts me at night, he has to use a flashlight!

My door is steel and has a super strong lock! Then there is a second door inside that. Once I'm in my apartment, I feel very safe!

I have no heat!! Brrrrrrrrrrrr!! Tonight the agency brought me a small space heater for the bedroom.

Everyday sights at the orphanage ...

I am including photos of the door to the infirmary where first ... I feed Noah breakfast and lunch ... and then leave from there to go up a flight of stairs ... painted in a colorful mural ... to the bonding room. I have also included a picture of my favorite caretaker, Alla, with Noah. Also, I am sending photos of the 2 other adoptive families and their babies.

Groundhog Day?

Other adopting parents have said you will start feeling like you are in the movie "Groundhog Day." In this movie, the actor Bill Murray, had to continue living the same day over and over. Well, I don't know if it's quite like that ... but our routine is pretty set.

The most exciting thing to share about today is TWO-FOLD. Number ONE ... Noah is doing GREAT! Bonding today was wonderful. Number TWO ... my dear friend, Crystal, arrived today for a one week visit! She got off the plane in Semey and walked into the airport with NO COAT!!! I know people must have thought she was CRAZY! But she had the biggest smile on her face as she shivered ... and has had me laughing since she touched ground here. She walked the 3 floors of the dark, dank stairwell of my apartment building (that reeks of sewer gas) and I about peed on myself laughing so hard watching her reaction!!! When she saw my accomodations, she said ... "Thank GOD I brought wine!" She doesn't realize how good I have it. She said tonight that she was going to take a shower. I said Crystal "I don't have a shower." She saw the tub and said, "I'm not getting in that!" Well ... she did ... and now I have to find enough layers to dress her in as I don't have any heat in the apartment. Last night I slept in gloves, socks, house shoes, long johns, pj's, and a sweat shirt! She'll adjust and for those of you who know Crystal ... you know I'm getting the biggest kick out of watching her!! She's a hoot! This will be the most pleasurable week ... seeing Noah each day and having Crystal here to share it with!