"What's Today?"

Not being at work each day, not watching t.v., not reading the paper, and not speaking the language here leaves me a little out of sorts. I'm always asking, "What's Today?" I guess when I think about it ... I do that in normal everyday life! Ha! So you can imagine how out of it I feel here!?

Great day today! Noah didn't have a fever, ate soooo good, and was in excellent spirits! All of this after I woke up at 5:00 a.m. worrying about him. A crazy fear gripped me ... a fear that something would happen to him before I can get him home to a good doctor.

After morning bonding, Larissa and Olga took us to see Semey's Notary. He put together official documents naming Olga (she's an attorney) Power of Attorney over our paperwork and all paper transactions from city to city. It took FOREVER!!! Imagine a professional Kazakh man typing with ONE finger and smoking a cigarette with the other hand ... in Russian he said the cigarette smoke kills the flies! It was pretty interesting and was an IMPORTANT part of the business at hand ... doing what it takes to get these adoptions complete!!!

After afternoon bonding, Larissa took us to the Sport Club to work out again. This is good for us. The owner kept blowing kisses at me.

I'm attaching some of my favorite photos of the day. One of my favorites is the one of Noah and me at the window. I'm saying, "Hey buddy ... I'm about to bust you out of here!!!!"

You'll also see a photo of the owner of the Sport Club with his daughter, Marsha ... a champion body builder. She leads the work-outs. This HUGE sign hangs just outside the entrance to the gym.

Who Said Boys Can't Wear Pink?

The caretakers are interesting in that they believe in LOTS of layers.. In these two pictures, Noah has on a body suit with feet you can't see, gold long john underwear with feet, with TWO pairs of socks ... a sweater with a collar that you can't see and this fleece, thick PINK body suit. He could hardly MOVE!!! Forget trying to tickle him because he would NOT be able to feel anything!! Ha! For those of you who keep telling me how BIG he is ... well, you see now ... he is mostly CLOTHES!! Click on the video below!


Who Says Boys Can't Wear Pink?

Teething is no fun ...

I got to feed Noah his breakfast this morning. It looked like a cross between grits and cream of wheat. He looooooooved it. He had his warm tea to go with it. All drinks that the orphans get are warm. The Kazakhs believe that if you give a child a cold drink, it will make cold symptoms worse and even CAUSE sickness. We had a good bonding session this morning.

For lunch, we went to a new restaurant and ordered fajitas. They were different, but actually VERY good! After lunch, we went shopping for necessities … namely diapers and bottled water!!! I go through bottled water quickly. As a "bonding parent," I am required by the orphanage to provide 5 "Pampers" each day for my child.

We also went to the Nuclear Memorial. It is a memorial to the victims of radiation poisoning thanks to the 460 odd nukes that were tested by Russia in the region during the cold war. The hollow part of the monument resembles the mushroom cloud of an atomic bomb. Next to the memorial is the “ribbon tree.” It is covered in brightly covered ribbons. People make a wish and then tie a ribbon on the tree so that it will come true.

When I went to get Noah from the infirmary for our afternoon bonding session, the caretaker had me feel his forehead and it was very hot. She pointed to the two teeth coming in. I was a little relieved that they weren't crediting the fever to the respiratory infection anymore … but just to teething. The caretaker brought me a blanket and motioned for me to “rock the baby.” So, I took Noah upstairs to the bonding room and he just laid in my arms. He didn’t want to move. The caretaker came up later and gave him some medicine and WHAT A FACE!! He hated it and threw up some of his lunch. She decided it would be best if he go back to the infirmary and go to sleep. Hmmm ... I hope he's better tomorrow.

After our afternoon bonding session, we went to a pub and had pork shish-ke-bobs that were EXCELLENT and everyone had a Russian beer and then a Kazakh beer. Both were light and very good.

... a taste of heaven ...

God is blessing me beyond measure. It's hard to fathom why He is being so very good to me. Is my mother ... as my guardian angel ... micro-managing things? Is God allowing her to do this so that SHE ... through this ... can experience that unspeakable joy that we can all expect when we get to heaven? I feel that God ... and Mama ... are giving me a taste of heaven right now.

Best day of bonding yet!!

Noah seemed to feel much better today. He has two teeth just beginning to cut through up top. The caretaker was sure to show me this morning as if she was quite "proud!"

Yesterday, I tried to act like I was tossing Noah up in the air ... and he freaked out ... was scared to death! Today, I just started gently swinging him around and he laughed and laughed. Then, I did the "act like I'm tossing him high maneuver" and he decided he looooooved it! He giggled and giggled and giggled!!! So did I.

He stares at my face alot and he loves to study my hands. He loves balls and he loves stacking cups! He can't crawl yet ... but he is scooching ... if that's a word!

A funny thing happened at bonding today. There was a brown sock lying on the carpet … and we were all saying … whose sock is THIS … and laughing about it! A little while later, I found a single black knee high hose … and we all laughed at the oddness of THAT! Well … later that afternoon at bonding … I looked down and there was a navy blue knee high sock hanging out the top front of my pants. Puzzled, I looked down and pulled it out … and said to everyone, “What the …. ?” I busted out laughing. It dawned on me that the long john silk underwear I had worn for the first time since last year must have had static cling and collected socks!!! These items had been falling out of my pants!!!

I've included a picture of our "play group." In the picture is Joanie Vignovich ... from Roswell, GA ... with Hayden (given name Almira) and a sweet couple Shannon and Derick ... from FL ... with Asher (given name Bulot) and of course me and Noah (given name Ramazan).

Between bonding visits, we were taken to a book store where I bought 4 children's books. Each page had the story written in Russian, Kazakh, and English. I loved them because the children in the books look like Noah ... and I thought he would like that.

We were also taken to Memorial Way where the town has a huge statue of Lenin and smaller statues of Lenin's "friends" as our interpreter put it ... one was of Karl Marx ... the rest we couldn't figure out! Then, Larissa, our interpreter took us to the Sport Club. It is owned by a short, stout Kazakh man named Yuro. He wanted a picture with me ... the pretty blonde he called me! His daughter led the workout. Her name is Marsha and she is a body builder. She won the Kazakhstan Body Building Championship, then the Championship in Asia and next August, she travels to Spain.

Today was a holiday in Kazakhstan. It is called the Day of the Republic. It is one of the most important holidays of the Republic of Kazakhstan because fifteen years ago, on October 25, 1990, the Declaration on State Sovereignty was adopted and this day became the basis of declaration of Kazakhstan Independency. Kazakhstan was under Russian rule until the year 1991.

... a little more about Noah's orphanage ...

I find the orphanage so very interesting as I had dreamed many times about what it would be like. All my dreams were nightmares though ... every single one of them ... but this place is wonderful. The heat is on very high in the entire building ... old radiators do the trick ... so that the babies stay quite warm. The babies are dressed in many layers. I'm amazed at how many people work there. I had heard that the orphanages in Kazakhstan take good care of their babies and I see that it is true. Every caretaker that I have met has been warm and inviting and recognize and call you Mama when handing you your baby. Noah is always clean and content.

Today, the caretakers let me feed Noah his breakfast and lunch! For breakfast he had what looked like a HUGE bowl of oatmeal and a cup of warm TEA ... yes ... tea with lots of tea grounds. The other families joked that next week, he'll be drinking coffee and the week after that he'll finish the meal with a cigarette! (Well ... maybe you had to be there! Ha!) For lunch, Noah had a HUGE bowl of what looked sort of ... kind of like Dinty Moore Beef Stew ... and he loved it. In his cup this time was some kind of juice, I guess. The babies drink from a cup, but you hold it for them. The trick for me was to get the juice ... from a cup ... in a baby's mouth and not all down his clothes. I took a picture of his lunch!

You'll also see a picture of me standing at the orphanage gates today and a couple of photos of the playground area. (I'm sure the playground looks more inviting in the summer and spring.) I've also included a picture of one of his caretakers. She is changing his clothes because I didn't do so well getting the juice from the cup into his mouth at breakfast time!!!

Sight-seeing in Semey

Today, after our afternoon bonding, Tatya (a different interpreter) took us to Semey’s old Russian Orthodox church. In KAZ, people are typically either Russian Orthodox (Christian) and that would be the Russian population … or Muslim and that would be the Kazakh population. There is only one Russian Orthodox church in Semey but 4 to 5 mosques there.

The church was amazing and I was so very grateful for the experience. Being spiritual and feeling so much of God’s love on this trip in particular … I was moved by being there. I saw two Russian women crying at two different altars and felt a little bad for being there as a tourist … so I tried to show respect and honor for being in God’s house. They sold church items … I bought about 20 postcards that have Bible verses written in Russian. Tatya is going to help translate the book, chapter, and verses later as I want to give these to Dad … who told me before I left … bring me postcards! He will looooooooove them … so I was pumped to find them. I bought every postcard they had.

Then, Tatya took us to the “bottle trees.” This is an area overlooking the Irtysh River where the Semey people have a time honored tradition. When two people are about to get married, a relative or good friend climbs a tree as high as he possibly can and hangs a bottle. The higher the bottle, the more luck the couple will have! When you stand near the trees and the wind blows, it sound like wind chimes!!

The Irtysh River divides Semey in half … between the North side and the South side. We learned that the North side is where “everything happens.” The Semey people are VERY proud of the bridge constructed … not too long ago … that connects the two sides.