Home At Last!

We're finally home with Tanek and it feels wonderful! We had a lot of trouble with internet access while we were in Almaty which is why we couldn't post more updates. Thursday (the 28th) was a free day for all of us, so we mostly just spent time with Tanek and hung out at the apartment. I did go to the Ramstore with Julia for awhile to buy some chocolates, look at the various shops, and have some lunch, but that was about it.
Friday, we were supposed to have our interview at the Embassy at 3:00 pm. Lola called at about 11:00 to tell us we needed to be there earlier (at noon), so we all rushed around to get ready in 30 minutes to walk to the Embassy. The appointments went very smoothly - we filled out a survey, paid the fees, and signed a few papers. Then we were given Tanek's passport with immigrant Visa, the "sealed" envelope to deliver to the customs officials when we landed in Chicago, and a notebook filled with originals for our personal records. We thought there would be a lot of questions for us to answer, but there weren't. The Wimmer's and the Nolte's were also at the Embassy with us, and we met a nice couple from Kansas who had adopted two toddler boys. We would all be on the flight from Almaty to Frankfurt together.
The rest of the day on Friday was spent packing and resting until our flight home. Keith made us spaghetti and garlic bread for our last meal together, which was really good! Tanek took a nap in one of the dresser drawers before we left for the airport at 11:30 pm.
Tanek did really well on the trip home. We left Almaty at 3:00 am Saturday morning. On the flight to Frankfurt, we were given a whole row of four seats to ourselves because there were no bulkhead seats available. So, we laid Tanek down on the two middle seats with pillows on the side (so he wouldn't roll off) and he slept almost the entire flight! I couldn't sleep because I was worried about him rolling off the seat, but he slept great! We bought a little Lufthansa bear for Tanek on the plane so he could have a souvenir both of his trip home and of his first airplane flight.
We were able to get bulkhead seating on the flight from Frankfurt to Chicago, so we were able to get a bassinet for Tanek, plus we had two empty seats beside us (always nice to have extra space). He cried more during this flight, but still did much better than we expected, especially since this was a 9 1/2 hour flight (which seemed to last forever)!

Once we landed in Chicago - with our new little American citizen, we went through passport control, picked up our bags, and then went to customs and immigration. The official took our "sealed" envelope, stamped his Immigrant Visa with an IR-3 stamp, and we were done. That went much quicker than we had anticipated, and it was nice of them not to make us wait until noon which is when they normally did the Immigrant visas (it was 11:00 am). The rest of our stay in Chicago wasn't quite as pleasant - O'Hare is nothing but chaos. We went to one gate for awhile, then they announced that the gate was being changed, so we went to that gate. Everyone there ended up getting confused because they never posted the gate change and there was no airline representative working at the gate until later. And then the flight was delayed for over an hour ( but I've heard this is all "normal" for Chicago). We did meet some nice people who were traveling to Savannah (the flight that was actually posted at our gate) who were interested in knowing more about Tanek and the adoption process.

We finally got to Jacksonville at about 5:40 pm. My parent's, Ricky's parent's, and their friend, Danny, were at the airport to meet us. Tanek slept most of the way from Chicago (after a brief screaming episode) and was just waking up when we got to the waiting area in Jax. It was such a relief to be off the plane and almost home! Everyone thought Tanek is beautiful and precious (which, he is), and were so happy to have him home, at last!

We discovered very quickly that Tanek HATES his carseat! He started screaming as soon as we put him in it to go home. He screamed until we pulled over in Orange Park so I could check him out. Of course, his hernia was out (probably from the screaming), so we walked him around for a few minutes and put pressure on it until it went back in. He still cried for a little while when we put him back in the carseat, but then he ended up falling asleep until we got home.
Once we were home, we introduced him to Amos and Abigail - he seemed very interested in them and reached out right away to touch Amos. He didn't seem scared of them at all and they didn't bark much at him, either. I think somehow Amos and Abigail know that Tanek is a part of the family and not a stranger, so there haven't been any problems with everyone getting along.

Ricky gave Tanek his bottle last night while he was watching the Georgia bowl game and I was unpacking. Tanek fell asleep at 9:15 pm and slept until 9:30 this morning. He was so beyond exhausted! He's slept most of the day today, too. We took him on a quick trip to the grocery store this morning in between naps and Amy K. came to visit this afternoon. Otherwise, we've just been taking it easy, resting, and trying to adjust to being new parents, being home, etc.

Gotcha Day!

December 27th - Gotcha Day!! Tanek and Valerie arrived at our apartment at about 9:30 am from the train station (their train was due to arrive at 8:40 am, but was 30 minutes late). They were both so cute all bundled up in their snowsuits! Tanek seemed to remember us after a few minutes. We took Tanek and went with Lola straight to the SOS clinic for his physical and HIV test. The Wimmer's and Nolte's came with their children shortly afterwards. He felt so much better after we took off some of his clothes - his hair was wet from sweat, he was so hot! His physical was fine and he only cried for a couple of minutes when they drew his blood. Ricky got to sit in on the physical while I was filling out all of the forms we'll need for the Embassy. We should be going there tomorrow morning after his test results come back.

Tanek is such a happy, funny baby (most of the time). He has progressed so much since we saw him 3 weeks ago! He is scooting around by himself (almost a crawl), sits up halfway on his side, and his fine motor skills have improved so much! He's truly babbling now, too. We're working on "Mama", but Ricky is also working on "Dada", so we'll see which one comes first. He does love to play with his Daddy, though!

He's done pretty well with eating. We tried some Enfamil soy-based formula that Julie brought, but he spit up quite a bit after drinking that (could've been that he sucked it down in 5 minutes). Then Ricky went to the store and tried to find the brand he's been on at the orphanage, but couldn't find it. So, we tried some Nutrilon which is made in Holland and used the directions from the Enfamil (since everything is written in Russian). We mixed some with Gerber rice cereal and he liked it a lot. He's also had some carrots - no problems with those, either (yet). So, we'll try these for a couple of days and see how he does. When we get home we'll switch him to whatever the pediatrician recommends since he also has some anemia and rickets (according to his medical report).

Overall, our first day together has been wonderful! Tanek doesn't like to go to sleep, though. He fights to stay awake every time (like, right now). We can't wait to come home with Tanek and see everyone!

Safe Arrival in Almaty

We arrived safely in Almaty at about 11:50 pm last night. All of our flights were on time and uneventful. The flight from Washington was a little turbulent, but nothing major. We met up with the Wimmer's and the Nolte's for the flight from Frankfurt - it was nice to see friendly faces that we knew and who could share our excitement! We went through VIP customs again, which makes things so nice and easy- no standing in line or waiting at baggage claim! We are sharing a two bedroom apartment with the Wimmer's and it is very nice - it is in the newer part of the city and within walking distance of the Embassy. I think our staying together will work out well. The weather here is warmer than in Karaganda; it's in the 30's during the day, but it has definitely snowed recently. Hopefully, it will stay somewhat "warm" while we're here. It was very foggy this morning until about 9 am - I hope the fog doesn't affect our flight plans again n the way home.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! We are so excited to finally be on our way to bring Tanek home! What a wonderful Christmas present for us! Mom and Dad just dropped us off at the airport a few minutes ago and we are sitting at gate B9 waiting to board the plane. It is raining and ugly outside right now, but hopefully that won't cause any delays. I'm also looking forward to seeing the Wimmer's and Nolte's in Frankfurt (I believe we will all be on the same flight from there to Almaty). We have about a 4 hour layover in Washington and 4 1/2 hours in Frankfurt, and barring any delays or problems, we should arrive in Almaty tomorrow night at 11:40 pm. We'll try to keep everyone updated as often as possible. We can't wait to see everyone when we get home - hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas Day and remembering the true meaning of Christmas!

Small glitch - resolved!

Don called yesterday to let us know that the US Embassy in Almaty still did not have our "Cable 37" which basically states that we have been approved to adopt a child (I think). Of course, we couldn't get a hold of anyone in the Jacksonville USCIS office yesterday, so we left messages and emails. I took off of work today in order to get this issue taken care of somehow. After spending hours on the phone trying to find a "live" person to talk to at the USCIS who actually knew what I was talking about ( with out much success) and sending more emails to them, I finally called some people in Representative Cliff Stearns office (at Don's suggestion) and they were very helpful in assisting us in this matter (for which we our very appreciative)! I know that Don (and probably Chris, also) spent quite a lot of time trying to get this issue resolved as well. I finally received an email at about 2:30 pm that the Cable 37 had been emailed and that the approved application had been forwarded to the National Visa Center. I printed out this email to keep in our records and also forwarded it to Don, just in case there are any problems when we get to Almaty.

Hopefully, everything else will go smoothly on our trip to bring Tanek home. We are scheduled to leave out of Jacksonville on Christmas Day! What a wonderful Christmas present for us. Let the packing and house cleaning begin!! We are so excited to bring Tanek home!

Back in the U.S. - finally!

We are finally home! Our return trip didn't go quite as planned, but we eventually made it back home at about 2:00 am this morning (Friday). I have been wondering over and over again if Tanek thinks we have abandoned him, or if he even realizes that we haven't been there to see him. I miss him! Wednesday: Olga and the drivers picked us up at 9:30 as planned to take us to the airport in Karaganda. We said our goodbyes to Olga and Vladamir (our driver), and I gave Olga a disposable camera - she said she would take pictures of Tanek for me during the next few weeks and send the camera with him when we pick him up. Our flight to Almaty was scheduled to leave at 11:00 am, but it was snowing pretty hard this morning and they had to de-ice the plane. It's never a good sign when the pilot turns the engine off and gets off the plane - especially when it is a little turbo prop plane! We think he got off to inspect the ice situation because the de-icing continued until he seemed satisfied. We finally took off sometime close to noon and arrived in Almaty at about 2:00 pm. Lola was there to meet us and help us get checked in to the Kazzhol Hotel for the rest of the day since we weren't due to fly out of Almaty until 1:50 am. Ricky and I just went to the room to try to sleep and rest for awhile since he was still not feeling well. We might have dozed for an hour or so, but not nearly long enough for what was coming later! We ate dinner downstairs in the hotel cafe which was wonderful. Ricky had salmon with some type of green bistro sauce, which he said was the best ever, and I had pasta with ham in a cream sauce that was also very good. Lola picked us up again at 10:30 pm to take us back to the airport for our 1:50 am flight to Frankfurt. We stood in line at the check-in counter for over 30 minutes before they could get our boarding tickets to print out correctly - some problem with the computer, apparently. We finally got our tickets and went through passport control, only to hear that the flight was delayed until 5 am due to the fog being so bad. Right after we got our tickets, they had everyone else wait before processing their tickets. Julie and I tried to lie down and get some sleep while we were waiting, but I don't think we were very successful. After five o'clock came and went, we were told the flight would leave at 8:10 am, then that maybe the plane would be there sometime in the afternoon, but that they didn't know when. We were told that the crew had exceeded their flight time and could not fly the plane back to Karaganda until they had the required downtime. Thursday: Since Lufthansa didn't know when our flight might actually take-off, they started trying to reroute people to other flights. After standing in line for close to 3 hours, we were finally rerouted to Istanbul, Turkey via Air Astana which was scheduled to depart at 8:25 am. At the time, it was about 8:00 am, so we grabbed our bags and ran to checkin at the Air Astana counter, then ran to board the plane. I knew we were to fly to Istanbul, change back to Lufthansa, fly to Frankfurt, then Washington/Dulles, then Jax, but we didn't know any of the times/layovers, etc. Anyway, the Istanbul flight didn't take-off until 9:00 am because they had to de-ice the plane first (of course). After a 5 hour 50 minute flight, we arrived in Instanbul at about 11:30 am local time. (The landscape flying into Turkey was beautiful with all of the mountains and water)! I think half of the plane bombarded the transit counter to find out where to go next! We had to go through passport control (after obtaining a Visa) to baggage claim, pick up our bags, then go upstairs (through security again) to the Lufthansa checkin counter. We got our bags rechecked and got our seats for the Frankfurt flight, then we had to go back through passport control and back through security in order to get to our gate! We had 1 1/2 hours until the flight, so we had Burger King for lunch (and paid about $20!). We left for Frankfurt at 1:45 pm, which was only a 2 hr. 45 min. flight. Once we arrived at Frankfurt (around 4:00 pm), we went straight to the United counter to get our flight vouchers stamped, then went to the gate to checkin. Of course, they had no record of our being on the flight, but there were seats, so we were fine. We got our seat assignments and boarded since the flight was due to leave at 5:00 pm - no time (again) to call home and this was an 8 hr. 50 min. flight, so we ended up calling from the plane. We arrived at Wash/Dulles and landed in another mess. It was 8:15 when we landed - we had to go through passport control, pick up our bags, and go through customs before we could go find our gate (which was in another terminal) and catch our 9:30 pm flight to Jax. Well, our bags went to the wrong baggage claim and someone had to go searching for them. While they were searching for our bags, one of the United Reps tried to got us checked in from baggage claim. It was no big surprise that they had no record of us on this flight, either, but she was able to get it worked out. Luckily, the flight was delayed until 9:45 pm (supposedly because of wind) - we got our bags and boarding passes at 9:30 pm, ran through security and customs, ran upstairs to catch the shuttle (which was actually already there) to Concourse A, and then ran to our gate. The plane was now delayed until 10:10 pm due to some mechanical problem, so I was able to run and call Mom before they left for the airport to give them the updated info. We finally arrived safely in Jax at about 12:10 am and arrived home at about 2:00 am (after stopping by Mom and Dad's to pick up Amos and Abigail)! Mom and Dad have done so much work on the house, it was like arriving at a new home! It looks wonderful!

Last Visit with Tanek (for now)

It was really hard to say goodbye to Tanek tonight! I can't stand to leave without him. I went shopping all day until it was time to go see Tanek, which helped take my mind off of leaving him. First, Keith and I went to the souvenir shop down the street. Ricky was supposed to go with us, but he is sick so he stayed home to rest. It's been snowing today - hopefully this will be my last day of walking through the snow for awhile. At noon, Julia and I had one of the driver's take us to the mall. First we went to the Tsum mall to pick up a couple of last minute things, and then we went across the street to the Abzal mall. We found a store the last time we went that we really liked and wanted to revisit. I found what I wanted there and then ran down to the market for more diapers, wipes, and chocolates while Julie was still shopping. I found chocolate bars with the Kaz emblem on them, so I bought several of them. When we were done shopping, we went to the cafe and both of us had the Georgian food for lunch. Our driver picked us back up at 3:15 pm and we went to the apartment to pick up the guys and drop off our packages. Then it was off to the orphanage for our last visit with Tanek and Valerie!
Tanek was sweet and happy today. He ate absolutely all of his food today, even drank all of his tea. Of course, then he spit up several times which seems to happen more often when he drinks a lot of the tea. We played and worked on sitting up and scooting with him, and held him a lot. Somehow I managed to smush his snowsuit into his diaper bag, but if anyone opens it before it is time to take him to Almaty, I don't know that they'll be able to get it back in there! Even though I know the caregivers and nannies will take good care of him, there were still tears when we had to leave without him! Hopefully the doctor will be bringing him to us by train on Christmas day!
We all went to dinner at the Restaurant Grand tonight and the Nolte's also met us there. Larisa knows someone there, so she was able to arrange a private dining room for us. She also called on the Nolte's cell phone to help us with our order since nothing on the menu was in English. Ricky, Keith, and I had salads with meat, Julia had lamb ribs, and the Nolte's both had a steak with potatoes. The salad was good, but I didn't like the texture of the meat because it was mushy, so I gave the meat to Ricky. I think the salads were smaller than any of us had anticipated, though, but I didn't have much of an appetite after leaving Tanek anyway.

Court Day - It's Official!!!

Well, it is finally official! We are now legally the parents of Tanek! Of course, we still have the 15 day waiting period, but usually that is just a formality. We went into the judges chambers at about 10:30 AM, he asked who would be speaking for us (Ricky) and had him stand up. Ricky then answered a few questions such as what our income was, how long we had been married, was this our first marriage, could we have biological children, and did we still want to adopt this child. Then I was asked if I planned to return to work once we got Tanek home and who would be taking care of him while I was working. Then the orphanage director, doctor, and adoption official all spoke about Tanek and on our behalf (at least I think this is what they were talking about since I couldn't understand a word they were saying). I do know they spoke about how small Tanek was at birth and were discussing his weight - I got that much from Larisa. Anyway, then we both stood up and stated that we wanted to adopt Tanek. Then we left the room while the judge was making his decision. About five minutes later, all of us (the Wimmers were also there) went back into the court room, the judge made a little speech, first about the Wimmers and then about us announcing/congratulating us that we were now the parents of our little ones!

Then, we went to the orphanage and had our party with the director, doctor, Larisa, and Olga. The adoption official wasn't able to come because she was so busy. The chocolate cake was wonderful (Olga picked it especially for me)!! There was also various types of meat - chicken, beef, ham, and yes, even horse meat, which is a delicacy here. I did try one bite of the horse meat, but quickly had to take a bite of cake in order to get it down without doing something rude. Ricky also tried a piece of it, but I don't know what he thought of it. He may have thought it was okay. For me, that is one delicacy that can remain in Kazakhstan! There was also cheese, bread, chocolate torts, chocolates, juice, wine, and tea. I enjoyed everything except for the horse - maybe it would have been okay if I hadn't known what it was. We had some toasts, handed out our gifts and said our many, many thank you's! Now we wait for our visit this afternoon and tomorrow after our last visit with Tanek, we will give the caregivers their gifts.

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Sunday

Julia and I went shopping again today and we both found a few things to buy (of course). I still have one other shop to go to before we leave and chocolates to buy! We had lunch in a little cafe in the mall. We were both brave and each tried something different. I had something with noodles, some type of meat. cabbage, and cucumbers with a broth poured over it. It was actually very good (and I didn't get sick). I described it to Olga and she said it was a typical Georgian dish. Ricky and Keith went to the market and hung out while we girls were shopping.
Tanek is as sweet as always. We played, he ate all of his porridge, we changed him, and he had his cat nap this evening. I bought some yarn today - one of the Nannies knits the booties they wear and I'd like her to make Tanek some to send home with them. She made Valerie a few pairs, so hopefully she won't mind making Tanek a couple, too.
Tomorrow morning is court, so we have no plans for tonight except for a good night's sleep! I will be so relieved when tomorrow is over and our petition has been approved!

Saturday

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I think Tanek will always be a messy eater! He gets very distracted so easily and just wants to look around at everything happening around him. We've decided he needs some blinders to wear at meal times at the orphanage so he can concentrate on eating and make things easier for Mommy and Daddy. Actually, it has gotten much easier to feed him - we have a little routine down now.
He still loves that little binky and I'm not sure we can find one with the same nipple shape in the U.S., so we may have to confiscate this one.


Here he is with another one of his Nannies. They always have hime say "Paka, paka" (bye, bye) to his Mama and Papa when we leave.

Tonight we went to Mario's Pizza with the Wimmer's and then they came to our apartment to hang out for awhile and use our phone line since theirs is broken. We have already been trying to plan some trips together in the future. Hopefully Julia and I will be able to go shopping again tomorrow morning.

Russian Orthodox Cathedral, Muslim Mosque, and Muslim Cemetary

These are pictures from when Olga took us on a tour of Karaganda. The first few pictures are of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral. As you can see, it is very ornate and beautiful. The first picture is of one of the smaller side rooms. There is also a much larger main sanctuary that is even more ornate. There seems to be a lot of rituals and symbolism with this religion, but I don't know enough about it to say anything other than to comment on its beauty! I haven't gotten to take a picture of the Catholic Church that we pass every day on our way to the orphanage, but it is just as beautiful with the same type of gold domes.
The next four pictures are of the Muslim mosque. The front was also ornate, but in a different way. I wish we could have read the signs on the building, but even Olga couldn't translate it for us - we think maybe it was in Kazak. For those of you who know Ricky, you probably know what he was thinking as he was standing in front of the building, and I won't repeat what he said the small round building is used for. Sometimes visitors are allowed to go inside, but on this day, the doors were locked. I would have been interested to know what the inside was like, but some other time, I guess.
The last few pictures are of the Muslim cemetary, which was quite interesting to see, and it was huge. There were elaborate tombs and mausoleums as far as I could see. Some looked like miniature mosques and must have been very expensive to build. We were surprised that even a couple of women were buried here. I would have liked to have known what the "requirements" are to be buried in this cemetary. It was also interesting that most of the people seemed to have died young, in their forties to fifties.









We also saw the Maternity House where Tanek was born and spent the first three months of his life, but unfortunately, we weren't allowed to go inside. In Kazakhstan, babies are born in these Maternity Houses instead of in a hospital.
We saw many things around town such as the coal mines, the power company, the sports arena, the college, the zoo, a prison, a small ski slope, etc. The coal mines have an elevator which takes the workers down into the mines, some of which may be 30 km deep! There is also a huge man-made lake that was converted from an old mine. It is a very popular place to go in the summertime, but usually freezes over in the winter.

Friday

Not much to say - Tanek is great! It's so hard to believe it is almost time to leave him! How can that be possible? He just gets cuter and more dear to us every day!
Tonight we went to Johnny Walker's with Keith and Julia which was a lot of fun. I stuck with my curried chicken and salad, but Ricky tried the halibut which he said was very good. We also tried some squid fried in beer batter as an appetizer - I thought this sounded gross, but it was actually very, very good!


This is Larisa and Olga - the two people we absolutely could not do without while we are here! They are the best!!!















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