We are home!

Hi Everyone,

Yes, we are home and getting settled. We arrived a bit late on Wednesday AM and are dealing with tons of mail, laundry, and jet lag for all three. I do have photos and some stories of the last three days that I will be sharing hopefully later tonight or tomorrow.

We are so lucky to have all of you as part of our family. You will love Joseph and he you.

Brian

Leaving Today in 9 hours!

Hi Folks,

Blogging has temporarily stopped as we are finishing packing to leave etc as well as different appointments. If I have time before we leave I will write something.

We leave 3am wednesday kaz time and arrrive on united airlines at o'hare at 10:30amn wednesday chicago time. I will wrap up when we are home.

Love - Brian, Laura and Joseph

A Rainy Sunday in Almaty

Yesterday was the day of the shower and this morning was for doing laundry in that same space. The washing machine in the apartment here in Almaty is different from that in Uralsk and according to the hand written instructions would take about 2 hours for cycle. As it looked like it may not run or run well we decided to break out the travel Woolite and dive into laundry duties for Joseph’s clothes. Joseph’s bathtub made a great wash basin and so Laura and I took turns washing and drying clothes. Here is a nice photo of Laura getting into the washing – I guess it is better than smashing them against a river rock but right now we would be very happy to see our machine at home. After the wash was finished, it was time to get them into the dryer…well this is what we called the clotheslines which were strung between the windows, as shown in the next photo, or across the bathroom. I should not make it sound like we were out in the back woods as we actually had a more sophisticated dryer than this. At the bottom of the clothesline photo you can see two examples of our laundry rotolo or “rolled laundry”. We first rolled up our laundry in our quick drying towels to act like our “spin cycle”. The clothes are then transferred to the line for drying. It worked pretty well although the down pour of rain outside did not help with moisture removal!

This morning we were to go to Gorky Park but we had to cancel. First, Joseph did not sleep well last night and did not take much of a nap this morning so it would not have been an un pleasant trip for him so I cancelled with Kirill. Just after canceling it poured again like crazy so it was good timing for us. Although very tired, Joseph would not give in and would go from being a happy laughing kid – shown here playing with me on his blanket - to a not so happy boy who was difficult to comfort. Boy this really made us tired as well and so we thought we would probably spend the entire day inside and so I made another run to the beautiful grocery store next door. I did not mention it yesterday but there is more to this grocery store. If you watch closely you notice that the shelves are always ‘faced’. I can walk in there, purchase a bottle on my way down the aisle towards the back of the store but then when I turn around to come back, the empty space I created has already been filled. This goes on all day. There are people stationed almost every 10 feet to help you and several other people going around cleaning – it is an impressive operation.

After lunch and a bunch more rain the sun came out and Joseph seemed to be feeling better so we thought we would attempt an escape from the apartment and go for a walk. With our overpriced stroller in hand, we set out down the avenue towards the artist’s street and the Tsum store, the reported mecca of souvenirs! I started out pushing Joseph in the stroller and this photo is what my view was like. It seemed Joseph liked sticking one foot – with Kazakh shoe – up in the air as we walked. He seemed pretty content and so were we to be outside. The sidewalks were a bit bumpy and we had to do some stairs but our crappy stroller did okay especially as we added some padding for his bum. The sun was coming out and it was getting warmer but we tried to keep him appearing bundled up for fear of the babushkas stopping us. He had on his Kazakh knit hat which he does not seem to mind and we believe pleases those that walk past us. There were two parks on the way down to the store and here you see Laura pushing Joseph passed one of them. We each took turns so Joseph could see us and it was not until nearing the store that he became a bit fussy. This we are pretty sure was due to the heat or rather than induced by the clothing! When we removed his hat he was sweaty, so we loosely put it on until we could get inside the big store. I think I previously mentioned to you how clean Uralsk was and that they had many garbage cans along every street while something similar can be seen here but then one step better. Along our route we saw many trash receptacles that allowed you to recycle! These were public cans on the street! It was great to see and hopefully someday Chicago will have something similar. The area surrounding the store had many vendors selling food and drinks – not to mention lottery tickets. It was a Sunday and there were many people with their families either walking around or sitting on a bench. It was a great pedestrian area and we wanted to just relax BUT, we knew we wanted to check out some of the Kazakh stuff and did not know how long it would be before Joseph wanted to get back home so in we went.

The building contained many stores spread out amongst three or four floors. The third floor was essentially all Kazakh and Russian stuff mainly for souvenirs but not all. There were beautiful Kazakh robes and coats, hats and a bunch of jewelry, as well as fabrics for dresses etc. We did some “damage” between some wooden bowls, yurts, odds and ends and my Kazakh slippers! Yes the photo here shows my Kazakh slippers made of wool with curled pointed toes – my own pair of genie slippers. We had a good time shopping as Joseph was all smiles and flirting with the sales women. It was funny in one store, Laura was looking at jewelry and I was looking at saddles for horses. You would think the funny part was a store selling both amber jewelry for Laura and horse saddles but you would be wrong. The sales person, who was fairly young, was assisting Laura when she stepped a bit to the side, bent down and pulled Josephs pant leg down as his calf/ankle was exposed! This seemed even excessive for a babushka but this was a young woman and we were inside a store which itself is inside of a building on an 80 degree day! It should be noted that many of the nearby store personnel had fans running to keep them cool! After hitting a few stores we were tapped out of tenge so we headed back and on the way, Joseph became fussy so Laura picked him up and he fell asleep! A sleep he needed badly but it would have been better for us had he done this in the stroller. Oh well….

When we got back home, Laura worked on getting Joseph settled as he decided he had enough sleep on the way back in her arms! While she was doing this, I hopped over to the store and got everything we need for burgers including American Cheese Singles and Heinz ketchup (very good for Kazakhstan to use Heinz!). When I got back home we all ate and just kicked back to relax on this Sunday evening. The photo here shows Joseph taking it easy on my lap as things were winding down. You can call him Stogie Joe. Tomorrow the medical exam at the U.S. Embassy and hopefully some outdoor time too!

Da Zavtra!

Saturdays In Almaty – It’s Not Uralsk, but it’s our last in Kazakhstan

Yes, the contrast between Uralsk and Almaty is stark to say the least and more than perhaps we were ready for today. It seems like living in Uralsk for so long was like going to school in central Illinois – comfortable. Coming back to a big city can be a bit of a shock and especially if you are celebrating your 8^th month birthday. Happy 8^th month birthday Joseph! Since yesterday when we arrived Joseph just has not been himself and has been a bit cranky or as Laura would say – a pill. Right about now I know all of you are saying “Welcome to Parenthood”…well that helps.

As I wrote yesterday, we did not have many plans for today but the one big one was to take a hot shower and so we did. In fact all three of us, which meant Joseph had his first bath with us and it went very well. You can not really see from this photo what he was thinking but he was happy. He seemed to like the feeling of the water and splashing around. He was not even too concerned about getting his head wet which was a surprise to us. After he was done, both Laura and I had our turn and it felt great! Breakfast went well and then we decided to go for a walk.

We loaded Joseph into the Baby Bjorn and off we went. The next photo shows Joseph and I posing right in back of the apartment which, although is right off of a busy street, has a playground. For his great Uncle Bob (Sorry John) he was getting into the spirit of the Cross Town Classic by wearing his Cubs hat. We hoped it helped but we were not promising anything. We did not want to venture too far as we had to go for Visa photos for Joseph and so we just took Laura to the fantastic market at the corner. She was as impressed as I was and we picked up a few things including some more donuts before heading outside. Just outside of the store they have two counters set up – one has more pastries and pieroskies while the other one, shown here, is really elaborate. It has three huge wok like things for cooking these incredible smelling dishes of meats and vegetables. The best part though is off to the side where they crank out the bellinis! They are at it all day with 4 or 5 cooking at the same time so that people can buy a kilogram at a time! If this was not enough, on the other side of the building they have about 10 freezers lined up full of ice cream! I think we could spend each day hanging out on this corner including today but we had to get Joseph to his nap before heading to get his photo taken.

Kirill our driver picked us up to go for the photo session which lasted all of 1 minute and resulted in Joseph having a classic SHOCKED look on his face which will now become a part of his official documents! As more rain clouds were approaching we decided to get over to one of their open markets to get an umbrella stroller for our trip to the park tomorrow. Both Laura and I feel we got ripped off but alas we were a bit tired and just needed to get back to the apartment as Joseph was getting a bit cranky. We piled in and off we went to the apartment. On the way back Kirill pointed out some restaurants for us to try and a great street for walking which is lined with various artists. As we passed it was full of people and definitely made our must see for our short time here. We made plans for Gorky Park for tomorrow morning assuming it does not rain and Joseph is back to his fun self.

The rest of the evening was not exciting although a bit tiring as Joseph could not get settled after dinner. We even took a walk in the stroller but that did not help too much either. It was a beautiful evening out but that was only good for Laura and I – Joseph did not really care one way or another. We did stop in an underground mall and bought him a toy truck which he seemed to like and soothed him a bit when cranky. We passed by the belinis again but we felt a potential meltdown coming our way so we made our way back home. All I can say is that Joseph would go between laughing to about crying and it went on and on and on. Finally Laura, the Queen Soother, got him to sleep after an hour of maximum soothing power! I, on the other hand, usually stimulate him, so I retreated to the kitchen and then to the living room for a Baltica beer. The final photo here captures the soothers all of us experienced today – Joseph and his new truck, Laura and I with a Kazakhstan and a Russian beer. The Cubs hat was thrown in for good measure! We are pooped but looking forward to Gorky Park tomorrow. Today is Saturday and we arrive into Chicago this Wednesday – we are excited!

Da Zavtra

Good-Bye Uralsk…Hello Almaty!

Sorry folks about not having a blog for Thursday but it was a rainy day at home for getting ready for our trip today to Almaty. I ran a couple of errands on Thursday while Laura and Joseph were packing at home. Although we unloaded a bunch of donations etc for the baby house, we did acquire some new things and so we still had a bunch of crap to pack and yes, we were still without hot water! We were digging around the apartment for all of our stuff and getting things cleaned etc. One of the things we had not done was test out our Baby Bjorn. We wanted to see how Joseph would like it and how well it worked for us. With all of our luggage we would need all of our hands for sure. Although Laura was going to be wearing it on Friday, I decided to give it a test run with Joseph while I packed etc. In this photo you can see that he is pretty happy. I was able to move around and get a lot done. The only reason he came out was because we thought we should give him a break although he did not ask for one. For whatever reason, it seems many babies like these things and he is one of them. We kept packing until we were basically done and so we just had some minor packing and cleaning before Igor came to get us at 8:15am for our 10:10 am flight.

Friday morning seemed to come pretty quick and so we leaped into action. We got Joseph up, fed and dressed and we did the same. Unfortunately, although Friday morning came quickly the hot water did not – no hot water today! The last time we had hot water was Tuesday morning! Oh well, at least we have electricity! Olga stopped by this morning before Igor to give us a Kazakhstan cookbook and a crystal to bring us health and safety! We were really touched. I had been looking for one of these cookbooks but did not have luck. I was not even looking for one in English but knew it would have to be in Russian. Thank goodness we have MANY friends at home who can translate (right Tamara, Milana, Anna, Dalia, etc?). Olga wrote a very nice forward about enjoying us and the visit. It really meant a lot to us. She also translated the Beshbarmak (Five Fingers) dish for us so perhaps some of you will get to enjoy it at our house!

As we had so many bags Misha, the other driver, arrived with Igor. We loaded up and away we went. Joseph did okay but was a bit cranky as we had to wake him up to leave. It was raining most of the way and we talked about how quickly the trip went and how when we arrived we thought it was going to be an eternity. We really came to love Uralsk and our time there. We will miss the city and especially the team of people who took care of us so well. When we arrived at the airport we got all of the bags up to check in. On this flight we upgraded to business class so that we would have more room for Joseph’s first flight and because we heard there were not weight restrictions so we did not have to worry about how we packed each bag. On these two accounts we were 50% right or 50% wrong – we had to pay for our overweight bags!!! Oh well another lessoned learned. Time was drawing near and so we got this photo of all of us. Olga, Olga, Laura, Joseph, Igor and me. We gave Igor the photo book that Laura came up with and Olga translated it and it came out really nice. It had wishes and photos from people who had adopted here in the past and had Igor as their driver. Olga translated them into Russian and we printed and bound them. He seemed to really like it. We said our sad good-byes and off we went.

Joseph liked walking outside across the tarmac and up the stairs to the airplane as it was windy. We got into our seats and had plenty of room – we could really get used to this sort of travel space! For most of the flight Joseph slept and it was a pretty good experience for all of us. Once we retrieved our bags we met our driver Kirill who we had when we were in Almaty a month ago. This time he was in short sleeves and shorts as it was about 80 degrees and sunny outside. By this time Joseph was not doing so well and the heat did not help. We were all feeling it and there was a ton of traffic in Almaty. This was clearly not Uralsk! We had to stop at the agency’s office before going to the apartment to get the keys. These delays Joseph did not understand but eventually we got here and our first priority was a diaper change and feeding him. Boy how our priorities have changed already – it seemed like a good time for a beer! You can see in this photo how happy Joseph was to get to work. He as taken up helping us shovel in his food! He likes to grab the spoon and get it to his mouth as quickly as possible. Needless to say he is not the most graceful at this stage so we have to clean up a bit! After some food and bit of visiting he got him to bed and declared that the airplane trip was fine but the car ride was tough!

The apartment is located in a seemingly nice area of town and so I ran down to the corner market to get food for the next few days. What a pleasant surprise! I would compare this market to something like a Whole Foods market! It had everything and I was so excited to see several kinds of bread (although unfortunately still wrapped in plastic – not what you should do with good bread), cheese and vegetables!! I could not help myself – they even had Cheese Krack! This was the big city! So as the “hunter-gatherer” I loaded up my bags and brought back food for my family. Of course this essential load included fresh donuts, diet Pepsi and croissants! Laura was as thrilled as I was when I walked in the door! We cooked up some pasta and actually found Parmigiano cheese to go with it! After dinner we sat down for some family time and looked at the gifts we received from Olga (I). She gave Joseph a Kazakh hat and an Uralsk newspaper from our adoption day! Joseph was very excited and was sporting it around the apartment. As you can see from the photo, he certainly can make it work for his look! Now introducing Kazakh Joe!

Tomorrow is an average day for us as we have to go get passport photos for Joseph but a fantastically exciting day as all of us can take a hot shower!!! It will feel so good but now the bed is looking better. Sorry again for yesterday and for the slow day today.

Da Zavtra!

WEDNESDAY: And Night Fell and Morning Came, the Second Day….

Note: We are so overwhelmed at all of the comments we have been receiving lately and are very grateful. It really feels like we are on this journey with everyone – it is great. As far as the blog goes, I can not promise you many interesting stories as this journey progresses unless spit up and drool constitutes good reading. I think also Mr. Joseph may cut into my blogging time but I will try. The following is for Wednesday May 17^th although I am just uploading it on Thursday due to more internet problems.

Yes, night did fall on Tuesday and with it the lack of hot water and the hope that it would return in the morning. Joseph fell asleep with our hopes that we would sleep through the night. With the coming of the morning Joseph did awake at around 6:15ish and so had a good 9+ hours of sleep. Now his schedule which we received a couple of weeks ago said he would sleep from 10pm – midnight and then get a bottle and then sleep until 6am. We thought…let him sleep, so we did. Unfortunately what did not come in the morning was the hot water. It turns out the entire city center was out of hot water and it was likely it would not come on until Friday. No shower for us but we got one in yesterday before the party so we were not doing so bad. Our friend Tamara at home said to me in an email that this was all apart of Laura and I becoming a bit Kazakh! And I thought the T-shirt I bought was enough!

When Laura went over to him at the crib he just laid there smiled and cooed. That was a pleasant good morning for anyone! We got him up and then started to create his usual 1^st breakfast – formula. We also decided to start supplementing his diet so we pulled out the vitamins the doctor at home prescribed. Everything went smoothly and so we retired to the living room for some playtime. The apartment is fairly well stocked with things including this walker chair that you see in this photo of Joseph. We were not sure if he would like it but he did very much. I put in some batteries and understood perhaps why there were none in there. This thing is LOUD!! If you look closely at the photo you will see some silver duct tape covering the speaker in an attempt to mute it a bit…it kind of worked. After we played for a bit it was time for his nap which went well.

When Joseph woke up, he was again in a great mood for his second breakfast of semolina, mashed potatoes and a cup of tea and biscuit. Laura added some baby food to the mix as well to add some nutrition but wanted to keep things fairly consistent for the little guy. The tea is a bit strange to us as he drinks it from a mug but he likes it. This all went down okay without much of a mess and it was on to more fun. We decided as it was such a nice day that we should go for a family walk to get some water before the next nap. We dug out the stroller that comes with the apartment and here you can see Joseph all dressed up looking around Uralsk. This was the first time he was in a stroller. He was a bit tense but did not say a word so we assumed he was enjoying it. When we left the apartment we remembered that although it was warm outside we did not want to attract the attention of a babushka and risk being yelled at for not dressing our son properly. We thought we were doing pretty well with multiple layers and a hat as we did not even need coats. We thought we were getting some looks and thought it was because we were Americans but maybe not. When I saw another stroller coming our way I asked Laura to look to see how their child was dressed. Expecting to be vindicated we were disappointed. This child had pretty much everything Joseph had on PLUS a big heavy blanket and gloves! Now we knew we had missed the Kazakh mark a bit. We did not venture too far but just went to the local market and up and down the block. As you can see from the next photo Joseph decided to nod off just like most kids so we decided to head back to the apartment.

Joseph and Laura went in while I collapsed the stroller…then Laura came out to collapse the stroller…then I went out to collapse the damn stroller! FINALLY the stroller collapsed correctly just before collapsing under the weight of my foot and the nearest rock! The only spectators were the beat up street cats and a raven/magpie (whatever they really are) so I do think I embarrassed all of America. At least we have instructions for our Chicco stroller at home and we have already practiced with it! So Laura got Joseph to bed and I tossed the stroller into the sun porch. After the nap Joseph got his minced meat, stewed fruit and more potatoes plus some other stuff. (Don’t worry, I will not go on more than today about his food and I am actually sparing you some of the details!). After lunch and the food had settled we did some of our standard ball playing as well as dancing etc. We all had a good time together and only had a couple of instances of Joseph being bored. This photo shows Joseph and I on the floor. I took to imitating him on his stomach waving arms and legs while making noises. I would do it then look up at him. He would smile and then do the same thing. This went on for at least five minutes and for the three of us it was a great sense of communication and fun.

I will cut to the chase and say that his nap and dinner all went well and we made it through the day. We were told do not be surprised if he did not have a bowel movement right away as is often case after leaving the baby house. This was not the case and we did get one which thrilled Laura – a true Mom. He went down to bed just fine and we have seen now that he is good at soothing himself to sleep with rocking and tossing from side to side. He also uses his feet to walk the slats of the crib and prefers to sleep on his side. Yes, we checked on him often, as most new parents do, to make sure he is still breathing and he always was and peacefully I should add. The only thing that arose as we were putting him to bed was that the electricity failed. This photo shows me cooking dinner by headlamp lighting – yes, the same headlamp Laura used for reading. The electricity actually went out in the afternoon but as it stays light here until around 9pm it was not too bad but now it was a different story. So now it was dark, we are on our first day with our 7.5 month old baby, we have not had (nor may have) hot water and now we do not have electricity. Thank goodness we have a gas stove! I guess we really are Kazakh now, right Tamara! Tomorrow we begin to pack for our trip to Almaty on Friday!

Da Zavtra!

TUESDAY MAY 16th: JOSEPH COMES HOME!!!

Today was certainly a big day for everyone from the baby house to our house. Laura and I got up a bit early and really felt nervous as reality was hitting us. No more handing Joseph back after an hour especially if he was being fussy! He was all ours…forever! This morning Igor would come a bit early so we could stop at a bakery to get a cake to bring with us (the first photo) to the baby house. It has become a custom with parents from our agency to bring a cake and some tokens for all of the caregivers, doctors and director of the baby house. This was one of those things you first hear about and think of as an obligation, but then when you are here and see what they do and have done for your child and it is something you really want to do.

Igor arrived and, as he said yesterday, he met us at our door to help with all of our bags of gifts for the staff. Laura of course, as you saw in an earlier post, had all the gifts in bags etc. We also obtained the names of all of the caregivers and I wrote them on the bags in Russian (Aleea wrote them on a piece of paper Monday night!). We got them in the car along with Joseph’s things for the trip back to the apartment. This would be our last visit to the baby house! Igor brought us to a bakery and came in to help us order and pick up the cake. We grabbed Olga on the way as usual…yes this was our last ride together. This ride was one we have taken some 50 times by now and for some strange reason we were getting sad and felt it all had just started. We went to the music room and set everything up as you can see in the photo. Olga went as usual to get Joseph and he came in all smiles for us. Olga then asked us if we were ready for the caregivers to come in and we said yes and they piled into the room.

Some of them were on duty and some came in to work to say good-bye to Maxim. Although it is something they do often, thank goodness, you can tell they do bond with these kids. It was interesting to note that Tanya is the primary care giver for Joseph and this is not a job position – dictated by work responsibilities. This is the title someone gets when they bond with one of the kids – kind of their teachers pet. Tanya made a speech to us and to Maxim wishing him a happy life, a life of health and strength and that he will be a good citizen of the USA. Of course all of this made Laura and I get teary eyed. We looked back at these people who have taken care of Joseph all these many months and helped him become the fun little kid he is today. We are truly grateful to them. This photo shows the caregivers and us just before they left the room. We then asked Tanya if she would write something to Joseph in his book so he would have it later to read. The next photo is of her doing this. Olga was kind to translate in there as well so we can read it to him. As you know Joseph has a masseuse and she had shown us her techniques and we thought she really deserved something. I think she was surprised but said some nice words of good luck to him. The other person we wanted to signify was the woman who tirelessly cleans around the baby house. With bucket and rags we would see her up and down the stairs, in the back, across the yard etc. One day I asked Olga to tell her we thought she did a great job and we appreciated her but she did not seem to have a big reaction. Today we wanted to include her in our appreciation and when she came by she seemed happy that we acknowledged her efforts.

The next group to come in was the doctors but it turned out that one was not in and the other left early. Apparently there was some confusion with them about when we were coming to get Joseph so we left her presents for the Director. Olga then said we could go to the Directors Office to sign papers. We went back to the office in which we first met Joseph so long ago but all a blur now. We signed the registry book and presented her with a gift as well as gifts for the other kids in the baby house and took this photo (sorry it is blurry). She thanked us and mentioned how grateful she was for mentioning the baby house in my speech in court. She also said that it would be quieter in the afternoons, now that Maxim was going home. It turns out that the music room and her office share a wall! We did not know this until now so hopefully she is a Danny Zane and Neil Diamond fan. She said it in a way that we felt she would actually miss it all. We then thanked her for Maxim and for all the other kids at the baby house. For kids that do not have a home yet, this is the next best place for sure – no doubt. We said our good-byes and made our way down the stairs, past the train mural and out into the courtyard one last time. We actually were a bit sad and said we would miss this place as it was where we became a family. I have to say that my cousin Ann predicted this when we started the LASTS and she was right.

Igor as usual was waiting for us but now with an extra passenger for the back seat! Here is a photo of Joseph and I just before handing him in to Laura for the ride back to the apartment. We all then piled in and off we went for our final ride home from the baby house. I looked forward at Igor and Olga and reflected on how far we have come together. These people will be part of Josephs and our family story the rest of our lives. They will live on in blogs and memories and probably for at least a generation or two. How many families speak of them each day or year? I do not think they realize the importance of their jobs. Just to be consistent Olga turned to us and asked if we wanted to go anywhere and we just said back to the apartment. Joseph did pretty well on the way back, curious, nervous, and a bit stunned. When we pulled up in front of the apartment we unloaded and said our goodbyes. We can still call both Igor and Olga but not sure if we will have the time to do much before we leave – maybe the big park but who knows. For sure we will see them on Friday when we leave.

Entering the apartment it was about 11am so we set up our blanket and toys just like at the baby house and began to play. I think Laura gave him a tour first but then we were on the floor with music playing as usual. We let Joseph have a seat on the couch as you can see here. He seemed to like it and so I knew future battles would be fought for the chaise lounge chair at home in Chicago! Laura and I stopped while we were playing to reflect on what we were doing. It felt like we had been on a 4 year marathon and the end was just about here – we were playing with our son in our (temporary) house. It was really amazing! Well it was not too long before it was nap time and then meal time with some diapers in between it all. Everything went very smoothly and he went down to sleep at 8pm although his standard bedtime was reported to be 10pm. We had moved the crib into our room so he could hear us breathe and us him. The only things we were missing were a Labrador, a Spinone and a cat and we would be home.

Da Zaftra