Sunday April 30, Kickin' Back In Uralsk

Okay before we get going for today, Laura and I wanted to let you know how much we appreciate everyone reading the blog and sharing this incredible experience with us each day. We also want to remind you how much we do miss talking to all of you. Finally we would like to remind you that “WE ARE IN KAZAKHSTAN!” We keep checking the blog to see who has commented and I have to tell you that this behavior is not easily extinguished! We keep checking and checking throughout the day. So for those of you who think you do not have anything to say – no problem, just say hi…anything! Remember it is probably simplest to click on comments and then select “Other” for adding your comments….now back to the blog….

It did not take too long this morning to decide this was going to be a slow day for us. It has been and continues to be fairly cool – in the low to mid 50s – and slightly overcast. It was just one of those “lay on the couch” Sundays. We got up and checked our email. We heard back from our doctor back home who is an international adoption specialist. We had sent him the updated medical information about Joseph from yesterday and he said he had no concerns so we felt great about that news. We had our usual breakfast at the Chagala and then prepared for our morning visit with Joseph. Our preparation includes the choice of toys and outfits – by default we bring along five diapers so that is a no-brainer. Today Igor was early so we were out the door and on our way by 9:50am. I like to get Igor to laugh, so I greeted him with dobrae ootro (good morning) and because it was Sunday a hearty khristos vaskrese (Christ is risen; usually uttered by the priest here on Easter morning)! I got my laugh. We then picked up Olga on the way to the baby house and she told us that today a photographer would be stopping by to take Joseph’s passport photo! Although we still have a long way to go, this was another sign that we were moving ahead toward our court date and finalizing our adoption of Joseph.

Joseph came to us in one of the outfits we bought for him. This was a size 6 months which actually was a bit short on him so he is progressing. It was not long before the photographer, with lots of gold teeth, arrived and setup for “the shoot”. He had me place Joseph on my lap while Laura called to him so he would look at the camera. After about 5 or 6 shots he was finished and went well. After the shoot we played in the room but in the end we played a bit of kick ball then just hung out and cuddled until our visit was up. We decided not to do anything but go back to the hotel and grab a bite to eat for lunch. While we were waiting in the Chagala Louge for my “beef burger”, we decided to break out the Dominos – wild crazy fun! For those in-the-know we only have a double six set with us but it was perfect for the lounge and the café table. This is also the place we get to watch our new favorite, yet very bizzare music video. It is the new Coldplay video which splices them into an old Linda Dano talk show from the early 90’s highlighting an octogenarian woman and a 40ish man doing a bizarre dance/gymnastic routine in skimpy black leather outfits. I can not begin to describe the how funny and strange this is to watch! Anyway we finished up and got ready for our afternoon visit.

Not too long into our afternoon session with Joseph, Olga went to check if he was going to eat lunch and returned to say it was not time yet but we could take him outside if we wanted. This was great as last week he was not feeling well enough for them to let him out so we jumped at the chance. We did not bring any outdoor wear for him to the baby house so Olga brought us a yellow furry outfit which was too small for him so she added the hat instead of squishing his little head into the elastic banded hood. I have to say he looked a bit like a mini-San Diego chicken but that is my opinion – you decide. He was very interested in being outside and Laura gave him a good tour of the play area. We stayed outside for about 10 minutes but then went back in as it became overcast and a bit windy. After releasing him from his chicken suit bondage, we listened to some Disney music, banged plastic cups and looked out the window. It is usually Laura and Joseph’s daily routine to look out the window and to see what is the same and what has changed from day to day. Although he had been outside, he and I took a seat on the window sill and just hung out listening to the music. It was a perfect Sunday afternoon for the three of us.

Nothing much to report after the baby house on this quiet Sunday. We stopped by the bakery to buy some cakes. I asked Olga to pick two out although not telling her we would be giving them to her and to Igor in a few minutes. While we were there one of the red-hat sales women came out of the back, saw me and started to laugh. In many places in Uralsk, the same people seem to work all the time, every day and this particular woman has waited on me in this bakery many times. Her English is worse than my Russian (which is not saying much) so I expect the laughter was “here we go again” but this time we had Olga to translate! On top of the cakes, I asked for a hot chocolate to take with me. We left the bakery and headed across the street to make a pickup at Ex-Photo. On the way we told Olga we were missing being able to walk around with a cup of coffee and were told that no one does this and so it was odd I was walking around with this cup of hot chocolate…another badge of being an American…oh well. On getting out of the car at the Chagala we left them with the cakes and they were quiet surprised but hopefully they would be happy with Olga’s choices. We will see what they say in the morning. Nothing much left to share about the afternoon and evening. We said good bye to the families who will be leaving Monday morning for Almaty, had a nice dinner at the Chagala and then spoke to our parents before heading to bed. Thanks for reading and keep sending those comments!