Sofia's First Smile for Us

As has been the case in the last 3 days, we can't wait to get to the Baby House and smother our baby with kisses and hugs. Today was no exception, and we had a great day with her. She was very awake, and ready to play. Alex held her a few times, and Dominique spent some time squeezing her too. Suddenly, there it was - the precious smile. We hadn't seen one of those full-blown smiles yet, so this was priceless. When it was time for her to go, it was tough to let her go. But there is tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after, and the day after. . .

Meanwhile, we walk around and explore the town of Kostanai, and have lunch with Sandy and Helen. They are from Louisiana, and are the nicest people. Besides them, we have also met 3 other couples who are staying at our hotel and who are in the last stages of their adoption process. Two of the couples are from the USA and one is from Ireland. All lovely people!! Today they had their meeting with the judge and all were approved in their adoption of their children. It was very stressful for them (there are cases of people being refused the right to adopt, even after spending 3 weeks here bonding with the child!), but they all did well and went out celebrating tonight. I do not look forward to that day in about 2 weeks!!

All of us are still exhausted, and continue to wake up at night. Mike and I can't wait for the night when we and the children sleep until 6 am, without waking up countless times. Mr. Sandman, where are you when we need you???!!. . .

Thanks to all of you for posting comments and for emailing --- it's so nice to know we are thought about, plus it's fun reading the comments. The kids really enjoy that as well!
Tata for now. . . and good night.

Our First Visit with Sofia!!!!

Rudniy is a small mining town outside of Kostanai, about 40 minutes away by van on a bumpy road. As soon as we arrived at the Baby House (as the orphanages are called in Kazakhstan), we were ushered into a playroom to meet our babies. Sofia was sitting on the floor and playing with a caregiver, and immediately noticed the commotion of 6 strangers walking into the room - the four of us, plus Sandy and her mother Helen.

Having waited for this moment for nearly 3 1/2 years, Diva instinctively went straight to Sofia and within minutes had her in her arms. Soon after the caregiver left and Sofia was instantly comfortable with her new mommy.

Meanwhile, since Mike had a cold, he stayed a few feet away and maintained camera duty, but Alex immediately demanded his "turn to hold the baby", while Dominique became enthralled with playing with Sandy's baby Karina. Not wanting to let go so quickly of that special moment, Diva spent the next 15 minutes cuddling Sofia, and Sofia spent the next 15 minutes administering the "vice grip" around Diva's neck - a perfect match!! After 6 or 7 requests, Alex finally got his turn by sitting on a chair and holding Sofia on his lap. He was all smiles, ear to ear, and immediately gave her kisses on her cheeks. The moment didn't last long, however, as Sofia decided she wanted to be back in Diva's arms. Mike's turn followed, and Sofia became mesmerized by her first sight of a man's beard. She carefully and methodically touched and studied his face, which lasted about 10 happy minutes. Later, back in Diva's arms, and with a little rocking and a 'secret' Brazilian lullaby she was fast asleep for the remainder of the visit. Alex turned to Diva and said "she is so perfect", with a giant smile. And so she is!. . .

Later that day, after lunch at our favorite Italian restaurant Dolce Vita, Alex told her he missed Sofia and couldn't wait for our next visit. Our feelings exactly!!. . .

The World Travelers Finally Arrive Safely. . . and Then Crash and Burn!!!. . .

First there was the 9 1/2-hour red-eye trip to Amsterdam in which none of us slept more than 3 hours, followed by a layover of 6 hours which consisted of a two-hour power nap in a comfy 'napping' area in the airport where Diva, Mike and Dominique slept while tireless Alex enjoyed his new Game Boy. Then onto another 7-hour red-eye flight from Amsterdam to Almaty, in which we slept only a couple of hours and arrived at 5 a.m.!!

Upon our arrival we met our lovely traveling companions, Helen and Sandy who are also adopting from Rudniy, and we acquainted ourselves for 7 1/2 hours in the airport cafe. We then met our coordinator, Baha, who brought fruit and pastries for all to enjoy. Alex and Dominique were great!!! Sleepless flights, long layovers, lengthy waits and still they have been our perfect little angels, with the help of some handy electronics of course. We then scrambled for seats on a very old, Soviet-era propeller plane for an extremely hot & humid (easily 100 degrees inside the plane!), 4-hour flight to Kostanai, our final destination. Upon our arrival there, Mike bravely took a picture of our old, beat-up airplane and promptly got cussed-out (twice) in Russian by our crazy bus driver whom we think must have been trying to protect decades-old KGB secrets! And strangely enough, we met a fellow American that used to work for Mike's company and who was on his way to adopt his 7th (!!) child from an even more remote location eight more hours away by train. And we thought our trip was tough!

An old van then took our tired corpses to our hotel, the "Tselinnaya" in the heart of Kostanai, where we were hoping to savor the glory of REM sleep. We all literally crashed and burned upon hitting our beds, but it was not meant to be blissful for long. The kids woke up at 2 a.m. and immediately began to play (still on California time!) until Diva intervened by sending Alex to sleep in the "snoring room" with Mike and then adeptly quieted Dominique down with a pile of books and a reading light which worked perfectly until around 6 a.m. After a quick ham & eggs breakfast with our traveling companions and coordinator it was finally time to go to the baby house in Rudniy!! But, sorry, this story is for the following posting. . .

Pheww!! We are finally off to Kazakhstan!

After a few very stressful days in which Mike caught a bronchial cold, it was finally confirmed to us today that all the paperwork expected at the Kazakh Consulate in D.C. has been received, our Kazakh passports and visas are on their way to us, and our adoption agency called us to let us know we will definitely leave this Friday, at 6 pm, on our much-awaited trip. Hooray!!!! The kids are very excited, and they are jumping for joy and thinking about their new sister Sofia. They are very much wanting to play with her. For now, here is a photo of Alex and Dominique as they wait patiently for their little sister. . .

This is it for now, as we must finish our packing. Thanks for all the wonderful support we have received (Judy, thanks for the adorable card you sent us! The kids loved it!). The next posting will come from Kazakhstan. We won't arrive until Sunday night, so hopefully by Monday or Tuesday we will be settled in and ready to post on this blog. We will be exhausted because K'stan is about 12 hours ahead, but we will survive. Keep in touch!. . .

Talk About Short Notice!!

Two days ago we found out we are leaving next Friday, May 26th, for Kazakhstan. A week from today my husband and I and our two children Alex and Dominique will be on our way to Kazakhstan, a 32-hour trip, for the second time in less than two months --hard to believe. Usually we get more notice than this, but we are not so lucky this time around. We have to renew our Police Clearance Letters, our medical exams, employment letters, our children's medical exams, etc. etc. The list doesn't end, as most people in this situation know. These documents must be renewed EVERY three months, without fail. Then they must be sent via special messenger to Sacramento's Secretary of State Office, where these documents will be authenticated and apostilled. HUHH??? What is THAT??!! Yeap, our question exactly.

Once they are back from Sacramento, copies are sent to our Agency, Adoption Options, Inc. in San Diego, and we are good to go. Meanwhile I'm packing for four people for a stay of almost 25 days. And how do you keep two children, 7 and 8-years old, occupied for almost a month in a country with different customs, expectations and norms?? They will be indoors a lot. Yes, much consideration has taken place over this matter, and besides the normal books, games, crafts and crayons, small toys, and a small DVD for watching some of the Disney 'stuff', I BROKE DOWN TODAY!! And I bought each of the kids an adorable Game Boy -- so much for watching how much time they will spend in front of the teeny weeny screen watching a DVD, and so much for using two thumbs on a continuous basis for hours on end on an even smaller screen! But, what's one to do unless one is not interested in keeping his/her sanity?? Ok, so sue me!!!

Baby Sofia looks healthy, very healthy, even by American standards. She is almost 1-year old and her head measurements as well as general growth are excellent - she is on the 50% scale overall, and higher in length. Of course we will confirm this when we arrive. We are very excited to meet this wonderful and precious human being, and are counting the days!

We have started on this journey almost three years ago, and it's been a long and winding road. Follow us on this wonderful and exciting trip via this site.

More to come. . . .