Nana and Lucy!!

So I am a big time slacker...Nana arrived on Sunday morning, two hours late (delay in Amsterdamn) but in one piece and boy was I excited to see her!! I made her a special sign and even cried when I saw her...It was so great : )

We hung out on Sunday morning at the apartment, and got her all unpacked and settled. We then took a walk around the area and bought a few grocery's and a few gifts for Nana to bring home.

Nana struggled to not nap on Sunday, she was against the idea and wanted to stay up. Well at dinner (at 4:00) she was nodding off and I thought she wasn't going to make it...She made it until 7:15 and went to bed. She actually slept through until 5:45 which I thought was very good.

Monday was a very busy day. We were picked up at 8:45 by Zhaniya and she took us to three offices to get paper work for Lucy's adoption and for Lucy's Passport. All and all we sat in the car for hours on end, but the day gets better. We thought we were going to the baby house at 3:30 after nap, but Zhaniya decided at 12:00 that we would go. We arrived at the worst possible time for Lucy, nap time. She was ok though, didn't cry and got dressed in her pretty dress and went right to Nana. I think she was shy for about 30 seconds, since that time she has been Nana's new best friend. When she is upset or mad that I asked her to not do touch something, etc. she will run to Nana and literally throw herself into her arms. It's actually quite cute.

Lucy did great in the car, sat on Nana's lap. She didn't seem that out of sorts of funny at all. She even fell alseep in Nana's arms when we got back. As you will see in the pictures, one of Lucy's favorite things to do is pretend that the water bottle is a horse or ride of some sort. It's very funny : )

Right now as I am typing, Nana is chasing Lucy around the internet cafe, and she is running over to the Kazakh woman and wanting them to hold her. I guess she has had enough of the crazy english talk in the apartment.

She has done really well. Yesterday her nap was a disaster, she only slept for 40 minutes. Normally she sleeps for three hours, but she kept herself together and played, took a bath (cried), and had her dinner. She went to bed at 8:30 and believe it or not, slept until 6:45 this morning. I didn't sleep much, I kept waking up thinking I heard her crying, even now I keep thinking I hear a baby crying. I swear it's like I just gave birth, all the same emotions : )

Lucy took two 1.5 hour naps and has been eating great. We hope she likes being out of the baby house, we sure like having her around. Now to get her home!! I still feel very home sick and wish we were leaving. Hopefully we are coming home a week from tomorrow...WOO HOOO

Hopefully we will be free to go out as of tomorrow, and can keep the blog updated and keep on our schedule....It's been a bit crazy chasing around monkey girl (as I like to call her) and also make sure Nana Nancy is comfortable and has everything she could need and want. I feel like a true mother : )

Love to everyone from Lucy, Nana, and Julie...We can't wait to come home!! We miss everyone so much.....

Count down to Nana.....36 hours!

I am at the 36-hour mark and counting...I can't believe Nana will be leaving tonight to come visit me in Kaz and meet Miss Lucy.

I told Lucy today that Nana was coming and she was going to help me bring her home to the apartment. I told her that Mommy will come and visit her one last time tomorrow (bitter sweet), and when we see her on Monday we will have clothes and shoes for her, because that is it!...She is finally busting out for good...WOO HOO

I can't believe this day is finally coming...it's such an exciting time for me, to have my Mother with me in Almaty, and to have Lucy coming to stay with us a day later....what a great 36 hours it will be!!......

Today was a rainy and cold day in Almaty....We played inside...but met some nice people that are on there first trip and getting ready to head home....anyway it's always nice to meet people that speak English....it's not something you come by often around here......

Lucy of course is always fascinated with other people and there toys.....She was crawling on one of the Dad's laps and trying to touch his face...I told him she must be missing her Dad...she has definitely seemed a bit out of sorts this past week, testing Momma with every move she makes....But I stand firm and "no" has become a word that I say quite a bit....hehehehe......

So for all of you out there that thought I would have the quiet mousy child, nothing like me (right?)....you were wrong...I got what I put in for, and in the end a "spirited" little toddler is what I am bringing home who will keep me very busy!...

I hope to update again this weekend, and we will certaintly update the anticipated Nana arrival and meeting of Lucy. Stay tuned...and thanks for following along....

Love, Julie

What a week!

Would you believe it if I told you I was too busy to come to the Internet cafe to download pictures and update the blog? I have managed to be TOO BUSY.....This is a great thing, helps to pass the time....I am down to 2.5 days until my Mother arrives...I can't believe it!! I am SO excited!!.........

Sunday was a not so fun day....I decided to sleep late, read, and then take the bus up to the Ram Mall (about 4 miles from my apartment). Figures all went too smoothly and I was out the door, on the bus in seconds and at the mall 15 minutes later. I thought I would look in the stores and blow off some time...Bad idea...these stores are so high end, and so highly staffed that they stare at you, and follow you around as if you are either a. going to steal, or b. they wan the sale! Not sure, but either way it didn't make looking around much fun....I hit the Ram store and bought a $15 American book for $26, but it was well worth the splurge, considering I have read about 4 books in a week. The weather hasn't been great, so it's hard to spend any time outside. After my Ram store shopping I decided to walk home.....well I made it about 1/2 and it started to rain. I realized I was at a bus stop at this point, and once again the bus was there waiting for me. So I jumped on and went home. This sounds like it took a while, right? Try 1.5 hours.....I was crushed when I got home and realized this....I read some more, made some dinner and watched 3 episodes of Grey's Anatomy. That was the highlight of the week, the treat I had been saving. I am such a looser, please someone remind me of that...HA HA

Monday I went and visited Lucy in the afternoon....Once again not great weather, but she is a trooper and always wants to be outside, so I took her out and we hung on one of the porches with a cover....she of course wanted to be down on the dirt running around....we had a bit of a power struggle...which seems to be the trend these days.....is an 18 month thing?....Not really sure......

Tuesday I visited in the morning, what a visit!!...I got to see the baby house go swimming in there pool (as you will see in the pictures, which do it no justice, the pool is not something that would even be up to code at home)....It was so great!!...First the older children went in, and they were splashing and screaming and having so much fun (as you will see the children go in naked..hehehe)...then the younger joined in, and before I knew it Lucy's group was going in. Lucy at first just sat with me and we watched, and took a few pictures. Before long she was reaching for her caregiver and wanted in on the pool fun. She was so funny, stripped down naked and in the pool...they dunked her and splashed her, and she didn't seem bothered at all....Hopefully this means good things to come with pools and the beach......

After the visit I went to lunch at the Hyatt with Joseph and Patricia and we headed to the Almaty art museum. It was a great diversion for the afternoon....The Hyatt is fantastic in every way and the food was great...the museum was interesting, but you know me...not much of a museum goer.....

Wednesday was an impossible picture-taking day with Lucy. She was on the move!! She is very determined to take the steps alone, to walk alone and to do just about everything on her own. If you try to hold her hand, she pulls it away and screams. We have some work to do on the screaming end of things, but all and all I think she is feeling more confident on her feet and wanting to explore....She sure keeps Momma busy during the visits.....and like clock work at 11 she lost it and was ready for a nap...I took her for a stroll around the grounds and then brought her in at 11:30 for lunch....she was trying to escape out the door, she wasn't ready to go back to her group...her caregiver grabbed her and for the first time she reached for me...I hope we are making some progress....little does Lucy know she only has a few more days in the baby house, and she will be in the apartment with Nana and I....WOO HOO

After the baby house we headed to the green market to but a stroller...Joseph, Patricia and Asila came along and we bought a nice stroller (nice enough) for about $35 US and a fan for the bedroom....I got a life time warrantee on the fan, just in case we have any issues : )

I am visiting Lucy this afternoon, so I will likely update today's pictures and news tomorrow, depending on the time.....and then the weekend is here again!!...HOORAY for the week flying by.......

Sorry for the long update...just trying to back track a bit......

Love, Julie and Lucy

It's the weekend!!

Hello,
I hope everyone had a great week, and a great weekend to come : ) Yesterday I went in the afternoon to the baby house, so I was not able to update the blog or download the pictures. Today was my morning visit with Lucy, she was in good spirits when I arrived. For the first time she actually cried and reached for me when he caregiver was trying to bring her in to change her clothes. I followed along, and quickly realized it wasn’t me she was reaching for, it was the backpack that she knows is loaded with snacks and toys. She is one smart cookie!!

The weather was a bit iffy this morning, so we started up stairs in the music room. Lucy is able to walk around and explore more when we are in doors, because we avoid the dirt and concrete. About half way through our visit she was standing by the door, and pointing at the window crying. I asked if she wanted to go outside? She didn’t answer, but came right over to put her shoes on. She loves being outside! We played with Anora (Joseph and Patricia’s daughter) for a bit, she stole a few bites of yogurt from Joseph again (poor Anora) and of course she wanted to sit with Joseph and be held by him. Lucy is quite the flirt : )

You will see in the pictures her plastic spoon still wins as her favorite thing to play with...Go figure!

I brought her in for lunch around noon, and headed back to the apartment. I must say getting through this weekend will be my biggest challenge. The weather is not so great for being outdoors, and I’m not quite sure what I will do with an ENTIRE day tomorrow. I of course don’t have the entertainment of my daily instant message sessions with Amy and Jen as I do during the weeknights. I saved three episodes of Grey’s Anatomy for tomorrow, knowing that Sunday is my longest day. I of course am reading my books WAY to fast, and know I will be done long before the week is out. I am trying to pace myself……

I might take the bus to the Ram Mall tomorrow morning. Jon and I took this bus before to meet our friends and it’s very easy. I figured I could walk around the mall if it’s raining and blow of a few hours. If it’s not raining I would like to walk around the city for a few hours…..

It finally cooled off today, I believe it’s only in the 80’s which is great compared to the weather we had the past three days….well over a 100 each day…YIKES……

Enjoy the weekend everyone…we miss you and can’t wait to see you on home turf….

Love, Julie and Lucy

7/18/07 and 7/19/07

Greetings from Sunny HOT Almaty! It’s been blazing the past few days. Thankfully my apartment is up on the 5th floor and I do tend to get some type of breeze, if you want to call it that, during the day : ) I save the AC for night, it looks old and pretty beat up. I want to keep that champ going for the remainder of the stay.

Yesterday my visit got changed last minute from morning to later in the afternoon, so I didn’t have time to come to the internet café. Today I will play catch up on both days.

Wednesday Lucy was in great spirits, as she usually is in the afternoon. You will see in the pictures, she got a kick out of sitting independently on the bench on the porch to eat her snack. She would throw her arm up on the railing or throw her leg up on the bench and crack up. She is such a little ham! We will surely have our hands full when she is home. She keeps Momma on her feet, chasing after her, and trying to save her from a face plant in the dirt, or worse on the concrete. We can’t wait for parks, and grass, and walks around the lake…all the things I imagined we would do when she got home. We are counting down the days : )

Today she was a little cheery, she was a little “naughty” as Asila my translator called her. She wanted her snack the second I arrived, and of course I couldn’t supply it fast enough so she had a fit. After she ate, she was better, but then about 20 minutes before our visit was over she lost it. Through herself down on the porch and screamed for 10 minutes. I tried to wait it out, but it’s not something you want to do when you have five caregivers staring at you. I picked her up, offered her a pacifier and she was out like a like in five seconds. In the end she isn’t naughty, she just gets very tired in the morning, especially close to lunch time.

I am still surviving, can you believe it’s day 4 already (it feels like day 40…HAHA)? I have challenging moments, but all and all it’s going just fine. I may have already told you, and forgive me if I’m repeating myself, but I camp out in the living room on the air mattress now. It’s my new favorite safe haven for sleep and hanging out. I feel like I’m back at the Cirino’s for one of my thousand sleepovers (well we had a bunk or a trundle, but you get the picture). I have my nightly routine of chatting on IM with whoever is on, usually Amy and Jen, and then I watch an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, read, and go to sleep. Such an exciting life I am living over here! Zhaniya keeps reminding me to not go out late at night, I reassure her that I’m not going any were other then my air matress.

I hope everyone is having a great week, Lucy sends her love and I do too!

Julie and Lucy

Hello Everyone,
Day 2 of being alone and I'm still alive! HA HA

Things are going just fine over here, the day actually went by nice and fast and now it's almost time to make myself some dinner.

Lucy was great this morning and I managed to take more pictures today then yesterday. You will see I got a sneak peak at lunch at the baby house. I have seen snack, but never lunch. I believe Lucy was eating some type of veggie soup, then they had some noodle, beef and beet mixture. The caregivers were excited to show me she can feed herself. Not sure how much got into her mouth, and I might have been more horrified then excited. I am very happy the caregivers take pride in there jobs and they do care about Lucy. After Lucy was done eating she got down from the table, waved bye to me, and headed to the bathroom for her potty visit. It was so funny to see.

Ok that's all for today, I am running out of time at the internet cafe, and I need to get a few grocery's before I head back to the apartment.

I hope everyone is doing well, I am missing my emails from home. I know everyone is busy, but if you can drop me a line : )

Lots of love, Julie and Lucy

First day alone!!.......

Hello,
This is my first post since being VERY sick. I got sick on Saturday night, and was sick all day on Sunday. I am convinced I got my first stomach bug from Lucy, but of course my coordinator wouldn’t hear of that, and insisted it must have been from the food I was eating (not sure that pasta with sauce, or mac and cheese can give you food poisoning?).

Our plans on Saturday evening changed, and we did not end up going out to dinner with friends. Probably for the best, given the circumstances later that night. Sunday we did not make it to our translators house for the traditional Kazakh meal of horsemeat and I found out today, I missed out on the fermented camels and horse milk to drink. Jon was sorry I was sick, but thanked me for getting him out of that dreaded meal. Our translator is very kind and we do feel badly that we did not get to meet her family.

Today is a better day (health wise) but also a not so good day. Jon left this morning at 5:30 to head home. I went back to bed and woke up and got ready for my morning baby house visit. I will now be going in the morning, the coordinator has lots of paper work to do and can get more done in the afternoons. I am fine with the change, as now I will be able to go to the Internet café in the afternoon and not have to worry about getting back from the baby house too late. Lucy was good today, she definitely was looking around and I think wondering, “hey were is my Daddy”. It was hard to chase her around, try to take pictures and keep track of all her toys. I guess this is what Motherhood really feels like. I guess my staying alone for two weeks is a good example of what you will do for your child. I never imagined I would do something like this, but yet it’s being done with out much choice. In the end I will survive, right? HA HA

Lucy has a nice new scrape on her nose and upper lip (I was told a child scratched her, but it looks like she fell). This new scrape will show up nicely on her passport photo that she had taken this morning (Oh well, she won’t be leaving the country any time soon). I tried to sneak a picture of the passport photo, but I couldn’t seem to balance Lucy, the camera and find a good spot to lay out the pictures. I decided that the 6 or so pictures I did take today were good enough for day one : )

Have I mentioned how amazing Jon really is? He did such a fantastic job of getting everything ready for me (everything I could have possibly needed and more) and also giving me pep talks on how it’s only 14 days, 12 if you count today and the day my mother arrives : ) I am counting down the days Nana, I can’t wait for you to get over here! No doubt this two weeks will be interesting, and challenging. I was making a list of “things to do” earlier today, and I will probably run out of options around 4:00 p.m each day, and then count down the minutes until I can log onto AOL instant messenger around 7:00 p.m and find my sister just arriving at work, or possibly Jen since she is free this week. I am counting on you girls as my evening entertainment : )

That’s all for now, Happy Monday to all!! Julie

Happy Saturday : )

Hello Everyone,
We hope your enjoying the weekend : ) We visited with Lucy this morning, and she seems to be feeling better. It’s hard to tell when we visit in the morning, she always seems so tired and cranky. I can’t wait to get her on a better nap schedule when she is home. She clearly needs more sleep then she is getting at the baby house.

Lucy was running around on the porch today with her friends Ali and Nurlan. She is getting very fast on her feet, especially with her new shoes. Nurlan's sister had sunglasses and Lucy decided to try them on today, so funny!!

We gave her applesauce and water today, well and of course a few cookies. She loves her cookies : ) She seemed fine after she ate, although she was looking for more. Monday I will go back to bringing her banana, but no more yogurt (for the time being).

You will also see that she is still opposed to putting anything down to use her hands. She was trying to take a sip of her water and insisted on leaning over and picking the cup up with her mouth. Lucy loves to be double fisted and will utilize any other body part to avoid dropping her spoon or cookie. She cracks us up!!!

Today was Daddy’s last visit with Lucy at the baby house : ( Of course she was sound asleep in the stroller for half our visit. But he did get a few good hugs and kisses. We will miss Daddy when he is at home, but he is excited to get everything in order at home (those who know us know what a task that will be…HA HA) and ready for Miss Lucy’s arrival.

Last night it was sunny and nice and suddenly it was pouring rain. Jon spotted the most amazing rainbow. He said it must have been for Lucy’s special day. It was so bright and beautiful…Jon got a few pictures of it…

Tonight we are meeting Martha and Ricardo (Nurlan’s parents from Italy) and there daughter Beatrice, with Rosemarie and her Mom. We are having dinner at a real Italian restaurant that Ricardo found out about. The owners are from Italy. Hopefully it’s good food : )

Tomorrow we are going to out translator’s house for a traditional Kazakh meal. She is preparing Horse meat, with noodles, potatoes and onions. As you can imagine I am as nervous as all hell already, there is NO chance I will eat anything. I know we should try it, but I’m not sure I can do it. We are bringing dessert and Joseph and Patricia the couple from France are joining us with Zhaniya. They are bringing the wine. Maybe I can be a wine and dessert girl : ) Jon will be forced into trying it, he will have little choice. Zhaniya will ask him if he wants something, he will say “no thank you” and she will give it to him anyway. Wish us luck!!

No Lucy pics tomorrow, but maybe we will try to take some pictures tonight and tomorrow of our Italian dinner and Kazakh dinner and visit to our translators house. She is such a kind person; we are her first family that she has had over. We feel lucky to be invited and meet her family!

Have a great weekend, we miss everyone…….Julie, Jon and Lucy

July 11, 12, and 13 (woops, we've been a little slow)

Greetings,
Sorry I am catching up on the last three days. We had friends in town on Wednesday evening and thought we would be meeting for dinner so we stayed home after our visit with Lucy. Come to find out there flight came in much later then expected, so we spent most of the day/evening with them on Thursday.

Now for some Lucy news. For one, although I was going to post about Wednesday and Thursday first, and wait for Friday. I can't wait.....We went to court, and.......WE ARE LUCY'S PARENTS!!!...WOO HOOO....Court was a total breeze, we were asked a few very basic questions by the judge, the prosecutor asked no questions, just said he agrees with the judge and in the end we were in and out in about 15 minutes. Actually it was such a breeze that the judge was sending text messages on her cell phone!! Ok so I might have been a little annoyed about all these new changes in policy and cracking down in Almaty when the judge is using her cell during our hearing, but it doesn't really matter now...We did it, FINALLY!

We went right to the baby house after court, and of course were not prepared (we didn't know we would be going right after) so we had no baby bag, toys or camera...We spent about an hour with Lucy, who by the way was sick yesterday....and still seeming under the weather....she just laid on me and slept for most of the hour....poor baby.....Lucy will be staying in the baby house for 15 more days, then she will come and live in the apartment with Nana and I for a week or so.....Nana will get one or two Lucy free nights to catch up on sleep, and then Lucy is with us for the duration....I can't wait!!...I can't believe this is almost over....WOO HOO

So back to the middle of the week. Wednesday was a great visit; Lucy was playful and enjoyed her yellow spoon. You will see the spoon in her mouth, under her chin and always in her hand. She decided that's her new favorite thing we bring with us. If she needs to use her hands, it goes into her mouth, if she needs to use her mouth she tucks it under her chin. It was hilarious to watch......We knew she was off yesterday when she wasn't interested in her spoon or snack......

She was very quiet and was more or less just sitting with Jon or I. We were doing court prep on the deck at the baby house and Lucy just seemed off. We offered her a banana and she took a bite or two and then wanted nothing to do with it....We then gave her a biscuit and she tossed it on the ground....but she did point to the bag that has the yogurt in it, so we thought she wanted it...she ate it all up, no problem...and then about 20 minutes later she was sitting with her Dad on the swing (not swinging mind you) and she rested her head on his chest and then BLAH she threw up all over Jon and all over self. Poor Lucy, and poor Jon. Jon was officially christened into father hood yesterday. I of course quickly scooped Lucy up and brought her in side....I was scolded for giving her "cold" yogurt and that was definitely the cause of her being sick....whatever...I just bite my tongue...Now today I was told twice, after being told yesterday three times that I am not allowed to give her yogurt or anything cold. Cold food and drink can cause babies to vomit...I guess I learn something new every day : ) Maybe you are learning something new as well : )

As I mentioned above, she was still off today, running a low-grade fever and they said her throat was a little red. They gave her some "pill" crushed up and mixed with water...it sounds like a Tylenol type item for her fever and any pain. They might put her on an antibiotic, but I asked them to wait and see how she is tomorrow. Her fever wasn't that high and her symptoms don't seem to be that obvious yet. We will see how she is tomorrow and meet with the doctor again.

After our visit we were taken out to lunch with Zhaniya, and Asila....they took us to a Uzbek restaurant called the "Cigar Club"...I asked if people smoke cigars and they looked me like I had ten heads...I guess it's just a name....So we branched out a little more with the food, but honestly I can't report that we have found anything that we LOVE. I am very happy with my easy mac and grilled cheese sandwiches. I am such a simpleton....I guess Jon is too!!.... : )

Our friends Anthony, Liz and Paul are gone as of this morning. Liz works at NEMC with me. We found each other through our social worker. Get this, we live in the same town, work at the same hospital (and mind you she would have been my boss if I had started 2 months earlier in Dermatology), used he same social worker and adoption agency and both adopted little girls from Kazakhstan. They adopted from Petro, and there daughter is being escorted the middle of the next month. Lucy has her first Kazakh friend right up the street!...We are very excited to hopefully keep the girls close and see each other often. We enjoyed our time with them when they were here for the day.......

Ok that's all for now...I am long and winded as you can see today, but tomorrow we will get back on track with daily posts and pictures vs. a trio : )

A special Thank you to Ida for being so patient with me and being so helpful this first week. We have hit a few bumps and she always goes above and beyond to iron them out and make things right. In the end she wants me stress free and enjoying my Lucy. I can't say that other agencies would support their clients as she does. Thank you Ida : )

Sorry we are a day late......

We will keep this post short and sweet and post lots of pictures of Lucy. We visited on Monday and Today. She is doing great, and only gave me a stare down for about 30 seconds when I first arrived to get her from her group. We took her outside, gave her yogurt and banana and she was right back to her old self. Like we never left...it was such a great feeling to know going home didn't impact her in a negative way with her wonderful progress with Jon and I.

She is walking away, but a little unstead on her feet. Not to mention the hard surfaces in the baby house playground, so we usually try to hold her hand. Lucy is a girl on a mission and I am confident will keep Jon and I off the couch from this day forward : )

Enjoy......