More Later

Hello!

We had a great time with Aidai today. We played in the field with the ball we have as both as soccer ball and basketball. She had on a frilly dress, the same one as yesterday, and we had her shootin hoops in it =) She is going to be a princess tomboy for sure!

Anyway, we will upload photos later or tomorrow. We are going to play a computer game for a bit or watch a movie. We didn't want our loyal readers (mainly our parents) to think we had gone MIA and get worried.

Elizabeth

Blog Comments

Just a quick note, we totally read all of your comments so please keep them coming. It has been great to see people become involved on here and by emailing us their thoughts. Some of you we know very well, some of you are acquaintances and some are relative strangers but we love the support from each and every one of you. Thank you so much for sharing this journey with us. We are going to turn this blog into a book with the entries plus added photos and text as well. We will definitely use the comments in the book, so again, keep them coming!

Friday Update

Hi all,

Well this is the second post of the day. I wanted to tell you about all the exciting little things we do and see together because the past couple of days I have been focused on other things and haven't shared all the good tidbits!

The orphanage had a celebration of Children's Protection Day today. I guess it is a holiday in honor of children. The kids put on performances and watched a puppet show and danced. We took bananas which everyone seemed to enjoy, Aidai included of course. The only thing we understood was the chicken dance! Aidai didn't follow along too well but the other kids were all a few years older and she was distracted by us being there. Plus, I'm beginning to think her vision is really limiting her. Sometimes when we get to far away I don't think she can see us very well or maybe she is seeing double because of the crossed eye. We'll get it looked at once we get her home because I really think that will help with her learning and walking.

We found a playground and pretended to drive a car with the plastic steering wheel there. I'll have to take pictures of the playground, it is really spiffy! Aidai and I ventured up onto the structure but she realized at one point how high she was and got scared so we retreated down a couple steps and she was fine. I wonder if she's ever been up that high before, all the playthings at the orphanage are shorter. Our goal is to get her down the slide before we go home!

We passed some trash today, yes I said passed. She looked at it and we said "nyet" (no) and she just kept going. Not one piece of trash was touched all day! I think that is cool because she quickly learned to listen to us and that she doesn't need to grab everything she sees and claim it.

Another thing we discovered, yesterday actually, is that our litttle princess can spit like a professional baseball player. I have no idea who taught her but we were shocked. She thinks it is hilarious so we are going to have to work on that piece of her manners!

Elizabeth

Thoughts and more pictures

I found this quote and thought that it was most appropriate for how I am feeling right now.


"Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain." ~Author Unknown


In this land of mountains we are certainly being faced with many many many (I could go on) pebbles which frustrate us and hurt us deeply and almost break our spirit.


However, there is also the quote:


"A smile from a child is packaged sunshine and rainbows." - Author Unknown

Day of frustration and some shining moments

So we woke up today and everything just started out badly. Our hotel suddenly decided that they couldn't exchange money for us even though they have been exchanging since Sunday. However, if you buy something worth about $.50 and pay with a $50 bill, they will give the change in local currency. Whatever! From now on we will exchange at the bank down the street.

We were then advised against doing the charity work that we were SOOOOOOOOO excited about. Now I want to say, our agency, KTA has been wonderful through this entire process and continues to be. Those of you that are hoping to connect with people working here, I suggest not making plans to do any mission or charity work without checking with your agency first. This issue, I feel, also has nothing to do with the people who are volunteering or the quality of things they are doing. Enough said on that for now.

We've also had some miscommunications which I know are totally normal, but are still frustrating. Everyone waiting to travel, just be prepared that just like lines cross in the US, they definitely cross over thousands of miles and multiple languages.

Now for the bright spot, Aidai was magnificent at the park that they let us take her to. Deirdre, thanks for the idea about the ball, we have a soccer star in the making. Aidai hasn't been interested in playing with much with us. She likes us to play with her, but not with the items we give her. She just wants to walk around and hold everything. Today she had a blast playing with the ball we gave her. The three of us were rolling it back and forth and bouncing it (she tried really hard) and she is great at kicking! We had a great time and she even shared a banana with us! This is the first time she hasn't just grabbed the entire item or gotten mad when we wouldn't give it to her. Instead she let me pull pieces of banana off and give them to her. I would eat some and Bill would eat some and she even offered some of what I gave her to Bill. So we think, definitely a breakthrough day.

This afternoon we did a walking tour of the city, we still have a bit more on the tour map we have. We went to the store and got fruit for the Children's Protection Day celebration which the orphanage is having tomorrow. Tomorrow will be our first time at the orphanage without out interpreter but I think we have it down pretty well, go in and hang out with Aidai =)

Elizabeth

I got the go ahead to post Aidai pictures!

Pictures from our first few days with Aidai (prounounced I-Day)

3rd Post of the day!

I am so on a roll! Actually, just have time to kill. Doing nothing results in immediate exhaustion setting in so we try to stay busy. We really aren't tired but it's so hard to not sleep a lot when you have nothing pressing to handle after 1pm.


So just another update, this one is basically pictures of our hotel room. I thought people might be curious, especially those who haven't traveled yet. We are at Silk Road Lodge in Bishkek, in a suite because it is all they had! Definitely worth the extra $$ cause the other rooms are tiny for a 2 week stay with all after dark hours spent inside.


We've met some Americans here, at the supermarket just about everyday. They have helped us find things and I think all of us are happy to find other English speaking folks around. Some people do speak a little English here and there but we haven't found many people with English as their first language. We've been buying things and bringing them to our hotel to save money. We have a fridge and a coffee pot type thing that boils water. We found Ramen type noodles which are yummy. We also have been eating ham sandwiches, PB & J, and tuna as well. We ventured into the bakery at the market and found all sorts of good pastries and breads.


We also picked up souvenirs. I got a pair of nifty Kyrg slippers, Bill got a hat. We also grabbed a couple of books, keychains and a flag.


Now onto the pictures!

Blog/Skype Madness Area

Living area

"Kitchen"

Bathroom

Bedroom

Bedroom looking towards living room

A peek at some of the medicines we brought

Front view of Bill's hat

Top view of Bill's hat

My Kyrg slippers

Pictures from Bishkek

Kyrgyzstan "White House"

Forklift driving backward on busy road

Kyrgyzstan Bus - these are everywhere

Statue near our hotel

Statue in Central Square

These tea/water/juice stands are on every corner

Soldiers standing guard in Central Square

Kyrgyzstan Historical Museum in Bishkek

Daily update

Hello everyone!!

Well today was another good day in Kyrgyzstan. We once again went to the orphanage but this time it took longer. We got stuck in an unbelievable traffic jam. Way worse that LA, NYC and Houston combined! We didn't move for quite awhile and then the car overheated and so the driver of our car, Victor, and the driver of the car next to us, jumped out and pushed the guy out of the way. This was all at an intersection where there were people going in the totally wrong directions in what I would say was the wrong lanes but there aren't any lines in the road so who cares! Once we got out from behind the dead car our driver flew around a bunch of people just to have a policeman jump out in fron of us and tell us to back up and let someone cross. So we needed to go straight but our driver took a right so I thought we were going to go around the block. Oh no, we just went right to make a u-turn in the middle of the road and go back towards the intersection and make a right turn. It was actually alot of fun =)

So we got to the orphanage and A was participating in a little concert that the kids put on. She had maracas, another kid had a guitar and then a man was playing the accordian. It was so cute. When we came in the gates she came running over to us and we managed to kinda get her back into the show but she was pretty distracted. They were doing the chicken dance with the kids, you know the one with the arm/hand/body movements, she was so funny. We got video of her trying to do the dance.

So then we just hung out for awhile. She took a puzzle we showed her to one of the caregivers but then freaked out when the little kids in her group got any of our attention. She would flail at them and want them away from her Mama and Papa. She doesn't understand how to play with toys, she just takes them and walks around cause she doesn't want to let them go.

After we hung out with her we were able to meet with the director/lead physician and she answered our questions.

We learned the following about her:

She was 1.8kg at birth which is 4 pounds! She was a tiny little thing! She was premature, her lungs didn't work right away, they described it as her lungs being closed. The birth was natural and she spent 3 1/2 months at the hospital and then went to the orphanage.

She was named by someone at the baby hospital and her name means Like Moon. Her records don't say why she was placed for adoption but most likely it was because of poverty and her problems at birth. Her birth mother was 24 when she was born and it was her first pregnancy. We have her birth mother's name and place of birth but we will keep that information within the family. She has been healthy although she did have pnuemonia twice before her 1st birthday. They have taken really good care of her, she is tall for her age and a month ago weighed 16kg or 35.2 pounds! They will take height and weight measurements on Friday and they said we can trace her foot so we can figure out a shoe size.

Noone came to visit her from her family and neither did any other prospective parents. She was late with walking, she was almost 3, but she has done very wel developmentally in the past year. She is eager to learn and likes puzzles and tasks. Her leg, she is diagnosed with CP in one leg, is getting stronger and stronger. One eye has strabismus (crossed) which we will need to have looked at ASAP when we get home so she can see better which will result in learning easier. They have taken good care of her leg, they have given her over 20 different courses of treatment in the form of medicines, massages, and physical therapy. They said swimming would be great for her.

They basically gave us the go ahead to teach her boundaries. They indicated that she can be stubborn and she knows how to behave but that when parents come suddenly kids forget everything to see what they can get away with.

The most emotional part of the day was when they reiterated again just how much she wanted a family. She would run towards parents who arrived hoping they were hers and then would be upset when they were for someone else. I guess eventually she just stopped running for the gate but never stopped wanting a Mama and Papa. Today, when we came in, she got to run to the gate and be scooped up by her waiting parents.

Elizabeth

Day 3 in Kyrg

Hello All!

Today we went pack to the orphanage and were able to take A to the park. Before we went we put a new pair of clothes on her. She had red pants and a flowered blue and red short sleeve shirt. It's weird because the pants were 3T and stayed on but weren't tight at all and the shirt was a 4T but had another thin shirt under it. So I'm thinking maybe we will have to get both 3T and 4T clothes. Tomorrow I am going to ask for new measurements on her cause the last ones we have are a year old.

Okay so we changed her clothes and then took the car to the park. She seemed to like the car, she looked around at everything! The park was an interesting place, it had what I think is a memorial from 1941, alot of names on it. The park was pretty large so we just kind of wandered around it. A was in a good mood overall but she threw a few toddler fits. I tell you what, she isn't wasting any time breaking us in. We have decided not to bring her any food treats because like many kids who live in orphanages, she gets possessive and doesn't know when to stop eating. The park was neat cause we were able to walk around with her and had her giggling like crazy. She likes riding on Bill's shoulders and she likes when we "chase" her. It wasn't good because there was trash all over in the form of candy wrappers and such. A wanted to clean up every piece of trash and was not happy when we wouldn't let her. I'm not sure what all that is about, maybe possessive of the things or just someone who wants to be really neat. Whatever! Luckily she is able to calm herself fairly quickly and we are setting boundaries. It's tough cause we of course want her to just be happy all the time but it wouldn't be right for her to get away with everything with us here and then have boundaries at home. Even with those few moments I think she had a wonderful day, lots of smiles and giggles.

I really felt good about today. I am soooooo glad we are adopting a toddler because it is really possible to fall in love with her as a person instead of just her as my child. Bill was enamored from the first picture and has been very emotional about meeting her and everything. I have been more reserved, I think because I was so nervous that I wouldn't do the right thing or that she wouldn't like us. I was actually starting to worry because even though I knew all these wonderful emotions were there, I was holding back. Well, today everything changed for me. I don't know if it was because I got to dress her or because of calming her and also making her so happy or what, but I am just so excited to have her as my daughter and bring her home. I felt like I really connected with her as a person instead of just as an abstract comment. Don't get me wrong, yesterday was great, but today she wasn't just taking us around and showing us off, she was much more interactive with us.

Bill and I worked well together today as parents which was great! She literally will come running into my arms saying Mama, it is the most awesome thing. She of course adores her Papa as well. He is so good with making her laugh, I'm glad I have him to learn from! She's definitely going to be a daddy's girl =)

Tomorrow we see her again, we meet with our coordinator and the director/lead physician at the orphanage. We will get to see her full medical and ask all the questions we have about her and her life. I think we also get to sign papers saying we officially accept her referral. Yesterday, after we met her they asked if we still wanted to move forward and we were like duh, of course we do! I guess sometimes though people don't accept their referrals so they wanted to make sure because they are excited she has a family.

I think after we accept the referral we can post a few pictures. I'm going to try to get some photos of the area as well so everyone can see what that is like.

Oh and we got to meet John and Julie Wright who are doing AWESOME volunteer work here. You will hear alot about them on Thursday because we are going to go on an outing with them, very exciting!

Thanks for the continued support and interest from our friends and family as well as all the cyber friends we have from the Yahoo group. Your comments have all been awesome and yesterday we had over 100 hits, wow!

Elizabeth

Bishkek Kyrgyzstan

Well I covered the most important information, meeting A, but I thought I'd say a bit about where we are. Below is a video someone made about Kyrgyzstan. We are staying in Bishkek, the capital. It's much more modern and larger than I thought. I was concerned about what the conditions would be like but so far they are great. There is shopping and food within walking distance. We've found a few places with English menus and heard about a Turkish place that is supposed to serve great meet. We went to the grocery store and found all sorts of things we could eat. We have PB and J as well as ham for sandwiches. We also bought oranges, chocolate, beer, pasta, mashed potatoes, and water. We had fresh strawberries, bought off the side of the road. They were yummy, cheap, and didn't make us sick! I know Aunt Nancy, we were only supposed to eat things that could be peeled but they just looked too good. We washed them in bottled water first =) The standard of living is definitely different here. There are cows and goats and horses just wandering. The houses don't have indoor plumbing. It reminds me alot of Costa Rica, even the driving is similar. I really have been suprised by how clean everything is and again, how modern. I know in areas outside of Bishkek it isn't the same, there are people here on missions helping people who live in extreme poverty. We hope to become involved in some of those projects because, so far, we haven't seen that side of Kyrgyzstan.

We met her!

Well, we just get back from the orphanage after meeting our daughter!

Here's how it all went down...

We were picked up at 9am local time and we rode to the orphanage. We were in the car with the driver, interpreter, and coordinator. They answered alot of our questions on the way there. We found out that she knew we were coming that morning to meet her. They told us that she was very excited to hear that she had a Mama and Papa coming to see her.

We went in to the director's office but they were in the middle of repairs. We had expected to meet with them, ask questions, go over the medicals etc. Instead, because of the repairs, they just went to go get her.

A walked in and as she was coming in they said we were her Mama and Papa and she came right over and climbed into Bill's lap. She was smiling and looking around. Just adorable. We gave her one of the little books that we brought her, she clutched on to that thing! She took us outside, and yes, she took us. She had both of us by the hands and was practically dragging us through the whole compound telling everyone that we were her Mama and Papa. We played with a doll in a stroller, swang on a swing, and took some photos. She showed us her room too.

We had a glimpse of the challenges of having a toddler. It was almost lunch time and someone came in to pick up their child and they brought wafers for some of the staff. Well, they gave her one of those and then everytime the woman walked by with them, she wanted them. We tried to get her to go in a different direction and she proceeded to drop all her weight to her bottom and cry. Needless to say, it was a bit stressful. We hadn't expected tears this early! Luckily, the digital camera saved the day and captured her attention again. She definitely takes after her mother, very stubborn. She knows what she wants and doesn't want anyone to stop her! They did say she is always wanting food and doesn't know what is a normal time to stop. Pretty typical behavior for a kid growing up in an orphanage.

Her hair is a little bit longer that we expected, but still very short. She is about the height we thought, close to 3ft tall. She's heavier than we expected! She's skinny but as they say "she has heavy bones". They had a pretty dress on her and then put a shirt over it that was a 4T and it fit her well. I soooo have to start lifting weights. She is definitely off balance because of whatever is going on with her leg. They suggest massage and getting her on a tricycle. Both sound like good ideas to me. We'll have it looked at when we get her home to determine if it is a back, hip, knee or foot issue. It doesn't slow her down at all, that's for sure.

They are going to allow us to take her out of the orphanage which is cool. There is a park nearby that they said we could go to. They seem really happy to have found a family for her. Come August, her 4th Birthday, she would have to move to a different orphanage so we came just in time they said. We get to go everyday and we will have the meeting with the director on Wednesday.

Tonight we are going to sort through our donations to determine what is for the missionaries, the orphanage, and the baby hospital. We will take the baby hospital items on 6/1 which is a holiday here called something like, Children's Protection Day. The orphanage items we will bring on our last day. We are also going to have dinner with our travel buddies (Maria, Kevin & Josh) and hopefully set up some Russian tutoring because A understands the language well.

Oh, we were able to borrow an adapter from the hotel so we can use our computer since it has a converter. However, we can't charge the cameras until we get a converter because they don't have one already on the power cord. So, we are also going to have to find one of those at some point!

That's all for now!

Elizabeth

Electrical Issues

Well, tomorrow is the big day but we may not be able to post about it or use Skype to call anyone. Our plug converter just blew up! Not kidding. There was this burning smell and we thought maybe it was the AC that had just been turned on, like maybe something got in it like dust and it just smelled a little funky. Nope, a few seconds later the whole $25 Samsonite converter blew up. The transformer overheated, says Bill, he would know being an electrician. He's unscrewing the melted case with a utensil as we speak cause he wants to see the insides. He says this shouldn't have happened and he's going to be getting in touch with Samsonite!

Anyway, tomorrow is the big day. We'll post when we can, we have to go buy a converter, somewhere....

We do have extra video and still camera batteries so we are all set there.

Elizabeth

A whole New World

A couple of cold beers, bottled waters, and hot showers make the world a much happier place =)

We have been out exploring, headed out to go get some food - we have a little fridge in the room which is nice to have. We can't read ANYTHING, thank god the food containers often have pictures on them. We are looking to get PB & J cause that way we can eat cheap and it won't go bad. Sorry Steve, we can't eat the apples here, not safe =)

We track visitors to our blog just to see if everyone is really as interested as they say they are =)

New York is winning with Texas in second, home state of NH is coming in third.

Some logins from overseas as well. Belgium, Japan, England and more!

Greetings From Bishkek

Hi all,

Well after a very long journey, we made it to Bishkek! We took off late from London and it took awhile to get visas but I think we were at the hotel by around 5am local time. We slept for a bit, had some breakfast and now we are going to unpack and shower! Bill went to the store around the corner to get some snacks, bottled water, and maybe even some Diet Pepsi for me, oh that would be sweet. The flight from London to Bishkek was long and not as nice as the first leg. It was BMI airlines and they don't have the nifty headrest TV screens with all sorts of shows. They had a movie playing, actually a few since the flight was so long, but the headsets they give you don't really fit into the plugs so it was very hard to hear. I decided it was a good thing we hadn't slept on the fitst flight because we were both able to sleep on the second one. I must say, the food on both was suprisingly yummy!

I'll post pictures in the next few days. We took some video but I think only one picture of the Almaty airport from the plane.

Tomorrow we head to Tokmok. We need to go through all of our items and find something good to take for the kids tomorrow. I think we have crayons and coloring books, maybe those would make a good first day icebreaker....

We are both excited and vervous about tomorrow. We really don't know how it is all going to happen, as far as the process. All we know is that the interpreter and coordinator will be in the Silk Road lobby at 9am!

Norm and Gundy - Bill's ears were fine the whole trip

Josh - We are thinking about you, every pitch you throw, every play you make and every at bat. Tomorrow we meet your sister!

Elizabeth

We made it to London!

Well, Bill and I completed our first trip across the Atlantic together. Our flight was uneventful except for the guy who got an earful because he kept kicking Bill's seat. The seats were better than I thought they would be. We didn't sleep much, not sure why. We were both tired but wired at the same time. We got here, had lunch, and now we are just waiting for our next flight. We met up with Maria, Kevin and Josh so we are all together and excited to move on to the next leg of the journey. There was no seat map so it will be interesting to see what the seat layout is like and where we are. Hopefully there won't be many people going to Kyrgyzstan! I would post pictures but that would mean dragging out the camera and the cords which is just too much trouble because our carryons are packed very very tightly. We'll definitely post pictures once we get to Kyrg and get settled. You may not be hearing from us until later in the day Sunday because we arrive mid-afternoon Eastern time but it will be 3:15 am for us. So we will probably go to the hotel and sleep and by the time we update, it will be late at night Eastern time. So everyone, just track our flights and you will know all is well! One note from today, Heathrow is a mess. We had to take 2 busses and go up and down all sorts of escalators and security again just to switch terminals. I'm sure that it very familiar for all you world travelers.

Elizabeth

Maria - Pictures to help you find us!!

Bill - His hair is much shorter

Me- My hair is a bit shorter now

Maria, Kevin and Josh - See you in London!

Everyone else - keep watching, we'll post more when we can!

Thank You!!

A BIG house shout out to Amy and Denise =)

Ya'll are the BEST!

All Packed!

We finished packing just about everything tonight. All that is left are the things we need overnight, like my glasses, hairbrush, etc. We have 4 suitcases and 3 carry-on bags. We are checked into our flight and boarding passes and printed tickets are in hand.

Tomorrow we both tie up the remaining loose ends at work and then leave at 4:30pm to head to the airport. We had to call the transport service and warn them that the bags wouldn't fit in a the trunk.

Our flight to London leaves at 9:30pm tomorrow. Then we leave London for Bishkek at what is 8:30 Saturday morning here. We may get a chance to blog from London.

If anyone gets a call from a really really strange phne number, answer it! It may be us calling you via Skype through the computer.

I'm hoping to post tomorrow AM but if not the next one will come from overseas.

Thank you all for your continued support. The excitement in NH and across the country for us is definitely felt!

Elizabeth

Packing Pictures

Our packing strategy -

space bags surrounded by food and medical donations

3 out of 4 suitcases

"Pretty Money"

Snacks for the kids - Thanks Kyle's Mom!!

Toothpaste for the kids - Thank you Kelly and Kyle!!

Packing, Packing, Packing

Tonight was the huge packing night! We have 2 suitcases which are completely full. My case has about 15lbs and some space left so we will have to get more things to fill it. We want to take as much as we can! Bill's is getting fuller, haven't weighed it yet. Another adoptive mom sent us two boxes full of goodies to take with us. They all fit in one of the suitcases. My clothes are sharing space with medical donations and items for A. There is another suitcase full of donations. Bil''s has his clothes plus more donations. Thank god for the space saver bags (the kind you vacuum the air out of), we wouldn't have gotten all the stuff in the luggage without them.

We also had a very successful "pretty money" day. We got all the money we needed to take overseas with us. It is now being looked after by our security guard, an overweight basset hound who will like any intruder to death! It might not sound scary, unless you are one of the people who have found yourself with all 72 stubborn pounds of her on top of you licking your face, then you would understand.

We've been pretty anxious over the past few days. Bill and I both decided to test our new calming prescriptions. We wanted to make sure they would work for the plane ride before we got on the plane and couldn't do anything about it. We currently love our doctors, and just about everything else too.

People keep asking me if we are excited and they probably think it is strange when I don't answer right away or say something weird. I wanted to explain for both Bill and I since we had this conversation today. If we were going to Disneyland on Friday and people asked if we were excited, we would say "YES!" However, we really aren't sure how to answer that question given the current circumstances. Yes there is a level of excitement, but that word just doesn't do our feelings justice. We've been sitting here trying to come up with a word and are striking out. The closest thing we can figure out is Supercalifragilisticallyfreaked.

It is difficult to think about anything else but the trip right now. I don't think it has really set in for either of us. It might not until we are in the car heading out to meet her. It's just this weird weird state that we are in. Maybe I can find where some other, more eloquent, adoptive parent described this time. I mean, think about it, we are about to go meet our daughter.....that's just crazy talk =)

Elizabeth

Learning Russian

On my way home I stopped and picked up Russian language CDs from a local family who adopted from Kyrgyzstan. We are going to work with a tutor while we are there since we have alot of down time. I got a bit of a head start, I am pretty close to mastering the following words (atleast I think I sound pretty good):

I
You
Yes
No
He
She
They
Good Morning
Good Afternoon
Good Night
How much
I want

and maybe a few more....

Elizabeth

Still moving along!

We are still making progress towards our trip to Kyrgyzstan. I'm not sure exaclt what, if anything, I accomplished today! I had alot of meetings for work and did some orphanage donation shopping on the way home.

A big shout out to Keene State CDC and HR departments! They found out we were traveling and have started buying much needed items to treat common medical issues in Kyrgyzstan. We gave them a list and they ran with it!

The anxiety has definitely set in for both of us. We are wicked excited but very nervous. I just want to get on the plane because then I know we will actually get there to see her. Before that, plans could change. Those of you that know me well have just realized I must be a wreck if I am actually looking forward to getting on a plane.

We watched the video we have of our little one. She's so adorable. I hope I can pick her out of the crowd when we get there. I'm not sure how the whole meeting thing is going to go down. With babies you just go in and pick them up but she's older so it'll be interesting to see what she does.

For those of you following the house saga since January, it will finally be over on Thursday!

We have a few tasks remaining for the adoption: get "clean money" to take overseas, finish packing, get all emergency contact info to family members and to our agency, finish tying up loose ends at work, purchase any last minute needs. This list is MUCH shorter than last Wednesday, it is amazing what motivated people can accomplish in a week!

Thank you to everyone who has been supporting us through this. We have been absolutely blown away by the amount of support we have received from our friends, family, and even strangers who have become aware of the adoption. Not a day goes by that someone doesn't share how great they think this all is and that means more than ya'll will ever know.

Elizabeth

More Progress

Went shopping again today, bought all the medical items we need as well as a backpack to serve as a carryon. We are able to take a fair amount of items for the orphanage because we can each take 2 suticases weighing up to 70 pounds each. We got space saver bags, the kind you vacuum the air out of, which has made it possible to pack tons of stuff. We bought puzzle books for ourselves for the plane, as well as cards and we will go to the used book store tomorrow for reading materials. For the kids we got water colors, coloring books, crayons, board books and foam puzzles. Bought a video camera today which was wicked cool! I'm so excited to be able to videotape our trip.

The most important success for today was finding a wonderful place to baord our dogs. They don't keep them in separate cages so they just hangout with the other dogs in play yards and inside on comfy couches and blankets and such. The owner is great as is her staff. We took the dogs there to see how they would do with the other dogs and they were wonderful! Such a weight off our shoulders, we don't have to worry about them!

The emotions are starting to set in. We are both very excited to be going and meeting our daughter but nervous as well. She isn't a baby, she's 3 1/2, so we are nervous as to how she will react to us. We aren't sure if she is going to know we are coming for her or not. We have lots of things to take for all the kids so it shouldn't be too much pressure on her. I don't know, it is all just so unknown! Bill is trying to figure out how he isn't going to break down the minute he sees her. I on the other hand have no clue how I am going to react. It is just so far from anything I can prepare myself for that I'm clueless as to how I will respond. I'm thinking I'll have no problem holding it together but I may be totally wrong.

More tomorrow!

The Countdown

I just looked at our travel buddy's blog, aaaaah only 5 days left! We have made major progress though so that is good.

I am going to start referring to our daughter as "A" since I can't share more details.

We are traveling with another couple and their son, we will meet up with them in London. Bill and I leave Boston at 9:30pm on Friday the 23rd. We arrive in London at 8:45am on Saturday and then fly to Bishkek at 1:30pm and arrive in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on Sunday morning at 3:15am (all times are local to their respective location). It's something like 17 hours of flying time, ugh. We leave Kyrgyzstan at 6:45am on June 8th and arrive home at 6:25pm the same day. We are getting a transport service to take us both ways so no driving, wahooo!

So we have flights and we have lodging. We have tons of donations and items to take to missionaries that are working there and to the orphanage and baby hospital. Today we went shopping for clothes because we have to dress nice for the orphanage and overall just more conservatively than usual.

We still need to get all the medical items we need and some things to take for "A". We want to bring her a special outfit but we are having a hard time figuring out what size she is. According to measurements from July, she was just about a 2T so we are thinking that maybe she is a 3T now. We bought a stuffed animal for her today. I really really hope they give us her referral!

We might have dog boarding worked out, we will know for sure tomorrow which is good cause it is totally stressing me out.

Bill's previous wife, Kim, gave us suitcases to take for all the donations and we can just leave the bags there which is great. She's also knitting a blanket for "A". Some folks at Bill's office are gathering up donations which was really sweet! Everyone has been sooo helpful and offering help in any way they can.

Work has bene great so far with all of this. I need to go talk to my interim boss on Monday. My beloved boss, who has been a real source of support, resigned last week =(

So I guess what we have left is buying more items, getting the money together that we have to take, packing, getting our jobs in order, paying bills that will come due while we are gone, oh I'm not listing the rest, it makes my head hurt!

Stay tuned!

OMG we are traveling!

Yep, you read that correctly. Out of nowhere we have been told we are traveling to Krygyzstan to meet our kid! We got the call yesterday afternoon, the 14th. And they want us on the plane on the 23rd. Total insanity has now taken over as we try to get everything ready but we are VERY excited!

Waiting Child Poem

The Waiting Child
by Debbie Bodie


I saw you meet your child today
You kissed your baby joyfully
And as you walked away with her
I played pretend you'd chosen me.

I'm happy for the baby,
yet Inside I'm aching miserably
I want to plead as you go by,
"Does no-one want a child of three?"

I saw you meet your child today
In love with her before you met
And as I watched you take her out
I knew it wasn't my turn yet.

I recognize you from last year!
I knew I'd seen your face before!
But you came for a second babe.
Does no-one want a child of four?

I saw you meet your child today
But this time there was something new
A nurse came in and took MY hand
And then she gave my hand to you.

Can this be true?
I'm almost six!
And there are infants here, you see?
But then you kissed me and I knew
The child you picked this time was me.


Copyright 1997 Top.

Dossier still not done

When I was going through everything yesterday I realized that our immigration approval had the wrong address on it! The approval has to have our physical address, not mailing address. Luckily they are great and let me come pick up a new one today! So it will be notarized tomorrow and then maybe, finally, everything will be authenticated on Thursday.

Last piece of the dossier puzzle??

Well On friday I found out I had to get our marriage certificate, and Bill's divorce decree, notarized. The people at the city looked at me like I was nuts but they eventually typed the notary stuff on the marriage certificate and notarized the city clerk's name. The county courthouse clerk wasn't in so I have to go back today to get the decree. Luckily I know the ladies in the office from my work at the crisis center so they were uber helpful.

Hopefully off to the Secretary of State tomorrow to get everything authenticated!

Med Forms

Got the medical paperwork back =) Perfectly done I might add.

Medical paperwork update

My doctor called for me to pick up the paperwork. When I got there I realized they messed up my paperwork and I left new paperwork with the directions, underlining what they didn't do. I got a snippy voicemail back saying they were unable to do any better. I proceeded to play the message for the Patient Relations department. It seems things will get taken care of now, and in a timely manner.

Elizabeth

Approval

We got our immigration approval today! Wahoooo! They just got the last document from us last week and it was here in yesterday's mail! We are sooooooo lucky to live in NH!

So now we are STILL waiting on my medical forms. I called the office again, in near tears, and the doctor and her nurse were gone for the day as of noon. So I went up there and left a note. I swear I am going to go every day until I get those forms. They have had them for 3 1/2 weeks, that is crazy. Another adoptive mom, a very very very sweet one who I've never heard swear, even said she would be bitchy by this point (yes, she used that word).

We now need that medical paperwork and then I take everything to the state house in Concord. Then everything goes buh-bye along with another chunk of money.

Speaking of money, we are trying to think up ways to make quick money because all of our fees to Kyrgyzstan are due on trip 1 and we don't have thousands of dollars laying around. We could get a loan, but not until we close on the house. Soooo please pray that we close on the house this week so we can get a loan ASAP so we can travel when they tell us to. And, if anyone has some legal ways to make some quick cash, please let us know =)

I'm started to really feel this adoption might actually happen, and even maybe this summer/fall. I'm still guarded, cause things can always change, but the past week or so I've really been feeling all the swelling of emotions around motherhood, it's neat and a bit overwhelming too!

doctors and immigration

Well the medical forms were done wrong, again. It seems explicit typed directions aren't enough for the medical community to understand. They didn't follow the notary rules, the instructions explained that even if the stamp included the date of license expiration, it had to be written on the line. Of course they put the stamp over the line so we can't even fill it in for them, argh. I have a call in to our agency to find out if Kyrgyzstan will accept it, if not they have to do it all over again. My doctor hasn't even gotten me a first try yet, I hope they read the instructions!

We sent our homestudy out to immigration, they received it last week. I emailed the office and they were going to check and let me know how long it would be before we would see the approval. I have heard that it only takes a couple of days but online it said they were taking longer. They emailed and said it is usually very quick but then asked our names so I am hoping they will get back to me and tell me ours will be done soon. We are very lucky to live in NH, some places take months and months for the approval.

Once I have that, and our medical forms, I have to take it to Concord to be authenticated by the Secretary of State's office. Then it is in our agency's hands from that point, it will be great to hand it all over!

Elizabeth

long overdue post

So yeah, I've been a bit busy and I haven't posted. So those medical forms from the last post, Bill's doc did them wrong and then went on vacation, still waiting for the corrected ones. Josh's doc is an ARNP which won't work so they too have to do them over. My doc, hasn't even gotten them back to me. Let's hope they get them right on the first try.

We did get our homestudy back so that was exciting, it went off to USCIS. So once we get our immigration approval and our medical forms we pay more money and send everything to our agency. Then it goes to the embassy I think, and hopefully doesn't get stuck behind all the people who just want healthy babies (I don't feel like typing my rant about this, ya'll have probably all heard it anyway). After the embassy I think it goes to Kyrg and then we travel, but there could be more steps in there that I am conveniently forgetting.

Oh and just so everyone knows, if we get the child we are hoping for, we are not changing her name. Her name is easy to speak in English and we want her to have something from Kyrg. Yes, I have had people encourage us to change it because it doesn't sound "American", well I sure don't know what people think "American" sounds like. To me, it could be a whole lot of different languages and cultural names, that is what makes us America.

And on another note, I don't like being encouraged by people to adopt a caucasian child domestically or from Russia because "noone wil ever know they are adopted!" What's wrong with people immediately knowing our child is adopted? I personally think being adopted is pretty darn cool and I don't have any interest in our child looking like us because then people will know. After all, adoption is a wonderful thing and nothing to be ashamed of.

Elizabeth