Three weeks and Counting

So, here we are Thursday, October 30th. One week after taking custody of Kathryn. We are now 7 days into our 15 day waiting period. Hard to believe November is right around the corner. We understand that it is unseasonably cool at home. I'm sure everyone is enjoying the cool weather after a hot summer and hot start to Fall. It was actually colder in FL yesterday morning that it was here in Kaz! Keep in mind that we are at the same approximate lattitude of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.Yesterday was a beautiful afternoon here - in the low 50's. Cool, but the sun was shining.

I got out yesterday while Dave stayed in with Kathryn for a little bit. I took a walk down to the neighborhood baby store. It was a newly renovated, quaint shop. They had everything from diapers and formula to clothes and blankets. I got a little toy along with formula and diapers. I might have to take a trip back and get something from them that is traditional Kazakh baby for Kathryn's keepsake.

M and L are our new cottage mates and moved in on Monday. Last night we had another couple over from the other cottage - A and B. It is great to make new friends here half way around the world. They are from NC and SC - so not too far from us. We are certainly enjoying their company. M and L adopted 2 years ago from the same Children's Hospital here in Kokshetau. It is nice to talk to them and to understand how things have changed not only in the adoption process but also in this area of Kaz. We really feel blessed that this is where we were led to adopt from and that we eventually signed on with WPA. Having a great agency really makes all the difference. It is their contacts here in Kaz that make the process all the better.

Kathryn is doing great. She is much more "talkative" now then she was a week ago. She seems to be putting on a little weight and getting much stronger. Yesterday she put her feet flat on the floor when I held her up. She was also sitting against the back of the sofa holding my hands and pulled herself forward. It is unbelievable how fast the little ones can thrive with love and attention. We are so excited for everyone to meet her! We will be heading home 3 weeks from today. Just in time for Thanksgiving. What a Thanksgiving it will be! We plan on having a great family get together at our house. We certainly have lots to be thankful for.

Speaking of being thankful - Michael, Daniel and Joseph are doing great at home. They received their report cards yesterday. We are so proud of them! Even with us being gone most of the time since only a month after school started, they have kept up on their projects and assignments - thanks to their Nana and Papa!

A side note: We think we have the internet up and running again. However, if you are trying to contact us and don't hear back - don't give up on us. If we lose internet, we'll be in touch as soon as we can! I won't go into all the boring details of the internet saga, but it is frustrating.

Reconnected!

Ok, so we all say we could live without a little technology. . . we get mad at our computers when they don't run right. . . we think, "who needs the IT guys anyway". . . well I'm here to tell you that half way around the world, we need 'em all! We lost internet connection on Sunday morning (or sometime during the night) for who knows what reason. Dave went out to the local stores and managed to buy a new router/modem combo that even had instructions in English. We connected everything according to the instructions, and still nothing. One of the other guys here is an "IT guy". We called on him, but unfortunately it was something in the internet connection itself. He was great though, we went to their cottage and he hooked us up on Skype so we could at least talk to the boys and then we connected to their internet and downloaded some emails. Today one of the local "internet gurus" came out and in less than 10 minutes had our wireless up and running again. Thank you, we are reconnected!

The toughest part about not having internet was not being able to connect with the boys and family at home. They all missed seeing Kathryn on Skype for the past 2-3 days. We will be talking to them in a few minutes and can't wait.

Kathryn is doing great. She is sleeping around 6-9 hours per night. She is not napping much, but seems to be doing fine with that. She has been used to sleeping on her stomach at the hospital and we are trying to break that and have her on her back. However, I set her down for a nap this afternoon on her stomach and she has slept for almost 3 hours - catching up I guess.

We have been enjoying the company of three other adoptive families now in Kokshetau for their bonding periods. One couple is her in the cottage with us. L and M are here for their second adoption. The other two couples are in the other cottage across town. They are both first time parents. It is exciting to see so many families here at once - it is a great thing for these children!

The other families will be heading home the first week of November. We will still have another 8-10 days after that until we head to Almaty. We are 5 days into our 15 day waiting period! We have been gone from home for 9 days. We know this time is long for family and friends at home waiting for us to bring Kathryn home. It is long for us too, as we miss all of you and are thankful for your blessings on our family.

Quick update on the Internet: Still having problems. I am posting this off of dial-up....

Our First Day Together

So, how is it going? Everyone wants to know. Well I would say that our bonding period was successful, based on the fact that Kathryn has adjusted very well to her new surrounding. Not to mention she also seems to have adjusted well to her Mom and Dad. She slept 9 hours last night . . . took her new bottle very well . . . napped today . . . and was all smiles when she woke up in a new place. We even ventured into giving her a bath last night. She was squirmy, but did very well. Kathryn appears to fall asleep anywhere that she feels like it; in our arms, in her little bouncy chair, on the floor or in her crib. This is a great thing. We had a few other couples, who are in Kokshetau starting their bonding period, stop by tonight. At first Kathryn was a little overwhelmed with all the visitors, but when I picked her up, she fell asleep in my arms while we visited.


Probably the highlight of the day was using the video cam with Skype to talk to family. Especially Michael, Daniel and Joseph thought Kathryn was pretty cool and laughed at her many faces and yawns. Meanwhile, Kathryn didn't have a clue what all the technology was! It was great for everyone to see her in motion rather than just still pictures.


She has not grown much since our first visit. However, a tooth has broken through! We continue to see her get stronger each day.


We will probably not post every day, but will keep everyone up on her progress. We will not post full photos of her until our 15 day waiting period is over. So, stay tuned!

It's Done!

Having a late afternoon court date is tantamount to having a late afternoon surgery. You can't wake up and go. You sit around all day trying to find things to keep your mind busy and not worry until the time comes. Funny how you worry about the things that you have no control over. For us, fortunately for now, we are using jet lag to our advantage and were able to take an early afternoon nap after our trip to the outdoor market to buy some fruit and vegetables, waking in time to get ready and go.

We got to the courthouse and checked in, then headed to a waiting area. We waited for about 20 minutes or so before everyone showed up and we went in to the judge's chambers for the hearing. The judge was a Kazakh woman in her 40's with a good sense of humor. Although, since we can't understand the language we're not sure if it was at our expense;-). There seemed to be issues with our paperwork as they were searching through our file and then other stacks of papers around the office outside the judge's chambers. Always the paperwork on this trip. We actually had a different judge than our cottage mates, thankfully, as in fact there was more than a few things missing from our file. The judge heard our case (and my so eloquent speech) and we then sat while a discussion took place between the judge and the representative from the Ministry of Education who oversee the adoptive children. We then were asked to wait outside while the judge made her decision. After about 15 minutes or so we went back in and showed the judge pictures of our visitation with Kathryn then were asked to wait outside again. Another 20 minutes and our interpreter comes out and says "It's done!" and we have a favorable decision. She looked very relieved as well. Apparently, they got it worked out. It ALL seems to get worked out, even the things we have no control over.

From the courthouse, we headed straight to the Children's Hospital. We woke her from sleeping and were greeted with a smile. We wrapped her up in a snowsuit and off we went. We are so very happy to have Kathryn with us now as we wait through the next two weeks before we can leave and finally bring her home.

Court Day

I am sitting here this morning, our day in court, overwhelmed by the feelings of excitement, anxiety and love. I know there are people all over praying for us today. God is so good! Throughout this whole process of preparing for this exact day, we have known that this is God's plan in our lives and for our family. I can not wait for the judge to name us as Kathryn's parents as we know in our hearts that God did that 7 months ago. There is such an incredible feeling in our hearts that Kathryn was our chosen child, just as Michael, Daniel and Joseph were. We were just given the opportunity to bring her into our family through a different journey - an incredible journey. As I spoke with my parents and with Michael this morning, I realized that when the judge names us as Kathryn's parents and legally changes her name to Kathryn Zhadra Ryan, that she has also named our boys as her brothers, our parents as her grandparents and our siblings as her Aunts and Uncles. What a blessing!

Tickets, Please!

Okay, so, I wasn’t going to blog until after court on Thursday but given the events of today, Monday, I think it warrants a good venting of sorts. I am not superstitious by nature. Cynical yes, but typically I don’t think that things happen contrary to how their supposed to just because you mention otherwise. You know, the whole “knock on wood” thing.

Anyway, things were going very well. Everything our adoption agency told us has been exactly what has happened. Our support network at home has been stellar. Flights have been non eventful and on time. We finally figured out we don’t need 10 bags of luggage. Etc. So we leave for our second trip back to Kazakhstan just cruising along fat, dumb, and happy thinking everything is falling into place. That is until we belly up to the ticket counter in Orlando to check in. “Tickets, please” the nice lady behind the counter says. We happily hand her our printout of our electronic tickets and patiently wait for our boarding passes. After a couple minutes of pecking the computer keyboard with a puzzled look on her face she tells us that we do not have tickets on the flights. None of the flights. Fortunately, I have our travel agency number on my cell phone and call the agent and “calmly” explain that the airline does not have record of us flying anywhere this fine day. I won’t mention any names because, like I said, things have been great so far. So the agent is working on it and tells me he’ll call me back. “I did tell you we’re at the airport trying to check in, right.” I said. About 40 minutes later the phone rings and it’s our travel agent. He says, apologetically, that the transaction was never completed. Meaning the reservation was made but never ticketed. After looking at our options he was able to find another flight that still gets us to Frankfurt in time to make our final connection to Astana.

Just when I thought things were back on track the ticket agent says she cannot retrieve the tickets our agent just booked for us because she can’t “see” it in the computer. A couple phone calls later it was worked out that she would print a hard copy of our electronic ticket and check us in. But wait, she can’t check us in now and give us boarding passes because we don’t have a return flight ticketed. Of course we don’t because we don’t know our exact return dates yet so we only have the reservation. Nonetheless, she stated that since we need a visa to enter the country we need a corresponding return flight and not just a one way ticket. Part of a security thing as I understand it since, at least on paper, it looks like we are traveling one way to a country in which we cannot stay.

Finally, we were able to have our boarding passes issued after being told we would have to go through an extra pat down at security. If they only knew how many times we had to be fingerprinted for background checks just to get to this point. At least that line was short. It seemed as if the norm now was that everything that shouldn’t happen was happening. After a brief delay taking off in Orlando due to the United mainframe computer malfunction (the pilots couldn’t receive their electronic paperwork) we were able to take off.

Thankfully, we finally had some sense of normalcy in Chicago since we were now flying the transatlantic leg on Lufthansa instead of United. Here we are now as I am writing over the North Atlantic looking at the sunrise between an azure sky and a blanket of white clouds on our way to our next stop in Frankfurt. By the time we reach our final destination we will have been in four different time zones, on three different airlines, in three different countries, on three different continents, topped off with a four hour car ride to Kokshetau, all within about 36 hours. Hopefully our baggage will follow suit. Knock on wood.

Unfinished Business

We have been home only a short while since we received our court date earlier than expected. But who's complaining. We have enjoyed being home with the boys, going to their games, and just being part of their daily activities over the last 10 days. Everyone has been so very supportive of us that there is no other way to describe it but amazing. Family, teachers, coworkers, friends, have all played a part in this and we cannot imagine how difficult this process would have been without them. We haven't been gone two weeks but it seems a lot longer since we last visited with Kathryn. Watching the short videos we took during our previous visits, we love hearing her "talk" and take in all the attention we give her and wonder how she has changed in the time we have been gone. We know she is in good hands with the caregivers at the children's hospital but cannot wait to have her as a permanent part of our family.

Michael and his undefeated soccer team

Daniel behind the plate

So...we have been busy with not only the daily activities of the boys but also gathering additional documents for insurance, visas, pictures of our visits and the like. The New York Consulate received our visa applications on 10/13 and we received them back on 10/14. A hugh relief since we don't have much margin for error. Since we don't have to return to Almaty until after the appeal period is complete we went ahead and booked round trip tickets from Astana and changed our original return date from Almaty to our final trip home. This allows us extra time at home with the boys and also will save us some extra cash since we won't have to pay for another in country flight, and all the extra costs that go along with it.

Joseph enjoying a cool dip in the pool

This weekend we finish packing and spend time with family and friends. And, of course, get prepared for the speech in court which I will give and Karie will also be asked some questions from the judge. There is a new judge that has only heard one adoption case, our former cottage mates and it was a bit tense. Thanks for breaking him in S and A, hopefully things will be smoother the second time around. We leave Monday, arrive Wednesday and have court Thursday and will hopefully be able to take Kathryn with us back to the cottage that evening and begin counting the days off through the appeal period.

Sojourn

Since we have completed our visitation and began our trek back to the United States we have taken time to enjoy some of the sites along the way. As many of you may know, Karie’s family lived in Europe for a few years while she was growing up. One of the places they lived was near Heidelberg, Germany. Heidelberg is a stones throw away from Frankfurt, the city in which we make our flight connections traveling to and from Kazakhstan.

Being so close to many cherished memories, we were able to take a full day and briefly explore the sights of this magnificent country. Heidelberg sits along the river Necker nestled between two mountains and its' origin can be traced back to the 5th century. It is also home to the oldest University in Germany, the University of Heidelberg having been established in 1386. Upon the side of the mountain sits the Heidelberg Castle overlooking the city.

The small mountains are dotted with different trees that were in full fall colors blanketing the countryside with shades of red, dark yellow, and bright yellow interspersed with the deep green of the pines and evergreens in a spectacular display of Autumn. Houses and buildings that are hundreds of years old with towering roof lines of red and brown paint the town in a story book setting.

Heidelberg was not destroyed in WWII so the rich architectural history lives on today. It is a mix of historic buildings and modern amenities. The main street hosts large crowds of residents, students, and tourists perusing the many stores and restaurants and breathes life until late evening each night.

This was a nice distraction from the pain of having to leave Kathryn but already we cannot wait to return to Kokshetau. We have received word that we have a court date set in two weeks; a little sooner than we expected but we are delighted to complete our journey and the boys are excited to have their sister home.

Below are some pictures of Heidelberg.

We Have Petitioned!

Yesterday was our last official visitation day with Kathryn. This morning all of our paperwork was taken to the courthouse and submitted with our petition to adopt Kathryn and make her our legal daughter! Although this sounds like something exciting - it is for us, but believe me there was no fanfare or parades. We quietly walked into the courthouse, waited for a lady to arrive, went to this small room with a desk, a computer and a few chairs. We sat down - although the chair was flimsy and I thought it was going to collapse under me, I kept my composure. We waited while Inna and this lady exchanged a few words. Then we got up and left....quietly.

We were able to go straight from the courthouse to the Baby Hospital and visit with Kathryn. This was our last visit before we begin our journey home tomorrow morning. Yesterday and today were wonderful visits. She was very playful and gave us lots of her big smiles with her big brown eyes looking up at us. It is truly amazing how she has grown in just over 2 weeks. Today she was really trying to grab for our hands. She was batting at her Daddy's face. Most definitely she is getting her hand to her mouth much better than she was. Tummy time has been a lot of fun. Kathryn is holding her head up better and giving big smiles when she is on her tummy. She was not real talkative today, but did get a few sounds out. As she looked out the window, we explained that when we come back we will show her the whole world outside!

Today was much harder for me then I had anticipated. I really thought I was prepared. But I guess the reality is that you can never really prepare yourself for something like this. In trying to equate how I felt, I can only think of the feeling I had the first time I left my first born (Michael) at home when I went back to work. I spent a lot of time just telling Kathryn how much we love her and to have sweet dreams knowing that we will be back soon. I told her to dream about all the people back home who love her and don't even know her yet. We believe that the day we first met her, that she already knew who we were and I believe that God will put his arms around her and protect her and keep our love in her heart until we return. She is His and we believe she will be placed in our care to be her parents in a few short weeks.

Sunny Day in Kokshetau

We just got back from a beautiful walk around town. It is sunny and in the 60's. Nothing like a little sun to change your perspective on things. We saw a different side of the town than we had seen so far. It was wonderful! Everyone was out and about. Lots of families and children playing. Kids were playing in the dried up fountains in Central Square. Many wedding parties getting their photos in the traditional places, like Central Square and the War Memorial.

Please go back and look at the "Life Around Town" post on October 1. We have updated the slideshow with these wonderful photos from today. Many of the photos were taken from on the local Ferris Wheel. It was a great, relaxing ride. The picture posted here was taken on the walk from outside our cottage - postcard picture. Enjoy the photos.

Day of Discovery (12 & 13)

The past two days we have had wonderful visits with Kathryn. She is feeling much better - the cough is just about gone. Her coloring is better and her eyes are clearer. She was very alert, awake and playful. We were greeted by a soundly sleeping princess and when she awoke, a huge smile of acknowledgement. She is such a joy!

Today was a wonderful day of discovery. While drinking her bottle, she was facinated by the movement of her fingers. She moved them up and down and followed them with her eyes as if she just realized they were hers and that she has complete control over them. She just continues to amaze us each day.

Although we will be leaving here in 3 days, we are hoping that we will return for her in no more than 3 weeks from now. This is exciting to think about! It has been about 8 years since our hearts were first drawn to the idea of adoption and 16 months since we started the entire adoption process. It now comes down to less than a month until we will be standing before a judge pleading our case for why we want Kathryn in our family. We know that the decision for Kathryn to be a part our family was one that we came by through lots of prayer and we believe it is God's will to allow it to come to fruition. In Kaz, however, it is the judge who will make the final legal decision. Once we return to Kaz for our second trip, we will go to court and with a decision in our favor to make Kathryn our daughter, we will take custody of her right away. We will then wait out the 15 day waiting period here in Kokshetau before we go to Almaty for another week to do paperwork and get her official papers. We will then head home to the U.S., making her a legal U.S. citizen. We can't wait!!

Official Day 10 & 11

Wow, hard to believe we only have 3 days left of the official 14 day visitation period. The last two days Kathryn decided to mix up our routine a little. Fine with us! Yesterday she was full of smiles but quiet and content. Today she was very energetic and playful. We can really see the difference from 2 weeks ago. Now, when I touch her face to clean her nose (all the Moms understand this tendancy) she even tries to push my hand away. On her tummy she lift her head and looks around and kicks her legs. When we hold her up and put her feet on the bed, for a few seconds she will bear weight on her feet. She definitely wasn't doing this 2 weeks ago! It's amazing how much a 6 month old can grow in such a short period of time with lots of love and attention.

Both yesterday and today, Kathryn played so hard for the first hour, drank her bottle (quick!) and was ready for a nap. Dave was holding her and she just stared off into dreamland:-) She slept for a good 30 minutes. She woke up with about 30 minutes left in our visit and was ready to play some more. We still spend the time stretching her, doing massage, playing with some toys and just cuddling.

The reality of leaving her behind is starting to hit. The caregivers really do take good care of her, which makes the leaving a little easier. However, we keep visioning the day we get to take her out with us and the day we get to bring her home to Indialantic! What a joy that will be!

Life Around Town

As we spend more time here and get more comfortable with our surroundings we are adventuring out. We have been out to dinner once with our former cottage mates and have been out by ourselves a few times to do some grocery shopping. Most of our outings up to this point have been with our interpreter, Inna. Aside from the "your not from around here, are you" looks we get from people on the street most people have been very nice. A little Russian goes a long, long way here. The sidwalks are paved but are very uneven and in some cases have large openings without the token construction barricade to alert you. The main streets are paved but the side streets mostly not and have many large potholes. Think, Karen and Darryl's street not graded for the last 20 years.

The city we are in has a population of about 126,000 people. Information from the about Kazakhstan website provides the following: "Kokshetau city was founded in 1824 as an administrative outpost when the Russians extended their control over the Kazakhs. Kokshetau became a district administrative centre in 1868 and an oblast centre in 1944, but Kokshetau city greatest expansion occurred in the 1960s following the campaign to open virgin lands in Kazakhstan to agriculture and the construction of important new factories in the region... and is now a substantial industrial center and the junction of the Trans-Kazakhstan and Middle Siberian railways." Yes, that does say Siberian.

Saturday, Yuri and Inna were kind enough to take us on a tour of the city. We took some pictures to one day show Kathryn what her native city looked like when we were here. We have placed them in a slide show format which we hope you enjoy. Edit 10/4- As well, we have added additional photos that we took when we ventured out on our own around town.