Day 18 - "Offically Rotten" (double click for pics)

Saturday, July 15---Day 18 Visitation (3rd extra day)

Today was somewhat mellow. We did have our best night of sleep yet. We actually slept until 8am, what a surprise. We must have used all of our energy on the internet and phone calls last night. I had a chance to talk with several people from my office - it was great to hear from all of you. We started the day with an easy breakfast (doughnuts from the pastry shop) while I worked on the posting for today and updated some more pictures from day 16. It’s going to be great having the internet in our apartment…fyi to those calling our apartment…if the line is busy, call our skpe number as we will be on the internet via dial up. During the morning, Kim did prepare some refried beans. These were very good and will become part of our meals going forward.

Kim and Rylee were busy working on a small gift for our driver, Sergey (corrected spelling). Today was his 30th birthday and we wanted to show him our appreciation for the great job he has been doing. He received some American candy and an original Rylee Claire birthday card. He loved them both, but especially the card. Saturday at the baby house is usually a slow day. We
did not see any of the normal staff today, but we did get greeted by a man in the lobby that asked if we were the American’s… easy answer to that one.

Landen was full of play and again wanted his RyRy. I should say anybody that would walk him around as Kim and I decided he is “OFFICIALLY ROTTEN”! God love him as he deserves to be held and loved like this. From the minute Kim picked him up until the end of the play time, he was full blast. Kim said he was in the swing when she got to the room and he made it be known that he saw Momma and wanted to be with her. He also had a paci from the baby house with him when he came to the music room. This paci was very basic, but he seemed to like it just the same. We have some pictures of it to share. Rylee has also been bitten by the love bug. For the first time, I mentioned Landen had spit up on her and she said “it’s only slobber”. Before today, she would have handed him off to anybody immediately, but not now. She can not get enough of him and like wise he can not get enough of her. We got a few pictures of him reaching up for her to pick him up-----this should give you the full picture of the day. If Rylee was taking a little break, as he was getting a little heavy for her, he would let everyone know it with his little whine. Around 1:55pm, he started to slow down. He was ready for Mommy to snuggle up with him and let him take a nap. As we have noted earlier, we are not to let him sleep due to his schedule, so we took him to his room where they will allow him to get in the swing or get in the play pin.

After the visit, we came back to the apartment to make plans for the evening with our American friends. As normal, Rylee gets the keys and runs up the stairs to unlock the door for us. When she reached the fifth floor, she got a little surprise. We had a bird at our door. Yes, a bird had gotten in the building and climbed 5 flights of stairs. The bird appears to be some kind of pigeon, but we are not sure. It is a young bird as it can not fly and seems to hop up the stairs. I used a towel to catch the bird, which I did not need as he did not try to get away. Rylee and I took the bird down stairs to let him go. We placed him in the grass out in front of the apartment building and sat him down. He seemed to stumble a little, but then walked into some shrubs. When our friends arrived, they told us the bird was back in front of our door. I checked every level on our stairs and there is no way the bird could come in a window, so he had to come through the front door and hop up the stairs to the fifth floor. Again, he can not or has not flown while with us. Now I had 3 girls and their new son to assist me with taking him back down. We took a little food for him and dropped him back in the grass. We sat to watch him for a few minutes, when he started back towards the building. He went into the internet room in the bottom of this building this time. We had a lot of laughs watching him trying to log on…just kidding. He was looking for something in there, but I again caught him and took him to another area in front of the apartment. He walked in the other direction this time, thank goodness. Kim thinks he may have heard from some of his friends that I give out free food and he was trying to get some handoutsJ. I was just glad I did not let him go out of our window like I wanted to do, because I really do not think he can fly!

After the bird episode, we were all down stairs, so we went on a stroll around the area and had some interesting findings. We found a man that appeared to be in a deep “drunken” sleep in some shrubs/weeds by a fence. He was moving a little, so we decided to let him stay there. The kids found a slide behind one of the building, so we stayed there about 15 minutes to let them play. We found so much enjoyment watching our friend’s son experience new things on the walk and in our apartment. From eating his diner (solid food versus mush) to working the light switches, he was so taken back that you could only smile as he ran around. We played with a balloon -----even played baseball with it. I must say, he has a very good swing.

We are planning to spend their last day in Pavlodar with them tomorrow, probably going back to the carnival. Until tomorrows update, Poka, Poka.

Day 17 - Happy Birthday Mommy! (double click for pics)

Happy Birthday in Kazakh!

Friday, July 14---Day 17 Visitation
(FYI--we added more pictures to Day 16 Visitation---the internet café computers were extremely slow when he initially posted)

First, I want to thank everyone for all your birthday wishes! I had a terrific birthday---one that I will always remember! I awoke to a trail of balloons that lead to a birthday card that was personally made by my princess---Rylee. Bobby had told me, yesterday, that Lena needed him to go sign some papers, so when Lena picked him up--I thought that is what he was going to do. About an hour later, he showed up with an arm full of beautiful flowers and a birthday cake that said “Happy Birthday Kim!” in Russian! He is so good a surprises! What a great start to my day! I, also, got calls from my family----thank you to all of you for your support and phone calls!

When Bobby got back to the apartment he advised me we have a meeting with our attorney in thirty minutes, so I rushed to get ready. When we arrived at the office Lena and Svetlana greeted me the door with hugs. They presented me with several gifts…..a box of chocolates, 3 chocolate bars that represented 3 famous Russian fairytales, and a set of traditional Kazak dolls---1 represented Bobby, 1 represented myself, 1 represented Rylee, and 1 represented Landen. They all have our names on the back. What a special gift that I will always treasure! They had another special birthday present….our court date……drum roll…the court date will be Tuesday, July 18th! We would have loved for it to be Friday or Monday, but Tuesday is better that next Friday. At least we know when it is……and it is not too long of a wait. While we were sitting in the office the door opened and it was Yackov. He just got into town today---he came here to visit his mother and friends. Yackov is our facilitator back in the U.S. He is from Kazakhstan and is the direct contact for our adoption agency. Yackov was an attorney here in Kazakhstan, and was a huge part of starting international adoptions out of Kazakhstan. We are very, very lucky to be able to work with him. I told you it was a great birthday!

We went directly from the Svetlana’s office to the baby house. We asked Lena about me possibly being able to feed Landen. Lena did not go with us, but asked our driver, Sergey, to walk in with us and assist us in communicating this to the caretakers. She said it would be ok for Rylee and Bobby to go up and watch. I guess the caretakers said it was ok….because the next thing I knew they were pulling out a highchair and a stool…Oh boy! Here it goes…….

I sat down on the stool and was about to start feeding him and he just kept whining and holding out his arms. I leaned over and hugged him. He just clung to me for a few seconds, as my heart skipped a beat. This seemed to settle him down and he was ready to eat. I have no idea what he ate. Some type of red soup and bread, some type of meat/rice porridge, and his usual tea. At first, he started to grab the bowl, but when he realized that I was going to feed him he relaxed a little bit. He is used to eating at a very rapid pace, but I tried to feed him as slowly as he would allow. Bobby was snapping photos left and right. I think he got around 60 pictures of Landen eating. The other caretaker feed 3 other babies, while I fed Landen. This gives you some idea of the speed these children eat. Whew! Being able to feed him was definitely a highlight in my day.

After his lunch, one of the caretakers swept him up, and took him to get cleaned up. He just smiled and smiled when she brought him back. When he smiles like that I could just melt. We took him to the music room to play. He was so much fun today. He interacted with all three of us, and today was the first day he appeared to be responding to his name. Almost every time we said, “Landen” he would turn to look. At first, I thought it was coincidence, but he did it numerous times. I don’t think it will take him long to learn English!

Well, I think Rylee has finally won him over! She is slowly becoming his favorite person! Every time she just looks at him he smiles. He constantly wants her to carry him around. This has been really good for her, and she is taking her Bis Sis role very seriously!

After our visit we stopped off for…you guessed it…a chicken! We also got doughnuts for breakfast tomorrow morning. Then…to the apartment for a quick bite and a little rest…then, back for our second visit!

When I went to pick Landen up this time he was in his walker….he saw me and got a HUGE smile on his face, and raced to the doorway to come see Mama! This was by far the best birthday present ever! The love that I feel for him could never be put down in words. He makes it so easy to love him!

We went outside for this visit. We brought him a little treat---his first sucker. He did not have a clue what it was at first, but within seconds of us placing it in his mouth he was hooked. He wrapped his little tongue around it and started sucking away! We could barely get it out of his mouth. We quickly took some photos, and then mean mommy took it away. He was sucking on it with such force I was afraid he was going to pull it off the stick. Then, it was Rylee time again. He just wanted her to carry him around. They walked around and around in circles. It is so amazing watching them build this special bond. I am SOOOOOO glad we made the decision to bring her with us!

After our visit, we went back to the apartment. We were going to get together with the American family, but they were all going to bed early. We got a call from Yackov and he offered to stop by the apartment to assist us in getting the internet set up. He arrived and within 5 minutes we had the internet! We could not believe it! All Bobby needed was the correct phone number to dial up, and we could have had it the entire time! We were very excited, because we can now call anyone in the US using our computer for 2 cents per minute! Technology is a great thing! Bobby immediately started checking his fantasy baseball team, and every sport website available! He has been having major sport withdrawals! This will make our lives a lot easier! A huge thanks goes out to Yackov. He could not stay long, because he was going out with his friends, but we took a picture of him with Rylee, so we could share with all of you!

As you can imagine…the rest of our evening was spent calling our family, and catching up on
e-mails. All the gifts and warm wishes, our court date, getting to feed and play with Landen, spending quality time with my beautiful daughter and wonderful husband, and getting the internet in our apartment . Can’t imagine a better birthday! Thanks again to everyone! Love and miss you all!

Day 16 - Hello Officer.... (double click for pics)

Thursday, July 13---Day 16 Visitation (yes, 1 extra)

Privet! ...We are now in a holding pattern awaiting the court date. To give everyone this update: Lena called yesterday morning and advised we “should” have it Friday or Monday. At the time of this entry (8:00am Friday morning) we have not heard back from Lena or our attorney. That would make one think it will not be today. Let’s pray for Monday. We did get some great news during the call, a package had arrived from Bob and Diane. WOW, thank you so much for the food (as you can tell Bobby is writing this one). Kim absolutely loves her Vera Bradley backpack! She is so excited to use it and show it off. Rylee loves the dress and I love the food!
The “chips ahoy” are in Rylee’s store, so I will need to bargain with her to get some or wait for her to go to sleep to get some of them. Now to recap Thursday: We had the housekeeper coming by today, so we decided not to cook this morning. I went by the local store for some pastries for breakfast. We had some doughnuts, cream filed pastry and what was thought to be a chocolate chip muffin. It turned out to be raisins, so nobody ate them.

We arrived at the baby house on time for the morning visit and Kim went upstairs to get Landen. As he came into the music room to play with Rylee and me, he was all smiles again. Kim said he had finished eating when she got up there and was ready for her. When he saw her, he started holding his arms up as to tell her to pick him up. At playtime, he would play for 2 minutes, then hug Mommy for 10 minutes. This lasted the entire time we had him. Of course, we would love to play for 2 hours straight, but we realize this is a lot for him. I love to see him bonding with Kim in this way. When he was playing, Rylee was his main attraction. Daddy was good for a tickle or two, but RyRy kept a smile on his face all day. It’s great to see him giving her more attention now, as he had pulled away from her a little bit lately. She has learned not to grab and pull him when he is with Mom, that’s a big no-no for the Momma’s boy! I had the joy of taking him back to his room after playtime. There was a new caretaker (new to me) that was waiting for him to return. Not too much excitement as he reached out for her when she started talking in Kazak. He did pull his arm from behind her and put his elbow in her chest to push off (a move I know all too well) in an attempt to get back to me. He realized I had to leave, so he was content to stay with her.

After the morning visit, we came back to the apartment for some lunch. Rylee and I had left over spaghetti (great again) and Kim had some potato dumplings, which she has been asking if they have them in the states! I guess she really likes them. As we were leaving, we met our friends at the bottom of our apartment. They had walked over to say hello. It was very nice to see their “new” family together at last. What a visual picture we will have forever.

Our excitement for the afternoon started prior to our arrival at the baby house. On the trip over, Sergi was pulled over by a police officer. The officers stand on the side of the street with a wand in their hand and randomly pull over cars. They will wave the wand and point out cars to pull over. The cars immediately stop and the driver gets out. Sergi must have not had something he needed to show the officer as he was put into a car with a second officer for what Kim and I thought was a ticket. Sergi was visibly upset during this time and tried to call someone for assistance. We all waited in the car for what seemed to be 30 minutes, until Sergi came over and said taxi… We were going to take him up on this when all of the sudden the officers said something to him and jumped in their car and took off. You could tell from Sergi’s face that he got away with one. We were back in route to see our son.

We arrived as you can tell some 30 minutes late for the visit. Kim’s favorite care taker was in the room and appeared to ask her why she was late. Kim made a driving motion and pointed at her watch. This worked as the lady smiled. Landen was again in a great mood and we went outside. We have been going outside in the afternoons for most of the visits, but this one was interesting to say the least. Several of the 3-4 year old children were in the next “play area” and they had their little eyes on us. It is so sad when 8 little kids call you Dadda and Momma. It truly breaks your heart knowing you can’t take them all. The caretaker with them started playing a game where she would throw them in the air. You could see that’s all the kids wanted, attention. Landen was taking this in. He loves to watch people, trees, Rylee and anything new. We only had 30 minutes with him, so Kim was taking him up to his room when the caretaker stopped us in the hall way and attempted to tell us we could have him for 30 more minutes. We love this lady! Unfortunately, we had Sergi waiting on us to take us to the grocery store. We had to thank her, but pointed to our watch and made the driving motion and she shook her head.

The new grocery store was the best yet. Very modern with some items we can recognize. Wow! Our friends had also planned to shop at 6pm, so we had them to show us around the store. This was neat for us as we were able to see their son in a store like this for the first time. Imagine what was going through his head.

The evening was quiet. Kim and Rylee made pizza (two days with out chicken!) and I made a “summer salad” that Rylee enjoyed. She had a little of it and said it was good, but I thought it was missing a thing or two. I will work on the recipe and share it when I perfect it. I may do an Annie and avoid giving the exact recipe where mine will always be a little better !

Tomorrow is Kim’s birthday, so we will have a little something planned for that and may be late with the next posting. Until then, poka, poka!

Day 15 - The unofficial, official end of the Bonding Period (double click for pics)

Wednesday, July 12---Day 15 Visitation

Privet! ...We have reached the end of the 15 day visitation and ……we do not have a court date as of the writing of this post (9:33pm Wednesday). Our last discussion with Lena this afternoon left us with the feeling that it may be Friday or Monday. Please keep this in your prayers as this date is big for our soon return. When we have a successful court date, we will be approx 15 days from picking up Landen. We will then work on the dates to travel back to Almaty, then home! One day at a time is what we keep telling ourselves. We had a nice treat for breakfast. Our friends had picked up some pancake mix for us, so we gave it a shot. I must say they were tasty even with out syrup. Rylee had 4 (they were small) and after she was finished she asked if we could make them when we get home. I searched our store in this building and the one across the street for a type of jam that we have been told works as a substitute for syrup. What I found was not too good, so it goes in the pile of “tried it and will not try again” food. Too bad my birds will not eat jam. Oh yeah, my birds have multiplied. We have anywhere from 4-6 each morning. Seems familiar!

Lena was back from Astana today, so we were ready to see her. She was doing well and planned to meet with Svetlana today for some planning around court, but as noted earlier we are still pending a date. Landen was in a great mood again today. When Kim went to get him from his room he was in the middle of eating. Kim said he started smiling and continued as they got him ready to visit. He basically jumped into her arms when he was dressed. The outfit - today he had a new ‘blue” shirt on. What a nice change for his Dad. When he arrived in the music room with Mom, he was full of smiles and play. He had a little different schedule for us today… he would take 5 minute breaks from playing to climb into Mom’s arms and get some loving. It is such a joy to see Kim and Landen together. They have bonded and he knows his Mommy. If he is with someone else and she walks near him or he can hear her talking he does everything he can to get to her. Rylee was his number two today. Rylee started doing a little dance around the edge of the carpet and Landen would spin around not to miss a step. The entire time he kept that cute smile on as well. When the visit was over, Rylee and I did the usual clean up while Kim took him back to his room. As Kim came back down, she had the biggest smile on her face. She told us that Landen did not go to two different caretakers and even pulled back to stay with her. This was the most effort he has shown to stay with us versus going back to his caretaker. Lena said this would happen, but it still makes you feel warm inside.

After our first visit, we came back to the apartment and made a little lunch. Rylee was “not sleepy” again, so as normal she fell asleep with in a minute and we had to pull her out of bed when it was time to go back for the second visit. During our break, we did get some bad news from our friends--- their travel day was moved back until Sunday. They should be getting their son out of the baby house tomorrow, now. This is great for us, but we were sad for them and wish them the best of luck going forward. We decided to plan dinner again and let the girls play for a while. Guess what we planned to eat for dinner?

Sergi was right on time to pick us up for the second visit, but Lena was not with him. Once we arrived Kim rushed upstairs to get Landen. He was asleep, so the caretaker had to wake him up. He started to smile when he saw who was waiting for him. The caretaker laughed at his reactions to Kim. As noted, they have that Mommy/baby boy bond thing going. We tried out a new type of stroller from the baby house. This is the typical stroller used in Kazakhstan and you will see them on the streets daily. Of course Landen acted as if he had never seen it and was not too sure if he ever wanted to see it again. Going out to the play area RyRy was pushing it and Landen was hanging on for dear life. We went to a new little play area that seemed to be suited especially for toddlers. Rylee enjoyed getting in the little pen to play, but Landen stayed on Mommy’s shoulder for most of the hour.

After our visit, we stopped by the store for some items for dinner. You guessed it, Chicken. It was sooo good. Just kidding, we actually made a great pot of spaghetti. This was one of the best home cooked meals we have had here. The girls did their usual dress up game and ice cream for dessert. It’s great to have our friends here and to see the girls play so well together. It’s gonna be like starting over when they leave.

All we can do is pray and make the best of it until we have a court date. The days will start counting down after that. Poka, poka!

p.s. - Thanks again for everyone keeping up with our blog, the comments and phone calls, it does mean a lot. Sam - thank you for working on the water problem, our minds are at ease.

Day 14 - Happy Halloween, well we have RyRy's outfit! (double click for pics)

Tuesday, July 11---Day 14 Visitation

Privet! (That's "Hello" in Russian--although you do not hear that many people saying this, because they usually do not make eye contact, smile, or address one another unless it is absolutely necessary.).....It's day 14 of our visitation....only one more visitation day left. We cannot believe we have already been gone 2 1/2 weeks. Time is flying by.....thank goodness! We had our usual morning routine, with the exception of Bobby running to the bank to exchange some money and then going to the internet cafe to post our blog from Monday. I did get to talk with Annie and Layne on the phone--thanks Dad for 3 -waying us! It has helped a ton being able to talk to everyone from home!

Our visit with Landen went very well! When I went upstairs to get him he was still sleeping. In fact, there were only 2 other children awake. One of the caretakers went to wake him up! When she came back she immediately gave him to the caretaker that was feeding the children, and she began to feed him. Three minutes and twenty-three seconds.......I timed how long it took her to feed him a HUGE bowl of soup, a LARGE ladle full of porridge(I got to see her put it on the plate), and a tea cup of their special tea. Wow...these children have got to be setting some world records! In this time, she also was trying to get him hold the spoon and feed himself, and hold his tea cup, so if you take that time out....I bet his meal would have been inhaled in less than 3 minutes! After eating they took him back and cleaned him up and changed his clothes. Then, it was Mama time! His visit was a little different today.....he did not want to play at first...he just wanted for Mommy to hold him! I, basically, held him for the first hour of our visit. I talked to him and sang to him and he just put his head on my shoulders and babbled every now and then. Rylee was getting a little bored, so she started planning her birthday party....then, she started planning Landen's birthday party! She may become a party planner, because she has it planned out...detail by detail! The last forty-five minutes of our visit was playtime...this really worked out great, because we were not fighting to keep him awake!

After our first visit, we had Sergi drop us off at the mall. This time, we went to the outdoor market most of time. We got Rylee and Bobby a jacket. It was pretty warm here yesterday, but it has been really cold (like in the 60's at times.) Rylee has wanted a purse, so we found one she just loves. Then, we found this dress for her....she fell in love with it! A lot of the little girls wear dresses like this to weddings and special occasions. I knew once she saw it we were not leaving it behind. I told she would have to wear it as her Halloween costume---she agreed, and it was a done deal! (We took of photo of her in it!) We then went inside to look at the wooden Russian dolls. We bought a few for souvenirs for people...and then...I found a very large one that I fell in love with! It is a mother and it has a family of a girl, a small boy, and the father on it. It is hand-painted and signed by the artist, and was made in 2006! It was a little more than I was willing to spend, but Bobby insisted on getting it for me for my birthday! (See photo...isn't it beautiful?) We spent about an hour in this store, so when we were left it was time to go find Sergi! Back to the baby house we go.......

Once we arrived I ran upstairs to get Landen. He as in the playpen, and got a huge smile on his face when he saw me. Then, he started to whine and almost cry when I did not walk over to pick him up. I am not allowed to walk in the room. I am only allowed to stand in the doorway, and he did not understand! One of the caretakers heard him fussing and quickly swept him up and took him back to get ready for our visit. We went outside this time, because it has warmed up a lot today! You would not have known it by the way they had him dressed! He had on 4 layers of clothing! He loved RyRy this afternoon, which made her very happy! He basically sat in her lap the entire hour!

After our visit, we rushed home to take our purchases upstairs, and ran out the door to meet our American friends at the ice skating rink. Unfortunately, it was closed to the public due to the hockey team practicing. Oh well, as long as the girls got to play, they really did not seem to mind! We decided to go back to our apartment for dinner, again. We stopped off at a store to purchase a few items. We had chicken (yes, the rotisserie chicken--it is about the only meat we feel safe eating), green beans, and baked beans. Another great dinner! This is their last evening before this family of 4 becomes a family of 5! We are so happy for them! The girls played dress-up and we all had coke floats. They could not stay long, because they had to get home to start packing. We are going to try to meet up with them one last time tomorrow evening to say Congrats to them and wish them farewell! We feel like we have known them forever!

Tomorrow is a big day...it is the last day of our visitation period! Hopefully, we will get our court date on either Thursday or Friday! Please keep us in your prayers! Pokka, poka!

Day 13 - Guess what I did today....(double click for pics)

Monday, July 10th--Day 13 Visitation

Today we get to visit Landen again. It’s amazing how much one day apart affects you. We are ready to have him with us all the time!

The morning (or late night) started with a little plumbing problem back in GA. With great people looking after things for us, we will not worry about the problems. Thanks so much! Rylee was up again at early dawn, which is 6:45am. Just a side note: It is light here from 4:00am till 10:30pm (wow). Bobby put the usual bird food out for his feathery friends and we had a simple breakfast of oatmeal, cereal, green tea and coffee. Guess who had what? Then, Bobby went down to the internet cafe to post our blog from yesterday.

Lena is out of town, so it was just Sergi that picked us up for our first visit! When I got upstairs, Landen was in a swing---I was allowed to take a photo to capture the moment! They got him ready, and tried to put on this hot pink sweater outfit in case we went outside. Somehow, through hand motions, I explained that we were not going outside. The caretaker seemed to understand and handed the outfit to me in case we did. She put the pink hat on him, anyway, which made for a great photo! Bobby quickly removed it when we got to the music room. And for those of you that have been wondering....we have confirmed that he is a boy! He comes with all the necessary equipment :-) !!!

We had a TERRIFIC visit! It started out quite spitty,.....yes, big sister got an official initiation into sisterhood! Landen tried to redecorate her favorite shirt with his favorite onion soup spit-up! (this moment was captured with a photo). She was totally disgusted!!! It took about an hour before she wanted to be within 10 feet of him again. Luckily, Mom had an extra shirt handy! We took advantage of this moment and changed him into some clothes that we had brought! He seemed to love them!.........And, guess what???........Landen started crawling on his knees today!!!! It's amazing what a little love, affection, and attention can do!!! We were so excited that we were able to witness this milestone!

Landen was extremely verbal today! He kept saying Da Da Da Da! I would say it in a rhythm and he would copy me. This is one of the first times he has repeated me like that. He is started to get used to hearing us speak in English. For a while, he would only respond and repeat the people that spoke to him in Russian. We feel this is just another great sign that he is starting to really bond with us.

When stopped off and got a couple more rotisserie chickens after our 1st visit. I can tell we will be getting these every couple days. After a little lunch, Rylee decided she needed a little cat nap. Believe it or not, our days are very tiring. She slept for about an hour and it was time for the trip back to the baby house for our 2nd visit. We arrived about 10 minutes early, but the caretakers went ahead and woke Landen up. I felt really bad, but was so glad to see him. He did not seem to mind being woken up. He was in a terrific mood, and all four of us had a super time playing! We had to make sure he still remembered how to crawl.....Yep, he's getting to be a pro!!!

After our visit, we went straight to the apartment, because our American friends were coming over for dinner. We had...you guessed it...rotisserie chicken...along with, potato dumplings and refried beans (they have figured out to make them here---they were DELICIOUS!) The girls built a little fort and ate dinner in their fort and then watched "Ice Princess" in there, too! They said they were trying to get pointers on ice skating. I don't know what we are going to do when they leave...we have had such a great time with them. I think we are all going to go ice skating again tomorrow---since they are leaving on Thursday. We had a great time sitting around sharing our adoption war stories! Hard to believe our journeys are so similar! It's nice to have someone to relate to!

It's getting late, so we are going to close up shop this evening, as we have another big day planned tomorrow! Poka, poka!

Day 12 - Field trip on foot! (double click for pics)

Sunday, July 9th---Day 12 Visitation

Once again, we were so busy today, that we are very late in posting....we left our apartment at about 10:15am and did not even get home until about 8:30pm---the internet cafe closes at 9:00pm, so we were unable to get there in time....Sorry!, but here is the story of our fun-filled day.....

With it being Sunday, we were unable to go visit Landen. We thought about just making it a day of relaxation, but decided we needed to get our minds off of not being able to visit the baby house, so we met up with the other American family and toured around Pavlodar all day! We started out at a bookstore....it is so different shopping for books here. There are certain books that if you even just look at them it cost about $.16 in US dollars. They had people in there following us all over making sure to collect our money if we looked at these certain books. It was driving us crazy, so after buying Landen a little hardback ABC book, we decided to just come back later. We then walked to a park near the beach. The girls had a blast just running through the park and looking at bugs and birds. Then we let them climb a winding staircase down to the beach. They walked on the beach for a while, and then we decided to see if our little Russian restaurant was open....it was! We were all sooooo excited! When we got there the coo-coo clock was going off, and the girls were excited .. They have waited and waited to see this, and this is the first time! Rylee had her usual chicken noodle soup (that comes complete with gizzards and all!). Rylee, Emily and Lydia say they are going fishing in their soup when they scoop out the gizzards....after they are removed, the soup is quite tasty! I had a chicken and potato dish wrapped in tin foil that Debbie and Jim recommended--it was delicious! Bobby had chicken cutlets and mashed potatoes...he really enjoyed his, too! (see photos for pictures of the food)

After we left there, we walked outside and realized that it was raining a little and was actually quite chilly again. Bobby had talked me out of bringing a jacket, and felt bad---so, he suggested we stop and try to buy me one and get an umbrella. We found a nice jacket for me and a little umbrella for Rylee...we were going to get another umbrella, but it was almost $24--we passed! We'll just use Rylee's. We then went to another small mall and purchased a wooden Russian doll for Rylee.

Then we were off to a little carnival park that is in the middle of town. Imagine yourself at a fair back in the fifties, with old metal rides that are not that safe and paint chipping off. It was quite a sight. The only ride we felt ok about the girls riding was the swings. They had a big ferries wheel--I won't go into too much detail...just trust me when I say it did not appear to be too safe! The girls then went on a horse & buggy ride. Of course, you know Rylee loved that! We heard a band playing and decided to walk over and see what was going on....I cannot find the words to describe the scene! We felt as if we had gone back in time...there was a band of about 20 men playing Russian music and in front of them were these elderly men and women dancing together. There were only about 4 or 5 men, so the women were dancing together. The band would play a song and the men would go up to a woman and ask her to dance. Then the "left over" women would look at each other and decide who they were going to dance with...after each song the band would sit there for about 2 minutes. During this time, one of the women in this elderly group would get up in front of the crowd, and start saying something in Russian (as if she was trying to motivate the crowd to get up and dance and sing) she would then start singing a song...some of the other elderly ladies would join in...They would sing until the band started again. They would wait a few seconds after the band started then the men would seek out which ladies they wanted to dance with this time. They did this over and over. We could have sat there all day and watched them. They were exactly what you would think of when you imagine elderly Russian people. They were having such a great time. I just kept wishing I could understand Russian, because I bet these men and women have some incredible stories to tell about their lives! It was part of our trip that I will never forget! We took pictures, and hope you can get some idea of what it was like. This carnival also came complete with cotton candy. We decided that it was healthier than US cotton candy, because they do not put food coloring in it! It was really, really good. It had a little more of a caramel taste. Bobby played a dart game and won Rylee a little stuffed pink pig---and Rylee & Bobby shot a paint gun, which Rylee thought was pretty cool!

When we left there, we walked through the town for a while just taking in the culture and enjoying the day. We ran across another park. It had a huge statue of John Lennon. It, also, had a ton of out dated playground equipment that the girls thought was great. All of the playgrounds are very run down compared to US playgrounds. They are all made of old painted metal that is peeling off and definitely do not fit US safety regulations. That does not matter to Rylee or her friends---they played and played....After quite a while at the park, we decided we better start thinking about some place to eat dinner....Our friends have eaten at this great pizza place called Party Pizza--it is new to Pavlodar. It was about a 20-30 minute walk from where we were, so we were off. Once again, just trying to take in our surroundings. Just walking through town today made us realize where we are...There is so much history here, and I want to be able to tell Landen everything I can about his birthplace. What an experience this has been!

We finally made it to the pizza place...we ordered vitamon salad and chicken, mushroom and tomato pizzas. The salad is a cabbage salad with cucumber, tomato, salt and oil. It is really good. I have been trying to get Rylee to try it, and she finally did! Rylee is not a salad eater at all!!! She has never eaten a salad in her life, but guess what? SHE LOVED IT! She ended up eating my entire salad....Yes, we have photos to document! Nana, you would have been so proud! The pizza was really good, too! The girls followed dinner with the Kazak version of a milkshake. It is basically whipped milk and sugar--they slurped it down!
After dinner we decided it was time to head back home before it got too late. We saw a lot of neat sights on the way home and will share them in our photos for the day!

As you can tell we had a fun day---filled with lots of culture! We are so blessed that we have gotten to meet such a wonderful American family to show us the ropes around here and spend time with! They are leaving Thursday, so we are all going to make the most of the little time we all have together. I believe they are going to come over for dinner again tomorrow night, so it may be another late post! Poka, poka!

Day 11 - Some like it hot, some like it cold (double click for pics)

Saturday, July 8th--Day 11 Visitation

First, we would like to appologize for being so late posting today. We had a very busy day and the internet cafe was closed before we were able to post.

Hot water!!! Yes, the hot water is back on, and we thoroughly enjoyed our showers this morning! We have learned that there are many things we take for granted! Well, today was a fun packed day for all of us. One big announcement is that we finished our puzzle. We have worked and worked on this puzzle--it was a pretty hard one! We'll post a picture so that you can take a look at the finished product--we are trying to figure out how to take it back with us....Rylee wants to try to save it and frame it, because it looks like Scarlett. For those of you interested in Bobby's birds....we took a picture of them as well. There is a reflection off the window, but if you look closely at the picture you can see it! His birds must have sent an e-mail out to their friends, because it appears we have quite a few more to feed now!

With today being Saturday, we are only allowed one visit with Landen. Our visit today was probably one of the best yet. When I went upstairs to get him he was sitting in a swing, and when he saw me... he got a HUGE smile on his face!!! It melted my heart! We were in the big music room again. It was another beautiful day today, but with the wind blowing it was quite chilly. Therefore, with Landen's congestion, we opted to stay in the entire visit. Lena stayed with us during our visit, and disappeared for a while. When she returned she brought a walker for Landen. We put him in it and he was off. He zipped so quickly around the room that we had a really hard time taking pictures of him. We were rolling with laughter! None of us could keep up with him. I don't know if his walker in his playroom upstairs does not roll as fast, but he was having a blast racing around the room like he was in the Indy 500. After about 30 minutes of the walker, mommy wanted to hold her baby boy! Luckily, he was ready for some loving, too! He just wrapped his little arms around my neck and was content as can be. We all held him for a while, and then wanted to see him zip around the room again in the walker....BIG MISTAKE!!! After his 30 minutes of playtime at the beginning of each visit is over, he just wants to be cuddled and loved on...no more play! When we tried to put him in the walker he started to whine, because he just wanted to be held! He even shed a tear...it was only 1 tear, but it was his first with us! Needless to say we held him the rest of the visit! We did get a quick photo of this moment, so that you can all share in this sad moment. We were very sad when it was time to take him back up to his group, because we knew it would be Monday until we were going to be able to see him again. It's gonna be a long day and a half without him!

We knew we needed some cheering up, so we decided to go ice skating. We went the Lena and her daughter, Leeza, and the American family met us there. This was a lot of fun! Rylee has a new nickname...the Zambonie....I held her hand most of the time, and when she would fall I would end up dragging her a few feet...when this happened she would smooth out the ice for them! By the end of the hour, the ice was smooth as glass :-) !!! She did start to get the hang of it, but made the comment that she does not think she will become a professional ice skater...she will just stick with horseback riding and tennis. After skating, Lena had to go home to pack...she is going out of town with Svetlana on business until Tuesday evening. We tried to go out to eat at the Russian restaurant, but they were closed for some reason. We were in a dilemma...we did not know of another restaurant to eat at...none of them have menus in English. We could walk to another restaurant, but it would be a really long walk... we thought about getting a taxi, but were not sure we could explain ere we wanted to go. We opted to pull our resources together and just throw together dinner in our apartment. They had purchased a rotisserie chicken from the pastry shop earlier today, so we had that...green beans, mashed potatoes, and a tomato and cucumber salad. It was really good. The girls had a great time...it is so nice to have such a nice family to spend time with. They get their son on Wednesday and are leaving Pavlodar on Thursday, so we only have a few more days to spend with them.

We are going to explore the town tomorrow with the American family, so it should be another fun-filled day..we will try to update our post, but it may be another late one! But.....stay tuned!!! Poka, poka!