A dream fulfilled!

Packed and ready to go!!

This morning we went to court, and all five families were approved to adopt. Madina is now officially Madina Grace Kasianczuk!! We will go back to the orphanage this afternoon for another tea party, this time with the caregivers, and then head for Almaty!! Will write more later, just wanted all to know it is official!!

Wednesday April 16

Today is Wednesday, and we are in the midst of a blizzard--the roads are covered with snow and the cars are frozen. The weather here can change on a dime. I am hoping it clears soon, we were trying to sleep with the windows closed just 2 days ago because the misquitos were so bad. Not a problem tonight. We just called maintenence to help with our window, it kept blowing open and snow was coming in. That is now fixed, and we have running water again. The water looks like a choclate fountain, but it is running. I have been attempting photos, and will keep trying, but I really think the weather might be affecting the dial up internet connection. We met another couple here to pick up a son they adopted, and they are from Schenectady!! They flew in last night and are hoping to fly to Almaty tonight if the airport is open. We will be in touch with them for play groups! They were here a month ago for bonding and court, and had to come back to pick up their son. Today we also had bag inspection for our babies flight back to the states (if all goes well in court!). Madina is ready to go, but Zhanna still says she has her "own house" and may not need to live in ours! Still some work to be done on that!

Tuesday April 15

Hello--Madina was trying on her new hat, and learning to clap. She is feeling much better today, and has been babbling and laughing.

Monday, April 14

As promised, these are some photos of the open market. Today was a good day, we were told in the morning that our interview with the Ministry of Education was today at 4pm. We were all approved!! It was very busy at the Ministry building, there were 10 families there for interviews! The other families were from France and Spain, and were adopting from different orphanages. We each waited our turn, and I was the first to go from our group of 5 families. There were 3 officials, Tamara, our facilitator, Natasha, our translator, and myself. They actually asked most of the questions about Zhanna, her development, her health, and enjoyed photos of her and Madina. According to Tamara, I did very well, and they liked me!! The last hurdle will be on Friday, when we go to court for the judges decision. We have been working at filling the bag for Madina's escort back to the United States, there are many items on the list that we needed to purchase, so we went to the store called "Mickey House" today. As of today, Madina will not be able to travel in the unofficial pink escort suit, as they said it will be "too warm". That may change, but I bought a new "lighter" snowsuit, a two piece lime green outfit with separate snow pants for her to wear home. The weather here is very labile, according to the reports it will be below freezing this weekend, and has snowed in June. I will leave both in her bag. We have not been shopping at the souvenir shop yet, we're hoping to go this week, but things are very busy with 5 families. We have a caravan of 3 vehicles to go anywhere, but so far I have had my own car, even when Mom and Zhanna don't go to the baby house with me!! I usually ride with Natasha, or Zhanna's new friend "Tasha" as she calls her.

Tomorrow we will go to the baby house twice, as today we were only able to go once. Madina has been somewhat sick, as have the other babies. She slept in my arms most of the morning visit, and I did have to take off some of the layers as she was so sweaty. She has a green velour dress, note the photos, which appears to be her uniform, as she has only been out of it for one day since I met her. She usually has a 2 tee shirts, a sweater, the jumper, thick tights and wool slippers on when we visit, and it is about 90 in the room. There are no windows open, to avoid a draft. The workers are now refinishing the music room, and it is somewhat dusty. We were told that we have to bring slippers tomorrow, as there are no shoes allowed in the baby house and most of us are only wearing socks. Will write more tomorrow, am signing off on our last Monday in Karaganda. Next Monday we will be in Almaty, preparing for the looooonnnngggg trip home!!Hope all is well!

Sunday April 13

Today was Sunday, and we were not able to go to the baby house, as they have to "disinfect" on Sundays. We spent the morning at the 'green market' which is an outdoor market that you can purchase anything from food to toilets and anything in between. In the afternoon we all took our 2 hour nap, and then went for another walk. The photos are of the park behind our hotel, and there is a sign in front of part of the park that says it is a SWAT paintball field. There are lots of tanks and missiles in that part of the park.

We have a big week, one of the days, we are not sure when yet, we have an interview with the Ministry of Education officials. If we can convince those officials of our ability to raise the babies, we will go to court on Friday. At that time, the judge will hear from the officials from the Ministry of Education, the doctor from the baby house, the director of the baby house, our facilitator and us, and make the final determination on the adoption of Madina and the other babies. The paperwork we have filled out in the states as well as here in Kazakhstan will make the adoption final and Madina will become a US citizen as soon as she touches down on American soil. She will come home after the 15 day mandatory waiting period for any judicial decisions made in this country and time it takes to issue a passport and birth certificate with her new name. This should take about 25 days, so unfortunately, we will miss her first birthday! Since court has been moved up to April 18, we will fly to Almaty that evening, go to the consulate on Monday to prepare more paperwork, and leave Kazakhstan on Tuesday, April 22...2 days earlier than we expected!! Can't wait to see you all!! Will attempt photos of the market and Madina tomorrow...

Saturday April 12

Thursday

Hello! Today is Thursday, and I was able to get two photos thru so far. The first is Madina's crib, number 3. There are 12 cribs to a room, with 2 caregivers. The second photo is Natasha with Madina. Natasha is our translator, and one of Zhanna's "new best friends". Today was a good day, we got some great news, that our court date has been moved up to April 18 instead of April 21, so we will apparently be leaving Karaganda earlier than expected, probably right after court. We will need to spend several days in Almaty making arrangements for the baby to come home. That apparently involves going to the consulate and arranging temporary Visas until the baby becomes a citizen, which happens as soon as the baby hits ground in the USA. We will probably not be able to come home any earlier than scheduled, as our plane tickets are for April 24, but we will keep you posted. The weather has been wonderful, according to the reports it will be 18 degrees celcius tomorrow...what ever that means!!

Wednesday

The top photo is my fashion plate Madina attempting to take her first steps. She is a trooper, happy despite an axillary temp of 39 degrees celcius, which translates to approx 102 degrees. The doctor saw her, and said it was a combination of being in a "draft" and many new people in the orphanage. She will be "fine". The second photo is Madina trying on the unofficial escort suit of Children at Heart--at least two of the girls have come home in it! Thank you Vika and Chloe! Madina will not be home until May, but it is important to keep the babies warm!! Madina is actually pretty immobile in the suit too!!

Today we bought some rolls filled with sauerkraut for dinner from a street vendor. Mom was actually able to ask for Kapuska (cabbage in Ukrainian), much like my grandmother used to make. We have had some unwelcome surprises with stuffed bread in the past, so sauerkraut was very safe! What a welcome change from pasta and Kazak style ramen noodles! The hotel includes breakfast every morning, so we have cheese omelets and yogurt, and Zhanna eats "hot dogs (!?!)" and cheese blintzes with a kiwi. The rest of the meals are gourmet renditions of pasta and anything that can be cooked in a hot pot! The hotel has a restaurant, but it does not open until 7pm, much too late to order and eat with Zhanna. We all need our beauty sleep!

I am going to sign off now, this was my third attempt to post this entry and it has taken me 1 1/2 hours to do--will try for more tomorrow. Can't tell you how frustrating dial up internet can be when you keep getting disconnected!! Hope all is well!

Monday, April 7

Today is Monday, we were unable to get to the internet yesterday. We were also unable to go to the zoo, as our translator Natasha said it was too cold to take Zhanna outside. Mom and Zhanna stayed in while I attempted a trip to the "mall " with Mellissa and Karen, another Mom and daughter team from Loudonville. We had fun, malls here are interesting, and quite different from American malls. The weather is colder here now, it was -5celcius last night, and there was some ice. Not sure about the conversion, but cold...

Madina has been blossoming more and more every day--it is amazing to see the difference in her everyday with the one-on-one stimulation. Well, three on one anyway! This is photo in peach is one of the outfits I brought, right now she fits perfectly into a 6-9months--the camera does put on 10 pounds, she is not as big as she looks!! She is walking when you hold her hands, and can sit up very well by her self. She babbles a bit, more and more each day. I'm not sure she can ever catch up with Zhanna!

There is another Mom here now, from Spain, adopting a baby boy. Zhanna is determined to tell her about the new baby, and language is not much of a problem, thanks to Dora. She is now using Russian words as well as Spanish. There are many wild dogs here, and last night Zhanna said, "Gabba, hear that Baka?" Sabaka is the Russian word for dog. She amazes me every day. The caregivers in the orphanage still take her for a walk everyday to say hello to everyone, and she comes back loaded with candy and choclate from the staff. When we leave Madina she says goodbye in Russian and blows kisses to her and the caregivers...the girl knows how to work a room! She told my mom to "call Papa to pick us up" today, she is "ready to go home". She is tired of her "new yellow house" which is the hotel. The days are going by, and we will be home in about 21/2 weeks, hopefully on the 24th. If all continues to go smoothly, we will have court on the 21st of April, and then go to Almaty for some "business" at the consulate before our flight home. All for today, will try tomorrow!

Saturday

Today was Saturday, and we went to the orphanage 2 times, as usual to visit the babies. In between we had to go to a Notary to sign papers for our facilitator Tamara to represent us in the court and in Almaty (I think~it was all in Russian, although I did recognize my birthday and Madina's birthday in the paperwork, as well as a 454, my address, and a 12182, which is my zip code). After visiting, we went to the mall, which actually consists of rows of kiosks, that are very small. My mom and I can just fit in with Zhanna in the stroller, and for the most part it is one customer at a time. You kind of point and pantomime, then they punch in a number on a calculator, and a sale is made. Zhanna decided she needed a new hat, so we went to the baby store nearby to buy one. We also purchased a Matruska doll, which is the stacking dolls, for her to play with. Tomorrow is Sunday, and we are not able to visit the babies, as they have to "disinfect". We were planning on going to the larger mall with all of the other families tomorrow, but apparently Zhanna has pulled rank, and I am told a driver will pick us up at 11:00am to go to the zoo. I am told by Natasha, our translator, that they have camels, bears, tigers and maybe a monkey at the zoo. Zhanna is doing better than I had even dreamed...quite the world traveller! She is in a good routine, and has been sleeping from 2-4pm every afternoon, and sleeping about 10 hours a night. She is also using the potty...which she excitedly told Natasha, who was not impressed, as children here seem to be toilet trained by 1 year old at the latest. She has a long way to go to being potty trained, but progress is progress!! We miss you all, keep writing! Will send zoo photos tomorrow...

Friday

This is a yurt, the traditional Kazak dwelling. This is in the small park in front of our hotel. There are still no single family homes, just the apartments. The homes that were being built around the park appear to have been abandoned, and never completed, or maybe they are a work in progress?? Last night we had "pizza night" and ordered pizza with our new friends in adoption. The pizza is not thick crust, actually we ordered 5 pizzas and they stacked 3 in one box and 2 in the other. Definately not Pizza Hut, or Dominos 30 min or less!! They were round, and had cheese, but the similarity ended there. We have our own wing in the hotel, making it easy to share the hotpot that we use to cook our pasta in. The question of the day here is....elbows, shells, or that curly pasta?!? Will attempt to write more later--much difficulty with internet...

Thursday

The three of us! Today was another beautiful day in Kazakhstan. The trees are budding, flowers are beginning to come up, and the ice is only left in areas where the sun doesnt shine directly. The photographer came to the orphanage to take passport photos of the babies today, as well as our first "family photo" for the judge when we go to court.
We went to the market today for Zhanna to buy a present for her new baby--as well as one for her...a ball to bowl with!! She spent the afternoon after her nap bowling with Grammy with the water bottles, then switched to basketball with the clothes hamper when Grammy got tired of helping set up the bottles.
I go back to the orphanage for the afternoon visit from 4pm to 6pm, where I feed Madina and play some more. Today there was a puppet show put on by some of the staff at the baby house for the older children, 3-4 years old. Zhanna missed that, but has not really missed very much of anything else here!! Tomorrow we will have our usual day, with two visits to the baby house...will try for more photos. It takes almost 30 min to download one photo, and I keep losing connection, but will keep trying!

Wednesday night (I think!)

Sisters!! Zhanna has begun to call her new baby "Dina"--not Mommy's first chioce, but a first step! We had a good day of bonding today--we were actually able to take the babies outside for a walk. They were bundled up in snowsuits and hats while we had our short sleeves on, but it was wonderful for us to take a break from the 90 degree room where we play with the babies. Zhanna and Gabba (Z's name for Grammy) only go for the morning visit, so everyone can spend a bit more quality time with thier new babies. Zhanna is quite entertaining, and has been doing her "ballet shows" complete with bows for the staff and all other families daily, as well as singing to her baby "to make her happy".

Tomorrow the photographer will come to the orphanage to take passport photos and our first family photos for court. I have decided to keep Madina as her first name, and Grace as her middle name. Our translator tells me that Madina's heritage is from the Tar=Tar region, will have to research that! Heather, any information on that? Well, its after 10pm, a very late night for me here-- need to get to bed. Will write more tomorrow!

day 3 in Kaz

The weather has been absolutely beautiful here...this is the park behind our hotel. The temperature is in the mid 60s, but it is very important for me to keep Zhanna bundled up--notice the hood up! Many of the other children are still wearing snow suits, but so far we are okay with the jacket and hood. The background is all apartment buildings, there are no single family homes here in Karaganda.

We are just waking up here on Wednesday even though it is 9:30pm Tuesday night there. We are going to breakfast in the hotel, then to visit Zhanna's new baby Madina ( spelled with an "a" not an "e" as previously blogged!) then off to the store to buy pampers and wipes for the baby.

Zhanna is growing up so fast here--no more tubbies for her, she has learned how to take a "rain bath" in the shower, as there is no tub, or really hot water for that matter!! Although the weather is warm, the heat is still on...so that is why the sweat in all the photos. We had the window open in the hotel last night, but there were too many bugs and no screens, so...we all were warm and cozy last night!

Grammy probably thought she would be learning some Russian while here, but I think she is learning much more Spanish as we watch "Big Sister Dora" for the umpteenth time! We will try to post more later...hope all is well with everyone at home! Please keep the email coming!!

more

This is Madina, 11 months old! She is actually 11months old today, her birthday is May 1, 2006. She is able to stand, holding on to my hands, and likes to giggle at Zhanna. Zhanna is excited to be a "big sister" but feels that the baby should stay in "her own house"--for now anyway!! We'll work on that.

photos??

We are here!!

We arrived on Sunday night--anyway I think it was Sunday night. The flights were not too bad, couple of glitches... an "e-ticket error" that cancelled my ticket from Amsterdam to Almaty, but that was fixed and I was able to join my Mom and Zhanna for that leg of the trip. Zhanna was so patient on the airplanes, and has almost settled into a routine now. We went to the orphanage yesterday and saw many babies. There are five families altogether with our group...lots of company!!! Anyway, I am having a lot of difficulty with photos, but Zhanna hopes to have a new baby sister soon. Madina is 11 months old, Kazak, and extremely healthy. She weighs 8kg, 69.5 cm tall, with a head circumference of 45cm and chest 45cm. Will continue to try to send photos.....