Hello!

Well it's been quite a week! Overall Robert has been doing very well and I think he's really bonding with our family. He seems to get better everyday.

Oleyssa was with us for three days and she left on Sunday. It was nice having her with us and I think she enjoyed her time in Pensacola. We took her shopping, out to eat (a lot) and to the beach. She loved the beach. Of course, we love it, too, and so did Robert. We were really surprised that Robert took to the sand and water so easily. He wasn’t afraid of the water as long as someone was holding him closely. I really thought he would be more hesitant about the beach.

Robert has had a lot of firsts in this past week. He’s gotten used to going to restaurants and he loves riding in a car. He doesn’t mind the car seat at all. He’s a pretty good shopper, too. Well, that’s not counting the Walmart experience! Oleyssa wanted to go to Walmart so we went on Friday. We had been there about an hour and one-half and I was just waiting around the cash register for Oleyssa to meet me. Well, Robert saw the bananas and really wanted one. However, they sell them by the pound and I knew that if I got them he would want it right away before I could get to the register to have them weighed. Robert let loose with a major tantrum. Everybody was staring at me like I didn’t know how to handle my kid or like I had done something to him. I would have just picked up and left but I couldn’t find Oleyssa anywhere. He finally settled down after I got him interested in some crackers.

The whole tantrum thing is new to Chuck and me because Russell has never really had a tantrum. We’ve just been trying to ignore him when he has a tantrum and that seems to be working. His tantrums have gotten much shorter.

Bedtime is still a challenge. He definitely throws a tantrum when we put him down and he usually wakes up several times during the night screaming and crying. We love it when we go out to eat and he falls asleep because he usually stays asleep and sleeps much better through the night. We might just have to continue to eat out a lot.

Robert and Russell are having a great time at St. George Island. They both love the pool although it’s a little too cold for Mom and Dad! Robert had his first boat ride last night. We all went on a sunset and oyster shucking cruise. The boat didn’t even faze Robert and he even fell asleep on us.

He continues to get more comfortable with the dogs. He’s completely fine with them unless they come right up to him. They can be standing right next to him and that’s fine as long as they don’t show any interest in him. I’m very relieved that he’s okay with the pets. The dogs are with us on vacation , too. Five of them! That includes Mimi and Poppee’s dog and Susu’s dog so I guess he had to get used to them.

Another thing that’s still a challenge is food. He definitely likes to eat but what he’ll eat is very limited so far. Everything is so strange to him because all they have in the Baby House is porridge-type food. He loves oatmeal and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Oh yes, and bananas!

It’s really been fun to watch Robert this past week. He’s a totally different child than he was at the Baby House. He loves to laugh and talk. I would love to know what he’s saying. He’s already saying words in English when prompted so I’m hoping the language will come quickly for him. One day he and Russell where going upstairs and Russell said, me first!” and then Robert said, “me first!” I couldn’t believe it. He definitely likes his big brother and vice-versus. Russell has been wonderful with Robert.

We all head home on Sunday and then it we’ll try to get back to a normal schedule. I still can’t believe we’re the parents of two toddlers!

Best, The Youngs

He's Here!

Our day finally arrived yesterday. Robert joined our family! He and Oleyssa arrived around 9 p.m. last night after a long trip. Oleyssa said Robert was very good on the trip and he loved the plane. He was a real trooper at the airport. He let Russell hug him, A LOT, right away, and after a few minutes he let Chuck and I hold him. When we were getting ready to leave the airport he did break down in tears, but who could blame him. It’s so much for a little one to take in.

When we arrived home we put the dogs and our cat in the bedroom because he was scared. Our dogs and cat are a little overwhelming. Oleyssa said he was a afraid of her cat but not her dog when he spent the night with her.

We tried to get him to eat but all he wanted was a little yogurt. Of course Russell was talking to him the whole time trying to get him to play. We had to keep explaining to Russell that Robert just doesn’t understand us yet.

Then it was time for bed and he started crying. We all decided it would be best if Oleyssa didn’t help put him to bed so he wouldn’t get too attached to her. He eventually cried himself to sleep. I slept upstairs in the boys’ room in case Robert woke up. He woke up crying four times. The first three times I was able to get him to go back to sleep but the fourth time he was really screaming and crying. I think it was because it was about five in the morning and he was just ready to get up. By the way, Russell slept through all the crying. Of course, he slept through hurricane Ivan, too!

When we got up we took him outside with us while we took the dogs out. He was a little leery of them but now he seems fine as long as he’s sitting up away from them. He’s actually looking at them and smiling and laughing right now.

He and Russell where laughing it up this morning after breakfast. They were really having a good time. Robert went with me to take Russell to school and they both handled it just fine. Now Robert is chattering away at me and I have no idea what he’s saying. Oleyssa is still asleep. I’m sure she’s worn out.

I can’t believe the day we’ve waited on for over two years has finally arrived. We can now start our true journey with Robert as part of our family. Thanks to all who have helped us out in the very many ways and thanks for all the prayers and well wishes. I’ll update the blog about once a week for a little while to let you all know how things are going.

Best, Nancy, Chuck, Russell and finally Robert

We had our excitement for the day. After our video chat to home this morning we headed back to the apartment to watch a movie. As we were watching we heard a huge crash and looked out our window to find a fancy sports car had careened across the sidewalk and drainage canal into the side of our building. The driver and passenger climbed out unhurt. A guy called up to us and I think he asked us to call the police so I just pointed to the woman in the next window who was also watching. I hope he understood that we didn’t speak Russian!

We met up with George and Michelle and went to the museum store to buy another rug. We don’t know if we’ll ever be back here so we might as well take advantage on the good prices of rugs. After our rug purchase we ate at Firenze one last time. I’ll miss the food there!

Coming back into our apartment stairwell we met up with a feral cat that was scared to death of us. Instead of it heading down the stairs it went all the way to the top landing were we needed to be. We stayed back but the cat kept trying to get away from us and it was jumping up and scratching the door to the apartment next to us and crying loud. It finally got the nerve to run past us and wouldn’t you know it right when we got to the apartment door that the cat had been scratching a woman opened it to see what was going on. I assume she asked us what on earth we were doing and I tried to explain it was a cat. I found myself meowing at her and making scratching motions. She either understood or thought we were completely crazy because she closed the door on us. She’ll probably be glad to see that we leave in the morning!

Our driver is picking us up at 4:30 a.m. to take us to the airport and we arrive home Sunday night. I’ll update the blog again when our little boy finally arrives on September12! Best to all. Nancy, Chuck, Russell and Robert!

Whooooo! Hooooo! We got a favorable court ruling! Our petition to adopt Robert was accepted this morning. The hearing was only about 20 minutes but I was a nervous wreck because you just never know what will happen. Everything went fine and the judge congratulated us on becoming parents… for the second time. George and Michelle went in right after us and they got a favorable ruling, too.

After court we had to stop at the notary office to get yet some more paperwork done. Then it was off to the Baby House to deliver presents, donations, and cakes and juice for the children. When we pulled up outside the Baby House the kids were outside so we had to wait by the car so Robert wouldn’t see us. The orphanage representative who had been in court with us told us that Robert runs to the gate every time he sees someone pull up to see if it’s us. She said he asks about us all the time. That makes us feel good and bad at the same time! We did catch a glimpse of Robert as he was going inside.

We then all went into the director’s office (see photo) for our exit interview and to give the gifts and donations. I have to share a little story about the bag of clothes donations for the Baby House. When the bag was delivered to us in Pensacola I was going through it to wash all the wet clothes. I found an Altoid box full of Crayons packed in with the clothes. I asked Chuck if he had put it in there and he said no. We asked Russell if he had put it in there and he said he had because he wanted to pack a little surprise for Robert when we came over here in June. I definitely think Russell is looking forward to having a brother!

It looks like Robert will get to come home on September 12 as long as everything works out right. That will be perfect because we have a family vacation scheduled September 16 that we really want Robert to be able to go on.

We’re off to dinner with George and Michelle in a bit to celebrate. I guess we better not celebrate too much because we need to start that college fund!

Your getting apartment pictures now since I can’t get any photos of Robert!

We headed to the Internet Café about five this morning for our video chat back home. Russell loves school and of course, he’s having a great time with Mimi and Poppee. We both fell back to sleep when we got back to the apartment and only woke up when we got a phone call at 11 a.m. from our interpreter, Oleyssa, saying she and Aigul, our facilitator, would be at our apartment in 15 minutes with paperwork for us to sign. We hustled around trying to straighten up the apartment. This jetlag stuff is no fun.

They said we need to be at the courthouse for a nine a.m. court hearing on Friday. That’s 10 p.m. central time so keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We also found out that Oleyssa will be the one who will escort Robert home and it looks like they will be coming around September 23. Unfortunately, they also said the director does not want us to see Robert at all because it will upset him when we leave again. We can go after court tomorrow and watch him play without him seeing us.

We went to Firenze, one of our old haunts, for lunch. After lunch Anastasia picked us up along with George and Michelle, the couple we met last time from Ohio, and we headed to the U.S. Embassy to do paperwork. The paperwork was easy enough but we did run into a rude American who announced he was going to cut in line because he was in a hurry. Now I see how Americans get a bad name!

We then headed down to the Green Market for Michelle to find something to wear to court. Yes, they lost her luggage.

We’re off to the store to buy cakes and juice to take to the Baby House tomorrow for a celebration. Of course, we don’t get to celebrate with Robert and his group, but they’ll have fun.

We made it! We arrived in Almaty around five this morning. Our trip was pretty uneventful with the exception of an aborted landing in Almaty. That was a little scary but they later told us it was just because of strong tailwinds. And surprise, surprise, our luggage made it, too! We had a seven-hour layover in Amsterdam so we weren’t too worried about our checked luggage.

We’re in a different apartment this time. We’re just about one half a block from where we were last time. We didn’t have hot water when we first arrived, but we took a little nap and the hot water had magically appeared when we got up. The apartment is on the top floor. That’s five flights of steps. At least we’ll get a little exercise. We’re on a very busy, loud road so I doubt we’ll sleep well. No A/C again, but we do have a working fan this time. Well, it works if you rig it right. It’s a little warm. The apartment is nice but it’s a bit of the handyman’s special. All of the window handles fall off when you open the windows and the sink faucet in the bathroom has a broken cold water knob. And the toilet seat, well it’s not exactly attached. It’s got character, I guess.

Now for the disappointing news. The director of the Baby House doesn’t want us to come see Robert while we’re here because he was very upset when we left last time. We thought we’d be able to see him every day but it looks like we’ll only be able to see him for one visit. She doesn’t want us to visit him for four days and then be gone again. Hence, no picture of him today. This is something we really didn’t expect but if it’s easier on Robert then I guess it’s best.

Here we go again. We leave today for Almaty for our next leg of our adoption journey. It’s been a whirlwind since we got home and I can’t believe it’s time to go back. The final piece of luggage, the one that was suppose to go to the Baby House in Almaty, was delivered to Chuck’s office last week! All the clothes in it were wet so everything had to be washed and packed again. This time we have lots of luggage to check because of donations and gifts, but we’re carrying our clothes onboard with us.

Russell celebrated his fourth birthday on Friday and he started Pre-K today as you can see from the picture! He was very excited and a little anxious, too. So was Mom! Russell did fine when we left him and Mom held it together. Dad was a proud dad! Russell will be staying with Mimi and Poppee again with Susu helping out.

We’ll arrive in Almaty on Wednesday so hopefully we can update the blog then.

Best to everyone!

WE GOT OUR LUGGAGE! Well, we’re still missing one piece, but we’ve made progress. We went to the airport today around 1 pm and picked up two of our bags and we leave tomorrow morning at 6:30 a.m. Maybe we should have just left our luggage at the airport! The piece of luggage that we’re missing was a bag full of clothes for the Baby House so if it turns up here they can just deliver it to the Baby House.

We were originally scheduled to leave on July 22, but we won’t get a court date until mid-August at the earliest so we decided to come on home. Believe it or not they had seats available for us and there was no change fee. Hmmm. Maybe the tide is changing.

We also had one of our best days with Robert so I guess we’re leaving on a good note. It didn’t start out good. He did his signature plop-down-on-the-ground when he saw us. They had us take him outside and he didn’t like that either. He just sat there for a long time and then all of the sudden he wanted me to pick him up. Just when we started having a good time his group came walking out and they went around to the back of the Baby House. When he saw his group go by he completely lost it. They had us take him around to his group and then they sent one little girl named Sabine back to the playground with us and Robert was fine after that. Sabine is about five and she helps out a lot with the kids. She’s very sweet. Robert had a great time running around with us and Sabine. I think Russell is going to help Robert feel more at home when he finally gets to Pensacola.

This will be our last blog for the time being. We should start up again around mid-August. Take care everyone. Nancy and Chuck

It’s Sunday so we didn’t get to go see Robert today. Gali, our driver, took us up to Medeo. Medeo is in the mountains and there is an ice rink and about 800 steps that lead to the top of a dam. When we were here three years ago we walked up and down the steps. They told us it was the “adoption test”. Today Gali took us to the top and we just walked down the steps. Going down 800 steps was much easier! The countryside around Medeo is beautiful. It was nice to get out of the city for a little while and take in the scenery and breathe fresh air. A girl from Malta also went with us. She had her 1-year-old baby boy with her that she’s adopting. He’s adorable. She’s been here for two and half months and still has another week to go before she gets to go home. It’s amazing how much the adoption process has changed in three years. I now consider it lucky that we were able to complete our adoption in six weeks last time.

We heard yesterday that they found our luggage and they were suppose to deliver it to our apartment. It never showed up. One of our interpreters is suppose to be checking on it again today. Maybe we’ll have good news yet.

We had an early morning video chat with Russell. He had been to the beach with his aunt, Susu , so he had a big day. He’s having so much fun with Mimi, Poppee and Susu that he’s going to be disappointed when Mom and Dad come home!

When we got to the Baby House this morning one of the workers pointed down the hallway to Robert’s group. They were all down there watching something on TV. Robert was so disappointed when we showed up! He really didn’t want to be taken away from his group. I guess that’s been his family for the last three years. His main caretaker came in and talked to him then she took us up to a room for our visit. Robert sulked for about 45 minutes and then he finally came around. We got him interested in a little guitar that was in the room. He actually had a good time for the last hour of our visit.

We tried a new restaurant for lunch today. We went to a place called Firenze that is right by our apartment. It was very good. We’ll probably be visiting it again before we come home.

Today was not a great day with Robert. He clearly did not want to be with us. As soon as he saw us he sat down and wouldn’t move. I had to go into the hallway and pick him up and carry him into the room. He struggled to get away from me the whole time. Then he just sat there and he wasn’t interested in anything. Finally, we got him interested in a balloon so we played with that for some time. We tried to get him interested in the piano, which he usually likes, but after a few minutes he was tired of it. He sat down and started playing with the photo album and he just played with that until it was time to go. It’s clear that the bonding is only going to happen once we get him home. They keep telling us how active and talkative he is, but we definitely haven’t seen that yet.

After our visit we just grabbed a bite at the fast food chicken place in the Silkway mall. We might go up to the Tsum store later with the people we meet earlier this week to shop for souvenirs. There are some rumblings that they might have found our luggage! Stay tuned!

WE HAVE HOT WATER! Finally! After 10 days with no hot water we finally got to take hot showers again. That was a nice start to the day. Then we headed to the Internet café for our video chat—modern technology is great.

Chuck and I were very apprehensive about how Robert was going to react when he saw us today. His main caretaker brought him in and he was fine. He wasn’t ecstatic to be there with us but he had a good time playing with his toys… and eating the treats we brought for him. He does like to eat. We did get smiles out of Robert today, but we think he’s worried about what he’s missing out on with the rest of his group. When our two hours were up his main caretaker came back in to get him. She told him to pick up all the toys. Amazingly he picked up everything! He does pretty much whatever she says! Maybe she can come home with us! After he picked up his toys the caretaker told him to tell us bye-bye and he actually looked as us and said it. We clapped and cheered for him and we got a smile out that.

After we left the Baby House Aliye took us to the art museum. They have a rug store there and we bought a rug to take home. That was one thing I always regretted we didn’t do last time, Then it was to the Chicken House for lunch. We had a good long rain this morning so it cooled things off a little. It wasn’t quit so hot walking around the city today.

We headed to the Internet café about 5:45 this morning for our video chat back home. At first they told us the Internet wasn’t working but we tried it anyway and it worked. Getting to talk to and see Russell was a good start to the day, but it went downhill after that!

Robert didn’t want to have anything to do with us today. At first he came right to us and then he started crying. One of his caretakers calmed him down and he was okay for about 10 minutes then it was more tears. We couldn’t do anything to make him happy and he just kept scooting away from us. Another caretaker came in and lead us outside with him were they were filling up a little swimming pool. We stayed by Robert but he definitely didn’t want us around. After he went swimming he let me carry him back inside with his group, but when I started to go upstairs instead of following his group he started trying to get away from me again. I just put him down and they told him to hug us goodbye. He did hug us but he was glad to see us go. Today was a complete about face from yesterday. We’ll see what tomorrow has in store for us.

On a positive note, while we were outside at the Baby House today, we met two other couples adopting. We ended up meeting one of the couples for lunch. They’re from Dayton, Ohio and they’re adopting a two and a half year old boy. They have a four year old toddler at home that they adopted about three years ago so we have a lot in common with them. Plus, they have no hot water either!

We started off our day with an early video chat to Mom, Dad and Russell. We’ve decided it’s better for us to go to the internet café real early because it’s easier to get a computer with a video camera in the early morning rather than in the evening. If only we could get hi-speed internet in the apartment! As always, it was great to be able to talk to and actually see Russell.

Robert came right to us again today. He did his usual sitting around eating his banana and drinking his juice. We decided to try to get him moving around some so we put him in a blowup pool filled with plastic balls that is in the room. He seemed a little unsure at first but then he decided he liked it and he really started playing. He got in and out on his own several times and he ran around outside the pool, too. That’s the most movement we’ve seen from him! He’s still not talking to us, but they tell us he talks and sings a lot… sounds like Russell!

After our visit we walked to a Russian restaurant that Anastacia had recommended. I ordered chicken stew and I ended up with chilled chicken and eggs mixed with mayonnaise. Hmmmm. I guess something got lost in translation! Chuck wants to stick with Ciao Pizza from now on.

Still no word on our luggage and we can’t reach British Air by phone. Aigul, our facilitator, is going to go to the airport today and check on it for us. In all of this I have discovered that there is life without hair gel! I forgot to get any the first day we were here so I had to do without the next morning and big surprise, my hair actually did okay. Maybe it’s the ice cold mountain water that makes a difference!

Robert actually seemed happy to see us this morning. He came right to us and gave us both a hug. I think he was told to give us hug by his caretaker, but he did seem happy to do so. He sat down with us and ate his banana right away. We got his toys out and he started playing. All the past days Robert will take the toys that he doesn’t have in his hands and hide them under his legs. We guess he has to protect the toys he’s playing with from the other kids. He does the same thing with his food. If he doesn’t eat whatever we give him right away he hides it under him. Today however, he didn’t hide his “stuff” so he must trust us more now. Chuck gave him a ride on his shoulders and he loved it. I’m sure that’s something new for him, too. Another progression we’ve seen is that Robert doesn’t look longingly at the other children who walk through the room going to their speech classes. He now looks at them as if to say, “Hey, look at me”!

After our visit we walked to our regular pizza place for lunch. We walked so much yesterday that we decided to just stay in today accept for running up to the Silkway later for some dinner items. Our kitchen is very, very sparse so there’s not much cooking. So far it’s been pasta and grilled cheese.

We’ve been using Skype to video chat with Russell. He’s been in North Carolina on vacation with family and friends. The video chat doesn’t always work quite right but it makes a huge difference to Chuck and I to be able to see Russell’s face on the screen. Russell’s been so busy with vacation and friends that I don’t think he’s had time to be homesick for us yet. And this week he goes to vacation bible school so that will keep him busy, too. It’s very hard to be away from Russell, family, friends and of course, all our dogs and cat, but once Robert finally joins us it will all have been worth it.

By the way… no luggage or hot water yet.

July 8, 2007

We didn’t get to go visit Robert today because it’s Sunday. Sunday visitation is another thing that has changed since we were over here for Russell. Last time we got to visit on Sundays and it counted toward our bonding period. Since we couldn’t go to the Baby House Anastacia was going to find a church for us. Evidently she forgot and we couldn’t get in touch with her yesterday so, we had a wide open day.

We ended up walking around the city for about three hours. We had a good lunch at Guinness Pub (thanks for the recommendation Shannon). Chuck tried the fish and chips and I had chicken puff pastries. Then we headed to the Ramstore, think Walmart on a much smaller scale, and bought a couple of books in English.

I haven’t figured out how to do photo captions yet so I’ll have to explain the photos today. The first is of the Green Market. That’s the flea market type shopping place. And the other is off a painted camel sculpture. They’ve added these around the city much like Pensacola did with the Pelicans.

July 7, 2007

Our driver and a different interpreter, Aliye, picked us up today at 9 a.m. We had not met Aliye yet because she just got back from escorting a child to the US. We couldn’t believe it when she told us she had escorted the child to Montgomery, AL and the family drove Aliye down to Pensacola Beach to spend a day! It’s definitely a small world. I could have had her go by my house and get some clothes for us. Although, all my favorite clothes are somewhere in this world in my suitcase.

Robert didn’t even shed a tear when he saw us today. He actually seemed like he wanted to go with us. We had a good two hours with him. He even spoke to us today for the first time. One of the wheels came off a toy car and when I put the wheel back on for him he said something. What he said, I have no idea, but he finally spoke to us. We had Aliye explain to him that he would be getting a new name, too. She was very good with him. When his caretaker came to get him for lunch he didn’t jump up and go to her like he’s been doing. The language barrier is definitely the biggest problem. I spent hours before we came over here listening to Russian tapes so I could at least speak a few words to him. It turns out that they speak Kazakh to the children now. When we were over here for Russell they spoke Russian to him. Things are constantly changing.

It’s a rainy day here so we just walked to the pizza place and back. Looks like it will be an apartment day. Hopefully it will let up tonight so we don’t get too wet going to the internet café for our video chat back home.

July 6, 2007

I actually slept until 4:45 this morning! I think I’m finally adjusting to local time. Chuck however, only made it to about 3:30 a.m. Neither of us remembers taking this long to adjust to the time last time.

Initially this morning Robert didn’t want to have anything to do with us. He came in from outside and saw us standing in the hall. At first he came over to us but then he started screaming and crying. Chuck and I went upstairs to our visiting room and they brought him in about 10 minutes later with some cookies. We gave him his juice, a banana and a piece of candy. After he ate it he started playing with his toys and he seemed okay being with us. I finally just decided to pick him up and bounce him around to see how he would react. He loved it! He was laughing and giggling which was really good to see. Then Chuck gave him an airplane ride and he loved that, too. From that point on he was very happy and he didn’t want us to put him down. I think we made real progress. The Director of the Baby House told Anastacia that Robert was telling the other kids in his group that he was getting a Mama and Papa.

After our visit we had lunch at the Chicken House close to our apartment. Then we headed over to the Green Market so I could by another pair of pants and a shirt so I’ll have more than two outfits. Yes, you guessed it, no luggage yet—or hot water.
Later this evening we’ll head over to the internet café to call home for our video chat. It makes it a little easier being away from home. After that it will be an evening of FOX News. I need to find a bookstore that has some English books because the ones I was planning on reading are with my luggage.

July 5, 2007

We had a much better visit with Robert today! He still cried when they brought him into the room, but it didn’t last long and he started playing with the toys we brought. It also helped that we had some juice, a banana and a piece of candy for him! He reacted with us much more today and he made eye contact today without us calling out his name. Yesterday he would just hang his head down looking at his toys unless we said his name. We’ve been calling him Arman Robert so he slowly gets used to his new name. He even initiated a game of throwing balls back and forth to each other. Robert was definitely ready to go back to his group after our two hours, but he gave us big hugs goodbye and waved at us the whole time he walked out of the room. I think we’re making progress!

After our visit we walked down to Ciao Pizza and then walked to one of the parks just to get out of the apartment. There’s only so much FOX News you can watch.

Luggage and hot water update: No on both.

July 4, 2007

We started off another day with ice “so cold it hurts” showers. Our interpreter says we will have three days of no hot water because they are replacing some pipes in the city. I've added a photo of our apartment.




Our driver picked us up around 9 am and dropped us off at the Baby House. We did not get a good reception from Robert today! He definitely didn’t want to hang around us today. He cried and cried and then hid under a desk. Some of the workers went and got his main caregiver to whom he seems really attached. He came out from under the desk for her and she talked with him about us. We showed him lots of pictures of Russell and his caregiver explained that he was going to be Robert’s big brother. He finally got a little more comfortable with us and started to play with the toys we brought him. Today we tried cars and a coloring book. Tomorrow we’re going to try puzzles because he seems to like doing things with his hands. When it came time to leave he did give us hugs but I think it was because he was happy to get to be going back to his friends.

After our driver took us back to our apartment we walked to Mad Murphy’s Irish Pub for lunch. It’s a pub that a lot of Americans go to. It’s pretty good and you can get a burger but it’s higher priced than most restaurants. Then it was back home to watch FOX News. That’s about the only English speaking TV we get. Last time we were here we had a sitcom and movie channel.

Luggage update: Anastacia was told that our luggage is in Tokyo!!!

July 3, 2007

After taking ice cold showers this morning due to lack of hot water, we started our day making a run to the Silkway store to find some more toys and snacks for Robert before our visit. Aigul, our facilitator, was picking us up at 9:15 am. After waiting for over an half hour for Aigul we called our interpreter, Anastasia, to find out what was going on. It turns out that Chuck and I have been operating an hour ahead of everyone else in Almaty! When we were here in 2004 there was a 12 hour time difference from CST. However, about two years ago, the Kazakhstan government decided they wouldn’t have daylight savings time anymore. Now Almaty is only 11 hours ahead of CST! Live and learn.

When they brought Robert in today he was upset and cried a little, but it didn’t last long. It’s definitely going to take a little while for him to get used to us. We brought him some Legos and he got interested in playing with them. We also brought him a juice box that he practically inhaled. We’ll be taking one of those with us every day! We did get a couple of smiles out of him when we tickled him, but he has yet to say anything. They have us staying inside with him because if we went outside he would want to be with the other kids. Hopefully, after he warms up to us we can go outside with him and he’ll want to stay with us. We’ll see.

After our visit Anastasia told us they had found our luggage and a man was meeting us at our apartment with it. Turns out they only found one of Chuck’s bags and it was soaking wet. So off we went to the Green Market so I could try to find a change of clothes. Shopping for clothes here is hard. The nice stuff is very expensive and it’s hard to find my style in the reasonably priced stuff. Maybe our luggage will still show up!

July 2, 2007

We finally made it to Almaty on Sunday around six in the morning. We’re 12 hours ahead of CST. However, our luggage, which we have not set eyes on since July 27 is still not with us. Apparently three bags are in London and one lonely bag is still in Chicago. Our interpreter is supposed to call the airport today.

We’ve settled into to our apartment, not that we had much to unpack. Our apartment is sparse but it serves its purpose. It is located pretty centrally. We’re two blocks away from the Silkway. The Silkway is a mall that has a grocery store and internet café. We’ll be spending a lot of time there because our translator said we couldn’t even get dial-up in our room. We would have had to visit the internet café a lot anyway so we can video chat with Russell and that requires high speed. When we went to the café last night the guy that was working there didn’t speak any English so we couldn’t figure out how to switch the computer from Russian to English. Hopefully someone will help us with that today.

And finally, best of all, we met Robert today! He was very shy around us, but at least he didn't cry. We couldn't get him to smile or talk, but he did come to us when the caregiver told him to. We were only with him for about 30 minutes but tomorrow will be longer. He did give us hugs goodbye when the caregiver told him to. I'm trying to upload pictures on the blog, but the computer at the internet cafe is in Russian so I can't read anything. I'll keep trying.

Thursday 5:15 a.m.

Well we've hit yet another road bump in our journey! We were delayed getting out of Pensacola because of bad weather in Chicago. We missed our London Connection in Chicago and ended up spending the entire night in the airport trying to get things worked out. We will now be staying in Chicago until Friday because British Airways doesn't fly into Almaty every day. We can't leave London until Saturday and they couldn't get us out of Chicago any sooner than Friday anyway. To make matters worse, the airline is holding our luggage hostage at the airport. They won't let us have it for security reasons. We're beginning to wonder if things are ever going to work out!
Best, Nancy and Chuck

June 22, 2007

Finally! After waiting over two long years we are finally going to Almaty, Kazakhstan to meet Robert. We have experienced many twists and turns during this adoption journey but we keep telling ourselves that it must be for a reason. Chuck and I leave on June 27 because we have to be there by June 30. After about three weeks our official bonding period with Robert will be complete. Unfortunately, it now takes six to seven weeks from the time of arrival to get a court date so, Chuck and I will be returning home around July 22 when the bonding period is over. We will return later for our court date and then there will be another three to four weeks before Robert can actually leave. I will probably end up going back a third time to bring Robert home.

Russell will be staying with Mimi and Poppee during this time. They will be going to North Carolina with our family friends which Chuck and I hate to miss out on! After we get Robert home we can actually plan our lives again. That's a novel concept for us.

Thanks for everyone's prayers and well wishes during the last two long years! Keep them coming our way.

Best, Nancy and Chuck