WE ARE FINALLY HOME!

Sorry for the delay in posting!  As you can imagine, the past 48 hours or so have been rather busy.  I will say, though, that I am so happy to be typing this post from home!  It feels so good to be back and to finally have our entire family of four together. 

Our "day" started out at 1AM on Sunday, September 12th, with Sasha picking us up to go to the airport.  We arrived there and checked out the duty free shop while awaiting the Chinns' arrival.  We purchased some vodka there, only to have it confiscated when we arrived in Frankfurt since the EU doesn't allow visitors to bring in alcohol - doh!  Too bad we didn't know this ahead of time or else we wouldn't have bought it!  Of course, the duty free personnel at the Almaty airport didn't say anything, either, probably because they wanted to make a sale.  Thank goodness we had only spent 5 Euros on it (only about US $6.40).  The Chinns arrived, and then we all boarded the plane with the four of us taking up a bulkhead row for our flight from Almaty to Frankfurt.  We were on an Airbus, and the amount of legroom on this particular bulkhead row (row 29) seemed to be more than usual.  I think it's because the outer seats on either side of row 29 also happen to be at the emergency exits, so the four of us in the middle section of that row got extra legroom by default. 

The first flight was 6 1/2 hours long and mainly uneventful, probably because it's a red-eye flight and most people were asleep.  We gave Michael a bottle and laid him down in the bassinet once we reached cruising altitude, and he slept for most of the flight.  We woke him up to feed him breakfast when there was about 2 1/2 hours left into the flight.  We only had a 3 1/2 hour layover at the Frankfurt Airport before boarding our second flight direct to Houston.  Needless to say, after going through Frankfurt Airport six times between both James' and Michael's adoptions, it's no wonder that I know where the baby changing stations are in Concourse A and the transit area in Terminal 1.  I also know where most of the restrooms are, even the hidden ones in Concourse A that not everyone knows about. 

The second flight from Frankfurt to Houston was 10 1/2 hours long and was the one I was more concerned about since it's mainly daytime traveling, and both times before when we took this flight (first time was with James as a baby and the second time was with James as a 4-year old), there were other babies on the flights that were pretty unhappy, making it difficult to get any rest.  Of course, we were concerned that Michael would be the screaming baby on this trip since by now we were so off his usual schedule.  However, we were pleasantly surprised, and Michael traveled very well again on this flight, mostly sleeping and only waking for us to feed  and change him.  He did fuss a couple of times, but no full-blown meltdowns, thank goodness.  In fact, one of the other passengers on our same row (but across the aisle) said that he didn't even realize there was a baby on our row since Michael was so quiet and said that he thought Michael was quite a traveler.

We landed in Houston at around 2:30PM, then we went through passport control and were eventually escorted to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office (i.e. Immigration).  We then handed to the immigration officer the sealed packet of documents given to us by the U.S. Embassy in Almaty.  They perused the paperwork, then stamped Michael's visa in his passport and congratulated us.  That stamp on his visa in his passport is what now makes Michael a U.S. citizen, so he's now officially an American!  It just takes about 4-6 weeks or so to receive the official Certificate of Citizenship in the mail.  He will carry dual citizenship in the U.S. and Kazakhstan until he reaches the age of 18.

We then collected our luggage and walked out to the waiting area to be greeted by my parents with James, and my brother R.J. with his fiancée, Anna.  As soon as I spotted James from across the room my eyes started getting teary - we had missed him so much!  James saw Sean first and shouted, "Daddy!" while running towards him, and Sean kneeled down so James could run into his arms and Sean could scoop him up.  I was pushing Michael in the stroller, and James finally saw us and came running up to us.  He gave me a big hug and kiss and told me how much he missed us.  Then he hugged Michael and told him "Welcome Home!"  I think he had been practicing while waiting for us.  Then he wouldn't stop kissing Michael on the head - it was so sweet to watch.

We then all headed to the house, picked up some Chinese food for dinner, fed the kids, got baths done, and eventually called it a night.  We are all now in re-adjustment mode, trying to get us all on a normal schedule.  No downtime really, either, since it was back to business as usual on Monday morning with James going back to school (he was off last week since he was with my parents).  The last couple of nights have been a little rough, with Michael waking up at 2AM and refusing to go back to sleep.  We even gave him another smaller bottle and changed his diaper to make sure that wasn't it.  My theory is that his body is still on Kazakhstan time.  I say that because when I try to get him to go back to sleep, he is wide awake and fights it with as much vigor as he fought his mid-day naps back in our apartment in Almaty those last couple of days.  Of course, letting him "cry it out" is not an option, epecially with us trying to continue to bond with him so that he will start trusting us.  So, I stayed up with him, and eventually he went back to sleep about 4AM this morning.  Getting up at 2AM this morning wasn't too bad for me (bad for Sean since he starts going back to work today, so I took over) since I'm still sort of jetlagged, and  my body still feels like it should be awake, as if I were still in Kazakhstan.  I guess that's something Michael and I have in common right now.  So hopefully we'll get his inner clock (and mine) adjusted to the time change here at home soon.

Tyson and Tippy don't seem to have any problem with Michael being a part of our household now.  Actually, they would snoop around his high chair, as if to say, "I remember food being dropped around this chair, so I'd better hang out around it just in case some falls to the ground."  Michael hasn't seemed to interested in them just yet, but of course it's probably because there are so many new things to check out now that he's home - sensory overload.  I'm sure it's just a matter of time, though, before Michael crawls over to Tippy and starts tugging on her fur.

Hopefully no one will take offense to this, but we're holding off on having visitors for a little while.  Although it seems like Michael is starting to realize we are more than just another set of caregivers at the Baby House, we really want to continue to cement that bond and help him realize he is a part of a family now, rather than just another baby at the Baby House.  Having only Sean and myself meet his  needs 24/7 for a while will help him realize that.  We also did this when we came home with James as a baby in 2007, and while it was tough at first adjusting to a new baby with no other help around since we didn't have anyone come over right away, it was definitely worth it as James is completely bonded to us now.

Looking back, it's taken a while to get here with some rough spots along the way, but all that starts to dissolve away when I look over and see our two boys together.  We are really and truly blessed, and I am so grateful and extremely humbled when I think about how our family has come together.  If this is not a testament of God's grace, then I don't know what is!

Hope you enjoy our pics from our travels home!

Thanks for following along and for all your support, thoughts, and prayers over the years for both James' and Michael's journeys.  We love you all, and words cannot fully express how much you all mean to us.

Paka paka and love to all!

(Maureen's Post)

Well, this is it - our last post from Kazakhstan!  Let me start off by saying that we finally have our stroller back!  We never heard back from Lufthansa's baggage office in Almaty Airport last night, so early this morning Sean called them back to see what was up.  Turns out they tried to deliver the stroller to the sisters' office yesterday but it was after everyone had already gone for the day, so they left it at the security office for the building.  So, this morning we looked up the Russian word for baby stroller (it's kolyasku, by the way), and Sean walked to the security office which is about a 30 minute walk away.  He said no one spoke English there, but with what little Russian he does know he was able to ask if the stroller arrived and communicate that it belonged to him.  He showed back up at our apartment, stroller in hand, with a big grin on his face.  Does my husband rock or what?!  I just knew I married him for a reason!

So, today was all about wrapping things up.  This afternoon we met up with the Chinns at the Tsum to do some shopping (thank goodness we had the stroller for that excursion), and then we returned to American Bar and Grill for a chicken sandwich and an American club sandwich, both served with fries.  We decided to do it as take-out (suboy) so we could take it back to our apartments and start packing.  By the way, I forgot to mention that last night we ate take-out from Il Patio, an Italian restaurant on the ice rink level of the Ramstore building.  We had pizza and spaghetti bolognese, both pretty good.  Turns out Il Patio and American Bar and Grill are both owned by the same people.  We got most of the packing done, and both Sean and Michael are catching some zzz's while I complete this post.

It's unbelieveable that our journey to Michael which started 22 months ago is finally coming to a close.  And what a journey it has been!  There have been so many changes to this process since we started in November 2008.  Sadly, the adoption process in Kazakhstan now is nothing like it was when we adopted James in 2007.  It has taken longer (a single trip for James' adoption vs. taking 2 trips for Michael's adoption with a long wait in between trips), and things have become more difficult.  Our facilitators (the sisters) know this, and despite the increased difficulty they still work hard to try to help build families through adoption here in Kazakhstan.  Over time, different regions here have been closing to foreign adoptions, including Kokshetau city, where James is from.  I may have mentioned it before, but there is also a new law pending which states that prospective adoptive parents must bond with children for 30 days before filing for a court hearing.  This would lead to going to court approximately 3-4 weeks later, then completing the appeal period and completion of the passport application and preparation another 3-4 weeks later, effectively making the Kazakhstan adoption process a 3-trip journey, which it already has become in some parts of the country.

I cannot help but think about how lucky we were to find out we were traveling to Kazakhstan when we did.  Around Mother's Day is when we found out that we would be traveling to Kazakhstan sometime in June.  Just a few days later (May 15th) Kazakhstan released a statement that they would not be accepting any more new dossiers for international adoption at the end of May, as they intended to become a participating country in the Hague Adoption Convention, which establishes international standards of practices for intercountry adoptions.  While, in theory, this would be a good thing in the long run for international adoptions from partcipating countries, the immediate effect in Kazakhstan is that international adoptions will come to a screeching halt for the time being.  It could take at least a year or more for new legislation to be drafted, the legislation to be finally accepted by the Hague Convention, and legislation actually implemented.  No one really knows how long it would take.  Back in May the rumor mill originally had people saying that by September there would be more news on how to move forward with changes to the process, etc., but now September is here and almost halfway gone with no new information.  Unfortunately, the ones who would be ultimately affected are the waiting children, and the waiting families who will have to pretty much start from scratch on their dossiers.  Fortunately for us, this halt did not affect us since our dossier had already been accepted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at that time and we were considered a transition case and could proceed.

Here's another close one regarding the new 30-day bonding period rule.  This piece of legislation is almost ready to go into effect.  It has already passed one body of government in Kazakhstan and just needs to pass one more legislative body and get signed by the president.  If this got signed into law while we were in-country before going to court there was a possibility that we would have had to stay for the additional time for a total of 30 days, completely pushing the court date back for another 2+ weeks, not to mention having to make arrangements for returning home and to work later to wait out the appeal period.  In-country delays are not unusual (we, ourselves, were delayed a few days for a court hearing and ultimately returned home a few days later than planned) but that would have been more than just a few days' delay.  Fortunately, this turned out not to be the case for us, but it was a very real possibility.

At the end of our first trip, I lamented over the fact that our wait at home would take six weeks, thinking that Michael's passport was not going to be expedited due to the government's new law that all Kazakhstani citizens would require new ID cards which are issued by the same government agency, causing a backlog and delay in processing the passports.  Little did I know that Michael's passport application probably did move along faster than expected, and that the 6 week wait was not so bad, after all, as now families whose appeal periods did not expire by the end of August (ours expired on August 6th) are now being told that they will have to wait 3-4 months until their child's passport is completed and they can return to bring the child home because of the anticipated backlog.  I have been following the blog of one family who is affected by this, and they do not expect their child's passport to be ready untl January 2011.  After considering how much progress they have made in bonding with the child, the adoptive parents have made a decision for the mom to stay in-country with their son until it is time for him to come home because they want to do what is best for their son.

Lastly, I feel I must mention the eight families in the Taraz region of Kazakhstan who are currently trying to complete the adoption of their children.  These families are American, Canadian, and German, and there are ten children involved - they have been nicknamed the "Taraz Ten."  These families started the bonding process with the children in December 2009 but over the past several months have been denied their adoptions by the courts three times (the local judge, the regional judge, and a 3-judge panel in that region).  Their last appeal will be to Kazakhstan's Supreme Court in the capital city of Astana, expected to be maybe sometime in December 2010, a whole year after they started the bonding process.  Meanwhile, the children still wait in the Baby House; the parents were informed in July that they were no longer even allowed to visit the children to continue bonding until a positive decision has been made.  They had to return home in the meantime.  I have been following the blog of one of the Canadian families, and it really is heartbreaking.  I ask that you please keep the children and parents in your thoughts and prayers for a positive outcome.

Unfortunately, with international adoption there are no guarantees, and doing it really is a huge leap  of faith.  I don't mean scare anyone away from adopting internationally, but just know that it's not a smooth road and to go into it with eyes wide open.  I have said it before, and I will say it again - international adoption is not for the faint of heart!  With everything that is going on now we feel even more blessed to have James and Michael in our family.

So, enjoy our last few pics from today, and we'll see you when we get home!

That's all for today!  Paka paka and love to all!

We'll see you at HOME!

(Maureen's Post)

Today was another very warm day in Almaty.  Even though it's September, it sure feels like it's still summer!  However, the temperatures will be changing soon, even as soon as tomorrow.  The high temp today was in the upper 80s/low 90s, but is expected to only be in the low 80s tomorrow.  While watching the weather on TV we noticed the weather has gotten considerably cooler elsewhere in the country, particularly in the northern parts of Kazakhstan.  The temperatures for Astana today ranged from lows in the 30s to highs the 60s.  So, fall is definitely on its way!

We had quite a bit of time to relax at the apartment this morning since Sasha wasn't going to pick us up until 1:30PM.  We were able to settle into a better routine with Michael today, and he was even able to get in a morning nap.  He eats like a champ and definitely lets us know when he's hungry.  What seems to work right now is that he gets a total of 3 bottles of formula a day (8 oz.), along with breakfast, lunch, and dinner which is usually rice cereal combined with jarred baby food of fruit (breakfast) or a meat/vegetable combo (lunch/dinner).  Plus we feed him snacks, usually the Gerber snack puffs.  We may also venture out to the Ramstore tomorrow for some baby biscuits to include for the flights home.  What's funny is that Michael also wants to eat whatever it is we're eating and comes crawling over to us when we're eating, making noises and smacking his lips.  So, we've let him try a couple of harmless things - a tiny piece of hamburger bun, a bit of pizza crust, etc.  So far he's liked everything we've given him.  Sean nicknamed him "baby bird" while we're in Kazakhstan since he comes to us with his mouth open when he wants us to feed him something.  By the way, Sean also gave James the nickname of "mondo destructo" back when he was a baby here in Kazakhstan since he had a very strong grip and would crush even the hardest baby biscuits with one hand. 

One of the nice things about getting to spend a few days alone with Michael before returning home is that we get a lot of face time with him.  Or should I say, we get in his face a lot of the time.  Ever since we took Michael out of the Baby House we've been trying to facilitate bonding with him, as we did with James when we adopted him as a baby.  So when I say we get in his face we literally do that, trying to force eye contact as much as possible.  No sense of personal space here, folks!  Sometimes it even takes making weird faces and acting goofy (not hard for Sean to do). 

Another thing I've been doing while playing with Michael is working on getting him caught up on some developmental delays, particularly in his motor skills.  His upper leg strength is not that great, probably from being put in a walker for a good portion of his playtime at the Baby House.  So, we've been working with him again on standing on his own.  James' old Jumperoo we have at home should help Michael develop his leg strength, too.  However, when he can, Michael still tries to keep climbing up which is on target for his age.  Also, while he has no problem grabbing and holding toys or transferring them from one hand to another, his pincer grip (between index finger and thumb) is not yet developed.  So I've also been working with him on that, sometimes also using the Gerber puffs for motivation.  He's made a great deal of progress in the past couple of days - he used to just bang his fist over the Gerber puff but has now learned how to grab the puff in his fist and try to put his fist to his mouth to eat the puff. 

After lunch we were picked up by Sasha, who took us to Panfilov Park.  It was so neat to see Zenkov Cathedral and the surrounding park area during the summertime when everything is green and flowers are blooming.  This was a stark contrast from when we were last here during the wintertime with everything covered in snow.  With today being Friday, there were lots of wedding parties there; there were lots of decorated cars and a few decorated limousines (saw a white Hummer limo) parked along the perimeter of the park.  Many newlyweds were having their pictures taken at the war memorials, as is customary for brides and grooms to do, usually in post-Soviet bloc countries.

Afterwards we headed to the sisters' office for our (as well as the Chinns') final meeting and last-minute instruction before our U.S. Embassy interview and departure for home.  We also got to take our pictures with Gulzhan and Aizhan, the same sisters we worked with face-to-face when we were completing James' adoption in 2007.  We then walked over to the building tower across the street which houses the U.S. Embassy for our interview appointment.  The embassy interview was short and sweet (just as James' was), with them basically asking us under oath if our submitted documents were true, then having us sign a couple of the documents.  Then we were given Michael's Kazakh passport with his visa to enter the U.S.A.  As I've mentioned before, since the adoption was completed here in Kazakhstan with both parents present, the visa Michael was given is the IR-3, which will make him a U.S. citizen once we touch down on U.S. soil and pass through Immigration.  So it's official - we have the "all clear" to finally bring Michael home! 

Unfortunately, still no sign of the stroller.  It never did show up at the sisters' office here in Almaty.  We called Lufthansa tonight and they claim they delivered it, but the sisters' office did not receive it.  They are checking on it again, so we shall see.

Tomorrow's agenda will be pretty much hanging out at the apartment in the morning, then meeting up with the Chinns in the early afternoon for some shopping at the Tsum.  Afterwards, we'll all grab some dinner and then head back to our apartments to pack to finally go home!

It will be so great to see James.  We miss him like crazy and will be so happy once our family is all together again. 

James, we love you and can't wait to see you!  Just two more sleeps and Daddy, Mama, and Michael will be home!

Enjoy the pics and we'll catch you all tomorrow!

We took our pictures with two of the sisters, Gulzhan and Aizhan.  Even with all the changes with Kazakhstan adoptions they continue to work so hard so that we and others can grow our families.  We will always be grateful to them for helping us bring both Michael and James into our lives!

That's all for today!  Paka paka and love to all!

(Maureen's Post)

Today was another warm and beautiful day in Almaty.  We were wondering how Michael would sleep since last night was his first night away from the Baby House.  Well, I'm happy to report that overall he slept pretty well; he stirred a couple of times during the night, but then we would pat his back and he would settle back to sleep.  Michael is a tummy sleeper and sleeps with his rear end sticking up in the air (just like James did).  So sometimes when he stirs while he sleeps we pat him on his behind, too, and he goes back to sleep.  Meanwhile, our sleeping patterns are way off, as expected, with mine being worse than Sean's.  I think we might get back on track with the time change here by tomorrow or Saturday, just in time for us to go home and try to adjust again - ha!

This morning we went to the SOS International Clinic to have Michael's exit medical exam done.  We got his updated measurements this morning, with Michael weighing in at at 9 kg (19.8 lbs.) and measuring at 72.5 cm long (@ 28.5 inches).  The doctor checked out his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.  She also listened to his heart and his lungs - everything was fine.  Surprisingly, he was pretty cooperative during the medical exam and did not keep trying to wiggle away, so it went rather quickly.  He did seem to be flirting with her a little bit, though!  One thing that has changed since we adopted James in 2007 is that the HIV blood test is no longer a requirement for the U.S. Embassy for children under the age of 15; this change occurred sometime in the past year.  So, lucky for Michael that they didn't have to take any blood from him today!  Of course, we already know that lots of bloodwork awaits him once he gets examined by the international adoption clinic at Texas Children's Hospital when we get home.  If I remember correctly, James had to have at least 10 different sets of blood tests done when we came home after adopting him.

Next, we went to the Lufthansa ticket office located on the Hyatt Regency Hotel property.  We purchased a lap ticket for Michael for our flights home and inquired about getting bulkhead seating, which allows for us to get bassinets for the children during the flight.  Fortunately, there was enough open seats left on our flights home that the ticket agent was able to arrange bulkhead seating for both flights, from Almaty to Frankfurt and from Frankfurt to Houston.  I think that will help a whole lot, even if Michael doesn't use the bassinet that much.  The extra legroom in the bulkhead row, alone, is a big plus.  Additionally, at least one of us has an aisle seat on both flights, so that will help for those times when we have to get up and walk around the cabin when he gets restless.   Another nice thing is that the Chinns will be on our same flight from Almaty to Frankfurt, and we're all sitting together on the bulkhead row.  I can only imagine the kind of racket Michael and Aidyn might be stirring up on that flight!

Once we left the Lufthansa ticket office we went to American Bar and Grill with the Chinns for lunch.  The menu resembles one you would see at TGIFridays.  Sean and I had eaten here before during our adoption for James with our previous travel partners, the Mechems and Jill Sullivan.  I remember Jodi Mechem and I having an interesting encounter with a lady when we were there last time changing our boys' diapers in the restroom.  Anyway, the four of us all ordered burgers with french fries, but I didn't think to get a milkshake like I did last time we were here (I remember it being very creamy and delicious).  It's not like I would have had room in my stomach, anyway - the hamburgers were huge!  Sean forgot to take a picture of his "Texas Burger."  I think our family and friends would have been interested to see this burger, as it included a fried egg.  We've seen some other dishes with interesting names and descriptions at the restaurants in general, both here and in Karaganda.  I have no idea how they come up with the names of some of the dishes out here.

With our sleeping schedule still off and Michael's Baby House schedule also way off, we decided to just make a quick stop at the Ramstore and then head back to the apartment for naps and to do a load of laundry.  Tomorrow's agenda includes us meeting at the sisters' office mid-afternoon for paperwork before our interview with the U.S. Embassy for Michael's visa.  Actually, Sasha will be picking us up a little bit earlier before our meeting with the sisters so that we could stop by Panfilov Park, which has war memorials, as well as Zenkov Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox cathedral.  Last time we visited this park was in the wintertime back in 2007.  It will be nice to see the park again during this time of year, when everything is green.

So that concludes our post for today.  Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Last but not least, here's a picture of Michael holding a photo of my parents, who he will know as "Lolo and Lola" (means Grandfather and Grandmother in tagalog (filipino).  They are celebrating a special day today!

Congratulations and Happy 40th Wedding Anniversary!

We love you and will see you soon!

Thanks for stopping by, Everyone! 

Paka paka and love to all!