Today was another great day with Daniel! When we walk into his room to pick him up, his face lights up and he gives us a wonderful smile! Then he kicks his walker in high gear as he makes his way to the Patti!
This morning was a bit of a bummer. Daniel had to go downstairs to the doctors office to get a some kind of a breathing treatment for his cold. They put hin on a puffer for a minute or two and he gags and screams. Then the doctor lays him on his stomach accross her lap and gives him some chops on the back. Then she turns him around and does the same thing to his chest. This takes a lot of the wind out of his sails as he is content to just sit on Patti's lap for 30 - 45 minutes before becoming active again.
We do have a court date for this coming Wednesday morning at 9AM. We have to reschedule our flights back home and hopefully be back home on Thurday evening. Before we contact our travel agent, we have to make sure we can get from Karaganda to Almaty on Wensday evening.
It's going to be very difficult to leave Daniel here while we go home. Just this morning, Patti and I discussed (again) the possibility of staying the entire 2 months until we could bring Daniel home. with us. We have both decided that it would be better if I saved some of my benefit time from work and be able to take some time off when we get him home with us.
Thank you to all those who have shared comments with us. We really look forward to hearing from everyone and check our comments a few times a day! Patti and I know that Daniel is beautiful, but we love to hear everyone else say it too!! Please keep your comments coming!
We do have the BBC new channel in our hotel. It's the only English speaking channel that we have available to us. Unfortunately, there has been no sound on that channel since we have gotten here! Just 2 days ago, just in time to hear Gov. Spitzer's resignation speech, did we finally have audio!!
Talk to you soon! Wish us luck for court!!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Play Ball!!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
A Few More Pictures!
Here is Daniel and Daddy hanging out at the baby house! We played ball for about 15 minutes today but we were having so much fun, daddy forgot to get some pictures or video of it!
Here you can see Daniel flashing his "pearly whites" (both of them) to everyone at home! He can't wait to meet everyone!
Big Day!
Today is our last day of required visitation! It's also Daniel's 10 month Birthday!
Yesterday was the first day that when we went to pick Daniel up from his room, we were greeted with a HUGE Smile! He also gave us that same smile when we picked him up for our afternoon visit! I was staring to worry if it would ever happen but it finally did!
Today was also an exciting day! As soon as he saw us come through the door, his whole face lite up! We grabbed him and headed down to the visiting room. After about 15 minutes, our translator came to us and told us to bring Daniel back to his room and that we had to go to the Ministry of Education for our interview!!
There are several other families in our hotel who are a few days ahead of us in the process and they were told that they would probably be going on Friday (and have court on Monday). We were hoping to have our interview on Friday but thought that we may be pushed back until next week since they are ahead of us. We were pleasantly surprised to have it so quickly. We were also glad that we had only a 45 minute notice. Patti was very nervous and said she probably would not have been able to sleep if she knew last night (me either).
The interview itself was much more formal that I was expecting. There were 3 people who were representing the Kazakhstan government who were sitting at a table accross from us. They were all very intimidating (especially the "Big Cheese")! They all asked us questions and we answered through our translator. Our translator told us to smile and act confident and she would take care of the rest. Some of the questions we were asked were; How long have we been married? Was this our first marriage? Do we have any other children? Are we prepared for the changes that a child will bring to older people who have never had children? What our professions were? How much did we make each year? What kind of house we live in? How much do we pay for monthy mortgage? Why did we choose to adopt from Kazakhstan? Do we have any diseases (they think that some people will adopt and use the adopted child for organ transplants)? If we were looking to adopt a boy or girl? How does the child respond to us as he sees us each day? What feelings do we have for the child?
The entire interview took about 6 or 7 minutes so it wasn't so bad. I think because there were about 8 - 10 families all lined up in the hallway, they wanted to get through us quick (before lunch)! The Ministry Of Education interview is a big step toward finalizing the adoption. The next big step is to petition the court to legally become Daniel's parents. We are still not sure when that will be but our translator told us that she may have the date as soon as this afternoon. We are really hoping to go to court on Monday. This would give us a day to fly to Alamty and then catch our scdeduled flight to Germany on Wednesday morning at 4AM.
On our way to Kazakhstan, if you remember, I was shocked that I had to pay $24 for 2 Filet-O-Fish, a large order of cold fries and a box of water at the McDonald's in the Frankfurt Airport! Just over 2 weeks later, that seems like such a small price to pay; I guess it's just a matter of perspective!
Well, It appears that my spell check is not working but I don't have time to play with it. Lets see what hapens when I try to post this to the blog today!
PS - Sonya, I did run into your translator and she was very happy to hear from you and that things were going well. She told me that she would give me her email address and she would be very excited to hear from you. I haven't run into her again to get it but I'm sure I will see her in the next few days.
Yesterday was the first day that when we went to pick Daniel up from his room, we were greeted with a HUGE Smile! He also gave us that same smile when we picked him up for our afternoon visit! I was staring to worry if it would ever happen but it finally did!
Today was also an exciting day! As soon as he saw us come through the door, his whole face lite up! We grabbed him and headed down to the visiting room. After about 15 minutes, our translator came to us and told us to bring Daniel back to his room and that we had to go to the Ministry of Education for our interview!!
There are several other families in our hotel who are a few days ahead of us in the process and they were told that they would probably be going on Friday (and have court on Monday). We were hoping to have our interview on Friday but thought that we may be pushed back until next week since they are ahead of us. We were pleasantly surprised to have it so quickly. We were also glad that we had only a 45 minute notice. Patti was very nervous and said she probably would not have been able to sleep if she knew last night (me either).
The interview itself was much more formal that I was expecting. There were 3 people who were representing the Kazakhstan government who were sitting at a table accross from us. They were all very intimidating (especially the "Big Cheese")! They all asked us questions and we answered through our translator. Our translator told us to smile and act confident and she would take care of the rest. Some of the questions we were asked were; How long have we been married? Was this our first marriage? Do we have any other children? Are we prepared for the changes that a child will bring to older people who have never had children? What our professions were? How much did we make each year? What kind of house we live in? How much do we pay for monthy mortgage? Why did we choose to adopt from Kazakhstan? Do we have any diseases (they think that some people will adopt and use the adopted child for organ transplants)? If we were looking to adopt a boy or girl? How does the child respond to us as he sees us each day? What feelings do we have for the child?
The entire interview took about 6 or 7 minutes so it wasn't so bad. I think because there were about 8 - 10 families all lined up in the hallway, they wanted to get through us quick (before lunch)! The Ministry Of Education interview is a big step toward finalizing the adoption. The next big step is to petition the court to legally become Daniel's parents. We are still not sure when that will be but our translator told us that she may have the date as soon as this afternoon. We are really hoping to go to court on Monday. This would give us a day to fly to Alamty and then catch our scdeduled flight to Germany on Wednesday morning at 4AM.
On our way to Kazakhstan, if you remember, I was shocked that I had to pay $24 for 2 Filet-O-Fish, a large order of cold fries and a box of water at the McDonald's in the Frankfurt Airport! Just over 2 weeks later, that seems like such a small price to pay; I guess it's just a matter of perspective!
Well, It appears that my spell check is not working but I don't have time to play with it. Lets see what hapens when I try to post this to the blog today!
PS - Sonya, I did run into your translator and she was very happy to hear from you and that things were going well. She told me that she would give me her email address and she would be very excited to hear from you. I haven't run into her again to get it but I'm sure I will see her in the next few days.
Monday, March 10, 2008
We're Getting There!
Patti and I completed day # 12 of the required 14 day bonding period today! We continue to visit Daniel twice each day, except we have only one visit on Sundays. This coming Wednesday, we will have met our legal requirements. We then hope to meet with the Ministry of Education for a “pre-court interview” on Thursday or Friday. We hope to have our official court hearing early next week. At that time, we will petition the court to allow us to become Daniel’s legal parents. If the court rules in our favor, we will return home to wait out the 15 day “Appeal Period”. My guess is that we will return to Almaty, Kazakhstan, around mid April to complete the final paperwork and medical exams and be able to bring Daniel home by April 23rd (our last date to travel on our Kazakhstani visas).
We have really enjoyed every minute that we have spent with Daniel! We can’t imagine the joy that we’ll feel the day that we finally bring him home! To say that it would be the happiest days of our lives would be a tremendous understatement!! We are also impressed at the conditions at the baby house. Everything so clean and runs like clockwork. The caregivers are fantastic and there is no doubt that they do all they can for the children. You can tell that Daniel obviously has a few of his favorites (in group 2).
Daniel is still battling a cold (that he gave to me). Although he doesn’t have too much to say (yet), he takes everything in. He makes great eye contact with us and he is constantly scanning the visiting room for new and interesting sounds and / or activities! The last few days we have even been able to see a few smiles and is also just starting to learn the concept of waving hello and goodbye (Oh, and did I forget to mention, he is the most beautiful child in Kazakhstan?)!!
Patti and I have been to a few places that have been suggested or we’ve heard about on the blogs. We’ve had pizza at Asotri’s and also went to Mario’s Pizza last night with several other families. We went to the Circus and have visited the City Mall. We’ve done some shopping for baby clothes at the Mickey House and also shopped at the out-door market. On Saturday, we went with another couple and boarded a city bus to downtown to visit a park with a ferris wheel and ate pork on a stick (it was very tasty)! We’ve taken taxi’s, used an internet café, visited the Ram Store and tried to use body language to try to pantomime even the most simplest of concepts (with mixed success).
Some things off the top of my head that I would mention to those of you who have yet to travel; always keep a business card of your hotel on you to show the taxi guy, always have a calculated to give to someone who you are buying something from (you will not understand the numbers when they are spoken), bring your own ketchup from home, give some thought on how you would draw your favorite food item (just because you say it slowly and louder than normal, will not help them understand what you want)!
After being brought a Pepsi and not wanting to appear rude due to their obvious oversight, I asked “Could I have some ice, please”? I never thought too much about this but I received the same exact response from two different restaurants! The waitress, looked puzzled that I would ask such a question, they then rolled their eyes, shook their heads and said “Silly Americans with their ice”!! When they serve you soda or water that is any cooler than room temp, they apologize because it is cold!
It’s time to give this a try on the blog! Wish me luck!! We do have some good pictures to post but it will have to wait until we make it back the internet café!
We have really enjoyed every minute that we have spent with Daniel! We can’t imagine the joy that we’ll feel the day that we finally bring him home! To say that it would be the happiest days of our lives would be a tremendous understatement!! We are also impressed at the conditions at the baby house. Everything so clean and runs like clockwork. The caregivers are fantastic and there is no doubt that they do all they can for the children. You can tell that Daniel obviously has a few of his favorites (in group 2).
Daniel is still battling a cold (that he gave to me). Although he doesn’t have too much to say (yet), he takes everything in. He makes great eye contact with us and he is constantly scanning the visiting room for new and interesting sounds and / or activities! The last few days we have even been able to see a few smiles and is also just starting to learn the concept of waving hello and goodbye (Oh, and did I forget to mention, he is the most beautiful child in Kazakhstan?)!!
Patti and I have been to a few places that have been suggested or we’ve heard about on the blogs. We’ve had pizza at Asotri’s and also went to Mario’s Pizza last night with several other families. We went to the Circus and have visited the City Mall. We’ve done some shopping for baby clothes at the Mickey House and also shopped at the out-door market. On Saturday, we went with another couple and boarded a city bus to downtown to visit a park with a ferris wheel and ate pork on a stick (it was very tasty)! We’ve taken taxi’s, used an internet café, visited the Ram Store and tried to use body language to try to pantomime even the most simplest of concepts (with mixed success).
Some things off the top of my head that I would mention to those of you who have yet to travel; always keep a business card of your hotel on you to show the taxi guy, always have a calculated to give to someone who you are buying something from (you will not understand the numbers when they are spoken), bring your own ketchup from home, give some thought on how you would draw your favorite food item (just because you say it slowly and louder than normal, will not help them understand what you want)!
After being brought a Pepsi and not wanting to appear rude due to their obvious oversight, I asked “Could I have some ice, please”? I never thought too much about this but I received the same exact response from two different restaurants! The waitress, looked puzzled that I would ask such a question, they then rolled their eyes, shook their heads and said “Silly Americans with their ice”!! When they serve you soda or water that is any cooler than room temp, they apologize because it is cold!
It’s time to give this a try on the blog! Wish me luck!! We do have some good pictures to post but it will have to wait until we make it back the internet café!
Saturday, March 8, 2008
More Pics!
Long story but we haven't been able to do very much with our computer in the past 2 days. I fianally put a few things on my flash stick and walked to the internet cafe. Now, it seems that my Word Doc. did not transfer correctly! Well, anyway, here are some pictures for now! We will keep trying.
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