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We’ve got great news to start this entry off…We’ve got our court date!!  This Tuesday, March 4 at 11 am, we will be appearing before judge to file for Gabriel’s adoption.  The finish line is getting so close, we are almost home!

This morning, Gabriel was so happy when he came in the room.  He was smiling and laughing for almost the entire time he was with us.  When there was a about an hour left, he became cranky.  It turns out that he had woken up earlier than he was supposed to and he wanted to go back to sleep. 

During our lunch break, Gen and I went to the Mosque mall and for a long walk around central Aqtobe.  We visited two monuments, and walked through several parks.  We took a small break at a café called Candy and then met up with Kami and Eric at their apartment.

When he came out for our afternoon session, he was all smiles and no crankiness.  He ate all his food without a peep and played nice with all the other babies in the room.  He jammed on the piano and enjoyed one on one time with Gen and me.

After our bonding sessions, we went to the bowling alley for happy hour that lasted for 3 or so hours.  Ben and Karla joined us, along with Agnes, Bernadette, Kami and Eric for some beer and pizza.  Special mucho thanks to Ben and Karla for hooking Gabriel up with some baby ora-jel.  We were supposed to bowl or play some pool, but the conversation and company was too good to end.  

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Waiting For Court Day 07
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“As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door…”  Edgar Allen Poe

Last night, while I was taking a shower, I heard a knocking on my door.  Then it became a rapping, then a slapping, then kicking, at my door.  A note was then slipped in between the crack of our steel door.  It was written in Cyrillic, so we couldn’t make any sense of it, nevermore… 

The woman, at least that’s what the person who was screaming sounded like, seemed pretty ticked off.  I think it had something to do with the shower, perhaps a leak in her apartment below us.  We’ve been told never to open the door to anyone knocking, unless it was a translator or someone whom they had sent over.  As you can imagine, we were unnerved at this incident, so we called our translator.  She told us to ignore it, relax and get some sleep.  We didn’t get much sleep that night…

In the morning, Gen and I made our way downstairs, hoping to avoid seeing an angry Kazakh waiting for us outside our door.  Of course, our ride to the orphanage was late, so that only heightened our anxiety.  When they arrived, I gave the note to the translator and asked her what it said.  There was some obvious colorful language, but the author surprisingly used please a couple of times in the note.  Basically, water was leaking into her apartment, and she requested that we not use the shower till it was fixed.  Our translator then alerted the property manager to get this leak fixed. 

Our time with Gabriel was fun today.  The morning went without incident, however, the afternoon session was the fun one, at least for me.  I’m proud to say that Gabriel learned how to make the razzberries.  If you are unfamiliar with that sound, it’s very easy to make.  Simply hold your lips together and then blow some air out.  Unfortunately for Gen, he practiced it while she was feeding him.  At the end of his meal, Gabriel was giggling and Gen was wearing his food. 

Paka! 

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Waiting For Court Day 08
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No one was rapping on our door, and it looks like nothing leaked from the shower.  This had the makings of a good night sleep.  Eight hours later, Gen and I are enjoying breakfast and feeling very refreshed.

At the orphanage, our coordinator informs us that they will be going to the judge tomorrow to seek a court date (Now where have I heard that before…)  Our coordinator is projecting us to be in court on Tuesday, March 4. 

This afternoon, Gabriel was showing off his razzberry talent once again.  I was summoned to keep my distance because we (Gabe and I) think it’s amusing to spray food all over mama.  His teething hasn’t been bothering him as of late which is good for us.  He enjoyed some time on the piano, this time playing with Maria, one of the other children which a Spanish couple from the Canary Islands is adopting.  There are 2 other children as well, a boy named Sasha and a girl with a beautiful name, Gaia.  Our time in the playroom seems to go much quicker with the new additions.  Gabriel is certainly on alert to make sure he doesn’t miss any excitement.  He is very nosey.

Weather has been unusually warm, 2 degrees Celsius today.  Sidewalks are visible in some areas but now flooding is becoming an issue.  It’s slushy, muddy and yucky everywhere.

Paka…paka!

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It’s Tuesday morning here and the temperature is about 32 degrees.  The snow and ice is starting to melt, but there are strong, gusty winds whipping around anything that’s loose on the ground.  My mind is starting to wander as Gen and I wait for our ride to the orphanage.  The last time I was out of the country for this long, I was so homesick and had bad culture shock.  For some reason I don’t feel that way…at least not yet.  Don’t get me wrong, I do miss the creature comforts of home, like McDonald’s, high speed internet and a well insulated home and heat.

For starters, our apartment has radiators which don’t seem to be radiating much heat.  I know I had mentioned that all the buildings in Kazakhstan are all heated to the point of being saunas.  Well, that isn’t the case with our apartment.  As I am typing this, I am huddled next to a portable electric radiator.  It’s effective range is probably half an inch, but I need to distance myself from it or else I’ll get burned.  Lucky for me, my laptop puts out so much heat, it keeps me warm.  Our apartment’s insulation isn’t that great, and I can feel the wind coming in.  You can actually see the curtains being blown around from the drafts around the windows. 

At least the water is warm.  There are two temperatures for the water here, cold and scalding hot.  I can’t tell you how many times when I’m in the shower when I accidently nudge the water valve and out shoots boiling hot water.  The smell of sulfur from the water is a bit overwhelming for my tastes as well.  Things could be worse though, the water could be brown, but I hear it doesn’t turn that color till spring…

We arrive at the orphanage and I’m half expecting to hear that we will not be seeing Gabriel today due to planetary alignment problems.  To my surprise, he’s brought into the playroom.  It feels good to be able to hold my son in my arms again.  Even though our court date hasn’t been confirmed yet, I’m starting to feel that the whole adoption process is almost done.  I can almost make out the finish line from where I’m standing, but I’m snapped back to reality when Gabe’s caretaker plucks him from my arms and brings him back to his room.  Yeah, I think it’s about time we get Gabriel home…

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It was Gabriel time as usual, or so we thought. He came to us this morning still feeling the ill effects of his two upper front teeth coming in. He was extremely cranky and we had a difficult time comforting him. We gave him a teether, then a teething biscuit…they both didn’t work. Our translator was supposed to get us some baby ora-gel, but she forgot. Towards the end of the morning session, he seemed to be feeling better.

We thought we would have better luck soothing his teething this afternoon, but we were notified that all afternoon sessions have been cancelled. Apparently, the head doctor of the orphanage has called a “commission” or so we were told. We are so bummed out that we won’t be seeing him this afternoon. Hopefully, this “commission” will be over with, and we’ll be able to see Gabriel tomorrow.

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Waiting For Court Day 03
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Just a little change to the title, we are waiting for our day in court…

Eric, Lincoln’s daddy, brought a ball with him today.  It was so cute to see Lincoln and Gabriel playing with the ball.  After a little bit of play time, it appeared that Gabriel was not feeling too well.  He seems to have gotten some congestion, and his teething was really bothering him. We jammed on the piano for a little bit, and got some dancing time in to try to take his mind off of it, but he still cried.  In the end, Gabriel just needed some cuddling time with us.

As our time was up, Gabriel’s favorite caretaker came over to take a picture with us before she brought Gabriel back to his room.  We’ve noticed that she really likes Gabriel and goes out of her way to take care of him and lets us know what’s going on with him.

That evening, we went out with the Dykes family to a Russian restaurant.  The décor of the place was that of a Russian home, which is entirely built out of logs.  The place had a rustic feel, but it was very cozy.  The food and drink was very good as well.  We ended up staying out a bit too late and had to take a taxi back.  Five of us crammed into a hatchback taxi…that made for a fun ride home!!

Our visit with Gabriel was an afternoon session this Sunday.  When we got there, we found out that he wasn’t going to be allowed out in the playroom today because he wasn’t feeling well.  Our translator brought us downstairs to his room to speak with his caretaker.  She told us that his two front teeth are coming out and it’s causing him a lot of discomfort and he has a bit of a temperature from it as well.  She also requested for more chest rub for him.   

Both of us were pretty bummed out that we couldn’t see him today.  Hopefully he will feel better tomorrow and we’ll be able to see him.  The disappointment is evident in Gen’s picture below.

Waiting Day 02
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It’s finally stopped snowing!  So there is give or take 2 feet of snow on the ground.  The roads are still pretty messy.  In fact, the roads to the baby house are still covered in snow, so we had to take a different route in.  When we got to the baby house, Gabriel was so happy to see us.  I think he gave us a look that said, “where were you guys yesterday?!?” We made it up to him this with lots of dancing and a baby food snack. 

During our lunch break, Gen and I ran to the market to pick up some food and Gabriel’s baby porridge.  We picked up a Kazakh hot dog, which basically is a hotdog wrapped in a croissant like bread and ground beef also wrapped in a similar way.  Both of these were excellent, and all for $2.25 U.S.

When we returned this afternoon and found a new member to our group at the orphanage.  A single mother from Belgium has just arrived and today was her first day of bonding with her new baby boy.  Gabriel was so excited to see us as he was brought in.  So I took him over to play on the piano for a bit and then he enjoyed some dancing time with Gen and our translator.  When it was time for us to leave, Gabriel hesitated to go with his caretaker.  He looked back at us with a sad face as he was brought back to his room. 

Paka!

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Well, it’s still snowing today.  We’ve probably got a foot and a half of snow on the ground now and it’s making travel around the city a bit messy.  As you may have noticed at the new title of the blog, we are now in waiting mode for a court date.  After our morning session with Gabriel, we were urged to go the notary to sign off on the freshly translated power of attorney letters.  The letters along with our other paperwork will hopefully be presented to court officials today so that we will get a court date.

We only had a morning session with Gabriel.  Apparently, the orphanage suffered a window malfunction while we were on our lunch break and we were informed that the afternoon session will be canceled until the window is repaired.  We may also miss tomorrow’s morning session as well unless the window is repaired. 

Gabriel was in a good mood this morning.  He was full of energy and all smiles.  We gave him some banana and apple baby food.  The look on his face was priceless when he took his first bite of it.  We hope he won’t miss us too badly when we aren’t able to see him this afternoon.

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It’s been snowing here since last night and we have about a foot of snow on the ground.  Parents around here take their young children around in sleds that they pull behind them versus a stroller back home.  The child is wrapped up so much, they can hardly move.  I’ll have to get a shot of that and post it up here when I get a chance.

Today marks the fifteenth and final day of bonding with Gabriel.  However, it does not become official until tomorrow.  Our coordinators here began finalizing our paperwork for submission to court.  They will also file for a court date, which we should be hearing about within ten days.  Gabriel’s bonding period really flew by, so we are hoping that the court and appeal period go as quickly.

Gabriel was cranky today because his front tooth is coming in.  He fought during his breakfast and his afternoon snack.  He’s getting smarter every day, and it’s evident especially during his feeding.  He challenges us by refusing to eat, grabbing the spoon, moving around constantly and crying.  He only stops when he is picked up, and then he cracks a big grin across his face.  He giggles from time to time when he gets his way.  When he finishes his acting, we start the battle again.  We’ve been getting good at this, so now he doesn’t wear as much of his food anymore.  Burping him is a whole different story…that’s when we wear his food. 

BTW, I don’t know if people have noticed, but the weather report is incorrect on the widget sidebar thing.  It is not in the 40’s or 50’s here…it’s more in the single digits.  Anyways, I’ll be removing that shortly.

Paka (bye!)

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Happy Tuesday! Today was a fun day here in Kazakhstan. One of our translators spent the morning session putting the finishing touches on our album which will be presented to the court and to the Ministry of Education. Our album consisted of our pictures and comments on Gabriel’s progress during the 15 day bonding period. Gabriel was just a joy today. During the morning session, he ate and enjoyed his new porridge. He complained maybe once or twice, but he was satisfied. Afterwards, Gabriel and I walked around for some burp time. I’ve noticed that as of late, he hasn’t been spitting up as much as he has, and he’s keeping down his food. This is such a positive step forward. If you look at his face, his cheeks seem to be getting a little bit chubby and he feels like he’s gaining weight. Gabriel seems to finally be hitting his stride. Just think, once he gets home he is really going to bloom.

After completeing our bonding sessions for the day, our translator took us out for some fun…to the local bowling alley. We first hit the café at the alley, pizza and beer. The beer was incredibly priced, kind of like a happy hour and the pizza as well. After that, we hit the lanes and bowled. It was a lot of fun and it was interesting to see the locals kicking back and relaxing. 

Joel

Hello All, Gen here! I think my husband has done an incredible job with blogging. Who would’ve guessed that the same guy that drives like he’s the king of the road on the Jersey Turnpike had a sensitive side? I wanted everyone to know that I do edit, and from time to time, censor his blogs. Which brings me to my point on today’s blog…Joel failed to mention that I beat him in bowling, again. I guess it doesn’t matter on which side of the world he bowls; Joel just can’t seem to find his stride anywhere!! This means that I’ll have to be the one to teach Gabriel how to bowl…hehehe

Da svidaniya! (Good-Bye)

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Bonding Day 11
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We’ve discovered an interesting thing about Gabriel today, he loves to dance!  Our translator, played some music for him a couple of days ago, and he loved it.  So we copied the Russian hip hop and played it for him today.  He just would not stop dancing!  For almost 40 minutes straight he danced!  After that, he was all pooped and was falling asleep.  During the afternoon, he danced again and again, and didn’t want to be put down. 

That evening, our translator took all of us to this Southern Kazakhstan style restaurant for some food and fun.  The place looked like a Moroccan Castle complete with a cool sit down eating area, an indoor pond with some koi and goldfish, a bridge and an upstairs billiard table. 

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Bonding Day 12
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It’s Sunday, and we only have one bonding session with Gabriel.  We tried giving him a baby yogurt snack today, but he didn’t like it.  When our visit was up, he hesitated to go back with his caretaker.  He gave us that look that just made us sad to leave.  We’ve got a couple more weeks to go, hang in there Gabe!

When our visit was over, we went to a shopping center on the outside of town for some lunch and shopping.  The shopping center turned out to be a huge mall complete with restaurants, arcade, grocery store and a food court.  At the food court area, we picked a hamburger place to get food.  From the pictures on the menu, it looked good, but when we got the burgers, they were loaded with mayonnaise.  I’m craving a sack of 10 jalapeno White Castle burgers back in Jersey at this point!

After lunch, we printed out some pictures for an album that needs to be presented for court.  We then hit the grocery store to pick up food and other supplies.  What’s nice is they accepted credit cards, hooray!  According to the management at the store, we spent so much money that we qualified to have a discount card.  I guess we will be needing it with all the crazy prices around here.

A funny thing when doing laundry in Kazakhstan…There are no “dryers” here.  Locals here believe that hanging your clothes outside to dry in sub zero weathers will kill the bacteria.  Take a look at Gen’s frozen sweater in the picture below…

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Bonding Day 13
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Only three more days before we complete our bonding period with Gabriel!  Then we file for a court date to legalize his adoption and then we wait another fifteen days for his appeal period.  Almost home!

Gabriel had his new porridge today, as suggested by our translator.  He gobbled it all down and very little came back up.  After his burping session, some juice followed suit and some more dancing.  This kid has got some moves!!

At this point, I’d like to say thanks to all the people who have been reading our blog.  Your comments help keep us smiling here on the other side of the world.  Before arriving in Kazakhstan, I did a search for all the families that have done blogs about their adoption experiences in Kazakhstan.  Those families who traveled before us have provided an excellent resource and inside look to those of us following in their footsteps.  It is in that spirit that we also would like to contribute to that pool of knowledge as well.  This blog is a very personal reflection of our experiences here and it is my hope that the people who are reading this blog will use this information with respect and integrity.

Anyways, enjoy some pictures of Gabriel and his new digz.  Check out his feet as well!!

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