Thank you all!

While waiting to go back to Kazakhstan to pick up my baby girl, I'd like to thank each and every reader of our blog!

I may not have answered every post or email personally (you know I fully intend to ... some day), but it's meant so much to me to read your supportive, happy responses to our journey. The path hasn't always been smooth, and I haven't always been as patient and upbeat as I feel today, so I've relied on your words to keep me going.

So, thank you all - family, friends, coworkers, adoption consultants (and even the drop by blog lurkers).

I hope you all have someone to support you when you need it. I'll do my best to be there for you, too : )

Josie's Mom

Home again 2

We arrived back on Sunday in pretty good order. Odd airlines happenings in Almaty, though. We arrived with our new etickets for the new British Airways flight info (if you remember, KLM called my Dad on Saturday and had cancelled our KLM flight and rebooked us on British Airways). British Airways then told us that our reservation had been "cancelled," and that we should check back with KLM. Who had us back on the original flight ... long story short, it all worked out, but the added stress was a killer : ) My advice to anyone flying into or out of Almaty is to book yourself with plenty of leeway in case of changes ...

I'm working on Josie's room and babyproofing the house. I can't believe that she'll actually be here in a month! Will be making the big purchases (car seat, stroller, high chair) soon, so if anyone has advice ...

I'll post every so often as I prepare to go back for the final trip. There's still a bunch of US Embassy paperwork to complete, so I'm sure I'll stay busy.

Happy ... sad ... happy ... sad ...

Our last visit to Josie today was one of discovery. Her first tooth has erupted and is about half way grown in. What a milestone! What a fussy baby! She couldn't decide if she wanted to play, cry or just be held. And, so it starts. I didn't have the heart to tell her she has 31 more to go : )

Found out we won't be coming back until a week later than I had calculated. Probably leaving February 20, so will go get her from the Baby House on the 23rd and go through the US Embassy stuff for 3 days. Home on Friday, because Northwest/KLM doesn't fly out on Thursdays. Sigh. Seems so far away, but all will pass soon enough.

Just heard that our KLM flight tomorrow morning has been canceled - they're sending us via British Airways, instead of KLM, though, and leaving only an hour later. FINGERS CROSSED.

Feeling kinda crabby myself! : )

Josie says "hi"

Today we visited Josie for the first time as “legal” Mom and Grammy. She was somewhat unimpressed, but despite still feeling a bit punk, she did demonstrate to Grammy her new prowess in crawling. It was, of course, impressive and brought home to me how much she'll change in the next month while I'm away. Can't be helped, of course, but I wish I could just tuck her in my carryon and smuggle her off right NOW. Grammy enjoyed hearing her extensive vocabulary of sounds and watching a lot of “gum chewing.” : )

Anara accompanied us to the National Museum, which was filled with lots of interesting bits of Kazakhstan's history and development. Lots of nicely preserved artifacts (clothing, tools, jewelry, etc) and some very nice displays identifying the various nationalities living in Kaz. (Kazakh, Russian, Tatar, German, Polish, Korean, Uzebek, Jewish, etc). She very kindly walked us through the whole thing, explaining and translating as necessary. Very interesting. All this on a beautiful, sunny day, high of about 36 degrees.

Welcome to the family, Josina Margaret!

The day finally arrived to go to court. As you could guess, I've been worried for the last couple of days about the outcome. Mom's been a great support and has kept me as calm as possible : )

The courtroom was in an unassuming building. The room itself a white rectangle with the judge's desk at one end, a desk on the left, where the prosecutor and court secretary sat … and another on the right, where the guardianship representative and the Baby House rep. sat together. At the back were several wooden benches where Anara, Zhaniya and I sat. My “speech” to the court was well practiced and went well – Anara translating a sentence at a time. I was allowed to take a copy of it with me, which I referred to briefly a couple of times. Then some questions from the judge, prosecutor and guardianship rep.

The judge asked several basic questions, some harder and a couple of really off the wall, odd questions. My favorite? “It's a tradition in Kazakhstan that if a brother has many children, then he can give one of them to a family member with no children. Why doesn't your brother with the four children just give you one?” He asked this with a smile, but pursued it with a follow up question along the same lines … seemed obvious that he was joking… I think. My answer was that I'd take any of my nieces and nephews in a minute because they're such good kids, but that their parents would probably be unhappy to give them up. (Chris and Laura may have their own answer to that, depending on the day!)

In the end, he debated a few points with the guardianship rep. and then granted my petition for adoption. Yay! I am now legally Josie's mom! We still have to wait for the appeals period and paperwork to be completed. But in about a month, I can return and bring her home forever. This is truly the happiest day of my life : )

Yesterday's visit to Josie was nice. She's still sick, but improving. Mostly she just wanted to be held, but we did spend quite some time blowing raspberries at each other and “practicing” our babbling. In the three weeks since I last saw her, she's learned how to crawl and makes good speed across the room. So, back home to baby proof the house and finish up her room!

Tomorrow Mom and I will go to visit Josie – don't know if we'll be going on Saturday yet, so this may be the last visit until we return. Because we won't be allowed to visit next week (too many other families there and sickness amongst the kids), we've changed our return tickets to leave on Sunday.

With much happiness!!! Kelly

Note to anyone reading this in Grand Rapids – could you get me a newspaper with today's date (January 15) to keep for Josie? I have two from Kazakhstan (one in Russian, one in Kazakh), but it would be a nice keepsake to have one from her new hometown, too : )

The upside ...

The upside to the day was getting to see J again. I got the call this morning that I was to be allowed to see her. Yay! However, when we arrived, we were told that she was sick and there was initially some doubt as to whether I could visit. I was okayed, but for a half-hour visit only. Apparently colds/virus/flu runs like wildfire through the rooms, and J's whole "group" had fallen ill.

She was a bit listless, so we took it all slowly. We rocked and I sang her the more soothing of my two-tune repertoire. She does really love music ... whether singing or toys. Maybe she'll keep that love of music all her life. I'd love that : )

My facilitator and translator arrived early this evening to review the court procedure, discuss the details of my "speech" to the judge and my answers to possible questions. It's all very nerve-wracking for me, because this court decision is so very important. Apparently families' experience in court varies widely, from "it was a breeze" to, well, the other end of the spectrum. I'm hoping for the former, but preparing for the latter. Anyway, we'll know on Thursday, hopefully. (Although the judge can take several days to decide).

I won't be able to visit J next week. Too many families on first trips using all the visiting rooms and too many sick babies. So, hopefully I get to see her a couple more times this week. It would be great to see her feeling better before I go home.

Got just a couple of photos after she perked up somewhat today. Not her usual wide-eyed, healthy wonder, but I'll share anyway : )

Hello, from Almaty!

Mom and I are back in Almaty for visit No. 2 (of 3). This visit will be for court, with the bonus of being able to visit J for a few days, also. I'm feeling a bit nervous about court, but I can't wait for the day J legally becomes my daughter. She's already in my heart, but having those papers is the next step in bringing her home.

Our flights here were uneventful and mostly on time. We were a bit worried about getting out of the midwest, as there was bad weather at our first two airports. Never fear, fortune smiled on us and our pilots took off and landed in less than great conditions. The challenge, as always, was to get through 2 long flights with very little sleep and uncomfortable seats, and endure a lengthy layover. But, we survived!

Whether because of the less crowded flight or non-holiday conditions or just our own familiarity with the process, the airport scramble to get to customs seemed almost easy this time. Our driver from last trip, Gabit, picked us up from the airport and dropped us at the hotel, where we were greeted warmly (return guests!) My facilitator, Zhaniya, and translator, Anara, came today to take me to a notary to get papers properly set for court. Apparently, I'll have a "pre-interview" with the judge the day before court, then the official meeting on the 15th.

Assuming I get a positive ruling, then the 15 day appeals period begins (required by law). At the end of that period, J is legally my daughter and my coordinators can begin the paperwork to get her new birth certificate in her new name with me listed as her parent (!) and then begin the U.S. immigration and Embassy travel paperwork. Best guess is that we could be back in a month to take her home.

Keep fingers crossed!