A Walking Caleb?

August 30

We are closing in on the end of our day here. It is 9pm and we just laid Caleb down for bed. Things continue to go incredibly smooth. We spent another day in the hotel for the most part. I went to the “Gros” store for some groceries today while Ethan stayed with Caleb. It is about a 20 minute walk. It was nice to get out and breathe some fresh air. Also, there was a lot of activity in the square and park on the way as today is a holiday here, similar to Labor Day. So there were families out in abundance. As to Caleb, he continues to amaze us. Today he was able to stand and with our assistance walk his little fat feet forwards. This is new, as in the past he has only been able to bear weight on his legs, now he is learning that if he moves his feet forward, he goes! Also, he has discovered that turning his head to each side is great fun as well. He continues to sleep very well, every morning like clockwork he wakes at 4:50 am and takes a bottle and then easily goes back to sleep. During the day he does fuss some, but is always consolable if we hold him. Tomorrow we are going to Kathy’s for dinner which will be Caleb’s first outing besides walks. We are grateful for the prayers that have been poured out in our behalf; we sense them and feel a peace. We could not have dreamed that this process would have been this incredible.
Mary

Caleb's Greatest Days

8-29

Hello to all! We continue to be loving life here in Kokshetau with our son. Caleb is adjusting well to having two parents and to living in a hotel room. He slept through the night except for waking at 5 am for a bottle and back to bed until 9 am. He is also taking nice long naps during the day, one was three hours. His activity level is so much more than what he is accustomed to, that he is sleeping more than normal. No complaints from mom and dad. He has fussed a little with taking his rice cereal, so taking my mothers advice, I gave him apples and he ate the entire jar. Caleb is learning to laugh more and more. Last night, Ethan introduced him to the tickle monster, big success. He squealed with delight, I have attached some photos of that activity.
It continues to be very hot here that we spent the entire day inside except for one 30 minute walk. Who knew, that I would be perfectly content to hang out in hotel room for 3 days straight. Ethan and I we are passing the time when he is sleeping by e-mailing, reading and watching the first season of Frasier. We continue to try to work out in the room, but that is proving to be a test of endurance with the heat. We did request a fan for the hotel room and they were able to supply that, which has helped at least circulate the air. Ethan is on his third night in a row of Big Bon noodles, and I my 8th meal in a row of oatmeal. Do not worry parents; we are eating a piece of fruit with each meal. There are hardly any vegetables here, even if we did have the means to cook them. I have seen some carrots, onions, POTATOES, and frozen green beans. Most of the food is fatty and starchy here, so we are trying to do the best we can with what we have available. Alright, that is the report for the day.
Mary

Our 1st TwentyFour Hours

August 28
We have survived our first 24 hours as parents! What a joy it has been. Thankfully the power came back on yesterday right before he woke up so his bottle was not a problem. Caleb went on his first stroller ride, which was fine. He did not fuss, just looked around, mostly at the cars. He had whole grain cereal, and was not too fond of that so we added peaches which he did a little better with taking. The whole concept of a spoon is new to him, so he does get distracted by it and forgets that the goal is to eat. He went down last night with no problems at about 9 pm. He then slept until about 4:45 and we then gave him a bottle, changed his diaper, put him back down and he woke up again at 8am.

Today we have stayed in the hotel room mostly except for going out for a walk in his Baby Bjorn and for a long walk in his stroller this afternoon with Kathy. He has done well in the room. Everything is a new discovery; the flowers on the sheets, the texture of the chair, and base board. It is all a new world for him. We have had a day full of laughter, smiles and talking. He is crawling from one end of the floor to the other. Ethan and I are savoring every moment of this thing called parenthood. We have feasted on Big Bon noodles for dinner (like Ramen noodles) and have bought an ice cream cake for dessert. It is very hot here, 80 degrees so the ice cream cake is a treat. I know that I will not get much sympathy from the Chattanooga people, but we have no air conditioner and the mosquitoes are coming in through the screen. That is about all to report.

Thanks to each and every one of you for your post of congratulations. It is difficult to be on the other side of the world while starting the parenting process, as we want so badly to share this experience with those we love. But the post and e mails of congratulations make us feel that we really are not that far away after all.
Mary

ADOPTION DAY!!!

August 27
“Every Good and Perfect Gift Comes From Above”

Today is a day of celebration, it is Caleb’s “Gotcha Day”! We had court today and the verdict was read and we are now officially the very proud parents of Caleb Benjamin Collier! Court was at 11am this morning. We were a bit nervous this morning. There was a lot to get together; speeches, gifts, donations, pictures and ourselves. We were picked up at 10:40 by our driver and interpertor. We went to the courthouse and were ushered into a large room, with no chairs and told to wait. About 20 minutes later we were called into the judges office (a female). We were accompanied by our interpertor, secretary to the Minister of Education, Dr. Victoria and a prosecutor. The judge gave a short speech describing why we were gathered etc. Then, Ethan stood and gave a five minute speech describing our marriage, why we chose Caleb, and asking the court to grant us custody. I then stood and gave my four line speech. The judge asked me if we had looked at other children before choosing Caleb, if I had looked into other countries, why Kazakhstan and not other countries. Then the doctor stood and talked about Caleb’s medical history. The prosecutor stood and stated he felt we should be granted custody. We all left the room, and were called back in two minutes later, we all stood and she said that the decision of the court was that we’d become his parents and his name be changed to Caleb
Benjamin Collier! What a time of rejoicing! Even though in our hearts he has been our son since we first laid eyes on him, it is a relief to have the official verdict read and become his legal parents. We left court, went to the store to pick up a cake for the hospital staff and drove to the hospital. We went into the doctor’s office where a nurse brought Caleb into us. He looked a little shell shocked at first to see us outside of his “room”. We took some pictures, goodbyes and thank-you’s were said and then we carried our son out to the car and were taken home to the hotel. We laid him on our bed and just stared at him. He started crawling all around, looking at things, like the veil had been taken off from his eyes. He has squeeled, laughed and babbled more in two hours then he did in the 20 days we visited him at the hospital. We then gave him a bottle, we were a little nervous that he would not take it since the nipple was a much slower flow than what he was used to, but no problems, He actually took it easier and slower than the one at the hospital. Then the long a waited bath time! He was such a champ, never a fuss or a cry even when Ethan poured the water over his head. After we dried him off he could hardly keep his little eyes open, we put a diaper and a tee shirt on him and laid him in his new crib, he did not cry just, fell asleep. He has now been asleep for 2 ½ hours. Ethan keeps going to the room just dying to wake him, I have held him back. I do not think waking a sleeping baby is a great idea. We do have one minor obstacle, there is currently no electricity, so we are just wondering how we are going to give him his bottle when he awakens. We are so happy to finally have our son with us, where he belongs. We look forward to seeing what the future holds for this special little boy and are honored to have been given the responsibility of being his mother and father! Praise to Him! Our cup overflows as my grandmother would say!

Adventures in KAZ!

August 25

Not much new is happening here in Kazakhstan. Caleb was sweet and subdued today. He discovered a water bottle that we had and it was half full and he spent about thirty minutes knocking it over, watching it roll across the table and head to the floor, Ethan would catch it, put it back on the table and the cycle repeated. Anything to pass the time in the little room. We have now been visiting for 19 days. We can only do so much to entertain a seven month old and ourselves in the space we have. So, if it is a water bottle, then so be it. We had a nice walk outside. Caleb fell asleep in my arms. I can tell he is gaining weight because my back is starting to hurt from carrying him so much. He is on formula and rice cereal now and overall doing well. He LOVES formula. Every time we feed him formula we have to stop him several times while he is taking the bottle because otherwise he would drain it in two minutes. His two little bottom teeth are making there way in, he seems to be handling it okay most days. He just chews on about anything. We had an eventful evening out with our friends last night at the Boulevard (picture included). I had a great salad with romaine lettuce, raisins, granny smith apples and balsamic vinaigrette. For my main course I had fish with vegetables that was baked in foil. Ethan had beef, tomatoes, potatoes covered in cheese. We danced and had a big time. Today after our visit with Caleb we went on a riding tour of the city given by our driver Oleg. We started the visit by going to a mound of rocks with two stone deer on top; it is called “Horny Husband Hill”. It is apparently a big deal here and I do not know the story behind it, nor do I really want to learn. We took a picture that I will include, there was a wedding party posing on top as you will see. We then drove around; saw the bus station, the suburbs and the lake. There was one little interesting piece of local culture that we learned as we were driving up to the top of this scenic overlook on a gravel road. Along the way there were young boys, like eight years old or so who had ropes across the road. We asked Inna and Oleg what they were doing and they said that as wedding parties drive on this road to go up to the overlook to get their pictures taken, the boys will block the road with the ropes and not let them go by until the wedding parties give them money. I guess you could say it is kind of like a lemonade stand in the states, they are just a little more ingenious as they turn a gravel road into a toll road every weekend. So, that is all for today. Just a quiet Saturday here, we are staying in tonight.

Those Eyes...

August 24
Hello! Not much new to report here in Kazakhstan. We enjoyed our evening out to dinner with friends at the Rainbow Café. Ethan had pork kabobs and I had chicken and mushrooms. The food was very tasty, but best of all good times with new friends. It is so helpful on this long trip to have the companionship of others who are going through the same process. Tonight there is a group of ten of us going out to the Boulevard, where we went Tuesday night. My thoughts are that we should enjoy going out now, because once we got custody, I really do not think we will be taking Caleb out for nice dinners. I do not see that going well. Speaking of Caleb, he was in a much better mood today. We entered his room and for the fourth morning in a row he was asleep. Ethan and I decided just to let him sleep. He awoke about 30 minutes later and was a new little man today compared with yesterday. He really is doing great; there is just not much else to say. He is eating well, interacting with us, smiling, and becoming stronger every day. We love him deeply.
Well, it is about 5:30 pm here and the horns are getting started, the weddings are in full swing. Ethan and I are preparing ourselves for some sleepless nights this weekend as the parties get cranked up. Oh well. Tomorrow we are going on a driving tour of the city. I look forward to that as the more we can learn about our son’s birthplace the better.
Happy Weekend!
Mary

Our Boy Teething

August 23

Life in Kazakhstan is good today. We spent our morning with a bit of a fussy baby. He is getting in two teeth, so I think that contributes. His little personality continues to develop. It is a blessing to see the child that God has hand picked for us. We look forward to having him with us all the time. Last night a big group of us played pool in our hotel. We had a great time. It was a good distraction from the loud party that was going on here at the hotel. At midnight, Ethan and I were walking back to our hotel room and heard the music just blasting away. We decided to peak our heads into the party hall, there were FIVE people in the room. Five, with the music turned up as loud as it could be. I slept with earplugs in, plus the static on the radio. I am glad for Ethan’s sake that he will be moving to an apartment in a couple of weeks. The hotel is nice, but the sound volume at night is starting to be a bit of a nuisance.

This afternoon I went to a spa and got a facial and pedicure. It was wonderful. Hands down the best I have ever had, I walked out of the spa and only had to pay $35.00. I figure, while I am here I might as well take advantage of the inexpensive activities. Oh, an interesting occurrence today just to kind of give you a glimpse of life here. We were driving back from the hospital with our driver and translator. We were in the fast lane of a four lane street. A car, Musweet pulled out into our lane from a parking lot across the street, cutting us off. Our driver honked his horn, but the Muskweet ignored it. So, our driver put the car in park in the road, got out and walked up to the guy in the Muskweet, with traffic zooming around and yelled at him. We Americans were all watching with our mouths open, our translator said “Well, he broke the rules”. Our driver got back into our car, put it in drive and we sped away. The Muskweet drove very slowly behind us thereafter following the “rules”. I will send you a picture of a Muskweet tomorrow. Tonight we are going out to eat with a big group of friends for chicken. I hear it is hot in Chattanooga; we are enjoying weather in the low 70s during the day and high 50s at night and rain everyday. Sorry everyone, that is one advantage of being in thy, Kazakhstan.

Caleb's Getting So Big

August 22

Salutations! Things continue to rock along here in the great country of Kaz. We had pre court this morning and that went well. Caleb was asleep again when we came in today, snuggled up with his taggy blanket. All in all a great visit. He got a little fussy right before his bottle came b/c it arrived about 30 minuets later than yesterday. We he did get it he was drinking it so fast that Ethan had to intentionally stop him a couple of times to get him to breath and burp. He did not like us pulling the bottle away, but we have found that this really cuts down on the spit up. He slept about 30 minutes today as well when we went outside. All in all he is doing great. The caretakers are noticing that he likes to be picked up more than ever now. I cannot wait to be with him 24/7. Last night we had an exciting evening. We went to a restaurant called the Boulevard with Inna (translator) and Kathy (another mom here adopting). We walked in and I was so pleased to see a restaurant that looked like something we have at home. Nice square tables, tables clothes and wine and vodka glasses sitting out. There was also a dance floor (I’ll get to that later). This restaurant is apparently THE restaurant in this town. We took Inna’s suggestions on ordering. We then had salads, I had a traditional Russian salad that was similar to potato salad, and there were potatoes, peas, bologna, mayo and dill. Ethan had something else; I don’t know it had beef, potato sticks and something else in it with dill. We then had soup, Ethan had borsch and I had something, I forgot what it was, creamy red soup with sour cream and dill. Kathy had beef tongue in broth and Ethan tried the tongue and liked it. I couldn’t do it, I just kept thinking of taste buds and the Romana books I read as a child written by Beverly Cleary. They always had beef tongue and they could see the taste buds. Anyways, then the main dish was served, I had chicken with mushrooms and a sour cream sauce with dill with French fries. Ethan had beef, tomatoes, and potatoes with dill covered in cheese with French fries. YUM! The food was fabulous (Dill by the way is used often here in case you cannot tell). Also, the music during dinner was Whitney Houston and Celine Deon, I was in heaven. Then the dancing got started. We three ladies hit the dance floor and had a great time. We then finished off our meal and got our bill, it is equivalent to 56 US dollars (tip included). Keep in mind that the average salary here is equivalent to 200 USD per month. We will definitely be visiting that restaurant again soon. Take care everyone!

Who Loves His Blue SnowSuit?

August 21

I wonder at what point on a trip one begins to refer to home as “The States”. That happened for Ethan and I this past weekend. Not Chattanooga but “The States” as if we have been living in Kaz for years. Funny. This morning we looked through the glass into Caleb’s room and saw he was asleep. We both quietly walked in and decided not to wake him. We were hoping that he could sleep and avoid yesterday’s scenario with waiting for his bottle. We made it approximately 3 minutes without waking him. Ethan “accidentally” rustled our bag and Caleb’s little eyes popped open. You could tell it took him a couple of seconds to figure out who are these Americans were staring at him. But then he broke into a sleepy smile and began to crawl towards us. Oh heavens, I cannot wait until we are there for every peaceful wakening he has (Yes, all you parents out there we understand that all awakening are not that precious). He was in a great mood, his bottle came on time and then he spent about 30 minutes just playing peacefully with Ethan on the bed. We then had some music and dancing time, Van Morrison was on the agenda for today, which he loved. Then we got him bundled up for his 11:30 walk and off we went. He was even more interested today, did not get sleepy at all as we walked around for 45 minutes. He still loves all the trucks and Soviet cars he sees. He also likes the walks because our interpreter goes with us. He loves her, especially when she speaks Russian to him. Just to remind you, she has been playing with him on a daily basis since he came to the Children’s Hospital in April. So, the little guy is just in heaven with us and her (I have attached a picture of the three of us). Tomorrow is pre-court, that is at 9 am. I’m sure it will go fine. Last night we started our evening with some Big Bon noodles for Ethan and a bowl of oatmeal for me. We then went to play some pool here in the hotel, and then back up here for a couple more episodes of King of Queens. Tonight we are going out to dinner with our interpreter and Kathy (a lady who is here adopting as well). It will be beyond a blessing to have an interpreter help us with the menu and ordering. I hope the food is good! For those of you who were wondering, each day we are picked up at 10 am by our driver Oleg and interpreter Inna. They drive us and Kathy to the Children’s Hospital. It is a short drive, like maybe 5 minutes. Even after going for two weeks, if you put me in the driver’s seat I would have no idea how to get there. It is a little off the beaten path, down a couple of dirt roads with huge pot holes that the driver has to drive around. Inna stays at the hospital during our visits in case we need help communicating with others. A couple of hours later Oleg picks us up in his Toyota minivan and our day is basically done. Take care all! Thank you for all your prayers and kind words.

August 21
Meeting with Caleb continues to be the highlight of our day. Today he started off a little fussy as he was hungry and his bottle came about 30 minutes later than normal. When we did get the bottle he got mad because the size of the nipple was too small for him to get the rice cereal out of. Once we finally got a larger nipple and he filled his belly, life was good again. He was able to crawl across the mattress three times. I found that if we have my Vera Bradley knapsack at the end of the mattress he will crawl across it in no time. He loves the bright colors (thanks Aunt Laurie). We took our usual walk outside and he was able to stay awake for the entire duration. He was much more interested in looking around and I think he is starting to realize the difference between outside and inside. Today we tried a new trick to leave, pack all our stuff up while we are still holding him, and as soon as the translator comes in to get us, we put him in his crib and we leave right away. It worked today at least, no crying or screaming.
Other than our visit with Caleb and phone calls from both sets of parents, all in all nothing else to report. Therefore, I thought I would take a minute to describe our accommodations. We are currently staying in Zhekle Batyr Hotel. It is a nice hotel that overlooks a large lake on the edge of town. The rooms are suites and very spacious. We have a sitting area, table, TV and large bedroom with nice closets and dressers. The bathroom has a stand up shower with hot water, most of the time. Our kitchen consists of a mini refrigerator and an electric tea kettle we purchased here to heat up water. I am very particular about hotel rooms and I must say this room is very clean. The cleaning service comes each day when we are visiting Caleb; they really do a good job. There is a breakfast bar daily that is included in the price of the room, it is nice. There is usually quite a spread, including flans, toast, boiled eggs, fried eggs, hot cereal (like cream of wheat), fruit and other assorted items. Some days there are little fish that look like sardines. Ethan and I always enjoy our breakfast and of course our Nescafe instant coffee. There is usually hot juice and milk from some animal (horse or cow, who knows). The hotel also has a bar, pool tables and a pool and sauna that is indoors and rental by the hour. There is also a spa here that has inexpensive massages that I have taken advantage of a couple of times. So, all in all, these are very nice accommodations. We feel very safe. Our only grip is the restaurant/party hall. Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday there is a party that goes into the wee hours of the night. We have found these to be typically weddings. There is always a DJ and disco/techno music, both are very loud. Our room unfortunately right across from this party hall, so therefore we feel as if we are a part of every party. Now, at least we know their schedule, at about 2 am the party moves to the hallway outside of our room, then shortly thereafter to the street right outside our window. That is when the cars start to honk their horns and the laughter escalates. Finally about 4 am things quiet down. The good thing is that Ethan and I know what to expect. Therefore, we know to sleep with our radio on static, turned up loud and then about midnight to shut the windows. It is all good, it is about preparation and lowering your expectation on the weekends, if we know we are not going to sleep in silence, we are not disappointed.
Have a great Monday everyone!

A Day In The Life

August 19, 2007

Greeting to all! We have had a nice quiet day. Our visit with Caleb was a lot of fun today. We walked in and he was lying there in his little crib, he looked up at us with the same level of curiosity as he does each day, we then say “Good morning Sasha” and as usual he breaks into a huge smile. He was very playful and interactive. Each day he talks to us more and more. Today he was venturing across the mattress on the single bed that is in the room (with us 2 inches away from him at all times of course) and he was eyeing the crib which sits flush with the bed. He started to try to position his little hands so he could pull up when there was a knock at our door and we had visitors! Our translator Inna, Allana and Cathy. (Cathy is our new friend who came earlier this week who is adopting a little girl named Allana). Time for a group walk! We snuggled both babies in their snowsuits, Caleb in blue and Allana in pink and off we go to the great outdoors! During our walk Caleb had a fist full of my hair in his mouth and decided that it would be a perfect time to spit up. So, I had sticky, stinky hair and a shoulder that was covered, but no burp cloth. I must start remembering to carry that everywhere! Caleb actually seemed a little more interested in the outdoors today, he likes to watch our shadows and he saw a big loud truck that was idling nearby and he was mesmerized. Boy to the core already. (We took a picture of our outing with Cathy and Allana that I will send as well). We came back inside and I was able to coax Caleb into falling asleep by rocking him and whispering in his ear about all the people back home who love him. It was a sweet moment or two, but then we had to leave and I carefully placed him in the crib. Eyes opened and the screaming started. MAD screaming. The nurse came in and picked him up, but he didn’t care. I guess it is hard for a little guy to understand why we only come two hours a day. It would probably make me pretty angry if I were in his shoes. Otherwise we are doing fine. Last evening we went out to dinner with Cathy and another couple who just got into town. We had great pizza at a place called Pyramid. I had vegetarian and Ethan had the Sicilian pizza. It was good and we enjoyed hanging out with everyone. Today we have spent the day inside mostly. Ethan has worked out and done the laundry and I have read. He is much better at the hand washing then myself, more determined and he has more of the muscle that is needed to complete the process. Good deal for me. We are planning on going for a nice long walk now, as it is a beautiful day here and then watch more King of Queens tonight. Perhaps some vodka and cherry juice to cap off our Sunday.

Mary