Friday, April 30, 2010
waiting
We should be getting our court decision on May 6th and hopefully there are no additional delays!!
Bus, Taxi & Bazaar!!
April 27, 2010
Today Dylan was a great boy!!!! Like usual. Lol!!! The day before he was a little fussy cause we think that he has another tooth growing and was drewling a lot. When we were feeding and playing with him, he felt disturbed. But it’s ok cause you can’t always have a great day. Dylan was playing more and he ate well. He didn’t nap which was very good, we’re trying to make him play and walk as much as possible so he doesn’t fall asleep.
After the orphanage we had lunch and decided to go to the BAZAR!!! It was torching hot but we managed. Mary wanted to get the feeling of taking the bus which we haven’t tried yet and it was a good experience. We didn’t know which number of bus to take so Mary was asking a few people on the street, it was really funny but we managed. The bus was so crowded; thank God we were sitting down. We did not know how much it cost and we saw nobody paid as they entered the bus. But then as we got off the bus is when we had to pay the bus driver’s assistant. There are many different looking buses on the street of many sizes, some are mini vans, some are electric buses and some just regular but very old buses but all of them have an assistant who collects the money for the ride. We get to our stop for the BAZAR, all of a sudden a crowd of people waiting to get in. We couldn’t even get out; they just don’t give you a chance. It was like people going and watch a concert and who would be the 1st one in, Unbelievable. While at the BAZAR we got a call from Katrina (German couple) and asked us if we wanted to have supper together at the Medlan at around 7:00 p.m. and we said ok no problem. She was going to call the American couple (Jeremy and Becky) and Cristophe. Nathalie left this afternoon for Switzerland for a couple of days to go get a new visa.
The bazaar!!!! Oh yes the bazaar!!!! Most of you know it was an experience when we went the 1st time in December…….wow what another experience we had!!! We thought it was bad in December but now in the heat it’s even worse. All I have to say is it’s the same thing plus heat!!!!!!! The meat, fish, cheese, chocolate cookies all in the open in the HEAT!!!!! By the way it’s been 28 to 30 degrees everyday for the last 2 wks!!!! We saw a man smoking and cutting up meat, then we saw a lady counting dollar bills right on the meat, then we saw 2 men playing cards right next to the meat on the same table and as you walk by the meat the salesladies hold up a piece of meat and try to sell it to you, yummy finger licking!!!! I have to say one thing is that people here are really really HARD Workers!!!! We bought ourselves 1 pair of sunglasses each and we paid about $4.00 for both!!!
It was around 4:30 pm and we were going to take the bus back home. But instead of going back home, Mary said why don’t we go to the park or “The Bear” restaurant and kill some time. We live about 40 minutes from downtown by foot. Sure enough we decided to take a cab and we were trying to explain to the cab driver where to go. We were under the impression that he understood. We will never forget this experience. So the cab driver is driving and all of a sudden he starts pumping the gas but I thought he had a nervous twitch with his leg and I was like what the hell is he doing, at the same time I see the light is red and cars are stopped and I started to panic cause he wasn’t putting on the brakes. I thought he was going to hit the cars ahead, he put his hand breaks, swings on the right side and of course there are like cement blocks, I was saying to myself, he’s crazy and we will crash cause he wasn’t putting the brakes), swings by the cement blocks turns the street on a red light and drives on the sidewalk and then he finally decided to put on the brakes!!!!! While he was doing all that I told Mary, “THIS GUY HAS NO MORE BRAKES ”!!! Wow!!! I couldn’t figure out why he didn’t brake. Then Mary told me the car shut off so he was trying to jump start the car before the car came to a stop. So of course the car did die out on us and he went out of the car and put water somewhere underneath the hood, played around with some other parts and kept trying to restart the car when finally about 10 minutes later it finally did. My God we wanted to crack up of laughter when all this was happening and Mary kept telling me to shut up because she couldn’t keep it in. Oh by the way it was a 1960 LADA!!! Wow!!! Cab driver got to start the car and I had a feeling we were going the wrong direction and he miss understood where we wanted to go. So I called Vera our Co-ordinator and told her to please tell him where we wanted to go. She told him and yes he was going to the wrong restaurant. By the way before we left we negotiated the price at 300 Tenge ($2.00 Cdn). We finally got to our destination and we decided to give him 500 Tenge ($3.50 Cdn). We felt so bad for the man.
Jeremy, Becky, Katrina and Ernie met us at the Bear restaurant around 6:00 pm to kill some time and we were waiting for Cristophe to join us.
We headed to the Medlan restaurant and we had a great time.
Today Dylan was a great boy!!!! Like usual. Lol!!! The day before he was a little fussy cause we think that he has another tooth growing and was drewling a lot. When we were feeding and playing with him, he felt disturbed. But it’s ok cause you can’t always have a great day. Dylan was playing more and he ate well. He didn’t nap which was very good, we’re trying to make him play and walk as much as possible so he doesn’t fall asleep.
After the orphanage we had lunch and decided to go to the BAZAR!!! It was torching hot but we managed. Mary wanted to get the feeling of taking the bus which we haven’t tried yet and it was a good experience. We didn’t know which number of bus to take so Mary was asking a few people on the street, it was really funny but we managed. The bus was so crowded; thank God we were sitting down. We did not know how much it cost and we saw nobody paid as they entered the bus. But then as we got off the bus is when we had to pay the bus driver’s assistant. There are many different looking buses on the street of many sizes, some are mini vans, some are electric buses and some just regular but very old buses but all of them have an assistant who collects the money for the ride. We get to our stop for the BAZAR, all of a sudden a crowd of people waiting to get in. We couldn’t even get out; they just don’t give you a chance. It was like people going and watch a concert and who would be the 1st one in, Unbelievable. While at the BAZAR we got a call from Katrina (German couple) and asked us if we wanted to have supper together at the Medlan at around 7:00 p.m. and we said ok no problem. She was going to call the American couple (Jeremy and Becky) and Cristophe. Nathalie left this afternoon for Switzerland for a couple of days to go get a new visa.
The bazaar!!!! Oh yes the bazaar!!!! Most of you know it was an experience when we went the 1st time in December…….wow what another experience we had!!! We thought it was bad in December but now in the heat it’s even worse. All I have to say is it’s the same thing plus heat!!!!!!! The meat, fish, cheese, chocolate cookies all in the open in the HEAT!!!!! By the way it’s been 28 to 30 degrees everyday for the last 2 wks!!!! We saw a man smoking and cutting up meat, then we saw a lady counting dollar bills right on the meat, then we saw 2 men playing cards right next to the meat on the same table and as you walk by the meat the salesladies hold up a piece of meat and try to sell it to you, yummy finger licking!!!! I have to say one thing is that people here are really really HARD Workers!!!! We bought ourselves 1 pair of sunglasses each and we paid about $4.00 for both!!!
It was around 4:30 pm and we were going to take the bus back home. But instead of going back home, Mary said why don’t we go to the park or “The Bear” restaurant and kill some time. We live about 40 minutes from downtown by foot. Sure enough we decided to take a cab and we were trying to explain to the cab driver where to go. We were under the impression that he understood. We will never forget this experience. So the cab driver is driving and all of a sudden he starts pumping the gas but I thought he had a nervous twitch with his leg and I was like what the hell is he doing, at the same time I see the light is red and cars are stopped and I started to panic cause he wasn’t putting on the brakes. I thought he was going to hit the cars ahead, he put his hand breaks, swings on the right side and of course there are like cement blocks, I was saying to myself, he’s crazy and we will crash cause he wasn’t putting the brakes), swings by the cement blocks turns the street on a red light and drives on the sidewalk and then he finally decided to put on the brakes!!!!! While he was doing all that I told Mary, “THIS GUY HAS NO MORE BRAKES ”!!! Wow!!! I couldn’t figure out why he didn’t brake. Then Mary told me the car shut off so he was trying to jump start the car before the car came to a stop. So of course the car did die out on us and he went out of the car and put water somewhere underneath the hood, played around with some other parts and kept trying to restart the car when finally about 10 minutes later it finally did. My God we wanted to crack up of laughter when all this was happening and Mary kept telling me to shut up because she couldn’t keep it in. Oh by the way it was a 1960 LADA!!! Wow!!! Cab driver got to start the car and I had a feeling we were going the wrong direction and he miss understood where we wanted to go. So I called Vera our Co-ordinator and told her to please tell him where we wanted to go. She told him and yes he was going to the wrong restaurant. By the way before we left we negotiated the price at 300 Tenge ($2.00 Cdn). We finally got to our destination and we decided to give him 500 Tenge ($3.50 Cdn). We felt so bad for the man.
Jeremy, Becky, Katrina and Ernie met us at the Bear restaurant around 6:00 pm to kill some time and we were waiting for Cristophe to join us.
We headed to the Medlan restaurant and we had a great time.
The Wallet!!
Who remembers the mattress story of many years ago??
I’ll summarize it very quickly, an Italian couple was sent to Italy for their 25th or 50th wedding anniversary and their kids decided to surprise them with a new bed and mattress for when they came back but only to find out that they had money hidden in the old mattress that nobody knew about!!!! Well we had a similar story!!! Today Fil and I went out after our morning visit with Dylan and came back home around 5:00. Fil went upstairs and noticed the owner of the house bought a new bed for the spare room next to us and the couch was no longer there!!! Fil started to panic, where’s the couch?? Where’s the couch?? He called Vera and asked Vera where the couch was and she said that the owner of the house came to pick it up and Fil then told her that I hid my wallet in the couch!!!! She was in court with 2 couples and could not take care of it right away. The owner of the house came about 2 hours later laughing and had my wallet!!!!! What a scare, Never a dull moment in Taraz!!!
Our neighbors no longer has roosters that wake us up now like the 1st trip but they have a puppy that cries constantly every morning which always ends up waking us up!! Our neighbor is an old man and we always hear him screaming at his puppy, dog, 2 kittens, & chickens, we watch him from our bedroom window, what a show!!! They have no washroom in their house and we see them go use the “outdoor” washroom.
I’ll summarize it very quickly, an Italian couple was sent to Italy for their 25th or 50th wedding anniversary and their kids decided to surprise them with a new bed and mattress for when they came back but only to find out that they had money hidden in the old mattress that nobody knew about!!!! Well we had a similar story!!! Today Fil and I went out after our morning visit with Dylan and came back home around 5:00. Fil went upstairs and noticed the owner of the house bought a new bed for the spare room next to us and the couch was no longer there!!! Fil started to panic, where’s the couch?? Where’s the couch?? He called Vera and asked Vera where the couch was and she said that the owner of the house came to pick it up and Fil then told her that I hid my wallet in the couch!!!! She was in court with 2 couples and could not take care of it right away. The owner of the house came about 2 hours later laughing and had my wallet!!!!! What a scare, Never a dull moment in Taraz!!!
Our neighbors no longer has roosters that wake us up now like the 1st trip but they have a puppy that cries constantly every morning which always ends up waking us up!! Our neighbor is an old man and we always hear him screaming at his puppy, dog, 2 kittens, & chickens, we watch him from our bedroom window, what a show!!! They have no washroom in their house and we see them go use the “outdoor” washroom.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Josie and Claudio's Day Care!!!
Dylan is 15 months old today!!! He already has a spot in a brand new day care owned by Josie and Claudio Cardillo opening soon about 5 minutes from our house!!! Dylan could not have a better teacher than JOSIE!!!
Good Luck Guys, WE WISH YOU ALL THE SUCCESS IN THE WORLD!!!
We strongly recommend this daycare not only because she's our friend but because she has MANY years of experience, she's Patient, Loving, Caring and knows how to dicipline children!!
Good Luck Guys, WE WISH YOU ALL THE SUCCESS IN THE WORLD!!!
We strongly recommend this daycare not only because she's our friend but because she has MANY years of experience, she's Patient, Loving, Caring and knows how to dicipline children!!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Jeremy
Thanks to our American friend Jeremy who guided us and helped us to get back on the blog and also to help us to figure out how to post pictures on the blog too!! Our 2nd trip to Kazakhstan and we couldn't get back on the blog and couldn't post pictures either!!!! Thanks Jeremy!!! you're the man!!!
Daily Routine!!
April 25, 2010
Nothing special to report today it’s pretty much the same routine EVERYDAY. Here’s what our daily routine is so you know what we do everyday. We get up have breakfast, Fil prepares Dylan’s milk formula, yogurt or mini-go, a cookie, his little tupperware with Gerber Puffs Soufflés, his fruit either (1/4 banana or ½ a semi cooked apple) & his sippy cup with water. I prepare his diaper, clothes and his toys. By 9:10 we are outside waiting for Medet to pick us up to go to the orphanage. By about 9:30 we are at the orphanage and I take my diaper and his clothes and go get him in his room. He’s usually waiting in a big playpen park and usually smiles when he sees us at the door. The caregiver “nounou” takes my diaper and clothes and changes him and makes him walk to us to the door where we wait. Most of the time he’s smiling or will have that funny serious face!! We then take him downstairs to the music room or we go straight outside and feed him right away… He’s funny when he sees his bag with food, starts bouncing and makes little gugu gaga sounds!!! Fil and I are a good team together and understand each other quickly. We each have our turn to feed him while the other one is holding him, we have our turn to carry him outside in the baby carrier and also have a turn each to bring him back to his room while the other one picks up the mess. Every time we finish giving him his milk he’ll cry for a couple of seconds because he wants more and we quickly distract him with his multi vitamin which he LOVES and it’s all forgotten. After the vitamin is his yogurt, fruit, cookie and Gerber puffs!!! Feeding him is a real pleasure because he always wants more!!! After all that eating we make him exercise and practice his walking and he then plays with his toys or we outside.
Most kids have a hard time when brought outside for the 1st time BUT NOT DYLAN!!!!!! He loves it, he loves it so much that the minute he’s outside the sun bothers his eyes and falls asleep RIGHT AWAY!!! I hope when in Montreal putting him to sleep will always be that easy!!!! So we walk around for about 15 minutes and let him sleep, he’s sleeping soooo deep and he’s sooo adorable! We then wake him up and he’s not in a bad mood, he’ll be cranky for about a couple of minutes but not more than that!!!!! I hope that too will always be the same!!! The last ½ hour we really try to make him walk, crawl and move as much as possible. It’s a couple of days now that I’ve been playing Mary Had a Little Lamb on the piano (the only song I can play) and Fil and I sing it to him and he sits there and rocks himself and stares at us too sweet this boy!! We then give him a group hug, kiss him all over and say good-bye and bring him back by 11:30! :o( By that time when we bring him back the group is starting to get their lunch. So 2 caregivers are feeding 2 children while the other 7 stare and cry waiting for their turn!!! I’m pretty sure Dylan is the last to be fed because they know he eats something while he’s with us but I never tell them everything he eats!!! By the way the children are not fed in height chairs, they hold them on their lap and feed them at the same time and let me tell you, they feed them fast!!
I'm not a fan of the tv series 24 but I borrowed all of the seasons from Mirella and Casey (thx guys) and I've been trying to get into it!! I watched one season so far and I can't say I'm crazy about it but I have to say it feels like home to be able to watch some english tv. We watch it on our laptop in our bedroom and it feels a little like home away from home!!! We are saving our movies for last!!!! yay for the movies!!!!
Nothing special to report today it’s pretty much the same routine EVERYDAY. Here’s what our daily routine is so you know what we do everyday. We get up have breakfast, Fil prepares Dylan’s milk formula, yogurt or mini-go, a cookie, his little tupperware with Gerber Puffs Soufflés, his fruit either (1/4 banana or ½ a semi cooked apple) & his sippy cup with water. I prepare his diaper, clothes and his toys. By 9:10 we are outside waiting for Medet to pick us up to go to the orphanage. By about 9:30 we are at the orphanage and I take my diaper and his clothes and go get him in his room. He’s usually waiting in a big playpen park and usually smiles when he sees us at the door. The caregiver “nounou” takes my diaper and clothes and changes him and makes him walk to us to the door where we wait. Most of the time he’s smiling or will have that funny serious face!! We then take him downstairs to the music room or we go straight outside and feed him right away… He’s funny when he sees his bag with food, starts bouncing and makes little gugu gaga sounds!!! Fil and I are a good team together and understand each other quickly. We each have our turn to feed him while the other one is holding him, we have our turn to carry him outside in the baby carrier and also have a turn each to bring him back to his room while the other one picks up the mess. Every time we finish giving him his milk he’ll cry for a couple of seconds because he wants more and we quickly distract him with his multi vitamin which he LOVES and it’s all forgotten. After the vitamin is his yogurt, fruit, cookie and Gerber puffs!!! Feeding him is a real pleasure because he always wants more!!! After all that eating we make him exercise and practice his walking and he then plays with his toys or we outside.
Most kids have a hard time when brought outside for the 1st time BUT NOT DYLAN!!!!!! He loves it, he loves it so much that the minute he’s outside the sun bothers his eyes and falls asleep RIGHT AWAY!!! I hope when in Montreal putting him to sleep will always be that easy!!!! So we walk around for about 15 minutes and let him sleep, he’s sleeping soooo deep and he’s sooo adorable! We then wake him up and he’s not in a bad mood, he’ll be cranky for about a couple of minutes but not more than that!!!!! I hope that too will always be the same!!! The last ½ hour we really try to make him walk, crawl and move as much as possible. It’s a couple of days now that I’ve been playing Mary Had a Little Lamb on the piano (the only song I can play) and Fil and I sing it to him and he sits there and rocks himself and stares at us too sweet this boy!! We then give him a group hug, kiss him all over and say good-bye and bring him back by 11:30! :o( By that time when we bring him back the group is starting to get their lunch. So 2 caregivers are feeding 2 children while the other 7 stare and cry waiting for their turn!!! I’m pretty sure Dylan is the last to be fed because they know he eats something while he’s with us but I never tell them everything he eats!!! By the way the children are not fed in height chairs, they hold them on their lap and feed them at the same time and let me tell you, they feed them fast!!
I'm not a fan of the tv series 24 but I borrowed all of the seasons from Mirella and Casey (thx guys) and I've been trying to get into it!! I watched one season so far and I can't say I'm crazy about it but I have to say it feels like home to be able to watch some english tv. We watch it on our laptop in our bedroom and it feels a little like home away from home!!! We are saving our movies for last!!!! yay for the movies!!!!
1st day outside and it was a Bittersweet Experience!!!
April 23, 2010
Our 2nd trip to Kazakhstan and we are now allowed to bring the kids outside, however we choose not to bring Dylan out until our observation day was over. Since we had a lot of catching up to do before the judge and everyone else came to observe us, we decided it was better to stick to an easy daily routine for him to get familiarized with us as much as possible. We tried to go out yesterday but the strange doctor came to see us and told us not to go out because Dylan was starting a cold. It’s so hot outside and they still have the same mentality that they will get sick if they go outside and they still have 2 layers of clothes and the kids are still hot and sweating!!! So today FINALLY we took him out for the 1st time and it was a nice experience except Fil and I got the SCARE OF OUR LIFE!!!! We are slowly getting to know his eating habits and slowly introducing him to new foods. Well we really don’t know what they eat except for what we see here and there. But we understood the hard way that the kids here are so afraid of not having enough food that they put everything in their mouth all in 1 shot. We gave Dylan a piece of banana and he put it all in his mouth. We now watch what we give him in fear that he can choke.
That afternoon after lunch Fil decided to shave his hair with the clipper he brought from home. He did it outside while Christoph, Nathalie and I were all sitting in the yard watching him shave his head without his shirt on. All of a sudden while Fil was half way done the clipper blew-up!!!!! We started cracking up of laughter and as Fil was opening the clipper to see what happened Medet our driver and our lawyer came in our yard to talk to us… It was really funny and Fil was so embarrassed!! When they left I told Fil, “it’s not that bad if you keep your cap on” Well you know Fil, god forbid there is one hair out of place and he responded, “MARY I’M NOT STAYING LIKE THIS”!!!!! He then called Vera our coordinator & translator and explained to her what happened and she started to laugh, he told her he was going to a salon and if he could call her from the salon so she can explain what happened. So Fil and I went to the salon and as we walked in I told her nyet ruski, (no Russian) so she pointed at me and did the gesture cut my hair and I said nyet and pointed at Fil. Fil took out his cap and she started laughing and she called another hairdresser to come in and she started laughing too. I told Fil, “The hairdresser understands it’s to shave the remainder of your head” But he HAD to call Vera so she can explain to the hairdresser what happened… I think he was very embarrassed but we ALL had a nice laugh on his behalf. It cost him 200 tenge, about $1.00!!!
That night we went to have supper with Christoph, Nathalie, and the Americans Becky and Jeremy!!!! Becky and Jeremy have been here since December and went to court April 12 and also had the same lawyer as us. Our observation day with the judge was on the same day as Becky and Jeremy and it made it a little easier being in the same room at the same time
Our 2nd trip to Kazakhstan and we are now allowed to bring the kids outside, however we choose not to bring Dylan out until our observation day was over. Since we had a lot of catching up to do before the judge and everyone else came to observe us, we decided it was better to stick to an easy daily routine for him to get familiarized with us as much as possible. We tried to go out yesterday but the strange doctor came to see us and told us not to go out because Dylan was starting a cold. It’s so hot outside and they still have the same mentality that they will get sick if they go outside and they still have 2 layers of clothes and the kids are still hot and sweating!!! So today FINALLY we took him out for the 1st time and it was a nice experience except Fil and I got the SCARE OF OUR LIFE!!!! We are slowly getting to know his eating habits and slowly introducing him to new foods. Well we really don’t know what they eat except for what we see here and there. But we understood the hard way that the kids here are so afraid of not having enough food that they put everything in their mouth all in 1 shot. We gave Dylan a piece of banana and he put it all in his mouth. We now watch what we give him in fear that he can choke.
That afternoon after lunch Fil decided to shave his hair with the clipper he brought from home. He did it outside while Christoph, Nathalie and I were all sitting in the yard watching him shave his head without his shirt on. All of a sudden while Fil was half way done the clipper blew-up!!!!! We started cracking up of laughter and as Fil was opening the clipper to see what happened Medet our driver and our lawyer came in our yard to talk to us… It was really funny and Fil was so embarrassed!! When they left I told Fil, “it’s not that bad if you keep your cap on” Well you know Fil, god forbid there is one hair out of place and he responded, “MARY I’M NOT STAYING LIKE THIS”!!!!! He then called Vera our coordinator & translator and explained to her what happened and she started to laugh, he told her he was going to a salon and if he could call her from the salon so she can explain what happened. So Fil and I went to the salon and as we walked in I told her nyet ruski, (no Russian) so she pointed at me and did the gesture cut my hair and I said nyet and pointed at Fil. Fil took out his cap and she started laughing and she called another hairdresser to come in and she started laughing too. I told Fil, “The hairdresser understands it’s to shave the remainder of your head” But he HAD to call Vera so she can explain to the hairdresser what happened… I think he was very embarrassed but we ALL had a nice laugh on his behalf. It cost him 200 tenge, about $1.00!!!
That night we went to have supper with Christoph, Nathalie, and the Americans Becky and Jeremy!!!! Becky and Jeremy have been here since December and went to court April 12 and also had the same lawyer as us. Our observation day with the judge was on the same day as Becky and Jeremy and it made it a little easier being in the same room at the same time
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
It's A Boy!!!!!!!
Dylan will have a baby BOY cousin by the end of September!!!!! Yay it's a boy!!!!
Congrats guys, you made our day!!!!
Congrats guys, you made our day!!!!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Observation Day!!
April 20, 2010
Today we saw Dylan like usual in the morning. In the afternoon at 1:30 Medet and Vera came to pick us up to go to the orphanage for our observation. Our appointment was at 2:00 but the judge, the prosecutor lawyer and a couple of other people showed up at 2:30. It’s a good thing because Dylan was very tired and was just sitting there and not doing much and they could have easily said that they don’t see a connection with Dylan and us. But by the time they came Dylan was awake and kept staring at them and looked a little scared but we played our famous game of I hold him by the hands and walked with him to Fil and vice versa and he was smiling and laughing when he reached us. The doctor of the orphanage was also there and she was explaining to the judge that Dylan was really premature and that he was really sick in the winter and explained all his medical history. He then went to the office to look over Dylan’s’ file and asked when our visa’s expired. Don’t know why but he said that he would have an answer by the end of April beginning of May!!!
Today we saw Dylan like usual in the morning. In the afternoon at 1:30 Medet and Vera came to pick us up to go to the orphanage for our observation. Our appointment was at 2:00 but the judge, the prosecutor lawyer and a couple of other people showed up at 2:30. It’s a good thing because Dylan was very tired and was just sitting there and not doing much and they could have easily said that they don’t see a connection with Dylan and us. But by the time they came Dylan was awake and kept staring at them and looked a little scared but we played our famous game of I hold him by the hands and walked with him to Fil and vice versa and he was smiling and laughing when he reached us. The doctor of the orphanage was also there and she was explaining to the judge that Dylan was really premature and that he was really sick in the winter and explained all his medical history. He then went to the office to look over Dylan’s’ file and asked when our visa’s expired. Don’t know why but he said that he would have an answer by the end of April beginning of May!!!
Court Date
April 19, 2010
We saw Dylan like usual at 9:30 to 11:30. There was a music teacher in the room playing the piano practicing for an upcoming event and Dylan was rocking himself to the music. It’s a good thing because he will hear a lot of music at home!!!
Today was court day and boy were we nervous. It went well and since Fil is the man and the men here have to do most of the talking in court, I have to say he did an Awesome Job!!!! He was a pack of nerves and just as we were waiting to be called Mr Fil had to go to the washroom. The problem is that the washroom was outside and not very close. Somehow he always has to go to the washroom when it’s not the right time but I guess the nerves took a bigger part of him!! He made it back on time…
There was the judge, the prosecutor lawyer, the short hand typist (but here they write everything by hand), the director of the orphanage, the secretary of the ministry of education, Vera our coordinator/translator and Medit our coordinator and witness.
The judge asked Fil the following questions: to describe himself, our home, his family, what he did for a living, why did we choose Kazakhstan, what made us choose Dylan, how was the bonding with Dylan in December, & why don’t we have children of our own.
The judge then asked me who lives with us, was I married before, how long have we been married, what is the medical reason why we don’t have children, why we chose Dylan, & what I do for a living.
At the end he asked me if I wanted to add something and I said, “We Love Dylan and we want to bring him home, we have good hospitals and good schools.” I know I can have a big mouth sometimes but I’m not very good when I’m put on the spot and I had a little hard time elaborating in my responses but I think I did ok.
At the end the judge said he would have his answer by the end of next week.
I don’t understand we are doing just a beautiful thing but we felt like criminals.
We saw Dylan like usual at 9:30 to 11:30. There was a music teacher in the room playing the piano practicing for an upcoming event and Dylan was rocking himself to the music. It’s a good thing because he will hear a lot of music at home!!!
Today was court day and boy were we nervous. It went well and since Fil is the man and the men here have to do most of the talking in court, I have to say he did an Awesome Job!!!! He was a pack of nerves and just as we were waiting to be called Mr Fil had to go to the washroom. The problem is that the washroom was outside and not very close. Somehow he always has to go to the washroom when it’s not the right time but I guess the nerves took a bigger part of him!! He made it back on time…
There was the judge, the prosecutor lawyer, the short hand typist (but here they write everything by hand), the director of the orphanage, the secretary of the ministry of education, Vera our coordinator/translator and Medit our coordinator and witness.
The judge asked Fil the following questions: to describe himself, our home, his family, what he did for a living, why did we choose Kazakhstan, what made us choose Dylan, how was the bonding with Dylan in December, & why don’t we have children of our own.
The judge then asked me who lives with us, was I married before, how long have we been married, what is the medical reason why we don’t have children, why we chose Dylan, & what I do for a living.
At the end he asked me if I wanted to add something and I said, “We Love Dylan and we want to bring him home, we have good hospitals and good schools.” I know I can have a big mouth sometimes but I’m not very good when I’m put on the spot and I had a little hard time elaborating in my responses but I think I did ok.
At the end the judge said he would have his answer by the end of next week.
I don’t understand we are doing just a beautiful thing but we felt like criminals.
Cowboy!!!
April 18, 2010
Day 4 with Dylan, and everything is going better. When we went to pick him up in his room, he was in a big park and when he saw us he cracked a little smile and did not stop staring. We were at the door calling out his name and he was smiling and hiding his face because he was shy. The caregiver then takes our diaper and clothes if we wish to change him and changes him and hands him over to us. She was having a hard time changing him because he kept turning to us to look at us and she screamed at him not to move :o( I don’t like her!!
We give him little snacks for him to take by himself and today he gets them right in his mouth with no problems. The 1st day he had trouble getting them in his mouth and today he got them right in. It’s such a little thing but for us it’s big because we see with our very own eyes that with our stimulation he has the capabilities of doing it.
After lunch exactly at 2:00, Kasim the owner of the house and daughter Kundese came to pick us up to take us to his farm. We really did not feel like going and we were a little scared it would be a wild horse but we had no choice to go and Nathalie and I said we were just going to watch. Fil got on the horse with no problem and Kasims’ employee took him for a very safe ride. Nathalie then
decided to do some too because she saw it was safe and the horse was not wild. Me on the other hand well I passed because I was a little scared and that’s all I needed is to fall off the horse the day before court. As we headed back we saw a lamb drinking milk from a dog. They told us the lamb had no mother and the dog just had puppies, what a picture, it was Beautiful and very strange at the same time…(picture attached) Kasim has a VERY poor family that works for him that lives at the farm and takes care of his sheep, horses and the rest of the animals that he has. It smelled awful on the farm and I noticed that they hung clothes outside and I said to myself these people must never have that nice fresh clean smell of clothes but they looked happy and were very nice and inviting. Fil was acting his usual crazy self and was making everyone laugh even if they did not understand most of what he was saying… LOL!!! He was repeating what they were saying and they were laughing at him. From something we did not feel like doing ended up being an amazing experience. We got to see another part of their culture and it was nice to see. We then invited them in for tea to thank them for their gesture. I have to add that Kasim is very handsome, extremely nice and he adores Fil. He pronounces Fil’s name…. FEEL, too funny!!! Kasim is having a 5th child next month and Fil told him to call him FEEL, we all cracked up of laughter… it was a very nice distraction to go to the farm!!!!!
Day 4 with Dylan, and everything is going better. When we went to pick him up in his room, he was in a big park and when he saw us he cracked a little smile and did not stop staring. We were at the door calling out his name and he was smiling and hiding his face because he was shy. The caregiver then takes our diaper and clothes if we wish to change him and changes him and hands him over to us. She was having a hard time changing him because he kept turning to us to look at us and she screamed at him not to move :o( I don’t like her!!
We give him little snacks for him to take by himself and today he gets them right in his mouth with no problems. The 1st day he had trouble getting them in his mouth and today he got them right in. It’s such a little thing but for us it’s big because we see with our very own eyes that with our stimulation he has the capabilities of doing it.
After lunch exactly at 2:00, Kasim the owner of the house and daughter Kundese came to pick us up to take us to his farm. We really did not feel like going and we were a little scared it would be a wild horse but we had no choice to go and Nathalie and I said we were just going to watch. Fil got on the horse with no problem and Kasims’ employee took him for a very safe ride. Nathalie then
decided to do some too because she saw it was safe and the horse was not wild. Me on the other hand well I passed because I was a little scared and that’s all I needed is to fall off the horse the day before court. As we headed back we saw a lamb drinking milk from a dog. They told us the lamb had no mother and the dog just had puppies, what a picture, it was Beautiful and very strange at the same time…(picture attached) Kasim has a VERY poor family that works for him that lives at the farm and takes care of his sheep, horses and the rest of the animals that he has. It smelled awful on the farm and I noticed that they hung clothes outside and I said to myself these people must never have that nice fresh clean smell of clothes but they looked happy and were very nice and inviting. Fil was acting his usual crazy self and was making everyone laugh even if they did not understand most of what he was saying… LOL!!! He was repeating what they were saying and they were laughing at him. From something we did not feel like doing ended up being an amazing experience. We got to see another part of their culture and it was nice to see. We then invited them in for tea to thank them for their gesture. I have to add that Kasim is very handsome, extremely nice and he adores Fil. He pronounces Fil’s name…. FEEL, too funny!!! Kasim is having a 5th child next month and Fil told him to call him FEEL, we all cracked up of laughter… it was a very nice distraction to go to the farm!!!!!
April 17, 2010
Day 3 of seeing Dylan and it went really well. It’s really a difference from day 1 and he’s slowly getting more used to us. We play a game with him as I hold him he runs to Fil and then Fil grabs him and he runs back to me. But the best part is when he reaches us he cracks up of laughter, tooo cute!!! We did that about 5 times and he was dead tired and fell asleep. He’s not used to so much physical activity because it really drained him. The caregivers don’t want him to sleep because they have a schedule to follow and it will disrupt all his rest of the day. At 1st I could not understand why they insisted that the children in the 2 hour bonding period do not fall asleep but now I totally understand because if he’s awake while the others are taking their nap he will wake them up and disrupt everyone’s schedule. But it’s still very difficult not to make him sleep when all he wants to do is sleep. We were holding him standing up and he still would fall asleep. So we made him sleep for about 15 minutes and woke him up before someone came in.
After lunch we went to the internet café but it was really slow and everything is in Russian and we could not make anything work so we then went for a beer at a restaurant, 2 huge beers and a coffee $2.00, what a bargain!!!! Later that evening the owner of the house came by with his 3 kids and brought us a fairly new computer and we finally have internet. We are still having problems getting in our blog. We had a real good laugh trying to communicate with each other.
The owner of the house and his kids ARE SUPER SUPER NICE!!!! He then asked Fil if he horse back rides and Fil said yes and he then told us he would pick us up at 2:00 the following day to take us to his farm where he has his horses.
Day 3 of seeing Dylan and it went really well. It’s really a difference from day 1 and he’s slowly getting more used to us. We play a game with him as I hold him he runs to Fil and then Fil grabs him and he runs back to me. But the best part is when he reaches us he cracks up of laughter, tooo cute!!! We did that about 5 times and he was dead tired and fell asleep. He’s not used to so much physical activity because it really drained him. The caregivers don’t want him to sleep because they have a schedule to follow and it will disrupt all his rest of the day. At 1st I could not understand why they insisted that the children in the 2 hour bonding period do not fall asleep but now I totally understand because if he’s awake while the others are taking their nap he will wake them up and disrupt everyone’s schedule. But it’s still very difficult not to make him sleep when all he wants to do is sleep. We were holding him standing up and he still would fall asleep. So we made him sleep for about 15 minutes and woke him up before someone came in.
After lunch we went to the internet café but it was really slow and everything is in Russian and we could not make anything work so we then went for a beer at a restaurant, 2 huge beers and a coffee $2.00, what a bargain!!!! Later that evening the owner of the house came by with his 3 kids and brought us a fairly new computer and we finally have internet. We are still having problems getting in our blog. We had a real good laugh trying to communicate with each other.
The owner of the house and his kids ARE SUPER SUPER NICE!!!! He then asked Fil if he horse back rides and Fil said yes and he then told us he would pick us up at 2:00 the following day to take us to his farm where he has his horses.
April 16, 2010
I decided to shave everything to see if Dylan would have a different reaction to me. We went at the orphanage in the morning and Mary and I both went upstairs to get him and guess what he wasn’t scared anymore. Wow!!!! He was doing better today. He was getting in his comfort zone a little more but still wasn’t sure about us.
After lunch we decided to go for walk and go to the internet café cause our computer still wasn’t’ working. We tried to email some pictures but it would take to much time so we waited till our computer at home would get fixed. By the way I hadn’t mentioned in the previous days that both toilet sinks were leaking and we had “Cockroaches”. I’ve never seen so many per day, I would say about 10 per day. Unbelievable!!!! Disgusting!!!
We then met Nathalie at the restaurant from the previous night cause we could have used our computer for the WiFi and it was free. Plus Nathalie had her English course and we then met her there. The name of the restaurant is “The Bear”. We spent some time there and guess what I couldn’t get a signal for the internet. The story of our lives. Wow!!!
We then went for supper at a restaurant called “Medley”. It was ok. We had a few laughs and a good time.
I decided to shave everything to see if Dylan would have a different reaction to me. We went at the orphanage in the morning and Mary and I both went upstairs to get him and guess what he wasn’t scared anymore. Wow!!!! He was doing better today. He was getting in his comfort zone a little more but still wasn’t sure about us.
After lunch we decided to go for walk and go to the internet café cause our computer still wasn’t’ working. We tried to email some pictures but it would take to much time so we waited till our computer at home would get fixed. By the way I hadn’t mentioned in the previous days that both toilet sinks were leaking and we had “Cockroaches”. I’ve never seen so many per day, I would say about 10 per day. Unbelievable!!!! Disgusting!!!
We then met Nathalie at the restaurant from the previous night cause we could have used our computer for the WiFi and it was free. Plus Nathalie had her English course and we then met her there. The name of the restaurant is “The Bear”. We spent some time there and guess what I couldn’t get a signal for the internet. The story of our lives. Wow!!!
We then went for supper at a restaurant called “Medley”. It was ok. We had a few laughs and a good time.
The Reunion At Last
April 15, 2010
Off we went to see Dylan at the orphanage from 9:30 to 11:30. Wow! When he saw me and approached me he was so scared and crying softly cause I had my pinch and I hadn’t shaved. It really made me feel bad inside but I could understand the situation. So it was kind of the beginning of the first time when we met him at bonding period, where Dylan was analyzing us and wasn’t so sure about us. It was a little discouraging but we tried to be as positive as possible. Mary began crying as soon as we drove up in front of the orphanage and when we all went upstairs to his room she began crying a lot when she saw him. Nathalie was also crying with her, it was very emotional!!!! The caregivers and Medet felt really bad.
We went for supper with Nathalie, Jeremy and Becky (from Philadelphia) and Randy and Marsha (from Wisconsin) who are all in the process of adopting. We really had a nice time and it was a real good distraction after the day we had.
Off we went to see Dylan at the orphanage from 9:30 to 11:30. Wow! When he saw me and approached me he was so scared and crying softly cause I had my pinch and I hadn’t shaved. It really made me feel bad inside but I could understand the situation. So it was kind of the beginning of the first time when we met him at bonding period, where Dylan was analyzing us and wasn’t so sure about us. It was a little discouraging but we tried to be as positive as possible. Mary began crying as soon as we drove up in front of the orphanage and when we all went upstairs to his room she began crying a lot when she saw him. Nathalie was also crying with her, it was very emotional!!!! The caregivers and Medet felt really bad.
We went for supper with Nathalie, Jeremy and Becky (from Philadelphia) and Randy and Marsha (from Wisconsin) who are all in the process of adopting. We really had a nice time and it was a real good distraction after the day we had.
April 14, 2010
We went to the notary to sign some papers later we got ready to go to court. We got to court and there was the Director of the Orphanage and the Secretary of the Minister of Education. The Secretary of the judge came out and said the court was re-scheduled for April 19 at 3:00.
We weren’t able to see Dylan today but we were looking forward to seeing him tomorrow
We went to the notary to sign some papers later we got ready to go to court. We got to court and there was the Director of the Orphanage and the Secretary of the Minister of Education. The Secretary of the judge came out and said the court was re-scheduled for April 19 at 3:00.
We weren’t able to see Dylan today but we were looking forward to seeing him tomorrow
Part 2 - Kazakhstan
April 13, 2010
Yes were back, sorry for the delay!!!!!!
After 2 long flights we finally got in Almaty at 1:45 a.m. The travelling went very smoothly and we got a bit of rest on the plane.
We left Almaty around 1:45 p.m. by train and arrived in Taraz around 11:45 p.m.
There was no corruption on the train, meaning nobody asked us for money. Just before we got on the train as we were in the hotel we read in a blog of a couple from Canada adopting twins in Taraz that the judge (same as ours) refused them for the adoption. That put us totally to the ground and feel so horrible for them and what they must be going through.
We have our court date tomorrow the 14th at 2:00. We are looking forward to this court date and then hopefully we can get to see our Dylan after or before court. We can’t wait to see Dylan. Just to see his beautiful face and the reaction he will have when he sees us.
Yes were back, sorry for the delay!!!!!!
After 2 long flights we finally got in Almaty at 1:45 a.m. The travelling went very smoothly and we got a bit of rest on the plane.
We left Almaty around 1:45 p.m. by train and arrived in Taraz around 11:45 p.m.
There was no corruption on the train, meaning nobody asked us for money. Just before we got on the train as we were in the hotel we read in a blog of a couple from Canada adopting twins in Taraz that the judge (same as ours) refused them for the adoption. That put us totally to the ground and feel so horrible for them and what they must be going through.
We have our court date tomorrow the 14th at 2:00. We are looking forward to this court date and then hopefully we can get to see our Dylan after or before court. We can’t wait to see Dylan. Just to see his beautiful face and the reaction he will have when he sees us.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Arrived in Almaty
Hi Everyone!!
It's 3:30 am and we arrived in Almaty and staying in a hotel for the night. We take the train at 1:45 and arrive on the 13th in Taraz by 11:30.pm We go to court in the afternoon on the 14th!!!
Later
It's 3:30 am and we arrived in Almaty and staying in a hotel for the night. We take the train at 1:45 and arrive on the 13th in Taraz by 11:30.pm We go to court in the afternoon on the 14th!!!
Later
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Departure
Hello Everyone,
We R Back!!!! Finally leaving for part 2 in Kazakhstan. Running around like crazy to finalize everything before we leave.... Boy do we have alot of stuff to bring. It's a good thing we left a suitcase in Kazakhstan with items that we will need again.
Let the Journey Begin!!!!
11 APR 2010 - SUNDAY (Montreal to London)
AIR BMI FLT:4864
MONTREAL TRUDEAU-LONDON HEATHROW OPERATED BY AIR CANADA
LV MONTREAL TRUDEAU 750PM EQP: AIRBUS A330-300
06HR 40MIN
12 APR 2010 - MONDAY (London to Almaty,Kazakhstan)
AR LONDON HEATHROW 730AM NON-STOP
AIR BMI FLT:991
LONDON HEATHROW-ALMATY OPERATED BY ASTRAEUS LTD
LV LONDON HEATHROW 1250P EQP: BOEING 757
07HR 35MIN
13 APR 2010 - TUESDAY (Almaty to Taraz)
Either a 10 hr long boring train ride or 1.5 hr very bumpy and very noisy flight! not sure yet what will be available for us. We'll find out once we get to Kazakhstan.
We will arrive in Taraz on Tuesday the 13th and we have our Pre-court on the 14th and about 5 days later we will have our final court day. A couple of days later we get the decision of the judge and we then have to wait a 2 week appeal. After the 2 week appeal is over we then pick up Dylan from the orphanage and bring him to stay with us while they begin his paperwork. They will only begin getting his documents once the 2 week appeal is over. His paper work consists of
1- new birth certificate
2- adoption certificate
3- passport
4- visa
5- citizenship
We found out that we'll be staying in the same house again with Nathalie. Nathalie and Christoph have their court date on April 20th and Christoph will be coming for 2 weeks just for the the court.
The german couple that was there with us the 1st time also got their court date for April 21st. It will be nice seeing all 3 couples again!!!!
later!!
We R Back!!!! Finally leaving for part 2 in Kazakhstan. Running around like crazy to finalize everything before we leave.... Boy do we have alot of stuff to bring. It's a good thing we left a suitcase in Kazakhstan with items that we will need again.
Let the Journey Begin!!!!
11 APR 2010 - SUNDAY (Montreal to London)
AIR BMI FLT:4864
MONTREAL TRUDEAU-LONDON HEATHROW OPERATED BY AIR CANADA
LV MONTREAL TRUDEAU 750PM EQP: AIRBUS A330-300
06HR 40MIN
12 APR 2010 - MONDAY (London to Almaty,Kazakhstan)
AR LONDON HEATHROW 730AM NON-STOP
AIR BMI FLT:991
LONDON HEATHROW-ALMATY OPERATED BY ASTRAEUS LTD
LV LONDON HEATHROW 1250P EQP: BOEING 757
07HR 35MIN
13 APR 2010 - TUESDAY (Almaty to Taraz)
Either a 10 hr long boring train ride or 1.5 hr very bumpy and very noisy flight! not sure yet what will be available for us. We'll find out once we get to Kazakhstan.
We will arrive in Taraz on Tuesday the 13th and we have our Pre-court on the 14th and about 5 days later we will have our final court day. A couple of days later we get the decision of the judge and we then have to wait a 2 week appeal. After the 2 week appeal is over we then pick up Dylan from the orphanage and bring him to stay with us while they begin his paperwork. They will only begin getting his documents once the 2 week appeal is over. His paper work consists of
1- new birth certificate
2- adoption certificate
3- passport
4- visa
5- citizenship
We found out that we'll be staying in the same house again with Nathalie. Nathalie and Christoph have their court date on April 20th and Christoph will be coming for 2 weeks just for the the court.
The german couple that was there with us the 1st time also got their court date for April 21st. It will be nice seeing all 3 couples again!!!!
later!!
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