4th Bonding Day!!

December 6, 2009

Today we woke up at around 8:00 am. We both had about 7hrs sleep, this has been the first time we slept this long. Wow what a feeling to sleep this long after a long stressful week. We were picked up at our house to go visit some Mosques in Taraz. It was pretty interesting. It seems that the Muslim religion is taking over the world. There were readings from Arab religion written on stone and Kazak language. It was pretty strange to see but interesting at the same time. We then went to have something to eat at a Cafeteria (Restaurant) and we ate pretty good there. When we finished having a lunch we came back to the house and had to prepare the food for Dylan cause we were going to visit him at the orphanage. We thought there was no visits on Sunday at the orphanage and when we found out we were going, We were really thrilled because we really wanted to see if Dylan was doing better.

We got at the orphanage at around 3:50 pm and we went inside and we did the usual prepare the blanket, toys, his food and his new clothes & diaper. We are all in the same room with the other 2 couples. The couple from Germany received their baby first then Nathalie and Christoph were next and were last. It took them pretty long to bring Dylan.

Finally we see Dylan, and Mary went to get him at the entrance. He looked much better than yesterday but still with a little cold. We then played with him for about 15 mins and we put on his diaper. We played with him for another half hour and we fed him his milk. He was so cute drinking his milk. We tried feeding him some meat and vegetables. Forget it, he didn’t want to know anything. We played with him a little more and tried to feed him his blueberry fruit, at the beginning he wasn’t interested but then he came around and had some. Then the worse part of the day came 6:00 pm, this is where we had to give Dylan back. It really hurts to see when you’re in that moment with him and you want him home and then you have to give him back. At the end of the bonding period Irina said you guys all look so cute and I feel bad that the time is up; at this point all 3 daddy’s had the kids in their arms… it was cute. They then brought the kids to their rooms, Nathalie asked Irina (the new coordinator) where their room was and she responded if we wanted to go see. I knew we were not allowed to go see where they are but I did not tell Irina. It was Irina’s 1st experience being their for our bonding period and I figured she didn’t know she was not allowed to take us… but I didn’t tell her… hehehe, I wanted to see for myself where they stay. I didn’t see much because it was a whole 10 seconds because the kids started crying when we were at the door, but what I saw was 1 caregiver for about 8 to 10 kids under maybe 2yrs old. Everything was placed in a circle, I found that very smart because it gave the caregiver easy access to all of them and much more visible. I saw a little fenced area where the kids can play, a couple of height chairs, swings for babies and a couple of extra long cribs, maybe the length of 1 and ½ crib with about 3 babies in 1. That bothered me to see that but I guess it’s easier for the “NOUNOU” (caregiver) to check them all at the same time. Dylan was not there as he belongs in another group, I’m guessing maybe because he needs more attention because he cannot sit on his own, he’s started to crawl etc. But I will find out how they separate the kids on my next visit. I can’t really give my opinion of the room where the kids stay because I really did not see much.

We were driven home and Nathalie cooked supper. We had potatoes with green peppers and sausage. It was good. Considering we don’t have much food left.

So we can say that today it was better than yesterday with our Dylan.

Dec/06/09
Happy Birthday Sonia Bertone!!!

3rd Bonding Day

Dec/05/20009
It's 6:00 am and I finally had a good night sleep, 6hours straight!!
Today was our 3rd bonding day. Dylan is still under the weather, During our 2 hrs with him he sneezed like 8 to 10 times, coughed and you can hear and feel the mucus in his chest when he was breathing, broke my heart. He drank his milk, played a little, cried a little and then fell asleep for about 5 minutes. When they brought him to us we took out his 4 layers of clothes put on a DIAPER and dressed him with 1 single p.j. We tried to feed him some meat & veggies but he would cry when we would put the spoon in his mouth so we didn't push it. It's confusing, with our 2 hr visit we don't know what to feed him 1st, so we gave him his milk and he really enjoyed it. Our visit was from 4 to 6 in the afternoon and did 6:00 ever come fast. The nounou (caregiver) came in the room and picked him up talking to him in Kazak and he was so happy to see her. We were happy and reassured to see him react to her like that because it really confirms that they really take good care of the babies in the orphanage and we can't wait until he begins to get attached to us and starts reacting towards us like that too. It's hard when it's time to go and YES WE ARE ALREADY ATTACHED!!! We keep communicating with our dr. in Montreal and Fils' cousin Nick about his medical record and asking questions and everything else, trying to get re-assured that he's ok and will not develop any serious medical issue due to his premature birth; BUT OUR HEARTS AND OUR MINDS ARE MADE UP, we are going with our GUT FEELING and THIS BABY IS COMING HOME WITH US!!! There are no guarantees in life and this is one chance we are so willing to take!!!!

There are no visits at the orphanage on Sundays, so Vera (our coordinator/translator and Medet (our driver) are taking us out to visit some history of Taraz,Kazakhstan.
Fil and I, our room-mates Nathalie and Christop and the german couple will be going together in the mini bus. ****correction, there are visits at the orphanage on Sundays****

bye for now
Mary

2nd Bonding Day

Dec/04/09
Today we had our 2nd bonding day. It went ok however all 3 kids all have a cough and running noses. Dylan (Korkem) did not want to eat much, he felt pretty warm, I don't know if he had fever or if it's because the bonding room where we are in is EXTREMELY HOT!!! He did play a little and then fell asleep in my arms for about 20 minutes. Our 2hrs came and went by really fast! The driver than took us all to a big super market. I saw a little corner where they sold C.D.'s, and I had to have one. I tried to tell the salesman that I wanted the cd he was playing... ya right, who the hell understood each other. Fil then went to get that german couple and their translator we are with at the orphanage, so I told the german guy that I wanted a c.d. in Kazak he then told his German/Kazak translator and the translator then told the salesman. wow, everything is complicated here but funny!!! People still insist on talking to you in Kazak even if you tell them you don't speak Kazak!!

The owner of the house where we live is extremely nice and his 20 yr old daughter takes care of the house including when the internet doesn't work. They run at everything we ask them. You should see us trying to talk to her with our little russian/english book. She is too cute and nice, we really have nice laughs when we're together. People from opposites end of the country trying to communicate in sign language and looking up words in our little book.

We go to a little super market near our house everyday, it's about 10 minutes away, people stare at us all the time and follow us all over the store and using their tengue $$$ is not easy to get used to. We cook our own food, we don't eat meat here, it does not look very appetizing.

We posted some pictures of the orphanage, our neighborhood, our kitchen and the view from our bedroom. The roosters, the barking dogs, the meowing cats in our neighborhood go at it every day and night and we hear them from our room!!! The weather is very good, the house is a little too warm and we're not able to lower the heating as it's centrally controlled but it's really ok, we just open our windows. We hang our clothes on the hot water tubes and it does the job really well and fast!! We have no oven, no toaster and no coffee machine. Thank god I brought my new little gadget that I bought at Walmart to make Filtered coffee 1 cup at a time and I also brought my Tim Horten coffee!!! But we adjust ourselves accordingly, we prepared ourself for much worse than this BUT WE REALLY CANNOT COMPLAIN because it's just a matter of adjusting yourself and LOWERING YOUR STANDARD OF LIVING!!! We came here for one purpose and that purpose was not VACATION but rather to COMPLETE OUR DREAM!!

Fil made us a nice breakfast this morning, very delicious!!! Our schedule for the bonding for now is from 16:00 to 18:00.
have a great week-end
mary and fil

Diapers

December 3, 2009 - Forgot to mention the kids at the orphanage wear 2 to 3 pyjamas at the same time AND DON'T HAVE ANY DIAPERS ON, this is very disturbing.
Today was our second day with Korkem at the orphanage and we played with him and fed him as well and he ate like a CHAMP. He seems to like the food. We fed him carrots and applesauce (that I Fil made it myself for him). WOW. He also took the multi vitamin.... (Thank you Sonia L.) We got to change his clothes and put on A DIAPER for him. The caregivers keep saying that he looks like me and he has the same exact forehead like me. A la prochaine les amis.. lol.... it's presently 2:40 am.... WOW!!

Our 1st Day at the Orphanage!!!

December 2nd, 2009 has finally come and WHAT A DAY!!!!! I feel like it’s not real!!!! What a day, What a day!!!!! Wow.
9:15 Vera our coordinator came to pick us up, there was Antoine our driver and Irina a new coordinator which was her 1st experience, Christoph, Nathalie, a new couple from Germany and their interpreter all in the same mini bus. Let me tell you that bus drive was Quiet, we were all so stressed. We did not know what to expect!!! So we get to the orphanage and the people of the ministry of education arrive with Mediet, Vera’s husband the driver. They come in, no smiles no acknowledgements…. man did that pump me up!!! but anyways I was previously told Kazak people are very very reserved. Whatever… who cares.. So they start with Christoph and Nathalie, they had to go in a room with the ministry of education, director of the orphanage, Vera and Irina and the rest waited outside in another room. So we start seeing babies one at a time being brought downstairs to Christoph and Nathalie’s room……I felt like I was in a movie, I could not believe what I was living, It felt like being at a meat market so inhuman. They were so cute but then when I saw a baby with no arms, I lost it!!! Fil told me to control myself and to show I was strong… I responded, “Shit I’m only human”!!!!!!
You only hear about these things never see it with your own eyes… So then the caregivers came in our room and gave a blondish boy to the German couple and Mediet told the caregiver to give us this little boy. I was asking myself is this the little boy that was to come to us or was it another one, because I knew their was already a baby that was picked out for us but their procedure at the orphanage is they must show you all adoptable babies. Vera was busy with the others and I couldn’t speak to her.. I was so confused. The caregiver told us in gestures because they don’t speak a word of English that he eats and sleeps very good and pointed at him with 2 thumbs up, meaning he’s a very good baby, we also tried asking for his name and she said “Korkem” (not sure of spelling). We wanted to make sure with Vera that this angel boy was for us!!! So finally it was understood that this was the one and BOY WE’RE WE HAPPY AND SO VERY SATISFIED, we both had the same feeling right away that this is the one!!!! The smiles on our faces and the moments we were living were amazing!!!

Then we were told to go in a room upstairs with our baby to play with him and to bond. We really felt the bond between the baby and us. He was playing with a toy we brought, playing with the ball, crawling, a little smile. We were with “Korkem” for about 20 minutes, then Vera came and gave us the information on “Korkem” in a matter of not more than a minute. She was just bombarding Mary with the info, while I was playing with “Korkem” and trying to listen to Vera. Once we were done Vera said we have to leave and we would be back tomorrow to start the bonding with “Korkem”. We left to go to the bus with Christoph, Nathalie, Irina and along the way we came across little kids walking together with the caregiver, they looked so cute. Once we got in the bus we were still in shock of what we just went through and we are the luckiest future parents for this special baby that we will bond for the next 3 weeks. WOW!!!! It was a long ride back to the house but it was emotional as well and all GOOD!!!!!

Our 1st day at the orphanage!!!

Dec/02/09- This day finally came and what a day!!!!! Extremely overwhelming and emotions that one cannot even begin to explain!! We met him and are we ever happy!! Will give you more details as soon as we can because our Internet at home crashed!!!! What timing for the internet to crash, we have the so called medical report (given to us verbally in 20 seconds)on the baby that needs to be given to our Dr in Montreal to be reviewed to confirm if he has any serious condition. It is only normal being Premature, living in an orphanage, very very understimulated that he will have some significate delay!!!!

Thank you FOR ALL YOUR CONTINUING SUPPORT
Fil, Mary & Korkem (his birth name)