PetreKazQuest

We're heading home early!

2008-03-27T00:26:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. This will probably be the last entry to this blog for a while, because in a few hours we are heading home! This morning we strolled Emma around and let her chase pigeons in a park, and this afternoon we had our US Embassy appointment to sign more papers and get Emma's passport. We then went back to the law offices and found out that Emma's blood test result was in and was negative, the birth certificate listing us as Emma's parents was finished, and that all we had left to do was bring our daughter home! So we had our driver take us right over to the airline office and were able to change our flights to leave Friday AM instead of Sunday! Woohoo! We're just finishing packing and contemplating the marathon flight home and the end of our long adoption journey. Three trips halfway around the world. Over a year of preparation. It's hard to believe we're really done. Of course, it's not the end at all, but the beginning of our lives together.

Once we get settled in at home, I'll post an update on how Emma is doing. To those of you who went before us, thank you for your guidance and encouragement. To those in the midst of the process, have faith and it will happen for you too. To our friends and staff who have supported us through this roller coaster ride, thanks for helping us hold on to reach this fantastic finish. To our family, we love you so much and WE'RE COMING HOME!

Out and About in Kaz

2008-03-26T06:28:00.000-07:00

Today was another day of new experiences for Emma. She had her first ride in her stroller, and also her first ride on a swing! This morning we went to a small office to sign paperwork that will make us officially Emma’s parents on her birth certificate. Afterwards we took Emma shopping. Then, a nap, followed by a brief stroll around the neighborhood. We are staying in the same apartment we had for trip one. This is good in that we know our way around, especially where to get groceries and internet cards.

The photos on the blog today include a few cute ones of Emma in the apartment, and a few of her in her stroller. You can also see us cruising around the shopping area and in the small play area in the courtyard of our apartment complex. Jim got a couple shots of random sights on the street - military guys, a policeman giving someone a ticket, and a very brightly colored camel.

We are very much looking forward to leaving for home in a few days. We miss everyone back in the US so much, especially Nick, Jake and Luke. Hang in there guys - we’ll all be back home together with our newest family member very soon!

Tales of a Terrific Toddler!

2008-03-25T00:57:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. Last night the three of us slept well. On today’s blog I’m putting pictures of the first plane we boarded to get Emma and her Gotcha Day. These photos include first hug I gave Emma when we saw each other again at the baby house, a picture of us and the baby house director right before we left, and Emma and ourselves outside the baby house, preparing to leave the orphanage together for good!
Today’s blog also includes some photos (from yesterday and today) of Emma getting used to us and the apartment. She likes her new surroundings, but particularly liked her Easter basket toys. Yes, the Easter bunny found his way to Kaz to bring Emma her basket! The picture of Emma with the sad face was after her bath. She didn’t cry during it, but we definitely didn’t have enough tub toys to make it a fun experience. She was fine once she got her PJs on and got back onto the floor for a little more playtime. I’m sure tonite’s bath will be better - we are going to have to give her nightly baths I think, as she has found out that putting spoonfuls of food onto her head instead of into her mouth gets quite a rise out of mom and dad!
Today we had an appointment at the international medical clinic for Emma’s checkup. It was a pretty quick and cursory exam (the doc didn’t even ask us to take Emma’s clothes off). Emma did have to have a fingerstick blood draw for her required HIV test. She didn’t cry or even flinch, and watched with great interest as the little tube was filled with blood. Maybe she has a future in medicine - as our oldest son Jim pointed out, “Do you guys realize Emma’s initials are E.R.?” You never know…

It's Gotcha Day!

2008-03-24T07:38:00.000-07:00

Great news everyone - today is Emma's Gotcha Day! We started trip 3 on Friday, but because of flight cancellations we didn't get here until Monday morning. Our driver picked us up at 6 AM and told us to be ready to take Emma from the orphanage in a few hours! So we geared up for the final push, unpacking and readying the apartment for a toddler. We brought gifts for the orphanage staff, and at noon we left Baby House Three with our new daughter Emma Rose Petre! Emma did remarkably well. She toddled out of the orphanage holding one of mom's fingers and didn't look back. Today was her first car ride, first meal with her family, first nap snuggled up against her mom and first bath with us. We are amazed at this incredible child. She toddled around the apartment over and over, then settled right in with us. Right now she is playing on the living room carpet, smiling and pounding on her toys and making us feel so very blessed to be bringing this wonderful little girl into our family.
Right now we need to get our daughter to bed, so I'll have to say goodbye. Don't worry - I'll post pictures tomorrow after we have all had some rest. What an exhausting but exhilirating Gotcha Day it has been! It would not have been possible without the love and support we have received from all of you. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

We have trip 3 travel dates!

2008-03-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

Hurray! We are leaving this Friday for our third and final trip to Kaz to bring Emma home. We arrive there on Easter Sunday and return the following Sunday. It is hard to believe our journeys are finally coming to an end. We are so excited that this last trip is actually happening, and that in less than two weeks Emma will be home with her family. I'll try to get connected to the internet as soon as I can when we're back in Kaz. Hopefully you will all follow along as we finalize our adoption and prepare to come home. The best part of this trip is that there will be no more goodbyes to that sweet little girl at baby house three, soon to be known to all as Emma Rose Petre!

Our youngest son Lucas wants to post something, so here he is:
"I hope this trip will be the happiest of the three trips to go bring Emma home. Finally! I'm not Mr. Shorty anymore! Well, what else would you expect from the 8 year old who is the youngest in the family? I really hope you guys (you guys = people looking at the blog) can keep in touch with our adventurous travelers here! I can't wait to see that little girl in person!"
Love, Future big brother: Luke

The Last Good-Bye

2008-02-26T04:42:00.000-08:00

We had a brief visit with Emma today. I posted a couple of photos of her playing. I also posted a picture of the baby house kitchen. Like the rest of the baby house, it was clean and organized. As we left the baby house, a heap of snow dropped right in front of us. A bit startled, we looked up and saw a young man on the roof shoveling off snow that landed right in front of the entrance. Another of today’s sights was the lady with the dog in the snowsuit. We’ve seen her before, and I think I posted a picture of her on one of the early posts, but I swear the doggy had a different outfit on today. It seems even the canines in this former capital city have fashion sense.

After the baby house visit, we went to the law offices to do paperwork, to the notary, then back to the law offices, and to the notary again! Then we made a final trip to the Ramstore to get the candy we promised to bring to the boys. That left packing and blogging (or in Jim’s case, napping) for these last few hours in Kaz. One of these photos is the view from our apartment that I took as I was putting off the packing part.

In a way, we’re both glad that Emma is too young to understand that we’re leaving again today. We wish there was something we could do to speed up this process. Anyone who knows me well knows that I’ve tried just about everything I can think of to control, influence, or at least understand this process. I’ve finally come to the realization that we are not the ones coming to get Emma, but that she is being given to us. Now we have nothing to do but try to patiently wait to receive this most precious of gifts.

The judge said YES!

2008-02-24T22:42:00.000-08:00

Great news everyone - this morning the judge approved Emma’s adoption!

Court went well for us. It lasted about twenty minutes. Neither one of us had to give a speech. The judge asked us questions and we answered. Our facilitator prepared us well for what would be asked, and also the “four points” we were to mention when asked why we were coming before the court:
1. To ask for a favorable decision regarding the adoption of our daughter,
2. To give her the name Emma Rose Petre,
3. To keep the place and date of birth on her birth certificate the same, and
4. To list us as her parents.

Some of the questions the judge asked were centered around our home, family, jobs, income, health, and marriage. We were asked why we wanted to adopt. We told her that nothing gives us more joy than being parents, and we wished to give a child already born a family. We had to prove to the judge that we visited Emma for two weeks with date-stamped photographs. The judge was concerned that Emma is Asian, and we are Caucasian. She asked us how did we think she would feel about looking different than other family members. This gave us the opportunity to show the judge pictures of our beautiful nieces Lea and Carlee who were adopted from China. We told the judge Emma looks like her cousins, and that they can’t wait to meet her. Lea and Carlee - if you are reading this you should know that because you are members of the Petre family, you have helped Emma to have a family too!

Someday we will tell Emma about the morning we went to court and asked the judge to let us be her parents. We’ve posted a picture of us outside the courthouse after the session was over. We’ll remember that when we came out, it was the sunniest morning we have ever seen here in Kazakhstan.

A Better Day

2008-02-24T01:06:00.000-08:00

Today was a better day. It started with a phone call from our family back home. It was great to hear your voices!

We visited with Emma this morning. It went better than yesterday. She was still quite hesitant to play with us, and mainly wanted to be held by Mom and walked around the (very small) room over and over. She gradually let Jim get closer to her, and smiled a little when he starting banging blocks together with her. We regret not packing the hammer toy this time, as she really enjoys making noise with her toys (the toy just made us a little crazy last time since there was no way to turn it off, and it would sound off constantly just from being jostled in the toy bag). Boys: we are going to need your help in keeping the noise level up once we get home to keep Emma entertained - somehow I don’t think this will be a problem. Emma let Mom give her a few airplane rides, which drew a few smiles but not the belly laughs we’re used to. She also seemed bothered by the camera, so again, we didn’t take too many pictures. We’ve posted one picture of a mural painted in a stairwell. It was impressive, although we’re sure it would have been even nicer if it had been painted by Cricket and Grandma Judy, designers of the childrens’ mural in our office. We got to stay during Emma’s lunchtime, and are glad to report she is still the fastest eater we have ever seen.

This evening we enjoyed dinner with our friends the Kilpatricks from the US embassy. They were grateful for the margarita ingredients we brought from the states (yep that’s the margarita drink, not the pizza). We were grateful for some wonderful chicken taco soup, salad and cookies, not to mention the fun conversation that took our minds off court. Once we got back to the apartment, reality set in again. Jim and I both practiced the speech, since we can’t be absolutely sure who will be asked to speak tomorrow. Thanks to all of you for rooting for us. Now it’s time to try and get a little sleep.

We made it back to Kaz

2008-02-23T09:35:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Well after 24 hours of travel we made it back to Almaty, and got into our apartment at 2 AM. It is a larger apartment than our last one, but the TV doesn’t work. Our flights were fine. There were empty seats so we got to stretch out a bit. The only glitch happened during our layover in Frankfurt - going through security Jim was searched, and as we picked up all of our things from the conveyor belt, we didn’t notice that Jim’s laptop was missing. We realized it on the plane, but it was too late. We’re going to check lost-and-found on our way back through Frankfurt, but we’re not terribly optimistic about our chances of recovering it.

Today was busy - no jet lag allowed. We met at the law offices for an hour with our facilitator. She went over the process for court on Monday. She also gave us specific details of the speech Jim is give to the judge (the father is asked to do this). Jim has decided that since he has to memorize and actually give the speech, I should write it. Therefore, that is next on my to-do list.

After our meeting we were taken to the orphanage to visit Emma. She was very shy with us at first, which is understandable given the time between these trips. We tried playing with her, but she was in a somber mood so we didn't push it. She mainly wanted to be held and rocked by Mom. At that point poor exhausted Jim fell asleep on the visitation room floor. We did get her to smile just a bit as the visit went along, but we didn’t take many pictures. It was amazing to feel her in our arms again.

Following the orphanage visit, we went to the Ramstore to get groceries. We also went to buy an international calling card. Unfortunately we can’t get it to work, so please e-mail us or post to the blog if you want to stay in touch. We’re now settling in for the night, and already missing our boys and everyone at home. So I will say goodbye for today…

Court is in One Week!

2008-02-18T18:09:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,
It feels strange being back on the blog after these few weeks at home. We just want everyone to know that our court date is Feb. 25! We fly out on Feb. 21. Look for more blog entries starting (hopefully) on the 23rd or 24th. We are trying to stay calm as we pack and wrap up details here at home. This trip is bittersweet - we get to see Emma again, but we won't be able to bring her home yet. We have to wait out the post-court appeals period of 15 days, and then additional birth certificate and passport processing days. Our agency estimates we won't be able to return for the final trip to bring Emma home until Easter weekend. If will be an awful wait, but then again if it's true - what a wonderful Easter gift for us all!
Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated as we hold our breath waiting to hear the judge say "Yes!" to our adoption of Emma.
Blessings to all, and please post comments to the blog often - it is an amazing comfort to us to hear from you.
Anne and Jim

Final day of trip one

2008-01-22T05:51:00.000-08:00

This will be the last blog entry we’ll be making for a while. In a few hours we leave for home. We don’t know our court date yet, and are told we should know within a week or two.

Today’s last visit with Emma was tough. Our facilitator accompanied us to the baby house so we could ask the workers to write farewell messages for Emma in a book. Our facilitator will translate it while we’re gone, and give it back to us when we return for court. We also gave them a picture of ourselves to show Emma while we’re gone, a blanket and a toy. The worst part was when they told us that Emma now waits by the door for us each day.

We distracted ourselves by keeping busy this afternoon, We had lunch at a nice restaurant with new American friends Nicole and Matt and their darling baby girl Saule. They are here in Almaty doing final paperwork before bringing their daughter home.

After lunch we had our driver take us to the hospital where Emma was born. We took a picture to show her one day. Then we headed home to pack. We won’t be back in Almaty for a month or so, but packing should be easier next time.

We are excited to get back home and hug everyone. Thanks to our amazing family (especially Aunt Lynne Morris and Grandmas Petre and Penava for taking care of the boys), friends, staff, and yahoo looper friends for all your kindness and support. We are blessed to have all of you in our lives. You have helped to bring us one step closer to bringing Emma home.

Visitation completed today

2008-01-21T06:36:00.000-08:00

Today was the last of our 14 days of required visitation. We will be here until Wed. AM, and have permission to go and visit Emma tomorrow even though the visits are officially finished. Emma is getting used to searching through her toy bag right after she greets us. Even so, she most enjoyed taking the cap on and off her juice bottle. We got a picture of a lovely woman who came into the room several times during our visit to play with and hug Emma. While we are going to miss our little girl immensely between now and our return visit for court, we are glad she is in the hands of such caring people. Our visit was shorter today, as electrical work was being done outside the building entrance and they needed to get us through before the workers started. We waited outside for our driver for about 30 minutes in zero degree weather, and found ourselves jogging in place to be sure we could still feel our toes.
The afternoon was spent printing out and making captions for 14 days worth of date stamped photographs to give to the judge. These were taken to the law office, where we did more paperwork before heading home. We were going to shop a bit tonite, but found ourselves enjoying the warmth of the apartment, So we started packing for home instead.
By popular demand, we are including photos of the inside of our apartment. Simple but adequate, we still think it is a better choice than spending four hundred dollars a night for a hotel and having to decipher Russian menus for every meal. We cooked beshbarmak for ourselves today, and it was delicious and filling. We look forward to seeing everyone again in just a few days!

Subzero Sunday

2008-01-20T01:19:00.000-08:00

Temperatures in Almaty today were below zero. We hear it's freezing back home in the Midwest too. Despite the cold, we kept busy today. It is taking more creativity to keep Emma occupied and entertained in the small visitation room. Today we read books, played with shirt strings, swung her in her toy bag, introduced her to music on the Ipod, and counted the butterflies on the lockers. Emma has also learned the American art of playing with her food, and made quite a mess pounding her spoonfuls of soup on the table for fun. Today Emma clapped when she saw her juice cup. She likes to leave a little juice in her mouth and make gargling sounds for our entertainment.

We went to a mall this afternoon appropriately named "Mega." It had shiny gold elevators, a fountain, huge rock climbing wall, indoor skating rink, bowling, a food court, and movie theaters! We didn't buy much, as prices were quite high and the dollar keeps weakening, but it was fun to walk around and take it all in. The fashion here in Almaty is uniform, with the women wearing tight jeans and high-heeled black boots, and the men all in dark jackets with black dress shoes. They definitely look their best when they are out and about.

Tonite we enjoyed dinner with an American family living in Almaty. The husband works for the US Embassy as a primary care physician. His wife was the lady who spotted us as Americans when we were struggling with our grocery cart the first day we were here in Kaz. They have five kids, who were well-behaved and delightful. Another guest was a woman working for the US Embassy in neighboring country Kyrgystan. It was a fun and fascinating evening, and we got insights into life as an expat in this area of the world, and also discussed how different medical practice is here vs. in the US. Hopefully we can meet up with our new friends again at a future visit.

Glimpses of baby house life

2008-01-19T06:45:00.000-08:00

Today was the first time we heard Emma say “mama.” It was great to hear those two syllables! She also said “Yay!” at the end of a game of patty-cake. She is now pointing to what she wants, and starting to fuss a bit if she doesn’t get it. We see her becoming more relaxed and confident with us, and we are all thoroughly enjoying one another.

We had a special treat today - we got a glimpse inside the rooms where Emma lives. Until today, the only room we had seen was the small visitation room. At the end of our visit, a young woman motioned us inside a playroom with a large playpen in the center. We were unable to get the young woman’s name, but she was very kind. When I took out my camera she said khara-sho, which we have learned means “that’s fine.” We were able to get a few pictures of the playroom. Then I put my head on my hands indicating that I wanted to see where Emma sleeps. We were taken inside a room with wall-to-wall cribs and allowed to see which one is Emma’s. We were not allowed to see any of the other children Emma lives with, but it was wonderful to see what we did today.

After our visit, we went on a quest for beshbarmok, which we are told is authentic Kazakh cuisine. We were dropped off at a restaurant reputed to have the best in Kazakh cooking, but it turned out to be closed. We ate at the hotel Alma-Ata’s restaurant instead, which was fine, but no beshbarmok. We did order something on the menu called “Allthings National” which was a variety of cut meats. I didn’t sample all of them, but Jim did, and insists one of them was horse meat. Not sure how he could know that, but that’s his story and he’s sticking to it. The restaurant was across from the beautiful Opera House, which we photographed and put on today’s blog.

After lunch we went to the Central Museum (of Kazakh History). We were surprised at how much we enjoyed this, even with the vast majority of exhibits described only in Russian and Kazakh. Jim got a picture of the costume of a “prince warrior,” which we’ve posted, before we saw a sign with a camera and an X through it. Kazakhstan was once conquered by Mongol warriors, who are said to be ancestors of many Kazakhs, and we think the prince’s costume is representative of that time. That was the only photo we were able to get of the museum. There was an amazing gold exhibit, with intricately engraved horses, rams, and warriors on the artifacts. There were also several gift shops, and we purchased a few treasures before heading home for the evening.

Learning about Emma

2008-01-18T04:23:00.000-08:00

Today was a somewhat unusual day (unlike most days, in which we, as other Kaz adoptive parents have said, often feel like the main character in the movie Groundhog Day). Our adoption facilitator called this morning and said she was going to accompany us to the baby house. She said we would have the chance to ask some medical questions about Emma. I got my list together and put it in the toy bag.

When we got to the baby house, we were given a copy of Emma’s daily schedule and diet. We also signed the book that is used to prove to the court that we have been visiting Emma. Emma is completely on table food, feeds herself independently, is off the bottle, has never used a pacifier, and has even started toilet training! They sure grow up fast here.

You’ll see in today’s blog a picture of our facilitator Janeera. She, Emma and I are looking over my list of questions. You’ll also see a picture of one of Emma’s caretakers, Bibigul. We were told that each day Emma has two people looking after her. One is the caretaker, whom we were told does the “easy stuff,” like play with Emma and teach her. The second is referred to as the babysitter, and does diaper changing bathing, and dressing. The caregivers are with her the entire day, but she has a different two assigned to her daily. All in all, she has six caregivers and two babysitters at Baby House 3.

We didn’t have as much quality time with Emma today, as we were trying to ask questions while watching her. There was time, however, for a little rough housing - enough for her to shake the pretty bow out of her hair. There was also time for teething, even on Dad’s watch and the sole of her shoe. The biggest giggle of the day came when she heard me yell “Ow” after she pulled on my hair:) I think a ponytail will be my hairstyle for the plane ride home with her.

Emma’s given name is Anel. We were told her first name was given by hospital staff who liked the name. At the orphanage, the staff call her Anela, a nickname for Anel. It is pronounced Uh-NEL-uh, which isn’t too far off from Emma. We have tried to use both names during our visits with her. After our visit we just did errands - exchanging money, buying a new I-card for more internet minutes, and grocery shopping. Jim made some delicious chicken soup, and we are now in for the evening.

We hope all of you have a great weekend, and that Nick and the Rivermont basketball team win their homecoming game! We enjoy your comments. We plan to print out this blog and share it with Emma one day. Your comments will be part of that, and we thank you for giving them to us.

Thursday in the Land of Kaz

2008-01-17T03:08:00.000-08:00

Our visit with Emma went by quickly today. We hadn’t knocked on the door yet when Emma came toddling into the room by herself with a big smile on her face. She enjoyed her cheerios and juice, but was disturbed by the baseball cap Dad was wearing for a while. We all wore each other out and Emma was snuggly right before our visit ended. Only four more visits and we can apply for a court date! We will need to submit a photo album before we leave with date-stamped photos of each of our 14 visits with Emma. This is shown to the judge to prove we complied with visitation requirements. As we’ve said, it is unfortunately a minimum of 30 days before we will go to court. I hope Emma remembers us when we return. It’s going to be hard, because even after court we have another 15 day “appeals period” to wait out before we get custody of Emma. So far so good, but we’re still anxious to get this process over with so we know for certain that this beautiful little baby will be part of our family. Someone said to keep a slight emotional distance, as about 5% of families will not be able to complete their adoptions. I don’t think that’s possible for us, so we just keep thinking positively and trusting that everything will work out fine and we’ll soon have Emma on the plane to her new home in the US.
This afternoon we had our driver drop us off at the Cathedral of the Holy Ascension. What a sight! We were able to go inside, but weren’t allowed to take pictures. The surrounding park was filled with people enjoying the day. It was fun to watch the bundled-up children chasing the pigeons. We wandered farther and found the Green Bazaar, an indoor/outdoor shopping area where people sold just about anything you could imagine. There were street vendors selling fruit, eggs, fish, candy, popcorn, soda and beer. There were street artists and street musicians as well as salesmen handing out pamphlets in very brightly-colored snowsuits. Nobody here seems to mind cold or snow. They just dress warmly and go about their business as if it were mid-summer.
Thin-skinned Americans that we are, we needed to warm up after about two hours of wandering in the cold. We found a fun restaurant near a movie theatre. Jim loved the poster of John Wayne outside the restaurant. The unisex bathrooms were a bit unsettling, but there really wasn’t a choice. At least now we know to bring money to the bathrooms if we want toilet paper. The meal was fine, and afterwards we headed back to our apartment to watch the Australian Open (a major tennis tournament) with Russian commentators. I have learned the numbers 15,30, and 40 in Russian quite well, so it’s educational too. Go Americanskis!

What day is it?

2008-01-16T06:44:00.000-08:00

With a 12 hour time difference between here and home, I sometimes have trouble figuring out what day of the week it is. After careful calculation, I have determined it is Wednesday and day nine of our visits with Emma.

Emma has been really giving us a workout. We know she is going to love playing with her brothers soon. Today we heard the “s” sound a few times, as well as ga, ya, da, and even a little singing “aaaahhhhh”. We met a kind woman who told us she is the orphanage’s speech therapist. The orphanage seems to have an array of specialists caring for the children. Most of them dress in white coats. Jim even saw one whose coat read “Endocrinologist” today. We have been impressed by how hard the Kazakhs work to care for their orphans here in Baby House 3. We feel grateful to them for giving Emma a good start in life.

On leaving the orphanage we saw a woman taking her child down the sidewalk on a sled. We thought that was pretty clever, and probably a lot safer than a stroller on the ice.

Today the sun peeked out, and we asked our driver to take us into the Tian Shen mountains after our visit. He did, and the views were breathtaking. He showed us an enormous outdoor skating rink built by the Soviets for training their athletes. We then stopped at Chibulak, a ski area with a little restaurant where Jim ate borsh (beet soup) and I drank chai (tea). Someday we’ll tell Emma how beautiful her native country is.

Settling In

2008-01-15T07:12:00.000-08:00

Teething can be fun

Toddler in flight

Spakoynay Nochi! (Good Night!)

We are gettling settled into our daily routine with Emma. Each time we visit she gets busier and busier. We are getting quite a workout doing baby-ups and giving airplane rides. Emma likes her toys, and her toy bag (in fact, you'll see a picture of her sitting and playing inside the toy bag). It is heartening to see more and more of her personality as we get to know her, and to see her getting more comfortable with us.

Once our visit was finished, we confirmed with our driver that the building with the blue domes we saw the other day is indeed a museum, and we ventured in. Unfortunately we were met by a guard who chastised us in Russian. When he figured out we were Americanskis, he rolled his eyes, took us outside and pointed to the sign that showed seven little circles. The second circle was red (see photo). After giving our brains a few moments to process this, we got it - closed on the second day of the week - Tuesday! After saying "Oh Da!" to the guard we trekked onward. Today's pictures include one of the kind of heeled boots the women wear while walking on the ice through town. There is also one of the higher-end shopping area where we saw a Tiffany's store (we did not venture in there).

Tonite we had dinner with our American friends from NY. We had pork at a nice restaurant that had some parts of the menu in both Russian and English. Afterward, our driver informed us that "pork is not real Kazakh food," and told us the name of a dish we must try, but neither Jim nor I can remember what it's called.

Thanks again to all of you for your love, prayers and support.

Week two begins

2008-01-14T05:10:00.000-08:00

Today starts week two of our adventure. Our visit with Emma went well. She did more swinging, bouncing and pounding, and also tried to eat the tag on our toy bag. After our visit, we went to a bar and grill and ate grilled lamb served flaming at our table. It was delicious. Jim got the right kind of Margarita today, so lunch was indeed a success. After lunch we met at the office with our in-country facilitators. This involved signing a lot of papers and reviewing the rest of the process. We then made a stop at the Ramstore, and headed back to our apartment. Almaty is flanked by mountains on the west, and today we could see them better as it wasn’t snowing. I’m uploading a few shots of the city and of random pedestrians that we took while walking home. Jim has been coveting the mens’ hats, and was sorry he didn’t take the sheepskin hat he had at home off the snowman’s head and take it along. He should have listened to you, Jake:) Da Zaftra (until tomorrow)!

Week one is done!

2008-01-13T03:41:00.000-08:00

Well, we have made it through the first week of our adoption adventure, and are that much closer to getting ourselves and Emma home. Thanks again to those at home who have supported us. We couldn’t be doing this without you. Visiting Emma was fun today. We brought a bag full of toys, but she seemed more interested in trying to pull over the plants on the side of the room. It isn’t a very big room, so our powers of distraction were thoroughly tested. For those who have asked for brighter photos, I’m not sure this is possible. The visitation room is quite dark. There is only one bulb on the ceiling to light the room. The Kazakhs waste much less energy than we Americans, and we find most places we go to be much darker than we’re used to.
After our visit to the orphanage, we went to the Ramstore in search of an affordable toaster. No luck - the cheapest one was about $100! We decided we could toast our bread in a frying pan. If only we could find some nice American no-stick cooking spray. Oh well…After shopping, we met up with an American couple from Rochester who are completing their adoption of an adorable little boy about Emma’s age. We found them by putting out an SOS on the yahoo groups along the lines of “Anybody else in Almaty who speaks English?” We all had lunch together in an Italian restaurant, which was relaxing and nice. The only glitch was when Jim ordered a Margarita to drink, and was instead brought a Pizza Margarita. We’d already eaten a pepperoni pizza, but since we didn’t know how to explain what we really wanted in Russian, we simply said “Spaseba” (thank you), boxed it up and carried it back to our apartment. At least we’ve got dinner covered.

To our friends in the yahoo groups: thank you to those who have adopted already for your encouragement, and to those waiting - hang in there - you'll be here soon (and if that is indeed before the 23rd, e-mail us at qcpetres@gmail.com when you get here and we'll try to meet up with you). If any of you are preparing to travel and have specific questions, feel free to e-mail us as well.
Today’s photos include the usual ones taken inside the orphanage, as well as some of the outside. It is blustery today, as you can see. Right outside the orphanage gates we saw a Kazakh woman in a long coat walking a little dog in a snowsuit. We are very glad we brought our down coats. We think the photos in Cyrillic are the sign for Baby House 3 on the outside wall, and the babies’ schedule on the inside wall. Enjoy the pictures and the rest of your weekend!

Weekend in Kaz

2008-01-12T03:40:00.000-08:00

It's Saturday in Kazkhstan, and things were a little quieter at the orphanage - except for Emma's giggles. Nick called while we were there to tell us about his week and Rivermont basketball's win (congrats Nick and Rivermont - Go Lions!). He and Aunt Lynne got to hear Emma's giggles from the other side of the world. Emma is getting more cuddly towards us once she is worn out from swinging, singing, eating, pounding and playing. We have wandered about more these last few days once our visits at the orphanage are done (freezing our behinds off in the process). Here are a few photos we took during our walks, as well as our daily photos of Emma at the orphanage. The city of Almaty used to be the capital of Kazakhstan, and is an interesting mix of old Soviet style architecture as well as new and varied construction. The sidewalks and streets are not cleared of ice and snow like they are in the states, and we are amazed at the number of women who walk around in high-heeled boots on 6 inches of ice without falling and breaking their hips. Jim and I have stuck to our flat shoes and boots, thank you. There were lots of places we saw on our walks that we would have liked to enter, but since we can't read Cyrillic, we didn't go in. We have vowed to learn at least some of the letters before our next trip. Today we asked our driver to take us somewhere that had "American" food. He took us to Mad Murphy's - home of the $20 hamburger! Sadly, it wasn't worth the 20 bucks. The dollar is so weak right now that the cost of living here for us is higher than anywhere in the states. This afternoon we went shopping and ran into an Amercian couple living here with their sons. He is a physician for the US Embassy, and his wife is the same lady who helped us on our first day in the grocery store. It was great to talk to people who could speak English. We miss America and all things American more than we thought we would. It is strange to be in a place where you're really completely illiterate, not even being able to read simple signs or ask a simple question. It's humbling in a way. Now it is time to watch more BBC (sort of like a British CNN, but with much shorter segments and the same commercials repeated over and over and over). Either that or more old "Friends" DVDs. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Hearing Emma

2008-01-11T08:42:00.000-08:00

Today was the first time we heard Emma's voice. She giggled when Dad was swinging her in his arms. After that, we started to hear her little voice - she says da da, ga ga, and we even thought we heard Hi dada (Jim was pretty excited but then he remembered da means yes in Russian). The orphanage caregivers have done a good job with Emma. She seems well-nourished and pretty much on target developmentally. She toddles with help around our little visitation room, and continues to feed herself amazingly well. The kids seem to be on a pretty tight schedule - maybe she learned she needs to eat quickly or she might be hungry?? The caregivers are warm towards Emma, and it is so cute how they bring her to us with that big bow in her hair. They speak no English, and we only know a couple of words in Russian/Kazakh, so it is hard to communicate. We use alot of hand gestures. Our driver speaks English, but he just drives and doesn't accompany us inside the orphanage. Enjoy the pictures. There are a few more of our street and our apartment. Yes, the place looks scary to us Americans, but the inside of the apartment itself is OK. Paka (Bye) for now!

More Pictures

2008-01-10T06:08:00.000-08:00

Hello all. It's pretty cold and bleak here today. Here's a few pictures of the view from our apartment. There's also one of me in front of the Ramstore where we get groceries. Our visit with Emma today was pretty short but fun. She spent most of the time eating. We have never seen a baby eat so much so quickly with such a big spoon. The Petres will enjoy the picture of Emma discovering Dad's "Petre chin". Emma had fun playing with her musical toys and banging them together again. We got a few grins out of her playing peek-a-boo. We still haven't heard her voice. The only thing we've heard out of her mouth is one big burp. Enjoy the pictures. Thanks again for your comments. We're enjoying Emma but already counting down the days till we're home with the rest of our family again. There isn't a whole lot to do once we've spent our few hours at the orphanage, as it's really too cold to wander and the days are pretty short. We've seen enough BBC to last a lifetime, and thankfully brought alot of DVDs. Love to all!

Here she is!

2008-01-09T06:22:00.000-08:00

Introducing: Emma Rose!

We met the youngest member of the Petre family today. She is such a beautiful baby! She was understandably reserved with us at first, but by the end of the visit we saw a few smiles. We had a chance to give her a snack, and were impressed by how quickly she was able to eat 2 cookies and finish her drink. We played with her, and found that she likes toys that make sounds, and really likes to bang toys together. She is able to take a few steps holding onto our fingers. We haven't heard a peep from her yet. She didn't cry when she was left in the visitation room with us, but she was a little hesitant. We look forward to seeing her again tomorrow, and hopefully to hear her voice soon.

I'll post more photos tomorrow. Thanks for your comments - keep them coming!

We're finally here (and connected to the net)

2008-01-09T00:40:00.000-08:00

Hello from Kazakhstan!
We left home on Sunday, had layovers in Minneapolis and Amsterdam, and made it here Tuesday AM at 5:30 AM. We were dropped off at our apartment, and very jet-lagged. Sleep was not in the cards, though. We waited for a phone call about what would happen next, but it turns out our phone didn’t work. We found the address of our facilitators, and made our way over there. The rest of the day we waited to meet with the Minister of Education for an interview. The interview was about why we wanted to adopt, what type of child we hoped for, and to make sure we agreed to complete post-placement reports after the adoption to let them know how she’s doing. The minister agreed to let us proceed, the paper got signed, and we went back to the apartment to rest.
Today we met at the office and got a cell phone for them to be able to call us locally. We got some groceries and headed “home.” Right now we are waiting for them to call us about when we will actually get to meet our child. In Kazakhstan, you are required to complete two weeks of bonding by daily visits to the orphanage, then you apply for a court date. We will come back to the US to await our court date (usually about a month after trip one). When we return, we will then petition the judge to let us adopt our child. If he or she agrees, we still have a two week waiting period where someone here could come forward to claim her. So as you follow this blog, keep us in your hearts as there are many unknowns in this process. To our family, friends, and office staff - thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support - we couldn’t be doing this without you. We miss all of you so much, especially our boys.

Welcome to our Blog!

2007-11-24T11:01:00.002-08:00

We are the Petre family from Illinois. This is a recent photo of our family at our niece's wedding. This blog is being created as we wait for travel dates to go to Kazakhstan and meet our adopted daughter-to-be Emma Rose Petre!

Back row from left: Anne(mom), Jim (dad), Nick (son), Jim(son).Front row from left: Lucas(son), Jake(son), Liz(daughter-in-law).