Warning...Angel with Attitude!

Today was a very wet day. We spent most of the day in the apartment. Mia is beginning to throw little temper tantrums. It isn’t being received well. In the babyhouse, she played alone or with other babies. When Gavin and I visited her, she had our undivided attention fro 4 hours a day. So, now that I am back, she expects the same undivided attention, but for 24 hours. It has been a little tiring for me and upsetting for her. We are trying to adjust. She gives me attitude about it often. Last night, she hardly slept. She would just fake cry- uh huh, uh huh, uh huh, waaaaaah. Repeat. Repeat. Wait for mom to pick me up. Repeat. Repeat. Oh, there is mom, she is awake now, and not so happy about it. Off and on all night. Please pray that she sleeps tonight, so we can. Mom thinks it’s funny and cute, but after a few hours it is not so cute. And then of course this morning, she wanted to nap for hours! She is cute, but already a little sneaky.

Our visas were ready today, and Mia’s passport info was sent to Almaty. So there is progress in the paperwork chain. We are ready to get home. We could use some of the ‘modern’ baby conveniences. Like a walker, playpen, high chair, and siblings to help entertain her. There is no way to contain her now. So, she is reckless at times. I forgot how much you have to chase a 9 month old!! As you can tell, mommy is a little sleep deprived and worn out…..but we will be fine. I think we all have a little case of cabin fever. We will have some more shopping to do tomorrow and we will go for a walk in the park if it is sunny.

Send us some emails- we love to read them.

Look at this cranky girl in the first photo! Wow-eee! And the second photo- attitude! We were in the car running errands and as you can see, she is not impressed. Ha! More soon.....

Love and miss ya-

Sonja (Mia and Grandma Roxie)

Constitution Day!

Today is Constitution Day in Kazakhstan. It is the country’s 10th year. It is also this city’s 285th anniversary. So there are lots of people out today. It was so crowded on the streets. We saw 2 car accidents. I took a picture of the park where the zoo is. There were people as far as the eye could see and they were having a dance contest. It looks like a great time, but the crowds were a bit intimidating. Mom was ready to go back to the apartment. It was a little rainy today off and on and only about 60-65 degrees. We didn’t want Mia to get any sicker. She has had a runny nose and a little fever. I think it is due to teething more than anything else. But, no sense taking a chance on a real cold.

We will make it a night in and watch some movies. I may venture out with Lena, if she calls me later. She hasn’t decided if she will go into the city either.

Here is a picture of Mia this morning playing with her toys. She did better sleeping last night and playing independently this morning. More tomorrow….

Love and BIG KISSES to my kiddos,

Sonja (Mia and Grandma Roxie)

Walk in the Park...

Hey everyone. Well, for starters, the sun was out today! It was about 80 degrees. We went to the park for a walk after lunch today and then to the Chinese Market. I bought Mia a pair of slipper boots for fall. They are sweet, but not for the weather we are having now. We also bought her a really sweet jacket for when she is about 4-5. I loved it and had to have it, even though it will not fit for a while. We shopped some more today, or really just looked around. I think I wore mom out. She would be content to sit in the apartment all day, but I would go crazy. We are already here until noon and back by like 5-6.

I got a phone call from Gavin and the kids last night. It was great to hear their voices. I was starting to get impatient waiting for him to call. Our translator asked me this morning if he had called yet and I said yes. She said, ‘oh I am glad, because I was going to call him myself and remind him that he should call!’ She is so funny. And, she is starting to figure me out! Ha Ha! The kids sound so big. It appears that everything is going ok. I wish I didn’t have to be here another 2 weeks!

Well, enjoy your photos today. We have one of Mia talking to herself in the wall sized mirror in the apartment. She cracks us up playing with ‘the little girl in the mirror’. There is also one of us at the park. While at the park, we saw one of the doctors from the babyhouse. She came over to us and commented on how happy Mia seemed.

More tomorrow. We are already homesick and miss everyone tons!

Love and hugs,

Sonja, Mia, and Grandma Roxie

No shoes for Mia, or at least not today...

Mia had a good nights sleep. She slept from 10:30pm to 6:45am. She rolls and flips all night though! She was a little frightened when she woke up. I think she forgot where was. We got up and had breakfast. She quickly ate a jar of apples and bananas. She ate so much of it, she had no room for her bottle! The doctor at the babyhouse told me not to feed her anything sweet. They don’t really get any fruit there. She played for a while and then got her bath. She took a short nap this morning and we were ready to hit the town!

We had a busy afternoon with shopping. We were looking for clothes for Mia. It has only been about 65 degrees here and rainy. I needed a few things that were long sleeve, shoes and pj’s that are long. I packed skorts and capris and only one ‘hoodie’ to wear as a jacket. We were all over town. I found a few pj’s and one outfit. No shoes. We were told they do not have any that small, only ones that look like slippers. I guess we will have to wait and get them at Grandma Nancy’s store!

We had lunch at Pizza Blues and it was really good. Mia had her second jar of babyfood. This time it was carrots, potatoes and chicken. She ate ¾ of it and finished 4 oz of apple/grape juice. She was hitting the juice pretty hard. She liked it a lot. She has been pretty sleepy today. Napping on and off. The weather has been a bit dreary and I feel tired too. We came back to the apartment early with a pizza and some ice cream from the supermarket. So, we will just hang out at the apartment. Maybe we will watch a movie. Not much will be going on tomorrow. I guess it is a holiday called ‘Constitution Day’. We will maybe do some shopping or stroll around the park if it is nice weather.

Email us, we would love to hear from you.

Sonja (and Grandma Roxie)

She's free at last....

We had a very busy day getting documents in order. We went to the babyhouse after lunch and picked up Mia. She recognized me and came to me at once. She was holding onto me with both hands clinched. I told her not to worry, I will not leave her there again! Mom took pictures of the whole process and us leaving the babyhouse. So, here we are with the doctor and nurse and Lena. Then here is a picture of her sleeping once we came back to the apartment. I will write more details tomorrow. But for now, I am going to play with Mia!

Love and hugs,

Sonja (and Grandma Roxie)

What a Day!! *&#@%^

Here we go again…… Mom and I got on our first plane in Indy heading to Kazakhstan at 6:12pm today! We will be in Almaty on Friday morning 1am, We will then get a flight to Ust-Kamenogorsk. I hope those tickets are also for Friday. So, we are really only about 15 hours or less from seeing Mia. I am so excited! We had a really funny steward on our KLM flight. He was singing and chatting with us. It was so funny. Mom and I were a couple of giggle boxes, on the plane, since we had wine with our dinner. Talk about a cheep date! Ha. We thought we’d sleep a bit better-right- we just laughed and laughed.

Well, of course, that is how we would like things to have gone….. We arrived in Almaty, collected our luggage, (mine was THE VERY LAST bag off the plane) and proceeded to the exit to look for our driver. No sign, no driver. We walked around for a bit and continued to look for anyone who might be looking for us. No luck. We were asked by several Taxi Drivers if we needed a ride. We kept saying no. One driver saw us wandering around and continued to ask if he could take us to a hotel. I explained to him, that we were expecting a driver and he was not here yet. Since he was the only one besides the staff, who seemed to speak English, I asked him to point me in the direction of a payphone. He explained that the payphones only take prepaid cards. He helped me get such a card. I tried Ruslan’s number- not in service. I called Lena our translator in Ust-Kamenogorsk- we woke her up, as it is 3 am here. I explained that we had been at the airport for 2 hours with no driver. She called Albina and Ruslan-no answer. I explained that I will call her in the morning. I asked the kind taxi man to help me get a card to call the US. This is not an easy feat at 3 am in an airport. He walked the airport more than once, and found such a card. I was able to play a VERY stressful round of phone tag relay, with our agency director and Gavin. I had to purchase a total of 5 cards at about $40 US. I offered money to the taxi driver twice in an attempt to show my sincere gratitude for his help. He refused. I explained that he could be losing fares by helping us, but he still refused. I know that he is our guardian angel, sent to us here in this airport halfway across the world. If it were not for him, I don’t know what we would have done. I don’t think I could’ve broken the language barrier to get a card to call home. God is so good and always takes care of me. Even when I am about to lose my cool and my faith in one fell swoop! Isn’t it amazing? So, here is a big Thank You and Prayer for Abundant Blessings on the servant taxi driver named Alec!

We are still here sitting at the airport waiting and it is 5:30 am their time. Mom and I gave ourselves a ‘sink bath’ and cleaned up-hair and make-up too! We feel a lot better, and we have been trying to keep busy. I am sure we look and smell better-ha! The ‘people watching’ alone is entertaining. We have families going to and fro, several vagrants sleeping on the benches behind us, and workers running around with their various jobs. We are sipping our coffee and waiting for the daylight, and our driver. Our agency director has been calling his contacts here every 15 minutes in hopes that someone will answer, or turn on their phones for the day. We will see.

Ok…Update. We are great. We made it to Ust-Kamenogorsk with little to no trouble. Lena has been taking care of us ever since. We have been moved into our apartment and fed (well I might add). I am so happy to see her again. I am already sad for the day when we will no longer be able to talk in person. She is so sweet. Mom and I gave her the gifts we brought her and she was blown away. I am so happy to make her happy. Mom is soaking in the tub, and I wanted to just pop in to let you know we are fine. We will be able to pick Mia up from the babyhouse and bring her to the apartment with us tomorrow. Please pray that this will be a smooth adjustment for her (and me).

More tomorrow…

Love to all from Kaz,

Sonja (and Grandma Roxie who sends big kisses to the kids!!)

Travel Dates...

Hey all....we have our travel dates for our second trip. Mom and I will be leaving late on August 24th and will arrive at 1 am on the 26th in Almaty. We will then be getting on another plane to Ust-Kamenogorsk to pick up our little baby Mia! I am really getting excited. I honestly didn't think I would be this ramped up to go back! I just can't wait to have this part of the process over. She will be coming home to us finally. Please keep our travel plans in your prayers and continue to cover Mia in prayer until we can be reunited with her. She is such a sweet baby and I just can't wait for you to meet her!

I will of course keep you posted before we leave. So, more soon!

I had to post another picture of Mia, after all it has been too long without a new one right? This one was taken on our last day there. She was really laughing as you can see.... Gavin was squeezing a squeaky toy at her.

Love y'all~

Sonja

Home...

Well, We are home and we are getting settled back into our routines. We want to send a big THANK YOU to all who came to our welcome home party. What a surprise. It was great to catch up with everyone all at once! We just can't wait for you to meet our dear little Mia when she comes home with us!
We are looking into making our travel arrangements for our second trip and we will keep you posted on those dates!

More soon....

Love and Hugs,

Sonja (and Gavin)

She's legally ours!! :)

We are officially Mia’s parents! We put on our business attire and arrived early to court. We were met by a very stern looking woman judge, her secretary, the prosecutor (also a woman), the director of the babyhouse, and the director of the office of Family and Children. We read our speech aloud, taking turns and waiting for our translator to tell the judge in Russian, the words from our heart. I tried to fight back the tears welling in my eyes as we told them of our intentions. No luck. I had to brush a few off my cheeks while I was speaking. We were only in there about half an hour and we were sent to the hall to wait for the courts decision. We were in the hall about 15 minutes (seemed like an hour) and then we were asked to come back into the courtroom (her office). Gavin and I stood hand in hand awaiting the decision. It seemed to take forever, as we cannot understand Russian and she seemed to be saying a lot. Until finally, our translator told us the court granted it’s approval of our adoption of Mia! They also granted that her birth certificate be changed to her new name. We are so excited and full of joy. I really let the tears flow down my face! The director of Family and Children was watching me the whole time and she was smiling ear to ear! I am glad that she can see our feelings for Mia and we feel that she knows Mia will be loved and well cared for with us. In Kazakhstan there is a 15 day waiting period for court judgments to go into effect. We will return to bring her home about August 16th.

We immediately went to visit Mia at the Hospital. We stayed with her and played for an hour and her doctor granted us another 1 hour visit later today before we go. The director of the babyhouse said she will call tomorrow and have Mia sent back to the babyhouse until we return. This makes me very happy. She will be with her friends and caregivers until mom and I come for her. The next 2 weeks will go by very quickly and we are excited to catching up with our kiddos at home. Just a few more weeks now, and we will all be through this. We will be able to establish a new ‘normal’ around our house. I am so looking forward to that.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support during this long process. You will see and feel the love of this little girl very soon!

Today’s pictures are one of us after court with Mia (she just wants to get down though, not take a silly picture…) and one of her talking to me. Silly girl......

Well, this is it until we see you tomorrow at home! We will be arriving in Indianapolis at 12:30, just in time for lunch with our kids! Give us a call in the evening if you'd like.

BIG HUGS and MANY BLESSINGS,

Sonja (and Gavin)