Waiting is very hard

I just realized today that the postings have been on the wrong days. Because you guys are 12 hours behind us (and so is google obviously) they are one day behind for us. Oh well just an observation.

Sorry about the lack of a post yesterday we were running around with our translator. We went to the small bazaar and purchased another traditional Kazak piece of folk art. I love it. We still haven't heard about Dinara's provisionary VISA. I have been told not to worry yet...if it doesn't get issued on Monday then I am allowed to worry. I have called London and Moscow and no one is allowed to tell me anything over the phone. This makes things extremely irritating. I know that there are very good reasons for this percaution but when I can give them every little bit of information you think they could make an exception. Oh well, Bureacracy (sp?) at it's finest. Also, telling me not to worry really doesn't work very well. I have always said that I don't seem to never be worrying about something. I really just want this VISA to be issued ASAP so that I can just worry about the waiting period. These really are the last two hurdles before she is permanently ours. Having Canada tell us that yes we are allowed to proceed is important. Well enough of me ranting.

Visits are still going well. Everyday she shows us a little more of herself. She not only crawls like a fiend now but likes to have Andrew and I walk her around the room just holding her by the arms. I am amazed more and more each day. Today she played with her favorite toy (blocks), had mommy chase her around while crawling, and then fell asleep first on daddy then on mommy. Oh!! She was getting fussy with Andrew, looked at me and said "ma, ma, ma, ma". I'm not imagining it either...Andrew and our new translator Akmiral also heard her. I then took her from him and she settled right down. I was over the moon.

Well that's enough for today...I'm hungry and going to get a burger. Talk soon. Keep the good thoughts our way. Miss you all.

Court Day

Today we woke up bright and early (some earler then others...Andrew was up at 6 am) to get ready for our big day. We got all dressed up and impressed our translator and driver. They looked shocked that I know what make up is and how to use it (I don't use much of it here). We were then taken to the court house and told to wait in a lobby for our room to become available. A secretary came out and informed us that the judge and prosecutor were waiting for us...the baby house director wasn't there yet. Our translator called her and we then had to wait. When the director arrived we were informed that the prosecutor had vanished somewhere and to go back to the lobby to wait. After about 15 minutes everybody was tracked down and all is good. We then had to stand in front of the judge and make our case...this is really much easier then it sounds. Andrew was first asked to make a little speech (he had been practicing it for a couple of days) and then was asked some questions by both the judge and the prosecutor (about 5-6 in total). I was then asked to stand and did I have anything to add...well no as I helped write the speech (not what I said obviously). I was a little blubbery and managed to answer my 4 questions. After this the director of the baby house and the lady from the ministry of education were questioned. This went fairly well (the judge got a little angry at the lady from the MoE). After this the judge and the prosecutor left the room so they could make a decision. We waited about 20 minutes and then the judge came back and told us that the court approved our petition and that after the 15 days of mandatory waiting our girl would be ours.

We were told not to post pictures of our girl until after the mandatory waiting period. It is during this waiting period that her birth mother or other family can come forward and say "hey we want her back". So to be a little cautious you all will have to wait until after our Gotcha Day of May 3rd for photos. But we can tell you her name...Dinara Elliott Lea Pearson. Dinara (Dee-nar-rah) is her Kazak name...it means money. Elliott is for Grama Pearson (her maiden name), Lea is for Grammy (Sharon's mom's maiden name) and obviously Pearson because she is now part of our clan.

Sorry about the lack of pics...I know some of you were really looking forward to that. But I would like to remain cautious for just a little longer. I hope you understand. We are still waiting for her provisionary VISA from Moscow...this wasn't a problem for court today (thank God). We will keep you updated. Lots of love to you all.

The Giggles Continue

It has definitely been a good day...so far that is. We visited our little girl and she was sooooo energetic. We were even playing a little chase game (me of her). She crawls with some speed now...I think she was just shy before and didn't want to appear too amazing. We have taken some video evidence of this so we can show you all when we get back. We have heard that our coordinator in Moscow is going to the Canadian Embassy today to pick up our girl's provisionary VISA...let's keep our fingers crossed that she is able to do without any problems. This is the last piece of paperwork we need before our court hearing tomorrow. We should know later this afternoon if she has accomplished this task.

Other then that we haven't really been doing too much. Our days revolve around visiting our little one...which I am sure will continue in Canada. We are missing you all terribly. We have found a couple of places to eat now that are good and not too greasy. Ironically, one is a burger joint (their burgers are different but good). And, yes the burgers are less greasy then most foods here.

Here are some more photos...

This is the entry way in our hotel. I really thought the chandelier was interesting...so I photographed it.


This is the mural that is on the first building as you enter the baby house. I really like it! It has the adoptive (western) family holding the child's hand with the birth parents in the background.




Funny Andrew in the main lobby while we wait to be picked up for our baby house visit.


This is the room at the baby house in which all our visits take place. We put a blanket down on the carpet for her to do most of her playing on...however this isn't working too well now that she is crawling everywhere. Oh well! Her little body is used to the germs found here.


Of course we couldn't be who we are and not post a photo of a cat we saw here. The cats found here are mostly ferral and you really don't want to go anywhere near them. This one is hanging around the baby house and at the time of this photo is on the hot water heating pipes that heat the baby house. Yes that's right...all the heating here is hot water not natural gas.

Well that's enough for today. We'll update again tomorrow...after court. Hopefully we can then introduce you to our little girl! Until tomorrow...

Smiles, Giggles and the Muppet Show

Hello everyone in weblog world. Today was an awesome day. Yesterday during our afternoon visit we first got our little girl to giggle. I did something called a whirlwind (holding her cradled I spun around) and boy did she like it. She laughed so hard that she passed a little wind (fits in already...lol). Today was more smiles and giggles. We were so delighted. I did some arm lifts with her (held her under her arms and lifted her up and down while laying down myself). She laughed with her mouth open so much that I now know that she has two molars growing in the upper portion of her mouth. We played the muppet show music and she was entranced. The fact that she likes the more thrill type rides is a good sign that she is going to like our Disneyworld/Disneyland trips.

Other then our continuing to visit our daughter we went to another bazaar yesterday. I purchased a nightgown for less then $7. It is getting a little hot and muggy here so I need something to sleep in that is a little lighter then my sweat pants. I assumed spring here would be like spring in Saskatoon...big mistake. We have also been purchasing some traditional Kazakh things...they are beautiful. Most things here are hand made.

Well not much more to say then that. We are waiting on one more piece of important paperwork to come our way...so all of you keep your fingers crossed that we get it tomorrow. Otherwise we have to delay our court hearing and who knows how long it will take to get a new case. If we get to court on Tuesday we should be home with the flights we have booked...if not we will have to reschedule the flights for later. TTFN. Sorry about no photos...we are still using the internet cafe and don't have any new images to post yet. We also haven't gone bowling yet but we'll show you when we do. Lots of love.

Computer Kapoot in Hotel

Sorry for no update yesterday. We went downstairs in the morning to use the computer and it was gone. They told us it would be up and usable by the afternoon. We went back and the computer was there but not loading. Andrew thinks the hard drive is shot. A couple of days ago I had to clean off water that someone had spilled on it. So that is why there was no update yesterday.

Onto better things...our girl is getting healthy! We have visited her twice now. Yesterday all she did was cry...telling us how much she missed us, what they did to her in the hospital, really everything that's been bad for the last two weeks. Today she didn't cry as much and even fell asleep on me. I was crying yesterday after the visit because she had been crying. I was worried that she didn't remember me and that she wouldn't forgive me. I am over that now. She definitely forgave me today. We are hoping that she is even better this afternoon and that we can play for a while. Yesterday Andrew thought the tops of her hands were dirty when we saw her...I had to inform him that these were bruises (from the IVs they used no doubt).

We are great! She is great! Everything here is good. No worries now. We are still waiting on some paperwork but other then that it is clear sailing. We miss you all.

Short Message Today

Well nothing really to report today. We are still waiting to see our girl. We have been told that as of today that she has been released from the hospital (whew) and is back at the baby house. According to our interpretor this means that we should hopefully (if everything goes well) start our visits on Friday again. Andrew is hoping for tomorrow but I'm not as optimistic. I just want her to get better and for us to be able to see her soon. Our translator noted today that I looked sad...she kept asking me what was wrong. I told her I was just finding it hard to be seperated from my little girl for so long. I told her that I understood that this is for our girls health but I couln't help feeling sad 'cause I missed her. She seemed to understand this. Out team here is very good! I am so glad that they are the people we get to assocaite with while here. They are good representatives for their country. Oh! We were also told that the paperwork from Saskatchewan should be completed soon...so hopefully we don't have to worry about that anymore.

That's all for today. We are still watching DVDs to pass the time. We are on to Numb3rs season 2 now. We REALLY like this show. It isn't quite as intense as Criminal Minds or CSI so we can watch it without Andrew getting too hyped up before bed. We might go bowling tomorrow...Russian bowling that is. If we do we'll take photos. Miss you all. Keep the love coming.

Holding Pattern...

We are in a perpetual holding pattern. We have learned that our little one should be releases tomorrow to the baby house. This means that we can hopefully start seeing her on Thursday at the very earliest. Her health is still their first concern...as it should be. We are going a little stir crazy though. We watch a lot of DVDs, which I don't mind but it just doesn't occupy enough of our time. Today we were touched by a little Delhi Belly (or whatever its Kazak name is). It wasn't too bad but we are now being extra diligent when it comes to ordering food. In this instance we think it was the raw onion that was on top of the Shashleek we ordered last night. We now try to order it without this onion...they have a new waiter here and his English is really good. I made him blush by complimenting on it. In terms of paperwork we are almost finished...we are waiting for the province of Saskatchewan to send an important form to the Canadian Immigration people and to our Agency (keep your fingers crossed for us). It should be smoother sailing after that...meaning less for us to worry about (not nothing but you know me...I'm not happy unless I have some sort of stress).

You all wanted pictures and here are a few more...

This is Andrew retrieving our coats from the upstairs. He didn't realize that he brougtht down the "Please Clean the Room" sign with him. We (Julia, Nadia and I) all had a good laugh about it.


This is a building bulit during the Soviet occupation. It has the date it was bulit on the side and emblems that have been left to fade off. It is one of the nearest buildings to our hotel.


This is our hotel. It may not look like much but this is one of the fanciest hotels in Kyzylorda. It is only bested by one other. It is quite clean but a little stuffy. We don't have much for ventilation in our room besides our window, and opening the door to the hall (which creates a minor draft). The people here are quite nice and go out of their way to try and understand when I speak English to them. And NO I don't act obnoxious and try speaking louder if they don't understand me. I get much more active with gestures.


This one is just for fun! I have been playing with my iSight camera within my laptop. It allows me to play with the pictures before I take an image. Quite fun. Just to show you how bored I really am. Hopefully we get to see our little girl on Thursday...all we do is count down hours until then.

Oh! Yesterday we went out for Shashleek (the cause of the tummy troubles) and while we were waiting for our driver outside the air quality got worse and worse. It smelt like someone was burning a massive amount of plastic. Both Andrew's and my lungs were burning by the time we got back to the hotel. I have never been so happy to be in a stuffy but clean smelling place in my life. Just thought you would like to know.