Half Way To Home!!!

It's Monday afternoon, we just got back from the baby house, MCKenna was in a great mood this morning. She LOVES to walk, well it's not quite walking but getting there! I (Craig) go across the room with her, stand her up, hold her hands and start the walk across to mama (Lil). She's doing much better on her crawling, she motors across the floor now without any problem. We get her fulltime after the court date which is coming up! Can't wait!!

We went to the symphony the other night, a 17 string orchestra, couldn't totally understand who was playing but we think it was the best in the region (K-stan, Umbekistan, Russia and other countries). One person played at Carnegie Hall. We had front row seats for 1000 tenge ($8). It was "kittymitt" (awesome).

We found an ice skating rink and got free skate schedule, so we'll probably be hitting that later this week. There's even a bowling alley here with Midnight bowling (disco lights and all).

Well got to go now, back to the baby house to see McKenna :) New pictures soon!

Craig as "DaDa"

Craig has been really wonderful with McKenna..He's fighting me for her attention...and you know how competitive he can get. For a big, tough, Hockey player, he can be a softie..He coos with her and baby babbles with Mckenna. I'm attaching a picture of Craig biting her feet..he likes to do that to our dogs too. I'm so used to playing with my dogs..I caught myself calling Mckenna...Maile(my dog). We met w/the coordinator today,and we found out that we have our court date on 11/7/05, which means that we have to stay here for another two weeks. The bad news is that we can't return home back to reality...and the good news is that we get to bring McKenna home with us...without making another trip back here. Below I will list some of the things I noticed here different than the US.

1. The street lights turn red(stop), then red/yellow(people start to go), then green. They drive pretty crazy here. Our driver Phillipich is like our father and always takes care of us. Sometimes we came very close to people crossing the street.

2. When you open a door for someone to come through, they push you though the door, so that you can't hold the door..they don't like that. I keep letting people go, so I'm waiting forever... So Craig always tell me to "push my way through".

3. After the babies eat, they put them on a potty in the playpen with a string attached to their waist(so they can't get up) and let's them potty. They don't wear diapers.

4. They feed the babies while sitting them in their lap. They feed them pretty fast and have them drink from a coffee cup. They seem to have no problem with that

5. The asians don't seem to mingle with the caucasions in public. They seem to hang within their own ethnic group.

6. You are not allowed to Whistle, cross your legs, and drink cold drinks. They associate cold with sickness. They do not serve ice with drinks.

Our fist week of visits completed

It's Thursday evening and we just got back from eating dinner w/a Peace Corp Volunteer from the states. She's been living here for 1 1/2 years and know all the cool places to go. We ate at a restaurant called the Almaty..it was really good Kazakh food. Today, our visit with McKenna was great. She was really quiet in the morning, but that is normal for her. She is pretty mellow and never makes a fuss. We were in the Sports room at the Baby House which included gymnastic mats and swings. I went into this big bin of colorful balls (like Chuckee Cheese) and I got in trouble. One of the workers there came in and scolded me and told me that it's only for the children..oopps! The photographer came and took McKenna's passport photo for her Visa back to the states. During our afternoon visit, she was really in a good mood. She laughed, played, walked,and made a lot of noise. Craig secretly whispers in her ear "dada", because he wants her to call him first...but, little does he know that these babies say "mama" first, because all their caregivers are females. We also found out that Umit(her birth name) means "HOPE"...how perfect. Anyways, enjoy this photo.

Day 10

Thank you for all your comments...hello to Remi and KJOC nurses. We got our luggage a few days ago, so things are good now. McKenna is really warming up to us now and she likes to crawl and attempt to walk. We did a tour around the city yesterday..it took about 30 minutes. A lot of houses are about 300 years old..and most of the people here are dressed in Soviet clothing. I went to the bakery by my apartment and was standing in line when the lady behind me was so close to me..it was like she was trying to push me out of line. I kept looking at her, and she never once looked back at me..so I stayed in line, and before you knew it, she pushed me out of line..I thought that was kind of funny. I didn't attempt to stand in line again...I just left the bakery. A lot of people stare at us here...I guess we look different. We are getting used to the lifestyle here. I did end up getting a massage here...It was pretty good for $8/hr. but it's not like the US..they do not use a sheet to cover you..if you know what I mean. We will post more pictures soon...Until then, take care.

Here she is...

Today is Monday, October 24th in Uralsk. Here is our first picture of Mckenna...Craig and I look tired, but we are really happy to finally meet and spend time with McKenna. We get to visit her twice a day for an hour, and she is definitely warming up to us. She likes to eat, and drank from a sippy cup today. We are starting to get used to the city...it's like we do things like clockwork. We get up at 6am, workout at 8:30-10 am at a gym by our apartment, then our driver picks us up to and takes us to visit Mckenna. After our visit, we eat lunch, and go back to visit her. I found a place to get a massage for $8/hr, so I'm stoked...you know how I like my massages. We will do some sightseeing today after the second baby visit. I'll update again tomorrow morning. We miss all of you guys!!!

We arrived safely

Our last day in Los Angeles was a happy and exciting time for me. I was really sad to leave my dogs, but Stephanie assured me that everything was going to be fine. I was in tears leaving my house in Redondo Beach. As I said my good byes to my family and friends, I cried again...I just wasn't sure how I was feeling...I was very emotional. We flew straigt to Almaty, Kazakhstan, but guess what...they lost our luggage. We are still in the same clothes we arrived in five days ago. We are hoping to get it back today...but who knows. We met Mckenna for the first time and she is absolutley beautiful...she came to me with no hesitation..it was like she was meant for Craig and I. She weighs 18 pounds, has 4 teeth, crawls and stands. We played for about 30 minutes, and we will see her again today. I will post pictures when i can figure out how to load the pictures. That's all for now...We miss you guys a lot...we need a cup of starbucks...they have no coffee here.

We're off!

10/4/05 We just found out that McKenna's paperwork situation has been resolved and we are off to Kazakhstan on October 18,2005. I can't tell you how excited we are! I can barely think right now. We have so many things to prepare before we leave, so please forgive us if we don't get a chance to say "good-bye". You will be able to reach us by cell or e-mail..As soon as I get our phone number, we will post it. Thanks again for all your support..we can't wait for all of you to meet our new daughter.