We've almost been home now for two weeks. TJ is doing quite well. He's having a blast exploring and playing with relatives and friends. Every day we're amazed by how quickly he is learning things (and getting into things - I think he has Inspector Gadget arms). He is quite the clever two year old! He's also beginning to say some words. He now says his favorite food -"nana" (banana).

Swimming with Gram

Getting nice gifts

Saying "cheese"

Hanging with Gramma and Pop Pop

Playing with Papa, cousin Joe and a toy pitching machine (no, there's no pressure to play baseball:)

Here are some pictures from TJ's first couple of days at home. Everything is going well despite the fact he has a double ear infection, poor guy. We're also trying to establish a routine, toddler-proof the house, and organize everything after being away for so long. TJ is also beginning to meet his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

First breakfast enjoying his new high chair

Tossing a balloon with Pops

Helping Papa put together a toy

Enjoying the toy

Playing in a kiddy pool with cousins Catherine and Elizabeth

Shucking corn with papa and cousins

We're home safe and sound!

After 27 hours of traveling, we've made it home. We were a bit of a mess, especially TJ and his sleep schedule, but it could have been much worse.

We were greeted at the airport by Gramma and Pop Pop. TJ and Papa slept in the car on the way home, while mama lived up to her "little puker" nickname (luckily, we made it home just in time).

The overly tired and slightly ill road warriors

The two Timothys (TJ's namesakes are our two fathers - Timothy and James)

And TJ had a big welcome home sign waiting for him courtesy of Aunt Pat and Uncle Joe.



Today the grandparents stopped by and helped around the house, made dinner and brought welcome home ice cream cake for TJ, which he really didn't eat - in Kazakhstan they don't give children cold food or drinks, so he really didn't know what to do with it. I think that will change soon though :).

Thanks everyone for your well wishes. We know people have enjoyed this blog so we will continue to update periodically. Also now that we are in the world of high-speed internet we will post many more pictures on Shutterfly.com for people to view (we have over a thousand, but don't worry, we'll just do "best of"). It's just going to take me a few days, so check back next week!

Happily at Home,

Lisa, Jon and TJ

And we're off!

We're all packed and ready to go. Tomorrow we get picked up at 6 a.m. and should hopefully be pulling into our driveway in Metuchen around 10 p.m. tomorrow night. With the 10-hour time difference, that's a lot of traveling, but we'll be so happy to get home.

Thanks everyone for the support throughout the journey. This blog has been a lot of fun for us and has helped us feel connected with everyone at home. We'll post again to show TJ's homecoming.

Hopefully we'll get to see many of you soon, but we are going to ask people not to visit for the first couple weeks so we can establish a routine for TJ and further work on our attachment, which luckily is going quite well.

Best to all of you.

Love,
Lisa, Jon and TJ

This blog has propelled TJ to international stardom! He's had to resort to wearing shades wherever he goes so the flocks of lady fans don't recognize him...(okay, okay the only lady fan flocking TJ is his mama!)




Today we went on a gondola ride up the mountain for more beautiful views of the city.

TJ on the gondola. Believe it or not, TJ looked better than mama.

In front of an apple fountain. Almaty's name was originally Alma Alta which means grandfather apple. We've enjoyed a lot of good apples here.

Enjoying the views with papa.

The city of Almaty. There are a lot of construction cranes in this city. You can see the money pouring in. In fact, we were asked by quite a few people if we were here for the oil business.

Well tomorrow is our last day in Almaty! Hooray! We'll post one more time before we leave for our 20+ hour trip home. We did buy a bunch of little toys that will hopefully keep TJ occupied, but it's going to be ugly....

We had a local Kazakh artist create a sketch of TJ today. There is a pedestrian walk here where artists sell their paintings and sketch portraits. Although I brought a picture of TJ, the guy still wanted him to model (he was excited to have a live subject). Poor TJ. He did very well for the 30 minutes he had to sit in the stroller and continually look up at the man.





Jon also bought a piece of art for TJ's room. The below picture is of the artist with his work which is a watercolor of the mountain range here in Almaty.

Also, people have been asking, so wanted to let you know TJ's birthday is September 3. He will be 2 years old. And, mom, the sunset picture was taken at around 9, it doesn't stay as light in Almaty as we are an hour ahead of Uralsk. As Jon said when we flew here. "We're flying the wrong direction." Here we are further east, we're about a 3-hour drive to China and in Uralsk we were about a 3-hour drive to Russia. Jon wanted to make a run for the border but our driver didn't seem quite so enthused.

Everything went well at the US Embassy yesterday. Although I got in trouble for trying to "smuggle" in electronics. They asked us if we had any, so I handed them my camera and my cell phone. They then put my bag through an x-ray machine and informed me that I had more electronics. Perplexed, we searched through the bag of diapers, sippy cups, juice boxes, etc. and found my cell phone from the US. I apologized and handed it over to the guard. He then informed me that I had "something else", and he suggested "perhaps a flash drive." Confused, I looked through my bag and saw that I did indeed have one. Again, I apologized and smiled at the guard (who did not smile back). After we went up in the elevator, I realized they knew exactly what was in my bag because their "suggestions" of what I might have were very accurate...it was weird that they just didn't tell me...

Anyway, the rest of the visit was quite simple. We met with a representative from the embassy who asked us about the process and how everything went. She saw that our length of stay was 35 days and congratulated us on having "a short trip." She is right, it often does take longer. We were lucky enough to get our immediate execution granted, which waived a 15-day waiting period. She then handed us TJ's Kazakh passport with the US Visa (for permanent residency), as well as his birth certificate and some other paperwork that we will have to give immigration when we arrive in NYC, so he can get his proof of citizenship. Then, once we get home we'll apply for his social security number. We'll also investigate the re-adoption process, which will get him a US birth certificate. Although international adoptions are recognized in the US, readoption will guarantee that he is legally treated as if he is our biological child. We will also have to provide postplacement reports to the Kazakh government up until he is 18 years old, at which time he'll need to decide which citizenship he wants to keep. So the paperwork never ends! Oh well, but it's definitely worth it.

Here are some pictures of TJ after he just woke up yesterday morning...he is typically all smiles. He just pops his head up out of the crib and we say "hi" to him, let him rub his eyes a little, and then rescue him.







Here's a picture with papa last night watching the sunset.



Today we are off to the green market, which is an outdoor bazaar. More to come...

Thank you for all the birthday wishes. I had a nice quiet day with my boys. Unfortunately it rained all day, so we weren't able to do much, but we had fun. Papa and TJ gave me this Tastee Sub t-shirt, I don't think they realized how cruel it was to taunt me with yummy American food after being in Kaz for 31 days!



Oh well, at least the food at the hotel is pretty good. We also went to a good Turkish cafe for lunch yesterday and got some schnitzel and shashliks. We ordered TJ mashed potatoes (a sure hit) and it had cucumbers and tomatoes as garnish, which he also seemed to like. This is good because they told us at the babyhouse that he doesn't like vegetables, but I think that's because they only give them cabbage...

We also had our medical clinic on the 5th. Everything went really well. The doctor declared him "quite healthy." He is within the 10th percentile for weight and height. Anything "on the charts" is considered good. He weighs 24 lbs and is 32.5 inches tall. The only delay he shows is language, which is a problem all children in the babyhouse have, but we're told he'll pick it up very quickly. For the most part now he just speaks baby babble, but we're teaching him some words like ball, cat, more, up, juice, apple, mama and papa. Oh speaking of "mama," TJ yelled out my name unprompted. I was walking out of the medical clinic and he was sitting in the car with papa. He pointed to me and said "mama"! The kid is smart!

Also TJ is learning how to dance. We either play music videos for him or turn on the radio in our room. On cue he'll start moving from side to side. He also watches as mama and papa dance around and questions what he's gotten himself into.

Today we're off to the US Embassy for TJ's Visa. This is the last piece of paperwork before we can leave Kaz. Unfortunately we would have been able to leave tomorrow, but all the flights are booked, so we're leaving on Tuesday. Four more days! Can't wait to get TJ home!!!!!

Yesterday we went to Memorial Park. There is a beautiful church there that is made out of wood and has no nails in it. Here is a picture.



Also, there is a memorial there for WWII. WWII is very important for Kazakhs because the Soviets did not treat them very well. The Soviets would use them to go first to check for land mines, etc. Our translator had also told us (she's half Korean/half Russian) that her family came to Kazakhstan because the Soviets banished all the Koreans who lived in Russia here. We have found that Kazakhs are very proud people, but history has not treated them that well....



The park also had a playground with a slide. TJ loved it! And then papa tried to use it and got stuck. Hmmm...I wonder if there is a theme here...

This email is to say "thank you." There have been so many people along the way that have really helped us out - writing reference letters, helping us with paper work, shopping for us, giving us gifts, throwing me a shower, helping us out at work so we can come to Kazakhstan for 35 days, taking care of our cats and house, etc. etc. There are so many people who have made this adoption possible and from the bottom of our hearts, this smile is for you.

Okay, I lied about the previous post being the last for today. Here's some bonus coverage.

Jon and I realize that our blog isn't as "fair and balanced" as it could be. We only post the happy smiley pictures. We do want you to know that TJ is quite the normal kid, especially at naptime. He screams and cries for a good hour before we can get him to sleep. Here's a picture from naptime today.



Also, TJ went to the pool again today. He has no fear, and yes mom, he has no issue putting his face in the water (unlike mama who still plugs her nose). We have a water rat on our hands!

Here's our last post for July 4th.

Yesterday TJ had a blast in the pool, so we decided to try a "real" bath. He had a great time splashing around with papa!

Sorry we didn't have a chance to post yesterday. Here it is what we would have written. The little guy is keeping us busy!

We went to the mountains yesterday morning after stopping at the law offices here in Almaty to sign some paperwork for TJ's visa application. TJ will have dual citizenship until he is 18. So, we are waiting on the Kazakh passport (that is where the travel delay came from) and applying for the US visa. Once we arrive in the US, TJ will become an American citizen as well.

We would love to come back to Kazakhstan with TJ when he gets older. Almaty is beautiful and they are building up the ski resorts. The people here are very nice but they don't smile or say
"hi" unless they know you. Jon was saying "hi" to people yesterday and they were just giggling at him. They just aren't used to it...(or maybe they were just laughing at him?...)

Here are some pictures of the mountain roads (reminds us of Colorado). Also, we noted to our driver that the roads were very nicely paved (better than any other road we've seen in Kazakhstan). Our driver told us that the president likes to go up to the mountains a lot so they keep it nice...



We took the ski lift up to one station (there are 3). That was high enough for mama, but TJ had no problems. You can see the city of Almaty in the background.





After the lift ride, we went to the lodge for some traditional Russian soup and shashliks (meat kebabs) on some very sharp skewers!

Happy July 4th everyone!



Today we went to the zoo with TJ. He liked checking out the monkeys. I wonder why?






And the camels...




Tomorrow we are going to the medical clinic as a part of his paper work for the visa application.

We went to the pool yesterday. Luckily, there is a nice little slope that goes into the water. TJ sat there and played with some toys (Papa was proud of himself for putting them together). We think TJ will probably want to go in within the next couple of days. He's just a bit afraid of water, like baths. They only take "sponge baths" at the baby house, so we've been slowly orienting him to the bath tub, so no bubble baths yet.

We went to Gorky Park, an amusement park, today. TJ had a lot of fun even though Papa took him on an airplane ride, and it barely went up in the air because Papa was too heavy.