Last night we went to a Kazakh restaurant for a traditional dish called "Five Fingers." We were a little frightened by the name, but our translator insisted it was good and described it as having carrots, potatoes, noodles, meat, and broth. We had pre-ordered the meal the day before as it takes 3 hours to cook. I got pork and Jon ordered mutton. Anyway, it was very good. It tasted a lot like a pot or pork roast. The next day our translator told us that Kazakh people eat the dish for "good health."





Other restaurants that we eat at are traditionally Russian. It's interesting to see the combination of the two cultures. It seems like the younger generation is much more interested in Russian foods and language. Our translator, who learned Kazakh, Russian and English in school, says she really doesn't speak Kazakh.

I've also included pictures from our trip to the zoo last Monday. As you can see the travel monkey had been taunting the bears (bottom right corner of second picture). No wonder he got slapped!




And, because no blog is complete without a picture of TJ, here is one of me tickling him. He kept throwing himself to the ground today as if he was trying to get us to tickle him!

Thanks for all the Father's Day wishes yesterday. TJ said "Da-Da" for the first time which was his gift to his dad (although, da is "yes" in Russian, so he could have just been yes-ing us, but we'll go with the fact that he meant "dad").

I've attached another swing picture, which I swear is the last (maybe). It's a sure hit with TJ so we spend a lot of time on it. We don't have many options of where to spend our visits. We can either stay in a room in the babyhouse (which is a million degrees) or go outside and hangout on the playground or at a picnic table.



The morning visits are better because it's cooler and the playground is shady so TJ can run around. In the afternoon, the playground is in the sun, so we typically sit at a shaded picnic table, but it's hard to keep him confined as he can hear his group playing ball 50 feet away. Yes, unfortunately, his group's playtime is when we are outside too. So it's a bit of a distraction. Typically you would want a kid to play with his friends, but we try hard to make sure there aren't any "jail breaks."

However, there are a lot of jail breaks from the kids in the group. They come running at us and yell "mama." It's a bit heartbreaking, but we just try to stay out of their sightline. They are all very cute though.

Tonight, we are trying traditional Kazakh food for dinner, so more to come on that. Eating is always an adventure.

Happy Father's Day!


TJ has a message for his grandfathers, great-grandfather and uncles.




He spent all morning on the swing with papa.





Hope everyone enjoys the day. Jon's sad that he can't play golf with everyone.

Here are more pictures of TJ from today and yesterday afternoon. He really likes that swing! We have several minutes of video with non-stop giggles.

TJ is ready to Fish!

Pops this post is for you. TJ picked up a long stick from the ground today and it looked like he was casting it like a fishing rod. I think next year he might beat Catherine as the one to catch the biggest fish!

I've also included another cute picture of TJ because I couldn't resist.

Jon also wants everyone to know that he tried horse tonight at dinner and liked it. He told me I would regret not trying it, but so far no rehorse - I mean remorse.

Also, I don't know if everyone is aware of our schedule as our posts might begin to seem like the movie "Groundhogs Day." It's beginning to feel that way for us. Today we finished Day 8 of our mandatory 14 day visitation period. After the 14th day our facilitator can petition for our court date which is typically 7 days later (we'll have the same visitation schedule from day 14-20). After court and assuming they grant the immediate execution, we should have custody the next day. So hopefully on day 22 (of visitation and day 27 since we left NJ)!

Have a nice weekend everyone.

Today we didn't have a morning visit with TJ. There was a "medical celebration" at the babyhouse so we were asked not to come. We're not too sure what a medical celebration is, we have a feeling something got lost in the translation, so we'll ask our translator more when we see her.

I thought I would post pictures of TJ's room and his bed. We weren't allowed to visit the room, but our translator was able to take pictures for us.




We'll post pictures later on from our afternoon visit.

Love,
Jon and Lisa

TJ loves massages!

At the baby house the kids get massage therapy every 10 days for about 15 minutes. Today they showed us how they massage them. He was hysterical to watch. He was still and relaxed and seemed to enjoy every moment.




Also here's another picture of mama and TJ since they have been requested. A note about the way he's wearing his hat. This is how he's been putting it on himself. He really seems to like his Yankees hat.

We figured out today that TJ really likes rides. This morning we pushed him around on this car and this afternoon he went on the swing. He loved both - especially the swing!





I'm also posting this picture of our driver. Jon, who can't resist a friendly bet, bet our driver a coke that the US would beat the Czech Republic, as you can tell the US lost...

Yesterday we discovered the slide on the playground. Don't know why it took till day 5 to figure out that we could use it. TJ loved it. He was full of giggles and smiles. I think he might have his cousin Catherine's fearlessness. He should really like the Ocean City playground.

(P.S. Sorry the post was delayed we've been having internet problems.)

Okay, first a word on the travel monkey. The travel monkey is simply a small, stuffed animal. As you will notice in a lot of the pictures we post, the travel monkey has a cameo. Jon's love for the travel monkey only began the day we left for the trip. He got it as a free gift with purchase and wanted to bring it along on the trip, but when you pull the monkey's elastic arms he gives off a horrific screeching sound. I told Jon he couldn't bring it - so of course the game was on. Luckily, Jon removed the screecher and TJ seems to like to stretch the monkey's arms. The travel monkey can typically be found in Jon's pocket or hanging out of our car when Jon likes to taunt our travel partners when we beat them to the baby house (more on the daily race to the baby house to come). Here's a picture of TJ with both monkeys.

Here's a picture from yesterday evening. Jon has decided to teach TJ how to throw a curve ball. He also wanted to get him a baseball hat (of course I left all our stuff at home)and for some reason, the only US sport team we could find was the NY Yankees...not Red Sox, not Mets, Yankees...

Yesterday TJ said his first English word. It was "Cat." We were showing him this picture book and I pointed at our cat Sydney and said "cat" and he replied "cat." So we're making progress. No Mama and Papa yet, but that's okay, we have time.



TJ also can't get enough juice. He loves apple juice and literally chugs it whenever we let him have it, so we have to ration him.



The adults took a trip today to the zoo. The big attraction there were two bears and their two cubs. In Kazakhstan they are not as concerned with interacting with the animals or feeding them. The cubs could literally put their paws through the gates where we were standing. Jon, thinking he was funny, held out the travel monkey which the cub swatted and left three little scratch marks on Jon's hand. Good thing their claws aren't sharp yet!


Oh well. Hope everyone is doing well.

Here are some pictures from our afternoon visit. TJ seems to think it's pretty funny when his papa tries to blow up the beach ball.

We had a nice but short visit with TJ this morning. I forgot to mention yesterday that the nurse told our translator that TJ had been waiting for us! After only day 2 he seems to be anticipating our visits. We also got his schedule. His bedtime is at 8 p.m. and he wakes up at 7 a.m. Sleeps through the night and gets up at 7 - we can do that - Hallelujah!



He also loves this musical book. He's a very quick learner. I just had to show him once to push the button for music and he kept doing it over and over again.



Hope everyone is enjoying a nice weekend.

Okay, since this is my 6th post for today, I think that's it. I will leave you all with one last shot of TJ.

Who would have thought that Jon's inappropriate attire would have led to a great gift!



We visited this Russian Orthodox church today and Jon got scolded for wearing shorts. Jon apologized to the priest and complimented him on how beautiful the church was. The priest then blessed us and our children with health and happiness forever and ever.

Lisa

Today was a very important day in helping to establish TJ's heritage and his future.

We bought a very nice book at this store with a pictorial history of Uralsk in English, Russian and Kazakh...




...And Jon gave TJ a glimpse of his future rivalries...

This post is for the G. It seems as if his legendary athletic prowess has been immortalized in Kazakhstan!

Okay, you guys are in for a treat today. I'm going to try to do a couple of posts. This one is devoted to TJ and his papa.

We had a great visit with TJ this morning. He's really warming up to us. When our translator brought him into the room today he outstretched his arms for us to take him. We spent the morning outside again. At 9 a.m. it's very nice - in the 70s. During the day it feels near 90 but we don't really know as we haven't checked the weather.

Here are some more TJ pics. We know he likes balls, cars and Cheerios!

Love,
Jon & Lisa

By popular demand, we give you the first smile.

We heard the NY Yankees are in desperate need of young, talented starting pitching. Introducing the ambidextrous little Unit!

Now that we have finally figured out how to post pictures, you guys better watch out! Thank you all for the well wishes and messages updating us on what's going on half way around the world, we're enjoying them. We had a great time with TJ this morning and will be going back this evening. Here are the first pictures of TJ (Misha is his baby house nickname) with mama and TJ with papa (note, the playground in the background of the picture with Jon is one that our agency built).

Love Jon & Lisa

P.S. Just double click on the pictures if you want to make them larger.

Okay, enough about us. I hope this works. Here are TJ pics and our first family shot!

We met TJ yesterday (sorry for the delay, I was having posting problems)!

Today we flew to Uralsk on a 6 a.m. flight. Uralsk is very different than Almaty. Almaty, the former capital, is getting quite cosmopolitan (lots of young fashionable people, high-end stores are moving in, American-style restaurants). It is also surrounded by beautiful mountains, they are a contending city for the 2014 winter Olympics. Flying into Uralsk, you see nothing but flat, lush green for miles and the city itself is still quite rustic.

We were greeted at the airport by our translator Olga and several drivers as we are traveling with two other couples. They took us to the hotel and as we drove we noticed what seemed to be a very loose check point, and our driver informed us that we were crossing over the border between Asia and Europe. Pretty cool. It’s not often that you get to drive across a continental border!

We are staying at a hotel here in Uralsk. We were supposed to stay in an apartment, but they are all full. The nice thing is that the hotel is air conditioned, and has a laundry service and continental breakfast included. It doesn’t have as much space as an apartment and it doesn’t have a kitchen (just a refrigerator), so we need to be a bit inventive so we don’t have to eat all our meals out.

After checking into the hotel we went to a market to get some extra toys for the kids and some supplies for the room. We then went to the Ministry of Education (picture attached) where we introduced ourselves, showed the representatives our albums, and answered the questions they had about why we are adopting. After this meeting we were granted permission to go to the baby house.

When we got to the baby house we went into the chief doctor’s office where we sat (as well as one of the other families) as they brought in three 2-year old boys to look at. TJ was the first one. The poor boy was very groggy (they just woke him up from a nap) and a bit intimidated (there were 7 adults staring at him). We were told by our translator that we could play with him. We offered him a soft square toy that had a rattle in it that we picked up at the market. He just held onto it and froze. I then got out the little car Kristine gave me for my shower and raced it across the floor (glad I had a practice session at the shower J). TJ seemed to like the machina (Russian for car) and picked it up and clutched onto it as well. We asked if he could keep the toys but they said that he couldn’t. They took him away and brought in two other boys. Sorry we don’t have any pictures of that first meeting as we weren’t allowed to take any, hopefully tomorrow.

After the meeting, we were told that our visiting hours would be from 9-10 a.m. and 5-6 p.m. everyday and that we could take him outside on the playground or use one of the rooms inside.

More to come today!

Love,
Jon & Lisa

Lisa and I had chicken for lunch today- yeah chicken!!!!! I can't wait to eat steak BACK IN THE USA!!! We went to the law office today to handle a lot of the logistics and were told to be ready at 4:45 a.m. tomorrow to be picked up for a 6:25 flight to Uralsk. We think we will then go to the Ministry of Education, and if we pass muster, directly to the baby house to see the little man! It looks like we'll get to visit with him twice a day for 1.5 hours each visit. We will be staying in a hotel to start and then they will show us various apartments to choose from for our 3 week stay in Urlask.

Stay tuned tomorrow for some nice pictures!

Jon and Lisa

Greetings from Kazakhstan!

Jon and I have made it safely after 29 hours of traveling. We took advantage of our 7 hour layover in London by taking a quick tube trip to see Big Ben and Parliament. Our flight from London to Almaty actually had a stopover in Russia at Ekaterinaburg. Luckily we didn't have to get off the plane. We arrived in Almaty at 3:45 this morning and were greeted by our driver, Andrei and a woman from the law offices. Since we arrived a half a day early, we have some down time today and will meet with our agency's partners tomorrow.

We were pleasantly surprised when we turned on the TV this morning at 5 a.m. (10 hours ahead of EST) to find an English-speaking ESPN channel with the Yankees and Red Sox. After watching the Yankees beat up on the Sox for a little bit we took a nap. Then we had our driver pick us up and take us to exchange money, buy TJ's return ticket (yes, we got an extra seat for him for everyone who was concerned about that), and now we're at in internet cafe at the Ramstore which is a giant supermarket/mall. After eating some strange potatoes, chicken and a questionable hamburger, we are both doing well.

Tomorrow we will meet with our agency's partners and will fill out paperwork and learn about the details of our trip to Uralsk, visiting hours at the baby house etc. We should be leaving on Wednesday morning for Uralsk.

Well that's the update. No pictures today since we are at a cafe and just figuring out how to even log on. We are also going to try to buy an i-card so we can log on from our apartment. We should get our cell phone tomorrow.

Hope everyone's doing well.

Love,
Jon & Lisa