October 26, 2004 - Oops! Forgot to publish this one.....

Never before has the anticipation of Halloween been so much fun. I have always loved Halloween - the cheesy heroine in trouble movies, eating candy corn and m&m's until you feel your teeth will just pop out of your head, pumpkins everywhere - what's not to love? But this year, well, this year, I get to witness Abby's first Halloween.

Abby is going to be a very cute bunny this year. A week or two ago I put her costume on her to make sure it would fit. One of my very favorite movies is "A Christmas Story" and one of my favorite scenes in that movie is the "Deranged Easter Bunny" scene. Imagine Abby's face with the same expression as the kid in that movie and you will pretty much have her reaction. It was priceless. In addition, she could not figure out just what happened to her hands. She kept holding out her little paws and saying "hands!" I will never forget it. Fortunately the bunny costume has the option of popping her hands out of the bunny paws so I do believe all will be right with the world.

This fall has been a lot of fun. The weather in Atlanta has, for the most part, been very beautiful and very mild. We have taken full advantage of this fact and spent the majority of time outside. At the beginning of October, Abby and I went to an arts festival with Kris, Avery, Dawn, and Alec. It was a lot of fun and Abby got to experience a few firsts. She got to listen to her first really really bad local singer. The quality of music did not matter to her as much as the fact that she got to dance. I realized that watching Abby, Alec, and Avery enjoy the music more than made up for what the man's "singing" (and I do use the term loosely) was doing to my ears. That day was also Abby's first snow cone. The verdict was mixed. She seemed to like it but didn't really understand the necessity of the cold.

The next weekend we attended the World Partners Adoption reunion. This reunion is held every October in Atlanta. We got to finally meet friends in person. We also got to see 2 of the families we spent time with in Kazakhstan. While we were in Almaty, we had dinner with Charmaine, her mother, her new baby Jasmine, and their driver Emil. It was so cute to see Abby and Jasmine together again! They were both so tiny back in January. We also got to see one of the families from our first flight (Almaty to Frankfurt). Their son Lucas (also Abby's age) has grown a ton too. I am already excited that this reunion will be something we attend every year. We really had a terrific time. We were completely and totally worn out afterwards but it was absolutely worth it. It was especially nice to meet so many other single moms and their adorable kids.

Abby is so much fun right now. I absolutely love this age (19 months). She learns so much every single day and yet she is still so little. It is the best of both worlds. Bath time is extremely entertaining these days. Abby loves to play with a plastic cup and a plastic bowl. She will pour water back and forth between the two. It looks like she has a future with beakers. Splashing is also still a favorite past time, as it reading the plastic bath books.

Yesterday we had to stop for groceries on the way home. While I am pretty creative, even I realized the limitations of what can be created with mustard, 1 slice of bread, and noodles. I decided to have Abby help me carry in the groceries in the house. She carried in the bread and was quite the little professional about it. No squished bread. My mom has reported that my brother and I also used to help with this same chore and we would proceed to have flat sandwiches for the next week. Clearly Abby is more advanced in bread toting than her mother was.

Abby is really loving her class at daycare. Her teachers are just wonderful and Abby can name all her friends (complete with her very cute southern accent). She gets very excited to see them in the morning but still runs to me smiling from ear to ear when I pick her up in the afternoon (hands down best part of my day!!). I know she is learning so much there - especially things like sharing and playing with other kids. One of her teachers told me that last week Abby, Alissa, Marissa, and Caroline all spontaneously began to do ring around the rosie together (without any teacher help). They were all laughing and having the best time. This Friday the whole daycare is having a Halloween party (complete with costumes). I am kind of expecting chaos but can't wait to see all the kids dressed up. Oh, and Abby is signed up to bring the hot dogs.

Abby is talking more and more. And more and more she is saying real words on her own. She even puts together some short sentences. My baby is growing up.

We spent last weekend in Rome and Abby got to spend time with her grandmother, great-grandmother, and Papa Bryan. It is cute watching her interact with them and seeing how much they all love her. She definitely knows who they are too! My mom kept Abby for me Saturday night and was in grandma (Gigi) heaven.

I had always heard that once you have kids, time speeds up. I am here to tell you this is absolutely, unequivocally true. Now our first few weeks home, I might have put up a big of an argument. Not because time went slow but because Abby was not changing as fast she is now. But as I sit here looking back at the last time I posted, I know time has gone into a kind of warp mode. I know this by watching Abby. My little baby has been replaced with an adorable, funny and happy toddler. I can almost see her growing and learning before my eyes. Part of me wants to just slow down the time but most of me loves watching her pure joy when she figures out something new.

So what is new? Well, Abby had her first complete haircut. I say "complete" as the last attempt ended in only half her hair being cut. This time took a team of 3 but the result was quite adorable. I have discovered her hair does grow as fast as mine (which is indeed very fast) so we will likely be back for another hair cut very soon.

A few weeks ago we attended Sesame Street Live with Avery (and her mommy Kris) and Alec (and his mommy Dawn). Abby really adores Alec and Avery and was so excited to see both of them. As for seeing the dancing Elmo, Oscar, Big Bird and company, well, she was pretty scared for the first 10 minutes or so. She definitely had a death grip on me but managed to still watch the show over my shoulder. That's all it took though - 10 minutes - and then she joined the clapping and dancing. I have discovered this is Abby's approach to anything new. She is very reserved around situations in which she does not feel comfortable, but usually after a few minutes she will jump right in. I love this about her.

Last week I had a work meeting here in Atlanta. Since we had evening activities, Abby had babysitters for 2 nights in a row. She cried each night when I left but ultimately did fine both nights. I think we were both extremely happy to get back our normal routine though. I really missed her that week since for 3 days I mostly saw her when I was taking her to/from daycare. It made me appreciate all the more that I normally work from home and get to spend more time with her since I don't have to spend time in traffic going to the office.

Abby continues to be obsessed with The Wiggles. This is very funny to me since Abby watches a grand total of maybe 30 minutes of tv a day. She will carry around the DVD case like a security blanket. She will yell out "GIGGLES" (how she calls them) and if we do watch them, she will dance right along with them. I must admit that "Do the Monkey" and "Hot Potato Cold Spaghetti" have grown on me.

Let's see - other favorites this week include: bubbles, Wiggles, playing in the dirt, sliding, our 2 year old neighbor Francesco (or CoCo as she calls him), knocking over mommy's block masterpieces, and dancing. Favorite music right now includes anything on the Blue Disney CD (especially The Tiki Room), the soundtrack from Chicago, her Kazakhstan CD (also still my favorite - this one really gets her clapping!), and Van Morrison.

Abby is talking up a storm. She can and will repeat just about anything and has also gotten very good at announcing things without prompting. There is not a dog in a 5 block area that will go by without her shouting "Doggie!!". Same goes for any baby. And the "baby" can be any child up to and including about 5 years of age.

For the last 2 weeks Abby has stayed in her new classroom all day long (without venturing back to Ms. Kim's room as she was doing). Her new teacher Ms. Cheryl keeps the kids very busy with lots of art, music, and reading. This week is "Chicken Week". Heh. I love theme weeks.

So, it has been a busy and fun few weeks. I have new pictures and promise to post them in the next day or so. Good night from Atlanta.

So finally, a new update. I have no real excuse other than a very busy summer and a beautiful, busy 17 month old. Actually, this week Abby will turn 18 months old. Yeah, she will be driving soon. I don't want to even think about that.

We have had a lot of firsts since my last post. Abby's first post Kazakhstan flights, first "promotion" to a new class at daycare, first real (as in mommy had to pay) babysitter, first trip to the Natural History Museum, first naked swimming party. Not a bad list actually.

Let's see, where to start. At the beginning of August, Abby and I flew to Fort Myers, Florida (and then drove to Naples) to visit my brother and his family. I must admit that I was pretty much expecting anything for the 2 flights. I had not gotten her a seat because at the time I made the reservations my mom had planned to go with us. Unfortunately she had to change her plans. Now, keep in mind that Abby and I flew (by ourselves) from Almaty, Kazakhstan, to Frankfurt, Germany and then on to Atlanta. Basically over 24 hours straight travel. And yet, at the time, Abby was only 10 months old. The flight to Fort Myers was only 1.5 hours. As we approached the gate at the airport, I could see the instant rolling of eyes and hear the silent prayers that people would not be sitting next to us. Back when my job required that I travel 3 weeks out of each month for work, I was that person. I used to dread sitting next to The Toddler. It was nothing personal. Toddlers simply don't take well to confinement or hurt ears and well, flying allows for both.

I was so proud of Abby though. On the way down, Abby sat in my lap and we read books for about 30 minutes when she fell asleep and did not wake up until we landed. No way did I expect the same for the return trip but my little seasoned traveler fell asleep as we took off for Atlanta and did not wake up until we landed. It was wonderful.

Our time in Naples was fun. We went to the beach where Abby consumed as much sand as she could. Her cousins adore her (and she them). We were also there just 1 week before Hurricane Charley hit. Thankfully, they had no major damage.

Right after we returned from Florida, Abby was moved up to the next class at daycare. She is now the youngest in the class. Her first week was definitely a transition. Abby loves her first teacher, Ms. Kim and was not happy one little bit about leaving her classroom. In addition, 2 of her first 4 days, I arrived to find she had been in time out for "fighting". Before I had to worry if I was raising a little bruiser, the teachers told me that it is totally normal for kids to do this when moving up. Fortunately, the fighting stopped after another day or 2 and several times since I have arrived to find Abby hugging and/or kissing other kids.

I also arrive every single day to find that Abby has managed to get herself back to Ms. Kim's room. Her new teacher just points to Ms. Kim's class and says "she is back there". Ms. Kim also told me that whenever she goes to the bathroom (the teacher's bathroom is in Abby's new classroom), it never fails that she hears a loud knocking on the door and it is always Abby. Pretty funny.

Abby is getting pretty good at things like naming animal sounds. She can quite confidently tell you that a cow says "moo", a sheep says "baa" and a cat says "meow", (to name a few), but my personal favorite is the pig. If you ask her what a pig says, she will proudly answer "la la la". Before you wonder if we have a bizarre form of pigs here in Atlanta, I will say that Abby has a favorite book called Moo Baa La La La. It quite frankly states that "3 singing pigs say la la la" and this is what Abby remembers. Now it does correctly say later "no, no, that isn't right, the pigs say oink all day and night", but for Abby, the pig says "la la la". :-)

Abby still loves to dance (still the most precious thing in the world). Her current favorite songs are Funky Town, ABC (Jackson 5 version), Dancing Queen (yeah, not sure where her disco craze has originated from), anything by Black Eyed Peas, No Woman, No Cry (Bob Marley), and her total favorite is A Little Less Conversation (Elvis). She shakes her hips and everything. It is priceless.

So, I still have lots of catching up to do here but for the moment, that is a little update into the goings on of one amazing Abigail Green. Take care and good night from Atlanta!

The dance of the turtle and the exotic bird.  Yes, this is a relatively new activity that I do each night with Abby.  Let me back up a bit.  :-)  Pretty much every night after dinner, Abby and I go for a walk.  We did, that is, until summer hit Atlanta.  Many nights lately have either been too hot or too wet.  So, we had to find a new form of exercise.  We chose to dance.  Each night I find some new music that Abby has not yet heard and we dance.  It is the funniest sweetest time!  Abby laughs and dances and laughs some more.  Which, of course, causes me to laugh right along with her as her laugh is pretty infectious.  A couple of weeks ago, my mom gave me 2 hats for me to give my dear friends Meredith (8 years old) and Sam (6 years old).  Both hats are kind of like visors.  One is a turtle and one is an exotic bird.  Since I have not seen Meredith or Sam since I got the hats, they have been sitting in my living room.  Abby loves carrying them around.  Well a few nights ago I put a hat on each of us while we were dancing and that was it.  We have a new tradition - dancing while wearing those hats.  If anyone were to see this through my window, I'm sure a quick call would be made to a mental outpatient facility as I doubt Abby is visible through the window and it likely looks like I am dancing alone wearing a turtle hat.  :-)

So, what music do we dance to?  Well, I try to really mix it up.  So far Abby's favorites include Etta James, Barry White, the Jackson Five, Green Day, some cool jazz and blues from the 1940s, Black Eyed Peas (yes, she still loves them), Martina McBride, and anything from Mary Poppins or The Sound of Music.  My little music girl!

This past weekend was a very full one for us and Abby finally recovered from it just today.  We definitely had a lot of fun but I have long since discovered that Abby needs her full 12 hours of sleep at night plus a good long nap in the afternoon (if not a morning nap too).  Friday night we met up with several other single moms who had also adopted from Kazakhstan.  These are people from a variety of agencies and it was great meeting all the beautiful children.  They ranged in age from 10 months to about 7 years old.  We also met up with them Sunday morning at the Children's Museum (Imagine It) in downtown Atlanta.  We had been to this museum before but this time, being a few months older, Abby absolutely had a blast!  She fell asleep before I even got out of the parking lot.

Saturday we went to Athens to celebrate my friend Ginger's daughter's birthdays.  Kiersten turns 16 this month and Maya just turned 1.  The weather in Georgia that day hit a record for the year.  I did not hear the actual temperature but can officially say that it felt like 127 degrees.  It was a great party though with lots of good food, good cake, and good people.  If you are keeping count, that would be 2 nights in a row where Abby got to bed late.  As a result, we spent Sunday afternoon at home.  We did not go anywhere after the museum.  We had the best afternoon.  Abby played and played and I read.  I am working on helping her to be able to play by herself some.  Right now this is not a popular thing in her mind.  I figured out though that if I am in the same room, she is content to play.  So we are starting there.  I actually prefer to be playing with her but I know this is something she needs to be able to do.

Yesterday when I picked up Abby from daycare, her teacher told me there must have been something in the milk because all the kids had some kind of meltdown that day.  Yes, this included Abby.  Apparently hers was shortlived.  I know this was a leftover from the busy weekend.  Today she had a good day!

I have been increasing the number of books we read each night.  Abby absolutely loves to be read to which thrills my heart to no end.  We are currently up to about 6 or 7 books now.  Of course these books are all pretty short but it is cute when I finish each one and Abby says "more!"  :-)  Makes this mom who loves to read very proud!

So, it has been a great week!  Take care and good night from Georgia!

Six months ago tomorrow, in a court house in cold and snowy Uralsk, Kazakhstan, a very stern and serious judge proclaimed that Abigail Emma Green was officially my daughter.  It was the single greatest moment of my life up to that point.  I remember not even realizing what the judge had said until Assia and then Olga each gave me a big congratulatory hug.  It is so hard for me to believe it has been 6 months.  The time has truly flown by.  When I look back at pictures from our time in Kazakhstan, I scarcely recognize my now happy, sweet, giggly, music loving girl.  And as for me?  Well, I now have trouble remembering my life before Abby.
 
I realize I may sound like the incredibly proud mommy that I am, but this kid is just so amazing.  She is funny and sweet and so laid back.  I mean she pretty much just rolls with any situation.  And yet, she also has quite the stubborn streak.  Not a day goes by that she doesn't do something new.  Her latest conquests include:  "reading" to mommy, climbing, lifting her shirt to show off her tummy (she also likes to lift my shirt to show my tummy, but that is a whole different story!), pointing out where her (or anyone else's) nose, eyes, ears, and mouth are located, repeating just about any word, and playing "catch" with a ball.  I love watching her figure out how she is going to do something.  You can pretty much see the wheels turning just before she kicks into action.  And talk about a memory?  If she sees something you can better believe she will remember and likely try it again later. 
  
So, what have we been up to lately?  We continue to have a very busy and fun summer.  We go swimming, go for walks, visit friends, do lots of reading, and we dance lots to music.  Since I last wrote, Abby and I made a trip to Macon, Georgia with my mom to let my aunt, cousin, and cousin's baby meet Abby.  Abby had fun meeting her relatives.  She is a wonderful little traveler.  She will either sleep or entertain herself in the back seat.  As long as there is music playing Abby is happy. 
 
Well that weekend turned out to be the weekend of Abby's first (since we have been home) fever.  At one point it hit 103.8.  Talk about one worried mommy!  After a trip to the doctor on Monday, it turned out she had a sore throat.  No antibiotics were needed - just had to let this one run its course.  Fortunately she was back to her usual happy self by Wednesday.  To add insult to injury though, Abby also wound up sharing her bedroom with a hungry mosquito.  Poor kid woke up with huge welts all over her.  She is a little trooper though and no silly bites would keep her down.
 
Last weekend we also went to Stone Mountain with Dawn and her son Alec (who was in the same baby house in Uralsk as Abby!) and Gerri and her daughter Corre (also born in Kazakhstan).  Aside from Abby's fever spiking while we were there, we had a wonderful time.  Abby loves being around other kids and Alec especially has become her buddy.  When they arrived at our house that day, Abby's face absolutely lit up when she saw him.  They are so cute together. 
 
This past weekend we went to our friend Avery's first birthday party.  Avery was also born in Kazakhstan.  She is 4 months younger than Abby and was such an adorable birthday girl.  Abby had the best time at the party.  It was a princess party and Abby got her own princess hat to wear.  She even kept it on her head long enough for me to take a picture.  Abby is fascinated by hats.  She is fascinated by how fast she can take them off her head.
 
I finally took Abby to get her picture made.  My mom has been gently reminding me each week that I needed to do this soon, but this was our first photo session since we have been home.  Well, I should say first professional photo session.  Abby has been photographed more than most movie stars in the time we have been home.  If I put the pictures in a stack and flip them, I'm pretty sure I can make a silent movie of the last 6 months.  Anyway, I was incredibly proud of my little girl and the pictures turned out great.  I have posted some of the proofs on my yahoo site:
 
http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/gayla059/my_photos
 
The new ones are under a folder called July 2004 Continued.
 
Pretty much every night that it is not raining or that we don't have plans, we wind up going to my next door neighbor Pete's house.  It usually turns out to be a gathering of neighbors including Lourdes and her 21 month old son Francesco (who Abby seems to call CoCo), Pete (who is like a surrogate grandpa to her), Pete's ex-wife Sandy, and Miss Bert (Pete's elderly, precious tenant).  It is a lovely gathering of generations and the kids have the best time in Pete's yard.  We all sit out there and talk and watch the kids play.  It will be sad when the weather gets too cold for us to be out there.  It is probably the closest thing to having a front stoop that we can have in this kind of neighborhood.
 
And so, here we are.  Six months later.  I am the mother of the sweetest and most beautiful little girl in the world.  And loving every second of it.  
 
Take care and good night from Georgia!

This was Abby's first Fourth of July as an American citizen. Actually, it is one she will likely never remember. And it is definitely one I will never forget. Our plans weren't even that incredible. It was just such a fun weekend with her.

Abby's daycare was closed both Friday and Monday so we had a whole 4 days together. We kept them very full but the best part was just spending time with Abby. On Saturday, we met my mom, grandmother, and our friend Bryan for breakfast. This is a tradition for us. We meet in Cartersville GA as it is roughly halfway between Atlanta and Rome. Abby is already beginning to recognize that when we pull into the Cracker Barrel she will get to see her G.G., Mama Margaret, and Papa Bryan. While we were there, Abby proved once again how very much my daughter she really is. An older lady walked by us with the most bizarre shade of pink/orange hair. I realized I was blatantly staring. I looked down to see Abby was staring at the woman's head just as I was. To really complete the family thing - my mom and grandmother were, yes, also staring. Fortunately the poor woman was much more interested in the goings on of other restaurant patrons and was oblivious to our "glances".

Sunday (the actual Fourth) we started out the day with a trip to the zoo. For those of you who do not live in Atlanta, it has pretty much rained every day for the last month so this was our first time to the zoo in a little while. Sunday, we woke up to a large shock. At first it caused much confusion. What was this bright yellow thing in the sky? Slowly, the memory of the sun began to creep back. I very quickly decided to take full advantage. We had a great time. Did all the usual zoo stuff. Watched animals. Watched even more people. Rode the train. Rode the carrousel. The sweet life.

That night we went to downtown Decatur's Fourth of July parade, concert, and fireworks. Only we didn't so much make it to the fireworks part. When you usually go to bed at 7:00, staying up past 8:00 is a pretty big deal in and of itself. :-) Abby did love the parade and the music though. Oh, and the strawberry ice cream. Can't forget that.

Today when I picked up Abby from daycare, I found her teacher Ms. Kim sitting on the floor, surrounded by 1 year olds. This part is nothing new. When it is raining in the afternoon (as it was AGAIN today), Ms. Kim usually hangs out on the floor with her little ones. Today, however, Ms. Kim was banging a drum and singing/rapping "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" to the beat of that drum. All the kids were "dancing". I will never hear The Itsy Bitsy Spider in the same way again. For those of you wondering, this song to rap is quite cool. And extremely catchy. I have been rapping it in my head since we got home.

I'm so proud of my dancing little one. You should see her eat by herself now. I mean she has been using her fingers to eat for quite awhile now but suddenly last week, she really began to figure out that fork thing. She is quite good at stabbing her food with it and even making it to her mouth with the majority of food on the fork. Not bad! Today, she decided the whole plate thing was just inhibiting her, so she dumped all her food on the high chair tray and proceeded to eat it that way - all mixed together. Now as long as she gets most of it in her, I don't care, but I should mention that the food she had so happily mixed together included bananas, green beans, and chicken. Mmmm hmmm. That is what I thought too. But hey, she liked it. Perhaps she is the next culinary genious of the world.

OK, well, one of my still remaining guilty pleasures - The Amazing Race - starts tonight and I still have dishes and clothes and all the usual night time stuff to do before it comes on, so for now I will sign off. Abby's sign off is the blowing of many kisses so I will leave you with that image.

Well, if is official, I have one constantly talking baby girl. :-) And I do mean constant. She has a lot to say (like her mother). Not all of it do I understand, but there are many words now that I know exactly what she is saying. For example, "Bamby" is how she calls "Barney". Yes, we do love the big purple guy in our house. Other Abby words include mommy, mama (depends on what she wants/needs as to which one she says), G.G. (her grandma), dog, uh oh, thank you (sounds like "tank tu"), Pete (our next door neighbor), ball, purple (the only color she will repeat), and Will (a little boy in her class - only she says it "Wiiiiiiiiiiill"). She truly has the cutest little southern accent ever. I have discovered she likes to repeat everything. This means mommy has quickly needed to learn to say different words when cut off in traffic.

Today Abby had her first official public fit. For those of you in the North who may not use the word "fit", this means she had her first public tantrum. "Fit" seems to better describe it though. We had a play date with Avery and her mommy Kris. They came to our house and the girls played around each other in Abby's playroom. It was very cute. Then we went to lunch. Abby actually did well until the check came. You would have thought I asked her to pay it for us. Actually the screaming was relatively quick. In reality it was about 20 seconds. But I have created a different way of looking at it in a new concept I call The Toddler Index. Much like the heat index used by weather forecasters ("today will be 90 degrees but with the heat index it will feel like 110"), The Toddler Index translates how it feels to the parent of said publicly screaming toddler. Abby was only about a 2 today (on a scale of 1 to 10). I have no disillusions though as to know today was only the beginning. Poor kid was so tired. She literally fell asleep before we left the parking lot. The good news is the baby who woke from her two hour nap was my sweet happy-go-lucky Abby.

We had to run a few errands after Abby's nap and she was so good that we stopped by our neighborhood park. The story I am about to relay is true. I don't believe I could have made this up even if I wanted to. A dad was pushing his daughter (2.5 years old I later found out) in the swing. I put Abby in the other swing and proceeded to also push her. The little girl next to us then announced (loudly I might add), "I am swinging high. I have a vagina." I paused a moment to see if she had said what I thought she did. Realizing she did not get any kind of reaction from me, the little girl said (much louder this time) "I SAID I have a vagina". Her father at this moment had officially turned every shade of red to be found in the Crayola 128 pack of crayons. I replied in the only way I knew how by saying "um, ok".

Abby is officially off the bottle now. It was actually a non-event according to Abby. One night I just did not give her a bottle but gave her milk in a sippy cup. And that was all there was to it. She was already on a sippy cup during the day so the only bottle she has been getting was the bed time bottle. So, now for bed time routine, we do bath, pajamas, brush teeth (all 8 of them), then we read several books in her rocking chair, and bed!

Abby is just the sweetest, happiest, most loving baby in the world. She is incredibly cuddly (with me or other people she knows very well). In public, she is a little ham and loves to smile and wave at strangers, especially in stores like Target. She also loves to wave at people in the cars next to us when we are stopped at a redlight. I just get a lump in my throat when I think that a few months ago she had never even been in a car. This kid is so incredible and I am the luckiest mommy in the whole world. Every night before I put her in her bed I tell her "of all the beautiful babies in the whole world, how did I get the best one?". And I mean that with all my heart.

Until next time.

As I write this, my precious baby girl is asleep in her crib in the next room. She was so tired tonight. It has been a busy week. Heck, it has been a busy 2 months. :-) I'm just so amazed at how Abby just kind of rolls with whatever it is we happen to be doing though.

Alright, let me go back a bit and see if I can capture some of what we have been up to. Last week Abby and I went on our first real vacation. Oh it was wonderful!!! We went with my friends Julia and Dawn. I met them for the first time last summer. Both are now also single moms of precious children born in Kazakhstan. When we first met, Dawn had just that day received her travel dates to go to Uralsk (yes, the same city, and in fact the same baby house where Abby was!) to bring home her adorable son, Alec. Julia and I have truly gone through our adoptions together. It was like being pregnant with a good friend. She was even in Kazakhstan (though a different city) at the same time I was there. Her beautiful daughter Katy is just 2 months younger than Abby.

So we all decided to head to St. Simons Island for 5 days. Julia and Katy live in Ohio so they flew down the night before we were to leave and spent the night with us. The next morning we picked up Dawn and Alec (they live about 45 minutes from us) and we packed up the van and headed out. I must admit that though I was incredibly excited about the trip, I was fully prepared for a lot of crying and fits. I mean, we were after all traveling with one almost 3 year old, one 15 month old, and one 13 month old. But I needn't have worried. The kids were amazing. I mean we had minor stuff but nothing lasted long and the vacation proved to be wonderful!! The only downside the whole trip was when poor Katy got sick one day. Fortunately, she recovered fairly quickly.

Abby's first day at the beach was priceless for me. She was actually pretty hesitant at first and did not want me to put her down. Katy, on the other hand, was ready to dive right in. :-) It didn't take Abby or Alec long though and we were all out in the water with our kids. Suffice it to say Abby had a blast. She spent most of our time at the beach covered (and I do mean covered) in sand. She got pretty brave running towards the water too! Her mommy had to quickly put down the camera and chase after her. :-)

We pretty much ate dinner out and ate breakfast and lunch in our condo. The kids did great. For our dinner at the Crab Trap, Abby was pretty much dinner entertainment for the people sitting beside us. Lots of clapping, waving, and blowing kisses. I guess if she was a 45 year old woman doing those things, people would have been nervous, but as a pretty adorable 15 month old, Abby got away with it. :-) After dinner that night we went to the pier and walked around, ending the night with ice cream. It just doesn't get much better than that.

Dinner the next night was, shall we say, comical. We had decided to eat at Barbara Jean's Restaurant by the pier. It was early but apparently not early enough as we had to wait awhile in a tiny hallway by the bathroom. This meant that every time someone had to go to the bathroom they had to do a dance to get by the strollers, kids, sippy cups, and Aldo the Alligator (Alec's new acquisition that night - a 2 foot plastic alligator that I helped him find at the toy store). Going by the number of people frequenting the bathroom, I do believe they kept the sweet tea refills coming.

By the time we finally sat down, we were all pretty happy to do so. Another family had taken up all but one of the high chairs they had, so Abby sat on my lap. Imagine everything on the table (ketchup, silverware, napkins, glasses, sugar packets, etc.) and how fun that looks to a baby. Poor Dawn was sitting across the table from us and had EVERYTHING on her side of the table. It was really fun though. I personally love seeing how fast my little Stretch Armstrong (Abby) can reach for something. Probably my favorite part of that dinner though, was when the waiter asked us if the kids were adopted, or were we all married to Asian American men. I guess we did attract attention. :-)

It was really great seeing the kids play and interact with each other. They are all the cutest kids ever. We have decided to make this a yearly thing so next year it will be fun to see how much the kids have grown and changed.

The rest of the last couple of months has been a blur of baptisms, birthday parties, a graduation party, and just, well, wonderful normal stuff. Being in Kazakhstan for a month truly made me appreciate the normal regular stuff. In the middle of that though, we did get to meet another precious baby from Kazakhstan. My friend Kris returned home from Almaty in May and we already had a play date with them. Avery is the same age Abby was when we returned home. She is such a cutie!

Abby is doing so incredibly well. She is talking up a storm now and pretty much repeats whatever I say to her. She still loves music and dancing, being read to, playing with her toys, the pool, and cuddling with mommy. She is doing so well at her daycare. Her teacher is fantastic and Abby adores her. They do fun stuff like Splash Day. Ms. Kim reports that Abby talks all day long (ha!), rarely cries, and loves to repeat Ms. Kim when she says the kids' names. She can drag out Will into about 15 syllables too. She also did this with Katy's name. Thank goodness both Dawn and Julia heard her say it or no one ever would have believed me. My little girl already has a southern accent. :-)

Friday Abby had her 15 month check up. Aside from 5 yucky shots, it went well. Abby now weighs 24 pounds and is 32 inches long. If you are into such stats, this puts her in the 75% for weight and 95% for height. My tall little girl.

So, we are doing great. Abby is all I ever dreamed of and so much more. Till next time.

Well, it is the Tuesday after Memorial Day. For those of you who do not have children, let me say that weekends and holidays are like any other day. Sleeping late is a thing of the past for me. Not that I was ever one to sleep late anyway. But I now get up at 5:45 whether it is a work day or holiday. Somehow Abby came with her own built in alarm clock.

Many of you know that Memorial Day is not a holiday I like at all. Nine years ago, my father died on Memorial Day. It was the most difficult day and time of my life. And to this day, Memorial Day is still a day that I would rather just go on by. This year was really no exception for me in that regard. But I did cherish having a whole day to just play with my daughter. I spent the day thinking how very much my dad would have adored Abby. She is so much like him in so many ways. She loves to "read", loves to go on walks, loves dogs, loves to laugh, loves to "dance". These are all things my dad loved too. To me, Abby is the very symbol of loving and living life. So was my dad.

I don't mean this to be a sad post. Time does make the pain and sadness of losing someone close more bearable. After awhile, we tend to remember the happy and fun times rather than just the end of one's life. I can still hear my dad's very contagious laugh. I still remember him trying to convince me to jitter bug with him when he came home from work. I can still picture him with a book in his hand even if he only had a few minutes to read. I still remember my dad at each and every school event. I still remember taking long walks with my dad around the Berry College campus as he listened to my young philosophy about life. I still remember how incredibly excited he got about Christmas.

Abby will never know her grandfather except in stories but I do hope I can teach her many of the things my father taught me. He taught me to take the time to listen to both sides of a story. He taught me to always try to help others. He taught me that if you can laugh at yourself, life really becomes more fun. He taught me to always follow through when you make a promise to do something. He taught me to avoid rocks when mowing the grass. He taught me that driving an old car you bought with your own money is far better than driving a new car someone gave you. He taught me that you can always find a place to read a book.

For anyone reading this journal, I promise I will return to the usual stories of Abby next time. And I do have lots of good Abby stories. She is one funny kid. But for now, I sign off thinking about my dad. I do know Abby has one incredibly special guardian angel in the form of Larry Green watching out for her.

I'm back. :-) I guess this blog now turns into the ramblings, thoughts, and observations of a new mom. It's quite amazing to me how my life has changed since I first began keeping this online journal. I mean the little things are all still the same. My garbage collectors still toss the garbage cans randomly along the street on trash day. I still love going to Target. I still feel as though I go to the grocery store every day. I still love watching The Sopranos. And yet, all these things are completely different because now I am a mom.

Not a day goes by that I don't think about Uralsk and the beautiful people I met there. It is hard to put into words how they touched my life. The month I spent there taught me so much. Like so many Americans, I take so much for granted in my day to day life. From little things like readily available and soft toilet tissue to bigger things like being able to read and talk to people in a language we both understand. I believe I said it before but think it bears repeating - not being able to read or easily express myself was a very humbling experience.

So how else has life changed? Ahhh, well the best parts of every day now include wet kisses, sticky little hands holding mine, hearing the best laugh in the world, hearing "mama", and reading a board book (even if we just read it 11 times already). I now love seeing how fast a 14 month old girl can walk/run to me when I pick her up from daycare. Suffice it to say, there better not be another baby between us when she sees me, or said baby will have little sandal marks on him/her as Abby makes her way to me. Bath time was never so much fun as it is now.

Things I have learned since coming home:
1. Baby wipes get rid of any stain. On any article of clothing.
2. If you go to Eckerd enough times to get pictures developed, the photo guy sometimes gives you a discount just because.
3. Those little plastic Easter eggs somehow multiply after Easter is over and will end up in every crevice in the house.
4. It is possible to change a crib sheet in the middle of the night while the baby is still in the bed. Required to complete the job? One contortionist.
5. It takes incredible timing to get the spoon with applesauce in the baby's mouth just at the moment the baby sneezes to ensure that applesauce gets the maximum velocity.
6. If, while in the car, you blow kisses to your baby in the rear view mirror, there is a high probability that the trucker behind you will mistakenly believe the kisses were meant for him and will in fact blow them right back.
7. With practice, one can change a diaper, talk on the phone, make silly faces, and recover a pacifier - simultaneously.

So, that is it for tonight.

Hello everyone!

Well the last 2 weeks have been incredible! A combination of emotions and feelings and an adjustment to our new lives together. Abigail is everything I had dreamed and so much more. She is just the funniest, cutest, sweetest baby. I am still amazed how fast she has adapted to her new life. Aside from a few sleeping issues (which I will come back to in a minute), she has really had no trouble.

Abby has already learned so many new things and I completely love watching her experiment and learn. She loves getting in the car! And yes, this even though she must still face backwards in her carseat. Yesterday we went to Target (oh how I missed Target!) and she clapped the entire way home. So funny to watch this in the rear view mirror. :-)

She is still very serious with people she does not know. She will allow them to hold her but will not give up the smiles. I love this about her. It is like she is really checking the person out first. Once she knows someone though, it is all smiles all the time. She still loves to dance. Oh it is priceless. I will hold her and put on the music and she laughs and kicks her feet and bounces. Everyone who has seen her do this can not help but laugh and dance with her. Her favorite music (and mine too) is the Russian CD I bought in Kazakhstan. If you ever have a bad day and need some cheering up, just come to the Green house and watch Abby dance and your day will instantly improve. :-)

Abby has had her first doctor's appointment and she did great. It broke my heart to watch them draw blood and then give her several shots but she was a real little trooper and stopped crying very fast. She weighs 19 pounds now and is 29 inches long!! For those of you who keep up with such things, this puts her at the 50% for weight and 95% for height. At this rate, I might be looking up to a 4 year old in a few years. :-) Her doctor felt she was right on target where she is supposed to be. She is definitely doing all the things an 11 month old should be doing (pulling up, crawling everywhere, walking with assistance, exploring, etc.)

I found out this week that my daycare has fallen through a little bit. They no longer have an opening for March (when I plan to return to work) but will have an opening for May. Sigh. I have already called around and gotten on several other waiting lists for other daycares. I'm not panicking about this because I know something will work out but it was a little frustrating to hear.

As I mentioned above, the only minor issue I am having with Abby is sleeping. We are pretty much doing two steps forward and one step back right now so things are definitely improving. The first week we were home, she would wake up every couple of hours. Usually a pacifier drive-by (I put her pacifier in her mouth without making eye contact) would do the trick. The majority of this week has been great though. We have really gotten a schedule going (dinner, bath, "brush" teeth, "read" a book, bottle, bed) and she was mostly sleeping a good 11 hours. The last 2 nights have been new challenges. Thursday night she was awake from midnight to 3:00am. Last night I could not get her to sleep until 9:00pm (usual bed time is 7:00pm). But as I write this at 7:20am, she is still asleep (and did not wake up all night).

We enjoyed so much having my mom stay with us a week and a half after we returned from Kazakhstan. Mom was a huge help to me (she took care of her "baby" so I could take care of my baby). Of course, Abby had a great time with grandma!! I mentioned in my last post that the jet lag was the hardest part of my entire trip. I have read from many others that they had the same problem so at least I was not alone but it took me a solid week to recover.

I have finally posted a few pictures of Abby that I took in Almaty (our last week in Kazakhstan). I am working on getting all my trip pictures posted too. It's funny how my computer time has decreased since we have been home. Anyway, here is the link:

http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/gayla059/album?.tok=phbvLpABeTVCgu6k&.dir=/9e73&.src=ph

Take care everyone and come see us if you are ever in the Atlanta area! :-)

We are home!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay - so we have been home a few days now but I have to tell you, the hardest part of my trip so far has been recovering from the jet lag. It is something I greatly underestimated. I have traveled to Europe several times but always recovered in a couple of days. This time about wiped me out. :-)

Let me see if I can catch you all up a bit. Our last day in Almaty was pretty busy. It snowed all day long (which made for the most beautiful exit to Kazakhstan early the next morning!). Vitalii took Abby and me shopping! Had to get as much to remember Kazakhstan as I possibly could. He took us to the most wonderful little shop where everything was handmade. This lady carried everything from art to clothes. I loaded up!! Vitalii was very hot in her store, so he and Abby went out in the snow (where she promptly fell asleep!) The lady knew just enough English, and me just enough Russian to make our transaction. :-)

We then went to the Tsum store which is like a 3 floor bazaar - though fancier. I can't really describe it very well but it is made up of many small, almost booths and I think you could buy anything there. I bought some adorable slippers for Abby and some stacking dolls (had to get those!). Vitalii was also impressed that I went back in by myself later and found the first store where I had forgotten to buy a shirt. By then it was definitely snowing harder so we went back to the apartment to eat lunch and let Abby take a nap. I was able to get a good bit of packing done while she slept - thank goodness!!

That afternoon Abby and I were to go to the U.S. Embassy to get her passport and visa stuff. There were several families there with us (some from WPA and some not). Let me tell you that Abby was the biggest baby! The others were roughly her age but she had them all beat in size. Makes a mom so proud! :-) The Embassy was quite strict about their protocol. No photos inside or out and we had to leave our driver's licenses at the front and then were escorted up the elevator. From here it was easy. They called our names one at a time. When they called the Green family, I went to a window that looked like a bank teller where they gave me a large packet for Abby and I had to raise my hand and take an oath. This packet was to remain sealed until we got to the U.S. where it was only to be opened by BCIS. Her picture was on the visa form on the outside and was absolutely adorable. Sadly I was not allowed to keep any of that.

Next we walked a block or so to Gulbanu's office. It was nice talking with the other families and we discovered we would all be on the same flight from Almaty to Frankfurt later that night. My meeting with Gulbanu was good. She is an incredible lady and I am eternally grateful to her for all she has done for Abby and me. We did discover one small glitch. I did not have actual airline tickets for Abby. I had booked them and requested them but never received the tickets. Since I did not buy her a seat I didn't think anything about not receiving them. Well, Gulbanu had Vitalii take me to the Lufthansa office so I could work it all out. The Lufthansa office is located in an extremely nice hotel. It took about an hour or so to get everything straightened out but it all ended fine.

I had one last thing I really wanted to buy before leaving Kazakhstan - a CD with the awesome music I had been listening to for the last month. So, one last trip to the Ramstore! My boy Vitalii got me hooked up and I bought a CD. While I was there, I also changed my tenge back to dollars. By this time it was dinner time so back to the apartment one last time.

I fed Abby and got her to bed and then it was time for some major organizing and packing. Vitalii was picking us up at 1:30am. I decided to pack, take a shower, and take a short 1 hour nap before he arrived and the timing worked out just right for this. I should mention that Abby had just started catching a cold. And teething. A little foreshadowing for you there. :-)

Vitalii picked us up exactly at 1:30. He was so wonderful to take all my heavy bags to the car. Abby woke up as I got her snowsuit on and we headed out to the most beautiful winter wonderland ever. With all the lights of Almaty, the scene was surreal. I wish I had my camera out but everything was packed so tight so I will have to remember it in my mind. Vitalii had a special CD for our drive to the airport (about 30 minute drive). It was a lovely exit.

The airport. Oh my. We exited through the VIP service which was so much nicer than just regular airport boarding. But it was still the airport. And it was 2:00am. And we all had awake tired babies/children. :-) I did feed Abby and changed her but the wait was long. No way around that. One funny thing happened there though - all of a sudden I noticed about 15 tv cameras filming all of us waiting. We had no idea what was going on. The tv people were escorted out but we later found out that there was some criminal on our flight who was being kicked out of Kazakhstan. Not sure why he was being sent to Germany or what the whole story was but whoever the person was certainly warranted a lot of attention.

The flight to Frankfurt was about 7.5 hours. Abby and I were seated in the bulkhead and they had a bassinet for her. The man sitting next to me was not exactly thrilled with this notion. :-) He was an extremely large man and the bassinet baby combination was more than he wanted to deal with. I can certainly understand that. There were plenty of open seats though so I was surprised he didn't move somewhere else. Abby did sleep a couple of hours but then the sleeping part of our trip was over for awhile. Fortunately on this flight there were many babies and we all wound up congregating in the back of the plane for most of the flight. At the risk of being too graphic, I must share that she had one diaper incident that might make some kind of world record. And if you have never changed a diaper in the bathroom of an airplane with an busy 10 month old, well, you truly have not lived. :-) Imagine arms, legs, diapers, and wipes going every which way. It was really funny.

Next up - Frankfurt! We finally landed and I parted ways with the families I had met as we are all going different directions at this point. We had a 4 hour layover here. Our gate was pretty far away and had not even opened yet so I found a table and fed Abby. We walked around a good bit too. Finally they opened the section for U.S. flights. Wow. Talk about security. We had to go through again (though we were still in the gate area). And let me say, they checked for things in places - well - you get the idea. They even patted down Abby (including her diaper). Ok - that part was funny to me.

We were still a good 2 hours early at our gate but Abby shortly fell asleep. I don't know what it is about me and the Frankfurt airport. Something always happens to me there. This day was no exception. There were about 10 other people sitting near me - all together. They kept saying "Atlanta, GA" over and over again. I should say at this point that they were all fully dressed. I don't normally add this as a way to describe people, but in this case, that is an important piece of information. I was sitting between them and the bathroom. Even though Abby was asleep, I was completely entertained for the next hour by these people. The first one to go to the bathroom, returned without his pants. He still had on his shirt and had on a towel, but no pants. The next one walked by me brushing her teeth with no toothbrush but just toothpaste on her finger. The next one came by with pants, no shirt, and no shoes. They were parading by me at a rapid rate too. Every one had on different amounts of various clothing. This little show lasted quite awhile and I only had to turn my head in modesty once so I guess it was all just fine. I just don't know - people are funny. :-)

The flight to Atlanta was one best described as "Some things are best not dwelt on". Poor Abby was exhausted (as was I) but she fought sleep solidly and very successfully for 3 hours. The flight attendants at one point asked if they could do something. They offered me hot water but I didn't think scalding my child would make things better. I knew once she fell asleep she would be out for the count (and this was precisely what happened). I finally got her to sleep and she slept for a good 7 hours until we were about to land in Atlanta. I, however, did not sleep since she was on the seat next to me and Abby tends to roll when she is asleep.

But, we finally landed!!! Woo hoo!! It took us 2.5 hours to get to my family and friends who were patiently waiting on us. We had to go through Customs, of course, but also had to let BCIS go through her visa stuff and proclaim her an official U.S. citizen!!! If you have not traveled internationally, it is not like getting off a domestic flight, as you have to claim your baggage and then go back through security before leaving the international area.

And, so we are home. I can tell you with absolute happiness that every second of my journey to and from Kazakhstan is something I will treasure always. Yes, parts were difficult. But it was all worth it as Abby is the best thing that ever happened to me. She is this incredible, joyous child. I love watching her learn new things and experience new things. I can no longer imagine my life without her.

I have decided to keep posting here (though every day probably won't happen) so those of you who are interested, please check in. In some ways our journey has ended but in so many others it has just begun and I want to capture as much as possible.

I plan to post pictures of my little pumpkin later today and will include a link here.

Finally, 2 of my dear friends are having a "Meet Abby" party this Saturday (Feb. 7) from 2-4pm at my house. If you are in the neighborhood, we would love for you to come by!! E-mail me or Ginger (anotherginger@yahoo.com) if you need directions. NO GIFTS!!!

Bye for now! :-)

Hello from Almaty!

Well, my life has changed for the absolute better and I am writing as one extremely happy mommy! :-) Words can not describe how wonderful it is to hear Abby laugh and see her smile every day. She has the most precious grin in the world. Every day she learns something new. Her latest tricks include clapping, raspberries, doing one incredible Godfather impression (which is simultaneously dead on and hilarious), and playing with her feet. She loves to eat and I have not found anything yet she does not like. I hope she likes American baby food as much as Russian baby food. :-)

Our first couple nights in Almaty were a little difficult in terms of going to sleep. Almaty is 2 hours ahead of Uralsk (and 11 hours ahead of Atlanta), so we got to go through our first time change. It was funny though because I would be rocking her and look down to see 4 little teeth as she smiled at me. :-) Last night was 100% better as I was able to get her to sleep at 8:00 and she slept until 7:15. Abigail is terrified of baths. I had read many children who live in orphanages are scared of them (she has never had a bath before - they give only sponge baths in the baby house) but we will get through that with time I know. Aside from baths, she is incredibly happy. She is still very reserved around strangers and will only stare. No smiles for people she does not know.

Our time here in Almaty has been fun. We went up in the mountains on Saturday. Talk about beautiful. We ate at a ski resort outside with one of the most breathtaking views ever. Abby loved it but mainly because she got to eat up there. :-) Sunday afternoon we got together with another family. Baby Jasmine is 9 months old (1 month younger than Abby) and is such a cutie. The babies had fun staring at each other. We went to eat dinner that night and Abby did great (and this without a high chair or stroller!). The place we went to was a Scottish restaurant and I think she was busy staring at the Russian waiters wearing kilts. I know I was.

Today we had Abby's medical appointment with the doctor here. This is required for entry into the U.S. They weighed her at 18.9 pounds but they weighed her with ALL her clothes so I know she is not quite that big yet. They said she was 28 inches too. Big girl!!! Everyone said compared to all the other babies her age here, she is huge. That's my girl! The doctor was interesting. He barely acknowledged Abby at all but then the "examination" was minimal.

After the medical we went for a walk in the park and then ate lunch at Mad Murphy's. Such good food for me since I was able to order meatless. And Abby had a high chair so all was right with the world.

Our apartment here is very nice. I have a bedroom, living room, bathroom, kitchen, and a room I have designated as the ironing room (no, I'm not ironing here but that is all that is in the room). There is a "crib" but I use that word in its loosest sense. It looks like a crib that would have been used in 1945 and has only 3 sides. Yes, and Abby is pretty smart about that empty side. :-) At first I pushed the crib against my bed (since they are roughly the same height) but she just crawled in my bed so now she sleeps in bed with me. Fortunately when I put her to bed she is asleep already so I don't think she is aware I am even sleeping with her. I will have to worry about that when we get home.

Well, Vitalii is walking Abby so I need to go check on them. :-) We are doing great and looking forward to coming home. Tomorrow we are going shopping in the morning and then to the Embassy in the afternoon. We will be picked up from the apartment Wednesday morning at 1:30am to make our flight to Frankfurt. We have a 7 hour flight from Almaty to Frankfurt, a 4 hour layover in Frankfurt, and then a 10.5 hour flight to Atlanta. Adding in driving time to the airport, and it is a 24 hour trip home.

I will try to post tomorrow! Cheers from Kazakhstan!!! :-)

It's official..... I'm a mom!!!!!!!! :-)

And I am the mother of the most amazing baby girl too!! :-) So much has happened since my last post.

Court. I won't lie. This was very scary and intimidating. Olga and Assia had so well prepared me, but it was court and even the thought that the judge would say no was just unbearable. We got to court right on time but we were the only ones. The prosecutor arrived just after us. Then the lady from the records office. And the wait. The lady from the Ministry of Education was about 30 minutes late. So we all sat in relative quiet waiting. Talk about a long 30 minutes. Every little bit Assia and then Olga would ask if I was ok. I would smile and say yes. What else can you do? :-)

Finally the lady arrived and we went into the same room where we had pre-court. In addition to the people mentioned above, the director from Abby's baby house was also there. Everything happened exactly as Olga had told me it would. The judge asked questions. Assia and I stood to answer them. Then the prosecutor asked questions. I also presented my petition to have the extra 2 weeks waived. I don't even remember most of the whole thing but I did have to also give my speech. The baby house director talked, the lady from the ministry of education talked, the lady from the records office talked. And then came the prosecutor. She fully agreed I should become Abigail's mom but did not believe it was necessary for the 2 weeks to be waived. Fortunately, Assia chose not to translate this part for me. Even more importantly, the judge decided to grant my adoption (YAY!!!) and grant the waived 2 weeks (YAY!!!). We all quickly left the judge's room and it was hugs all around which was very cool. The mood instantly changed from somber and serious to very celebratory. I didn't realize it was good news until Assia gave me a hug. :-)

We left court and went to the apartment so I could change and then went to the Records office to sign more stuff and get Abby's birth certificate. And then we went to get Abby. By this time it was already after 6:00 and the baby house was very quiet (most workers leave at 5:00). I got Abby's snowsuit on (Oh my gosh but it was adorable - all you can see of her were cheeks and eyes). We went back to the apartment and the wait began. Our flight was delayed. We were supposed to leave at 9:10pm and the flight wound up being 23 hours late. Olga once again came through for me (I will never be able to repay her for everything) and kept checking on the flight so we were able to stay at the apartment. The problem was the updates kept changing so I would unpack what we needed and then find out we were about to leave and pack everything again. I did this 4 times over the next day. And the apartment had nothing for babies so I could not put Abby down. That night I slept with Abby and kept waking up to just stare at her. :-) She is soooooo beautiful and it was an amazing feeling that she is now my daughter. The next morning when she woke up, she was grinning and then laughing. Talk about one happy mom. :-)

But the great news is we made it. Assia came over Thursday and I was able to run buy water to make bottles and cereal for the baby. At 3:00 Thursday afternoon Assia left and Olga and Igor arrived to take us to the airport. Saying good-bye to all 3 of them was very hard for me. We all exchanged gifts and email addresses and I will stay in touch with them.

The Uralsk airport is more like a bus station than an airport. There is no real waiting area and it seems 1 flight is coming or going at any time. We had a 2 hour wait for the plane to land but Olga waited with me so the time went by pretty fast. Abigail is such a little trooper!!! Because the airport is so cold, she had to keep her snowsuit on that whole time. She did not cry except when she got hungry. When the plane finally got there we had to leave Olga and Igor to go through security. Security is about as tight here as it is at a McDonald's. They wave a wand over you and ask what is causing the beeping. Pretty funny. Now Abby and I had to wait (still with coats) for another 1.5 hours in this little room. I'm telling you, it would have been hard on most adults but Abby did so great. The only time she cried was when we had to walk outside to the plane. I'm not sure I have ever been that cold. It was a really hard freezing walk (about a football field length) and was completely iced over. The nicest man took my bag for me and then when we got to the plane he made every one let us through.

Abby's first flight was very good. I had hoped she might sleep since it was now so late but she was too busy taking in all that was going on. Fortunately we had an entire row to ourselves. There would not have been room for anyone else. :-) Abby did rest a little while I gave her a bottle but afterwards she was ready to go. I walked her in the aisle for a little bit and discovered the back of the plane was entirely empty except for a couple with a precious baby boy. They spoke very little English but enough for us to determine their son was 1 week older than Abby. The babies had the best time staring, laughing, and clapping at each other. The couple gave me another pair of socks for Abby because they were afraid she was cold. Now I should mention that she had on the required thick tights, a onesie, a shirt, pants, a shirt, a sweater, and socks. :-) These people are very worried about the cold - even inside a hot plane.

When we were landing, Abby fell asleep (of course) but I managed to get her bundled back up again and we road the bus to the "terminal". My driver Vitali, and interpreter Galena were there waiting on us and we finally made it to the apartment around 12:30am. Quite a day! Fortunately, Abby is an amazing sleeper and I was able to unpack last night.

Today she has been all smiles and laughs. We even ate in her first restaurant for lunch and she was charming everyone. I wish you all could see her. Just precious!!!

Right now Vitali is walking Abby in her new stroller (I bought it at a market just this morning). We had paperwork to do at Gulbanu's office today and I am going to buy groceries in a little bit then we are back to the beautiful apartment to wash clothes and rest.

I'm sorry this is such a reader's digest version - I have left out so much but my time is very short. More later! :-)

Hi everyone,

This is going to be one quick post today. Court day! It has been quite the land of activity here for me. Yesterday afternoon's visit/observation with the lady from the minister's office went great. Abby was a little angel despite the fact that the meeting was late and it was her dinner time. She mostly stared at the lady (as I have discovered she does with strangers) but I was able to get her to laugh and smile. Olga and Assia also told the lady that Abby always smiles and babbles during my visits with her (visits with Abby that is, the ministry lady did not babble though she did smile) :-).

Afterwards, Olga and Assia prepared me for court. I had to sign a petition for the court to allow the last 2 weeks be waived so we can come home as planned. It is a law in Kazakhstan that adoptive families visit the baby for 2 weeks, go to court, and then if the adoption is approved, they must stay an additional 2 weeks before going to Almaty for final paperwork. We are hoping to get the additional 2 weeks waived. So basically, we are asking for 2 things today: 1) That the judge grant my adoption, and 2) That the judge allows immediate execution.

This morning Olga had me take my gifts for the caregivers, baby house director, and doctors with me when I visited Abby. Normally this is done after court, but since time will be so tight for us we did it this morning. This seemed to cause some confusion but we made it through. Four of Abby's caregivers were working today so I got to give them, her doctor, and the director their gifts personally. The rest I left. I also got some pictures of these wonderful women with Abby.

Igor brought the cake I bought too. It was quite beautiful and looked like a wedding cake (3 tiers!). One of the women brought a piece for Assia and me and it was so good too! Not as sweet as our cakes at home but I liked it better that way.

After the baby house, we stopped by the market so I could buy Abby some of the tights all the babies wear under their clothes. I don't want to get in trouble for not having her dressed warmly enough while we are here.

It is very cold today - feels colder to me than it has been lately. It snowed a lot last night. Last night I wrote the speech I will give in court. I am indeed nervous. I don't think there is anyway around that. Court at home can be a nervous thing but at least you understand what is being said. :-) I don't know, maybe it is actually better I don't know everything they say. I will let you know if they start pulling out my permanent record from elementary school. :-)

Take care everyone and as always, thank you for your prayers and support!! I can feel both half way around the world.

Happy Tuesday!

The sun has actually popped out here a bit today. No new snow but the old stuff is definitely still here. Today I walked past a house where they have not swept or shoveled snow and the snow was above my shoulders so I finally got a feel for about how much there has been.

Yesterday afternoon's visit with Abby kept me busy because a certain adorable baby girl was incredibly busy. :-) Actually Olga and Masha had a meeting in the music room where we were and Abby kept trying to figure out what was going on. Pretty funny afternoon all in all. Afterwards, we took Masha home first and they told me she lives in the relatively new part of Uralsk. It was great having a new drive home - and a longer drive. I love the drives through Uralsk. In the car Olga asked which I preferred - night Uralsk or day Uralsk. While I enjoy both, I do love night Uralsk. It looks completely different at night with all the lights.

On the way to drop me off we made a stop at a store and when Olga returned to the car she had bought me flowers for my birthday. So sweet!!! I get sad thinking about leaving Olga, Assia, and Igor tomorrow.

This morning I got to see Abby get a baby massage. It was really neat to see. This was the first time for me to see Abby without 14 layers of clothes too. She is very healthy looking though pretty petite. I think half her weight is in those cheeks of hers. :-) The massage lady put the baby on a towel on the desk and just gave her a massage all over. It lasted maybe 15 minutes and I did take pictures. For the most part Abby stayed pretty still though it.

During the break between visits, Assia helped me buy formula, cereal, juice, and snacks for Abby. I brought some of this stuff with me but not enough for a whole week. We then went to a different bookstore from the other day and I bought some books, postcards of Uralsk, and a large map of Kazakhstan. I want to get it framed when we get home. It has some Kazakh history on it too. Kazakhstan joined the Soviet Union in the 1930s and became a free and independent country in the early 1990s (1991 I think? I can't remember if it was 1991 or 1992). It is a cool map. I wish they had also had one of Uralsk but they did not.

I walked around awhile after they dropped me off. My last full day in Uralsk. When I got back to the apartment, I began packing. This morning Assia asked me if I had packed yet. When I replied "no" she paused with the comic genius of Bob Newhart and then asked "Will you by tomorrow?" :-) I decided it was probably time to begin. I don't think I will have as much trouble fitting everything this time because between gifts and stuff I have already used I am simply not taking as much back. But after a week in Almaty, I'm sure I will fill those bags back up again. :-)

A few of you have asked about why we go to Almaty. Tomorrow if the judge grants my adoption, I will officially be Abby's mother! But there is still a lot of paperwork and stuff that has to happen before we can leave the country. Aside from a trip to the Embassy (which is in Almaty), most of what will happen will be done by my agency. Hopefully, everything will go as planned, and we will be able to fly back to the U.S. on January 28.

This afternoon a lady from the Ministry of Education will be at my afternoon visit with Abby. I'm hoping all goes as it should but with an active 10 month old, who knows. :-) Also this afternoon, Olga and Assia will prepare me for court tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be a very busy day and I do not know if I will have time to post or not. In the morning I will have my visit with Abby. Court is at 4:00 and then we will go to the baby house to get Abby and say good-bye to everyone. I hope to get lots of pictures of her caregivers at this time. And then, we are off to the airport for a late flight to Almaty. I have no idea how much I will be able to post once we are in Almaty. I doubt it will be every day but I will post as often as humanly possible.

Please keep Abby and me in your prayers as I go to court tomorrow. Take care everyone!

Curious about the weather in Uralsk? SNOW!! :-) No change other than just so much more of it and it has been snowing all day today too. More on that in a minute.

My afternoon birthday visit with Abby was, in a word, incredible. She was in the best mood and we just laughed and played the whole time. And ate cheerios. They will likely be finding cheerios in that music room for years after we have left here. :-) The best part of the afternoon though was at the end. Assia was holding Abby and all of a sudden Abby just reached out her arms for me. Oh words can not describe!

Assia took today off because she has a final exam on Thursday but the days between now and then will be filled helping me. So Masha is my interpreter for today. This meant I got to see a new (to me) part of Uralsk as Masha lives in a part of town I had not been to. And then another first. Masha was late. Olga, Igor, and Assia are incredibly punctual. We waited outside for around 10-15 minutes for Masha and were thus late to the baby house.

When Masha brought me Abby, she was definitely more subdued today. Laughing but not as much. But still we played. Unlike Assia, Masha did not stay in the room with us for long and it was honestly the longest I have been alone with Abby. Abby began to get a little restless/fussy so I walked around the room with her and before I knew it, she fell asleep. She slept with me holding her for over 30 minutes when Masha came to take her back. It was a moment in time I won't forget.

I found out later that apparently Olga had scolded Masha for being late, so I was allowed to stay with Abby longer than I was supposed to. After we left the baby house, we stopped by the big market and then I went to the apartment for lunch.

Soooo, back to the weather. I swear yesterday felt like I lived in a slapstick sit com. I kept looking for the cameras and listening for the laugh track. Some of you know that I have this, shall I say, knack, for being splashed by cars, trucks, whatever if I happen to be standing on the corner of a street when it is raining. Well, apparently this knack carries over to snow in Kazakhstan. Not once, not twice, but three different times yesterday I was sprayed with snow/mud while waiting to cross the street. And so it began.....

After lunch I decided to go to the little market near my apartment (I did this all by myself too!). Well somehow it managed to warm up enough yesterday that the snow melted a little where people walked and yet it was still below freezing so it would freeze back up again immediately. You probably see where I'm going with this. Ice. It was very difficult for me to walk on the ice though people who lived here scurried right along as if they were walking on carpet. I had to take it very slow and no kidding was lapped by 2 little babushkas on walkers. So, I realized that if I walked on the edge of the "sidewalks" it was still fresh snow. The problem with this was the snow was so deep I had to march to get anywhere. So here I am with my army of one making the loudest noise just to move forward. People usually ignore me but they all stared at me yesterday. It was one long 2 blocks. :-) On the way back, I hit a very icy spot, took one step, and next thing I know I am in front of my apartment. No, I did not fall, but I did that whole arms and legs flailing thing usually reserved for bad television. Looking back, though, sliding a whole 2 blocks was pretty fun. I do not believe anyone can make arms and legs flailing look graceful but graceful was not even my vocabulary yesterday. I did hit the heck out of my leg on my big steel door as I came in for a landing. Just a lovely bruise that I may still have when I get back to Atlanta. :-)

Then we have the drive home. As I have said before, Igor is a wonderful driver. Yesterday was proof of this fact as I swear pedestrians were testing him from every angle. He might as well have just duct taped his horn in the honk position because he had to hit it every 2 seconds. It was like playing real life frogger - only we were one of the cars. :-)

Yesterday I finally saw snowmen!!! And I saw 2 different snowball fights. It was great to see all the snowmen, snowwomen, and snowbabies. :-) I had been wondering why the children of Kazakhstan skipped out on such a fun tradition but I guess they just saved it for a Sunday.

Today is a holiday here too. No, it is not MLK Day though. It is a traditional Russian Orthodox holiday which involves swimming in the lake (or river?) here. Something about cleansing oneself. Before you even ask, no, I will not be partaking of this activity. Even though I have gotten used to the temperatures here, I will not be pushing my luck by dunking myself in frozen water.

So, there you go. :-)

Take care and enjoy your holiday!

Since today is Sunday and the Internet Cafe is closed, I am writing from the Chagala Hotel. Though it is more expensive, it is a really nice environment (the internet cafe can be quite on the loud side). Today is a day in Uralsk that would make Currier and Ives giddy. Well, provided they were the giddy types. It has snowed very hard non-stop since yesterday afternoon and continues to do so as I type. It is incredibly beautiful. I wonder if we are now walking on many feet of snow as the snow never melts and the new snow just gets added on top. The temperature actually feels very mild to me now.

Today is my birthday and if someone had told me even 13 months ago that I would be spending this birthday in Uralsk, I would have stared at them with the look I usually reserve for the people who work at the Georgia Pacific building post office. Those of you who ever visited this post office know the look I mean. For those of you who have not had this, um, honor, the look is one of incredulity.

One year ago yesterday I filled out my application for World Partners Adoption. It has been quite the year. The first 3 months I spent filling out more paperwork than I could have imagined. Then came the wait. Oh the wait. I am a patient person but this wait nearly killed me. One of the hardest parts of international adoption is how much is out of your hands. You are totally relying on people you don't know and generally the information you receive is, well, non-existent. And yet, the moment I saw Abby's picture, the wait just evaporated for me. And the first moment I met her in person, I knew every agonizing part of this year of wait was worth it.

Alright, enough of my birthday retrospection. :-) On to Abby! The last 2 visits were just great. I don't know how else to say it. I'm sure it sounds boring reading what we do but every time I see her, there is more recognition in her face. She is content to let me hold and walk with her longer (rather than always playing). Each day I also see new parts of her personality. I think she is very funny and yet has a serious side. She loves music. She likes to attempt things herself but is willing to let me help her if the task is too hard. She has learned to make a fish face which is absolutely priceless. She babbles a lot. She is very fascinated with her feet. As I have mentioned many times before, anything that makes a good loud noise is a hit. I'm sure people on all the planes we will be on hope I am able to find something else to entertain her as much. :-) And she has a great little appetite. And I am already teaching her to be a Braves fan, Uwe! :-) We worked on the tomahawk chop today.

One thing I have enjoyed very much during my time in Uralsk is the driving. They know how to do it here. :-) Basically, if someone is going too slow, you pass them. Right side, left side? Your call. Someone getting on your nerves? Honk, and then move on. No road rage, no fingers, no words I can't repeat here for all audiences. Who knows how many lanes the roads are intended to have (I have not seen pavement in a week and a half), but sometimes there are 4 cars across, sometimes 6. Sometimes you are so close to the car next to you that you can reach over and tossle their hair. Not that I have done this yet. Those darn hats get in the way. :-) Igor is a wonderful driver. No panicking from home, but I have not worn a seat belt in 2 weeks now. They just don't wear them here. I'm not even sure his car has them. Now in the U.S., there is no way I would go out without wearing a seat belt. Drivers are too scary at home. And too busy doing other things. Here, they focus on driving. I have yet to see a driver here worry with makeup, shaving, reading, talking on a cell phone, or eating - all things I see on a daily basis when driving in the states.

Buses. This is pretty cool. They have different levels of service. There are large minivans everywhere. These are the nicer buses and cost more but you have a more pleasant ride. They even have curtains on some. The big (and thus cheaper) buses are more like you would imagine. Big, loud, and crowded.

Dogs. Since I commented on cats this week I must give my first love, dogs, equal billing. Dogs are everywhere. Many are with their people but also many are just out on their own. They seem very well fed so I'm not sure they are strays but they do not have any apparent leash laws. The thing that is funny is the dogs that are by themselves are on a mission. It is like they have a watch, a schedule, and someplace they must be. If you pass one, it will scarcely look at you. Instead, they will fast trot right on by. American dogs seem to just meander more. Sniffing, checking out the scenery, and just hanging out.

My time in Uralsk is actually winding to an end. In some ways this is hard to believe, in others, it feels I have been here a lifetime. This trip has so far been simulaneously difficult, memorable, wonderful and rewarding. I am very good at finding ways to entertain myself but there have been moments that this was hard for me here. I can't imagine this trip would be easy for anyone who needs to constantly have others around them. Well, I have others around me, but they are rarely saying anything I understand. :-) Even in the car when we are leaving the baby house, everyone will be speaking Russian. I try to pretend I know what they are talking about. Sometimes I can even sort of guess (as I discover if they happen to later translate for me). I think this is the closest I have ever known what it felt like to be illiterate. At least when I have traveled through European countries, the alphabet is where I could sound out words - or recognize them. Here the alphabet is completely different, so things like street signs mean nothing to me. It has been quite the learning experience for me. It is very humbling!

Alright everyone - I hope the rest of your weekend is a good one. I'm off to have a birthday lunch on a birthday in which my greatest gift is one precious baby girl.

One word sums up the weather here. Snow. I checked the forecast and it is supposed to also snow every day for the next week so I may have seen the last of the sunshine from Uralsk.

On to Abby though. :-) Yesterday's visit was wonderful. Her doctor has also officially extended the afternoon visits to 1.5 hours! Woo Hoo! Unfortunately the morning visits are still 1 hour but hey, I'll take what I can get. We played a lot yesterday. When you are 10 months old and restricted to a blanket then your options are a bit limited. :-) She is so ready to just go. Her crawling is very good and she is so speedy. Twice yesterday she sort of accidentally stood on her own. Each time it surprised her and then she fell but for a few seconds she was an independent standing baby girl!

This morning's visit was fantastic!! She was in the best mood and I got all kinds of smiles and laughs. She is also so busy. I, of course, translate her curiosity into how brilliant she is. :-) This morning I also brought the baby bjorn carrier so we could practice. I'm glad I did because she tolerated it but only for a short amount of time. I really think she will do just fine though when I am using it to run around airports because she will have so much to watch.

Yesterday Igor gave me our airline tickets for the flight from Uralsk to Almaty. We are scheduled to fly Jan. 21 at 8:10pm. Wednesday is going to be quite a big day as I will have court just before needing to go to the airport. Let's just hope the judge agrees and approves everything!!!

Today Igor and Olga were about 30 minutes late picking us up from the baby house. Time matters not at all to me here so I totally didn't care. (They thought my morning visit had been extended as well as the afternoon). After we dropped off Assia, Olga let me know the baby house is in need of medicine. I had asked to donate something to the baby house (since I did not have room to bring over a lot from the U.S.). So this is what I will buy them. Now that I have seen things close up I wish I could do so much more.

I do have good news to report in the shower department. Score:
Shower 145 (I gave extra points for the disasters earlier this week).
Gayla 2

I will take every success I can get in this area. :-) Today and yesterday were much more tolerable. Don't get me wrong, there were still the scalding/freezing fluctuations and there is no visible catalyst for each change. I have now come to the conclusion that someone is doing something in another apartment that is causing the changes in my water temperature because it truly is random.

There are a few things I have not really mentioned here but will do so now. The water here is very slick and when I first arrived smelled of fish. I don't notice the smell anymore so I know I have gotten used to that. On most of the buildings here they have these huge outdoor lights. They have no cover and are the brightest lights. Since most apartments don't have curtains or blinds you are treated to the light all night long. My bedroom has a sheer kind of curtain but it is still like sleeping on a Broadway stage. Minus the music and dancing of course. Though now that I think of it, that might be fun too. It's funny, but both the water and my super sized night light are things I already know I will remember fondly. It is just part of life here. Those and the steel doors that open and close all night long. I wonder where people are going or returning from at all hours of the night.

Something else I have noticed is cigarettes. Billboards for cigarettes are truly everywhere. But on many streets, you also see older women sitting in front of small tables (like tv trays) and they are selling cigarettes. Yesterday I saw a little boy not more than 8 years old buying cigarettes. I hope he was buying them for some older relative, but who knows.

I just met an American from the Peace Corps. She asked me if I was American and adopting. Yes on both counts. :-) She teaches English to 2nd through 10th graders. Wow.

So, I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! I had forgotten it was Saturday until a few minutes ago. :-) The days all kind of blend, but I'm doing great and enjoying the people and my experience here.

Hello from snowy Uralsk!

It has pretty much snowed straight since yesterday afternoon, taking only a short break this morning. The new snow is truly beautiful. Again, I have no idea how much we have gotten but it is such a lovely sight.

Yesterday afternoon I walked to Chagala since I had a longer break. They are now getting used to me there. :-) And they are getting used to my custom requests. Yesterday I asked for plain cheese pizza (not on the menu) and man but it was good. They also give me complete control of the remote. :-) Just as I was leaving, 2 American men came in and I gave them the remote as I left. The snow was very heavy as I walked home but it felt great and made walking much easier!

My afternoon visit with Abby was so much fun. She was in the best mood and laughed a lot. Her laughs are just music to my ears. Yesterday we got creative with stacking cups and I showed her how to make an echo noise in it. Well, she would imitate me and then crack herself up. We did this many times. :-) I also moved one of the little chairs to the edge of the blanket and she loves to stand holding to the chair - while banging a cup. Now, you knew there would be banging involved somehow. :-)

After my visit, I went home and ate my leftover pizza and read for a long time. If any of you ever find yourself in a foreign country with no tv and very short daylight hours, I highly recommend some good books. Fortunately, being the devout reader I am, I also picked great books to bring with me. Last week I finished The DaVinci Code (loved it!) and have now been reading Middlesex. Oh my but this book is fantastic!! I can't put it down. Good thing it is very long. :-) See, book club ladies, I'm trying to keep up with you from here! :-)

This morning's visit with Abby was more of our usual. Stacking cups, laughs, jumping, blocks, and, yes, cheerios. Every day she makes more eye contact with me and seems to be more aware of who I am. I forgot to mention at the end of yesterday's visit, Assia had been holding her a little and when Abby came back to me, she just buried her head in my sweater. We sat like that for a long time and Assia even commented that it was too bad my camera was not handy.

After today's morning visit, Assia and Igor took me souvenir shopping. First we went to a book store where I was able to get 5 children's books. All of them are printed in both English and Kazakh. Four of them are about a Kazakh folk hero. I think his name is Aldar Kose and I already like this little guy.

Next we went to a store that had a variety of gifts. I bought a Kazakh flag, some Kazakh dolls, a camel doll, a small jewelry box, and a great painting of a famous building here in Uralsk. They had some beautiful games but I'm afraid they are too heavy. I may try to find something similar in Almaty (since we will be there from Jan. 21-28, I will have time to do some more shopping). My goal is to buy 18 gifts. I will then give her one each year on her birthday for her first 18 years. I can't take credit for this idea as I read it somewhere but think it is a cool idea.

After lunch in my apartment, I ventured out to find a children's store near me. Someone had drawn a map in the apartment journal and I was able to find it. It was a bit pricier than other places but they pretty much had everything for kids. I bought Abby some new toys that I will donate to the baby house when we leave. I know she is tired of the toys we have been playing with. I got her a duck thing that makes a noise when it is pulled and also a stacking kind of toy which also has a duck (not sure what is with all the ducks here). :-) The pulling duck is cute but quite honestly, the other duck scares me a little. The toy part seemed worth the little scare. The quality of toys here is nowhere close to what we have in the U.S. and I have a feeling Abby may be able to destroy these toys in short time. I also bought her a very cute stuffed dog which we will take home with us.

A few more observations about life in Uralsk:
1. People walk around with bread. Bread is not always sold in plastic bags so sometimes they are just carrying the plain bread.
2. Every day I see people outside in the snow cleaning carpets. They use a broom and will beat and/or sweep it before taking it back inside. I took a few pictures of this.
3. Today I had to pick up a few things and we went to the small market near my apartment. Even though this place is roughly the size of a 7-11, you pay for what you buy at the counter where it is stored. So, today I bought bottled water, diapers, and cookies and I had to pay 3 different times because each item was on a different wall. Also, no sales tax here.
4. Cats. Near my apartment there are some dumpsters and every day I see on average 10-12 cats hanging out at the dumpsters. There is always a man who seems to be feeding them. These cats are eating quite well as they are easiest among the largest cats I have ever seen. And I thought American cats had attitude? Oh boy, these cats crack me up every day. They appear to picture me as if I were on a platter with a red apple in my mouth.
5. Each day I take 5 diapers to the baby house. I also keep a spare outfit in my bag. They will dress Abby in the same outfit until it is dirty and then they give it back to me to wash. Usually she wears an outfit for 2 days and they give it back but now she has been wearing the same outfit for 4 days now.

Assia told me this morning that Abby's doctor said I could stay an extra 30 minutes this afternoon. I wish I knew what I did so I could do it again! :-) Actually, last week I asked if I could stay to feed her and I asked if I could observe them give her a baby massage, so I'm guessing they might be allowing one of these things. I hope so! I have discovered they don't really tell me much in advance - just pretty much what I need to know when I need to know it. It works for me. :-)

Have a great night everyone! And as always, thank you for your emails, good thoughts, and prayers!

Whew! It is with great relief that I write I survived pre-court. I'm not sure how I missed the fact that this court also involves going to court and is actually a preliminary court. It was not until last night when Olga and Assia came to my apartment to prepare me that I realized just what pre-court is. It's probably best I didn't know beforehand that I would go to court twice. Olga and Assia did a wonderful job preparing me. We went over all the questions that the judge would ask and the general way I should answer. So, after they left, I was of course nervous. And I don't even have something good and mindless such as Survivor to occupy my mind.

Well, this morning I got up to face my daily dragon - that shower. I will not use my full personal description of the shower because kids and preachers might be reading this. :-) Well, the shower had a whole new surprise for me today. No water from the shower. Actually, I noticed when I brushed my teeth that there was almost zero water pressure and sure enough, when I went to turn on the shower, water came from the tub but switching to the shower? Nada. I waited awhile - just in case there was some kind of shower miracle that might occur. I'm sure you guessed though - that did not happen. Honestly, if it had been any day other than court day, I would have probably done without but since it was court I simply had to get more creative. So, I had my "shower" from under the tub. Let me just say - quite the contortionist am I. :-) At least the water temperature stayed consistent!!

Igor picked me up at 9:45 and we drove to pick up Assia. We had to take a detour because right around the corner they were doing some kind of utility construction (and I now strongly suspect this was the reason for no water pressure today). The funny thing was we had to park on a different side of the street and Assia could not see us. Igor honked that horn for like 5 minutes. He and I were laughing so hard. Poor Assia was just looking around. It was like a scene from Candid Camera. She could hear but not see us.

Next up? Court! The court building seems relatively new (at least on the inside). We sat in a waiting room (Assia studied for her final exam which is later today). Eventually, Olga, the baby house director, and one of the ladies from the ministry of education also arrived. We were called in to a large room. The judge was sitting at large desk at one end of the room. Immediately in front of him sat a woman I believe to be a secretary. Assia and I sat in chairs facing the judge. Behind us at a very large table sat Olga, the baby house director, and the ministry lady.

The judge basically asked me all the questions Olga said he would. My voice sounded calm but I assure you I was nervous. This judge was the definition of stern. Not even the faintest hint of a smile and he scarecely even looked directly at me. First I had to state what my requests of the court were. They were:
1. To adopt Zhansaule.
2. To change her name to Abigail Emma Green.
3. To keep her date and place of birth unchanged.
4. To be recorded as her mother.

I was afraid I would forget one of these but I remembered them all. I then answered all his questions. He probably asked me 5 or 6 questions total. His one concern was the fact that my mom (who would be Abby's guardian should anything happen to me) lived in Italy. Ok, this was funny to me. As most of you probably know, my mother lives in Rome, Georgia, but apparently when they translated my dossier to Russain, they left out the Georgia part. Sorry mom, but he also wanted to know how old you are. :-) Anyway, it took a couple of attempts to clear up the GA vs. Italy thing, but after that the baby house director talked and then ministry lady talked. Assia translated for me what they were saying. A Reader's Digest account for you: They covered Abby's health, the fact that they searched for her birth mother but could not find her, and that my visits with Zhansaule (Abby) have had a positive effect on her. The judge also took several pictures of Abby alone and Abby with me from the photo album I provided and he kept them.

All in all it was relatively fast (though seemed to last forever) but in the end the judge announced court will be on January 21 at 4:00pm! Sadly, I didn't get to visit Abby this morning because of court but I do get to go this afternoon!

So, on to the most important topic - Abby. Yesterday afternoon's visit was very good! We played and she was very hungry for cheerios. Assia and I just laughed because Abby couldn't eat them fast enough. We are both doing great and her top 2 teeth are almost all the way in now. It is so cute - especially when she eats her cheerios because she chews them right in front.

While I look forward so much to the day we are home, I am also trying to soak up every minute of this trip. Sometimes the days are very slow (the times when I am not with Abby) but I am finding new ways to occupy myself. When I am listening to the radio, I make up what they are singing based on how it sounds in English. One of my very favorite songs sounds like this in English:

There is mustard on the table.
There is mustard on the table.
There is mustard on the table.
Go! Get it now.

Another favorite song sounds like this in English:
I met Jessica Simpson.
She is Jessica Simpson.
Let's see her now.

The melodies are what I really love but for all I know they could be singing about stomping kittens. I may need to try to buy a CD or 2 while here.

It was one week ago today I arrived in Uralsk. One week ago today I met Abby. One week from today we will be back in Almaty. I can not wait for all of you to meet this amazing baby. Her smile will melt even the hardest heart. Those of you who do not live near Atlanta simply must plan a visit to the south. Or we will visit you. By the time we get home, she will be quite the little traveler. Take care everyone! :-)