Home Sweet Home

I'm sure they meant to write "and Linda" as well!

Finally, together and home.

Nate in a milk coma, missing out on all the chips and salsa

We made it!  Our flight went 1,ooo times better than expected, Thank God!  As it turned out, there was a fellow WPA mom (Lisa) flying back home with a baby (James) on the first leg of our flight home.  It made all the difference knowing she was there with me and we helped each other out getting through the airports in Almaty and Frankfort and while on the plane as well.  Both of our boys did well considering the time of night we had to wake them and bring into a crowded airport.  Ya, so they cried a little on the airplane but what do you expect!  Luckily, the area they sat us in had a group of students flying for a leadership meeting so the majority of them were to busy listening to their iPods to notice.  

We went our separate ways in Frankfort but not before helping each navigate through the very crowded (high season for Europe) airport and find our gates for the next leg.  At my Lufthansa gate, I met an angel of an agent named Melanie that asked a few questions about Nate's Kaz passport which led us into a 20 minute conversation about adoptions in Kazakhstan.  She was genuinely interested and this was, coincidentally, my first (of many, I'm sure) conversations with a stranger about adopting Nate.  She was so touched and before I knew it, she upgraded my ticket to Business class.  I just about cried right there, at her counter (out of exhaustion and joy!).  Needless to say, her kindness along with a few passengers I met at the gate that just about carried us into our seats, made for a very pleasant and restful journey home to LAX.  

Once we landed at LAX, the first words out of Nate's mouth was "Papa".  I had just taught him how to say that and though he didn't know what it meant, he said it (oh, I wish I had that on tape!!).  

Nate and I got through immigration pretty smoothly and once we got our luggage, we found Papa waiting for us right outside the airport doors.  Nate immediately recognized him and happily went to him.  As much as I  love Nate, I loved handing him over to his Papa to start the special bond Nate and I have shared since he came home to my apartment in Karaganda.  

We arrived home to find our family and a few friends to welcome us home. Everyone was so excited to finally meet the Nate his parents couldn't stop raving about!  I was excited to eat delicious salsa and 3 different kinds of chips... yummy.  Mike (with help from our family and friends- THANK YOU!) had Nate's room ready and Nate had no problem falling asleep in his crib.  

I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to: first, meet such a wonderful boy. Second, have such wonderful family and friends that helped and supported us. And lastly, third, be able to stay the entire 9 weeks with Nate before bringing him home.  I'm glad I stayed for the entire trip and even though there were a few rough times, I wouldn't change a thing about Our Kaz Journey.  

So now, this blog that was started to keep everyone posted while we were in Kazakhstan will now continue as a blog to update everyone on our (now complete) family and our future adventures...

With joy,

Linda, Mike, and Nate

We're going home!!!!!!

This hike was (apparently) exhausting for Nate.

The ski resort outside of Almaty- makes me wish we were here in the winter!

The view from our 18th floor apartment window in Almaty.

I know I keep saying this, but it is so hard to believe we are REALLY going  home!  I have been in Kazakhstan for 9 weeks; it's hard to believe home still exists just the way I remember it.   And now that Nate and I have confirmed dates to fly back home, the reality of flying 25 hours alone, with a baby, is hitting me.  I didn't really think about the challenge I signed up for, it's just something I needed to do to get Nate home.  Up until last week, my travel partners were scheduled to fly back from Almaty to Frankfort with me and even though they would have their hands full with their 2 1/2 year old twins, I took comfort in knowing they will be with me.  And now (YIKES!) they are not!!!!

Don't worry, I'm not chickening out- I WILL BE HOME ON 7/24.  I'm just a little anxious.  I have been packing and repacking my carry-on bags every single night making sure I'm prepared for anything that comes my way.  The problem is, being prepared = heavy carry-on bags!  Not to mention carrying a rapidly growing baby boy (I swear he's gaining a pound/day!).  

Other than the stressful nights of planning for our journey home, we have been having a great time in Almaty.  All of our appointments have gone smoothly and we have all our documents ready.  I got Nate's Kaz passport the other day... it's adorable.  His passport picture was taken in the beginning of our trip (about 2 months ago) and his visa photo in his passport is current- it is amazing how much he has already grown.  We went to the SOS clinic for a physical exam by a very friendly South African MD; we spent most of the visit chatting about South Africa!  He gave Nate a clean bill of health and was full of compliments. 

These were the last days Nate and I had with our travel partners and their twins.  We said our goodbyes but I know we will see each other again.  It will be so weird not seeing someone you have seen daily for the last 9 weeks.   I guess everyone and everything I miss from home will be transferred in to missing them when I get home.

 I know there will be parts of living in Kazakhstan that I will miss as well.  My life has never been so simplified and quiet.  This journey has taught me the value of simplicity and I hope to carry that into our life back home.  I can't control the traffic, noise, and congestion of CA but I can live with a lot less "things" that I often think I need.  

Having said that, I need to get back to packing all the things Nate needs for the last leg of this wonderful journey.  If feels so good to know that we made it.... Nate is ours now and I get the honor of bringing him home to his Papa and our family and friends that are eagerly waiting for us in California.  

Thank you everyone for your love and support and I can't wait to see you all and introduce you to our Nate.  

See you tomorrow!

Linda and Nate

Goodbye Karaganda, Hello (again) Almaty

Our first flight

Well, Nate and I survived our first airplane trip to Almaty on Saturday night (7/18).  It was... tougher than I ever imagined but mostly because the flight was scheduled so late at night (11:50 PM).  Nate is a very curious little guy that doesn't want to miss a thing so he stayed up for the entire journey.  The 3 full bottles I packed for him was my saving grace-  as well as the nice strangers that helped me with my carry-on and stroller.  This was definitely great practice for the 25 hour travel back to CA in less than a week.  I have a newfound respect for all the mothers I have seen traveling with their babies.  

The toughest part of this flight was arriving in Almaty at 3:00AM AND discovering  my beautiful, modern  loft-style apartment had no crib.  After an hour of moving around heavy furniture, we finally went to bed. 

Luckily, Nate slept in a bit so we were ready to walk around town and get our water and groceries for the rest of our stay.  My travel partners had the same sort of experience (2 adults + 2 toddlers, 1 full size bed) so together we fought through the frustration.  We are so very close to coming home so we just try and focus on that.  

While in Almaty we have a few "free" days to site see so I scheduled a trip to the National Park just outside of Almaty for some fresh mountain air, a visit to the museum, and a stroll through Gorky Park.  

It's hard to believe we are going home soon.  

See you soon,

Linda and Nate

The Seventh Inning Stretch......

The last look back at the babyhouse

(Sorry for the delay in posting this entry- it’s been a little hectic!)
It’s been 7 weeks and Nathaniel Rhodes has FINALLY come home! Technically, he isn’t allowed out of town yet (another week?) but he can now live with us in our apartment here in Karaganda. In all honesty, it’s been the perfect way to have him adjust to another environment since the apartment is small and very quiet. It’s just about childproof since there isn’t much furniture and only a few electrical outlets to cover. There’s no crib but it’s nice having him sleep with me (for now, I promise!).

Going to the Baby House for the final time was a little sad for me. Although I am extremely excited to have Nate with me morning, noon, and night, I know I will miss the Baby house, his caretakers, and the other babies. Nate and I had tea and cake with the caretakers, got detailed feeding and sleeping instructions from Nate’s Baby House doctor (Dr Love), took our final pictures and said our goodbyes. Maybe we’ll see them again in a year or two... we’ll see!
Nate’s first car ride went smoothly (except the fact that they don’t have car seats!) and he took in his new environment surprisingly well. His eyes were wide open scanning our little apartment, everything is new for him including the fact that it is really quiet as opposed to his Baby House room full of screaming babies with multiple caretakers in and out of his room.
When we got to the apartment, it was time for his afternoon nap (they got 4, two hour naps a day at the Baby House- I think I’ll wean him off so many but wait ‘til I get home). As we laid in the bed he couldn’t stop laughing and playing, it was very sweet; he finally fell asleep a little later than his usual time and I had to wake him up at 7PM for dinner- he didn’t like that and I think he forgot where he was but as soon as I put him down on the living room mat with all his familiar toys, he was all smiles and laughter.
He ate, played, had a bath (he LOVES the water) and was ready for bed at 9:30, no problem. So far, he’s been sleeping like a champ while I’m wide awake and continuously checking in on him.
Welcome to motherhood, I guess.
Wish us luck!Linda

The Countdown Begins!

Sorry Nate! I couldn't resist!

Our 8th week....
After a few days of adjusting (and recovering from colds), we have now figured out a routine. After the first night, things didn’t go so smoothly, but now we have most the kinks worked out and there is finally time to catch up on the computer.
Since bringing Nate home, there have been many new milestones accomplished; it’s amazing how quickly he is learning things now that he is home with one-to-one attention 24/7. The top 3 new milestones are: responding to his new name, definitely knows who mamma is, and (my favorite) he has learned how to give mamma a kiss.
We got some good news as well, it looks like our documents will be ready for us to fly to Almaty this weekend. Which means we will be leaving Karaganda on Saturday (7/18). In Almaty, we will take care of a few more things (medicals and US Embassy stuff) then we should be flying back home to CA next Thursday (7/23). I can’t tell you how very exciting it is to be able to count the number of days left before we go home now. I’m glad I was able to stay here as long as we have and wouldn’t change a thing but it’s been 55 days now in Kazakhstan... we are ready!
Lots of Love,
Linda

Happy 4th of July

Our first 4th of July at the Baby House

Celebrating with the Crutchfield's (Jessica, Chris, and their twins- Adler and Aidan)

It’s the 4th of July!!!!

We are now entering our 7th week of this unforgettable journey. I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to live in Kazakhstan for as long as it takes to bring home this dream of ours named Nate.  Karaganda is beautiful and the people are kind; I will have many wonderful memories to share with Nate about his homeland.  Living here is truly a lot easier than I thought it would be and having such great travel partner’s (Jessica and Chris) to get through the occasional hard times has made all the difference.  

But.... it’s been 45 days since we left California.  When I woke up this morning and realized it’s the 4th of July was when I realized how homesick I am now.  I missed my home, family, and friends from day one- but now I really miss everything American (just not the traffic and crime!). It’s felt like forever since I have seen the Pacific ocean, driven my Prius, had a thick juicy grilled chicken breast, walked my dogs, and gone shopping!!! Occasionally we stumble across a store/restaurant/food product that is from America and I can’t tell you how very happy and excited we get! One of the grocery stores just got a new shipment of foods from the States-  a limited amount, but enough to look through each and every shelf, twice, so not to overlook anything.  Peanut butter, regular mustard, and the biggest score.... a package of corn tortillas made me deliriously happy. Kaz has every chip imaginable- Kebab, ham, seafood flavors but NO tortilla chips!  I actually made tortilla chips yesterday with fresh salsa which NEVER tasted better in my life!  It was hard deep frying those tortillas considering I have an awful stovetop in my apartment and have tin camping-like equipment for utensils and cookware, but it was well worth the effort.  This small example plus many other countless experiences (larger scale, I promise), makes me sing “God Bless America” and REALLY mean it this 4th of July!

I don’t think I will ever take for granted all the opportunities, choices, and conveniences of home ever again.  I know I will miss my quite life here in Karaganda but I really look forward to coming home soon with Nate.  We should get custody of Nate by 7/10 and get through the rest of the process by 7/24.  It’s just nice to say we’ll be home this month; it makes me feel like we are that much closer to home sweet home.  

And hopefully (hint hint), the fridge will be stocked with fresh salsa and chips too.

Take Care and we'll see you soon!

The Blums

Blum Family Pictures!!!

Drumroll please......

The Judge said yes!!!!!!!!!  Mike and I are very happy to announce the Kazakhstan court has officially approved our adoption yesterday (6/24) afternoon.  We are now proud parents of Nathaniel Rhodes Blum:  Nathaniel, Nate for short (the only name Mike and I could agree on; it means gift from God in Hebrew) and Rhodes (for Rhodesia, the former name of the country in Africa, now Zimbabwe, we were married in). 

We are over-the-moon excited and have just a few more hurdles to go through before bringing him home.  But this court decision, by far, has been the biggest one to accomplish and we are confident the rest will all fall into place.

So now we hope the next  2 weeks to go by quickly.  He will officially be ours at that time and we can FINALLY bring him home (to our Karaganda apartment) to wait the last few weeks out.  

Sorry there are no pictures, we will post them later tonight.  We just wanted to get the good news out!

Thank you everyone who has supported us in this process.  The day has come where all of our hard work and patience has paid off!

Lots of love, 

The Blum's (Linda, Mike, and Nate!)

Court Update

Quick update.  Pre-court went smoothly on Monday, 6/22.  We met our Judge, he went through the paperwork (dossier), and said a few words to confirm our understanding of the Kaz adoption process.  He said our paperwork was in order and most importantly, he granted us our actual court date.  We were very happy to hear he wants us to return on Wed, 6/24, at 3:00PM.  We are told court should take an hour and his decision will be announced an hour or two after.  

We are in our 5th week here in Karaganda and continue to visit our “little one” daily.  After court, there is a 15 day “wait period” for the Judge’s decision to become final.  We have just been told we will continue visiting our “little one” at the Baby House during those 15 days.  After that, we can FINALLY take him home (to our apartment) until we get his passport and birth certificate, which should take 2-3 weeks.  

So that’s the latest news and we will let you guys know, as soon as we can, what happens in court.  In the meantime, wish us luck and keep on praying for us!

Thanks for everyone’s support and emails (I’m saving the all for our little one’s scrap book).  Sorry I have not been able to write back this week but we have been busy with last minute stuff, including working on our speeches for court.  

Love,

Linda and Mike

Happy Father's Day !!!

Happy Father’s Day to all you Dads out there including our fathers back at home and of course, our soon-to-be fathers here in Karaganda (Mike and Chris).  Father’s Day is not celebrated in Kazakhstan; they actually have a special day of their own today called “Health Care Worker’s Day”. So today, in Kazakhstan, we also celebrate and thank the team of caretakers here at the Baby House for all that they do for the 100+ babies and children they care for each and every day.  

Our fourth week here in Karaganda has ended yesterday. Our pre court is tomorrow (6/22) and we are hoping to get our big day in court this week as well.  We continue to visit our “little one” each day at the Baby House while we wait and I must admit, I will miss the other babies and children I have met during our visits.  We have seen all the different age groups playing outside in the sun or being pushed in strollers by various caretakers/volunteers and we, quite literally, would take ANY of them home with us with our “little one”!  In fact, Mike and I have already asked about adopting an additional child but Kaz law will only allow siblings to be adopted per visit. Unfortunately, our “little one” is not related to any of the others but the idea of returning is very tempting.... but in the meantime, anyone else out there interested?!?!  I promise to hold your hands through ALL of the paperwork (as I feel I am an expert after having done most of the paperwork 2-3 times already!). I have grown quite fond of their face and personalities and I can’t help but wonder what lies in their futures.  I know a few of them have families coming for them soon and for the rest, I hope and pray for a wonderful, happy future.  After court we still have a solid 3+ weeks here in Karaganda so hopefully we will see more families coming to adopt these beautiful children.  

As for our “little one”, we still can’t believe how much he changes from day-to-day!  He has become much more verbal (including louder) this week and has been experimenting with the different noises/sounds he can make.  He has made rolling around his preferred mode of transport while he continues to figure out how to crawl.  On Wed (6/17), his very first tooth finally broke through his front lower gum.  He still loves being carried around the Baby House playground in the Baby Bjorn but now watches the kids playing and wants to touch every piece of playground equipment. The kids have gotten used to seeing him each day and call him “lala” (which means doll).  We usually end our visit with him watching the cars drive by on the street until he falls asleep (such a boy!).  Speaking of which, he has obviously taken a liking to an “older” girl (Karina, who is moving to Paris in a few weeks).  They have been caught chatting and playing, while they are supposed to be napping, more than twice this week and now there cribs have been separated!!!    

For now, that is all we have to report but we will keep you posted when hear our Judge’s decision. 

 

Wish us luck!

Linda and Mike

Sitting around, waiting for our day on court...

Our "little one" is sitting!  We’re excited- it’s a huge difference from 2 weeks ago.  He was a little bit of a “bobble head” when we first met and last week he started the tripod sit. His head stability has improved and now he’s sitting, not for too long but each day getting stronger and stronger.  Whenever we clap for him, he looks at us like "what's the big deal, of course I'm sitting". We are still so amazed at how much a little love and one-on-one attention can help develop a baby.  Sitting is just one of the many new discoveries for our little guy but I won’t bore you with the rest!

So it’s Friday (6/12) in Karaganda and while we are waiting to hear about our court date, we are making our plans for the weekend.  I guess it’s official, we are totally settled in and feel at home now because we have a weekend full of fun activities that go beyond our Baby House visits and watching DVD's.  So here is what a weekend in our “new hometown” consists of: Right now, Fri evening, we are having drinks at the Cosmonaut bar/lounge (4 star hotel near Baby House) while taking advantage of the fastest WiFi service in town. For dinner, we have dinner plans to join our travel partners (it’s there 5 year Anniversary- HAPPPY ANNIVERSARY Jessica &Chris!) at the Cosmonaut’s very nice restaurant.  I should add that they insist on us joining them, I swear we aren’t crashing!  Tomorrow, after our Baby House visits, I have made plans with my interpreter, Julia, to go shopping to find Kazakh children story book and CD’s.  We’ll later have dinner at the Giorgia, a Georgian restaurant, for a greek salad and amazing cheese bread that’s like a pizza with a yummy sauce(kinda like salsa) to dip it in.  The kebabs are great their, too.  On Sundays there is only one Baby House visit permitted so we plan on going to the “Green Market” just outside of town in the afternoon.  It is bazaar-like market for the locals to buy just about anything you need- a fun place to explore through and get a feel for what living in Karaganda is about.  We’ll end our weekend over at our travel partner’s apartment for dinner.  We have been having each other over for dinners throughout our weeks here since we both like to cook and it’s nice to have home cooked meals every once and a while!  

I know I will regret writing this but I can't resist: he is such an easy baby!  He wakes up laughing and smiling and that same happy personality lasts throughout the day.  The caretakers all say he has always been easy going and happy so... why should that change, RIGHT?!?!?!  I guess we'll see.  In the meantime, we will enjoy his happy disposition.  

We should find out next week what our court dates will be but may not find out until the scheduled court date. 

Of course, we’ll keep you posted.

Pakka (so long) for now,

Linda

2 Weeks Notice...

Hi!

We are very happy to announce our 2 weeks of bonding is officially over and our final papers were notarized on Sunday, June 7th.  So on Monday morning our coordinator, Natasha, will submit our papers to our attorney and we can file for a court hearing with the judge.  Our court date is estimated for 6/22 but may be before that; we just have to wait and see. We are in very good hands here in Karaganda and are thankful for such great team of people to have on our side! 

These 2 weeks have gone by quickly and we are hoping the next few weeks leading to our court date will be just as smooth.  It’s getting a little boring going to the Baby House each day (not the part about hanging out with the “little one”), just the part about being in the same small room to visit in and the same walk around the Baby House exterior.  Of course our “little one” doesn’t know the difference and continues to be content with our routine. It’s more Mike and I dying to show him the world outside of his Baby House walls.  He loves being outside either in the Baby Bjorn or the stroller.  His eyes are so alert when he’s out and it distracts him from his teething (and even his crankiness from the cold he just had, poor guy).  So right now, it would make us happy to just be able to take him out of the Baby House gates and explore Karaganda’s Central Park and city with him. Bringing him home to SM is still a far goal with a few more hurdles along the way (the biggest one, by far, is our court date).  So we are just concentrating on one hurdle at a time and staying positive that we will: a) get through them and b) accomplish them in a reasonable amount of time.

In the meantime, we are making the best of our stay here and the weather is making it very easy for us!  Summer is here in Karaganda and everyone is out walking around.  The sun doesn’t set until after 9:30 PM, so we have tons of time after our Baby House visits to walk around.  We have found excellent restaurants so walking has been essential!  On top of the good restaurants, there are delicious bakery goods at the market and our travel partner, Jessica, is an amazing cook.  We still can’t believe how lucky we were to get paired up with such a great couple!  Even the staff here in Karaganda commented on how great it was to see us get along so well.  

OK, now let me end with some updates of our “little one”.  As I mentioned, he is teething like crazy and gnaws on everything he  can put in his mouth, including our fingers and had a fever from one week ago.  Then, he caught a cold (viral, that spread throughout the entire room in less than a minute!- even Mike and I couldn’t fight it off!) that wiped out his energy for 2 days then turned him into the “cranky little one” for a day or two.  When he was at his sickest, he just wanted to be held by us and cried every time we tried to put him down (a good bonding sign since all the other kids had the same cold but weren’t so needy).  Then on Saturday, when we went to visit him,  he was back to being his same happy self, smiling and laughing in his crib... what a relief!  He even raised his hands up to us to get him, which was a first.  Also a first that day, he pushed himself around with his feet in the walker, balanced himself in the tripod position while  sitting (for a second), and discovered his feet to play with while lying down.  So not only did his spirits improve, he also had many “first” milestones in the 4 hours that we saw him.  Mike was so excited to see this and immediately had our “little one” practicing his balance while standing on Mike’s stomach- tuning the “little one’s” balance and coordination for surfing and skiing already!!!!

Hope all is well with everyone and you’ll be hearing from us again soon.

Linda and Mike

Happy Birthday Linda

Today is Linda's birthday.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

What a  better way to spend it than

playing with our new son.  I didnt think he would know how

to blow out candles but he did a good job.  The cake I baked for

Linda was perhaps a little rich.  The other children loved it.

The chocolate made them a little hyper, but as we say here in

Karaganda,  MALADIET DETEE.  I am so happy to be here with

my wonderful wife.

Linda's loving husband,

Mike

   

Hi from the "Little One"

Had another fun day (visit #10) at the Baby House.  The weather cooperated enough for a short walk outside (the doctors there are VERY cautious and do not allow any of the children outside for the slightest of wind).  We just found out we have our social worker visit tomorrow (6/4), my birthday.  Wish us luck!

Week One:

Hi everyone,

This week has flown by us so fast!  Everything from meeting the little one to making this town and apartment “home” for the next month or so has taken up our entire day.  THe hardest part of living here is the language....Russian is soooo hard!  I can’t, for the life of me, pronounce some of the words and memorizing these long/complicated phrases has been hard on my brain.  On the other hand, Mike has been communicating just fine- he’s even cracking jokes with these guys which is pretty funny to see since their culture is pretty stone face and stoic (in general).  Nothing gets in Mike’s way when it comes to talking-  no matter how hard the language is.  Oh, and I forgot to mention, he can read the cyrillic letters without any any problem as well.  

Today is Sunday and normally we can only have one visit but because tomorrow is a holiday (Children’s Day), we can only visit once for the afternoon.  Apparently, there will be government officials visiting the Baby House (the children are putting on a show for them- which we are not allowed to see) and  they don’t want us around.  So today we’re happy to get 2 visits in.  The little one gets really happy to see us and is at his ultimate cutest when we get to pick him out of his crib.  Each time we go into his room, we find him playing with his pacifier, totally content after his nap. When he sees us (Mike and I are usually elbowing each other out of the way to get the first peek), he’s all smiles and laughs for about 15 minutes which then continues unto his feeding time.  This little guys loves to eat and they serve HUGE portions for breakfast and lunch. He also loves his left thumb (a leftie?) as you can see in this picture. Take care and we'll post again soon!

Hi from Kaz

Hi everyone, 

We are having a blast getting to know our little one; each day he smiles and recognizes us more and more.  We are in day 6 of our 14 day bonding period which means we visit the Baby House twice a day to feed and play with him.  Between Baby House visits and exploring the town of Karaganda, we have had little time to do anything else!  So we are sorry for not updating our post.  Also, we do not have internet access in our apartment so we can only log in at internet cafes during our lunch breaks and before today, we have been using most of our free time figuring out how to live here for the next 4-6 weeks.  Don't get me wrong, it is a great place to be and Karaganda offers pretty much everything we could need- we just needed time to "settle in". So know we have figured out how to use the oven/stove/washing machine/etc, and where to shop at to make a meal or know where to go to find good food with English menus. Big accomplishments for us and now we are set to live here for as long as we need to. 

There are VERY few people here that speak any English so we are learning how to communicate- well, Mike is figuring out that part while I just point and smile.  The problem with that is that everyone here thinks I'm Kazakh and expects  me to do the talking.  I get those confused looks when it becomes apparent the "Amerikaneet" (American) is the one who knows how to speak Russian. 

This journey has been awesome and another bonus is that we have been matched up with great travel partners.  We feel fortunate to get to share this experience with such a sweet and fun couple from Georgia adopting toddler twins.  We see each other daily and and have even had each other over for dinners at our Karaganda "homes".  

Our first day with the little one....

We finally met the little one!  After all this time (and effort), this day has finally come.  As fate would have it, today is our 7th anniversary as well.  We couldn't ask for a better gift!  We'll write more later, just wanted to post this and some pictures (couldn't wait to show him  off!). 

The countdown begins....

We officially submitted our acceptance for an adoption of a baby in Kazakhstan. We knew from day one this little boy or girl is the one for us but kept thinking this is too good to be true! 
So now we wait for our Letter of Invite from Kazakhstan. Two weeks? One month? Maybe two months from now, we will get our letter, book our tickets, and fly across the world to the little one waiting  for a family. In the meantime, this family needs to get themselves ready for the baby!

Got the call we've been waiting for!

We finally got our phone call! On April 10th our adoption coordinator called me at work to give us news. I was surprised to get a call from Susan and did not expect to hear such great news. I was in shock for a while and the girls in the office had to help me call Mike and forward the email to him- I was all thumbs! That morning, Mike was in Reno, visiting his Dad, and was driving in the snow to a ski resort when I called. He pulled over to read the email on his phone and for anyone who knows Mike well, it takes an act from God to distract him from getting to a ski resort on a powder day!! So basically, that is how Mike and I can sum up our phone call on our Good Friday.