Happy Birthday to my twin brother

I was hoping to get this posted so it would show up on your 20th morning but I missed, being 10 hours ahead throws me off. Happy Birthday to Todd!

I also need to send a birthday wish to Katelyn and Jaret, both from the Churchill gang!

Happy Birthday to Me!

As I’m sleeping in on my birthday there is a knock at the hotel door. Jesse jumps up to get it, and much to both our surprise it’s Nurshia (coordinator) and Zhenia (translator). They never come up to the room; we always meet them in the lobby. Today they came upstairs to surprise me for my birthday with flowers and a gift. The gift is a silver and gold bracelet.  Jesse did not tell them it’s my birthday; they have our life history as a part of the dossier.  So I’m standing there in my pj’s feeling a little embarrassed, yet so completely touched by their thoughtfulness. It really almost made me cry… wow such a kind gesture.

Then I read my birthday note from Jesse and I’m crying again. Needless to say I’m having a great birthday, despite not being with Connor and Lana or the boy. The weather turned warm again today and I’m feeling excited about the week ahead, hopefully our last full week in Shymkent.

We are eager to show you pictures and tell you more about our son, but nothing is official in regards to the adoption yet so we don’t want to jeopardize the process. However, as a birthday present to me we’re going to announce our son’s new first name today. His middle name is his birth name -- so we’ll tell you that later. 

Without further adieu...  the name of our newest family member is Griffin!

Happy Birthday to My Lovely Wife

I know that today may be difficult; as I’m certain the only thing you really want is to have the entire family together to celebrate your birthday.  Know that the kids miss you too – and by kids I mean all three little ones.  Connor and Lana are surely aching for some much needed mommy time, and our new little guy is certainly all smiles and giggles every time you walk into the room.  As usual, daddy will be playing second fiddle.    

While this trip has presented plenty of challenges, it has also provided us a unique opportunity to spend some significant quality time together.  Be it surviving the heat-of-the-battle adoption proceedings or our coffee house chats, it’s a pleasure to get your perspective on life and a thrill to plan our future adventures together.  In addition, your perseverance during the hard times and willingness to expand outside your comfort zone are, as always, inspirational to me.  And perhaps most importantly, it’s your ability to live with my antics and even, dare I say, encourage my behavior, that only causes me to fall more in love with you.  And for that, I can’t thank you enough.   

So on your… 27^th Birthday (yes, Connor, it seems that you are catching-up to mommy), while you may find yourself in a foreign location, I hope that you also find yourself in a comfortable and happy place in life.  One in which you are surrounded by kids that appreciate you, family and friends that love you, colleagues that respect you, and a husband that cherishes you.

Love always,

-Jesse

Belly-dancers and Kazakh Language Lessons

I’m feeling a little behind in my posting (journaling for the boy). I must back up a few days…

Thursday was our best day yet at the baby house. Our boy was very happy to see us and showed a lot of effort with his crawling and walking attempts.  He’s also figured out how to hold a sippy cup with just a few days of practice.  There are two other kids and parents in the room doing their bonding at the same time as us. None of the kids, all over one year old, can hold a bottle or cup. We parents believe the kids are not allowed to hold the cups. The care-givers might be trying to make the feeding process go faster and therefore not allow the kids to hold their drinks. We’re not permitted into any other rooms in the baby house so we can’t say for sure what goes on back there… just a guess.

Bonding on Friday (day 11) also went well. The little guy is showing more and more of his personality. He squeals like a cat when he wants something or when he doesn’t want something (like Jesse tickling him relentlessly).  We’re encouraged by his progress over the past 11 days and can’t wait to get him home so he can really focus on “catching up” and feeling loved.

Thursday evening we went to dinner at BBQ with one of the families mentioned above. Rob and Donalee are here from North Dakota and are adopting a little boy. Their son gives our son a run for his money in the cute department!  We really enjoyed the company and English conversation.

Friday evening we had dinner plans with Yuliya and Jon-Paul so we in turn invited along all our other American friends. I haven’t properly introduced the Dickey Family yet… allow me to do so before telling about our dining experience. 

The Dickey’s are from North Carolina and are truly a pleasure to be around.  Michael and Angie have given their children such an incredible experience… yes they brought the whole family along to be a part of their adoption journey. Three polite well-rounded teenagers, ages 17, 15, and 13 willingly packed up and moved to Kazakhstan for 2 months (they’re staying for the appeal period). The stories they tell are great! They have such an adventurous spirit and have really embraced living here.  Their new baby sister, Landen, is one lucky little girl!

So nine of us head to dinner Friday night, back to the Greek/Sushi place mentioned in a past post. This time we have the assistance of Yuliya and Jon-Paul, so ordering is easy. I order beef and rice (good) and Jesse orders salmon (good).  This evening isn’t about the food, it’s about the atmosphere.  There was a birthday party or some sort of celebration dinner going on in the main part of the restaurant. The speaker volume was so loud; every time someone gave a toast or they played music we couldn’t hear each other speak at our table (that’s an important fact).  

The restaurant’s entertainment for the evening was belly dancers. The first time they came out to dance they had on pink gowns and we enjoyed the show.  Then they came out again later with fewer clothes on and one of them came slinking up to me. ME, I’m at a table with 4 men and she’s doing her belly dancing/hip swishing thing right in front of me. I’m now way out of my comfort zone, as if living in Kazakhstan where I can’t speak, read or write the language isn’t enough. 

Later in the evening, Michael mentions there is common English sound/word that is a very bad word in the Kazakh language, but is often said during English public speaking. Yuliya says she knows the word he means. She says the word softly. After not being able to hear all night I repeat it kind of loudly….UMMM, with an M or UHHG?  The look of shock and horror on Yuliya's face is priceless. I think she wanted to quickly distance herself from the whole table.  Imagine, setting at a nice restaurant in the States and someone loudly says the “P word” for the female private area.   I’m feeling embarrassed at this point because I embarrassed Yuliya -- but I swear all I said was “UMMM”.

Michael’s daughter Chelsea ran into a similar experience this week, when she said 'Umm’ about 27 times when speaking to a class of Kazakh kids.  Nice of the Kazakh teacher to count, yet not tell her about the meaning of 'Umm' until after her presentation.  Lesson – be aware of subtle language differences when speaking to foreign audiences!

As we're walking home from dinner that night, we see fireworks directly above our heads.  Oh, it's not fireworks, it is the power lines.  The lines running over the sidewalk are swaying in the wind and touching -- thus shooting major sparks across the sidewalk and street.  Maybe the Kazakh God of Electricity was trying to punish me for saying that bad word.

A Few Questions Answered

Written 4/17
Local time (Shymkent) -- 5:06 p.m. Cincinnati Time – 7:06 a.m.

As we have stated several times, the blog has served as a great way to stay connected to our family and friends while on this long-distance journey. One of the limitations of the blog is that we can’t directly address questions that are asked in the blog comments. So, Amy and I wanted to take a moment to try to address several of the questions that have been asked along the way, as well as reply to a few of the comments that were posted. So, in no particular order… (no, these are not the direct quotes… I’ve taken editorial liberty to either elaborate on a question for clarity, or altered it to generally embarrass or harass the original author… Jesse).

“Curious if the toilet training approach Amy described actually works?” [Refers to 4/16 post] – Grandma T.

• Well, depends on your definition of ‘works’. It is very common, as we have confirmed from many sources, and the kids do seem to ask to go to the potty before they are 2 years old. The obvious problem is the fact that you have to be very dedicated to staying on schedule with putting them on the toilet, which knowing the group that is following this blog, I’m guessing letting your dogs out to go pee is a bit of a stretch some days. Actually, I think the bigger issue is that the kids will still have plenty of accidents, so the parents end up doing a lot of laundry. Doesn’t sound like a good option to me. I love the idea of saving a buck and getting through the diaper phase as much as the next guy, but extra dirty laundry… hmm, not a good tradeoff to me.

• And since we’re on the diaper topic – no Allen, the picture in the slideshow is not an example of a Kazakhstan child’s dirty diaper. It’s a quite taste Turkish dish call Lamahcun (my spelling may be off). Kinda like pizza, but thinner crust. We’ll be sure to bring you back one, if I can ever get the diaper thought out of my mind. Thanks for ruining it for me… ;)

“How long do you guys get to spend with your little guy, and when is the adoption actually finalized?” – Lauryn and Jason

• As with most everything else, schedules here tend to be very ‘flexible’. While we were provided our son’s schedule (naps, meals, etc.) after our initial meeting, it took a few meetings to really get a feel for his schedule. More to the point, the first few meetings were brief (about 30-45 minutes), as he was quickly tired and wanted to nap. Once we found a time of day that worked well for him (12:30 pm), our visits have extended to about 1-1 ½ hours a day.
  

• As for the adoption being finalized --  In short, since we have a US consulate in Kazakhstan, we’ll be able to process all paperwork here before flying back to the US. So, he’ll be a US citizen once the plane touches down in the states (yippee!).
  

“I’m about to make a trip to Kazakhstan, and I would like a quick way to be able to pick out the prostitutes from the crowd. I hear that they are the ones wearing shorts, is this true?” – Grandma T [umm… I may have altered this question a little - Jesse ;) ]

• First off, Ian, I suggest you get a hold of your wife and discuss the risks of this type of a lifestyle. Specifically in this part of the world. Or perhaps she was asking on your behalf? Either way, it appears you two lovebirds are out of luck, as the myth is just that. Shorts are not reserved for the ladies of the evening, particularly since summers are quite hot in Kazakhstan. However, I was warned that Americans with chicken legs should consider twice before attempting to wear shorts in public, as it’s likely to result in hysteria among the abundant population of cute Kazakhstan ladies that work and live in the city. Good thing we are on schedule to wrap up before things really heat up here…
  

• And since this is a truly important topic, I felt that additional research was in order, so I also discovered that prostitution is actually somewhat legal in Kazakhstan. I say somewhat as it seems that the actual ladies are likely not to be the ones arrested, but the ‘managers’ of these enterprises will be targeted for prosecution. Not really consistent, but seems to have the overall effect of discouraging this type of activity. So, fellas, don’t go getting too excited…
  

“Has Amy tried any horse meat yet?” – Mama and Papa

• Umm… I guess the honest answer is that we’re not sure. Not by a conscience decision, at least not yet. Of course, if she does, I’m afraid that our Kentucky friends may not allow us back in the state.
  

• Before you ask, I haven’t tried yet either and I just made Amy the designated food taster. Sorry dear, looks like you gave me control of the wrong blog update!
  

"Xopowezo fpemehh" – Tim MacVeigh

• Tim, since I need to actually translate this back into Cyrillic before then attempting to translate into English (since my Russian-English book is a bit limited), perhaps you could give me a hint? Pretty sad that you have a better handle on Russian (or is this Kazakh?) than me ;)
  

Again, please keep the comments coming.  It's great to stay connected to everyone while off in the wilds of Kazakhstan.  Which reminds me that Shymkent is often referred to as the 'Texas' of Kazakhstan.  This is due to the history of lawlessness and corruption in Shymkent, which seems to be somewhat improving over the past few years, but still well off from our standards.  Of course, not sure what is says about Texas, either... ;)

Bonding Day 8

So we’re on bonding day 8 of 14 and the baby is doing well. He wasn’t quite as playful and energetic today. We’re thinking his teeth may be bothering him. He was chewing on his fingers and his gums are inflamed. Honestly we didn’t mind because he very happy to be held and then rocked to sleep. Also today we got the results of the blood work we ordered and all the results are negative.

Here’s an interesting fact for all… the babies here don’t wear diapers. Not just the ones in the orphanage but most young children. The obvious first question is ‘what do they do when the baby goes potty?’ --- they just wash the clothes. (Perhaps this is why they put 4 layers on them). We’ve been told they start putting the children on the potty every 3 hours starting at 6 months old. At that age it’s all about timing, but the children are sometimes completely potty trained (asking to go) before they are 2. Diapers are expensive; a pack to 64 diapers is over $25, with the average income being approximately $400 per month. On our second visit the Baby House Director asked us to bring diapers, so now when they bring in our son he thankfully has on a diaper.

We haven’t experienced much “sticker shock”. The prices of most items we’re buying are reasonably priced. Our dinner tonight was $9.00 and it was great. A bottle of water is 50 cents, a .5 liter of beer is $1.00, and a pack of cigarettes is $1.00 (perhaps we should start the habit while we are here?). We did buy a baby toy at the Mall toy store and it was $30, which is outrageous. It’s a $10 toy at home. I did hear that pair of Levi’s Jeans are $125 dollars.

The hotel is the only place that accepts US dollars, therefore we must exchange for Tenge. There are currency exchange places on every street corner it seems. The dollar is weak; we’re getting 120 Tenge for 1 dollar. The hotel said they accept Visa but the machine was “broken” when we checked in. The visa machine was also “broken” at the only restaurant we ask to us it--- meaning don’t count on using your Visa card when coming to Shymkent.

Update on the laundry situation: The hotel service was fine, I don’t know the cost of it but our clothes are clean and wearable. They don’t use Downey that’s for sure! They picked up our clothes from our room and brought them back the next day. Good thing, I was thinking it’s going to be hard to wash jeans in the bathroom sink and use 'the pipes'. In the bathroom there are exposed hot water pipes to hang your clothes for drying. I brought a small bottle of laundry soap and I wash the smaller articles. It’s actually kind of convenient.

We’re off to breakfast. We haven’t talked much about Breakfast because there is nothing exciting to say about it. It's free with our room so we go every morning to eat the same thing. I usually eat oatmeal type food with raisens and Jesse eats eggs and the hotdog/sauage. Blah Blah Blah. Did I mention it's free?

A Note from Daddy, to my Little Ones

4/13/2008
This was posted earlier under another topic - just wanted to split it off so we could find it easier in the future.  There are two new posts below, but read Amy's first...

The blog has been a wonderful way for Amy and I to share our experiences over the past week, and based on some of the comments, it seems to be interesting to those that are following along as well. While typically we are writing to all of you, this one is focused on three little ones that mean the world to me. Of course, as always, all are welcomed to read and comment.

First off, to my oldest son Connor (this is the first time I’ve been able to say oldest son), I’m so proud of how well you are doing at home while we are away. It is exciting to hear that you scored a goal in your first soccer game of the spring season! It shows that you have been practicing hard, and you must be playing well with your new team. I just hope that you are having fun and always trying your best.

I must also admit that I can’t stop smiling when I think of how well you are doing in Karate. To hear that you just sparred Caleb (the toughest orange belt around) and scored a three point head kick is amazing! And knowing that you are also breaking boards, I better get exercising so that I don’t get completely whipped when we are able to spar again soon.
I miss our bi-weekly haircuts together, followed by our Starbucks ‘treats’. I doubt that I’ll be able to hold out until I return to get my noggin shaved, or I’ll look a bit like a hippy (ask Papa what that means), but I’ll sure look forward to heading straight for the nearest coffee shop when we return. It’s so comforting knowing that I have such a mature young man watching over Lana and Buckeye while we are traveling, so thanks (Spy-see-ba), and miss you. Love Dad.

To my rambunctious little daughter Lana, I hope that you can delay the back flips long enough to hear this note. I’m so encouraged by your genuine interest in the new baby that I’m often startled by your questions and awareness of the situation. I was hopeful that you both would be interested in the process, and certainly in the prospect of having a baby brother, but never would have imagined that you would have grasped the details as you have. So to your earlier questions, yes, he’s doing well. Yes, he has brown hair and brown eyes like you. He’s ticklish like Connor, but has ‘robust’ cheeks like you. And he has plenty of unique qualities that we’re still getting to know.

I was disappointed to hear that you caught a cold this week and that your soccer game was cancelled. Based on how your practices have gone so far, I know that you will do very well. Size isn’t a concern, as you tend to be twice as quick and nearly so in competitive spirit as the rest of the field. I also miss seeing you at gymnastics, but Grandma T assures me that you continue to “tear’em up”. It’s magical watching you play at a sport in which you truly excel. Your mother and I both hope that gymnastics can hold your attention, as this seems to be a venue you could go very far. Let me know if you get to the top of the rope again this week. Love you and miss you, and please continue to watch over the big fuzz-ball.

And to the newest member of the Moore household (name soon to be unveiled to the world), it’s been a wonderful pleasure getting to know you these past few days. Someday you will read about the challenges that your mommy and I had to overcome to find you. Just know that after meeting you, those issues seemed quite trivial, and if necessary, we would have made the trip a million times.

From our initial meeting, you have been bright eyed and inquisitive. Contrary to high stress environment that we have been thrust into, you always have a calm demeanor, as if you are the one evaluating us rather than the other way around. I certainly hope we meet your standards.
While I hoped that the ‘getting to know you’ stage would go relatively smoothly, I felt that there would be an awkwardness of having ‘bond’ with a stranger in a strange land, under a very controlled and regimented schedule. So ok, the regimented schedule and fact that we are contained to a single room is very confining, but you have been absolutely great. You seem to let your personality shine through quickly, and you have a very easy going style that is comforting (not to mention that you haven’t fussed once – or peed on me yet, thanks!). In fact, I’d say that you will feel right at home with your new family, and I can’t wait to introduce you to your brother and sister. They are certainly going to find you interesting! Just be aware that the creature called Buckeye may look like a Yeti, but is actually just a really, really large dog. Don’t worry, Lana controls him. Love you son, can’t wait to visit again tomorrow.

Miss you all, and can’t wait for the family to be together soon. Love, Daddy.