The longest miles

Mee and I with our house keeper and friend Luba


Kaz cowboy on our way to airport

After a final visit with the Niblet, we started the insane trip back to the states. The only thing that could make this trek more difficult are 1. being sick (check), 2. knowing that we will be doing it again in less than two weeks (check) and 3. making it without our daughter (check and mate).






The flight from Kokeshetau nearly killed both of us. We’ve both been sick and the cabin pressure nearly popped our heads clear off. On top of that, the temperature on the plane -- no exaggeration -- was about 7000º F. OK, that is a bit of an exaggeration but still. While Mee removed nearly all of her clothing and still nearly cooked her brain, the other Kazak passengers didn’t seem to mind the heat at all. In fact, some even asked for blankets. I think this may provide some insight as to why they like to keep our little Chloe wrapped up all the time.













We spent the rest of the next twenty or so hours flying or waiting to fly in various airports -- and being sick. Frankfurt was easy, we even found a McDonald’s which was a nice albeit embarrassing comfort.

We're now back in the good ol’ U.S.A. and it feels great. After a month of being in a foreign city where very few people spoke English, it filled me with a certain joy to be inundated by advertising in the airport. We were also reminded of that “great” American work ethic. After departing the plane, all 400 or so passengers need to go through customs. I gather it is customary for the customs agents to take their lunch break at the same time and get really perturbed when it’s interrupted by pesky work. After a few minutes of waiting in line, the government employees shuffled to their stations and we were on our way again, though not before listening to the ugly grumblings of fat, entitled American travelers complaining about the littlest things. For me this was a bit much to take in light of the realities of the city we had just left.

So we are back at home and I seem to have developed a serious case of ottitis (ear infection) that will require some antibiotics to remedy. I should be all cleared up just in time for our next trip.

We will be on our way in about ten days and this trip should only last about ten days. The plan requires us to head back to Kokshetau, pick up the baby, spend a couple of days waiting for the next flight back to Almaty where our girl gets a medical, meets with the American Embassy to prove to them that she is not, in fact, a terrorist (don't have a clear idea of exactly how this is to happen ...), and then we should be good to bring our baby home with us.

Special note: When we left for our trip, we needed to clear out almost all of the food in the fridge so that we wouldn’t return to any nasty surprises. This also meant that we would return to a house with no food in it. Well, my sweet sister (who lives 100 miles away in Milwaukee) found time to come down and put some food and snacks in the house and leave a vase of flowers on the dining table. I can’t tell you how amazing this was. Mee and I were completely blown away by her thoughtfulness. I am a very, very lucky brother.

We went a court’n

Today was our big day. The day when the judge, prosecutor, Department of Education representative, and baby house pediatrician review and discuss our paperwork. This paperwork represents every aspect of who Mee and I are. It includes all of our letters of recommendation, financial information, home study, as well as all of the Kazak legal papers, stamps and other necessary items. We shared our date stamped photos and our airline ticket stubs to prove that we have been visiting Chloe for the past almost four weeks. And we read our speeches to the judge ultimately asking that she grant our adoption. She did.

Note: Don't worry, the Kazaks don't seem to like smiling in photos, and the mailman is actually the prosecutor. Everyone was very nice and all supported our adoption.


After waiting the mandatory fourteen-day period for the judgment to be final, we will be allowed to pick Chloe up from the baby-house and bring her home. We will be coming home for that period so we can get a couple of things squared away, then return to Kazakhstan to pick her up.

One of the biggest hurdles has been cleared. We just have a lot of traveling ahead of us and a woefully long two weeks without our daughter.

Looking forward to being home for a bit, but not as much as coming back for our baby.

Z

Zac and I want to offer a heartfelt thanks to every one of you who has followed along with us on this momentous journey in our lives. Your encouragement and support has been one of the most important factors in what has kept us sane and hopeful during this wonderful but very surreal time. And you have no idea how good it felt to tell Chloe about the smothering that awaits her from her many loving aunties in America. We will be starting the journey back tomorrow afternoon (4 a.m. Chicago time) and arrive home on Thursday around midday. Somebody order me a hot dog, extra peppers, stat!

M

Random Thoughts

Tomorrow is court day and we will officially ask a Kazak judge for custody of our Chloe. If she approves it, we will begin the long journey home on Wednesday to wait out the mandatory 15 day waiting period that gives Chloe’s biological family one last chance to step forward and stop the adoption. What a fraught situation. It just doesn’t seem that complicated when she’s sitting in my lap playing pattycake and drooling.

I had my first bout of inappropriate blubbering today when it randomly occurred to me that we’ll be saying goodbye to the little peanut in a couple of days. Things do not bode well for my rapidly dwindling supply of tissues. I cheer myself up by reminding myself that Chloe doesn’t seem at all upset yet when we take her back to the baby room at the end of our visits. She gladly reaches out to her caregivers and goes happily back into her playpen. I’m semi-seriously thinking about giving her a good, hard pinch next time because darn it, just once I’d like to see her look a little regretful to see us leave. Ok no, I’m kidding. It would be even harder to say goodbye on Wednesday if I had to carry the picture of her sad little face away with me. I’m a horrible, horrible mom for even thinking that way!

We were both very sad to see Ali and Maribel leave but I started to worry about Zac when he got all plaintive-sigh-y looking at Ali’s leftover bread on the windowsill. Good thing we’re still able to spend some time with other adopting families here like Rob and Ellen from SF, Cindy and Tony from Portland, Oregon and our new cottage-mate, Julie from Tulsa, Oklahoma. (We will report back on their websites once we ask permission. Won’t tell ‘em what weirdos some of you are – lovable weirdos of course, the most luvable wuvable weirdos ever oh yes you are.) Anyway, Julie is a very nice woman who is definitely strong and capable enough to become the kind of single mom who will put my flailing self to shame. She made it through her adoption process in what seems to be record time and even managed to make her INS office process her fingerprints faster for her (no really, the INS). So, after living with Maribel who is this incredibly intelligent, highly organized person who had pretty much anticipated every possible present and future want and need for her two children (don’t worry Ali, I know you’re the heart of the operation;), and now meeting Julie, I’ve come to realize that this process may require an uncommon amount of grit and determination to make it through successfully. Which inevitably makes me wonder, how in the H-E-double-la-la-la did Zac and I manage to slack our way over here? If you think of a good explanation, let me know. I’ll be over here eating pudding and watching another episode of Monk.

Speaking of which, I must now take a moment to sing the praises of Kazak dairy. The milk, yogurt, cream, and puddings here (also juices) are simply fan-fluffing-tastic. I’d consider moving here just for access to these goodies on a daily basis. Either that or pack up a case-full to take home with me (and a baby!) if only they wouldn’t all go bad on the trip over.

A propos of nothing, here’s a picture of the Colonel driving us to the babyhouse in his Audi a week or so back. We’re back in Nursultan’s Passat again and he’s a fine driver but you don’t get this fancy view of the Colonel’s fur hat tracks which is quite a fascinating bonus on an hour-long trek, let me tell you.

First thing I’ma do when I get back home? About four days in the shower with a bottle of clarifying shampoo and my favorite pumice. And then the Zac Attack and I are going to sit in a multiplex with a bucket of popcorn and not come out until we’re fully coated in butter flavoring. I only wish we had a Hummer to drive there there and back.

Spoon fed-up

Today we got a second in a life-time chance (we’ve done this once before) to feed the lil monster. As has been stated before, she loves to eat. Thing is, we don’t really know exactly how to feed her. See, it’s not like how you feed one year-old babies in the states. For instance, her meal consists of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and some soup—all mixed together in a dish. Then she finishes off with some juice made from dried fruits, sort of like a tea. The meat and potatoes come from a full sized spoon and the juice tea comes from a coffee cup. No bottles, no sippy cups, no straws; this girl’s dinner looks more like the blue plate special at a truck stop. Anyway, when we feed her, food tends to run all over the place and when the caregivers feed her, it tends to run straight into her belly (and sometimes straight back out but never mind that).

After dinner we had our usual playtime, which as usual went very well. I think we only have two or three more visits before departing. I try to not think about that too much. It’s breaking my heart just writing this.