Hannah was a wonderful baby today as always. Josh and I walked to the outdoor market today and found her a new outfit. She looked so cute! There is a caregiver here at the baby house that knits the babies little booties that they wear everyday and we have arranged to buy some of these to put back for Hannah. Tomorrow I think we are going to go to the mall between visits to look for some of the outfits that we need to leave for Hannah when we go.  Sorry for the short post but I still am not feeling very well I do however feel a little better than yesterday so maybe with some more sleep and some more Nyquil I can beat this thing. Love you all!

Today we went in and Hannah was finally dressed like a little girl and in pink none the less! She looked so beautiful! She was once again very happy today so far we have not seen her when she isn't happy. We had two great visits today she talked and laughed the entire time. There are now eight families here adopting children so the playroom gets a little crazy sometimes but Hannah loves it because she loves to watch people! We have learned that Hannah does not like her binky, when we put it in her mouth she spits it out and gets this horrible look on her face like she just tasted something sour. It is so funny!

 

Today Josh and I took a taxi to the supermarket to get some food. It was quite an adventure since we did not understand the taxi driver and he did not understand us! We told him supermarket and he took us to the mall. Luckily there was a supermarket in the bottom of the mall. We did not get to look around in the mall because the driver was waiting on us but we think we may go back this weekend to get Hannah some clothes. I am coming down with a cold I think, I am trying to fight it with Vitamin C and Nyquil.

 

Well that is all for today we are going to go get some dinner and then get some rest and see if I can fight off this cold! Love you all!

 

 

 

 

Today was our third visitation day with Hannah. We got to feed her both times today, this morning she had porridge and hot tea and she loved it. They feed the babies here with a tablespoon and you can't feed them fast enough! She had a botte with cereal in it for dinner. She was in a very good mood today she laughed and talked the entire visit! She loves to lay on my arm in the floor and play with my watch and she knows that when daddy gets her it is play time and she loves it! Sorry for the short post but the internet is moving very slowly this evening. I will try to post more tomorrow. Love you all!

Today was visitation day two with our beautiful baby girl. She is such a happy baby as I am sure you can tell by the pictures. This evening when we went in to pick Hannah up from her room it was dinner time so they let us give her a bottle and let me tell you this girl can eat! Josh and I were amazed! She finished an entire bottle in less than two minutes! We have found that Hannah loves to people watch! She is perfectly content to sit with her mommy and daddy and watch all of the people. The caregivers here are so great with the babies. There are two in Hannah's room that she seems to particularly like,they are Galena and Tatianna. They are all so loving with the babies.

Today when we went into get her the caregiver rubbed her head and then rubbed Josh's head and said "hair like papa"!  She is the perfect child for our family, we can't imagine having anyone but her. 

 

Kazakhstan is a very interesting country. It is very cold here! The roads are constantly covered in solid ice and the people here drive in it like it is nothing. They don't have 4 wheel drive either! There are no driving rules in this country and sometimes it is quite scary because people just drive on whatever side of the road they wish , we have had a few close calls! The people here are for the most part very nice and very helpful. The food in the grocery stores is pretty much the same as at home with a few exceptions one being the horse meat!

 

Well I guess that is about it for today. We love you all and can't wait until you can see our baby girl for yourselves. God is good!

 

 

 

 

Well guys we made it! Today was our first day at the baby house and boy were we in for a suprise! When we got to the baby house we were told that there were no baby boys available. They said the only little boys they had were two and a half to three years old. They then told us that they had 4 baby girls available under the age of one and asked if we would like to see them. Well of course we said yes! They brought them all in at once which was a little overwhelming. They handed us the first two and I was a little preocupied when they brought in baby number three and I heard Josh say "oh look at her" and that is all she wrote.  This little girl automatically stole our hearts and it was love at first sight! She is a very active baby always moving and very strong. She talks all the time (just like mama). She loves to cuddle and laugh. She is definately a daddy's girl!! She has Josh wrapped around her little finger already! She is absolutely precious.

 

We were a little thrown at first that there were no boys but when we saw our little angel we knew that God had a different plan in store for us. There is no doubt about it she was meant to be ours! I guess we will be returning some clothes huh! Break out the frilly dresses!

Yesterday when I got home from work I opened the door and found a Fed Ex envelope tucked inside! Our pssports/visas are here! We weren't even expecting them to come until today. Vladimir (our courrier) got our visas processed in record time and now we can sit back and relax and wait for our trip. Yeah right! Have you ever tried to pack for a month?! It is a mess! Our nursery has become packing central and it looks like a tornado went through there! I am using today to finish packing and clean the house because tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we will be gone most of the day and then we leave Friday. This is finally happening! We are so excited that in less than one week we will be parents! God is good!

We got a call from Ludmilla today saying that Kazakhstan released our travel numbers! This means that all we need now are our visas and passports to fly. We have a courier in New York working on these right now. He assured us that we would have our passports/visas in hand by Wednesday the 21st. This is finally really happening! In one week we will be getting on a plane to meet our baby! God is good!

Hey guys, sorry it has been a while since I posted an update, things around here have been a little hectic! The good news is that we did make our airplane reservations! We will be leaving Charleston on Nov 23rd at 4:00 pm and arriving in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Nov 25th at 5:45 am. We will fly from Almaty to Karaganda on the evening  of the 25th and we will meet our baby on the morning of the 26th! 

 

We have a short layover in Detroit and then a nine hour layover in Amsterdam on the flight to Kazakhstan. We are excited to get to tour Amsterdam, I want to visit the Anne Frank house which is in downtown Amsterdam. No we will not be visiting the red light district nor will we visit the "cafes"! :-) 

 

We spoke with our case manager last week and she said that our visa numbers will be released this Thursday the 15th and that we should have our visa's in hand by the 21st. Since the 22nd is Thanksgiving and we leave on the 23rd we are praying that there are no delays with our numbers being released since we are cutting it close as it is! Please continue to pray for us and that things will continue to move smoothly.  We will update you whenever we get any new information.