We're back in Almaty

Well we made it to Almaty last night. We are back in the Hotel Kazakhstan. I think we (Brody and I) will be staying here when we come back. We slept in this morning and then went down for a late breakfast. After that we walked with the other couples down to the park and did a little shopping along the way. I think we are going to try to go to a museum tomorrow. We went out for some pretty good pizza for lunch. We are trying to make the best out of our time here. We are definately missing Brody today. We know that the sooner we leave, the sooner we get to come back for him. Besided we still have to go home and set up his room and get some clothes/toys for him. We are definately lacking in that department. Although I think my mom and Lisa's mom are working on the problem... We are going to put a picture of the caregivers in our room on the blog today. We are also going to put pictures from the afternoon tea we had with them.

Court went well!!!

We had our big court date yesterday. We all passed!! Brody is officially ours now. We went this morning to the orphange and had tea and cake with the doctors that take care them. We put a picture of two of the three doctors on the blog today. Brody's doctor is on the right. She is a very nice lady and all of the kids love her. One of the pictures is in front of the building where we went for court. We go back this afternoon and have tea with the caregivers in the room he stays in. We leave the orphange at 6:15 and then head straight to the airport. We are still trying to call the airline to get out early, but it doesn't look good. We are not sure we will be able to post to the blog after today?? The doctor said this morning that Brody has been much happier since we came... They also said that his development has really improved. I made sure to tell her what a great P.T. I am...Ha Ha (Lisa's not bad either). The other picture is of all of us having tea with the doctors. Hope everyone had a nice holiday and you are all out shopping for me and my kid some presents.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We are going to court in a few hours. Hopefully everything goes well. We are still working on trying to fly out early. They keep saying maybe something will open up closer to time. Thank you all for your great comments. It has really helped with our time here to read them everyday. Hopefully everyone is eating a little turkey/stuffing and watching a little football. We may all go out this evening to celebrate. Tomorrow evening we will fly out to Almaty. Computer access may get difficult at that time. It is snowing here today. I think it is going to snow most of the day. Hopefully we will have no problem getting out tomorrow night. Brody was much better today. He had a little fever yesterday, and they gave him some meds that seem to have helped. He was back to his usual self today.

We went out to dinner last night.

Well, were almost coming to an end soon. Friday is our last day with Brody. Tomorrow is court, which hopefully will go smooth. We did get out last night. We went to a restaurant called Sorti, where we got some German cuisine. It was actually really good. Schnitzel and chicken rolled in pancakes. What else could you want.
Still working on trying to travel early, hopefully over the weekend but it still doesn’t look to good. There is no trouble traveling through Europe but they cannot get us into the USA.
We definitely didn’t pack enough warm clothes. Its about 5 degrees F, with a wind chill into subzero temperatures. We have tried to walk a little outside. There is a flea market and grocery store a few blocks from the hotel. We are getting really bored staying inside our hotel all the time. The cold weather is a little bit more than I can handle.
So we are heading to the capital Almaty on Friday to spend a few days there if we cant get out any sooner.
There are looking into putting all of the couples into adjoining apartments b/c it can be much cheaper.
Hopefully we will only be there for a few days.
The blonde woman in the picture is our translator Natalia.

It looks like we will be here until the 28th....

The good news is that our court date was uped to Thanksgiving but the bad news is that were stuck here until the 28th. We are allowed to leave after the court on Thursday but due the holiday our travel agent cannot get us on any flight prior to the 28th. Also we need to leave the city where the orphanage is on thursday and travel to the capital Almaty on Friday. So not only are we stuck here for a few more days, we wont be able to see Brody after Friday. We are still working on our return trip. We are suppose to be back here on the 24th of December, but travel details are pretty difficult so far. I'm sure there will be more to follow on this. The travel agent is still working on this.

Brody continues to do great. We can't wait to get him home for a haircut, bath and a bedroom to himself.

court date on thankgiving

They moved our court date up to Thanksgiving day. They dont celebrate this holiday here. There is a small chance that we could leave early, but we are having major problems with re-booking our flights. More to follow on this I'm sure.

We also found out that we will be coming back to get Brody on 12/24. This means I (Tige) need to be in Almaty by 12/23. We should be back in the states 12/27. We would have been able to come a week earlier, but this is a holiday week for this country. Everything is closed that week.

Brody, is doing great. He seems to have recovered from his cold. Still a little congested. I am still taking antibiotics and gradually getting better. Lisa is tough and needs no meds.

Switch to Apple....

We have noticed that everyone is VERY concerned over the pear juice thing. We have made an executive decision to move onto carrot juice. We figure you would all be excited to know. We hear that the vitamins in carrot juice are good for the eyes... Also we might mix in a little apple juice for variety. Nothing else to exciting today. We are finishing up another week of "bonding". They are telling us that we should be hearing about our court date next week. Also, we tried a new restaurant last night called the Rainbow Room... Nothing like it sounds. It actually had an english menu and good food. We all went out together and took the translator with us. Tonight we might go to another restaurant called the "Leinbraugh". Will let you know how it is. We do not get to see the baby tomorrow, so our next post will be on Monday. Our cold's are getting better. I started taking antibiotics and every decongestion med I could find. Lisa did nothing and is better already?? I guess at the pharmacy here you buy almost any med without a prescription..A little scary... Enjoy your weekend and thanks for all the advice and great comments!!

Love
Tige, Lisa and Brody

Tea?

All we know is its tea. They speak only Russian, they say its tea? He has no teeth yet but he definately is a drooler. Im assuming he's teething now. He goes through 2 bibs in 2 hours. Brody also enjoys throwing up on us. Im doing laundry in the sink every day because I cant stand the smell of puke on my clothes. We have been giving him Pear juice because thats what my book says to do. Its says orange juice and grapefruit are too acidic. We tried to sneak in pureed peas out of the jar, he spit it out into Tiges face. As far as his mobility, he is walking now with just our fingertips. When we started with him this was very difficult without use advancing his legs manually. Our PT has paid off. Speaking we are still working on. He doesnt say any words or babble. He just kinda screams and whines very well. I think it is still very confusing for him to hear Russian and English at the same time. His caregivers in the room are still calling him Artur. So we dont think its going to improve until we get him home.
We put group pictures of all of the babies today. It wasnt that easy, but actually Brody was probably the best. He loves attention and has to be entertained at all times..kinda like his father, Ha

baby clothes

Well first we found out how hard it is to take care of a baby when were both sick. He definately doesnt stop moving..he is so active we cant keep up. He is hooked on his Russian pacifier(they are more round on the tip instead of flat). Every night I read in our baby book about what he should be eating, when to get rid of pacifier and all the milestones. Sometimes it can be very overwhelming. We are going to try some baby food today out of the jar. He has mainly been eating porage and he drinks tea. We have been sneaking in Apple and Pear juice for some vitamins. He seems to like it. At this point we know he hates their milk. Its nonpasteurized and sugar free.
People have been asking about his size for clothes. Right now he fits into 9 month perfectly. We think he will be more like 12 month by the time we get home. He is a very good eater and growing fast.
Well, were eager to get home. We only have 1 1/2 wks left...well miss Brody but it will be nice to come home.

we got our first cold....

So they say that everyone gets sick eventually when they are here. Lisa and I have officially developed our first cold. Don't worry there are plenty of drugs on hand to control it. They also say that pink eye is very prevalent. I am hoping we avoid that one. We are going to try to attach a short video we took of Brody laughing at Andrew (one of the other couples child) today. We'll see how it goes. The next picture is of all of the couples we are here with. All the way to the left is Andrew, Sarah and baby Kyle. Next is Veronica who is from France with her baby Kasia (combination of Kazakhastan and Asia). Next is us. Next is Sonya, Brent and baby Nicholas, their from North Carolina. The last family brought their six year old son Andrew. Their from New Jersey, names are Robert, Sharon and baby Galena.

meeting with MOE

We met with the Ministry of Education yesterday. We found out at the last minute so we really didn't have time to prepare. I think we did well, though. They said we passed so thats all were happy about. We have to go to court too, but that's the end of next week. Its starting to feel so official now. We just wish he could come home with us the first trip but every couple goes through this too. We had a good morning with Brody today. Many of the other babies are sick with Bronchitis. Ours is a little raspy but not running a fever. So we are trying to keep ourselves busy especially at night. Scabble and Yatzee are the hot commodities. We have a good pizza place called Mario's that has delivered to us a few times. We keep the Immodium close by. We'll keep the pictures coming..it keeps us busy.
Mom and Dad Jones have the home cooking ready when we get there..
We posted a picture of Brody's room. As you can see there are about 12 cribs per room, not sure how they get any sleep. He is in room #3 but all the other couples here are in other rooms.

Swaddling Helps!!

We learned a few lessons on calming our child. Needless to say he is not always happy. Sometimes he is not happy in any position. He wants to be held and cries and then wants down and cries, and eventually just rocks on his knees and cries. One of the nurses taught us how to swaddle him which was a GOD send!! After that (and a change to a Russian Binky) he was awesome. We are learning a few positions that might work on a long plane ride home. The second picture is of Brody playing with his new freind Kyle Gracon Keyes. He is the child of the other couple we have been traveling with. They have been great to have for support. They also remembered to bring all the things we didn't?? The third picture is of the three of them. Anyway, people were asking about the lack of snow in the last pictures. They were taken before the snow storm. It is still cold and icy here. We went down town yesterday and went to their malls. We bought a $60 diaper bag.. It was the only one we could find. We are still looking for a few other things he needs for his escort from Karaganda to Almaty. They want enough stuff to last them a week, for a two hour flight?? Everything is pretty expensive here. The unit of currency is the Tenge. We get 120 tenge for 1 US dollar. Average dinner is about $30 dollars. Baby clothes are very expensive, aprox $10 for a onesie?

no interview

Well our first meeting was cancelled of course. It was rescheduled until next week. We started filling out our adoption forms through the embassy today with the translator. Lots of information. By the way, we decided that Tige will be returning back for Brody in about 3-4 weeks. We want to try to get him back to us before Christmas. They have a long holiday at the end of December so if we wait for the orphanage to bring him back it will take up to mid January. Tige is starting to sweat b/c Brody is so active. He is not happy just sitting on our laps for 16 hours on a plane. There is another couple here that he will be returning also for their baby. So the two men will be traveling together with their babies....what a sight it will be. Well, we are definately looking forward to getting back to some American food and good reality TV..
fyi we put a picture of our hotel and the 2nd largest wood built church in the world. Oh, and dont mind the ruffles and bows on Brody, we didnt do it. He looks like a king, right?Ha,ha,. They just interchange the clothes between kids...

P.S. Angela this picture is for you. Hopefully this building is everything you have been looking for.

Still fight the snow and ice

Yesterday, we fought the snow and ice most of the day. The cars were getting stuck in the intersections. The other group of american had to get out and push their car 3x. We thought we were going to die a few times on the way. The drivers seems to be use to it though.. Today we will be going to the ministry of education for our first interview. They tell us this is the more important of the two. I guess the one at court is just a formality. The lady at the Ministry of Education is going on vacation for a month so we are doing it at the beginning and not the end. Wish us lots of luck. Brody is doing well. He is definately showing his true colors. He has decided he really doesn't like being on the ground much and prefers to be held or just moving around.. He does a good job sitting and playing with objects when he feels like it. He can walk short distances holding onto our hands. He has a little trouble moving his feet forward, because he is in that little walker all the time. We're working on it.

The Orphanage

We thought we would show a few pictures of the orphanage today. It snowed last night for the first time. They said that this is late for their winter to begin? The first picture is the outside of the orphanage which was done yesterday before it snowed. The second is today looking out our window at the park behind us. The third is showing the room where we play with the babies during our time there. Basically we get to the orphanage, take off our shoes and go get the baby. He is in room #3. After getting the baby we take a blanket and go to the room you see. We meet there with the other three couples that are here right now. Then we proceed with play time for the next two hours. Everyone should try playing with your child 4 hours daily Ha Ha... Needless to say we need a little nap after.. Oh, Brody's stats. He weighs 17lbs. His birthday is 3/5/07. He has been at the orphanage since he was 5 days old. We don't really have a height measurement yet? And No Telly we don't have a shoe size yet for his new Air Jordan's. Feel free to send multiple sizes..

pictures

Sorry, this "bleep" "bleep" system will not let me attach photos at the moment. we will try to attach them again later.

Feeding the baby...

yesterday was our first day feeding Brody. As you can see they just shovel the food into his mouth as quick as possible. Tige and I did his afternoon feeding and it took the two of us to manage him.. Not only was there food all over him but it was all over us too... We had such a great day with him yesterday, it was our first whole day together. He has such a great demeanor. He smiles alot and he is such a happy baby. We are already spoiling him. He cries when we put him down on the floor. He's pretty big on us holding him all the time. Of course we are doing our therapy sessions throughout the day. We have gotten the other couples into doing group therapy...Ha,Ha. Liz if you are reading this can you give us some tips on speech therapy?

Introducing Brody Michael Jones

Well we finally made our pick. I would like to give you all of the stats, but I have to convert them to pounds, and I kinda forgot the conversion... I am going to look it up today and post them later. Anyway, Altor who will soon be named Brody is 8 monthes old. He seems to be doing really well developmentally. He can crawl, sit up and stand with support. All of the children at the orphanage are extremely well taken care of. They little scooters that they sit in and roll all over the place.

Medical history is relatively normal. He had two incidents of bronchitis, one being now. We are going back to visit in about 20 minutes. Starting today we go 2x a day 10-12 and 4-6. I will try to post again later with all of the stats.

Tige and Lisa

We went to the orphange today 11/5/07

We went to the orphanage for the first time today. We were shown 3 girls and 3 boys, all of different race. We will be going back this afternoon to take a closer look at a few. Hopefully we can make our final decision by tonight. Needless to say Lisa is a little stressed out. Me, I am ready to have a couple drinks. We will try to put a picture on tommorrow. We just got set up with internet, so we should be able to use the internet more regularly.

The hotel is good. We have to move to a smaller room tonight?? The food has also been fine. We went down town yesterday and shopped. There are some high end stores here and lots of baby stores. Anyone need a FUR COAT or knee high boots with 6" heels this is the place to go. We also ate down town yesterday. I had my first taste of Borshe (beet soup) yesterday, it was good. We also had a vegetable soup that was good. Anyway we are heading back to the orphanage in a 1/2 hour. FYI we are 11 hours a head of NY time.

We are in Kazakhstan

We made it to the capital city of Almaty this morning at 1:30 a.m. local time. We are leaving at 5:00 this afternoon to fligh to Karaganda where the orphanage is. It looks like we will be going in the morning for the first time. The flights went well. We had a quick connection in Chicago (off of one plane and onto another). That flight was about 8 1/2 hours to Frankfurt, Germany. We got to Germany and had a 6 hours layover. We found a few little chairs to sleep on for a few hours. We then flow 7 1/2 hours to Almaty. We met up with another couple who are adopting. We had initially met them at the informational meeting at the beginning of the process. We are currently staying at the Hotel Kazakhstan until we check out at 12. We then have to wait with our bags for three hours until they come to pick us up to go to the airport... Everything else is good, just a little jet lag...

We are in Kazakhstan

We made it to the capital city of Almaty this morning at 1:30 a.m. local time. We are leaving at 5:00 this afternoon to fligh to Karaganda where the orphanage is. It looks like we will be going in the morning for the first time. The flights went well. We had a quick connection in Chicago (off of one plane and onto another). That flight was about 8 1/2 hours to Frankfurt, Germany. We got to Germany and had a 6 hours layover. We found a few little chairs to sleep on for a few hours. We then flow 7 1/2 hours to Almaty. We met up with another couple who are adopting. We had initially met them at the informational meeting at the beginning of the process. We are currently staying at the Hotel Kazakhstan until we check out at 12. We then have to wait with our bags for three hours until they come to pick us up to go to the airport... Everything else is good, just a little jet lag... Hopefully I'll have pictures for you soon