Waiting Period—Day 4

Robin here. Well, four days down and eleven to go! I wish the world would turn a little faster right about now, but I know October 11th will be here before we know it and that Kristina will soon be spending her first night with us here at the apartment.

Today’s visit truly emphasizes the importance of the fourteen day bonding period as it relates to older children. It was at the end of last week when Kristina began to relax about physical affection. And today, nineteen days since she first met us, she is kissing us -- not once -- but two and three times in a row; her hugs are tight and she is not stiffening up any longer when we pull her close.

The adoption process in Kazakhstan may be lengthy and it certainly does require a good deal of commitment from the parents. The kids left behind make sacrifices and employers are called upon for understanding and support. Still, we feel it is the best means of helping to secure a bond with a child over the age of three. I know other countries’ systems work and that many, many parents successfully connect with their children, but we absolutely believe in the two week process and feel confident that -- just as Julia did in 2004 -- our Kristina will leave the orphanage with a higher sense of trust with us and love for us than she might have otherwise felt without the benefit of time.

As usual, Kristina was a lot of fun today. One of the funniest things about her is how she keeps raising her voice until she is practically shouting at us when trying to teach us the Russian word for something. If we don’t repeat it exactly right the first time, then she’ll say it again, a little louder. If we haven’t perfected it by the third or fourth try, she will lean forward and yell it at us, as if this somehow will help improve our chances of getting it. She really is a hoot!

This weekend will be a long one for us. We will not see Kristina until Monday, as we are no longer visiting on Saturdays. Our new schedule is Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I think we will be taking Kristina for her passport picture on Monday and then we’ll shop for some clothes for her and take her to lunch. If she is anything like her sister Julia, Kristina will really like the shopping and lunch part of the day!

The 15 day wait

That's the stage we're in now. We're going to visit Kristina on a Mon/Wed/Fri schedule until she's released to our custody on Wednesday, October 11th.

Yesterday was Wednesday and we had a great visit with Kristina. Lots of hugs, kisses, tickling and chasing about the playroom. She looked pretty cute in a jean skirt/vest and a light blue sweater. As we were leaving we ran into the orphanage director (Yuri) and Kristina told him that her papa and mama were going to take her home to America soon.

Igor snapped a picture of the 3 of us for a PhotoStory video I'm finishing. Hope to figure out how to post a link to it on this blog site within the next couple of days. If you see a link that says "Kristina Ballerina Video" then click on it and it just might play.

I put a similar video together for Julia in 2004 when we adopted her and it meant the world to her. She would watch it over and over again. You could see how the pictures and music put the whole puzzle together for her and let her understand why we were there, what it meant and where it was going.

Adoption Day!

Robin here. First of all, my apologies for not getting this posted earlier, but after court on Monday we went to the orphanage where we were the guests of honor at a superb dinner with many, many, vodka toasts. Let’s just say that neither Greg nor I were in a position to write a post when we returned home last night at 10pm. And, since we slept in later this Tuesday morning than usual, it was not possible to get this posted by your day’s end.

Without a doubt, the Russian and Kazakh people certainly know how to celebrate! I believe we had at least ten – possibly twelve vodka toasts between the hours of 5:30 and 8:30pm. I sipped on my shot glass with each toast and ultimately imbibed two and a half shots of vodka. Greg however, experienced the full Monty, which is why the celebration impacted him more so than it did me. We celebrated with the orphanage director (Yuri) his female assistant (whose name is just too long and complicated to spell) our attorney (Sholpan) our translator/new friend (Igor) and our designated driver (Dennis.)

The food was absolutely delicious and the hospitality unparalleled. Over the course of three hours we were served cheese, meat, fish and bread as appetizers -- three different salads -- a main course casserole of beef and potatoes au gratin -- and stuffed peppers as a side dish. We were then offered a variety of cookies and sweet breads, chocolate candies and tea. We each made several toasts, one of mine being that the great food and drink provided by our hosts would surely send us home fatter and feeling no pain!

And now, to the beginning of court day; we arrived for our 3pm hearing with our translator, Igor and met up with the orphanage director and our attorney. We all waited in a small office for over an hour before we were finally invited into the judge’s chambers. The wait would have been more taxing if not for the assorted jokes (some of them a bit off-color) that we all shared. Greg told a great one about a camel, which when translated, was even funnier! Igor got to laugh twice for each joke as he translated his and Yuri’s jokes to English for us and ours to Russian for Yuri, Sholpan and the office assistants.

Katya, the Ministry of Education representative joined us only briefly in the waiting room before leaving. We later found out that she was representing two children in another hearing. These two young children had just been taken from their mother for neglect and their sister, who is in seventh grade, was at the hearing with her father crying and begging the court to release her siblings to her custody. This girl’s father was not the father of the other two children, but it appeared as though he was willing to take the children under his care. We don’t know how the case will be decided, but it certainly brought clearly into view the other side of the process. We were there happily and excitedly asking the court’s blessing to become Kristina’s parents, while a twelve year old girl tearfully begged another judge a few doors down to not place her siblings in the orphanage.

Once inside the judge’s office, we were asked to speak about our desire to adopt Kristina. Greg spoke about our first adoption of Yulia in 2004 and of our love and respect for the orphans, their caregivers and the country of Kazakhstan. The prosecutor then asked why, if we wanted two children, did we not adopt another one at the same time as Yulia? I answered this time, telling him that, at the time, we thought that Yulia would be our one and only adopted daughter. But, that after experiencing the process and resulting joy in having Yulia in our family, that we could not stop thinking about the faces of the many orphans we knew were still in need of families. I said that it was easy to make the decision to return for another child in order to give Yulia the younger sister she desired and to complete our family with another daughter who will share Yulia’s heritage. With that, Greg presented the prosecutor with an album of photos representing Yulia’s journey from the orphanage to almost two years as a part of our family. The prosecutor stood and announced that he supported the adoption of Kristina to Gregory and Robin St. George.

The judge and prosecutor then questioned Yuri and Katya as to the validity and completeness of all documents relating to Kristina’s status as an adoptable orphan and we were asked to step out while the decision was made. About fifteen minutes later we were invited back inside where the judge read his official declaration that we were granted the adoption and that Kristina’s birth certificate will identify Greg and I as the true and legal parents of Kristina Alexis St. George.

The mandatory 15 day waiting period is no longer waived, so we will have to wait until Wednesday, October 11th to officially take Kristina into our custody. Since the orphanage is so far away, we will start visiting her Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week until our waiting period is finished. This means six more visits at the orphanage and on the seventh visit we will take her back to our apartment. We will stay here in Petro with her while all of her paperwork, passport and visa processing is complete and then we will fly to Almaty for her medical check-up at the SOS clinic and our appointment with the US Embassy to receive permission for her to enter the United States as our daughter. We should be in Almaty for three nights – during which time we hope to enjoy the creature comforts of the Hyatt Hotel.

A Day Without A Buzz Is A Day That Never Was

Well, let's just say that Adoption Day definitely lands in the "Was" category.

I'm still recovering from at least 8 shots of vodka and all I can say is that the theory that liquor makes you feel no pain is complete bunk. I'm feeling lots of it and, while I love these people to death, if I have to drink that much again then it will be the end of me.

I knew it was probably going to happen too. In fact, right after the judge pronounced us to be Kristina's parents and we were celebrating and shaking off the tension and nervousness, I looked right at Robin and said "Well, the easy part is over." She knew exactly what I meant. All that remained was surviving the celebration back at the orphanage.

No small task. Igor and Sholpan disappeared into a store before we even left the couthouse and came out with a large bag containing 4 bottles of vodka, 1 bottle of cognac (Sholpan prefers cognac) and a half dozen beers. This was for a gathering attended by only 6 drinking adults (we can't count Dennis since he was the designated driver). Sigh.

I won't cover any more of the proceeding, not just because Robin wrote about it, but also because there are some "gaps" in my memory, if you know what I mean. I will mention that Robin told everyone last night that she's only seen me in this condition twice in the 7-1/2 years she's known me, and coincidentally both times have been on this adoption trip.

Robin here. Today’s visit with Kristina went very well. She was in an especially playful and affectionate mood, allowing us to kiss and hug her without resistance. Our day started with Kristina pulling out several small flags from a bucket on a shelf and handing one to each of us. We then began a 15 minute parade of marching, climbing, tapping and waving of flags throughout the playroom. I hummed the March of John Phillip Sousa as we wove our way in and around every corner of the playroom until we (well, at least Greg and I) were ready to drop.

Once our parade was finished, Kristina went to my purse and pulled out her cookie and 7-UP and we all sat and had our snack. We played with steel hula hoops - not the safest thing (as Greg can attest to, having whacked himself in the back of the head with one) but nonetheless, a fun toy. I am happy to report that the Pixter was not brought out today and this made reassured us, as we are intent on Kristina NOT becoming an electronics junkie at the expense of other, more imaginative forms of play.

We spent some time in the Jungle Gym today where Kristina pretended to be our dog, Nugget. We would throw one of the rubber balls and she would run to it on all fours, pick it up in her teeth and bring it back to us in exchange for a pat on the head, or a scratch behind the ear.

There was one point in the day when Kristina wanted some change that Greg had in his pocket. After Greg told her no for the third time, she mumbled something to herself and sat away from us - pouting. We didn’t play into it in the least, instead tossing the ball to each other and pretending not to notice that she was protesting. It only took a few minutes before she was back in our vicinity -- ready to become a part of the game again. She seems to recover quickly, which is exactly the way we all are in our family. We never stay annoyed with each other. Any disagreements are usually settled and forgotten within minutes - and it seems that Kristina is much the same.

Our day ended with us telling Kristina that we would see her on Monday. However, we just got word this evening that our court hearing will be on Monday at 3pm, so we will probably not be able to spend time playing with her, although I’m sure we’ll be able to see her and have our picture taken together to mark the occasion. I believe we will be returning to the orphanage after court for vodka toasts and possibly lunch. Igor has hired his friend, Dennis to be our driver on Monday so that Igor can also partake of the vodka and whatever else the evening may hold.

Our fifteen day waiting period will complete on October 10th and we will get custody of Kristina on October 11th. Her 6th birthday is on October 13th, so we will have a party for her with cake and presents. Maybe they will allow us to do this at the orphanage with her group mates. We’ll bring presents for each of them as well and it will most likely be the last time Kristina will be at the orphanage prior to our leaving for Almaty, which shouldn’t be later than October 24th. Two or three nights in Almaty and if all goes well, we should be headed for home by Friday, October 27th.

In the midst of the excitement of waiting for Igor and Sholpan (our attorney) to arrive this evening with the details of our court date, we found ourselves looking through our apartment door peephole at two uniformed officers who had rung the doorbell repeatedly over a five minute period. Greg and I scurried to the bedroom and called Igor to ask him if we should answer the door -- since they weren’t leaving. While we were on the phone with Igor, the officers rang one more time and then knocked on the door once or twice before finally giving up. We haven’t a clue as to what the visit was about, but we had been instructed when we arrived here to ignore the rings and knocks of strangers at our door. We have been dutifully ignoring the once or twice weekly visits we get from strangers, but when we saw that they were in uniform, we didn’t want to arbitrarily dismiss them. Still, both Igor and Sholpan said to ignore them if it happens again -- so, this is what we’ll do. I have to admit that it was a bit unnerving to see foreign police standing at our door, but they did go away and hopefully had the wrong apartment in the first place.

So, this was our day of fun at the orphanage, anticipation about our court date and shock at the sight of the police at our door. And, as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz once said, “I love it here and I will miss you all -- but, there’s no place like home.” We love Kazakhstan, the orphanage, the children and our new friend, Igor. Still, there is no place like home. And, by the grace of God we will soon be home, tucking Kristina into the lower bunk of the bed she will share in her new room with her new sister, Julia. It’s gonna be great!

Well, Dennis was our driver today since Igor had a wedding to attend. His driving was a bit more conservative than Igor's. Same amount of weaving and games of "chicken" with the pedestrians in town, but only about 120 kmh (about 75 mph) once we got on the open road versus Igor's 150 kmh (about 90 mph).

You'll notice by the picture at the top of this journal that for once it wasn't taken at the orphanage. There's a reason for this. I forgot to bring the camera. Which was a real disappointment for us since (as some may have noticed) they've dressed Kristina in the same blue and yellow jumper for 4 days straight. You'll have to take my word for it but she finally was wearing something different today. A pair of brown pants and a yellow top, I think. She had on really colorful socks that had red and pink stripes.

Since I have no photos, I'll just say that we had a good bonding visit that, thankfully, was a little less centered on the Pixter. It's great that Kristina likes this electronic marvel, but we were kind of missing the jumping/chasing/tickling games. There was a lot more in the way of activities today and only the occasional fascination with the Pixter.

The picture at the top is one of the breakfast cereals we've bought in the grocery store. Very sweet, has a boatload of sugar. Doesn't taste a thing like chicken, despite the picture on the box.

The picture with the "01" in the center has a funny story associated with it. This contraption hangs on the outside of the orphanage next to the door that we enter. As we were leaving on the very first day we visited the orphanage, Robin asked Yuri (the orphanage director) if it was "art." Once Igor had translated her question, Yuri started laughing and just shook his head. He replied that it was just firefighting equipment. To be fair, the two cone shaped objects were standing straight out from the building when Robin first posed the question. Yuri walked up to them and angled them down toward the ground. We all started joking then that perhaps Robin was reminded of Madonna's bra from one of her older music videos. We then decided that after Yuri had adjusted the angle of the cones that this would be Madonna's bra in about 50 years.

The screen capture from our TV set is a Russian version of the TV show "Married With Children" that we've seen while surfing the channels here. Can't understand a thing they're saying, but they look just as lowbrow and funny as the American original. Wonder if anyone is paying any royalties or whether it's just considered a derivative work.

The picture of the two CD's is my purchase yesterday from a music store here (with Igor's help). After sitting in a bar drinking beer with Igor, there have been two songs rattling around in my head which were played many times that night. One was the Russian word for "summer" which kind of sounds like "L-Yetta." The other one is all Russian lyrics, but punctuated with the English phrase "Columbia Pictures." The names of the artist are above each CD, and I haven't a clue what they are or how they're pronounced. Each CD cost 600 Tenge, which is a little less than $5.

Irony

With the orphanage being an hour's drive away, we sometimes ride for a long time lost in thought. Other times we discuss all sorts of topics and tell jokes. This particular morning, Igor happened to ask us if we'd seen the movie "Deer Hunter."

I've been down this path before, so I quickly spoke up and told Igor that Robin lost a cousin in the Vietnam war and therefore can't bring herself to watch any movies involving that conflict. Igor nodded in understanding and mentioned that his family had lost a relative in the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan back in the 1980's.

I found the irony of the situation striking. Igor's government had helped the North Vietnamese defeat the United States in Southeast Asia and indirectly contributed to the loss to Robin and her family. Our government had helped the Afghan mujhadeen defeat the Soviet Union and indirectly contributed to the loss to Igor and his family.

Yet, decades later, people from both of these opposing ideologies are headed to an orphange to directly improve the life of a little girl.

Robin here. Today’s visit with Kristina started off a bit askew when we entered the playroom and found six young boys being guided along the balance beam by their teacher. We had apparently interrupted a therapy session that was not about to end just because we were there. So, after standing awkwardly in the doorway for a minute or two, Kristina took it upon herself to escort us to the empty music room where she immediately pulled out her Pixter from Papa’s briefcase and began to get to work on a connect-the-dots drawing. We spent about fifteen minutes in the music room until the music teacher arrived and told Kristina to take us to the playroom that was now empty.

Once in the playroom, we went about what has become a routine of trampoline jumping, ball tossing -- and at this point in time, electronic Pixter playing. About half an hour into our play I brought out Kristina’s daily treat -- today a pee-CHEH-nya (cookie) that she happily ate. She then rooted through my purse and found a 7-UP, which I had placed there before we left the apartment this morning. I permitted her to take a few sips to help wash down her cookie before putting it back in my purse with the promise that she could have a little more later.

Toward the end of our visit, Kristina went through my purse again -- this time she pulled out a comb and a brush and began combing through my hair, leaving one side noticeably flatter than the other. A little more Pixter, some jumping off a ledge onto some mats and a few tickle matches with Papa and it was time to head home. We walked Kristina up to her group, gave and received hugs and said pa-KUH (goodbye).
Igor is attending a wedding tomorrow and his friend Dennis will be our driver for the day. Dennis does not speak English, so I guess it will be a quiet ride to and from the orphanage. I just hope that Dennis does not drive like a madman! I’ve gotten used to Igor’s driving and I have faith in his situational awareness and quick reaction time. Most importantly, Igor’s car has seatbelts that actually work! I just pray we do not have to endure a wild ride tomorrow at the hands of our substitute driver. I’ll let you know how it goes…

Pixter

Today was a special day since it marks the end of our 14 day bonding period with Kristina. Igor picked us up a little early so that we could stop at the notary and sign the documents that petition the court for an adoption hearing with a judge. We then drove our usual 90 mph to the orphanage in Poludino where Igor dropped us off (thankfully, he stopped the car first) and then continued on a further 30 kilometers east to the town where the court is located.

We've done a good enough job of learning Russian that it has been rare that Igor spends any time with us to translate while we bond with Kristina. We're not conversational, but we know enough phrases and statements that we're very comfortable around her without a translator. Kristina has taught a few words, such as "GROO-sha" for a pear she was eating one day and "ro-DINK-ka" for a birthmark on her forehead.

When we walked up to the door that we usually enter we could hear children singing. The large music room is adjacent to the walkway and the door. Once inside, Kristina came running up to us. She had been in the music room with the other children and evidently spotted us entering the orphanage. We then headed for the playroom for our visit.

Since this was the special 14th day of the bonding period, we'd brought the 'heavy artillery' of toys, a handheld electronic plaything called a 'Pixter'. We had a hunch that it would be a big hit with Kristina, and boy was it ever. When she got an earful and an eyeful of the tunes and graphics that it produced, she was just enraptured with the thing.

The built-in programs are all about drawing, coloring and connecting dots to produce pictures, so there wasn't any language barrier for her to deal with. Kristina once again proved herself to be a quick study and soon was managing the menus and activities like a seasoned pro. It was quite a contrast to previous bonding visits since she was quiet and focused on learning this toy. Robin and I just relaxed, cuddled Kristina and gave her encouragement as she pursued this new and exciting challenge.

We’re Feeling the Love

Robin here… Today was another silly day with a repeat of yesterday’s umbrella fascination and some more rolling off the balance beam in an act of pure trust on Kristina’s part. Luckily, Papa caught her every time and Kristina really seemed to enjoy the onslaught of kisses we would bestow upon her while repositioning her atop the beam after each successful catch. Kristina also revisited the contents of my purse today and spent at least ten minutes putting on lipstick and using my makeup brushes to pretend that she was applying blush and eye shadow.

We also brought out the laptop today and showed Kristina many, many pictures of Julia and us at the Detsky Dom in Ust Kamenogorsk. Kristina seemed to understand that what we are doing with her now is exactly what we did with Julia in 2004. She gave Julia’s pictures some kisses, just as she did the pictures we showed her of our cat Buddy and our dog Nugget. Kristina seems to already be in love with her new pets. And, in a glimpse of what is the contrary part of her personality, Kristina has taken to saying Buddy when we ask her to say Nugget and Nugget when we ask her to say Buddy. She also says Buddy or Nugget when we ask her to say Claire, Gavin or Yulia. Yep, she’s a little stinker.

We are really beginning to feel the love from our little girl. Since day one Kristina has been talkative, comical and playful. Still, yesterday and today were different in that she not only allowed, but seemed to want our affection. And, when we said our goodbyes the past two days, we were given kisses and extra long hugs from her. It is so cute to watch her hug Greg goodbye while affectionately tapping his back as if to say, “Don’t worry, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Tomorrow morning (Wednesday) we are going to the notary with our attorney to sign the papers stating that we have met our 14 day bonding period requirement and are requesting a court date for our adoption hearing. Igor will drop us off at the orphanage after that and then he’ll head to the courthouse to file the papers. We should receive notice on Thursday or Friday of our assigned court date; we are hoping it will be on Monday or Tuesday of next week.

We know that Gavin and Claire are doing fine and we hope that Julia is not missing her Mama and Papa too much. We take comfort in knowing that she is in a good a loving home with our neighbors and friends, but we worry that she might be feeling like we’ve been gone too long already…

When you read this Julia, please know that Mama and Papa think about you almost every minute of every single day. But, just like when we adopted you, the time we need to spend here with Kristina is also long. We love you and we are proud of you for understanding that you needed to stay behind so you could go to school and be there for Buddy and Nugget. Before you know it, we will be home with your little sister and the two of you can start sharing your bedroom together. We know that you and Kristina will have so much fun together and that Kristina will just love her new friends, too!

When Worlds Collide

Travelling to adopt Julia in December 2004, we must have brought along 40 movie DVD's to watch. We spent so much time bonding, sleeping, and writing our journals that we never saw any of them. Instead, we watched many episodes of a half-hour sitcom named "Titus" that I was extremely fond of.

This time we're a little smarter and left most of the movie DVD's at home. We only brought a couple ("Cold Mountain" and "I, Robot"). Our main entertainment is the first season of a half-hour sitcom called "3rd Rock From The Sun."

In the very first episode, the buxom alien named Sally is trying to understand the female earthling form she's assumed. She pushes her breasts together and says "What do you think? They seem to have greater power when they collide. I'm not wrong, am I?"

In today's bonding visit, Kristina somehow instinctively knew the very same thing. She suddenly held the green and pink playballs up against her chest and stood there proudly beaming at us. This set the tone for today's visit, which was active, fun-filled and just pretty damn silly.

Examples:

I got 'stuck' in one of the play tunnels and wiggled helplessly like a fish until Kristina came and pulled me out.

Kristina spun around in circles so much that she lay in a dizzy heap on the floor.

We played a game where we all pretended to fall asleep as Kristina lay on the balance beam. She would then, in a true leap of faith, suddenly roll off one side and rely on us to catch her.

We got into a number of hilarious bouts of laughter over things we don't even remember.

Robin painted Kristina's fingernails for the first time in a bright pink color. Kristina ran around the orphanage proudly showing them off to anyone she could find.

The self-opening umbrella was discovered and became a big hit. Kristina opened it dozens of times, posed with it and spun it upside down like a top.

We Have Gas…

Robin here. Well, now that I have your attention I will comment about our day. Today being Sunday, we did not go to the orphanage to visit with Kristina. Last Sunday dragged on and on and I was determined to not let that happen again this week. So, after sleeping until 8:30 this morning, I made toast and coffee, talked with Greg for about an hour and then began what turned out to be a marathon cleaning undertaking. One wouldn’t think that a 600 square foot apartment would take that long to clean, but after three hours of non-stop dusting, vacuuming, floor mopping and bathroom scrubbing I was grateful that I had thoroughly cleaned the kitchen on Friday afternoon.

Yesterday, I did laundry and found out the hard way that if the dryer is running (which, by the way is not a common luxury here) then no other appliance should be turned on at the same time. The TV is okay, but don’t even think about turning on the toaster oven or hot pot and certainly NOT the washing machine. Anyway, we blew a circuit breaker and had to call Igor away from his home to come and figure out how to get the power up and running again. Since Igor had already had a beer or two, he ended up having to walk to our apartment (about 15 minutes) in the rain (light rain, but nonetheless, rain.) After arriving, Igor called an emergency number, explained the situation and was told that someone would be here in about 15 minutes or so. Another call 45 minutes later and we were told that we were next on the list and it shouldn’t be too long. With this, Igor went out into the public hall outside our apartment, opened up the electrical panel and flipped a switch. Voila! We had power. Igor then called the emergency number and told them to cancel the request for service as we bowed before him with immense gratitude.

Before leaving, Igor showed Greg what to do in the event that we sucked up more power than allowed again (I did it this morning) and he prepared to walk back to his apartment in the now moderate rainfall, being one beer heavier than when he arrived. And now, in case you’re wondering about the gas… We were still talking to Igor as he was readying himself to leave and the subject of our stovetop having one working electric element and three non-working gas burners came up. He said, “No, I’m sure they work.” And I said, “We tried to light them with a match, but they won’t ignite.” Igor then opened up a cabinet door and exposed the gas meter and gas shutoff valve that of course, was off. He opened the valve, struck a match and “We have gas!”

It’s amazing how two normally analytical individuals (that would be Greg and I) have been reduced to helpless sorts who need assistance to flip a breaker switch and turn a gas valve to the on position. But, that’s what happens when you are a stranger in a foreign land. You rely on the kindness of the locals to help you with ordinary, everyday tasks. And, we have found that kindness here in many ways; from the babushkas selling produce who carefully remove the proper amount of tenge from my hand so I can pay for their goods, to the merchants who don’t understand a thing we’re saying, but smile at us anyway. And, despite being incredibly needy yesterday, we are feeling more and more at home here with each passing day.

Robin here. Well, today was the eleventh day of bonding – and the fifth day since I’ve been able to wash my hair! In preparation for the upcoming freeze, the city has been readying the hot water pipes that carry heat to all of Kazakhstan. Unfortunately for us, the two big holes in the streets around our neighborhood apparently feed the hot water to our apartment. It’s not unusual to turn on the faucet and find cold water where hot should be. But, we don’t even have water. Turn on the hot water faucet and we get nothing.

Each day for the past five days I have been telling myself that surely “tomorrow” I will have hot water with which to shampoo my hair – and each day my hopes are dashed. So, since tomorrow is Sunday and we are not going to the orphanage, I will spend an hour heating up water on the stove in order to mix it with cold water and try to shampoo and rinse my hair with a coffee cup.

You will notice that I am missing from all but one of today’s pictures. As if my hair wasn’t already a disaster, Kristina decided to create a new do for me today! So, I will swallow my pride and allow one picture to be posted with my youngest daughter.

Today’s visit was a good one, with lots of ball tossing, trampoline jumping and hide and seek playing. We were also introduced today to a yellow, stuffed rabbit that matched Kristina’s yellow dress. It would sing a short little song when its stomach was squeezed and Kristina knew the lyrics so well that she would accompany the rabbit in song. She was just cute as a button singing in her high pitched little voice as she would bob her head to the rhythm of the music. She was so cute today that it took our combined wills to not kiss and hug her endlessly!

Kristina is slowly beginning to accept physical affection and we dare not overdo it, even though most of the time we would love to just eat her up. And, not to be forgotten -- at one point today an alarmed Kristina called to her Papa to come and stomp on a spider she had spotted on the floor by the window. This, I believe was Greg’s first Papa in Shining Armor moment.

We stopped at a Pizza place with Igor on our way home from the orphanage today and then stopped by a store where Greg was able to buy four colorful nub-tipped balls that are identical to the balls we play with at the orphanage. I also bought a darling blue and white soft, soft bathrobe for Kristina for when she is finally with us – hopefully, right after court. This was the first of what will be many clothing purchases for our little girl. Ownership is not something an orphan experiences as a rule and I can still remember how in awe Julia was when she understood that all of the clothes we bought were for her and her alone.

Tomorrow (Sunday) will be a day of rest for us. We’ll try to sleep late and just hang out, as we did last week. Igor, our interpreter/driver told us today that Yuri, the orphanage director told him to hire a driver on our court day so he would be able to partake in the lunch and toasts that he (Yuri) plans for us after court. I think it is tradition to eat and drink at the orphanage with total abandon on adoption day and even if it kills us, we plan on savoring every minute of the celebration!

You will notice in today’s pictures that there is a bottle of Mr. Proper aka Mr. Clean. The English word ‘clean’ apparently translates to ‘proper’ in the Russian language. It’s nice to know that I am using a respectable product to clean the floors.

Beers

Igor has been mentioning that he and I need to go out for some "beers" practically since we got here. Last night he called at about 7 pm and we agreed to head out and have a drink. He lives within walking distance of the apartment we're staying at, so he stopped by our place. Robin bid us goodbye and we walked over to one of his favorite watering holes.

It was a rather small bar with bench style tables and seats. We grabbed a table and ordered a couple beers which the waitress brought along with two small bowls and an ashtray. One bowl had some pistachio nuts and the other contained some snacks that were akin to very tiny, heavily seasoned croutons. The ashtray underscored the fact that the bar was already enveloped in a blue haze of cigarette smoke that would only get more dense as the evening wore on.

I enjoy beer fairly often, but I am not one to just sit down and drink it for the sake of drinking. But this was a social occasion and I wanted to enjoy the discussion and opportunity to learn more about Igor, Kazakhstan and what life is like in central Asia. We sat and talked for hours and consumed many beers. It probably wasn't much for a veteran drinker, but 6 or 7 beers in the time we sat in the bar was as much as I could handle.

Igor phoned a friend to come pick us up and give us a ride home. This was fortunate since I was having trouble walking in a straight line and didn't want to weave my way back to the apartment. Igor had mentioned earlier that if the police suspect you've been drinking that they will just walk up to you on the street and arrest you. Whatever the inside of a Petropavlovsk lockup looks like, I had no desire to see it.

Anyway, I can report that the friendship was rewarding and the beer intoxicating. Intoxicating enough that I awoke with a pounding headache and a queasy stomach this morning. Even with several doses of Excedrin, I spent the hour-long car ride to the orphanage hoping I wouldn't embarrass myself by vomiting all over Igor's car. In contrast to the way I felt, Igor looked normal and chipper as we bounced along the bumpy roads at 90 MPH.

A big question for Robin and I was how well today's bonding visit was going to go following Kristina's behavior yesterday. We never got a chance to post an update, but another adoptive couple (a local couple from Kazakhstan) and their little toddler boy named Roma shared the playroom with us. Kristina spent a good part of the visit focused on Roma and fighting over the possession of toys rather than bonding with us. It wasn't until the last half hour that we salvaged something of a union between the three of us. Definitely not satisfying.

The good news is that it went much better without the distraction of the other couple and Roma. Kristina was back to her usual, playful self and she bounced balls, did somersaults and jumped like mad. Not to be left out, my stomach did a few somersaults of its own.

Our little singsong phrase for Kristina is "Kristina Ballerina, Have-You-Seen-Her?" and Kristina will echo it back at us fairly often. She's also adept now at repeating the names of her 3 siblings-to-be, along with the dog (Nugget) and the cat (Buddy). It's cute to hear her high-pitched little voice rattle off these words with her heavily-rolled Russian R's.

Telefon

In yesterday's update, We forgot to mention the total fascination that Kristina developed for my Palm Treo cellphone. The little thief makes a routine practice of pillaging my briefcase and Robin's purse each day. When she found the Treo, it was the same as a pirate discovering buried treasure. She pretended to talk on it and ran up to everyone she could find proudly displaying her discovery.

With that in mind, we stopped at a store yesterday and bought her a little play cellphone for 180 Tenge (about $1.50). It has buttons you can push and makes loud music, ringtones and Russian conversation in addition to a dog barking and a bird chirping. We suspect the caretakers will hate us for buying it since most adults get their fill of it within a few seconds.

When we presented it to Kristina in today's visit, her little eyes lit up and we knew we were in for 2 hours of telephone madness. She ran about the room with it doing her usual activities, but now accompanied by the miracle of loud, disco beat music and conversation from her personal cellphone.

I don't know if it was the phone or the cumulative effect of the bonding sessions, but half way through today's visit we were actually invited IN TO THE JUNGLE GYM. The reason I capitalize this is because any time we've previously trespassed into this massive 15'x 15', two-story structure, Kristina has chased us out and made it abundantly clear that it is an adult-free zone.

Once inside, Robin and I were well-behaved and sat across from Kristina as she developed a little game focused on the ball pit in the center of the gym. She would inquire as to which color ball we would like (SEEN-yee/blue, zeel-YOH-nee/green, ZHOHL-tee/yellow or KRAHS-nee/red) and then toss us the correct ball once we'd made our choice. Then Robin and I would take turns throwing the ball to Kristina so she could deposit them back into the ball pit. Repeat endlessly.

We didn't grow tired of the game because we sensed what a special privilige it was to be allowed inside the jungle gym. Kristina even coaxed me to climb up to the second level and then urged me to slide down into the ball pit. I did so and displaced about half of the balls when I landed. Kristina thought this was really funny and then helped me out of the pit, which was not that easy to climb out of.

So there you have it. More madcap merriness at the Poludino orphanage in Kazakhstan with a little doll named Kristina.

Pretty in Blue

Robin here. Upon our arrival at the doorway of Kristina’s group this morning, we were met with a vision of sweetness as she stood up from her chair wearing a pretty blue dress that we had not seen before. Julia looks beautiful in pink and we learned today that Kristina looks lovely in blue. The color seems to awaken the pallor of her skin, giving it a healthy glow and brightness.

I think the color blue also energizes Kristina, as she was non-stop action today! As soon as we entered the playroom she hopped onto the mini-trampoline and bounced for at least ten minutes straight. Then, after catching her breath, Kristina picked up a softball sized rubber ball and began bouncing on the trampoline again while batting the ball to Greg. This back and forth went on for another ten minutes or so without interruption as Kristina slapped the ball back to Greg just about every time he bounced it at her. She also kicked the ball a few times with amazing precision as she continued to bounce on the trampoline. I think she will make Uncle Jim proud with what appears to be natural soccer skills!

After a LOT of physical activity, we set up the computer to play a Disney Christmas DVD. The first of four movies on the DVD is about Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck competing with one another in an ice skating performance. This particular movie was Julia’s favorite when we bonded with her. It bridges the language barrier by conveying simple emotions to tell the story. Kristina sat quietly through the movie and seemed to enjoy it. It didn’t matter that she could not understand the words spoken. She understood the feelings of friendship, jealousy, rivalry and ultimately true friendship in the end between Minnie and Daisy as the story unfolded. I will be curious to see, if like Julia, Kristina will pull it out of Papa’s briefcase every single day for the rest of the week and ask to see it again and again.

Today marked the halfway point of our bonding period. Next Tuesday will be our fourteenth day. Our lawyer will submit paperwork on that day and we will hopefully stand before the judge less than a week later. We don’t know yet if Kristina will be allowed to stay at the apartment with us during the fifteen day waiting period after court. We hope so for many reasons, including the fact that having her here will eliminate the need to drive almost two hours roundtrip to the Poulidino orphanage as we wait out the days. The jury is still out as to whether or not Greg will head back to the States right after court, or spend some time here with Kristina and me during the waiting period. We’ll have to wait and see how well the stars are aligned when the time comes.