Week end Review

I am writing this blog as I sit in the car in my driveway. You might be wondering why, well our daughter falls asleep in the car and it has been a struggle to get her naps so we decided to go for a ride. It is kind of nice because now I have nothing else to distract me. I have really been wanting to write this all week but as I am sure most of you know, parenthood keeps you busy. I figured I would review from where I left off last.

Wednesday we were set to have our appointment at the Embassy. If this went smoothly we would get to come home on Thursday, if not it would not be until Saturday. Considering the price of the room and my eagerness to bring our angel home, this was very important. When we got to the Embassy, the consulate informed us that they were having issues with the internet system and that we needed to wait and they would try to get it fixed. Two hours later it was 5 minutes until closing and he was telling us that there was no way that it could get done because it was still not working. Even though it was futile, Chris was begging him to try everything possible. After about 5 minutes of begging, the Consulate decided to check it again. Remember this whole time we are trying to stay calm and entertain a two year old in a very drab governmental waiting room (it was a lot like the DMV). The Consulate came running back waving the papers in the air. He was so excited that it worked and we could bring our baby home. I picked Allie up and twirled her saying "You are going to America!!". The last minute possible has seemed to be the theme for this process!!

So at 1:30am Thursday morning we took our daughter out of bed and brought her to the airport to start our next big adventure. We had no clue what to expect. For instance, the cutest surprise happened as we were boarding the plane. Allie is not one to say goodbye on demand and has only blown a kiss once in the time we've known her. But, as the airport waiting area was just going out of sight, we said "bye-bye Kazakhstan" which was followed by an Allie "bye-bye" and a full-fledged kiss and wave goodbye. I am telling you, the girl is more conscious of what is going on than we will ever know.

The first flight, which was 6 1/2 hours long, amazing actually left on time. Remember that every single flight up to this point had been delayed. I guess these were the ones that truly counted. We were surprised to find that we had been upgraded to Economy Plus and had an entire row to ourselves.

(Okay perfect example of my new life. I am now back 2 hours later because she woke up. We will see how long I make it this time).

Anyways, that flight was amazing she slept half of it and played the rest of the time. Our girl is not immune to tantrums so we were very thankful that this went well. We then had a 5 hour layover in Germany. This was probably more tough on Papa and I than it was on Allie. She ended up falling asleep in the baby carrier. We soon learned that this was the trick to her sleeping. We were worried about the next flight because we knew that we would have less room, it was an 8 hour flight and we would be cutting it close in DC. Yet again our little girl slept for more than half of the flight and Chris slept even more than that. When Allie was awake, she was very playful. She loved the lady who was sitting next to us and considered it her job to be the in-flight entertainment.

In DC we miraculously made it through Customs and immigration in just enough time for me to change the pullup and get her on the next flight. At this point I relaxed and apparently she did too. It seemed surreal that we were about to be home as a family. We both slept for the entire flight.

We were finally home. We unloaded the plane and saw a couple of our friends and my parents waiting. It was amazing!! It took Allie a little while to warm up to the new faces but she soon started to show her amazing personality.

We are now coming to the close of the 3rd day home. We are all learning so much and have a bunch left to learn. We have played a lot, laughed tons, slept a lot, screamed some and even had the first ever Kelley household dance party! How our life has changed! I never knew that I could love my husband more than I already did, but watching him as a father is incredible. Last night he jumped out of bed when she started crying and came back talking jibberish. This morning he did not remember a thing. Clearly he is such a natural that he can parent in his sleep.

Allie is the strongest little girl I know. I know this was terrifying for her but it is hard to remember that when she seems to be doing so well. She is incredible and has been incredibly patient with her new parents. I do plan to post more pictures soon but as you can tell this has been a task in itself. I am thankful to my parents who stayed around and helped a bunch and to our friends who are making sure that we are fed over the next couple of weeks. We have been here a short while and we are already so blessed with such an amazing network of friends.

Sometimes it is hard to believe this has really happened. It is when she is sleeping in my arms that I am able to recognize the magnitude of this miracle in our lives. The adoptions in Kazakhstan are now over for a while and there are many children that will not find there forever home and many families that are now starting over the long process. All of this is happening and here I sit with my perfect, rotten, adorable angel. We are forever blessed and forever thankful.

Allie is a bit sick and unfortunately I think we are going to have to see the doctor a little sooner than I hoped. I will be back to share more about the first couple of weeks home with her. Thank you for following our story up to now and for all of the prayers.

Joys AND Trials, but mostly Joys

To avoid confusion as you read this, note that this is Chris writing today under strict supervision of Cindy.

Yesterday morning was the most wonderful experience, because around 6am a precious little girl opened her eyes, looked at her mama and papa, and smiled. She then reached her little hand out to touch mama's face, as if to make sure that she was real. It was simply amazing, and two rough diaper changes later, it is still amazing! Despite all the changes that Allie is being put through, she is really adapting well. Most of the days she has been wearing a big smile and wanting to play. The only problem is that she would rather keep playing regardless of how exhausted (she and her parents) get. So, for all those wondering how our entry to parenthood has been, we have experienced some fights but we have seen enough joys to know that the fights are worth it.

I am able to write now because Allie passed out for a nap, which is a first for this trip. Yesterday, we tried for the afternoon nap, but that got nasty quick. Eventually, she fell asleep along with us around 3:30. She woke up again at 5:00am this morning!

We are learning quickly about her. Like how she loves to mimic adults, and that is why everything is a phone to her (even her baby doll!). She loved Cheerios, couldn't get enough, until she had goldfish. Now, nothing compares for her. She will eat our other treats that we brought, but apparently baked cheddar is a flavor that cannot be denied. Lotion time is still a big hit, but bath time before lotion is still up in the air. She loves to splash water in her face, but us pouring water on her head to wash out the shampoo is terrifying.

I don't think that our Almaty experience will be remembered quite as fondly as Ust. The hotel still claims to only have the most expensive room, and the staff is less than excited to be hospitipal to us. Allie will remember Almaty as the place of the first time that her parents subjected her to the doctor. The doctor was fantastic with her, but she still hates anything that resembles a doctor's office. Random enough, the doctor was a foreigner as well, he was from South Africa.

The one thing that we do have at this hotel is a truly fantastic breakfast buffet. Still a lot of beef and onions for the morning, but the spread is quite impressive. Allie loves the apples and oranges, but she is not a fan of grapefruit. Potatoes seem to be her favorite food thus far (well, it is probably a toss up with goldfish), so she is definitely Cindy's daughter. If that wasn't enough, Allie has not paid any attention to cartoons that we have for her, but she stopped and watched several minutes of The Princess Bride. For those who do not know, this is Cindy's all time favorite. Inconceivable!

We have not heard otherwise, so it looks as though we are set to have our embassy appointment today at 2:30. That means that we will be flying out in the morning and be home as planned around 5:45pm. Allie did well during the flight from Ust, but that was only an hour and a half. Please pray for the other 15.5 hours of flights, and 10+ hours in layovers. Thankfully, the plane itself does not scare her, so it is really just our responsibility to entertain her. Cindy's biggest fear is changing the "fun" diapers on the plane. We shall see tomorrow!