UN RESUME DE DANIEL DU 23 AU 30 JANVIER!!

Mercredi 23 janvier 2008

Jackie pense avoir le rhume encore une fois aujourd’hui donc nous allons visiter Olivier le matin seulement. Dans l’après-midi nous relaxons et restons à l’appartement. Olivier est toujours amorphe aujourd’hui et il continue d’être congestionne, c’est une situation qui semble permanente a l’orphelinat. L’échange constant de jouets qu’ils mettent tous dans leurs bouches explique ce problème. Une fois a la maison nous croyons qu’il se débarrassera de ce rhume constant. La température c’est réchauffée il fait environ -14 degrés. Le soir vers 7h00 Lorraine nous appelle de Vaudreuil, ca fait longtemps qu’on n’a pas parle a une amie de notre quartier en direct.
Dan


Jeudi 24 janvier 2008

Ce matin, une chose intéressante c’est produite. Olivier nous imite et il commence à dire maman et papa !! Ca un effet encourageant sur nous. Nous sommes vraiment emballes de ce nouveau développement. Nous le filmons entrain de répéter ces mots avec la camera digitale, ca fera de beaux souvenirs. Nous croyons que de nous voir régulièrement accélère grandement son développement Les nounous l’avait déjà remarque il y a une semaine, des changements dans son comportement était entrain de se produire. Jackie se sent mieux aujourd’hui, elle a été capable d’éviter un rhume. C’est probablement grâce au fait que l’on a la chance de dormir beaucoup, soit 9 a 10 heures par nuit. Le matelas souffle (style pour le camping) que nous avons apporte est pas mal confortable. C’est définitivement mieux que le mince matelas de foam de 1 pouce d’épaisseur sur lequel repose notre matelas souffle (Kim et Jean nous sympathisons avec vous). C’est un $25 bien investi croyez-moi !!
Dan

Vendredi 25 janvier 2008

2 visites habituelles aujourd’hui. Olivier ne nous imite pas aujourd’hui. Il est vraiment « moody ». Il change comme la température.
Dan


Samedi 26 janvier 2008

Apres la visite habituelle du matin nous allons faire l’épicerie. Nous allons chez Oural puis chez Baytereck (une plus petite surface). Vers 4h00 Elvira et Oscar viennent jouer une partie de Blokus. On joue jusqu'à 6h30, c’est plaisant d’avoir un peu de changement dans la routine.
Dan

Dimanche 27 janvier 2008

Aujourd’hui diner au Dixie Pub avec Isabelle et sa mère. Malheureusement, nous ne pouvons commander notre pizza habituelle. Nous commandons un club sandwich, des frites et des tacos, c’est mangeable mais ce n’est rien de fantastique. Plus tard nous allons magasiner et Jackie achète une paire de superbes bottes d’hiver qui ont du style (voir photo sur le blog) et qui sont doublées, donc chaudes pour l’hiver. C’est le genre de bottes qu’on ne retrouve pas à Montréal. Ici c’est plein de beau style de bottes pour femmes, l’assortiment est incroyable, c’est le rêve des fanatiques comme Jackie. Pour les hommes il y a une grande variété de souliers doubles ; ce qu’on ne voit pas par chez nous. Les gens ont du style au Kazakhstan, on dépense beaucoup sur le look même s’il n’en on pas les moyens. Je me suis même acheté un chapeau de style Kazakh car ma tuque faisait dure. J’aurais bien fait de porter un de mes manteaux de cuir pour le style mais j’aurais gelé a notre arrivée. Un manteau de cuir a -30 c’est impensable mais pas pour les Kazakhs. Aujourd’hui la température se situe aux environs de -5 degrés Celsius et il neige.
Dan

Lundi 28 janvier 2008

Ce matin il neige toujours. C’est une bonne accumulation pour ici : environ 10cm sont tombes. Normalement, le climat est froid et très sec, donc très peu de neige. Journée très chaude aujourd’hui. On passe a +2 en après-midi et la neige fond déjà. Olivier a encore attrape un rhume. Il a seulement eu quelques jours de paix et ca recommence ; pauvre lui. Nous essayons tant bien que mal de nous protéger de ce rhume (avec du Purel) mais c’est plutôt difficile car nous sommes en contact avec lui 2 heures par jour et c’est suffisant pour passer ces microbes contagieux. Nous commençons a devenir vraiment impatient avec la date de « pré-court » et de court que nous ne savons toujours pas. La période d’attachement est terminée depuis mercredi passe et le processus prend plus de temps que prévu car c’est un nouveau juge qui s’occupera de nous. Ce juge insiste pour tout révise notre dossier et ca prend plus de temps. Vers 7h00pm Elvira nous envoie un message texte sur le cellulaire disant que la pré-court sera mercredi matin (30 janvier) a 11h00am. Elle espère que la court sera vendredi (1 février) mais n’est certaine de rien. Le juge décide tout et nous n’avons aucune influence sur lui.
Dan

Mardi 29 janvier 2008

Il fait toujours chaud aujourd’hui ; -5 degrés. Jackie et moi sommes en discussion sur la date de notre départ. Nous décidons de voir quand sera la date de court pour prendre une décision. Normalement, c’est environ une vingtaine de jour pour réunir les documents nécessaires (passeport de l’enfant et autres) pour le retour au Canada. En après-midi Olivier est hyperactif, il bouge plus que jamais et ne veux presque pas manger son pate chinois habituel.
Dan
Mercredi 30 janvier 2008

Aujourd’hui c’est la pré-court. Nous sommes nerveux malgré que nous savons bien qu’il n’y a rien la. Le juge regarde nos papiers et fait des commentaires qu’Elvira traduit pour nous. Il demande toutes sortes de modifications sur nos documents. La dame du ministère de l’éducation aura quelques documents à modifier. Elle répond qu’elle est d’accord pour le faire. Notre agence aura aussi à faire quelques ajustements dans le futur. Puis, le juge tombe sur le fait que nous n’avons pas de documents signes pour les gardiens légaux (parrain, marraine de l’enfant). Celui-ci insiste pour avoir ce papier (malgré que l’agence ne nous l’avait pas demande). A ce moment Jackie commence a pleurer et moi je me choque pensant que tout le processus sera retarde. Ensuite, Lonia nous dit de ne pas nous inquiéter car nous obtiendrons le document avec l’aide d’Anna, Fred et Lorraine (parrain et marraine) a Montréal. Effectivement c’est ce qui c’est produit. Des 6h30am, heure de Montréal, nous faisons des appels pour demander l’aide de nos bons ami(e)s et aussi l’aide d’Anna. Heureusement, ils sont en mesure de nous prêter main forte. Un gros merci a tous, c’est un stress de moins sur nos épaules. Finalement, le juge établi la date de court au lendemain 3h00pm (jeudi 31 janvier) pour nous et a 10h00am pour Isabelle. Youppie ! C’est une excellente nouvelle… Nous décidons de rester à Ouralsk pour la pleine durée soit un autre 3 semaines environs. Nous estimons être à Montréal pour le 24 février. Nous serons donc au Kazakhstan pour un total de 9 semaines. Il faut dire que nous sommes arrive 2 semaines et demi a l’avance a cause du changement de dernière minute avec la disponibilité des enfants dans la base de données d’adoption. Nous avions déjà nos billets d’avion au moment de ce changement donc ca nous aurais un $500 additionnel pour changer la date de départ.

WE HAVE A DATE!!!

Well ladies and gentleman the moment has finally arrived, we got a court date. Let me start from the moment we woke up… It all started with a beautiful phone call from my poupee Linda back in Mtl, we talked for a while (she had purchased a calling card). The phone disconnected 3 times but we will speak again. It made me feel so full of happiness that when we hung up for real, I was missing her already and home. But as most of you already know today Wednesday is/was a biggish day…Pre-court!!!! I’m a nervous wreck and Lin calmed me down.

10:20 we’re picked up and off to pick up Isabelle, she is alone because her mother cannot enter the court, and she is an emotional mess like me. We arrive at the court and to my surprise it looked similar to the hospital building, (amongst tiny houses/shacks) but no chefs walking around. Daniel was calm but I was the bubbling one, feeling nervous and (why is it I’m always the one sitting in front of the judge or the important person).

Pre-court; we take off our coats and Elvira is trying to tell us something like don’t make to much gestures and don’t say anything…what does she mean gestures? Needless to say I cried when the honorable judge found a problem with our file (I think that is a pretty big gesture)! To me it was serious because I didn’t know how I was going to get that information for him by tomorrow, and for Daniel, he kept thinking this is going to delay us by 2 extra weeks. I couldn’t understand why they needed this information (it’s because Isabelle had included this in her home study) and now we need to prove we had it. This mysterious paper was guardian ship of Olivier (the Godparents), so it was rectified by a phone call to the Godparents and they will send a paper stating that they will accept…Lorraine and Fred accepted!!!

Next was the mad rush to get everything we don’t have at the apartment for Olivier’s home coming (imagine it the apartment has become home). Oh! Dear did I forget to mention that the court date is Thursday, and then we pick up our son from the orphanage!!! That is all if the judge grants us the adoption. After that we start the process of getting our papers to leave, maybe we could be home in 4 weeks, I’m praying for sooner!!!

So we will let you know on Thursday if we were granted to be Olivier Keanu Renat’s parents.

Also for the future pre- adoptive parents (PAP’S) please spend all the time you have reading other peoples blogs on the region you are going to and ask your agency if the information pertains to you. I believe that all my research has made this trip a breeze for material comfort, as for documents I guess you can’t always be fully prepared (ours is a new Judge, we are his second parents)!!!

ELUSIVE DREAMS

Court, no court date has been determined yet, but we do have a date for pre-court, WEDNESDAY!!!! And we are praying that he says “ok let’s go to court on THURSDAY”,is that too much to ask! It would make our life so much easier, we could finally be together. However another dream will start…the process of paper chasing to get home, which is as unpredictable and elusive as getting a court date!

Today was the same ol’ same ol’, with a twist! Olivier decided to talk again, “mamamamamama, daadaaadddddaaa papapapapa”! This is a very special moment for us that we thought we’d never experience, a young baby doing all his firsts with us!!! He also displayed his cheeky side by not talking when people were in the room, then as soon as they would leave he would turn his attention back to us and start talking all over again!!! Like I said cheeky monkey!!!!

With the previous entry on my blog, I was hoping to attract one female shoe fan in particular, but I ended up getting several comments and e-mails. However, I can’t send the phone number to the anonymous commenter since I’m not sure who you are!!! The only girls that I know that like shoes, call me baby and have not been in touch with me are…LE or JJ or EB!!! As much as I like this guessing game could the real shoe fan stand up???!!!!???

MAMA WANT S A NEW PAIR OF SHOES/BOOTS!!!!

I really thought our son would be living with us this week and everybody would be saying POZDRAVLAYOU (CONGRATULATIONS) to us on finally passing to court and being a family. But as fate would have it,we haven’t passed in court and still do not have a date. It saddened me so much that I had to ponder on what I would do back home if I was getting depressed? Well the first, I would seek out my nearest and dearest; my husband, mama, then friends or it could be the other way around depending on who is the cause of the ache. Well, I cuddled with Daniel and it made me feel better but not 100% yet, so he said “I know what will do the trick!” I said “yes”, he said “ SHOESSSS”!!!! I eagerly agreed! I believe I feel down because I have nothing to do, except for eating and there is only so much eating a girl wants to do, so now it’s time for some fun activity…SHOE SHOPPING! So I pick up the phone and I call my new gal pal El (It felt like an episode of the FLINSTONES…CHARGE IT!!!!!) No sooner that I hung up the phone, I see her pulling up, screaming CHARGE IT!!! I start running out of the apartment with glea in my eyes. I think I found my shoe soul mate, I believe she has as many shoes/boots as me, if not more! I spent the next couple of hours trying on all kinds of crazy boots, when I say crazy I mean AWESOME. Let me explain the boots here are very different from the one’s back home; their are is so many different styles and all lined for winter at an affordable price. They have millions of shoe stores and millions of styles, the woman wear high heal boots in the winter and walk everywhere (no transportation) even on the ice…they look good! It is like everyone is on the catwalk struting their stuff everyday.

Anyways all this to say that I acquired a pair of KAZAKH BOOTS!!!!! And hopefully it brings me luck for a court date!!!

GUESS WHO!!!

EXCITIING DAY FOR MAMA, DADA AND FAFA!!!!

Yesterday I was pretty blue again but that quickly changed when the phone rang. My Darling husband Daniel answered it and was talking very casually beside me, at first I thought it was Elvira, and then I realized he was talking about how we feel and how the weather was. I turned my head and said “who are you talking to?” He says “Lorraine” “Lorraine!!! Give me the phone!!!!” I couldn’t believe my husband, he made it sound like it’s just another regular phone call & I couldn’t believe that she was live on the other end of the phone…it made me cry again!!! I know it must cost a small fortune so I didn’t keep her on the phone too long…just long enough to say “thank you, I miss you and I love you”. And that is all I needed to go on for another day…anybody else want to call?

The happiness continued all day today THURSDAY THE 24TH. We went to the baby house again to see Olivier and brought his usual; change of clothes, 5 diapers (1 extra one for us), his books, teething ring, and some water in his bottle. The difference today was when he started imitating Daddy, “mama” baby Oli says “MAMA” then “DADA” we couldn’t believe our ears so we made him say it over and over again until I got it on video tape!!!! We are so proud of him, his first mimicking words!!! Another first was he gave me a real hug around my neck and then rested his little head on me, I’m so in love. And this isn’t the first time he does this but, it is the first time that I had a diaper to change him…he pooped on me again!!! I told Daddy that he will do the next diaper change. In the pm for our second visit, BABY OLI-K surprised us again. He was in his little walker in the playroom and Elvira was trying to get him to come to her, so she can bring him in the room for us. He didn’t budge, he just smiled at her. I said let me give a try and sure enough my little man got so happy and ran over to me in his walker. I took him out and kissed his little face, we were so proud that he is recognizing us. He trusts his mommy so much now that he pooped again on me, while I was feeding him. He doesn’t however like when I change him, he cries and wiggles to be free…Speaking of free, I told him that he would be free tomorrow from the baby house, but it looks like I was wrong!!! We still have no court date yet, I’m sad for him and for us!!! It is so hard for us to say goodbye to him when we leave the baby house, you could see in his face that he is wondering why we aren’t playing with him and his friends and why we always leave! I don’t want to leave him anymore!!!!

Just another manic Wednesday, ah Monday…oh Wednesday!!! Wish it was Sunday cause that is our fun day!!!

OK I HAVEN’T POSTED IN A WHILE SO HERE IS SUNDAY TO WEDNESDAY ALL ROLLED UP.
I was thinking today, I don’t really write much detail on a day to day basis…so here goes!!!

I like Sundays because we go for a long walk that leads to my DIXIE PUB, where I get to watch hip hop videos, an English menu and a great pizza with a GREEK salad. Then I can walk around and shop (no purchases so far). Today we discovered (and it is Wednesday) a place that we could of purchased the stuff we needed in the apartment instead of bringing it from Canada (heads up future PAP’S). I also acquired a map of URALSK just to remember where everything is the next time we return…just kidding!!! I don’t think we will return anytime soon, if anything it will be in 20 years from now and I think I will need a new one! I really hope I can stay in touch with Elvira, I invited her to join facebook and to come visit in Canada. Daniel also challenged her and Oscar to a game of Blokus…his first contenders!!! We are thinking of throwing a party, a blokus party on Saturday night, I can’t wait!

On a serious note, today my little man was feeling chil-laxed and it was really special, Elvira helped me with our next picture for all of you!!! I will post it now! Olivier is getting very happy when he sees us and he definetly recognizes us when he is in his play room, he comes right to the door with his baby aid (helps them to walk, but I think it is banned in Canada, I have a scar because I fell down some stairs when I was in one of those contraptions).

On a sadder note, yesterday I cried!!! I missed my mommy and I could only imagine how my little Olivier is going to feel one day, when he is sad…will he miss me or yen for his biological mothers voice/touch? This whole adoption thing really makes you think and feel that much more! When I hold him, while I’m giving him his bottle it is like we have known each other forever, the connection is very profound. However, every other moment is spent wondering; does he know we are going to be his parents, does he know what we are doing here, is he ok???

I DON'T KNOW MUCH, BUT I KNOW I LOVE YOU!!!

BLOKUS CHAMP

IN OUR NEW LIVING ROOM, DANIEL IS PROUD OF HIS BLOKUS VICTORY!!!

JACKIE TO DANIEL " I DON'T THINK WE ARE IN KANSAS ANYMORE!!!!

My fun illusions are starting to disappear and I’m feeling very home sick, we’ve been living here now for 4 weeks (30 days) and I just ran out of my last bit of home (Tim Hortons coffee). I think because baby Olivier is not with us and everyday is the same old same old, not that I’m not enjoying our routine, but I need somewhere to go with a purpose. There is a lot to discover but unfortunately it is back to the sub-artic weather, -35 to -40. I wanted to go shopping last week when it was warmer at the Chinese market outdoors but Daniel was ill…I wasn’t going to buy anything, it was just for the distraction! Anyways I’m praying very hard, and I ask all of you to pray with us, that our pre-court and court date is this Thursday and Friday!!! It makes a huge difference in our lives; baby Olivier will be able to leave the orphanage, you will be able to see a full picture of him, we will come home earlier, we won’t be so sad & lonely without Oli-k and I can get some Timmies ASAP!!!!. I never thought I was this addicted to Tim’s coffee, I dream about it day and night; I even talk about it in my sleep “large, double, double”.

While I have everyone’s attention I just wanted to mention, how well the orphanages are here! It is incredible at how well it is ran, for 8 babies there is a caretaker and a doctor always on staff, it resembles our daycares. I took a picture yesterday of Oli-k’s Doctor for his 9 months b-day and I will post it after the court hearing , so keep praying for the date 24th and 25th ( pre-court and court)!!! I’m clicking my red heels together 3 times “ there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home” Am I home yet????


Thanks everybody!

OLIVIER's B-DAY! A BIG 9 MONTHS

21 of Jan 08

Yeah it’s Oliviers 9 month b-day!!!!


Well today is the day our son turns 9 months(21 of January)…what a milestone! We’ve only known him now for 4 weeks and in that time he has changed a lot! As a gift we gave him baby food puree (apples and prunes) for desert after lunch!!! He loved it!

Our week-end was pretty tamed, we didn’t do much except play BLOKUS for 4 (just me and Dan) he kicked my butt each time…watch out FRED, he is planning on taking over your title of “CHAMP”! What else did we do? Oh! Yes we went shopping for a winter coat for me, I wanted to see how much it would cost, to look as good as the girls here do, and it is expensive!!! The coat that I liked (not leather) was 56500 tenges = 480$ apprx, we were trying to tell the lady that we were just window shopping but she couldn’t understand our broken Russian/English, so it turned into a big conversation that we have no idea what she was saying to us in Russian, the few words we did understand, was; “I’m big, I’m not Russian, I’m big and how long”, Dan threw in for good measure, “she is Canadian and small Russian girl” and a little bit of “ Niet, Niet and Horacho”. She kept insisting that I try on the coat but I had a scary feeling that if you try it, you buy it. So, I told Dan, “slowly back away from the coat and head for the door”, we escaped without having to purchase anything. We will attempt this again when we have more words to say and Elvira.

I don’t know if I mentioned this but last Sunday after the church, we went next door to an unidentified place, the only sign that we saw was a mural of an iceberg, so we thought it had to do with skating or something on ice or an exhibition of Global warming! As the 4 of us entered, we were stopped by a young lad, he said something in Russian, and I thought I’d be cool by saying “shto eta?” (what‘s this?) He answers back in his native tongue (what was I thinking) we are still no closer to finding out what he said!!!! So this time I make gestures to go in and he says “NIET” so I ask again “shto eta?” he answers the same thing, this time making a gesture of cross country skiing or down hill mogul twisting…I shrug my shoulders and make one more attempt to walk in!!!! Needless to say, I was turned around and escorted out!!! We found out on Friday when I told Elvira that I would love to go clubbing that there is one next to the Church called…………..ICEBERG!!!! I guess that is why he wouldn’t let us in at 11 am…that and we looked ready for skiing.

Mise a jour de Daniel

Mercredi 16 janvier 2008

A la visite du matin Olivier est toujours en excellente forme, il bouge et réagit avec vigueur. En après-midi c’est le contraire, il est amorphe et ne bouge pas beaucoup. A midi nous allons diner a un casse-croute de style cafeteria. Je commande une soupe appelée « bortsch ». C’est bon, mais mon n’état s’aggrave quand même, les crampes augmentent en intensité et la diarrhée arrive encore pour une 2e journée consécutive. Mon système digestif est vraiment très fragile aux envahisseurs bactériens. Avis au voyageur qui lirons ce blog: Le Bio-K (pilules de yogourt concentre) et des antibiotiques c’est bon d’en avoir en crime !! Une pilule de Bio-K par jour pour les gens sensibles c’est vraiment bon, NE JAMAIS ARRETE d’en prendre par contre. Moi, c’est ce que j’ai fait et c’est une gaffe; croyez-moi ! Heureusement, nous sommes prêt avec un arsenal d’antibiotique vraiment complet : nous avons du zitromax, du cipro et du clavulin. Je commence donc ce soir avec le cipro en espérant guérir ce problème au plus vite.

Dan


Jeudi 17 janvier 2008

Journée de congé pour maladie de mon cote. Jackie va tout de même a l’orphelinat visite Olivier le matin seulement et dans l’après-midi elle décide de rester avec moi pour me tenir compagnie. Pour l’instant les antibiotiques ne font pas encore sentir leurs effets mais Isabelle (qui est une infirmière) me dit que ca prendra un minimum de 24 heures avant d’avoir un soulagement. La diète liquide me fera surement perdre quelques livres ce qui frustre un peu Jackie car c’est elle qui aimerait vraiment perdre ces livres et non moi. Malheureusement, je m’enligne pour revenir a Montréal plus maigre que jamais.
Dan


Vendredi 18 janvier 2008

Des 9h30 ce matin je sens une bonne différence. Je serai en mesure de faire une journée normale. Nous visitons Olivier et il est de bonne humeur car a notre arrive il a droit a un massage de la part d’une des nounous. C’est suppose d’aide a réduire sa congestion. Situation qui est permanente depuis le tout début des visites. Le temps passe vite, déjà mercredi prochain c’est la fin du « bonding period » ensuite nous passerons en cours. Sur le chemin du retour de l’orphelinat nous décidons d’arrêter à un magasin pour regarder des pousse-pousses. Oliya (la chauffeuse) arrête sa minivan un peu trop loin a une intersection et décide de reculer sans trop regarder. Elle recule dans une voiture mais sans lui causer de dommages. Par contre, le pare-choc de la minivan commence a descendre de plus en plus. C’est le 2e accident en 2 semaines, Oscar (l’autre chauffeur) a eu un accident qui a déjà cause des dommages la semaine d’avant.
Dan


Samedi 19 janvier 2008

Visite le matin seulement aujourd’hui. Nous nous ennuyons vraiment beaucoup de la maison et aujourd’hui nous avons discute du retour. C’est difficile de regarder le calendrier et de voir qu’il reste encore 4 semaines à notre séjour. Jackie commence à manquer de café Tim Horton (elle avait apporte 10 sacs de café Tim Horton) et elle regrette vraiment de ne pas en avoir apporte plus. Chaque petite chose qui rappel la maison aide beaucoup a mieux supporter la durée de ce voyage. Je dois dire que Jackie a fait un excellent travail à ce niveau. Nous avions 21 kg de bagages excédentaires sur Air Astana (en passant ca coute environ $2,00 cdn par kg sur Air Astana, limite de 30kg totale par personne en première classe et 20 kg totale en classe économique). Sur KLM il n’on rien charge du tout car nous avions 4 grosses valises en dessous de 23kg donc nous respections les limites autorisées.
Dan




Dimanche 20 janvier 2008

Aujourd’hui pas de visite a l’orphelinat. Belle journée dehors -14 degré Celsius. Jackie et moi allons diner au Dixie Pub encore une fois et ensuite nous faisons quelques commissions à l’épicerie de l’Atrium. C’est vraiment bizarre de voir les tablettes de l’épicerie, elles sont souvent vides ou presque vides. Les produits sont disposes de façon a occupe le plus d’espace tablette possible, on n’étire littéralement les produits. Au Québec, les tablettes sont toujours pleines et on paye du personnel pour s’assurer qu’elle reste bien pleine. Nous croyons que la mentalité américaine des supermarchés plein a capacité ne fonctionne pas vraiment ici. Les Kazakh n’achètent pas beaucoup de bouffe a la fois, nous pensons que c’est encore comme a l’Européenne : ils achètent ce qu’ils ont besoin pour la journée ou le repas qui s’en viens, c’est tout. Je me demande si ces supermarchés vont survivre a long terme ? Nous remarquons que les gens qui sont dans ces magasins achètent des produits en petite quantité ; comme si c’était un dépanneur. De plus, il y a rarement beaucoup de clients dans le magasin…


Lundi 21 janvier 2008

Retour du froid sibérien, ce matin moins 30 degré. Olivier est « catatonique » comme Jackie le dit. C’est-a-dire qu’il est amorphe et a peu d’expression. Il fixe beaucoup, toujours sans expression. On a plus de difficultés a le faire rire. C’est presque a ce demander s’il nous reconnait. Par contre, certains jours il est plus réveille, il bouge plus, mais ce n’est pas la majorité du temps. Isabelle remarque aussi la même chose avec sa fille, donc c’est probablement normal avec des enfants en institution. Ils sont sous stimules et manque de vitalité, nous sommes certains que ce n’est qu’un phénomène temporaire. Une fois a la maison tout ceci changera rapidement. J’avais vu une bonne différence avec Noah, l’enfant de Kim et Jean avant qu’il ne quitte le 31 décembre. Noah semblait déjà plus vivant, plus actif. Nous verrons très bientôt.
Dan


Mardi 22 janvier 2008

Toujours froid ce matin. Olivier est toujours sur le « slow mo » aujourd’hui. Il mange bien mais son menu est toujours le même donc nous avons décidé hier d’introduire une nouveauté : on lui a donne de la purée en pot. L’après-midi il mange toujours du pate chinois tiède mais sans le mais en grains (niblets). A l’occasion, il refuse de manger ce pate ou il en mange un peu seulement (un gars s’écœure à la longue). Il a aime la purée en pot et c’est une bonne chose car ca fera parti de son menu très bientôt a la maison. Ce fut un bon test et c’est mieux que de ne rien manger du tout. J’ai hâte de voir ce qu’il aimera et ce qu’il n’aimera pas, c’est a suivre.
Dan

WE ARE GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER!!!

Not to say that we are living blissfully connected but it is in the making. One thing that we tend to forget once full force into the adoption is the baby. We tend to think about our needs, desires, and that they have finally been fulfilled. For him, we are just people he sees everyday that holds him, feeds him and calls him somebody else’s name, we talk different, we look different and we dress him in different get ups, like he is a doll!!! He is not sure what is going on but it is different, what we’ve noticed is he doesn’t discriminate; he holds, smiles, and laughs for anyone and everyone the same! We don’t feel special, the way we imagined in our heads before we got here, even though we knew that all the books warned adoptive parents to be prepared for this, we tend to forget! So now, what we have to do is, forge that bound, so our child knows that we are his parents, his primary caregivers, the ones he can trust and depend on! The way to do that is to be the one that answers his needs when he needs it, like when he cries, we should be the ones (me and Dan) to console him, when he wants to be picked up, it should be by us at least until he understands the dynamics of who we are and why we are!!! We are here for him…one day he will understand!

Today’s visit was very special, the reason I say special is because Daniel was absent yesterday due to his intestinal problems and as soon as Olivier saw DADA he gave big smiles and was very excited! We also suspect it was because he was getting a massage when we arrived, our son gets special treatment because he ROCKS!!!! Like I was saying very happy baby today, it warmed our hearts. He is become also a little bit clingy and shy so he tucks his beautiful little head in my chest for a second or so, we can’t wait to see him tomorrow, Saturday (only one visit). We are so proud, he sort of gave a high five 3 times and the care takers (God bless them) say they see a big improvement with his behavior/ personality…he is becoming more stubborn (like a bull)!!! We can’t wait to have him all to our self’s, he will blossom much quicker!

And now, JOJO will get her wish!!!! An eye!!!

AN EYE

I SEE YOU!!!!! HOPE THIS DOESN'T GIVE AWAY WHO I AM!!!!

we love his little mouth!!!! kisses to all my friends, aunts, uncles, cousins, and my grand mothers!!!!

SWEET CHILD OF MINE!!!

Tuesday was a wonderful day for Olivier, he was extremely happy to see us in the morning! He flashed us his smile and decided today he is going to chat our ears off! He was a completely different baby; he was stubborn, defiant, funny and very loving. When I say stubborn, it’s because he was persistent in crawling towards the wall we didn’t want him to go to. Defiant comes into play with the afternoon feeding, he decided to spit it at me several times, by the way, it is always the same food and he has decided as per the caretaker to show us that he is boss…he hates his afternoon lunch!!! His funniness is always there but today he was in all kinds of happy moods. The loving was sweet and tender, but not for long. He likes when people blow him kisses, he starts to laugh, however this time he got shy and he hid his head in my bosom and then looked back at the kisser and he hid again. Finally he crawled up around my neck and suckled for a second. The caretakers are getting stricter with me; they have asked me to cover my head with a scarf. Anyways a week left and then off to court, hopefully it will be the 24th and 25th, then our little darling is with us in the apartment for another 3 weeks ish. Wednesday (today) was the same reception in the morning but in the afternoon he was back to feeling blah and refused to eat his lunch, I gave him an extra juice with water to compensate. And just to make my friend Christina laugh, Oli-K tried to initiate me into motherhood of a boy (spray me), but I was too quick and toke Kim’s advice and put the diaper back on him before he can succeed

Well on a brighter note the temperature has been soaring, we are going to have to purchase some spring clothes, Tuesday was 0 or +1 and today – 3, not bad hein? We don’t know how long it will last but hopefully it continues to stay around 0.

On a darker note, my darling husband is still feeling sluggish from the intestinal animal that is invading his body!!! It is eating all of Dan’s food and then liquefies it out through the wrong orifice, tonight I will start him on Cipro!!!! Wish us luck for Dan and early court date!!!!

Pieces of me that you will never see again...my belly button, it's an outtie, let it go!!!

DANIEL'S STORY EN FRANCAIS/ FRENCH

Vendredi 11 janvier 2008

Aujourd’hui Olivier ne semble pas dans son assiette. Depuis notre premiere rencontre il est grippe, mais aujourd’hui c’est juste pire. Il vomit un peu au debut de la visite puis encore un peu plus tard. Il baille, il se frotte les yeux, il tousse, il éternue, il est congestionne, il n’a aucune patience ; ca ne va pas ! Nous aimerions pouvoir l’aider mais rien n’a faire pour l’instant, le groupe d’enfant partage les microbes et tant qu’il fait parti de ce groupe nous croyons qu’il sera malade ; c’est inevitable. D’ici moins de 2 semaines il sera avec nous dans l’appartement et devrait se remettre de cette vilaine grippe. Jackie continue de tousser, moi je suis correct pour l’instant mais a chaque visite je sens les microbes dans ma gorge. C’est un combat contre la grippe ! On n’utilise beaucoup de Purel mais ca ne suffit pas.

Dan


Samedi 12 janvier 2008

Aujourd’hui Olivier est toujours malade. Il mange tout de meme avec un appetit vorace, il se tortille aussitôt que la cuillère n’arrive pas assez vite a son gout. Il est vraiment habitue d’etre nourrit a la vitesse de l’eclair. C’est a cause du nombre d’enfants a nourrir (un groupe de 8). Ca pleure en grand dans le groupe a chaque fois que c’est l’heure de la bouffe. Une nounous pour 8 enfants, ceux qui attendent deviennent rapidement jaloux de celui qui se fait nourrir alors c’est la crise generalisee. Aussitôt que son bol de céréales arrive il est fixe sur celui-ci, c’est comme s’il n’avait pas eu a manger depuis des jours. Je trouve ca un peu triste de le voir affame a chaque visite. Jackie a eu droit aujourd’hui a sa premiere selle en direct lorsqu’elle lui donna sa bouteille. Il y avait tellement de merde que ca lui a remonte dans le dos ! Ca promet d’etre salissant… C’est comme une initiation officielle !

Dan


Dimanche 13 janvier 2008

Calme journee sans visite a l’orphelinat. Nous sommes alles visiter la belle eglise pres de notre appartement. Elle est vraiment differente des eglises du Quebec. Tous les murs et plafonds sont peints. Se sont evidemment des representations religieuses diverses. Il n’y a aucun banc d’eglise, donc j’estime qu’ils sont tous debut durant les messes. De l’exterieur elle semble tres imposante mais a l’interieur elle est beaucoup plus petite. Il y a un cure qui semble s’addresse a un petit groupe de personne dans un coin de l’eglise. Par apres nous allons manger une pizza au Dixie Pub. Elle est excellente. C’est la troisieme pizza que l’on mange a ce restaurant. Ca rappel un peu la pizza de Montreal. Ensuite on a ramasse quelques items a l’epicerie puis de retour a l’appartement.
Dan


Lundi 14 janvier 2008

C’est la journee de l’examen avec le docteur de l’immigration aujourd’hui. Des 8h00am je sais que quelque chose ne va pas avec mes intestins. Une diarrhée commence avec des crampes intestinales, ca y est j’ai mange ou attrape une autre bebitte quelconque. Disons que nous sommes exposes passablement a l’orphelinat avec Olivier qui continue d’etre grippe. L’examen se passe a l’aeroport d’Uralsk avec une medecin Kazak qui arrive d’Almaty. Elle est tres presse car elle doit prendre le prochain avion pour retourner a Almaty. Ca dure un 15 a 20 minutes avec chaque enfant et le tour est joue. Tous ce deroule bien pour les 2 enfants. Le docteur ne nous apprend rien de neuf. Puis c’est le retour a l’appartement. Je continue d’avoir des nausees et crampes toute la journee, mais j’endure mon mal car cette etape doit etre accomplie ; malade ou pas malade.
Dan

Mardi 15 janvier 2008

Je commence ma journee pas si pire, je déjeune et les crampes recommencent. Puis un peu plus tard elles s’estompent. En route vers l’orphelinat je commence a avoir un mal de tete ; tiens le mal change de place… C’est a n’y rien comprendre. Visite normale a l’orphelinat, Olivier semble en meilleur forme aujourd’hui. Il est plus actif et bouge plus que lors des dernieres visites.

FEELING HOT, HOT, HOT!!!

Monday was a pretty incredible, it was “bust your baby out of the orphanage and take him to the airport day”! We were so close to running off but, it was in fact “meet the immigration doctor day”! The immigration doctor flies in from Almaty, examines your child and then runs off to catch the next plane back, she is here a total of 10 to 15 minutes tops!! We had rented a room at the airport for the examination and the other stuff was done last week at the hospital. We are glad to report that while she was putting on her coat, she said with a smile, “he is in good health, needs some physical stimulation for his right arm, his “MOZG” (BRAIN) is good and no delays!!!!” I bet she says that to all the parents! It was pretty intense; we weren’t the only parent’s child she was examining, the car ride was pretty packed (mini van with 7 adults and 2 babies), no baby seats on top of that, so I was holding Oli-k very tightly. He fell asleep as usual (good vibrations)! To make matters worse, the heat was on in the car, so it was very HOT and outside was very warm (compared to what the other days were) I was overdressed and so was baby O. When we made it to the airport and took of his clothes I noticed that there was another reason why I was feeling very HOT…he wet himself and it came out of the diaper. By the way, this is the second accident that only happens on me, maybe I’m holding him too much!!! The first accident was a number 2 and it was while I was giving him his bottle, it seeped up his back and I kept thinking why is his face all red, why is my leg so darn HOT!!!!

And there you have it…FEELING HOT, HOT, HOT!

Todays irresistable piece of Oli-K...it is his knee, a chubby knee!!!!

Catholic Orthedox church that we went to on Sunday the 13th

Run people, run!!!

JUST ANOTHER DAY IN URALSK!!!

Thanks for the comments it is really fun seeing your post! Time spent over here is weird and I would probably be doing the same thing back home, let me explain; we have a pretty nice apartment, not decorated properly but nice and comfortable (I moved the furniture around). We have lots of stuff to do, so time goes by quickly, and the shopping is a challenge but always fun because we get to practice our Russian (Dan quickly makes friends because he likes saying his phrases) he is getting really good at remembering words and making up sentences. The best part is, even if the phrase is crazy and people are laughing at us (hopefully with us) they make their effort also by trying to speak English. When we were at the grocery store shopping the other day, some guy kept following us around, I became paranoid when he asked “if we come to Kazakhstan to take his kids”, before Dan could say “yes” I jumped in and said “we are educators, here to teach”, he responded “where?” That is when I played dumb and pretended I didn’t understand the question and said “Montreal Canada” and we ran away like two little school girls being offered candy by a stranger. Also, when you grocery shop, there is only a certain amount of stuff offered and once they run out well you have to move on to another brand, they may never restock that item. And just to make you feel more like an outcast (the town is small) so if you are a stranger, the security guards follow you around! The first time we took the shopping cart to our car, I turned around and the security guard was right behind us, following us, not smiling. I mentioned this to our driver and he said “what, where, someone is following us?” He started looking concerned, as if to say the popo’s are after him…then he spotted the security guard and said “oh him! He just wants the basket back, ignore him”. By the way our driver is into some heavy hard core rap, singing all kinds of profanities, maybe I should give him my M and M cd, darn I didn’t bring it!!!! He is young (23), he and our translator EL (she is 21) seem much more adult like and mature than us at that age, I guess living here you have to be a responsible adult. I think I did mention this but the drivers are insane and will run over the people on the street if you are in there way and they honk to let you know that they are coming to run you down. The only exception they will make is if you are very young (under 12) and if you are with a stroller, I think we will by one and put a doll in it for now!!! Yesterday on our trek we discovered an entrance at a cross street that lead under ground and looked like a subway, I said lets follow the people…we did and discovered some weird tunnel that lead to the either side of the street, we don’t have to run across the busy street anymore, how amazing I took a picture!

I hear your comments and I will show you my ear!!!

IN MY HEAD, IN MY HEAD!!!!!!

Well we want to say thank you to all of you that are following the blog, it encourages us to keep living and writing it, (it makes the time away from you’s, bearable)! We feel like we aren’t far from home, so please keep the comments and questions coming, if you feel that I missed or skipped a beat please let me know and I will correct it, like I said it is all in my head and my days are all mixed together, I guess we are overwhelmed with happiness. This is the beginning of parenthood!

Today is Saturday, and we have only one visit in the morning and then I think we will go for a walk in the late afternoon (it gets a bit warmer), and Sunday we have something incredible planned we will be going to church, it’s across the street and I hear that it is beautiful then off to go buy some more internet cards. I think we run out so fast because it is always downloading too many pictures…we will post more pictures!!!!

RECAP VERSION DANIEL!!!!

Dimanche 6 janvier 2008

Aujourd’hui fut une calme journée devant l’écran du lecteur de DVDS. Les dimanches il n’y a pas de visite a l’orphelinat, en moins de vouloir paye temps double au chauffeur et a l’interprète. Jackie a attrape mon rhume et quand Jackie a un rhume c’est 5 fois pire que pour moi. Etant donne qu’elle est asthmatique ses poumons sont plus faibles. Elle développe une toux grasse et ca dure longtemps… Moi en 2 jours c’est fini, elle c’est presque 2 semaines !
Nous écoutons une série de HBO : Six feet under. C’est un peu lugubre (se sont les aventures des propriétaires d’un salon funéraire) mais c’est vraiment bien fait, une vraie leçon de vie. Nous avons les DVD des 2 premières saisons. Nos journées sont remplient, 2 visites a l’orphelinat par jour : de 10h00 a 11h00 le matin et de 3h00 a 4h00 l’après-midi plus un bon 20 minutes pour aller et pour revenir. Donc, 80 minutes par jour en auto et 2 heures de visites. L’autres occupation c’est faire a manger et faire la vaisselle a la main (pas de lave-vaisselle). Il y a aussi les lavages, nos vêtements plus ceux du petit. Une autre occupation est de faire l’épicerie : a tous les 2 jours ont fait l’épicerie, c’est incroyable de voir combien de choses on mange tous les jours. On manque toujours de quelque chose. L’eau du robinet n’est pas potable donc on achète des gallons de 5 litres en quantité. On en utilise beaucoup. C’est un bon « workout » de monter les gallons au 3e étage. Je crois avoir perdu quelques livres et Jackie pense en avoir gagne.
Dan



Lundi 7 janvier 2008

Aujourd’hui nous sommes sortis dehors vers 9h20 comme d’habitude pour attendre Elvira et Oscar (le chauffeur). Malheureusement je n’ai pas porte attention a la porte d’acier de l’appartement. Elle est attachée a un ressort et se referme toute seule avec force. Cette porte a une barrure a combinaison de chiffre et le mécanisme est sensible au froid et a l’humidité. Apres s’être refermée elle se barre et cette maudite barrure gèle et n’est plus ouvrable. Donc, après avoir gèle dehors pendant quelques minutes a moins 25 degré nous contactons Elvira qui semble toute endormie. Elle nous dit qu’il n’y aura pas de visite ce matin mais que la visite se fera plutôt en après-midi. Je dois dire qu’elle avait essaye de nous contacter la veille a 10h30. Evidemment nous étions endormie a cette heure et que malgré ma course folle dans le noir a travers l’appartement j’avais malheureusement manque son appel et sans afficheur aucune idée qu’il s’agissait d’Elvira. Apres avoir tente d’ouvrir la satanée porte plusieurs fois et cogner violement sur celle-ci rien a faire ; nous étions pris embarre dehors !
Fort heureusement l’hôtel le Chagala n’est pas trop loin de notre appartement ; environ 10 minutes a pied. Lorsque nous y arrivons nous sommes complètements gelés, il était temps. Ce fut une bonne leçon pour nous. Nous avons profite de ce temps a l’hôtel pour travaille pendant 1 heure sur l’internet a haute vitesse (pour la modique sommes de 660 tenges par heure ($5,40 cdn)). Vers 11h30 nous étions de retour a notre appartement bien au chaud, un locataire avait ouvert la porte durant ce temps et ne l’avait pas laisse se barrée. On surveillera cette porte dans le futur…
Dan



Mardi 8 janvier 2008

Apres mur réflexion nous avons décidé de revenir au nom original pour notre enfant : « Olivier ». Nous conserverons Keanu comme 2e nom, plus tard quand il ira à l’école ce sera peut-être plus facile ainsi.
Dan


Mercredi 9 janvier 2008

Début de la vraie période d’attachement aujourd’hui. Youppie ! Ceci durera 2 semaines ensuite nous passerons en cours pour finaliser l’adoption. C’est vraiment dommage qu’ils ne reconnaitront pas les 2 semaines déjà passées à cause que notre enfant ne fait pas parti de la base de donne d’adoption avant le 9 janvier. Nous sommes tout de même heureux d’être ici à l’ avance. Au moins, il y avait des enfants disponibles pour nous quand nous sommes arrives.
Dan


Jeudi 10 janvier 2008

Notre chauffeur est en retard ce matin. Nous gelons dehors durant 15 minutes sur le bord de la rue. J’appel Elvira et elle me dit qu’elle sera la d’ici une minute. Lorsqu’ils arrivent je remarque qu’ils viennent d’avoir un léger accident. Un clignotant est brise, la mini van (une Honda Odyssey) a plusieurs égratignures sur le coin droit a l’avant, le capot est légèrement replie. Oscar est un chauffeur plutôt agressif et impatient comme presque tous les chauffeurs ici au Kazakhstan. C’est un peu le « free for all » au volant, on dépasse par la gauche ou par la droite, on klaxonne sans arrêt, on se glisse entre les autres véhicules en laissant très peu d’espace. Je suis très heureux de ne pas conduire ici ; c’est cingle. Ca me rappel Manhattan et personne ne porte de ceinture de sécurité ! Les routes ne sont pas glissantes heureusement. Il y a très peu de neige, juste un froid brutal qui ne semble jamais lâcher.

Dan

NAME CHANGE

Sorry for the mistake in my earlier post but we are back to our original name Olivier KEANU Renat!!! Keanu is his second name that we do and will continu to use, we say it together for now but later we will see which one dominates!!! So far he answers to all three! I hope you love his little foot as much as we do! In 2 weeks he should be living with us in the appartment,this is after the court judgement, then it will be rock and roll!!! He might not answer to any name at that point! Then we have a big 3 weeks to do paper chasing and then we will be back home, tired, trying to recover!!!

This is the foot of a professinal soccer player

that is about 4 inches long with 5 little toes!!!

WHEN WE MET OLIVIER KEANU RENAT

I just realized because of an email from Murry, that I never told anyone how it all went down the first time we met our son. Well it was a couple of days after we arrived, (Saturday to be exact) and it was a really weird atmosphere, I’m sure that is why I did not mention it until now! We bet you are thinking that it should have been some kind of euphoric atmosphere but no, it was more like cloak and dagger, hush, hush style, or old Soviet ways!!! Here is how it went down; We entered a bright room, the light bulbs were so strong that our sweat was even hiding, we were told “SIT” and then the questions commenced and the translator was translating, we couldn’t answer questions quick enough, all we said was “DAH, DAH, NIET, DAH”! We tried to catch our breath, but the door opened so quickly, and their stood a large chef with a baby, approaching us rapidly!!! We were in a stupor either from the fact that a chef was holding a baby (what is she going to do) or the fact that a baby is now on our laps and they are telling us “it is our baby” (what should we do)!!! There is a saying for that kind of behavior, I think it is : we felt like deer’s in headlights, Dan still to this day (almost 3 weeks later) still doesn’t know what hit him!!!!
Then we were ushered to a room with our intended (now ours) son and told “you play”!
Well, just to be frank with you all, we didn’t expect any of this. We were briefed a million times before we got to this point and none of the scenario’s resembled this one. So we went in with camera’s blazing, laughter rolling and after an hour we didn’t know what to do…we had not been prepared for this!!! In reality I personally thought I was prepared with all my books, toys and clothes, but I was taken of guard and was still in shock!
My real first moment with Olivier Keanu Renat was when I gave him his bottle on Wednesday the 2nd, I don’t know what happened but we were looking into each others eyes and I was overcome by some serious emotions about whom he is and who we are!!! It is scary to be an orphan; you come with nothing, no identity, no background. I could see his soul, his beautiful eyes full of burning questions at such a young age of 8 months. Full of instinct, especially the one to survive, he is a Kazakh survivor and we are in awe of him. Most of us fight our battles as adults and we get by, but he has been fighting since he was born and abandoned to stay in this game…we are proud!!! We say he is ours and he is, he may have not been created in my womb but there is a connection that we (the 3 of us)felt and will continue to build through trust, understanding and love.

A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS...

Well let’s recap the bad luck that we’ve had so far, by the way it doesn’t seem to stay bad for too long!
1st Dan drank some tap water accidentally, his body responded almost immediately, that was the first couple of hours once we landed in Kazakhstan (we still had another flight). It fixed itself slowly but surely in the days that followed.
2nd Our first apartment was so cold, the toilet didn’t flush, we couldn’t sleep! Imagine being jet lagged and freezing to death, but our luck changed and within 4 days we moved up to our friends place Kim and Jean (they went home)
3rd Dan got a cold, but he recovered very quickly
4th Jackie got Dan’s cold, very badly, I haven’t had a cold like this since 1999, upper respiratory infection, but today I feel I’m getting better.
5th Our kitchen sink got blocked, needed a plumber, but we got lucky our driver the (O male) is talented!
6th We got locked out (like I mentioned) but after a while found shelter at a hotel, my legs were frozen to the point where they were red, itchy and very hot! I thought they would have to be cut off…but I got lucky! Later in the afternoon we
7th Our cell phone ran out of minutes when we were locked out so could not call anyone, anymore for help, we added more minutes yesterday
8th We had also lost phone service in our apartment, so no phone or internet…we just got it back after a lot of praying to God!!!!

So the Yin/Yang balance is in total effect over here! This is a beautiful place, I would love to come back and visit in the summer time.


Here are a few things a person could miss while being here for this long:
a comfy bed (we brought a blow up mattress) best thing we ever did!
Tim Hortons coffee, I’m almost out but we think we found a replacement brand
usb storage device
tools or aids for stupid things, we brought duck tape, it helps with everything (used often)
work-outs, we brought our yoga mat, resistance bands and a measuring tape.
nice homely smells, we brought garlic,(just kidding) we brought blade plug-ins (don’t forget) a transformer and a voltage converter (Thanks Tarik and Caro)
Your keen way of answering questions quickly…bring a dictionary (English/Russian)
A little piece of home, we brought pictures, music, movies, popcorn and chocolate.

THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR...

Ok without further a do, the moment you all have been waiting for...we would like to introduce you to our son Keanu’s hand! We know you are saying "what the heck"? Well this is officially our first day of bonding and he would like to wave hello to his future friends, family and playmates. We would really love to post his full picture but until we go to court, he is not our child officially, so we do not have the right to post it! But there is no harm in showing you pieces of him that we love!!!! Those chubby little fingers are so soft when they hold our hands!

SOMETHING TO REMEMBER!!!

First off let me say we are at a hotel, since this morning monday the 7th we were waiting outside in the sub-arctic weather for our translator, (our usual time is 9:15) she never showed so we called her at 9:30, for her to tell us that she is sleeping and not feeling well, unfortunately neither is Jackie! Jackie is sick with a chest cold, that I gave to her as her first gift as a mommy!!!

Why are we at a hotel? Well our steel exterior door that leads to our appartment is locked/frozen shut and nobody in the building can hear us kicking and screaming to let us in! This is the worst thing so far that has happenned to us. We tryed calling back El but she turned off her phone and we tryed calling our other adoptive parent Isabelle but she has serious phone problems, her phones barely works! So here we are trying to stay warm and using the high speed internet at the CHAGALA hotel, owned by an English man, we might be here for a while till someone figures out that we are MIA (missing in action).

Besides that our week-end was pretty much like when we are at home, we ate popcorn and watched movies while I took care of my ailing wife. We did not go to see our son on Sunday but Saturday we made sure to video tape him for viewing on Sunday!!!

By the way, soon, soon you will be able to see parts of Keanu that we love!!!

Our hostess with the mostess

El and Al

the Kazakh restaurant

Kazakh waitress

This is the famous Besh barmak that I ate with my fingers!!!

Clean free toilet

I was able to use it without splashing my pants, oh, you should roll up your pants before you use it!!!!

WHAT IS IN A NAME??!?!

WHAT IS IN A NAME?!!?

We believe that a name should be well thought out, it’s meaning has great influence in our life, however, not every name has a great meaning in all cultures, in fact it is the person himself that defines that name. With great consideration and reflection about our own names, we could only imagine what our parents where thinking especially with my very very full long name (Jackie for short), I was teased, I still to this day feel uncomfortable purchasing things with my credit card (I feel like a fraud) and I also tell people that I’m with not to say my name. Unfortunately they forget and say” Jackie look at this” then the clerk looks at me strangely and says” can I see some identification”? The reason this happens to me is because my parents decided to give me a first name that they decided not to use, so I go by my second name. My first, second and last name are too long so on credit cards they tend to just put a J or not even. I’ve mention this several times but nobody really cares!!! Back to my story, we think that a name is what you make it, look, we've lived through the trama!!! who you are you, and what does your name mean, and what does it mean to you? Either your name sets you apart from the world and you will always be remembered or, you will be a so and so #1, #2, #3 or #4, don’t get us wrong we do like who we’ve become with our names.

So having said all that, we would like to introduce you to our son KEANU OLIVIER, he weighs 19.8 lbs (balshoy= big), he is a Taurus, and a Pig (Chinese Zodiac like I mentionned in a previous post) and his name represents a cool breeze over the mountains. So far he lives up to his name, when he is over my shoulder I could smell a breeze, if you know what I mean!!!

For you travel junkies, I have a clean toilet to show you! We asked to treat El and Al (our translator and female driver, there is an O male driver) for lunch. We went to a Kazakh restaurant, by the way, it is a muslim country so they do not serve alcohol in the restaurants. We had a traditional plate BESH BARMAK (excellent dish), that you eat with your hands, (I was the only one, when in Rome…) and maybe that is why I have a cold now!!! After comes a soup bouillon, I didn’t know and I was the first one served so I dunked my hands in it thinking it was to clean them…everybody looked at me in disgust, how embarrassing!!! Also this dish grants you a wish (I wish I didn’t do that) just kidding, I can’t tell you what it is because it will not come true. At the end of the meal you place your hands in front of your face and slide them down to your heart and place them together, to say thanks. What a great experience being here is!!!!

We had an excitingly long day with Keanu, we spent three hours, horsing around and feeding him, today is Dan’s turn because mama Bear is sick. And then we went to the hospitals, 2 different ones. It felt really strange at the first one, where we did a head scan with an ultrasound wand, his brain looks good by the way, and then we looked at his little heart, and that looked mighty strong!!! We felt like this was a top secret mission, when it was time to pay, Dan gave the nurse money and then secretly she gave him his change. Just imagine when you want to bribe someone, that is the way it happened (when she gave the change). Keanu was such a good patient, mama is able to keep his attention with little tickle motions and ugly faces. The next hospital I thought was a restaurant, because everybody had chef hats on, (those were the nurses) the doctors look like everyday people from outside. We went there for a general check up, again they said what a great baby we have and that all is good with his health!!!

We are very proud parents at this moment…again please be patient for his picture, he is worth every second you wait!!!

Version Francaise

!Jeudi 3 janvier 2008

Le nouvel an ca été une journée plutôt tranquille. Nous avons pris l’habitude de se coucher très tôt soit vers 8h30 – 9h00pm et de se lever faire 6h30 – 7h00am. La fatigue du voyage et l’adaptation au milieu y est surement pour quelque chose. La température s’est réchauffe légèrement on parle d’un gros -21 degré. C’est chaud a comparer des derniers jours a -25 -30 degré. Nous avons visite notre futur enfant a l’orphelinat le 1er janvier de 9h45 a 11h00am ainsi que le 2 janvier. Ce fut 2 journées identiques. On commence déjà a s’attacher a lui tous les deux. C’est plus fort que nous même si nous restons sur nos gardes.
Le 3 janvier fut une journée magique pour nous ainsi que pour Isabelle. Tout a commence comme une journée normale, départ a 9h20 de l’appartement, période habituelle avec notre enfant mais en version extensionnee. Nous avons pris l’habitude de nourrir notre enfant tous les matins. Céréales de style yogourt avec morceaux d’œuf ainsi qu’un jus quelconque que nous ne connaissons pas de couleur rose; genre sirop contre la toux. Peut-être que c’est du sirop car notre enfant est grippe comme moi. Il tousse et éternue régulièrement et moi je mouche pas mal. Déjà nous échangeons les microbes, ca commence bien, Jean-Pierre et Marie en savent quelques choses a ce chapitre je crois…

Nous avons eu la chance de rester avec lui aujourd’hui jusque vers midi. Ensuite nous pensions que nous retournions chez nous mais non ; pas aujourd’hui ! Isabelle et sa mère rencontrait la directrice de l’orphelinat pour discuter du cas de leur petite. En fait, il était suppose de justifier leur refus (car leur petite fille a un problème avec une hanche et un bras) mais aujourd’hui toute a change. Sa situation est corrigible et elle ira de l’avant avec l’adoption de cette petite fille. Etant donne qu’ils ont décidé qu’il irait avec la petite fille à l’hôpital pour un scan du cerveau nous avons du même coup demande de faire de même. De plus, c’est un scan qui sera fait d’avance pour le docteur d’immigration Canada. Donc vers 12h30 nous avons été pour un scan du cerveau de notre Keanu. Ensuite a la suggestion de Lonia (un contact russe de l’agence) nous avons fait faire un scan du cœur de Keanu (car semble-t-il qu’il a un souffle au cœur). Les deux tests ont été positifs : pas de problèmes avec le cerveau ou le cœur. Par après, nous sommes allés à un autre hôpital pour voir une médecin qui a fait un examen complet, résultat : niet problème. Que de bonnes nouvelles !!
Aujourd’hui nous vous révélons son nom : c’est Renate. Etant donne la rareté de ce nom au Québec nous avons décidé de choisir de lui donner un autre nom qui est aussi plutôt rare au Québec : Keanu. Nous pensons que c’est un nom qui donne une connotation asiatique, Jackie et moi sommes d’accord là-dessus. Nous avons hésité sur plusieurs noms mais celui-ci a retenu notre attention hier soir en fouillant sur l’internet pour avoir des suggestions de noms.
Vers 4h00pm nous sommes allés dans un resto typiquement Kazak avec Elvira et Oliya. Nous avons essaye le met national : le Besh Barmak. Un mélange de pate, de bœuf, d’onions et de patates. Ce fut une bonne expérience ! Une heure plus tard nous sommes allés magasiner au Univermag : un type de marche au puce. Nous avons acheté quelques petites choses pour notre Keanu. Ca été une journée vraiment positive et bien remplie pour tout le monde.
A bientôt,
Dan

our first living room

this was our first appartments living room, the appartment was very cold!