Cute Pics from Home

Jenya and her Great Grandma

Almost a 90 year age difference! I love how much Grandma wants to hug and kiss on Jenya. She keeps asking Rick and I, "Am I too old to have another one?" She is so funny.

Jenya's Baptism

We had Jenya baptised on October 17th, in her beautiful white Christening dress and her traditional Kazakh outfit. She looked adorable! She didn't really enjoy the whole process until the priest got to the part where he poured water over her head, which she loved! (If I haven't already mentioned, she loves bathtime and having the water from the shower pounding on her head.) Afterwards, our family got together at our house for a little party. Jenya had a great time that weekend meeting her new cousins and sharing her toys with them for a few days :)

We are amazed at how quickly Jenya has become a part of our family and at the same time it seems that she has always been here. Every day with her is a blessing from God!

So Happy to be Home!

We've been home for 2 weeks now and my mom informed me that I hadn't updated the blog since we left Almaty! I honestly didn't really think about it, now that I can post pics on facebook too. But things have been going so well these last 2 weeks with Jenya. She is the most wonderful little girl with such a great personality. We seem to be busy all the time, trying to visit with everyone in between naps. There have been so many people waiting to meet our precious girl and she's been getting much better with new faces. At first she was very shy and didn't want to leave my arms, but now she seems to be more confident that I will not be leaving her alone. I have to admit I love that she wants to be with me, but I also want her to feel comfortable going to other family members too. Unfortunately, I only have a few weeks left of maternity leave :(

I've posted some pictures of our adventures since we've been home. Jenya got to experience apple picking for the first time! Hopefully we can make this a yearly tradition as she absolutely loved eating the apples. And since Halloween is coming up, we've been experimenting with costumes for Jenya. As you can see, she doesn't really like props (fake hair and glasses!) We are so excited for Christmas this year too. Jenya already loves opening presents and she's received so many already. We even went to my cousin's baby shower where she wanted to open her presents too. She is just so cute!

I can't even begin to explain how much I love her. Reality has finally set in that she is ours forever and that makes me so happy that I still cry when I think about it. She is everything we hoped for and even more than we expected. She is the most easy-going, lovable child who loves to learn and play. I love to watch her with Rick especially. He can get her laughing so hard and I just love to hear that sound. And then when he asks me, "How did we get blessed with such a perfect little girl?," it makes me cry to think how much he loves her too. It makes me think of the poem about adoption. If you haven't read it, here it is:

Not flesh of my flesh, Nor bone of my bone,

But still miraculously my own.
Never forget for a single minute,
You didn't grow under my heart - but in it.
-Fleur Conkling Heylinger

On Our Way Home

Everything went well at the Embassy this afternoon. We got Jenya's Kazakh passport with a US Visa in it- how exciting! Her passport photo is so adorable. We just had Pomodoro's again for dinner since we knew we really liked it. Now Jenya's taking a nap and mom and I are going to pack. We just can't wait to get home again with our little girl. I know Daddy is missing her like crazy!

I hope to continue this blog, although much less frequently, to keep anyone who wants to stay updated on Jenya's progress and photos. It will also be nice for her to see one day! Thanks for following along :)

Our Last Day (Hopefully)!

Well, the Embassy appt is today at 3pm, and we haven't heard anything otherwise, thank goodness. It's about 2 hours from now. We can't wait! Then we can finish packing and head home! We miss Daddy and the rest of our family so much :(

I got a couple of questions about Jenya's size. She is definitely only in 12 month clothing right now. I tried 18 month stuff on her but they were too big. She looks so much bigger than she is!

I know, the headband episode was awful. I definitely need some help from April and Kennedy in that department. But if she is ever in a workout video, I'll offer to dress her, that's for sure! Check out the pics of the animal velour sweatshirt we put her in yesterday. She didn't seem to like it very much when we put the hood up. This doesn't bode well for Halloween! And the looks we got from the people here were funny. I don't think they dress their children up as animals here, that's my guess. They were all very intrigued :)

See you all soon!!

Jenya's New Backpack

We found this cute little mouse backpack in an underground toy store on our way to the grocery store. Usually kids toys and clothes are really expensive here, even more than at home. But this was a bargain at 600 tenge ($4)! She loves to look at herself in the mirror wearing it, it's so cute. If you're wondering what an underground toy store is, it's just a shopping area under the main streets of the city. Instead of crossing the streets, you go underground through a tunnel to get to the other side.

Headband Pics

Embassy Visit Cancelled Today!

A big thank you to Kathy at the agency for recommending that we build in an extra day just in case something happens with the embassy appointment! We should have been able to leave tonight if all went well, but we booked the flight for early Tuesday morning just in case, thank goodness we did. Apparently the passports still weren't ready for today, but we're told that everything will be all set for Monday, so please just say a prayer for us. We really want to come home Tuesday!

Even though today is not the happiest day for my mom and I, Jenya has been a superstar. Laughing and smiling all day. But I guess that's what happens when you get 10 hours of sleep! Lucky girl. We got her a little headband when we went out shopping yesterday, but as you can see in the picture, mommy doesn't quite know how to put it on yet. Poor Jenya's little ears are sticking out!

Once again, pics not loading, will try later :(

Pics for the Last Posting

Night Out at Pomodoro's Cafe

Jenya got her first restaurant experience last night when we went out for Italian food at Pomodoro's. Isn't it funny that we have the same restaurant in Catskill? We had great pasta dishes, but they were spicier than we expected, so Jenya didn't get to eat with us. And trying to explain that we'd like a small dish of pasta with plain sauce for her was just too difficult! But she's loving any and all foods that we give her, thank goodness. She's really good at feeding herself, but still learning how to hold her own bottle to drink.

My mom had the best wake up call ever this morning. Jenya fell asleep between us around 9:30pm last night and then at 7:15 this morning she woke my mom up by patting her hands on her chest with her face right in my mom's face! Nonna just loved it! By the way, I was still sleeping and missed all of it. We do wonder how long she had been awake before she woke my mom up though! Enjoy the pictures of our night out and of Jenya and her Nonna in the hotel room :)

Actually, having a hard time uploading pics right now, so I'll try again later. Sorry!

Second Day Together

We are having another great day with Jenya! Even though I didn't sleep more than an hour last night. At least Jenya got a good 9 1/2 hours in! I hope she continues this once we're home. Today we took a long walk around the city until both Jenya and Tyler fell asleep. My mom, Catherine and I were wishing we could be pushed around in a stroller too, it must be so soothing for them.

Last night Jenya got her first bath and she loved it! I was so worried she would be scared of bath time because she isn't accustomed to being bathed that way. Usually they stand the babies up in a sink and hose them down with a sink sprayer. But she had a fabulous time, and I didn't even have any bath toys to give her! I wish we had captured some pictures, but my mom was busy videotaping it, so at least Rick can see her first bath when we get home :)

Italian food tonight- we can't go wrong with that!

Our First Day!

Today has been the most amazing day of my life! Jenya is finally here with me and we are having to greatest time together. I'm so glad to say that she remembered me! And she was so happy despite the long day of travel. We'll all probably sleep well tonight. I wish I could write more but I'm extremely tired from the long day we've had. Jenya's already been to her first doctor visit, and she's very healthy! By the way, she is walking, as much as I was hoping she wouldn't be so that Rick and I could teach her. But there's so much more she will learn from us. Right now, she's trying to help me type, and doing a fantastic job with her letters. Actually, she keeps canceling me out of the post, which is making it that much harder to finish it! She's just so adorable. Nonna can't get enough of her - watching everything she does and thinking it's so darn cute. It's just about time for bath and bedtime, so hopefully we'll post more later. But here are a few pics from today. They aren't the best because we were spending so much time playing with Jenya that we didn't think about taking pictures. But don't worry, Nonna did get great video of Jenya pulling up in the car and reuniting with me again. I can't wait to show you all!

We're Here in Almaty!

Just a quick update to let you know we are safely in Almaty. The flights were great, thank God. Right now we're enjoying a nice cup of coffee at an outdoor coffee shop with free wifi. It's so nice here and I'm glad my mom is enjoying it so far too. We have to wait until tomorrow morning around 10am to see Jenya, which will be around midnight by all of you. But we will post as soon as we can!

Jenya's New Room

I can't believe it's been weeks since I last posted on the blog, but things have been crazy. Mostly, though, it was hard for me to get back on the blog while I was at home without my daughter. I've missed her terribly. Rick feels the same way, that these last few weeks home have gone by so slowly! But there's good news - we travel back to Kaz in 2 days! When I say "we" I mean my mom and me. I'm so lucky to have a wonderful mother who is willing to take this extremely long trip with me. She is really excited to meet her granddaughter, and I think the girls will have a great time together in Almaty. We'll be sure to keep you updated.

My family and friends gave me the most incredible baby shower the weekend after I got home. I barely had to go out an buy anything for Jenya because I received so many beautiful gifts. I am so thankful to have such wonderful people in my life, and now in Jenya's life. She is a blessed little girl.

I've posted a couple of pictures of Jenya's room that we've finally finished getting ready. Thanks to help from my mom, dad, Kyle, and Kelsey, that is! I couldn't have done it without them, so thank you guys so much! She'll be sleeping in her new crib in less than two weeks, which is unbelievable. Speaking of sleeping, I'm off to bed myself. I'll post more from Kaz in a few days :)

Doing Our Laundry in Karaganda

Kazakh Version of Pringles

At least they tasted good!

We're in Germany!

I bought a one hour internet pass while we wait here in Frankfurt for our next flight home! I figured I could post some more pics of our girl :) We miss her terribly. But we can't wait to see everyone when we get home!! I'm really tired, these pics are probably repeats, sorry!

More cute pics (from Jenya's birthday)

Some cute pics

I feel like I've looked at the hundreds of pictures we've taken of Jenya so many times that I don't remember what I've posted on the blog already! So hopefully these aren't repeats. But I wanted to keep my mom and April satisfied with pics until we get home tomorrow! And anyone else who still follows along :) Enjoy ladies!

Almaty

Rick and I had an awesome day in Almaty. So much so that Rick actually said he was glad that we weren't able to get on the Saturday flight! Can you believe it? The one who can't wait to get home to his dog and a hamburger is happy to be staying in Almaty a few extra days. But we really got a chance to see the city today. We were lucky enough to have Daniyar, who coordinates our flights and hotel while in Almaty, offer to take us around. He and his friend John drove us up to the mountain where they are building the stadium and sports complex for the Asian Winter Games that they are hosting in 2011. It was really an impressive sight. I don't know if you can appreciate it from the picture I posted. In order to take the picture we had to climb 1200 concrete stairs built into the mountain. I didn't think I was going to make it, I am so out of shape! But we finally did and the view was breathtaking. The most embarassing part of my struggle to conquer the mountain was that on the way back down there was a woman who seemed to be 100 years old nearing the top of the staircase! I really wish Rick had captured a picture of her - that was amazing.

After a few hours of exploring the mountain, we then went to see some traditional nomadic dwellings called yurts. Yurt is a kazakh word for felt house. I posted a picture of one of them, along with a picture of Rick inside wearing the traditional Kazakh dress. What a great experience we were able to have thanks to Daniyar. And it didn't end there! We went to a Kazakh/Uzbek restaurant for dinner and had our best meal to date here in Kazakhstan. I know I haven't spoken of food for a while, but I've finally been feeling better and was able to enjoy the meal. We had bread stuffed with ground lamb and seasonings, a great salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, croutons, feta cheese and olives, barbeque chicken skewers, and a rice and lamb dish. Everything tasted so amazing! I know my mom won't eat these foods with me when we come back, so I'll have to search out some places she'd like too :)

Last Visit at the Baby House

Somehow we think Jenya knew what was going on yesterday when we saw her after court. I know it's not possible, but she was just so full of energy and more excited than we've ever seen her. I wish we had taken more pictures of her, but there just didn't seem to be enough time. Two hours flies by when you have to include a tea party with her caregivers! They were so sweet to us. They told us not to worry about our babies, that they would take great care of them until we are reunited. And that if we came back to adopt we had to choose a baby from their room again :)

As you can imagine it was terribly hard to leave Jenya. Tanya (one of the caregivers) asked us to try not to cry in front of the babies because they can sense that we are upset and react to it. That was not an easy task. I started to tear up when I put her down and wouldn't you know she started blowing raspberries at us! Big sloppy ones that got us wet. Thank God for that, because then I started laughing and it made leaving just a little easier. As soon as I got out the door, though, I lost it. Catherine did too. Luckily Rick was not sobbing so he could help us carry everything back out to the car. How do men do it??

So one of the pictures I posted is of Jenya in her room's new walker. The three of us bought it for her room because their other ones were so worn out. There used to be a piece of plastic on each side of the tray that the babies could hold on to while walking, but Jenya busted them off. I only know she did it because Catherine witnessed it. She is too funny. We better get right to baby proofing our house when we get home! She can do some damage :)

The other picture is of daddy saying "see ya later" to Jenya. Not goodbye, because very soon we will be together as a family again!

Introducing Jenya Marie Deyo!

As you can tell, court went well today! We didn't understand a lot of what was going on, but the final announcement was that the judge agreed with our adoption and that Jenya would be ours. And of course Catherine's went well too. The judge didn't get in until almost 10:30 instead of 9am, so we were in court until 12:30. Afterwards we went and saw Jenya for about an hour and then had a tea party with the doctors. Since we hadn't eaten yet and it was now 2pm, we were starving! Especially Rick, who definitely ate his share of lunch. Everyone was laughing at him because he was so hungry, but Natasha translated that they like men with big appetites, it makes them stonger! The coordinator, Tamara, who spoke on behalf of all of us for the adoption, also attended the luncheon, which was really nice. She is usually too busy to be there, but she was able to today. We even got big hugs from her at the end. I think they are all really happy that things went well and told us that we are welcome to come back again for another baby! Wouldn't that be great??

Anyway, we have one more visit today for about 2 hours and another tea party with the caregivers. I will try to post some pics later on tonight before we leave for Almaty. We just wanted to share our wonderful news!!