Dan and I are writing this blog from our couch in Wauwatosa, listening to music sung in English, drinking real coffee. Joe is playing legos and Matthew is still asleep after 12 hours.
It feels like Christmas morning.
Thanks everybody. We'll keep you posted this month. Keep praying the magic day will be about August 15.
Love, Dan, Allison, Joseph and Matthew
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Bonus day with Ana
Well, the punch line of this story is that we went to court today and the hearing went well, and we were granted our request for adoption – so that is GREAT news. As it happened…our supposed 10am appointment at the court finally got underway about 4:25pm! There were no issues with our paperwork or anything, this was just one of those random things that can happen; who knows, maybe something pressing came up for the courts or an official was out of the office unexpectedly, or whatever. In fact, there were probably 4 additional families who also were supposed to have their court hearings in the morning, and all of us were delayed until the afternoon.
So this threw us for a loop only because we were supposed to have our court appt at 10am and then be on a plane to Almaty at 3pm. So after waiting from 10am until about 1pm, we ended up changing our flight to Almaty to one day later (so now Thursday we go from Ust back to Almaty). We should still be in plenty of time for our flights back to the states, we should land in Almay about 5pm Thursday and our flight to Frankfurt doesn’t leave until 3am so some 10 hours later.
But now we do get one added bonus, we get to see Ana one last time tomorrow morning, since our flight (there is only 1 per day from Ust to Almaty) doesn’t leave until 3pm. So we are now back in the Shiny River for our second “last night.”
The big news of the day, though, is of course that the court hearing went well. All that now remains, at least from the perspective of the Kazakh adoption process, is to run out the clock on the 16 day waiting period. So now we’ll count the days until July 26.
We’re not sure if we’ll be able to post again before we get back to the States – hopefully we won’t be writing from the Shiny River again tomorrow night!
Some pictures below, one of Ana teething, one of her noticeably not enjoying a Mets hat (we’ll need to fix that), also a picture of the boys on a little boat at a park we found and Matthew in front of the WWII monument (we had a lovely walk by the river & monument with our translator, Olga, who has been a great help to us). Also one is a shot of a picture Joseph made for Ana's room while we're gone.
-The Byrne Family
So this threw us for a loop only because we were supposed to have our court appt at 10am and then be on a plane to Almaty at 3pm. So after waiting from 10am until about 1pm, we ended up changing our flight to Almaty to one day later (so now Thursday we go from Ust back to Almaty). We should still be in plenty of time for our flights back to the states, we should land in Almay about 5pm Thursday and our flight to Frankfurt doesn’t leave until 3am so some 10 hours later.
But now we do get one added bonus, we get to see Ana one last time tomorrow morning, since our flight (there is only 1 per day from Ust to Almaty) doesn’t leave until 3pm. So we are now back in the Shiny River for our second “last night.”
The big news of the day, though, is of course that the court hearing went well. All that now remains, at least from the perspective of the Kazakh adoption process, is to run out the clock on the 16 day waiting period. So now we’ll count the days until July 26.
We’re not sure if we’ll be able to post again before we get back to the States – hopefully we won’t be writing from the Shiny River again tomorrow night!
Some pictures below, one of Ana teething, one of her noticeably not enjoying a Mets hat (we’ll need to fix that), also a picture of the boys on a little boat at a park we found and Matthew in front of the WWII monument (we had a lovely walk by the river & monument with our translator, Olga, who has been a great help to us). Also one is a shot of a picture Joseph made for Ana's room while we're gone.
-The Byrne Family
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Getting closer...
Very important news: today Ana got her first tooth! We know she has been teething (this based on copious amounts of slobbering & chewing on her hands and anything else she could find for the past 2 weeks). This morning we felt and then saw the top her first tooth, on the bottom left side. So when she chews on things now it will sometimes sooth her and other times give her a shot of pain from this or maybe other teeth that are close. Just makes us want to get her home all the faster. We were imagining today that when we finally get her home she’ll probably have even more (unless she is as slow at teething as her brothers were). But it was neat to be here for her first one anyway.
So now we are busy getting everything ready for our last visits…gifts for the caregivers, translators, drivers; court documents, etc. It’s actually good to have these things to keep us busy in these last few days.
Somewhat disappointed we missed the 4th of July at home, this is always such a great holiday in our neighborhood. But we told the boys we’d have our own little 4th of July celebration the day we get Ana home, again this is making the assumption that this adoption stays on track & all goes well.
So here’s where we are in terms of process: After court (Wed, July 9) the “appeal period” starts. This lasts, we think, for 16 calendar days. Then on July 25, if no one has objected during the appeal period (her biological parents, grandparents, etc.), then the deal is really done. As of July 26, no one can undo this thing, from there on out it is just cleaning up paperwork and getting her back to the States. So on July 26 we’ll breath easier and start the real party! Again – this is all on the assumption that the court hearing goes well on July 9, which we expect will be the case.
Boys continue to do well, although the trip is starting to wear thin on them. Meltdowns are become somewhat more frequent. But who can blame them! We are so happy we brought them along – sometimes on a tough evening here it has been only the boys who could put a smile back on our face. I don’t think the combination of this process and being away from the boys for a month would have been easy to swallow. Will try and finally get the boys to the zoo this afternoon, also we hear there is a Mexican restaurant over there with potentially good Fajitas and Margueritas, so we'll give it a try.
Well, we have only three more full days here in Ust, almost can’t believe it. We have encountered so many good people along the way that have made this tough process easier for us. And we have received great support from our friends and family at home. We are so blessed, and so thankful to everyone.
Few more pictures below, one is of the boys on a playground here, this is a typical playground that we see here, usually positioned in the middle of several multifamily housing units kind of like a courtyard.
All the best –
The Byrne Family
So now we are busy getting everything ready for our last visits…gifts for the caregivers, translators, drivers; court documents, etc. It’s actually good to have these things to keep us busy in these last few days.
Somewhat disappointed we missed the 4th of July at home, this is always such a great holiday in our neighborhood. But we told the boys we’d have our own little 4th of July celebration the day we get Ana home, again this is making the assumption that this adoption stays on track & all goes well.
So here’s where we are in terms of process: After court (Wed, July 9) the “appeal period” starts. This lasts, we think, for 16 calendar days. Then on July 25, if no one has objected during the appeal period (her biological parents, grandparents, etc.), then the deal is really done. As of July 26, no one can undo this thing, from there on out it is just cleaning up paperwork and getting her back to the States. So on July 26 we’ll breath easier and start the real party! Again – this is all on the assumption that the court hearing goes well on July 9, which we expect will be the case.
Boys continue to do well, although the trip is starting to wear thin on them. Meltdowns are become somewhat more frequent. But who can blame them! We are so happy we brought them along – sometimes on a tough evening here it has been only the boys who could put a smile back on our face. I don’t think the combination of this process and being away from the boys for a month would have been easy to swallow. Will try and finally get the boys to the zoo this afternoon, also we hear there is a Mexican restaurant over there with potentially good Fajitas and Margueritas, so we'll give it a try.
Well, we have only three more full days here in Ust, almost can’t believe it. We have encountered so many good people along the way that have made this tough process easier for us. And we have received great support from our friends and family at home. We are so blessed, and so thankful to everyone.
Few more pictures below, one is of the boys on a playground here, this is a typical playground that we see here, usually positioned in the middle of several multifamily housing units kind of like a courtyard.
All the best –
The Byrne Family
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Week 3
We’ve had some really fun visits with Ana the past few days. Seems she is feeling better, she is still congested a little but maybe her bronchitis has been mostly taken care of with the meds they gave her. She is giving us more in the way of interaction and smiles all the time, which is great.
Only real news to report is our court date. We found out yesterday that our first court date is July 9. This is good news, as it should allow us to keep our original airline schedule for return flights, etc. So the plan at present is to leave Ust on July 9 after the court hearing, spend July 10 in Almaty, then leave for USA at 3:20am on Friday July 11, putting us back in Chicago by 10:30 or so local time (connect in Frankfurt), then a couple hours to Milwaukee via car and HOME.
We are really looking forward to home, except of course it is getting harder to think about leaving Ana for a month. But we’ll make it and provided everything goes as expected, we hope to finalize this sometime in mid-August.
Also – we’ve said it before, but it has been so great to have many other wonderful families here going through what we are experiencing, it is a necessary support group. Thanks to everyone for their help during this process.
More pictures below, enjoy. The one with me & Matthew is haircut day. I convinced Allison to cut my hair rather than try & figure out a barber, and Matthew wanted to help. So Allison duct taped some paper strips on a grapefruit and Matthew had a great time cutting "Mr. grapefruit daddy's" hair. Also there is a picture of Matthew sleeping in his "cozy bed" here, he likes it when we push together the two armchairs & then put a comforter & blankets in there for him.
-The Byrne Family
Only real news to report is our court date. We found out yesterday that our first court date is July 9. This is good news, as it should allow us to keep our original airline schedule for return flights, etc. So the plan at present is to leave Ust on July 9 after the court hearing, spend July 10 in Almaty, then leave for USA at 3:20am on Friday July 11, putting us back in Chicago by 10:30 or so local time (connect in Frankfurt), then a couple hours to Milwaukee via car and HOME.
We are really looking forward to home, except of course it is getting harder to think about leaving Ana for a month. But we’ll make it and provided everything goes as expected, we hope to finalize this sometime in mid-August.
Also – we’ve said it before, but it has been so great to have many other wonderful families here going through what we are experiencing, it is a necessary support group. Thanks to everyone for their help during this process.
More pictures below, enjoy. The one with me & Matthew is haircut day. I convinced Allison to cut my hair rather than try & figure out a barber, and Matthew wanted to help. So Allison duct taped some paper strips on a grapefruit and Matthew had a great time cutting "Mr. grapefruit daddy's" hair. Also there is a picture of Matthew sleeping in his "cozy bed" here, he likes it when we push together the two armchairs & then put a comforter & blankets in there for him.
-The Byrne Family
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Week 2 Update
Well – more of the same for week 2. We do our two visits a day (one a day on weekends), arrange meals, then do our laundry & dishes in the sink. However this weekend we are at the point where we will need to get materials ready for our court appointments, so that will make it seem like things are moving along.
Ana is doing very well. She is still congested from the bronchitis (she has a pretty good cough from time to time) but it does seem that whatever they gave her has helped. When she first sees us at the beginning of a visit we are now regularly rewarded with a smile, which makes us feel great. Her favorite things now are patti cake; watching the boys’ antics; her “crinkly” book (one of those baby books with the cellophane or whatever inside); her inflatable globe; and also just being held when she’s tired.
It is great to visit her, but it is getting predictably long…by that I mean that you can only do so much seeing her a couple hours a day. We just want to get her home now, but that won’t be until mid-August (we hope) which seems like a long way away to us right now. So its day to day – each day down brings us a day closer.
The boys are doing well. They have been really sweet to Ana which is great to see. From time to time they get to bouncing off the walls of the hotel, but who can blame them…so do we at this point! We do our best to make it a fun trip for them. There is a courtyard of sorts in front of the hotel so we take the soccer ball down there & kick it around almost every day. We try to get to a park or to their favorite restaurant (it has a ball pit) every day or two. Also the fact that the weather has been warm and dry has been a godsend, as the boys can play outside at the baby house on the playgrounds right with us while we’re seeing Ana. This would be a lot tougher to pull off with the boys if we had to be inside!
Our driver, coordinator and everyone involved with our process has been just great. We feel they are helpful, knowledgeable and that our process is in very good hands. We are so thankful for that.
At this point although things are going well here, we are craving the sights, sounds, tastes & company of home. It will be great to see our family & friends, our neighborhood, our patio, the grill, and the wine rack at Sendik’s!
We have some updated pictures below. Thank you to everyone for your continued thoughts & prayers.
-The Byrne Family
Ana is doing very well. She is still congested from the bronchitis (she has a pretty good cough from time to time) but it does seem that whatever they gave her has helped. When she first sees us at the beginning of a visit we are now regularly rewarded with a smile, which makes us feel great. Her favorite things now are patti cake; watching the boys’ antics; her “crinkly” book (one of those baby books with the cellophane or whatever inside); her inflatable globe; and also just being held when she’s tired.
It is great to visit her, but it is getting predictably long…by that I mean that you can only do so much seeing her a couple hours a day. We just want to get her home now, but that won’t be until mid-August (we hope) which seems like a long way away to us right now. So its day to day – each day down brings us a day closer.
The boys are doing well. They have been really sweet to Ana which is great to see. From time to time they get to bouncing off the walls of the hotel, but who can blame them…so do we at this point! We do our best to make it a fun trip for them. There is a courtyard of sorts in front of the hotel so we take the soccer ball down there & kick it around almost every day. We try to get to a park or to their favorite restaurant (it has a ball pit) every day or two. Also the fact that the weather has been warm and dry has been a godsend, as the boys can play outside at the baby house on the playgrounds right with us while we’re seeing Ana. This would be a lot tougher to pull off with the boys if we had to be inside!
Our driver, coordinator and everyone involved with our process has been just great. We feel they are helpful, knowledgeable and that our process is in very good hands. We are so thankful for that.
At this point although things are going well here, we are craving the sights, sounds, tastes & company of home. It will be great to see our family & friends, our neighborhood, our patio, the grill, and the wine rack at Sendik’s!
We have some updated pictures below. Thank you to everyone for your continued thoughts & prayers.
-The Byrne Family
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Daily Life
Day 10 of "bonding" went very well. Life here is surreal. A wonderful couple across the hall from us summed up life here is Ust very well - "Think "Groundhog Day" meets "Life in Translation." What really makes bizarre is the one CD that the hotel has that they play over and over and over again - just a little too loudly. Stylized muzak versions of "Over the Rainbow", some Godfather song, some wierd circus theme and then some synthesizer thing. Everyday we go to the breakfast buffet, the boys say hello and thank you in russian, we pass over the number of beef tounge and cabbage choices and stick to the yogurt, tomatoes, cucumbers, fruit and baked goods. Dan has an omelette daily. We carry out breakfast and instant coffee to a table while listening to hear where we are in the music rotation.
There are several wonderful families here. There are four from Spain, including an adorable three year old. I pull out my Spanish and they pull out their English and we all do our best. The 10 plus families with six or so siblings are kind and supportive. Joe has started playing a little soccer with a dad from Spain - Joe is trying to hit his ball with his head.
We just finished lunch - peanut butter and nutella sandwiches, apples, peanuts, milk with a 1 year shelf life and Nesquik. I did a "load of laundry" in the bathroom sink. Being married to a sailor has advantages - you should see what he can do with a 6X3 bathroom and a laundry line.
I hit paydirt yesterday - I traded 2 of my books with a Canadian mom for three of hers.
We are meeting with another couple of and their child tonight. We will all share what we have for a feast. Last night we met with 2 families from our hotel. We shared Kazak beer, screwdrivers (when in Rome...), Kazak bread, and a delicious cake from the grocery store.
More tomorrow,
The Byrne Family
There are several wonderful families here. There are four from Spain, including an adorable three year old. I pull out my Spanish and they pull out their English and we all do our best. The 10 plus families with six or so siblings are kind and supportive. Joe has started playing a little soccer with a dad from Spain - Joe is trying to hit his ball with his head.
We just finished lunch - peanut butter and nutella sandwiches, apples, peanuts, milk with a 1 year shelf life and Nesquik. I did a "load of laundry" in the bathroom sink. Being married to a sailor has advantages - you should see what he can do with a 6X3 bathroom and a laundry line.
I hit paydirt yesterday - I traded 2 of my books with a Canadian mom for three of hers.
We are meeting with another couple of and their child tonight. We will all share what we have for a feast. Last night we met with 2 families from our hotel. We shared Kazak beer, screwdrivers (when in Rome...), Kazak bread, and a delicious cake from the grocery store.
More tomorrow,
The Byrne Family
Monday, June 23, 2008
Monday Update
Happy to report that Ana seems to be feeling better, she has been more awake and alert the past few days. Whatever they are giving her for the bronchitis seems to be working. Our single visits on Saturday & Sunday and our two visits Monday went very well.
This whole process is quite a roller coaster though. Although we've come a long way in this process, we are aware that there is a long way to go as well. We have a good four weeks of paperwork and "appeal periods" where this could fall through. So while we find ourselves getting attached to Ana (of course) we are remaining conscious that this is really not over until its over, as they say.
After our court date in about two weeks, there is an appeal period, but after that appeal period is done I think we are probably out of the woods. So now we are counting the days -
We had a fun evening with the boys last night, we found out there is another hotel in town that has a pool and allows people to come and swim for a reasonable fee, so we took the boys swimming last night & they had a blast. Made them pretty tired so we had the first real meltdown for Joe last night before bed. He's done so well this trip I think he was due. They're still sleeping (its 7:50am here) so will let them sleep a few minutes more at least.
Thanks so much for all the support from everyone, we couldn't do this alone!
Sorry no pictures today, more to come soon.
-The Byrne Family
This whole process is quite a roller coaster though. Although we've come a long way in this process, we are aware that there is a long way to go as well. We have a good four weeks of paperwork and "appeal periods" where this could fall through. So while we find ourselves getting attached to Ana (of course) we are remaining conscious that this is really not over until its over, as they say.
After our court date in about two weeks, there is an appeal period, but after that appeal period is done I think we are probably out of the woods. So now we are counting the days -
We had a fun evening with the boys last night, we found out there is another hotel in town that has a pool and allows people to come and swim for a reasonable fee, so we took the boys swimming last night & they had a blast. Made them pretty tired so we had the first real meltdown for Joe last night before bed. He's done so well this trip I think he was due. They're still sleeping (its 7:50am here) so will let them sleep a few minutes more at least.
Thanks so much for all the support from everyone, we couldn't do this alone!
Sorry no pictures today, more to come soon.
-The Byrne Family
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