Jerusha

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Pictures of Ben

We know everyone is super excited and can not wait to see pictures of Ben. We got to spend two hours playing with him today, and it was great. We took him some blocks and he loved playing with and trying to eat them.

We have taken pictures of him, but we are waiting to post them. We have a couple of medical questions to address before post pictures of him. We enjoyed our time with him today he is a very calm and sweet boy, we are just proceeding with caution.

Thanks Alison for Milk information, I do not believe that is what we bought...opps.

Milk

We went to the market yesterday and there were lots of choices for milk. The question became which one is cow milk. Most of the containers had pictures of cows on them , but we are not so sure it is cow's milk. The milk percentages are very different, they have 6%, 3.5% , 2.5% and 1%. We have no idea what 6% milk is. We thought we had found cow's milk, but when I woke up this morning Mike tells me he tried the milk and is not so sure about it. He said the milk was very sweet and thick, not so sure if it is cow's milk or not....

The milk quest continues.

Nolan is great

Several of you have asked how Nolan is doing. We talked to him yesterday morning (US time). Grams says he is doing well and having fun with grandpa and the dog.

We miss him a ton , but are trying very hard to focus on our purpose here in Kazakhstan.

Rules of the Road

Riding in a car here is a very interesting experience. There are no rules! Take the rule book you got in drivers ed and throw it out the window!!! There are no driving lines, it is simply how many cars you can fit in the width of the road. If you are turning in an intersection and do not like how long the other driver is taking, pass them. Really it is ok.

And you must not forget to honk your horn as much as possible and frequently. You can park or stop anywhere you want.

Most of all people walking do not have the right of way, cars have the right of way, so look out.


We are so glad that we have someone to drive us, because driving is crazy.

Meeting Our Son

The baby house is closed on weekends, and today was our frist chance to go to the baby house. We first did some paperwork at the deparment of eduction, once that was done we headed over to the baby house. Let me tell you, giving birth (even via c-section) is much easier than standing in a room waiting. Waiting to be seen by the baby house director and then another woman turning around holding a child, your new child. Then the doctor coming into the room ready to tell you about the child's medical history and lack there of. Everyone in the room is speaking Russian , but us, with the help of our translator we were told information about the child.

No, we do not have pictures of him yet. We only got to see him for about 20-30 minutes. It was lunch time for him and he was hungery.

What I can tell you is he is 9 months old, brown eyes, light brown to blonde hair and big chubby cheeks! He took right to us and he even smiled several times. He did evenutally say nananana, but not much else. The doctor said he is sitting up , rolls over , plays with other child and is a quite happy baby. Mike says he has a good grip. Oh, he is starting to cut his first tooth. Wednesday is Christmas here, so we will get to be with him on his first Christmas, which we are super excited about. I know everyone would like to see pictures, but we do not have any yet.

We have the medical information from the time he was brought to the baby house, but nothing before that time. He was found abonded in a home. He came to the baby house when he was a month old.

The baby house director said that Ben looked like Mike. Mike swears he has not been to Kazakhstan......

We will be going to the baby house Monday- Friday for two hours a day, tomorrow will be our first offical visit. We plan to take some pictures tomorrrow and will post as soon as we can.

The time difference here is 11 hours ahead of the US East coast.

Life in Kazakhstan

Well life in Kazakhstan is interesting. We arrived in Shymkent on Sunday at noon. Our flight was delayed by two hours in Almaty for deicing of the plane. This was our last flight and was by far the hardest, we were so close yet still so far from Shymkent. Our coordinator greated us at the airport with her husband who is our translator and brought us to our aparment.

All the apartment her appear to be built during soviet times all very simple concret structures. Our appartment is insteresting. The bathroom is small with only a shower and the washing machine in the bathroom. The toliet is in a seperate room. The kitchen is simple but will work for our needs. Mike even managed to light the gas stove.

Sleep well we are not turned around yet, and last night we had dinner at 2am. I am sure our sleep patterns will around quickly.

I will share more information about life in Kazakhstan later, I promise. Driving is ..lets just say it is interesting.

In the apartment we only have dial up internet , to get a faster connection we have to go to a turkish cafe. If you send us emails and it takes me a day or two to reply this would be the reason.

Please know we are safe and things are good in Kazakhstan!