As of this evening we have our tickets. We fly on KLM out of Boston to Amsterdam at 7pm on 02 July and arrive at 8am on the 3rd. We then fly from AMS to Almaty Kazakhstan at 6:35pm and arrive at 5:10am on the 4th. We will spend the night of the fourth in Almaty and then fly to Astana on the 5th, and if all goes well, meet our daughter on the 6th.

We will not have any information about our daughter until we actually meet her. It is our understanding that the director of the baby house (what we might call an orphanage) in Astana has a particular child in mind for us, but we are also aware that there may be more than one child available to consider. As previously mentioned we have asked for a girl as young as possible which in Astana is somewhere 7 months and older, though commonly 7-8 months old at the time we would meet her. Her size, weight, and developmental progress can vary widely at that age, and so it is a little difficult to anticipate her needs. There will be so much to report that first week, so be patient with us as we try to get the details out as quickly as possible while also taking some time to adjust and figure out our new routine.

As I understand it, we will visit the baby house every day (except sundays) either in the morning or the afternoon for 2 hours, and I believe that you pick a time slot and keep it, though that may be wrong. Apart from that we will be living in an apartment that will be prearranged by our adoption agency and we will have a driver and translator also arranged for by our agency. From reading the blogs of others who have adopted in Kaz - and in particular Astana - it sounds as though the city has a fair bit to offer and is quite readily explored and navigated. I am sure it will have its own challenges, but compared to the likes of Niamey or Nouakchott, will likely feel downright cosmopolitan.

We anticipate having high speed internet available, though probably not in our apartment, and will also be looking into the capacity for Skype and i-chat. We also expect to be able to download photos as well as video and have them available here on the blog, though we have not tested the video end of things yet.

As you might guess, we will not be traveling light on this journey. Apart from the usual excess of electronics that seem to be my shadow these days, we will aslo be bringing a stash of onesies, diapers, powdered formula, bottles, rash cream and the like for our little girl. I must admit to having just thought to include rash cream even though I am not exactly sure what it is. We don't actually have any yet, but I will go over to amazon.com in a minute and see what's out there, or maybe call a friend to find out what I need. So much to learn. I am sure that we will look back and laugh at how unprepared we were, but I'd rather live that way than surrender my sanity to worry and doubt.

I invite any and all of you to leave comments, ask questions, make suggestions, and in general participate along with us. It will make the process a whole lot more interesting for us if the blog takes on more of a feeling of dialog rather than diatribe. Take Care.