So we are settled in to our apartment in Astana and are catching up on sleep lost in the travel. Astana looks quite different this time of year than it did in July. The trees are bare, and in general as you would expect, life is just a little grayer.

The construction in and around the city is truly remarkable. I will try and do a count as to the number of construction cranes lurking about, but it would be at least 40 or so.

In every direction, a ring of cranes continues to creep outward from the center of the city adding new high rise buildings faced in glass and for the most part architecturally interesting. It is really quite amazing.

I know none of you are following our blog to hear about construction so let's get to the heart of things.

Today(wednesday) is a Christmas Eve of sorts, for first thing tomorrow(Thursday) KJ and I will head off to the Baby House to finally meet with our baby girl.

After we hold and fawn over our gift, I get to come home and play Santa for all of you by sending off little bundles of joy (in the form of Photos and stories) for all of you to awake to Thursday morning as well. That said, make sure you all put out stockings and don't forget the cookies.

It has been months in the making, and now we are but a day away from entering the next phase of our lives as parents. Of course nothing is final until after the 15-day appeal process that follows our court date that is set after the end of this first 14-day bonding period, but hey it sure feels close to us.

So to recap a little. We expect to meet a little girl 'as young as possible, and as healthy as possible'. We have been assured that this will happen tomorrow and that we will begin to login the first of the mandatory 14 days.

I recognize that I am writing todays entry with a little less flair than normal and feel as though in some ways I am just sort of on auto-pilot mode until the time that we actually enter the Baby House tomorrow morning.

All of my anticipation adrenaline is spent and I am just ready to move forward. I'm ready to, for once, have something to write about that isn't focused upon some nebulous future state, but rather from a clear and tactile present.

Let the seemingly endless drum-roll in my head finally lay its last stroke down and the mystery curtain be forever pulled back. Take Care.