All in all, a mellow past few days.  The weekend came and went without much fanfare, and we mostly stayed in and enjoyed some quiet time as the weather turned a little colder.  We awoke this morning to a dusting of snow and continued to have light flurries throughout the day, though no real accumulation.

Along with the slightly colder weather came the first of the heat.  Throughout the cities in Kaz, and my assumption is, this whole Central Asian, former Soviet Bloc region, the principal form of heat is State run steam / forced hot water.  The government picks the date that it comes on and the date that they shut it all down, and it doesn't always agree with the weather and popular consensus.

We have been using a portable space heater in the apartment since we arrived, and I must say, that while the space heater makes a nice clothes drying rack, the radiators do a far better job of heating the apartment.

Saturday night KJ got quite sick with some sort of stomach bug and spent much of the evening making offerings, and generally began to feel better as Sunday wore on.  This evening it seems to be impacting Tougy as she too has begun a rather unpleasant purge cycle though she is such a trooper about it all.  I must admit that if it comes my way, I am not going to be happy.

I know that I previously stated that our bonding period would end tomorrow, though having met with our in-country coordinator, we learned that it actually ends Wednesday as our first meeting with Nurai does not count for some reason, and therefore the 14-day bonding period began on Thursday 29 Oct.

As we met today, we talked of an anticipated timeline for our court hearing, our departure, and our subsequent return.  Given a petition date of this coming Thursday, they feel we are likely to have court late the following week, so either Thursday the 19th, or Friday the 20th.  

Assuming that to be the case, we plan to fly to Almaty that Saturday (21), offload most of our luggage in Almaty, and catch another plane to Astana for the weekend.  We should get in Saturday afternoon, and plan to spend Sunday touring around the city with Tougy, then Visit Tougy's Baby House Monday morning before flying back to Almaty that afternoon.

With any luck, Sara, Adam, and Rylie Tennen will be able to join us for a bit in Astana as they will be in Karaganda(a few hours away by bus or train) pursuing the adoption of a second child.  It would be so amazing to join up again in Kaz, as we went through our first adoptions together in Astana in the fall of 2007.  We will soon see if a reunion this side of things is possible.

Arriving back in Almaty Monday afternoon, we plan to then fly home on Wednesday 25 Nov.  While in Almaty, we hope to revisit some of the places we went with Tougy in 2007, as well as possibly meet up with Steph and Gary Karp who will be in Almaty beginning their adoption process.

It seems so many families in our blog orbit are traveling to meet new children this fall and winter.  It is an exiting time for many of us for sure.

So all that means that we should be home in Maine just in time for Thanksgiving.

As for when we will return to pick up our little Bounder, well, that got a little farther away as we met with our in-country team.  We made the mistake of assuming that our being roughly a week ahead of Tougy's 2007 timeline might mean that we would end up coming home a week or so earlier than we did with Tougy (Christmas Day 2007).

What we did not factor into all of this was progress and modernization.  Kazakhstan no longer issues simple paper passports, and the new microchip versions take weeks to obtain instead of the old few days needed for this in the past.

What this looks likely to mean is that instead of bringing Nurai home in time for Christmas, we will likely not return to Kaz until early in the new year and probably not get home with her until around the middle of January.  Certainly a disappointment for all involved.

Sad that we will move through the holidays without Nurai and that she will most likely spend her first birthday (28Dec) without her family.  All this of course is secondary to the greater consequence of her remaining in an understaffed Baby House for weeks longer than might otherwise be necessary.

We will see what happens and hear updates about the progress of the document as we wait at home in Maine, and of course things may move quicker than outlined, but time will tell.  We will certainly be willing and able to travel as soon as we get the okay to come get Nurai.

Nurai continues to get stronger and more capable with each visit.  As you can see in the photos, she has quite a beautiful smile complete with amazing dimples.  She loves watching Tougy and interacting with her, and Tougy of course is equally fascinated with Nurai.  It is so incredible to watch the 'sisterhood' develop.  I know that they will share a special bond that will transform our family.  More later.

Just love that face and those dimples.

It is amazing to see just how expressive Nurai has become in just more than a week.

She, like Tougy, loves being tickled.

Of course, as it is with most babies, everything has to be tasted to be explored.

Daddy asserting his defiant side and going mask-less.

Tougy reading In The Night Kitchen.

Making the best of our closet, and trying to give Nurai's little legs some exercise.

Booties made especially for Nurai by Elizabeth of 'Andy and Elizabeth', fellow Mainers who will also be coming here to Shymkent to adopt with our agency(MAPS) very soon.  They are amazing - and yes, they could refer to any and all of them.

Over our mellow weekend here at the apartment Tougy and KJ did lots of face/body painting.  As you can see, Tougy loved being the one with the brush.

Tougy's finished masterpiece.  Okay so maybe it wasn't exactly done in Tougy's eyes, but we eventually had to convince her that saving some paint for later would be better than using it all on mommy's legs.

Take Care.

P.S.  Still not happy that I cannot view our blog from here in Shymkent.  Don't know why that is, but it seems to be fairly permanent and not just a temporary issue.  I also don't like that Blogspot changed the way photos are uploaded just as we arrived and I am not sure exactly what makes what look how.  I have heard that many of the photos appear to have the right side cut off and that many of the images don't appear in the familiar square format I most often use.  I had been selecting the 'x-large' option on the past entries her in Kaz and today chose the 'large' option when adding photos, we will see if that makes any difference.  Also I can't tell if the photos line up along the left margin as it appears here in compose mode, or if they center in the column as I think I have indicated they should in the formatting options.  Details I know, but what is life without the details.