Life is good...

We are home and well and settling in to our new world.  Thank you everyone for your support, and thank you Marshall for the photo.  It will be one of my most treasured, and chokes me up each time I look at it.

I am an emotional guy, and after holding it together as best I could on the plane and then going through customs, walking through those doors and seeing KJ's Parent and the Robinson's waiting to welcome us, well the tears just overwhelmed me.

We have posted a few videos from our first day together here in Maine and welcome you to check them out at:

http://gallery.me.com/steve_morrison#gallery

You will see the most recent ones directly under the 'Movie' heading and are welcome to look through any other as well.  You will also see a batch of photos from Kazapalooza in Nashville last June.  Feel free to look through those as well.  As you do, you will see a great number of beautiful children and wonderful families who have been brought together through adoption.

As I recognize that blogs such as this one are both entertainment and a means of communicating with friends and family, they are also a real and tangible source of information and hope for families either in, or contemplating, the process of their own adoption and so to that end, I hope to write a few entries soon that relate to more of the nuts and bolts of our experience and our thoughts on the adoption process.

Enjoy the videos.

Take Care.

Our last outing in Almaty

The Cathedral of the Holy Ascension

24 hours from now we will be in Frankfurt getting ready to board our flight to Boston.  I still can't believe how quickly this week has gone.

Nurai continues to be terrific.  She is really bonding with us and gives large broad smiles with her accompanying dimples when she is happy.

We went for a good walk this morning and I had Nurai in the Ergo Carrier the whole time.  If you ever want to see some interesting reactions and long blatant stares from both Kazakh men and women, follow  a man wearing a baby while his wife walks beside him.

We are so looking forward to getting home and reunited Tougy and her sister Nurai.  What a great moment that will be.  Realizing that all of this is in the past and a family of four is our future.

Take Care.

What began in the summer of 2008 is now just a couple of days from completion.  When we touch down in Boston Saturday afternoon, this adoption process will have reached its end, and Nurai Morrison will be an American citizen as well as our daughter.

Our American Embassy visit this afternoon went smoothly and quickly as anticipated and now we are back in our room counting down the hours. 

We went up to Kok Tobe this morning to take in the perpetual brown/grey haze and imagine the city below and the snow covered mountains beyond, and took what seems to be the obligatory adoption finale photo with the Beatles.

We continue to be overwhelmed by the amount of support and love we receive from all of you and are very grateful to have such a wonderful team behind us cheering us on and sharing in both our joys and frustrations.

Thank you for all of your comments, they really are manna over here in country.

Take Care.

I can’t believe that we are now just more than 48 hours away from boarding our plane to Frankfurt and then onward to Boston. 

It is Wednesday night here in Almaty and we had nothing scheduled for the day.  In fact our next, and last, scheduled event is our Embassy Appointment at 2:30 Thursday. 

Our journey over was as uneventful as we might have hoped.  The planes went up and down, our bag pushed through the flaps and presented itself upon the conveyor, our Almaty team met us with our onward tickets to Shymkent, and our Shymkent team took us to Nurai. 

That said, I will make one comment.  Really Frankfurt?  Is that the best you can do?  What an enormous and sprawling mess of an airport.  Our house has more bathrooms! 

Lufthansa might have newer planes and a swankier reputation than KLM, but given the need, I would choose KLM without a second thought if for no other reason than to fly through Amsterdam. 

We arrived in Shymkent exactly 36 hours after leaving Boothbay, and went straight to our hotel to check-in and unload.  That done, we hopped back into the car to buy diapers and formula and a few food things for ourselves.  A few errands later we were off to the Baby House.

Nurai has been a dream.  Her attitude has simply been amazing.  Of course all this may change at any time, but to this point, she has been so unbelievably easy. 

She learned to army crawl in our absence and now has no problem getting about the hotel room to investigate and explore.  The only fussing comes to remind us that it is either time for more food to go in or that more food has come out. 

She plays engagingly and though she vocalizes quite a bit, there is no distress in her tone.  When she get tired she simply takes longer and longer blinks until her eyes stay closed.  There is no thumb sucking or pacifier, or rocking required, she just checks-out peacefully and without a fight.  Can’t argue with that!

She is oh-so-close to her first signs.  KJ and I have been doing lots of Mama and Dada signs along with the words whenever she makes eye contact with us, and she now opens her hand up with all fingers stretched and holds her hand up in imitation of us. 

She is so much more alert and engaged than she was in November.  Her eyes track everything and she appears very curious and inquisitive.  She seems quite comfortable in the Ergo carrier and seems at ease with both KJ and me.  She sleeps soundly and doesn’t seem to mind our music or voices in the room during naps.

Today we took a walking journey up to the Green Bazaar and then to Tsum(large department store) and were gone for several hours without complaint from her.  She rode right along in her Ergo drifting in and out of naps to take in the sights, sounds, and smells of the busy markets. 

The Green Bazaar was my kind of place, and though I would have loved to have had a camera out, sometimes it is more fun (and certainly simpler) just to enjoy it in real time and take it all in for what it is. 

The orderly rows of uniformed meat venders with separate areas for the various animals, each displayed on open counters and hooks, lent an immediacy and bluntness to the process. 

There is no ambiguity about from where your dinner came when you first locate the row with the correct visual representation of your desired animal, then select your cut from amongst the heads, hoofs, legs and torso of that animal. 

The other areas of the market are similarly intuitive.  Need just the right spice, head over to the spice sellers with their open sacks and colorful mound of most every spice you can’t name but can identify through smell or taste.  Want fruits or vegetables, how about fish or dried fruits and nuts – “a place for everything, and everything in its place”.

The third floor of Tsum is a great place to search out Kazakh souvenirs.  In our case, this meant a collection of various felted animals, people, and decorations to be both gifts and mementos for the girls. 

“The Girls”.  That may be the first time I’ve used those words to reference our family, and while I am sure that I will come to do so without a second thought in the future, at this point it merits a pause and a smile as my eyes well up and the lump in my throat subsides. I have daughters!

Speaking as I am about our daughters, for those wondering about Tougy, she is at home in Boothbay looking after her dogs.  Looking after her are the wonderful sister act of Kerry and Wendy who stayed in our house and looked after ‘the boys’ while we were all in Shymkent for the month of November. 

Kerry has known Tougy since Tougy came home in December 07.  Tougy simply adores Kerry and though Tougy no longer attends the Day Care program where Kerry still works, Kerry is still revered by us all. 

Together with Wendy, they have had a wonderful first few days and send daily updates regaling us with their adventures and endeavors.  I want to include a snippet from one such email to illustrate the competent and nurturing care Tougy is receiving in our absence:

We had a great day together!  Shortly after I wrote you this morning, Tougy had a bath and then went off and did her scavenger hunt!

I left silly little clues, starting with one on BoBo's collar.  Tougy giggled when she saw him walk in with it.  She took it off and Wendy read it to her and together they had fun!

The first clue went like this:

       Congratulation!  You found the 1st clue!  

       To find the 2nd clue, this is what you must do:

            Go to the room where you can find your bed

            And then look at the place where you rest your head.

Of course the next clue was waiting for her on her pillow.  Wendy read it to her and again they ran to find the next clue.  It went like this:

            Yay!  Great job!  You found clue number 2!

            To find clue number 3, this is what you must do:

            Find the table where the trains go round and round,

            Be sure when you crawl under, you look on the ground!

Tougy giggled when she found the clue laying under her train table and she was excited, nearly bumped her head as she rushed to give the clue to Wendy to read.  The last one went like this:

            Wow!  You did it!  You found the last clue!

            To find your present this is what you must do:

            Find the place where your duckies love to swim!

            Your present is waiting for you there, so jump right in!

Wendy and I recorded Tougy as she found the last present sitting in the tub.  She couldn't figure out how Mommy left it there when we had just been in the tub a little while earlier.  She just laughed and giggled.  When she opened the box of puzzles, at first she just grabbed them and said "Mine, Mine, Mine!"  But then when she realized that meant that she would have to do the puzzles by herself, she quickly changed her mind and decided to share them.  lol   Wendy and I are desperately trying to figure out a way to send you the video.   We recorded it on the computer and we can't seem to transfer the file, so we may have to wait until you come home.

How could you ask for more than that?  I also want to include a bit from Tougy as relayed to us by Kerry and Wendy:

I just read your email to Tougy and she laughed and wanted to send you a message.  I will write it word for word so you know it's from you're adorable little girl.  I can't help but laugh as I write it so bare with me:

Tougy says:

"I not crying.  Momma, Dadda, I don't cry I'm a big girl, no crying.  That's silly!" (chuckles)  

And now she's singing a song:  the closest I can describe is a tune to "Oh my darling Clementine)

"Mommy, Daddy, Mommy, Daddy, Coming soon with my sister!  Today!  Today!  Today!  Soon, soon!  For a long time!  And you can't come for a long time!  Mommy!  Daddy!  Mommy!  Daddy!  Coming soon!  My Mommy and Daddy coming soon!  Them can come home soon!  Oh silly Mommy and Daddy!  Oh silly Mommy and Daddy!  Oh silly Mommy and Daddy!  You're too silly today!"

Tougy also has a message To Nurai, too!:

"Thanks for coming home Nurai!"

So now the tears are back in my eyes and the lump back in throat.  How extremely fortunate are we? 

Well I think I will leave it there for now and will return to bed where KJ and Nurai are cuddled in sleep behind me.  Take Care.

Lives were changed today…

To be sure, lots of effort, emotion, desire, and provenance preceded this moment, but tonight it is all in the past, for tonight Nurai shares a bed with her mother and father.

Imagining all the things that Nurai is experiencing for the first time, it truly breaks your heart.

The reunion at the Baby House was without fanfare save for one older caregiver, Rosa, who was very happy for Nurai and asked about Tougy.

Nurai was brought up the steps in a blanket and, without first letting us see her, was moved into a separate room to be weighed and measured.  A few minutes later the caregiver came out to ask us for clothes and then retreated back into the room to dress Nurai.

When the door opened again, Nurai was brought out and handed to us, and that was basically it.  We asked a few questions of one of her doctors and took our leave down the stairs and out the door to the car.

In those few brief moments, everything about her world and ours was irrevocably changed, and yet for those around us, it was just another moment in time.  I don’t know how I imagine it should have felt different, but I was alternately saddened and elated.

So begins Nurai’s second year of life.

We love you Nurai and are so overjoyed to be your family.

8am flight from Almaty to Shymkent.

Following the mountains and looking into Kyrgyzstan.

Our apartment building from November.  We went in the blue door on the right and were on the second floor on the back side of the building.

Caregivers bringing Nurai up the stairs to meet us.

The final presentation.  Nurai was not at all sure what was going on.  The green around her nose is a crazy tincture that they apply for most everything.  In this case it was a sore nose from a cold/runny nose.

Getting reaquainted.

Caregiver Rosa.

In the getaway car and headed back to the hotel.

Settling in and looking to mom for reassurance.  About to leave Shymkent on her first airplane.

Farewell glance upon Shymkent as we climb.

Sound asleep on our hour long flight from Shymkent to Almaty.

The many face of Nurai

Looking strong Nurai.  Lots of growing lies ahead.

Take Care.

And We're off...

Just less than 2 hours before we leave the house and head to Boston for our flights this afternoon. Nurai we will be there soon sweetheart.

We arrive in Almaty Monday morning and a few hours later take a flight to Shymkent.  By midday we should have reunited with Nurai and by afternoon, should be snuggly holed-up in a hotel room.  Tuesday morning we will fly back to Almaty and begin our embassy exit paperwork and medical clearance.  We will have a few days in Almaty and will fly home on Saturday 16 January.

There is of course much more to write about the emotional side of preparing to bring Nurai home and to finally be a full time family of four, but it will have to wait as time is short right now.  Perhaps on the flights over I can capture a little of what we are feeling to post from Kaz.  Take Care.