First Christmas With Cameron

Cameron and I have been home a little over 2 weeks and it has been a great couple of weeks. I have been offering food to Cameron at nearly every meal since we've been home and low and behold, about a week ago, he finally decided he would try it out. And he has been eating at every meal since. We've had our first trip to see the doctor (the drawing of 5 vials of blood and receiving 5 vaccination shots were not fun) and all of his tests came back normal. He is just slightly anemic. A multi-vitamin with iron should help with that issue. We have caroused the neighborhood with Kelsey every day. We have been shopping several times and visited several dining establishments. We managed to make the house appropriately decorated for the holiday and have also survived the Christmas family introductions.

Cameron does very well when we are out. He still only fusses when he gets sleepy and occasionally when he gets bored. He likes to stay on the move. He has become more interactive with his toys and is a pretty happy boy most of the time. I can't believe how quickly the time is passing. He will turn 1 year old in just 7 weeks.

Needless to say, my family and I have had a very Blessed Christmas. I hope all of you reading had one as well.

Merry Christmas!!

Days 33-34 – The One Where Cameron Becomes a Citizen of The Red, White & Blue

First Day Home

Thursday-Friday, December 6-7, 2007

Sorry it has taken so long to update. We have made it home safely and we are now trying to adjust our body clocks to East Coast time.

The last day in Almaty was fairly uneventful. We lounged around and packed. We did go to lunch at a place called Stetson, where Marina, the Almaty facilitator, recommended. She said they had an American menu. I think that description is a little misleading. However, they did have some good sandwiches with good french fries, with regular Heinz ketchup (most of the ketchup in Kaz is this dark red and it doesn’t taste exactly the same as ours). So, it was a pretty good almost-last meal in Kaz.

On Friday, we met Sam, the driver, at 6am to go to the airport. I have to admit, I have never been happier to be on my way home. Cameron did very well on the flights, even the long legs. He had a couple of meltdowns, but that is to be expected during 25 hours of travel. We were able to get the bulkhead rows between Almaty and Amsterdam and on the Amsterdam to Memphis leg. This row gives you extra room and they attach a baby bassinet to the wall in front of you. This was extremely helpful and Cameron did sleep in it.

Cameron became a U.S. citizen as soon as the wheels touched down in Memphis. Of course, he was screaming during one of his two meltdowns. I have to think it was his ears and not the thought of becoming a citizen of our great country. After waiting for longer than I had hoped in the Immigrations office, Cameron received his very important stamp on his Kaz passport that will allow me to get him a U.S. passport.

We arrived in Columbia around 10pm and went straight to Cameron’s new digs. I think he was impressed, but it was hard to tell. Our clocks are a little messed up but not too bad. I am currently working on getting us on a schedule and preparing for Christmas.

This closes my “The One With…” series to chronicle my adoption trip. However, I will update with Cameron’s progress and our transition. Thanks again for all of the wonderful comments. It’s been quite a journey!

God Bless America!

Days 30-32 – The One Where We Plan Our Escape

Monday-Wednesday, December 3-5, 2007

Cameron and I and Mom all arrived in Almaty safely. The plane between Semey and Almaty is so small that you have to drag your luggage yourself from the plane. So, I was a little anxious about getting my two, very heavy suitcases, backpack, stroller, and Cameron and I off the plane and into the terminal to our Almaty driver, Sam. As it turned out, I had a very nice Australian man and two Kazakh men all dragging my luggage for me. Everyone was so nice and I was so thankful. I guess it helps a woman alone with a baby!

On Monday, Cameron and I got settled into the hotel and went for a stroll in the park. It was nice to have a little independence. We both slept well that night, but the heat does not work well in the room and they would not bring a portable heater to the room. So, it was cold but we were both bundled up and had plenty of blankets. On Tuesday, we did manage to get a portable heater, which made the temperature much better in the room.

Early on Tuesday morning, Mom arrived. I was very happy to see her. We went to the SOS Medical Clinic that morning and Cameron was poked and prodded. We also met some other American families. Most of them had adopted from Krygyzstan, which is a fairly new program. But, they all seemed to have positive experiences. All of the babies were so cute.

We three are doing very well. Everyone slept well on Tuesday night. Cameron slept later than I have seen him sleep yet. The crib the hotel gave me for him is put together a little precariously. We were trying to all take a nap on Tuesday afternoon and we heard a crash in the other room with the crib. I went flying in and the bottom had dropped out of the crib. Cameron was fine and actually was smiling and laughing. He thought it was fun. And a man from maintenance fixed the crib for us. But I’m still not convinced of it’s sturdiness.

Cameron’s Kaz passport arrived from Astana late Tuesday night. So, we were able to go to the US Embassy on Wednesday afternoon. This is the last step in the adoption process before we are allowed to go home! So, we then went to the KLM office and booked our tickets. We could have left Thursday morning, but you have to leave the hotel at 6am to make the flight and we thought it would be better to give Mom an extra day to rest and to not be so rushed to pack. So, we leave bright and early Friday morning and arrive in Columbia late Friday night (same day because of the time difference).

I realized at the Embassy that today’s date was December 5, exactly a month after we arrived in Semey and first met Cameron. I cannot complain about the adoption process. Every turn has gone very smoothly. The staff in Semey and Almaty are very professional and they have a very good handle on how to move families through this process. But, then again, we all know who was in total control of this entire journey. And I have to send praises to God for sending me down this path and for making the path a fairly smooth one. I will never forget this month for as long as I live.

Tomorrow, we will hang out at the hotel and lounge around and pack. Then we will head back to the good ole’ US of A. Thank you all for your wonderful encouraging words and prayers. I’ll update again when we get home.

Days 28-29 – The One Where We Say Goodbye to New Friends

Lenin Statue

Larissa, Vladimir, Jennifer Having Fun At Lenin Statue

The Famous Pasha

Vladimir

Saturday & Sunday, December 1-2, 2007

Well, Saturday was not our best day. We met the others for lunch as usual, but Cameron was particularly fussy for some reason. I think he gets bored and he seems to like it more outside than inside. Needless to say, I didn’t get to eat much of my lunch. We then ran some errands and the meltdown got worse. We only had one driver and the others still needed to finish their errands so Larissa called Olga and she and her driver came to pick us up and take us home. Olga has a 7 year old son, German, and he is adorable. He was practicing his English on me and I must say his English is very good.

After an unusual hour long afternoon nap, Cameron woke up happier. We had dinner and played and spoke to Nana on the phone (Well, Cameron didn’t really speak to Nana but he did listen to her.). He went to bed fairly easily around 8:30. He slept through until about 6:00 which is the normal time he is waking up. He still fusses at least once in the night which wakes me up, but he goes right back to sleep. I guess I’ll get used to it at home.

Today, Sunday, was a good day. We were out for lunch, shopping, and one last sightseeing trip for about 3 hours and he was happy the whole time. We went to see some statues remaining from the Soviet years. One is an extremely tall statue of Lenin and other smaller busts of other Soviet leaders. We got out of the car to take pictures and we had to trample through the snow. Cameron thought this was the most fun. He just laughed and smiled the whole time. He also took a much longer (1 ½ hours) nap this afternoon.

Cameron and I leave Semey for Almaty tomorrow morning, so we had to say goodbye to Jennifer and Marshall and Matt, Shari, and Sarah. I will sincerely miss having our daily lunches together and I plan to stay in touch. We also had to say goodbye to Pasha today, sadly. He was leaving for Ust this afternoon and Vladimir will drive us to the airport tomorrow. He was so sweet. He made a point to come into the restaurant at lunch to tell us goodbye. I will truly never forget these wonderful people who live their lives here in the city where my son was born. Although, it has been a tough month and an even tougher week, I will have fond memories of my time in Semey and I will tell Cameron about it as he grows up. Who knows, maybe we’ll even come back to visit someday.

I don’t know how much internet access I will have in Almaty, so the updates may be sparse from here on out. But, I will try to touch base and I will definitely update once we are home. We hope, depending on how fast we can get an appointment at the U.S. Embassy, to leave by Friday. Fingers crossed!