Category: Travel/Meeting Our Son

Day 3 of Bonding with Batyrhan — December 17, 2009 There was no crying and he came easily to me and plopped on my lap. We also were able to walk outside for 20 minutes so I was able to dress him (what layers!) and walk outside without any accompaniment. To watch Gary with him…

“Ta Ta!” in Kazakh means “This one!” and that is how he selected this toy in the outdoor play area. Today was Day 4 of Bonding with Batyrhan and when he was brought into the room to see us, he had a small smile upon his lips and when I opened my arms and encouraged…

With a black and blue mark and welt beneath my jeans, I have been initiated into the land of biting children on Day 5 of Bonding. (Since I never experienced this before, any advice is welcome.) Today started out wonderfully when Batyrhan showed joy and giggles immediately upon seeing us and quickly ran over to…

Written on Sunday, December 20, 2009Today we celebrated our wedding anniversary by doing a little site seeing. When we said our vows 12 years ago, I can assure you I would never have imagined then that my life would take me here. I feel grateful to have followed my heart to this place that enabled…

Someone once said to me, in response to our decision to adopt, “There is nothing like your own.” You know what? They were right. I don’t need a court decree to tell me that Batyrhan is my son. I have known him 8 days but I have also known him all my life. My heart…

But he also calls 8 other women Mama. Likely, if you are a woman seeing him for the first time, he will call you Mama too. So the topic of discussion that Gary and I have been having is in regards to getting Batyrhan to one day realize that *I* am his only Mama. I…

It is 6:20 pm and we are back in our room to rest a bit before heading out to dinner for some real Beshbarmak. Today took the wind out of my sails a bit. The good news is how Batyrhan greeted us — he was brought to us in the music room by our translator,…

Today Batyrhan greeted us beautifully. When Bolot, our translator, carried him into the room, he then let him down and Batyrhan ran right over to Gary. I had this all on video and it was a wonderful reunion. I then went over and he came easily to me and allowed me to hug and kiss…

Where we usually have our visit at 4pm, today were were called at 8 am and told to be ready for 9:30 am for a morning visit since it’s Christmas. When we got in the car, there were the two Belgian couples who we were told about by our coordinator who are also working with…

Fifteen minutes into our visit with Batyrhan today, Gary said to me, “This is 100x better than any day in the past.” It was a Saturday and entering the Baby House already felt different. Quiet. I did not see any caregivers at all. I heard no one and saw no families. I had a good…