Monday, August 17, 2009

In three weeks, my chubby cheeked cherub will be ALL MINE! You guessed it! I have a court date! YAHOOOOO! Janette told me this morning that I will have pre-court on Wednesday and final court on Friday!!!!! After Friday, it’s only a measly 15 day wait for the appeal period and then I get to take Alina out of Umit forever! I couldn’t believe it when she told me! Friday will have been only four weeks since Guardianship Council! I was expecting at least another two week wait until final court but it looks like Janette really has been working hard for me. I’ve never heard of someone having court only four weeks after Guardianship Council. It’s always been five to six weeks. I have been blessed again during this adoption journey. Since I got “the call” on June 9th that I should prepare to leave for Kaz by the end of June, things have just fallen into place for me (not on the money end of things but as far as paperwork and Janette sticking to her word and getting me out of here sooner). I really, truly believe this is the next step I was suppose to take in my life. It may not have come as quickly as I wanted it to but I’ve learned a lot about myself and the world during this journey. Right now though, I feel like the luckiest person on the planet!
Today’s visit was extra special since I knew that Alina will be with me forever in three weeks. I was greeted by the same impish, smiling face, wide open arms, and lots of giggles. The caretakers keep putting this shirt on her that’s only about two sizes to small. Her little belly hangs out of it. I wish they would not put that shirt on her. Believe me, I’ve seen her groups clothes closet and there are plenty of other clothes that would fit her besides this one shirt that is too small. Luckily, I had the yellow teddy bear shirt with me. When I took her to the potty, I asked one of the caretakers to put it on her because she won’t let me put a shirt on her. But, no fusses in front of the caretaker. Hmmm…what’s the caretaker got that I ain’t got in this situation?!!! Anyway, juice was drank and cookies were eaten. I’ve found these puffy sweets that Alina likes as well. Think puffy Cheetos without the cheese. Add a sweet taste to the puff and that’s the new treat I took this week. Alina loves them and she won’t eat any other treat until all of the sweet puffs are gone out of the treat bag.
Over the weekend, I had thought of a bunch of words and phrases that I wanted to ask Shirin how to say in preparation for when Alina is with me at the hotel. It was a long list so Shirin and I spent the first 10 minutes or so of the visitation period today going over the list. I would ask Shirin how to say one of the words/phrases I had written down in Kazakh and then I would write it down phonetically. While we were doing this, Alina was taking stuff out of the toy bag and placing it on the bench in the gazebo. Every two seconds it was Mama this or Mama that. I even got a few Mama…Mama…Mama. It was so funny! I wasn’t paying attention to her but she wanted my attention. I would answer her when she called to me but then I would go back to talking with Shirin. Again, Alina would start with Mama…Mama…Mama. It was another one of those realization moments that Alina has/is still bonding with me in that she wants my attention. As I’ve said before, I know it’s a little detail but all these little details add up in the end. It was quite heartwarming to me that she wanted me to pay attention to her but I’m sure quite frustrating that I wasn’t paying as much attention to her as I usually do. Hey kiddo, don’t worry! You’ll have all the attention in the world when you get back to the US especially when Grandma and Grandpa visit.
We were playing around in the gazebo and then Alina said she would like to go play in the sand. So, I told her to put all the toys back in the toy bag and we could go. Just like a dutiful daughter should (ahahahahah!!), she did just that and we went in search of an empty sandbox to play in. She absolutely loves to cover her feet up in the sand! It tickles her to no end and it’s even more funny when Mama dumps sand on her feet. I love to hear my little one laugh. Is there any better sound in the world? Anyway, we found an empty sandbox and got our sand toys out to play with. Not five minutes later, the three to four your old group start to filter over to where we are. They were all playing nearby. You know, that’s ok for a few minutes but their caretaker should have realized that it was my time with Alina. She should have come and got the ones who had come to the sandbox and taken them back to where the others in the group where playing. But what did the caretaker do? She sat on her butt and just let the kids come over. These kids are not the sweetest things in the world either. There is one little boy who tries to hit Alina every time he sees her. He has so much anger built up in that little tiny body of his. He hit her today and I took his hand and said, “Joq (No)” very sternly and he just smiled at me and proceeded to try to hit Alina again. And again, what did the caretaker do…absolutely nothing! Even Alina wanted protection from this group. After seven or eight of them came over to the sandbox, she reached her arms up to me so I could pick her up. We packed our stuff up and moved back to the gazebo. I can understand the anger in these children. They all know I’m Alina’s Mama and Alina has a Mama now. I’m sure it’s just jealousy. But, they do not know how to handle their feelings in the correct way at this age. Instead of letting them hit each other, why don’t the caretakers teach them how to handle their emotions. It seems that the nanny’s are there just to make sure they are fed and clothed and nothing else. They should be teaching these kids something about behavior, manners, how to treat people nicely….LIFE!!! I don’t get it!












After this little incident, Alina started shaking her fist at me and at one point hit me with her fist (not hard at all). I immediately took the fist in my hand, slapped it (lightly), and told her NO. She did it again and I did my Mama thing of slapping her hand and telling her no. This was repeated several times and I almost spanked her right then and there but I feel like I’m under such scrutiny when I’m at the orphanage. I feel like I’m being watched by the powers that be and if I do something they don’t like, I will not be able to adopt her. So, that’s all as far as punishment goes that she will get….for now (wah..ha…ha…ha (large evil echoing laugh : ) ).
At one point during our play time in the gazebo, there was a nice, younger looking man who came and sat down in the gazebo. I assume he was some sort of business man by the way he was dressed (no suit…just nice shirt and dress pants and a brief case). He watched Alina and I with great intensity. I thought, “Holy Crap! What if he is from the Ministry of Education or the Court and he is watching me interact with Alina for adoption purposes?” Of course, my paranoia kicked in and all of these kinds of thoughts were running through my head. After he left, Shirin told me that he came to the orphanage with another business man and he was waiting on him to complete his business there. She said he did ask where I was from and she told him I was from America. Who knows who he was. I was certainly on my best behavior and speaking as much Kazakh to Alina as I could. I didn’t know who he might be so I wanted to make sure I made a good impression. It seems very strange I know but you never know who might be watching you. Janette has even told me this.
Alina’s group came by the gazebo about 11:25. Our time was up anyway so we exchanged kisses and said our goodbyes and off she went to have her soup and bread with the rest of her group. She did look back two times, waved at me again and again, and said goodbye. Three weeks! Only three weeks and you’ll be going to lunch with your Mama my little chubby cheek cherub!

Thanks to everyone for following along. Until Wednesday…I’ll have pre-court news for ya!

Cheers,
Kim and Alina

PS. I totally forgot to write the post about my new friends Eva and Vicenti, the Spanish couple. I’ll try to do that this week sometime