when I was a kid I walked a mile in the snow......

(Suzanne) How many times have you heard this from a parent or grandparent? Well.....now I can say I walked a mile in the snow to a grocery store (except I wasnt barefoot!)
After eating at a Uzbekistan restaurant (it was very pretty...looked like Aladdin should be eating there), we decided to walk to the grocery store. After spending 30 minutes layering with long johns and 18 sweaters and a coat and hat and scarf and snowboots, we set out. Nikolai looked like Randy in The Christmas Story (...."I cant put my arms down!!!!!!). It was a great long walk through a pretty little forest.
Today we had to give the coordinator the name we chose for our baby. You may have noticed we havent referred to her as anything yet )
We have beautiful and sweet waitress at our hotel restaurant. She goes out on her own and buys Nikolai food she thinks he will like. She speaks impressive English and is so very kind. Her name is Yulia (sounds like "Julia " with a "Y"). My grandmother's name was Eula Allison, and she was about the most wonderful person I have ever known, or will ever know. "Eula " is derrived from "Yulia". So our daughter's name will be "Yulia Allison Cantley" after my grandmother.

attention family and friends!!!!

Our home e-mail is not working (of all times for it to malfunction)
please e-mail us at Suzanne's work e-mail

suzanne.cantley@chsys.org

Day 5

(Suzanne) The baby home doesnt allow visits on Sunday, so we didnt do much but play uno and eat. It was surprising how much we all missed her.

Today was my turn to visit her. The caregivers had put a tiny pink bow in her hair. I was allowed to feed her. The baby home makes their own baby food. They brought out what smelled like pureed apples, yougurt, and juice from a coffee cup. In all my years babysitting in high school, working with babies at a daycare in college, and working as a pediatric nurse for I wont say how long, I had an experience I have never had. I gave juice to a 7 month old in a coffee cup-no bottle. It scared me to death! I just knew I would cause her to aspirate, but she took it like she had been drinking from a cup since birth. After a lunch at the hotel, Valentina and Oleg (our intepreter and driver) took us to a Kazakh and a Russian craft shop. We went to the grocery store and ate ramen noodles for supper (the hotel food is terrific, but its getting pricey!) Tomorrow will be Dave's turn to visit.

Nikolai meets baby sister

(Nikolai) i ate horse meat for lunch today. we went to see baby sister and she was cute . we went to a birch forrest. we played in the snow

(Suzanne) When she first saw Nikolai, she grinned ear to ear, as if to say "Im glad youre finally here". She watched and studied everything he did and her eyes followed him everywhere!

.......and yes, Nikolai DID eat horsemeat. It is a common Kazakh dish. We had lunch with a wonderful American couple ,Tom and Kristen. Tom just had to try it. We all had a tiny taste but just couldnt get past what it was. Nikolai gobbled up almost the whole platter while we all were gagging! I told Nikolai not to tell his aunt Lauren about his lunch, since she lives in Louisville where horses are sacred.

our second visit

(Suzanne)We are now on day two of the required 14 day bonding period. Nikolai is only allowed to go to the baby home on Saturdays because it is flu season, so he hasn't been able to meet his sister yet. On most days, Dave and I will have to take turns visiting the baby home while the other stays with Nikolai to do schoolwork.I went to see her today and was able toplay with her for 1 1/2 hours. There was a nice couple from Spain who are adopting a 3 year old girl. We played with our children in the same room. The playroom is amazing. It is brightly colored with lots of physical therapy mats, a large wall mirror and equipment She has a very pleasant and sweet personality and smiles often and laughs out loud. She is very tiny-only 6kg (about 13 pounds). She can get into a crawling position from her tummy all by herself and rocks back and forth like she's ready to crawl.
We have been eating at the hotel restaurant where the food is terrific. I think I have eaten borscht (beets and vegetable soup)about every meal! The people at the hotel are very accomodating and nice. Most dont know English, but we get by. We get free wireless internet in the restaurant and I finally learned how to set it up. That was an adventure. One waitress knew how to get it set up, but didnt speak English. The waitress that spoke English didnt know how to set it it up. The man from Spain , who only spoke Spanish, also offered help. Between 3 languages, lots of translation and laughs, I finally got it tot work!