Friday Fun with Ava D:

Erica only has one more visit with us before she goes back home.  I know someone who will be very disappointed. 

We brought some birthday balloons for James to the visit but Ava was not too impressed :-(

James' Birthday Celebration with the Issacs:

We love you James!! Happy Birthday!

The boys team on birthday bowling night

 

Sister sister

 

The Issac girls!  Kayla, the older one, is actually over right now for a sleepover.  How blessed we have been to have such great friends here in Kaz.

 

My Birthday Boy.  We also learned that Friday was the Kaz President's wife's birthday and the orphanage celebrated her on that day with dancing and singing! 

Saturday with the girly girl:

 

Two of my very favorite people

 

She's off with Mama's hat and Daddy's boots.  Looking like a true Kazakhstan girl with her fur jacket and large hat!

Play time with Auntie and Daddy

Precious

Our court date cannot be given yet b/c we are still waiting on one document to arrive from Astana.  Since the mail here is not too reliable, Sveta will be going on the train to pick it up in person.  This means, we will for sure have it by Monday and will hopefully get our date on Tuesday.  Sveta says she thinks court will be a week from whenever we get that final paper to the judge. Prayers, prayers, prayers!  
Well, I am needed in the other room to work on puzzles and watch Scooby Doo with our guest.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Our Past Few Days In Pictures

I feel like I have lots of pictures with Ava sitting on James' lap looking at his face but she does it all the time and it's so darn cute. I am clearly not the only girl in love with him!

Aunt Erica and Ava continued to bond!  Ava loved to brush her long pretty hair!

Thanks to our friend Belinda, we had another Russian food cooking lesson.  This time we made Monte. It was better than the last dish we made. 

California dreaming on such a winters day!  This week their is an unofficial holiday in which the locals say goodbye to winter and hello to spring.  This is not what spring is supposed to look like!!!  This week has been some of the coldest weather we've had.  Each day we say a little prayer that the roads out to see Ava will be open.  So far, so good! 

Today Ava ran to all three of with hugs when she arrived to the visitation room.  How fun that she already loves her Aunt so much!

Ava has been choosing the DVD Sleeping Beauty as her choice, but the only problem is that she finds it very boring once it's in...we all do!  She must just like the cover b/c she always picks it! 

Ava and James ran around the room on these horses for a good long while today.  Erica and I had fun taking pics of her cute face and hearing her laugh as Daddy chased her.

Today our lawyer met with the judge in hopes of getting a court date.  We have yet to hear the results of that meeting. 
Today is my beautiful Mommy's birthday and tomorrow is my wonderful Hubby's birthday!  We wish we were at home to celebrate with you Mimi but we sent you a special b-day surprise via email :-)

Post by Auntie Erica

The days leading up to my trip to Kazakhstan were filled with excitement and anxiety.  How would my little niece take to her auntie?  Will she be shy or will she see that I maybe look like momma and feel comfortable around me?  After two days of traveling, my questions were answered.  I arrived in Pavlodar at 4 pm and had a very warm greeting from Kari and James.  We went out to eat and talked about what to expect the following morning.  My anxiety peaked and I fell asleep going over different scenarios of how the morning would play out, in my head.

We woke up bright and early and made our way out to the orphanage.  The hour long ride seemed to last forever.  I kept repeating out loud, "I really hope she doesn't hate me."  I obviously knew she wasn't going to hate me but I was definitely expecting her to shy away from me, even though I was praying she wouldn't. 

When we pulled in I was shaking, not just from the cold but from the anxiety that was building up.  James lead us to the room where we would spend our time and we took our seats and waited for someone to bring Ava down.  About ten minutes later, as I sat with my coloring book for Ava, her care taker brought her in.  She came in with such a huge smile that faded for only a second when she saw me.  I guess I can understand that she wasn't expecting a new face but she brightened up again and gave hugs to mom and dad.  Before Kari and James changed her I gave her the coloring book and received a huge smile.  That's when I knew I was in.

The rest of the time was spent coloring with Ava on my lap.  We had a buddy system where she would pick out a marker and hand it to me so I could color her book.  Occasionally, she would look up and give me the huge grin I had been waiting so long to see in person.  Trying to hold back tears as we colored, I soaked up every moment.  When we left, I was completely reassured that little Ava D and auntie had a bond that's never going to be broken.

Ava showing me where to color

Ava taking a turn coloring

Team Ava D and Auntie Erica

A visit from a previous day.  Father and daughter love

Some important people to Miss Ava...and to us

We thought we'd take some time to introduce you to some people who we see everyday here in Kaz and who have been important in Ava's life as well as ours.
In court news...we found out that Sundays do not count towards bonding so we ended bonding on Friday and will apply to court on Monday. It may take a few days to get a court date.

This is Dina.  She is our translator and has a heart of gold.  We really enjoy spending time with her.  She is supportive and kind and really cares about Ava and our family.  Here Ava is enjoying playing with the strings on her sweater. 

This is Ultmina.  She is one of Ava's caretakers.  She is always smiling and is happy to update us on how Ava is doing in her group. 

Saule is the Child union welfare representative.  She come every other day to watch us play with Ava.  She colors for Ava and always laughs at whatever silly show we are playing on the DVD player for her.  She has a two year old herself at home!

This is Ava's best friend.  I am not remembering her name right now.  I wish I could have gotten a better picture of Ava but I thought it would be great to leave this with her friend.  Is she not a gorgeous girl!!  Kaz sure has beautiful people in it!

And...one more very special person will soon be showing up in our pictures.  Auntie Erica (my sister) is coming to visit!  She is on a vacation from her teaching in Vietnam and decided to spend it with us.  We are so excited!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for participating in our little questionaire.  That was fun!  Here are the answers!
Who does Ava prefer when...
1)  she wants to get away with something she knows she's not supposed to do?
Mom:  I know this might change once I'm the one home with her during the days but right now James is definitely the rule follower and I'm the softie!
2)  she wants someone to draw her a picture other than a flower, or letters of the alphabet?
Dad:  For those of you who don't know, James is a wonderful artist!  Ava really likes to watch his drawings unfold.  Sometimes I start drawing a shape or writing her name and she turns the page and shakes her head at me. 
3)  she wants a hug?
Both: When Ava comes into our visit sometimes she goes and hugs James first and some days she comes to me first.  I guess she loves us both :-)
4)  she wants to play chase?
Dad: The giggle she gets when she wants James to chase her around the room has got to be the cutest sound on the planet!
5)  she wants a lap to sit on while drawing?
Both or Mom:  Lately my lap has been her preferred lap to sit on while we draw but we will also accept the answer, both :-)
6)  she wants to go to lunch?
Neither:  When her caretaker comes to get her for lunch she is very ready to go eat. We try to steal hugs and kisses but we are lucky when we get a wave.  The girl likes her food and is very obedient to her schedule. 
7)  she wants to put her play make up on someone?
Mom:  Sorry to disappoint.  I know most of you wanted to see James as the answer for this one.  I will say that he is a close second.  He usually gets out of it by taking pictures.  I'll try to sneak one and post it. 

That's a little window into our growing relationship with Ava D. 

 Above:  Getting a decent family photo
Below: Attempting to get a decent family photo

Ok, this is one of Ava's cutest moments to date.  She was so into reading this book BY HERSELF.  I tried to read it to her but she wanted to do it alone.  She pointed to the words and tried reading with expression and everything.  Her teacher mother is very proud. 

Ready to get the visitation party started!

Her fine motor skills are getting amazing!  Everything she draws has two eyes, a mouth, and hair.  Sometimes they get a nose too.

Making our hands glow with the flashlight.

James sleeping on the way to Cashiri and Iliya (our driver) sleeping at Cashiri.  We're all glad this isn't reversed! 

Who Does Ava Prefer When...

We are enjoying getting to know the personality of 4 year old Ava more and more every day.  It's also fun to watch her get to know our personalities better.  We thought we'd play a little game on our blog called, "Who does Ava prefer when..."  The answers to the following questions are Daddy, Mommy, Both, or Neither.  The answers will be revealed next post.
Who does Ava prefer when...
1)  she wants to get away with something she knows she's not supposed to do?
2)  she wants someone to draw her a picture other than a flower, or letters of the alphabet?
3)  she wants a hug?
4)  she wants to play chase?
5)  she wants a lap to sit on while drawing?
6)  she wants to go to lunch?
7)  she wants to put her play make up on someone?
So...type your guesses into the comments or make a mental note and we'll share the answers in our next post!

Bonding ends tomorrow and we'll also be applying to court tomorrow.  We'll obviously post with any news of a court date. 


James and Ava:

Daddy taught her how to color with three crayons at once!

Ava really thought her Dad was funny on this day.  She just looked at him and smiled all day long

She discovered the strings on James' hood and that was pretty much all we did for the remainder of the visit.

Kari and Ava:

 

  

Fun with the flashlight

 

This is Saule who is the child welfare rep that will be representing us in court and confirming the strong bond between Ava and us.  She's really sweet and Ava likes her :-)

She doesn't seem to mind that I give her a zillion kisses a day! 

This is a bakery that we often stop by before getting in the car for the long ride back to the city.

My parents (and their dog Jake) are watching our puppy, Zoe, while we are away.  They sent us a picture of one of their walks.  It's tough being an animal lover here in Kaz b/c there are so many stray dogs out in the cold!  I want to take them all in but then we'll be here for an additional three months trying to adopt the dog!  

Mama Needs a Chil Pill

Yes, Friday was bit stressful for me (I’m not being serious here…just being silly)  We showed up and Ava was in an adorable sweater provided by the orphanage.  This was the first time I had ever approved of the clothes they brought her to us in.  I was thrilled to not use up one of the sweaters we brought from home.  But, when Ava found the poncho I packed, she also wanted that over her sweater.  Ok, she’s four…it doesn’t look cute but I’ll let her have her way.  Then I went to do Ava’s hair and put on her cute little head band.  Aww, much better.  Nope, Ava sees another head band in the bag and decides she wants two head bands on.  Next came Daddy’s scarf and my Ugg boots, that went up to her hips, and before I knew it my little super model was looking more like a little rag muffin.  So, there were few pictures that came out of Friday that I approved of but boy did we have some good laughs!  She is a funny one. 

Tonight we had a great hour and a half long skype chat with Peggy and Jan!  Oh we miss them but it almost felt like they were back here with us for that short time.  We even played celebrity (a Charades type game) with them like old times. 

In other more serious news, our bonding end on Wednesday!  We are applying to court that day and hope to be in court within in a week or two at most.  We have heard that this judge is very supportive of our case and is in favor of getting us in a quickly as he can.  PLEASE pray for a quick date.  What a blessing it would be to get court behind us and head into the final stages of our trip.

 This is how she came to us.  What a cute little sweater huh?

These boots are made for walkin

Talking with Dad

Dreaming of going outside again one day :-)  I told her that in California there is no such thing as "too cold" for outside time. 

We bought her a new coloring book today so there were lots of smiles!

Ava ended the visit today by uniting all of our hands together.  She's such a love.