We are home!!!

Sorry, this was in draft and I forgot to post it.

We are finally home. We can't believe we can actually say it. We had a long, long, trip home. With no sleep, we started our trek home. The first flight to Frankfurt Liam slept 3 of the 6 hours. He was up the entire 6 1/2 hours of our layover in Germany. Do you know what there is to do in the Frankfurt airport? Nothing. We sat in McDonalds for the entire time, watching the planes take off. We also met alot of nice people that we talked to and that made the time go a little faster. The last flight home was 8 hours. Liam was up for the first 6 hours and fell asleep the last two hours. It was a hard trip for adults let alone a small child. By the time we got home, we were up 50 hours. I think Liam did great.

We were greeted at the airport by Grandma and Grandpa Duffy, Aunt Joan and Uncle Brian and then Uncle Wayne and Tony came to the house. Liam was up and happy to meet everyone. His jetlag finally caught up with him on Sunday. He slept pretty much the entire day and night. For us, it has taken about 4 days to get back on schedule. The jet lag was pretty bad coming back.

Liam seems to have adjusted very well. He is sleeping through the night and likes his new crib. He loves waking up and hanging out with Grandpa in bed. He likes the bath more and more. He does NOT like the car seat. Both our ventures out have not gone well. We will keep trying. He is also not a big fan of the stroller. He does love crawling all over and investigating everthing.

He fits in so well, it is hard to believe it is only 6 days that he has been here. It seems like he has always been here.

Hanging out in Frankfurt airport.

So tired, but will not give in. Aren't the bassinets on the plane great.

We just landed in New Jersey and he is now a US Citizen. To bad he missed the moment.

Greeted at the airport by my Mom and Dad and.......

Aunt Joan and Uncle Brian

Uncle Wayne(Keith's brother) and Tony with Liam.

Grandma and Grandpa with Liam

Liam's first St. Patty's day and our anniversary. Liam is the best gift.

Liam likes to crawl under things. He is soo funny. Here he is under his crib.

Our first outing. He did not like the carriage. He is doing much better now.

Taking a bath in his little ducky.

Sitting up by himself. It is the only time "he" has done it. We think Grandpa might have had something to do with it, but no one is talking.

Pictures from Uralsk to Almaty

Sleeping on our flight from Uralsk to Almaty

Our apartment building in Almaty

The view from our living room window

Liam and Savannah

Doctors visit at the International Clinic.

Getting measured

Next to a Trolly on the road.

Shopping at the Tsum in Almaty. The weather was so nice.

Our last visit with the girls at the office

New Jersey here we come

We are packing to come home. Yeah!!!! It is 7:30 pm and our driver comes for us at 1:15 am. Our flight to Frankfurt is at 4:25 am. Liam has not slept all day and we are having a hard time getting him to go to sleep now, since the Kaz football team seems to be practicing upstairs. This is going to be an interesting flight. We have a 6 1/2 hour layover in Frankfurt, then off to Newark. Finally. We thought we would never get to Kaz and meet our little buddy and now here we are leaving. What they say is true. It goes really quick. Even though is seems like forever when you are living it.

Today, we went to Gulbanu's office, took care off some more paper work and then we went to the Embassy. We received all Liam's paperwork and the infamous sealed yellow envelope for the INS back in the states. We are now officially ready to go and we can't wait.

We went to the Ram store to eat lunch and I tried to upload some pictures but no luck. I will put some pictures on when we get home. Hard to believe this is our last entry from Kazakhstan.

We can't thank WPA and the teams over here enough. Everything has gone exactly how they said it would and we are now coming home with our beautiful son, Liam. We will be forever grateful.

Shopping in Almaty

Today was a really nice day out. It was so warm, we did not need coats, but wore them anyway. All the snow is melting and there are a lot of big puddles and mud. Almaty is soo different from Uralsk. Since Almaty is the former capital, it is now in Astana, it is very Metropolitan. It is nice to see a little hustle and bustle.

We went to the Green Market to buy a stroller. The Green market is like the Bazaar in Uralsk but a lot bigger. A huge outdoor flea market. We bought the stroller to wheel Liam around town but also to have for the airport layover. We have a 6 1/2 hour layover in Frankfurt and think it will come in handy. The area around the green market reminded a little of NYC. Alot of people, traffic and no parking. Next, we went to the Tsum. This is a large indoor mall. We went to the third floor where you can buy souvenirs and all the chandliers you could possibly want. Liam was soo good. He flirted with everyone and loved looking up at all the chandliers. We bought a lot of nice things. We were in there for about 2 hours. Sasha and Dima were funny. They think I shop too much.

We came home only to find that we could not get into our apartment. The door would not open. Both, Keith and I, tried to open it but could not. Now picture this. We are standing in the hall, with a sleeping child, all our packages and no phone. We had a phone in Uralsk that we borrowed from Olga, but they did not have a phone here we could borrow. We decided to go to the Ram Store. The Ram Store is an all purpose Mall. They have a grocery store, shops, a food court, restaurants, and yes an ice rink. We went to the Italian restaurant we ate in last night looking for the waitress that spoke english. We asked to use their phone and tried to call Ian and Janera(girl from Gulbanu's office). No one answered. We decided to eat since we had no where else to go. A very nice Russian girl let us use her cell phone and we were finally able to get Janera. She got in touch with the landlady and she met us at the apartment. Of course, you all know what happens next. The land lady takes the keys, puts them in the door and it opens first try. We could not believe it. We explained that we both tried and it really did not open. She was really nice and we were really embarrassed.

Needless to say, I did not get to upload any pictures at the Ram store. I will try again tomorrow.

We are in Almaty

Last night our flight took off only a half hour late. We had a good flight and business class is the way to go. We had plenty of room with Liam to go back and forth between Keith and myself. Even enough room on the floor for a fast change. The reclining chairs were great. He fell asleep, I reclined the chair and he slept for maybe an hour. The meal they served on the plane has been our best meal here in Kaz. It was delicious chicken stuffed with fruit. Yummy. Liam also enjoyed the mashed potatoes. We got in around 10:30pm Almaty time. Our drivers were waiting for us and they brought us to our apartments.

We asked for an apartment close to the Ram store. Last time, our apartment was far from everything. We got to the apartment late last night and it was very scary on the outside. The graffiti on the wall by the door does not say Welcome to you it says F You. Nice greeting. The inside is dark and we needed a flash light to find our way. The elevator is big enough for two people and you pray it makes it to your floor. Our apartment is really nice on the inside. Two bedrooms , a nice living room, kitchen and bathroom with a washing machine. No DSL though. We are using an I card and dial up. It is really slow. It is soo weird that it is a bomb on the outside, but you open your apartment door, you are in a different world. It is nice and comfortable. There was no crib for Liam. We tried to make our big luggage a crib. He wasn't going for it. He slept in our bed. We hardly slept. We were afraid we were going to squash him. But it was the other way around. Keith, unfortunately, kept getting kicked and hit by our wild sleeper. We did get a pack n play today at the office when we went in to fill out paper work.


Today started with us going to get Liam's picture for his Wiza, as they call it over here. His first photo shoot. Next, we went to Gulbano's office to fill out some paper work and get some things notarized. Our next stop was the International Clinic for Liam's check up. This is needed for the embassy. They said he was healthy and our paper work would be ready for pick up tomorrow morning. We then went to the Ram store, got some water and other necessities. While at the Ram store, we ate lunch at the food court. We then had to go to the Luftansa office. They helped us with our tickets, as we did not have seats together coming home. Our last stop was home for a little while and then we walked back to the Ram store for dinner at the Italian restaurant. We go to the embassy on Friday.

Tomorrow is a free day, so we will go shopping at the Tsum and then to the Green Market. The weather here is very nice and it is suppose to get warmer each day. It was nice walking around and eating out today. Although, eating out with 2 eight month olds is interesting.

I think Liam is a little afraid of his new surroundings. There is so much for him to see and he is just holding on to me like crazy. He slept today for about 45 minutes. He just fell asleep now and it is 8:45 pm. Soon we will be home and it will be his final adjustment.

I will be going to the Ram store tomorrow and try to upload some pictures.

Happy Birthday to Uncle Clark. Hope you are feeling better soon.

Still in Uralsk

Well, the weather did not cooperate with us last night. It was verrrry windy and our plane coming in from Almaty could not land. The plane went to another airport about an hour away. The airline finally told us after midnight to come back tomorrow. Our flight should be at 10:50 am. We were relieved because the children had been up for a long time, the airport was freezing and we were all on edge. Today, the flight has been delayed about 5 times. We are now scheduled for 5:50pm. Hopefully, everything will go ok. This morning when we woke up is was still very windy and snowing. Now it seems everything has stopped.

Liam and Savannah(going back to US name) were really good and I am not just saying that. They were beyond good. It was cold, late and a little stressful. They were awake the whole time just taking it all in. Liam finally fell asleep on the way home in the car. We cleaned the apartment out before we left for the airport. We had no food, water, tolietries, or baby food. Our luggage was checked and they said to leave it. So we had nothing. We went to an all night drug store. Scary. Keith went into the lobby with Misha and Olga. He knocked on the door and a lady opens a little slot. You give her your order and she tells you what she has. It was almost like a dairy barn, but not really. Olga went out and bought us a pizza from Pizza Hot and some crepes with jelly for breakfast. They were so apologetic. Not their fault mother nature didn't cooperate. Then at 2:30AM we got a call from Olga, the airport changed their mind and wanted us to come get the luggage. Misha and Sergei went to pick up the luggage and they kept it in the car overnight. We only got it back after we learned our flight was going to be this afternoon.

Liam has basically been rolling on the floor playing with the luggage. He was exhausted this morning. He was up at 7:30, ate and then went back to sleep until 11:30. He was one pooped camper.

We had an appointment with the Embassy today, which obviously we missed. Hopefully, it is rescheduled and we can still leave Kaz on Saturday. Just a little drama to keep us on our toes.

Hope next post is from Almaty.

Living out of suitcases.

Liam hanging in the mess

Liam playing with the luggage. Like our home made handles. Both handles were broke on our flights coming over. They are very gentle with the luggage.

Sad, but he is playing with the chair. We really need to come home.

Keith wearing a gift from Olga the facilitator. A traditional Kazakh hat. It is for Liam when he gets older.

We are leaving Uralsk

This is the big day. We are leaving Uralsk tonight. This will be Liam's first plane ride and he gets to fly business class, not bad. This is my first time flying business class. Hopefully, we will have a good flight.

Today we went out shopping for a little bit then afterwards we started to pack. We went back to return a picture we bought, but the store was closed, so it looks like we are keeping it. It is a nice picture, we just thought we might want a different scene. Today, Misha and Olga brought us to the the Church in the picture. We were trying to get a picture that had a landmark from Uralsk. The store was closed because today is a holiday. Actually it was yesterday, but it is observed today. It is Woman's Day. Kind of like our Valentine's Day. Valentine's day here is for men. Funny isn't it.

Liam slept very little today. Everytime he went down he was disturbed and woke up. I would go in there to give him his binky back and he would just look at me throught the bars. It was really funny. I guess it was a game. Because he would lay down and then he would pull himself up on the bars and peek at me through them. I guess he knows something is going on today.

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Ok, this is going to be short since I am looking at a room filled with open luggage and things everywhere. Hopefully, I will be able to continue the blog in Almaty. We are not sure of the internet access there. I know it is not going to be DSL. We bought an I-card and we will see how that goes. Will talk to everyone from Almaty.

Liam looking at me instead of napping.

Likes the Baby Bjorn

Street sign for pedestrian crossing. They are all over the place and not just at corners

Liam helping pack.

Our last night in Uralsk

It was pretty nice today so, we went out for a walk again. That statement is funny considering it is still not above freezing. We went to the bakery for some water. They actually know Keith now as he has been there numerous times. Sad, since we are leaving. Liam actually fell asleep mid walk. He was so tired. It was nice to get out of the apartment, even for just a little bit.

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We have started the packing process. How we love to pack. It seems like we just did this. Hard to believe it was five weeks ago. Still don't like it. We have stuff everywhere. We don't have a dresser, so the clothes are stuffed in the closet and piled up on the suitcases. We have time to finish tomorrow, since the flight to Almaty is later in the day.

Liam was a little off today. Hopefully, he is not coming down with something. He was crying on and off today. He was either laughing or crying, no happy medium. He was also pulling on his left ear. Not sure if he just discovered his ears or if it actually hurts. Hopefully, he will feel better tomorrow. I can't wait to get him home.

As much as we both want to get home, and believe me we do, it is a little sad to be leaving. This has been our home for the last 5 weeks and where we met our son. I will miss team Olga, as they have just been great. We could not have asked for a nicer, more helpful group of people. Our experience here has been wonderful, a little long, but wonderful. We will always be grateful to the people of Uralsk for giving us our beautiful son. We have so many stories, pictures and video to share with Liam when he gets older.

Can't get enough applesauce

Out for our walk.

Our walk home.

The Dads and the cuties

Happy moments today.

Liam goes shopping

Today, we went to the "big" mall. We were not sure if Liam was going to make it, but he took his nap and woke up a half hour before we had to go. We fed him, changed him and off we went. They don't seem to use strollers here for shopping, so we carried him everywhere. Although, we didn't actually carry him alot. Olga and Misha took turns. They use the strollers outside, but the mall doesn't seem to have an elevator or escalator, so we would have had to take him out everytime we went up a flight of stairs. The malls over here are also about 100 degrees inside and it is not just this mall, it's every large shopping plaza we have gone to. You just sweat. Poor Liam, we had to take off part of his snow suit as he was so warm. We went to several stores in the mall. We got souvenirs and some food and then headed out to some other local stores. We went to the baby store for some food and then across the street to the Atrium, another type of Mall, to look for some more souvenirs. Liam was great. He did not make a peek, well maybe a peep, but no crying or whining. He just sat on my lap(no car seats) and looked out the window. All new sights for him to take in. I hope he is as good on the planes home as he was today.

We came home and started cooking for dinner. We had chicken parm, pasta and veggies. We are trying to use up all our food as we are leaving for Almaty Monday night. The Forkashes came over and we attempted to watch the end of the movie we started the other night. Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead man's chest. Didn't make it. Little Anita had other plans. The Forkashes had to go, but Keith and I finished watching it. It was really good. Can't say we ever wanted to watch the Pirates of the Caribbean series but now I would recommend them.

Tomorrow, we are going to start cleaning up and packing for Monday. We were only here 5 weeks, but it seems like there is a lot of stuff that needs to get packed. Should be fun.




Loves his feet






Shopping at the mall

Watching the movie with us

Outside Adventure for Liam

Today we went for a walk to the bakery with the children. We all decided we needed to get out of the apartments. We bundled them all up and walked to the bakery to get some cheese potatoes. It was so nice to get out. It is only a short walk around the corner. We got to the bakery and the cheese potatoes were sold out. Do you believe it. It was ok though, we just liked going for a quick walk. It actually took us longer to get Liam ready to go outside then the actual walk. Outside, Liam was looking all around, checking out the new surroundings. He did not say a word until we came back in the apartment. Tomorrow, we are all going to the Mall. Liam's first shopping experience.

Liam can now roll forward in his walker. He is not moving at lightning speed but he is getting the idea. Liam just started doing the cutest thing today. While we are burping him and patting his back, he now pats our backs as well. Soo adorable. His bath actually went well today. I think he is coming around. He was not attached to me like a piece of jewelry so that was a good thing. He seemed to be calm where the last couple times, he was scared. He was actually kicking his legs for a couple of seconds. Big improvement.

We got some pizzas from the Chagala tonight and Tracy, Ian and little Anita came over. Liam and Anita played for a littled while and then the Forkashes went back to skype family. Liam went to sleep as he was up for 5 hours. He is on a new nap schedule. He had a 3 hour nap earlier and was not giving in to go to bed last night. After the Forkashes left he was a sleep in literally 5 minutes.

Thank goodness for skype. It is so nice to be able to see and talk with our family and friends. It is also nice that they can see Liam.

Going outside

Little Anita

Skyping family

Hey-she took my binky