The Powers Family Journey: WE'RE BACK IN KAZAKHSTAN!

(Maureen's Post)

It's good to be back in Kazakhstan, and it's especially wonderful to be back with Michael! When we first walked into his room this morning he wasn't sure what to think of us. He didn't quite recognize us at first (it's been six weeks, after all) so it took him some time to warm up to us during the morning visit. He had already been fed by the caregivers by the time we arrived at the Baby House so we didn't get to feed him breakfast. We started playing with him, letting him crawl around and pull up on furniture, and by the end of the visit he seemed to remember who we were, even though he was pretty quiet. One thing he wanted to do when we took him outside this morning was to snuggle with us. He was so content to just lay against us while he watched the cars and trucks drive by on the street in front of the Baby House. He really loved that, probably because it had been six weeks since anyone has held him for that long (in other words, since we were last here). We had lunch with the Chinns at the Cosmonaut Hotel then returned to the Baby House for our afternoon visit. Michael was much more animated in the afternoon and was very vocal (even shouting at times), which made us feel better as that indicated he was more comfortable with us. He also did not want to snuggle as much anymore, preferring to crawl around, stand up, and steal toys from the other babies in the room. By the time our afternoon visit was over he was back to his old self, but he was clearly upset when it came time for us to leave him. Little does he realize, though, that it will only be for a few hours and then he will be coming home with us for good!

As for the trip coming over here the flights were pretty smooth, except for our bumpy landing into Denver. When we arrived in Denver we noticed that our stroller was missing when we watched them unload our luggage from the small plane we flew in. We later learned it somehow traveled from Houston to Chicago's O'Hare Airport. We met up with the Chinns, our travel partners, in Denver and traveled with them to Kazakhstan for the rest of the way. We landed in Astana shortly before midnight. We were met by our interpreter, Juliya, and driver, Sasha, who drove us 2 1/2 hours to finally get to Karaganda around 3AM. We were then taken to Shaika, the hotel where we would stay for the rest of this morning and tonight. It is close to the Baby House and is very nice inside, considering it only cost us $98 (U.S. dollars) total per night, including breakfast for one morning.

So, the plan tomorrow morning is to swing by the Baby House to pick up Michael on the way to the airport for our 10AM flight to Almaty. Ought to be fun! From there we will spend the next few days completing the last few steps needed to bring Michael home. We're hoping our stroller will be found by United and/or Lufthansa and sent to the sisters' office so that we can use it while in Almaty. It's actually the same stroller we bought in Almaty when we adopted James. Worse case scenario is that we buy another one while we're there this time, but we may not even need it since we brought the baby carrier with us.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's adventures and enjoy today's pictures!

Here are our reunion pics with sweet little Michael.
All he wanted to do during our morning visit was for us to hold him.