Pictures from Kaz Trip #1.......3 more trips to go...... ; )

All in all a very good trip! Should we call this pretrip #1? Or the trip that didn't count? What ever...I met my Stella! I also left my netbook in AMS so am just a little late in posting these assorted photos from my down time in Kaz. Enjoy!

My seat mate and body guard! I mean someone had to look after my bag while I sipped champagne! LOL!

Cuteness FA Joe

my favorite flight attendant, Sylvia and me

The very tiny Yotel in Schipol AMS

Hotel Alma

things from Kaz

Paul, John, Ringo, Lisa, George, Beth & Janet

on top of Kok Tobe

Lisa, Janet and beth at Cafe Alma

Really?? I have to pay YOU to use it??

the day I knew everything was going to be fine

Cable car going up Kok Tobe

Beth and Lisa in front of the silly Noddles sign...great food and as most restuarants in Kaz...serve Sushi to Pizza!

dumplings at Assorti...yum!

through a series of unfortunate events.....

Wow...it's been an amazing couple of weeks. Through a series of unfortunate events...I met my sweet Stella Sabrina. I don't know how all these little things went wrong but in all those things came little Stella. I met Stella on June 9th and we started the bonding process the next day. Because the Chief doctor was on vacation, we were waiting to confirm with her the procedures of visiting Stella. Little things like bringing diapers for her, the best times to visit and we were also waiting to get the official medical issues and history on Stella. On Friday, we come to find out that sweet little Stella is not available for bonding!!!!!What?? Everything screeched to a halt! I was holding her as they told me, I started to cry and that sweet little girl started to cry with me...talk about my heart breaking on so many levels. Seems we had several stories on when exactly it was that she had arrived at the baby house...the last being in January 2010 which put her 6 months up in July. So on Monday the Chief doctor was back in, we met with her and went over the official records. She said that it was a mistake that I had started the process with Stella and that I could not continue to see her until she was off the registry. (in other words...I should never have met Stella in the first place) Staying in Kaz was not an option. We quickly gathered medications that Stella would need for the month and I went back to the hotel and gathered my belongings and left the next morning.

I blogged about this way back when, on Looking for Sam....about all the things that had to happen in order for you to meet your child. Things that are so out of your control that you just have to throw your hands up and know that there is a reason for everything. You have to BELIEVE. My reason for believing is this sweet little bundle of wonderful and her name is Stella.

Bonding day 2

My scheduled time to bond with Miss Stella Sabrina is 10:30, meet down at 10.....well we are on Kaz time here...LOL. I don't think we even left the hotel until 11:30?? So I am thinking...here we go making a bad impression on the first day! We walk up to the door and there are about 6 baby's in strollers out for a nice day in the sun...I told my coordinator that I thought that was Stella and we go over....I rattled her little doggie rattle and she looks over at us and gets excited! All the caregivers smiled and greeted us. I swear that in just the 3 days that I have known her, she has changed so much. Her face and head seems to have grown and her little personality is blossoming....I wonder if she is that way with the caregivers? We got her to not only to smile but to break out in Laughter! I can't stop looking at her videos.

Haven't heard any more about the little guy....I hope for him and pray that he finds a wonderful family. Wish I knew more about him to pass the info on. Andrea said about the little guy....I should thank him because now you know why that his birth mother had to come back...it was for me to open up my heart to Stella....makes me want to cry at how close I was to never meeting her and never having her in my life! They had painted such a bleak picture of her I almost didn't want to go...she was also sleeping when she would have been in the group of SN kids and I may not have really seen her potential.

Really good news about those special needs kids that I met the first day....Erin with Kids to Adopt wants try to place them in the US and maybe feature them on Rainbow Kids so that they might also get their chance to find their families! Good has come out of this trip in so many ways.

Paka for now...nap time for this tired Mama who has averaged maybe 4 or 5 hours of sleep at night ; )

Surprise ....It's a girl!

I am so behind here because the internet is so slow. I tried earlier to post a picture and it was a no go! I apologize to anyone who has already read this.......

Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2010 12:46:49 -0400
From: lsbblues@aol.com

The little boy that I came to Kazakhstan to meet was not available as of today...I made a decision with my head and my heart and I chose to bond with a little girl. Darcy you were right...I was choosing a boy with my head but a girl has always been in my heart. I can't wait for dance classes and tutus! Today was day 1 of the bonding period for Miss Stella Sabrina Schultz! Her given name is Sabrina and it will become her middle name. Stella Sabrina is adorable! She is just barely 6 kilos which I believe is about 13.5 pounds. Her first birthday is coming up and she will be 1 year old on June 21st. Unfortunately she will have to celebrate it here in her Baby House #1 but I will be there with her for sure.

We had a great first day! She is trying to sit up on her own, she played with the toys I brought and batted at a toy I dangled and kicked her legs in excitement. She isn't probably used to such stimulation! Today it was just myself and the baby and Galina, the interpreter in a very small room with NO ventilation, no windows or A/C...you all know that I hate the heat but we made it through. From tomorrow on I will visit at 10:30 so It should be cooler. It didn't take long before she smiled and she loved it when I gave her kisses! Stella Sabrina knew her name and followed me with her eyes the whole time. She never became bored and we interacted for the whole hour. She even was fascinated by a little video I took of her. This is a little girl that is going to catch up quickly with a lot of love an attention.

I can't wait for you all to meet her!! Love you! Lisa and Stella in Kazakhstan

Monday and Tuesday in Kaz

Yesterday was a heartbreaking day to say the least. I was taken to two Baby Houses In Almaty. I am going to be honest here so please understand. There is a reason that this blog is private so that I can be honest. I am probably not even supposed to be talking about some of this......we went to the first BH and there was two of my team members, the director and myself. The carried in this little girl and placed her on the desk in front of me.....Oh is she for me to meet? I didn't know. She was sweet and they showed me her one hand, she had a missing fingertip and one finger looked a little odd...not so bad...then they showed me her other hand which was pretty badly mangled with no fingers. She also had no toes and would need prosthetics and surgeries. The second adorable boy was blind and couldn't hardly open his eyes. I told them that these issues were too big for me to handle. We went to the 2nd BH....they brought in 3 toddlers, about 4 years old. One had Downs Syndrome and was a little angel, the other a very small head and appeared to have FAS and blind in one eye, the third a boy with violent tendencies. There you have it. I couldn't help but cry for these little ones and myself. I know my limitations and these children had more problems that I couldn't fix.

Today we went back to see a little 11 mo old girl who had been sleeping. She is adorable. She is very tiny but seems like she is in proportion, head to body. I hate that we had to discuss this little cutie like we were buying a new purse. She may have been exposed to alcohol and was very tiny at her full term birth. She has a lazy eye. Personality wise she was a doll. Looks.... adorable, she is maybe Russian and Kazakh) She grabbed the teether I handed her and put it in her mouth. She smiled at us and reacted to her name. Very sweet. We hope to meet with her again on Monday when the Doctor/ Director is back in the office. They have a file on her with all her measurements since she was nine days old. She is delayed in that she doesn't sit yet, or pull herself up or stand. When I held her she supported herself easily. We will take her to the International clinic on Monday or Tuesday with the permission of the Director.

We are also waiting to hear more on the little 20 mo old boy that I came here to meet. Kaz doesn't have referrals but usually has a child in mind for you to meet. I don't know anything about him other then his age and that he is Kazakh. Ironically his mother (16) showed up, for the first time, just before he was eligible for International Adoption. What are the odds?? Oh... we are talking about me so not so surprising! She, the BM had a meeting with the Dept of Education today, they were going to ask her again to sign away her rights for the little guy since she has no permanent job or home and has only visited him once in 20 months. If she does, then I will have a chance to meet him. A big If.

So...the days are so long here...it is a beautiful city, reminds me much of Lima Peru. Nice cars, designer shops and right next to that a shack. The people are very beautiful and so nice. It's very nice weather in the morning and gets warmer as the day goes by. No A/C in most places....except my room where it is crankin'! i really like it here but it is a little lonely. I have always been able to entertain myself but I have too much time to think here. Tonight another single girl and her sister come in from Massachusetts and they will be just a room or two away. As of now, If I don't get to meet the little boy, then I will have off until Monday. I met a very nice French couple on the flight from AMS to ALA who are adopting from Karakasek and I hope to meet them for dinner maybe tomorrow. He is a doctor and they have a friend who is a doctor at the international clinic that they are going to try to introduce me too to help me with the little girl.

This is very hard for me because I am a person who thinks with my heart. I am having to be a little more "smart" then I tend to be. This is forever. If I can meet the little boy then maybe I can say for sure if he is the one. The little girl is precious too but I need to be fully informed about her developmental delays. I believe that LOVE can conquer so much but I need to make sure her delays are mostly from being institutionalized and not from more serious issues.

Thanks for letting me put this out there. You don't see it on blogs much but for the next person, I'd like to be honest. I can tell you that I have already grown more as a person in the last couple days then I have in the past 48 years. My rose colored glasses have been thrown in the trash. Somehow I hoped this would be easier.

I am in Kaz!!!

My seat mate and body guard!


My Hotel room in Almaty

I am loving this place! Okay so I'll back track on the day I left. My sister, Darcy was scheduled to pick me up at noon on May 2. At 11 I checked my email to see...Houston we have a problem!! What?? Oh no!! So it seems that twice now the Birth Mother(BM) has shown up at the Baby House (BH) I knew this two weeks ago but they said she signed again to relinquish all rights. From what I know, she gave him up just after birth and must have been 14 because she is now 16. Apparently she came back and there may be an issue with that. So my agency asked me if I wanted to wait or go...well you guessed it of course I came!!! My thinking is that the team just finished up two families and another will be coming next week. I think I am it, so maybe we can concentrate on ME and get this thing done! If the little guy is not the one then maybe there is someone else waiting in the wings for me. There has to be!! I will post more on Monday.

So my flights were wonderful! since I was traveling standby on both airlines it was a worry with school out and people traveling. Continental had -8 seats available last week but it continued to get better and the day I left there must have been a big no show factor...I not only got on but got a first class seat!!! The crew was the best and I knew everyone and they were all excited for me...they have heard it all over the past 3 years to be sure!! So I arrived AMS and found the KLM and rechecked my bags....they charged me 155 euros for my second bag....oops and ouch! I should have stuck with my one bag but I hoped for mercy. I stayed at the Yotel which is a little prrfab room that looks like a ships quarter. I had to laugh it was soooo tiny! I could sit at the fold down desk, on the fold down chair and touch both the bed, shower, sink and toilet!! The KLM flight was great! The crew very nice..the purser brought me a little KLM bib and as a courtesy gave me one of the great ceramic dutch houses that they give out in FC. I sat in coach but had two seats together. Sometimes it pays to work for an airline! After 22 years it all came together for me on these two flights!!

The team met me at the airport (4:15 am). During this time I will have the coordinator, the interpreter and a driver. We went to the Hotel Alma which is more then I wanted to spend but very comfy and nice (130). I have a small fridge with a freezer and a heated towel rack in the bathroom and an AC that froze me out last night....if you know me...that never happens!! Everything is perfect! So we get here and I have until about 2 to rest...finally got to sleep around 10 am and I get a call at 11:40 saying they are coming in 20 minutes and we are going to the DOE (dept. of Education) This step must be done before you are allowed to visit the BH. Now it is apparent that my coordinator Zhaniya (Jennia) is well connected and we just got in as the person we are to see runs in and out. Everything went well so now we have "direction" to visit the BH on Monday. My interpreter is Galina and very nice. It is a little odd having a conversation as I look to the person who is speaking then to Galina to translate.

Last night I had free and found Assorti for dinner (pizza to Sushi) It was delicious! Today in a bit Galina and or Zhaniya will come for me around 1 and we will exchange money and do a little shopping. I am hoping to go to one of the Bazaars where I might find some local treasures!

It really is surreal being here in Kaz! I have waited for so long and planned the details for 3 years. Everything I had tucked away to bring with me is here in the one room. I am so excited for Monday because I really do BELIEVE that Sam will be there.

It's a go

I am happy to say...It looks like a go! I am leaving for Kazakhstan tomorrow!!!! I have been running last minute errands and I am all over the place...kitty to vets (again), flip flops in case it gets hot, dinner for tonight......I just want to scream and shout. I am so excited. I can hardly believe it is finally my turn!! I just looked at Looking for Sam to see where I stand on timeline....2 years, 11 months and 5 days tomorrow. I am also just short of a year since I submitted with Kids to Adopt. I am very happy with Kids. I hope I haven't complained too much. Erin has been wonderful and great at getting right back to me via email. I owe them everything! A very special Thanks to Lou Ann and Mary who have been there with me from the beginning and to all those who have been with me most of the way...that's you Q, Harmon's, Rose, Lior, Susan, Jane, Marla, Gretchen, Julie, Andrea, Sandi, Becki, Jim and all my new friends that I have met thru FB and Two Hearts. Should I name you guys? Well you know who you are and I thank you!! I seriously don't know how I would have made it without all the words of encouragement and just your knowledge of what is to come. It's a scary thing to go into this blind...even with 3 years head start.

I don't have many family members on here but from the bottom of my heart thank you Darcy (sister/guardian) for always asking me what I was going to do about it?? Well I did something didn't I...ha ha! And my beautiful nieces Ashley, CoCo, Paige, Rhea (and Chase) who have always been the closest I thought I would ever have to my own children. You will never know how much you have enriched my life. My parents who questioned but supported when they saw that I was going to really do it. My Mom who already calls him Sammy and it just melts my heart. Love you so much. Can't wait to bring home this little guy or girl who has a wonderful if crazy life ahead of him.

I am going to meet my child in 6 days! Amazing! Isn't life good?? I just feel Love!