It's time to eat!

Hello everyone! We had a good day here in Karaganda. Everyone went to the orphanage in the morning and afternoon. Alex was great, and I got to feed him for the first time. No, it has not changed, and yes, it is the same taste. The spoon was smaller this time and they didn't take him away from me (because they thought I was too slow) like with Zach so that's a plus. Zach did a great job doing his schoolwork, and Don fed us a gourmet dinner of french fries and pepperoni (you don't want to know). We miss you all, but are having a good time while we're here. Have a piece of cheesecake on us!

Don in Living Room

Zach in the Morning

Poppy and Baby

Greetings from Karaganda!

We had another visit to the orphanage at 4 yesterday and it was a good one. I got to get the baby from his room, and we had a ball with him. Don and I did tell him about his extended family however, so we may have scared him off a bit;) The baby was rolling around in a walker, and really seemed to love it. Our internet card ran out, so we were not able to post until today. The card will last longer if we post in the am, so I think that’s how we’ll be doing it. Zach had his grump on in the afternoon from jet lag and as a result is still sleeping now, at 9:41am. He has really been great, and is enjoying time with Pops, playing in the park behind our apartment and coveting the Lego store we saw yesterday.
Today there is no trip to the orphanage as we have to give the drivers and Olga a day off. Instead we will walk to the lake, buy diapers and check out some stores. We are an adventurous group, and don’t want to miss showing Pop and Zach anything. Who knows, we may even go bowling soon! Love to you all, and have some Gus’ hot dogs (with the works) on us!

Baby Baldwin with Poppy

Back to the old stomping grounds

We went to the orphanage this morning and had a ball with the baby. He has a cold and was spitting up a lot, but otherwise was a very happy little guy. Still no name, but we are working on that. After our visit we went to the cafe we used to eat at with Zach and then to the mall. It is much more like a mall now, and we bought the baby a new outfit there. Now we rest and Don and I go back in an hour. Toodles!

Zach and his New Brother

Don't let the pink fool you, he's all boy!

We have had quite a journey so far. Zach was a complete trooper (despite a 104 degree fever on two of the plane rides) and thankfully now is fever free. We got to Karaganda last night and Don and I went to the orphanage this morning. We were supposed to be going to another orphanage (not Zach's) but we were pleasantly suprised to pull up at Malutka. We spent time with the babies, and have decided on the cutest little guy there:) He is nine months old and is a summer baby. He has a huge smile with big blue eyes and blonde hair. Pops and Zach joined us for the afternoon visit, and all were charmed with our new little guy (no name yet). Zach was great with him, and did his best to make the little guy laugh. After a great visit, we came back to the apartment and have been on the computer since. We will post again when we can, and hopefully the pictures will come up. Thanks for your good wishes, these four jet lagged travelers needed it.

The Baldwin's Journey to Kaz (cont.)

The Baldwin's and Ken reached Frankfurt and are now on their way to Almaty, Kazakhstan. They will arrive tonight and stay over. Tomorrow night they will travel to Karaganda and hopefully go to the Baby Home Friday morning (which will be Friday night our time). I am supposed to speak with them when they reach Almaty. I'll update as soon as I do. Please pray for a safe trip.

(Cue the music) We're leaving on a jet plane!

We are definitely leaving on the 8th of May! It is a night flight, so we won't be in country until Wednesday night. We will land in Karaganda on Thursday night and will go to the orphanage for the first time on Friday. Say a little prayer that things go smoothly, it's bound to at some point in time right? We won't be emailing right away, so my mom will be posting how things are going . Adios!

Maybe............

We are hoping to travel very soon. I hesitate to post the date for fear of it changing once again. Thanks to everyone for their support, we appreciate it.

We have a date!

Our travel date is April 12th! We have a lot to do between now and then, but we're psyched that we have a date. Zach is soooo excited, and wants to pack everything immediately. He ran around in circles for about five minutes when I gave him the news. Hopefully that wasn't foreshadowing for the plane rides to come:)

The Home Stretch

More news! Reaching Out gave us an approximate date of three weeks. Yeah!!!!! Now we create another set of lists, make phone calls, and hopefully we will be going sometime around Easter. Cross your fingers!

The waiting game continues...

Well December 10th came and went with us on not getting on a plane. As of today we are still waiting for our dossier to get released and our invitation to travel. Our agency promised to call as soon as they hear any news, so we'll keep you all informed. Cross your fingers that we get the call soon!