September 20: Poor Sick Mama

First, as far as Josie and Liam are concerned, the first night together went great. They slept with me in the bed, while Brian took his mattress on the floor (which he's been doing, because the bed is not long enough for him). I lie diagonally on the bed, so I can fit, and I had one baby occupying either triangle of bed on each side of me. I put Liam down early, and took Josie to bed with me, we had a little more nursing, and a bottle. Then she just lay beside me, and we fell asleep together. Throughout the night, I checked on her, wondering if she would need a midnight meal. She stirred and cooed, but never fussed. At about 6:00am, she got hungry, and Brian made a bottle. We had a nice morning feeding, with Liam nursing on one side, and Josie tucked under my other arm, feeding from the bottle.

Now, the bad news. I have succumbed to the stress, emotions and orphanage germs. I woke up in the night, most definitely on my way to sick. It's no big deal, and we have plenty of vitamins that I've been stuffing down my throat all day. But I'm pretty useless. Again, thank god for Brian and Judy. They are taking care of everything. My only responsibility is to write this journal entry.

Right now, Josie and I are sitting in the apartment, listening to some groovy music, and rolling around on the floor, while Judy, Brian and Liam went down to the dusty, broken-glass-lined, metal spikey fenced soviet-built playground that each building of these huge apartment blocks have, right next to what looks like a mini-electrical substation. Walking around the apartment blocks, if you squint your eyes, you can see just how beautiful the neighborhood could be, with a few slight cultural changes (a little personal enterprise, and some improved irrigation). There is lovely filtered light through the small trees, privacy from the main roads, ironwork fences, playground space, empty playground for soccer, and narrow lanes connecting them all. But add to that diesel cars parked on the narrow lanes, broken glass peppering the playgrounds, the aforementioned spikes on the iron fences, and unforgiving, all-metal play structures (including stiff metal bars holding the flat metal swing on its frame), garbage everywhere, and a lack of water so that the ground between the trees, and in the play area is a hard, light, dusty dirt.... And the urine-stained, graffitied walls between the huge, cold stone apartment buildings, complete with iron bars on every window. I think you get the picture. It is very beautiful, in its own way.

A couple more things happened yesterday. We were told that because of Josie's good health, it would be impossible to expedite the after-court waiting period. Then we were told that it would be "too expensive". Of course, we said "oh yeah, how much?" So, we may still be home after 4 weeks, but not without a little extra "expedite fee".

Today, Mira and Irina came to visit, and we signed the official petition to adopt Josie. The papers show her new name "Josie Mereke Calder". We also agreed that Brian and I would go to Karakastek tomorrow, leaving Judy at the apartment with Liam and Josie, while we deliver the diapers and other donations to the orphanage. We have a large bag of baby clothes, and several "Bundles" (you know, the fabric wrap that we use to carry Liam, and now Josie). We are hoping they will use the Bundles to help them carry the babies a little more. Karakastek is a large facility, with few caregivers, and the babies do not get a whole lot of touch or holding. We will also travel to Essik (the first orphanage we visited last week) on Thursday, and bring gifts to them as well. We also agreed that Judy will watch Liam and Josie all day next Tuesday, while we are at court. She is going to have her hands full, but she sees no problems, and we are grateful not to have to bring Josie back to the orphanage for the day, during court.

So that's where we are now. If anything more interesting happens today, we'll tell you about it tomorrow. I'm off to have another nap.

Love, Vanessa

Nice, huh?

Typical courtyard outside our apartment,as are the following 3 pictures

"Bundle"