Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my family and friends back home in Canada!   Ciera and I were talking about Thanksgiving earlier this evening and we both listed out things we were thankful for this year.   This year I am most thankful to the Republic of Kazakhstan for allowing my dreams to become a reality by allowing me to be a mom to two beautiful little girls.  While Mr. Baby is not legally my daughter yet, she is my daughter where it matters the most, and that is in my heart.   This is my first holiday ever that I have not spent with my immediate family and while in some ways it does feel odd, in other ways it feels so right as I am in Kazakhstan with my 2 girls, the country that they were born in.   I know for my family at home this is also a different Thanksgiving as not only are Ciera and I not there, this is also the first Thanksgiving without my dad.   I know in my heart that he is with both them and us in thought and in spirit.

 

Our day was pretty good, it was another beautiful sunny warm day here and this afternoon we were allowed to take the babies outside.  While Mr. Baby was bundled up Ciera and I took advantage of the day by not wearing our coats out, it was that nice!  Mr. Baby is starting to have a bit of a runny nose but I hope she fights it off…all the other kids are starting to clear up now, so let's hope this is the last of this while we are here.  Her army crawl (or drag) is coming along and she is doing better at it.  She now goes from a sitting position, putting one hand down, and then slowly maneuvering her leg so it's behind her, it takes her a few minutes but I know it's just a matter of time until she does it without even thinking about it!   I know I've said it before but she really is a very happy baby, always laughing and smiling, we were playing "soccer" this afternoon, Ciera against Mr. Baby and I (I was holding her under her armpits) and I would swing her a bit to hit the ball and she was just laughing away.  She loves her Dr. here, as soon as she hears her voice her little head whips right around and she smiles and watches her.  I think that the feelings are reciprocal though as the Dr. always comes over to tickle her.

 

After we left the babyhouse this afternoon I had made arrangements with Irina, our translator, to meet us at Uym so we could try and get a charger for the DVD player.  We went into one store on the main level and they said no but to try downstairs.  Oh my gosh, the lower level at Uym is electronics heaven!!  At the 2^nd stall we went to the woman looked at the charger turned around and rooted around for a minute, pulled out a box and voila…it's the right charger and best of all it's got the right electric plug for here so I don't have to worry about the voltage.  We plugged it into the player and it worked!!!  I was so excited I hugged Irina and thanked the woman at least 5 times!!!!  It was also $10.00….much less than I will have to pay for a new one once we get home, but at least now I know I can travel with it and plug it in pretty much anywhere!!!  So yet another thing I was thankful for today.

 

I was also able to get a pair of socks with grippy things on the bottom, since my slippers disappeared the first day we were here I have been wearing a pair of wool sockettes at the babyhouse and every day I struggle to stay upright where I throw the diapers out, this floor is so shiny and slippery.  I have started to wipe out several times, not only by myself but carrying the baby, so while it may not seem overly exciting to most it is to me.

 

I also broke down and bought a pair of jeans, let me tell you that was an interesting experience, I had Irina (who I think is 23) with me for this experience too, as she was waiting to meet her mom.  As we walked into the store the woman who works there totally checked me out, while it was a tad unsettling at first (I was thinking what is she doing?) it was amazing as she knew exactly what size I needed just by looking at me.  I tried a few pairs on….some I could not even get over my calves…talk about skinny jeans!  I did find one pair and while I would normally say they were too tight and a bit too low both Irina and the woman thought they were perfect,  I will certainly fit in more now J (anyone who has been here will know what I mean!).  But I think they will not stretch out as the others are doing….jeans with lycra are totally meant to go in dryer, hanging them to dry seems to stretch them out more and more , and I can now take off all the jeans that I brought with me without even unbuttoning and unzipping them….I also bought a belt!  The instructions on these say not to put them in the dryer and they don't appear to have lycra in them so hopefully I will now have one pair of pants here that fit.  It was funny though, as I came out of the change room with them on, the woman walked up behind me, grabbed the waistband in the back and heaves them up on me in the back, she totally took me by surprise but truth be told they felt much better and fit much better once she did that.  I guess I will have to try and do the same when I wear them!!

 

Ciera went to bed a sad little girl tonight and I think she is going to have a rough morning, hence I too will have a bit of a rough start.   Irina, our translator, called tonight and said there is an inspection at the babyhouse tomorrow, when she said that I thought she was going to say we can't go, but what she said was Ciera can't go.  Irina (the woman who cooks for us) will babysit her for us here at the apartment, she is a very sweet woman, but she speaks no English and Ciera speaks no Russian.  We are hoping it's just for the morning visit but Ciera was very upset when I told her "that's no fair", and I agreed with her, but told her that's what the rules are.   I tried to put a good spin on it, you can watch movies, colour, paint, do puzzles….but she was crying as she went to bed.  To make it a wee bit worse I also have to be there for 9:00, instead of the usual 10:00, so it's 3 hours.  I had to promise her we would go to the pool tomorrow…oh please let it be open and please let the inspection be over by 2:00!!  On the good side, we are literally just across the street and if there is any major issue I can be here in 5 minutes…wish us luck!

 

Pictures today:

-       Ciera on the swings at the baby house

-       Ciera trying to put the booties on her sister