Slush and Fog

In case you've forgotten over the summer and fall - fog makes snow very slushy, which in turn equals a mess. Here in Astana they don't have sewer drains everywhere like we do so when the snow melts instead of flowing neatly away you end up with lakes all over the place. Everybody was damp today coats, boots and gloves. Kurt and Serik played outside for a little bit before heading over to see Sasha. We ran into Gulia (one of her caregivers whom I really like)on our way in and she said that Sasha was all ready waiting for us. She was all smiley today especially with her daddy. I think all of the excitement got to her because first we had spit-ups, then hiccups and finally she fell asleep sitting up on Kurt's lap. We tire the little pumpkin out. We put her to bed and I managed to sneak a quick picture of her in her bed. They now have security cameras in all the baby rooms so as they say 'there is always someone watching'. Today was the last official visiting day and tomorrow Saule applies to court. Serik has been doing pretty well about Sasha - has being the operative word. Yesterday and today he said he didn't want to go to the baby house to see her. Although he said after that he did still want to bring her home. He's been acting out with us and I know it's because of the changes. We appeased him by taking him to the Eurasian Mall - he calls in the Eurasian Mall of America. We finally have seen a few other adoptive families. First there was the lady from Spain whom we only see on Saturday. Today we met/saw a woman from North Carolina who looked like she was just arriving and getting ready to see Dr. Alma (had about a 4 year old boy with her). We also said 'hi' to an Australian couple who was walking by as we were leaving. Maybe we'll actually get to talk to some of these people. Irina remarked that the baby house is going to need a geography lesson soon. As we were leaving the baby house I noticed this car with an interesting stuffed creature in the rear window. Had to take a pic...hope you can see through the car window that it is anatomically correct. At the Eurasian mall we found a foot scraper for me - Kaz weather is not good for my feet - and went to the little cafe there for a snack for Serik. We've been several times and this is the second time we've run into a fellow American. He's here teaching English and has apparently been away from his wife since February. But don't worry she's arriving on Monday - we learned that and so much more. The man is seriously conversationally deprived and pounces on us when he sees us (much to the chagrin of his Kazakh student/translator). His wife is in for an earful when she arrives.

A very big P.S. two years ago today we met our precious little Serik for the first time!