The Long Long Journey Home and OURS, finally OURS

Hi All!
Well, we’ve been home for two whole weeks now. I can’t believe how s..l..o..w..l..y.. it has gone by. I feel like it’s been absolutely EONS since we left Kaz. Below is a bunch of stuff that I wrote in the last two weeks but never posted. Most of it was written in the middle of the night when I was unable to sleep so I hope it actually makes sense. Jet lag sucks. But I just wanted to get it on the blog so I don’t forget a single second of our wonderful trip. And then at the bottom is what everyone wants to see- photos of our Sumo. The appeals period has run out and so now our son is ours always. No take backs, no changed minds, no anything. He is ours and we are his forever. It is a little anticlimactic since we are not actually with him today but he is always in our thoughts. We will see you soon little Sumo. And then I promise we will never have to leave you again.

*Wow, that was one long trip home- 42 hours to be exact. Oxana and Julia’s dad picked us up on Saturday morning, Natasha came by to say one last goodbye and she gave Rinat a goodbye gift. It is a picture encyclopedia with words in English, Russian, and Kazakh. I told her that I would be studying it while I was gone so I wouldn’t need Oxana to translate when I come back to pick up our Sumo- Haha. Russian’s hard. And I don’t know that I can even begin to try to speak Kazakh. Maybe one day. Anyway, we piled all of our 9 bags into the trunk and under our feet and headed out to the airport. Along the way, we saw some really beautiful churches, mosques, and a Muslim cemetery none of which I got photos of. It didn’t even occur to me actually. I guess I was so tired and distracted about the trip ahead. If we had more free time while we were here, I would have loved to visit some of them but maybe next time we’ll be able to. But I was also distracted because Oxana told us about the town where Sumo comes from. On his birth certificate, they are changing the city to Karaganda and his parents to us to make the process easier, but in reality he was born in a small town a little ways outside of the city. Oxana said she has been there before to get something signed and it was a really nice little place. But she said it was like soviet times there, nothing modern at all but kind of old in a cute way. The root word of the city’s name comes from ‘mining’ and that is, of course, their main employer. Maybe his father works in the mines? I will have to learn some more about the town when I go back.

So Oxana dropped us and made sure the flight was on time and then we told her she didn’t have to stay and wait with us. We’re pretty self sufficient. So we gave her one last hug and said goodbye. I will, of course, see her again when I come back to pick up Sumo but it was a final goodbye for both Peter and Rinat (who flat out refused to hug her despite his absolute adoration of her). And as she walked out the door, I waved goodbye, turned around, and started crying. It was that kind of crying where your breath keeps catching and no one can understand what you are saying and trying to talk just starts it all over again. I felt like it was the final moment of our trip and I was so sad to have it over and also a little relieved at the same time. Despite the lack of hot water and the ever accumulating dirt, and having to keep Rinat entertained and behaving somewhat, and being out of our comfort zone in general, I was so so sad to have it over with and I couldn’t stop crying for a good long while. It just kept coming. Even the boys who had been following Rinat around playing the ‘stare at the foreigner game’ stopped following Rinat around to stare at me for a while. But then it was time to check in and head to Almaty and I was able to get it together. The flight was just fine and Rin was an angel of course. Astana Air is the one who hands out candy on the flight and so he was happy. He gets this look on his face like he knows he’s getting away with something that he shouldn’t when he picks a candy from the basket that the flight attendant offers. The lady even tried to give him extra and he said no. That’s my boy.

Although we technically had 13 hours in Almaty, we didn’t really have much free time at all. After driving from the airport, we had to pick up one of the coordinators and drive to the notary to get something stamped. As usual for people from Kaz, they were super nice to Rinat and the lady let him make a ‘passport’ for Bubby complete with notary stamps and the holes that they use to thread the notarized papers together (no staples allowed in Kaz). He was really cute and happy that they were indulging him. Then we stopped by the apartment and only had about 7 hours to fill. So we went to dinner at Line Brew for one last shashlyk, pelmeni, mushroom soup, a giant omelet for Rin, and some apple streudel. And we took a chilly walk around on the way home. He absolutely loved all of the deep snow they had and it was torture trying to keep him from rolling around in it since he didn’t have on snow pants. I have to say that Almaty was absolutely picturesque in the snow. The branches of the evergreens were weighed down with it and there were blinking lights everywhere with 2011 on them. The lights lining one of the main streets were especially amazing. Every single street light had flashing blue lights and then the street had 2011 in lights hanging overhead across it. Gorgeous. Oxana tells us that the big holiday is not Christmas (since a good portion of the country is Muslim of course) but New Years. Everyone gets new clothes and spends a big night out. I get that. I do love Christmas but I think that New Years just offers so much hope. Instead of focusing on what you need to buy for who and how big many strings of lights you need for your tree this year, it gets you thinking about what you want out of the next 12 months and offers a new beginning for everyone. Everyone gets a clean slate. I am so happy that this year will bring our little Sumo to live with us. It is going to be a big change for all of us but we are really excited about it.

After dinner, we spent a few hours relaxing at the apartment playing sumo wrestling and snoozing off and on until we were picked up at 1am to head to the airport. The long flights home were uneventful. Once again, Rin proved to be a very patient traveler. I mean, we sat at a table drinking coffee and eating breakfast (yummy German sausage of course) for literally 4 hours in the Frankfurt airport. I was even starting to get cranky and antsy but he uttered not a peep of complaint. He is not the easiest child in the world to raise but I have to say that he is an excellent traveler.

And since we got home, he’s been pretty darn good too. We got home Sunday evening and he was raring to go to school Monday morning so off he went to see his friends and teachers despite being up since 4am. Then on subsequent days he got up at 2am, 4am, 5am, 4am, and finally 6:30- whew. Back to normal. And while he was busy catching up with friends at school, I have been busy with errands. I have gotten Christmas gifts, and tried to get some things ready for little Sumo’s arrival. He is always in all of our thoughts and I cannot wait to get the call to come and pick up his cute little self. Rin mentions him every once in a while out of the blue. Sometimes he tells me about all of the things he is going to teach him. Sometimes he’ll just say out of nowhere that “Sumo has a cute face. He is even cuter than Bubby.” (a big declaration from him). And sometimes he will tell me about all of the things that he can do that Sumo can’t do yet, “Sumo doesn’t know how to say Mama yet. He only knows how to make Hot Dog Lip.” I know he is going to be jealous of his new brother and annoyed at having to share and frustrated when he knocks down the perfect train tracks that Rin just spent an hour making but I know that he will eventually come to appreciate all of the fun and joy that he brings to his life. Rinat’s never ending lament is “But I need someone to play with me! I’m all alone!” as I am trying to get dinner made or the clothes folded and I am always happy to tell him that he will soon have a permanent playmate. He always corrects me and tells me that Sumo might not be able to play football quite yet (or trains or blocks or whatever) but that he will when he gets a little bit older and he is so right.

So, things are good. We are getting ready for Christmas- gifts bought, tree trimmed, house decorated, and my cousin even put up lights while we were away (which Rin was super excited about). The only thing missing is our other son. But oh what a wonderful 2011 we will have.

And so here is our little Sumo whose official name is Aibek Howard Leggett. His first name is pronounced ‘EYE-bek’, his middle name is my maiden name, and he will turn one year old on December 29th. Although we are sad to have to be apart from him on such a milestone, we are most definitely going to make up for it once he gets home. I cannot wait to hold his warm little body again and smother him with kisses. 2011 is going to be a good year. A really really good year as we get to know our sweet little 'Bek'.

Isn't he the cutest?  I'm completely smitten.  I'll post more photos soon, I promise. 
Merry Christmas!
-m