Glider

I have been looking at this chair for a few months. Babies R Us had it in the store on display, but never had it in stock and could not order it. They finally called and said it was available. Not only that, but it was on sale 30% off. It is a Dutailer LR Grande glider and it is really comfortable. They had to order it so it is going to take about 6 weeks before it is delievered. The wood looks dark in the picutre, but it is a very nice shade of cherry and matches the crib and dresser. The material is a sage green that goes well with the wall color in the room. So I have the last thing I need for the room(except for the baby of course).

A no news update

I have been really busy lately so I haven't posted much. No adoption news or updates and I really don't expect anything for a while yet. At least time is going by quickly. I am following a blog of a family who are a month behind me in the process and they recently got their travel dates and another blog of a family 3 months ahead of me in the process have yet to get their travel dates and have been told they probably won't travel for another month or two. At this point, you can't compare your timeline to anyone elses since it all depends on the region you were assigned to. So I wait.

I have had several people ask me if I have bought any clothes yet or if I am waiting til I know more about the baby. This should answer that question!


The 6/9 months are on the top bar, the 12 months the middle and the 18 months are the bottom bar. The dresser is pretty much full also.

I should probably mention that the 24 months are in the closet in the other bedroom! Along with the dresses and coats. So yes, I have been buying clothes. I plan to donate some to the Baby House in Kaz and anything that does not fit or is outgrown quickly to an agency where I live so all the clothes will be used at some point.

A little bit of progress

I received my travel information folder last week and I am going to be on a travel prep conference call tonight. The call is where they review what to expect when you travel and to get families ready for living in a different country for 4+weeks. Each is a tiny little step forward in this process. There really aren't any more steps until I get my Letter of Invitation(LOI) and travel. No update on travel timeline. They are still saying Fall, but each little step gets me closer.

Shymkent/Chimkent

If you look on the map, Shymkent is about in the center. It lies in the valley of the Sayram River in the foothills of the Ugam Range at an elevation of 1,680 feet . Originally a settlement on the caravan route from Central Asia to China, Shymkent dates back at least to the 12th century and was more than once destroyed by nomad attacks. It was captured by the Russians in 1864. A pharmaceutical works was constructed there in 1885. Shymkent is the third largest city in Kazakhstan and a major industrial and cultural centre, as well as an important railway junction. The city has large lead and cement works and also a chemical industry. .

While the areas outside Almaty reminded me of Arizona, the areas outside Shymkent remind me more of Colorado. As I will be flying into Shymkent, these may be the only pictures I will have of the countryside.

This is a picture of the MIG monument and Shymkent. Google maps of Shymkent show a large part of the airport devoted to bunkers that store MIGs. I'm not sure what they are doing there or what the connection is.This is Shymkent's memorial to WW2 veterans. Most Kazakhstan cities seem to have many statues and parks. Shymkent also has many fountains. They also have a Children's park that I am trying to find some pictures of.
Shymkent does have a superstore which is their version of a mall. It is filled with many small stores. In addition to the small neighborhood stores, Shymkent also has a green bazaar with vegetables, food and other items.

Shymkent is not as European a city as Almaty. It is a mix of the past and the future and will be a great place to try to learn about the Kazakhstan culture. Since the US embassy is in Almaty and all adoptions must be processed there before families can go home, there is a lot of information from other adoptive families on Almaty, but not as much on Shymkent.

Region- Round 3??

Yes, I haven't left the country yet, but I am doing the full tour of Kazakhstan. I found out Tuesday that my region has been changed to Shymkent(also spelled Chimkent, Shimkent). Shymkent is about an hours flight from Almaty. It is the third largest city in Kazakhstan with a population of about 500,000. So even though Almaty would have been nice, Shymkent is also a good place to travel to.

While it does require an extra flight to get there, it is a region that is still completed in 2 trips or 1 trip and escort. So I will likely be going over there for about 4 weeks and then travel back for a week or have my daughter escorted home a month later. I'll post more details on Shymkent this weekend.

6 months from dossier submittal

Saturday was 6 months since my dossier was submitted. In the excitement of getting my region this week, I overlooked it. Since I was only counting to see when I would get my region, I guess I can stop now. Now I can concentrate on how long from when I got my region to when I get my LOI. I am hoping for 3 months or less, but I do not have a good estimate yet.

Almaty or Alma-Ata

Because of translations to english, most places seem to have multiple spellings. The name Almaty or Alma-Ata comes from "rich with apples" or "grandfather of apples" as it has the largest variety of apples anywhere. It was the capital of kazakhstan until they changed it to Astana in the 1990's, but it remains the business center of Kazakhstan. Most international flights land here so it makes travel so much easier. This is a picture of the airport.

There are about 1,200,000 people who live in Almaty. Most speak Russian or Kazah, but many people in the hotels and some in restaurants speak English. It is relatively expensive to stay in Almaty. Hotels run from $100 to over $500/night. I haven't decided if I am staying in an apartment or a hotel, but it won't be the $500/night 5 star ones!


You can't talk about Kazakhstan without talking about the traffic. Traffic lanes are more like guidelines so if you need 5 or 6 lanes on a 4 lane road, then go for it. If one of those lanes is half on the sidewalk, that is ok also. When you think of a pedestrian trying to cross the road, think of the video game Frogger except you are the frog. Horns are installed in cars so use them- constantly. There are no seatbelt laws since most of the cars do not have seatbelts. No one would use them if they did. I will have a driver to get me where I need to go so I will not be driving here. I'm pretty happy about that.



This is a picture of the Tsum store. It has a little of everything in it. Almaty has everything from the small shop in the front of someone's home to designer clothing stores. In some regions, you have to bring many items with you, but you can find almost anything you need in Almaty, although it may be very expensive. Think $30-40 for a baby outfit.

There are a lot of places for tourists to go visit. I don't know which ones I'll be able to get to, but here are some of the ones I hope to see:


Zenkov Cathedral is surrounded by Panfilov Park, a pleasant rectangle of greenery. The Park was named after the heroes of World War II. The Cathedral is one of the few tzarist-era buildings to survive the 1911 earthquake, despite the fact it is built entirely of wood and constructed without nails. It is also one of the eight most unique wooden buildings in the world. After the revolution it was used as historical museum, cultural center, and just in 1990 again it was given a status of a Russian Orthodox cathedral.(copied from the Kaz Tourism site)



A cable car takes you to the top of Kok-Tobe(I've seen many spellings). At the top, there is a great view of the city, restaurants, along with an amusement park. It is one of the standard tourist places, but also sounds like a nice trip. The second picture is the view from the top.


This is the ice skating rink at Medeo outside Almaty. It is a very popular place in the winter. Once you get out of the city, there is some very beautiful and different landscapes. There are mountains and steppes. Some of it reminds me of the American Southwest.