Sunday, May 30th - Happy 21st Birthday, Tucker!

Cooper says that Scott woke her up talking. She doesn't know what about. I'm glad he feels comfortable expressing himself in his own language. I know he understands that we speak a different language than his, but I'm not sure if he realizes that we really don't know much Russian at all. We have been calling him Scott Kirill and are beginning to drop the Kirill more and more. I wasn't sure how the best way to do this with a 5 year old. Hearing him say with a grin, "My name is Scott Kirill," over and over again while back in Almaty has made me feel really good about his name. He seems to like his name and now when we just say "Scott" he is beginning to respond. I think Kirill is a pretty name but we are choosing to give him a new start with a new name (a name that will always bring up wonderful memories of my brother and a name that people won't have to ask, "How do you say that? How do you spell Kirill?")

Lot's of first for the boy today - trip to Cambridge Park with both his sisters and his daddy (this mama stayed home feeling like she's been head by a truck all day with jet lag big time. Cooper and Scott

Saturday, May 29th - HOME AT LAST!

Our 12:00 flight to Columbia was a breeze. This is it, minutes away from our family of SEVEN being together for the very first time. We headed down the escalator in the airport and were greeted by Kelly, Tucker, Brady, Cooper, and John. Cooper was so excited, jumping up and down in anticipation of meeting her new brother. Scott was very shy and had his head down while he was being greeted by all his new family - but there was a smile on his face. Cooper was asked by John what she thought of her new brother and we have her on video saying, "I love him." After waiting a while at the baggage claim, Tucker and I head back upstairs to see where my bag might be. It was in Greenville and not Columbia - who cares! I've got the little baggage that I want - let's go home! Scott is "eat up" with cars (machinas) and boy was he thrilled to climb up into John's big Toyota Sequoia machina. He sat right next to Cooper and quickly became comfortable with all of us. Every now and then he'd look back over his shoulder and smile at Tucker and say Tucker's name. Feels pretty strange to fill up a big SUV with just our family. What were we thinking?

Seemed like Christmas around our house when Scott arrived home. He ran from toy to toy while out in the carport, hopping on scooters and the little tike and Barbie car. He must feel like he has died and gone to heaven. The boy is WIDE OPEN when it comes to playing. He rides the little tyke car straight down the hill into the shrubs and trees. Oh my, little boys are different than girls - even than a tom-girl. Inside he is greeted by Shelby our Maltese and is fine with her. Every toy he sees, he stops to play with and then carries around his favorites as he goes from room to room. He has been wearing a red, white and blue star necklace of Cooper's since he got home.

How sweet it is to sit at our own kitchen table in Greenwood, SC with our 5 kids and my mom who came for dinner. IT IS OVER. We are HOME and our family feels complete (minus Kelly's husband who stayed home in Raleigh!) Scott's first meal at home went well. We are just putting a variety of foods in front of him. What he likes he eats a lot of. Other things that must look strange to him, he doesn't try (yet). Ice cream was a hit (chocolate cake, not so much).

It's hard to put these two 5 year olds to bed because they are already enjoying each other so much. I'm loving seeing all these toys being played with, things that Cooper has lost interest with - until now when she sees her brother all excited about them. Bath time, into P.J.'s, teeth brushed, in the bed, say our prayers, kisses and "Ya tee bya lu blu"/I love you and, can you believe this.... we're done. Scott is asleep in minutes and Cooper is not far behind him. Some of Scott's past orphanage routine/training needs to stick around. This is sweet!

Friday, May 28th - Home at least - (or so we thought! It just wouldn't feel right if there weren't some bumps along the way with this journey).

While waiting to board our flight out of Almaty, we were blessed to have met Lisa and her 5yo daughter also just adopted from Kazakhstan, who were traveling home on the same flights with us from Almaty to Frankfurt and on to D.C. I'll give credit to our Great Provider for providing these two kids, who are heading off to strange new places, lots of hours together to talk and laugh and play. They were so cute together. Victoria and her mom, Lisa, sat in the seats directly in front of us! It thrilled me to hear my little guy talk and joke around with his new friend. We haven't a clue what they were talking about, but they were having a ball. They even sat together in the same seat for a while (with Scott's arm around her shoulder - what a dude!) Scott has so much more personality than John and I were able to see during our 3 weeks with him at the baby house. He is quite a match for his equally, full of personality sister, Cooper.

We had from 11 something a.m. until 5 p.m. to pass the time. It was more enjoyable when Scott and Victoria could play together in the airport terminal, but at 3 pm we parted ways and went to be near our boarding gate. Just before 5pm they allowed half the plane to board the plane for Greenville, SC while telling the other half that they needed to go to customer service to rebook for a new flight - this one was cancelled due to bad weather on route to SC. Strangely no one told our flight crew this news for another 10-15 minutes. We returned to the terminal (Scott being just as patient as ever) and headed to the service counter which was now at least 10o people long. All flights to the southeast area had been cancelled and all these people were also looking for another way to get home. After 27 hours of traveling with a 5 yo (even though he was an absolute angel) I couldn't stand in line the hours it would take in that line. So I went to the 3 people line at the counter where they take your tickets to board people and I cried (and I prayed) and I called John who could tell that my brain was no longer synapsing upstairs at all. 30 minutes later, the very kind lady with United had booked me and Scott for one ticket "confirmed" and one "standby" at noon on the following day (Saturday) to Columbia, SC and 2 "confirmed" tickets at 5pm. We'll take it. John called and got us a room at the Marriott and off Scott and I went to find a shuttle. The Washington Airport is huge, I might add. We walked and walked, still no complaining from my wonderful little boy. He is a great traveling companion.

The hotel was really nice and the beds are much softer in the U.S. than in Kazakhstan. I'm learning that Scott has some interesting likes in his eating. He chose tomato juice to drink at the snack shop after having had it on the airplane and a sesame seed bagel earlier for breakfast- weird, huh? I felt badly that I'd been building up getting to go home all day long and he might think that the Marriott was it. Scott seemed to understand me when I said, "Desaftra, we fly (while holding my arms out like an airplane) and marsh to our doma"/tomorrow we fly and go to our home. He was tickled to get another bubble bath (and equally thrilled to turn on the shower which filled up much of the bathroom floor!) Easy to bed once again, so grateful for how incredibly well he is doing. He slept great and I got 8 needed hours of sleep.

Thursday, May 27th - I wake up at about 7:15 to "Mama, mama." When my eyes finally come unglued and Scott has my attention he says, "Peesit!" Wonder how long the little fella has been patiently sitting there waiting to go to the potty? I respond with a smile, "dah, dah, marsh."/ yes, yes, go! and off he runs to the bathroom - happy! Does it get any easier than this? We both slept all night long - alleluia!! Dressed and down to the 2nd floor for breakfast together. We join Mark (whose wife is upstairs with baby Emmy) for breakfast. The options for breakfast are endless, an incredible spread of food, yet after eyeing everything - the only thing Scott was interested in were the raisins and some orange juice. I don't know what they were served for meals before. We had faced so many more challenging issues during our weeks in Karaganda that learning what foods he liked and was used to just didn't register on the lists of important things. I hope it's more than juice and raisins - that could be a problem.

The day before, we enjoyed an outing with the Camps and Woods on a gondola up to the top of a mountain near our hotel. Scott loved that and it was a wonderful way to see the city. Spring is in full bloom with flowers and green grass (something we saw none of while in the cold of Karaganda). Today, Scott and I have a LOT of time to ourselves. The other 3 families with babies are on entirely different schedules with their 8 month olds requiring 3 naps a day. Scott is too excited to stop for a nap right now. So we do some more walking around, finding small playgrounds behind random apartments, sitting on the curb enjoying our drinks together. He was so excited to have his very own fruit large fruit drink that he kissed the plastic bottle in delight. Especially with him drinking so much, I'm afraid to venture too far off in case I might get lost or I hear the word "peesit" and there is nowhere to go potty!

Not sure when I've experienced a LONGER day. I made the decision to check out of our hotel room at noon instead of paying for Thursday night. We'd be leaving at ll:30pm and I'd just as soon Scott not take a nap in hopes that he'd sleep very well on our ride from Almaty to Frankfurt. Jennifer (another mom we bonded with in Karaganda) offered us her room to hang out in and keep our luggage in while Scott and I explored the outdoors. 12 pm to nearly 12 a.m. is a lot of time to kill with a 5 year old! He did awesome. Never fusses or complains (at least none of his Russian sounded like complaining). We claimed a couch in the lobby as our home from 9pm until 11:35pm when our taxi driver was to take us to the airport. Scott finally passed out on my lap at 10:45 while we waited then was up from 11:30 til nearly 3a.m. as we took a taxi to the airport, went through passport clearance, and boarded on the plane for his first airplane ride. Sure wish I could understand his words - he was thrilled and not scared a bit! No problems with being fastened in a seatbelt, no problems with pressure in his ears. No problems with ANYTHING. He slept like a log til breakfast was served at around 9:15 - how about that?

Wednesday, May 26 - Arrived in Almaty airport on time at 12:15 this morning. Greeted after a long wait through the Kazakhstan customs by a driver who looked like a small version of Shawn O'Conner. He was was holding up a sign with "Kirby King" in one hand and three long stem red roses in the other. Oh, what a wonderful sight! He didn't speak any English, but I could read my name and that was enough for me to hop in his little car and travel to Hotel Kazakhstan, about 20 minutes from the airport. Almaty is quite different from Karaganda. Many of the hotel staff speak Russian, buildings are more updated, and the roads have lines marking the separate lanes of traffic (very comforting when you are sitting in the front seat with no working seatbelt). My kind driver was able communicate (through the hotel staff) that he would bring Olga and Scott to the hotel between 10 in the morning. By 2am I am in my room (19th floor with incredible view of snow topped mountains in off in the distance). Asleep by 3am and wide awake at 6:20am (8:20pm my bodies time - go figure). Great breakfast buffet on the second floor. I'm so glad to run into Catherine (she and David were at the baby house with me and John). We visit during breakfast until my Kazak cell phone goes off. Olga and Scott Kirill are down in the lobby waiting! I ran from the elevator into the lobby and knelt down beside my little guy who was dressed in the clothes we had purchased for him before we left plus a new denim baseball hat (evidently a must for all children to wear when out in the sun). The poor thing seemed so frightened. I picked him up and he was fighting back the tears and they didn't seem like tears of "at last my mother has come for me." Olga kept trying to get him to say "I love you" but he wasn't up for that. Wow, what if he has changed his mind about his new family? We head up to my hotel room for me to get my paperwork and back down and out to meet our driver. Scott sits in the backseat with me with his chin tucked down. I keep patting him and giving him hugs and finally a little smile comes across his face. We make a quick stop by the medical clinic to pick up his medical exam results from the day before then on to the US Embassy to submit the documents that I had brought with me from the US. Scott and I sit outside (beautiful day in the mid 70's) while Olga does paperwork in the Embassy. 15 minutes later we're heading back to our car. The only "official" business left to do is our US Embassy appointment to obtain his U.S. Immigrant visa at 3pm on Thursday.

When we arrive back to our hotel late Wednesday morning, Olga goes with me and Scott back to my room. She leaves me his book bag full of his clothes, goes over Scott's schedule of eating and sleeping while at the baby house, and then bends down to tell Scott that she is leaving and will be back tomorrow. Here come the tears. His sobbing reminds me of the sounds that Cooper made the day she was literally handed over to us - an unconsolable grieving that breaks your heart. Olga was asked to remove Scott from the baby house last Sunday so this is now their 4th day together. The first 2 days Olga said that he continued to ask to go back to the baby house. Now he is crying to go with Olga. My hugs are of no comfort. A glass of orange juice seems to help some. Less than 10 minutes after the crying began, one of us has the idea to go outside for a walk "cooletta" and off we go! Two minutes outside, hand in hand and here comes Scott's smile we were used to seeing each day during our nearly 3 weeks of visiting with him. Anywhere he points - we walk. There are fountains and buses, flowers and grass - HE IS HAPPY! What a relief. He loves being outside. I remember him pointing to the dirt piles on the other side of the tall metal posted fence back at the baby house, asking to go play. We weren't permitted outside the fence. Now, he could venture just about anywhere he wanted to go - hand in hand. I'm glad I have spent time reviewing and learning the basics for Russian "I want to potty, eat, drink, outside, ect." "Hachoo peesit" means we've gotta "pee" and from the expression on his face, it better be quick. We go back to the hotel room for a bathroom break. I look up, "It's time for a nap" and I guess I said it more as a mere suggestion and not a parental command. I sure was wanting a nap but Scott had a different idea - "cooletta." So back outside to walk and explore we went. Whatever makes the little guy happy for now (I'll catch up on sleep later - you think?)

We met up with the Woods and Camps for dinner in the hotel. Scott, at this point, isn't interested in taking a bite of anything new. I had bought us a fancy cheeseburger and fries (at a restaurant called "Guns and Roses") and he was content playing with his toys sitting next to David at our table. Fortunately I had brought some apples, p-nuts, crackers, ect. from home and Scott was able to eat his fill on foods of his choosing. (I pointed to a picture of pizza at lunch and he said "dah"/yes to the picture, but wouldn't taste it when the real thing came. He did put down an entire can of Sprite (again, whatever makes the little guy happy for today).

Bath time was a hoot! He reminded me of the scene with Julia Robert in the bathtub in "Pretty Woman." You've never seen someone so happy and excited to play in a bubble bath (and then some more bubbles when he emptied remains of the hotel bath gel into the tub while I wasn't looking.) Wonder if this is his first bubble bath? Wonder what is going through his little mind right now? I am so grateful that he is happy now. Teeth brushed, P.J.'s on and easy to get in bed - now that's what I'm talking about! I "read" Scott a Winnie the Pooh book, saying as many of the Russian expressions I knew and following that with the word in English. He chatted up a storm telling me his version of the story (I guess). After prayers (wonder who he thinks we're talking to?) I crawled in my twin bed next to his and blew him a kiss. He smiled and blew me one back in return. Tucked into the bed next to him was the big white bear we presented to Scott 2 months ago when we first met him at the baby house. I cannot express the emotions. I'm tired, happy, relieved, grateful, content. Thank you, Father God, for your faithfulness, for this wonderful gift, for the privilege of being a parent to this precious little boy. He is ours and he is happy.

Well, I certainly thought that I would have done a better job of finishing what I started in sharing our adoption story on this blog. Praise God this adoption is coming to a beautiful conclusion whether I write about it or not! My apologies to anyone who still thinks we may be stuck in the volcanic ash somewhere in Europe. We left Karaganda, Kazakhstan at 4:00 Friday morning, April 16th, the day after our court date. Instead of arriving in South Carolina that evening at 6:30, we made it home 6 days later. Renting a car and driving 20 hours from Frankfurt, Germany to Madrid, Spain (to find an airport that was not shut down due to the continually erupting volcano) seemed like a nice way to end our adventure. It sure was an expensive addition to our trip - spent as much in 6 days on food and lodging as we did for 4 weeks in Karaganda!

John's pulling in the driveway as I type to take me to the airport. I will leave Greenville, SC as 7pm and arrive in Almaty, Kazakhstan just after midnight tomorrow night, 2pm on Tuesday here. Hopefully there will be a driver there at the airport holding up a piece of paper with my name on it. After a night's sleep in a hotel, Olga (the escort who is the mother of Kate with Nightlight Adoptions) and Scott will come to my hotel room to begin our first day together. She was asked to take Scott from the orphanage on Sunday so they have had a day and night together at Olga's house already. She said he is talking and EATING up a storm. Hopefully soon he will know that there will always be plenty to eat and no need to stock up on food when he sees it (then again, I often do that and I haven't got his excuse!)

I'll do my best to post a blog or two while in Almaty but may need John's help to add pictures to the blog when I return home next weekend. If you are reading this before our journey is done - PLEASE PRAY!!!! Even though John is not traveling with this time - I am NOT alone.