In Her Shoes

Today was another shopping day! We are trying to wrap up the loose ends and things on our to-do list before we take custody of Maia full time. Since that is only a week from today, and we need Masha’s help for certain things… we have to get done what we can on the days Masha is available. I wanted some maps of Kazakhstan and Petropavlovsk. I wanted to get things for Maia, not only for now, but for when she’s a little older from Kazakhstan. We got some nesting dolls – of course! We bought Maia some shoes that fit! At least, we HOPE they fit!... Our scientific method to ensure they fit is that we traced her foot on a piece of paper and held it up to the shoes we bought. Now that we are home, I just cut out the foot prints and stuffed them in the shoes we bought. The pieces of paper seem to fit, so hopefully, her feet will as well!! Since I’ve run out of body parts to post… here is your sneak peek for today:

We bought a few souvenirs for ourselves and to give as gifts. Space is limited, so we can’t buy much – but I think we have bought a good variety of items to represent the Russian culture as well as the Kazakh culture we have experienced since we’ve been here.

Tomorrow will be a day we get to visit Maia. Since we’re here in a foreign land to get a baby, and we don’t get to see her every day anymore (which I still don’t understand!), we look forward to the couple hours we do get to spend with her, every other day. One week to go and I’ll have her full time. Finally! No more every other day nonsense. :) Can you tell I’m anxious?? LOL. Actually, this week we luck out, we have been M, W, F, and will get to go Saturday as well! Yeah!! An extra treat – and I can’t wait! We will take her new shoes with us tomorrow to make sure they fit her.

Mom and I are going to pack up the things we don’t need any more while we’re here. Many of the heavy sweaters and turtlenecks, long underwear, wool socks – you know – the stuff we never wore at all!! We figure we can go ahead and pack at least two of our suitcases now and not have to touch them again since it was never cold enough to need some of these things. Also, we can pack up the souvenirs and stuff like that. We certainly don’t want to have to worry about packing too much once we have Maia. I have a feeling based on what I’ve seen of her, she would prevent us from packing rather than helping in any way! :) Might as well get as prepared now as we can, B.M. (Before Maia.)

Please keep Sandi in your thoughts and prayers as she is here in Kazakhstan now and will be going home this weekend... without a baby. What a terrible, hard thing to have to deal with. Even though she is strong and at peace with her decision, it doesn't seem fair for anyone to have to MAKE that decision after traveling this far to meet their baby.

Also, please keep Matt and Suzanne in your thoughts and prayers as they wait so patiently to get to travel to Kazakhstan to meet and bond with their child(ren). Delays are difficult at best, and it’s the things that crop up at the end that make it so hard to wait. Pray for a quick resolution to their situation.

We’ll be back in touch soon – probably tomorrow with news about how well Maia ate and played. :)