babyhouse visit

Today was pretty eventful. We went to the babyhouse this morning, only to discover that it is a block from the hotel where we stayed the last time we were here. I bet we walked past that place two dozen times and never realized what it was. It was recently renovated, really nice, has marble stairs and laminate hard wood floors, all the furniture is new. When we took the gifts this morning the orphanage director wasn't there so we couldn't leave our monetary donation so the plan was to give it to one of the translators and they would give it to the director. We asked our translator who was with us, if we could get a peek at Zeb, that we understood that we couldn't hold him or anything we just wanted to lay our eyes on him. You know it's kinda weird that you go to court and the judge grants this child to you, but you can't see him so it's really hard to celebrate because you have to wait a month on your prize. Anyways, they brought Zeb to the door and we got to see him, of course he did not recognize us, actually he had the deer in the headlights look, wondering who these strange people were and why they were staring at him. He still looks perfect, his hair seems to be a little longer, that may be one of the first places we have to take him when he gets to Cord. Wayne was so cute, while we were in the hallway waiting for them to decide if they were going to let us see him, he said my heart is racing, he was so excited and nervous about getting to see Zeb. I know everyone thinks it would be hard to see him and not hold him or take him with you, but really we were just so grateful to have the opportunity to see him, it helps to keep us focused and realize you do remember what he looks like.
We went to the US Embassy this afternoon to do the paperwork for Zeb's visa. The embassy was not all like I thought it would be, I figured it would be one of the nicest buildings in Almaty, well it is nice, but the part we went to was on the 17th floor and a very small drab room. That didn't take very long, then we got to go back to the babyhouse to meet with the director and give her the monetary donation. The director was very nice and asked if we wanted a tour of the facility, she also said she hoped we would come back for our baby girl sometime in the future. So of course we jumped at the opportunity to tour. They showed us the infant medical ward, there were probably around 10 to 14 babies in there, they were all so cute and small. Then they took us to the special needs room, there were probably 10 kids in there. Then they took us to the one year old room, Zeb's room, this room was split up, it has a play room in the middle and then rooms with cribs on each need. They let us see one of the rooms with the cribs, must have been nap time, because the kids were all in their cribs, but no Zeb, I think he must have been in the other room that they did not offer to take us too. So we didn't get to see him a second time, but I thought it was really nice of them to offer to take us on a tour. We never got that at the other house, probably because it was so much larger and fuller. The director said Zeb was one of the oldest in their facility, which means most are being adopted out, now that is a wonderful thing. Then it was back to the room for pringles and cokes and a good nights rest. We are leaving for the airport at 5:30 am for a long days travel, but it is comforting to know this will be for the last time and then in a month all we have to do is go to Memphis airport and pick him up and then all the fun will begin. Our coordinator told us the other night to be prepared that he will want to sleep during our daytime hours and be up during the night because of the time difference, all I can say thank God for the escort (so we can be fresh) and that there are two of us (so we can tag team). But what fun times lie ahead. Thank you for following along on our journey, we have enjoyed sharing it with you. They said it would probably be 3 weeks before we would know when Zeb was coming, so check the blog then, we will post when we know an update.
Love,
Crystal