Our fifteen day waiting period is up! G is ours!
Also, “G” is Grace Zhanar. Zhanar was her Kazakh given name. The “Zh” is pronounced like the “s” in “measure”. We might have kept it as her first name, but we didn’t want her to spend her whole life spelling it for people and telling people how to pronounce it.
Grace is now at home with us in the apartment!
A few days ago we had some excitement in the apartment. Theresa was toasting some old bread in the oven (no toaster) to make breadcrumbs. We were sitting in the living room with the door closed and forgot about them. By the time we remembered, the rest of the apartment was filled with smoke! Oops! No alarms, but no damage done. Nice, toasty smell.
Here are some pre-Grace pictures of the apartment.
Sometimes at lunch Theresa and I eat lunch off the same plate. We’re sitting that close together anyway.
The sheet outside is to try to stop the morning sun from piercing my brain. It doesn’t work. We use the inside clothes lines seen in the two pictures above for drying things.
We’ve been without hot water for the last three days. This morning Theresa used a bucket of stove heated water for a sponge bath in the very narrow shower. Not up for such contortions, I went for the he-man, very, very cold shower. That was a mistake — a really big mistake. Can I get a membership in a polar bear club for that?
Note the top loading, horizontal axis washing machine that holds less than half of what our washer at home holds and takes up to 3 hours depending on the settings you use. Fortunately the controls are in Italian and we could make them out. It was slightly intimidating that the washer has temperature settings in degrees. We’re used to setting “hot”, “warm”, or “cold”. We never had to decide how warm.
On the other hand, the tiny oven has settings 1 through 5. No cake baking.
Wow, congratulations to the three of you! What a feeling it must be now knowing Grace is yours!!!! Does she stay with you at the apartment from now until you head home? Grace is a beautiful name and I think it’s great that you kept her given name as her middle name. I think she’ll like it too.
Your apartment looks pleasant and comfortable – minus the early morning sun. Troy, you look just like you’re at home, sitting working on your notebook. I’m with Theresa with the stove heated shower water. I wouldn’t pretend that I could withstand the very, very cold shower.
What strange appliances. You can set the water temp on the washer but the stove is essentially “warm”, “hot” and “hotter”? How bizarre!
Congratulations!!!
Can’t wait to see you all.
Suzanne, Dave and Bryce
Congratulations!!!
Awesome news! Grace is a beautiful name and so fitting for your little angel. I like Zhanar.. very pretty, unique.. a little exotic. I’m sure Grace will love having it as a middle name.
You all look so comfortable with each other. It’s obvious that Grace feels safe and loved with you. Should make the trip home that much easier for all.
Looks like a pretty nice apartment for Kaz. All the little quirks with the water, appliances and gotta love that wiring (a little scary) by our standards.. but hey it works.. right? Glad to see you have a western style bathroom. Have you had the pleasure of experiencing an Asian toilet yet? LOL
Love the picture of Grace sleeping. Nothing like a sleeping baby at the end of a long day. ;o) So sweet!
YEAH! Congratulations! We’re so excited for you.
Yay! Congratulations!! How wonderful to have beautiful Grace with you forever and ever now. I can’t believe your trip is almost over. From someone who has been taking hot showers and eating off her own plate every day, it seems as if you just arrived in Kaz and met Grace just a week or two ago!
Congratulations!! Grace is absolutely beautiful!!!!! It’s amazing to see how much she’s changed since she’s been with you. All the best, Susan
Can’t imagine what all this feels like, but I can imagine that it mostly feels pretty good!
The apartment looks quite livable. And the fridge is big enough
to hold food AND beer.
yeah, a cold shower seems like an ok idea until you step inside.
Can’t wait to see you all back in New Jersey.
T&T:
She’s so darn cute – thanks for clearing up the pronunciation. I was thinking it was probably something like that. 🙂
Troy’s quite the manly man for enduring the cold shower!!
Thanks for posting these blogs…so nice to follow along with you during this amazing experience! I’m so happy for you!!! We miss you guys!
Take care,
Pam.
Hooray and congratulations! Grace is the middle name we gave Sasha – how fun!!!
Enjoy these twenty-four-hour-a-day-parent days!
Congratulations! She is really yours! It must be a little overwhelming, but so cool. We can’t wait until you all come home!
Lisa, Chris, Keira, Matt, Alyssa, Dan
@ Kate
Yep.. she’ll be with us until she leaves for college 😉
CONGRATULATIONS!!! She is a beautiful baby! What a fantastic was to celebrate Mother’s Day. I’m sure you have heard it before but cherish each moment – it flies.
Wishing you the best as you continue on the amazing adventure of parenthood.
With love,
Diane