10/25/04-The return of G.I. Jack...

GI Jack is back. From the start of the day, when we discovered clear evidence that the big “D” that had plagued Jack these past few days was gone, Jack was back to his old self. He occupied himself and motored around the room. His bright smile was also back. It was good to have him back. Gracie is still plagued by the same ailment, but she was also in a better mood. We focused on making sure she was hydrated and she ate two meals. She became very fussy at the end of the day and wouldn’t eat or take her bottle. It was a little of a downer to end the day, but on the whole we had a good day.

One of the nice things about the day was that we had visitors. Mary Jo hadn’t realized how much she missed other adult company after being cooped up in this apartment the past 5 days with just her three children. Jerry, Jane, Steve and Lisa, fellow adoptive families through Children At Heart came over for a visit. They spent most of the afternoon with us and it was very refreshing. I think the kids also liked to see some new faces. They were on their best behavior the whole time. If any of you read this, thank you Jerry, Jane, Steve and Lisa. It made our day.

Of course, we are sitting in excited anticipation for the arrival of Gma Jan. She is scheduled to land at 8:30 tonight, so we expect her some time after 9. Gma has had a very trying experience. A delay in her first flight to Chicago caused her to miss her flight to Frankfurt. This put her behind and she has spent even more time traveling than planned. She ended up arriving in Almaty at 8:30 this morning instead of the previous night as was expected. Our contacts were there to pick her up and got fed and checked her into a hotel for the day. She was still able to make the flight tonight. We have not spoken to her yet, but have talked to our connections here and they have assured us she is being well taken care of. We will let everyone know when she arrives.

Tomorrow is the day. Mary Jo and I are off to court to make this official. We are scheduled for court at 9:30 am and should be done by 10:00. Then we are off to the orphanage to hit some parties with the kids caregivers and doctors. Gma gets thrust into the fire as she will be baby-sitting during that time. Hopefully they will stick to the schedule of the past few days and be napping at that time.

I was able to get a new card reader so I am back in business on the picture front. Of course, once I was able to get them off the camera, I found that most of them we junk, but I was able to save a few for publishing. I’m just happy that I will be able to post pictures while Gma is here and so the kids Mommy can see them back home.

Check out the pictures.