Matt is 'officially' our son!!!!!

One MATTHEW RUSSELL POST, JR.

AKA MATT

AKA MATTHEW

AKA MURAT

AKA 'Mr. Man'

...IS NOW A POST!!!!

I just wanted to post to share the wonderful news that as of approximately 18 hours ago (Kaz time) or at approximately 3:01 pm on Saturday July 25th, we completed the 15 day 'waiting period' and Matt officially became our son - meaning that there is nothing or nobody (ie: his birth mom) that can stand in the way of it now. We are so excited - he is such a perfect fit and such a beautiful boy!

He and Rusty will begin his exit paperwork. They will then head off to Almaty on August the 10th to complete all the other stuff and they will be done on the 14th. If all goes as planned we should ALL be reunited on Saturday August the 15th.

Last night, Ellison and I had 'movie night' (something Rusty and I usually do together). The movie had a few small 'scary' parts and she would look at me just after (and even turn my head to look at her) and say, 'You Okay?' and then she'd move on to Duke (the cat) asking him the same, 'You okay Duke'. She is so darn sweet and caring and motherly that I cannot see her NOT doing great with Matt. There was a part of the movie in which a little girl was hurt and crying and Ellison looked so concerned while saying, 'I wanna help her. Let's go help her. And then she can come to my house'. She also made several (fake) phone calls during the movie, to Aunt Angie, Uncle Jason, Daddy and Matt telling Matt 'Paka Paka Matt, I love you'. Oh and then just after her chats she looked at me very sincerely and said, 'I promise to be nice to Matt. I'll share my toys'.

Well she is up and I have to go...or as she puts it: 'come on baby, you gotta go to sleep!' I'm not really sure why I have to go back to bed (I just got up) but I am sure that I am about to find out!

Love to all - Temple!!!!

Sunday, July 12th, 2009: Mama's Last Dance with Matt

Mama & Matt Breakdance - Here is an example of Matt telling me what to do through body language. Isn't he precious and a great little dancer...ha ha. Oh and don't look at my behind please!! Papa gladly recorded this little bit.

Here is Matt 'playing dead'. This is one of the cutest things that I taught him while in Kaz. Now you may not be able to tell what is going on here, but mama knows - mama always knows! Ha ha, one day I sat Matt on my lap facing me and played like I was dead - mouth agape and eyes wide open and blank - then I would reach out and tickle him and he'd laugh and laugh like a girl. So here, Matt does the 'blank stare' and then comes back to tickle me. It is so cute - he is so precious and I miss him (and his papa) sooooooo much. This video was also taken on July 12th. I left the country on July 13th and Rusty and Matt should return home on August 15th! Keep your fingers crossed (and toes too)!!!

July 11, 2009 - Mama's Little Berry Picker

Matt picking cherries from the tree that sits behind the swings on the playground...

These pictures are from one of my last visits to the babyhouse (remember I left not soon after to return to the states and my Ellison). Matt is the tallest in his group and he was so determined to pick every cherry in site. All the while the caregivers were yelling at him to 'stop', well at least that is what Papa thinks, but mama thougth it was altoghter too cute to put an end to. He'd pick a cherry, stick it in his mouth, get what he wanted out of it (just that first delicious taste), pull it back out and feed it to me or his friends. Mama quickly talked Matt into feeding Adalzhan (pictured here) and Nastya instead! Ha ha - it was adorable...Here is a short video clip too!

SHE SAID YES!!!!

...BUT NO TO IMMEDIATE EXECUTION

SORRY FOR NOT POSTING FOR SO LONG. WE WENT TO COURT, GOT OUR PETITION GRANTED, BUT IT WILL NOT GO INTO EFFECT FOR 15 DAYS. RUSTY WILL STAY HERE WITH MURAT AND I WILL GO BACK TO THE STATES - I LAND ON TUES AT 710PM!!! RUSTY WILL SEND ME UPDATES AND PICS AND I WILL POST FROM HOME BUT WE WONT BE ONLINE FOR A FEW DAYS MOST LIKELY AS THE INTERNET IS DOWN AT OUR NEW APT (WE MOVED THUS THE LOSS IN COMMUNICATION).

WE ARE ALL GOOD! MURAT IS OUR SON, JUST NOT YET!

I AM AT THE INTERNET CAFE TYPING ONE HANDED WITH A KITTEN IN MY LAP. I JUST FOUND HIM IN THE STREET AND HE IS TOO CUTE TO LEAVE BEHIND!!!!!! I AM GOING TO TAKE HIM BACK TO THE APT!!!!

WILL POST AGAIN AS SOON AS WE CAN-LOVE TO ALL!!!!!

TEMPLE, RUSTY AND MATT POST (OR MR MAN AS I NOW CALL HIM)

Court Decision is...

...to Be Announced at 2:30pm....

PRAY IT'S A YEAH!

We went to court this morning at 10am (remember, we are 9 hours ahead of you, well most of you) and the judge said that we are to come back at 230pm for her decision. The decision we are after is of course a YES in addition to IMMEDIATE EXECUTION meaning that we will get to go and pick Murat up from the babyhouse and take him back to the apartment until his paperwork is done (about 12 more days in country for Rusty).

We are very hopeful that the judge will decide in our favor. Last week, our friends went to court and got the same delayed decision type deal - they came back at 2pm to hear the wonderful news that they were the proud parents of their precious little boy (also a special needs toddler).

If you are awake, please keep your fingers crossed and send us some good luck and prayers!

Love to all,
Temple & Rusty = )

July 9, 2009 - Last Visit Before Final Court

(Day 30)

Our little doorman, saying paka paka AND then shutting us out or in!

Papa zerberting Murat.....he loves it!

Paka paka, okay you can come in...

Washing hands after the 'big dump'...please note we were at the sink for about 10-15 minutes. He and Ellison will get along great, when they are not fighting over the bathroom!

They each have their own comb? What? If you notice MURATs the one in the upper left hand corner under the name MYPAT. The second pic is of the tub that the caregivers shower the kids off in and I believe that is a changing table, but I've never seen them use it!

My boy checking out the ka-ka he made (a little gross but sweet all the same). I couldn't believe they each had their own potty? Pretty impressive actually!!!! (Matt told us he had to Kah-kit when we were outside. He made it all the way back to his room and to the potty before depositing his goods. What a good boy! Ellison you better be listening!!!!)

Hey Arnold in Russian...

(Here's How I Entertained Myself in Almaty! ha ha kidding)

Our Apt in Almaty (June 7th & 8th)

I know we are going back in time a bit here but I have been meaning to upload this for awhile now - our son was just much cuter! This is where we stayed in Almaty for a couple of days!

July 5: Monkey Boy

Here is a video of Matt climbing up the 'old bar thing' that sits in front of one of the many verandas. He is so impressive...even goes over the top, but only because mama grabs him with her free hand - a very safe activity (ha ha)....we assure you!

July 4th 2009 - No fireworks but lots of fun!

Check out how mama taught Matt to wear his bag like a back pack. Isn't he the cutest and coolest kid in Kaz!!!! (we think so anyway) PS-this prompted us to go out and buy him a backpack - it is more 'christmas story'ish (followers of the movie will know what I mean) as it is a gray furry mouse. Matt wants absolutely nothing to do with it...ha ha-smart boy!

Maternity Hospital #2 where one Matthew Russell Post, Jr. was born, under a different alias of course!!

Just laughing at papa!!!!

Mr. Precious making a creation of his own!

Matt cleaning up, every single piece - there are 208!!! We are unsure it he has a touch of OCD or if this is really FUN for him?!?!

Hmm, will this fit ma?

Matt in the corner of the veranda where he runs and waits for us to come and find him. It is all giggles when we get to him!

July 2, 2009: A Wordy Post!

Hi everyone...I've just realized that I post way more pictures and videos than I do notes about how our trip is going and how our little man is attaching, so I figured I better write a quick update. Uralsk is great. We are loving our time here. Our days fly by. Some days are hot (108+) and dry and other days are cool (60-) and breezy. Yesterday was so cold that we had to play inside because Rusty was only wearing a t-shirt and claimed to be 'freezing'...ha ha. Yes, I know all of you who traveled in the winter are jealous...don't worry we are soaking up some of the good weather for you too!

Matt is doing great. We have gone from him shunning us (first day) to giggling and laughing and playing with us (first few days) to him re-shunning us full on when we arrived to pick him up and dress him (day 3-day 7ish), which would be followed by his pulling away from us and NYET'ing the caregivers at their request for him to go with us outside, which would end with him again giggling and playing with us outside.

A few days into our visits, he ran hot and cold - sometimes he would go with us more happilly then others and for about 3 straight visits Matt would get very clingy and close to tears about half way through our seemingly fine visit and all we could do was hold him.

But this too passed and by a little over a week into visits, he was all ours. There was a transformation one day when we showed up - actually it was on Father's Day. He started his usually whining and I thought, oh no, not today...but this time our boy was whining for us!!! He climbed over the gate divider and ran straight to his papa. Now when we show up he is always waiting at that gate. He always smiles when he sees us and we have to run to him to keep him from falling over the gate in his excitement. It is entirely too cute. He is very particular about just about everything - perhaps he has a touch of mama's OCD...ha ha. He has us sit on the floor and dress him, he usually picks out which shoes he wants and he always demands to wear his socks with his sandals (except for the day that Olga successfully talked him out of it, as mama had n0ne!)

These past few days, he has accepted a non-paying position as our little 'doorman'. He opens and closes all doors behind me, Rusty and Olga as we enter or leave the babyhouse. However, as of yesterday, Matt has added a mischievious twist to his role - he now likes to close us out or in and giggle from the other side - he is a little rascal.

Our visits begin with us changing him, then taking him down the stairs to outside, then we usually follow Matt into one of the many verandas....where he drinks (demands) his juice, then we move on to the playground - he usually runs right at the swings. There is a lot to do and a lot to show our little man and we are enjoying every minute of it.

It's funny because through his earlier pictures and video I always pegged him for a 'laid back sweetie pie who was most likely a follower'....hmm, it would appear that my diagnosis was a bit off. Matt is anything but any of that, well besides the sweet part, but we couldn't be happier him!!!! (Below is a short clip of us playing in the veranda...Matt likes it when we chase him and he will keep walking toward us until we do!)

June 30, 2009: Matt & Friend Swinging

June 30 - Afternoon Visit:
Fun on the Playground with Mama

This was so cute....Matt and I got bombarded by this group of kids as it was there time on the playground at the end of my visit (oh papa was sick today). They all wanted the swings we were playing by. So I scooted Matt's little butt over and helped another one on. Matt was all for it, surprising mama, as usually the kids can be a bit territorial once they are on a beloved swing! And so I did not stop at my own son....and moved on to Kirill's swing...he he. He is small but don't let his size full you. Kirill knows what he wants and speaks in full sentences. He is like a little man trapped in a little boy's body. I was even more surprised when he allowed me to scoot him over to make room for another on the swing that he had claimed!

Here are the other two, Kirill is on the right.

Throwing sand at mama from the sandbox. When I said he is 'all boy', I meant 'ALL BOY'!
But he is a little sweetie and has finally learned (well almost) not to throw it on us or in our faces. We have been using the word NYET (NO) a lot but he is getting it. Now his little buddy Aldy, is another story - that boy threw so much sand all over me and Matt yesterday that I could just eat him up (he is a pudgey little dude that the caregivers call Balsac for bread!!)

Eating Puffs...

Aggressively!!!!