February 19

I’m sure many of you have been waiting for a final update, or maybe you gave up hope of ever seeing one by now.
Our trip home was long, but smooth. Olesya has proven to be quite the traveler. She slept through all three take-offs and did not seem to be affected by air pressure. She slept when she was tired and ate when she was hungry. The only crying she ever did on the plane was when she was getting tired, but as soon as she found her thumb, the crying stopped.
As soon as we cleared customs in Charlotte, Olesya became a US citizen and will retain her Kazakh citizenship until she is 18. Since I have spent so much time in Kazakhstan over the past 3 months, I too am pursuing dual citizenship (just kidding).
We were so excited to get to DIA so we could finally meet up with Joe again. He was excited and happy to see me, but I think he was more excited to see Olesya. He took her from me right away and did not give her back. I had to take my own heavy suitcases off of the baggage carousel and drag them through the parking lot while he got to carry Olesya. After being away from us for almost four weeks, I guess he was entitled to that.
Olesya has settled into life at home quite easily. After having to fight with her and her father for the covers my first night back, I decided to put her in the crib the next night and that worked out just fine. She eats everything she tries and after sleeping all afternoon, evening and night on the 17th, she has settled into a fairly regular sleep pattern, and didn’t seem to suffer much jet lag. She has enjoyed the outings we have had so far to restaurants and shopping because she loves to look at everything. We were worried that she might be afraid of our dog at first because although he is gentle, he is kind of big (lab mix), but those worries were not necessary because she was not frightened at all. Every time he gets close she opens her mouth and tries to lean in to kiss him on the nose, but he keeps just out of reach.
We have appreciated all of the kind thoughts and messages many of you sent while we were in Kazakhstan and we are also thankful for the many congratulatory messages we have received from friends and strangers who have been following our story. For those of you who are still in the process, we know that it can be long and frustrating at times, but we are proof that eventually there will be a happy ending.