Home...

Just a short post to let you all know we made it back safely to Northern Ireland on Saturday night, it was a long day and a half of travelling and the three of us have not quite caught up on our sleep yet.

Leah was remarkable on the plane and cried for a total of 10 mins out of 11 hours flying time! We landed late on Saturday evening and were met at the plane by an airport official who ushered us into a little room where all our family where waiting for us, again for a little girl who only had 3 hours sleep in the previous 36 hours Leah was absolutely fantastic, smiling and laughing at everyone.

We thought when we eventually made it back our overwhelming emotions would have been relief and joy to be home. While this is of course true it still feels strange to be really here with Leah, I don’t think it has quite sunk in yet!! Our family feel the same and mum mentioned last night that she has to tell herself when she wakes up that we are really home!!

Give me a few days and I’ll be back to update you with a ridiculous amount of photos of Leah in her new house with her new family, I promise!

Its good to be home….

Philip, Amanda & Leah

Almaty airport, 55 degrees C warmer than we arrived!

Very tired Leah landing in London

We're going home!!!

It gives me enormous pleasure to announce that at 4pm afternoon I was able to collect Leah’s passport, complete with freshly printed visa!!

*pause for cheers and applause*

It obviously wasn’t straightforward (nothing ever is in Kazakhstan) but with the help of Karen at Stormont back home and the consulate staff here in Almaty we were able to pick up our visa 24hrs after we applied for it. God has been with us every stage of the journey so far and certainly did not let us down at this final hurdle. Thanks to all who have been praying for us!

Also got good news about the Nel’s, they got their visa yesterday and will be flying home today. Luke should be taking his first lungful of South African air about the same time as we land in Belfast.

Leah has come a long way in the last 8 weeks, from the quiet little girl we met who couldn’t sit upright, made no eye contact at all and had no power in her legs to the happy, nosey, noisy girl who today took her first few steps while holding her mummies hands. It’s been a very long, intense, indescribably frustrating journey but ultimately so incredibly worth it!

See you tomorrow Northern Ireland!!!

Philip, Amanda & Leah

p.s. John, as Leah's father I want 25% of the revenue from the lil-leah merchandise!



Leah posing with her new passport



“I’ve told you before, I’m not nosey”!!!



Leah showing off her new trick



View from our apartment

Made it too Almaty

Rollercoaster ride to the end!! Yesterday we got a lot of good news on the ‘visa trail’ Nadia came through big time with Leah’s passport, she managed to get it processed in Ust on Tuesday then flown to the consul registration in Astana then flown back to Almaty all on Wednesday!! We also spoke with someone in the visa section who told us they wanted to help us and would process the visa within one day, woohoo!!

So, we arrived at the visa office bright and early on Thursday morning, full of hope and optimism. It didn’t last long, true to UK form we found out there was a massive amount of extra documents required that we didn’t have, we also discovered that they could only process a ‘visit visa’ in one day which would only allow Leah to visit the UK for 3 months!!?!! A settlement visa on the other hand would take a lot longer to process.

Cue a frantic 2 hours when we got as many documents copied and faxed to us from Nadia in Ust and also back home, I also wrote a few documents on my laptop and printed them out at an internet café round the corner, we also visited the vice-consul and pleaded our case for an early visa. After all this we went back to the visa office and submitted what documents we had, we must ring them tomorrow morning to see if they have been able to give us a visa in time for our flight on Saturday. It goes without saying but PLEASE PRAY!!! God’s timing has been perfect for us all along and we know He won’t let us down now!

On the plus side the last few days have been the first that we have really felt that Leah is our daughter! While we were in Ust it still felt like we were just visiting her but actually leaving Ust with her and flying to Almaty was a wonderful, surreal experience, thankfully Leah was an absolute angel on the plane!! It feels so nice to be back in a modern cosmopolitan city again, our apartment is situated right in middle of a massive pedestrian area teeming with shops, restaurants and cafes, all three of us enjoyed a nice stroll last night.

We are also learning more about her personality every day and we can safely say she is ‘no dozer’ as they say in our part of the world! She is as crafty as can be and is not slow in letting you know exactly what she wants, I feel we may have our hands full! J

Philip, Amanda & Leah


“Who are you calling nosey”!?!?!?


“Seriously, do I look stupid in this teddy bear outfit”?


Leah in her new buggy/cot/playpen


Almaty Baby!!


Our new apartment. Left tower. 15th floor. Features working lift!

Last day in Ust...

Today is our last full day in Ust-Kamenogorsk, almost 8 weeks to the day after arriving! Tomorrow we fly to Almaty, one step closer to home!

Today is also the day we find out if Leah’s passport has arrived, if it has then we will go to the British visa office in Almaty on Thursday morning and attempt to start the visa process for Leah with a photocopy of her passport while the original is in Astana for 2 days.

It’s difficult to properly reflect on our time here yet, it has definitely been the most intense and amazing experience of our lives but I can safely say that we are all looking forward to the Blue skys of Ulster!!!!

Once we get any information on Leah’s passport and visa we will let you know, our flights are booked for the 29th but making these flights will depend on staff at the visa office being prepared to start the application process with a photocopy, please pray!

Philip, Amanda & Leah



Out for a walk.

Leah chewing

Happy New Year Kaz

22nd of March was Kaz new year and Ust-Kamenogorsk celebrated big style, the main square in the town was taken over by Urts (traditional Kazak dwellings, big fancy tents basically), boys wrestling on stage, men ‘singing’ and playing dumbras (big guitars), women in traditional dress and tens of thousands of people. It was also the scene of the ‘first official outing of the Davidson Family’!! Can’t tell you how good it was to get out the apartment with Leah, the weather was fine and she was nice and snug in the buggy we borrowed from our coordinator, it almost felt like we were just away on holiday together.

Leah continues to be great and we have learnt so much more about her and her strong willed personality over the last four days, she has already settled into a routine here and is eating, sleeping and playing really well. She falls asleep around 8pm and sleeps till around 12am when she wakes up for a drink/nappy change, she then sleeps to 4am, gets another drink/nappy change and then sleeps right through to 7.15am.

We are also learning which cry means what and have also picked up a few tricks which are helping to calm her down and get her to sleep. We know that all along God has had a particular plan for us and this prolonged time together with just the three of us may be more valuable than we will ever realise.

We are still waiting for her passport to arrive but are fairly sure it will happen on Tuesday, we will then fly to Almaty on Wednesday and attempt to start her visa application process with a photocopy of her passport while the original is in Astana at t he consul registration section, if this is successful we should be able to fly home on Sat 29th March.

We are also happy to report that Luke is feeling a lot better and should be released from hospital on Monday.

Pray that all the documents will finally be in place to allow us to come home on the 29th.

Philip, Amanda & Leah



Ust Town Square




Inside a 'Urt'




Outside our luxury apartment (5th floor, no lift!!)



Leah's 'funny face', same one mummy used to pull 28 years ago!



Happy Leah

Apartment Life.

Good news and bad news!! Which do you want to hear first?!?...

Ok, good news… Since we took her back to the apartment on Tuesday Leah has been fantastic, she is better than we could have even hoped for! She is sleeping really well and food entry and exit is going according to plan! We have also seen wonderful progress with bonding since it has been just the three of us back here, she gets so excited when either one of us come back into the room after being away for a bit.

Ok then, now the bad news. Leah’s passport has STILL not arrived it may come today but we won’t know till later on, either way our flight home on the 22nd is now impossible. Our best hope is now somewhere around the 27th - 29th March. Also little Luke was taken into hospital yesterday with an extremely high fever, he is much better now but will have to stay there for at least 5 days.

The walls have been kinda closing in on us over the last day or so, we are cooped up in a small apartment, paranoid that Leah will get sick again and longing to go home! Its hard to understand why its taking so long but as we look back over this whole process we can see clearly the hand of God guiding us according to His time not ours, if we had come out here when we expected then we would have never met our Leah so we have to believe that He is still in control and that all this is happening for a good reason, as I have already mentioned one positive thing to come from this time is how much Leah’s relationship has improved with us even over the last two days!

This whole process is not for the faint hearted but ultimately so very worth it!!!

Farewell to Bill & Dana Spyker who return to Chicago today, remember you three promised to come visit us in N Ireland soon!!!!!!

Pray that her passport will come today and we can fly home next week.
Pray that Luke will recover soon.

Philip, Amanda & Leah



The Spykers, Nels and Davidsons

Much Better...

Since our last post we have moved to an apartment, its wonderful to have a little more room and be able to cook our own meals, its also a lot cheaper than the Shiney River. The Nels moved at the same time and are in the same block as us, they’re on the second floor and we are waay up on the fifth! Luke is a lot happier in his new roomier surroundings and we’re sure it will be better for Leah as well.

News on the Leah front is also good, thanks to all who have been praying for her! Her first night in hospital was pretty terrible for her, she didn’t eat and didn’t sleep the entire night, she was also, um, how can I put this delicately…. all backed up for about 3 days!!

Thankfully she is a lot better now, she slept well last night for the first time in 4-5 days, she also napped through the day. She is eating really well again, we found out that she LOVES mince meat and mashed potato! Apparently I was reared on mince and spuds so she must be taking after me!! We are still hoping that she will be able to be released tomorrow, the only thing really bothering her now is her gums and she still has a bit of a cold.

22nd is a possibility for our return to Northern Ireland though there are still a few outstanding documents which we need for this to happen so we would appreciate your prayers that the necessary docs will be here in time, to say we are looking forward to going home is to make an understatement of quite epic proportions!!!!!

Philip, Amanda & Leah


p.s. Congratulations to Amanda’s Mum and Dad, Marie and Billy on their 40th wedding anniversary. We are only 33 years behind you!!!



“I’m sick and all mummy can do is text”!!!



Turns out nappy changing isn’t that hard after all.



“Which one’s Charlie again”?!?

Spoke too soon...

Leah obviously didn’t read the script!! She was meant to come back to the hotel where we could begin our life of idyllic bliss together, she may have even managed a ‘night night mummy and daddy’ by her second night!!

However, what actually happened is she contracted a viral infection almost immediately, had a fever of 39 degrees (for the benefit of our Americans readers that’s very high) and was admitted to hospital again this morning.

We were worried that it was a reoccurrence of her ear infection which would have meant more anti-biotics but thankfully this is not the case, the doctors are actually quite happy with her, her temp is normal again and she should be out by Monday.

The first night with we knew something was not quite right but we put it down to the fact that she was in a new place with new people caring for her. The next morning however we knew that is was something more serious, she didn’t sleep, didn’t want to eat, didn’t want to play and the only thing that would stop her from crying was when we rocked her in our arms, even when she fell asleep as soon as we stopped rocking she would cry! 48 hours of taking it in turns to rock her was kinda tough. She has also only had one dirty nappy in the past 3 days which is probably a major reason why she is so distressed, the doctors are aware of this and will be able to help her.

Amanda is able to stay with her in the hospital which is great for Leah, I wanted to stay also but was told it was not allowed, they were actually amused that I wanted to, “Kazakhstan men would not want to do such a thing” they said!!

I can visit for over 6 hours per day which is not too bad, pray that all will go well for Amanda and Leah. We would like to go home now thank you very much, there has been a slight delay with Leah’s passport but it looks likely that we will be flying back home on the 22nd March.

Pray that Amanda and Leah will be preserved and protected in a strange place for them.

Philip, Amanda & Leah

Liberation Day!!

been a long time coming but at 1.30pm this afternoon we were finally allowed to take Leah from the baby house back to our hotel!!

There were a lot of ‘firsts’ when we made it back to our room, the first time I’ve ever changed a nappy (ok it was only a wet one, I’ll leave the nasty ones to Amanda for the time being till I feel up to it), first time we got to feed her, first time we got to bath her, we couldn’t wait to wash away the orphanage smell!

We then got to spend about 30mins staring at her in her cot while she was sleeping, we were worried she might disappear if we took our eyes off her! At last we truly feel like her parents!!

As I’m typing this she is rolling around our hotel bed playing with her toys and making happy gurgling noises, I don’t care if it sounds a little clichéd but all the trials and heartaches of the last 3 years or so are just melting away!!

Philip, Amanda & Leah

Where on earth am I!?!?!

At last!

Mmmm, that new baby smell!

Just checkin my emails before bedtime.

Hospital - day 4

Its been over 6 weeks since we landed in Kazakhstan, a winter wonderland with beautiful sights and harsh temperatures. Spring has now well and truly sprung and the snow has disappeared revealing the grubby and slightly depressing reality underneath.

There is a non too subtle metaphor for our trip floating around there somewhere but lets move unto a more uplifting subject, Leah!! She was wonderful today, we were allowed to visit for 40mins in the morning and afternoon and on both occasions we were greeted with the smile she normally reserves for the Kazak dolly in the baby house or ‘Leo’ the lion! She is back to being as good as she has ever been and we can’t wait for Tuesday when we can at last bring her home with us!

We must make special mention again of our agency and their staff out here. We have been using Enroute who are affiliates of the ‘Frank Foundation’ and we can honestly say they have been nothing less than fantastic with us. Without Nicole our contact in the US, our coordinator Nadia, translator Raigul and the one and only Victor this would have been an even tougher trip. If anyone reading this is looking around for an agency or if you have already chosen Enroute/Frank Foundation we can tell you that you’ll be in good hands with ‘Frank’.

Pray that Leah’s good health will continue and that she will be able to come back with us on Tuesday.

Philip, Amanda & Leah



Love the hat!

Hospital - day 3

We were praying last night that when we visited Leah today we would be encouraged by how much better she was, thankfully God answered our prayer and we found Leah pretty much back to her normal self this afternoon, I think the nurses who are looking after her were pleased to see how happy she was to see us.

If it wasn’t for the fact that this is a holiday weekend in Kazakhstan and the doctor who can allow her to leave won’t be back till Tuesday she could probably leave tomorrow, as it is we will have to be patient and wait another 3 days before we can finally take her home.

Congratulations to all the American families who arrived a few weeks ago, they had court on Thursday and Friday and were all successful! A few more of Leah’s Kaz cousins finding homes!!

Hope you enjoy the few pics from today with Leah in her orphanage clothes.

Philip, Amanda & Leah



Leah’s home for the last 3 days



Get me outa here!!!!

I love zips.

Leah's Nurses at the Hospital

Hospital

An easy process this is not!!

Dear friends, blog readers across the world, let me give you a brief summary of the last couple of days.

On Wednesday (the day we should have been taking Leah out of the baby house for good) we spent the entire day chasing paper and only made it to the orphanage after 4pm, when we saw Leah we knew right away she wasn’t good, you could feel the heat coming off her from across the room!

Thursday morning our visit was cancelled but we were told we could see her after 2.30. At 2pm our translator Raigul came to the hotel and almost beat our door down as we opened it she blurted out “bad news, Leah is in Hospital, you can’t visit her for 5 days”. After the initial shock had worn off we managed to get out of her that she was no worse but they were concerned that she was not getting well fast enough in the baby house so they had sent her that morning to the hospital were she would get better a lot quicker, we asked to be taken to see her right away but our coordinator here had not even been told where she had been taken but would find out first thing in the morning. Obviously no one had thought the child’s new parents might want to know where there daughter was!!

Thursday evening was spent trying to come to terms with the fact that just the day before we had been named as her official parents and now 24hrs later we had no idea where our daughter was or how she was!!!

Friday morning we found out that Leah was staying in a hospital just 1 mile away from the baby house but we couldn’t visit her to the evening. After an eternity 5pm came and we briefly visited Leah in the hospital, thankfully she is on the mend. Her temperature is back to normal and she has been moved to a recovery room for the next few days, she will be well enough to finally take her back to the hotel on Tuesday. The hospital itself seems to be very clean and well run, we had hoped to be allowed to stay with her in the hospital but this is not possible, we should at least get a longer visit tomorrow.

The last couple of days have been trying to say the least but we know that God is in control and that very soon we will be winging our way back to Northern Ireland!! This whole episode has made us long to be home even more, we take it for granted that we live in a country where we expect to be treated in a certain way and that if we are not happy with a situation you can at the very least complain about it and try to get the problem resolved. Here its more a case off ‘like it or lump it!”.

As I’m typing this blog I’m humming the national anthem and can’t wait to kiss the tarmac at Belfast Airport!!

Philip, Amanda & Leah

Luke's day of escape

Today was Luke's first taste of freedom, it was great to see him finally out of the baby house and back tearing up his room at the hotel, he is blazing the trail for Leah!!

Long day of chasing paper today, we finally saw her new birth certificate and adoption order naming us as her parents, it was nice moment in the registry office when the registrar called us forward and asked "mama" to sign here and "papa" to sign here!! ;)

We think it was a wise decision to leave her in the orphanage for a few extra days, she was obviously not well today and this was day two of her five day treatment cycle, her first day back at the Shiny River will be strange enough for her without her being unwell also. We may be able to get her out on Sat/Sun but we will have to wait and see.

In further family news its Avril's birthday today, happy birthday sis, we've got you a niece for your birthday, hope you like her!! Unfortunately she is non-returnable!

Pray that Leah will recover quickly.
Pray for Bill and Dana and also Amy (pictured below) who will both be having court tomorrow.

Philip, Amanda & Leah

Leah with something in each hand as usual.

mmmm, chinese food!

Last Day of Appeal

Another ‘arrrrgghhh’ moment this afternoon, we were told that Leah had not sufficiently recovered from her ear infection and they would need to keep her in the baby house for another 6 or 7 days. We understand the reasons why and off course it’s the best thing for her to stay where she is until she is better, especially when she will be leaving Ust on a 9 hour flight soon but even so it was kinda tough to take today. If we had a cat I’d be kicking him around the hotel room tonight!!!

Thankfully Luke is well enough to come out tomorrow so it will help to see him around the hotel although the news about Leah has dampened the mood a little for Jeremy and Elaine also. Ah well, at least we can continue to visit her and as far as she is concerned nothing has changed, if she had been back with us a few nights and then got sick it would have been much worse.

On the bright side, as of 12am tonight the appeal period is over and we are officially the parents of Leah Jane Irina Davidson!!

Pray that Leah will recover quickly and that we can bring her home soon.

In other exciting news Leah has got a brand new cousin, a healthy new baby Stanfield girl!! Congratulations to Amanda’s sister Annette, Jonathan and the new big sisters, Caitlin, Anna and Megan.

Philip, Amanda & Leah

Appeal - 3 days to go

Its getting close now, we had thought we could take her home on Tuesday but we found out today that it will actually be Wednesday before we can get her, only 3 more days to go!! She has never been outside in her life so we can’t wait to see her face when she gets her first taste of freedom.

We had a really great day today, even on our 34th day with her she is still improving and doing new things with us. We also got to change and dress her for the first time this morning, it was funny to see her reaction when she realised we were the ones who where getting her ready, it was like, ‘what are you two doing here’!?!

Its strange for us spending another Sunday away from Cardy Gospel Hall, Sundays are normally so busy for us its weird having so little to do here, only a couple more weeks to go!!

Keep praying, we are almost there!

Philip, Amanda & Leah

ps

Happy Mothers Day Mummy!!!

Leah xo

Best Mothers Day Ever!!

Leahs buddys.

My shoes are on the right!