Camp

Leah had her first trip to Schoodic today... she enjoyed visiting with lots of people, Grammie and Papa drove over to bring an extra high chair to keep at camp for she and Braden, she got to see Uncle Matt and meet Aunt Emily. On the way home we stopped in Milo and saw GG, Aunt Julie, Uncle Phillip, Aunt Cheryl, Uncle Steve and cousin Michelle. She charmed them all and then crashed for the car ride home! The highlight of the day for Leah was her ride in the golf cart... Jacob, Whitney, Conary, Austin and Anna have all loved the golf cart and it seems the newest cousin is enjoying it as well! See for yourself... Oh and the black flies did not lug her off....

Bigger than Leah!

Daddy shot his first turkey this weekend... 18.5lbs! So much for his catching up on sleep before he goes back to work as his friend and "guide" Gary arrived at 3:20am to pick him up for the big hunt. It was very exciting though... here are some pictures... of Gary and Dad, Dad and Leah, of the Kelley men watching the "circle of life" and of Milton demonstrating how to clean it out. Uncle Matt may fry it up for us later today...

New Shoes, New Chair

Yesterday Leah got new shoes from Grammie Rozanne and a new chair from her friend Hannah Winslow Burke. She loves them both!

The new shoes were doctor ordered from her orthopeditic doctor who we saw yesterday. As some of you know she has an issue with her foot and we were happy to find out yesterday that it is pretty minor. She has a weak tendon that causes it to turn instead of lay flat so the doctor said she needed nice stiff shoes. Of course this is impossible to find in a size 2! So, she had to resort to the retro stride rites! Grammie said that Great Nana Shirley bought the same ones for Uncle John 33 years ago!

Leah is doing well, still sleeping good, but not eating quite as good- we think she now knows that there is plenty of food and choices unlike orphanage life. Andrew and I are just now exhausted, we think jet lag is settling in now after the first few days of pure adrenaline. Luckily the weather forecast seems perfect for laying low and we won't be tempted to be outside enjoying the weather like when we first returned. Andrew will go back to work on Monday so he is trying hard to rest up and spend a lot of time bonding with Leah between now and then.

Our first born...

Oh and for those of you wondering.... Bella is being a good big sister... Leah is not quite sure what to think of her yet, but overall they are at least tolerating each other! I think Bella still thinks she is on top since she is the one who gets to sleep in our room at night and Leah is across the hall!

Home

Hi Everyone! Being home is wonderful, it still doesn't feel real! Leah is eating and sleeping like a champ- she especially likes Papa's baked beans and Grammie's roast chicken and stuffing! Lots of calories so Mom and Dad like that! She had a good long weekend meeting more family and a few neighbors on our inaugural walk around the neighborhood! Her face rash is way better but now she seems to have a chest cold, not surprising with the temperature change and that I had the same thing in India. Daddy got to go turkey hunting yesterday morning- his goal was to bag one bigger than Leah but he came home empty handed! Today she has her first pediatrican appointment. Here are an assortment of pictures... the one on the "harley" is at the Delhi airport before we flew out that night... the rest are from home.

BIA

Wow, landing at Bangor has never been so wonderful! Andrew started pointing out landmarks from Waterville on during the flight in. Leaving Newark was also neat as Leah and I's seats were on the same side as the statue of liberty which was rather fitting!
Family met us at the airport and came back to our house for a bit to help out which was wonderful... now they are gone and the 3 of us are settling in for a "long winter's nap". Leah did great meeting people and we are just in disbelief that we are really here.
Thanks to everyone who did things or brought things for us while we were gone... so kind!
Good Night.

Almost Home!

Would it be corny if we started quoting Lee Greenwood or Bruce Springsteen or heck, even Toby Keith right now? We are safe and sound at Newark! New Jersey has never looked so good! Leah was incredible on the flight, slept all but 2 or 3 hours of it (much more than Mom and Dad did) We had 3 seats, which were also bulkhead seats and the bulkhead with bassinet, so we had almost as much room as first class!

Friday in New Delhi

We had a nice time sightseeing today... we went to the Presidential Palace, Red Fort, Gandhi's burial site and a mosque... can't recall the Indian names of these places right now... sorry! Here are a few pictures...

Our hotel let us have a late checkout since our flight is a late night one which is great so Leah is having what we hope is her last hotel nap for a long time and Andrew and I are packing up... the flight is on schedule... we are pretty antsy to get to the airport and get on that plane!

Big Night Out...

We just went out on the town to do some shopping and to eat supper at McDonald's! Leah loves chicken nuggets almost as much as Bella does (as some of you know Bella and I make a habit of sharing a 4 piece for an after school snack). Of course this McDonald's does not serve beef but none the less we were thrilled with a strawberry shake and some fries! The highlight though was our trip home in the rickshaw... may be the highlight of the trip.... I decided that Andrew's papa would have LOVED it... it is basically half moped half golf cart!!! Also, Andrew thinks Leah is like Papa whenever she is being impatient and ready to go somewhere! Oh, my Dad, Papa Jim, was upset to see that in the post of Leah with her fleece coat on yet her toes were bare... so tonight Andrew has put socks on Leah. She has no idea what they are all about as we did not think of it, but it must be the first socks she has worn! She is not quite sure she likes them!

Off to watch American Idol- we know who won, but still will be fun to watch....

We got it!

We have Leah's Visa! So, every step is now complete! It did not come easy and Andrew's salesman side came in handy when he got us and and baby Mira's family to go from the outside waiting room to the inside A/C waiting room! It is 103.4 here today. It was a nice moment when we got the Visa. The Embassy worker had us raise our right hand and repeat an oath that basically included a statement that Leah was now our daughter. We are ready to come home... it is the first time we have had no stress or anxiety in almost 2 weeks! The plan is to leave here tomorrow night and be home on Saturday. Will let you know if it changes. Andrew and Leah are both napping now, I never can seem to nap, and then later we hope to actually enjoy the rest of our stay and do a bit of sight seeing. We may go see Gandhi's tomb and see a few other places.

Bad Habits

We are waiting for room service right now and it seems as if Dad is teaching Leah some bad habits... she is quite enthralled by the 1995 Friends episode on the TV.... by the way Ty and Court.. I think it is the same Samsung as we have! Oh and yes Leah is wearing a fleece... our A/C is very cold tonight and we had that in our bag in case it was a cold day when we returned to Maine. She loves it. Bell just rang! Dinner's here!

Extra Baggage

Leah at baggage claim when we arrived in New Delhi last night...

Embassy visit

Day one at the Embassy went well, except for our coordinator's car broke down, or her driver's car did, everyone here has personal drivers. Anyhow, we are on schedule to have her Visa issued by tomorrow afternoon but there are no guarantees as we are finally coming to understand. So to play it safe we are pretty sure we will stay until Friday instead of taking the late flight out tomorrow... so, if all goes according to plan, but we are just living day to day now... should have had that mindset all along... we will leave here late Friday night and be home to Bangor Saturday afternoon. But, we almost don't want to jinx ourselves!

So, great story... another family is here adopting as well... so we shared our coordinator with them and the car today which was awesome having someone to talk too and hang out with. The new mom is a single woman from Atlanta and her parents are here with her from Philly. She just adopted Mira from Pune on Monday. Mira is 20 months old so she and Leah were best buds playing in the embassy waiting room and doctor's office waiting room. (no cameras aloud at Embassy so no pics today) They are all of Indian descent so that is helpful too. But, best part of the story is that baby Mira has an uncle who is a Physical Therapist in Presque Isle!!!

Leah seems to have some rash on her face the past few days- you may have noticed in the pictures. So at her VISA medical app't today the doctor prescribed an ointment. Hopefully it helps, some people have thought it was from the heat but he thinks it is just some sort of contact dermatitis- not sure if I spelled that right.

Anyhow, take care and wish us luck at the VISA app't tomorrow.

We love reading all the comments on here and people's emails to both of us... sorry that we don't respond to them all- with the time change by the time we open up email again we have so many to read that we don't have time to respond to them all! We feel like rock stars! Oh but to respond to one- Hi to the Blakes- so nice that you guys found us on the blog and to call my Mom, but tell Gary I know all he really wants to know is if Andrew will be home for any of turkey season!!!

In New Delhi...

We made it here- nice hotel, nice plane ride, although delayed 2 hours on the tarmac on each end.. Leah was a trooper, somewhat fussy, but slept the bulk of it.

It was a like an episode from amazing race when we walked out of the airport... weird cyclone thing here apparently the past 2 days, dust sand and wind like we had never seen before. Meanwhile we are both searching for our driver with our hotel's Mr. Harmon sign amongst at least 500 others. Andrew was pushing the luggage cart of 4 bags I was holding Leah and I won- I found our driver! And he had cold water and washcloths waiting for us in the car! Then, he let us use his cell phone to start calling Continental about rebooking flights so that was another circus.

First impressions are that Delhi is so much cleaner, more organized, etc.. than Mumbai. More historical vs. commercial I guess I would say. Anyhow, I have lost my voice- good for Andrew! and my ears are still messed up from flying and it is after 11 and we think we are heading to the Embassy around 8am so off to bed.

Leah is tucked into her "baby cot" here and doesn't seem too worse for the wear... poor baby though- what a lot of changes she has had in the past week... Oh and when we left our Mumbai hotel everyone came to say goodbye to her, after all we were there for 9 nights! When Andrew asked if the $40 cost of the hotel transfer was included in the bill, he said, "It will be complimentary sir".

We got it!

Leah's Passport was just delivered to our hotel, we are soon off to the domestic airport for our flight to Delhi. We will update you all on what our new travel plans are... ideally home by Friday afternoon, but more realistically probably Saturday. Thanks for everyone's prayers and good wishes.

When the crib's rockin...

Leah just figured this trick out...

Pretty Dress

By the way everyone I wore my fanciest dress to the passport office today hoping it would sway those in charge. It did not, so I thought everyone else at least should see me in it!

Andrew and I were both pleasantly surprised how friendly everyone else there was though- the other people waiting unhappily. At our hotel people at first did not seem to be that friendly, although now they are. Infact the manager just stopped us in "Asia's largest atrium" to tell us breakfast is on him tomorrow- and since breakfast is almost $30 we were thrilled!

Hanging in the atrium...

We are trying to find the positive or at least quirky of this trip... here's one... the lobby or atrium of our hotel is the largest in Asia!

No passport

We went to the passport office this morning. I am not sure anyone knows the definition of ineffective until you have this experience. Words can not describe it. We stood in 4 lines, went to 2 different guys offices and still nothing. They now are saying it will be issued today, but under no circumstances can we pick it up today, and that it will be delivered by "Fast Post" tomorrow.

So, for sure we will not be leaving Delhi on Tuesday night. We are beyond discouraged and frustrated at this point. However, seeing the "process" was an eye opener and we now realize that no one is lying to us and that it is just that up in the air. It was chaos. Sunil from Bal Asha went with us and Minal our India coordinator also came along but was in the car as she was not allowed inside. And to think I used to complain about the ladies at the Hampden town office when I tried to register the boat or something!

Okay, enough of that, the real world calls, I smell a poopy diaper. More during nap time.

5 Stars

First off we are not in Delhi. After further discussion with our India coordinator this morning and with friends by email who have adopted before we have decided our best recourse is to stay here and go to the passport office tomorrow ourselves along with a represenative from the orphanage and our India coordinator. We still do not understand why we could not have done this Thursday or Friday. The elections just got done here, so they think that may be part of the problems.
So, anyhow, we had stayed the first 6 nights here under our original online reservation that our friends made for us, using Matt's sister's Friends and Family discount. So last night when we had to re-stay here the rate was higher. So, this morning when it was decided we would not go to Delhi Andrew decides he wants to at least switch hotels for a change of scenery and because the one our adoption agency recommends was a bit cheaper and had free breakfast. You all know his giant appetite.
So, we leave here today and we go to the new place. It was fine, but not as compared to what we have been used to here. This place is 5 stars and wow, I guess that means something. Here we have unreal security, they check the trunks of each car entering the hotel and you and your luggage go through screening points just like the airport. Also, here we have a really nice pool area so at least we can get outside and it even has a shady, green grass area. No one was at the pool at the other place and they did not even have chairs. The crib here is almost like a real one, the one there urgh... also no tub so Leah could not have a bath, etc...
Long story short we came back here and I told our sob story to one of the managers. What company doesn't want to hear that their hotel is far superior and he gave us a better rate.
Also, he gave us a new room on a new floor, different side of the building, different decorating everything, so Andrew has his "change of scenery". Our view is now of the pool and some flowers, not of the slum. Also, it has a leather recliner which Dad and daughter are currently falling asleep in. I am now heading to the pool to read a book while they sleep.
Please keep praying that tomorrow this passport will appear. Moral of the story, when you can, go 5 stars!

Playing at the Pool

Leah Laughing

Daddy doing the tickle monster to Leah before bed!

Bad Day in Bombay

No passport, no good explanation, no good answer of when it is coming.... we have spent the day on the phone with India coordinator, 2 airlines and 2 hotels trying to figure out this out....

So, the plan is now that we leave for Delhi tomorrow, and the hope would be that the passport arrives first thing Monday and then our India coordinator will fly it to Delhi for us. So, she says we can still make our flight Tuesday night.

We are so frustrated and feel like someone is yanking our chain and we are powerless over this situation and of course no one is accepting responsibility....

Leah the swimmer...

Leah loves the pool! We are not sure she will love the temperature of Schoodic or Cold Stream this summer though!

A few other things about her....

She will do anything for a raisin...
The only word she says clearly is Daddy...
She calls Mom "Aai" as that is mother is Marathi
She is quite a ham and has a lot of personality
She is 16.4lbs and 26" tall...
She does walk, we did not know before getting here if she did, but she would rather be held or carried by one of us
She already knows her name is Leah
hmmm... guess that is all for now, oh and she has already charmed the socks of both of us!

Gateway to India

"Tourists"

Well we decided to be brave this afternoon and get out of the hotel and do a bit more sightseeing... in some ways it was good... we saw the Gateway to India that the British built when they controlled India, the famous Marine Drive, Chowpatty beach, the hotels where the terrorist attacks occured, and many of the sad scenes where Slumdog Millionaire was filmed, including the actual slum itself.

In other ways it was bad, our India coordinator had told our driver what markets to take us shopping at, and it became obvious he took us to expensive places, no doubt of friends of his... so for all of you hoping I would bring home saris and other fun things no such luck! Also just seeing more and more of how horrible SO many people here live is just tough after awhile, and then in contrast seeing how lavish other things are is just crazy. I guess we are pretty lucky and do not realize how middle class most people in the US are and that the basics are met for most people. Also, on the way home Leah was sick- we think she gets car sick like her mother! Oh and another simililarity she has to the Porter side of the family is the gap between her two front teeth, that my brother, mother, niece and I all share.... or did share before big orthodontist bills!

Not that I am a big traveler but Andrew surely is not- I am now calling him "Russ" after our dear friend Russ Bartlett who is a notorious homebody! Hope you don't mind me saying that Russ! Anyhow, Andrew basically has said if we ever get out of here the furthest he will go away from home this summer is Burlington for the 4th of July parade and perhaps he will be recovered enough by November to go Sebec or Grand Falls hunting!

Anyhow the good news is today flew by and we should know by tomorrow afternoon if Leah's passport is ready so we can fly to Delhi tomorrow... we did find out that the fee to change that flight is not a lot so that is good.... also we did find out that even if it is not ready til Monday we may still make our flight Tuesday night because the US Embassy can sometimes one day a Visa... this may be the time to use our Senator Susan Collins connections!

Oh and tonight we get to watch American Idol- we already know who got kicked off this week, but still will be great to see a regular show! It takes very little to please us right now! A Sam Adams summer on our screen porch would be utopia!

Okay here are some pictures of our day...

• another picture of Dad and Leah having a morning snooze...
• the other picture shows what happens during her afternoon nap if Dad keeps snoozing with her in the morning!
• and Leah and Mom at the end of Marine Drive...
  
  

The Before Shot

The after shot we do not have, but lets say the tray of the "baby chair" may or may not have splintered. But, this picture is our evidence as I think it looks like it was already cracking!

Our India coordinator just called back and feels quite good about us rebooking our tickets for Saturday night, as she is 98% certain the passport will be delivered to us Saturday afternoon. Please hope and pray that it happens!

Urgh... Passport...

We still do not have Leah's passport... this is a very frustrating thing... apparently it is now being issued tomorrow and they will MAIL it to the orphanage and then they will bring it to us on SATURDAY! Under NO circumstances will they let us just go pick it up tomorrow, even though we drove by the passport office on Monday. I can not wrap my brain around this as you can imagine. So, at the very least we will miss our flight Saturday to Delhi and have to rebook a later one that day or Sunday. We are less than impressed with "those in charge".

Luckily, Leah continues to do well... she has been a bit fussy today, we think she might be teething as you can see from what she is doing to the puzzle piece in this picture. Luckily the "cure" seems to be a walk around the hotel in the ergo with Mommy whilst eating animal crackers.

48 hours and counting....

Leah has officially been our daughter for more than 48 hours and it feels like we have known her forever... all is going well, she again slept through the night with no problems, had a nap at the pool on daddy this morning and still had a 3 hour nap this afternoon!

We only wish we could be home with her... just waiting on her passport before we head to Delhi which is scheduled for Saturday.

Here are a few pictures from today.... off to walk around the hotel to burn off some energy before dinner... all 3 of us are going a bit stir crazy!

A few more pics..

Just got back from dinner and a few more pictures to share especially since Papa Jim is working in the office today and is checking the blog! Dinner was long as she was SO popular that we had to stop and meet and greet lots of people!

Do my thighs look big in this?

Leah checking herself out in her bathing suit before heading to the pool...

Day Two..

Hi All!
Leah is wonderful... she seems to be adjusting extremely well, so we keep crossing our fingers and knocking on wood that this lasts! She slept in her crib for 11 hours last night, had a 2.5 hour nap this afternoon and eats anything we put in front of her, including Daddy's bacon cheeseburger last night!

She is a peanut as we expected.... around 15lbs! The smallest shoes we had were a pair of Madison's size 3 hand me downs and they are even too big! Her 6-12 month clothing from the GAP is even big on her and so are her 9 month Carter's stuff!

Bal Asha was incredible. We met the 2 caretakers who took care of her the most and they were so sweet, one lady cried when she left and that meant so much to us that she had great care. Sunil, the director of Bal Asha was a wonderful man, maybe our age. He and his wife had just gotten back from taking 43 of the kids on an 8 day vacation to the beach! They had a nice playground and it was really a nice place.

The worker for MAPS here who helped us was amazing, she even took me "shopping" for a tiny bit while we waited for Leah's VISA photo to be printed. Daddy and Leah stayed in the car and when we got back to the car they were rocking out to Michael Jackson's "Bad". Hilarious.

Okay... will write more when I think of it.... off to try out the pool before dinner... we are sticking to her schedule from Bal Asha for meals and sleeping and so far it's working great.

Love to everyone....

Picture of the car ride home and outside at our hotel this morning...

Andrew, Lindsay and Leah

At last...

We are a family of three... no words to describe at this moment, but the day went very smoothly... waiting for room service now and then lets hope it is off to bed for all of us... but I knew I better share a few pictures before I did....

Thanks to everyone for your kind wishes, prayers and thoughts for this actual trip and for the months and years up to today....