We are so incredibly appreciative of all the MANY comments on the blog and emails and facebook messages you all have sent. Somehow each word has been exactly what we needed just at the moment I read it. I love it when God orchestrates that kind of timing! I'm so sorry I don't have time to respond to each of you, but please know that we do read them (usually late at night when we are too exhausted to type back anything coherent!) and are grateful for them. So please don't stop! We thrive on the love and encouragement!
Today I feel like we made the most progress so far. We are starting to see the children altering their behavior based on wanting to please us- or at least not be in trouble! I'd prefer for them to choose to alter their behavior because they don't want to disobey God, but right now, we'll take what we can get! LOL!
Luisa and I had a lovely (said sarcastically) morning in the room together for about an hour. But she finally obeyed, cleaned up her mess and then we practiced doing what I had told her to do in the first place. I think it was important for her and I to have the confrontation so she understands mami is not a pushover. I was actually very peaceful during the whole time, singing Hide 'em in Your Heart songs to myself, putting clothes away and quoting scripture out loud. I think it was, honestly, my favorite part of the day! Even in the midst of screaming! LOL! When I held her at the end of it, she just melted into my arms. I'd do it again all over to have that tenderness!
Brent is usually the one that deals with Jonathan and even though there were multiple confrontations, for the most part they were much shorter than before. Sometimes he even chose to obey before he got to the bedroom! Progress!!!
I only had one little issue with Cindy this evening. I had told her she could put on her "curita" (bandaid) which she mangled into a ball. Then I told her that it was mami's turn to do it with a new one. At first she agreed but when I went to put it on she decided she wanted to do it. I said no and off she went into hysterics. I put her on my bed and told her she couldn't have a curita until she obeyed me and was happy. It only took about 2 minutes of crying before she said "Si mami" and another minute until she had a happy face. Let me just say that Princess and Cars bandaids were one of the best things I brought with us! Now I am wishing I brought another box of each. They don't like to keep them on very long (or they fall off in the pool) so we are going through a lot. I can't think of a single injury that has actually been baidaid-worthy, but it is a good bonding time where mami is the one to make things all better instead of them always being tough or a big sister being the one one to help. So for any adoptive parents out there- BRING LOTS OF FUN CURITAS!
I fixed pancakes for breakfast, which, from what I can figure out with limited Spanish, they had never eaten before. I KNOW they've never had syrup. That was funny to see their faces. They expected it to taste bad, but I pushed them to try a little on their finger and they were so surprised how sweet it is! And, here it is even thicker and sweeter than at home. I wonder if it is made from pure sugar cane?
We finished the movie from last night- their first time seeing Narnia! They loved it and Luisa talked through a lot of it saying how the mean queen was very bad and the magic in the closet was very good! So cute! Cindy has no attention span to movies at all- even kiddie cartoon types. Fine with me. We don't do any tv at home and only occasional movies. Jonathan is going to have a harder time adjusting to the lack of constant tv in his face.
They colored and cut and glued most of the morning. Around 11 we went out to the playground. It was cool, because in the process of getting everyone dress and out the door (a hour long process that we NEED to shorten) there were a few mini meltdowns that got resolved very quickly. PROGRESS! I think they are starting to understand that me mean what we say.
Yolima, a lady from the church we found down here stopped by for a visit. She is so wonderful with the kids and never oversteps her bounds even when she understands everything they say and we don't. We all walked to the public playground up the hill from our apartment complex, but after only 10 minutes it started to downpour. The kids handled it very well when we said we had to go home. Yay! More Progress!
I had brought little capsule type things with a sponge squished inside. You stick it in water and let the capsule dissolve and it grows into a bigger sponge. All the kids loved doing that and then playing with the sponges as toys. The other day at the grocery store I had picked up two packages of cheap plastic play dishes for at the pool, but Luisa and Cindy played for the better part of an hour with some water and the dishes.
We asked Yolima to explain to Jonathan that we had heard he liked Karate. He shook his head emphatically and we explained that our whole family is involved in karate and would he like to learn? Oh, my goodness! You should have seen how happy he was! You'd have thought we'd told him he won the lottery or something! The boys demonstrated their katas and then he tried one. Then they practiced push ups and crunches. Then Brent got out the computer which showed the kids presentation at homeschool night of all the karate. He was glued to the screen and so were the little girls! Later in the evening I found them all in my room with Luisa leading a kata- (her own made up one! So adorable!).
Yolima was also able to help us understand that Luisa understands that we have rules that she must follow and she does want to follow them. She says that life at her foster home was very different, but that only some of the rules are the same. When pressed for some examples she said that she couldn't lie at either house.
We were able to explain to her that we understand that it is hard to try to learn so many new family rules and that we still love her even when she disobeys. Brent explained that the rules are not our rules. Does she know whose rules we follow? She said Dios! He went on to explain that God gives us the rules to protect us and that when she obeys she will be safe and happy. She grinned and I think she understands how UNhappy she is when she disobeys.
Later in the afternoon, we took the kids to the pool even though it was still sprinkling. Everyone was restless and we had told the kids we would go to the piscina after lunch but weren't able to because of the thunderstorm. It had really cooled off but they didn't care at all. After a good hour, Cindy said she was tired and Jake was cold so I took both of them back to the apartment. They were so cute during this one on one time. Jake is so good with little kids because he doesn't have any expectations on trying to get them to play anything his way. So they got along great. I was surprised because Cindy at first, was a bit cranky. But she brightened up just fine with Jake.
The rest of the afternoon they all colored and crafted. They love crafty stuff, which is great. I just hope I can find more of it here somewhere in Colombia because they are going through stuff quickly! Last night after they were asleep I packed up half the craft supplies so we would have something left in two weeks! Luisa got out an activity book with math in it and was having fun doing it! She can add 3 digit numbers and I kind of think she can carry/borrow but she didn't like to practice those because they were "Muy dificile!" (very difficult!)
I ended up making a little flip book (thank you Dinah Zike!) with English letters (only single sound consonants right now) on the outside and on the inside I either drew a picture or used a sticker for a word with that sound, then wrote the word next to it. When I told her it was hers, she was so happy! I figured I'd have to make her do it, but she was excited to do it! She was able to pronounce almost every word correctly except "frog". It came out more like frgralk! HA! I know she has to learn English and she'll probably even lose her accent, but I love this stage of adorable pronunciations of English words! The word "run" was cute too. She can't do it unless she rolls her "r's". Cindy pronounces almost everything perfectly, but I think she thinks they are pretend words because then she'll trail off into nonsense words. LOL! I haven't worked with Jonathan as much, but I'm going to try to over the next few days.
I actually fixed a decent dinner tonight. Marinated chicken breasts with baked potatos and sauted green beans. Luisa loved it, Jonathan tolerated a little bit and Cindy barely ate anything. She'll probably wake up starving. The food issues continue to plague us. Jonathan is addicted to sugar in a bad way. And both of the younger two ask for food fixed a certain way (usually with multiple condiments) and then change their minds and say they want it different. So far we aren't doing a whole lot about it, but at some point they will be expected to eat what they are given or go without. Otherwise we will waste a lot of food since no one else wants to eat their creative food concoctions such as strawberry jelly and ketchup.
I just thought of two other things I'm super glad we brought...a dishwashing wand (you know, where you fill the handle with dish detergent and there is a sponge with a scrubbie on the end?) because there are no stoppers for any of the sinks so I can't fill a whole sink with sudsy water to clean. And electricity two to three prong converters. We didn't think we'd need them, but at the last minute Brent tossed two into the bags. All the outlets in this apartment (the b&b had three prongs) are two prong. So I'm glad we have those too.
Our plans for tomorrow have changed multiple times today. But the latest is that Gloria #2 will babysit everyone (God help her!) while Brent and I go to the court to give Nora, our lawyer, power of attorney so she can request documents for us. We are also signing some papers ahead of time so Friday, after our ICBF Integration meeting, they can submit our papers to the court immediately. Then we are supposed to go somewhere to get passport photos taken. They all need to be in black shirts, no jewelry, and no colored hair bows in their hair, but their hair must be pulled back out of their face. Then we are going to get a family photo done to give to the foster family along with some drawings and letters.
Hasta Manana!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Day 5
We had a quick morning today since the Dos Glorias were coming at 9am to take us to El Penol. Everyone did very well, except at 8:45 Cindy started melting down because she wanted to go in her pj's and not wear socks! LOL! I held her on my lap for about 45 minutes until she calmed down. So we left a bit late.
We all rode in a rental van. El Penol is on the other side of the mountain- a two hour drive from Medellin. Let me just tell you that driving over a mountain is a faith building experience. Because of the flooding in Medellin this past year, parts of the mountain have completely washed away- sometimes whole towns. It is so sad. Many lives have been lost. Once we made it out of Medellin, the roads were so bad that several times each mile our driver had to take great care in avoiding the huge rocks and mounds of eroded dirt covering the road- the very narrow-on-the-edge-of-a-cliff road! At a few particularly bad parts there were huge sinkholes in the actual road and we had to go very slowly and carefully to get around the sinkhole. Most had no caution tape or any visual signs of it, so if someone was traveling at night they would definitely wreck in the sinkholes.
Our ride was made even more eventful when we had to stop (multiple times) because of car sickness. I had no idea where El Penol was or else I would have given them dramamine ahead of time. Poor Jake and Quinn and Grant! To their credit, the driver, although safe, was not the smoothest driver in the world. She had a manual transmission and she jerked the car every five seconds. Thankfully, for the ride home, Gloria #2 bought dramamine for us. It saved the day! No problems on the ride back.
El Penol is a huge meteorite in the ground the size of a mountain. The view at the top was unbelievable. The only problem are the 649 steep steps that you have to climb to get there! The kids (Cindy stayed on the ground with Gloria #1) did really well, but Gloria #2 and I had to stop for 5 minutes every 20 steps. No lie, they are tall steps, completely straight up. And because of the high altitude we had trouble with having enough oxygen to catch our breath. When you finally get to the top you can overlook as far as the eye can see, a gigantic manmade lake- actually hundreds of small lakes that are interconnected. They sank whole towns underwater so that they could make this lake. It powers all the electricity for Medellin.
After coming down, we had lunch at an authentic Colombian restaurant. The food was plentiful and delicious. We found out that the chicos LOVE fried fish! Brent ordered it and the three of them ate almost all of it themselves! Thankfully he was able to eat their food in exchange!
Then, we drove down to the lake and took a big touristy kind of boat out on the lake. Luisa was nervous at first since she'd never been on a boat but she soon got over it and loved it. They played loud Colombian salsa dancing music so the kids and I danced together. They loved that! We had lots of opportunity to work on some English words like trees, water, fish, sun, sky, clouds, boat, etc. Thankfully, Luisa is very interested in learning English. Cindy is adorable when she tries to say the words. Her mouth just can't seem to get the right sounds. She has an adorable speech impediment! She says trees like "thwees"!
Once we arrived back at the apartment, Brent ran to get pizzas while everyone got ready to go to the piscina (pool). It was sprinkling when we walked outside but we decided to go anyway. We only got in a half hour of swimming before it started with thunder and lightning. So back inside for pizza and a movie.
We had a few issues today discipline-wise, but overall it was a good day. We realized that Luisa gets quiet and pouty any time someone else is getting attention. So we are deciding to give NO attention to her when she is pouty and LOTS of attention when she's happy. Jonathan is hysterical when he tries to barter with my commands. I might say, "In five minutes we'll clean up at the pool and go to the house." And he'll hold up 7 fingers and jabber about how he should have 7 minutes. I immediately say, "Ok, 2 minutes!" Then he'll say, "No! NO! 5 minutes!" HA!
There is a lot of manipulating trying to happen with all three of them. We found out that the foster family told the kids that we would give them whatever they wanted and they could do whatever they wanted once they were with us, so we are trying to retrain that ridiculous thought.
We found out also that Luisa hasn't ever seen a washing machine (can't remember if I wrote about his yesterday...). We have found her several time washing the clothes by hand or even taking the clean clothes out of the washer and rewashing them. Thankfully Gloria helped us explain what a washer does and that she doesn't have to wash them by hand.
I had brought cute new earrings for the girls, but I haven't been able to get out her old earrings. They were a style I'd never seen before and I couldn't budge them off at all without ripping her ear! So I asked Gloria for help. Luisa explained that her foster family glued them shut because she had lost her first pair of earrings and she was never allowed to changed them again! Poor girl! I can only imagine how long she's had these earrings in! Gloria wasn't able to budge them either so tomorrow we're going to get wire cutters or something and cut them off. They aren't allowed to wear earrings for their passport photos so they HAVE to come off.
Jonathan has a big cut on his upper gum. We and he have no idea what happened. His front tooth is also discolored or dead. He had that from before he came to us. He doesn't remember what happened to his tooth. Guess we'll be spending some quantity time at the dentist once we get home!
Ok, enough for now. I'm exhausted. Grant still has a fever and I am still sick too. Need sleep!
Tomorrow is supposed to be a relaxing day at home which I'm looking forward to!
By the way, we SO appreciate your comments and emails. They are keeping us sane right now!
We all rode in a rental van. El Penol is on the other side of the mountain- a two hour drive from Medellin. Let me just tell you that driving over a mountain is a faith building experience. Because of the flooding in Medellin this past year, parts of the mountain have completely washed away- sometimes whole towns. It is so sad. Many lives have been lost. Once we made it out of Medellin, the roads were so bad that several times each mile our driver had to take great care in avoiding the huge rocks and mounds of eroded dirt covering the road- the very narrow-on-the-edge-of-a-cliff road! At a few particularly bad parts there were huge sinkholes in the actual road and we had to go very slowly and carefully to get around the sinkhole. Most had no caution tape or any visual signs of it, so if someone was traveling at night they would definitely wreck in the sinkholes.
Our ride was made even more eventful when we had to stop (multiple times) because of car sickness. I had no idea where El Penol was or else I would have given them dramamine ahead of time. Poor Jake and Quinn and Grant! To their credit, the driver, although safe, was not the smoothest driver in the world. She had a manual transmission and she jerked the car every five seconds. Thankfully, for the ride home, Gloria #2 bought dramamine for us. It saved the day! No problems on the ride back.
El Penol is a huge meteorite in the ground the size of a mountain. The view at the top was unbelievable. The only problem are the 649 steep steps that you have to climb to get there! The kids (Cindy stayed on the ground with Gloria #1) did really well, but Gloria #2 and I had to stop for 5 minutes every 20 steps. No lie, they are tall steps, completely straight up. And because of the high altitude we had trouble with having enough oxygen to catch our breath. When you finally get to the top you can overlook as far as the eye can see, a gigantic manmade lake- actually hundreds of small lakes that are interconnected. They sank whole towns underwater so that they could make this lake. It powers all the electricity for Medellin.
After coming down, we had lunch at an authentic Colombian restaurant. The food was plentiful and delicious. We found out that the chicos LOVE fried fish! Brent ordered it and the three of them ate almost all of it themselves! Thankfully he was able to eat their food in exchange!
Then, we drove down to the lake and took a big touristy kind of boat out on the lake. Luisa was nervous at first since she'd never been on a boat but she soon got over it and loved it. They played loud Colombian salsa dancing music so the kids and I danced together. They loved that! We had lots of opportunity to work on some English words like trees, water, fish, sun, sky, clouds, boat, etc. Thankfully, Luisa is very interested in learning English. Cindy is adorable when she tries to say the words. Her mouth just can't seem to get the right sounds. She has an adorable speech impediment! She says trees like "thwees"!
Once we arrived back at the apartment, Brent ran to get pizzas while everyone got ready to go to the piscina (pool). It was sprinkling when we walked outside but we decided to go anyway. We only got in a half hour of swimming before it started with thunder and lightning. So back inside for pizza and a movie.
We had a few issues today discipline-wise, but overall it was a good day. We realized that Luisa gets quiet and pouty any time someone else is getting attention. So we are deciding to give NO attention to her when she is pouty and LOTS of attention when she's happy. Jonathan is hysterical when he tries to barter with my commands. I might say, "In five minutes we'll clean up at the pool and go to the house." And he'll hold up 7 fingers and jabber about how he should have 7 minutes. I immediately say, "Ok, 2 minutes!" Then he'll say, "No! NO! 5 minutes!" HA!
There is a lot of manipulating trying to happen with all three of them. We found out that the foster family told the kids that we would give them whatever they wanted and they could do whatever they wanted once they were with us, so we are trying to retrain that ridiculous thought.
We found out also that Luisa hasn't ever seen a washing machine (can't remember if I wrote about his yesterday...). We have found her several time washing the clothes by hand or even taking the clean clothes out of the washer and rewashing them. Thankfully Gloria helped us explain what a washer does and that she doesn't have to wash them by hand.
I had brought cute new earrings for the girls, but I haven't been able to get out her old earrings. They were a style I'd never seen before and I couldn't budge them off at all without ripping her ear! So I asked Gloria for help. Luisa explained that her foster family glued them shut because she had lost her first pair of earrings and she was never allowed to changed them again! Poor girl! I can only imagine how long she's had these earrings in! Gloria wasn't able to budge them either so tomorrow we're going to get wire cutters or something and cut them off. They aren't allowed to wear earrings for their passport photos so they HAVE to come off.
Jonathan has a big cut on his upper gum. We and he have no idea what happened. His front tooth is also discolored or dead. He had that from before he came to us. He doesn't remember what happened to his tooth. Guess we'll be spending some quantity time at the dentist once we get home!
Ok, enough for now. I'm exhausted. Grant still has a fever and I am still sick too. Need sleep!
Tomorrow is supposed to be a relaxing day at home which I'm looking forward to!
By the way, we SO appreciate your comments and emails. They are keeping us sane right now!
Monday, May 9, 2011
Day 4 Addendum
Anyone interested in seeing all our photos, please send me an email. Brent has uploaded everying to a Picassa site but it is private so you need the special link.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Day 4
Whew. What a day.
I woke up feeling horrible. Terrible sore throat and I think a fever. I dosed up on ibuprofen and Zicam, but I still feel awful. Grant came down with it too- with a high fever. Poor guy. He was fine on ibuprofen but once it wore off he was miserable.
The day started off with a tantrum and ended with a tantrum and had lots of tantrums in between. We are beginning to enforce the rules (like don't say "No" to me, and don't walk away from me when I call you, and don't steal) so we were prepared for the battles. Still it is exhausting. Brent got all of them today, unfortunately. I was either in the midst of cooking or at the grocery store.
Cindy started the meltdown because I told her she couldn't have another bath- she had just had one. We let her roll around the room as she screamed and at one point she scratched Brent on the head pretty bad. It ended well and she finally listened sweetly. Win!
Jonathan has had multiple episodes over anything he doesn't like, but they are getting shorter for the most part.
Luisa had her first tantrum with Brent and she tossed the whole room, but Brent sat in the doorway and whispered sweet things to her but didn't give in to her. Brent says that he could see a smirk on her face the whole time and the screaming wasn't terror, but she was trying to see if we would give her the same attention the other ones get during a tantrum. In the end, she was sitting on the floor near enough to him so he could stroke her hand. He said how much he loved her and that he would always love her no matter how mad she was, and she just melted! She threw her arms around him and showed respect with a "Si, Papi!". He told her the fight was over but she must clean up the mess she made and she happily did it! I think this whole thing was so important today. I hate the tantrums, but through them the kids see that we are in it for the long haul and their bad actions don't effect our love for them. They must obey, but they are learning we have their best interests in mind and only want things for their good.
Still the process is exhausting. I am so thankful for a hubby who is engaged in parenting and that we are united in our plan. He is an awesome papi!
The American kids (as I've started calling them when we talk about them with the dos Glorias) are hanging in there. Quinn cried over a few little things today but I think he might not be feeling well and he's feeling left out. So we snuggled for a little while this evening which helped a little bit. Poor guy. This is hard for him. He is so gracious but he is used to a lot of my attention since he's been my baby. Keep praying for him to feel loved and included!
In the midst of this crazy day, the Dos Glorias came over to take us to Pueblo Paisa a replicated colonial house. It was good to get out of the house but it was a waste of time in my opinion. There were about 3 historical rooms to see and the rest was full of souvenirs and junk food. It had a nice view of the city and mountains so that was the highlight for me. Frankly, Brent and I were too distracted to enjoy it because we were on high alert for children melting down.
Once we came back to the apartment, I left with Gloria #1 to go to Exito. It is exactly like a Walmart. Other than not understanding what the costs were, it was fairly easy to shop. Gloria is a riot! It took forever to shop because she talked the WHOLE TIME! HA! She is very sweet and I like her a lot. She laughs at herself constantly which makes me laugh, even though half the time I'm not exactly sure what she is laughing at! LOL!
Unfortunately, the pool is closed on Mondays so Brent had to deal with disappointed children while I was gone.
At dinner tonight Brent asked if Luisa wanted to pray. Before she could answer, Jonathan piped up saying that he wanted to. It was so precious. He thanked God for each person in the family and especially for his hermanitos. (His little brothers!) Awww!
I was having trouble understanding something that Cindy keeps saying. It sounds like "Jello". Thankfully Gloria #2 figured out that she is saying "Yo quiero..." (I want...) but she still is only 3 so it comes out like "jello"!!!
Too cute!
Luisa is very interested in learning English and we sat on the sofa going through words in a book and me writing the English words below the spanish. Hopefully she'll catch on fast. I am thinking that we need to all be in the same language as fast as possible so we can talk through a situation instead of it spiraling down into a tantrum. So I think I will start saying all the phrases I know in Spanish (the number of them is growing!) both in Spanish and English until they get used to hearing them.
Luisa has been hording other kids' toys and things in her purse. I've tried to be gentle about it and not make it a huge deal since I'm not 100% sure she understands that not everything belongs to her. We had a breakthrough tonight though. Apparently she had taken two Colombian coins from Brent's nightstand. She brought them out to Brent and gave them back. She quickly apologized for taking them. Yay! A little progress!
Also, we don't think she's ever seen a washing machine before since she feels like she needs to hand wash everything. There was also a bag of food leftovers on the counter and I tossed it in the trash. She said "NO!! We need to save it for the cows (vacas). When we go to Estades Unidos we will have them for the cows!" They lived in a dairy farm area so I guess this is what they did! So cute. But I think it is not going to be edible if we wait to take it to the cows in the USA!
We are supposed to drive for 2 hours tomorrow to see El Penol ( a meteorite from space that landed in Colombia thousands of years ago). There is a huge crack in the middle and they've built almost 800 steps to take you to the top where there is an overlook overseeing hundreds of lakes. I hope we can still go but if several of us have fevers, I'm not sure what to do...
Off to bed. Praying that this fever leaves and I feel better by tomorrow....
I woke up feeling horrible. Terrible sore throat and I think a fever. I dosed up on ibuprofen and Zicam, but I still feel awful. Grant came down with it too- with a high fever. Poor guy. He was fine on ibuprofen but once it wore off he was miserable.
The day started off with a tantrum and ended with a tantrum and had lots of tantrums in between. We are beginning to enforce the rules (like don't say "No" to me, and don't walk away from me when I call you, and don't steal) so we were prepared for the battles. Still it is exhausting. Brent got all of them today, unfortunately. I was either in the midst of cooking or at the grocery store.
Cindy started the meltdown because I told her she couldn't have another bath- she had just had one. We let her roll around the room as she screamed and at one point she scratched Brent on the head pretty bad. It ended well and she finally listened sweetly. Win!
Jonathan has had multiple episodes over anything he doesn't like, but they are getting shorter for the most part.
Luisa had her first tantrum with Brent and she tossed the whole room, but Brent sat in the doorway and whispered sweet things to her but didn't give in to her. Brent says that he could see a smirk on her face the whole time and the screaming wasn't terror, but she was trying to see if we would give her the same attention the other ones get during a tantrum. In the end, she was sitting on the floor near enough to him so he could stroke her hand. He said how much he loved her and that he would always love her no matter how mad she was, and she just melted! She threw her arms around him and showed respect with a "Si, Papi!". He told her the fight was over but she must clean up the mess she made and she happily did it! I think this whole thing was so important today. I hate the tantrums, but through them the kids see that we are in it for the long haul and their bad actions don't effect our love for them. They must obey, but they are learning we have their best interests in mind and only want things for their good.
Still the process is exhausting. I am so thankful for a hubby who is engaged in parenting and that we are united in our plan. He is an awesome papi!
The American kids (as I've started calling them when we talk about them with the dos Glorias) are hanging in there. Quinn cried over a few little things today but I think he might not be feeling well and he's feeling left out. So we snuggled for a little while this evening which helped a little bit. Poor guy. This is hard for him. He is so gracious but he is used to a lot of my attention since he's been my baby. Keep praying for him to feel loved and included!
In the midst of this crazy day, the Dos Glorias came over to take us to Pueblo Paisa a replicated colonial house. It was good to get out of the house but it was a waste of time in my opinion. There were about 3 historical rooms to see and the rest was full of souvenirs and junk food. It had a nice view of the city and mountains so that was the highlight for me. Frankly, Brent and I were too distracted to enjoy it because we were on high alert for children melting down.
Once we came back to the apartment, I left with Gloria #1 to go to Exito. It is exactly like a Walmart. Other than not understanding what the costs were, it was fairly easy to shop. Gloria is a riot! It took forever to shop because she talked the WHOLE TIME! HA! She is very sweet and I like her a lot. She laughs at herself constantly which makes me laugh, even though half the time I'm not exactly sure what she is laughing at! LOL!
Unfortunately, the pool is closed on Mondays so Brent had to deal with disappointed children while I was gone.
At dinner tonight Brent asked if Luisa wanted to pray. Before she could answer, Jonathan piped up saying that he wanted to. It was so precious. He thanked God for each person in the family and especially for his hermanitos. (His little brothers!) Awww!
I was having trouble understanding something that Cindy keeps saying. It sounds like "Jello". Thankfully Gloria #2 figured out that she is saying "Yo quiero..." (I want...) but she still is only 3 so it comes out like "jello"!!!
Too cute!
Luisa is very interested in learning English and we sat on the sofa going through words in a book and me writing the English words below the spanish. Hopefully she'll catch on fast. I am thinking that we need to all be in the same language as fast as possible so we can talk through a situation instead of it spiraling down into a tantrum. So I think I will start saying all the phrases I know in Spanish (the number of them is growing!) both in Spanish and English until they get used to hearing them.
Luisa has been hording other kids' toys and things in her purse. I've tried to be gentle about it and not make it a huge deal since I'm not 100% sure she understands that not everything belongs to her. We had a breakthrough tonight though. Apparently she had taken two Colombian coins from Brent's nightstand. She brought them out to Brent and gave them back. She quickly apologized for taking them. Yay! A little progress!
Also, we don't think she's ever seen a washing machine before since she feels like she needs to hand wash everything. There was also a bag of food leftovers on the counter and I tossed it in the trash. She said "NO!! We need to save it for the cows (vacas). When we go to Estades Unidos we will have them for the cows!" They lived in a dairy farm area so I guess this is what they did! So cute. But I think it is not going to be edible if we wait to take it to the cows in the USA!
We are supposed to drive for 2 hours tomorrow to see El Penol ( a meteorite from space that landed in Colombia thousands of years ago). There is a huge crack in the middle and they've built almost 800 steps to take you to the top where there is an overlook overseeing hundreds of lakes. I hope we can still go but if several of us have fevers, I'm not sure what to do...
Off to bed. Praying that this fever leaves and I feel better by tomorrow....
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Day 3
I'm going to recap today in bullet points since I am exhausted and can't think clearly enough to write in complete sentences.
-At breakfast J had a melt down....lasted abou 45 mins, but it ended well. He was crying and yelling, but I'd rather that than the silent tantrum where he just ignores you and you can't do anything about it. He finally obeyed in the end and all was well!
-Went to the pool. J started a melt down because he wanted another person's goggles, so he sat by the side of the pool area with his arms crossed. So typical of a silent tantrum. Poor kid has never been taught how to deal with disappointment and not getting anything he wants. After about a half hour, Jake offered him his googles, so then he was happy. It was totally not how I like to parent, but the pool was crowded and we really needed to avoid two tantrums in one hour. There will be many more opportunities for training, I'm sure!
-It is Mother's Day today- which was wonderful! Brent had bought a necklace (actually I think my sister in law, Andi, arranged it- Thank you!) with all 7 of the kids names engraved on it. Yes, of course I cried! All the kids drew pictures for me and Cait wrote the most beautiful letter to me ever. I'd post it on here, but she would be utterly embarrassed. It's a treasure, though.
-Sandwiches for lunch.
-Cindy was exhausted. Like barely has her eyes open- exhausted. BUT, she wouldn't fall asleep no matter how long I held her. I put her down and let her just wander around crying the whole time. She wouldn't be pacified. She looked and sounded so pathetic I had to smile inwardly.
-Brent had taken the rest of the kids to the playground to play cars in the sandbox. Cindy and I ended up joining them which gave her a second wind. Brent and I "chatted" with the property manager while the kids played. He didn't speak any English so I use the term "chatted" very lightly! Surprisingly, Cait often understood more of what he said than Brent and I! She's catching on to this spanish thing!
-At one point the property manager pointed out a beautiful squirrel (never seen one of these before!) in the bushes nearby. Of course Grant and Jake were immediately trying to catch it! Grant reached out his hand and the squirrel JUMPED ON HIS SHOULDER! Just for a second, but Grant screamed (like a girl- Cait noted) and it ran away. We all got a good laugh out of that one!
-Luisa found the suitcase full of crafts so we went through a lot of craft items today. She found a composition notebook I had brought for her and I showed her how to write her new name. She was so excited that she wrote it on each line of the page! They all painted with watercolors for the first time today! So adorable. Luisa's first thing she painted was her new name and under it she wrote: Papi y Mami y hermanas y hermanos te amo! So adorable. J also knows his letters but not well enough to spell anything into words. I painted a stick figure of him and he painted on green hair. Then I painted Papi and he painted on black hair. I said, "Papi no pello!" He looked at Brent and just started cracking up! I think it was the first time he noticed Brent had no hair! LOL!
-Yolima, a lady from the church we are in contact with, came over this afternoon. She is wonderful! Lived 12 years in US, so her English is very good. We sat and talked while the kids watched a movie. (Except for L, she doesn't like movies) She loves the Lord intensely and we had a wonderful conversation all about spiritual things. I was glad she agreed to stay for dinner (spaghetti) because she translated a lot of things to and from the kids for us.
-Through Yolima we learned that J is terrified of going on the airplane. Actually it was Cindy who told us that, but later J confirmed it. L and C don't have any fears about going to the US. They are excited! When asked what they were looking forward to in the US, Cindy piped up (she was in a silly mood) NECKLACES! HA! Luisa said toys! We showed her the video we had taken of our house right before we left and she was so excited for the doll strollers and stuff we had all set up for her!
-We were able to tell the kids that they will go to school at home. Luisa was very happy about mami being her teacher! So was Cindy but I don't think she understood what we were talking about.
-Yolima was also able to draw out of Jonathan that his favorite thing in the world is futbol. (soccer). We had brought baby dolls for the girls and a soccer ball with shin guards for J but hadn't given anything to them since they were completely overwhelmed by the little things we'd put in their backpacks. So when we heard that, Brent hurried back to the suitcase and brought out the soccer ball! He was ecstatic! We haven't seen him that happy since we got him! Then we brought out the girls' baby dolls and they were squealing they were so happy! I think Cindy conned Luisa into switching dolls since she wanted the doll with hair, but they both seem happy. Luisa is so loving to her little sister and brother. She will bend over backwards to help them. She doesn't interfere if is a mother -daughter situation, unless I ask her for help to understand them. But she is always the first to give up what she has for them.
-Going to bed was crazy. I was trying to put Pj's on Cindy when she was jabbering to me. I had no clue what she was saying but she suddenly started melting down with a full blown kicking, screaming toddler tantrum. I had no idea what happened. Thankfully Luisa stepped in and let me know that she wanted her bath before bed! Sheesh! I should have realized that! Of course all three wanted to shower together- they are used to that. It is a very large shower with a tub bottom so I am able to get in there with them without getting too soaked. Oh, my goodness, they were sooo silly. They are completely capable of doing everything themselves, but I was in hysterics the whole time. They were spitting water on each other and giggling and poking each other. It was funny, but I think tomorrow we will put an end to the triple person bathing! LOL! Too dangerous!
-Everyone went to be extremely well. No tears for the first time! I didn't even have to lay down with anyone! Progress! They love it when I sing to them and Luisa even started trying to say some words in English with me.
-One really cute thing is that Cindy likes to make up silly words. Half the time we don't know if they are really spanish or a made up word. We're usually clued in when Luisa starts cracking up. We've been trying to work on saying por favor when asking for something. Cindy says it SO cute... Por pa bor! Sometimes we make her say it just so we can hear her cute voice! LOL!
-Well, I'm wiped out and heading to bed! Brent is already asleep on the couch while he was uploading pictures. Please pray for us that we would have endless energy!
-At breakfast J had a melt down....lasted abou 45 mins, but it ended well. He was crying and yelling, but I'd rather that than the silent tantrum where he just ignores you and you can't do anything about it. He finally obeyed in the end and all was well!
-Went to the pool. J started a melt down because he wanted another person's goggles, so he sat by the side of the pool area with his arms crossed. So typical of a silent tantrum. Poor kid has never been taught how to deal with disappointment and not getting anything he wants. After about a half hour, Jake offered him his googles, so then he was happy. It was totally not how I like to parent, but the pool was crowded and we really needed to avoid two tantrums in one hour. There will be many more opportunities for training, I'm sure!
-It is Mother's Day today- which was wonderful! Brent had bought a necklace (actually I think my sister in law, Andi, arranged it- Thank you!) with all 7 of the kids names engraved on it. Yes, of course I cried! All the kids drew pictures for me and Cait wrote the most beautiful letter to me ever. I'd post it on here, but she would be utterly embarrassed. It's a treasure, though.
-Sandwiches for lunch.
-Cindy was exhausted. Like barely has her eyes open- exhausted. BUT, she wouldn't fall asleep no matter how long I held her. I put her down and let her just wander around crying the whole time. She wouldn't be pacified. She looked and sounded so pathetic I had to smile inwardly.
-Brent had taken the rest of the kids to the playground to play cars in the sandbox. Cindy and I ended up joining them which gave her a second wind. Brent and I "chatted" with the property manager while the kids played. He didn't speak any English so I use the term "chatted" very lightly! Surprisingly, Cait often understood more of what he said than Brent and I! She's catching on to this spanish thing!
-At one point the property manager pointed out a beautiful squirrel (never seen one of these before!) in the bushes nearby. Of course Grant and Jake were immediately trying to catch it! Grant reached out his hand and the squirrel JUMPED ON HIS SHOULDER! Just for a second, but Grant screamed (like a girl- Cait noted) and it ran away. We all got a good laugh out of that one!
-Luisa found the suitcase full of crafts so we went through a lot of craft items today. She found a composition notebook I had brought for her and I showed her how to write her new name. She was so excited that she wrote it on each line of the page! They all painted with watercolors for the first time today! So adorable. Luisa's first thing she painted was her new name and under it she wrote: Papi y Mami y hermanas y hermanos te amo! So adorable. J also knows his letters but not well enough to spell anything into words. I painted a stick figure of him and he painted on green hair. Then I painted Papi and he painted on black hair. I said, "Papi no pello!" He looked at Brent and just started cracking up! I think it was the first time he noticed Brent had no hair! LOL!
-Yolima, a lady from the church we are in contact with, came over this afternoon. She is wonderful! Lived 12 years in US, so her English is very good. We sat and talked while the kids watched a movie. (Except for L, she doesn't like movies) She loves the Lord intensely and we had a wonderful conversation all about spiritual things. I was glad she agreed to stay for dinner (spaghetti) because she translated a lot of things to and from the kids for us.
-Through Yolima we learned that J is terrified of going on the airplane. Actually it was Cindy who told us that, but later J confirmed it. L and C don't have any fears about going to the US. They are excited! When asked what they were looking forward to in the US, Cindy piped up (she was in a silly mood) NECKLACES! HA! Luisa said toys! We showed her the video we had taken of our house right before we left and she was so excited for the doll strollers and stuff we had all set up for her!
-We were able to tell the kids that they will go to school at home. Luisa was very happy about mami being her teacher! So was Cindy but I don't think she understood what we were talking about.
-Yolima was also able to draw out of Jonathan that his favorite thing in the world is futbol. (soccer). We had brought baby dolls for the girls and a soccer ball with shin guards for J but hadn't given anything to them since they were completely overwhelmed by the little things we'd put in their backpacks. So when we heard that, Brent hurried back to the suitcase and brought out the soccer ball! He was ecstatic! We haven't seen him that happy since we got him! Then we brought out the girls' baby dolls and they were squealing they were so happy! I think Cindy conned Luisa into switching dolls since she wanted the doll with hair, but they both seem happy. Luisa is so loving to her little sister and brother. She will bend over backwards to help them. She doesn't interfere if is a mother -daughter situation, unless I ask her for help to understand them. But she is always the first to give up what she has for them.
-Going to bed was crazy. I was trying to put Pj's on Cindy when she was jabbering to me. I had no clue what she was saying but she suddenly started melting down with a full blown kicking, screaming toddler tantrum. I had no idea what happened. Thankfully Luisa stepped in and let me know that she wanted her bath before bed! Sheesh! I should have realized that! Of course all three wanted to shower together- they are used to that. It is a very large shower with a tub bottom so I am able to get in there with them without getting too soaked. Oh, my goodness, they were sooo silly. They are completely capable of doing everything themselves, but I was in hysterics the whole time. They were spitting water on each other and giggling and poking each other. It was funny, but I think tomorrow we will put an end to the triple person bathing! LOL! Too dangerous!
-Everyone went to be extremely well. No tears for the first time! I didn't even have to lay down with anyone! Progress! They love it when I sing to them and Luisa even started trying to say some words in English with me.
-One really cute thing is that Cindy likes to make up silly words. Half the time we don't know if they are really spanish or a made up word. We're usually clued in when Luisa starts cracking up. We've been trying to work on saying por favor when asking for something. Cindy says it SO cute... Por pa bor! Sometimes we make her say it just so we can hear her cute voice! LOL!
-Well, I'm wiped out and heading to bed! Brent is already asleep on the couch while he was uploading pictures. Please pray for us that we would have endless energy!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Day 2
Today we learned a lot more about the kids likes and dislikes! When we woke up, so did all the kids. So Brent put on a movie for them so we could have our quiet time with the Lord. We think they are not used to having a slow start to their day like that. Our bio kids are fine lounging around for half an hour until we get moving, but the ninos wanted to get started on breakfast and chores right away. Luisa was in the laundry area scrubbing clothing and trying to get breakfast started and the other two were wanting to get clothes changed. I forgot that they are probably used to having a rapid pace to their morning getting ready for school. As homeschoolers I forget about that stuff!
We had a meal of huevos (scrambled eggs), strawberries and arepas. Luisa wanted to fry the arepas in oil, but Gloria had shown me how to toast them on the stovetop with a special grill. Cindy and Jonathan didn't like them. I think Luisa humored me and ate half. So tomorrow we'll do it her way! LOL!
After breakfast we took everyone outside to the playground. It was only 9:30 but it was already hot! The kids all started asking if we could go to the piscina (pool). So we did! They love it so much and keeps them entertained for a long time. So far we haven't had rain except for at night so it is perfect during the day. After an hour or two Cindy started looking tired and said she wanted a siesta (nap). So we all headed back in for lunch. While I got all the kids changed and settled, Brent laid out a smorgasboard of food. He put out a bunch of options just so we could see what they kids liked and didn't like! Jonathan is our junk food/picky kid. He and Quinn will get along great. Quinn could live on cheese sandwiches and Jonathan loved them too. Only he added strawberry marmalade and ketchup to his! HA! Cindy is a super slow eater, either because she is so tired or so silly. She likes to play with her food and sing songs to it! LOL! Too cute! Luisa is a super huge eater! Just like Cait. She even finished off a few of her siblings leftovers! I wondered at first if it was an adoptive child/attachment issue of needing to hoard as much food in her tummy as possible, but now I don't think so. She is just a big eater!
After lunch we had several episodes of Jonathan wanting something he couldn't have and he would pout under the bed. At one point he fell asleep under there which is was probably what he needed. He and Brent went head to head several times. He is testing the pecking order as we expected. Brent started playing our "Yes, Papi" game that we did when training the other kids just to start with some practice in obedience. Brent would call Quinn and Q would say "Yes, Papi" and come immediately to Brent. Then Brent popped a Reeses Pieces in his mouth and praised him. Then he practiced with Jonathan. He caught on quick (of course! he likes junk food!) although he didn't ask for a candy and after a while Brent didn't give him one every time. He loved the game and it really was a bonding time for them. They had a few more rounds of testing authority, but that little bout with the candy really helped things to resolve quickly. I hope to play the game with Luisa and Cindy tomorrow. They were engrossed in making arepas out of play doh at the time and were oblivious to what else was going on! LOL!
Even though today was a little bit more challenging with the obedience issues (which are really VERY minor) we are glad that they are able to relax a bit and let their true selves come out instead of trying to put on a perfect child facade. These little battles show that they are feeling comfortable in our family already which is great news. Everyone in adoption circles talks about the honeymoon phase and how great it is, but I really hope that we can get it over with as fast a possible and get to know them for who they really are. It is more work, but that is where the real growth will happen. Maybe today is the start of it!
After a quiet afternoon playing legos and playdoh and skyping with family, we walked the kids down the road to get ice cream cones. They were so excited and so cute eating them! Cindy wanted nothing to do with the stroller since she had just got up from a nap. She only wanted me, and although I really love hearing her say "Cargame!" (hold me!) it was a LONG walk carrying her all the way to the stores! My arm muscles are not used to toddlers! We are stared at everywhere we go. Not only are we gringos, fair skinned and blond hair, and can't speak spanish, but we are walking around with a line of 7 children behind us! Three of whom we can't even understand very well! LOL! One lady even came over and asked (in spanish so I am just surmising what she was saying) if they were ALL my kids! I told her yes, all 7 are mine but she had to ask another 3 times before she believed me! This cracks me up so much! I don't mind being stared at, but I have a hard time not laughing at the people staring. They look so funny with their mouths hanging open!
Heading back, Cindy wanted me to carry her (not Papi!), but there was no way I could do it going up the STEEP hill back to the apartment! So she cried in the stroller all the way home. She was throwing a little temper tantrum and it lasted for another 30 minutes even after we came home. She can turn off the waterworks as fast as they come on though. I was holding her the sofa and was trying to distract her. Once I mentioned play doh, boom! No more tears! LOL! Little stinker! I was having a hard time not laughing at her tears because it was so obvious she is used to getting her way by some tears! What a riot!
After dinner we just relaxed and let the kids play some more. Finally it was time for baths. Do all Colombian kids bathe in their underwear or just mine? Too funny! I told Luisa that in the US we don't wear underwear in the bath and she just laughed and said "In Colombia, SI!" I love that the girls like me to do their hair. I am a bit out of practice since Cait has been doing her hair for many years now! They both have super thick hair. Luisas's is wavy in the back and Cindy's is straight. Jonathan has a buzz cut with a curly rattail in the back. I bet if I let his hair grow out it will all be curly! How adorable! Might have to let that happen once we are home.
The kids are catching on to praying before meals and at family devotion time in the evening. Luisa can read VERY well, which was a huge surprise. I don't know if Jonathan can, but I'm thinking he can't since he just flips the pages to see the pictures.
Brent had all the kids in the bedroom for a little while tonight for a super secret meeting about Mother's Day tomorrow. Some kind of plan was connived and Luisa organized all the siblings to color in some pictures for me- though I'm not supposed to know, ok? She seemed super excited to do it and is giddy with trying to prepare a present for me! I love that she is happy about having a mami!
Bedtime went a little better tonight. Cindy cried herself to sleep tonight but it wasn't from sadness, but because I told her she couldn't get out all the baby doll toys and play since it was bedtime. I walked around with her for a half hour until she finally gave up! Again Jonathan was out in 5 minutes along with all the other boys. I only had to lay with Luisa for about 10 minutes and then she fell asleep too! We asked her if she felt better tonight and she smiled enthusiastically. I think she was much more confident about going to sleep tonight. Such progress so quickly has me totally impressed. We expected things to be so much worse! Hopefully she won't wake up in the middle of the night, but if she does, that's fine too.
Our spanish is growing day by day and the chicos' are showing an interest in learning a few English words. So far they know Spoon and Pool! Too funny that those are their first words! Can you tell what we do as a family? Eat and Swim! HA!
So, Day 2 was another success! I love that we are getting to see glimpses into their true selves already. God is so good. We don't deserve things to be this great! But we are thankful. We are exhausted, but is a very good exhaustion!
Hasta Manana!
We had a meal of huevos (scrambled eggs), strawberries and arepas. Luisa wanted to fry the arepas in oil, but Gloria had shown me how to toast them on the stovetop with a special grill. Cindy and Jonathan didn't like them. I think Luisa humored me and ate half. So tomorrow we'll do it her way! LOL!
After breakfast we took everyone outside to the playground. It was only 9:30 but it was already hot! The kids all started asking if we could go to the piscina (pool). So we did! They love it so much and keeps them entertained for a long time. So far we haven't had rain except for at night so it is perfect during the day. After an hour or two Cindy started looking tired and said she wanted a siesta (nap). So we all headed back in for lunch. While I got all the kids changed and settled, Brent laid out a smorgasboard of food. He put out a bunch of options just so we could see what they kids liked and didn't like! Jonathan is our junk food/picky kid. He and Quinn will get along great. Quinn could live on cheese sandwiches and Jonathan loved them too. Only he added strawberry marmalade and ketchup to his! HA! Cindy is a super slow eater, either because she is so tired or so silly. She likes to play with her food and sing songs to it! LOL! Too cute! Luisa is a super huge eater! Just like Cait. She even finished off a few of her siblings leftovers! I wondered at first if it was an adoptive child/attachment issue of needing to hoard as much food in her tummy as possible, but now I don't think so. She is just a big eater!
After lunch we had several episodes of Jonathan wanting something he couldn't have and he would pout under the bed. At one point he fell asleep under there which is was probably what he needed. He and Brent went head to head several times. He is testing the pecking order as we expected. Brent started playing our "Yes, Papi" game that we did when training the other kids just to start with some practice in obedience. Brent would call Quinn and Q would say "Yes, Papi" and come immediately to Brent. Then Brent popped a Reeses Pieces in his mouth and praised him. Then he practiced with Jonathan. He caught on quick (of course! he likes junk food!) although he didn't ask for a candy and after a while Brent didn't give him one every time. He loved the game and it really was a bonding time for them. They had a few more rounds of testing authority, but that little bout with the candy really helped things to resolve quickly. I hope to play the game with Luisa and Cindy tomorrow. They were engrossed in making arepas out of play doh at the time and were oblivious to what else was going on! LOL!
Even though today was a little bit more challenging with the obedience issues (which are really VERY minor) we are glad that they are able to relax a bit and let their true selves come out instead of trying to put on a perfect child facade. These little battles show that they are feeling comfortable in our family already which is great news. Everyone in adoption circles talks about the honeymoon phase and how great it is, but I really hope that we can get it over with as fast a possible and get to know them for who they really are. It is more work, but that is where the real growth will happen. Maybe today is the start of it!
After a quiet afternoon playing legos and playdoh and skyping with family, we walked the kids down the road to get ice cream cones. They were so excited and so cute eating them! Cindy wanted nothing to do with the stroller since she had just got up from a nap. She only wanted me, and although I really love hearing her say "Cargame!" (hold me!) it was a LONG walk carrying her all the way to the stores! My arm muscles are not used to toddlers! We are stared at everywhere we go. Not only are we gringos, fair skinned and blond hair, and can't speak spanish, but we are walking around with a line of 7 children behind us! Three of whom we can't even understand very well! LOL! One lady even came over and asked (in spanish so I am just surmising what she was saying) if they were ALL my kids! I told her yes, all 7 are mine but she had to ask another 3 times before she believed me! This cracks me up so much! I don't mind being stared at, but I have a hard time not laughing at the people staring. They look so funny with their mouths hanging open!
Heading back, Cindy wanted me to carry her (not Papi!), but there was no way I could do it going up the STEEP hill back to the apartment! So she cried in the stroller all the way home. She was throwing a little temper tantrum and it lasted for another 30 minutes even after we came home. She can turn off the waterworks as fast as they come on though. I was holding her the sofa and was trying to distract her. Once I mentioned play doh, boom! No more tears! LOL! Little stinker! I was having a hard time not laughing at her tears because it was so obvious she is used to getting her way by some tears! What a riot!
After dinner we just relaxed and let the kids play some more. Finally it was time for baths. Do all Colombian kids bathe in their underwear or just mine? Too funny! I told Luisa that in the US we don't wear underwear in the bath and she just laughed and said "In Colombia, SI!" I love that the girls like me to do their hair. I am a bit out of practice since Cait has been doing her hair for many years now! They both have super thick hair. Luisas's is wavy in the back and Cindy's is straight. Jonathan has a buzz cut with a curly rattail in the back. I bet if I let his hair grow out it will all be curly! How adorable! Might have to let that happen once we are home.
The kids are catching on to praying before meals and at family devotion time in the evening. Luisa can read VERY well, which was a huge surprise. I don't know if Jonathan can, but I'm thinking he can't since he just flips the pages to see the pictures.
Brent had all the kids in the bedroom for a little while tonight for a super secret meeting about Mother's Day tomorrow. Some kind of plan was connived and Luisa organized all the siblings to color in some pictures for me- though I'm not supposed to know, ok? She seemed super excited to do it and is giddy with trying to prepare a present for me! I love that she is happy about having a mami!
Bedtime went a little better tonight. Cindy cried herself to sleep tonight but it wasn't from sadness, but because I told her she couldn't get out all the baby doll toys and play since it was bedtime. I walked around with her for a half hour until she finally gave up! Again Jonathan was out in 5 minutes along with all the other boys. I only had to lay with Luisa for about 10 minutes and then she fell asleep too! We asked her if she felt better tonight and she smiled enthusiastically. I think she was much more confident about going to sleep tonight. Such progress so quickly has me totally impressed. We expected things to be so much worse! Hopefully she won't wake up in the middle of the night, but if she does, that's fine too.
Our spanish is growing day by day and the chicos' are showing an interest in learning a few English words. So far they know Spoon and Pool! Too funny that those are their first words! Can you tell what we do as a family? Eat and Swim! HA!
So, Day 2 was another success! I love that we are getting to see glimpses into their true selves already. God is so good. We don't deserve things to be this great! But we are thankful. We are exhausted, but is a very good exhaustion!
Hasta Manana!
Day 1 Continued
Ok, I think I have a few minutes to finish day one first!
I stayed at the apartment to unpack and the rest of the kids played very nicely. About 10 minutes before Brent came back they all started getting wound up! Jumping on beds and furniture and driving each other around in the stroller! They are adorable! Cindy is hysterical! She has the funniest sense of humor! I was reading Ferdinand the Bull book to her (en espanol) and it said something about him sitting in the flowers and she covered her mouth and snickered- el bano!!!!!!!!! She thinks potty talk is funny! LOL! What a riot!
We went to the pool later and they love it! It was kind of cold but they played for a long while! We came back to the apartment for dinner of hot dogs (again!). Brent and I were hurrying trying to get them fed before chaos reigned so I threw bunch of hot dogs in the microwave. Brent got them out in a few minutes and he realized that they have plastic wrapped around them like a sausage. We melted the plastic into the hot dog! HA! We started pulling the plastic off even though the hot dogs looked pretty gross by then. Luisa came into the kitchen and started helping slice the rolls and she gave us the funniest look about the hot dogs! Like- you gringos have no clue what you are doing, do you? LOL! She was patient with us and even ate the food! She is amazing in the kitchen, cutting the rolls, slicing fruit, etc! This is awesome!
Everyone was really tired so we had a quick devotion time (they have no clue what we were doing) reading from the Bilingual Jesus Bible Storybook both in Spanish and English. They seemed to like it and sat pretty well. Brent tucked the boys in bed and I did the girls. At one point, Luisa asked me if she could call her foster mom. We had been prepped by ICBF that this was possible and we have to say no. They are allowed no contact. Poor thing. That is so hard. So scary to fall asleep with strangers in a strange house with strange clothes...
Jonathan fell asleep right away, but the girls had problems. Cindy whimpered so I rocked her on the bed until she konked out. We have a trundle under the twin bed so I put her on the trundle. Luisa was still bouncing around trying to distract herself from falling asleep by coloring, playing with Pollys, changing clothes, etc. I sent Cait out to the living room since there was no way she was going to get to sleep with all Luisa's restlessness. I could tell she was so sad and missing her foster mom. She wouldn't smile or even look at me. I was doing my best to whisper comforting words (Don't worry. I understand you are sad. You will always be my little girl. We are so thankful you are in our family...and a few other phrases I know.) to her but nothing seemed to help. Finally I asked her if I could hold her and we laid on the bed and she clung to me with a death grip. Broke my heart...After about 20-30 minutes she rolled over and fell asleep.
Brent, Cait and I chilled with the computers for another half hour or so, but when Cait tried to lay down in bed, Luisa woke up. She came out and was all smiles and wide awake. Uh oh! We showed her the photos on the computer from the morning and she seemed happy. We asked her if she wanted to sleep in bed with us and she looked grateful that we offered that! She was super restless and had a hard time staying asleep. I think she woke every hour or so. But at least she would squeeze me tight and not tantrum!
So that's all for Gotcha Day/ Day 1! I'm sorry it took so long to get it all down. I keep getting interrupted or we have to change activities. We are trying to keep them on a very busy schedule so they are worn out by the end of the day!
Caio!
I stayed at the apartment to unpack and the rest of the kids played very nicely. About 10 minutes before Brent came back they all started getting wound up! Jumping on beds and furniture and driving each other around in the stroller! They are adorable! Cindy is hysterical! She has the funniest sense of humor! I was reading Ferdinand the Bull book to her (en espanol) and it said something about him sitting in the flowers and she covered her mouth and snickered- el bano!!!!!!!!! She thinks potty talk is funny! LOL! What a riot!
We went to the pool later and they love it! It was kind of cold but they played for a long while! We came back to the apartment for dinner of hot dogs (again!). Brent and I were hurrying trying to get them fed before chaos reigned so I threw bunch of hot dogs in the microwave. Brent got them out in a few minutes and he realized that they have plastic wrapped around them like a sausage. We melted the plastic into the hot dog! HA! We started pulling the plastic off even though the hot dogs looked pretty gross by then. Luisa came into the kitchen and started helping slice the rolls and she gave us the funniest look about the hot dogs! Like- you gringos have no clue what you are doing, do you? LOL! She was patient with us and even ate the food! She is amazing in the kitchen, cutting the rolls, slicing fruit, etc! This is awesome!
Everyone was really tired so we had a quick devotion time (they have no clue what we were doing) reading from the Bilingual Jesus Bible Storybook both in Spanish and English. They seemed to like it and sat pretty well. Brent tucked the boys in bed and I did the girls. At one point, Luisa asked me if she could call her foster mom. We had been prepped by ICBF that this was possible and we have to say no. They are allowed no contact. Poor thing. That is so hard. So scary to fall asleep with strangers in a strange house with strange clothes...
Jonathan fell asleep right away, but the girls had problems. Cindy whimpered so I rocked her on the bed until she konked out. We have a trundle under the twin bed so I put her on the trundle. Luisa was still bouncing around trying to distract herself from falling asleep by coloring, playing with Pollys, changing clothes, etc. I sent Cait out to the living room since there was no way she was going to get to sleep with all Luisa's restlessness. I could tell she was so sad and missing her foster mom. She wouldn't smile or even look at me. I was doing my best to whisper comforting words (Don't worry. I understand you are sad. You will always be my little girl. We are so thankful you are in our family...and a few other phrases I know.) to her but nothing seemed to help. Finally I asked her if I could hold her and we laid on the bed and she clung to me with a death grip. Broke my heart...After about 20-30 minutes she rolled over and fell asleep.
Brent, Cait and I chilled with the computers for another half hour or so, but when Cait tried to lay down in bed, Luisa woke up. She came out and was all smiles and wide awake. Uh oh! We showed her the photos on the computer from the morning and she seemed happy. We asked her if she wanted to sleep in bed with us and she looked grateful that we offered that! She was super restless and had a hard time staying asleep. I think she woke every hour or so. But at least she would squeeze me tight and not tantrum!
So that's all for Gotcha Day/ Day 1! I'm sorry it took so long to get it all down. I keep getting interrupted or we have to change activities. We are trying to keep them on a very busy schedule so they are worn out by the end of the day!
Caio!
Gotcha Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How do I begin? This is one of the happiest days of my life!! First, the chicos are WONDERFUL! Everything is going a million times better than we could have hoped! They are attaching beautifully and are all quite a riot! So let me start the day at the beginning....
Brent and I both fell asleep well but woke up early full of excitement. The moment I opened my eyes (at 5:30!) the Lord gave me a verse for this special day. I have to tell you that He has never spoken so clearly to me before. It was amazing. I can't really explain the gift of His Spirit speaking to my spirit first thing in the manana. He gave me Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
This verse was a gift of promise for our chicos for their Gotcha Day. God has set the plans in place since the beginning of time to bring them into our family after heartache in their past. He is the one who has done this and it is good! His plans are for their good- never evil! He has a wonderful eternity-filled future for them. They can have HOPE! Oh, thank you Jesus for waking me up with this precious verse!
Ok, so we had breakfast at the b&b, then Gloria picked us up in a rental van (so we could all ride home in one vehicle). We were all jittery with nerves, butterflies in our stomachs! Couldn't stop smiling like loony people! LOL! Once we were on our way, I noticed Quinn looking a little green in the back seat. He often gets carsick so I was imagining the worst! He did ok though! We made it to ICBF and after he laid down on the seat while we were waiting, he perked back up! Thank you Lord! Didn't need to meet the chicos with vomit down my skirt! LOL!
So we waited about 20 minutes and then had a meeting with a bunch of people from ICBF. Our bio kids sat quietly in the back of the room. I was so proud of how well they did! We were able to ask some questions and discuss the process. They brought in the kids' files and, I am NOT joking, it was over 12 inches tall! They had some legal issues in their adoption process so their file is huge! One thing we are disappointed about is that until after Sentencia, we are not allowed to put any photos of the kids on any public website. I understand the reasons, but it is still disappointing to not be able to show you our first moments together yet. So the photos will come later! If you want me to email them to you, we can do that since it is private. Just send me a message.
We were signing some papers when all of a sudden a flury of busyness started. Someone peeked in the door and everyone jumped up and started flitting about and chatting. I suspected that the kids were here, but we hadn't had a chance to set up the camera or anything! I commented to one of the ladies that it felt just like the flury of activity just before a baby is ready to be born in the delivery room. All the hurried hustle and bustle happening in an instant!
They quickly took us to a bigger room which had balloons and a Sesame Street tablecloth- very kid happy room! We barely had time to get the video camera set up (still not sure if any of it turned out!) and give someone our still shot camera when the door opened and Luisa burst through the door and jumped into my arms. The other two came right behind her immediately giving hugs and kisses to Brent and I. Luisa just clung to me. It was heaven! I am in awe of how happy she was! Jonathan was very affectionate with hugs and kisses! Cindy landed in Brent's lap and we could tell she was very scared. She hugged and kissed but then buried her head in his chest. Poor thing. She was terrified.
I have no idea how long we were there hugging and kissing but it was a moment we will never forget. A few minutes later we let the kids give the chicos their backpacks with gifts in them. They opened everything up one by one and then put them all away! They didn't seem super interested- just interested in us! Luisa kept stroking my hair and kissing. I asked her if she was scared and she said NO! Happy? YES! Jonathan said he was happy to, but Cindy said, yes, she was scared. No wonder! It was total chaos wit about 15 people watching them meet their parents for the first time! So loud and unfamiliar. Then it was as if a light switch went on with Luisa- she noticed Cait- her big sister! She clung to her the rest of the time. They are still joined at the hip!
We pulled out the coloring books and everyone colored at the table for about 10 minutes. They were very focused and it was as if it was the only thing in their world that they felt confident about. The only thing they had control over. I'm so glad I brought this activity for our first meeting. We were able to color the pictures with them and it really helped the bonding. Luisa colors super well. Even Grant and Jake were impressed saying she colored better than them! LOL!
After a bit, we headed to the car for the drive back to the b&b for lunch. The kids really started to open up and we could see more of their personalities. Jonathan is fairly quiet although likes to laugh when something funny happens. He is going to be a daddy's boy for sure! Cindy started smiling as we spun around the curvy roads. I forgot that 3 year olds have the attention span of a gnat! She put her things in and out of her bag every 2 minutes! Brent and Jonathan stopped at a bank with one of the Glorias and the rest of the kids and I went back to the B&B to wait for lunch. In the room, the girls played Polly Pockets and once Johnathan arrived he got to experience Legos for the first time!
After a lunch of hot dogs (perros caliente!) for the kids and Tipico Colombiana (traditional Colombian platter) for Brent and I, we packed up and drove over to the apartment. We LOVE it! It is perfect for our time here. Plenty of room and a living area for everyone to gather together. Brent, the Glorias, Cait and Luisa went shopping for groceries. He said she was in awe of the store since she'd never been in a real grocery store before, only small markets in the country! She wanted one of everything! LOL! He had to tell her No several times but she never gave him a problem and put the things back on the shelf. He let her pick out one treat of chocolate cookies or something! He said it was no problem shopping here. Just like home with only a few differences.
I had stayed home to unpack bags and get settled....
ok i am posting this much because I keep getting interrupted...I'll try again later...
Brent and I both fell asleep well but woke up early full of excitement. The moment I opened my eyes (at 5:30!) the Lord gave me a verse for this special day. I have to tell you that He has never spoken so clearly to me before. It was amazing. I can't really explain the gift of His Spirit speaking to my spirit first thing in the manana. He gave me Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
This verse was a gift of promise for our chicos for their Gotcha Day. God has set the plans in place since the beginning of time to bring them into our family after heartache in their past. He is the one who has done this and it is good! His plans are for their good- never evil! He has a wonderful eternity-filled future for them. They can have HOPE! Oh, thank you Jesus for waking me up with this precious verse!
Ok, so we had breakfast at the b&b, then Gloria picked us up in a rental van (so we could all ride home in one vehicle). We were all jittery with nerves, butterflies in our stomachs! Couldn't stop smiling like loony people! LOL! Once we were on our way, I noticed Quinn looking a little green in the back seat. He often gets carsick so I was imagining the worst! He did ok though! We made it to ICBF and after he laid down on the seat while we were waiting, he perked back up! Thank you Lord! Didn't need to meet the chicos with vomit down my skirt! LOL!
So we waited about 20 minutes and then had a meeting with a bunch of people from ICBF. Our bio kids sat quietly in the back of the room. I was so proud of how well they did! We were able to ask some questions and discuss the process. They brought in the kids' files and, I am NOT joking, it was over 12 inches tall! They had some legal issues in their adoption process so their file is huge! One thing we are disappointed about is that until after Sentencia, we are not allowed to put any photos of the kids on any public website. I understand the reasons, but it is still disappointing to not be able to show you our first moments together yet. So the photos will come later! If you want me to email them to you, we can do that since it is private. Just send me a message.
We were signing some papers when all of a sudden a flury of busyness started. Someone peeked in the door and everyone jumped up and started flitting about and chatting. I suspected that the kids were here, but we hadn't had a chance to set up the camera or anything! I commented to one of the ladies that it felt just like the flury of activity just before a baby is ready to be born in the delivery room. All the hurried hustle and bustle happening in an instant!
They quickly took us to a bigger room which had balloons and a Sesame Street tablecloth- very kid happy room! We barely had time to get the video camera set up (still not sure if any of it turned out!) and give someone our still shot camera when the door opened and Luisa burst through the door and jumped into my arms. The other two came right behind her immediately giving hugs and kisses to Brent and I. Luisa just clung to me. It was heaven! I am in awe of how happy she was! Jonathan was very affectionate with hugs and kisses! Cindy landed in Brent's lap and we could tell she was very scared. She hugged and kissed but then buried her head in his chest. Poor thing. She was terrified.
I have no idea how long we were there hugging and kissing but it was a moment we will never forget. A few minutes later we let the kids give the chicos their backpacks with gifts in them. They opened everything up one by one and then put them all away! They didn't seem super interested- just interested in us! Luisa kept stroking my hair and kissing. I asked her if she was scared and she said NO! Happy? YES! Jonathan said he was happy to, but Cindy said, yes, she was scared. No wonder! It was total chaos wit about 15 people watching them meet their parents for the first time! So loud and unfamiliar. Then it was as if a light switch went on with Luisa- she noticed Cait- her big sister! She clung to her the rest of the time. They are still joined at the hip!
We pulled out the coloring books and everyone colored at the table for about 10 minutes. They were very focused and it was as if it was the only thing in their world that they felt confident about. The only thing they had control over. I'm so glad I brought this activity for our first meeting. We were able to color the pictures with them and it really helped the bonding. Luisa colors super well. Even Grant and Jake were impressed saying she colored better than them! LOL!
After a bit, we headed to the car for the drive back to the b&b for lunch. The kids really started to open up and we could see more of their personalities. Jonathan is fairly quiet although likes to laugh when something funny happens. He is going to be a daddy's boy for sure! Cindy started smiling as we spun around the curvy roads. I forgot that 3 year olds have the attention span of a gnat! She put her things in and out of her bag every 2 minutes! Brent and Jonathan stopped at a bank with one of the Glorias and the rest of the kids and I went back to the B&B to wait for lunch. In the room, the girls played Polly Pockets and once Johnathan arrived he got to experience Legos for the first time!
After a lunch of hot dogs (perros caliente!) for the kids and Tipico Colombiana (traditional Colombian platter) for Brent and I, we packed up and drove over to the apartment. We LOVE it! It is perfect for our time here. Plenty of room and a living area for everyone to gather together. Brent, the Glorias, Cait and Luisa went shopping for groceries. He said she was in awe of the store since she'd never been in a real grocery store before, only small markets in the country! She wanted one of everything! LOL! He had to tell her No several times but she never gave him a problem and put the things back on the shelf. He let her pick out one treat of chocolate cookies or something! He said it was no problem shopping here. Just like home with only a few differences.
I had stayed home to unpack bags and get settled....
ok i am posting this much because I keep getting interrupted...I'll try again later...
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Apartamento!!!
God is good! We were told it was going to be very difficult to find an apartment for so many people. We met with a rental agency person this afternoon and she showed us two apartments. The first was two very small bedrooms and no pool. We could have made it work but we would have been very cramped. The second one is more perfect than we could have imagined! Three bedrooms, two balconies, gated community, private playground (swings, slide, sandbox, seesaw, etc!), soccer field, big pool with a baby pool, public playground next door (there are not many public playgrounds in Medellin so this is a big deal), and if we go downhill there are lots of food places. If we go uphill we find a Carrolla (?) and Exito- both Walmart type stores and also a big shopping mall! We are so thankful that God provided this!
So here's the plan for tomorrow... We will have desayuno of huevos & arepas (breakfast-eggs and arepas!) at 8am at the B&B. Then Gloria will pick us up in a big van at 9am and take us to the ICBF office. We will meet with a whole team of people- Nora (attorney), Blanca, both Glorias, social workers, the minor defender, psychologist, and a whole slew of other people! They said maybe up to 15 people! This meeting will be for us to hear ALL the children's information in full. In our referral paperwork it is just a summary of the children's history, but in this meeting we will hear all of it and have opportunity to ask a lot of questions.
Then they will bring the children in to us! After a bit, we will leave and go back to the b&b for lunch, then pack up all the suitcases and switch over to the apartment!
We are so super excited and I have a feeling I am going to have a difficult time sleeping tonight! I keep thinking about what the children are feeling tonight. Are they scared? Are they having trouble sleeping? Are they sad knowing they will say goodbye forever to their foster family? Are they staring at the photo albums we sent? So many thoughts....
Please, amigos, keep all of us in prayer tomorrow as we meet each other for the first time. I have no expectations on how the first moments will be- could be wonderful or terrible! Either is fine and is part of our family's story and will be precious no matter what.
I still cannot believe we have the priviledge to be their parents. I am in awe of this honor. We are nothing special. Not extraordinary parents by ANY means. We are sinners who mess up more times than I care to admit in public. We get impatient, selfish and lazy. Yet, in His amazing love and grace, God has given us the gift to be mami y papi to these precious ninos. We get the priviledge of telling them of Jesus and how much each of us need Him. We get to love on them and lavish them with with grace and teach them of their Maker. I am totally humbled by this. Life doesn't get any better than this, my friends. To walk in His will, and to know you are fully in step with the Spirit's leading- ah, no, nothing better...
Buenas Noches!
So here's the plan for tomorrow... We will have desayuno of huevos & arepas (breakfast-eggs and arepas!) at 8am at the B&B. Then Gloria will pick us up in a big van at 9am and take us to the ICBF office. We will meet with a whole team of people- Nora (attorney), Blanca, both Glorias, social workers, the minor defender, psychologist, and a whole slew of other people! They said maybe up to 15 people! This meeting will be for us to hear ALL the children's information in full. In our referral paperwork it is just a summary of the children's history, but in this meeting we will hear all of it and have opportunity to ask a lot of questions.
Then they will bring the children in to us! After a bit, we will leave and go back to the b&b for lunch, then pack up all the suitcases and switch over to the apartment!
We are so super excited and I have a feeling I am going to have a difficult time sleeping tonight! I keep thinking about what the children are feeling tonight. Are they scared? Are they having trouble sleeping? Are they sad knowing they will say goodbye forever to their foster family? Are they staring at the photo albums we sent? So many thoughts....
Please, amigos, keep all of us in prayer tomorrow as we meet each other for the first time. I have no expectations on how the first moments will be- could be wonderful or terrible! Either is fine and is part of our family's story and will be precious no matter what.
I still cannot believe we have the priviledge to be their parents. I am in awe of this honor. We are nothing special. Not extraordinary parents by ANY means. We are sinners who mess up more times than I care to admit in public. We get impatient, selfish and lazy. Yet, in His amazing love and grace, God has given us the gift to be mami y papi to these precious ninos. We get the priviledge of telling them of Jesus and how much each of us need Him. We get to love on them and lavish them with with grace and teach them of their Maker. I am totally humbled by this. Life doesn't get any better than this, my friends. To walk in His will, and to know you are fully in step with the Spirit's leading- ah, no, nothing better...
Buenas Noches!
We're Here!
Oh, my! Can it really be real that we are here? Everything seems surreal! I'm going to try to recap the last day or two, but the internet here is spotty and we have a meeting with the attorney in a few minutes so I'll be quick.
Tuesday around 2:30, Shawn and Andi drove with us up to New York. We stayed in a hotel for the night since our flight left early the next morning. We went to dinner at a nice Colombian Restaurant and then came back to the hotel to try to figure out Skype.
Around 5am we got to the airport with our NINE pieces (and a stroller and a guitar) of checked baggage and each person's carry-on backpack. Oh, boy. I'm SO glad Shawn and Andi came in and walked through the check-in lines with us. It would have been insane trying to carry all that luggage with Brent and I and the kids.
We found out right away that our flight was delayed until 9:20, but we didn't actually leave until after 10am. It was fine waiting and we passed time by getting breakfast and wandering around. Let me just say, that Avianca was a WONDERFUL plane. I haven't flown a ton, but this plane had a tv for each seat with the ability to play video games, watch movies (kid and adult), listen to music, see a map of exactly where we were, etc. It definitely kept the kids occupied and I am so thankful we decided to fly Avianca over Spirit Air like we'd originally considered. It will definitely be nice on the way home. We all got to sit together, also, which was one of my concerns since we couldn't choose our seats until we checked in at the airport.
Once we arrived in Bogota, that's where things got a bit crazy. We arrived in El Dorado airport where international flights came in. They also have another smaller domestic airport called Puente Aerero nearby with access by shuttle. As soon as we left the plane we raced down the hall (we only had an hour and a half layover) to get through immigration. Thankfully we were fairly near the front of the line, otherwise we would have been in trouble because the line was super long! The immigration officer was nice but kept shaking his head like we were crazy when we tried to explain we were adopting three more children! LOL! I was a little confused when he wouldn't stamp just my passport and transferred us to another attendent. I kept trying to find out if there was a problem, but he couldn't speak any English so we still have no idea what was going on. I finally got my stamp and we met a wonderful bilingual lady who helped us get to where we were supposed to go next. We handed in our forms we'd filled out on the plane (Declarations?) and were passed straight through. Next was the Avianca desk to check in. No problems and they sent us on the shuttle to Puente Aerero. That is where we made our mistake, albeit unknowingly!
I had asked a flight attendent about where we were going to go after we got off the plane since I couldn't read the boarding pass (Spanish!). He reassured me that since we were delayed that the Avianca ticket counter people would tell us. But as we passed through immigration he stopped us and in broken English said to go upstairs.
Once we got to Puente Aerero, we tried to find the right gate, but none of the numbers matched any of the flights. There weren't even any going to Medellin. We went from gate to gate asking the attendents and they kept sending us to different places. A few mentioned that we had missed our flight, but our tickets had been changed due to the delay, so we didn't understand what the problem was. Along the way several bilingual people stepped into the conversation to try to help which we were so thankful for! Colombian people are so super helpful and friendly! God sent one person at each gate to help us!
We raced around for about an hour, probably going to about 7 different places, and having to go through security twice! Thankfully it isn't as complicated as in the US. Finally, we ended up around the front of the airport at the main check in. The supervisor there explained that since our first flight was delayed, they were having the same passengers stay at the El Dorado airport for the connecting flight! That flight attendent I had asked earlier was the only person to give us the right information! We should have listened to him. Oh, well. How could we have known? Everyone else told us to go to PA!
So we were issued new boarding passes for another flight that left at 4:30. That flight ended up being delayed by an hour, too! She told us that our luggage had gone on the original flight in El Dorado. Uh oh! Well, at least it was in Medellin and not still Bogota! We had no way of getting in touch with Gloria so we were just praying that she would be still waiting!
We had an uneventful flight (30 mins) to Medellin and as soon as we came down the elevator we saw both Glorias (we have two guides both named Gloria) with a sign saying Trautman Family! Praise the Lord!
Two luggage porters found all our luggage all lined up along the side and helped us get loaded into the vehicles. We were so happy that everything worked out and we were really in Colombia.
Amigos, it is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful! The mountains are immense. It was dark driving back to the B&B Torre 42, but still we could see the landscape of the city. It's HUGE!
Both Glorias got us settled here at Torre42. The owners are very sweet. We are still going to look for an apartment since we are all crammed into one room.
**********************
Ok, I'm back! The electricity went out for about an hour so I couldn't finish posting this! Then we had our 2 1/2 hour meeting with Nora, Blanca and the two Glorias. They are all super sweet. The kids swam in the pool while we had the meeting in the courtyard area. Nora gave us all the information about the whole process. Thankfully, I knew most everything from reading other family's blogs or talking to our social worker in the US. She explained a lot of the chico's legal history that we had in translated documents, but hadn't fully understood before. That was the best part of all of it! They said the chicos are extremely excited and have been x'ing off the days on the calendar.
In about an hour and a half we are all going to look at an apartment to move to. It is occupied right now, and probably can't move in until the weekend or early next week. They have had a difficult time because apparently there is a law that says when renting to tourists every child under age 4 must have a bed. Good grief! We're praying this will work out, because it sounds perfect.
There is another family here at the b&b from Holland. They have 3 children whom they adopted 6 years ago and are now back for a visit. They are very sweet and speak very good English! They have been giving us pointers on what questions to ask ICBF tomorrow.
I haven't had time yet to upload any photos to the computer yet so I apologize for no photos! This day is flying by! My computer won't work at all on the internet here, but Brent's is doing ok. Brent is trying to upload photos to his facebook, so if you want to see anything you'll need to send a friend request to him. He is listed as Brent Trautman. If you can't find him, email me and I'll send the link to his page. steppingstonemomma@gmail.com
If you have specific questions, let me know and I'll try to blog about it when I have time.
Hasta Manana!!!
Tuesday around 2:30, Shawn and Andi drove with us up to New York. We stayed in a hotel for the night since our flight left early the next morning. We went to dinner at a nice Colombian Restaurant and then came back to the hotel to try to figure out Skype.
Around 5am we got to the airport with our NINE pieces (and a stroller and a guitar) of checked baggage and each person's carry-on backpack. Oh, boy. I'm SO glad Shawn and Andi came in and walked through the check-in lines with us. It would have been insane trying to carry all that luggage with Brent and I and the kids.
We found out right away that our flight was delayed until 9:20, but we didn't actually leave until after 10am. It was fine waiting and we passed time by getting breakfast and wandering around. Let me just say, that Avianca was a WONDERFUL plane. I haven't flown a ton, but this plane had a tv for each seat with the ability to play video games, watch movies (kid and adult), listen to music, see a map of exactly where we were, etc. It definitely kept the kids occupied and I am so thankful we decided to fly Avianca over Spirit Air like we'd originally considered. It will definitely be nice on the way home. We all got to sit together, also, which was one of my concerns since we couldn't choose our seats until we checked in at the airport.
Once we arrived in Bogota, that's where things got a bit crazy. We arrived in El Dorado airport where international flights came in. They also have another smaller domestic airport called Puente Aerero nearby with access by shuttle. As soon as we left the plane we raced down the hall (we only had an hour and a half layover) to get through immigration. Thankfully we were fairly near the front of the line, otherwise we would have been in trouble because the line was super long! The immigration officer was nice but kept shaking his head like we were crazy when we tried to explain we were adopting three more children! LOL! I was a little confused when he wouldn't stamp just my passport and transferred us to another attendent. I kept trying to find out if there was a problem, but he couldn't speak any English so we still have no idea what was going on. I finally got my stamp and we met a wonderful bilingual lady who helped us get to where we were supposed to go next. We handed in our forms we'd filled out on the plane (Declarations?) and were passed straight through. Next was the Avianca desk to check in. No problems and they sent us on the shuttle to Puente Aerero. That is where we made our mistake, albeit unknowingly!
I had asked a flight attendent about where we were going to go after we got off the plane since I couldn't read the boarding pass (Spanish!). He reassured me that since we were delayed that the Avianca ticket counter people would tell us. But as we passed through immigration he stopped us and in broken English said to go upstairs.
Once we got to Puente Aerero, we tried to find the right gate, but none of the numbers matched any of the flights. There weren't even any going to Medellin. We went from gate to gate asking the attendents and they kept sending us to different places. A few mentioned that we had missed our flight, but our tickets had been changed due to the delay, so we didn't understand what the problem was. Along the way several bilingual people stepped into the conversation to try to help which we were so thankful for! Colombian people are so super helpful and friendly! God sent one person at each gate to help us!
We raced around for about an hour, probably going to about 7 different places, and having to go through security twice! Thankfully it isn't as complicated as in the US. Finally, we ended up around the front of the airport at the main check in. The supervisor there explained that since our first flight was delayed, they were having the same passengers stay at the El Dorado airport for the connecting flight! That flight attendent I had asked earlier was the only person to give us the right information! We should have listened to him. Oh, well. How could we have known? Everyone else told us to go to PA!
So we were issued new boarding passes for another flight that left at 4:30. That flight ended up being delayed by an hour, too! She told us that our luggage had gone on the original flight in El Dorado. Uh oh! Well, at least it was in Medellin and not still Bogota! We had no way of getting in touch with Gloria so we were just praying that she would be still waiting!
We had an uneventful flight (30 mins) to Medellin and as soon as we came down the elevator we saw both Glorias (we have two guides both named Gloria) with a sign saying Trautman Family! Praise the Lord!
Two luggage porters found all our luggage all lined up along the side and helped us get loaded into the vehicles. We were so happy that everything worked out and we were really in Colombia.
Amigos, it is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful! The mountains are immense. It was dark driving back to the B&B Torre 42, but still we could see the landscape of the city. It's HUGE!
Both Glorias got us settled here at Torre42. The owners are very sweet. We are still going to look for an apartment since we are all crammed into one room.
**********************
Ok, I'm back! The electricity went out for about an hour so I couldn't finish posting this! Then we had our 2 1/2 hour meeting with Nora, Blanca and the two Glorias. They are all super sweet. The kids swam in the pool while we had the meeting in the courtyard area. Nora gave us all the information about the whole process. Thankfully, I knew most everything from reading other family's blogs or talking to our social worker in the US. She explained a lot of the chico's legal history that we had in translated documents, but hadn't fully understood before. That was the best part of all of it! They said the chicos are extremely excited and have been x'ing off the days on the calendar.
In about an hour and a half we are all going to look at an apartment to move to. It is occupied right now, and probably can't move in until the weekend or early next week. They have had a difficult time because apparently there is a law that says when renting to tourists every child under age 4 must have a bed. Good grief! We're praying this will work out, because it sounds perfect.
There is another family here at the b&b from Holland. They have 3 children whom they adopted 6 years ago and are now back for a visit. They are very sweet and speak very good English! They have been giving us pointers on what questions to ask ICBF tomorrow.
I haven't had time yet to upload any photos to the computer yet so I apologize for no photos! This day is flying by! My computer won't work at all on the internet here, but Brent's is doing ok. Brent is trying to upload photos to his facebook, so if you want to see anything you'll need to send a friend request to him. He is listed as Brent Trautman. If you can't find him, email me and I'll send the link to his page. steppingstonemomma@gmail.com
If you have specific questions, let me know and I'll try to blog about it when I have time.
Hasta Manana!!!
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