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!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
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!!!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Visas!!!
No problems with getting the Visas! Praise the Lord!
Brent picked them up before he went in to work. He had several people in the waiting area think he was Colombian and start speaking in Spanish to him! When the one lady stopped talking he said, "No entiendo! Ingles??" She gave him the strangest look and then smiled and said, "OH, you're a gringo!" Brent said, "I'm about as gringo as you can get!" HAHAHAHA!!!!
Today we organized the school area and filed papers that had been tossed into their crates for the past two months due to my lack of organization and follow through. It all looks MUCH better. The basement is mostly clean and I was able to pack away two of the tables with all the "stuff" on them.
This is what it looked like for the past month..
We are working on sorting and repackaging all craft items and toys into ziploc baggies to save space in the luggage...
7 backpacks mostly packed!
All the kids except for Caitlin are packed now! That's a relief! So far so good. We are able to fit 2 kids clothing to one large suitcase. We'll see how many bags we'll end up with!
Brent picked them up before he went in to work. He had several people in the waiting area think he was Colombian and start speaking in Spanish to him! When the one lady stopped talking he said, "No entiendo! Ingles??" She gave him the strangest look and then smiled and said, "OH, you're a gringo!" Brent said, "I'm about as gringo as you can get!" HAHAHAHA!!!!
Today we organized the school area and filed papers that had been tossed into their crates for the past two months due to my lack of organization and follow through. It all looks MUCH better. The basement is mostly clean and I was able to pack away two of the tables with all the "stuff" on them.
This is what it looked like for the past month..
We are working on sorting and repackaging all craft items and toys into ziploc baggies to save space in the luggage...
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Colombian Consulate in Washington DC
Yesterday we woke up early, dropped the kids off at Brent's brother's house to get spoiled by their awesome aunt and uncle, and headed to DC.
I'm going to give specific details for other families that might have to visit this particular consulate:
There is on street parking so bring quarters for the meters. There is also a parking garage a block away, but it was pricey. We found a street spot thankfully!
The Consulate is located in a business office building.*** We signed in in the lobby and went to the 10th floor for the Consulate office. When you get off the elevator, turn left and follow around to the back of the hall. It's the last door of the hallway.
The Consular office is VERY small and stuffy- so I'm thankful we didn't bring the kids. We handed the ladies at the desk our paperwork. They then informed us that it takes 3 business days to process the visas! For us that would be the day before we are leaving! I told them we just couldn't do that so they said we could come back on Friday. They are only open to the public from 9am to 12noon Monday through Friday. So Brent is going to head back tomorrow to pick them up. We are praying everything is correct and there are no snags!
As I mentioned before, it seems no one could get through on their phone lines. Well, there was a sign in Spanish that, from what I could piece together with my limited vocabulary, said their phone system was messed up and sorry for the inconvenience. So that explains things! Hopefully that'll be fixed soon!
We met another adoptive dad who was waiting to pick his visas up. They are adopting two older children from Bogota and left today! I'm hoping we can get in touch with them when we get to Bogota.
We were only in the Consulate for about 15 minutes, but the other adoptive dad said that on Monday he waited 3 hours to turn in his paperwork. It was the first day back to work after Semana Santa so everything was backed up. Just be aware if you are trying to get a visa after a holiday!
Hopefully some of this will help any of you adoptive families that need to go to the DC Consulate.
**(Note: You want the Colombian Consulate, NOT the Colombian Embassy. I never even knew there was a difference! )
We don't have any Colombian restaurants anywhere near our house so on the way home we stopped at an amazing little restaurant in Gaithersburg called Colombian Breeze. The food was fantastic. Just so you all know, Colombian food is nothing like Mexican food! We started with Arepas smothered in cheese. Mmmm... We've made these at home so we were curious if ours tasted like REAL arepas. Surprisingly, ours came fairly close! But you just can't compare when you put that much cheese on them! These were wonderful.
I had Arroz Con Pollo- Chicken with rice. It reminded me of Chinese Chicken fried rice, only the spices are a little different. It came with little yellow potatoes that were delicious.
Brent ordered Baneja Paisa. This dish is the most traditional meal served in Medellin- our kids' city. It is kind of like a sampler of food. Very yummy. (We sampled each other's food!) I loved the red beans and the fried plantain was wonderful. I'd had plantain before and didn't like it, so I was pleasantly surprised how good this was. I do have to comment that Brent let me unknowingly try the fried thick bacon looking thing. Only after I commented that I didn't care for it did he inform me that it was fried pig intestines! EWWWW!
I'm thinking I'll pass on that portion of the meal while in Medellin!
We also brought home several packages of frozen, homemade arepas, a package of Guava paste that you are supposed to slice and eat with cheese, and a homemade block of chocolate to make Colombian hot chocolate. They put a piece of cheese in the hot chocolate and let it melt, then drink it. Chocolate and Cheese. My two favorites. It should be delicious!
I'm going to give specific details for other families that might have to visit this particular consulate:
There is on street parking so bring quarters for the meters. There is also a parking garage a block away, but it was pricey. We found a street spot thankfully!
The Consulate is located in a business office building.*** We signed in in the lobby and went to the 10th floor for the Consulate office. When you get off the elevator, turn left and follow around to the back of the hall. It's the last door of the hallway.
The Consular office is VERY small and stuffy- so I'm thankful we didn't bring the kids. We handed the ladies at the desk our paperwork. They then informed us that it takes 3 business days to process the visas! For us that would be the day before we are leaving! I told them we just couldn't do that so they said we could come back on Friday. They are only open to the public from 9am to 12noon Monday through Friday. So Brent is going to head back tomorrow to pick them up. We are praying everything is correct and there are no snags!
As I mentioned before, it seems no one could get through on their phone lines. Well, there was a sign in Spanish that, from what I could piece together with my limited vocabulary, said their phone system was messed up and sorry for the inconvenience. So that explains things! Hopefully that'll be fixed soon!
We met another adoptive dad who was waiting to pick his visas up. They are adopting two older children from Bogota and left today! I'm hoping we can get in touch with them when we get to Bogota.
We were only in the Consulate for about 15 minutes, but the other adoptive dad said that on Monday he waited 3 hours to turn in his paperwork. It was the first day back to work after Semana Santa so everything was backed up. Just be aware if you are trying to get a visa after a holiday!
Hopefully some of this will help any of you adoptive families that need to go to the DC Consulate.
**(Note: You want the Colombian Consulate, NOT the Colombian Embassy. I never even knew there was a difference! )
We don't have any Colombian restaurants anywhere near our house so on the way home we stopped at an amazing little restaurant in Gaithersburg called Colombian Breeze. The food was fantastic. Just so you all know, Colombian food is nothing like Mexican food! We started with Arepas smothered in cheese. Mmmm... We've made these at home so we were curious if ours tasted like REAL arepas. Surprisingly, ours came fairly close! But you just can't compare when you put that much cheese on them! These were wonderful.
I had Arroz Con Pollo- Chicken with rice. It reminded me of Chinese Chicken fried rice, only the spices are a little different. It came with little yellow potatoes that were delicious.
Brent ordered Baneja Paisa. This dish is the most traditional meal served in Medellin- our kids' city. It is kind of like a sampler of food. Very yummy. (We sampled each other's food!) I loved the red beans and the fried plantain was wonderful. I'd had plantain before and didn't like it, so I was pleasantly surprised how good this was. I do have to comment that Brent let me unknowingly try the fried thick bacon looking thing. Only after I commented that I didn't care for it did he inform me that it was fried pig intestines! EWWWW!
We also brought home several packages of frozen, homemade arepas, a package of Guava paste that you are supposed to slice and eat with cheese, and a homemade block of chocolate to make Colombian hot chocolate. They put a piece of cheese in the hot chocolate and let it melt, then drink it. Chocolate and Cheese. My two favorites. It should be delicious!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Shopping, Consulate, Finding out, and Minutia
Shopping..................
The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of shopping, shopping and more shopping! The kids are sick and tired of it and so am I! I'm not a shopper to begin with, so this is killing me! Finding complete wardrobes for 7 children (and a few new things for me since I have put on a few pounds through this "paper pregnancy") in a few short weeks is overwhelming! BUT, I think I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The last pair of sandals and package of socks were bought today. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah! I don't want to ever have to shop this much, this fast ever again.
Consulate...............
Tomorrow we head to the Colombian Consulate in Washington DC. Normally, you can travel to Colombia without having to get a visa, but since we will have legal custody of a Colombian citizen (or three!) while we are there, we have to get "Special" visas! So far neither myself, another adoptive mom, or our agency can get through to them on the phone line to find out if we need an appointment or whether we can just show up. So we are PRAYING that they are friendly and let us get our visas easily. I've read a few horror stories recently of other adoptive families trying to get theirs at other consulates around the US so it has me cautious. I'm going OVER prepared with my entire traveling file box of every single paper they could possibly ask for!
Finding Out...........
Last week we learned that Luisa, Jhonatan, and Cindy found out about us the same day we got our travel dates! They were shown our photos and the dvd we made and were given the little gifts we sent. Raul, our agency rep, told us that they were jumping up and down all weekend, they blow us hugs and kisses each morning and night, and are very excited! You have NO IDEA how thankful we were for this news. With older child adoption, you never are fully sure that the children will be glad to be adopted. So hearing that they were so ecstatic was a relief to us.
Today, in another phone call with Raul, we found out a few more details. Luisa is understandably nervous and a little scared but still super excited. She asked the social workers which one of us they thought she looked like? Did she look like her big sister? (Is this not the most precious thing ever!) Cindy liked her little Strawberry Shortcake doll we sent. When she was asked if she wanted to come live with us, she asked if Luisa and Jhonatan would come. When they said yes, she said she would like that! Jhonatan asked to see pictures about where they would play once they came to their new house. You'll never believe this... their foster home is in a rural area with woods and hills and dairy farms, just like here! Here, we're going to the second largest city in Colombia thinking we're getting children who are going to have an adjustment to country life, and we end up getting countryfied kids! God is so awesome!
The more we find out, the more we realize how they are meant to be in our family. I can't remember now if I wrote this before, but we learned a while ago that according to his foster mom, Jhonatan likes doing "karate type moves". In case you don't know our family well, Karate is a very big part of our lives! Even Brent takes it with all the kids. This is a match made in heaven- literally!
Minutia that nobody really cares about....
*Airline tickets are purchased (boy was that a crazy 3 days!) We fly out of JFK in May and will come home in June to Dulles
*We are planning to be out of the country for 5 weeks. (never been away for more than 10 days, so it should be interesting!)
*It will be cheaper to live for another MONTH in Bogota than for us to change our 9 airfare tickets to come home if we finish sooner.
*Apartment in Medellin is located and our agency is putting a security deposit on it tomorrow
*Shopping is "almost" finished
*Vaccine updates are finished- without too much drama (blood draws for our homestudy was a traumatic event I'm still recovering from...)
*We are still looking for luggage to borrow before I can begin packing
*The whole house needs to be cleaned from top to bottom
*Still need to buy a vacuum, Cindy's car seat, and a bathing suit for me (yuck!)
*I HAVE to find a time to work on our family scrapbook we are taking down with us!
*Need to figure out the phone situation
*Need to find a way to kill ants and stink bugs once and for all so they don't take over the house like in some horror movie while we are gone
*I have only had one "melt down" moment with the kids, which I think is remarkable!
*I am really hoping we get to meet some other adoptive families traveling around the same time as us! A few have blogs!
http://theperfectsummerforamiracle.blogspot.com
http://babyadelman.blogspot.com/
http://www.journeytostefania.blogspot.com/
http://ouradoptionjourneytocolombia.blogspot.com
*I think I might forget every single Spanish word that I've learned when I see the chico's faces.
The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of shopping, shopping and more shopping! The kids are sick and tired of it and so am I! I'm not a shopper to begin with, so this is killing me! Finding complete wardrobes for 7 children (and a few new things for me since I have put on a few pounds through this "paper pregnancy") in a few short weeks is overwhelming! BUT, I think I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The last pair of sandals and package of socks were bought today. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah! I don't want to ever have to shop this much, this fast ever again.
Consulate...............
Tomorrow we head to the Colombian Consulate in Washington DC. Normally, you can travel to Colombia without having to get a visa, but since we will have legal custody of a Colombian citizen (or three!) while we are there, we have to get "Special" visas! So far neither myself, another adoptive mom, or our agency can get through to them on the phone line to find out if we need an appointment or whether we can just show up. So we are PRAYING that they are friendly and let us get our visas easily. I've read a few horror stories recently of other adoptive families trying to get theirs at other consulates around the US so it has me cautious. I'm going OVER prepared with my entire traveling file box of every single paper they could possibly ask for!
Finding Out...........
Last week we learned that Luisa, Jhonatan, and Cindy found out about us the same day we got our travel dates! They were shown our photos and the dvd we made and were given the little gifts we sent. Raul, our agency rep, told us that they were jumping up and down all weekend, they blow us hugs and kisses each morning and night, and are very excited! You have NO IDEA how thankful we were for this news. With older child adoption, you never are fully sure that the children will be glad to be adopted. So hearing that they were so ecstatic was a relief to us.
Today, in another phone call with Raul, we found out a few more details. Luisa is understandably nervous and a little scared but still super excited. She asked the social workers which one of us they thought she looked like? Did she look like her big sister? (Is this not the most precious thing ever!) Cindy liked her little Strawberry Shortcake doll we sent. When she was asked if she wanted to come live with us, she asked if Luisa and Jhonatan would come. When they said yes, she said she would like that! Jhonatan asked to see pictures about where they would play once they came to their new house. You'll never believe this... their foster home is in a rural area with woods and hills and dairy farms, just like here! Here, we're going to the second largest city in Colombia thinking we're getting children who are going to have an adjustment to country life, and we end up getting countryfied kids! God is so awesome!
The more we find out, the more we realize how they are meant to be in our family. I can't remember now if I wrote this before, but we learned a while ago that according to his foster mom, Jhonatan likes doing "karate type moves". In case you don't know our family well, Karate is a very big part of our lives! Even Brent takes it with all the kids. This is a match made in heaven- literally!
Minutia that nobody really cares about....
*Airline tickets are purchased (boy was that a crazy 3 days!) We fly out of JFK in May and will come home in June to Dulles
*We are planning to be out of the country for 5 weeks. (never been away for more than 10 days, so it should be interesting!)
*It will be cheaper to live for another MONTH in Bogota than for us to change our 9 airfare tickets to come home if we finish sooner.
*Apartment in Medellin is located and our agency is putting a security deposit on it tomorrow
*Shopping is "almost" finished
*Vaccine updates are finished- without too much drama (blood draws for our homestudy was a traumatic event I'm still recovering from...)
*We are still looking for luggage to borrow before I can begin packing
*The whole house needs to be cleaned from top to bottom
*Still need to buy a vacuum, Cindy's car seat, and a bathing suit for me (yuck!)
*I HAVE to find a time to work on our family scrapbook we are taking down with us!
*Need to figure out the phone situation
*Need to find a way to kill ants and stink bugs once and for all so they don't take over the house like in some horror movie while we are gone
*I have only had one "melt down" moment with the kids, which I think is remarkable!
*I am really hoping we get to meet some other adoptive families traveling around the same time as us! A few have blogs!
http://theperfectsummerforamiracle.blogspot.com
http://babyadelman.blogspot.com/
http://www.journeytostefania.blogspot.com/
http://ouradoptionjourneytocolombia.blogspot.com
*I think I might forget every single Spanish word that I've learned when I see the chico's faces.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Travel Approval!
Today has been one of the most exciting days for us so far in this adoption process. We got word on our travel date!
We fly to Colombia on...
We are going to have them for MOTHER'S DAY! They will have a momma for this Mother's Day, finally! Thank you, Lord, for that sweet, precious gift.
We were so concerned that we were not going to hear any news about our travel dates today and we would have to start making some difficult decisions about what to do with the immigration approval expiration date approaching. Thankfully, God didn't make us deal with that. Instead we heard the wonderful news that we weren't going to have to wait the full month like ICBF was going to make us wait.
We are so incredibly happy that my words can't even find their full expression.
I just had the realization that we will very likely return home the exact week two years from the date we first felt the call to adopt- June of 2009. God is so cool like that, ya know?
And one more awesome thing...
Two years ago we quietly mentioned to some of our dearest, closest friends (on a Bob Evans parking lot after Sunday dinner) that we were thinking of adopting. Both families were BLOWN AWAY, because they said they had just been discussing the SAME THING!
We have traveled this adoption journey- ours to Colombia and theirs to a little girl in China- together for the past two years. And, get this, we are leaving the SAME EXACT DAY AS EACH OTHER! As Dan said, "Now, God's just showing off!" He is! And I love it! Can you believe this?
***************
Monday we will have a phone call with Raul to go over Visa information, more travel info, apartment info, etc.
Tuesday we will drive to the Colombian Consulate in DC to apply for the Adoption Travel Visa
Wednesday we will drive back to DC and pick it up before they close for Holy Week.
From then until May 3rd we'll be shopping, packing, and pinching ourselves to see if it is really real!
We fly to Colombia on...
Wednesday, May 4th
and will receive Luisa Faith, Jonathan Scott, and Cindy Joy on
Friday, May 6th!!!!!!!
Exactly THREE WEEKS from TODAY!
We are going to have them for MOTHER'S DAY! They will have a momma for this Mother's Day, finally! Thank you, Lord, for that sweet, precious gift.
We were so concerned that we were not going to hear any news about our travel dates today and we would have to start making some difficult decisions about what to do with the immigration approval expiration date approaching. Thankfully, God didn't make us deal with that. Instead we heard the wonderful news that we weren't going to have to wait the full month like ICBF was going to make us wait.
We are so incredibly happy that my words can't even find their full expression.
I just had the realization that we will very likely return home the exact week two years from the date we first felt the call to adopt- June of 2009. God is so cool like that, ya know?
And one more awesome thing...
Two years ago we quietly mentioned to some of our dearest, closest friends (on a Bob Evans parking lot after Sunday dinner) that we were thinking of adopting. Both families were BLOWN AWAY, because they said they had just been discussing the SAME THING!
We have traveled this adoption journey- ours to Colombia and theirs to a little girl in China- together for the past two years. And, get this, we are leaving the SAME EXACT DAY AS EACH OTHER! As Dan said, "Now, God's just showing off!" He is! And I love it! Can you believe this?
***************
Monday we will have a phone call with Raul to go over Visa information, more travel info, apartment info, etc.
Tuesday we will drive to the Colombian Consulate in DC to apply for the Adoption Travel Visa
Wednesday we will drive back to DC and pick it up before they close for Holy Week.
From then until May 3rd we'll be shopping, packing, and pinching ourselves to see if it is really real!
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