This mami is getting very excited/nervous/anxious to meet her sons! I am starting to have a harder time sleeping, as I seem to wake up with my mind racing through hundreds of thoughts. I am making mental lists, thinking about all of the adoption/parenting books that I wish I would have had time to read, trying to remember all of the advice from the ones I did read, thinking about what I need to pack (haven't started yet...maybe I should and then I'd feel better?). Many times, I lay there trying to think of the Spanish word or phrase for something, or lay there conjugating verbs (what a geek, right?). I just can't seem to turn my brain off!
Throughout our adoption journey, I have sort of ebbed and flowed through cycles like this. Right before we submitted our dossier to Colombia, I was having recurring stress dreams: I had to take a P-Chem test that I hadn't studied for (here I am, 14 years out from Dr. Roskos's P-Chem class, and I still stress about it!), I was hosting a party but I didn't have enough food and wasn't prepared. I think I see a pattern here: there's a "task", and in my mind, I'm not sufficiently prepared...if only I had studied more, cooked more...fill in the blank, you get the picture.
OK, so I admit that letting go of the details and trusting that everything is going to be ok can sometimes be a challenge for me. I'm a pragmatist, a scientist, an ISFJ through and through, what can I say? At times like this though, when I feel the most scattered and stressed, I also need to have the most faith that God is with us on this journey, that I can stop worrying about the minutiae and put my trust in Him. Who better to trust? Now if only I could remember all of those soon-to-be important phrases while I lie awake in bed..."Don't hit your brother!"..."No biting!"..."Wash your hands!" :)
On a different note, as we expected, we have heard nothing this week about our travel dates. This is not a huge surprise, but what it does mean is that the time right before we leave for Colombia has the potential to become extremely hectic. There are a few more "process" things that need to happen before we go:
1. Get our approved travel dates
2. Book Jason and my airline tickets
3. Get our Colombian Special Visitor Visas (SVV's), in-person at the Consulate in Chicago
As we have found out, we have to do these final steps in this order. We were hoping that we could do steps 2 and 3 before step 1. The Consulate won't issue the SVV's unless you have a purchased return ticket to the US, so we called several travel agents, wondering if we could book airline tickets that were open-ended on both ends of our trip...nope. The price penalties for doing so are quite high, so it's a no-go. So instead of going to Chicago last week or this week, it looks like we will probably end up having to go to Chicago right before we travel to Colombia. A trip right before "the trip"...ugh. Oh well, we will hope for the best, prepare for anything, and count down the days until we are approved to go!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Christmas Recuperation
We are back home after spending the Christmas weekend with family. We had a great time, and safe travels. I think that Jason and I are kind of worn out, and even our dog, Ruby, seems to be resting and recuperating today. Throughout this holiday season, we have so often thought of our boys. We continuously pray for their health and safety, and also that they are able to process and cope with all of the big changes that are soon to take place in their lives...and in our lives too!
One of my sister's friends visited us over the weekend, and brought us a ton of gently used clothing that should be about Christian's size. Thank you so much! We bought a pair of shoes for each boy this weekend. We totally guessed at sizes, and are thoroughly prepared for them to be wrong, but at least we have something, and maybe we'll get lucky! We are also starting to get ready for the miscellaneous things we'll need for traveling...on the advice of another mom who adopted from Colombia, we are loaded up with RID (anti-lice shampoo/treatment)!
We heard from our social worker last week that our Article 5 letter has been approved, and we are waiting (very excitedly and anxiously!) to receive our approved travel dates. With the holidays, however, we suspect that most everything will move very slowly, or not at all, for the next week or so. It really feels like we are getting close now...probably just a few weeks until we meet the boys....whoa...deap breath! Just like the past weeks have though, I am sure the time will fly by, and we'll be on our way before we know it.
One of my sister's friends visited us over the weekend, and brought us a ton of gently used clothing that should be about Christian's size. Thank you so much! We bought a pair of shoes for each boy this weekend. We totally guessed at sizes, and are thoroughly prepared for them to be wrong, but at least we have something, and maybe we'll get lucky! We are also starting to get ready for the miscellaneous things we'll need for traveling...on the advice of another mom who adopted from Colombia, we are loaded up with RID (anti-lice shampoo/treatment)!
We heard from our social worker last week that our Article 5 letter has been approved, and we are waiting (very excitedly and anxiously!) to receive our approved travel dates. With the holidays, however, we suspect that most everything will move very slowly, or not at all, for the next week or so. It really feels like we are getting close now...probably just a few weeks until we meet the boys....whoa...deap breath! Just like the past weeks have though, I am sure the time will fly by, and we'll be on our way before we know it.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
It's All OK In Cloquet
Have you ever tried to fit 3 car seats into the back seat of a mid-sized sedan? Neither had we until last week. It wasn't pretty. The third seat just wouldn't cram in there, and ended up sort of tilted and perched on the edge of oblivion. Groan.
We knew that we were going to need to do something about our vehicle situation, but were totally not looking forward to going car shopping, especially amidst all of the other chaos that happens this time of the year. We inwardly cringed at the thought of giving up our pickup in exchange for a minivan...or a full sized van...or maybe even a bus! So we trudged to the car dealership, and thus began our search for the "right" vehicle.
We went to Cloquet Ford, and as we walked in the door we actually kind of felt sorry for whoever was going to have to help us. We had no idea what we wanted, and we weren't especially happy to be spending a Saturday shopping for vehicles. Enter Jimmy Saice, sales consultant. Unfazed by Jason's grumpiness or our lack of direction, Jimmy hung in there with us until we narrowed things down.
We started looking at SUV's with 3rd row seating. They were ok, but that 3rd row felt so far away, practically in its own time zone. We haven't waited all these years for kids just to put them as far away from us as possible. We decided to look at a crew cab pickup more as a "rule it out" kind of move. Lo and behold, we actually loved it.
The pickup we test drove didn't have running boards, and I, the graceful thing that I am, had to do sort of a belly flop onto the back seat to try and get in. Good thing I am not proud, and good thing that Jason was the only one to see me do it. The car seats all fit in the back seat, no problem. Jason and I sort of like the idea of piling the family into 2 rows of seating. Hey, I had to do it with my sisters when I was a kid, and although I am sure we all felt tortured at the time, I actually have some great stories and memories from being crammed together in the backseat. I could write another whole blog post on that topic...
Anyways, Jimmy was a real trooper. He kept things light, but was informative at the same time. Then came the time to talk numbers. Jason and I had a bottom line number in mind that we would be happy with, and Jimmy was able to beat that number. Imagine our surprise and delight...an early Merry Christmas to us, and a big thanks to the fine folks at Cloquet Ford. And, because he was such a great guy to work with, here's his plug: If you need to buy a vehicle, go see JIMMY SAICE at Cloquet Ford!! Thanks for everything, Jimmy!
We knew that we were going to need to do something about our vehicle situation, but were totally not looking forward to going car shopping, especially amidst all of the other chaos that happens this time of the year. We inwardly cringed at the thought of giving up our pickup in exchange for a minivan...or a full sized van...or maybe even a bus! So we trudged to the car dealership, and thus began our search for the "right" vehicle.
We went to Cloquet Ford, and as we walked in the door we actually kind of felt sorry for whoever was going to have to help us. We had no idea what we wanted, and we weren't especially happy to be spending a Saturday shopping for vehicles. Enter Jimmy Saice, sales consultant. Unfazed by Jason's grumpiness or our lack of direction, Jimmy hung in there with us until we narrowed things down.
We started looking at SUV's with 3rd row seating. They were ok, but that 3rd row felt so far away, practically in its own time zone. We haven't waited all these years for kids just to put them as far away from us as possible. We decided to look at a crew cab pickup more as a "rule it out" kind of move. Lo and behold, we actually loved it.
The pickup we test drove didn't have running boards, and I, the graceful thing that I am, had to do sort of a belly flop onto the back seat to try and get in. Good thing I am not proud, and good thing that Jason was the only one to see me do it. The car seats all fit in the back seat, no problem. Jason and I sort of like the idea of piling the family into 2 rows of seating. Hey, I had to do it with my sisters when I was a kid, and although I am sure we all felt tortured at the time, I actually have some great stories and memories from being crammed together in the backseat. I could write another whole blog post on that topic...
Anyways, Jimmy was a real trooper. He kept things light, but was informative at the same time. Then came the time to talk numbers. Jason and I had a bottom line number in mind that we would be happy with, and Jimmy was able to beat that number. Imagine our surprise and delight...an early Merry Christmas to us, and a big thanks to the fine folks at Cloquet Ford. And, because he was such a great guy to work with, here's his plug: If you need to buy a vehicle, go see JIMMY SAICE at Cloquet Ford!! Thanks for everything, Jimmy!
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| Jimmy giving us the keys to the crew cab pickup |
Monday, December 20, 2010
Walking In Faith
Last week I spoke with a family that adopted 3 siblings from Colombia, two years ago. It was a difficult conversation, that left both Jason and I somewhat shaken. The parents basically stated that the last two years of their lives have felt like hell, and encouraged us to strongly consider what we are about to embark on. Wow. The transition for them and their 3 children has been much more difficult than they ever could have imagined. In public the children appear to be well-adjusted and happy, however in the privacy of their home the kids behave totally differently, and not in a good way. At least one of their children displays Reactive Attachment Disorder, and they have struggled with many many difficulties.
We learned a lot about the potential risks of international adoption and older child adoption in our pre-adoption training classes. Some of the severe cases of Reactive Attachment Disorder are absolutely terrifying. Jason and I debated at length whether we thought that we could parent "older" children that may have had painful, difficult early lives. We really searched our souls on this... Do we think we have the capacity to help these little people heal from their early hurts and losses? Do we have the capacity to love and commit to kids that may outwardly reject us or hurt us out of fear of being rejected themselves? Can we really do this?
We believe that the answer is yes. We hope and pray that our boys will be resilient, and that they have not suffered at the hands of the adults they have known, and that they will have the capacity to heal given lots of love and time. We feel that we are truly moving forward with steps of faith. There is so much that we don't know about our boys. But we do know that great reward can come from great difficulty. And what better thing to commit your life to than to help a child...or 3 children?
Maybe we are naive, or maybe just hopeful. Perhaps our sons will adjust with ease, we hope for this. However, some days we feel scared to death about what could be. Yet...we continue to move toward our sons, knowing that we may be pushed farther than we ever imagined, and hopefully grow more than we ever could have forseen. We pray that they are safe, and we thank everyone who is praying right along with us.
We learned a lot about the potential risks of international adoption and older child adoption in our pre-adoption training classes. Some of the severe cases of Reactive Attachment Disorder are absolutely terrifying. Jason and I debated at length whether we thought that we could parent "older" children that may have had painful, difficult early lives. We really searched our souls on this... Do we think we have the capacity to help these little people heal from their early hurts and losses? Do we have the capacity to love and commit to kids that may outwardly reject us or hurt us out of fear of being rejected themselves? Can we really do this?
We believe that the answer is yes. We hope and pray that our boys will be resilient, and that they have not suffered at the hands of the adults they have known, and that they will have the capacity to heal given lots of love and time. We feel that we are truly moving forward with steps of faith. There is so much that we don't know about our boys. But we do know that great reward can come from great difficulty. And what better thing to commit your life to than to help a child...or 3 children?
Maybe we are naive, or maybe just hopeful. Perhaps our sons will adjust with ease, we hope for this. However, some days we feel scared to death about what could be. Yet...we continue to move toward our sons, knowing that we may be pushed farther than we ever imagined, and hopefully grow more than we ever could have forseen. We pray that they are safe, and we thank everyone who is praying right along with us.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Yvonne
We had our third, and final, shower for the boys last weekend. Our dear friend, Yvonne, put together such a nice party, and I wish that it hadn't gone by so quickly! The food was delicious (wild rice soup, Krumkakke, and Lady Baltimore cake just to mention a sampling...yum!) Again, the outpouring of generosity and kindness towards our family and our sons was truly humbling. The snow storm that we had been watching missed us in Duluth, but absolutely punished areas further to the south. Several loved ones were unable to come to the shower due to the weather, and they were very much missed. Weather is not always cooperative during Minnesota's winter, but everyone is safe and sound, and we wouldn't have it any other way!
Here are a few pictures from the party. Thank you, Kimberly, for snapping all of these shots...I think you got a picture of everyone except yourself!
Here are a few pictures from the party. Thank you, Kimberly, for snapping all of these shots...I think you got a picture of everyone except yourself!
I'd like to say a few words about my friend, Yvonne. Yvonne and I have known each other for about six years. We met while volunteering at a local hospital. Here's a picture of us "on the job"!
Every now and again we come across people in our life who are like a gift...and that's what Yvonne and her husband, Tom, are to Jason and I. I think that the 4 of us have all "adopted" each other, and Jason and I consider Tom and Yvonne to be our family. We have shared some wonderful memories over the years. Yvonne was my partner in crime with the turkey bonanza (see previous post), and she is always ready to have fun. Yvonne and I both LOVE to bake, and we have shared many recipes, from time-tested favorites to new-found experiements (sometimes good, sometimes disastrous!). Tom and Yvonne taught Jason and I how to fish for trout, and as Tom always says..."Once you catch your first trout, you'll be hooked! There's nothing like it!" How true!
Yvonne and Tom have been such wonderful friends to us over the years, and we are so lucky and blessed to know them. Thank you to you both for all that you did to make the shower so special, and for all of your love, support, and excitement in welcoming and embracing three new members to our family!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Helper Elf Dianna
I think I mentioned this in my last post, but my mom has been staying with us this past week, and she has been such a great help. While I have had many different commitments and "to do" items pulling me every which way this week, Mom has been steadily plugging away in the background, helping to keep the household running full steam ahead. The laundry and dishes have been done, the house is clean, some Christmas presents have been wrapped, and I am so grateful! Mom and Precious, my furry "little sister" have been great company this week, and the week has flown by. We have managed to get in a few games of Scrabble, and I think Mom and I are tied so far.
Yesterday was a big day for paperwork. We faxed our DS230's (the boys' US Visa applications) to the US Embassy in Colombia. I was also able to finalize our latest round of updated documents for the dossier, and FedEx'ed them to Colombia yesterday. Our next step is to wait to receive our approved travel dates. Then we can book our tickets and apply for our Visas (travel, not credit). We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will receive travel approval next week.
My dad arrived late last night, his vehicle loaded down with all of the toys from last weekend's shower that we couldn't fit in our car. The boys' rooms are quickly filling up, now all we need is our sons themselves! We are getting very excited as the days count down, and have so much to be grateful for.
We have one more shower left to go, being hosted by my dear friend, Yvonne, and Jason's Aunt Lea. Mother Nature is not feeling totally cooperative however, and a severe winter storm is potentially brewing. We are staying tuned to the weather stations, and want everyone to put safety first! (I sound like an OSHA poster...must be from all of those years working as a chemist) It will be a wonderful day regardless of the weather. In the mean time, Jason and my dad are plotting about the low pressure system moving in, and hoping that the fish bite will turn "on"...you guessed it, they are hitting the ice! Mom and I will resume our Scrabble tournament and sit by the Christmas tree.
Yesterday was a big day for paperwork. We faxed our DS230's (the boys' US Visa applications) to the US Embassy in Colombia. I was also able to finalize our latest round of updated documents for the dossier, and FedEx'ed them to Colombia yesterday. Our next step is to wait to receive our approved travel dates. Then we can book our tickets and apply for our Visas (travel, not credit). We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will receive travel approval next week.
My dad arrived late last night, his vehicle loaded down with all of the toys from last weekend's shower that we couldn't fit in our car. The boys' rooms are quickly filling up, now all we need is our sons themselves! We are getting very excited as the days count down, and have so much to be grateful for.
We have one more shower left to go, being hosted by my dear friend, Yvonne, and Jason's Aunt Lea. Mother Nature is not feeling totally cooperative however, and a severe winter storm is potentially brewing. We are staying tuned to the weather stations, and want everyone to put safety first! (I sound like an OSHA poster...must be from all of those years working as a chemist) It will be a wonderful day regardless of the weather. In the mean time, Jason and my dad are plotting about the low pressure system moving in, and hoping that the fish bite will turn "on"...you guessed it, they are hitting the ice! Mom and I will resume our Scrabble tournament and sit by the Christmas tree.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Getting Closer
We are getting closer and closer! As Jason mentioned in his post, we received our I800 approvals for each of the boys yesterday. My mom has been staying with us this week, and I think she danced a little jig when we opened the mail and saw the I800's! :)
We should have our approved travel dates soon, and then things will really kick into high gear. Throw a couple of holidays in the mix, and before you know it, we will be on our way to meet our sons. It feels like there is still so much to do before we travel, but we will just have to prioritize and accomplish whatever we can in the next few weeks.
We had a "travel meeting" last week with our social worker, B, to go over lots of the basics we'll need to know about our trip to Colombia. We haven't started to pack yet, but our wheels are all ready turning on that front. We are trying to be as clever and compact as we can when we think about what to bring, but with 2 adults and 3 kids for up to 5 weeks, I somehow suspect that we will have a monstrosity of luggage. We normally try to travel light, and so we sort of cringe to envision the mountain of suitcases we will likely bring along with us (especially now that they charge per each piece of checked baggage!)...hope they have lots of luggage carts at the airports!
As many of you know, my mom, dad and sisters hosted a shower for us last weekend, and it was an awesome day. We can't say thank you enough to them, and to everyone who came, and the love and support we have received has been truly amazing. We had such a fun day with everybody, and it was so wonderful to see family and friends, and makes me wish that we lived closer to everybody.
Some of my favorite moments from the day were with the kids who came to the party. Leia telling me that "My mom said I can help hand you the presents, as long as I promise not to open any". Leia's little sister, Raya, sampling a swipe of frosting from every piece of cake on the table...until she got busted! :) (A girl after my own heart...who can resist cake with lots of frosting?!?) And little Brianna handing me a present and saying "Here, open the movie first". Out of the mouths of babes....right? Seeing all of the kids running around having fun makes me so excited to be a mom. For so many years, it has been a hope and a dream, but soon it will be a reality and we will be chasing around after our own children. I can hardly wait, but at the same time, am trying to appreciate our last days BK (Before Kids), and enjoying our sleep now!
Talking to family and friends about our excitement, and sometimes nervousness, about being new parents has been great...lots of excellent advice from experienced parents, and so much love and support. So many people have helped to encourage and lift us up, and we are so grateful. Thanks again to everyone for such a great day!
We should have our approved travel dates soon, and then things will really kick into high gear. Throw a couple of holidays in the mix, and before you know it, we will be on our way to meet our sons. It feels like there is still so much to do before we travel, but we will just have to prioritize and accomplish whatever we can in the next few weeks.
We had a "travel meeting" last week with our social worker, B, to go over lots of the basics we'll need to know about our trip to Colombia. We haven't started to pack yet, but our wheels are all ready turning on that front. We are trying to be as clever and compact as we can when we think about what to bring, but with 2 adults and 3 kids for up to 5 weeks, I somehow suspect that we will have a monstrosity of luggage. We normally try to travel light, and so we sort of cringe to envision the mountain of suitcases we will likely bring along with us (especially now that they charge per each piece of checked baggage!)...hope they have lots of luggage carts at the airports!
As many of you know, my mom, dad and sisters hosted a shower for us last weekend, and it was an awesome day. We can't say thank you enough to them, and to everyone who came, and the love and support we have received has been truly amazing. We had such a fun day with everybody, and it was so wonderful to see family and friends, and makes me wish that we lived closer to everybody.
Some of my favorite moments from the day were with the kids who came to the party. Leia telling me that "My mom said I can help hand you the presents, as long as I promise not to open any". Leia's little sister, Raya, sampling a swipe of frosting from every piece of cake on the table...until she got busted! :) (A girl after my own heart...who can resist cake with lots of frosting?!?) And little Brianna handing me a present and saying "Here, open the movie first". Out of the mouths of babes....right? Seeing all of the kids running around having fun makes me so excited to be a mom. For so many years, it has been a hope and a dream, but soon it will be a reality and we will be chasing around after our own children. I can hardly wait, but at the same time, am trying to appreciate our last days BK (Before Kids), and enjoying our sleep now!
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| My Mom, trying not to stab me with a pin! |
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| Sisters! |
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| Mmmmmmmmm...frosting! |
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| A super-cool easel from Auntie Chrissy! |
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| My little helper, and a card she made for the boys |
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| Dad and Rob, helping load and unload all of the party stuff! |
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| Jason, ready to go. |
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Precise Paperwork Pays Precious Premiums
It is with great joy that I can report the I800 is approved! Nicole's diligent and excellent work with all of the paper work has payed off. The approval of the I800 is a major paper work hurdle. The I800 approves us to adopt the boys by the U.S. government and clears the way for them to become U.S. citizens the instant we land on our return trip. The approval of the I800 moves us one major step closer to getting our exact travel date, which we should have in 7-10 days.
Thank you for all of you kind words, gererous gifts and heart felt support. Jason
Thank you for all of you kind words, gererous gifts and heart felt support. Jason
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Showers and Fireballs
It's been a very busy week. We hosted Thanksgiving at our house, and had fabulous food and company. We all agreed that it was one of the best Thanksgiving meals in memory...my mouth waters just at the thought of Lea's bourbon sweet potatoes - YUM! Thank you Lea for all of your help and a fun day in the kitchen!
On Friday we got our tree and rearranged the living room furniture yet again! (I think that's the 3rd time in a month, but who's keeping track?!) The tree is trimmed, the Christmas village is out, the outdoor lights are strung, and Bing Crosby is singing away in the background.
On Sunday, Jason's family hosted our first shower to welcome the boys. It was a great day of visiting with family, delicious food, and a fun time. Thank you so much to Debbie, Grandma and Katie for making the day so nice. It was wonderful to see relatives that we haven't gotten to see in a long time. And it was great to get to talk with our cousin whose family is also completing an international adoption. They are adopting from Jamaica, so all of the country-specific "stuff" is different, but a lot of the process on the US-side remains similar, and of course the emotional ups and downs of a waiting, worrying family are shared. Their family still waits for a referral, and we keep them in our prayers that everything will proceed smoothly.
On Friday we got our tree and rearranged the living room furniture yet again! (I think that's the 3rd time in a month, but who's keeping track?!) The tree is trimmed, the Christmas village is out, the outdoor lights are strung, and Bing Crosby is singing away in the background.
On Sunday, Jason's family hosted our first shower to welcome the boys. It was a great day of visiting with family, delicious food, and a fun time. Thank you so much to Debbie, Grandma and Katie for making the day so nice. It was wonderful to see relatives that we haven't gotten to see in a long time. And it was great to get to talk with our cousin whose family is also completing an international adoption. They are adopting from Jamaica, so all of the country-specific "stuff" is different, but a lot of the process on the US-side remains similar, and of course the emotional ups and downs of a waiting, worrying family are shared. Their family still waits for a referral, and we keep them in our prayers that everything will proceed smoothly.
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| Jason and Grandma Mickey |
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| The whole gang (except Debbie, who's taking the picture!) |
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| ME! |
Our FBI fingerprint background clearances came in the mail this week. We have a growing stack of papers to be sent down to Colombia as an update to our dossier, and this was the final thing we were waiting for. While we were waiting for these documents to arrive in the mail, imagine our horror a couple of weeks ago when we received this letter in the mail instead:
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? The mail carrier's car BURNED DOWN?!? The first thing we did was check with the FBI to make sure that our clearance letters hadn't been sent out and burned to ashes in the fire ball that used to be our mailman's car. This may be the only time I was happy that the FBI is slow at processing background checks, but luckily ours were still in the processing que and hadn't been completed yet. Whew! So now we have them safely in hand, and just have to get them safely to Colombia.
We will have a meeting this Friday with our social worker, B, and we have a growing list of questions as we get closer to traveling. Lots to think about, but we are still trying to keep our heads together.
That's all for now. Looking forward to seeing many of you in the upcoming weeks!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Turkey Bonanza
Kind of a quiet week on the adoption front. No new news, no action with any of the paperwork. Just Jason and I buzzing around like 2 busy little bees.
Our project list is progressing, and it feels great. Things that have been stuck on that list for over a year are starting to get done. Our house stinks to high heaven from wood stain and polyurethane. I have to stick my head out the door every couple of hours just to clear my sinuses and get a shock of clean, cold, Minnesota winter air.
Now, you may all think that I am going off the deep end, or maybe I've just been sitting in these fumes for too long, but I have bought 4 turkeys in the last week...I am like a woman out of control. The price is just so good (I sound like an addict justifying my behavior, right?). The advertisement says "1 per customer", and there is no minimum purchase, and they are just $0.39/lb!! I bought a 20 pounder for Thanksgiving. Then I forced Jason to come back to the store with me and we each bought another turkey. Last night, I made my girlfriend stop by the store with me. I got a turkey, and I convinced her to get a turkey too. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME??????!!!!!!
Each time I check out, I giggle like a kid and feel like congratulating myself for getting such a great deal. Then I remember the "1 per cusotmer" sign, and just know that I will be ousted, and my picture will be posted on a customer wall-of-shame at the store. When I walked in the door last night with another turkey, Jason looked at me and just shook his head. I said "What? Now I have one turkey for each boy!" Hope they like turkey.
Call it some bizarre form of nesting...I don't know. I think I am finally done though, as the freezer is nearing full capacity. Now it's time to start concentrating on Thanksgiving...getting the house ready for company and preparing the food. It is like heaven for someone who has been hit with the nesting urge.
We have the boys' photos in our kitchen, and I look at them hundreds of times in a given day. I am so excited for the day when they will actually be here in person, sitting at our table, or maybe running around the kitchen making lots of noise. As we head into Thanksgiving this year, it is with grateful, hopeful, humbled hearts...and a freezer full of turkeys!
Our project list is progressing, and it feels great. Things that have been stuck on that list for over a year are starting to get done. Our house stinks to high heaven from wood stain and polyurethane. I have to stick my head out the door every couple of hours just to clear my sinuses and get a shock of clean, cold, Minnesota winter air.
Now, you may all think that I am going off the deep end, or maybe I've just been sitting in these fumes for too long, but I have bought 4 turkeys in the last week...I am like a woman out of control. The price is just so good (I sound like an addict justifying my behavior, right?). The advertisement says "1 per customer", and there is no minimum purchase, and they are just $0.39/lb!! I bought a 20 pounder for Thanksgiving. Then I forced Jason to come back to the store with me and we each bought another turkey. Last night, I made my girlfriend stop by the store with me. I got a turkey, and I convinced her to get a turkey too. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME??????!!!!!!
Each time I check out, I giggle like a kid and feel like congratulating myself for getting such a great deal. Then I remember the "1 per cusotmer" sign, and just know that I will be ousted, and my picture will be posted on a customer wall-of-shame at the store. When I walked in the door last night with another turkey, Jason looked at me and just shook his head. I said "What? Now I have one turkey for each boy!" Hope they like turkey.
Call it some bizarre form of nesting...I don't know. I think I am finally done though, as the freezer is nearing full capacity. Now it's time to start concentrating on Thanksgiving...getting the house ready for company and preparing the food. It is like heaven for someone who has been hit with the nesting urge.
We have the boys' photos in our kitchen, and I look at them hundreds of times in a given day. I am so excited for the day when they will actually be here in person, sitting at our table, or maybe running around the kitchen making lots of noise. As we head into Thanksgiving this year, it is with grateful, hopeful, humbled hearts...and a freezer full of turkeys!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Second Week of Deer Camp
Not too much is happening here this week, we are plugging along, and bracing for some cold weather! We are still working on miscellaneous projects around the house, and Jason is spending the final days of the Minnesota deer season trying to put some meat in our freezer...with 3 boys, I think we are going to need it!
We are at sort of a resting point with paperwork. All of the essential documents are submitted, and we are just waiting for their approval before we can move onto the next documents. We had the opportunity to declare the new legal names for the boys, and they will be: Juan Manuel Gregory Lenz, Santiago Nicholas Lenz, and Christian Thomas Lenz. It is an honor for us to pass on the names of some of the most important and loved men in our lives...and the Nicholas thing goes back to my older sister, Vicki. She wanted a brother in the worst way...a little boy named Nicholas...and instead she got: ME! So, while it may not be the brother she always wanted, and it may be 35 years later, here comes a Christmas present she had hoped for! :)
We did fill out a brief form that will be used to help introduce/familiarize the kids with us and our extended family. It looks like they will use that form, along with the stuff we sent down a week ago, to help the boys with the transition. Based on that, we are kind of assuming that the boys don't know about us yet, but we have no way to find out for sure. Funny that they may not even know we exist yet, but that we have all ready embraced them in our hearts and lives.
That's one thing about doing an ICBF adoption vs. a private orphanage adoption - it can be more difficult to get information in a real-time setting. The adoption agency can't exactly call down to the foster parents and bombard them with all of our questions...they have to proceed through a sort of diluted chain of people to try and get information. So, until we are actually physically present in Colombia with the boys, it may be difficult to get any updates or new information other that what we were presented with in our referral packet. We sometimes struggle with that because we are so excited and have so many questions about how the boys are doing, how fast they are growing, what they are up to...not really urgent, pressing issues, but just the things that two new parents think and wonder about.
I found out something really cool this week...I was talking to the ESL (Enlish as a Second Language) teacher in our school district, and he told me that there is another family right here in Duluth that recently adopted 3 siblings from Colombia, and that their kids attend the same grade school where our boys would go. How awesome is that!? So, he was going to forward that family our information, and hopefully we will be in contact with them soon.
We are definitely settling in to the idea of being parents to 3 little boys, and are (finally!) able to sleep a little bit better these days. We feel so relieved to have some sort of sense of what this year may bring...until now, we have felt like we were pretty much in limbo. It was hard to look ahead and have this knowledge that our lives were going to drastically change, but to have no specific details about that change. If anyone asked us to make plans even 1-2 months in advance, we would kind of shrug our shoulders and say..."Maybe??? It depends on...?" And now, even though we have no assurances of what lies ahead, it feels as if the fog is starting to lift, and at the very least we know that it will bring 3 beautiful little boys to a waiting Mommy and Daddy!
We are at sort of a resting point with paperwork. All of the essential documents are submitted, and we are just waiting for their approval before we can move onto the next documents. We had the opportunity to declare the new legal names for the boys, and they will be: Juan Manuel Gregory Lenz, Santiago Nicholas Lenz, and Christian Thomas Lenz. It is an honor for us to pass on the names of some of the most important and loved men in our lives...and the Nicholas thing goes back to my older sister, Vicki. She wanted a brother in the worst way...a little boy named Nicholas...and instead she got: ME! So, while it may not be the brother she always wanted, and it may be 35 years later, here comes a Christmas present she had hoped for! :)
We did fill out a brief form that will be used to help introduce/familiarize the kids with us and our extended family. It looks like they will use that form, along with the stuff we sent down a week ago, to help the boys with the transition. Based on that, we are kind of assuming that the boys don't know about us yet, but we have no way to find out for sure. Funny that they may not even know we exist yet, but that we have all ready embraced them in our hearts and lives.
That's one thing about doing an ICBF adoption vs. a private orphanage adoption - it can be more difficult to get information in a real-time setting. The adoption agency can't exactly call down to the foster parents and bombard them with all of our questions...they have to proceed through a sort of diluted chain of people to try and get information. So, until we are actually physically present in Colombia with the boys, it may be difficult to get any updates or new information other that what we were presented with in our referral packet. We sometimes struggle with that because we are so excited and have so many questions about how the boys are doing, how fast they are growing, what they are up to...not really urgent, pressing issues, but just the things that two new parents think and wonder about.
I found out something really cool this week...I was talking to the ESL (Enlish as a Second Language) teacher in our school district, and he told me that there is another family right here in Duluth that recently adopted 3 siblings from Colombia, and that their kids attend the same grade school where our boys would go. How awesome is that!? So, he was going to forward that family our information, and hopefully we will be in contact with them soon.
We are definitely settling in to the idea of being parents to 3 little boys, and are (finally!) able to sleep a little bit better these days. We feel so relieved to have some sort of sense of what this year may bring...until now, we have felt like we were pretty much in limbo. It was hard to look ahead and have this knowledge that our lives were going to drastically change, but to have no specific details about that change. If anyone asked us to make plans even 1-2 months in advance, we would kind of shrug our shoulders and say..."Maybe??? It depends on...?" And now, even though we have no assurances of what lies ahead, it feels as if the fog is starting to lift, and at the very least we know that it will bring 3 beautiful little boys to a waiting Mommy and Daddy!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
It's a Wonderful Life
Wow...where have the days gone? We have been keeping very busy here, and making slow, steady progress, even though some days it doesn't feel like it!!
We finished our video to send to the boys, and, NO, I am not going to post it here. :P It is sooooo CHEESY!!! We were actually quite nervous about making the video. After all, it will be the first time that our kids will hear our voices and see our faces...it felt kind of intimidating, to be honest. Well, we hope that the video will help the kids get familiar with us a little bit, and with our home. So, we introduced ourselves, walked through the house, talked to them a bit. We spoke in Spanish as much as we could, because we heard from B, our social worker, that the kids usually laugh their heads off at their parents' funny accents. And I'm sure we will sound goofy to them...not just an American accent, but a Fargo-type accent thrown in there too! We sent the video, the photo album, and some teddy bears down to the boys last week, but don't know when they will be given to the kids.
We finished our I800 documentation (citizenship/immigration paperwork), and it is on its way to the Feds. We hear that we should receive approval in approximately 3 weeks. Once we have this, we can start planning our actual travel dates and booking tickets, and also apply for our visas. We are still waiting for our fingerprints to come back from the FBI, but they are in process and there is nothing we can do to speed them up. Hopefully it will only be a few more weeks before they are ready.
We have been having lots of fun making plans for the upcoming "baby" showers. And here we must say a huge thank you to everyone who has been involved. We have been amazed at the outpouring of love and support from those around us...it is as if the excitement and joy of welcoming these three little boys into our lives is absolutely contagious. People that are practically strangers to us want to know what they can do to help, how they can be involved. It is awesome, and very humbling, to see. It feels sort of like we are having these George Bailey/It's a Wonderful Life moments...seeing how your own life has intertwined with and touched other peoples' lives...how friends and family and community are hoping and praying and willing to reach out to help our little boys and our family. Words cannot express our gratitude. And sometimes I feel like running through the street, like George Bailey did at the end of the movie...bursting with joy...kissing that stupid old bannister post when it came off in his hand for the millionth time. Not that we won't have challenges in the days ahead. We know we will. But we know that we won't be alone...and for that, we thank all of you!
We finished our video to send to the boys, and, NO, I am not going to post it here. :P It is sooooo CHEESY!!! We were actually quite nervous about making the video. After all, it will be the first time that our kids will hear our voices and see our faces...it felt kind of intimidating, to be honest. Well, we hope that the video will help the kids get familiar with us a little bit, and with our home. So, we introduced ourselves, walked through the house, talked to them a bit. We spoke in Spanish as much as we could, because we heard from B, our social worker, that the kids usually laugh their heads off at their parents' funny accents. And I'm sure we will sound goofy to them...not just an American accent, but a Fargo-type accent thrown in there too! We sent the video, the photo album, and some teddy bears down to the boys last week, but don't know when they will be given to the kids.
We finished our I800 documentation (citizenship/immigration paperwork), and it is on its way to the Feds. We hear that we should receive approval in approximately 3 weeks. Once we have this, we can start planning our actual travel dates and booking tickets, and also apply for our visas. We are still waiting for our fingerprints to come back from the FBI, but they are in process and there is nothing we can do to speed them up. Hopefully it will only be a few more weeks before they are ready.
We have been having lots of fun making plans for the upcoming "baby" showers. And here we must say a huge thank you to everyone who has been involved. We have been amazed at the outpouring of love and support from those around us...it is as if the excitement and joy of welcoming these three little boys into our lives is absolutely contagious. People that are practically strangers to us want to know what they can do to help, how they can be involved. It is awesome, and very humbling, to see. It feels sort of like we are having these George Bailey/It's a Wonderful Life moments...seeing how your own life has intertwined with and touched other peoples' lives...how friends and family and community are hoping and praying and willing to reach out to help our little boys and our family. Words cannot express our gratitude. And sometimes I feel like running through the street, like George Bailey did at the end of the movie...bursting with joy...kissing that stupid old bannister post when it came off in his hand for the millionth time. Not that we won't have challenges in the days ahead. We know we will. But we know that we won't be alone...and for that, we thank all of you!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Scrapbook (fun) and Paperwork (not-so-fun)
A busy day of paperwork and finishing the photo album for the kids. I had to work on our I-800 documents. (These are petitions to classify the kids as immediate relatives...basically clears them with the US Citizenship and Immigration office. We will finalize the adoption in Colombia, and the kids will be US citizens as soon as we land back in the US.) Since we are adopting a sibling group, I had to fill out 3 sets of paperwork - one set for each of the boys. Just try keeping that straight!!! But, it's done, and I'll send it all out tomorrow. One more box checked off of the list - yeah!
When I became cross-eyed from too much paperwork, I took a break to finish the photo album that we'll be sending to the boys. Let me preface this by saying I am NOT a scrapbooker. In fact, I think that I failed cutting/pasting in all of grades K-3. I think that it had something to do with being a lefty trying to survive in a right-handed world. Anyways, hopefully the boys won't mind their mother's lack of talent for scrapbooks! Here are pictures of the pictures... :)
The last page in the book is a picture of Jason and I, with the pictures of the kids surrounding us, and reads "La Familia Junta"...which I think/hope translates into "the family together".
That's all for now. Lots more to do...better keep working!!!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Coming Out of The Fog
The last week feels like a blur...we spent the first 2 or 3 days after the referral sort of walking around in a haze. Staring in amazement at the pictures of the boys, knowing that we should be doing something, but not even knowing where to begin. As we started processing our big news, we eventually came back out of orbit and started at...TARGET!!!
What fun to plan for the boys and the days ahead, and all of the STUFF we will need for 3 little kids! See, we've sort of put this part off a bit...Before we had our referral, we didn't want to bring too many children's things into our home, not knowing how long our wait would be, and not wanting to be surrounded by daily reminders of the children we are waiting for. Besides, we had no idea what to shop for until we knew the ages and genders of our little ones. So, we have a lot of preparations to make! This part has been a looooong time in coming, and it felt great to finally be able to walk through the baby and childrens' departments with the anticipation that we will soon be welcoming 3 little boys into our lives.
And ever since we got the ball rolling, we have been a flurry of activity. Our house is in a state of chaos as we re-arrange all of the furniture, start to child proof, and finish miscellaneous household projects that we have put off for too long. We have made lists, and lists, and more lists. I have talked to the school district, the fire department (trying to figure out the whole car seat/booster seat thing and what we'll need), our social worker, the international adoption pediatric specialist, and many many of our friends and family. Thank you all so much for your support and encouragement. I had to laugh when a friend of mine told me to BREATHE!! JUST BREATHE!!! Exactly.
I have been busy working on a scrap book for the kids (I am not good at this, but am really trying - thanks Vicki for the supplies and help!) I have been trying to learn how to make a DVD to send to the kids, and fighting with the computer to figure out why the audio won't play with the video. GRRRRRR! Finally found a fix for that, and now we can have some fun making the video. Our social worker says that the kids love to see/hear their new family and will get a kick out of our funny accents as we try to speak Spanish.
We have officially accepted the referral for our 3 little boys, and will be submitting our paperwork today...which will promptly trigger...more paperwork. Oh well, every paper, every signature, every notarization from here on out gets us one step closer to bringing our sons home!
What fun to plan for the boys and the days ahead, and all of the STUFF we will need for 3 little kids! See, we've sort of put this part off a bit...Before we had our referral, we didn't want to bring too many children's things into our home, not knowing how long our wait would be, and not wanting to be surrounded by daily reminders of the children we are waiting for. Besides, we had no idea what to shop for until we knew the ages and genders of our little ones. So, we have a lot of preparations to make! This part has been a looooong time in coming, and it felt great to finally be able to walk through the baby and childrens' departments with the anticipation that we will soon be welcoming 3 little boys into our lives.
And ever since we got the ball rolling, we have been a flurry of activity. Our house is in a state of chaos as we re-arrange all of the furniture, start to child proof, and finish miscellaneous household projects that we have put off for too long. We have made lists, and lists, and more lists. I have talked to the school district, the fire department (trying to figure out the whole car seat/booster seat thing and what we'll need), our social worker, the international adoption pediatric specialist, and many many of our friends and family. Thank you all so much for your support and encouragement. I had to laugh when a friend of mine told me to BREATHE!! JUST BREATHE!!! Exactly.
I have been busy working on a scrap book for the kids (I am not good at this, but am really trying - thanks Vicki for the supplies and help!) I have been trying to learn how to make a DVD to send to the kids, and fighting with the computer to figure out why the audio won't play with the video. GRRRRRR! Finally found a fix for that, and now we can have some fun making the video. Our social worker says that the kids love to see/hear their new family and will get a kick out of our funny accents as we try to speak Spanish.
We have officially accepted the referral for our 3 little boys, and will be submitting our paperwork today...which will promptly trigger...more paperwork. Oh well, every paper, every signature, every notarization from here on out gets us one step closer to bringing our sons home!
Friday, November 5, 2010
The Call
Two days ago, we got "the call". It came in the midst of a chaotic week, and we are still processing everything that's happened, but here's how it went...
I had unexpectedly traveled home to my parents' house for a couple of days, as my mom had been hospitalized with chest pains. Turns out everything is ok, she just has to lay off of the bacon from now on!
As I was packing the car to leave, I noticed I had a message from our social worker...an urgent sounding message asking me to call her right away so we could discuss some "things". Hmmmmm..... My mom was looking at me asking "Is everything ok?". To which I quickly LIED and said "Yes, everything's ok. It was just a message from the other day that I forgot to delete." Sorry, Mom, I didn't want to lie to you, but I knew I needed to talk to the social worker and Jason before I said anything else.
I said goodbye to my mom, drove a little ways down the road, and immediately pulled over to call our social worker (I'll call her B from here on out). B told me that she had news of a referral and wanted to meet with us as soon as possible. I called Jason to tell him the wonderful news, and he sounded kind of shell-shocked and nervous. We arranged to meet with B at 3:00, and knew that we would have a LOOOOOONG afternoon ahead of us. I had a 4 hr. drive, and Jason was stuck in manditory hospital computer training at work. Torture...but we made it!
We met at B's office, and we both looked a little worse for the wear. I don't even know how to describe what was going through our minds as we sat waiting. We were just minutes away from seeing our kids' faces for the first times. Children, that until now we had only imagined...Would they be boys or girls? What ages? Are they healthy? Are they safe? Is it all going to be ok?????? We were a bundle of nerves!
B called us back to her office, and sat across the desk from us with a thick stack of papers. She asked us how we wanted to proceed, to which I practically jumped out of my skin asking to see pictures. She told us that our referral was for three healthy BOYS!!!!!!!!! THREE BOYS!!!!!!! And she laid out their pictures for us to see. They are ADORABLE!!!! We aren't allowed to post their pictures online, but they are a handsome bunch.
Here's what we know:
Juan Manuel - 6 yrs old
Juan Manuel is described as happy, spontaneous and noble (the foster mother says: noble, because even though he is scolded he does not get angry and, after a little while, he continues as if nothing had happened). Regarding his favorite foods, he says "he loves everything". He excells at drawing and painting.
Santiago - 4 yrs old
Santiago is respectful. He is organized and described as analytical, introverted, and has good manners (the foster mother says that Santiago is very well educated). He paints fluently and creatively.
Christian - 2 yrs old
Christian is described as happy, loving and spontaneous. He likes hiding and being looked for. He "displays a certain ability for climbing up and going down of chairs, tables, beds." He likes to be cuddled.
The boys are currently in a loving foster home, where they seem to be doing very well. The boys are all in good general health. We are so happy that the boys have been kept together, as the information we have states repeatedly what a strong bond they have to each other. Several people have asked us why the boys are available for adoption. The short answer is: poverty. The boys' biological parents wanted a better life for them. While we do have more information, we would like to keep it private out of respect for the boys.
We are absolutely thrilled, and so proud to share the news of our sons with you all. The days ahead will be hectic, I'm sure, but we know that the time will just fly. We anticipate that we will travel in mid-January, and there is a lot to do before then!!!
I had unexpectedly traveled home to my parents' house for a couple of days, as my mom had been hospitalized with chest pains. Turns out everything is ok, she just has to lay off of the bacon from now on!
As I was packing the car to leave, I noticed I had a message from our social worker...an urgent sounding message asking me to call her right away so we could discuss some "things". Hmmmmm..... My mom was looking at me asking "Is everything ok?". To which I quickly LIED and said "Yes, everything's ok. It was just a message from the other day that I forgot to delete." Sorry, Mom, I didn't want to lie to you, but I knew I needed to talk to the social worker and Jason before I said anything else.
I said goodbye to my mom, drove a little ways down the road, and immediately pulled over to call our social worker (I'll call her B from here on out). B told me that she had news of a referral and wanted to meet with us as soon as possible. I called Jason to tell him the wonderful news, and he sounded kind of shell-shocked and nervous. We arranged to meet with B at 3:00, and knew that we would have a LOOOOOONG afternoon ahead of us. I had a 4 hr. drive, and Jason was stuck in manditory hospital computer training at work. Torture...but we made it!
We met at B's office, and we both looked a little worse for the wear. I don't even know how to describe what was going through our minds as we sat waiting. We were just minutes away from seeing our kids' faces for the first times. Children, that until now we had only imagined...Would they be boys or girls? What ages? Are they healthy? Are they safe? Is it all going to be ok?????? We were a bundle of nerves!
B called us back to her office, and sat across the desk from us with a thick stack of papers. She asked us how we wanted to proceed, to which I practically jumped out of my skin asking to see pictures. She told us that our referral was for three healthy BOYS!!!!!!!!! THREE BOYS!!!!!!! And she laid out their pictures for us to see. They are ADORABLE!!!! We aren't allowed to post their pictures online, but they are a handsome bunch.
Here's what we know:
Juan Manuel - 6 yrs old
Juan Manuel is described as happy, spontaneous and noble (the foster mother says: noble, because even though he is scolded he does not get angry and, after a little while, he continues as if nothing had happened). Regarding his favorite foods, he says "he loves everything". He excells at drawing and painting.
Santiago - 4 yrs old
Santiago is respectful. He is organized and described as analytical, introverted, and has good manners (the foster mother says that Santiago is very well educated). He paints fluently and creatively.
Christian - 2 yrs old
Christian is described as happy, loving and spontaneous. He likes hiding and being looked for. He "displays a certain ability for climbing up and going down of chairs, tables, beds." He likes to be cuddled.
The boys are currently in a loving foster home, where they seem to be doing very well. The boys are all in good general health. We are so happy that the boys have been kept together, as the information we have states repeatedly what a strong bond they have to each other. Several people have asked us why the boys are available for adoption. The short answer is: poverty. The boys' biological parents wanted a better life for them. While we do have more information, we would like to keep it private out of respect for the boys.
We are absolutely thrilled, and so proud to share the news of our sons with you all. The days ahead will be hectic, I'm sure, but we know that the time will just fly. We anticipate that we will travel in mid-January, and there is a lot to do before then!!!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Goodbye, Sadie
One week ago, we said goodbye to our sweet girl, Sadie. She had started to really struggle, and actually turned away from her food - a thing she had NEVER done before in her life. We knew that it was time, and we did not want her to suffer as her cancer progressed. It has been a very sad week for us, as we are so accustomed to our life routines with Sadie in them, and are trying to adjust to her absence. Even Ruby keeps looking for her "big sissy", even if it is to steal her toys and push her out of the way so she can get more attention (aaaahhh, sibling rivalry!).
We are all managing, but have had very heavy hearts. We are so grateful that we were able to be here with and for Sadie during her final days. She has been a wonderful companion and pet, and we will miss her so much.
We are all managing, but have had very heavy hearts. We are so grateful that we were able to be here with and for Sadie during her final days. She has been a wonderful companion and pet, and we will miss her so much.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Assignment to Medellin
I got a call from LSS (Lutheran Social Services) yesterday. Every time the caller id says "LSS of MN", I sort of hold my breath before I answer the phone and try to remain composed while my mind starts flying at 100 mph... No need to fret though, as yesterday was not "the call", but a reminder from our social worker that it is time for us to update some of our paperwork. Certain documents only have a shelf life of 6 months, and it's all ready time for us to do a little more paper chasing to keep things current. Aaaah, the good old game of paper chasing!
While I had our social worker on the phone, I asked her whether our paperwork had been assigned to a regional ICBF office yet. Actually, I think I babbled on and on about how we hadn't heard from her and that if she had had any updates, I was just sure she would have called us...but maybe, just maybe, she had heard something from Colombia about our progress??? Maybe???? Please???? Open mouth, insert foot, because YES, we have been assigned to the ICBF office in Medellin! Yay!!!
This means that when we travel to Colombia to meet our children, we will be headed to Medellin. It also means that our time in Colombia will be anywhere from 3-5 weeks, rather than the 6-8+ weeks that it could have been if we had been assigned to Bogota, due to the quicker courts in Medellin. We will still need to travel to Bogota for about 1 week at the end of our stay to get passports and visas for the kids, but will spend the majority of our stay in Medellin. We are very happy to get the information, and feel like every day we are getting one step closer to the reality of meeting our children.
The social worker and I also talked about pre-determining how we (Jason and I) want to be contacted when we get our referral (i.e. how does she get both Jason and I on the phone together to present the information to both of us at the same time). Obviously, we'll have her call me, and then I will try to catch Jason at work. So now Jason and I are trying to think of a secret clever message that I can text or page him with so that he will know that I am calling him with news of a referral. See, if he's scrubbed into a surgery when his pager goes off, the circulating nurse will read the page message out loud in the operating room, and we want an inconspicuous way to communicate the message without blatantly announcing "Hear ye, hear ye!" and all that jazz. We could have some fun with this one...suggestions are welcome, but the final decision will be a secret for just the two of us!
That's all the adoption news we have for now. As to sweet little Sadie, she continues to be doing pretty well, and is still happy and comfortable. Who wouldn't be happy with a belly full of treats???
Thanks for checking in with us!
While I had our social worker on the phone, I asked her whether our paperwork had been assigned to a regional ICBF office yet. Actually, I think I babbled on and on about how we hadn't heard from her and that if she had had any updates, I was just sure she would have called us...but maybe, just maybe, she had heard something from Colombia about our progress??? Maybe???? Please???? Open mouth, insert foot, because YES, we have been assigned to the ICBF office in Medellin! Yay!!!
This means that when we travel to Colombia to meet our children, we will be headed to Medellin. It also means that our time in Colombia will be anywhere from 3-5 weeks, rather than the 6-8+ weeks that it could have been if we had been assigned to Bogota, due to the quicker courts in Medellin. We will still need to travel to Bogota for about 1 week at the end of our stay to get passports and visas for the kids, but will spend the majority of our stay in Medellin. We are very happy to get the information, and feel like every day we are getting one step closer to the reality of meeting our children.
The social worker and I also talked about pre-determining how we (Jason and I) want to be contacted when we get our referral (i.e. how does she get both Jason and I on the phone together to present the information to both of us at the same time). Obviously, we'll have her call me, and then I will try to catch Jason at work. So now Jason and I are trying to think of a secret clever message that I can text or page him with so that he will know that I am calling him with news of a referral. See, if he's scrubbed into a surgery when his pager goes off, the circulating nurse will read the page message out loud in the operating room, and we want an inconspicuous way to communicate the message without blatantly announcing "Hear ye, hear ye!" and all that jazz. We could have some fun with this one...suggestions are welcome, but the final decision will be a secret for just the two of us!
That's all the adoption news we have for now. As to sweet little Sadie, she continues to be doing pretty well, and is still happy and comfortable. Who wouldn't be happy with a belly full of treats???
Thanks for checking in with us!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Sadie
Not adoption-related, but just wanted to share an update.
We got some sad news yesterday about our 11.5 year old black lab, Sadie. She had developed a cough over the last couple of weeks, so we took her in to the veterinarian to see what was going on. A chest x-ray revealed that Sadie has a large tumor in her lung...sigh. She is home with us now and is still doing well. She has coughing spells here and there, but still has a good apetite and seems to be happy and comfortable. The vet did not think that she will last too long with such a large tumor though, so we are bracing for some difficult days ahead.
Sadie has been blind for about the last 7 years (due to a genetic disease), but she has been such a trooper and always a sweet and loving girl. Even after she was totally blind, she still came camping with us in the Boundary Waters and would walk down the trail by staying close behind us and following our scent and our sounds...it was pretty amazing to watch.
We pray that Sadie will not suffer and that we will have the grace to help her in whatever ways we can. I forsee a lot of extra treats in Sadie's future, and a lot of spoiling and loving while we still have the chance!
We got some sad news yesterday about our 11.5 year old black lab, Sadie. She had developed a cough over the last couple of weeks, so we took her in to the veterinarian to see what was going on. A chest x-ray revealed that Sadie has a large tumor in her lung...sigh. She is home with us now and is still doing well. She has coughing spells here and there, but still has a good apetite and seems to be happy and comfortable. The vet did not think that she will last too long with such a large tumor though, so we are bracing for some difficult days ahead.
Sadie has been blind for about the last 7 years (due to a genetic disease), but she has been such a trooper and always a sweet and loving girl. Even after she was totally blind, she still came camping with us in the Boundary Waters and would walk down the trail by staying close behind us and following our scent and our sounds...it was pretty amazing to watch.
We pray that Sadie will not suffer and that we will have the grace to help her in whatever ways we can. I forsee a lot of extra treats in Sadie's future, and a lot of spoiling and loving while we still have the chance!
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| Sadie in the canoe with all of our camping gear |
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| Sadie following Jason down the trail in the BWCA |
Monday, October 11, 2010
The Beginning
Welcome to our blog! We wanted to start this blog as a way for our family and friends to follow along with us as on our adoption journey in Colombia, and also as a diary to share with our kids one day, about the story of how we came to be a family. We are embarking on the biggest adventure of our lives...and are ready to hang on for the ride!
For those of you that know us, you know that we almost never post on Facebook, we are generally pretty private people, and that one of us has a sort of inherent suspicious reluctance to embrace most forms of technology in general (I'm not naming names, but I think you all know who I mean...). So here we are, opening up our lives, sharing the inner workings of our minds and our hearts with our friends and our family. Can I be frank in saying that it makes us feel sort of "naked"? Hopefully blogging will come to feel a little bit more natural in time, and until then, please be gentle with us!
There are a couple of questions that seem to come up frequently, so we'd like to take a chance to cover some of the basics here.
Nicole and Jason
For those of you that know us, you know that we almost never post on Facebook, we are generally pretty private people, and that one of us has a sort of inherent suspicious reluctance to embrace most forms of technology in general (I'm not naming names, but I think you all know who I mean...). So here we are, opening up our lives, sharing the inner workings of our minds and our hearts with our friends and our family. Can I be frank in saying that it makes us feel sort of "naked"? Hopefully blogging will come to feel a little bit more natural in time, and until then, please be gentle with us!
There are a couple of questions that seem to come up frequently, so we'd like to take a chance to cover some of the basics here.
- Why Colombia? - When we mention adopting from Colombia, sometimes people look at us with a raised eyebrow. Will we be safe? Is it ok to travel to Colombia, or we be kidnapped and ransomed? We are working with Lutheran Social Services as our adoption agency, and they have been helping families complete adoptions in Colombia for over 20 years. When you look at international adoption programs, Colombia's is one of the longest-running and most stable programs out there. They have been doing this for a long time, and have a lot of experience in bringing families together. Some other things that helped us choose Colombia were its relatively close proximity, our ability to speak Spanish at some level, and the fact that they tend to have a significant number of sibling groups available for adoption. Which brings us to the next question...
- Are you really going to adopt 3 kid at once?!?! - Yes! We have always wanted a family, and although this may be baptism by fire, we have thought long and hard on this, and are so excited to be adopting a sibling group and expanding our family by 3. We are approved to adopt 3 siblings under the age of 6. We have not specified any gender preferences, and figure that God will send us what He sends us! I can almost guarantee that our house will become a chaotic circus at times, but we will do our best to have a loving, fun, and supportive home. I can't promise anything about clean dishes, or a tidy house though...so be forewarned!!
- So what's the process, and where are we at? - While we have been thinking and praying about adoption for a long time, we actually started the ball rolling in February 2010. We have completed all of our application paperwork, it has been sent to Colombia, has been translated, sent to the ICBF (which is the Colombian Family Welfare Institute), and we have been given approval and are officially on the ICBF waiting list. For families adopting sibling groups of 3 children, wait times tend to go very quickly. Right now, our documents are all at the ICBF national office level. We have to be assigned to a regional office and then officially matched with kids in that region. Our social worker tells us that it's very likely that the kids are all ready available for adoption (meaning they are currently either in a foster home or an orphanage), and are just waiting to be matched with a family. So what does it all boil down to...it means we could receive a call any day...it could be a few weeks, or it could be a few months, but our social worker thinks it will likely be within the next 3 months or less! So we have come to a point of anxiously diving for the phone every time it rings (during business hours only!) so that we don't miss "the call"!
- What happens then? - Once we have our referral, it will be approximately 8 weeks until we can travel to Colombia to meet our children. Why the lag time? We have to file paperwork/receive approval from the US Citizineship and Immigration Services office before we can travel. Once we travel to Colombia, we will likely meet our kids within about 2 days of arriving, at which time we receive physical custody of 3 little bambinos! While in Colombia, we will stay in a hostel that is geared specifically toward adoptive families (meals provided, cribs, car seats available, etc.). We will need to stay in Colombia anywhere from 4-8 weeks to wait for the paperwork to go through the court system.
Nicole and Jason
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