A Day in the Life

So we have been home 2 weeks now, and in many ways it feels like much longer than that (I think it's the Groundhog Day effect!).  Jason went back to work yesterday, so this week brings another round of changes.  So far the kids are handling it well, and I'm still here alive and breathing, so it must not be too bad (thanks to extra help from Abuela!!!).  It was funny that even though Juan Manuel is usually the one to push Papa's buttons the most, he was the one who moped around and kept saying that he missed Papa, he loved Papa, when is Papa coming home?  Hopefully we will settle in to a bit more of a routine, day by day.

Things that have happened this week...

• Christian went poop in his potty!!  The whole family had a party in the bathroom, including Ruby, who was fascinated by the whole event.  We still have a long way to go, but at least we had one success.
• The boys discovered the sale flyers from the newspaper and spent hours cutting out little pictures of all of the things they want from Santa.  They also cut out things for Mama and Papa.  For Mama:  Barbie (the kids told me I don't have nearly enough toys for myself), dish soap, a pistola (water gun...Juan Manuel's idea!).  For Papa:  Shower gel, deodorant, cereal.  For themselves:  you name it!  Santi wants WWF things, Juan Manuel wants every children's movie ever created, and Christian just got left by the wayside.
• Christian is starting to make a little bit of mischief around the house.  I love it when I can bust him doing something, and he has the funniest "guilty" look on his face.  Nothing too serious yet, and mostly he is just exploring.
• Juan Manuel is testing Mama.  Now that Papa's back to work, Juan Manuel wants to see how much grit Mama has.  Yesterday:  3 time outs, one implemented by me having to carry this 55-pound guy like a sack of potatos.  Don't doubt me, kiddo!  The rules are still the rules, and I intend to stick to them!
• Santiago is doing better and better.  He is a funny, loving, conscientious little guy, and he loves to cuddle.  It is such a relief to see him adjusting.
• Abuela's help continues to be so appreciated.  Thank you so much, Mom, for being here to help us all out!





Christian, stealing juice from his brother's cup...busted!





Musculos!!!



Groundhog Day

Things are going pretty well at home.  Juan Manuel and Santiago went yesterday for early childhood screening at the school.  We were able to arrange for a Spanish interpreter to be present during the testing.  On our way into the school, both boys said they were afraid of the big boys, and afraid that the big boys would hit them.  Poor little guys!  I reassured them that the "big boys" have different playground time than the smaller children.

Once we were in the school, Juan Manuel was totally in his element.  He was hamming it up with the teachers, peaking in every classroom, touching everything.  I think he was practically ready to push the teacher out of the way and teach the class himself!  He has been asking every day when he can go to school (usually the first thing he says in the morning when he wakes up).  Today we made a calendar for him so that he can cross off the days and count how many days until he can go to school.  The school has Spring break next week, so he can't start until the following Monday.  I think that he is becoming very bored at home, even though we try to do all kinds of activities with the kids, it's just not the same as being with his amiguitos in the class room.

Santiago was very afraid during the testing, and hid from the teachers and would barely complete the test.  He talks about going to school, and loves to play with other kids, but I just don't know that he's ready for the changes yet.  There are multiple different options, and we are leaning towards a stay-and-play program where the parents stay in the same room while the kids play, then the parents go into the next room for a little while, then everyone is reunited again.  We'll see, but if Santi isn't ready for school yet this year, we will just wait until next year.

The kids have been going on long walks with us (and Ruby) in the woods, and have become real explorers.  They love looking for animal tracks, although usually they just find their own boot tracks or Ruby's tracks.

Christian hasn't fallen on his head for 4 or 5 days!!  We aren't sure if he is getting better at navigating, or if we've just had a lucky streak, but his head wounds are starting to heal, and he sure is cute when he isn't totally banged up!  He continues to babble, and the other night was making chicken sounds when he was toddling around the house.  Christian loves being in the kitchen, and will sit quietly in his high-chair while I cook (he even fell asleep there the other day).  He knows where the animal crackers are in the pantry, and he stands on the ground and points to them all of the time.  He is going to be my little pal in the kitchen.

Tonight Tom and Yvonne treated our family to the fish dinner at our church - thank you, Tom and Yvonne!  The boys put away a ton of fish!!  We kept thinking that they would be full, but they kept on eating and eating and eating.  It was fun to get out of the house with the kids, and they did great.  We think that they must have been a little bit frightened of the new experience, because they were awfully quiet the entire time.

Santiago continues to come out of his shell more and more, and we once again are seeing the loving little boy that we knew from Colombia.  It was really difficult to see him withdraw when we first came home, but he is more than making up for it now.  He has started giving us kisses, and he comes up and kisses us all the time now.  He is a little cuddle-bug, and will lay in my lap and stare into my eyes.  Oh, and can this kid dance!!  When we put on music, he tears up the floor, and he has got rhythym and all of the moves.  Where does a 4 year old learn to dance like that?!  It is fun to watch him go to town.

Jason goes back to work on Monday, and my mom is coming back to help with the transition.  While we have really enjoyed all being together as a family these past weeks, it will be good to get into a routine of "real life".  The kids had started asking a few days ago if Papa ever has to go to work, so even they have realized that this hasn't been the "normal" way of life.  I will sure miss having Jason at home to help and tag-team, but am soooooo grateful that my mom will be here once again to lend a hand.  We'll see how it all goes, and it will probably be tough at first, but hopefully we'll all get in the swing of things.

Jason and I have joked that we feel like we are in the movie, Groundhog Day, and every day is exactly the same as the day before.  We watched Shrek 3 the other night, and laughed our heads off when Shrek was going through a similar experience.  The kids kept looking at us like we were crazy and asking what was so funny...nothing, boys!  An exciting day around here entails a trip to the grocery store for milk, or changing from Choco Krispies to Fruit Loops for breakfast.  But, the kids seem to be doing very well with the mundane, even if it is psychologically challenging for Jason and I.  So, we stick with what works, and continue to keep things as low-key as possible for now.   

Solo

My mom left this morning to go back home.  She has been at our house since before we left for Colombia, and she more than deserves a break and a good night's sleep in her own bed.  I am sure that my dad will be so happy to have her back home also, and we are so grateful to have had her here for so long.  We miss you all ready, Mom!!! 

We survived our first day here with just Jason and I.  We have recruited the kids to start "helping" with things around the house, and even if the help isn't really help, it at least keeps the kids close at hand and they are learning the importance of helping out in the home and having responsibilities.

Yesterday the kids got to meet Jason's mom, their Grandma Mimi, and LaVerne.  Mimi and LaVerne came bearing gifts...lots of Little People toys (a tractor, a wagon, a bulldozer) and some things that were Jason's when he was a boy.  The kids have been playing and building and hauling things all over the house, and have had a blast.  Thank you, Mimi and LaVerne!!

We have been trying to encourage the kids to play independently a little bit more, so that Jason and I can try to get things done around the house, like prepare meals and/or clean up after meals while the kids play nearby.  This has been a mixed bag.  Some times the kids can play fairly well with only some squabbling, but we have also had some bad blow-ups and melt-downs too.  This is really hard for us, because we can literally not turn our back on the kids for even a minute. 

Plus, in the last 2 days, we are starting to see some physically aggressive behaviors from Juan Manuel.  He has been intentionally rough with Christian and Santiago (grabbing them by the face and shaking them), and today we caught him "teasing" Ruby with a fist in front of her face.  This is really really hard for me to see, and it makes me especially nervous to leave him unsupervised with his little brothers and Ruby, I do not trust him.  We have been extremely firm in dealing with his physical aggression, but I have the feeling that we are going to have to work on this with him.  I know that this is not totally unexpected, but it makes me sad all the same.  Some times I just wish that this could be simpler, or that I could have more energy and patience, or that I could un-do the hurts of the past for our kids.

Jason has off of work all of this week to help get the kids settled in at home and spend time together as a family.  Thank goodness, because I am definitely not feeling ready to handle all 3 kids all day by myself yet.  A few hours at a time is not so bad, but all day long feels a little bit overwhelming right now.  I pray that the kids will settle into a routine and a sense of comfort in their new setting.

El Bebe Se Callo (the Baby Fell)!

The first few days home:



Grandpa pulling the kids through the snow

My dad was here when we arrived at the airport, but he had a big inspection at work this week and had to head back home on Tuesday.  My dad's coworkers sent a beautiful basket of flowers, thank you so much for the wonderful surprise!  Abuelo checks in multiple times a day with us to find all of the latest news and remind the kids that he's thinking of them.

So, after 2 days without hot water, we are back up and running.  Jason replaced both thermostats on the water heater, and still, no hot water.  Shoot!!  So he consulted with a good friend of ours, and they figured out what the problem was.  Our power company had put a regulator on our electrical supply to the hot water heater, and had shut us down to only run on off-peak hours (they forgot to mention it to us, and have been billing us full-price for the last 2 years!  Customer service got an ear-full today!).  So, there was never really anything wrong with the water heater except for the fact that we ran it down to nothing, I think we did about 10 loads of laundry in 24 hours, and then didn't wait long enough for it to heat back up.  At least now we know.  Thanks Al and Carol for coming to our rescue!!




The mountains of laundry that blew out the water heater!

 The kids have been doing well, and we are all adjusting.  Christian is really blossoming.  Of all 3 boys, he seems to be the most relaxed and happy to be settling in at home.  He is running around exploring, and chattering away in his baby-talk.  If only he was a little less prone to falling on his head!  Well, I am happy to report that today he did not fall on his head once, and all of his previous bumps and bruises are starting to heal.  Poor kid, I sometimes think he would really benefit from a little football helmet until he is steadier on his feet.  I have been reassured that this is typical for 2 year olds, so am trying not to get too paraniod and just let him explore and play without me hovering over him every single second.

The older 2 boys have had a little rockier transition since we've been home.  It has been challenging, but we are starting to see them settle in a little bit more day by day.  Santi had really been withdrawing and behaving fairly aloof the first couple of days, but he is starting to show more love and affection again.  At dinner tonight, the kids were singing the meal time prayer that Tia Vicki taught them (sung to the tune of Superman...Thank you God!  For giving us food!  In Spanish, of course)  Tonight the kids started singing "Thank you God!  For giving us Mom!  Thank you God!  For giving us Dad!  Thank you God!  For giving us Abuela!"  It was really cute.

Juan Manuel has just started giving us kisses.  The boys give us lots of hugs, but we have only in the last 2 days gotten kisses from Juan Manuel.  We still have yet to get an "I love you" from any of the boys, but we know that they need time to come to that, and we just keep on loving them in the mean time.

The boys and Ruby are the best of friends.  We are amazed to see how gentle and accepting Ruby is of the kids...it is as if she has been waiting for them, and is fulfilling her life's purpose in letting them hug her and kiss her and play fetch with her.  We are also amazed to see how motivated the kids are to learn English in order to play with Ruby.  They very quickly learned "sit", "come", "go get it", "good girl", and "shake".  We may have to put Ruby in her house at dinner time, as she has figured out that the kids drop a lot of food on the floor, and the kids tend to drop more food on the floor to lure Ruby over to them.  Nice try, but Mom and Dad are onto you!




Ruby realizing that Christian is a walking treat-machine
(even if he isn't eating food, he is usually covered in it)





Grandma reading to the kids





Christian giving Ruby a kiss (on the mouth!)





When a 2 year old is bundled up for the snow and falls down,
he's just like a turtle on its back.  Ayudame!!!






Mom and the kids in the snow (the first time I've sat/layed down all week!!)





Santi getting ready to sled down the hill


Ok, so here's a really funny story that happened yesterday.  The kids have started to mimic some of the English phrases that we say the most often.  The kids have picked up on me saying "Oh, my gosh!", and now they say it (or something that sounds close to it) all the time too.  Last night I was reading the kids a book about adoption, and the book was talking about how children are born, but that sometimes children cannot stay with their birth moms and are adopted.  There was a page with pictures that were fairly graphic, see below.  When I turned to this page, Santiago nearly ripped the book out of my hands to stare at the page, and exclaimed, "Oh, my gosh!  El bebe se callo!" or "Oh, my gosh!  The baby fell!"  I laughed my head off.  These kids say the funniest things sometimes!

Not too much else is new here.  We continue to have our ups and downs, and continue to be grateful to my mom for all of her help.

Challenges at Home

Another tough day adjusting at home.  Santiago had a few less melt-downs and I hope that he is starting to feel a little bit more secure.  The kids seemed to take turns today getting hurt.  Christian fell and cut his lip.  Santi was running and bonked his ribs on the end table.  Juan Manuel smacked his head on a door. 

The kids are still so wild, we feel like we cannot turn our back for even one minute without an injury, a fight, or having something get broken.  It is exhausting.  Thank goodness my mom is here to help, and I can't say how helpful it is to have an extra person here.  We can at least tag-team a little bit more.  I think that we had been hopeful that being in our own home would make things easier, but so far that hasn't necessarily been the case.  Parts of it are easier, parts are harder.

Just to keep life interesting, our hot water heater bit the dust today.  Please, no!!  Jason has been pulling it apart, and he should be able to get it fixed, but it is just one of those extra things that seems like such a pain.  Plus, to get the kids their bath tonight, we had to boil water on the stove and mix it with the cold water in the tub.  Luckily, we got the tub water warm enough for the kids to bathe.  While Jason was carrying hot water back and forth, I was entertaining the kids with a makeshift puppet show and dancing and singing in the living room.

The kids are testing the limits as much as ever.  Jason and I were able to sneak away for a walk with Ruby this morning...it was our first grown-up alone time in the last month, and it was WONDERFUL!!

We are still tired from all of the travels, but starting to recuperate on that front.  I finally found the camera, but didn't really have time to take any pictures today.  I've got to snap some of the kids with Ruby, they are too cute together.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to sneak up on them and get some candid shots. 

Off to bed for now, we have to get our rest while we get the chance.  The kids are practically getting up with the sun since we've been home, so we have to get to bed nice and early to be ready for a new day!

Muneco de Nieve and Letters to Santa Claus

The first 24 hours home have been a frenzy.  To say that the kids are excited is the understatement of the year.  They run from room to room, looking at this, playing with that, ALWAYS touching everything on their way from here to there!  They want to do everything, right NOW, and it's like they are trying to cram years worth of fun into one day.  It is kind of exhausting to see, and we are trying to reassure them that they don't have to do everything in one day.

Our travel day yesterday was a challenging day.  I don't think that it was as horrific as Jason and I had feared that it might be, but it was still tough.  On our first flight from Bogota to Miami, Christian would not settle down, and cried off and on for 2 hours.  He was extremely over-tired, but (you know this is coming!) would NOT go to sleep.  Enter Benadryl (again, THANK YOU, Mary!!!).  We gave him some children's Benadryl, and it was just enough to help him drift off during the other 2 flights of the day.

Our time at the Miami airport was a complete and total blur.  Luckily for us, there was only one family ahead of us at immigration, so our wait there was quicker than it could have been.  Unfortunately however, this was when Santiago started to really melt down.  He had 2 episodes in a 30 minute period...arched-back, laying on the floor, wailing.  Santi has been really struggling with the changes, and I worry a lot about him.  He becomes more and more upset over less and less significant things.  For example, if we ask him to please pray with the family before we eat, it may trigger a melt-down.  During his melt-downs, he is becoming less verbal, and will just go limp (or arch his back...depends on the situation) and stare off into space.  He will not tell us why he is upset.  He will not communicate verbally at all during those times, except to cry.

We are trying to be extra sensitive towards Santiago, but are still being consistent about the rules that we established while we were in Medellin, which he is testing much more than usual.  During one of his melt-downs today I asked him if he was afraid (yes), if he was sad to have left Colombia (yes), if he was sad that he couldn't understand English (yes).  On the other hand, he says that he is happy to be with us, that he is happy in his new home, and he is excited to learn English.  I try to continually reassure him that Jason and I will be here with him, that we love him, that we will take care of him and his brothers.  There have been so many changes for the kids in the last month, and maybe he has just reached a point where he is really having trouble processing everything.  We are hoping that after a good night's sleep tonight, he may feel a little bit better in the morning.

Our last flight of the day was a late one, and all of the kids fell asleep on the plane.  We woke them up a little bit before we landed, but they were all so foggy and had a tough time coming around.  It was so great to see my mom and dad, and Tom and Yvonne when we arrived.  The kids were excited, but still in a sleepy stupor.

On the car ride home the kids did great in their car seats.  Thank you Calvin for helping us film a little video of a car seat so that the kids would know what to expect.  Juan Manuel was so excited, I don't think he stopped talking the entire way home.  He kept asking us why there are so many mountains here (he was referring to the snowbanks!).  He said he wanted to make a muneco de nieve (snowman) with a carrot for a nose and also write a letter to Santa Claus before going to bed.  He proceeded to explain to me that it is my job to make the cookies for Santa Claus and Jason's job to put out the milk.  I told him that Christmas is 9 months away, but that didn't matter to him.  The last thing that Santi said to us when we FINALLY got the kids to bed (at 2 am) was "Mama, why didn't you help us write our letters to Santa Claus tonight?"  What a day!

The kids absolutely LOVE Ruby!  Christian was a little bit fearful of her last night, but Santiago and Juan Manuel ran right up to her and hugged her and got kisses from her.  I think that Ruby and Santiago are going to be best pals.  Christian became less and less afraid of Ruby as the day went on today, and from now on, I think we will actually have to keep an eye out to make sure that he doesn't pull her tail or ears.

Today the kids played with their things.  I think that they played with each toy/book for about 2 minutes and then exchanged said toy/book for a different toy/book.  Keep in mind that we actually limited the number of toys that we made accessable to the kids...and it still seems like maybe we gave them too many things up front.  It is just like sensory overload for them, and they become whirling dervishes of activity, as if they literally cannot stop themselves.  Everything is so new and so exciting to them.  Depending on how it goes, we may take back some of their toys until they have gotten adjusted a little bit better.

The kids played in the snow this morning, and wanted to walk in the woods and look in the garage.  We pulled them on sleds, and they indeed did get to make a snowman.  When we looked out the window a little while later however, the head of the snowman had fallen off - oops!!

My dad had to go back home today, but my mom is going to stay here to help us hold down the fort, thank goodness!  At least now we are 3 adults on 3 children, so the odds are a little bit more in our favor.  There are a lot of transitions going on, and we are all just trying to hang in there.  In the midst of all the craziness today, I managed to unpack (mostly), and sort laundry.  My goodness, there is a lot of laundry!!  Since we couldn't remember exactly which things we had washed in the sink, sent out for cleaning, or just left dirty, I decided to wash it all.  Wow...a mountain of laundry!!!  I will just keep plugging through it and hopefully stay ahead of the kids' capacity to dirty their clothes.

That's about it for today.  We are exhausted, and off to bed.  I will post pictures tomorrow, but can't find the camera right now...it's here somewhere, just too tired to look for it!

We Made it HOME!!!

After a 3am start and an 2am bedtime tonight, it is with great joy and relief that I can report that we made it home safe and sound.  Thanks to many people along the way.   Mary, thank you so much for the last minute benadryl, it was a life-saver!! Freddy for driving us and seeing us to the gate, the prompt service at  Miami imigration (we still almost missed the connection) the kind people at Chicago food court who gave us the booth they were vacating and all of the other kindness people along the way did for us, including the man who gave the kids a piece of candy on the flight to Duluth.  And last but certianly not least Greg, Diania, Tom and Yvone who met us with a hero's welcome at the airport, with balloons, banners and great Joy.  Thank you so much and good night.

Last Day in Bogota

Well, today was our last day in Bogota.  The day started bright and early with the rooster crowing (there is a rooster in the neighborhood, and he never misses a sunrise seranade!).  Juan Manuel woke up with the rooster, but the other 2 kids were still asleep.  So Jason and I went and layed in bed with Juan Manuel, and it was so sweet.

After breakfast we headed out to the markets with some of the other families from our hotel.  On Sundays here they close down one side of the road for bicycle and pedestrian traffic.  There were tons of people on bikes and lots of rollerbladers and even some people on roller skates.  The market was really neat and there were many artisan crafts there.  The kids did ok for a while, but we didn't stay for too long, as we didn't want to push our luck.  We have learned to shop/eat/visit very quickly, as we know we have a short window of time before something heads south.

This afternoon we had the kids play in the patio area of the hotel and the toy room (they call it the "casa de jueguetes" or house of toys).  They did pretty well, but Christian fell down twice before we called it quits.  He has 2 matching goose eggs on his forehead.  We joke that the kiddo needs a helmet!  He is so independent and wants to toddle around on his own, but he is not the most coordinated yet, so it is always somewhat perilous.

After playing, the kids got to take a very very long bath.  I was trying to stall them in the bathroom so that Jason could finish packing.  Our bathroom here has the giant whirlpool tub, so all of the kids were in there together splashing and screaming and having fun.

We said goodbye to all of the other families here, and it has really been so much fun for us to spend time with them.  I didn't mention this before, but one of the families here had actually talked with me when we were very first looking into the LSS Colombia adoption program.  Who could have predicted that one year later both of our families would be here in Bogota adopting our new children.  What a wonderful surprise it has been for us!

Off to our room for a little bit of Toy Story, and then an early bed time.  We will wake at 3:15 tomorrow to leave by 4:00 for our 7:00 flight.  We are anticipating that tomorrow will be a very, very challenging day.  We are armed with toys, cookies, candy, whatever it takes to help keep the kids distracted and entertained.

We told the kids yesterday that on Monday we would be going to the United States.  While we have talked with them about this many, many times, we can definitely see in their behavior that they are nervous, excited, afraid...you name it.  They have been bouncing off the walls all afternoon (more than usual!), and we have been terrified that one of them will have an accident and need an emergency room visit right before we go!  But, now they are in bed, and we can breathe a sigh of relief.

As they were getting ready for bed, Juan Manuel and Santi were asking us things like "Tomorrow will you help us with everything?  Are you always going to help us when we get to the United States?  Will you help Christian in the airplane?"  We can tell from their questions that they are nervous and afraid, and who could blame them?  Everything they have ever known is about to change (except for Choco-Krispies, that is!).  I know that before we came to Colombia and before we met the kids, I was so afraid of the unknown too.  But we are together as a family, and we will try to make their transition as easy as we possibly can. 

The kids are also excited too.  They are asking when they can go to visit their Tias (and the Tias' doggies!), and can they play in the snow as soon as we get home.  Well...maybe Tuesday morning, but I think that tomorrow night we will be pretty tired out.

That's about it from here tonight.  Wish us luck with our travel day tomorrow.  We will just try get through it and pray for lots and lots of patience.  Tomorrow morning the U.S. will have 3 brand new little citizens, and their family and friends all await!!  Thank you for your thoughts and prayers as we have been abroad, and please know that we appreciate them so much!!  Ciao from Bogota!!

I Hate My Pizza, but I Love Yours

The computer battery seems to be taking and holding charge again, so hopefully it was just a glitch, and if not, we'll be home in 2 days and can just get a new one at that time.




Have we mentioned (a million times!) that we LOVE bath time????


Today we took the kids to the mall so they could use the coins that Jason had given them.  They ran straight to the gumball machines and picked out what they wanted.  Even Christian got to have a piece of gum (a little one, not one of those giant ones).  We stopped by Exito and picked up a just a few things, and let each boy pick out a small action figure toy.  Santi picked Iron Man, Juan Manuel picked Woody from Toy Story, and Christian picked Buzz Lightyear.  Iron Man's leg has all ready popped off twice, but luckily has gone back on, and stayed back on.

This afternoon we went with some other families to a pizza place called Archie's.  The kids get to go in the kitchen and make their own pizzas.  They can wear aprons and chef's hats, and they encourage the kids to get full of flour and have fun.  Juan Manuel was in his element and had a blast.  Christian had fun, but was a little on the young side to truly appreciate it all.  Santiago was bewildered by the whole thing.  Not sure why, but he didn't really want to partake in the fun.  He made his pizza, but you could tell he was not too thrilled about it.  We don't know if he just didn't want to get full of flour, or if there was something else wrong.  Here are a few pictures.



This is Christian's "I'm so tired I could fall right over, but I'm too stubborn to take my nap" look


So they brought the kids' pizzas to the table, and guess what?  None of our kids like pizza!  They all looked at it like it was the strangest food on the planet.  But then when our pizza came later, all of the kids ate it and said they liked it.  Needless to say, we will try pizza again at home some time and get to the bottom of the "I hate it.  I love it." game!

After Archie's we came back and the kids played in the room and in the courtyard here.  Christian was pushing himself along on a little plastic trycicle, and hit an uneven patch in the concrete.  He did a head-first dive over the front of the toy and really got a huge goose-egg and 2 cuts on his forehead.  Poor baby!  But he is a tough little guy, and he was as good as new about an hour later.  We were able to ice it right away, so hopefully it won't turn all colors of the rainbow for the immigration office process in the USA!!

The kids loved dinner tonight, and more than made up for their lack of interest in pizzas at lunch.  They had tacos with frijoles, and they inhaled their food!

Tomorrow we will go out to some of the markets that they have here on Sundays, and will see what kinds of treasures we might be able to find.  In the evening, we will pack, get the kids (and ourselves) all scrubbed up and ready for the morning, and get ready to head for home. 

Thanks to everyone who has given advice on helping a 2-year-old get through the ups and downs of being 2.  It will be so good for us to be home and establish a routine so that we can have a better sense of what is "normal" for our kids.

Computer Battery Dying??

Looks like we may be having trouble with our computer battery...uh oh!!  Computer works as long as it's plugged in, but the battery won't take new charge.  We are down to 18% life, and need to be careful to keep an eye on it.  Posts may be limited until we get home as we try to make sure we can use it for the most important things. 

Oh, I forgot to mention yesterday that Jason successfully got the visas!!!  He went to the Embassy with another person from our hotel, and our Bogota assistant didn't accompany them up to the Embassy.  The guards almost wouldn't let them in because he thought they were trying to GET and appointment, not just pick up documents from the appointment the day before.  Luckily they were successful.

Today we will hang out, head to Archie's tonight for pizza with some other families, and try to have a good day.

Terrible 2's

Christian has been one crabby baby today! (and in general since we arrived in Bogota)  We are thinking that it is related to the changes happening in his life, but he is melting down more and more over less and less significant things.  If he doesn't get his way with EVERYTHING, he is screaming and crying.  We have still had very little success with naps, and we are pretty sure that the lack of sleep is contributing to his crabbiness.

Examples from today that caused melt-downs: 

• The end of bath time
• The end of brushing his teeth
• Having to get dressed after bath time, even though he was shivering and freezing
• The end of the package of crackers 
• Bed time (Jason is sitting with him as we speak, trying to get him to sleep)
• Getting shoo-ed out of the bathroom when someone else needs to use it

It is so hard for us to know if this is a "Terrible 2" thing, if it is an anxiety thing, if it is a lack of sleep thing, or if he is just very used to getting his way and doesn't like it when we don't immediately cave in to whatever he wants.  We are just trying to get through each melt-down and proceed with our day.  It's tough, because when he is happy, he is so adorable and so much fun to play with.  But when he is grumpy...look out!

He has been more and more clingy to me here in Bogota, and it has gotten to the point where my back is actually sore from having to hold and carry him so much.  If we try to have Jason hold him, he just screams even louder.  He has always seemed to have a preference for me, but it seems to be getting worse, not better. 

We are mixed on what approach to take.  When he is having a tantrum, he usually starts out just being mad about something, but cries and screams so hard and long that after a while, I don't think he even remembers what it was that he wanted in the first place.  We don't know if we should comfort him, ignore him, ignore him for a while and then comfort him?  The only thing that seems to soothe him is being held or carried by me.  But what if I can't do that every single time?

I am expecting that it will get worse before it gets better.  The change of scenery once again will probably have him as confused as ever, and we are dreading our travel day.  We are hoping that he will sleep well tonight and wake up a little bit happier tomorrow.  The older 2 kids have started calling him "the crying machine" instead of "the poop machine"!

Hope tomorrow will be a little easier for our little boy!



The kids piled into one of the little beds in our room






Christian - in a good mood!






Birthday cake



Juan Manuel and Santi goofing around

Home on Monday!!

Yesterday we submitted all of the paperwork for the boys' visas.  We were at the Embassy for a few hours, and it was pretty tough keeping the kids occupied while we were there.  But, we will have the visas today at 3:30...yay! 

I have been working on arranging our travel home, and it has been a little more challenging (and expensive!) than we initially thought.  We could leave as early as Saturday, but many of the flights were full on Saturday and Sunday.  So now it is looking pretty certain that we will leave Monday morning, bright and early, and arrive back in Duluth on the late flight from Chicago at 11:15.  I am pretty sure it is going to be a challenging day for all of us, but then we will be home, and have reinforcements on the ready!!!

After the Embassy, we took the kids on a long walk and went to Mimo's for ice cream.  I'm not sure what mine was called, but it tasted kind of like egg nog with raisins in it.  It was delicious!  Jason gave both Juan Manuel and Santiago a coin to have, and now they can't wait to go to the mall and use it in the gumball machines.

After Mimo's, we came back to the hostel, and all of the kids here ran and played and had a great time.  There is a new family here that arrived yesterday.  They are adopting 2 boys (Cristian and Fabian, ages 10 and 12, I think), and had hosted the boys last summer through the program Kid Save.  Cristian had a birthday this past Monday, so they brought party favors to share with all of the kids, and there was a wonderful birthday cake too.  I will post pictures later (Christian is down for his nap right now, and the cord for the camera is in the drawer right next to his head!)  :)

Yesterday Christian was a pooping machine!!  (Remember the giant lunch he had the day before?)  He dirtied 3 diapers in one hour.  I told Santiago and Juan Manuel that Christian was a "maquina de po-po" and they laughed their heads off.

I will post again later once we have confirmed our flights, and hopefully add pictures from the party too!

One Day Closer

Today we went to ICBF here in Bogota for some paperwork that we needed for the boys' US visa applications.  Tomorrow morning we will go to the US Embassy, and hopefully everything will go off without a hitch.

We had a lot of fun today with the other families here at Hotel Paris.  Some of us took a walk to Exito, which is in a large mall.  The kids had a blast, and our older 2 boys have loved playing with their new amigutio, Ben.  The 3 of them are so cute together.  We picked up a few things at Exito, but don't really need too much since the food here is so great.  For lunch, we had homemade chicken soup, really big hot dogs, roasted potatos, and cauliflower...one of the first vegetables we have had in days (yay, vegetables!!).  Christian totally chowed down.  He ate all of his soup plus half of Jason's, 1 1/2 hot dogs, and 4 huge potato chunks.  Alas, none of the kids liked the cauliflower, but that just left more for Jason and I!!

We are waiting to see how things go with the visas tomorrow, and are still trying to decide when to book our return flight home.  I think I will give the travel agent a call tomorrow and start seeing what is available.  Hard to believe that it could be this weekend all ready...my mind still just spins that we are finished up in Medellin and actually here in Bogota.

Yesterday, before we found out that we would be coming to Bogota, we took lots of pictures all around the hotel grounds.  I am so glad that we did, because it was our last chance to do it, even though we didn't know it at the time.  The kids LOVE posing for pictures, and after we snap every single shot, they all yell "Yo veo" (direct translation:  I see) and come running to look at it.  So here are some of our shots from yesterday!



Our last breakfast at the Intercontinental Hotel



The dreaded "jugo de mora"!





I don't remember what kind of fruit tree this was, but the kids thought it was hilarious to take a photof their heads with the fruit!





A gardenia flower...so pretty!!



3 Meals A Day - At a TABLE!!!

A post I was working on yesterday morning before we started "The Amazing Race" to and in Bogota!

I added a few more pictures this morning since the internet is so slow at night here!

We are anticipating more busy days ahead.  We are at Hotel Paris, a hostel, and there are 3 other American families here, all from Minnesota or Wisconsin - YAY!  Included in our stay are 3 meals a day, plus beverages (coffee for Jason and I!!!).  I can't tell you how happy we are not to have to eat our meals on the floor any more.

I feel like I may be starting to come down with a little cold...my ear hurts and I'm a little stuffy.  We brought along Zycam, so I will try to stay ahead of it and hopefully it won't get too bad.

We will try to keep posting, but now that the whole family is in one room, it is harder to be quiet when the kids are asleep. 

Bogota

At 9am this morning Margarita came running to get us at the park saying we have to go right now, you can get the passports and I have you on a 3:20 flight to Bogota.  Talk about your world being turned upside down!! 

Long story short we have been on a dead sprint all day long.  Margarita and Nora were great getting everyting together for us and helping us to make our connections. 

After arriving in Bogota we unpacked, and then heading to the Doctors office for a 6:45 apt.  Nice of a pediatrician to be open that late.  We came back to hotel Paris, not really a hotel but a house for adoptive families to stay while their paperwork is being finalized.  At 8 pm we sat down for a nice home made meal of lasagna. 

The kids did good today considering all of the change and crazy travel and short notice, but got totally wound up just before bed making the last hour a struggle.

Sorry for a such a short post more to come tomorrow, Nicole and I are just beat.  P.S. we may be able to make it home as soon as saturday, if we can get things worked out with the US Embasy.  Thanks for all of your kind words, thoughts and prayers.

What a Day!

So today started off as most of our days here do.  We finished breakfast, and were going to take our daily walk, followed by playing in the park.  Juan Manuel wanted to run ahead of us.  He has been doing this lately...running way way ahead and hiding so we can't find him.  Well, I didn't want to let go of his hand today, because I didn't want to have to go through all of that drama - AGAIN.  He was very unhappy and proceeded to melt down.  All-out crying, screaming melt down on the path just a little ways from the hotel.  I sat down on the ground with him while he cried and yelled, held him in a big hug, and eventually he calmed down enough to proceed - together.

We all played at the park for about an hour.  Juan Manuel got another time out for pushing Santi off of the equipment, but after that, we were all playing happily.  Jason was on the playground equipment with Santi and Juan, and I was a little further away, walking behind Christian as he pushed his stroller.  I could see Margarita coming down the path and talking very animatedly to Jason.  Jason started waving for me to come over, so I grabbed Christian, and off we ran.

Jason and Margarita both were saying "It's Sentencia!  Hurry, hurry!  We have to get to the court as soon as possible!!"  We were so shocked, we could hardly believe it.  We flew up to our room, all the while explaining to the kids that today is a wonderful day for our family.  That today is the birthday of our family, and we are going to have a party (more to come on that!).  So we got the kids and ourselves changed into nicer clothes, and raced back to the lobby.

We had to stop at the grocery store to pick up cake to celebrate, and some Coke.  A quick taxi ride to the court building, and then we sat and waited for the judge.  Jason and I had to sign a bunch of papers, and we ended up waiting about 30 minutes.  Towards the end of that, the kids were starting to get really squirmy, but Margarita ran to a vending machine for Cheetos, which settled them right back down.  (The Cheetos are more like cheesy puffs, but don't really taste like cheese, more like salty corn.  Not our favorite, but the kids gobble them up like they are the best thing ever.)

We finally got called back to the Judge's office, and it was a small, plain office with lots of breakable knick-knacks.  Um, hello...have you met our kids?  They can't even play with curtains and safety-glass without major catastrophe!!  Anyways, we sat in the office, she asked us a few questions (Why did you choose to adopt a sibling group?  Why did you choose to adopt from Colombia?  How has it been going with the kids? etc.) and then we ate cake and drank Coke.  Did I mention that it was full-tilt Coke?  The kids were throwing it back as if they had been parched in the desert for days, even Christian, and even the judge was surprised!

After that, Jason went with Edwin, the legal assistant, to get some documents notarized.  The kids and I headed back to the hotel.  On the way back to the hotel, I was talking more with the kids about what happened today.  Juan Manuel doesn't miss a beat, and he started saying that today is such a happy day, our lucky day, and that means that we can do anything we want and eat anything we want all day long.  Well...we'll have to see about that.  He was also planning ahead for his and his brothers' birthdays this year, and how he wants a cake and a surprise party for each.  But he wants to help plan the "surprise" party too.  Then he was asking if Papa Noel will know how to bring presents to the Estados Unidos for them at Christmas.  He cracks us up sometimes!

Jason's trip to the Notary was interesting.  The office was in a really rough part of Medellin, and the building was like something out of the past.  There were 2 ladies there typing on old fashioned typewriters, and stacks and stacks of bound ledger books all over the place.  Luckily the process went fairly quickly there.  Jason said that he never thought he would hear the "ding" and "clickety-clack" of an old typewriter again in his lifetime!

Jason got back, we all ate some lunch, and then it was off to the pool.  The kids were really hamming it up for the camera at the pool today, with lots of pictures of their "musculos".  We took a little break in the room, then headed back out to the park to play.  The kids needed to burn off some of their sugar, and had a great time getting dirty (with permission from Mom and encouragement from Dad, of course!).




Did we mention the kids' dirty pants?


When we got back to the room, the hotel delivered 2 trays of cookies to help the celebration (and sugar enduced craziness) keep on going.  It was bath time for the kids, and Jason had to head out to the store to buy more luggage for our trip to Bogota and our return trip home.  Both Juan Manuel and Santiago wanted Choco Krispies for dinner, and both boys ended up spilling their cereal and milk all over their blankets.  Those blankets are FILTHY!!!  Then Christian decided to color all over the chair with his blue crayon.  Good grief!  But, we were still so thrilled about today's turn of events, that it all kind of just rolled off.




Cookies!


A movie before bed, and the kids went down without any fussing.  Jason and I celebrated with a Budweiser for him and a glass of bubbly for me.  What a great day, and so unexpected by both of us.  We were thinking that maybe, possibly, we would hear of admission by the end of the week.  (Admission is where the court accepts you paperwork and starts the 10 day approval process)  We think that the judge must have taken pity on us, as we had Admission and Sentencia both in the same day.  Thank you, Court #5, thank you, God!!  Oh happy day!

Tomorrow we will start on the passports for the kids, and if we can get that done tomorrow, we may be able to fly to Bogota as soon as Wednesday, or at the very latest, Thursday.  Just yesterday, Jason was saying how much he misses home and the good old USA, and now we will be headed there so much sooner than we thought.  We try to keep these feelings in mind, however, as our boys say goodbye to their birth country and the life and culture that they have always known.  We will do our best to help them with the transitions, and know that it won't be easy for them.  It is a good thing that we can get Coco-Krispies at home though, as it seems to be one of their favorite foods!


Santi and his musculos





Happy baby, Christian



Brothers!



The 3 Musketeers





We LOVE bath time!