Two Weeks till Gotcha Day!

Ahhh, it’s back to work today, my last full week of work. With a few days off last week and the weekend, we got a lot accomplished. Jessica and Joaquin now have room in the dressers and their closets. All paperwork is caught up and ready to go, except for the copies I am making today, the house is in order, I just have to do general cleaning before we leave, we purchased a van and Eric spruced it up a bit, prepared our list of items not to forget, etc. And in the middle of it all we even found time to take a break and head down to the stadium to watch the last batting practice for the Cinti Reds before their first game. Eric’s buddy gave him 4 tickets, which was super nice, only 200 people were allowed in. It doesn’t get much better than free tickets, free ballpark hotdogs, and free pop while we watched the Reds and even got a few autographs. The kids say Daddy always comes through with fun little perks. It felt really good to go to bed last night and know we accomplished so much the last few days and even got to have some fun family time just the 4 of us. The photo is from the ball park this weekend.

Also this weekend a friend from church gave us this really cool Spanish Phrase book. She is a Spanish teacher at one of the local schools. It’s awesome because it’s broken into sections, airport, restaurant, shopping, time, etc. It small enough to fit in a purse, but has lots of great stuff. I will definitely have it with me at all times while we are there.

My sister got her webcam up and working this weekend so next on the list is to have our parents get their up and working. Hopefully that can be accomplished this weekend so we can do a few trial runs before we leave.

I think it’s all finally hitting me. We meet our kiddos 2 weeks from today! Over the weekend Eric and I were pondering this thought “what in the world do you say the first time you meet your children…they’re not babies…they totally understand what’s going on.” We will all be excited but nervous, will it be awkward, what will they be thinking…hmmm. I think we came to the conclusion that there is no way to prepare for “what we will say.” I feel like it’s one of those things that just need to run it’s course, it needs to be natural and not prepared. I am beginning to get excited beyond words.

On the agenda this week is to have our call with Julie and put the final touches on everything so that next week all we have to do is shop for last minute items, pack and exchange money. My colleagues are having a “Kids Shower” for us on Saturday and my family is having one on Sunday. My mom and sister are spending way too much money, but are having a ball. My aunt even took Emi and Nate shopping for summer clothes and and got them each several outfits. Emi picked out an outfit she will wear when we meet Jessica and Joaquin, along with several other tops and a pair of capris. Also this week at work my boss has put out an announcement to all of the students, and Humanities and Sciences faculty and staff to bring in pantry items, items children like to eat. So today students have been bringing in cards with mac and cheese, jello, hot chocolate, pasta etc. “A Pantry Party” what a clever idea. We should be good and ready for when we bring Jessica and Joaquin home.

I’m out of breathe just thinking of everything…smile. But all of the hustle and bustle will be followed by 2 ½ weeks of time spent just the 6 of us as a family. Eric works crazy hours all the time so the kids and I are really looking forward to having him with us for 2 ½ whole weeks!!! Followed by Tia Jeanie coming to Colombia to spice it up a bit.

Fun Fun Fun!