Going to Bogota

It's official, our paperwork has been sent to the Bogota regional office. We received word this evening! The next step is for the regional office to match us with our children and then call us with the referral (pics, medical info etc.) We hope for a speedy referral but are so excited just to know at least that our paperwork is moving. It is so exhilarating to just hear that Colombia has made contact and is in process of matching us now.

I was out to dinner when the info came in and I immediately lost my appetite, couldn't take another bite. It was as exciting as finding our you are pregnant! I can only imagine how I will feel when we get the referral call. Emi and Nate were with me and were just beside themselves.

Julie said to go ahead and get our fingerprints and medical letters re done. I kind of had a feeling this was coming so...the medical letter was picked up last week and the fingerprints were mailed out too. One step ahead on that one.

The coolest thing is that Children's Vision International (the orphanage we are visiting) is in Bogota and with the amount of items we have to take to them, we are each going to have to take two suitcases. If you fly to any other region you are only able to take one suitcase per person. But because we are going to Bogota, taking two suitcases each will be no problem. How cool is that? All in God's bigger plan!

Well...Off to celebrate!

More later...

Emotional Moment

…And so there I was driving to work sobbing, I dial the phone to call my husband, he answers, knows it’s me, hears me crying and tries to figure out what was wrong. I finally gain my composure, enough to speak, and tell him nothing is wrong, I’m just having an emotional moment and he breathes a sigh of relief.

It’s those girl genes, we just can’t help it. It comes on a whim and there’s no control.

My tears were actually tears of joy. We have a dream that is very near to becoming reality. It’s almost hard to believe. For the 14 years I have known Eric we have spoke of adoption, orphans have always been in our hearts. And to have had God tell us it was our turn to adopt and to have paved the way for us has been an amazing experience. I have watched Him take me, little ol’ me, into His hand and take care of every little detail. As I look back on this journey I realize why He doesn’t just show us His plan all at one time. It really would be too overwhelming. But I think about His goodness, and of all the people in the world, He still chooses to love, speak to, and take care of me like I am the only one He has to focus on. It blows my mind.

Just yesterday, He sent me a rainbow. I was in my car on my way to work. On clear days I drive looking right into the sun rising. Yesterday morning happened to be a perfectly beautiful day with a few puffy clouds and the blue sky. As I got on the highway and driving into the sun I noticed a rainbow had formed arching over the sun. It was the most amazing site. But more than the beauty of the scene itself was the promise, the purpose of the rainbow, a promise that God is with me still taking care of all the details if I just continue to trust Him. It was like He was saying, “This is just for you”, “I’m still here”, “I have it under control”, “Your dream is coming true and it’s more beautiful than you can imagine”.

…So after my time of reflection and tears I hang up the phone with Eric, I powder my face, step out of the car and into work with an extra pep in my step. God is Good, All the Time!

Creative Moment?

I just had this brilliant idea…or at least I think it’s brilliant.

As I was putting together a photo book for us to take with us, to share with the kids and I thought, why not make a video of places and people too. I can load them on my laptop, make a presentation of sorts with video clips. Since I will be taking my laptop with us, they can watch it as much as they want. It can include rooms in our house, grandparents saying Hello, aunts and uncles with special messages. That way not only do they get a visual but can hear everyone’s voices too. I can video the dogs playing, the cat, the park, Mimi and Papa’s house and lots of other fun stuff. I should have the photo book complete by the end of the weekend, so the video shoots will be my next exciting feat.

I also just bought a few more items to take with us. I got play dough, a playschool soft inflatable soccer ball, leapfrog memory mate/bilingual, bilingual bingo, sketch paper, notebooks, pencils and some bilingual books.

Just getting a little excited…can you tell?

I am learning to use the video feature on our new camera, so these aren't the best, but it's a start.

This is Nate learning to Snowboard, he's having a little trouble learning to stop.

Here is Emi, better known around our house as "grace" (short for graceful), working on Skiing, having a little trouble learning to start.

New Beginnings

Well, this week has been exciting. I turned in my resignation at work; My last day will be April 8th. Eric and I have made the decision that it will be best if I can devote more time at home once we bring home our Colombian Jewels. I will continue to work on a part time basis, and once we see just what the needs are of our new additions we will determine what “part time” means. (how many hours, days or evenings, etc.) But until we travel I will continue to work at least 30 hours freelancing.

I turned in my notice on Tuesday and by yesterday I was feeling ready for the next chapter to begin. I enjoy my job, so turning in my resignation was bitter sweet. But in taking the step to cut back at work I found myself that much more anxious for the referral call. Again, I remind myself, all in God’s timing.

Also this week on our yahoo group someone shot out an email with loads of questions on behalf of all of us waiting to travel. The questions were aimed at those who have already been to Colombia and come home. Things like, advise on packing, what Spanish phrases would especially come in handy, what kinds of things did you take for the children etc. There have been some great responses and I started keeping a notebook of things to help me keep track and prepare. I have purchased a few things like sun block, bug spray, and a few other items, but really need to start making a list. So the yahoo sisters who have been so willing to take the time to help advise us have been invaluable.

As far as the books for orphans, we now have about 80 books. I am so excited. Along with the books we are also taking supplies for the orphanage. I was speaking to a friend about possibly getting donations of baby supplies (shampoo, lotion, powder) which are very expensive in Colombia and the very next day she called and told me she had three boxes of stuff to be donated. Baby supplies, over 50 toothbrushes, more than 20 tubes of toothpaste etc! Children’s Vision is sending me a list of their children’s names and ages. We hope to have enough donations to have the girl scouts make a goodie bag for each child. We are getting pencils, stickers, hair accessories, small balls, etc. This is so much fun. I am excited for Emi and Nate to have this experience and to visit the orphanage. I am trying to be careful and not put them on emotional overload while we are there, so we may only be able to spend one day, but none the less, they will make memories and will have a special place in their hearts for orphans, God’s children! Obviously we are going to make the orphanage trip before our Gotcha Day so we can focus our attention on our family once we are all together.

My adrenaline is pump’n…
Must be gett’n close!

No Word Yet

Have I mentioned lately just what great kids I have? I just got home from parent teacher conferences. The teachers had nothing but good to say about Emi and Nate. Which is always the case, but none the less, it’s so nice to hear it from the ones who see them 7 hours a day.

Emi is doing well despite the broken bones in her arm and the much anticipated travels and sibling addition. Her homeroom teacher mentioned that she has a lot going on with “growing up”, her arm and adoption, but continues to do very well. She is maintaining her good grades. Mostly A’s with a few B’s popping in every once in a while. She got her cast off yesterday and is now in a brace for 4 weeks. We go back in 5 mts to be sure the bones are growing. There is a 50% chance the bones in her wrist will not grow. I am confident that she will be in the 50% that the bones do grow again.

Nate’s teachers call him the ladies man. I was not sure how I felt about this at first but his homeroom teacher said he is so respectful of the girls, opens doors for them etc. Not just to his classmates, but for the lady teachers and staff too. What a Charmer! His teacher for his TAG (talented and gifted) classes spoke of him becoming quite the handsome little guy and very cautious of taking care of his buddy Rachel. They are the only two TAG kids in his school so he they are bussed to a near by school for his morning classes. She said he is always looking out for Rachel. She also said that she anticipates he may be able to take Freshman math as a 7th grader. He is in 5th grade right now doing 6th grade math and breezing through it.

Nate’s teachers both said that Nate will be in the middle of his work and suddenly have to comment about the adoption. He speaks at appropriate times but just has to speak his thoughts. Things like “I’m not sure when, but we are going to be traveling soon!” “I’m really excited to visit another country and I really want to learn more Spanish!” “Mom said the cops there are different than here and carry big fire arms.” Emi and Nate have not really had much to say at home lately so it was interesting to hear how much they talk about it at school. It really does amaze me how much they take in, think about and wonder about the adoption and us traveling.

I guess we are all getting anxious. Really really anxious!

Now on a few side notes:

As far as the books for the orphanage, we are up to 60 books and the orders are still coming in!!!!!!

A few more families from our agency and yahoo group have received referrals and are preparing to travel. It’s always so exciting to hear of others adventures and to be excited along with them.

Friday Eric and I are going to have our FBI fingerprints redone and on Monday I plan to have our doctor letter redone so when we get the call everything will be updated and ready to go. It will take a few weeks to get the letters back then send them for notary approval and then apostil led. When we get the call we don’t want to have these items hanging over our heads. Our OH Rep told us to wait until we got word, but we really feel like the Lord is telling us to go ahead and take care of it, so that’s just what I am going to do.

One last thing, I came across this quote that I absolutely love and wanted to share. "We witness a miracle every time a child enters into life. But those who make their journey home across time & miles, growing within the hearts of those who wait to love them, are carried on the wings of destiny and placed among us by God's very own hands." ~Kristi Larson

I think I will just end the post with that…sigh…