Week 7 Photos

Finally! Three weeks home, and I finally had a moment to finish uploading Week 7, arrange and caption it. It includes Parque Jaime Duque, Parque 93, Parque El Chico, photos around the Halifax, and Sentencia - see them all here.

At some point soon, I hope to finish a few notes about our last week and get a few more photos from my mom so I can load the photos from our last few days and trip home.

Several people have asked me to continue to post to the blog so they can continue to follow our adjustment at home. All I can say is that I will try my best :)

Everybody is home safe and sound

Sabeth, Esteban, Isabella and Grandma Dawn all arrived safe and sound in Boston on Monday night (11/22) around 9:30pm. Isabella and Esteban were both asleep so Julien didn't get to officially greet them until Tuesday morning. Everybody was tired and poor Grandma Dawn had to turn around and leave early Tuesday afternoon to get back to Grandpa Kerry and Seattle. !Grandma Dawn was an amazing help and Sabeth couldn't have done it without her!

Isabella had her first U.S. doctor's appointment on Tuesday morning and is healthy as can be. She is adjusting to life in Mass. though she woke up Tuesday morning quite freaked out by her new surroundings. Esteban continues to be a great big brother and insists on being the first to great her in the mornings. Sabeth is finally getting some much needed sleep as Julien is able to get up for the 6am wake up call though she is still handling the 2am wake ups.

We are all still figuring out a rhythm and trying to manage the chaos. We were able to get to Abuela Ana's and Grandpa Julien's for Thanksgiving though we discovered how much Isabella hates being in a car seat. She screamed until she made her self through up. It was an interesting sight to see us changing her on the side of Rt 93 (128 for you Bostoners) with it being 35 degrees out. Sabeth had to squeeze herself in between the two car seats in the back and ride the rest of the hour and a half trip to Julien's parents in order to sooth Isabella.

We thank everyone for your well wishes, support, and prayers. It all certainly helped us get through the process and grow our family!

More pictures to come in a later post.

Ready to head home

It's 11:00pm - and the bags are packed, the kids (and Grandma) are sleeping, and I am ready to head home. I know there are a few blog posts to catch up on - maybe on the plane tomorrow. Who am I kidding? With 4 of us in 3 seats, I'll be lucky to page through a magazine that's all pictures.

It has been a wonderful 7 weeks and 2 days in Colombia. We have been blessed with decent weather - perhaps the best day of our stay was today! I have spent so much time with Esteban and my mom, not to mention Isabella. We have met wonderful people here in the Halifax - the community of adoptive families extends around the world - and I feel fortunate to have been part of that community again. People here have showered us with hospitality and care - from the hotel staff to friends of friends who invited us into their homes and lives. Colombia is a wonderful place to visit, especially with children. If you've considered coming here and been put off by the media portrayals of Colombia, think again. Bogota is a big city - like New York or LA - so you exercise caution as you would there. There are plenty of wonderful hotels, good restaurants, amazing history and museums, beautiful countryside and lovely people. Bogota weather reminds me of the Bay Area of California - never freezes, never gets too hot.

Our ride picks us up at 7:00am tomorrow, and we will have about a 15 hour travel day. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers for safe travel and no delays!

Isabella's Visa and Tickets Home!

It was nice to sleep in a little on Friday, and to wash and hang the last two loads of laundry we will wash here (hopefully!). Reynel picked me up at 10:15am, as promised, to take me to the US Embassy to pick up Isabella's visa. Esteban had a little screaming fit as I was leaving, though I know Grandma Dawn handled it like a pro. Reynel took me to the Embassy and walked me to the gate. On Fridays, the Embassy has administrative days, so there were only about 20 people outside the gate - such a marked difference from Thursday! I couldn't take any photos of the Embassy because they don't allow it - no cameras inside. I went to the gate, told them I had an appointment, and they opened the door for me. I walked right in, to the window to which I was directed, and waited about 2 minutes for someone to come see me. They brought me Isabella's visa, I checked it to be sure it was all correct, and they handed me the big envelope of documents for US Immigration when we re-enter the US - and wished me congratulations. I walked back out and was back at the hotel about an hour after I left. We celebrated with a walk to the park before lunch!

After lunch, we walked to the Delta office (about 16 blocks) to change our tickets. In true Bogota fashion, our walk encompassed at least three different kinds of weather - sun, sprinkles, and downpour. Luckily, we got to the Delta office just in time for the downpour, and it was finished before we headed home. We got all of our tickets changed (Isabella's actually doesn't have a date, so it didn't have to be changed) to fly together from Bogota to Atlanta to Boston on Monday 11/22. My mom will fly on to Seattle on Tuesday afternoon. I am so thankful that my mom can fly with me and the kids to Boston - I cannot imagine managing both kids, all their stuff and mine, and customs and immigration by myself!

I got my hair cut - finally - yesterday before dinner. When I left to get my haircut Esteban told me that he wasn't going to cry and that he would miss me. So sweet! We had found a spa a few blocks away that looked nice and I went there. It was a little more expensive (51,000 pesos / about $28) than some places around here - but well worth it. I got a nice wash, a great cut (the short style I wanted before I left Massachusetts - rather than the chop job I got), and a nice styling - all by a sweet young man. Esteban told me I looked very stylish when I got back to the hotel. Grandma managed the kids while I was gone, though Isabella was really overtired by the time I got back. She doesn't like to take her bottle from Grandma and was not happy having a bath with Grandma because it's not her usual routine.

Speaking of Isabella, she now has 2 teeth (the bottom center) and seems to be working on some more. She also is really enjoying this walker, the likes of which have all been recalled in the US. It took her about 4 days to figure out how to walk herself around and now she can go from room to room (on the main floor, of course) all by herself.

The day after Sentencia: Passport, Doctor, Embassy, CRAN, Party!

Thursday was a LONG day!

Helena picked us (Isabella, Esteban, Grandma Dawn and I) at 7:30am! We were off to the Passport Office early, early, early. To be ready meant that we had to all get up when Isabella woke at 5:30! Dressed, fed, diaper bag ready for 2 kids, and important papers all collected. And we managed to be ready exactly at 7:30am. At the Passport Office, we first got Isabella's passport photos for the Colombian Passport and for the US visa taken at a little shop conveniently located just outside the door to the Passport Office. She took a great photo!

Then we headed into the Passport Office, bypassing the line of about 40 people, as happens when accompanied by Helena. In true Helena style, she handed me the papers I needed and told me which window to go to while she paid the passport fee. My mom and Esteban waited very patiently for us. After I spoke to the woman at the window and verified that she had all our information correct, I joined my mom and Esteban and Helena. We waited about 30 minutes for the passport to be ready. All told, we spent about an hour at the passport office.


After the Passport Office, we headed to the US Embassy doctor. Before the Embassy would grant a visa, they need a clean bill of health from their doctor. So we went to see Dr. Fajardo, who is the same doctor we saw with Esteban. He put Isabella's immunization record into the official form for the Embassy and gave her a quick examination. Isabella weighs 8730 grams (19lbs 4oz) and is 27" long. I think our girl has grown! The doctor pronounced all well and gave us a sealed envelope to give to the Embassy.

All this happened before 10:30am! We headed for the US Embassy, knowing that we were one document short for our visa application and hoping that they would accept it anyway. We were missing the Conformity document, which comes from CRAN and is then issued by ICBF, and it states that our adoption was conducted in accordance with the Hague Convention on International Adoption. Our Conformity document was due to be ready early Friday morning. If the Embassy would accept our incomplete (for now) visa application, then maybe we could drop off the Conformity document on Friday morning and still pick up the visa on Friday afternoon. We arrived at the Embassy at about 11:00am. There were about 1,000 people lined up outside the Embassy (not kidding) and still Helena went right to the front of the line. As she pointed out, they were all there applying for tourist and work visas, and we were there for an adoption visa. We walked right in and Helena went to submit the papers at the appropriate window. The Embassy waiting areas are all outside and you do your business at windows where you use a phone to talk to the personnel on the other side. You never actually enter an embassy building. Helena returned and said we should wait about 15 minutes and then go to wait near a specific window. Isabella's name was called and we went to the specified window. The first person I spoke with checked that all my documents were there - and wanted to know about the Conformity document. She said that if we could get it to the Embassy that afternoon, we could pick up the visa on Friday. If they didn't get the Conformity document until Friday, then the visa would not be ready until Monday. The next person I talked to took my money (those visas aren't free!). Then I waited about 10 minutes and they called me to another window, where a vice consul asked me a few questions and looked at Isabella to make sure her photo matched her face. Then we were free to go. We got in a cab at 12:15pm - only a little over an hour at the Embassy!

Helena took us directly to ICBF to ask, in person, for the Conformity document. Esteban and I went with her and waited in the hall. I am sure she asked, in her very nicest way, for that document to be done NOW! When the right staff person returned from lunch, it took about 10 minutes to get the paperwork in order - and we left with the Conformity document in hand!

We were scheduled to visit CRAN at 2:00pm for our tour and post-placement visit (to ask any further questions about Isabella) so we headed there. Helena arranged for her most trusted driver to meet us at CRAN and hand-deliver the Conformity document and Isabella's passport to the Embassy while we were visiting CRAN. Reynel is my hero!






Our visit to CRAN was nice. I had a chance to ask some more questions about Isabella's case, and they gave me a CD of photos from her foster home. We took a tour - which was good for both Esteban and my mom. CRAN has three main programs - the on-site program for children ages 2-8 whom they are trying to re-unite with their birth families (90 children), the program for pregnant women whose babies are then placed with foster families (about 70 children), and a pre-school program for children from the community (40 children).



There were also high school age kids there volunteering - a different colegio (private high school) sends students to volunteer every day of the week. Esteban asked why there were so many kids there and why they had beds there.









We finally headed back to the hotel, and arrived at 4:45pm - just in time to join the festivities! Five families were celebrating Sentencia! We had a pre-dinner gathering with beverages and snacks, and a wonderful cake for dessert. There are families from Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, and Denmark here right now - and most are heading home in the next week.


What a feeling of relief to have all that done in one day! The kids were great with all the time in the stroller and taxis - and Grandma Dawn survived pretty well, too.


I'll believe we're really going home when we have Isabella's visa in hand on Friday! Helena called Thursday evening to tell me that Reynel would pick me up at 10:15am Friday for an 11:00am appointment at the US Embassy to pick up the visa.

Sentencia - the details

After yesterday's news that we didn't get Sentencia, it was feeling like it would never happen. This morning we headed out to the park right after breakfast. It was raining when we got ther so we had coffee, and then Esteban decided he wanted to nap. So we were on our way to my hair appointment when the phone rang - it was Helena telling me that we needed to go sign TODAY! And she would pick me up at the hotel in 20 minutes. We hurried back, got the kids settled, I dressed myself to be presentable at the courthouse, and we left about 11:30am (30 minutes after Helena called - not bad for all we had to do). My mom stayed with Esteban and Isabella.

We arrived at the family court building in downtown Bogota at about 12:10pm. It's a non-descript building with a bookstore and a couple of copy and coffee places on the street level. You go in and can take the elevator (which means waiting in line for the one elevator that takes 7 people per trip) or the stairs. We were going to the 4th floor, so we waited for the elevator. Turns out we had court 4, not court 14 as I had thought. Helena wanted to get us there in time to sign and get copies made and stamped before everyone went to lunch from 1:00-2:00pm.

We got to Court 4 and Helena went to the window and asked for our papers. Going to the court here is not what I had imagined - you go to a service window where the staff look up your case on the computer and bring your papers to the window for you to sign. You never actually see the judge who signed your papers. The Sentencia only takes one signature from the parent. My lawyer had been there earlier in the day and signed already. Once you sign, you take the original document back to one of the copy places on the street level (outside the building) and you get copies made. Then you go back into the court building and take the copies back to the court to have them stamped and signed as official copies. We got back to the window at about 12:50pm. The waiting area was already clearing out as people finished their business before the lunch hour. We sat down to wait for our copies to come back as official. That was when I noticed that the bulletin board of court notices for Family Court #4 had our Sentencia notice dated 12 November. That was last Friday! No way to know why we didn't find out until today that it had been signed - but it's Colombia, so it doesn't help to get upset now. The copies finally came out at 1:10pm - someone worked into their lunch hour to get them done for us! Sentencia in hand - Isabella is officially ours! It's a done deal!

Back down the stairs and outside to wait for our driver to come with the car. Then we headed to the Notary office where Isabella's birth was originally registered. Colombia doesn't have a centralized system for recording civil events, so to get a new birth certificate (one that shows Julien and I as Isabella's parents) we had to go to where the original is filed and officially change it there. Also, in Colombia you can register births at a Notary or at a Registry office. The Registry is a government office, and often works as slowly as one, and the Notary is a private enterprise and usually is faster. So we were lucky to be heading to a Notary, and one not that far from the court building. On the way to the Notary, it started to pour. It's been quite rainy the past week, with incredible flooding all over Colombia reported on the news this morning - and this was really heavy rain that included some hail.

When we arrived at the Notary, the door was closed and people were waiting to get in - the office was closed for lunch. So we went and had lunch, too. By 2:30pm we were at the window of the Notary explaining what we needed. By 3:00pm, he had the document ready for my signature - actually 4 signatures - and we were on our way by 3:30pm. I was back at the hotel by 4:00pm.

What a relief! There are more things that have to happen, but we are definitely on the home stretch.

We had promised Esteban that on Sentencia Day he could break open his Colombian piggy bank (which he got for his birthday here and has been filling with Colombian coins) and take the proceeds to buy a toy. So when I got back to the hotel, we borrowed a hammer and took his piggy bank outside. Without a second glance, he smashed it open in two blows! My mom and I both forgot to bring our cameras - and completely regret it! He picked up all his money and we headed out to the toy store. He got a small truck that makes noise and flashes its lights - he's delighted!

Other news of the day is that Isabella cut her first tooth - the front lower left - with the front lower right to follow soon. And she's getting over her cold - so she's breathing better.

At dinner tonight we found out that 4 other families here at the hotel also got their Sentencia today! So tomorrow night there will probably be a big party here - hopefully some live music and plenty of adult beverages! It's amazing how the news of Sentencia can lighten the mood of the whole place. When you feel like you've been here forever, like maybe you should start looking for a job and a place to live while you wait for Sentencia and your kids grow up, it's a GREAT feeling to know that going home is about a week away.

Tomorrow Helena will pick us up at 7:30am to go to get Isabella's Colombian passport. That should go quickly. The photo place is just outside the front door of the passport office, and we are getting a short-term passport so it should be ready in less than an hour. Then we have a 9:00am appointment with the US Embassy doctor - Isabella has to have an official examination before we can apply for her US visa. Once we have the doctor's certificate in hand, we can go the the US Embassy to apply for the visa. We will be missing the conformity document from CRAN (our adoption house) that says our process was all according to the Hague Convention on International Adoption, so they could tell us they won't accept our application until we have that (which won't be ready until Friday am). OR they could accept our paperwork and tell us to bring the conformity document on Friday am - and hopefully our visa would be available Friday afternoon. If they won't accept our visa application without the conformity document, we won't be able to apply for it until Monday - because the US embassy doesn't accept visa applications on Fridays.

Nothing new to this string of IF-THEN statements - it's how this whole process goes. Each step is dependent on the last.

So thank you all who sent up prayers and good thoughts for our Sentencia. It worked!

Sentencia!

Leaving now to sign (with 20 minutes' notice) - will post later with all the details :) Hurray!!!