I600A renewal

Hello,
Well we just finished sending in all our documents for our I600A one-time free renewal. I have a feeling we will be renewing atleast 1 more time before we get "the call". This past March 3rd it was officially 1 entire year on the Colombia waiting list so we probably have another 2 years to go.
On the home front these days its been pretty busy- We have been blessed with a baby in our lives. I hope to be able to tell you all a little more about it soon.
I plan to make this blog private soon so please if you would like to continue to follow through our journey with us please e-mail me your info and I will give you access :)

Its been a while!!!!

Well its been a long while since I've posted on the site. On the Colombia front there is nothing really new the wait continues to remain long and we are working on some documents to re-do our dossier for the extension of the I600a. At home there have been a lot of GREAT changes and MANY blessings!!! I hope to write about those soon :)

6 Months today- 5 or 6 more times :)

Today makes 6 months that we've been on the waiting list. We are waiting for more info from our new agency "Gladney". They are still in the transfer process of "Commonwealth" families and we have not had personal case manager contact from them yet so we are just waiting. WAITING is the name of the game!!!! I'm officially done reading both of the adoption short story books I purchased -they were great so now I have to try to find a few others. I have to start updating some documents for our 1600a renewal so for the next coming months I will be working on those. On a side note, we have been dodging hurricanes thus far so we will see if our good luck continues. I still went to the grocery store and purchased some supplies just in case :)

Crazy Days

This post will probably be a bit lengthy because a lot has happened since my last post. What can I say but that its been a lot of information in a short amount of time. We found out that our adoption agency- Commonwealth was closing down. Our case worker called us to tell us and to also tell us that they would be arrainging our transfer to another agency- Gladney adoptions. Although this news threw me for a spin it turned out not to really be that much of an impact for our case in particular- I'm not sure about others. Also, although I worried for a bit, overall I have felt at peace with the changes and that gives me a good feeling about all of this.
Since, WE had already paid for all services rendered to date and are already on the waiting list in Colombia our case really does not change. Our great program director, Raul, is also transferring with us to the new agency so that is indeed a great thing. All I'm waiting for now is for Gladney to contact me for a few more details and to assign a new case manager for us. I know we have some documents expiring in the coming months as well as a homestudy update so I need to get everything settled to do all that when the time is needed. Aside from all the adoption agency stuff I have been keeping busy reading a few books that I purchased which are awesome. The one I started reading first is "Born in Our Hearts", a compilation of short stories about adoption from all perspectives. It is awesome, very tough to put down! I also purchased "Adoption Parenting" & "A Treasury of Adoption Miracles". So those will be next. The "Adoption Parenting" one is like a "What to Expect" book for adopters like us.
There is one thing that I have been thinking alot about lately and the reason for my thinking is that I have been keeping up with other peoples blogs. The time frame for the adoption is indeed going to be 3 years and then some for an infant. Although we knew this from the beginning, what scares me is that the time frame if everything continues to go as slow as it is going, will be extending itself even more and soon we will be in the 4 year wait! The main reason for the LONG wait is the change of no casas privadas and the MAIN change is that Colombia gives preference for Colombians that want to adopt. How it works is that the gov't moves them to the top of the waiting list and so people who are not Colombian wait more. The fact that Colombians are adopting from their Country is awesome for the children but the only downside is that it increases the wait time for non-Colombians already on the list.
I also continue to watch others blogs and have found a few new ones out there! It is really cool to read about what other peoples similar experiences and to share news with each other. In one of the blogs I found today, the couple has the same approval date as Andres and I. Pretty cool finding people in the spot of their adoption journey as you are. Also, reading on others blogs and time frames is a great gage for you to be able to compare your own position and expected wait in the journey.
It is getting pretty late, I'm going to watch a bit of the Olympics and hit the sack!

5 Month Approval Anniversary

Today makes 5 months since our ICBF approval. Time has flown by. Lets hope it stays that way. Nothing much going on at all, just our usual. We had a busy week last week and ended up going to bed late every night especially on Thursday night because we went to the Marlins game with Andres' parents, there was a rain delay and the game ended up starting late and ending late but we ended up kicking butt and winning I think 11-2 was the final score. On Friday, we left to the keys and we got back a little while ago. I had a very relaxing weekend and caught up on much needed sleep. I decided to get online now to check out the other blogs I keep track of- Especially since 2 families from our agency are in Colombia right now to pick up their kids.
However, I better get to bed because little Jewel is sitting here next to me staring at me - she likes me to go to bed with her so that she can eat her treat in bed with me.
Good Night!

Mexico Vacation

Andres and I just got back from a 5 day trip to Mexico. Two weeks ago while looking in expedia, I came across a great all inclusive deal so we ended up booking a last minute vacation. We had a great time and much need R&R. The hotel & beach were beautiful - we ate soooo much Guacamole - The entire stay and especially the FOOD was great! I bought Alexa a souvenir Mexican Muñequita (doll).
Today was our first day back at work and back to our usual routine. My mom and dad stayed with Jewel and although she loves going to her grandparents house, little Jewel was very happy to be home again and sleeping in bed with us. We hate leaving her behind and usually take her to most trips with us- that makes me think of what we will do with her when we have to leave to Colombia to get Alexa. Maybe I can find a pet friendly place there or make arraingments where we will be staying??? Our next vacation will be in December where the family is headed to Tennessee (Gatlinburg). Little Jewel will be joining us on that road trip!!
Nothing new on the adoption front- not that I'm expecting any news any time soon, Next thing we will do is around September when we start updating our fingerprints & I-600a :)

Our hotel in Cozumel

The hotel lobby area
The Beach

The Ferry boat from Cozumel to Riviera Maya

Dinner at our hotel - Sonora Grill

A new way of looking at things - 11 more times!!!

So I was talking to Andres last night about our wait time. I was telling him that I want time to pass by fast so that we have Alexa with us already and to think that we've only been on the waiting list for 3 months. So if our wait go's the entire 36 months then we still have 33 more to go!!!! He came up with a cool new way of looking at it and I think I'm going to see it his way from now on - he said "we only have 11 more times of the amount of time we've already waited". We only have to do this (the 3 months that just passed) 11 more times. Being that 11 numerically is a lot less than 33, I'm sticking to his mathematical way of calculating our wait time. By the way, the knitting is going good - I have knitted 2 1/2 inches of a blanket- another 37 1/2 more inches to go :)