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 :)

Memorial Day Weekend

Hi -
Hope all bloggers had a great Memorial Day! We had a nice time in the keys again but got alot of traffic on the way home!!! On the adoption front there is nothing new with us for now. As usual, I have been keeping track of everyones blogs and happy that everyone is doing good and some families are on their way back to the U.S. with their babies :) Being that I'm a person that does not like surprises too much and always likes to be prepared for everything in advance, by reading the wealth of information others that are ahead of us are posting, I get insight into what we can expect as our journey continues- especially what to expect in Colombia. I just read today on another blog from a family that is with our same agency that another couple from our agency received their twins and are in Colombia with them too. It's funny because the family with the twins went through "parenting training" classes with us in November. I was happy to see an update on them through the grapevine.

Not sure if I mentioned but Andres' mom got us the baby crib, dresser and crib set and room decor that we liked. The crib and dresser is antique white and the bedding and room decor is ladybugs and butterflies. It is beautiful I will try to post pic's later. We have soo many things for Alexa already - its funny because she may not even have been conceived yet! I would however, like to clear the room that will be her's - right now its full of her stuff along with things from Andres' mustang car parts to computer parts! I can't wait till just Alexa's stuff is in there and it looks a bit more like a future babies room :)

Happy belated Mothers Day to all! My mothers day was spent in the Keys with our moms & family and we had a great time :) I received honorary Mothers Day gifts - since we are paper pregnant!!!!! Its also funny how every stranger will wish you a Happy Mothers Day without knowing if you are a mom but I got a lot of that this year so I just said thank you and did not bother to elaborate on the details. I'm happy to report that the knitting is going good. I'm learning the different types of stitching and the lingo necessary in order to begin a project. My first project is a pink baby blanket. I bought all materials needed to begin but I feel I need ALOT more practice before I move on to the blanket. I have been keeping track of other blogs and a great amount of people have been getting referrals for their children but then again these people have been waiting for 3 years! Just for the heck of it I started doing the math and if we average the same amount of time that the people are taking now, we may get a referral between March 2010 - December 2011. Of course, it could always be earlier than that. I'm not the most patient person in the world but I'm trying to let it go and just wait and enjoy the time we have as a couple so that we can get a little bit of travelling if possible.

Official Approval Letter Received

Our Case Manager, Dana, just sent us our scanned copy of our ICBF (Colombia's Gov't office that regulates the adoptions) approval. We were officially placed on the waiting list on March 3, 2008. So we have officially been on the waiting list for a 1 1/2 months. Although we knew we were approved it is different when you see the actual document - it makes it real.
The next big step according to the approval document is receiving an assignment to a specific region in Colombia. This means that they assign you to a specific town or province in Colombia and that your child will come from that town or province. Once this occurs, you are pretty close to being matched to your child. That is the next big news we will wait for but being matched to a region could be a long time from now so we will just have to be patient. However, my thoughts are that we are on God's timeframe and not anyone else's so they will call us when "our" baby is ready. On that note - don't laugh, I'm taking up a hobbie. I'm going to give knitting a shot. I figured that it would be nice to learn to knit some blankets for the baby and it will also keep me occupied during the wait. WE shall see how that goes!!!!

Very Cute Message

The below is an e-mail message I received from a friend. It is a very cute message so I thought I'd share with you all :)

A baby asked God, 'They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?' God said, 'Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you.'The child further inquired, 'But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy.' God said, 'Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy.'Again the child asked, 'And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?' God said, 'Your angel will tell you the most
beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak.'

'And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?'
God said, 'Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you to pray.'

'Who will protect me?' God said, 'Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life.'

'But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore.'
God said, 'Your angel will always talk to you about Me
and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you.'

'At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, 'God if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name.'

God said, 'You will simply call her, 'Mom.'

I have not posted any news in a while. Nothing new is really going on now. I'm waiting for the official approval letter to come in. We know we already got approved but they send an official letter anyways- not sure if the letter will have more details. I've been keeping track of other people's blogs, one couple from our adoption agency is in Colombia now and received their daughter last week so we are happy for them. They are also posting really good info on where they are staying and other details that will be helpful to us when its our time to travel :)

WE GOT APPROVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We cannot believe the phone call I got just now. After I stopped jumping and screaming and calling the grandma's to relay the news and then they started jumping and screaming too, I was just able to put my thoughts into words and post the great news. Drum roll please.................

Dana - our case manager-just called me and gave us the best news-We got approved by ICBF today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!So what does this mean?? Well we are now officially approved from the Colombian government to adopt and we are now waiting for the agency to match us with a baby. We are not sure if we will now get assigned to a region or a specific orphanage but Dana will be keeping us posted on the details so you guys will definitely find out. The wait until they call us with our baby could still be around 30 months but being that our approval was in record breaking time, we have to be prepared for a call any time earlier than that.

So keep those prayers coming :)))

Parent Training Class with our agency Commonwealth Adoptions

This picture was taken a few months ago at a "parent training" class we went to with our agency. It was a great time because we got to meet a lot of people who are going through the process as well. Mostly all of us have kept in touch since and are keeping each other posted on our progress.

Sending out our Dossier!

On Jenice's birthday we were able to send out our Dossier to Dana (our case manager). She reviewed it and sent it to Colombia a few days after that!