Did I say 3-6 months that we would be waiting? I was wrong! I meant three DAYS! Yes, you've heard it right. WE HAVE A REFERRAL--one girl and one boy!!!! The call came at 11:15am yesterday as I sat at the computer making a list of all the things I needed to get accomplished within the next three months. (Needless to say, I haven't gotten back to that list.) ICBF (the Colombian government) was in clear understanding that we would be switching back to the 0-7 list when they initially approved us for 0-6. They knew we just needed to play the waiting game until timing was right. Since our dossier was approved in November, we literally have already done our waiting time. Matter of fact, a family whose dossier was approved the same day as ours left yesterday to get their two, new children. For this reason, we are suspecting that the ICBF approved us based upon that knowledge! Regardless, you can imagine the complete shock I felt when getting the phone call. You can never prepare for the moment when CHI says, "We have your children!" And when they did, I gasped, wanted to scream (but didn't maybe because I am still recovering from my strained vocal cords from Mario's 3-point shot Monday night), wanted to cry (but couldn't because I was in shock), and wanted to call everyone under the sun (but didn't because we wanted to get in touch with our immediate family first). Instead, I sat in complete silence and began gasping for air a little bit. As soon as I received all of the information, I immediately called Matt. He was away from his desk. UGH! I called his cell phone and after what seemed like a million rings, he finally answered. Last night, my mom, step dad, dad and step mom all came over and we surprised them. (Ok, Dad, I know you were on to us!) It was a wonderful evening. We wish we could call each and every one of you and give you the news, but obviously, that's an impossibility! So, as we will do throughout the next few months, we will share it all through this blog. Enough about this stuff. We are thrilled and want to share more about our kids!!!!
Our children are from Cundinamarca which is outside of Bogota. Our beautiful daughter is named Maria and she just turned four in March. She loves toys that light up and make sounds, as well as dancing, playing with others and running. (Luke has already commented that she will love to play tag with him!) And to our delight, she also loves to show physical affection giving hugs and kisses!!!! Our gorgeous son is Hector Andres and he will be turning 2 on April 25. He loves to play with cars (thank God as we have every Matchbox car under the sun!) and toys that can be manipulated and carried from place to place. He loves to dance, laugh and jump. Although we have no specific info on when this will all take place, it is typical that you leave within a month of getting your referral. So it looks like we will be heading to Bogota by the middle of May. YIKES! I guess I better shorten that list I was making yesterday as I don't have as much time to burn now. I feel as if I just found out I was pregnant and then the doctor followed it up by saying, "Oh yeah, not only are you pregnant, but you are due in four weeks." So much to do, so little time, but how blessed we are! With sports cancelled today due to the weather, Luke and I are going to spend time going through the boxes of toys that I have saved to see if any of them will be of interest to Maria and Hector Andres. I will also go through the few boxes of boys clothes that I have saved to see if any would be appropriate for Hector Andres. As far as Maria goes--if any of you have or know of anyone who has any used girl clothing in the late 3, early 4 year range, I would be very interested in taking it off of their hands and paying for it. My other goal is to figure out how we will furnish their bedrooms as they will each have their own room. How exciting to get to decorate a girl's bedroom!!! The financial expenditures ahead of us just to prepare for their arrival is a little overwhelming, but this is one of the moment's we have waited for and we have faith that all will work out! So as you can tell, WE ARE ECSTATIC! Luke is so excited to finally be a big brother, and the sweetest part of yesterday was when Luke was going to bed. He told me, "Mommy, I want to dream about them tonight so I can see them better and we can play." Priceless!!!!!
You can expect that I will posting a new blog every day or two to give you updates of what is happening. We will be getting a call from CHI on Monday to tell us more about what paperwork has to be rounded up/obtained as well as dates to expect to leave. Until then, we have a weekend ahead of us to celebrate and begin planning! Blessings to all, and please keep saying your prayers. How wonderful that we can now refer to them by name when we pray! Until then, this proud, proud mom of THREE is signing off!
It has been two weeks since we learned about Andres and Maria. Since then, we have been in high gear with paperwork, preparing rooms, readying the house for those who will stay here while we are gone, not to mention all of the other things spring time brings. It wasn't until yesterday that I felt like I hit a wall. We still have three weeks to go before we can go get Maria and Andres. It seems like an eternity away. The fact that yesterday was Andres' 2nd birthday I believe was the trigger of all of this. The day seemed special but not complete since our guest of honor was unable to be with us. So instead of sitting and doing nothing, we decided to have a party anyway. You can see by the pictures above that even Max, our dog, got in on the celebration (and I know that he is looking forward to having a two-year old in the house again so crumbs will once again hit the floor!) Matt and Luke picked out car cupcakes because they were sure that's what Andres would want on his cake. We lit two candles, sang "Happy Birthday" in Spanish and then Luke blew out one candle and all of us blew out the other. And yes, there were wishes made! Now cross your fingers that they come true! After the cake ceremony, we all wondered what Andres was doing with his foster family, making up stories as to what their celebration for him must have looked like. We video taped all of the festivities as well as our thoughts so he can watch it someday. Although I'm so glad we celebrated , I found my heart aching in a few different ways. First, my heart aches for his foster family who has celebrated the final time with Maria (in March) and Andres on their birthdays. I can't imagine what it must be like to have these beautiful children with you for over a year only to have someone come and take them away from you. Yes, I know that's part of the deal of being a foster parent, but I'm sure it doesn't ease the pain when saying goodbye. Second, I hurt inside because I wish we could have been with him and Maria today. I would love to have seen the excitement on his face as he turned two, but I have to focus on the fact that we will have a lifetime of birthdays ahead. It's now time to focus our energy on the excitement we will see on their faces when we get them in 3 more weeks so that we can love them, hold them and celebrate FOR GOOD. God, please let these three weeks fly by! I miss them!
