SUNday!! Finally!

What a gorgeous day in Bogota today. Ironically, the last real, sunny day was last SUNday. Must be God working his magic (or trying to make up for the terror of the earthquake!). :) Anyway, we were thrilled to have such great weather. Luke and Maria were up and going by 7:30 or so. The nice thing is, all of the kids stay in their bed and keep themselves busy until Mami y Papi are ready to get up. Occasionally, we may have to tell them to be quiet, but for he most part they are incredible. Even Andres! Matter of fact, we can be up and moving around the room with him still in his crib and he doesn't make a peep. Amazing, but it makes me wonder if he was kept confined a bit to where this doesn't bother him. Since Andres was still sleeping, and he is still battling his cold, I took M&L downstairs for breakfast while Papi and Andres slept a while longer. Breakfast was a little sparse today as far as attendance goes. I know there were a few people who were still freaked out by the earthquake and couldn't sleep. They were afraid another one would occur. Frankly, I'm too tired at the end of each day to be afraid!

Once everyone was up and dressed, the weather completely called us outside. (Oh, by the way, Wendy--thanks for the tip on the ponytail holder. I tried headbands--they didn't work. So, thanks to your advice, I got out the ponytail holders Maria wore the day we got her and was able to get one in her hair this morning. Her ponytail looked great for most of the day.) However, once we were ready to go out, we were delayed a bit. Maria is still having some stomach issues so Matt talked to one of the awesome ladies here, Rosita, and she has made me a complete believer in holistic medicine! She whipped up some rice and herb concoction and mashed it into a cream of wheat-like consistency. Then, it was followed with some Pedialyte to help with hydration. Since taking this, Maria's done better. So after an hour of waiting to make sure Maria was going to be ok, we decided to head out. While we can't go to the park because everything is so water-logged, we decided to take another shot at Maku--the Colombian arts and craft place that we struck out on last time. Well, we found it easily this time--thanks Sheila and David!--but to no avail, it's closed on Sunday. Just our luck! So we decided to take a walk back to one of the main streets, but this time we walked through beautiful greenery, flowers, trees, etc. This was perfect to help accomplish my day's goal. I know we have been telling everyone how beautiful it is here, but the rain and dark skies don't lead to beautiful pictures. So when I saw the sun today, I decided today would be the day to try to capture all of the beautiful flowers and landscape here. For those of you who aren't gardeners, my apologies. Some of the pics will be quite boring. But honestly, this is one of the things I miss most about being home--working in the yard and taking in all of the flowers. There have been a couple of things that surprise me about the flowers here. First, there are hydrangeas everywhere. The soil acidity must be pretty consistent all around because they are all blue--the color I always wanted but could never get to grow at our old house! So I am loving those! Also, the calla lilies here are amazing! Yes, when cut, some are almost as tall as me. But since this was the flower we used in our wedding, I have found myself really enjoying this flower as well. When we walk out of El Refugio, it's the first flower I see every time. I think they also have a hibiscus bush here that is unlike anything I have seen. Pretty sure I've never seen it around us in the States, but oh how I wish I could have one! The rest of the flowers are a mystery to me. But it brings such joy to me to see them all and take them all in. Must be the divine presence of my grandma, Helen, and my grandpa, Gilbert, that make me feel this way! They would have loved this place.

After the walk through the park-like setting, we decided on pizza at Archie's again. We hadn't gone there since last Sunday, but a similar reaction occurred. Last Sunday, some of you may remember that Luke had a tough time at this place. Well, this time, Maria had a breakdown and didn't want to make her own pizza. So, what to do!!?? No fear, Big Brother Luke stepped in and made the pizza for her. She enjoyed watching him do it while Andres and I chased balloons around the room. Matt and Luke had the standard pepperoni pizza, Maria chose chicken and ham on her pizza, I had a four-cheese ravioli dish with a pesto cream sauce (quite good!)and Andres, well he ate the chips from our 4-cheese dip appetizer (Matt: it was another goal of ours that all of this cheese help to stop Maria up). We tried the pepperoni pizza and ravioli's with him, but there was no interest. All he wanted was his juice box which he gulped down within 30 seconds of it being delivered to our table! Maria shared a piece of pizza wih him and I think he had a few bites. We noticed that they both eat their pizzas from the crust to the point rather than the other way around. Kind of cute.

After lunch, it was pretty clear that both M & A were needing naps so we headed back to the "compound" as Matt likes to say. (Does anyone else get thoughts of Waco, Texas when you hear that word? Ok, I may be dating myself.) Both were a little temperamental--Maria more so than Andres--but went to sleep rather quickly which was nice. That gave me time to begin this blog, and gave Matt and Luke a great excuse to go play catch. I think Luke is really missing playing baseball. He loves his sports so this was a good outlet for the two. (Thanks Papa Bill and Papa Denny for sending sports-related e-mails. Luke loves to keep on top of all the teams--Royals, Cubbies, Pistons, Red Wings. It makes his day!) Plus, things have been a little strained between Luke and his dad the last few days. Maria demands a lot of Matt, however, I do think it will get better. That's tough on Luke since it takes away time from his daddy when he feels he needs it. Matt and I have always felt quite close to Luke. I feel I have grown even closer to him through this whole experience. He has been a great source of comfort during difficult times with Maria. I never would have believed that a 7-year old could help me so much.

Andres didn't have the greatest nap. The crib is just too little for him and he wants to stretch out his arms and legs. I hear him hit his head sometimes on the bed which precipitates crying. During nap, he did it again pretty hard so I took him out of the crib and laid him on me. It took me back to the many times I did this with Luke. I realized how much I love the age of two. It was a very sweet age for Luke, too, and know that I am a more confident, calm parent, I love it even more! I am so grateful to parent this age one more time! After Matt and Luke returned from playing baseball we decided to go to Unicentro and Exito--the big shopping area. We were a little worried as we walked there because the clouds were so low and dark. In Kansas, when we see clouds that color, there are thoughts of a tornado. But not here. It can be like that for hours with no rain which is what happened tonight. We ended up buying an umbrella stroller to take to Cartegena so that we can strap in our little roamer—Andres (Matt: It should also be handy in Atlanta on our way home. I can’t believe we didn’t think to bring the one from home). We treated the kids to Dunkin Donuts and all three enjoyed it. Andres cracked us up as he had to pick every single sprinkle off of his donut and eat it seperately. I also tried to find Maria some earrings because the ones she came in broke and I know she really likes wearing them, but the mall was so crowded we could barely get through. I have noticed here that people do not move out of the way of strollers like they do in the States. So you can be going straight ahead and when you get to a crowd of people, I move the stroller over to one side and the group of people just seems to expand rather than retreat to the other side. Kind of crazy. And, as a side note, I have to credit myself as a professional stroller conductor. I can now make it over every bump, crack and hole in the sidewalk and street. The stroller no longer has a mind of it's own. I am now in complete control. We never did find any earrings for Maria and she was beginning to have stomach issues, so we came back to the B&B and had our "light" supper of their wonderful grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, potato chips and Coke.

Matt: I noticed that a couple stores at the Unicentro have Wii game systems for sale and in stock. Are those still hard to find? If so, I might have to bring a couple back to help finance this trip.

Bedtime brought another cute moment. Besides the fact that we have two very loving children, I got more besos and abrazos tonight. They just melt my heart! But the cutest was when Matt was reading them the Lion King story in Spanish. At one point, Andres wanted to give Papi besos. Then Maria did, and then it kept going back and forth. It just makes you feel so good inside when they do that. Both kids continue to do well with English whether it's understanding for Andres or speaking it for Maria. They know up, down, on, off, sit down, and yes. When Maria went to bed, I told her, "I love you!" and she said it back in English. How awesome is that! Andres is also doing great. When we tell him to say things like Hola, he actually tries. Most of the time it sounds nothing like it but he is trying. Very encouraging!

Matt: for all of you Spanish students out there, it seems to me that “hola” is pretty much a useless word down here. It is always “buenos dias” in the morning and “buenas tardes” in the afternoon and early evening. “Buenas noches” is pretty much reserved for “good night, I am going to bed.” I can’t recall one Colombian person saying “hola” to me as sort of a greeting like we would day “hello” is the U.S. So, I am deleting “hola” from my vocabulary for the rest of the trip.

I keep forgetting to tell you all about a comment made at integracion. Once we realized that they were done asking their questions, we began asking more about M & A's past, their family, their foster placement, health, etc. Now before I get into the beef of the story, many of you know that I feel like one of the older Mom's whenever we go to events for Luke. Many people scoff at my thought, but I truly do feel that way. With that in mind, I think for peace of mind, I had to ask about Maria's relationship with her foster mom--something like, "Was Maria really close to her foster mom?" The social worker assured me that that was the case and then added, "Her foster mom was much younger and vibrant. Yes, she was used to a younger mom." Ok, folks, my thoughts are now supported! Thanks to my mom's genes of always looking younger than I am, I'm still starting to show my age. It also made me wonder how old her foster mom was and wish I could have met her. Maybe someday I will get to. I can't help but think that she must be missing these two terribly right now!

I also wanted to address an e-mail from my step-sister, Michelle, who said that his has made one of my nephews want to adopt 2 girls, one of which is a neighbor. Cute story, by the way!!! Warms my heart. Your neighbor may have something to say about that. ; ) Well, all I can say is that this is an amazing experience. To think that these two kids have been brought into our lives and trusted us so willingly, it's just amazing. While child birth is an emotional day filled with a feeling of pride and great accomplishment, adoption is more of an indescribable birth of a family. Do we feel good about what we are doing by coming to another country and helping these beautiful children to find a better life--however you may want to define better? Absolutely! But more than anything, you FEEL what it is like to be loved when these innocent babies put their arms around you or give you kisses like they have known you forever, and it's only been a few days. They are perfect examples of why race should never matter in this world. We may not be bound by blood or genes, but we are locked together by a true, genuine love that does not cast judgment because of our differences. So, if you feel it is your calling, jump on it! Adoption is a fantastic journey!!

Matt here on picture duty again. First, I have to get all of Traci's flower pictures out of the way. Enjoy:

It was a great morning just to walk around. Of course, Maria was a little off her feed and, consequently, had to be carried most of the morning. This also prompted several questions by Luke as to when he could be carried next (again).

Here's the Maku market we couldn't find the other day. Of course, it was closed on Sunday. We'll have to try yet again.

So, we walked some more. I finally got Maria to give me a little break. Luke took over pushing Andres in the stroller, which made him happy. He was a little disappointed that he couldn't be carried or ride on my shoulders. After seeing this picture, maybe I should have the kids call me "Big Papi." Too bad that is already taken.


A classic Andres smile. We never get tired of these.



Some of the condos in the area where we are staying. They look pretty nice and it appears there are several units still for sale. As Traci says, sometimes you can even forget that you are in a foreign country (except for the language barrier, crummy sidewalks) These buildings look like they could be in Kansas City or Chicago.


Luke took this picture. This is one of the motorcycle delivery guys that roam the streets of Bogota. We have several stopping by the compound every day bring everything from food, to medicine, to court documents. These guys are just plain nuts. They are usually pretty heavily padded up in case they get hit or wreck I guess. They drive between cars, on sidwalks, anywhere they need to go to get from "point A" to "point B." I wonder if they have a special insurance program.

Side note: Poor Maria just fell out of bed. Whenever she gets in bed, she settles in right on the edge. I keep trying to put her in the center, but somehow she keeps inching back towards the edge. We always throw our decorative pillows on the floor between out beds just in case. Anyway, she didn't whimper and hardly seemed to wake up when I put her back in the center of bed. I think tomorrow night I going to try to convince her to sleeep on the other edge of the bed - the side by the wall.



Archie's Pizza is big with the kids. Here is Luke making a pizza for Maria, and he kind of looks like he was getting into his work.



Poor Maria wasn't feeling well and you can kind of tell by these pictures.


Aside from being tired, Andres was getting back to being his old self.




The pizza is just okay, but the kids have a lot of fun.


This is one of those classic shots that can never be duplicated. Andres thinks he's pretty good drinking out of a glass but we have learned otherwise. And he refuses to drink out of a sippy cup. Anyway, Andres got a little out of control with the water and, although Traci tried to save him, she was just a second too late. You can even see the water splashing down his shirt. I don't know if we are going to get Andres any more white shirts. This one was a pretty big mess by the time we left.




Back at the ranch, er compound. There are two rooms on the second floor and we have the one with the window facing the front street. I couldn't decide which picture to post so you get three.


It is hard to imagine any bed being too little for Andres, but after Traci rescued him from the crib, she let him sleep on her chest.


Maria drinking what is left of Luke's 7up. That's my (now) well used Spanish/English pocket dictionary on the night stand.


Maria modeling for the camera.





Here's a taste of the weather we have to deal with. After the naps, some really dark clouds moved in around the mountains and it looked like it was going to pour again. Undeterred, we decided to try and get to the Unicentro before it started coming down. Although we actually remembered our umbrellas this time, the rain never moved off the mountains. Isn't that the way it always works?


A cool kids store we found on our way to the Unicentro. They have a kids door and a grown-ups door. At first, I didn't notice the grown-up's door and thought, "How am I supposed to get through that? And, where am I? Wonka-land?"


There used to be sprinkles on that donut. At first, Andres was trying to eat them one by one off the donut with his mouth. Then he figured out it was easier to pick them off with his fingers. The boy was a real mess by the time he was done.

That's it and it looks like I never going to get a post in before midnight. By the way, Maria has already crept her way over to the edge of the bed and both legs are fully hanging off. This may be a long night.