We are having a very nice relaxing weekend with not much going on except that little A is "a little bit sick" (her words). We are being THOSE parents right now that rush to the doctor's office for any minor thing because of our travel being SO close. She went to the pediatrician yesterday and they checked her out and said it was just a cold. We took her to urgent care today because her fever went up (103.5) and she didn't want to eat or drink anything. They ran a strep and UTI test and it all came back negative. We are hoping she starts to feel better by Monday.
To be on the safe side we are putting her in a bubble until we leave on Monday ;) so we can avoid any other crazy illnesses until we leave ;D! Well that is partially true because we aren't going to take her to preschool next week. Logistically, it will be a crazy Monday and Tuesday, but after that I'm off of work so it will all work itself out.
On a separate note...Little A has been adding things to the luggage. Today I found a book, a princess crown and wand in the front pocket of her luggage. I'll have to inspect and see what else I find in there. We've been watching a movie called Shae by Air that talks about what to expect in an airport and how to behave on a airplane, etc., etc. We always watch this before any flight and it has really helped Little A out with her behavior. The movie comes with a packing list and Little A found the list a couple of days ago. She had me place it on a clipboard and told me that we need to use her list to pack her Trunki. She is MY daughter after all! We are 2 packing peas in a pod! She went around telling the people at the doctor's office today that she has a packing list for Colombia. They were a bit confused :S.
We have 8 days left until we board our flight....thank goodness tomorrow is another day with nothing on the schedule except relaxing, tying up some loose ends, and getting Little A some relaxation so she can start to feel better. We're hoping she can sleep tonight after 2 nights of minimal sleep we are ALL feeling the effects...
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Family Anniversary AKA Gotcha' Day!
Three years ago Mark and I crammed ourselves, the Boyachek 5, and David (our in-country rep) into a pseudo-wagon and headed off to the ICBF Bogota office. The drive there was surreal....no kids one way...1 daughter coming back the other way. Our nerves were calmed by the interesting drive up there and the beautiful 3 ninos that were just finishing up their first week being a forever family.
We got to ICBF and waited for what felt like an eternity. In reality it was probably only 15 minutes. We kept thinking if this was THE room we would meet our daughter. We tried to drink in every detail so as not to forget even the smallest detail. We were then moved into THE blue presentation room, complete with a Garfield picture on the wall. It was filled with toys, love, and all of the memories of the forever families that had been there before us.
We were nervous (of course) and waited for the social worker to come. But then they switched it up on us and said that Alejandra was a happy girl and would do great if they would just bring her in first. So in came the sweetest little girl with a smile that lit up the room. She had on blue and green plaid pants that were way too tight, a navy blue shirt, slippers, a sweater tied around her neck, a blue light blue headband with a butterfly, earrings, and a fresh shaved little head that she LOVED to be rubbed!
She instantly came to us without hesitation. She smelled so good and we could tell how well loved she had been by her foster family. I held her in my lap and she was amazed by her Daddy. Mark would rub her little head and she would shake her head "no." There were no tears, just smiles, all the way around! Here was our daughter...FINALLY!
Every second since that day our love for Alejandra has grown. She is passionate about everything she does....a true Colombiana. She wakes up with a smile almost every day and goes to bed with that same little smile. She has added so much JOY to our lives. We feel so fortunate to have been chosen to be her parents. We are proud of her background, who she is today, and who she will become in the future. We can't wait to see her become the big sister she has been dreaming about for over 1 year!
We celebrated our big day by letting Alejandra choose a restaurant for dinner. She is definitely her Papa's granddaughter because she chose the Old Spaghetti Factory! She didn't entirely get the "Family Day" celebration, she kept calling it our family birthday. I guess that is kind of right. Her version of her adoption story is "Hace 3 años, mama y daddy fueron a Colombia a traer a Alejandra Sofia." We look forward to her understanding more about her story as she gets older.
Happy Family Birthday to us!
We got to ICBF and waited for what felt like an eternity. In reality it was probably only 15 minutes. We kept thinking if this was THE room we would meet our daughter. We tried to drink in every detail so as not to forget even the smallest detail. We were then moved into THE blue presentation room, complete with a Garfield picture on the wall. It was filled with toys, love, and all of the memories of the forever families that had been there before us.
We were nervous (of course) and waited for the social worker to come. But then they switched it up on us and said that Alejandra was a happy girl and would do great if they would just bring her in first. So in came the sweetest little girl with a smile that lit up the room. She had on blue and green plaid pants that were way too tight, a navy blue shirt, slippers, a sweater tied around her neck, a blue light blue headband with a butterfly, earrings, and a fresh shaved little head that she LOVED to be rubbed!
She instantly came to us without hesitation. She smelled so good and we could tell how well loved she had been by her foster family. I held her in my lap and she was amazed by her Daddy. Mark would rub her little head and she would shake her head "no." There were no tears, just smiles, all the way around! Here was our daughter...FINALLY!
Every second since that day our love for Alejandra has grown. She is passionate about everything she does....a true Colombiana. She wakes up with a smile almost every day and goes to bed with that same little smile. She has added so much JOY to our lives. We feel so fortunate to have been chosen to be her parents. We are proud of her background, who she is today, and who she will become in the future. We can't wait to see her become the big sister she has been dreaming about for over 1 year!
We celebrated our big day by letting Alejandra choose a restaurant for dinner. She is definitely her Papa's granddaughter because she chose the Old Spaghetti Factory! She didn't entirely get the "Family Day" celebration, she kept calling it our family birthday. I guess that is kind of right. Her version of her adoption story is "Hace 3 años, mama y daddy fueron a Colombia a traer a Alejandra Sofia." We look forward to her understanding more about her story as she gets older.
Happy Family Birthday to us!
Monday, April 25, 2011
13 days...
In 13 days we will be flying out of LAX on our way to meet our daughter Amaya Fernanda. Little A can't wait to get on that plane! We've been keeping track of the days on our calendar and it has been SO fun to color in each day as it passes.
This weekend Mark will pack and then next Wednesday we will start looking at our carry-on luggage and getting that all squared away. My final work day will be next Tuesday and I've got an AWESOME substitute teacher that I am SO excited to have! Now, I feel like I can move on and start thinking about this amazing little girl getting ready to join our family. The delays were truly a blessing wrapped in sandpaper. Although it was difficult last week to think that we should have been with Amaya Fernanda already (our original encuentro date was April 18). We had some difficulties with Alejandra's school...thankfully I was able to help solve a problem they were having. There were other crazy issues that have come up, but thankfully all has been resolved and I can leave knowing that everything is okay.
Mark will be working all the way through next Thursday or Friday. Thankfully work has slowed down a little bit for him. He just has commitments at work all the way up through the last day of work so he can't take off any earlier. We will be enjoying our Mother's Day up in Los Angeles with our fabulous Mama's and then we are off to Bogota bright and early Monday morning!
This weekend Mark will pack and then next Wednesday we will start looking at our carry-on luggage and getting that all squared away. My final work day will be next Tuesday and I've got an AWESOME substitute teacher that I am SO excited to have! Now, I feel like I can move on and start thinking about this amazing little girl getting ready to join our family. The delays were truly a blessing wrapped in sandpaper. Although it was difficult last week to think that we should have been with Amaya Fernanda already (our original encuentro date was April 18). We had some difficulties with Alejandra's school...thankfully I was able to help solve a problem they were having. There were other crazy issues that have come up, but thankfully all has been resolved and I can leave knowing that everything is okay.
Mark will be working all the way through next Thursday or Friday. Thankfully work has slowed down a little bit for him. He just has commitments at work all the way up through the last day of work so he can't take off any earlier. We will be enjoying our Mother's Day up in Los Angeles with our fabulous Mama's and then we are off to Bogota bright and early Monday morning!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Visa...FINALLY!
Today Mark drove up to the Colombian Embassy and was able to get the visa. He arrived 1 hour and 15 minutes earlier than 1:45 so the representative that processes visas made him sit and wait until 1:45 on the dot. We accidently gave the embassy more paperwork then we needed to regarding Amaya Fernanda and the representative would not give it back to Mark. Mark called our agency and was going to pass the phone to guy at the embassy and he simply said "NO! I'm not talking to anybody." Thankfully Mark was able to convince the guy to give him back our first picture of our daughter sent by ICBF. Mark was fuming but what could he really do? He said he felt like he was being punished for something. Might I mention that the Consul was standing right next to representative the whole time and he never intervened or said ANYTHING???? All I can say is good luck to the next group of families that need to process their visas through the embassy in Los Angeles.
So our travel day countdown is 18 days! Can you believe it....we are in the teens!? Alejandra is keeping track on a handmade calendar we made. Every day we color in one more square. We now have everything we need for travel and to meet Amaya Fernanda...FINALLY!
So our travel day countdown is 18 days! Can you believe it....we are in the teens!? Alejandra is keeping track on a handmade calendar we made. Every day we color in one more square. We now have everything we need for travel and to meet Amaya Fernanda...FINALLY!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
THE visa
We went up to Los Angeles to spend Passover with our family on Saturday so we decided to stay up there until Monday and take care of the visa at the Colombia embassy. We got up at 6:00 on Monday morning and headed off to the Secretary of State in downtown L.A. around 6:45 to get the visa request letter apostilled (our last document needed for the visa). Our stomachs were in knots thinking of any potential delays or errors they would find. Thankfully all went well at the S.O.S. and then we drove over the Colombian Embassy....
That sick feeling in our stomachs started again as we parked and headed up the elevator. For a second I was worried that perhaps they were closed since it is semana santa. When we got to the embassy at 9:05 there was a line of about 7 families waiting for the door to open. We ALL speculated that perhaps it was closed. But at 9:13 one of the employees walked past all of us (LATE) and unlocked the door. We all headed inside waiting in a queue to get our number. That sick feeling was still there......30 minutes later we were checking in and that's when we were met with resistance...
The young man behind the counter informed us that visas are only processed from 1:00 - 2:00. We asked him how long it will take to process the visa and he said 3-4 days! WHAT? We quickly informed him that with our last adoption we were able to get the visa IN THE MORNING and it only took 20 minutes. In a very condescending tone he said "Well I wasn't the one processing it then." We asked if he could look over our paperwork to make sure we had everything he needed to process the visa later and his answer was "We only process visas from 1:00-2:00. You'll have to wait." Oh...okay then...thanks for being so helpful! So we left paid $8.00 for parking and headed back to Lew and Donna's house to wait it out for the next couple of hours before we headed back.
At 11:15, we drove back to embassy hoping that we would get a different representative to help us (someone with a heart). Our experience with the embassy has always been like this.....if you get any of the 2 younger ladies they treat you kindly and HELP! If you get anybody else FORGET IT! They make it near impossible to process any kind of transaction.
So we arrived at 11:45 and as we stepped out of the elevator we could hear yelling coming from the long hallway. We walked into the craziest scene EVER! The Consul was up at the counter yelling back and forth with the people waiting in line. Words were exchanged by everyone in the room. We took our spot in line and stood there in amazement. We aren't really sure what happened but what we could best figure out was that an older man from out of town had driven down to get some transaction approved and they wouldn't do it for him for whatever reason....Everybody was rallying on the older man's side and telling the embassy representatives that the way they treat people is humiliating. The Consul said they were short staffed and that is why they couldn't process certain things today. People were SO angry and said basically "THAT IS NOT OUR PROBLEM!" This embassy services several states so people come from long distances to get things done, so you could see why people get upset. The embassy NEVER answers the phone, so getting any clarification beforehand is near impossible.
SO....1 hour later we are still standing in the queue and our helpful representative finally looks over at us and says "oh, if you are here for the visa then you do not need to stand in line." Thanks! >:I. 30 minutes later he decided to call us up and process the visa. He said "give me everything you have." He had NO idea what he was looking at as he quickly thumbed through our referral paperwork form ICBF and our apostilled letter. He never said "congratulations" didn't care at all that it was for an adoption.....amazing, no heart at all. We don't need to hear congratulations from anyone, but most people who have a heart are moved by the arrival of a child into a family. He then looked at the calendar and gave us a date to pick up the visa. He didn't care to hear that we lived 2 hours away, he just wanted us to know that we need to arrive between 1:45-2:00 to pick up the visa. They only give you 15 minutes for pick up and if you arrive after 2:00 they are closed....
So Mark will make the drive tomorrow to pick up the visa. I'm certain he will have that sick stomach feeling all the way up there. The truth of the matter is if the embassy decides to make things difficult they can and we just have to abide by what they say. I will say that apparently this is not the case for all Colombian Embassies. There are other ones, we've heard, that go above and beyond what is expected. So think of us tomorrow and hope that it all goes smoothly for Mark. This is the last document we need to be ready for travel.
That sick feeling in our stomachs started again as we parked and headed up the elevator. For a second I was worried that perhaps they were closed since it is semana santa. When we got to the embassy at 9:05 there was a line of about 7 families waiting for the door to open. We ALL speculated that perhaps it was closed. But at 9:13 one of the employees walked past all of us (LATE) and unlocked the door. We all headed inside waiting in a queue to get our number. That sick feeling was still there......30 minutes later we were checking in and that's when we were met with resistance...
The young man behind the counter informed us that visas are only processed from 1:00 - 2:00. We asked him how long it will take to process the visa and he said 3-4 days! WHAT? We quickly informed him that with our last adoption we were able to get the visa IN THE MORNING and it only took 20 minutes. In a very condescending tone he said "Well I wasn't the one processing it then." We asked if he could look over our paperwork to make sure we had everything he needed to process the visa later and his answer was "We only process visas from 1:00-2:00. You'll have to wait." Oh...okay then...thanks for being so helpful! So we left paid $8.00 for parking and headed back to Lew and Donna's house to wait it out for the next couple of hours before we headed back.
At 11:15, we drove back to embassy hoping that we would get a different representative to help us (someone with a heart). Our experience with the embassy has always been like this.....if you get any of the 2 younger ladies they treat you kindly and HELP! If you get anybody else FORGET IT! They make it near impossible to process any kind of transaction.
So we arrived at 11:45 and as we stepped out of the elevator we could hear yelling coming from the long hallway. We walked into the craziest scene EVER! The Consul was up at the counter yelling back and forth with the people waiting in line. Words were exchanged by everyone in the room. We took our spot in line and stood there in amazement. We aren't really sure what happened but what we could best figure out was that an older man from out of town had driven down to get some transaction approved and they wouldn't do it for him for whatever reason....Everybody was rallying on the older man's side and telling the embassy representatives that the way they treat people is humiliating. The Consul said they were short staffed and that is why they couldn't process certain things today. People were SO angry and said basically "THAT IS NOT OUR PROBLEM!" This embassy services several states so people come from long distances to get things done, so you could see why people get upset. The embassy NEVER answers the phone, so getting any clarification beforehand is near impossible.
SO....1 hour later we are still standing in the queue and our helpful representative finally looks over at us and says "oh, if you are here for the visa then you do not need to stand in line." Thanks! >:I. 30 minutes later he decided to call us up and process the visa. He said "give me everything you have." He had NO idea what he was looking at as he quickly thumbed through our referral paperwork form ICBF and our apostilled letter. He never said "congratulations" didn't care at all that it was for an adoption.....amazing, no heart at all. We don't need to hear congratulations from anyone, but most people who have a heart are moved by the arrival of a child into a family. He then looked at the calendar and gave us a date to pick up the visa. He didn't care to hear that we lived 2 hours away, he just wanted us to know that we need to arrive between 1:45-2:00 to pick up the visa. They only give you 15 minutes for pick up and if you arrive after 2:00 they are closed....
So Mark will make the drive tomorrow to pick up the visa. I'm certain he will have that sick stomach feeling all the way up there. The truth of the matter is if the embassy decides to make things difficult they can and we just have to abide by what they say. I will say that apparently this is not the case for all Colombian Embassies. There are other ones, we've heard, that go above and beyond what is expected. So think of us tomorrow and hope that it all goes smoothly for Mark. This is the last document we need to be ready for travel.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Crazy couple of days....:S
So...where do I start?
The US embassy finally issued the article 5 on Monday. We were all set thinking that ICBF would give us an entrega date of April 21. But then....on Wednesday morning we got an email from our adoption agency saying that ICBF was saying that we would have to wait an additional 3-4 weeks to meet tiny A :(. Here I was getting ready to go to work on my last day before maternity leave and I was CRUSHED thinking that I had made a HUGE mistake and left work too early. So I spent all day Wednesday worried and waiting for another email. There was still a little bit of hope left that ICBF would have mercy on us and give us an entrega date of April 21. My student's parents planned the most beautiful little birthday/good-bye party ever and all I could think about was that perhaps this wasn't going to happen as planned.
So Thursday, my first day of maternity leave, I took Alejandra to Spanish class, corrected student work, and sat around waiting for an email from our adoption agency. Every thirty minutes or so I would check email and of course every time it was "junk e-mail." I had an awful headache in the afternoon and decided to take a Tylenol PM....by 6:00 pm I fell asleep. I heard Mark's Blackberry vibrating (through my deep sleep) and thought this is it! Unfortunately, it wasn't it.
Today, I headed out to school again to accompany my students on a field trip to the Safari Park. I headed to school ready to help support my wonderful long term substitute teacher. As I was driving over to the Safari Park following the bus I called Mark to check-in and see if we had received any updates. His first words were "you aren't going to like this." I was crushed. :( He said that ICBF came back with an encuentro date of May 12, but that we need to be in Bogota by May 10 because we have to meet with the social worker. This is a new process ICBF is doing and apparently we are the first and probably last family they are going to do this with (crazy? yes....but we are just going with it). My heart sank thinking that here I was on "maternity leave" with no baby to care for. I had a wonderful substitute excited to be with the students and working so hard already...now what?
I met the students at the entrance to the park helped get them organized and then I headed over to Mark's work to take care of the next steps....we looked up our travel arrangements and tried our best to finalize that. Our agency emailed us the last document that we need to take to the Colombian Embassy on Monday, we got it notarized (incorrectly...more on that later). Then, I emailed my Principal....and guess what SME? I will be back to teach this Wednesday and then will restart maternity leave on May 5th. So I've got 11 more teaching days left to be with my school kiddos! :) I think I might have had the shortest maternity leave ever (4 days). The hardest thing for me is to think how I've impacted the students, their families, and the long term substitute.....a lot of emotions and now here I come back again....
So then I got that school stuff settled and headed off to the County Clerk to get the notarized letter for the Colombian Embassy authenticated. Of course, they said we did it wrong....so Mark ran to get it renotarized with the correct wording and 1 hour later it was authenticated...YEAH! So Monday we are off to the Colombian Embassy to get Mark's visa and let's hope we are not met with any resistance...Just in case, I am also off of work on Tuesday, so we can get this all sorted out.
So this has been our roller coaster ride the past few days! All this to say we get to meet our tiny A on May 12 in Bogota, Colombia! It isn't as soon as we would like but we are happy that we have a confirmed date and that we can now move forward! Now I would like to present you to our daughter Amaya Fernanda.....she is 14 months old right now and will 15 months when we finally get to give her a big hug and kiss!
If you are our Facebook friend you can see her picture!
The US embassy finally issued the article 5 on Monday. We were all set thinking that ICBF would give us an entrega date of April 21. But then....on Wednesday morning we got an email from our adoption agency saying that ICBF was saying that we would have to wait an additional 3-4 weeks to meet tiny A :(. Here I was getting ready to go to work on my last day before maternity leave and I was CRUSHED thinking that I had made a HUGE mistake and left work too early. So I spent all day Wednesday worried and waiting for another email. There was still a little bit of hope left that ICBF would have mercy on us and give us an entrega date of April 21. My student's parents planned the most beautiful little birthday/good-bye party ever and all I could think about was that perhaps this wasn't going to happen as planned.
So Thursday, my first day of maternity leave, I took Alejandra to Spanish class, corrected student work, and sat around waiting for an email from our adoption agency. Every thirty minutes or so I would check email and of course every time it was "junk e-mail." I had an awful headache in the afternoon and decided to take a Tylenol PM....by 6:00 pm I fell asleep. I heard Mark's Blackberry vibrating (through my deep sleep) and thought this is it! Unfortunately, it wasn't it.
Today, I headed out to school again to accompany my students on a field trip to the Safari Park. I headed to school ready to help support my wonderful long term substitute teacher. As I was driving over to the Safari Park following the bus I called Mark to check-in and see if we had received any updates. His first words were "you aren't going to like this." I was crushed. :( He said that ICBF came back with an encuentro date of May 12, but that we need to be in Bogota by May 10 because we have to meet with the social worker. This is a new process ICBF is doing and apparently we are the first and probably last family they are going to do this with (crazy? yes....but we are just going with it). My heart sank thinking that here I was on "maternity leave" with no baby to care for. I had a wonderful substitute excited to be with the students and working so hard already...now what?
I met the students at the entrance to the park helped get them organized and then I headed over to Mark's work to take care of the next steps....we looked up our travel arrangements and tried our best to finalize that. Our agency emailed us the last document that we need to take to the Colombian Embassy on Monday, we got it notarized (incorrectly...more on that later). Then, I emailed my Principal....and guess what SME? I will be back to teach this Wednesday and then will restart maternity leave on May 5th. So I've got 11 more teaching days left to be with my school kiddos! :) I think I might have had the shortest maternity leave ever (4 days). The hardest thing for me is to think how I've impacted the students, their families, and the long term substitute.....a lot of emotions and now here I come back again....
So then I got that school stuff settled and headed off to the County Clerk to get the notarized letter for the Colombian Embassy authenticated. Of course, they said we did it wrong....so Mark ran to get it renotarized with the correct wording and 1 hour later it was authenticated...YEAH! So Monday we are off to the Colombian Embassy to get Mark's visa and let's hope we are not met with any resistance...Just in case, I am also off of work on Tuesday, so we can get this all sorted out.
So this has been our roller coaster ride the past few days! All this to say we get to meet our tiny A on May 12 in Bogota, Colombia! It isn't as soon as we would like but we are happy that we have a confirmed date and that we can now move forward! Now I would like to present you to our daughter Amaya Fernanda.....she is 14 months old right now and will 15 months when we finally get to give her a big hug and kiss!
If you are our Facebook friend you can see her picture!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Making progress....
So on top of the call I made to the visa center I also emailed the US Embassy in Bogota. I originally tried calling them but was told that they only answer questions on Wednesday from 2-4. SO....we're not sure what caused us to receive an amazing email from someone at the US Embassy in Bogota today but the email told us the file had been received and they were ready to issue the Article 5 as soon as our agency representative arrived to claim it.
Unfortunately, we got the email late in the day (1:50 ish) and by the time we were able to talk to our adoption agency it was almost 3:00 PST. So the GREAT news is that HOORAY, the article 5 will be issued.....next stop setting up an appointment with ICBF so we can meet our sweet little tiny A. We're hoping that we can get a travel date tomorrow...at the very latest Thursday (PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE). Then we are off to get a document notarized, apostilled, and then over to the Colombian Embassy in Los Angeles so Mark can get his visa.
:D
Unfortunately, we got the email late in the day (1:50 ish) and by the time we were able to talk to our adoption agency it was almost 3:00 PST. So the GREAT news is that HOORAY, the article 5 will be issued.....next stop setting up an appointment with ICBF so we can meet our sweet little tiny A. We're hoping that we can get a travel date tomorrow...at the very latest Thursday (PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE). Then we are off to get a document notarized, apostilled, and then over to the Colombian Embassy in Los Angeles so Mark can get his visa.
:D
It is out of our hands
We made the call this morning and got a so-so response. They said they would resend the information to Bogota. After we hung ip the phone at 4:40 am our mama bear and papa bear instincts got the best of us so we decided to call again. This next time we talked to a supervisor who was very nice and helpful. We asked if he could contact the Embassy in Bogota and he agreed. He then agreed to call us back today to give us an update. We are certain the information has been sent. We believe the hold up is at the embassy in Bogota. We don't know the specifics of how their internal computer systems work so we can't very well walk them through that process. Hopefully our new BFF at the visa center can help us out today.
Until then we wait.....so the answer to the question "did you hear anything yet?" is "No. Not yet."
Until then we wait.....so the answer to the question "did you hear anything yet?" is "No. Not yet."
Monday, April 11, 2011
Frustration overload
Good news is that we got an email from our agency. The bad news is that the cable is lost again...the us embassy says they haven't received it.
So tomorrow morning Mark and I will be making a call to the National Visa Center and hope we get a very helpful customer service representative on the phone that will help us solve this mystery. Our agency will of course make the same call in the morning. So as you roll over and spot the clock at 4:30 PST send up a little prayer that we will be able to resolve this soon....
So tomorrow morning Mark and I will be making a call to the National Visa Center and hope we get a very helpful customer service representative on the phone that will help us solve this mystery. Our agency will of course make the same call in the morning. So as you roll over and spot the clock at 4:30 PST send up a little prayer that we will be able to resolve this soon....
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Sunday, Sunday.
So for many people Sunday is not well liked and Monday.....well a lot of people really aren't fond of that day either. But, for us we look forward to Monday more than any other day because it means the start of a new work week for ICBF, USCIS and CHI. It means another opportunity to move forward with the adoption and meet our Tiny A.
In preparation for the tentative April 18th encuentro date I had to find a long term substitute to fill my position. I never thought I would still be sitting here waiting for that confirmation. I was CERTAIN we would have been confirmed at some point last week. SO this means I only have 3 more work days left. I will be at school Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and that's it. I thought we would fly out on Friday, but now....it looks like that won't be happening.
I'm trying to remain positive and think of all of the last minute things I will be able to take care of since I won't be working. I will go with my class to a field trip on Friday and coming in to help out while I'm still here. Since I won't be at work I can do some last minute paperwork running around like the Colombian Visa for Mark, which entails a trip to the County Clerk and up to the Secretary of State in Los Angeles, then finally the Colombian embassy. We've got airline tickets to book and still some packing to take care of.
We also are SO thankful that there was NO government shutdown that could've have potentially put some serious delays for people in the adoption community (not to mention other awful things like no pay).
So Hello Sunday and we welcome you Monday......YEAH MONDAY....bring it on!
In preparation for the tentative April 18th encuentro date I had to find a long term substitute to fill my position. I never thought I would still be sitting here waiting for that confirmation. I was CERTAIN we would have been confirmed at some point last week. SO this means I only have 3 more work days left. I will be at school Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and that's it. I thought we would fly out on Friday, but now....it looks like that won't be happening.
I'm trying to remain positive and think of all of the last minute things I will be able to take care of since I won't be working. I will go with my class to a field trip on Friday and coming in to help out while I'm still here. Since I won't be at work I can do some last minute paperwork running around like the Colombian Visa for Mark, which entails a trip to the County Clerk and up to the Secretary of State in Los Angeles, then finally the Colombian embassy. We've got airline tickets to book and still some packing to take care of.
We also are SO thankful that there was NO government shutdown that could've have potentially put some serious delays for people in the adoption community (not to mention other awful things like no pay).
So Hello Sunday and we welcome you Monday......YEAH MONDAY....bring it on!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
When NO news doesn't necessarily mean good news :(
So last night after trying to figure out what the hold up could possibly be with the confirmed travel date Mark wondered if they had actually received the cable at the US embassy in Bogota. After thinking obsessively about it for about every second yesterday my mind couldn't even wrap my head around that idea. I mean we received the notification that it had been sent on 3.16. Our CHI representative in Colombia had even gone as far to check the books for our entrega date....all signs pointed to the fact that they did receive it.
So after 3 emails today with CHI it was confirmed that NOPE the US Embassy in Bogota says they have not received it and it needs to be resent. Well let me back track actually at first they said they did get it, but now today they said they didn't and so it must be resent by USCIS. SO today USCIS will resend it and hopefully an Article 5 issued tomorrow so we can get a confirmed travel date...maybe by Friday? Who knows....were done playing the estimate game my heart and head has been on an emotional roller coaster. We just give it up and let it fall into place...in the meantime our Tiny A waits and waits another day passing without us.
So after 3 emails today with CHI it was confirmed that NOPE the US Embassy in Bogota says they have not received it and it needs to be resent. Well let me back track actually at first they said they did get it, but now today they said they didn't and so it must be resent by USCIS. SO today USCIS will resend it and hopefully an Article 5 issued tomorrow so we can get a confirmed travel date...maybe by Friday? Who knows....were done playing the estimate game my heart and head has been on an emotional roller coaster. We just give it up and let it fall into place...in the meantime our Tiny A waits and waits another day passing without us.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Still getting ready...
The nursery is "almost" complete. We just need to hang tiny A's name above her bed and we are set! That will wait until tomorrow. We still haven't received a "confirmation" on the travel date so we are waiting, waiting, waiting, for that wonderful news! For now we are taking care of everything else except for our airline tickets and visa.
I am on spring break this week (YEAH!) so I will be packing us up. Mark and I just got done with the packing list and tomorrow the suitcases will come out...FINALLY! Little Alejandra asked if Trunki would be coming with us. She is feeling all of the excitement as well.
We bought baby bottles, sippy cups, and cups with straws for tiny A today. We have no idea what type of a cup/bottle she will like so we're hoping that she will like something we bring her. They do have a great baby store in Bogota called Pepe Ganga but a baby bottle can be SO expensive there so we thought we'd give it a try with things from home first. Alejandra also picked out a stuffed sea horse for her baby sister (and one for herself ;) and she played all afternoon with them in the crib. She said they were her babies and she fed them then put them to sleep by tapping on their "colitas."
We are hoping that tomorrow brings more great news on the travel front....
I am on spring break this week (YEAH!) so I will be packing us up. Mark and I just got done with the packing list and tomorrow the suitcases will come out...FINALLY! Little Alejandra asked if Trunki would be coming with us. She is feeling all of the excitement as well.
We bought baby bottles, sippy cups, and cups with straws for tiny A today. We have no idea what type of a cup/bottle she will like so we're hoping that she will like something we bring her. They do have a great baby store in Bogota called Pepe Ganga but a baby bottle can be SO expensive there so we thought we'd give it a try with things from home first. Alejandra also picked out a stuffed sea horse for her baby sister (and one for herself ;) and she played all afternoon with them in the crib. She said they were her babies and she fed them then put them to sleep by tapping on their "colitas."
We are hoping that tomorrow brings more great news on the travel front....
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