January 31, 2010
On this date Mark, Alejandra, and I woke up in Anaheim, California after another great Disneyland trip and took the drive back home to San Marcos. We went out to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant Lourdes and had a nice hot bowl of chicken soup. It was the perfect family day…
Back in Bogotá, Colombia our second child was born. They were healthy, happy, and had finally arrived to join our family. We were finally notified that our child was ready for us on January 13, 2011. After a couple of weeks of waiting for paperwork we were able to officially accept our referral. Now we are happy to share with you the arrival of our child!
On Monday, January 13, Mark and I were fortunate enough to have a day off from work. We woke up early and as we were chatting we jokingly mentioned that today would be a perfect day for ICBF or CHI to contact us and tell us of our referral because we were both home together. I asked Mark if he had any feelings as to when we would receive our referral and he just shrugged and said, “it will happen when it’s right.” So off we went to Trader Joe’s to buy groceries with Alejandra in tow. As we were driving down Melrose, Mark said, “Maybe today they will call us.” I brushed it off reasoning that CHI was probably closed for Martin Luther King Day…little did we know J
So we got to Trader Joe’s got through the grocery shopping with Alejandra leading the way with the mini child cart and mamí trying to keep up with her so she wouldn’t crash anyone or anything! As we rounded the corner and were eyeballing the thousands of bread choices Mark felt his Blackberry vibrate in his pocket. It was a missed call from an unfamiliar area code so he dismissed the call. As we decided on “Ezekial Low Sodium” bread my mom called from home. She told Mark “Children’s Hope just called and wants you to call back.”
In that instant with whole-wheat mini pita pockets in one hand, Ezekial bread in the other and one foot holding Alejandra’s mini cart we knew our child had arrived. Mark turned around and said “CHI called” we both smiled and tried the best we could to remain calm and not run out of the store and abandon our carts full of groceries. We did the “adult” thing and finished up the shopping, dashed to the checkout register, and then bolted into our car. We called Nichole at CHI and then she said the words we had been waiting for “Congratulations we have your referral!”
Our hearts were racing as we listened to all of the details of our child’s short life. We learned that balls are a hit and that naps are still a favorite. We also learned that soon they would be one year old and we wouldn’t be there to share that milestone. We were told that whatever plan ICBF had for us in Putumayo had not panned out so our file was sent back to Cundinamarca (Bogota). Then we begged for a picture and hung up the phone. Within the minute we saw a sweet face smiling back at us on the Blackberry screen…ADORABLE!
We then had to clear up paperwork and this is when the excruciatingly painful waiting began. We wanted to tell everyone we knew about our child, but we waited to make sure all of the paperwork fell into place. It has been awful not being able to tell people about this wonderful blessing. We have had to dodge the question “How’s the adoption going”” by saying, “Oh, we’re just waiting.” So family and friends the waiting is over. We are proud to announce the arrival of our...DAUGHTER…which we will lovingly nickname Tiny A for the time being ;). Thank you for following along with us on our journey and for celebrating every small step along the way. We appreciate your understanding of our little secret for the last month.
Tonight we finally showed the picture we had been staring at for the last month to Alejandra. She was OVERJOYED to see the picture and began making plans about what they would eat together (macaroni and cheese), and where she would sleep, and that they would share toys. This big sister is ready!
Now we wait for more paperwork to clear up and we should hopefully be in Colombia by late April or early May. We have been told that from acceptance to travel is about 2.5 months. It can be less time if all the paperwork is processed in a timely manner. We will keep this blog up to date on travel and Gotcha Day dates. Colombia here we come!
