Truly angelic

With travel uncertain, we are trying to focus as much as we can on 1-on-1 time with Lucy.  We're gearing up for Lucy's birthday this weekend.  Halloween has been a great diversion.  Today, we got a little surprise from Maria Theresa at FANA who sent pictures of Josie, the Angel!

Just rolled into town on her little Heaven cruiser.

Lucy was super excited to see Josie all dressed up for Halloween.  She loved dressing up this year and is taking it very seriously that she will need to teach Josie how to Trick or Treat next year.  As with a large portion of girls across the country (and world), Lucy idolizes the US Gymnastics Team - Gabby in particular.

All set for the medal stand.  Our Olympian is slightly antagonized by Bing, who wanted to eat her bouquet. 

 

Keep up the prayers for the courts to resolve their strike.  There's a big meeting tonight, we'll update once we hear something.  

I protest!

Things are going swimmingly with our paperwork process.  Immigration received our file, it was checked into the lockbox on October 18th.  From there, it takes 10 - 14 calendar days to reach our immigration officer.  I was able to speak Officer Bethany this week, she is the hero in this bureaucratic story.  She said the day it hits her desk, she will process it!  That means next week we will have provisional approval!  That is then sent to the US Embassy in Bogota for final approval, the step that means we are cleared to travel.  The last family this took 8 calendar days, we have consistently heard 10...  but one never knows.

Knowing that we should have provisional approval by the end of next week, we are planning to head to Chicago to visit the Colombian Consulate to get our travel visas.  We made appointments on November 5th.  If all goes according to plan, that puts us on a plane probably Sunday November 11th.  Unless...

... the entire Colombian court system goes on strike.  Which it did.  And we can't travel until they are back at work.

I am having flashbacks to 4 years ago when we were a waiting family.  The court system went on strike which meant no cases were being processed.  There were no referrals during the strike and for a 1st time waiting mom, I was obsessed - for 45 DAYS!!!  That was when I discovered just how sophisticated Google Translate is.  It allows you to translate entire websites, and for someone who's Spanish conversation topics are limited, this is absolutely necessary when reading about negotiations, unions, and the like.

So, back to my hourly checking of El Tiempo via Google Translate.  Positive news today as negotiations have resumed, but after 16 days on strike nothing but the words "back at work" qualifies as good.

In the mean time, we busy ourselves with preparations and loose ends!

How would you react if all of your shoes were pink?  I think if you're a little girl who LOVES dresses, this is a pro, not a con.

And here we have the exact same cubby unit that is in Lucy's room.  The interesting part of this one is that Lucy helped me put it together.  Yes, she helped me hammer on the back panels... that's my girl!

And lots and lots of clothes.  Now all she needs is a dresser to put it in!  Hopefully we'll find Lucy a dresser this weekend and move hers into Josie's room.  I can see this hand-me-down thing is going to be a way of life.

Maracas!

Tuesday morning I got a text that there was paperwork regarding Josie's referral would be received at our adoption agency that morning.  It was incredible seeing details of our little girl's routines, habits and personality.  My favorite part was what had been listed as her skills:  She is a girl who enjoys music, loves to dance, and plays the maracas.  I think that will look good on a resume someday.

I had the pleasure of calling FANA yesterday and talking details about Josie.  We will be pulling together a package to send her - picture book, stuffed animal, blanket, etc.  It is difficult not being able to travel as quickly as we were with Lucy (10 days), so this will be a small step we can take to making the transition easier.  Elena asked me what name we will call her so they can start using it with her - I cried.  I do that a lot, though, pretty standard.

Our conversation turned to practical things like clothes and shoes!  I was wondering if we should bring 18 month clothes or skip right to 24 month.  Without hesitation, Elena said 24 month.  In fact she said, "she's pretty fat, I think 2 years."  Fat is a new concept when it comes to kids.  Lucy is such a stick, we take in most bottoms to keep them from falling off.  

Today I received an email with an outline of Josie's feet to check the shoe size.  So cute to see her little toes!

Not to scale :)

Process Update

Things have changed since last time we went through this process.  These are the steps standing between us and traveling.

1. I-800 form submitted to Department of Homeland Security - they can take legally up to 180 days for provisional approval, but usually only takes 3 - 4 weeks.  This was sent on Tuesday, October 16th.
2. Once we receive provisional approval from DHS, 2 things happen in parallel.
1. Our provisional approval gets forwarded to the US Embassy in Bogota - this takes about 10 days
2. We hustle to the Colombian Embassy in Chicago for our Visas - these can be completed the day of the appointment
3. TRAVEL! 

'Dimples' is my middle name

Actually, Valeria is!  Josefina Valeria DeMaster if you put it all together.  Lucy may have one additional middle name (Lucia Ana Gabriela DeMaster), syllabically they are closely matched with Josie having 21 and Lucy having 22.  Seemed like enough, so we stopped.

Thank you to everyone for the love and shouts of joy that have been aimed in our direction.  We are so incredibly blessed to have you all as our extended family.

Our day started with great news from Jenna Fox that she had some pictures of Josie from her trip to FANA in August.  We were so excited to see that we jumped every time my phone dinged from a new email.  Tonight we just got the email and the big news is - aside from ridiculous cuteness - is she has dimples!  Another dimpled Colombian already stole our hearts, the fact that they are now a dimpled set is just perfect.  Jenna, we can't thank you enough.

She also described Josie as cuddly and curious...  hee hee hee.  So fun!

I think this one is actually mid-cuddle.  This is the first smile we have seen.

Rapt in conversation.

This one just gets me!  I don't know if she is covering a giggle, but I'm going to tell myself that she is.  So cute!

That there's the woman we have to thank.  Thanks Jenna!

While not gazing at these photos, I have been sorting all of the clothes we have stock piled in the event of a 2nd girl or the FANA Garage Sale.  I have Hannah Andersson, Gap Kids, Tea, and Carters coming out of my ears.  Since the future of the Garage Sale is uncertain and the clothes could be used now, I offer you this:  If you are interested in girls clothes from 6 - 18 months, let me know and I will hand off some to you.  All I ask is that you donate the Garage Sale equivalent to FANA.  Deal?  Just let me know!

Sisters!

Lucy's nightly prayer goes something like this, "Dear Jesus, I want a baby sisser."  Our buddy family visited us tonight and gave us the news that Lucy's prayers were answered!  

Please meet Josefina DeMaster, born January 25, 2011!

We are so excited and will provide tons of details as they are available, what a HONEY!!!!

Josie shares her mom's love of Apple products!

Thank goodness I have some experience with curls! 

Is there a Vacation in our Future?

Tiny tidbit of information was recently learned.  If we get our referral by October 11th (+/- a few days) we will be able to travel by the end of the year.  If not, we wouldn't travel until after January 1st of next year.  This is due to the Colombian courts shutting down for a large block of time over the holidays.

So, what does one do who has been stockpiling their vacation time that can't be carried over?  I believe October 12th will be the start to our vacation planning!