Q&A

Why is it that when I get a moment to update the blog, all I want to do is to pass out or enter a TV coma?  No time to waste, so let's do a little Q&A.

How is Josie doing with the transition?
Great, she is now 100% comfortable with all of us!  We are now focused on helping Josie make emotional connections with us.  Growing up without a mom or dad around, she is just now learning social queues and figuring out how to regulate her emotions.  I am confident that she will catch up quickly as she has already made incredible progress.  Thank you to all of the advice and encouragement from knowing parents.  I welcome it all and regard NONE of it as prying.  We treasure the wisdom we get from others, thank you.

How's the foot?  
I am in complete awe.  My toe had 4 or 5 pieces broken off, so not an insignificant break.  By the end of last week, I stopped wearing the boot.  Thank goodness I love massive, unflattering European shoes because I am able to walk miles a day and not even feel sore.  I don't think I would have believed it when being X-Rayed (twice) or hanging out in the ER with all of the flu patients.

What's up with your court process?
We have landed Court 6, which I hear is middle-of-the-road.  We had heard things were moving quickly, then we heard that we may not be moving at all.  We are anxiously awaiting an update from our lawyer to get the real scoop.

What have you been up to?  Your goal to blog every day hasn't exactly "panned out".

We have marveled at the fruit selection here.  We've enjoyed juicing oranges and the kids' favorites are uchuvas which look look like little cherry tomatoes, but taste like fruit tarts.

We attempted to shop for emeralds at a new place, but I wasn't convinced I was getting the right thing.  I just can't get my hands on Freddy's contact info!  Everyone says they have it, but still nada.  If anyone has it sitting around, I'll take it!

Grandma has enjoyed afternoon tea with Josie.  Thank you to Juanita for this lovely tea/ice cream set.  Josie loves it!

I have made the pilgrimage to Migues for baby shoes.  SPOILER ALERT for anyone expecting a baby...

We waited for a clear day to head to the top of Monserate, a church and look out where you can see the whole city.

From a height of 10,341 feet you get winded doing, well, anything.  I had to take Josie to the bathroom and thought I had just run a marathon. 

After Monserate, we went to the old town of Bogota, called Candelaria, and for the first time went into the old cathedral.  Beautiful!

I've been having fun with the iPhone panoramic feature.  Here is Simon Bolivar square which is surrounded by state buildings. 

This Sunday in Usaquen there was a woman singing and selling her CDs.  Josie loved it because she is very fond of dancing.  She hears a tune and will immediately start swaying perfectly to the beat.  We were attempting a little salsa dancing here.

Lucy is allergic to mosquito bites and unfortunately one tasted her eye.  She's been a one-eyed pirate for a couple of days now, but she seems to be taking it all in stride.  Arrrr.

And of course, we have been drinking coffee. 

Party on, Josie!

Today our Josie turned 2.  Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa, this little girl was going to have a party!  We extended the invitation to a few friends in Bogota and overwhelmingly people were able to come.  It quickly outgrew out apartment and through our wonderful landlady, we were able to use a meeting room at La Fontana for free!

A few stops at Fiesta Ciudad and Yei! Let's Party, we were ready to dud up the room and welcome our guests.

Here's the birthday girl all ready to party like a high-healed mouse!

A killer view!

Juanita, Josie's therapist, and her daughter Martina.  A 2-year-old in each arm, this woman is incredible!

The spread after it was partaken in for  quite some time.

Lucy presenting her gift, an "Lumin Osito."  100% sure Lucy picked it out for herself.

Bogota friends Annette (our driver/paralegal) and Jorge and Patricia Rico (our tour guides).

The kids helping with the present unwrapping.  Poor Aaron, I didn't realize there was a boy coming so all he had were Minnie Mouse/pink party favors.

Darly is a wonderful 15 year old being adopted by the Iowan family.  She is just a magnet to Josie, it's adorable!!!

Playing Catch-up

Sorry it has been a few days.  I have not been feeling well, but nothing serious.  At first I was worried I had Josie-disease, but I don't think so.  Just fighting a bug off.  So I'll catch everyone up.

Court Update
Here's the word on the strike: they are on strike, but will remain working.  Well that's a strange concept.  I wonder if it would work if I tried it.  I'm on strike, but will continue to provide the same services?  Sounds intriguing.

Given this outcome, our lawyer presented our case on Tuesday.  We should know which court we are assigned to today through a lottery.  This is important since some of the family courts are very pro adoption and moving things along, other are not as expeditious.  We hit the jackpot with Lucy's court and had a wonderful judge.  When we had our Sentencia meeting, we were ordered to bring a cake and beverage to have a party.  It was incredible...  now prayers for Josie's assignment.

A Day We Would Like to Forget
Monday piled up like a car wreck of family insanity.  We were so happy to put the kids down for the end of the day, is that bad?

• My morning started with aforementioned illness.  
• Then Josie locking herself inside the bedroom, a door with no key and no open windows.  After about 20 minutes Elvia, our housekeeper, successfully popped the door open using a credit card.  
• TMI ALERT:  Lucy had an accident and somehow got poop on the floor of the bathroom, this is still a mystery to us.  Then, Josie stepped in it in her footie pjs and ran all over the apartment.  Thankfully we have laminate floor, but still.  
• Josie was acting out a lot with her hitting (of me) and I decided to begin to take a zero tolerance approach to it.  The result was a 1-hour screaming, hitting, crying meltdown that we got to enjoy through our lunch.  Nothing improves a day like appearing to abuse your child in public.  

Our Days in Pictures

Since I'm covering a lot of ground in this update, I'll jump right to the pictures!

We woke up to preparations for the Sunday market inside of La Fontana.  Although less impressive overall than I remember, there is now a bouncy house.  

We still headed up to Usaquen to visit the Sunday market and take advantage of Ciclovia.  This was the first stall that welcomed you to the market.  The fruit is spectacular, but we are pretty conservative on what fruit we'll eat, but boy I want to eat it all!

This is a less congested street in this area.

Not sure what was going on here, but these were on display as we walked up to the market.  There was also music blasting.  Any ideas?

This gentleman was sitting in the square watching the pidgeons.  He just struck me as incredibly Colombian.

We ate our lunch at Bistronomy in Usaquen, a German restaurant by a famous pair of brothers/restauranteurs.  I had the Hungarian Goulash, almost as good as Grandma's!

The fine young men were watching the kids in the bouncy house and got a kick out of Lucy.  They liked trying to figure out if Lucy had a pet - I think the confusion was rooted in her answer of, "I have a Bing"

This was the view from our lunch yesterday at TGI Friday's.   Outside you see two things that tell you you're not in Roseville.  The Horse carts are apparently being eliminated by the end of the month, so I wanted to grab a picture.  You can also see the security tower in the parking lot of the mall.  Please pass the nachos!

From Llamas to Skull Drinks

Panaca
We started out our day at Panaca which is difficult to describe.  We're going to go with cowboy farm park for a description.  It was perfect for Lucy's age.  She did so much!

Llama riding!

Cow milking!

Calf feeding!

Horse show watching!

The Road to Chia

After a few hours at Panaca, we headed to Chia to eat at a very special restaurant.  The 30 minute drive was a good look at life in Colombia NOT in the swanky part of Bogota that we live in.

I don't know why, but I was tickled with the idea of Lucy's one-armed Barbie taking in the view.  So here. 

It's still Christmas in Chia.

This woman stood still in gold paint at a traffic light for money.  She was about the age of my mom.  So Mom,  if you're thinking about supplementing your retirement income next year... 

Andres Carne de Res
This restaurant was insane.  It went on for what seemed like miles with a huge area outside for people with kids.  We spend about 3 hours, but should have planned a whole day.  It was just a spectacle and a haven for kids.  Think of it as the Wisconsin Dells if they really buckled down and got serious about being wacky.  It was seriously the most fun place I can imagine.

Margarita in skull.

Skull followed by a strawberry and milk smoothie in a coconut shell.  The juices are insane.

At one point all of the girls went into a dance studio, put on skirts (mine came later) and danced first to Shakira and then the salsa.  I was doing the salsa with both girls on my hips.  That will really take the wind out you at 9000 ft. 

Lucy got her face painted.  She really wanted a lion but the woman did a good job of talking her into a butterfly.  She knew it was just what a girl with giant bow on her head would want.  

And she was absolutely right!  Lucy was beaming the rest of the day with her shimmery face. 

And then she made cookies.  I heard there are a seal and a fish.

We learned that Josie gets a little insane about strawberries. 

Giardiasis and Pizza

Today we are heading to Panaca, a farm/amusement park for kids in the country.  There will definitely be an update coming from that, but I felt the need to provide an update on Josie's digestive system.  As it was an adventure that will definitely stand out in my experience here, I wanted to document it.

6:30 PM:  I left the coffee shop to retrieve the lab results.  Thankfully, they were ready, but the lab tech could tell me nothing to interpret the results.  All I knew is that the word Giardiasis was on the page - I knew that word.  So I was off to find a doctor somewhere in the clinic.  At the front desk, said something like, "I have results.  There is a problem.  Is there a doctor?"  She sent me down stairs.

6:45 PM:  Into a new part of the clinic, the line was pretty long, so I opted to go into the Pharmacy which looked pretty quiet.  She looked at the paper and said (what I could pick up) in Spanish, "Very high value.  Needs medicine."  I thanked her and again, asked if there was a doctor.  She directed me to the front desk.  Now with less of a line.

7:00 PM:  Repeated my question to the receptionist who asked me in Spanish something that I couldn't understand...  I reverted to my best Confused American look and said, "I'm sorry.  I don't understand."  She started pointing and giving me directions... same look.  So she got up and took me to a back room looked much like an ER, but was actually a pediatric Urgent Care.  She talked to a nurse who nodded and left the room.  I was told to stay where I was.

NOTE:  For the record I wish that the Confused American look didn't work so well.  It is doing nothing to motivate me to improve my Spanish.

7:15 PM:  A doctor came out and asked me if I needed any help.  I repeated my line and gave the lab results to him.  He looked and said in English, "The baby needs medicine.  Come."  THANK YOU!  He confirmed she had giardia (a parasite in the intestine) and that she needed medicine to clear it up.  I asked him how I should pay, he laughed and shrugged his shoulders.

7:30 PM:  I was walked out of the Urgent Care with a prescription in hand.  I went back to the waiting room and looked around to see if anyone was interested in taking my money.  Nobody seemed to care at all that I was there, so I went back to the Pharmacy.  The Pharmacists were glad to see me back with a prescription.  I offered them some coffee cookies that I bought at the coffee shop and they gladly took a few.  They filled all but one of Josie's prescriptions, but didn't have the 2nd.

7:45 PM:  At another pharmacy on my way back home.  Thankfully, they did have what I needed!

8:00 PM:  Needed to pick up food for the family.  Ugh.  It was getting late.

8:30 PM:  Arrived home with meds, potstickers, pad thai, and cilantro beef.

Whew.  Thankfully with only a day of medications, Josie is already improving.  Thank you all for the prayers and reassurance that seemed to come through experience.

Last night we ordered pizza with the Iowans and had a party in the beautiful courtyard.  It is such a beautiful complex that we figured we needed to use it!

The kids showing down on pizza and juice.

As it darkened up, the lights on the chapel really looked stunning.  The door to out apartment is  along the lower of the two row of lit windows (a hallway) at the top.  

Lucy posing by the fountain.  She really enjoys having the Iowan's to play with.  She just beams!

We ended our party with popcorn and a movie.  Josie loved the popcorn, wasn't captivated by the movie.

Bienestar Interview and some strange news

Today's appointment at Bienestar was just fine from a process perspective. The Defender of Minors was very kind and gave both of the girls hugs when we left.

The excitement came from Josie's digestive system. She has had consistent diarrhea since we got our mitts on her, but we hear between the stress and the diet changes, this is normal. It's been pretty manageable for the most part with no "leakage" incidents... that at least was the case until the middle of our Bienestar interview. Andy and I each had it on both of our pants. I cleaned up Josie on a bathroom floor and took off her tights, but she still smelled foul!

Oh well, these people work with kids and kids poop. We still got our paper.

So about 45 minutes ago, she had another incident. This time I grabbed a sample and headed to the lab at the doctor's office. So now I sit in a coffee shop sipping my cafe tinto, take advantage of the WiFi, and wait for the results. Josie is sitting in a bathtub getting the stink off of her.

Want the strange news? Word is the courts may go on strike again next week. I about fainted when Annette shared this news on the way to the interview. This actually could be good news for us. If we hold back our paperwork and wait for the strike to occur, we can be processed through an expedited administrative court which is super fast. But if we file THEN they go on strike, we're stuck. We only risk a few days by holding our filing so we'll happily do it.

I guess pray for another strike? Who knows. I'll just take another sip of my coffee.

Since this is an iPhone post, I can't caption the pics. See below for before and after shots.

Bonding and something special for anyone named "David"

Bonding has been improving each day.  First with me, then Andy, now finally with Lucy.  Josie has become Lucy's shadow and mimics everything she does.  We used to call Lucy "Luz the Caboose" as she follows her cousins around with stars in her eyes.  I think Josie's now taken over the role.

If you were wondering how things were going between Andy and Josie, this should answer it for you!

Josie trying the lay-on-tummy-with-one-hand-on-face move.   Looks so natural!

This morning we had a wonderful visit with Juanita, the therapist from FANA who has worked with Josie since she arrived at FANA.  We learned that she also was an advocate for Josie's case over the year that she spent at FANA trying to satisfy all of the requirements for her adoptability, for that we can never express enough of our gratitude.  Juanita was doing a family integration report, a new requirement that we didn't have with Lucy.  All checked out fine, but yet another new step.

Tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 we have our Bienestar interview.  Great timing with naps, but we'll get through it.  Once we get through this step we begin the process in the courts.

We went out for lunch to a restaurant tucked in our neighborhood.  It's a French bakery with some food.  We ate butter in many forms, all of them good!  The girls were getting squirrelly, so we didn't have dessert, but you bet we'll be back!

Another short outing to make copies ended me at a papeleria.  The woman who ran it gave great service and accomplished a lot in a very small space.  A Kinkito's, if you will.

Waiting for copies in the papeleria, most of the space taken up by two copiers.

A vast array of 2 keychains include a donkey and one for David.  So, David, if you're out there, it's waiting for you at the papeleria on Calle 127 in Bogota, Colombia.

Because sometimes we just see stuff we find interesting, here are a few fun shots of life in Bogota.

Always strong showings of security, this armored vehicle was outside of a bank we were visiting for their ATM.  I don't know if I've ever seen one this tough looking.

A man plays the harp along a very loud, busy street.  What I could hear, it was wonderful!