The day began at 4:00 am when Luisa woke up crying. She eventually went back to sleep, but it took over an hour of sitting in the room with her before that happened. By that time, I was wide awake. Granted, this is the first time she has awakened at night. It could be much, much worse. For that I am thankful. Nonetheless, I was grouchy. I watched an episode of Gilmore Girls and had two cups of coffee before the family woke up.
Luisa was clingy. I had just gotten her settled on the couch with her beloved leche when I went to take a nice, soothing shower.
No hot water. The grouchiness kicked up a notch.
About half an hour before we were set to leave, Luisa proceeded to have the largest diaper blowout I have every personally experienced. Keep in mind that I have raised one child through the diaper stage in addition to working at a daycare for several years in high school and college. This was coming out the leg holes, as well as the top of the front and the back of her diaper. And it SMELLED AWFUL. It most certainly warranted a bath. She probably could have used two. At this point, grouchiness went out the window. The morning was just too comical to stay mad.
All the while, Caroline looked much like this most of the morning:
Thankfully the meeting went very well. We met with the minor defender and the psychologist. We told them how well everything has been going. We told them how she is sleeping well (with the exception of last night), eating well, playing with all of us, and attaching much better than we could have expected. Some of Luisa's former caseworkers stopped by to see her as well. Caroline cheered up about half way through the meeting. We left, ran next door to get a notary, and were told by our lawyer to expect a court assignment by the afternoon.
We did receive the assignment, so now we are at the waiting stage. I don't really expect any news to come in until we receive Sentencia, which is when Luisa will officially be a Ryle. That should be in two to three weeks. This, I hear, is the hardest stage. The first week in country is full of new experiences, and you are working toward a goal: the bonding meeting. Now I am told is when the homesickness typically begins to creep in. We shall see how long we hold out until our first breakdown. :)
However, the afternoon nap seemed to work wonders for all four of us. We had a pleasant afternoon playing, having dinner, watching a movie, and the girls are in bed now. I am thankful that this morning has been such an isolated incident. Praying it is not repeated soon!
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| Papi hosting storytime |
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| Caroline "reading" to her sister |
1 comment:
Hi there, came across this blog while looking into Colombian adoption updates. My husband and I went to Medellin then Bogota last October to adoption our little angel. We arrived in Medellin 10/6 and left for home from Bogota on 11/9. You're right, this is the long part of the trip. We stayed in a hotel the entire time, so you may not feel as claustrophic as we and the other families were, but it will still probably feel never-ending. Looking back though, it is 100% worth having this time all to yourselves. Once you get home and life gets back in they way you will actually miss this a little. Enjoy the next few weeks as much as you can, spend time bonding as a family and relaxing when you can. Luisa will probably be overwhelmed when she arrives home, this is the time to make sure that bond is tight enough that she will trust you and pull through it. Adoption has been the best thing we have ever done, I thank God every single day for my little boy. He is turning 2 in a few weeks, the time flies. She will go through a lot of adjustment phases, but I've kept in contact with a local couple who happened to be there at the same time as us adopted a sibling group, ages 3 & 7.The kids are thriving in their new home too. Just a lot of patience, but already having a little girl, I'm sure you're a pro at it. (these were the first children for both ourselves & the other couple)
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