Shopping, Santa, a Signature, and Singing!

We went to a great new mall today called Hacienda Santa Barabara. Apparently, it used to be a convent and it is now an indoor/outdoor mall with great character. The outdoor part has cobblestone sidewalks, fountains, and large cobblestone steps. We don't recognize any of the stores, but it was a nice place to spend the afternoon.

Also at this mall, Laura was able to get her picture taken with Santa! She did great -- I don't even think she knew she was sitting on Santa's lap. I handed her to Santa facing me so she never saw him or had a chance to be scared. They even let us take a few pictures with our own camera. We have to go back on Thursday for the official picture...but I definitely won't mind another trip to the mall!

When we got back from the mall we had a message to call our representative about our case. When we were able to talk to her she gave us the good news that the first judge has signed/approved our case. If you are new to the process, check out this post. Hopefully the Defender of Minors will sign this week and we will be half way done!!

This evening our hotel had a party for a family who just received their new son. We had cake, coke, and a live band providing the entertainment. The music was great and all the kids were dancing and singing. Too bad Laura slept through the whole thing! We brought back the hat and poncho that we were all wearing to get a picture of her in it when she woke up...too cute!!

Sleepy Sunday

We went to our English-speaking church again today. This time we went with a new American family that checked into our hotel this week. It was a very nice time and we sang lots of Christmas carols. I don't really know how the pastor is because after the singing I always have to go to the nursery with Laura. She thinks when the singing stops that we all want to hear her voice!! After church, the three of us took naps since it was raining outside. A little bit later our new friends knocked on our door to tell us the sun had come out and they were going to an open-air market several blocks away. We decided to go with them. It was a nice walk and we were able to find a few things to buy at the market. We have decided to get Laura 18 little presents from Colombia to give her on December 1st (the day she joined our family)each year. We got started on that shopping today. We had helpy-selfy dinner tonight...hot dogs and mac-n-cheese!! It was delicious. We followed that with a Snickers for dessert. Very healthy, I know:) We didn't take many pictures today. We'll try to do better tomorrow. Hope you all had a nice weekend!!

Laura Sits Up!!

Today was an exciting day. Not only did we have great tummy-time practice...Laura sat up on her own today!! She is still a little wobbly, but she can sit unassisted for several minutes. She likes the new freedom this gives her as she is now able to play with bigger toys that have more fun things on them! Other than that, we don't have much to report about today. So, I thought I would take this opportunity to explain why we are in Colombia so long for the adoption process.

Colombia is a country that doesn't start the adoption process until the adoptive parents get to the country. Once you receive the child, you have an interview with the Defender of Minors. This person is like a social services representative. That interview is what gets the judicial process rolling. Each family is assigned to a court...some are slow, some are fast, and some just are normal. We have learned we didn't pull a fast court, but we don't know anything else at this point. In this first court, the judge has to review your file and approve it. Sometimes he (or she) asks questions of your lawyer before he does this approval. By law, the judge has 10 business days in which to sign. Next, the file is presented again to the Defender of Minors for approval. This time they have 5 days to sign. The case now enters a second court (but it is really the same as the first court). At this point, the judge again reviews the case (having 10 business days) and issues the final decree, called Sentencia. This is a very exciting day for adoptive families because it means the child is finally legally part of their family. After Sentencia is signed, it goes back to the Defender of Minors where they have 5 days to sign. Usually the Defender of Minors signs the Sentencia the same day the judge signs. After Sentencia, things get pretty busy. The following 3-4 days are filled with trips to the notary, a visit with the US Embassy doctor, and several visits to the US Embassy for passports and visas for the child. Once all that is done, it is time to come home!!

I say all that to say this...we have had our interview with the Defender of Minors and we think we are still waiting on the first judge to review and sign our file. It has potentially been 7 business days since the judge got our papers, so hopefully we will hear something this week. Even if we don't get Sentencia before Christmas, it would be nice to at least get through the 1st court. That would mean we only have about 2-3 weeks left after Christmas judges break. Hope this all makes sense...and enjoy the pictures!!

Coffee anyone?

Today we were invited to go to the Coloma Coffee Plantation with our American friends as well as an American father and daughter (who was adopted from Colombia 20 years ago). It was about a 3 hour ride (but it was probably only 80-90 miles out of the city)...the traffic was horrible and it took forever to get out to the countryside. Once we got to the mountains, though, I was shocked at how lush and beautiful the countryside was. It was like a night and day difference from what we see everyday. We drove through many little villages selling everything from candy to pig carcasses! We stopped at a little roadside restaurant for a potty break and to get some snacks. It was almost time for Laura's bottle so we asked them to heat it up for us. Instead of heating it up, they dumped out the water, washed the bottle, and gave it back to us empty!! It took a lot of help from other Spanish speakers to help them understand what they did wrong and what we actually needed them to do! When we finally got to the plantation, I was amazed at all the vegetation. I expected it to look like a vineyard but the coffee trees grow among orchids, lime trees, and a whole bunch of tropical flowers that I don't know the names of. We had a great guide who told us all about coffee - from planting it as a seed to bagging it for resale. Coffee beans start out green and once they are red the are ready to be picked. The picking is all done manually...talk about hard work! We got a tour of all the machinery that is used to separate the bean from the shell, to dry out the bean, to size select the beans for the best taste, to roast the bean, and then to bag it. We also had a coffee tasting. Shawn only likes his coffee with milk and sugar and I don't really like coffee at all, but it was neat tasting coffee that was grown in the area we just walked through. We bought a couple bags to bring home. Our drive home was a little faster and Laura was able to sleep through some of it. We were very glad to get back to our hotel for dinner though...we had been gone almost 8 hours and had only had some bread for a snack around 2:00. Fortunately, tonight was spaghetti night at the hotel so we were both able to eat pretty well. Laura was an absolute angel the whole day. She hardly fussed at all and when she did it was just because she needed some food or a bottle. If she stays this easy when we are out and about our life with a baby is going to be a breeze!!