It's Official...She's our Daughter!!

The judge singed our Sentencia today!!! That means that Laura is legally our daughter. It has been a really exciting and busy day. We got the phone call at about 11:00 this morning and our representative asked Shawn if we were ready to run around all day. Laura wasn't able to join us so either one of us had to stay home with her or we needed a babysitter...fast! The cab was coming in 20 minutes so fortunately our American friends (the Meiers) in the hotel were around and they agreed to watch Laura for us while we ran our errands.

First stop was the courthouse - up 5 flights of stairs to court 15 to sign the Sentencia forms. After lots of standing around and waiting, it was all official. Then it was off to the notary to get new copies of Laura's birth certificate with our names listed as her parents. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a cab so we started walking. After a few blocks, our representative decided it would be quickest if we took the bus. Now, we had heard that you shouldn't get on the bus unless you spoke Spanish and our rep confirmed that when she told us not to talk...she would do all the talking and we should just sit and try to blend in!! After about 15 minutes on the bus we got off and were picked up by one of our regular drivers. Apparently he had been busy all morning and was just able to meet up with us. The notaries office wasn't very busy, but it was very slow. We saw two couples get married while we were waiting for our documents if that gives you any idea how long it took. Our last goal of the day was to get Laura's Colombian passport, but we weren't able to get to that office before they closed. That will have to be done on Monday.

Originally, we thought if we got Sentencia today we would get to come home next week. Today we found out that isn't too likely. With the new rules we are adopting under, the process is a little more time consuming to get Laura's visa from the US Embassy. And since we are dealing with a really short week (due to Christmas) it looks like it will be more like 2 weeks before we are able to fly home. It would be great to be done next week, though, so keep praying!

We had a great time celebrating tonight with the Meiers. I'll post more about that tomorrow night...with pictures. We are exhausted from all our hurrying and waiting today and are about to crash. Thanks for all your prayers...they really paid off!

The Many Faces of Laura

Before I get to the sequential pictures of Laura's funny faces, I will say we had a really slow day. We had a very, very, very fussy baby last night who kept Shawn and me up probably half the night. The funny/annoying thing is that after her 5:00am bottle, she slept like a rock until around 9:30. Needless to say, Shawn and I weren't able to fall back asleep! We went back to the mall today to pick up Laura's picture with Santa...it is too cute! (I took a picture of the picture and put it at the end of this post.) We also did a little souvenir shopping and some grocery shopping.

Also, tomorrow is the last day the courts are open until January 12th or 13th...so if we have any hope of getting home next week, we need to have the judge sign our papers tomorrow (preferably in the morning so we have time to get to the courthouse before they close). Please join us in praying the judge is kind and tries to get us done before Christmas. If he (or she) doesn't sign tomorrow, though, we are in good shape for when the courts re-open. We are much further along than we thought we would be at this point in the process.

Now onto Laura's faces. She makes more funny faces than any kid I have ever met! Sometimes Shawn and I just look at each other and laugh! Enjoy...

Laura's First Home

We had the opportunity today to tour the orphanage where Laura spent her first six months of life. We weren't really sure what to expect. People had told us the staff took very good care of the children, but until you actually see it with your own eyes, it is hard to imagine. We arrived with donations for the babies, older children, and mother's home and then were ushered upstairs to where the babies live. There were five babies in the infant room and we spent quite a bit of time talking and playing with each one. We were also shown the room where the baths were given, as well as the isolation room for sick babies and the doctor's office. As we were walking to the older infant area, we saw the staff holding 2 of these children and feeding them their baby food breakfasts. The only other child at the orphanage right now is a little 4 year old boy. I think if we could have taken him home with us too, we would have! The staff all doted on Laura and she seemed to recognize the head caretaker. We think that the babies receive good care and are loved by the women who spend each day with them. This orphanage is getting ready to move to a smaller facility out in the country so we took lots of video since Laura won't be able to return to this exact building if she ever has the desire to see it.

We also had a bittersweet dinner tonight with our friends, the Lee's. They are leaving in the morning to head back to the states. They have really made our time here much more enjoyable and we will really miss them. At the same time, we are so happy that they are able to get back to normal life with their new little girl. Congratulations Lee Family...and Merry Christmas!!

The St. Louis Arch?!?

No, we aren't in St. Louis...we are at quite possibly the biggest craft extravaganza we have ever seen!! We went to the XVIII Expoartesanias today - a local showcase of Colombian arts and crafts. They have it every year in December and it was quite a sight to behold. We walked through 7 large warehouses filled with booths and kiosks. We started out by just looking and making a list of everything we thought we might be interested in. After visiting every vendor, we went backwards through the buildings picking up our treasures. We were able to find seven of Laura's 18 gifts as well as some other doo-dads to bring home to share. It was quite an experience and I'm so glad we were able to go.

Once we got home, Laura took a long nap, woke up on the wrong side of the crib, and has been really fussy ever since. We think she might be getting the other front tooth on the bottom, as she is acting much like she did last week when the first tooth broke through. She has finally fallen alseep again...hopefully for the night! We'll have more pictures tomorrow. Have a great evening!