We have travel dates!

Hi there,

The news we've been waiting for :)

We can travel on September 7th, which is a Sunday. Our presentation would be either Monday the 8th or Tuesday the 9th. That's 11-12 days until we can hold our baby! We can't wait. Thanks to everyone for your continued prayers.

Love,

Dulcie and Johnny

Video and Pictures of Manny?

Hello!

I belong to an online facebook group for Colombian adoptive families.  When we received our referral for Manny, I posted his picture on the group's page announcing our referral.  One of the women that is on the facebook group sent a message telling us that she recognized the referral picture and is pretty sure she has a video of him!

She and her husband had just visited Colombia in July with their daughter they had adopted two years ago.  They toured the orphanage they had adopted her from, which happens to be Los Pisingos.  During the tour, they had their video camera rolling.  A nurse caring for a baby in the nursery noticed the family as they were walking through and came out with the baby she was caring for.

We are 99.99% sure that the baby in the video is Manny!  I have posted the video below.  For some reason, I couldn't get it to post in color, but you can still get his facial features.  I also took some still shots from the video to compare side by side with his referral picture and that's what made us sure it's him.  Check it out and let us know what you think.

Lots of Love,

Dulcie and Johnny

P.S. - Still no travel dates, but maybe tomorrow (Monday).  It's my birthday, so what a great present that would be!

   

1st Baby Shower!

Thanks to my Hartford friends for throwing a baby shower and for all the great gifts!  A special thanks to the guys that came to the shower, enduring all the baby talk : )

Yesterday we spoke with Brandi at Lutheran Social Services and were told that our travel dates will not be determined until our completed dossier is sent to Colombia.  So, I'm off to the secretary of states office this morning to get all of our documents Apostilled.  What is an apostille?  It's the state's way of verifying that the notaries that stamped all of the documents are in fact licensed notaries.  I am dropping off the complete apostilled dossier to the Lutheran Social Services on my way back, so they can get it sent to Colombia right away.  Then, hopefully we'll get our dates within the next couple of days.  

Many people have asked how long we will be in Colombia (Especially at work ; )

The average time spent in Colombia is 6-8 weeks, while we wait for all of the documents to go through the courts.  Luckily, we will be presented with Emmanuel within a couple of days of our arrival and then he'll be ours!  We'll be living in a hotel that is specifically for adoptive families.  The rooms have a crib and they have many other amenities for adoptive families, so we should be very comfortable during our stay.  Well, that's it for now, but will post more once we have our dates.  

Love,

Dulcie and Johnny

No travel dates yet

Glad you found your way to the new site.  Not sure what is happening with the Mac site, but this will be a permanent replacement to journal our trip.  Don't forget to mark as your favorites : )

Today was a Colombian holiday, so we didn't get any word on travel dates.  Johnny and I were busy this weekend getting ready for Manny.  The nursery is close to finished and a lot of the major baby shopping is done.  The stroller was the major purchase over the weekend. Shopping for a stroller is almost as overwhelming as shopping for a car!  Who'd a thunk that there are so many features.  We ended up going with a middle of the road, light weight stroller that folds into a nice compact size.  It reclines completely for an infant's comfort and has great coverage with the bonnet.

Our dossier paperwork is close to be finished.  We are waiting for our United States Citizen Immigration Services (USCIS) approval to come back.  That was sent to USCIS on August 6th, and typically takes about 2-3 weeks for processing.  Luckily, we sent it before we received our referral!  

Introducing Emmanuel James Becker!

It's a boy! I received a call at work from our social worker, Brandi on Monday, August 11th at 1:30 in the afternoon. She asked me if we sent in our Immigration Renewal Paperwork last week, and I said yes. She said, "Good, because you're gonna need it!" It's all a blur from there. I tried to conference Johnny on the phone but my fingers wouldn't dial the right numbers, because I was shaking so bad! Brandi ended up getting him on the line and we had a conference call, learning about our baby boy.

He was born on May 21st of this year, so he's almost three months old. The referral includes a little bit of information about his personality. It says he smiles at everybody (except in his referral picture), he likes to be hugged (mom, you'll finally get your snuggler!) and he is a very calm baby. Everyone who's seen the picture already thinks he looks like Johnny.

His birthmother named him Juan Esteban. In English that is John Steven. How ironic that his birth name is the same as his daddy and grandpa Becker and his middle name is the same as his Grandpa Steve. I guess it's true what they say, he's meant to be ours! We have decided to name him Emmanuel after my Grandpa Karels. Just like my grandpa, his nickname will be Manny. His middle name, James, is a name we really like and we think it sounds good with Emmanuel.

We have not received our travel dates, but we'll definitely post on the website as soon as we here something. Thank you all for your support over the last two years of our adoption journey. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we prepare for our travels to get Manny!

Love,

Dulcie and Johnny