9-17-08

Good Morning,

Yesterday turned out to be a great day! On Monday evening, we received a call from our Representative, Cecilia, telling us that our appointment with the defender of minors had been cancelled for Tuesday. We received a call at 9:15 am on Tuesday morning saying that someone was on their way to pick us up for our appointment. WHAT?! Manny was taking a nap, hadn't had his bottle or diaper changed and Johnny and I were not dressed in our fancy duds, which is a requirement for this appointment. Now we know how fast we can do all of this when it's necessary!

We made it to the appointment just in time, but then found out that the orphanage had not delivered our dossier paperwork to this office, so we had to go out to the waiting room and wait for 45 minutes until the messenger could get there. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. A young pregnant woman was also sitting in the waiting room. It turns out that she is working with the same orphange from which we received Manny and she is considering adoption for her child. She asked our representative, Isabella, if she could ask us some questions about our adoption. Isabella told her some information about us, Manny's name and the woman asked why we changed his birth name. This is a very common question that many pregnant women ask. They may find it sad that the name they have chosen for their child is changed, unless they understand why. We told her that we wanted to honor my grandfather by naming our son after him. We also said that his birth name will always be special to us and we will make sure it is special to him as well. We then explained how his birth name happened to be the Juan (John) and Esteban (Steven, my dad's name). She smiled, nodded her head and then started to cry.

Johnny was sitting next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. He asked her if she would like to hold Emmanuel. She held him and started to sob while she was talking to him. It was a moment we will never forget. It was almost as if she was saying goodbye to her own child or coming to terms with the decision she was making. We only hope that her chance meeting with us, helped her feel at peace in some way. As she handed him back to us, she said, may God be with you and your family. Johnny again, comforted her and she went to sit down in her original seat. It was a few minutes later that we were called in to the office of the defender of minors. We signed paperwork that officially relinquished custody from the orphanage to us. Johnny gave the defender of minors a gift that was a hand turned wood pen that he made on his lathe, and we signed the documents with that pen. Now that this step is complete, we will just wait for the courts to open again, so we can have our case assigned to a specific court. No news on the strike being over, but they say that they try to go back to work before the end of the month, otherwise they will not receive any pay.

We then made our way back to the hotel rested for a bit, and then ventured out to the streets of Bogota once again. We ate at El Corral, which is a burger joint. It's a very popular spot. It kind of reminded me of A&W. Then we did some more walking and somehow ended up in front of Crepes and Waffles! What a pleasant surprise ; ) We shared a banana strawberry sunday and a cappuchino, then headed back to the hotel. Another Minnesota family received their baby girl yesterday, so we had a welcome party at the hotel. She is a little peanut! Manny is only a week older than her, but out weighs her by a lot! We held her, and they held Manny so we could compare and wow!

We think Manny is starting to get a tooth already. Yesterday he was a little fussy, drooling and had some flush cheeks. We gave him a cold wash cloth and rubbed his gums with it, which he seemed to love. Not much else to report today. Probably will do some more walking around lunch time.

P.S. - Johnny had a mild case of Montezuma's revenge last night, but he must have a stronger stomach than me, because he's feeling better already. (Lucky!)

Ta Ta For Now,

Dulcie, Johnny and Manny