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