Pictures!!

Are sweet potatoes the only thing I get?



Look at the grip on Katie's glass!




Christmas wore her out!



She got a bear that's just her size!



Princess Leia!



Watching everyone open presents.



Christmas Eve with Mom, Dad, Murphy, Grandma, and Grandpa.



Murphy in a box...our present this year!



She just stared at David...we think she could see the lights reflected in his glasses but it could be she just thought he was cute! :)



Happy baby on her first Christmas Day! And check out her slippers!



Watching the Chargers makes me sleepy!



Murphy and Grandma Ole really like it when Grandma Karen plays with her feet.



Her first picture with Santa Claus!



Spending the Saturday before Christmas with Grandpa Allan's side of the family.



She liked the bows on the box!



Her first wrestling match!



Murphy, Jen, Ang, and Dana



Keely and Murphy! Keely was a great babysitter!



I like to suck on my blanket!



I really like my exersaucer!



I'll suck on my shirt or a bib if my blanket isn't available.

Closing out a great year!

Oh are we having fun! It's hard to believe December is almost over and I have to go back to work this week. I really like my job so that will help but I could easily stay home. Of course I didn't get all my projects done while I was home so that would make it easy to stay home anyway.

We had a great time in Elk Point. I met Erin at Watertown for our first post placement visit. I think it went fine. I got to EP around 3:45 and spent quite a while at my old job. Around 5:15 I headed out to Rahn & Maria's. Jen and Ang and her kids came out, too. Kalla didn't want anything to do with the baby, though. I wish Keely still lived right across the street because we'd have a great babysitter! We ate at Los Amigos and Cara, Jeff, and Matthew came to see us. Maria and I stayed up really late talking and as I went to bed the song "Feels Like Home" kept repeating itself in my ear. Not the town. Just being with my friends. Plus, being in their house reminded me of our house and I really miss it. Murphy must have liked it too because she slept ALL NIGHT! She woke up around 6:15 which wasn't in my plan for the day. I thought she'd wake up around 8:30 or 9:00 and we'd leave right then. Well she fell back asleep before 8:00 and slept until after 10:00. We made one last stop to see Katy and then we were on the road around 11:30. So much for being home by noon! I stopped at Penney's in Sioux Falls and then got myself something to eat at Taco Bell, fed her in the parking lot, and then off to Brookings to see my nieces. We didn't get home until 5:15.

My mom and dad came down on Friday and lent us their glider. We ate dinner here and they spent some time with Murphy. That night I needed to get some stuff done so Rob took her to the basketball game. I told him not to pawn her off on anyone but he said it isn't pawning when people want to hold her.

Saturday I cooked breakfast for the wrestlers and then had my Christmas party that night. It was really fun to be with my coworkers again. Plus there was a hypnotist. I wasn't one of the funny ones up front but I sure laughed a lot! Murphy went to a neighbor's for a little bit until our friends that were going to babysit got home. They said she was really good. I was a little concerned because I know how difficult it can be to get her to bed. Rob spent all day at the tournament and then got to the party during the hypnotist and then we got home around 11:30. Late night, eh?

Monday the 17th we went to Aberdeen. We met Mom and Dad at McDonalds for dinner then I dropped off my car to be serviced. We made a few stops and then went to see Grandma. She just loves Murphy. I think any baby would do. She loves their little tiny feet. All the other people there wanted to see her so we walked around the dining area and showed her to all the ladies. Mom and Dad dropped me off to get my car and the two of us went to the mall, Target, and Walmart. By the time we got home it was like 7:30. My planning just hasn't been as effective as it was pre-Murphy! I thought for sure I'd be home by 5:00!

Thursday was board meeting day at work so I dropped Murphy off at Rob's mom and dad's and went to work. While we were eating dinner I ran to town and brought her back out so everyone could see her. After the board meeting I met Rob at home and we drove to Highmore to see the girls basketball game and all of our friends from there. After the game we went to our friends, Mike and Marilyn, house and didn't get home until 2:15. Good thing Murphy slept at their house and all the way home. But I was sure tired! Friday we had snacks at work so I went in to "work" and eat! :) Murphy went with me and was really good all day. Of course Jill held her for a while and she loved that. Friday night was another good night as she slept for 13 hours straight! And this time it was in her own bed without me being there so it really counted!

Saturday we went to Aberdeen to get Rob's hair cut then met Leroy and Denita, Myah and Landon for dinner. We also saw Santa Claus at the mall. She had just woken up so wasn't overly enthused. But we had to take a picture anyway. Then we came back to town and had Christmas with Rob's dad's side of the family. There was lots of people there and we had fun. Long day though.

I played for church on Sunday and we finished cleaning and wrapped presents.

Monday was Christmas Eve and Allan, Sandy, and Christy came over around 11:00 and we ate, drank some wine, opened presents, and played with Murphy. Murphy really didn't care about the presents but she did like some ribbon on one of the boxes. I had to play for church so as I left, they fed here some cereal and got her dressed for church. Rob and Murphy sat way in the back but I still heard her when she decided she was hungry! We got done and were on the road to Aberdeen by 7:30. We had gotten her one present but thought maybe we should get a Santa present but Walmart was closed! I couldn't believe it! I didn't think Super Walmart ever closed! Good thing Grandma had one! So we went to David and Carmen's and Mom and Dad, Kara and Brianna were there. Murphy got some good holding time in. She (or I) opened more presents and then we went home around 10:00. Christmas morning she slept a little later than we did so we ate breakfast and then she woke up. We opened presents and had to get a move on before everyone got there. When the kids got there, they went upstairs to see her (and when I say "kids" I'm talking in their 20's). Plus Karyl and Jeremy. Lo and behold she "woke up" when Jeremy picked her up! :) So she didn't have a very long nap in the morning. We ate at 1:00 and she got passed around quite a bit. She went down for another nap and some friends of ours came out to see her so I went to get her and woke her up again. There went the afternoon nap. My nephews and niece got a Wii so we played golf, bowling, baseball, and boxing. It was really fun. So if anyone would like to get rid of one, we'd take it off your hands. :) We got home much later than planned (again!) and she went right to bed.

Thursday was Mom's birthday so Murphy celebrated by eating sweet potatoes! She really didn't care for them but since she likes food so much she took one for the team and ate them anyway. I don't know if that was the problem or not but she was not herself all of that day and the next. We went to the basketball game that night and she fussed and spit up and just didn't feel good. Same thing on Friday. We went to Aberdeen to David and Carmen's again since Katie and John were home and I think she had more attention focused on her so she wasn't as grumpy! :) She even made a grab for Katie's wine glass! It was pretty cute.

Yesterday we went back to Aberdeen in the afternoon to see the boys basketball team. We went out to eat with some friends from Highmore and went to Target and Walmart. I don't know why but ever since we brought Murphy home, one store just isn't enough. We have to hit both.

I'm going back to work tomorrow. I'm not ready to start getting up before 6:00. But I will like getting off at 4:00 so I'll stick with my hours.

A few notes about Murphy...she is really changing. She has noticed her hands and stares at them intently. She has also figured out there are toys on her exersaucer and she really likes them. I don't think she is very ticklish but lately when I tickle her she laughs really big. Really big for her is quietly but mouth open wide. So I don't know if it's just funny or what. She doesn't fight getting dressed or going to sleep as much. But she still hates her nose being wiped. She also wants to sit up all the time, although she still can't do it on her own. She does want to stand all the time. We thank the exersaucer for that. She is starting to play with her toys instead of just holding them. And she likes it when they make noise at her. I think she's getting more hair and she's definitely getting a bigger belly. She still isn't shy and will go to anyone. She also really likes long hair. I gave her a finger of mashed potatoes at David and Carmen's the other night and she really didn't like them. I'm sort of waiting until we go to the doctor on the 16th before feeding her a lot of food. I did buy some fruit and am going to attempt my own baby food. I don't always stick with things well so people are taking bets on how long this will last!

So there is your blogger fix. I'll try not to get this far behind again. Once I start working again life will get into a routine and I hope to be better about posting. Plus, our Christmas cards are still coming. I have the letter done but don't have the cards back yet. And I know the pictures are what everyone wants to see!

Have a great New Years!

We're making the rounds

We've been busy the last few days. On Sunday she took a really good nap only because Rob held her the entire time. He kept calling me on the phone and said "my arm is falling asleep" or "my feet are freezing but my upper body is roasting". I told him I really didn't care. Monday I went to work for a while and took her with. I fed her before I started working and then she slept a while. She played in the exersaucer for a while, ate some more, took another nap, and was good the whole time. We went to the boys basketball game last night and she got passed around a little. She took a short nap during the game and then went to sleep when we got home around 10:00. She didn't eat a whole lot yesterday so we figured she'd be up last night. She was but she waited until 5:00 or so. So then she slept late this morning. She ate some cereal for the first time in over a week, had a bath, and is dressed and ready for more action today. We're going back to school to visit one of the lunch ladies that wasn't there last week. Then tonight we have wrestling so we'll be out again. Tomorrow we're meeting Erin from LSS for our first visit and then we'll try to stop in Brookings to see two of my nieces and then we'll head to Elk Point. I can't wait to see my friends!!!! I miss them so much! We'll come home on Thursday. For those of you in Highmore, we'll be at the girls basketball game on the 20th. Come see us! I made her first doctor's appointment today. We can't get in until the middle of January because the husband and son of our doctor died in a plane crash just after Thanksgiving. We understand her need to be at home with her family right now so we're OK with the wait. We could choose another doctor but we've heard such great things about her that we really want her as Murphy's doctor.

OK, that's all for now. Have a great day!!!

I'm bunching a few days into one!

Nothing really happened on Friday or Saturday so I'm going to write about the past few days in one post then I'll be all caught up.

Friday we didn't even leave the house. My parents came down around 11:00 and brought their glider/rocker. We ordered dinner and Dad went and picked it up and brought it back to the house. They were here until 1:00 or so and Murphy had a grumpy afternoon. She takes her morning nap really well. But when it comes to the afternoon, she doesn't want to go to sleep. Then she gets overtired and really grumpy. She slept for maybe two hours all day on Friday. So both of us were tired by the time Rob got home on Friday night. She isn't getting up at night (or at least WE aren't getting up) although she does fuss for a little bit at night. She has to learn how to comfort herself and go back to sleep. I can lay her down in the morning and she goes to sleep. I can't do that in the afternoon. But she has to learn! So we'll keep working on it.

Saturday I cooked breakfast for the wrestling team before they left for their tournament. Which they won, by the way! Good job, guys! Rob got up at 5:30, I was up at 5:45, and the kids were here at 6:45. They had eaten and were out the door by 7:20 and the bus left at 7:45. Everything went pretty smooth even if I couldn't remember how much of everything I needed. I guessed pretty good. I used five bags of hashbrowns but probably only need four. And I used two and a half of the big containers of egg beaters and probably only needed two. I used eleven cups of dry pancake mix and will cut that back to eight. That was the biggest leftover I had. Murphy slept the whole time. After the kids left I cleaned up the kitchen and relaxed with her for a while. I fianlly got all my pictures uploaded to Walmart. I already developed 130 or so. Now I sent in 440. That's all of them, though so now I can start working on the scrapbook I bought down there. Murphy had a good morning again but same problem in the afternoon. So she is always really tired by the time she goes to bed. Rob's dad came over around 3:30 and got my Christmas decorations out of the garage for me. Rob's mom and aunt came over to visit around 7:00 and Rob got home around 11:30.

This morning we got up and went to church. It felt so good to be there! Everyone knows us and they've been praying for us and waiting for us to get home. So it was really a nice feeling. Murphy was good the whole time. She got a little tired right at the very end but just was really mellow looking at all the people. We stopped at the store to get stuff for our standard football-Sunday fare...nachos. And then came home. She took a very short nap but was still really tired. She wouldn't lay down so I took her downstairs to Rob and she fell asleep with him watching the Charger game. He says his feet are cold but his upper body is roasting and his arm is falling asleep. I don't really care, though! I'm all caught up on my posts so that should give you some reading material. I'll try to stay up to date now.

OK, that's all for now. I'm going to put some pictures back on these last few posts so go back and look at them. Later!!!

Our busiest day yet!

Murphy slept for two hours this morning so Christy didn't get a lot of holding time in! She woke up right before dinner so we went to Subway and ate then to Carol's for a coffee. Then out to work for a little bit. Jill didn't get spit up on this time! Then back to our house for another nap. This time Christy got to hold her the whole time. We went the girls basketball game and Allan met us there. Murphy wasn't bothered by the band or the buzzer or the people. She even slept for a while. She got passed around a little but not too bad. I learned my lesson, though. While we were home I filled the formula containers so I had enough for six bottles. Christy was holding her at the game and I said "I'm going to make a bottle so it's ready when she wants it" because I knew it wouldn't be long. So I got out a bottle and looked for the formula. No formula. Whoops, I forgot it at home. And right then she wanted a bottle now! Won't make that mistake again! So Christy ran home and got it and all was better. We got home around 10:00 so she's learning to stay up a little later than 7:00. Christy went home and we all are going to bed. We're finally adjusting to life at home. But it isn't as easy when you don't have someone make all your meals and clean your room. :)

Still not unpacked!

Murphy got passed around again today! Donna Kegler wasn't at school yesterday so we went back to school this afternoon. I worked around the house this morning and I'm getting closer. After I went to school, I stopped at our neighbor's house to visit as she's going to be Murphy's daycare provider. Finally Murphy talked a little. It will be nice to go out the back door and drop her off at Roxie's. I came home and she slept for a little in her carseat. When she woke up I went right over to Rob's parents' house. Christy is home and we were going over there for supper. So she got to hold her and feed her and play with her.



I took her pajamas just in case she got tired. She was really good. There was something going on so she was distracted and stayed up unil 9:00! I did too! :) Christy is coming over tomorrow to spend the day with Murphy so hopefully I'll get some more done. Maybe not!

Are we back to normal yet?

Well, we started off pretty early. Like 5:30 early. Both of us. Which meant Rob did too. He went to school and we got ready. Rob's mom came over and held her while I did some thing. Really I just showed her everything we bought. Then I got some stuff done. She went home and the two of us went to school around noon. We were there until 2:30 and even the kids came in to see her. She was really good but not quite herself. She didn't cry but she didn't talk or laugh or smile or anything. Just checked everyone out. Then we headed out to the plant and she spit up all over Jill. Then we went to see Carol and Dakota Air and then to Paul's office. We didn't get home until close to 5:00. Our house is a disaster but who cares! We're home! Murphy is in bed and I'm going to sleep...at 7:00 again. We're still totally wiped out. Poor Rob isn't getting to see much of us.

Finally...we're home!!!

Oh what a day it's been. But we're home and that's all that matters.

The alarm went off at 3:45 this morning and I showered first. I remembered that I didn't have any hairspray as I'd run out in Bogota and bought some stuff down there and left it with the maids. So I didn't wash my hair. Actually I didn't even comb it. That would have taken all the remaining hairspray out and I didn't want that! Mom showered and we took the bags downstairs around 4:15. I went back up and got Murphy at 4:25 and she wasn't a happy camper about being woken up. Oh, I forgot, we had a king size select comfort bed (comfy, comfy!) and she slept in between us. Mom got up around midnight with a leg cramp and she said I didn't even move. So Murphy cried for a little while on the way to the airport. The van started off late when some guy didn't show up and we had to wait for him. Then we had to drop off everyone else at the Continental part of the airport. We finally got to Northwest around 5:30. The line wasn't overly long but when we got to the front, the man told me I didn't have a ticket and he had to help other people so we wouldn't be going home. Guess what? I bawled. And then Mom bawled. All I wanted to do was go home. Was that too much to ask? I don't think he felt bad for me but he did say "Stop crying!". Not very nice either. So after he got everyone else through he looked again and somehow found my ticket. There were two other people that needed help getting past the line up to security or they would miss their flight. So he took all of us down the elevator past the people and dropped us off. The man who was looking at boarding passes was mad because we had budged in front of everyone. We told him the guy from upstairs brought us there and he said he wanted to talk to him. So I took off my bags and Murphy and I ran upstairs and got him. I told him the guy wanted to talk to him and he told me I'd have to work it out with him myself. I told him NO and he ended up coming downstairs. So then the two guys fought because the one said he didn't see anyone come with us and that the first guy should have told him he was dropping us off there. The first guy said that he took us right up front and it wasn't his fault if the second guy didn't see him. Who cares! Just let us through! Finally they did but then we had to go through security. Mom's knee set it off first of all. Then they took my hand sanitizer and the extra water I had and were even going to dump out the bottles that I had that didn't have formula in it yet. I said "If you take that I have nothing to feed my baby!" and she let me keep two bottles that I had made up. So by this time it's about 6:15. The grumpy guy at the first counter had actually called to tell them we were on our way so I'll give him credit for that. Once we got through security, I took off running to make it to the gate. A lady behind us helped Mom with her bags and ended up being from Brookings originally and works for Daktronics. So we made the plane with seconds to spare. There was hardly anyone on it. So we had a row all to ourselves way in the back. Murphy slept two of the three hours. We left her in her pajamas again because of the early morning. Plus I didn't want her to spit up on her clothes. I changed her clothes on the plane to MSP and sure enough, ten minutes later she spit up on her pants. Oh well. I forgot to say that she was soooo good in the airport. There was so much going on both Sunday and Monday that she was a very good baby. She only cried a little toward the end on Sunday night as she got tired and hungry. We landed in MSP on time and knew we'd be cutting it close to make our next plane. We got off and grabbed a guy driving a little trolley cart. He told us it was a two cart trip as he could only drive in certain parts of the airport. What!?! So he drove us to another guy and that guy drove us to the escalators at the total opposite side of the airport. I ran ahead again. Ran as much as I could with two diaper bags on my back, Murphy on the front, and Mom's purse on my arm. I'm sure it was very amusing. I went down the escalator and then had to run across the floor to another escalator. Just as I was getting on that one, Mom was coming down the first so I yelled across the airport to her so she knew where I was going. Then I had to go a very long ways to our gate. I got there at 9:00. Our flight was supposed to leave at 9:00. But it was late. I couldn't believe it. We just had not had good luck with our flights. So I walked back to get Mom and as we headed back to the gate, I saw Marcia Wortman! She isn't famous so don't rack your brains trying to figure out if you should know her. She's from Highmore and was going to be with her grandfather back home. So that was kind of nice. One funny story...I spit out my gum as we were walking and Mom said "Oh, that makes me wonder what I did with my gum!". She didn't remember spitting it out or swallowing it so that made us laugh. I thought I was going to wet my pants I was laughing so hard. So we made a bathroom stop and finally got to the gate. We heard the guy say that the pilot hadn't shown up yet so that's why the plane was delayed. What? Do pilots actually get to be late? So our 9:00 flight got pushed back to 9:17 then eventually 10:05. Murphy fell asleep just before we got on the plane. We called Rob and Dad to say that we'd be late. Then the stewardess said our flying time would be an hour and three minutes instead of an hour and a half. Oh, we only had eight people on the plane, too. So then we called Rob and Dad back and told them we'd be in at 11:00 instead of 11:30. Then we sat at the gate until 10:20. And by that time they wouldn't let us call and say we'd be there at 11:30. So it was a crazy morning. Murphy slept for half the flight and then I woke her up. I didn't want her to be sleeping when we got in so I knew I needed plenty of time to make sure she wasn't grumpy. We got in and made it through the Aberdeen airport to find Rob, Dad, David, Carmen, Dick, Allan, and Sandy waiting for us.



It was so nice to be home! Carmen videotaped from their end I and taped from our end. We took lots of pictures, too. One of the girls that was on the plane with us told my parents that she was adopted at four months (I think) from one of the Asian countries. I just can't remember all the details. I noticed her watching us so I figured something was up. So now maybe she got to see what happened when her parents brought her home. Rob had brought Murphy's coat and the carseat so we bundled her up and she didn't like it!



We went to McDonald's for dinner (my request!) and my dad told the ladies at the counter so they oohed and aahed over Murphy. We actually saw quite a few people that we knew there so it took us a while to get out of there. We went to the nursing home to see my grandma. She loved Murphy's hands and feet.





We got a really nice picture of the four of us.



Then we went around and showed everyone that works with her. Then we went to the mall to see my sister-in-law Pam. Then we had to stop at Walmart because we didn't have groceries after six weeks. My aunt Denise met us there so she got to meet her, too. We bought an exersaucer while we were there and Murphy just loves it! We left Aberdeen shortly before 5:00 and when we got to town we went to Rob's grandma's house.



We left around 6:00 and came home! Oh, it's so nice! Of course we didn't get to see a lot of it because Murphy and I are going to bed at 7:00! We've had a long day. Our trip is over but our adventure is just begining!

We're back on American soil!

Well, our day hasn't gone quite as planned but we're in the US. The long flight is down and it won't be long until we're home.

We got up at 5:00 and Mom took Murphy out to the sitting area so I could finish packing. Our problem was that we didn't have enough clothes to wrap all of our purchases in. So Mom's carry-on is totally full of breakables. I had hoped to be ready by 6:30 to be able to eat breakfast before we left at 7:00 but that didn't happen. We were ready to go by 7:00 though. Maria and Juel and the Germans came out to say goodbye. We can't wait to spend time with the Willrett family back home. We all just got along so well. We'll miss seeing them every day! We left Murphy in her pajamas hoping she'd sleep for a while. We got to the airport with three suitcases, a laptop, two diaper bags, Mom's purse, the little sunhat from the Colombian outfit that we carried because we didn't want to squish it, her brown pull carry-on, and her little brown bag as another carry-on. And a baby strapped in. It was fine when Henry was there to help carry everything. Once we didn't have Henry it wasn't very fun. I paid $98 in exit taxes for Murphy and myself and Mom didn't have to pay anything. We got through the line and got checked in. We asked for better seats and he said he'd see what he could do and get our boarding passes to the gate. We headed off upstairs and realized we forgot the hat. So Mom ran back down to get it. When we got upstairs to get in line for emmigration, Henry said it was the longest line he'd ever seen. It was all the way across the airport. So as we were standing there, a lady came by and said since we had the baby we could bypass everyone! We had hoped that would happen! So she took us past everyone and up to the front of the line. We had to say goodbye to Henry at that point and it was really hard for me. I cried. He is just such a wonderful man and we'll miss him. So now we're carrying our carry-on bags ourselves. It would have been fine if we didn't have so many! We got up to the man and gave him Murphy's papers and I don't think he knew what to do. I'm not kidding when I say we waited there for a good 20 minutes. He kept trying to get someone's attention. When that didn't work he went and talked to someone else who worked there. Murphy was getting tired and hungry at this point so I held her up really close to the window hoping to guilt him into letting us through. FINALLY he must have decided we weren't stealing her and let us through. We went through security and hardly got checked at all. Not the water in the bottles, not Mom's knee, nothing. We got to the gate and were one of the first people there. So I went up and asked about boarding passes and found out we were in row five, in bulk head, right behind first class. By this time we only had about a half an hour before boarding. I changed her diaper and rearranged some stuff and on the plane we went. Mom was on one side of the plane and I was on the other so we were going to ask the people next to us if we could switch and they ended up having three people and a baby so they wanted to switch with us anyway! We sat next to a really nice man who lived in New Jersey. He was originally from Colombia and had gone home for his mother's birthday. Of the six hour flight, Murphy slept 4 1/2. Then we had a TV in front of us so she was perfectly content the other hour and a half. I needed to change her diaper and they wouldn't let us use first class so I walked to the very back of the plane and changed her. Then I decided that I had to go to and I didn't want to walk all the way back up to the front, hand her off, and walk all the way back, so I held her while I dropped my pants in this little tiny bathroom. Let me tell you, I'm good. We landed in Newark on time (4:00) and made it through immigration fine. Murphy became an American citizen when we landed! Yay!! So then we went to get our bags. Here is where is started to go downhill. Remember we landed at 4:00. Our flight to Minneapolis left at 5:33. Some bags came through the baggage claim. But not many. And definitely not ours. Ours finally came through at 5:20. By this time, I was in a panic. We ran through customs, who didn't even check our bags, and then were supposed to make it all the way up to the Northwest counter to get on our flight. We had to take our bags with because we were changing airlines. So a nice man who worked there helped us push the cart up to Northwest. I kept asking people if they would call and tell them we were there and no one would. By the time we got to Northwest, I knew we didn't make it. And the very nice lady told me it wasn't her problem and that we'd have to go back to Continental since they were the reason we missed the flight. Yeah, feeling really good about New Jersean's at this point. Had they called like I asked, we would have made the plane. So back down the elevator, back up another one, down another one, and back to Continental's resolution department. The guy left us at this point. And again, he was very nice. He must have been from New York or some other surrounding state! :) There were about five people speaking to reps and then about eight in front of us. We literally didn't move for almost a half an hour. I finally went over to the Elite line and asked if people with babies qualified for that line. They said no but they'd see what they could do. Now the people down there were very nice. We dealt with four women and all of them were nice. The first lady had Mom booked on Monday night's flight into Aberdeen at 10:36 but not me because I actually had two reservations: one into MSP and the second into ABR since my flight into Aberdeen was a late addition. The lady had to go so by this time Mom was at the front of the line. We went to another lady and the first lady explained everything she had done. I was really quite disappointed about not getting into Aberdeen until the next night so I asked if she had checked the other airlines. She hadn't but now she could get us on the 6:20 flight into MSP and then back to Aberdeen at 10:30. Book it! Except for that two reservation thing again. She ended up calling Northwest and got it taken care of. They also gave us a motel room, two vouches to eat at the motel, and two vouchers for breakfast. By this time it was about 8:30. So we had to go back up the elevator to the air train then back down to the shuttle bus area. And since we were changing airlines, we couldn't check any of our luggage so we had to carry it all with us. I called the motel and told them we needed a shuttle and he said he'd be there in about ten minutes. When he got there everyone else jumped in MY van and he drove off. I was mad. I told the lady working in that area "I'm the one who called for that van" and she said she'd make sure we got on the next one. So in the meantime, I tried to call Rob and my dad to tell them we weren't going to make it home. We finally got in the van and headed out and he told us the motel was 45 minutes away. Ugh. OK, whatever. It still could be worse. So although we were disappointed we weren't getting home, our spirits still weren't too bad. We finally got to the motel around 9:30, got checked in, took our bags upstairs, and tried to order room service. The man told me that we didn't qualify for room service with our voucher but we could eat at the buffet. Again, whatever. So we headed downstairs to eat. Remember the time. Buffets are usually ready around, what...6:00? You guessed it. Cold. It didn't matter. The only thing I really wanted was a Diet Coke. And believe me, it tasted SO GOOD! We took two bottles of water to make bottles and went upstairs to get our stuff out for the mornng. I also repacked a little. It's 10:45 and we're going to bed. The alarm is set for 3:45. I'm not looking forward to that but I can't wait to get home!!!

Our last day!!! Woo Hoo!!

Oh, was it a busy day. We made one last trip to the leather district. Henry was busy so Gabriel took us, as well as Megan, Juel, Maria, Benji, and a German couple who adopted a little boy named Sebastian. The poor Germans didn't know what they were getting into. We went back to the shop that made our jackets and went to town. In the end he negotiated really well so Mom and I were pretty happy with our purchases. We went to a few more stores and found more to buy, of course. When we were done I wanted to head over to the shoe district to find a pair of boots for a girl I work with. We went in the first store, found Jill's boots, found a pair for me (Woo Hoo!) and we were on the road. We went back to the motel to drop off all of our stuff then went to Hard Rock for dinner. The waitress we had last time fussed all over Murphy. I think she is a nice girl. Just really out there. We got a few things there and headed home. It was mid afternoon by this time so we tried to pack some more stuff. We ran out of time again as Cecilia came over at 4:15 and said goodbye. Then we left at 6:00 to go to Bolivar Square to see the lighting of the Christmas tree. Carmen and Henry arranged the trip and it was wonderful! It rained a little on the way. As we got closer we saw lots of people walking. Henry drove the van up to some guards and said that he had Americans along and they let us drive past the barriers and get closer. We had to walk just a little ways to the square. It was close to 7;30, which was when the lighting was supposed to happen. Once they light this huge tree (made of wood and as high as the buildings) they light the rest of the lights in the city. When we got there we found out that they'd moved the lighting to 8:30. So we weren't going to stay. We had a busy day ahead of us and we all had kids there. But in the end, they lit it at 7:30 anyway. They had a band there and the mayor got up and spoke and then they counted down just like on New Years' Eve. They lit the tree and it was beautiful. Henry and Carmen guessed there were between 80,000-100,000 people there. Once the tree was lit, they shot off fireworks. Murphy loved it. I had her in the front pack and she just stared at the fireworks the whole time and never got scared. It was so neat to be there. On our way back to the van, Carmen and Henry bought us a traditional Colombian drink that a woman was selling. It had lots of fruit and was really sweet. Sort of like apple cider but much better. As we were walking, policemen pulled up on the street and made a barricade and pretty soon someone important drove by. We don't know who but it was kind of neat. It was a great experience and a nice way to end our trip.

So when we got back to the motel, we had to frantically pack. We weren't even close at this point and Mom made me shut off the lights at 10:30 to go to sleep. We said goodbye to Megan, Juel, Maria, and Benji and are going to bed. So tomorrow will be an early morning! We're excited but definitely ready to go!!

One last step...

We are done! Finished! No more paperwork! So now that we're done with all the official stuff, we need to make sure we're done with all the good stuff!

Dad left this morning. I had my alarm set for 5:20 but was awake anyway. Henry said he made it through the airport OK and his bags were underweight. We were pretty close on one of them.

We were going to go to the leather district this morning but time ran short. So we just went to Maku and finished up almost all the shopping. I tried to start packing but knew we had more shopping to do and also some laundry to finish. Anival came to get me this afternoon around 3:00 and we went back to the notary. We got there around 3:35 and picked up her visa and were out the door around 3:40. Not nearly as busy as applying for the visa. As soon as I got back, I decided to celebrate by getting my hair cut. I went to Norberto's, which is just down the street, and told the stylist, a guy named Michell, to do whatever he wanted. It was quite interesting having three guys who didn't speak English stand around you telling you what to do with your hair. I figured if I didn't like it, I'd just have Leslie fix it when I got home. But I was pretty desparate. I hadn't had my hair cut in six weeks and it was driving me crazy. So in the end, I really like it. I don't have any pictures though so you'll have to wait. I'm not telling Rob until I get home, though. We'll see if he notices. I'm not the one he's going to be looking at!

Don't you think there would be Americans at the American embassy?

Doesn't that seem sort of logical? It did in my mind. Until I got there and of the hundreds (and I'm not exaggerating) of people there, I saw one American.

Anival was here at 9:00 and we left for the embassy. Henry was also here at the same time and took Mom and Dad to Bolivar Square and the Gold Museum. I think they had a really good time. When we got to the embassy I waited while Anival checked us in. He thought it would be about 20 minutes. 40 minutes later I was called up. In this 40 minutes, Murphy screamed bloody murder. She was tired and there was a lot of noise so she couldn't sleep. It was very nice having everyone in the area stare at you. Like they weren't staring to begin with. I went to the desk and she asked for lots of documents. Then I went to the next window to pay $380 and there was no cashier. So I waited while and he finally showed up. Then they called my name again to be interviewed. She asked if everything on the forms were true as to my knowledge. I said yes. Then she asked me about Murphy's medical condition. I explained it and she said "OK, you're approved. Come back tomorrow to pick it up." This all took three hours. It went fast but a crying baby didn't help.

I got back to the motel and Mom and Dad weren't back yet. We ate sandwiches for dinner. That's our typical fare. Cheese sandwich and chips. When Mom & Dad got back we went to the emerald dealer, Freddy's, then Megan, Mom & I went to the Harley store (notice bags in hand).



Then to the Hard Rock Cafe. Then home. We packed the two suitcases for Dad to take tomorrow and took some pictures of the babies. It's so fun being here with the people we are. There is a woman here from St. Louis now. And Isabelle the French woman, plus Megan, Juel, and the kids. We all just get along well and enjoy doing things together. It's nice.

We all went to Azzuros for supper tonight for Dad's last day here.



His pink eye is looking better. He'll leave the motel at 5:30 tomorrow morning so it will be early for all of us. Then Mom moves in with us for two days. We'll be ready to go home. I'm a little worried about Murphy's temperment on the plane. I don't think even Mom believed me until she got here. Everyone may just clear out around us and give us the whole row (which is what we're hoping for!).



Tomorrow we might walk to the park. Mom and I need to hit up Maku again. We do have three suitcases to fill afterall.



Carmen, we will borrow the camera on Sunday night if you don't mind. If you can download the videos and email it to me I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

OK, have a great night!!

A few more pictures

Passport and doctor down...embassy to go.

We had a busy day. I called Rob this morning before he went to work. He's ready for us to come home. Anival was going to be here this morning at 8:30 to take us to the passport place. We first had to take her picture. Let me say that her passport picture is very cute but I tried taking a picture of it and it just turns out all white. We went right next door to the passport place and got her passport.



All in all it took about 2 1/2 hours I think. Murphy slept in Grandma's arms most of the time. And then she was the beholder of a Colombian passport!



She's very tired but we all know she's very excited!

Then we came back to the motel, ate dinner, packed a suitcase for Dad to take home, and then Anival came back to get us to go to the doctor. He was very nice. She weighs 15 pounds 12 ounces and is 25 inches long. He said that her neurologist when she was born is excellent and that we will indeed need to have the hole in her back surgically closed when she's about a year old. Of course she loved being naked.



At the end of the day he sent us on our way with an envelope to take to the embassy tomorrow.



Anival is coming around 9:00 to pick us up to go apply for her visa. Mom and Dad are going to Bolivar Square and the Gold Museum. Then at 1:00 we'll all go to the emerald shop and then the leather district. Pretty soon they're going to know our names!

Murphy's cold is going away but now Benji is getting sick. Grandpa has pink eye and Grandma ran out of Puffs with Lotion. She brought a half a box.

Oh, I forgot some good news! Murphy slept almost all night last night! Woo Hoo! She woke up at 2:30 but didn't want her bottle. So I just rocked her and she fell back asleep. She woke up again at 4:30 and since she hadn't eaten yet I figured she was hungry. Nope. Just wanted to be rocked. So I put her back in her crib and she fussed for a while but fell back asleep on her own. So now I know she can go all night without a bottle. Hooray for cereal!

Does anyone have a digital camcorder that Rob can use to tape us getting off the plane? We have one but I have it with me. We'd really appreciate it.

OK, that's about all for now. Have a great day!

A few more steps in...

This morning Cecelia and Anival picked me up at 9:00 and we went to sign the sentencia. Dad and I think this would be similar to our Clerk of Courts at home. I signed the paper and it was very uneventful. No streamers or balloons or anything! :) My lawyer was there and she said that we were missing a signature. So we went upstairs and the Defendor of Minors was there. She came back downstairs with us and signed. THEN we found out that the Secretary General needed to sign the papers and he/she was in court until noon. He/she took lunch from 1-2 and would sign in between court and lunch. But they still had to make copies. So they said to come back at 3:00. Cecelia decided to have me go at 2:30 just in case they hadn't made the copies yet. She wanted me to stand there and guilt them into making the copies! We are in court four, btw. Then we went to Notaria 28 and found out that the notary only is in the office from 1-5:30. So we would have to get the papers and then go straight to the notary. Unfortunately this delay cost us a travel day. We came back to the motel and filled in the papers for the Colombian passport and I ate dinner. Around 1:30 Anival came back and picked up Dad and me. We went back to the court place and had to wait while they made copies. Then we went to the notary. On the way I noticed one of the forms had some Jennifer's name on it as well as mine but my last name was spelled wrong. And it was the easy name. Not even the hard name! But Anival said our notary wouldn't look at that form. Some notaries do but not this one. So I think we're safe. We were at the notary for about 45 minutes. They typed up a new birth certificate with our names on it, I signed it, waited for copies, and away we went. Tomorrow we will go do her Colombian passport in the morning, the doctor in the afternoon. Thursday we will apply for her visa and we will go pick it up on Friday. So the earliest we could leave is on Saturday. But everyone seems to be heading to Minneapolis this weekend and we couldn't get a flight on Saturday. We're leaving on Sunday at 10:00, going through Newark, and landing in Aberdeen at 10:35. First people in line get to hold the baby. After Rob that is! :) And you might have to fight off Grandma Sandy. Sunday is fine for us. It would have been nice to get in on Saturday and then have Sunday to relax before Rob goes back to work but we'll deal with it. What matters is that we will have our baby home.

Grandma has a cold. Her throat hurts and her nose is running like crazy. I know how she feels. I'm still not quite over mine.

Murphy only got up once last night!! It was at 2:00 and was only for a half an hour.

I don't know how, but the A button fell off my computer last night. What a pain in the butt! I debated typing everything without an A but my obsessiveness wouldnt' let me do that.

Babe, I know I didn't call today and I'm very sorry. I can't stay awake anymore. And just in case the clock is wrong when I post this, it's 9:10. Which is my bedtime with a child who wakes up in the middle of the night and then is awake for good before 7:00.

No pictures yet. Can't stay awake plus I think I only have one of the court's office.

More tomorrow.

We have Sentencia!!!!

Cecelia just called and said the judge signed the papers and she will pick me up at 9:00 tomorrow morning to go sign the papers. Once I sign, Murphy is officially ours! I have the travel agent on the lookout for flights either on Friday or Saturday.

That's all for now...see you all soon!!!!

We love spending time with Grandpa and Grandma!

What a first few days it's been with Grandma and Grandpa! We finally have Internet full time again so now I have to catch up on a lot of stuff!!!

Thursday was Thanksgiving. We got ready and went to Bolivar Square. Megan, Juel, Benji, Patty, Sam, Isabelle, Theo, Rob, Murphy, Henry (our driver) and me. Rob and I hadn't heard much so we didn't know what to expect. You can see the pictures below. We ate dinner (sandwiches and chips) first. There is a big town square that is surrounded by the first church that was built in Bogota, the judicial building and the senate building. There is a statue of Simon Bolivar who we think led the revolution against the Spanish. We walked to the right (I have no idea which direction that is...east to me) and walked to the presidential house. There was one sidewalk that we weren't allowed to walk on because it's for the "important" people. And as we got closer to the house, we went through a little checkpoint and they checked our bags. And there were security guards all over. We also couldn't take pictures facing the house as they were afraid we would take surveillance pictures and find out where the guards are posted and how many guards there are and how we could take over the presidential house. We walked around to the "east" side and took our pictures with the guards. As Megan took her picture the guard kept telling her "closer, closer" and made her stand right in between them. Then we walked around to the "south" side and as we were walking up the street a whole bunch of film equipment and lights and actors and actresses were standing there. They were filming "The Treason". So we took our pictures with them, too. We walked back to the square and then headed to the van. We had to walk a ways to get to the van but we passed the house that holds the vase that started the revolution. It's now a museum. We also passed the largest library in a many country area but I forgot how many. We had to get home quick because Henry had to take a family to the airport. Cecelia came by in the afternoon and brought us flowers. She also told me that my papers are with the judge. So Megan and I have been hoping to hear something ever since. It's driving us crazy! The staff made us a traditional Thanksgiving dinner that night. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, applesauce, plums, pumpkin type bars (they were really good and I don't like pumpkin), salad, wine, and the really good lime desert.



It was Rob's last night so we finished packing his stuff and said goodbye to Megan, Juel, and Maria. Rob took care of Murphy that night and around 4:00 he brought her into bed with us so he could snuggle with her. The alarm went off at 5:30 but we had been awake since he brought her into bed with us. He got up and showered and he and Henry were on the road by 6:00. Henry got him checked in and on the plane. He made it through Houston and back to MSP around 7:30. His cousin Terry came to pick him up and take him to his car and he was on his way home by 9:10. He got home around 2:00 and had a nice night in his own bed. When I talked to him on Saturday he was in line to get his hair cut. He is looking forward to going back to school on Monday but not looking forward to spending time away from us. Hopefully we'll be home at the end of the week and he'll have a busy week so it will go quickly.



Friday after Rob left I didn't do very much. We hung out at the motel all day. Friday night we ordered Dominos. Well, we thought it was Dominos. We were a little nervous though. We wanted a large pepperoni and a large cheese and an order of breadsticks. The guy at the front desk is very nice but had no idea what we were talking about. He told us they didn't have breadsticks. We knew they did so couldn't figure out what he was talkking about. Megan went to talk to him and figured out that he was ordering us bread pizza (and just exactly what is that?) and a slice of pepperoni and a slice of cheese. So she got him staightened out but then he told us it was only $17. So we still didn't know if we were getting the right thing. We didn't get Dominos and we got two slices of bread instead of breadsticks but the pizza was really good. I gave Murphy a bath and in her pajamas and she took a little nap before we headed to the airport. Henry picked me up around 9:40 and we drove about 20 minutes to the airport. As we pulled up there were throngs of people there so I was nervous that they had already come out of the airport. Henry dropped me off up front and went to park the van. I scoped everything out and saw Mom's red coat through the glass windows. It took them a few minutes to come outside but when they did they (or maybe it was Mom) was busy talking to the man next to them! I videotaped them and waited until they noticed me. The man they were talking to was on the plane with them and helped them through the airport, customs, and all that. So I'm really glad they found him. He married a Colombian woman and was here for her sister's wedding. This all took place in about 15 minutes. So I'm glad we weren't late. We drove back to the motel and Grandma held Murphy (who was awake at this point). We got them situated in their room and we all went to bed.

Saturday I woke up early so I went out to the dining room and drank some tea. I wanted to wait to eat until they came out. Mom was first and we sat with Juel for a while. Dad got ready and then we all ate. Mom brought strawberry pop-tarts for Maria and me so we've been eating good the past few days. We didn't do a whole lot yesterday. Murphy got to know Grandma and Grandpa and Maria enjoyed spending time with "Grandpa".







We went to Poblanos for dinner and then went to Maku for a little shopping trip. We came back to the motel and vegged the rest of the night. We ate supper and Murphy and I went to bed around 9:00. She didn't sleep well but hopefully we have solved a little of her problems. She's been using slow-flow nipples. We tried a faster flow one and it didn't go over well. So it sometimes takes her close to an hour to drink six to seven ounces. So after a night of whining and crying (on Murphy's part...not mine) I decided to try the faster flow nipples again. Unfortunately, Rob just took them home. So I bought some today and man, was there a difference. It took her 22 minutes to drink the whole thing! She usually falls asleep while drinking because it takes her so long. Hopefully this will solve that problem.

Today I slept in until 7:15 or so because of our long night. After breakfast we got ready and headed to the market around 9:45. We took sandwiches, chips, and fruit for dinner. Mom found a few things. Grandpa pushed Murphy the whole time. He found out that she doesn't like to stop. On the way home I stopped to get the nipples and we got back after 3:00. Murphy took a short nap, we ate, Murphy had a bath and a bottle, and she's now in bed. Oh, she had cereal, too. We're hoping she sleeps better tonight. Otherwise Grandma is going to sleep in here with me tomorrow night and get up with her. I'm exhausted and it isn't helping my cold (which is much better, by the way).

We saw Cecelia at the market and subtly told her that we needed to buy all of our stuff at the market today because we hoped to get sentencia tomorrow and be out of here on Friday. She said that wouldn't happen because they hadn't done anyting on Friday so our papers wouldn't be ready tomorrow. Well that was sure a downer. She did say it's possible the papers could be ready late tomorrow afternoon. So we're hopeful. If we don't hear something tomorrow we won't be able to leave on Friday with Dad but maybe on Saturday.

I tried calling Rob but he must be busy because he didn't answer. We want to go to the leather district tomorrow morning maybe and then wait to hear something in the afternoon. We still want to go to Monserrate this weekand to Bolivar Square. That might be all we have time for. Megan and I are going to get the babies' passport pictures taken tomorrow. It won't save a whole lot of time but maybe some. We'll see. Hopefully we'll just get our call tomorrow. I've been here five weeks and Megan four and we're ready to go home now. We're still enjoying ourselves, but we have homes and families at home that we're anxious to get back to. Plus, a life with our children.

Have a great day!!!

Mom & Dad are here...

They got out of the airport around 10:15 and we got back to the motel around 10:45. They checked in and held Murphy Murph for a little bit and then went to bed. I called Rob. He is near Montevideo and may stop along the way to sleep in Watertown.

Rob is in MSP!

He's waiting for his cousin to come and get him and then he's on his way home. Mom and Dad should land in about 50 minutes. Henry will be here at 9:30 to pick us up and then we're off to get them. We're so excited!!!

We're back on...for now!

I'll post some pictures first because you might be going through withdrawal.



The building where a fight started over a vase and ended up in Colombia'a independence from Spain.



One of the many gorgeous women of Colombia.



Actors awaiting their cues. They were filming "The Treason".



The guards at the presidential house.



The beautiful view near Bolivar Square.



A statue of Simon Bolivar who led the crusade for independence (I think!).



The first church in Bogota, at Bolivar Square.



Rob and Maria.



Murphy just stares at Rob's hands.



Snuggling with Daddy.



We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe.



She loves her Daddy!



The lunchroom at the poor school (The Hogar).



One of the elementary classes.



Art class (just for you, Karyl & Linda!)



Two year olds on the playground.



The houses of the children who attend the poor school.



But I don't WANT a cow kiss!



Murphy and Benji.