Finally...an update!

OK, I'll finally catch up here. I'm still sicker than a dog. I think I overdosed on cough drops last night. I ate the entire pack and this morning I felt pretty light headed. Maybe it was a mixture of cough drops, cough syrup, Sudafed, and Vicks.

Sunday we walked with Patty to the market. It's about a mile away (we really have no idea but Rob's hiking instincts think so) and it was really nice out so we had a good time. The market is kind of like a fair or craft show in that vendors are set up in booths and they're all selling something. A lot of jewelry, woven things, bags, purses...crafty stuff. We got a few items at one market and decided to head home to watch the Charger game (yes...I'll get to that). Monday was a holiday so the market would be open then, too. Also, on Sunday's some of the roads are closed to traffic to allow for exercise...biking, walking, rollerblading. We couldn't figure out why the bikers walked the bikes over the bridges, though. On the way home we stopped at El Corral to eat. It looked like any American restaurant...Chili's, Applebees, Bennigan's... Rob got a hamburger and he wasn't sure if the hamburger was that good or if it was just the fact that he hasn't had one for two weeks. (He gets lots of chicken here.) I had a harder time finding something so I ordered some sort of salad (it ended up being a slice of onion, a slice of tomato, and a slice of lettuce, all covered in "not" blue cheese.) I also ordered some mushrooms that ended up being sauteed in garlic and weren't too bad but you couldn't eat very many, and just to be safe, I ordered french fries. Good thing I did that. We got back to the motel and Murphy slept, Rob listened to the game on the computer, and I watched TV. We all know how the game turned out. Rob listened for a while then quit. Then he couldn't take it so he'd listen again. And then he'd quit. And it wasn't only that the Chargers lost but that they lost to the Vikings. That was probably the hardest thing for him. He dreaded checking his email (especially if there was one from Rick!). Murphy actually took a nap at a good time (4-6 or so) and then woke up for the evening and went to bed around 9:30. We watched the Amazing Race and I went to bed, too.



(Obviously this was before the game...they weren't smiling after!)

Monday, she slept until 8:30 or so. We wanted to go back to the market so after breakfast we got ready and headed out around 11:00. The weather was beautiful. I had gotten a little sun on Sunday so we both put on sunscreen but still got some color. We went to the farthest market but didn't find much so we went back to the first one. It started getting really dark and we didn't have an umbrella so we figured we better head home. We stopped at Carulla to pick up some groceries and then went to Archie's again for pizza. We are really tired of motel food and it's $10 each for dinner and supper. We can eat out cheaper than that and get more variety so we stopped our dinners beginning this week. While we were at Archie's it started pouring. Raining cats and dogs. So we waited for a while. Murphy tried sleeping but two times a balloon popped and scared her half to death. (This was part of her holy terrorness to come.) We finally decided to make a run for it. We were only seven blocks from the motel and it had let up quite a bit. So Rob put Murphy in the front pack and I pushed the stroller with the groceries strapped in. On the way I was ahead of Rob and Patty & Sam and I was waiting on the sidewalk to cross the street and a car drove by and splashed me really bad. Otherwise I wouldn't have gotten wet at all.



Around 4:00 Murphy started getting sleepy so we fed her and tried to get her to nap. Yeah right. She hadn't napped much during the day so I knew she was tired. Overtired was more like it. She cried for about twenty minutes and finally fell asleep. I layed her down and she woke up. So Rob tried. She cried for a while and then finally fell asleep on his leg. He moved her and she woke up. And cried and screamed and bellered and wailed and bawled. I don't have a lot of patience but I guess I do with crying babies because I never really freaked out or anything. I just felt bad for her because I knew she was unhappy. We tried everything that normally works and it just didn't this time. So I decided we needed help. As I was on my way down to get someone, Tonya from Kansas City was walking up the stairs. So she held Murphy for a while and told us to go eat. As we got to the dining room, Megan from Minneapolis asked if I'd given her anything. I did have ibuprofen and acetaminaphin but hadn't used either. She looked at them and told me which one to use and how much. So I went back upstairs to give her the medicine and Tonya thought Murphy could be teething because she had been gnawing on Tonya's finger and her husband, Tim's finger. So we tried Oragel, too. She would calm down for a while then scream bloody murder again. By the time we finished eating, Juel (Megan's mom) had taken over. She finally got her to sleep. It had been over two hours that she'd been crying. I think part of the problem was the fact that those balloons popped at Archie's. She was so jumpy after that. Every little thing would make her jump and scream her head off. And the other problem was that she was over tired. She woke up once around 9:30 and I held her for a little bit and she went back to sleep. She woke up at 1:00 and drank part of a bottle and then again at 5:00 and drank more. By this time I was really hacking and couldn't get back to sleep (and because of me neither could Rob). We had to get up at 6:00 and of course that's about the time I fell back asleep. I got up around 6:15 and we all got ready for our meeting at the defendor of minors.



Cecelia came to get us at 7:30 (Yikes, that's early these days!) and we headed downtown. The traffic was bad and we were late. We got there around 8:10 and the woman was waiting for us. She basically told us the same things we learned at Pisingos last week about her birth mother. This woman, Vilma, had interviewed her birth mother when she terminated her rights and Vilma said that Murhpy resembled her and that she was a pretty woman. She asked us why we chose to adopt from Colombia and then told us Murphy's history. She signed the papers and we were done. While Cecelia was making copies I asked this woman if she spoke English and she said no. Right as we were getting up to leave I asked Cecelia if the lawyer had gotten our papers submitted on Thursday like she had planned to. And Cecelia said "You shouldn't ask that!". So we left. On the ride home Cecelia told me that the lawyers try to submit the papers early but they take a chance by doing that because the defendor of minors MIGHT NOT approve our petition to adopt. Then they would be in trouble. The lawyer that is. She called our lawyer on the way home and found out that she tried to submit the papers on Thursday but the system was down so she didn't do it until today and that we should know which court we're in by the end of the week. When we got back to the motel Patty talked to Cecilia about her case and we changed clothes and went downstairs for breakfast (it was only 9:00 by this time). Oh, I forgot, Murphy was really good at the defendor of minors. She fussed for a little bit and then fell asleep. Cecelia said that if we wanted to go see Freddy the jeweler the van would take us there. So the Willrett's, Patty & Sam, and Rob, Murphy, and I went over there. Megan had gotten a ring when she was here before and an emerald fell out so she wanted to get it fixed. I found a pendant that was fairly inexpensive. It didn't come with a chain, which was fine because I didn't like the one they had on it. We bought it for Murphy for her wedding. I'll wear it until then. Rob fed Murphy just as we were leaving Freddy's and she fell asleep on the way home.

We got back around 12:30 and had leftover pizza for dinner. Rob and Murphy went downstairs to socialize for a while and I've been blogging. We just laid her down again so hopefully she'll sleep for a while.

It was a year ago yesterday that Bob died. It hardly seems that long ago. We still miss her but know that our lives have changed since then.

Yesterday was also my boss' birthday!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOM! I've been lucky. I've had some great bosses and he's definitely one of them. And after the week his teams have had (Denver and Nebraska) you sort of have to feel bad for him! :)

SO, regarding the comment on my last post...yes, Murphy does take after her mother. I didn't like to sleep anywhere but my own bed and I still like my own bed. Preferably my bed at my mom and dad's house. And I'm guessing that was my mother who posted that, but it could also be Kathy or Karyl because I've heard the mountain lion story many, many times. SO be sure to label your comments (if you select Other instead of Anonymous it will let you type in your name) otherwise you may get blamed for something you didn't type! :) I did figure out Pam had posted because I knew Corey would have been rooting on the Vikings. There was also a comment a while ago that said "Dana, You're a Mommy!" that I think was Denita. Am I right?

Cara, I'm excited to think that one of the kids might be a girl! And don't worry, I won't let you drive around a 15 passenger van! I forgot to ask the other day at the orphanage about kids but I will find out.

We love all of your comments. We miss our friends and our family and hearing from you makes it better. So if you're lurking out there, stop it! :) Let us know you're reading!

Karen & Starfish...We haven't eaten at Jacques yet but we did have one of those caramel things inside a flat ice cream cone. Man, was that good! I'll be buying some caramel!

It's been two whole weeks that we've been together. She's growing and we're all growing together. We couldn't be happier!