Two weeks in - one man down

Sorry for not posting last night We had gone to Exito and Mimos and got back around 4:00 and on our way home Rob started feeling really sick. Things went downhill after that. Before I get into my long winded story, let me say that he is fine. He had severe stomach cramps so I talked to Katya, the owner of the motel, and she called her cousin, Dr. Clemencia. I'm guessing her husband is also a doctor because a man came with her. He is the one who actually examined Rob and said that he had contracted a virus and it led to inflamed intestines. Rob said it felt like someone was stabbing him in the stomach. We don't know what the virus is but have since found out that an Italian man that was a here a few weeks before us also had the same ailment. The doctor said it is contagious but not dangerous and said to not get to close to the kids. He also wasn't allowed to go out today (probably the thing that hurt the most!) and should take the medicine and eat a bland diet for three days. Dr. Clemencia came back today and checked on him and said he looked better. Two doctor visits, on the weekend, and one at 9:00 on Saturday night and we paid a whole whopping $60. Plus they called in medicine last night and it was delivered to our motel. He slept in Murphy's bed and she slept with me last night. Today I packed up Murphy and Jack and went to the markets. The double stroller is quite heavy. Add in two kids, a diaper bag, and a very large hill and I thought I was going to pass out. We had to stop at the top of the hill to have a drink and catch my breath. We only did the bottom part of the Santa Barbara market because they moved the top part and I figured it would be too hard for me to get that stroller all the way up there. On the way back down, Jack started bawling his head off and I couldn't push the stroller fast enough to make him stop! Usually he whimpers a little when we stop moving. That was obviously not the problem today! So I put him in the front pack and walked like that home. We stopped at Mimo's (ice cream) again today and then at the park nearby before we came home. I figured I worked off some of Juanita's food today. Rob was feeling better. He said the pains are still as bad as they were last night but not as often. Jack then turned into the crabby pants for the day. He was so tired but wouldn't take a nap. We were trying not to have Rob hold him but it finally got to the point where he had to try. Sure enough, it worked and Jack is now sleeping in his car seat. It's almost 8:00 so I'm not sure if he'll get any sleep tonight or not. I did two loads of laundry tonight and now Murphy is watching Shrek in Spanish with the neighbor kids. Rob and I are watching the Packers game. We had these great ideas that we'd be able to watch our shows (Grey's, Private Practice, How I Met Your Mother, Football) on the Internet. It was great until we got out of the US and found out that there are some international rules that prevent those shows from being shown outside the US. Fortunately we have been able to see the nighttime football games as well as the baseball games on TV. Rob listened to the Internet broadcast and watched the local TV the other night during the baseball game. I think it will be an early night for me. Jack can't decide if he wants to sleep all night or not and last night was one of the "not" nights. 

Alisa, the 18 gifts are for 18 adoption days. Murphy's adoption day is October 23 and Jack's is September 27. Every year on that date we will celebrate the addition to our family. We brought Murphy's gift this year but the little sneak found it in my suitcase. We gave her a pull toy that's a turtle (named Tyler Masat the Turtle) for her first Adoption Day, a puzzle for the second, and a purse and coin purse for the third. We're finding it a little harder to find boy gifts though. We worked really hard to find Murphy's. We had to agree on every single one so it took us a while. And we really thought about what she would be doing in her life at that point. We have fewer market days this time so we'll really have to get going. 

Cara, once the Defender of Minors approved our petition it enters the court system. There are 20 some courts; some are international adoption friendly and some not as much so. We were in court four last time and it went pretty quick. We didn't even see the Defender until two weeks after we got here and everything was final three weeks after that. That included several holidays and an election so we though it went fairly smooth. Some judges want you to bring cake and pop to celebrate. Ours didn't but I think he/she was still pretty international adoption friendly. Once the adoption is final (Sentencia) we have to go to the notary and change Jack's birth certificate, apply for his Colombian passport, go to the US embassy doctor, apply for his visa to enter the US, and then go pick it up. I'm not sure how the visa part has changed since 2007 because I think I've already applied for his visa. In any case, that stuff will all take about a week. Now that the Defender has approved our petition, we can travel within Colombia with Jack and one of us can leave the country, but not with Jack. That's how Rob is able to come home. When we have Sentencia, we have Sentencia. We aren't going to worry about whether we have it or not. We're going to enjoy every minute we get to spend in this wonderful place. The only reason we really care about what court we are in is so we can decide if Rob is going to come back down here after he goes home. If we are in a slow court and will be here for nine weeks, he will go home after four, stay there for a couple, then come back down. Or if we are in a fast court, and we are just about done when he plans to go home on October 24, he might just stay down for another week if we will be leaving soon. 

So there you have it. A pretty boring weekend for us. I'm not sure what we will do tomorrow. Rob is still on orders to take it easy. I might try to go to Maku but don't think I want to take both kids by myself. We'll see. 

Happy birthday Keely! We love and miss you! :) 

Coloring with Daddy. 

I found my toes! 

Someone got a hold of a red marker. Reminds me of the time Rhonda and I decided to be clowns and painted our faces with my mom's red lipstick. It was a great idea until Nancy called and said they were going to Aberdeen. I have never had my face scrubbed so hard in my life. And now, neither has Murphy. And just like lipstick, red marker doesn't come off in one washing. So she got to go around town like this yesterday, too.