I know it’s been awhile since we updated everyone, so I thought I’d write a little post this evening. First of all, thank you so much for praying for us! We are grateful.
A few specifics regarding the things we asked you to pray about:
• Luisa’s grieving process seems to have ended, at least for now, and she is bonding well with all of us! She calls me “mama” now, and she loves playing silly games with her sister – they laugh a lot. She seems equally attached to both Shaun and I. She also loves to give kisses to us and charm us with her smiles and giggles. We are thankful for this! We love her so much and she seems to be a perfect fit with our family.
• Molly seems to be doing a little better, although there are still ups and downs. Poor thing – she has not only had to adjust to having a new sister, but she is away from her school, away from her friends, her home, her language, her foods – it’s a lot to ask of a four year old. She is still under-rested, too. Please continue to pray for her.
• Luisa’s physical therapy here is done – they gave us a home plan that we are using, and that will suffice until we get home and start physical therapy in Austin (as well as speech therapy).
Other updates:
I (Katie) was sick for about a week with a stomach bug – that knocked me out for awhile, but thankfully it is over now. I was on an antibiotic because the doctor I saw said it wasn’t just a virus. Now I have a cough that won’t seem to go away, though I suspect it may be related to the air pollution. Between these illnesses and the 4-5 days it took to adjust to the altitude, I have not really felt very good the whole time I’ve been here – which has made being here even harder. You know when you’re sick, you just want to be at your own home in your own bed.
Today marks three weeks in Bogotá. That means it’s the half-way point for the average length of stay here for an adopting family. We are in Court 22 – but because the judges all switch courts after the New Year, our representative didn’t know anything about the judge there (whether s/he is fast, slow, etc). But you can please pray for our case in Court 22! :) We are still hoping to have a 5 week max stay here, but that would mean our case would have to be finalized sometime during this coming week.
We are starting to go a little stir-crazy. Just waiting and not knowing when it will end is pretty challenging. We joke with the other families at the hotel that life here is like the movie Groundhog Day – you just wake up and repeat the same day, everyday, over and over again. We eat breakfast around 8, we clean up, we go out for a walk and some playground time, we eat lunch at 12:30, we have nap/quiet time, then we have more time to kill (another walk if it’s not raining, or playtime and/or a movie if it is) until dinner at 6:30 , and then we put the girls to bed by 8. Lather, rinse, repeat. :)
Well, there’s not much else to say except that we miss all of you very much! We can’t wait to be home again, but it’s quite possible that it could still be another 3 weeks, or even longer (!). So please pray for us to be content here and wait well, as long as we are asked to wait.
Also, thank you to all of you that have purchased Valentines!!!!! It has been so very helpful and we are very grateful. :)
