sentencia!

Well the big news is that we signed sentencia today!  We could not be happier and if all goes to plan hope to be going home on Saturday.  I am in utter shock everything has happened so fast, at 3 pm yesterday we were in Medellin taking it easy not knowing anything and this morning we were in Bogota signing our paperwork which allows us to officially be with Giancarlo forever.  Tomorrow a few more errands and Thursday hopefully request his visa to enter the US which we will pick up Fri . . . .and off we go. . . . HOME SWEET HOME!

Day 9

Our second Satruday together has come and gone. . .I just commented to Anthony how today has been a good day, tantrum free and no big issues among the kids.  Oli is even getting better about sharing the stroller since Anthony had the brainstorm of offering to buy her either a stroller or her her first American Girl Doll.  She chose the doll but the deal is she has to wait until we get back to Miami!  (Thanks goodness for that bc since we have been here I think she broke the 50lb mark and carrying her is back breaking.)

Things are good here, the only complaint is the weather is pretty crummy, lots of fog, clouds and rain unfortunately which puts a damper on any plans we make outside. Now that Nonno is leaving tomorrow we will concentrate more on doing kid things.  Tomorrow we hope to go to the zoo. 

Giancarlo's first time eating ice cream with us. . . he LOVED it! 

Another solution to the 2 kids - one stroller problem . . .stack 'em up!

We are still pooling it every morning as long as its not raining.  LOVE this picture of my little girl.

Giancarlo being a HAM! 

Sibling love.  . .it does not get better than this!

We plan to be here in Medellin one more week and then head back to Bogota Oct 3rd.  My mom will come the 4th and Anthony will leave the 5th, since we have our big Miami Fundraising Dinner for our CF family foundation on Oct 7th.  It is sure to be a great event and I am very sorry to be missing it!

ONE WEEK!

Wow, has it only been a week since we have been a family of four?  It definitely seems longer yet 7 days ago we were not even together with Giancarlo yet.  Things are going well, he's a good napper, which gives me a little rest in the middle of the day to get things organized while Oli watches TV in Nonno's room next door.

We have been going swimming every morning and I am amazed at the progress this little boy is making in the pool.  He is already kicking his feet and moving his hands while wearing the swim vest I brought him from Miami.  He's also a daredevil and loves to jump right into the pool (as long as I am there to receive him!).  He loves it and asks about going several times a day.  After the pool we come back upstairs, give the kids a bath and I put him to bed.  In the afternoons we have been going out and visiting different places.  The weather has not been fantastic (lots of fog in the AM and scattered rain), but we have managed.

GC and I are getting in the groove of things, the tantrums are fewer and less severe.  I am figuring out he can often be distracted and he is more willing to come to me and help me calm him down.  He calls me tia, tia mami, mami tia and sometimes even mami alone, but not often spontaneously yet.  I have noticed he has a very high voice volume (I imagine it was the only way for him to have been heard over all the other kids at the orphanage) so we have to work on that. . . it seems he's shouting the whole time. . .lol.

Sorry about not posting pictures again, the camera is acting up, hope to get it resolved soon.  Hugs to all,

Day 5

We arrived in Medellin late last night after a short flight from Bogota.  The meeting with the Defender of Minors was long but went very well.   Of course you hope the kids behave at a time like that . . . Giancarlo arrived fast asleep at the office but woke up and began crying shortly thereafter while we were waiting for the attorney to send us in.  Unfortunately, even my backup plan, the LOLLIPOP, did not stop his tears or crying.  Then, Nonno (Anthony's father who is traveling with us) came to the rescue, scooped him up in his arms and Giancarlo proceeded to stop crying (mind you he did not stop when Anthony or I did the same thing).  So KUDOS to Nonno for saving the day!

Here are some pictures from the past couple of days:

On the way to Panaca ( a HUGE petting zoo)

Oli milking a cow!  She did a great job! 

 Oli trying to make her little brother smile . . . .lol

Giancarlo excited about finally getting on his "aballo"

Hotel  La Fontana. . .I have this same picture with Oli from 5 years ago!

Carlitos laughing with papi

Oli with Maresa, her friend from Hotel Paris (I found them in the bathroom with wet hair mixed with

 hand soap half an hour before we had to go meet the Defender of Minors).  Gee . . .I wonder whose idea that was!?!?!?

This one I just love because he looks SO darn CUTE!

The only part of Medellin we have seen so far is the hotel but it is BEAUTIFUL, and everyone is so kind and polite they make you feel like royalty.  This morning we took the kids to the pool after breakfast.  Oli of course was happy to be in a great big pool but I was wondering how GC would react.  I am not even sure if he has ever seen a pool before or gone swimming.  Let me tell you . . .  the smiles and whoops of joy this little guy gave me were worth the 3 1/2 years of waiting we had.  He was so happy . . . . 

Nonno, Oli, Papi and GC. . . why am I never in the picture?. . . OH that's right because I am always the one who takes them! 

Tell me that smile isnt priceless!!

Another favorite!

Hope you are all well! 

Day 3

Hi everyone, first of all I need to apologize bc I will not be posting any pictures tonight.  This is bc the camera is in the room (who know where) and if I have to go search for it AND  the &%^%$^ cable that constantly seems to dissappear,  I would probably convince myself to go straight to bed, so instead I am going to stay right here, blog for a bit and then go get some much needed sleep. 
What can I say about the past 2 days?  They have been filled with great moments and difficult ones.  The kids are getting along, Oli tries to help but sometimes her "helping" makes things harder.  Fortunately they are both good sleepers and the nonstop pooping has subsided (thanks to a home visit by a Dr and some medicine).  Giancarlo is a happy little boy but he has had a few tantrums and those have been trying.  We dont know what can set him off,  sometimes its something silly like being told not to do something but he winds up on the floor screaming and crying for up to half an hour.  He had his worse one today, he kicks, cries and screams and gets all stiff and does not want to be held or touched.  I just sit near him and let him get it all out and ask him if he is ready for me to help him every few minutes and eventually he says yes and holds out his little arms and then he just lays his head on my shoulder and puts his arms around my neck.  It just breaks my heart, knowing he has had so many changes in his short life, knowing he feels lost and confused and cannot express how he feels. I just hold him for a long time and keep telling him everything will be fine that we love his so much and that we will always be there for him.
 I am being flexible with him in many ways, for instance he insisted on bringing a piece of toast into the room after dinner tonight and I said he could.  He then proceeded to hold on to the toast for dear life and even wanted to take in to the shower. I convinced him to leave it on his bed, thinking he would forget about it but the first thing he said when we got back was "pan?".  I gave it back to him and we proceeded to read 3 books with crumbs falling everywhere between us.  He then wanted to sleep with it but agreed to let me put it on a shelf as long as he could have it in the morning.  So there is sits  . . . a piece of cold, smushed toast right next to his favorite car.  I know we need to establish trust and if that happens by having a few crumbs in bed or by having that toast sitting there that, so be it!
Tomorrow we have our meeting wih the Defender of Minors and them we are off to Medellin for almost 2 weeks of R & R (however much R & R you can get with 2 young kids).  SO looking forward to  it!

Day ONE

Well, it really has been a good day. . . the kids did wake up incredibly early. .  .maybe 6:30 but we all got into one bed and just hung out for a bit (not an easy task in a queen sized bed!). We had breakfast, and took a morning tour to Monserrate, a beautiful church overlooking Bogota.  The only way up/down is via a VERY steep train or a gondola.  It was a nice day but being SO high up (over 10,000 ft) we were quickly out of breath.  To top it off Oli still asked to be carried or in the stroller most of the time so someone was always being held.  After lunch GC (Giancarlo!) took a nap and we wound up going to the park/baby store for some essentials.  The kids are getting along quite well, It's sometimes difficult to understand what he's saying but I'm sure that will get easier in time.  Some things I have learned about my new son today:

1)  He is a sweetheart, has a smile that lights up a room.
2) He adores his toy cars and can play with them for a long long time.
3) He is a good eater!  So far the only thing he has not liked are cucumbers (cant blame him!)
4) We may have to watch his food intake, he will eat and eat and eat . . .
5) We suspect he may also have some type of gastrointestinal thing going on bc he has pooped *8* times today and 7 of them were super soft.
6) He already ADORES his papi, cant stop saying papi papi all day long.
7) At Pisingos they explained that since all his caretakers are women he calls them all "tia" (aunt)  . . .. that it will take a while for him to realize the meaning of  having one "mami"   . . . . So far I am called tia. . . .   :)
8) When he lays his head on your shoulder, it just makes you just melt

Here are some pictures from yesterday and today I wanted to share:

 this one is Oli at Plaza Bolivar feeding the pigeons yesterday . . .a close second to her favorite moment of the day!

I know its not great (taken through a glass with flash) but this is the moment Oli and Giancarlo met.

This one is what I think he looks like the most in real life! (I dont think he looks much like his referral photo!)

Here is Oli, papi and Giancarlos with Lucas the llama

I LOVE this one bc Oli spontaneously took his hand as we were walking up in Monserrate

Giancarlo being goofy. . . here you can see the gap of his misisng tooth (it had to be extracted bc he fell and broke it.)

Exhausted after Monserrate. . . .which leads me to fact # 9 I have learned about him today. . . .he snores!  He fell asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel.. . . .Oli's comment about the fact

 "Oh great, now we have two snorers in the family!"

Introducing . . . . the newest member of our family. .Giancarlo Andres De Vita!

Well  . . . .here he is! Finally in our arms . . . .I promised to blog before the day was over and I just made it. . . the kids are both asleep now so I can have a few minutes to myself.   All went very well today, we had to wait until 5pm to get him but it was a smooth transition. . .  not even one tear!  The staff at Pisingos is so good about transitioning the children. . . . Our little boy is a total sweetheart, very happy and easygoing. . . loves loves loves cars and full of energy  . . . . he is all boy.   The meeting was great, Oli went in first with a big lollipop for him and played with him a little before Anthony and I went in.  We stayed there for about 15 minutes playing and then he said he was hungry (it was dinner time at Pisingos), so we said "we'll take you to eat at the hotel . . let's go!" and so off we went!  He had already said goodbye to everyone but still, as we left staff and kids kept saying "bye osito" (his nickname-meaning little bear) to nim and he waved to them all . . very sweet.  We had dinner at Hotel Paris, played a while and them the kids went to sleep quite easily.  We'll see how tomorrow goes but so far so good.  Oli is actually the one having a harder time with all of this, she was very whinny all day wanting to be carried and in a stroller all day (which she has not used for a year) and actually said to Anthony "it's no fun being a big sister". . . . lol

Still cant believe we have TWO kids sleeping in the room next door that are ours.  Tomorrow Monserrate here we come! 

September 13th - Giancarlo's 3rd birthday

Monday is over, which means we only have one whole day left to finish everything we need to do before heading to COL. I am pretty much in control considering Oli has been sick since Friday so not only have I had her at home all this time, I had to take her to the Dr AND start doing the nebulizer on her 3x a day. Thank goodness for my mom and aunt Nancy (her sister visiting from Argentina) bc I would not be able to do everything without them.


So, I was quite nervous all day since, I knew that at 3pm we would be connecting with Giancarlo through Skype . . . . I could not eat at all! When 3 pm rolled around, we all sat around the computer (Anthony, Oli, my mom, aunt, nonna, nonno and me) and it was soo wonderful to see him there. . .sitting at a desk and looking at us. I must admit the conversation was quite one sided, but we did plenty of waving, smiling, singing, clapping and aaawwwing. He did say "mami", "papi" and "Oli" a couple of times which just made me melt. We sang happy birthday to him with a tiny cupcake that had 3 candles on it. . . and when the song finished he tried to blow the candles out through the screen. Oli, AKA "Little Miss Chatterbox", who could NOT wait for 3pm to come went totally MUTE and hardly said a word for the entire 20 minutes we were connected. It was very funny.

I want to thank everyone for all the good wishes and prayers you have been sending our way. I am so happy I walk around with a goofy grin on my face all the time. Cant wait for Thursday, when our lives will change forever . . . .

Love to all,

Z

The day has arrived!

Hello all . . . . well here we are . . . . after waiting 3 years, 4 months and 15 days we have received the most precious little boy we could have ever imagined! 

We would like to introduce you to Giancarlo Andrés De Vita, age almost 3 (this coming Monday).  Raul called us with the amazing news late Wednesday and we have been on overdrive ever since.  We had been very good about keeping all our documents up to date and hit the ground running.  Since we have an I 600 visa we dont have to wait a few weeks before travel and we are actually going to be going to Bogota to pick him up in FOUR days!!!

This will be short bc we have SO much to do in a very limited time but needless to say we are extatic, overjoyed and thrilled all at once, as is Oli!