About German revised!

Sorry about the last post. When I typed it, it went the way I wanted but I didn't realize that when I posted it that it had changed. John told me about it so here it is fixed.

Likes:
Fruit, Soft boiled eggs, electronics, Leap Frog (calls it Atari), transformers, drawing, tracing and coloring, music, brushing his teeth

Dislikes:
Fish, spaghetti (hope he likes it they way we make it), being told "NO", going to bed, being woken up in the morning

Hope this one posts better. Have a good night!

About German

Well, it has been 2 weeks since German has physically come into our lives and in those couple of weeks, we have learned alot. German is very affectionate. He loves to kiss. He is always willing to help someone. Yesterday, Carmen (B&B owner) brought a truck load of supplies to El Refugion and German jumped right in to help bring the stuff in. He is really missing his Papi since him and Tiffany went back to the US yesterday but is doing better today since we talked to John on the telephone. Here are some of his likes and dislikes.

Likes: Dislikes:
Fruit Fish
Soft Boiled Eggs Spaghetti (hopefully he will learn to like)
Brushing teeth Being told "NO!"
Electronics Going to bed
Leap Frog (he calls it an Atari) Being woken up in the morning
Music
Transformers
Drawing & tracing
Coloring

As time goes on, of course we will learn alot more especially when he is exposed to US foods. The Colombian foods are bland. We like spicy food so hopefully, he will learn to like. German is working on his numbers up to 10 and his alphabet. It is a little difficult to work on anything here with all the other kids around. He just wants to play. His manners are getting much better. We have taught him to say please, thank you and excuse me.
I am thankful I will have more time in the states to help him adjust before I have to go back to work. I took 6 weeks off because we were told it would take about 4 weeks in Colombia. Then, I would have 2 weeks with him at home. Since it didn't take that long for the adoption, I will have about 3 and a half weeks with him at home.
We will have to get him to the doctor, his immunizations up to date and registered for school. We have no medical on him so in the US, he will be getting a lot of shots. During the physical here, he weighed 52 lbs and the doctor said he needed to lose weight! He is wearing a size 6-7 pants and small shirts. Well, I am going to get ready for one last adventure out before we leave so I will write more later.

WE ARE OFFICIALLY A FAMILY OF FOUR!

Today, German became a Middaugh officially. Yes, we have the final adoption decree! We broke a record. It only took 2 days to get our adoption done. We are still in shock. On Tuesday, the 25th, we had our integracion and were told about 2 weeks for the courts to process. Well, we got a phone call last night to say the court in Gacheta was done with our paperwork and John needed to go there today to sign the final decree. He also was able to get the corrected birth certificate with Middaugh as the last name. He had to leave at 6:00 am for the 2 hour drive and it only took 1 and a half hours to sign the paperwork and get the birth certificate. They were back in Bogota by 1200 in which German and I had to meet him at the Colombian passport office. We were there less than an hour and left with his passport in hand. At this point, I am still in shock. I was preparing myself to be here at least 2 more weeks. Not that it would be a bad thing but with John not being here to help me, it would have been a little difficult since German listens to John more than me. After the passport office, we went back to El Refugio to get Tiffany so we could go to Archie's for pizza. We had planned on that since Monday since John and Tiff were leaving and we didn't know how long it would be before the four of us would be eating together again. After pizza, we went to the store for batteries and gum (for the plane ride). We had to be back at the hotel for 4:00 so we could go get the physical done. Yes, we had an appointment at 4:30 for the physical on a Friday. Can you believe it? I don't think you could find a doctors office in the States open that late on a Friday. At least none at any place we have lived so far. Needless to say, we are completely done with the Colombian side of the adoption and the only thing left for us is the US Consulates office for the visa. German and I will be leaving either Tuesday or Wednesday. I am ready to start our new life in the US but I am also sad for German to be leaving what he has known for the first 7 years of his life.

My trip to Colombia

My plane ride to Colombia wasn't very great but we meet new friends on the way. The friends that we met where going to the same place as us. They wished us good luck on getting my brother. We got my brother Monday. He was very quiet but the next day, he was talking to us. He does not like to listen because he was never been told no before. He will call me Tiffany sometimes and sometimes, he will call me hermana (sister). German is very ticklish and he likes to play outside. We had a pillow fight the other night and he is strong. It was fun. I love my brother alot. He is fun. We go to parks, play cards and watch movies together.

The ride to Gacheta was beautiful. THe weather is hot. The food is pretty good. I liked when we went to Archie's Pizza. I made my own pizza and then ate some of my mom and dad's pizza. It was awesome. We eat most of our meals at our hotel. I ate rice with stuff that looked like worms to me. The ladies at El Refugio make good chicken. We had waffles with tuna on it and it was good. I didn't want to eat it at first so I tried a little bite and liked it. There is a fruit that when you open it, it looks like fish eggs. It wasn't very good. My mom didn't want to eat it because she was scared to. I am having fun but I can't wait to go home. Me and daddy are going home on Saturday but mommy and German will stay here until they're done.

Love, Tiffany

Integracion Complete!

Hello everyone! Well, integracion is complete. Yeah! We can now continue with the court process. We were told today that our court is not in Bogota like originally told. It is in Gacheta which is where German is from. Our lawyer is going there tomorrow to start the paperwork. During the intergracion today, we were asked a lot of questions. The interview was done by the psychologist. She asked questions to all four of us. She also said it would take at least 2 weeks to complete that process so it doesn't look like German and I will be coming home by next week after all. John and Tiffany are leaving Saturday so that will give me and German a little more one on one time. He is doing much better today with listening. Last night, he threw a terrible tantrum that lasted almost an hour but we didn't give in. Today is a lazy day. We have just stayed here at the B&B because it has looked like rain all day. Hopefully, we can venture out again tomorrow.

Easter Sunday in Bogota

Not much in the way of pictures today although there are a couple posted below. We went out with 4 other families today to a local Pizza Restaraunt and had a great time. They have an area where the kids can make their own pizzas and then they will cook them. Since we were going to eat, we left the camera behind, big mistake. German had a blast. The chefs were great with interacting with each of the kids and by the time they were finished making the pizzas, they were all covered with flour. Oh, the pizza was actually really good. I was kind of skeptical at first, but would go back in a heart beat.

We have had a hard time with German the last couple of day with listening. He does not like to be told no! We have been told that they are told yes to about everything up to the age of 7 or so and then the parents make the switch to telling them no. Between us telling him no and the language barrier it is pretty tough for all of us right now. He has actually started to throw tantrums when we tell him no, but calms down after a while. It has worn on us a little, but we expected some of what is going on. We all just have to have patience to work through it.

After lunch today, one of the women here in the B&B bought candy for all the kids and hid it out back in the yard. The kids had to search the lawn, bushes and trees for the candy. I think they all had a great time. Of course the amount of chocolate some of them ate will keep them up all night, hahaha!

Tiffany and German after the candy hunt. Both got a Kinderegg and some other chocolates.

German getting ready to dig into his egg.

Tiffany already finishing up her candy.

Some pictures of Bogota!

Here are some pictures of Bogota. I would have been able to get better pictures if we weren't in a moving vehicle. Some of Bogota is very nice but a lot of it that we had seen is very poor looking. I think everytime we have been out, someone has approached us for money. It is sad to see children out begging. You want to give to every child but you know you can't. They say to be careful if you do give money because once you do it, it will always be expected. Bogota is in much better shape than we we had expected. They actually have several places that are familiar to the US, like McDonalds, Burger King, Dominoes, Quiznos and Pizza Hut. We are going to try Pizza Hut tomorrow for lunch because that is the only meal not provided during an entire week.