Tuesday April 3rd

Happy Birthday, Sohrab!!!

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile.  We've been busy trying to see as much as possible in Medellin before Sohrab left.  Also, we had more bad news on Friday so it's been difficult to be positive knowing that we have more delays and Sohrab would be leaving soon.  The bad news is that our Attorney was going to pull our file and resubmit to the courts since he ended up getting submitted to the court with the judge who is against adoptions.  The court would not let her pull the file last week and told her she would need to come back next Tuesday (April 10th) to try again.  Not sure what will happen if she isn't able to pull the file then.  So, we'll have been here 1 month before our file is even submitted to the court.  Originally, we thought we would be flying home from Bogota that day.  The really bad news is that all of the delays we've been warned about are still around the corner once we enter the court system.  We were hopeful that we may be home mid-May but I don't see that being a possibility anymore unless we had the best luck ever.  Now, we are hoping for mid_June.  Our Visa expires beginning of June so if we are still here, we'll need to fly to Bogota to get it extended which we are not looking forward to.

Anyway, Sohrab left yesterday morning ~4:15AM.  It was a very sad day here as I was having a difficult time trying to figure out how I was going to manage on my own for 2 weeks (until Sanaya arrives).  It's so lonely here already without Sohrab as hardly anyone speaks English.  I feel like we are in our own little world and continue to try to befriend anyone I can (no luck so far).  I'm feeling better today as we made it through yesterday.  Everyone else that has used our agency (LSSMN) has been in Bogota and we've always heard about the great connections people have made with other families which has helped people get through the long stays here.  So far, we know of no other families here in Medellin.  I emailed our agency yesterday to see if they could check with the orphanage to see if there are other families working with different agencies that we could connect with.  Hopefully, we'll find someone.  I feel sorry for Tavo as he is looking so hard to make friends but has had no luck so far,  We'll continue to hang out at all of the kids' places and search for friends for us all :)

I'll post pictures after the boys go to bed tonight.  We're excited to Skype with Sohrab tonight and both boys really miss him.  Sohrab was always in charge of David's bath and lotioning him up so when I was applying lotion yesterday, he kept saying "Da da, da da".  He also was looking at his little photo book yesterday and pointing to Sohrab and saying "da da".  So cute.  When I asked where's ma ma and where Gustavo, he also pointed to our pictures.  It's amazing the bong that he's already formed with us and how quickly it formed.  He is so mobile and so close to walking.  He loves to stand.  He's generally a very happy little boy.  He continues to remind us of Gustavo at this age.  He's a good sleeper and good eater so we've been very lucky.  Gustavo is such a great big brother and plays well with him.  I feel like Gustavo has grown up so much while we've been here.  It's hard to believe that he's not even 5 yet!  We've been playing a lot of UNO and War and before Sohrab left, they were playing a lot of parcheese (sp?).

I'll have to post about the happenings of the last week when I post the pictures but wanted to finish with a quick post on the last few days.  On Sunday, we moved to a new apartment.  The apartment is much smaller than the old one but is in a perfect location.  It is right between 2 major malls here (Oviedo and Santa Fe).  Not sure why 2 huge malls are built right next to each other but it's great for us.  We also have a nice grocery store right next door that we can walk to in less than 5 minutes and there are outdoor ramp style escalators that is make it easy to bring the stroller with.  The apartment has air conditioning which is great because we are right above a busy street so it gets noisy.  We finally got the WIFI working yesterday afternoon.  On Sunday, we walked to the grocery store and to both mall to find the best walking paths with the stroller,

Yesterday, we went to McDonalds (few blocks down the street) for lunch.  So different that what we are used to.  The menu is pretty small (no dollar menu) and it's pretty expensive.  Tavo got a kid's meal of course and he got the toy he wanted so that made his day.  We also got a coupon to get 1/2 off admission to Divercity so that pretty much paid for his meal.  The huge play structure was on the 2nd floor.  The manager had one of the employees bring our food up for us and another employee carried the stroller upstairs.  When we were done eating, an employee came around with a dessert/coffee menu which was nice to be able to order from her and not have to go downstairs again.  Most of the people here are very friendly and accommodating but it would be nice if we could communicate better.  The boys' took 2 hour naps in the afternoon and even slept through having people in the apartment setting up WIFI.  We hit the grocery store after nap and then had spaghetti for dinner.  This apartment only has 2 burners and a few pans so it was a challenge to make everything but it turned out good and now we have some leftovers.

We are excited to see Sanaya in 2 weeks and she'll stay here for a week which will be nice.  Hopefully, we can move around the city again and see more sights as well as return to our favorite places.  Also, my mom and possibly my dad (depending on how my grandpa is doing ) will hopefully be able to come May 6th for a week.  Anyone else that wants to visit is more than welcome!  I am dying to adult interaction and help so that we can move around outside the malls.  I know this post is a downer but am feeling more positive today.  Just so David comes home with us, we can handle long time here and being away from each other!  It is a beautiful day here so we are going to explore another kids' area in Oviedo later today.

Pictures and more info to come later tonight!
-Jennifer