It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...

Chaos!  

Gotcha.  You thought I was going to say Christmas, but I didn't!  Have I mentioned that I'm a Type-A?  Oh yes, God's still working on this aspect of my life big time, as I have seven half-filled suitcases scattered around the house with heaps and piles and bags and lists of stuff to do and pack.  Of course, on top of every suitcase is a neatly typed out packing list complete with bulleted boxes that are getting neatly crossed off, one at a time.  In the basement are several small stacks of Christmas gifts for the children, the cousins, etc., labeled with sticky notes so that my mom can stop by and wrap them in our absence.  (Thanks, Mom!)  And the house is half labeled with Spanish/English labels to help the children learn English and to help Nic remember how to tell the children to put away toys and not drive the toy cars on the walls.  It's complete chaos, and I've never felt such amazing peace in spite of the tremendous unknowns.  

Between the basement and the bedrooms is the everyday chaos that two adorable children ages 2 and almost 4 dream up while playing "Joseph", "Moses", or "David & Goliath."  Why do they always pick the violent, messy parts of the Bible stories to act out - especially while Nic's at work?  I quote my 2 year old son speaking to my daughter: "I'm gonna throw you in the pit and sell you to the Ishmaelites!"  (See Genesis 37)  And again my son said, this time to me, "Mama, you be Goliath and I'll be David, and I'm gonna knock you down!"  (See 1 Samuel 17)  Unfortunately he said this while I was on a conference call with our adoption agency working out some details.  Why can't they act out the feeding of the 5,000 or the walking on water or the children coming to Jesus?  Something sweet and gentle with less drama and extreme vocals.  And why when the phone rings?  We're still working on phone etiquette with the children - the number one reason I don't answer the phone in the mornings. 

Today we were waiting for several important phone calls and each time the phone rang the children were instructed to scurry to their rooms and play individually with toys or look at books until the call was done.  After two miserable failures, we had a little remediation and tried again when the phone rang again the third time.  It was a huge success and we celebrated with a piece of Halloween candy.  The kids are used to fruit as "treats" every day, so a real piece of candy was like hitting the jack pot.  I made the next few phone calls so much easier!  

We're still waiting to hear if the Colombian consulate in Chicago is going to process our visa and send it back via FedEx or if they are going to require us to travel to Chicago yet this week to pick it up in person like it says on their website.  During our two previous adoptions we didn't have to pick it up in person.  It is a new requirement, but some other families have been blessed to just receive it back via FedEx without having been requested to travel.  We're hoping for that same blessing!

On Monday we received an update from the psychologist and defender of minors who are working with the children.  They answered our initial questions regarding the children, including updated sizes - which unfortunately were in Colombian sizes which I think I remember being different from ours, not measurements.  The sizes they listed were far too big compared to their height/weight at their summer visits, so I think that their US clothing sizes are closer to age appropriate sizes: 5/6, 8, 10.  The shoe sizes were listed in European sizing, but I figured that out.  We were encouraged to hear that the children were being prepared to come to an adoptive family and prepared to come to the US.  We pray daily for God to prepare their hearts to join our family and love their new siblings.   

Our flight leaves Friday, November 21st for Bogota with a short layover in Atlanta.  We will arrive late in Bogota, spend Saturday in the area and then fly out Saturday evening for Pereira.  We will have Sunday to get settled and ready for our newest children.  Our little ones at home are very excited and have made a paper chain to count down the days until we leave.  We are bringing the little ones with us so that we can all bond together as a family together as one family during our time in Colombia.  Please pray for safe travels and good health as we all share a room at the Hotel del Cafe for 3+ weeks.

Back to the chaos...