Days 35-40: Sentencia!! (sorta?), making grandparents tired, and travel update

So I just sorta forgot to blog the past few days.. well almost the past week.. and then I thought about it.. and then I didn't.. and then I fell asleep.. or then I thought about it and didn't care because I was tired.. ya know.. that :-)

First, let's talk about where we are at in the process, as my process this time hasn't been nearly as cut and dry and not as "normal" due to my court. So, I DO have "Sentencia" meaning that the Colombian government and the judge for Court 22 has agreed to Sam's adoption and he is henceforth decreed Samuel Alejandro Sibley, effective June 7th, 2013. I went and signed on Friday morning. The catch? Is that the Defendor of Minors assigned to my court won't "resign" his rights until the final moment he is made to. He has agreed to the adoption, don't worry,he is just making a point. He has 4 business days after the Judge's decree, and because today is a holiday, it means I won't have my official copies of the document until next Friday.. and even that isn't always a guarantee with Court 22. Like all could be well, but if for some reason the secretary isn't there to stamp the copies or whatever, I'm still in limbo. Ted and I had to make some really hard judgement calls with the rebooking of my flight. On one hand, we could try to get me home earlier, but then we run the risk of something going wrong (and a lot of things could given all of the hoops I need to jump through quickly to get back into the USA and my Embassy appointment).. if we book later (and we did) we know we have plenty of time even if I hit a few snags or something doesn't happen on the day it is supposed to.. I can get tickets that aren't ridiculous in price (relatively).. and worst case scenario I end up sitting here for a few days with all things done and I can focus on showing Sam the last few days in his birth country.

Because, oh wait, this ISN'T about ME.

When I get on that plane, Sam will be losing it all. He has already lost his friends at Fana, but he can still understand everyone around him and the smells and sounds are right. When we get off the plane in Texas, there won't be little old ladies cooing at him saying "hola mi amor chiquitito!!!" that he gets everywhere he goes here. His only point of reference at that point will be me and Ben who came along with him. So yes.. I MAY be sitting here in two weeks with everything wrapped up in a bow and ready to go on the plane.. but that will be the perfect time to really focus on Sam. If I try to rush out of here.. I gain a few days with my husband and Worthy to Shine(although given how sleep deprived and burnt out I am, I know I wouldn't be worth much anyway), but I'd be losing a few more thousand dollars and precious time Sam won't get back.. and that choice would be much more about me and what I want emotionally, rather than what is best for Sam and for us financially.

So anyway.. hopefully I get my copies on Friday and then the week after I can start working through the new birth certs, passport, and IR3 visa stuff for the US embassy.

So since I wrote last, Grammy and Papa arrived and went around doing all of the same things we already did with Ted, and then again with Auntie Breann! Hence why I didn't go into that much detail on a daily basis. I think we tired them out well enough. Randy is now on the plane back home and my mom is out for a breather.

Here are a few highlights from last week.

We attacked Simon Bolivar Parque



We went back to the Candelaria and enjoyed yet another really huge protest. This time, it was Colombians marching to stop the importing of stuff from China and to only buy Colombian (especially leather in the form of shoes, purses, etc).



Oh look, back at the Montserrate!



With Randy's departure today, and Lucas and Mom on Thursday, it was time to fill suitcases with items for Sam's culture box, as well as the Fana gala next month in MN. There was some intense shopping on Cyclovia/Market day this week!

Here you see us enjoying the street vendors..



Here, you see the results of my failed haggling with the soccer jersey guy.. and even through Ben is the child least likely in most of earth to be a Colombian soccer star, he still wanted one and wears it proudly. Way to support buddy!



Lastly, this is me negotiative some of the first crop of the day with one of my mango guys.. turns out when you smile sweetly and explain what you're really after, he will slice it up on the spot. Thanks Mango guy!!



Below is an example of what is usually going on when we are skyping (in this case, with Uncle Evan). Lucas was intently asking Evan about a game he had, and Ben had a tantrum and lay on the ground to whine for a bit, so I capture this precious moment.



Last night, we actually had one of our roughest nights to date here in Room #2. Sam woke up around 2am.. and noticed that Ben and Lucas had made their progression to my bed... where he decided he also wanted to be.. except that he did not want to sleep there. He wanted to crawl all over everyone and not lay down.. and any notion of laying down (although he was exhausted and cranky) was not to be had.. which resulted in all 3 or 4 Sibleys crying at various times. I couldn't lay on the ground with him, or the others would freak. I couldn't put him back in crib or he would freak. I wouldn't have us all together or we would freak at each other. Ben gets the gold star for the night, for the guy who slept through the majority of this, even though Sam grabbed him by the afro at one point to make him move. I went out and got a coffee at 6am or so.. and then I think after that I got us all somewhat calmed by a cartoon of some kind.

The good news, is that Sam woke up.. he didn't feel good.. and he wanted to be with me. The bad news is that everyone else wanted to be with me too, and this was the only room to "be" in.. and our bed just isn't big enough. We need a giant pack and play for the whole family that nobody can fall out of so that when 4 people are on a full bed, the little guy doesn't go all "10 Little Monkeys" and fall off the bed onto his little head.. because that is bad form when you've only had the kid for a month and the Defendor of Minors hasn't "resigned" himself ya know?

This morning, I didn't have much in me after my night of no sleep so we were off to Pan Pa Ya to watch the kids play and ingest large lattes. Here is our proof.



Tomorrow, I plan to get a driver in the morning and Lucas and I are headed for a special date to the hospital where he was born. I don't think he will understand, but I will, and for that reason there will be kleenex. We hope that having pictures of himself in front where he entered the world will help fill in some of the missing spaces later on when he is making sense of all of this.

Tomorrow afternoon, we return to the leather district in search of a few more items for Fana. Yeesh Fana, way to twist my arm for more shopping.. it will be SOOO PAINFUL.. SARCASTICALLY painful :-)

Now? I nap, because I really need a nap if Sam is going to start giving me a workout at nights.. but luckily he has a voice and he trusts me enough to do "the work" in attachment.. and "the work" results in great things later on, and Ben is my proof of that (remember 2011? ugh, but necessary).

Peace out all!!