We have Mariana's passport

My goodness things move fast around here. Maybe we could send some Australian public servants to Colombia for some lessons on how to serve the public. I'm so amazed.

Vicky picked up Mariana and myself at 6:30 am. By 8:10 am we were back at the hotel with Mariana's Colombian passport. Scary!

We're now having a little break before heading to La Casita for the final goodbye, giving of gifts, asking of questions, visiting of children, etc. Can't wait.

Congratulations David and Melani...

... Sebastian and Stacey. We got your text message in the middle of the night but we didn't mind, it was wonderful news. We are so happy and excited for you all!

We'd love to see a picture of baby Valentina if you have one so please email it along when you can. An email with all the info would also be great.

Can't wait to celebrate with you in person! Love you guys!

We're OFFICIALLY Mariana's parents!

As we were kicking back relaxing by the pool at lunchtime Vicky turned up and said "we have to be at court at 2:30 pm to sign your Sentencia". What! We weren't expecting it until at least Wednesday so we were quite surprised and excited and just overwhelmed, really! So fast.

We shared a quick lunch with Vicky, then up to our room to freshen up and put on some "court clothes" and back out into the city heat.

It all took about 2 minutes. We signed the papers, chatted with the lovely ladies in the court office who all "oohed" and "aahed" over Mariana - well, she is the most gorgeous baby in the world!

Then back in the car with Vicky and here we are. Still can't believe it. We've been in the country less than 14 days. We only saw ICBF last Wednesday and our file was accepted by the court last Thursday. So in court 3 and a half days. Wow! We were in Court 8 - for the record.

So now Marie Jose will arrange the birth certificate this afternoon. Tomorrow morning Vicky will pick up Mariana and myself at 6:30 AM (yikes!) and we'll get Mariana's passport. At 10:00 AM we are going to La Casita for a proper visit and a bit of a party with the other children. We are really looking forward to it. Should be great.

Thursday and Friday we'll relax, maybe shop a bit more. Saturday morning Vicky will take us to the once a month HUGE market in the centre of town. We're really looking forward to that. Sunday morning we'll relax and pack and then we're off to Bogota and the next stage of our amazing and wonderful journey.

Phew! What a day!

Monday was a great day... very busy. We started with a taxi trip to the local train station and then a train trip to the north to catch the sky rail. Note to CityRail: Come to Medellin, Colombia to see how a REAL train system runs. We were so impressed with the railways - stations are clean and spacious, trains are clean, modern and spacious, fares are very cheap, people are polite. The sky rail is a new thing they've built which travels through the poorest northern suburbs. It is hard to describe but you sit in small, glass enclosures which hang on cables and travel up a very steep hill, stopping at a few stations up to the top and then back again. We passed over what Vicky described as the poorest suburbs of Medellin. While they were poor they weren't at all depressing. People obviously have a lot of pride in their homes and their area. The homes might be odd looking and lopsided but they are spotlessly clean (we saw many houseproud residents sweeping, mopping, washing and gardening). The streets are also clean and children play in small parks and in the streets. The government is building parks, playgrounds and gardens underneath the sky rail path.

After this very enjoyable trip we stopped at the infamous Black Markets. Let's be blunt there is a lot of stuff and it's cheap.. but it's too much for me. I just can't cope with the crowds, the amount of choice and the pushy salespeople. As anyone who has been to a restaurant with a long menu with me knows - I just can't make a decision. When there are 20, 30, 50 shops selling gold and silver jewellery how am I to know which is good, what I want, or what the hell is going on. I just go into meltdown mode. My brain frazzles. All we ended up with was a bottle of Dolce & Gabana's Light Blue (which Vicky recommended and I liked very much) for US$35, a pair of Timberland shoes for Jason and a pair of gold hoop earrings for moi and a tiny pair of gold and emerald earrings for Mariana (when she is older).

Very much overheated and overloaded we went back to the hotel for a quick cooldown and clean up and we were off again. This time we went to San Diego (probably my favourite shopping centre) for a very nice lunch upstairs. Then some souvenir shopping (t-shirts, Christmas ornaments, etc). Then, as we were on our way to the supermarket a quick stop at Bosi, with Jason coming away with two more pairs of shoes. Insanity!

We had Mariana's photo taken for her passport (and a cuter passport photo you've never seen!). We stopped at the supermarket for some supplies and some things for La Casita. Then we were off again, this time to the notary (not sure what these papers were but Vicky said they were important). Then our last stop - the private hospital for Mariana's Yellow Fever shot. Considering she was overtired, hungry and very hot, she handled it beautifully - one small cry of surprise and then she was over it, back to her happy self.

Overall it was a very busy day but we got a lot done and saw a lot of Medellin. It was fantastic.

Some new pics

Our princess!

Ready for some serious souvenir shopping!

















Will and his new friend.

Getting ready for lunch at the "Levis" restaurant.

You can't stop the music, nobody can stop the music...

... the bloody music! It just won't stop. Every night (just about) there is some function at the hotel and bloody loud music. Last night there was some huge wedding. I heard the wedding march being played in the early evening and said "aaahh, a wedding" at 2:00 am when the wedding band was still blasting out the Colombian wedding hits I wasn't feeling so romantic about the wedding, in fact I was cursing the happy couple with a plague of fleas in their armpits.

To add to the music the car alarms just don't stop either. There has been a particulary wonderful one which went off for A WHOLE HOUR STRAIGHT on Friday night and then on and off all of last night. It was a nightmare. I really look like death warmed over this morning and feel even worse! Despite how the nice the hotel is I am going to write a complaint to the management before we leave (YES, Jules I AM!!). It just isn't fair.

Anyway, yesterday (Saturday) we had a very enjoyable day driving up to the mountain area near Medellin for some souvenir shopping and a wonderful lunch (more steak!). Aila - you'll be interested that this cafe is sponsored by Levis. All the staff wear Levis t-shirts and there are signs all over the place advertising Levi.com, etc. The food was great (Jason's ribs were yummy as was the chocolate brownie Will and I shared for desert).

Then we just drove around for a while, sightseeing. It really is beautiful countryside and we really enjoyed seeing some of the tiny villages still looking very much like they would have a few hundred years ago. What's amusing though is that all these modern condos are being built just behind all the old shops and houses; so you have this row of buildings straight out of a history book and right behind them rows of modern, ticky tack box houses, just like you'd find on the new building estates around Sydney. Weird!

Vicky told us a lot about Medellin, the country and how people live. Many people who live in the city have small farms in the country where they go on weekends. It was lovely.

It was raining when we returned so we just veged around our room all evening - trying to watch Meet Joe Black and having it drowned out by all the "fabulous" wedding music.

Today is Sunday and a quiet day at the hotel. Mariana had a bit of a fever overnight, but no other symptoms, so I'll be keeping an eye on her today. Tomorrow we're seeing the doctor to get her Yellow Fever immunisation so if she's not better I'll have him take a look at her. Tomorrow will be a big day with the doctor's visit, Mariana's photo for the passport and a visit to the Notary (not sure why?). We're also going to do the cable car ride up to the mountain top and stop at the Black Market.

Wednesday we have our return visit to La Casita - to drop off presents, ask more questions (hopefully get a photo of Mariana's birthmother - apparently they are better with this now), see her cot and her room, etc, etc. Hopefully the Sentencia will also be signed and finished on Wednesday. Then Thursday we can get her passport and relax until Sunday when we fly out.

Our revised travel plans are: Leave Medellin Sunday 4/12; leave Bogota Thursday 8/12; fly to London via Madrid; then return home to Sydney 22/12 at 9:45 pm - so I won't expect anyone but family (it's not exactly a friendly time). That's how it's looking now, hopefully there will be no bad surprises this week.

I'll post some more photos soon. Thanks to everyone whose been writing - blog comments and emails. The PC here is so slow I don't have time to write back to everyone, but we are thinking of you.

Just quickly...

We have been told today that our Sentencia should be signed next Wednesday. That means we'll definitely be finished here in Medellin by end of next week. We are trying to change our flight to Bogota for Sunday 4/12. Then we'll need 3 days or so there and we can fly onto London.

At this point it all depends on what flights are available, etc. It's the holiday season so we may be restricted by what is available.

Hopefully by Monday we'll know our updated travel arrangements.

Apparently we are going through in record time. So far so good.

More shopping, more eating, more relaxing...

Please don't hate us! All the fun and relaxing is starting to get a little boring. Yesterday we had an easy morning by the pool and then hit El Tesoro with the other American couple Jean Claude and Dina and their little fellow Christian.

El Tesoro (the treasure) is the newest centre and very close to the hotel in the Las Palmas district. They don't have so many shops but they do have three levels of rides and fun stuff for children.

We walked around (this centre is not very busy) and bought some more stuff - two pairs of Bosi shoes for Will (fabulous Colombian brand), some clothes for Mariana, a top for me and one for Jay, I can't remember what else. We also had a nice lunch and bought some Dunkin' Donuts to take home to the hotel.

We were all very tired and hot and sweaty by the time we got back.

Today will hopefully be nice and quite around the hotel. Tomorrow Vicky is taking us for a big day of sightseeing, souvenir buying and lunch in the mountains so we want to be rested for that. We are really looking forward to it.

No news on the "process", all going well however we may be finished by the end of next week. Hopefully we'll know more early next week.

Have a great weekend everyone. Lots of love from Medellin (that's Med-e-jin - if you're from here and Med-e-IN - if you're from somewhere else).

Update

The last two days have been very busy. On Tuesday Jason left me with the children and hit the shops for some "man stuff" shopping. It was easy being with Will and Mariana by myself as we spent the morning by the pool - Will swimming with his girlfriend Casey. Mariana dosed in her stroller. When it got too hot we went up to the room for some more relaxing.

Jason came back with a new outfit - shoes, belt, shirt, pants. All beautiful Colombian made stuff, top quality, for just over AUS$150. I'm sending him to that shop for another go.

Then we had dinner with Sue, George, Casey and Sydney as it was their last night. Will and Casey were really getting on like a married couple (we suggested they just needed a mortgage and a couple of credit cards and they'd be set). They were so cute together. We had a "hot rock" dinner at the poolside restaurant and it was DELICIOUS! Then they gave us some of their food leftovers from their room and we said goodbye. So sad to see them go (but good for them as they have been here quite a while).

Wednesday morning we had to be ready early to go for our ICBF appointment. I was a little anxious. After we climbed the seemingly 400 stairs to the ICBF office we waited to see the Protector of Minors. Finally we went into the office for our meeting with Vicky and Marie Jose. It all went well except this woman is very formidable (dare I say she came across as a stern drag queen?!). She didn't crack a smile the whole time and seemed determined to ask deep and meaningful questions. She even found something in some of the DoCS' paperwork which said that only people between 28 and 31 (???) were allowed to adopt in our state. Not sure if this was translated wrong or what but I felt as if she were suspicious when we told her that wasn't right.

Anyway, it didn't last that long (15 minutes) and we were out again and heading for our Medellin sightseeing trip. It was wonderful. Vicky drove us around the city, telling us a little about this building and that. We stopped outside the world's largest brick cathedral and Jason took some photos (Mariana had fallen asleep in my lap).

We then headed to the Botero museum. I'm not that much of an "arty" person but I really was in awe. I love Botero's work and seeing the huge paintings and sculptures before my very eyes was so special. I particularly love one called "Los Noches" (The Night) which was very dark with lots of little develish creatures flying over the city at night. I could have spent all day but of course it wasn't so much fun for the children (all three of them). So we looted the souvenir shop and moved on.

It was getting very hot by then (the hottest day we've had so far). We drove up the mountain to the replica old village and the scenic lookout. Jason and Will went up to the lookout while Vicky and I enjoyed a cold drink and Mariana slept in her stroller. Then we strolled around the little village and bought some souvenirs, including a traditional peasant outfit for Mariana for when she is older.

Vicky then drove us back to the hotel where I got Jay and the children settled in to the room, had a quick freshen up and set off for my solo shopping trip. We went with the Peurto Rican couple who are adopting Juan Enrico from La Casita, Juan and Amy. They went off while Vicky and I had a quick lunch and a chat. Then I gathered my courage and went shopping on my own, agreeing to meet Vicky in two hours. I did quite well, given my distinct lack of any meaningful Spanish. I bought a magnificent pair of hand made Colombian black boots (really they are stunning), a pair of super soft black loafers and a gorgeous pair of pink Mary Janes for Mariana. I also tried on some tops but really I couldn't find anything suitable for someone over 15 and larger than a size 8. I will write more about the way people dress in Medellin later.

Finally, exhausted, I returned to the hotel where everything was calm (I WAS a little worried). We bathed and fed Mariana and put her to bed, then ordered room service dinner (it's always so good and very reasonably priced).

Today we are going to have a quite morning at the hotel and then have an expidition to the newest shopping centre nearby which has three levels of children's rides - shopping and fun for Will, who could ask for more.

Saturday Vicky is taking us to the moutains to see more traditional villages, do some souvenir shopping and have lunch at the "famous" steak restaurant.

Keep those messages coming, I love to read the notes from our friends back home!

There's something about Mariana...

* The first thing everyone notices is her eyelashes. They really are amazing. Not only are they very long, dark and thick but they curl at the outer edges of her eyes - just as if she's had them curled with one of those eyelash curler thingies. Everyone comments on them.

* She is a very easy going baby. There really wasn't any transition between La Casita and us. It was like she took one look at us, realised we were here family, thought "they'll do" and just got on with it.

* She is very easy to care for. Apart from the first two nights she has slept through the night. We have a routine of giving her a bath - which she LOVES - at about 7:30 - 8:00 pm, then some skin lotion, nappy and pjs and she snuggles up for her bottle. As soon as she's finished we'll put her in her cot on her back with her blanket. Dramatically she throws one arm over and falls immediately asleep on her left side. It is breathtaking how fast she falls asleep - blink and she's asleep. She then wakes at about 5:00 am for a bottle and nappy change and goes back to sleep until 7:30 am (we usually wake her by 8:00 am so we can get on with our day).

* During the day she has some little naps in the morning and usually a big sleep (3 hours or so) in the afternoon.

* She is happy just about all the time. If she starts to whinge or cry you know she's hungry.

* She loves being out and about in her stroller. Looking around at the shops and the people, sitting out by the pool or the restaurant. She makes eye contact with everyone and charms all who comes near her. She also loves driving in the car and wants to look out the window.

* We are all besotted with her. She is a beautiful, gentle baby. We are so very lucky she is ours.

What is it about Ernie?

As some of you know Will has an Ernie doll which has been with him since day one. We brought it with us to Guatemala and they have been inseperable since then. Will loves this battered, falling apart doll to death. His eyes are faded white disks, stuffing is coming out where his nose used to be and he has been through the washing machine a zillion times.

Mariana has taken a strange liking to this haggered old Ernie. Despite all the brand new, age appropriate, developmentally stimulating baby toys we have brought for her, if she catches sight of Ernie she just wants him. So last night when we were doing some shopping we found a "baby" Ernie. It's just like the regular Ernie but it's a baby and it's very soft and even cuter than the original Ernie. She loves it, fell asleep clutching it last night... it is SO cute. Will is happy because now they each have their own Ernie. We asked him last night if he wanted to keep his old Ernie or get a new one, he thought about it for a few moments and said he wanted to keep his old one. Sentimental, just like his dad!

Yesterday we did the court thing in the morning. Very quick and painless. Our lawyer Marie Jose is lovely, looks after us wonderfully. We signed the Power of Attorney and some other papers, showed our passports and we were done. Aparently we have got one of the "good" courts, i.e. not one of the two slow courts. So all is well.

We were told we have our ICBF appointment on Wednesday morning at 8:15 am. That's a big step so we're looking forward to getting it done. Then the official court period begins when that report is lodged.

We've had four trips in taxis yesterday and I can tell you there are rollercoasters at Disneyland which aren't half as scary. Wow, you know you're alive when you've been in a Colombian taxi. Especially last night when our taxi driver took us to the wrong hotel (after our shopping trip) and didn't seem to know where the Intercontinental as. A little scary for a moment. Our friends were waiting for us and they were all a little freaked out.

Anyway, breakfast time. Love to everyone back home and everyone taking the time to read our little blog.

A little bit of progress

It´s Monday morning and we have a little bit of progress. At 10:30 am we´ll be picked up and taken to the court to sign the power of attorney and lodge the court papers with our lawyer Marie Jose. We´ll then wait to hear when our appointment at ICBF will be - hopefully in the next couple of days.

Last night we went out for dinner at the wonderful restaurant across the road from the hotel with two of the other adoptive families here at the hotel - Sue and George with their 4 year old Casey and their new baby Sydney and Dina and John with their little man Christian. Will and Casey are best of friends now (especially since Casey is the proud owner of a portable DVD player and they watched Shrek while they were meant to be eating their dinner). Speaking of dinner it was fabulous. Honestly the steaks are so great my blood count is going to be through the roof by the time we get home, I´ve never eaten so much red meat.

You would think we would be putting weight on but we´re actually loosing weight. I think it has something to do with the fact we´re only eating 2 meals a day. We only ever have lunch OR dinner, not both. If we have lunch we can´t fit in dinner and sometimes we´re not hungry at lunch so we have dinner only. It´s not a bad system. I think I´ve lost 4 kgs so far.

As you can see we´ve figured out how to upload photos. Jason is taking photos with the video camera so it´s working out OK. I will try to post some photos every few days.

Bye for now.

Some more photos!

Mariana, ready to go out for dinner.

















Excuse the cleavege, it´s lunchtime.

Some photos

Meeting Mariana at La Casita.
















Will enjoying some fun in the sun (six hours and counting!)


















Relaxing by the pool.

Mummy, we missed Funniest Home Videos AGAIN!

That is how I was woken this morning, with Will whispering urgently in my ear at 6:30 am. Then he said: So it must be Sunday. That´s how he orients his week, with Funniest Home Videos.

It´s Sunday morning Medellin time. We have had a very restful night, with Mariana only waking once for a bottle at 2:30 am. We´re heading for yet another delicious buffet breakfast, it´s a hard life!

Yesterday was spent relaxing (some more) and then Vicky picked us up in the afternoon to go shopping at one of the local giant shopping centres. Pretty much like WBJ but more interesting somehow (I guess because it´s new to our eyes). Of course I went a little crazy in the children´s wear shops with lots of lovely new things for Mariana and Will. We´ll need to go back once or twice or... since there are many many wonderful looking clothes and shoe shops for us adults too. I may be coming back with a few pairs of shoes and boots (JB you´d be in HEAVEN). I like the fact that many of the things (all the children´s clothes) are locally made here in Medellin and the prices are very reasonable.

We returned home at around 6:00 pm, exhausted and enjoyed our evening routine of bath and bottle for Mariana (straight off to sleep at about 6:30 pm) and then a delicious room service dinner. Everything tastes SO good and it´s hard not to indulge since prices are very reasonable (Jason´s Salmon dish with prawns last night was only US$11.50). Will is eating his way through the burger menu.

The good news is we bought a Nokia charger for the phone and it works. So we´re back in mobile contact if it´s urgent. Texting is good because it´s only about 60 cents a message.

Anyway, nothing happening today. More relaxing... don´t hate us too much. Tomorrow we should hear when we meet the Protector of Minors at ICBF which is the second official step and then the application can be lodged with the court. Hopefully we´ll get a fast judge and get through smoothly and quickly.

Thanks to all those leaving messages and sending emails, I don´t really have time to reply individually at the moment but we all really appreciate your messages and we´re thinking of everyone.

Lots of love from beautiful Colombia.

We´re back...

... and yes, David, we have our girl... and what a beautiful (bonita!) girl she is!

It has been an incredible 48 hours. We met Mariana on Thursday morning at La Casita de Nicolas at reception hosted by the ladies of La Casita: the older sponsors (beautiful old ladies, gracious and stately), the director, the social worker, the psychologist, the lawyer, the other lawyer... a cast of thousands. But we only cared about one thing... meeting our beautiful daughter.

She was brought out in the dress we brought, with a cute little pink bow on her head. She was calm and very curious, looking all around, taking everything in. I just couldn´t stop smiling, my only emotion was joy. Of course our camera ran out of power at the most inopportune time so we only have three photos of the occassion. Jason got out the video though so we have some good footage.

There was no looking back. She was happy and content the moment she put in my arms and was happy to go out into the big world. In the car she looked around everywhere, trying to take in everything at the same time. We took her shopping for some basics and then back to our hotel room to wind down and get to know each other.

She is eating and sleeping beautifully, so far so good. Really nothing at all to complain about. She wakes up smiling (just like her big brother) and only cries if she is hungry. She loves having a bath, loves playing with Will and her toys... she is just a happy girl.

Yesterday we spent the day by the pool. Will swam, Jason swam, I played with Mariana and read my book. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch outside (I don´t know what they feed their cows but the steak tastes bloody amazing!). Then Mariana and I went up for a nap while the boys swam some more.

In the afternoon we went back out to the pool and met some American couples here adopting from the other Medellin orphanage. One couple is adopting a girl called Sidney (how cute is that?). There are a few German couples here too but apart from smiles and nods we don´t really communicate (who started the war anyway?).

I tried to get on the internet PC here all day yesterday but I couldn´t. It was crazy. There was some sort of conference going on and the place was chock full of very busy and important looking people. The comuter room was busy all day and into the evening. I gave up trying about 7:00 pm. Also, our mobile phone is totally out of charge and the charger won´t work through the power adaptor. We will try to buy a Colombia Nokia charger next time we go shopping. The other bad news is that we fried our digital camera. Somehow the charger, through the adaptor, overheated it and we think it´s totally dead. We´ll have to check it out when we get home. Boo hoo! We´ve bought a couple of disposable cameras for now.

So the best way to contact us is through either of my emails or through the blog right now. I will check it at least once a day (as long as I can access the computers).

In general, we are having a fantastic time. The people are wonderful. The hotel is great (we´ve finally been moved to one of the suites with a kitchen and it´s perfect for us). There is a tv channel which shows all the good comedies in English, so in the afternoon and evening we can veg out with Seinfeld, Frasier, Friends, Scrubs, etc. Very comforting when you´re far from home.

I can´t figure out how to load up photos just yet so you´ll need to be patient.

Love to everyone, we´re not missing anyone yet, but I´m sure we will be soon!

If it's Thursday morning, it must be Medellin...

I have never been this tired in my entire life. Having traditionally been an 8 hour a night girl I have suddenly plunged into insomnia hell. I can't remember the last time I slept for more than one or two hours (it's been at least a week). Jason and I keep asking each other what day it is.

Well, last night we arrived in Medellin after a very very very long day of travelling. We were picked up before the crack of dawn, driven through the dark freeways and overpasses of LA to LAX and endured the hell of check in. Finally, zombie-like, we boarded for our FIRST CLASS flight to Miami. Don't know how the Americans define first class but I'll take good old Aussie Qantas Business Class anyday. Can't complain though, I'm sure no-one cares. The seats were comfy (though very old), the food was great (those fresh baked chocolate chip cookies they brought out before we landed were terrific - are you reading this JB?).

A comment on our flight across the US. It was bloody fantastic. The best flight in terms of scenery I've ever experienced. We must have passed every possible geographic landscape which exists. Mountains, rivers, deserts, swamps, forests... Incredible. I would doze off briefly, open my eyes and yet another glorious landscape was unfolding before my eyes. Luckily it was a crystal clear day so the view was unobstructed.

Then as we came closer to Miami we came across what I can only describe as a city of clouds. We flew over this majestic diaorama of clouds, perfect cotton wool white clouds. There were mountains and valleys and tunnels... all made of clouds. So beautiful it was literally breathtaking... I will remember this flight as long as I live.

Then we rushed around Miami airport chaotically trying to figure out how to re-check in. It was madness but in the end very simple. Through Will we also made some friends... a mother, teenage daughter and four year old son who were Medellin natives, now living in LA, and travelling to Medellin for some medical help for the daughter. The daughter was fourteen but looked older than the mother, who was simply stunning, like a model. The son, Steven, was stir crazy like Will from all the flying, so the two of them raced around the airport lounge and drove all the business passengers nuts.

The flight to Medellin was great. The food was amazing. I love having my order taken on board, like in a restaurant. We had a pre-dinner drink with HOT nuts. Then a green salad with artichoke hearts and a warm bread roll served with the BEST butter I've ever tasted. Then a prawn (shrimp) and scallop risotto which was devine. Finally a icecream crumble thingy which was yum but really just too much.

Getting out of the airport was a little chaotic as we were just exhausted but once out we were in the capable hands of our guide and instant friend Vicky. Loading our huge pile of luggage into her car, we managed to fit us, Vicky and her husband in as well. It was like one of those phone booths that 50 people pile out of. Because we flew in late (after 8:00 pm) Vicky took us to the local hotel - Los Palmas - which was very nice, though the pillows on the bed were ridiculously hard and square.

We were able to shower and collapse into bed where we watched the end of a Yahoo Serious movie with Spanish subtitles (somewhat bizarre yet comforting to hear those broad Aussie accents so far from home).

We were awake at 5:00 am as Will fell out of bed. Then we couldn't go back to sleep so we dressed and went down to a light breakfast at 6:00 am. By 7:00 am Vicky and her husband were back to take us to Medellin proper. A Peurto Rican couple are also adopting a baby from La Casita and they travelled with us.

The drive into Medellin was amazing, picturesque but also dangerous in a "life flashing before your eyes" sort of way. Glad I'm not driving, that's all I can say. Lots of armed patrols on the roads, soldiers, police, private security.

The Intercontinental is on the outskirts of Medellin, at the top of the mountain as you drive in. It is a beautiful hotel. Something important must be going on as there is a massive amount of security present and TV crews.

We are going to be taken to La Casita at 10:30 am. It is now 9:45 am. We will meet Mariana and take her with us. We will officially be a family of four at about 11:00 am. Then our lawyer will come to the hotel to see us this afternoon. I can't imagine us having much energy after that. But from tomorrow Vicky has a lot of sightseeing and shopping in store for us. Bring it on, I say. But first let's meet our gorgeous girl and fit in a little sleep.

PS A man in the lift said "Congratulations on winning the soccer yesterday". We stared at him blankly and then went "Oh, my GOD! We won???!!" How did that happen? Anyone care to send us a brief overview of the game which we shouldn't have won? Does that mean we are playing in the World Cup next year? Amazing!

Taking Will to Disneyland seemed like a good idea at the time...

What a day... it ended well but I really thought there were moments when I could have quite happily throttled my son. We take him to Disneyland... he spends the whole morning whining, not wanting to go on any rides... but only after questionining me a million times about whether each and every ride is fast, scary, etc. The only ride he wanted was the teacups thingy and that was shut!!!

At the end of the day Jason more or less physically dragged him onto a few rides, including the Buzz Lightyear one, and suddenly he loves rides and can't get enough. Of course this is the time we want to head back to the hotel so he's still not happy!! Yikes!

However, the day ended well with a delicous dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. Gee that place is FUN! I wish we had one Sydney.

Now we're all tired and heading up to bed (early). Our shuttle is picking is up at 4:18 AM for our 7:08 AM flight to Miami.

Hi to all those who've taken the time to send emails... I've enjoyed reading them. Thanks!

Beunos noches, amigos. Next stop, Medellin ... and Mariana!

We're in LA...

Well, the first leg of trip is complete. We are in LA. The weather is glorious, our hotel is just down the road from Disneyland and there is Joe's Crab Shack (for those who know the "hilarious" story from our first trip to LA) sharing our hotel's carpark.

Our flight was fantastic. Flying business class is really the ONLY way to go! Note to self: don't get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day and never fly cattle class again! The food and service were very good, the SkyBed very comfy and the movie selection decent. The only thing which spoiled things for me were the two dickheads next to us. They were the typical business men with an expense account. They got drunker and drunker and louder and louder as the flight progressed. While everyone else in the cabin quietly watched a movie or tried to sleep, these two bozos talked shit, laughed loudly (like only drunks can) and generally annoyed the living daylights out of me. It took all my self restraint not to launch myself across the aisle at them and shove the shove their wine glasses where the sun don't shine...

Deep breath... enough about that. Despite the comfortable seats/beds I couldn't sleep. While Will and Jason slept quite well I tossed and turned. I was relaxed, I just couldn't shut off that final 10% of my brain which kept turning over useless information.

It took a long time to get out of US Customs but not much longer than in 2000 (i.e. pre September 11). I especially liked the cute sniffer dog that came around with his equally cute handler.

Now I'm sitting in the business centre at our hotel catching up on emails and, of course, my blog. Jay and Will have gone to Disneyland for Day #1 (I will join them tomorrow for Day #2). As luck would have it we are directly across the road from a large Target. Despite having high expectations I have to say it's just the same old crap as our Target - possibly marginally cheaper. I have however come away with "Elf" on PSP disk for Will and a couple of nice T-shirts for moi!

As I said tomorrow is more Disneyland and Wednesday we travel ALL day. Starting with a 7:00 am flight to Miaimi - flying FIRST CLASS - and then a direct connection to Medellin, Colombia arriving at 8:00 pm. All going well our gorgeous Mariana Grace will be in our arms and in our care from Thursday morning.

Stay tuned.

Ladies and gentlemen... we have a date!

Here I was thinking we had about a week to go ... when I get a phone call saying "Are you ready to go on Monday?" ... Monday! Monday! We can't go on Monday! That's only 3 days away. We have things to do, people to see, stuff to organise, BAGS TO PACK! Holy cow, how can we be ready in 3 days!

My brain is racing with all the things we need to do. Luckily I've got myself pretty organised this week. We have our bank draft ready, we have our US$ and Pounds ready, we have packed the presents for the orphanage, Mariana's clothes are all washed and just need to be packed... I've even bought enough dog and cat food to keep our animals going while we're away (the neighbour's daughter will be feeding them).

But there is still SO MUCH MORE to do... So, I can't chat now. Next entry will probably be from Anaheim LA where I'll be writing after an exhausting but wonderful day at Disneyland!

The final countdown...

Well, we're about a week away from flying out for our big adventure. Hopefully we will know in the next day or two what is happening and when we'll be going. Our plan is still to spend about three days in LA (Disneyland, Target, etc.) en route to Medellin, Colombia. For that to happen we'll need to fly out of here on the 15th or 16th of November. We need to arrive in Medellin on the 18th/19th of November.

I've been shopping up a storm the last week. I seem to go on many shopping trips and always I forget something or realise I need more of something when I return. I've also been doing a fair bit of internet shopping (ah, what did we do before the internet?!). It's scary how much STUFF a tiny baby needs... and we aren't even starting from scratch (having saved a fair bit of stuff from Will's baby years). The whole bottle thing is a bit frightening - I hope I can get the sterilising thing right. Will survived, so I'm sure Mariana will too!

I do love shopping for baby clothes. Though I really do have to make a wholehearted effort at not saying the word "cute" so much, as in "isn't that cute?!", "that is SO cute!", etc.

Anyway, I better get back to work. I have so much to do before I go I'm actually taking work home (anyone who knows my work ethic would be laughing out loud at this point!). It's going to be a crazy week. Wish us luck!

Hopefully my next post will have our actual departure date.