Monday, December 18, 2006

Guess What?

Guess What?

WE SIGNED THE SENTENCIA!!

We got the call at about 9:30 this morning telling us to be ready to go in an hour. Jim and I dressed up a little nicer and got picked up by our orphanage contact. We left the boy behind for this trip. We drove back into the downtown area to the family court building. It was a tiny little entrance and we had to fight the crowds to get in. Remember, the courts close at the end of day tomorrow, so everyone is trying to get their business done in time.We made our way up the stairs to the doorway indicating Court 14, the court we were assigned to by lottery. It was a tiny little alcove and we had to squeeze our way in and up to the counter. Our contact did all the talking, and eventually a big stack of papers was put on the counter, and flipped to the very back - the boy's adoption decree at last!

We all read through it very carefully to make sure all the names were spelled correctly and our passport numbers were correct. Then I signed on the dotted line over the shoulder of our contact. Just another piece of business for the courts but a pretty big deal to us. After we signed we had copies made and drove over to the Notaria. All copies of the Sentencia have to be notarized, and we had to register the boy's birth there. Jim signed in the big book. A little strange to think that our son's birth registry will be sitting on the shelves in this little place in Bogota forever.

Okay Okay, so now the big question...WHEN ARE WE COMING HOME?

Answer: WE STILL DON'T KNOW!!

Tomorrow we go and have the boy's picture taken for his passport, apply for the passport and then go see the Embassy Pediatrician. The American Consulate requires 2 days to get the boy his visa, one day to apply, and the next day to pick it up. I called the consulate today to BEG them to give us a visa in one day. The woman on the phone was very nice and said that they try their best to be as flexible as possible with adopting parents. However, your information needs to be entered into a computer to get security clearance from the US. They have no control over how long that takes. We may or may not be able to get the visa in one day.So...what we did is this:

We are keeping our Wednesday night flight that we booked with our skymiles. We also booked a refundable one way ticket for Thursday night. On Wednesday, when we know if we will get the visa or not, we will cancel whichever flight we won't make. So worst case scenario we will be home Friday morning! We can deal with that!!

We just came back from the mall where they have an Avianca office (go figure) to pick up the paper tickets for Thursday flight. We also got some wine and Aguardiente to celebrate signing the sentencia! We'll let you know how tomorrow goes!

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yay. Court 14 -- I'll have to remember that for next time. Remember to bring back lots of coffee, once you start with the fresh stuff you won't ever go back to the commercial stuff.

Anonymous said...

Yes, baby, yes!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations on getting your sentencia and being on your way home for Christmas. Ditto Erin's comment on the coffee

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! You're almost home now.

Miss Scarlett said...

YAYYAY!!! Congratulations! Home by Friday?! That is phenomenal. Home in time to have your 1st X-Mas with Sebastian and all of your family at home? That is just such great news.
I am so, so happy for all of you!

Jenni said...

YAY!!!! How wonderful that you will be able to bring Sebastian home for Christmas! WHOOO-HOOOO!!!!

Anonymous said...

OMG!!! That is so cool. And you will be home for Christmas! How wonderful. I am sooo happy for your.
Congratz!

Anonymous said...

yay! So awesome you will be home for Christmas!

Anonymous said...

OMG! This is so so great. Even in the worst case scenario, you are all home for Christmas.

I'm thrilled to hear it.

Keep posting!!

Anonymous said...

Yeah! Can't wait to have that little guy home...and in time for Christmas too! Perfect!

Ani said...

Congratulations - have a safe journey home!

roxie said...

Yay! Good luck for an early flight!!

You do know to give him a bottle when the plane takes off and lands to help him equalize his ears, right?

Allegra said...

Congratulations!!

beagle said...

Congratulations!

I am SO glad to hear that it looks like you will be home for Christmas.

What a great gift for your entire family!

Jenny and Matt said...

Home for Christmas!! Great news!!

chanceofbooks said...

WOW! One of the fastest Columbian turn-arounds I've ever seen. Home for Xmas!!! What a fabulous present for everyone.

Melissa said...

oh steph, I am so happy for you. Doing the happy dance in Russia for you. It is the same as back in the states, only you are wearing a huge fur hat

A Room to Grow said...

wahoo cool news. can't think of better timing!

Denise :o) said...

WONDERFUL NEWS!!!! Congratulations Mama!! That is awesome! You'll be home so soon!

PS. You have a little gift waiting for you at home. One last gift from your not-so-secret blog pal! ;o)

Anonymous said...

Enjoy and embrace your last days in Colombia. It's so hard when you want to be home but...when you get home then you will start to yearn for your son's birth country. Okay, maybe you won't but perhaps you might. When we were in Bogota to adopt our daughter in 97 we were there for 6 weeks. I remember hibernating for 6 weeks. I was a first time mother too and there were so many emotions. Ultimately I wanted to get home to my house and my husband and have all that is familiar about me...I was now a mother but suddenly I needed to have people around who wanted to 'mother' me. But then I came home and I grieved for what I had missed out on. I was so angry with myself. When we went to Colombia to adopt our son (2000)I decided I was not going to make it about me. I felt I had been given another opportunity, another chance if you like. With our son's adoption we stayed only four weeks and I was truly pissed off because even though my husband had to come home early again I had really hoped we would be there for much longer, at least 6 weeks. It is a very strange and paradoxical mindspace one enters when in-country and adopting. So...All I wanted to say was again, embrace it. Oh, and if you have some time, go back to Fana and 'glean' more information about your son. Regular visitations to the orphanage (both arranged and 'pop-ins') are very good for finding out more stuff.
Yours respectfully,
Cathy

Jenny said...

Hoping for the 1 day visa!!! You are almost home. Soo exciting!!!

Anonymous said...

CONGRATS!! That's great news. I will hope and pray that you get the visa FAST. So happy for you all!!

yorkiemom said...

Congratulations, I've been reading your blog for a while and can't believe that you are already on your way home.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! Home for Christmas!!!

Jenny and Matt said...

Just wanted to wish you a super-merry Christmas. Not that you need it - with that baby home I'm sure you're all flying high right now! What a true gift. Merry Christmas!
(Can't wait to see some 'home' pictures!)