Home Sweet Home

Hello from Waunakee, Wisconsin!!! We are safely home. The day of travel was long but all went well. Our luggage arrived 23 hours after we did, but we enjoyed Josh in our home with family instead of unpacking. Thanks for all of your support and prayers during this journey. Join us on Saturday if you can (details in previous blog entry) and otherwise, we hope that you can meet Joshua soon!

Welcome Home PARTY!!

You are all invited to stop by and meet Josh next Saturday. We are bringing home Colombian coffee, a recipe for Postre de Tres Leches, and flour to make arepas. Join us if you can!

Welcome Home Party
Saturday, October 13
1:00 - 5:00 PM
The Theis home
Waunakee USA

Our visit to Ayudame

Hola from Kristin! We packed up our donations for Ayudame and the staff at the orphanage. We made a stop at Simon Bolivar Hospital where Josh was born. We toured the orphanage and showed Josh off. The staff commented on how healthy Josh looks and they thought he had gained weight and had better color. We certainly think he gets cuter each day! There were many children, especially babies, at Ayudame and very few staff. We brought formula as one of our donations, and the orphanage director said it came just in time because they ran out. Ayudame was very clean and the staff were very nice. But it was still an orphanage in Colombia and we left very sad. With international adoptions slowed right now, Ayudame's main source of income, the future of these children is bleak. We wished that we could do so much more. There are many photos in the photo gallery.

Plane tickets booked!

Hola from a very excited Kristin! This morning, everything went smoothly with Josh's application for a visa to enter the US. Chad and I were both holding our breath the entire 2 hours!!! We will pick up the visa tomorrow afternoon (Friday) at 3:30. As soon as we got back to the hotel, we raced to book tickets. We will be home Saturday night at 8:42 PM. We will be flying into Madison and you are invited to meet us at the airport. I cannot promise that Josh will be awake, but if you can't wait to get a first glimpse, please come and celebrate his arrival to the US with us! Here are our flight details:
Northwest 9002- Bogota to Atlanta- leave 9:30 and arrive 3:32
Northwest 1433- Atlanta to Minneapolis- leave 5:15 and arrive 7:05
Northwest 0398- Minneapolis to Madison- leave 7:35 and arrive 8:42

We only have 30 minutes when we land in Minneapolis, so pray that everything is on time and that we can be fast!

We are visiting and touring Ayudame this afternoon. We will post some pictures later tonight.

See you SOON!!!!

We will be coming home...

Hola! We just got back from the doctor's appointment. He cleared Josh to travel to the United States. Hooray! Josh is now up to 14.25 pounds and he is 25 inches long. He has gained a little weight and the doc said he looks good.

Tomorrow we will apply for Josh's visa in the morning. After that appointment, we will know for SURE when we can come home. If all goes without hitch, we will pick up his visa and travel home on SATURDAY!! We have tickets on hold that leave Saturday at 9am and arrive in Madison around 8pm. We'll update you tomorrow!

Off for pizza at Archie's again. SOOOOO many reasons to celebrate!

Josh has a passport!

Josh has an official passport! Isabel and Johnny picked us up this morning at 9:00 to go get his passport. It wasn't very far away. We took Josh's photo at a photograph place right outside the passport place, and then walked into the passport place. We were once again, amazed by Isabel's networking skills. We walked right past the lines and up to the counter. We paid, filled out some paperwork, and they put my (Chad) fingerprint on some paperwork and then we sat and waited. It wasn't long before Isabel jumped up and went over to an office. We saw her exchange hugs and kisses with someone. Soon after we were on our way with his passport!

And Josh Becomes a Theis!

Josh is officially our son tonight! Wow- what a great and long-awaited day. We walked and did some shopping this morning for our orphanage donations. We both needed to keep busy and distracted. Isabel told us that downtown is not a place for babies, so Josh had his first babysitter today. Our friend Kim watched him and he was his very best for this special day. We were picked up from the hotel at 1:45 and drove about a half hour. We entered an old office building (and an elevator with a maximum of 3 people!) and went up to Court 7. It was a very small office with a counter and at 2:30 exactly, Isabel marched up and received our paperwork. We checked it over carefully for mistakes in spellings, names, and passport numbers. The back page was stamped, we both signed, and that was it! Chad and our driver Jonny went to another building to get photocopies and the lawyer arrived just in time. All of the 8 necessary copies then needed to be signed and so Isabel suggested that we have some coffee while waiting. Unexpectedly, our lawyer showed up with the paperwork at this cafe a half hour later. We drove another half hour to the notary and Josh's birth certificate was changed from his Colombian name to Joshua Danford Theis!! Hooray! This process took about an hour, and during this time Isabel helped us get all the rest of our paperwork ready for tomorrow. She told us not to book plane tickets yet BUT when the lawyer asked, she said that we would fly home THIS WEEKEND as long as Maria (from Ayudame) would have time to meet with us yet this week. Did you read that? THIS WEEKEND!! So, two prayers requests: 1. Maria would agree and have time to meet with us this week (there is one piece of paperwork that she still has) and 2. we could change our plane tickets for this weekend, hopefully not only will a plane have 2 seats for us but also that we could have an easy trip home (10 hours total versus 26 hours total!!).

Tomorrow we are leaving at 9 AM to get Josh a passport. In the afternoon, Josh will have an appointment with a US doctor to clear him for entrance to the US. On Thursday we will apply for his visa and on Friday we will pick it up.

We can't WAIT to see you with our NEW SON!!!

WE HAVE SENTENCIA!!!!!!!!!

Hi Everyone,
At 4:30 today, we got the phone call telling us that we have Sentencia tomorrow at 2:30pm! This is a MAJOR milestone for us, and was completed in RECORD TIME! It's been 3 weeks since we got Josh as of tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll sign the papers, making him Joshua Danford Theis, son of Chad and Kristin Theis! We are then free to leave the country. Of course we need to get a passport, get him checked by a doctor, and get a visa to leave. This process can take anywhere from 3-5 business days. That means that if everything goes at it's absolute fastest pace, we could be home by the weekend(!!!!!) or worst case possibly Tuesday of next week. We cannot express how happy we are! At the current moment Josh is squealing away, I'd like to think it's because he is happy too. We've learned how incredible our agency (Children's Home Society and Family Services) has been. The other couple, Kim and John, also used Children's Home Society. They had Sentencia today, and also got their passport & medical evaluation completed today. We hope that you will see Josh's happy smile in just a matter of DAYS!!!!!!!!!
(Can you tell we're excited?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!)

Three weeks

Hola from both of us! We sit here in our hotel room, tired after a lot of fresh air today. Both Chad and I have pink noses! We did indeed enjoy our pancakes this morning and then walked to a different flea market.
As we have said before, on Sundays, some of the main roads are closed in one direction to traffic. Bikers, rollerbladers, and walkers fill the streets. The people in Bogota are usually dressed up (compared to us anyway) and it is nice to see some shorts, t-shirts, and tennis shoes! We don't stand out as much these days.
I took a picture of the flea market- it looks very similar to what we have in the US. There are a lot of handmade items and we hear many different languages as we walk around. Josh rode in the stroller and seemed to enjoy the wind and the sights. After lunch back at the hotel, we headed out again. The family from Delaware and the family from New York came with us. We hit a different flea market and enjoyed another beautiful day in Bogota.

After we got back from our second walk of the day, we enjoyed Josh a little too much. He probably should have been sleeping, but instead Mom and Dad couldn't put him down. He's getting cuter each day and makes the greatest sounds! We can tell that he is getting stronger all the time, and he's holding his head up better each day. He can handle longer tummy times without complaint. He seems to like standing up, sitting up with help, and in general, being moved around in any way that makes him laugh. We had to give him some alone time to calm down and now he's fast asleep.

Keep praying for Sentencia! We're ready to come home!!

A quiet day

Hola from Kristin! After our adventures yesterday, we are all tired. I took as many naps as Josh did and we only left the hotel for a brief walk to the grocery store. It is nice not to worry about the usual things in life- work, laundry, meals, etc... I know, I know- enjoy it while I can! Tomorrow is- yep, you guessed it- pancake day and then off to the flea market. There is apparently a bigger and better one that is farther away that we will venture to tomorrow. Right now, Chad is trying to get the DVD player to work in one of the family rooms so that we can watch a movie with anyone else that is interested. Josh is asleep and we have a baby monitor along. It will be nice to be out of bed for a little while!
Keep praying for Sentencia!!

A visit to Monserrate

Hola from Kristin! We left this morning at 9:30 with the Michigan family on a sightseeing trip. We went to Cerro de Monserrate, one of the peaks in the Andean mountain range. Monserrate is a church at the top, overlooking Bogota. We took a cable car up to the top and a funicular back down. We were at 10,370 feet and we could feel the change in altitude. We posted lots of pictures from our journey, so check out our photo gallery. Josh didn't seem too impressed with the view since he slept the entire time. He is an easy baby to take with us, as long as we have plenty of bottles! We ate lunch out at a local burger place and it was a delicious treat- they were serving fish at the hotel! Then we had a birthday party to attend for Luisa who turned 4 today. She recently joined a family from Delaware along with her 3 brothers. This was her first birthday celebration and everyone from the hotel attended and brought little gifts. The kitchen made a Tres Leche cake (3 milk cake) that was fantastic and a popular Colombian birthday treat. We are both tired from our long day and Josh went to bed at 6:00. We'll see if that means an early morning... We are very homesick and miss you all! Keep praying for us to get Sentencia so we can come home soon!

New friends

Hola from Kristin! We are falling into routine and our mornings are pretty peaceful and relaxed. Today was a beautifully sunny day in Bogota and we went for a walk this afternoon. Another American family is adopting a baby boy from Ayudame. We met them at our ICBF interview and today we walked over for a visit. Marco is 5 months old and his parents live in South Dakota. Josh and Marco probably were in the same room for the last months together. What a neat connection! Marco's dad had to go back to the US for work, Marco's mom, Deb, showed us around her part of the city today. We did a little shopping and found a place to chat over Diet Cokes and treats. Josh must have had a fun time because when we got back to the hotel, he had the best giggle session so far. Chad and I loved every minute of it! Josh seems to be over his cold, although he does still have the occasional fever, and he is definitely growing. His hair is getting longer and he is growing out of some of his clothes. He is usually in his best mood late at night (right now as a matter of fact- 10PM!) and Chad has a hard time finally putting him to bed. We should all sign off because tomorrow we are taking a day trip. We'll post pictures and stories when we get home tomorrow!

The legal steps for our adoption - Updated

Hello! Lots of you have asked what we need to happen in order to come home. Here's our checklist.

UPDATE:We just spoke with Isabel at 12:10 today. She updated us on our progress. Step 4 and 5 have been completed. We are in court #7. We now are waiting for the Defender of Minors to approve us.

1. Receive you child. DONE 9/11
2. Notarized documents. DONE 9/12
3. Interview with ICBF. DONE 9/17
4. The case if filed after receiving the ICBF approval and is distributed to a court 2 days later. DONE 9/25 (Just found out today)
5. The judge has up to 10 business days to review and approve our case. DONE 9/25 (Just found out today)
6. The defender of miniors has up to 5 business days to approve our case.
7. The judge then has up to 10 business days to dictate the Sentencia
8. The defender of minors has up to 5 business days to approve the Sentencia.
9. Change the old birth cerfiticate and get a new one for Joshua Danford Theis.
10. Get a Colombian passport for Josh.
11. Go to the doctor at the US Embassy and get the okay for Josh to enter the US.
12. Go to the US Consulate to get Josh's Visa.
13. Buy a plane ticket for Josh to come HOME!!!!

We may not hear anything until step 7 and we get sentencia OR our lawyer may let us know as 4, 5, and 6 happen. We don't have anything to do until we sign one last piece of paper associated with step 7, the final adoption decree. This is the big day we really wait for! As you can see if you add up the days, we could be here 2 more weeks or 6 more weeks. Some courts are fast and some courts are slow. Now you know exactly how to pray for us! Thanks!!

A new cousin for Josh!

Hola from Kristin! The highlight of our day came early with a call from my brother. His son arrived today and it is hard to be so far away. We can't wait to meet Jaeden. Think of all the trouble Josh and Jaeden will get into! Congrats to Ryan and Mickey!!!

Josh was full of smiles and cuteness one hour and then a crying mess the next. It was a long morning for all of us! We did take a quick trip to the Jardin Botanico de Bogota (botanical garden). We included a lot of pictures. The garden was very empty and more than anything, it was nice to walk around in peace. In the city, it is loud all the time and in our hotel, there are a lot of people in a small space! We appreciated some quiet time and the beautiful plants.

We are both missing home a lot today. No word from Isabel or our lawyer.

A two bath day

Hola from Kristin! We had our first two bath day today. Josh really likes to take a bath. He likes the water, especially when I pour it over his head. Today, he had his usual morning scrub, all smiles. Somehow during his poopy diaper change, I wasn't fast enough and poop was everywhere. Both feet got in it, and then I had to call for backup. With Chad holding his feet in the air and me laughing hysterically, it was probably the longest diaper change in history. After we got him cleaned up, we both agreed that it was time for bath #2 of the day.

The doctor came again today. Josh's lungs are still clear and we just need to continue cleaning out his nose and giving him Dimetapp. She wants to come one more time at the end of the week. It seems to us that he is breathing easier, especially at night. Phew! We look forward to having a healthy baby.

We have not heard anything about our paperwork progressing. We will post more about the rest of our process one of these days. Continue to pray for us to get our needed court appointments and for our lawyer to stay on top of things. Oh yea, and for our patience!! Be sure to click on our photo gallery as we try to put more pictures there every day (the link is on the left).

Abrasos y besos!

Sunday Adventures

Hi Everyone,
Today we had a pretty active day. Josh and Kristin had a hard time sleeping last night. Josh was up from 3:30-5:30, ready to start the day and HUNGRY! We are going to try increasing his formula tonight. He still has a fever, but his runny nose seems to be clearing up a bit. After breakfast, we came back upstairs and finished getting ready for the day. While Josh took his morning nap we clipped his nails. Thanks to Sara Thompson for recommending we cut them while he was asleep! It went much, much better. Josh wore his Badger outfit that Grandma Glennis gave him, in lieu of the Badgers beating Iowa. After lunch we went with John, Kim, Yecica and Zoraya to the flea market. The weather was beautiful here. It was about 70 degrees and partly sunny so it was a great day for a walk. We ended up picking up a few things from the market this time. On our walk back we stopped for ice cream at a place called Mimo, 4 or 5 blocks from our hotel. It was a nice end to the traveling event. Then it was nap time for us. Around 6:00 there was a knock on our door. It was Kim letting us know that the family from Italy was leaving. When we went downstairs, everyone was lined up towards the door wishing them farewell. Fabio kissed me (Chad) on the cheek as he left. This kissing business is strange! Alejandro was a ball of energy when he left. When they finally got him in the cab he started jumping in excitement, and cracked his head on the ceiling. With that note, they jumped in the cab and headed to the airport.

That's about all the news we have for today. Hope everyone is well.

We celebrate a wonderful family heading home!

Today is a bitter-sweet day. The first night we stayed here, we awoke in the morning to the playful sounds of a young boy splashing and playing in the tub. His name is Alejandro (pronounced Allie-Hund-Row). He is 3 years old and staying right next door to us. We soon met his parents. Fabio is his dad's name. They are from Italy. I (Chad) have never met anyone from Italy. I cannot tell you how nice of first impression this family has made. Fabio is a pizza chef back home in Italy. They live about 2 hours east of Rome in a small town of about 70,000 people. They only speak Spanish and Italian, so I wasn't much good to communicate. Kristin seemed to be well at talking with them. We have pretty much only eaten meals with them or the family from Michigan. Fabio is a very gentle and caring individual. If he sees something he could do to help, he will always do it. When I was sick a few days ago, he stopped by very concerned to see if I was alright. When Josh was sick he would seek us out to ask if Josh was okay and if there was anything that he could do. A very nice guy! Alejandro is FULL of energy. He has a sing-song voice and can make anyone laugh. If we left our door open Alejandro would come in and play with Josh very gently and nicely. They leave tomorrow for Italy. So we are sad to see them go. The Michigan family and us took them out for a Pizza celebration at a place 2 blocks from here called Archies. The kids made their own pizza's. It was quite a sight to see. Check out our photo gallery for pictures of this. John & Kim bought some little surprise cakes and after dinner, Kristin went back into the kitchen and put some candles on them and brought them out. We sang "Happy Travels To You" to the tune of Happy Birthday. I don't think they understood what we were singing, but they understood the gesture. It is good that they get to go home, but sad to see them go.



The rest of our day we hung out around the hotel. Josh and Kristin took a few naps. Josh is doing about the same today. His fever seems to be consistent, and he still sounds like a dragon. It doesn't seem to bother him too much, but it's hard for Kristin and I to hear him struggle for breath. The weather here was beautiful again today. It was probably in the low 70's and sunshine. We took Josh for a walk today, but this time we tried a stroller. He enjoyed it, but it was hard work with the bumpy sidewalks. Kristin needed some McDonalds after the Split Pea soup and fried banana's for lunch. Tomorrow is pancake day, so we both are looking forward to that. The doctor told us to keep Josh inside as much as possible due to the altitude and pollution. So we may or may not venture out tomorrow. It is Flea Market days on Sunday.


As for our return home, we didn't hear anything this week about the court process. We were told not to ask. The family from Italy was here 5 weeks, but adopted from another region in Colombia. It sounds as though things are moving quite slowly, so we are anticipating 6 weeks or more. Monday we begin our 3rd week though, so optimistically we could be closing in on half way there.

Well that's all we can think of today.

Hope all is well with everyone.

His day and her day

Hello from Colombia! We each have our own story to tell today.

Her story: Since Josh is sick, we have tried to keep life quiet and inside. Unfortunately, I am going crazy! Our Michigan friends invited me to join them on their shopping trip today, and Chad agreed that it would be better for us all if I got our for awhile. The mall close to the hotel is expensive, so we went in search of less expensive shopping areas. Our driver, Jorge, seemed to know right where to take us. I didn't need anything but it was nice to see more of Bogota and look around a bit. The store that we went to was filled with little kiosks, probably 5 feet by 5 feet, in rows and rows. Most of the time, you don't try on clothes (there must be a big problem with shoplifting based on security!) but one of the kiosks had a little curtain to change behind. Yikes!

Jorge took us to a local place for lunch. Lucky for me, it was broasted chicken, french fries, and baked banana with cheese. The strange part was that we ate all of it with our hands, no silverware provided! Kim had rice and a salad, and even that she ate with her hands! We bought a 2 liter of soda to share as many other tables did. At the table behind us, the people were all wearing plastic gloves to eat! We'll see how my body handles this authentic Colombian cuisine!

We shopped some more after lunch. As I have mentioned before, there are salespeople crowding every aisle and row. In the last store we went to, you could not leave that area with your purchase. They took it, filled out a receipt, and put it behind a counter. After all of your shopping was done at this store (it was 4 stories), then you took all of your receipts, paid and then waited in another line with your stamped receipt to get your purchases. They were put in a bag and stapled shut with the receipt on top. This bag was checked on the way out the door. Different... I was happy to get back to the hotel to see how the boys did!

His story: There really isn't much to write about my day. After Kristin left at 11:00, I just took care of Josh. I was hoping to get some computer work done. Unfortunately, he was a handful due to his cold. He was really uncomfortable and couldn't sleep and couldn't breath. He just laid there and moaned until he broke into an all-out wail, at which point I picked him up and he would stop crying. At one point during the day we had our first "need to change the outfit" poopy diaper. I'll spare the details for Uncle Ron. Shortly after that Kristin got home and the two of them went right to sleep. I guess Mom has the touch, although I think she was asleep first. Not much to report other than that.

I hope everyone is doing well. We sure appreciate your feedback and emails. It gives us something to look forward to. I think Kristin is wearing out the refresh button. It's about 9:00 here and Josh just went down for a snooze, so I think Kristin and I will try to squeeze in a few episodes of 24.

Snot shooting machine

Hola from Kristin! The doctor came to the hotel and spent a half hour talking to us and checking over Josh. She read over his medical history so far as he had bronchitis and pneumonia in the past months. She declared this his lungs still sound clear- phew! He did have a fever today and she diagnosed him as having a bad cold. She prescribed Dimetapp, Tylenol, and saline spray for his nose. We made a follow-up appointment for next Monday. Josh sounds like a dragon when he's breathing but actually, he's in a pretty good mood. Chad and I are shocked by the amount of snot that is flying out of this little boy. We are both covered in strange sticky stuff and Josh seems to find it amusing. The doctor showed us how to give him the medicine, how to clean out his nose, and how to-yikes!- take his temperature. Enough said. We are certainly thrown into a new realm of parenting! We spent the day inside, propping Josh up and wiping snot. And Chad made a chocolate run- we earned it today!

A visit from the doctor

Good morning to everyone. We have a doctor's appointment today at 2:00 and the doctor comes to the hotel! Josh had a lot of respiratory problems during his second month. He was a little congested when we got him last Tuesday and just yesterday, it got a lot worse. It is probably just a cold, but during the night, he sounded like a dragon and at times he couldn't get a good breath in. Since he has a history of needing hospitalization for respiratory problems, we want to do anything we can to help him out. It will cost us $50 and maybe the doctor can tell these new parents what to do. I'm not sure that I will be able to understand everything, so hopefully the one staff, the owner, that speaks English and Spanish will be here this afternoon. If not, I have my dictionary handy and I'll get a list of words ready to describe Josh's symptoms so far.

We'll post more later!
(And Chad's back is a little bit better today- thanks for the prayers and keep 'em coming!)

Four months old today!

Hola from Kristin! We know that many of you check this blog daily and don't want you to worry. We really don't have much to tell you today! We have only left our room to eat and otherwise, one of us has been asleep. Josh is four months old today and we are glad to celebrate with him. We're not sure what babies do to celebrate, so if you have any ideas, let us know.

We included a few pictures from lunch, again, our only outing today. I still don't know the name of this fruit, but I told a story of our first attempt to eat it on a previous blog. We have fruit for dessert every day for lunch.

Chad's back is really bothering him today and he has been trying to lay still and let things relax. He doesn't admit how much it hurts when it goes out, but he can barely move. Please say some prayers that he would feel better soon!

Our outing to Museo del Oro

Hola from Kristin! We had a good but tiring day today. Actually, I shouldn't complain- Chad let me go back to bed after early morning Josh duty and I slept until 9AM. We had to make our first emergency trip to McDonald's for me today. I skipped breakfast and then lunch was a cabbage salad and a casserole thingy with the main ingredient as potatoes. But I must say that it was a mighty tasty burger and fries!!

We requested a driver that could speak English today, and Mario picked us up around 2PM. Our drive to the Museo del Oro was much longer than I expected- at least a half hour- and the curvy roads and crazy driving had me a little green in the back seat. Josh, of course, fell right asleep. Mario came into the museum with us, and much to our surprise, was our personal tour guide.
The Museo del Oro, or gold museum, is one of Bogota's boasts. According to our guide book, the Gold Museum "contains more than 34,000 gold pieces from all the major pre-Hispanic cultures in Colombia. It is arguable the most important gold museum in the world." Colombia had a rich resource of gold that the natives put to use. Mario gave us a geography and history lesson while describing all of the gold pieces in the museum. When Christopher Columbus landed on the northern coast of Colombia (where the country's name came from) he was greeted by natives wearing and bearing everything gold you could think of. Some of the natives told of a place where there was a lake filled with gold. It was where the legend of 'El Dorado' came from. The gold caused the Spanish to push into and occupy the country in search of 'El Dorado' and gold. He also told us of the various tribes and the geographic regions they occupied. We both learned a lot about Colombia AND about being parents!

We did come prepared with a bottle. Josh let us know loudly when it was feeding time, right in the middle of an exhibit. Josh seemed to like the lights and the sparkly gold! After passing Josh to Chad, Chad was initiated into a new level of parenting- Josh's diaper leaked! Mario told us the bathroom was very far away, so on a bench in the Museo del Oro, Josh was stripped down and changed completely. Chad, on the other hand, did not bring a spare outfit and had a soggy museum tour from this point! On the way home, Mario drove us around downtown Bogota. You'll see pictures that Chad took from the car in our photo gallery. Mario drove us through La Candelaria, the oldest part of the city.

We also posted pictures of our interesting dinner from tonight. We had ajioco, served in an individual skillet, it is a dish that both of the girls recognized. It was chicken, potatoes, part of a cob of corn, and a liquid broth. Our side dish was slices of avocado, which everyone salted and ate with their hands. Then for dessert we had dolea con arequipe. I give a lot of the food strange looks and so people are always explaining it to me! This dessert tasted like a thin ice cream cone with caramel in the middle. I personally could hit McDonald's again, but we did stock up with snacks just in case...

Happy Milestone and a Close Call

Hi Everyone,

Chad here. Today we had our interview with ICBF. As it turns out we had our interview AT ICBF, which was about 30 minutes away. This is a major milestone for us. Maria entrusted us as guardians of Josh when they placed him with us. ICBF, or the Child Welfare division of the government, recognized us as his legal guardians today.

Isabel called us about 8am to inform us that our appointment had been moved and that she would pick us up earlier than previously arranged. We had a pretty rough morning with Josh. We were very excited for this appointment and wanted Josh to look his best. We bathed him, which he just loved. We dressed him in his special outfit that Grandma T bought for him. We changed him... and then changed him again. Isabel mentioned that his nails were quite long when we received him last Tuesday, so we trimmed those while feeding. That's when problems arose. We accidentally nipped him, while he was squirming around. We both felt painfully awful as he was bleeding and wailing. Nothing would comfort him. We quickly washed it up, and then did our best to pacify him. The whole hotel knew something had happened. When I walked downstairs later, everyone asked if he was alright. We put on our dress clothes, and went downstairs to eat lunch with John, Kim, Yesica, and Zoraya (who also had their ICBF appointment today). Josh was still was a bit upset so Dad didn't get to eat much. I held him with what little arm strength I had left after two days of walking the halls with him. Then it was time to leave.

Isabel and Johny picked us up at 1:15pm for our 2:00pm appointment at ICBF. We climbed in and took off right away. The ride there had some pretty scenery on the left, as it followed the mountains off in the distance. We arrived at ICBF, which was not at all what I had thought it would be. It was a little waiting area in the front of a cement building. We walked in and sat down. Kristin held Joshua, who was fast asleep. About 10 minutes later our attorney, Antonio, walked in. He is good looking guy in his 50's, who is apparently VERY good. Isabel introduced us both. Then we sat down. I offered him my seat, but he insisted that I stay, and sat down on the table separating the two seats. I felt very awkward. We waited....and waited....and waited. Isabel and Antonio began to talk. I understood a litte of what they were saying. Antonio seemed annoyed that we had waited so long. He got up several times and pushed himself back to a room to see what was going on. Each time, he came back shaking his head. Then a car pulled up and out stepped a familiar face. It was another family from Minnesota that is also adopting an infant. We have been reading their blog( http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/springmans) daily and corresponding via email. It turns out we both have the same lawyer! It was a wonderful treat to see them. 45 minutes passed and we were all beginning to wonder. Josh was still asleep, but sweating. In fact we were all roasting, which made the wait uncomfortable. Finally there was some cheering, and people began to file out of a room in the back.
One employee ran into her office grabbed a file and then came back out and motioned for us. I, Chad, was extremely nervous. It was called an interview, so I was preparing to answer the grilling questions about Josh, parenthood, Colombia, and anything else they threw our way. The lady was extremely nice, and much to our surprise, she began to tell us about Josh's birth mother and social history. We had the ability to ask any questions that we could think of. This dialog took about 15 minutes. At one point in the conversation she read a statement made by Josh's birth mother that brought tears to my eyes and Kristin's as well. The lady's face mirrored our response as she saw how it hit us. The statement read something like, "I am giving up this child, because I want him to have two loving parents, be provided for and get a good education". We mean no disrespect, but the details of the rest of this conversation are going to remain private information for Josh only to share. We know that everyone is curious, but please do not ask. Josh may share it when he is old enough to understand. Then she asked us 2 questions, "How was your first week with Josh?" and "Why did you decide to adopt from Colombia?". I did my best to answer the questions. Then she beckoned for our lawyer to come back. They conversed back and forth about something which we didn't understand. It turned out there was a paperwork discrepancy that our lawyer worked out. When all was said and done, she asked us to sign a paper. She then explained that this paper made us Josh's legal guardians while in Colombia. She said it was important for us to keep it with us. Somewhere in the conversation she talked with Isabel and we knew it was an important conversation because Isabel didn't translate it. It turns out that ICBF went on strike! They graciously agreed to meet with us because Isabel had already scheduled the appointment. Without this paperwork we would be stuck. Since we did have our meeting, we have all we need from ICBF so the strike should not affect us.
With that, we thanked her and and left.

Kristin talked with Isabel about various things on the ride back. About 3 blocks from our residence, Isabel said she was thirsty. So we all went out for a drink. The following photo is of Kristin,Josh, Johnny(our driver), and Isabel at a swanky cafe down the street from us. We made small talk on the way back to the hotel and then headed up to our room to get out of the sweaty clothes. This was our last "formal" appointment. Josh has been appointed a lawyer. Our lawyer, Antonio, will now take the paperwork through the courts which will make us Josh's legal parents. There are 4 major court steps that need to happen. Antonio will notify us when they have occurred. We will then get a call for "Sentencia", in which we go to the court and sign the completed legal documents making Josh our legal son. Then it's off to the Embassy to get clearance back to the US. I know you all want to know when we'll return but we don't know. At least several more weeks...

And he sleeps...finally!

Hola from Kristin! We did indeed enjoy our pancakes yesterday- just like home. I think they are fried in butter so that might add to the delightfulness of them.

After Josh had a nap, bottle, and diaper change, we did venture out to the flea market. We walked quite a long time and half of the major road, Santa Barbara, really is blocked off to traffic. There were people on bikes and rollerblades, walkers, and families pushing strollers. It was so much quieter without the bumper to bumper traffic and dozens of street vendors at the car's windows. It was nice to see Bogota with no rush or crowds. As we neared the end of the street, we still didn't see anything that looked like a flea market. A clown on stilts (yes, clown on stilts) was handing out flyers and I asked him where the flea market was. Considering that he answered in broken English, my Spanish must not be improving too much! He pointed us toward a gated hotel and after again confirming with the security guard, we arrived at the Hotel Fontana, the location of the flea market. You can see pictures of our walk and the hotel if you click 'photo gallery' on the left of the blog. The hotel was gorgeous, brick and covered in plants. The flea market was much smaller than I had anticipated with only 24 tables. There was beautiful jewelry, purses, handcrafted bowls and scarves- I'm not sure why we are calling it a flea market and not an art fair! Mostly, it was fun to be out even though it was windy and cloudy yesterday.

We got back to the hotel in time for lunch (soup, sandwiches, and apples) and then Josh had a very, very difficult afternoon. Nothing made him happy except for Chad walking the hotel. We tried everything in our limited bag of parenting tools and were pretty frazzled by the end of the day. He fell asleep at 7:30, begrudgingly, woke up once for a quick snack at 9:30 and then slept until 6:30 this morning. He tired himself out! He is back asleep now, although that does seem to be his usual routine- wake up around 6AM, eat, play and then back to sleep at 7:30AM. Some days after breakfast, I go back to sleep also!


Today we have our ICBF interview at 2:00. Isabel called this morning and let us know that our interview would be at ICBF, as it is for most families. Last week the interview was set up to be done at Ayudame. I'm not sure of the change but I anticipate a much longer wait today.

We love to hear from you! kristintheis@gmail.com or chadtheis@gmail.com or leave a comment on the blog!

One week

Hola from Kristin! Right now a week ago, Ryan and Mickey were dropping us off at the Madison airport. What a week it has been!

Yesterday we walked to the mall again, but this time with our Michigan friends. Jessica and Soraya need swimming suits because they are starting swimming lessons next week. We walked around and Josh fell right asleep in the Baby Bjourn.



We got back to the Hotel around 1:00 for lunch (steak, green beans, and potatoes) and Josh had a crabby afternoon. Many of you have asked if he cries since we post all these happy pictures of him- yes, he does! It seems like after we go out and do something that he takes awhile to process, settle down, and take it all in. Understandable, since his whole life had probably been in one room until Tuesday! While I tried to settle Josh (and change another poopy diaper- my uncle Ron wants to know about each and every one!), Chad played cards. It was Animal Rummy and Chad played with the Michigan family after trying to explain it to their daughter in spanish, an italian man, and Daniel, and a 6 year old newly adopted by a french family. I could hear them carrying on and laughing from up in our room! We have been so thankful for the wonderful people here at the hotel. Everyone that has stayed here so far has been here for adoption- either adoptive parents or somehow in the adoption field. We all proudly walk around with our new children and there is a great understanding despite the huge language barriers.

On Sundays they serve pancakes so it is a big day here at Hotel Paris. We are going to a flea market later today. We'll post more pictures and stories later today!

Falling into routines...

Hi Everyone! Chad here. We've had a pretty uneventful day. We ran out of diapers and wipes, so we needed to visit the supermarket up the street. It's about 3 blocks away. Josh sure loves this Baby Bjourn thing. I don't think he's spent much time outside and it seems like he just loves the sun and wind in his face. We are starting to get our routines figured out. Josh sleeps a lot! His naps are about 2-3 hours, and then he's up for 45 minutes to an hour. We're not quite sure why he's sleeping so much, but he seems pretty content and healthy. We've been feeding him every four hours except at night he is sleeping through. So his current feeding schedule is 6am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm, and 10pm. It seems like he gets really hungry about 30 minutes prior to his feeding, so we've been trying to pacify him for that time in order to keep him on a schedule. When he is hungry, HE LETS US KNOW! We were trying to figure out if we are feeding him enough, but the instructions on the container are all in spanish. We've been feeding him what the baby home recommended. We may attempt to feed him a bit more and see if he makes it the whole 4 hours. I had no idea how expensive this formula was. At 5 feedings a day we are going to visit the supermarket about once every three days. The Colombian peso is about 2,200 per $1.00. So it's kind of strange to see things like diapers for $16,000 and formula for around $26,000.

I changed my first "Fully Loaded" diaper today. That stuff is toxic! I don't know how you Mom's (and Dad's) did it.

Unfortunately, I got pretty sick last night and today. I've been confined to the room today due to the proximity of el bano. The staff here are wonderful, and while Kristin ate lunch downstairs, tea and toast arrived at my door. I was asleep and they opened the door and slid a tray in. We are well-taken care of!

Speaking of lunch, meals are really an adventure. There are 4 tables in the dining room. There are usually new people every day or so, but right now there are 2 American families, 2 French families, and an Italian family. We are 'assigned' seats, which change with no reason, and right now we are sitting with the family from Italy. Their son is 3 years old, speaks the cutest Spanish, and makes us laugh at every meal. The mom and dad do speak Spanish, sort of, and so we attempt to communicate at each meal. He is a Pizza chef in Italy. I think next week he's going to be making us Pizza. That will be fun! We have been bringing Josh along, and he sits in a swing while we eat. Meals take at least an hour, if not an hour and a half, and for Kristin, it is the people time that she REALLY needs. Last night we had pizza, strange pizza. One had salami on it and it was so spicy that we were grabbing for water! It wasn't our favorite meal here at Hotel Paris but we have heard that good pizza is just down the street at Archie's. They have been serving us 4 course meals for Lunch and Dinner. They serve everything on what appears to be real silver. It's very fancy and not at all what we had expected.

Staying at the Hotel Paris has been a very humbling experience. They have been doing our laundry (some of it by hand), pressing our clothes, making us meals, cleaning our room, sterilizing our bottles, and anything else we ask for.

We have heard that wait times in Colombia are still quite long. Families here are right around the 6 week mark, with one family being here 8 weeks. I sure hope we can get done in under 6 weeks. It all depends on which court system we get. Some are fast while others like to drag the process out.

Well, I'm running out of things to write.

Hope everyone is doing well,

Chad, Kristin & Josh

Lots of firsts!

Hola from Kristin! Since our last post, we have learned a lot about our little boy and a lot about being parents. It's a lot of work! Yesterday afternoon, we needed some fresh air. We strapped Joshua in the Baby Bjorn and headed out. He fell asleep almost immediately. We walked about 10 blocks to a big mall. We walked around the mall, and there are many fancy stores with purses, shoes, and baby clothes. It looks very similar to Westowne in Madison except that it has three stories. It was very crowded and there were security guards all over. We did not buy anything but it was nice to be out and see the Colombian people. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Carulla, the grocery store, and picked up a few things. The day was sunny and bright and the mountains in the background are beautiful. It is around 60 degrees most days so far. Josh was wide awake for the walk home and seemed to enjoy the wind and sun. He looked around with big eyes.

Before our big outing, we had a crazy time at lunch. For dessert, they brought out pieces of fruit for everyone. They looked like oranges and we still don't know what they are called in english. The Americans and the French people had no idea how to eat this, but the 3 Colombian kids in the room showed us all how to do it. You had to break open the fruit with a spoon and then scoop out these goey seeds to eat. It was sweet and tangy, a cross between kiwi and an orange with crunchy seeds. We all had the giggles as the girls explained in Spanish that none of us could understand. The girls couldn't stop laughing at the silly adults.

We were told that Josh sleeps up to a 7 hour stretch at night so we kept him up later last night. We fed him at 10PM and tucked him in. We only heard one peep around 4:30. Before Chad could get the bottle ready, Josh was back asleep, and slept soundly until 6AM. Woo hoo from Mommy and Daddy!

And the fun continues...Josh had his first poop since we got him. Chad is still in shock. We can describe the event some other time for those of you with strong stomachs! Mostly we were glad that all is, uh, moving well. It was definitely a parenting team effort as we figure all this stuff out.

This led to the next first: Josh's first bath. We do have a baby bathtub from the Hotel but only a shower stall. Chad was creative in filling it! Josh seemed to like the bath, and had lots of smiles and happy noises for us. He is squeaky clean and dressed in his Wisconsin Badgers outfit today.

We reorganized our photo gallery (link on the left) because we realized how many pictures we'll have to post by the end of this journey! Thanks for coming along with us!

Thank God for Juan Valdez!

The first night together was, for the most part, uneventful. Joshua had a long day and fell asleep early. We were told to feed him at 10:00 and then he would not eat until 5:00 AM. He slept right through his 10:00 pm feeding. Kristin and I were both on pins and needles all night long, listening to his every breath, every gurgle, and every other noise coming from the crib. As a result, neither of us slept very well. I was in charge of the early AM feeding. I got up several times thinking that he was awake. Each time, he was wiggling around, dreaming, and cooing. Around 4 AM, we had proof that he could indeed cry. He let out a 15 second cry and then stopped. It was almost as if he just yelled "HEY, I'M AWAKE NOW". I got up fed and changed him, and back to sleep he went. Shortly after, I fell asleep thinking my duty was done. When I awoke at 7:00 AM, Kristin was up with him. I guess they were up from 5:30 to 7:00. He just wanted to play and interact. Kristin said she played with him, with only one eye open. This morning's coffee was eagerly anticipated.

This morning, we were picked up by Isabel at 8:50AM. We went to get the documents from yesterday notarized. They have an official place that does nothing, but notarize documents. Isabel was very talkative today. She shared of about her family. She spent a few years in the Florida. She has traveled to New York, Minnesota, Florida and Alaska. This explains why her English is so good. Our next event is our meeting Monday with ICBF at Ayudame. We have learned that everywhere we go they offer us coffee, aromaticas(herbal tea), and water. It is an insult not to take it.

We've learned a lot about him over the past hours. He is really intrigued by his left hand. He spends lots of time looking at it, putting it in his mouth, and touching them together. It seems that every few minutes he re-discovers his hand again. It's humorous. He loves to be held. The warmth of our bodies puts him to sleep. He is extremely alert. He looks around whenever he is awake. The orphanage said that he should drink 5oz of formula each feeding. We've had a hard time getting him to eat that much. It's getting better. We've gone from 2oz to 3oz to 4oz to around 4.5oz this morning.

AND THEN THERE WERE THREE!!

WE GOT HIM!!!!!!!
The day finally arrived. Kristin and I tried our best to be patient all morning. I don't know that the clock has ever moved so slow. I think we were counting seconds. Isabel showed up early and Kjersty (from our Agency) also joined us. Kjersty has been in town for meetings with the adoption homes. It's the first time a person from the US Agency has gone to the presentation. Isabel drove us herself because the other two drivers were with others and the third driver was off for the day. It was very kind of Isabel. We arrived at Ayudame about 20 minutes early. Isabel said that they don't like it when we are early, so the four of us waited in the car and chatted. About 19 minutes later we jumped out of the car and walked in.


Like at Hotel Paris, someone had to come let us in, unlocking the gate and the front door. The place was very nice and very clean. It was built in 1990. We were escorted into the presentation room that was behind french-glass doors. There was a beautiful large wooden table we sat around. On the wall was a poster made for Joshua for his presentation day. There is a picture of it in our photo gallery. Isabel told us to kiss Maria, Ayudame's director, on the cheek when we greeted her. I was a little nervous about that...after all, I'm married. A doctor came into the room and everyone greeted with a hug and kiss. I didn't know that this was not Maria, so I kissed her on the cheek. Then Maria came in, and Isabel introduced us, so once again we all hugged and kissed. What I failed to understand was that you didn't actually kiss the person, you simply make the sound in the air. OOPS. We sat down and started with small talk. Maria was very surprised to see Kjersty there. She said it was the first time in the history of the program. We were then asked if we had any medical questions or concerns about Joshua. Of course, we didn't really know what to ask. She started by going through all of the records. He appears to be quite healthy and growing very fast. The rest of the details were the usual vaccination, developmental milestones...etc. We were asked once again if we had any questions. We didn't. Maria then started the legal part. She discussed all of the legal details regarding the process, and described each document. This took about 20-30 minutes. Then we were to sign the documents. I started right in signing, and then Kristin noticed that her passport# was wrong on the documents. Maria then had to reprint all of them. She had a new assistant so this took quite awhile. She came back, and we were off signing again. I (Chad) was very nervous, and as a result of that goofed up my own passport# in a spot. She once again went back to make more copies. Then Kristin found a mistake in our address. Maria didn't think this was a problem. So we kept going. After all of the papers were signed, it was time for PRESENTATION! At this point, we had been at Ayudame for an hour.


We brought along an outfit for Joshua and they dressed him in the back room. Maria and Kjersty went back to witness and photograph the process. At this point Kjersty fired up our video camera to record the whole process. We have yet to watch the footage. We both waited impatiently while the brought him out. It took about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, workers kept popping in saying things in Spanish that I didn't understand. I assume it was congratulations, he's handsome, or something of the like. Then we could hear the footsteps of the ladies coming down the stairs and then down the hallway. The employees in the hall turned their heads and smiled as they drew closer. Then in the doorway, Maria appeared with this precious little bundle....Joshua. He looked cuter than we had both imagined. His dark brown eyes were wide opened, and his brown hair pulled forward. He was happy and content. Then Maria walked toward us, held him up, and said some baby talk in Spanish and handed him to Kristin. It was an emotional moment for both of us, yet somehow we managed to hold it all in. Perhaps it was due to the number of strangers in the room. At this point there were perhaps 10 or 12 sets of eyes all looking at us. I don't know exactly who because all I could focus on was this little baby boy in the arms of my wife. It was one of those moments I had waited years to see. We stood around, both wondering, "What now?". Then Isabel kindly said, "let's go." We walked out to the car. Josh was taken back by the sun and the wind. He squinted and smiled as the breeze blew across his face.

The ride back to Hotel Paris seemed very short. We got out of Isabel's car and walked inside. The Hotel Paris was so nice, and they kept dinner aside for us since we missed dinner hour. We needed a moment to collect ourselves, so we went up to our room for a minute. When we reached our room, the staff of Ayudame had decorated our door, anouncing the arrival of Joshua Danford Theis. We looked around, and took a deep sigh. I took off my suit coat and then we headed back down for lunch. They made Isabel and Kjersty lunch as well. We sat down and did our best to eat, but I couldn't stop playing with this fun little guy sitting on the table next to me. Every time I blow in his face he gasps a big breath and then makes a super cute little smile. We did our best to finish our lunch, and then came back up to the room. Kristin and I both changed our clothes and then it wasn't long before both baby & mother were fast asleep on the bed.

Now, I (yes Chad) just changed our first diaper. Of course I needed a little help from Mom. Kristin just fed him is first bottle. He was more interested in playing around, so he didn't quite finish it. He's down for a nap in the crib right now.
For those of you waiting for the photo's, check out our photo gallery by clicking on the link at the left of the screen.

Next steps: tomorrow morning we will go to get the documents notarized. This should not take too long. Next Monday we have an appointment set up at Ayudame, to be interviewed by ICBF (the government child protection agency). Both Isabel and Maria were a bit surprised by that. There was a lot of talk that was not translated. I assume there was a reason. ICBF has NEVER done that before. Typically, we go to ICBF for this interview. We don't know exactly what that means, and neither did Maria and Isabel.

More parenting tales to come!

Only hours now...

Hola from Kristin. I must admit that I was worried about the food in Colombia. I am a bit of a picky eater and we were out of room for snacks. Well, no worries! For breakfast we had eggs and toast, prepared any way we like. For lunch we had a 3 course meal- a pumpkin-ish soup, hamburgers and french fries, and a big juicy slice of pineapple for dessert. We just finished dinner. We had a salad with raw corn, onions, lettuce and a white dressing followed by brown rice and delightful BBQ chicken. We ended with chocolate sundaes. Instead of worrying about being hungry I'm going to have to make sure that I can still fit in my bridesmaid dress for Mark and Kati's wedding on October 27!! Phew!

Today we did venture out. We found a nice grocery store with an ATM and everything that a US store would have. We bought diapers, wipes, formula, Diet Coke, and a few snacks...the essentials! Carulla is the name of the store and it is 3 blocks from our hotel. We also found a store called Pepe that sells baby clothes, strollers, bottles, etc... so we are set, whatever Josh needs.

We are going to try and relax and get some sleep. A prayer request- I am coming down with a nasty cold. Pray that I could heal despite the stress and changes and that Josh would stay healthy.

Our translator/representative Isabel is meeting us in the lobby at 11:30. We have our presentation scheduled for noon. She said to plan on a few hours of time at Ayudame. When I asked what we need to bring, Isabel said our passports and our arms, ready to hold him. Josh, here we come!!!

The beginning to Day 2

Here's documentation of my first cup of Colombian coffee, or tinto.

WOW-people are nice here! After a good nights rest we had an opportunity to look around the hotel in the daylight. Our beds were really comfortable, and the temperature is great for sleeping. Day one has started out with a flurry of introductions and activity. We awoke, showered, and went down for breakfast. There is some sort of meeting going on with various US agencies, so there are US people here from different agencies. We met a person from Children's Home Society (our agency) this morning, and we met another couple from Bethany. We met Isabel, who is our translator/representative down here. She is really nice. We met her niece, Carmen, who is also working with Isabel. Then we met the hotel director. She showed us around and told us (okay, told Kristin in very fast spanish) all about how things work. I just stood there, smiled and nodded like I understood, hoping that Kristin was comprehending the Spanish. After we were done we turned and walked away, and Kristin said, "I didn't understand any of that". I guess we'll be figuring it out.

There were a few other couples we met. One of them was a couple from Virginia. He is in the US air force, and of Colombian heritage. They had an 8 month old boy. We met a couple from Italy. They had an older boy, maybe 4 years old, that was just the happiest kid. We woke up this morning to him singing and laughing in the shower. It was really cute. As we were heading back up to our room, we met a couple just got a little baby boy one week ago. They just coming back from some appointment. They were from the US, but I didn't catch their names or anything. There was a lot of commotion going on. Now we are back up in our rooms trying to determine what we are going to do today. The weather is really nice 60's and partly sunny. I'm sure we'll have more stories to share later.

Chad

Safe Arrival

Hola from Bogota!


We had a very long but uneventful day- thanks for all of your prayers for safe travel! When we arrived in Bogota, we waited in line to get through customs, retrieved ALL of our luggage, and made it through security. Yes, a man was waiting for us with a sign THEIS. We certainly were glad to see him! Our initial impression of Bogota has only been in the dark, but we are clearly on the newer side of town. Isabel, our translator, met us at Hotel Paris. She hugged both of us and greeted us warmly. Again, we're glad to see her! We just unpacked in our home for the next weeks. A crib is all set up and waiting for Josh's first nap. We met another couple from Michigan. They arrived yesterday and will meet their 2 girls tomorrow. Wow! They gave us a warm welcome and showed us around the place.

We will post more pictures of the hotel and tell you about it another day. These travelers are done for today!

Almost there!!

It is Friday morning and I am scurrying around like mad. Yes, we are all set to leave on Sunday morning!! I just found a pediatrician for Josh that specializes in international adoption. Bottles and diapers are packed. And we even found a little room for Chad to pack a few things as well!! Please pray for easy and uneventful travel. If all goes according to plan, we will arrive in Bogota at 7:00 PM and be picked up by a driver named Johnny in a yellow car. Hopefully all of our luggage will make the trip as well! We will have Monday to unpack and look around a bit, and then Tuesday morning we will be presented with Joshua Danford Theis!! Wow!

Thanks to all of you for your help as we prepare, your encouraging messages, and all of your prayers! Here we go....!!!

Frantic mom-to-be,
Kristin

Our referral from Ayudame

We received a referral from Colombia on August 15, 2007 for a baby boy!!! He was born May 19 and we are naming him Joshua Danford Theis. Our travel plans are coming together quickly, and we plan to leave on September 9. We will meet Joshua on September 11 at Ayudame (the adoption home), and then the three of us will have 3 to 6 weeks together in Bogota. What fun it will be to get to know our son!! Joshua will stay with us the whole time. During our time in Bogota, we have many court appearances and paperwork appointments.

Yesterday we received our FBI clearance (yes, Chad passed again!) AND our Colombian visas. I also booked our plane tickets. It was a big day!

So where is Colombia?

Some of you have asked, "Where is Colombia"? Well here's a map to show you where we'll be spending the next 3-6 weeks.

Click the image to get a larger version.