July 15, 2010...GOTCHA DAY!!!

This has to be ONE of the best days of my life! I woke up late because the 2 Tylenol PM actually worked...thank you Jesus! Bruce and the kids ate breakfast while I had a leisure morning in bed...perfect! Even had breakfast in bed...delicious bread and eggs with ham..thanks to Josh & Bruce!

Vickie, our interpreter, picked us up at 10:20am. About 5 minutes from our B&B, I realized the battery was still on the charger for my camera. We couldn't go back. Instead of a breakdown though I chose to have a happy heart. Bruce said we could use the video camera for still photos so we did that. The pictures won't be near as good as my awesome camera but oh well.

We got into the car while the rain was falling beautifully on Medellin and the surrounding mountains.. We were all so excited and nervous. Vickie is a beautiful, Colombian woman. She is full of energy and ever so kind. She will certainly be a precious friend by the end of this trip! Bella squealed with happiness and we were off!
We arrived to ICBF at 10:40. Walked up the steps to a plain grey building. Took a couple family pictures and went in. I could hardly stand it. I wanted to shout! I wanted to check every room and find Valeria! Instead, we waited and waited and then waited for a while longer. It felt like hours but it was only about 30 minutes. The kids did well and while we were waiting, I wrote down a few questions for the Social Worker. I also asked the rest of the family what they were feeling...

Ruth...anxious, excited, happy, overwhelmed, blessed and thankful!
Josh...anxious, excited, nervous and a little bit bored.
Bella...excited to be the big sister and a little bit nervous.Bruce..very content, grateful to be here, full of hope.
While we were waiting we saw an Italian couple come out of the "meeting" room with their new son. He is 5. His new father was holding him and crying. The boy was happy. It was a beautiful site. Bruce was especially touched by this man. When he told him, "congratulations" the father through multiple tears said, "thank you!"

This only made me more excited!!!! It was finally our turn...11:15ish...
We were called into the meting room, along with our attorney, Nora, Vicki, our interpreter, Marcelena, Valeria's Social Worker and another woman who is Valeria's defendant (minor defendant). The room was rather small and warm. It's warm here to me...air conditioner anyone?!Marcelena began by sharing about Valeria's foster mother. Here is some of that information:
Valeria has been very loved. She has been living with her foster mother, the foster mother's mother, the foster mother's 14 year old daughter and the foster mother's 28 year old son. They have all greatly loved her and have always known Valeria would only belong to them for a short period. She said that Valeria watched the dvd of our family 3-4 times per day and LOVES it. When she sees Josh and Bella jumping on the trampoline, she begins to jump and scream with joy! My heart was melting. I began to cry. THEN...they said that she carries around the photo album that I made for her and LOVES Bruce!!! She calls him, "Ta" and she hugs him and gives him lollipops on the photo album. She said Valeria has already begun to bond with us even before meeting us. She knows who we are and looks at our pictures with great joy! She said this is not typical and that Valeria seems very smart. She shared about her health and her early sickness (when she was just days old, she was in the hospital for just over a month with respiratory problems). We knew of this information. She told us she loves music, loves books, balls, swimming, she's starting to take a few steps and is allergic to strawberries. Oh and she likes lots of love when she wakes up! Bruce said, "well, we can give her that!" When she eats, her foster mother puts down a large piece of plastic, places the food in front of her and allows her to use her hands to pick it up and feed herself. She's drinking whole milk...yay, no formula and is overall a very happy and playful baby girl!

Marcelena was sweet to allow me to ask questions and she answered them in detail. One of my main questions being the heart of the foster mother, after having given her to us today? She said she was very glad that Valeria now has a forever family. She will miss her but her heart is happy. This gave me great peace as I've been specifically praying for her for days now. THEN she pulled out a journal that her foster mother had kept for her. It's adorable! Her first baby book! She had placed stickers in it, photos and lots of writing. Vickie said she will interpret the Spanish words for us!

Then the minor defendant opens a large, legal sized, brown envelope and tells us about the boring part of the adoption...paper work and court dates. As she was flipping through this book and after we had a signed a document, she saw me notice the pictures of Valeria in the book. The were full sized and BEAUTIFUL!!! She pulled one of the pictures, placed on paper, and gave it to me. I was overjoyed!!!!! The longer we sat there, the more pictures she pulled from the file to give to me. We are very blessed to have some photos of Valeria while in the care of her foster mother. She will one day cherish these pictures! You'll not even believe how cute she is and how she's grown!

We were done. The meeting was over and it was time to meet Abigail Valeria Menefee! Which by the way, her name changed after having signed the document...besides going to court to validate, this girl is ours!!!
I stood, grabbed my hanky (yes I brought an antique hanky that my dear friend, Amy Hickman gave to me) and all I could feel was HAPPY!!!! We all stood, ready and willing and then we heard a big loud CRY!!!! She was asleep and they woke her to meet her new family! I would have been upset too. They handed her to me and she was not happy. She cried for a good 15 minutes. I mean she bawled! She knew who we were but couldn't make the connection. She knew we looked familiar but why was she here with us now? Where is my foster mother?! What's happening here?!!!! She would stop for a few seconds to catch her breath and look at each of us with great concern and then sob. The truth is that she has been SO LOVED that the newness was too new. We were told she has a very unusual case, in that, she has received an abundance of love in her foster home from EVERYONE in the home! This is a great answer to prayer!

Since she continued to cry, we decided it would be best to ahead and leave. Marcelena came over to me with tears in her eyes and said, "I know she will be loved in your home and with you as her Mother." I gave her a huge hug and said, "We will love her! She is ours! Muchas Gracias!!!" She watched us walk away, down the long haul and down the stairs (3 flights I might add).
She cried in the car while looking around at each of us and then outside the window at the rain. She stopped ever so often to catch her breath and then she fell asleep. We were about 2 minutes from the house so she woke up and cried some more. We didn't feel anxious or frustrated...it was amazing. She was grieving. Of course, she was crying, her whole word changed within an hour. Sweet girl. Bruce said, "Isn't it cool that we've already done this and we're not freaking out?" Amen to that!

Vickie dropped us girls off at the house and went back to get Bruce and Josh at the grocery store where we dropped them off on our way home. We went to our room, sat on the bed in our dimly lit room and we all got very quiet. It was just us girls. I wanted to allow her some time to process. Then Bella and I had the great idea to give her snacks! Everyone needs comfort food when they're sad so we brought out the apple cinnamon whole grain puffs!!! She LOVED them! So for the next 2 hours, she cried off and on making herself completely exhausted. However, during that time she did show signs of happiness! She cracked her first smile at Josh! She brushed Bella's hair with her new ladybug hairbrush and also played ball with the beach ball we brought. Then more tears. She would not go to sleep or take her bottle so we decided on a walk. Within 5 minutes of being in the stroller and cool breeze, she was out! There was no crying in the stroller. She's been asleep for over an hour now and just woke. She's been sitting next to me in the lobby, bundled up in her stroller and sleeping peacefully.
She's seems like a different kid. She's happy! She hasn't cried or even whimpered. Josh just fed her her first bottle and now she's back in the stroller about 10 feet from me strolling through the Lobby with Josh and Bella. Daddy just came downstairs. They are leaving for another walk outside. She's gonna love us. Oh, I can hear her talking to Josh now.
That's where are so far...we plan to make sandwiches tonight for dinner and tomorrow go out. It's actually the same grocery store that's very close to this house. The second floor has many small restaurants to choose from...that should be fun and Valeria will love the walk outside!

They are back from their walk...she's sitting on the bed with Bella reading a book. Life is good.

Pray for sleep tonight and continued comfort for our new baby girl!

We love you!!!!