Mixed Feelings

Today, when I talked to our interpreter, he said that our paperwork was finished at the courthouse and was just waiting for the judge's signature.  That means that tomorrow or Wednesday, we will go for "sentencia" - and the girls will finally be officially ours!  Then we only have to get the birth certificates and passports, and we can fly back to Bogota - this time with the girls.  Then we will have 4-5 days in Bogota and will fly back to Pittsburgh sometime around mid-week next week.  But it looks like we will definitely be celebrating Rosa's first birthday in Bogota.  I have to find a place to get a smash cake! haha

Of course, as one of the mothers who had adopted from Colombia told us - we instantly had mixed feelings.  We are THRILLED about heading home, but we are going to miss Monteria.  Of course there are things like the park, our pizza place, and our hamburger joint that we will miss.  But honestly, what we will miss most of all is...the sloth.

It took me two weeks, but I found the infamous sloth

OK...although the sloth was amazingly cool when I finally saw it tonight, we will miss the ROUTINE of Monteria the most.  Every morning, we wake up slowly, feed Rosa, and then head off to breakfast.  Then we do family laundry, Skype, and head to the pool, and almost always, the girls nap after that.  The afternoons are spent usually going to our pizza joint, playing in the room, shopping at the grocery store (Olympica), and hanging out at the park.  We have a routine, and we love that.  The GIRLS love it. 

Look Ma!  I'm standing!

Rosa is almost standing on her own.  In fact, we can put her next to a low table or chair, and she will hold herself up in a standing position for 10-15 minutes without our help.  She hasn't quite figured out how to fall backwards, so she stands there and cries when she is tired of standing.  Poor thing.  The workers here all see massive changes in her.  She is filling out and growing stronger by the day.  Absolutely amazing to watch!

Katie smiling in the park

Katie is just wowing us every minute.  Until a couple of days ago, she just spoke babble.  When she came to us, she only knew 2-3 Spanish words.  It was crazy.  In fact, we were concerned if she was going to speak at all for some time.  Yesterday, she came to life though.  We kept asking her if she was "all done" with her dinner.  Finally, she came up to Tim and handed him her plate and said, "I'm all done."  Tim and I stood in shock, wondering if the other person had just heard the same thing.  But it was in context - crazy!  Now, she is clearly saying Mommy, Dadda, up, down, happy, and of course, all done.  Very exciting to see her grow in her language so quickly!

So now, we are starting our good byes.  We will miss the amazing staff at Hotel Sinu, our pizza server Jose, our translator Samir, and our hamburger server who constantly reminds us that there are more things on the menu than just cheeseburgers!  It is the beginning of the end.  It is the time when we say, "This is the last time we..." or "This is the last time that..."  Sadness is setting in, but yet a feeling of absolute giddiness is inside us as well.  But it is time to transition our daughters home.  We will never forget Monteria, and we won't let our daughters forget where they are from.