The long awaited letter has finally arrived. We are happy to report that after reviewing our documents, the ICBF in Colombia has approved us as stated.........un grupo de tres hermanos donde el mayor de ellos tenga 7 anos de edad. My Spanish is rusty, but I was able to understand that this means that they will refer a group of 3 siblings where the oldest not being older than 7 years of age. Yes they said 3!!!!! We are so excited. We are told that referals of sibling groups of 3 can come rather quick. We could be meeting our children sometime this summer or early fall.
After this sunk in this morning, I started thinking 3 children under the age of 8. Hmmmmmm.....does 3 booster seats or car seats fit in the back seat of my car? Can we fit 3 beds in one bedroom? Which car is going to be in the driveway so we can fit the 3 bikes and hockey sticks and nets in the garage? Oh and lets not forget 5 plane tickets to get home!!!
So my organizing skills are really going to need to kick in now. I will try to get ready as much as we can without knowing the ages or sex of the children. We also attended another seminar this past weekend called "Parenting to Promote Attachment". We talked about the different ways that we can help the children attach and bond with us. One of the best ways we are told is to get on the floor and play, play and play with the children. They need to have as much time and attention from us as possible. We have decided that I will not be returning to work at least for the first year. These children need me and they do not recommend leaving them with another caregiver during the day. This will only delay or compromise the attachment process.
I have to say I have been getting some worried looks from people when I tell them we will be adopting 3 children. They gasp and look at me like I am crazy. But I don't know what they are talking about. I truly feel that this has been God's plan for our life and I am not worried at all and I am actually looking forward to hugging all my children. God is giving us one of his greatest gifts and I can't wait.
Stay tuned.
Donna
