Bringing Home Bebés

We're Moving!

2011-04-16T09:48:00.003-05:00

No we aren't actually physically moving, but our blog is. After not posting to BHB for more than a year, we decided it was time for a new chapter since the babies were already brought home a while ago. You can check out our latest adventures at La Familia Eisenberger.

Our Christmas Letter - 2009 Edition

2009-12-26T11:54:00.002-05:00

Dear Family and Friends,

¡Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año Nuevo!

Where do we begin? This is our very first Christmas letter, so there is much to say. We know some of you who have received this letter follow…er, followed…our blog fairly religiously, so we will spare you the month-by-month recap.

In the meantime, here are the highlights of 2009…

This year was an incredible year of “firsts” for our family, including birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and the big one-year anniversary as a family.
Samuel turned 7 in April, and the twins turned 5 in May. They were overjoyed by their celebrations and receiving gifts!
As a part of turning 5, the twins relinquished their “Aikas” (known to the rest of the world as “security blankets”). We eased into it, and the transition was much more seamless than we thought it would be.
In an effort to prep the twins for school and keep Samuel occupied, all the boys went to day camp every day for 8 weeks. The staff was amazing, and it was obvious that they were well loved there because they had so much fun, and we made some awesome friends in the process!
On July 9, we celebrated the one-year mark as a family. Deemed “Family Day”, we went out to lunch, shopping for new outfits and to a park where we could play and feed some “geeps”.
Samuel started the first grade in August. There was a bit of shell shock when he realized that there is more work and less play in first grade, but his progress amazes us on a daily basis.
The twins also started kindergarten. It has been a huge adjustment, but they are growing more and more each day, including talking in full sentences and playing together!
Andrea started grad school in August to get certified to teach art. It has been a great experience and it feels like I have finally found what I am meant to do. Oh, and I got straight A’s which has never, ever happened to me before.
Troy ran two marathons this year—the Snichers Marathon in Albany, GA and “Ridge to Bridge” in Morganton, NC.
The twins can actually be in the same room as the dogs without freaking out. We did not think that day would ever come. They still don’t want to pet them, but we are OK with that. Sam on the other hand has become great friends with Baxter and Sylvia. He feeds them, takes them outside to play, and lets them sit on him (keep in mind they have about 12 pounds on him).

Another huge highlight has been preparing for the Advent season this year. The boys are more familiar with what happens at this time of year, and have asked some really awesome questions about why we celebrate Christmas. We have been reading a VeggieTales book called The Stable That Bob Built and have also been reading the story of Jesus’ birth from their children’s Bible. It has been encouraging to see them start to grasp the meaning of it all.

As we approach 2010, we realize that we have much to be thankful for. It has been an incredible (almost) 18 months since we met the boys—full of ups and downs as all five of us have adjusted to being a “forever family”. There are definitely days when we feel like we are barely treading water, but those days are quickly overshadowed by the joy that these little men have brought to our lives. We are amazed at how often we are caught off guard by the fact that these sweet, bright, amazing little boys live in our house and we get to be their “Mamá and Papá”.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us through our transition to parenthood. Also thank you to everyone who has loved on our boys and made them feel like the rock stars they are—you have no idea how this has helped our transition into a family.

We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,
Troy, Andrea, Samuel, Daniel & Luis

Electric Eisenbergeraloo 2: Still Bloggin'

2009-11-11T17:13:00.001-05:00

The Blog is coming back....pics....stories that will make you laugh and/or cry....and so much more.

Thanks for those who still check this. Stay posted.

-Troy and Andrea

Beating Our Heads Against A Brick Wall...Sometimes

2009-07-28T20:55:00.006-05:00

If there is anything Troy and I have learned on this journey so far, it's that there are going to be moments in the life of every parent where words simply fail. Either complete elation, pride, love, fear, or, in yesterday's case, mortification take over. When one of these moments occurs, all you can do is just live in it. If it is an unwanted emotion, such as fear or mortification, just keep praying that you can move through it towards a resolution as quickly as possible.

This summer, the boys have been spending their days at a day camp near our house. I cannot say enough wonderful things about the Hickory Grove Baptist Church North day camp program. The camp director and staff have been fabulous. They have embraced our family, including my...let's call it quirkiness, though we all know "over-protectiveness" is probably a better label. They adore the boys and really let them be who they are - basically, they have really worked with the challenges of two five-year-olds who are not quite developmentally five and were willing to put Sam in a class based on age not grade. I get reports daily, like the twins were not listening as well as they should be or they hit someone, and I rejoice on the days when I am told that they are doing better than on other days. Samuel has had some rocky days, but with a year of school behind him, he came into camp pretty much knowing the drill.

Which brings us to the debacle that was Monday, July 28. So... Troy and I had the rare opportunity to pick the boys up together. As we walked into the main lobby where we sign the boys out, I immediately sensed that something was off because one of the twins' counselors was looking at me kind of funny. When I asked her if everything was OK that day, she assured me it was, but I wasn't buying it one bit. There was definitely something fishy going on. Then Cassandra, the camp director, dropped the bomb on me literally! This is what she said: "I don't want you to be upset or panic because it happens to every parent." The number of tragic things and possible havoc the boys could have wreaked that I imagined in the ten seconds before she told me what really happened cannot be detailed here due to space constraints. And then she lowered the boom. Luis had pulled down a little girls pants while she was drinking out of the water fountain, AND Samuel had said "f--- you" twice to no one in particular as he held the door open for his campmates. I...wanted...to...melt...into...the...floor. I wasn't quite sure of what to say or what to do. I definitely knew what I was feeling. Mortification. Anger. Frustration. A complete mix of emotions. Needless to say, we got the boys into the van, got everybody home (Daniel got the special treat of riding in Papa's car and going to the store) and moved to a quick resolution that will hopefully work for our family. Will the boys use "the swears" again in the future? Undoubtedly. Will our little Cassanova learn better ways to woo the ladies? We can only hope so.

At any rate, some days parenting truly is like beating your head against a brick wall. We realize we will have new hurdles to overcome constantly, and we can really only take them one at a time. This is true for any parent; however, life is so much more complex when you are an adoptive parent of older children. We never underestimate the effect that the years we weren't with them had on their lives because we will never know the full story. When they do or say something, we can't help but to question the motivation or psychology behind their actions and words. I am so thankful for all that we know about them now, and I am extremely thankful for and humbled by the role Troy and I get to play in shaping their futures.

Well, that is it for this post. I know I have a lot of catching up to do. Summer is halfway over and so much has happened. Hopefully I will be able to post everything soon!

Happy 1st Anniversary La Familia Eisenberger

2009-07-09T10:28:00.003-05:00

Can you believe we met the boys one year ago today?

July 2009, Virginia Beach, VA

July 2008, Periera, Colombia

¡Cinco de Niños!

2009-05-28T17:23:00.009-05:00

Well, it is official. The twins are now big boys! On Saturday, May 23, we celebrated their "first 5th" birthday. It wasn't quite the to-do we had initially planned - which would have been held with my family in WV. We had to cancel our Plan A due to my uncle's impending back surgery - prayers are definitely needed and welcome on that front - but our Plan B turned out to be pretty awesome all the same. The twins didn't really know the difference; all they knew was that there was the cake and balloons that they had requested. But before we get to that, let's talk about "their last day as four-year-olds" celebration.

Last Day As Four-Year-Olds
I clearly had a much more difficult time with them turning 5 than they did. Last week was quite emotional for me. It seemed that each day was a reminder of just how short our time together has been and how quickly it has been passing. The boys - all of them - are growing so fast, and it is hard to believe we have only been a family for 10. 5 months. On the other hand, which helped me gain perspective, Troy was very excited about their turning 5 and impending "big boyness" and all that comes with growing up and the things we have to look forward to this year.

As part of our celebration, the Aikas (pronounced "eye-ee-kah"; also known as blankets) and stuffed animal friends were allowed to go with us wherever we went. This is Daniel's Popoino (pronounced "po-po-wee-no").

Luis and Hippopotomo.

We even had lunch with our friends.

Quite possibly the coolest the part of the day; however, was when we went to Target to pick up party supplies, the #42 Target car (yes it was race week here in the Queen City) was parked outside the store. The #42 - for all of you non-race fans - is driven by none other than Juan Pablo Montoya, who is one of Troy and I's favorites because he is from Bogota, Colombia. As the boys were walking around looking at the car, and saying stuff like "Whoa!" and "Cool!", I found out that J.P. himself would be at the store later to sign autographs. So we hopped in the van, rushed home, waited for Sam to get home, got back in the van, rushed back to the store, and got in line!

Daniel is telling you, "I have touched this car. I am about to meet Juan Pablo. He is from Colombia like me." Well he would say that if he could speak in less garbled sentences. He was probably saying something like, "Look Mama, this race car cool!"

Juan Pablo Montoya. Sadly, they wanted to keep the line moving, so there were no photo ops with him, just autographs. But I did let him know that the boys were from Pereira and he tried to speak Spanish to them. The boys were so excited they just giggled, and Luis did one of his very Luis goofy things that he does.

The Twins Turn 5!
The twins were so excited (and probably already exhausted) by the time the big day arrived. When Luis woke up at 6:50 AM to go to the bathroom, I went up to ask him to go back to bed when he was finished and not wake Daniel. Well, I made the mistake of wishing him a "happy birthday" and it was on from there. He was way too excited to sleep and he woke his brothers up.

The first order of business was something the twins and I had been working up to for over a month...It was time to say good-bye for good to the Aikas. Yes, they have been dear friends, like dear aunties that watch over the twins at all times, but the boys also suck on them when they sleep and the dentist said they have got to go before the twins are old enough for permanent teeth. I am hoping the thumb sucking will resolve itself since it seemed to go hand in hand with carrying the blankets.

So, we gave them one last hug, folded them gently, said good-bye and we love you so much, and put them in ziploc bags for safe keeping. I was definitely more upset than they were. You can ask my mom about my Poocoos.

Then we were off to Dan Nicholas Park in Salisbury...

All of the boys are very into picnics. We packed sandwiches, apples, juice, chips and cookies - all of the twins favorites - into the picnic basket. Luis unfortunately has a bug phobia. I know those of you who are avid readers of our blog are shaking your head and thinking "What isn't that boy afraid of?" When we figure it out we will let you know. There were moments when he would start screaming and crying uncontrolably because a fly or a gnat came near him. Even at his turtle eating pace, and bug screaming delays, we eventually made it through before dusk or the rain came.

Sweet Daniel...doesn't he look older?

Luis being Luis...love those faces he makes.

Aren't they cute? They had cut-outs like this all over the park.

In addition to a little train that the boys adored, they had a petting zoo with goats, sheep, a donkey named Sam, etc... The boys had a good time trying to get the animals to come to them, even though none of them did (except maybe the goats who were tempted by the straw the boys were holding).

I got this sweet, little pig to come to me. She was adorable, and very vocal with her "oinks" and squeels. For any of you Facebook friends out there who play Farm Town, she literally walked up to me and fell over asleep. It was too, too cute!!!

The park also had a wildlife refuge. Here the boys are looking for the bear.

Daniel is literally doing a chicken dance here. Not THE chicken dance, but a chicken dance nonetheless.

Sam makes a solo appearance. I put this pic in because he looks so stinking cute in it, and to prove that he really was there too!

We finally got the twins on a carousel. They would only ride on the bench, but still it is a step up from the Parque del Café fiasco where Daniel refused to ride and Luis screamed the entire time. Samuel chose a horse as far from the rest of us as possible.

Pizza was the twins' pick for dinner, so we did make your own courtesy of Trader Joe's. We love this because it reminds us of Archie's in Colombia.

The dinner party. Yes Hippopotomo and Popoino joined us for dinner too! They wouldn't have missed it for the world.

The theme was dinosaurs, so we had dino-cupcakes. We also had dino-balloons and the table was covered in little dinosaurs that the boys could play with during dinner.

...or that Papa could play with during dinner. Samuel is getting to be a very good photographer. He has quite the eye.

Daniel kept telling me that he wanted a car for his birthday. I kept telling him that he has tons of cars. But what he meant was that he wanted one that was just his - that he doesn't have to share. I have never seen him happier than when he opened this gift. His face was beaming. Thanks Nana and Pop Pop Peregory!

Luis loved his too!

They had a wonderful birthday. If the weather ever clears long enough for us to go out, we will take pictures of them learning how to ride their new bikes (that's what we got them). The only hiccup in the day was when we finally went to bed and both boys asked where the Aikas were. Troy and I both felt horrible as we reminded them that they were five now and big boys and blah, blah, blah...

Who Are These Boys?

2009-05-14T06:54:00.004-05:00

One year ago today we received the life-changing phone call from our adoption case-worker that we would be getting three incredibly handsome, active sons. At the time, the photo (which we received a few days later) was mislabeled and we thought Daniel was Luis and Luis was Daniel and we kept calling Samuel by his first name. It is funny to think back to all of the things we inferred from the photo or interpreted from the paperwork and compare it to what we know about them now. I could write a book on their personalities, what they are really like, their favorite things, etc... It has been an amazing ten months of us getting to know each other better and figuring out how to function as a family of five. We definitely still have a long road ahead of us, but we are enjoying the ride.

Daniel, Luis Angel and Carlos Samuel in May 2008.

Daniel, Luis and Samuel in May 2009.

My First Mother's Day

2009-05-12T09:47:00.006-05:00

After all these years, I finally got to celebrate Mother's Day. Last year, our referral literally came 3 days after Mother's Day, so I have been looking forward to this for a long, long time. To celebrate my big day, we went to church first and then to the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in nearby Belmont for a picnic lunch. The food was delicious and the five of us had a blast walking around, enjoying the flora, and playing in the fountains. We rounded the day out by doing some yard work and going to dinner at my favorite eatery - Moe's. It was fantastic, and I couldn't have asked for a better day from start to finish.

While I was in the shower, Troy had the boys create some Mother's Day art for me on the porch and sidewalk. Samuel got the task of writing the well wishes since he is the only one who knows how to write. Troy also cooked me bacon for breakfast and made me a cup of tea. A perfect start to a perfect day!

At the top of this photo is Luis' happy face contribution.

And this is Daniel's creation. His smiley faces are really starting to look like faces.

The Garden was packed. We waited for about 30 minutes to get in, but thanks to Luis and a Ranch dressing incident that sent Troy running for napkins, Papa was able to secure a table for us to enjoy our catered picnic in style!

After lunch, the boys presented me with the cards that each of them worked so diligently on. They were all so beautiful and a perfect representation of each of their personalities and artistic abilities. Daniel's was simple, but sweet.

Luis's was a colorful, abstract masterpiece.

And Samuel's was a magic marker creation full of writing and doodles declaring his affection and that he will help me all day!

Troy created a pop-up card for me. It was so awesome! And it had a gift certificate for a new pair of Rainbow flip-flops inside! Yay! I will be walking on a cloud in no time!

Sam took this picture. His ability to frame a shot is definitely improving - at least we are in the picture!

The DSBG has many, many fountains and that was the highlight for the boys. They loved looking at them and playing in the water. You would have thought we were at a water park - except that an actual water park would have been terrifying and the twins would have spent the whole day crying.

A view of the reflection canal.

Some pretty "pear-ple" flowers.

We can't seem to take a normal photo anymore. They always have to be making a funny face.

We really thought that one of them would fall in. Luckily no one did.

However, there was a tunnel fountain that you can walk under. Sam, of course, found the one place where it rained on his head the most and stood there until he was soaked. Daniel ran through the tunnel laughing the whole time. Luis, on the other hand, had to be drug through the first time and carried through the second time, whimpering and protesting throughout.

In the Orchid Conservatory, which is full of tropical plants, Troy managed to capture a sweet moment between Luis and Samuel. At this point, Daniel was in the bathroom screaming his head off while I tried to remove thorns from his hand after he touched some plant that he shouldn't have touched. Next time, he wears gloves!

The wall of orchids. The conservatory was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was very well designed. My favorite part was when we got to South American plants like the banana trees, I made sure to say very loudly to the boys, "Oh we have already seen banana trees in Colombia, remember boys?"

Troy got some very good shots of some of the other plants despite the fact that our camera is dying a very unfortunate death. If you look on the left of the front flower, you can see ants - they are just there to torment me.

This was my favorite picture that Troy took. It just has a very interesting composition.

All in all, it was the best day. All of my boys had fun making it special, and Troy worked really hard to make sure that it was everything I had ever imagined it would be. I can't wait to see what next year will bring. I am also super excited to have an extra day in the year (besides my birthday) that is all about me - though I am honored to share this one with my mom, my sister and the countless other mothers that I know.

Sam Rocks the Big "7"

2009-05-01T14:56:00.009-05:00

On Sunday, April 26, Samuel turned 7, and we finally got to celebrate our first birthday with the boys. It was a great celebration with a lot of anticipation and the repeated question: "How many days until my birthday?" We ended up partying three days in a row, so I think by the time it was all said and done, Samuel felt like everyday might just be his birthday from here on out.

We began on Friday by taking cupcakes and juice to his classmates for snack time. Nana and Pop Pop Peregory were on hand to surprise Samuel, and he was so excited. He got to wear a visor that said "Happy Birthday" on it and then everyone sang to him. Luis and Daniel got to eat cupcakes and drink juice, so their view of what kindergarten is actually like becomes more and more warped with every visit we make to the school. His birthday party was on Saturday afternoon and we had plenty of family and friends on hand to help celebrate, and we are thankful for the family that travelled to be here and the friends who took time on the weekend to be with us. It meant a lot to have Sam's "first seventh" birthday be such a special event! On Sunday, the day belonged to Sam - we let Sam pick where he wanted to eat lunch and what he wanted us to make him for dinner while he played with all of his new toys.

The pictures and videos always do a better job at telling the story, so here we go!

Happy Birthday to Samuel! We think he looks older! He definitely keeps reminding us that he is now a big boy. Maria made this amazing cake to go along with our "Rock 'n Roll" theme. It absolutely tasted as good as it looked. Thank you Maria!!!!

An overhead view of the cake. Amazing. She shaped the entire thing by hand.

We held the party at a park near our house so that the kids would be able to run and play and have fun on the playground. Of course the twins did not leave the shelter. Instead they played in the dirt. I am not surprised. Samuel, on the other hand, did not want to leave the sand box under any circumstance except for the piñata and to open presents.

Before we let the kids take a whack at the piñata, we handed out loot bags so they would have a place to put their candy. It was a bit more chaotic than I anticipated. I am used to speaking in front of groups of colleagues, not trying to organize hot, anxious kids. It was pretty comical.

The piñata! I didn't get a good shot of our boys, but they were wearing their guitar t-shirts and Maria commented that she liked how I made them into decorations too!

The birthday boy got to go first. Here his Nana is spinning him around and getting ready to turn him loose.

Their friend Ashton plays little league and is pretty adept with the bat. In fact, he hit the piñata so hard that he bent it in half on his second go 'round! It didn't hinder the other kids' fun one bit.

The spoils of war! Each kid took two turns - one with the blindfold and one without. When the piñata STILL wasn't busted open, we let Samuel take it and throw the guitar on the ground like a real rock star. Below are some video clips of our boys taking their shots at the papier maché menace.

I was really amazed at how the other kids just let Samuel open his presents. They gathered around him to watch, but didn't try to help or take over. They just let him do it. He got a lot of great stuff that he is really excited about and thankful for.

On Sunday, he picked Wild Wing Café for lunch so he could get pizza with a baked potato. Note his new big boy watch, courtesy of his primos.

We got a brownie Sunday to continue the celebration...

...and we didn't leave any of it behind!

For his birthday dinner, Samuel chose the very perplexing combination of German-style sausages, bacon, popcorn and juice. It was surprisingly good, but very greasy.

We got Samuel his first bike for his birthday. He initially asked for a real guitar with strings (he has a plastic one that he plays with), but we thought with the summer upon us, he should have a bike. Every kid needs a bike! He LOVES it and asks to go ride it every day. Below is a video of his first bike ride on his birthday.

While he rode, the twins got to ride in their jogger so we could all stay together.

The other thing that Samuel really wanted was a tie, so his Nana and Pop Pop Peregory gave him a shirt and tie. He proudly wore it to school on Tuesday. Very fancy!

It really was an excellent weekend! I have much more to post on what we have been doing over the past month, but I will save that for next time.

Sport Time!

2009-03-23T08:04:00.005-05:00

In an effort to give the twins some exposure to organized play - and since we didn't want to assume that our boys would be soccer players simply because they are from Colombia - we have enrolled all of them in a Saturday morning sports program at the rec center across from our neighborhood. It is called Sport Time and will give them an introduction to various sports. So far, they have participated in basketball and hockey.

Their first class was the weekend Troy was running his marathon. It could only be described as pure chaos! Luis and Daniel wanted to be in Samuel's class and they just were not getting that you can play any other sport with a ball than fútbol (soccer). Luis kept kicking the basketball (though I do love his little soccer kick) and Daniel kept bouncing the ball off of his head. Only Samuel seemed to care that they were learning how to play a new sport, and as it turns out, his gym teacher started their basketball unit the next Monday - needless to say, Samuel was elated that he knew what basketball was and how to sort of play it. The second weekend, the organizer moved the 5/6 year-olds to 10:00 AM (the 4's are at 9:00 AM) which was a huge relief because it enables us to focus on one age group at a time, and the twins always require twice the effort (poor Sam!).

We aren't sure of what sport they will learn next, but soccer is definitely in the rotation, and we will be beaming with pride as our boys kick the ball around and bounce it off their heads. I think we have learned that Luis and Daniel are soccer players to the core, but Samuel is enjoying all of it. He really wants to try new things, see how it works and then see if he can do. Unfortunately, if he doesn't get it the first time, he decides he can't do it and wants to give up. The biggest blessing of his class being split from the twins is that it enables us to cheer a little bit more from the sidelines for him. His next endeavor will be something he is great at and loves to do: running. The rec center is offering a track program with real meets at a local university. Troy is planning on coaching. We will keep you posted on the details as the program starts.

Here are some Sport Time pics. Sorry for the not so great quality. The gym is really dark and the kids move really fast, but you get the point, right?

Luis was actually pretty good at shooting the ball. He got it in the basket nearly every time which we thought was pretty impressive for a little guy who has never played basketball before.

Daniel struggled a little, but he did make one basket and it was the most exciting thing in the world. He kept jumping up and down, saying "I did it Mamá! I did it Papá! I did it! I did it!" He was so excited and it was just too cute!

This is one of the organized games that the 4-year-olds get to play. The cones they are carrying are their "steering wheels". Note Troy in the white shirt trying to get Daniel to join in. Luis (in front of the guy in gray way in the back) had no problem running around.

Sam being silly while one of his classmates shoots the ball. The big kids got to play with the big hoop.

Here's a short clip of Samuel shooting the ball. Not too bad!

Troy will have to fill you in on this past week's hockey class since I was not there. I heard it was crazy though!

Duality -or- The Adventures of A Reluctant Stay-At-Home-Mom

2009-03-16T13:50:00.002-05:00

Many of our faithful blog-stalkers are always hounding me to update the blog more frequently. I get it, the boys are cute, you guys can't get enough of them and think that now that I am not working I should have more time to write. Well, the truth is that since I lost my job, I have been too depressed to write. In my head, this is not how it was supposed to be. I was supposed to return to work, find full-time care for the boys, and have my cake and eat it to. I loved my job. In many ways it defined me. When I lost my job, I lost a huge chunk of my identity that I have not been able to recover.

So why this post? Why now?

As I was sitting at lunch with the twins today, I was really struck by just how lucky/fortunate/blessed/"whatever you want to call it" I am. I have this realization often (usually at meal times), but today it really struck me to the core. I have had time I would not have otherwise had with my little guys (Sam included) if I were working. In fact, I might not know them as well as I do if I weren't home with them all day. Our bond might not be as strong as it is if I weren't home with them all day.

When we first got the call about the boys last May, we toyed around with the possibility of my staying home to care for them. This idea was quickly dismissed for many reasons, including finances, their ages, and my desire to keep working. I created an FMLA plan with my boss that worked for me and the company, and by the time I got back from Colombia I could not wait to get back to work. I was barely off of my part-time schedule when Luis needed surgery, and I had only been back full-time for a month when they lowered the boom. Devastation. Anger. Despair. There weren't enough words in the English dictionary to cover what I felt. The upside was that it was the holidays and I had the boys' first Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's in their new home to keep me busy. Only now, the holidays have come and gone, and I am still (reluctantly) at home.

This month I am approaching the four month mark of unemployment. I still do not consider myself a stay-at-home-mother. I cannot take on that title. If I get too comfortable, if I get us into too much of a routine, if I start to call myself that, it will make it that much harder to go back to work when I do finally find that much needed job. Although, now I must say, I need the job not to define me, but because our bills are stacked up. So I live in this weird limbo - not a "working mom", not a "stay at home mom". I am just a mom, and I realized today that's OK because that is exactly what our boys need because they have not had anyone just be their mom (or dad) before. Sure they have a birthmother and a foster mother, but they have never had a bonafide, smother-you-with-hugs-and-kisses, wake-you-up-in-the-morning, walk-you-to-the-busstop, tell-you-just-how-awesome-and-adorable-you-really-are kind of mom (or dad) before. So when I have freak out moments about whether or not their emotions are "developing properly" for their ages or whether the twins will be ready for kindergarten because they aren't in pre-K, I try to remember that Troy and I have years of loving on them to make up first, everything else will take care of itself. Loving on them is the easy part, it is the cabin fever that I have to ward off!

SOAPBOX - Don't Read It If You Don't Want To Hear It!

2009-03-10T15:17:00.002-05:00

OK, I can no longer keep silent. There is one subject that has been driving me absolutely bonkers for over a week now, and I just have to unload. So, in the vein of my buddy Redonna and her "Constantine" post a few weeks back, I am now going to give the world my two cents on...wait for it...the Bachelor.

America, it is time to move on with our lives. Jason dumped Melissa and hooked up with Molly. GET OVER IT!!!! I personally don't think this makes him the scum of the Earth. I have dated men much scummier than Jason. Here are my reasons why it is time to let it go:

1) All of these women and this one man signed up for a REALITY television show. That means that they chose to have "have their lives taped, stop being polite, and start keeping it real"...Oh wait wrong show, but you get my point.

2) They all signed contracts that most likely locked them into being OK with whatever the outcome may be.

3) The whole process takes something like six weeks. Jason whittled down a group of 25 girls in 6 weeks through a series of grandiose dates - most of them in groups of at least 3. Yep, that sounds like a formula for falling in love for forever, doesn't it?

4) They would have broken up eventually, whether on TV or not. Of the 13 seasons of the Bachelor, none of the Bachelors have married. Only one of the 4 Bachelorettes have married.

5) Ratings, ratings, ratings...it is all about the ratings.

So, whether you choose to hate Jason forever or wish him and Molly a happily-ever-after, he made his choice and ABC has chosen to continue to exploit this poor girl's "pain" by putting her on Dancing With The Stars. Now who is the scum of the Earth?

Give me a shout out if you voted for her last night!

Snow? You Have Got To Be Kidding Me...

2009-03-05T12:47:00.006-05:00

**********PLEASE NOTE: This is one of four new posts. If you haven't read all of them,
you may want to start with the IKEA post and work your way up.**********

This past Sunday, Troy went to see a Ben Folds concert with our friend Paul. He had not been gone for very long when he called me to let me know that it was snowing. Sure enough, I opened the front door and our front yard was blanketed. That was 7:00 PM. By 9:00 PM, the school system called to let the parents know that school would be canceled. Ugh!!! When we woke up Monday morning, our neighborhood - well all of Charlotte and the surrounding area - was a winter wonderland. There was nothing I could do but get the boys suited up and take them out in it. We had about 4", but the yard was pretty slushy because it had rained for 2 days prior and our yard holds water. We still had fun. They tried to make snow angels and snow balls. If the yard hadn't have been so wet, we would have had an awesome snowman. The twins ended up sitting near a puddle, throwing snow into it and watching the snow melt. Like my mom always says, "it's the little things." Enjoy the pictures from snow day #3 in Charlotte. Who would have ever thought we would get so many, especially one after spring had started to bloom here!

P.S. It is supposed to be in the 70s next week. Living in the South is wackadoodle!

Sylvia's Big Day Out

2009-03-05T12:31:00.003-05:00

Two Saturdays ago, Maria and I took our dogs for a "girls day" to Barkington Park. In this world that is overrun with testosterone it was wonderful to spend some quality time with each other, Sylvia and Ruth "The Tooth". The pups had a blast and we can't wait to go back and do it again. Although, we both felt guilty about leaving Baxter behind, so we will have to take him next time.

It was a gorgeous day, so there were tons of dogs and dog lovers out and about. Sylvia and The Tooth were a little overwhelmed at first, but they caught on quickly and made friends with everybody they could. Sylvia kept trying to take a ball from this one little boy who just wanted to play fetch with his pooch. Silly me, I didn't even think to bring her ball.

So this is the only picture I captured of the two girls together, and, of course, Sylvia is peeing in it. She felt it was necessary to mark her territory everywhere - perpetually the alpha. A lesson learned is that dogs move too fast to take good pictures!

...unless they are sniffing each others butts which was the beloved pastime of every dog there. Humans wave hello. Dogs sniff each other. I am thankful God made me a human!

Maria of course came prepared! She had lots of water on hand much to Sylvia's delight. What is that on Sylvia's nose? Oh that is just a big string of ooey-gooey spit. She was so over excited she started frothing at the mouth with shoelaces of spit coming out of the corners. I am not quite sure of how it ended up on her nose though.

Playtime...

2009-03-04T18:25:00.004-05:00

When we aren't going to IKEA, we are doing lots of other fun stuff! Here is just a glimpse of what we have been doing with our days.

Daniel helped Papá put the TV stand for the living room together. The plan is to move the TV (and pretty much everything else) out of our loft, convert the loft into a playroom and turn our "formal"/never used living room into a "lived in" room. Hopefully this will give the boys some more space, and give us parents some more time away from toyland. The other big change is that Sam is moving into the guest room. He has been sleeping in there for a week already. We will be converting that room into a space just for him. The first night he slept in there, he sat up, declared with his arms raised in the air "Mamá, I'm a big boy!" He's absolutely right!

Luis helped with the TV stand too! He was in charge of organizing and stacking the parts - a fitting job for him indeed.

I finally put the train set together for the boys. Nana and Pop Pop Peregory got it for them for Christmas. The boys love taking all of the pieces and configuring it in different ways. It has become a fast favorite. So have their Lincoln Logs from their Tio Rico and Tia Amanda. Anything stackable is always a hit.

The new favorite game is "doctor". In this case, Sam was the patient. They love to use all sorts of toys as their medical instruments. It is hysterical. It is also incredible to see their imaginations at work. I know I ramble on and on about this, but if you all could have seen how deprived and almost unchildlike our children were when we met them...In just these few short months they have opened up and blossomed and have learned to play like little boys. It is simply amazing and I am truly thankful for it and blessed by it everyday.

They often make their stuffed animals the patients. Here Mami Popoino is the patient. The face mask was actually given to Luis as part of his pre-op preparation. It smells like bubble gum!

Welcome IKEA!

2009-03-04T17:25:00.012-05:00

For those of you who know me, you know that I am absolutely in love with IKEA. I love everything about the IKEA experience - from sitting on the furniture, to carrying around the paper measuring tape, to eating in the café. Sadly, I have never lived close to an IKEA. In fact, I have always been at least four hours from one where ever we have lived...until now. Hello Charlotte IKEA!!!!

I had been trying to talk Maria into camping out with me for opening day (which it turns out was a downpour), but fortunately we didn't have to. Thanks to our husbands' connections in the city, Steve was able to secure a pass that enabled a carload of us to attend a special preview. I have never been more thankful for our minivan. On the Saturday before the grand opening, February 14 to be exact, we loaded up the 'bergers and Freys and headed to IKEA for some good old-fashioned shopping. What recession? You can get placemats for $1 each!

The majority of photos below are courtesy of Maria. ¡Muchas gracia Miss Maria!

Waiting in line until the doors opened. The boys were kind of confused, and Luis got a little lost once the crowd started to move, but he caught up quickly.

We felt like rock stars as the staff cheered for us as we walked through the doors. Again, the boys were perplexed, but they just went with it.

Luis did not want to get up from this table. He loved that it was just his size. In fact, we are turning the loft into a playroom and will be purchasing their play table from IKEA because you can by the table top and legs separately.

Who knows what Samuel is doing, but he sure was having fun!

Luis enjoyed measuring things with the paper measuring tape.

Daniel wanted to work like Papá. SIDENOTE: I did not intentionally dress the twins in blue and yellow (the IKEA colors), but because of it they got their pictures taken and video too! Who knows, maybe they will end up on some promotional materials. That makes my marketing heart proud!!!

Samuel is chillaxin' as my good friend Sherry likes to say.

I think we let them watch that So You Think You Can Dance clip of the little B-Boy one too many times.

I will own this chair one day. I will put it in our bedroom. Once I do, I will never get up from this chair...ever again.

Troy is so handsome! I had to throw this one in here.

Steve and Maria!!!!

Daniel eating breakfast.

Samuel sharing his breakfast with the rest of us.

Luis shovelling in his breakfast.

My favorite part of the day was that I got to leave the kids in their playland for one whole hour! I am not so sure the boys loved it, but I certainly did.

All in all, it was a successful trip. Troy got a much needed dresser for very cheap. That is the best part about IKEA. You get great furniture, for low prices.

My favorite picture of the day though has to be this one. Luis has his finger up his nose 90% of the time. Thank you Miss Maria for capturing the true essence of Luis!

Finally, The Missing Christmas Pictures

2009-02-16T09:42:00.003-05:00

So, I have been waiting for a couple of months in hopes of posting family pictures from our holiday visit. It seems there was some confusion as to how I would acquire these photos because our camera batteries died (poor timing, I know) on the day we were able to get the boys settled enough to pose. Long story short, I finally fished the following pictures out of Troy's email when I realized they had been sent to him and not to me. So without further ado, here are some more pictures of our trip to PA and the boys meeting more of Troy's family!

Here are the boys with their Pop Pop and Nana Eisenberger. They had a great time getting to know their abuelos.

They also enjoyed getting to spend time with their Pennsylvania primos, Riley and Pierce. I think Samuel referred to them as "the boys with the toys" for weeks until we could get him to call them by their proper names.

Our Year So Far...

2009-02-13T11:26:00.004-05:00

After much harassment and (not so) gentle reminding from a myriad of people, I finally conceded to the fact that it is indeed time to update the blog. Sorry for the delay. Our year has been a bit crazy. But before I get started I have to give a BIG shout out of CONGRATULATIONS to two friends who had babies this week:

-The Baughns (Stephanie and Ryan) welcomed their fourth boy, Jasper Emile, on Tuesday. Having three boys, I have to give them props because I think one more would drive me over the edge.
-The Carlbergs (Sheila and Chris) welcomed Lincoln Edward on Wednesday. We used to have a link to Sheila and Chris's adoption blog, and just when their Khazakstan adoption seemed to stall God blessed them with their pregnancy.

OK, onto La Familia Eisenberger happenings...

Luis and I spent several hours on the evening of New Year's Day in the hospital after paying a visit to our pediatrician at his house (yes it pays to be friends with your children's doctor). It turns out that he had pneumonia and RSV. Poor boy was completely miserable and hacking up a lung - not to mention his 105 degree fever. Happy New Year! Fortunately, with some strong antibiotics and a handy dandy nebulizer, he recovered pretty quickly. We did have a string a sicknesses after that as we all passed around a cold. The rest of us escaped the RSV which was excellent.

The weekend of January 23rd, the boys and I headed home to VA Beach for Nana's birthday celebration and some much needed R&R for all of us. Troy got some Papá time and I got to spend time with my family. The boys got to wear themselves out with their primos, and we all got to play the Wii!

The most recent events include "our perfect day" this past weekend and Samuel's broken tooth. On Tuesday, I received a call from his teacher informing me that there had been an accident on the playground involving Samuel, a pole, and his teeth. The tooth he broke was his brand new permanent tooth! This led to an emergency trip to the dentist which turned out to be helpful becuase this was the last appointment I needed to make for all of the boys and now we finally have a dentist (and she is wonderful).

Here is the rest of our year in pictures. They always tell a better story than I every could anyway!

Troy took Samuel to get his hair cut at Sport Clips. They both came back looking very dapper, and Sam keeps asking when he can go back.

He is so handsome!

We built a fort! Samuel and Luis loved it. Daniel was so confused by it and kept wanting to play right at the entrance, but he finally caught on and was OK with it by the end. The dogs were especially confused because it blocked the couch, so they didn't know where to lay down.

Samuel has a ridiculous amount of homework for being in kindergarten. He can write both his first and last name on his own though - a feat he is very proud of!

We had a snow day. We have actually had two, but only went out to play on one of them. Troy worked from home that day so he could enjoy the boy's first snow. We got completely bundled up for our 3/4" and went outside to make snowballs. Samuel even made a snow angel.

Someone gave us this snowsuit and I didn't think we would ever get to use it. Thankfully, we did!

The twins can entertain themselves anywhere. I dread the day they lose this quality!

Too, too cute!

Papá and Daniel had a great time hanging out in the snow.

Samuel got stuck in one of the Crepe Myrtles. It was kind of funny!

The dogs even went out to play. This was Baxter's first snow too! It took him forever to go to the bathroom because he didn't like the way it made his paws feel. It was hilarious to watch him walk around on the grass!

Nana Peregory's Steelers fans! I knew I held onto this stuff for a reason. That's "Messie's" Terrible Towel. We celebrated the Super Bowl with our friend's Matt & Jessie. When the boys try to say Matt and Jessie, it just comes out "Messie".

This one is for Nana Peregory too! I couldn't resist putting Luis in this "little Ben" jersey. Too cute!

Troy wasn't giving up hope though. He was rooting for the Seahawks until the end...um...even though they weren't even in the playoffs/Superbowl this year. The jersey Sam is wearing is Troy's Steve Largent jersey from when he was Sam's age. He was very proud to pass it down!

Last weekend is why I love February in the south! Random 70 degree weekends! We hit the greenway, went for a walk to the playground and let the boys play to their heart's content. Then we went to get a bite to eat. The greenway is wonderful because the boys can run/walk and we don't have to worry about where they will run/walk off to.

Swinging and swinging and swinging. I think the twins stayed on the swings nearly the whole time!

One of my favorites!

Daniel can be happy just about anywhere!

Luis has some of the best expressions!

Hopefully, I will be able to keep this more up-to-date, but I am not making any promises. Although we do have some exciting things in our future, including the opening of the Charlotte IKEA and the Carolina Alpaca Celebration!

Feliz Navidad - Live

2008-12-30T21:28:00.004-05:00

This may be some of the funniest footage we have ever been able to capture of our boys'. Don't say we didn't warn you.

For a more detailed account of our Christmas adventures, see the previous post.

Feliz Navidad, Part 1

2008-12-30T20:24:00.007-05:00

I did not realize it had been nearly three weeks since our last post. No wonder so many people have been asking for updates. Well here goes! This will have quite a few pictures (with more to come), so I will give you the highlights:

Visits from friends: During the weekend before Christmas we were fortunate enough to get to spend time with dear friends who dropped in on their way to other parts of NC. We were first visited by Ryan and Mary Newcomb (and also joined by Jake and Allison Webb) for some great pizza and endless hammy entertainment by the boys. Some of you may remember Ryan as "that guy who sang that beautiful song at [our] wedding." We were then visited by Andy, Bonnie and Luke McNabb. Time with them is always fun, usually includes the men going for drinks so the women can chat, Andy beating all of us at a game, and the latest addition of our boys scaring baby Luke by making him the object of their attention.

Lighting the Advent wreath on Christmas Eve: We were asked to light the Christ candle at the Christmas Eve service at our church. After Troy gave a brief explanation about the Christ candle, and I began to light all of the candles on the wreath, Luis proceeded to blow some of the other candles on the table out...very classic Luis.

Celebrating our first Christmas with our kids: This goes without saying and should be assumed. We loved it. The boys had a blast. Samuel wanted to know where Santa was and why he wasn't staying with us. They got everything they asked for (except pizza). BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!!!

Seeing Troy's Family: This was our PA year for Christmas and the boys got to meet a lot of family they had not met yet. My favorite Kodak moment that I am hoping Uncle Steve caught with his camera was when Luis and Daniel were sitting on the loveseat with GiGi (short for Great-Grandma Sandrock) and Luis looked at her and said "Yo quiero right there" (I want right there), pointed to her lap and put his head down. I got misty. If I remember right, Sylvia did the same thing (minus the talking) a few years back. There must be something about GiGi's lap!

Meeting the Derr's: MOST EXCELLENT! As part of being an adoptive family, we have developed a few online friendships, particularly with other people who have adopted from Colombia. David and Sheila Derr were one of our first friends in our little virtual community namely because their son Jonatan was adopted in the same city as our boys. The bonus is that they live in Harrisburg, PA not far from our family. It was so cool to meet them and hang out with them for just a little bit. It was just amazing to swap stories and talk to people who really lived what we lived while we were in-country.

Samuel lost a tooth: His front tooth was loose but stuck because his permanent tooth was coming in behind it. I accidentally hit him in the mouth when we were boxing at their cousin's house (complete with boxing gloves), and it finally fell out the next day.

The long ride home: We had car problems on the way up, took the van to the dealership who couldn't fix it in the time we needed it fixed but were blessed with a smooth ride on the way back anyway. This was the first time we have driven during the day with the boys wide awake. I have to say, it was way more entertaining and less annoying than I thought it would be. They were very funny at times and super well behaved.

The boys' Christmas came a few days early when Mary and Ryan gave them Virginia Tech t-shirts. One of the boys shouted "Go Hokies!" when he opened the present. It was pretty adorable and made all of the Hokies in the room proud.

After chuch and Christmas Eve dinner we let the boys open one present. It just happend to be pajamas, but from the look on Daniel's face, you would think he just won the lottery.

They love their Christmas pajamas!

This is our tree after Santa visited. He brought Samuel a guitar, Daniel a firetruck and Luis a pirate ship. They were overjoyed.

Nana and Pop Pop Peregory shipped their presents down, so the boys really felt like they had hit the jackpot! Here they are unwrapping their train set. We love trains!

We took Samuel to the Green Dragon (an Eisenberger rite of passage) which is an Amish flea market in Ephrata, PA that is only open on Fridays. It was pretty cool to walk around with three generations of Eisenberger men, and Samuel loved it. He held Pop Pop's hand the whole time. Another rite of passage: he got his very first big boy belt from the leather shop - they custom cut and punch the holes to fit you.

You never know what you are going to find, but it is always dirt cheap. This is one of the butcher shops. They have the best beef jerky in the world.

Here are the boys with Nana and Pappy Shoenfelt. Nana S. said that it was simply wonderful to have the boys in her house and she loved it. We also learned something new - they weren't terrified of their cocker spaniel Bailey...so, there is something less scary about smaller, whitish colored dogs. Hmmm...I don't get it either.

Samuel finally got to play in some snow and make some snowballs (which we are thinking he learned by watching Diego...maybe). His hands were completely frozen.

Bec, if you are reading this, I hope you don't mind that I posted this picture, but I wanted to put a picture of our niece-in-waiting on the blog. This is Troy's sister Becca and our niece who is due in just a few weeks. Come on Savannah! Just come out of there!

The boys got to meet their other primos Pierce and Riley and play in their play room. Troy's step-sister Jill is brilliant because the tape you see on the floor is called the "Lego Zone" and legos should not leave that area. I just love that. I need to make a zone for card house building! Also, please note the aforementioned boxing gloves, you can't make this stuff up people.

And last, but not least, La Familias Eisenberger y Derr. That is Sheila, Dave and their two-year-old son Jonatan. He is simply adorable, and they are amazingly good-hearted! Thank you Derrs for inviting us into your home!

If you made it this far, I hope you enjoyed our Christmas adventures. Be on the look out for our video of the boys in the car. Also, if you have any pictures from the weekend that you want to send us, you can send them to my email at andrealwe@yahoo.com.

Leaf Thrower

2008-12-11T09:18:00.003-05:00

I couldn't get this to upload the other day (as promised), so I apologize for the delay. I think I was uploading the wrong file. I hope you all enjoy - I know the boys really did. Now the leaf pile is a big wet mess in the front yard. We had hoped to be able to get back out and bag it (it got too dark the other night), but a big rainstorm is moving through and soaking everything. That will be loads of fun when the skies clear!

Fall Fun (and A Nod To The Fifth Monthiversary)

2008-12-09T23:38:00.004-05:00

The boys are completely enamored with autumn. They love the leaves and all of the crazy things you can do with them - like bring them into the house when Mamá isn't looking, throw them up in the air, throw them in your brother's hair, etc. Daniel likes to line them up under the wheels of the camioneta. We aren't sure what he thinks the outcome will be, but he does this nearly every time we get into or out of the van.

So yesterday we started cleaning up the yard in an effort to move on from fall and on to winter. I used my beloved blower/vac (Mommy - I never realized it would come in so handy years later) to create a giant pile of leaves for the little guys and you would have thought that it was Christmas already. I will also upload a video. Troy and I got a huge kick out of watching them throw the leaves, kick the leaves, and bury each other in the leaves for well over an hour. We learned a great lesson though, even when it doesn't feel cold enough for gloves we probably need them because both Luis and Samuel wailed in pain as the tingling started when their hands started to warm up. It is a good thing we don't live further north. These boys would freeze to death!

I know I say this ALL the time, but goodness he is handsome and he is going to be swarmed by girls when he grows up! This is my favorite (the picture, not the kid - I don't have one of those).

They are just so stinking cute! They are only half smiling because they didn't really want to have to share space or leaves to be in a picture together.

Surprisingly, Daniel was totally OK with being buried alive (as long as they didn't get leaves down in his glasses). I wish I had a picture that accurately captured the magnitude of the leaf pile. For those of you who have been to our house, you know that we have a ton of trees in our front yard. This is only a snippet of what the pile really looked like.

Look at that smile! He is just so precious! And he is getting better everyday about playing with his brothers. We still deal with him needing his space, and we often have to explain to Samuel (espcially) and Luis that Daniel likes to play alone, but he has really come out of his shell.

For those who are keeping track, today marks 5 months since we met the boys. Where has all of the time gone?!

First Thanksgiving and Other Rites of Passage

2008-12-07T18:42:00.007-05:00

I must say that we had much to be thankful for this year. Well, I know I did, and I am sure Troy would say the same. The simple fact that we are finally parents is just one reason, but the boys themselves are three more. It has definitely been a huge test of faith, patience, love, our marriage and everything else imaginable, but just watching the changes that have taken place in the boys' personalities in the past (almost) five months is nothing short of humbling.

Being unemployed continues to challenge me (to say the least) everyday. I am enjoying the boys more, but feeling very idle, a bit depressed and quite bitter still. I hope this will soon pass. I know that this is obviously a part of God's much greater plan for our lives, but I still miss having that one thing that was just "mine all mine". To top it all off, we have ALL been sick - not one of us spared - over the past two weeks; beginning with Daniel and now I seem to be the one who has whatever this icky virus is. More on this in a moment.

Thanksgiving was good. It was wonderful to be home with my family for a few days. I can't get enough of all of the "primos" together. They have such a good time playing and getting loud. It is a lot of fun. The boys ate a lot too. On the way home, Samuel said (in English) "at Nana's house, we eat and eat and eat and eat." This statement got belly laughs from both Troy and I. He is not kidding either! There was food galore.

On Tuesday, I was initiated into the wonderful world of stay-at-home-mommydom when Luis pooped on me and puked on me within about a 30 minute time span. He was so miserable. I felt horrible for him. He threw up again (on Troy, the floor, the massage chairs, his coat, his pants, his shoes, etc...) Thursday night at Concord Mills Mall - this time not because of the virus but because he stuffed himself full of chips, a quesadilla and rice at a Mexican restaurant and then proceeded to run around like crazy. On our walk back to the car, he walked into a railing and hit his cheek. It was so not his night.

Troy taught the boys the true meaning of Hokie pride this weekend by taking them to his friend John's house to watch the Tech game. You have never heard anything sweeter than these little boys saying "Go Hokies!" We thought we would start them early!

Well enough jibber jabber! Onto the pictures!

My little men! They were just too cute to resist a photo op in their kahkis and sweaters. Muy guapo indeed!

Samuel and Ethan had a blast playing together. Ethan is a couple of weeks younger than the twins, but the same size as Samuel. We LOVE our primos (cousins).

I think Liana is the best cousin ever! She gave the boys presents and takes great care of them. Not to mention she is a bit of tomboy so she has no problem being all rough and tumble with them. And she confided in me that she likes being the only girl. I can't say I blame her - it has to have its perks.

The boys at the kids table. This is where I ended up eating because the boys wanted to play more than they wanted to eat and at the rate that Luis eats, he would have been there ALL night.

To pass the time, we made turkey headbands for the boys.

I underestimated the size of Ethan's head, so his accidentally ripped. He was a little bit upset.

On the ride home, Daniel did this really silly thing with his aika. We still aren't sure what it was all about. Check out Samuel in the background who apparently has attended the Rob Wootton seminar on how to pop up in other people's pictures.

Bundled up for the wintry weather...Well as wintry as Charlotte gets. Samuel started riding the bus this week which has been a huge blessing. Now I only have to get one child up before 8 AM and get him ready and out the door. A LOT less stress. It also alleviates a lot of afternoon stress since the twins can nap before 3 PM. And he loves it!

I call this one the attack of the Oreo cookie. Luis is not only a slow eater, but a very messy one too.

Watching the game in Papá's t-shirt. Yes, it came down to his calves when he stood up, but he was insistent on showing his Hokie pride. Again, we are trying to start them early! Go Hokies!

Rough Week

2008-11-22T10:38:00.002-05:00

Sorry it has been a while, but we have had some major stuff going on in La Casa de Eisenberger.

Last week, our furnace decided to kick the bucket for good. This normally wouldn't be a big deal in November in Charlotte, except we have had near record lows, and of course we have three little ones now. We were finally able get someone to come out on Thursday and replace the unit, but we have had issues with it ever since. Up until that point we were living with space heaters and keeping the boys holed up in their room (or going out to warmer places) when it was too unbearable. The same company came out again this morning and it seems to be actually heating the house so hopefully this means that it is fixed for the long haul.

In other sad news, I lost my job on Wednesday. My organization deemed it necessary to make layoffs association wide, and unfortunately, mine was one of the positions our branch chose to eliminate. For a myriad of reasons that I won't delve into, I knew deep down that this was coming, so I was not caught off gaurd when I was asked to meet with our interim executive director and human resources manager. I loved my job and the association I worked for, so this is quite hard for me. I am still stuck somewhere between the denial and anger phases of grief. On the upside, I know there are many, many blessings in this, including more time with my boys, but before everyone starts chiming in with how great it will be to be at home, please hear me when I say: I am not stay at home mother material. Kudos to you moms who are. Also, I have to work, at least a little, to help with the finances. I know I am going to sound like a broken record when I say that we went into major debt over our infertility treatments and adoption. The money we raised earlier this year helped us beyond belief, but we still have mucho debt that we acquired on the road to parenthood.

The highlight of our week though was going to see Iron & Wine in concert in Asheville on Thursday (see above video of them performing "Resurrection Fern" from our show at the Orange Peel and fall in love with Sam Beam if you aren't already a HUGE fan). Troy bought me the tickets for my birthday way back in August. It was a great show and great to be able to get away for a little bit. A great big thanks to our friends Mark and Tara Weathers for watching the boys for us.

Troy and I are looking forward to the week ahead. This is literally the boys first ever Thanksgiving. They are very excited about going to Nana and Pop Pop's for the holiday. They keep asking when we are going to see our family. I may have said this before, but I will say it again, I think they are just so excited to have family. I know we are excited to have them. Thanksgiving is going to be loud and crazy and wonderful! So much to be thankful for!

Say What? Happy 4th Month-iversary!

2008-11-09T21:48:00.003-05:00

Can you believe it has been four months? I mean this in two ways...1) we met the boys four months ago today and 2) most of the time it feels much longer than four months.

I took the above picture to show off their new haircuts though I am not sure it really does them justice. We had a barber shop in the kitchen complete with waiting chairs, magazines and treats for not crying too much throughout the haircut. The boys were hilarious and just sat in their chairs, "reading", waiting their turn. Luis Angel was (of course) the only one who cried. Daniel giggled the whole time because the clippers tickled. And Samuel's mane of curls was the biggest challenge, so let's just say that it is a good thing that he is a boy and that his hair grows so fast!

Luis had his post-op appointment with the cardiologist and surgeon on Thursday. He is doing great! His echo and x-ray were all clear, and he is on the fast track to being back to 100%. His fever broke last Tuesday, came back on Friday, but seems to be gone again. He is starting to play a little bit harder, so he must be feeling a little bit better. His scar is really cool!

On Saturday, we (along with our dear friend Hannah) took the boys to see Madagascar 2. It was good to have an extra adult just in case, but the boys ended up being so well behaved. This was their first movie in the movie theater and we had no idea of what to expect. They sat through the whole thing with the twins only needing one potty break each. Daniel even got up and danced to the closing credits. It was so much fun to take them out, buy them popcorn and share this experience with them. It is always hard to predict how they will react, but they seemed to really enjoy going to the movies with us.

And, most importantly, they are LOVING fall. Not so much the general chill in the air, and I doubt they have noticed the leaves are different colors. What they love is that there are leaves on the ground everywhere - and we must collect handfuls every time we leave the house. They love that they know what a pumpkin is, especially that they got to help Papá carve one. And, my personal favorite, they love that they can see their breath when we go out to the car every morning. You should have seen the looks on their faces the first morning it was cold enough to do this, particularly Samuel who really notices things more than the twins. It was beyond priceless. Now I try to get us out the door just a few minutes early so we can just stand outside and breathe. Kids can give you such an amazing perspective on life when you let them!

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T21:00:00.003-05:00

What a fun night! We took the boys trick-or-treating for their first American Halloween. They were absolutely adorable, so be prepared for the cuteness! But first, an update: Luis is doing great. He is one amazing kid! He has been playing and running around nearly non-stop since we got home from the hospital. He does indeed limit himself and will lay around when he is a bit tired. He has had an inexplicable fever for several days now, but all of his doctor's are aware of it. Samuel and Daniel are handling Luis' sudden "situation" (for lack of better word) very well. We have our occasional bouts of sibling rivalry or outbursts where they are obviously craving attention, but we handle them as they come since they are few and far between. Now onto the pictures!

OK, so this is NOT Samuel's Halloween costume. His school seemingly wanted to make things more complicated by declaring that they would not be celebrating Halloween BUT would be celebrating reading instead THEREFORE students could dress up as a character from their favorite book. Samuel's favorite book happens to be called Baby Jaguar Can, so he went as Diego.

Here is a picture of all of the boys on our doorstep just before hitting the neighborhood. Aren't they cute?!

For most of the week Samuel was convinced he was a Power Ranger, but the package says he is the Transformer "Bumble Bee". Regardless, he is some science-fictiony character with super powers. Superbueno!

Daniel went as Thomas the Train, pretty much against his will. The funny thing is that as much as he didn't want to wear the costume (he kept saying "no quiero Thomas" over and over again), he is the one who picked it out. He didn't cry when we put it on him, but he did throw it on the ground as soon as we would let him take it off.

Arrgh! Luis Angel rocked the pirate look! It was way too cute and he was very proud of his costume. He did great tonight. He got carried around a lot since he wears out easily, but he was really excited to be a part of the festivities.

This is a shot of them getting candy from a neighbor. The twins would stand back about 5-10 feet until they were 100% certain that there were no dogs lurking and ready to attack them, then they would run up and yell "twick-or-tweet". Samuel was fearless and would go up to any house. Daniel would not approach any house that looked too scary. Luis was fine until we approached one house and a man wearing a scary mask came out. He lost it - screaming, real tears, the whole nine yards. From then on we had to be on the lookout for anyone in scary masks.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers for our family. We really appreciate the support that we are getting from all over the country...I should say the world since we have friends in Australia that we met while we were in Colombia who keep up with us too! Thank you again to everyone who takes the time to even read this blog and care about our family. You have no idea how much that means!

Chau Hospital!

2008-10-23T18:33:00.005-05:00

Luis and I are sitting in his hospital room waiting for Papá to return with the minivan. Troy was here for most of the day, but with our other car because we did not expect to be going home today. It has been quite a week, and we are all ready to return to our normal routine and comfortable surroundings. We never thought we would get to go home this early, but the staff here believes that children heal faster when they are at home and not under constant anxiety from being surrounded by strange people and things - not to mention being poked, prodded and woken up every two hours for meds. [Side note: Luis is singing the "Wow Wow Wubzy" theme song of his own accord. Please see the posted entitled "T.V. Show Ratings" for details.] I am a little bit worried about how we will "keep him safe" while he heals with his brothers at home. I am told he will limit himself. I can't wait to test this theory amongst the chaos that is La Casa de Eisenberger. Troy and I are also trying to figure out how to work out our work schedules until he can go back to Safari Kids in a couple of weeks. As always though, I know it will all work out in the end. [I am not really an unrealistic, overly-optimistic person. I just can't expend too much energy worrying about stuff that will eventually take care of itself, at least to some extent.]

Our next post will be from home!!! Yay!

Sleep Deprived, But Making Progress

2008-10-21T13:57:00.004-05:00

There is much to be thankful for in our family today! Luis is recovering at a remarkable pace. Overnight he had many of the tubes, I.V.s, etc. removed, so when Troy and I walked into his room at 7:40 AM he was sleeping peacefully on his side, sucking his thumb and hugging his "aika" (a.k.a. blankie). He has slept a better part of the day and has even broken out a smile here and there. Around 1:3o PM they were able to move him straight from Cardiovascular ICU to a regular room where we are all resting comfortably. He even got to eat his much coveted "pollo"-fingers. Right now, he and Papa (who is all he wants right now) are watching Shrek the Third (en Español).

The thing that I am most grateful for, and I don't think grateful even begins to cover it, is the amazing story Luis Angel now has to tell about God's grace and faithfulness. It is no secret that our children were born into real hardship. There is no doubt that God obviously had a larger plan for their lives and our family as a whole. However, what humbles me more than anything is that, according to the surgeon, Luis should not be alive. Dr. Watts believes that with the condition Luis had, he should not have lived as long as he has. However, by the grace of God, the affected coronary artery was very narrow at end that attached to the pulmonary artery and that is what kept his condition from being worse. I do not believe in coincidences, therefore, I know that it is no accident that his coronary artery was so narrow. The fact that God preserved him for this moment, for all of the events leading up to this moment, is just mind-boggling, drive-you-to-your-knees-with-thanks humbling. There really are no words that I could write here to describe how emphatically I feel about all that all five of us have been through to become a family. For those of you who have adopted, I know you get it because your story is similar. For those of you who have not adopted, please know that I mean no disrespect to how you achieved family-hood. Adoption has changed my view of God and the world in which we live in ways in which I never expected. It isn't just parenthood that has done this, but the way in which we were able to become parents.

So, what's next? Well, Dr. Watts thought we may go home as early as Thursday (much to my dismay because that means dealing with two healthy boys and one less healthy boy all under the same roof). We hope that Samuel and Daniel will be able to come visit with Nana S. tomorrow afternoon so they can see that Luis is OK and healing. It will cheer him up some too. I am getting ready to head home for the night, while Troy holds down the fort here at the hospital. Tomorrow night we will switch. The key to hospital survival is sleep. I have no idea how parents of children with long-term illness go through this on a daily basis. Two days in and I feel like I have been hit by a truck.

All is (relatively) Well....

2008-10-20T20:40:00.002-05:00

I'm sure Andrea will add more, but just wanted to let everyone know Luis came out of surgery fine. He is gradually getting tubes taken out of him, but when we first saw him there were wires, tubes, and incisions all over his little frame.

I asked him if there was anything he wanted about 30 minutes ago, and he faintly said "pollo"!

I made it home for a few hours, and Nana is doing well with the boys & dogs. Thanks to Amanda and Rico (and the fam) for their help this past weekend, and for my mom who is running the house this week.

Thanks to everyone for the notes and prayers.

Much love,

Troy & Andi

Update #2 - 11:30 AM

2008-10-20T10:36:00.002-05:00

Luis is still in the O.R. We were informed that he is still on heart and lung bypass. We are about 3.5 hours in at this point. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and well wishes!

Troy and I are playing Settlers of Catan to pass the time. I have checked in with Tia Amanda and she says Samuel and Daniel are doing fine. Troy's friend Scott stopped by to check on us. His son had open-heart surgery a few years ago performed by the same surgeon that is doing Luis'. It was great to have some company! Thank you again Scott.

Update #1 - 9:30 AM

2008-10-20T08:33:00.003-05:00

For those of you who are following along, I was just reminded that this is the best way to distribute information. Luis is in surgery now. They started around 8:00 AM. We arrived at the hospital around 5:15 this morning, and the little man was in excellent spirits. He was absolutely adorable in his hospital gown and socks. He only cried a little when they took him out of the room and he realized we weren't going with him (that was around 6:30 AM). We should be getting our next update shortly. We will keep you all posted!

The Latest...

2008-10-18T20:47:00.003-05:00

I wanted to post an update about the surgery and family happenings before we head into Monday morning. First though I want to say "Thank You" to everyone who has left comments on the blog, emailed, called, etc...with well wishes and to let us know that our familia is in your prayers. We greatly appreciate the support we are feeling from all over the country.

Troy and I are doing OK. We are both nervous for Monday and ready to have the surgery done and over with. Needless to say, the stress level for both of us has been elevated to "RED" all week. As our friend Rob Wootton assured me though, "you can't prepare, you just make it through." So that is our main goal right now: get through Monday.

We are both off of work all next week in order to be able to care for all three boys, but intend to stay at the hospital with Luis as much as possible. The plan for the week is that the Nieves' (a.k.a. Tia Amanda, Tio Rico, Liana and Ethan) are coming into town for Sunday night. They will be here to wake up with Samuel and Daniel on Monday and will care for them until Nana Shoenfelt arrives from PA Monday afternoon. Nana will be here for the week to be at the beck and call of her grandsons. Then, on Friday Nana Peregory will arrive to pick up where Nana Shoenfelt leaves off. It will be crazy for the boys, but we have explained it to them as best we can. We had Q&A tonight, as we do with all major life events as a family, and Samuel asked great questions that led us to believe that this is not the first time a member of his household has been in the hospital.

As for recent happenings, there are so many funny/cute/silly/sweet things that happen every day that I really need to start writing them down. The highlights include Samuel's kindergarten performance on Thursday which was the cutest thing I have ever seen - despite Luis' attempts to be a thunder-stealer (by mimicking the classes motions). Daniel and Luis are learning many new songs, including the ABC song and will randomly sing "E-I-E-I-O" which they have learned at the Y. Luis was surprisingly well-behaved at his pre-op appointments on Thursday - I am always stunned at how different they are when they fly solo. Samuel's newest phrase is "one minute" while holding up five fingers. Luis says "hmm, let me see..." when he is working on a puzzle or something and can't figure it out right away. Daniel said "yummy indeed" while eating a fruit roll up the other day proving that he truly is a Mama's boy to the very core. All in all, we are amazed on a daily basis by the progress they have made despite all of the obstacles thrown in their path. God is amazingly faithful.

I will have a full update as soon as possible early this week. Thank you again for your prayers and support.

Update

2008-10-10T22:29:00.002-05:00

We have a surgery date for Luis Angel - Monday, October 20 at 7:30 AM.

We met with the surgeon, Dr. Watts, on Thursday. He went over the condition that Luis has, the procedure he will undergo and the risks involved. All in all, it was a very daunting appointment (despite the twins doing their best to be as cute as possible). Fortunately, both of us still have time available to take off from work. The challenge will be coordinating our schedules so that one of us can be at the hospital with Luis while the other of us is at home with Samuel and Daniel. We have no family in the area, so we are pretty much on an island - or at least that is how it feels. We will keep all of you posted as more details become available.

Va Al Acampar...(or something like that)

2008-10-05T21:44:00.008-05:00

In the tradition of our family trying new things, we took the boys camping this weekend. It was our annual trip to Crabtree Falls in Virginia. This was our 5th year (technically 6th year for the trip, but we missed in 2005 because Troy was studying for the P.E. exam). The trip was a great success, and the boys had a great time - which was a big relief considering how afraid of everything the twins are. Other than a few scrapes, an upset stomach, and tossing toys into the "river", our biggest challenge was making sure they didn't wiggle their way out of their sleeping bags at night (temperatures were in the 40s). Since I'm exhausted, I will get right to the photos.

A family of five requires a big tent. Compared to our old tent, this is a McMansion! It was so wonderful to 1) be able to spread out, fit all of our gear and have room to boot, and 2) be able to stand up - I could barely touch the top.

Papa helping Daniel pick out rocks to throw. The campground was a boy's paradise. There were mucho rocks, dirt, leaves, etc... for the boys to play with.

Another favorite passtime, especially for Luis, was petting baby Luke. He would say "Mama, Papa, quiero tocar" (I want to touch...). Then he would look at us like "Look, I am petting the baby and I am not afraid." Good job, Luis! But Luke is a human, not a dog.

We got to do a little bit of hiking, as much as little legs could take as least. We tried a new trail this year that had this cool suspended bridge. We didn't get very far before we passed a group of Boy Scouts warning us of a Yellow Jacket hive ahead. With three kids and baby in tow, it was better safe than sorry.

We also hiked a bit of the falls. This is a fairly strenuous hike, so we didn't hike up very far. I did have a "yay me!" moment - I carried Daniel (who was begging to take a nap) back down the trail. A couple of years ago, I could barely handle this hike, but thanks to my 5k training in the spring and chasing three boys since the summer, I am in much better shape now. Hooray!

This one was too cute to not put on the blog. Side note: A lens fell out of Daniel's glasses and we couldn't find it anywhere. They are being fixed.

The McNabbs (Andy, Bonnie and baby Luke)! We usually camp with the Turners (Brian, Kristin and their son Eliott) too, but they were unable to make it this year because Kristin is expecting baby #2 and is not feeling so great these days. I hope they have a girl - our mini-vacation is becoming overrun with testosterone.

What would camping be without S'mores? Roasting marshmallows was a hit with Samuel (the twins are too little). That might be why he woke up in the middle of the night crying. His stomach hurt so badly, most likely from the marshmallows, s'mores, and hot chocolate that we let him gorge on.

Note the glob of marshmallow. Priceless.

I made Luis eat his sitting down because he is always dropping his food.

It was a great, but tiring weekend. The boys were totally wired by the time we got home, but crashed hard when we put them to bed. We can't wait to go camping again, but I quickly realized we need to figure out how to go with less gear!

Gracias A Dios...

2008-09-29T14:51:00.008-05:00

Where to begin?! I had wanted to post late last week, but I did not get the chance to sit down for very long. Also, I hadn't quite processed some news we got, so I wasn't quite ready to write about it.

Last Thursday, I took Luis to the cardiologist. Our pediatrician and friend, Dr. Douglass, found a murmur during Luis' well-child check-up a few weeks ago, so he referred us to a "doctor de corazón" as he has come to be known in our house. The paperwork we received on the boys said that Luis had respiratory problems and cardiopathy when he was 4 months old, so this did not come as a big surprise to us. What did come as a gigantic shock though is the source of his murmur. It turns out that one of his coronary arteries is not attached to the heart as it should be, therefore Luis will need surgery - open heart surgery. Scary, right? Troy and I were beside ourselves last week when we received the news. We are still in shock, maybe a little denial since we haven't received word yet as to when the surgery may take place (we are told soon). On the upside, Luis is fine for all intents and purposes - he plays, runs and jumps around like any other 4-year-old boy. Also, had we not adopted him, his condition would most likely have gone untreated and who knows what would have happened in the long run.

In news of the "how cute are they?!": After the cardiology appointment, Luis and I picked up lunch for everyone. When we sat down to eat it, Daniel did the prayer and in addition to thanking God for the food he said, "Gracias a Dios para el corazón de Luis Angel" (thank you God for Luis' heart). I could have burst into tears, and Troy and I just sat there beaming with a mix of emotions and awe over Daniel's insight and sweetness.

Over the weekend I got to go on a retreat with other women from our church in the mountains of NC. I cannot even begin to express how much I needed this break from everything. It was nice to not have any demands placed on me for a couple of days. I also loved getting to know some of the women of our church better and hearing their stories. I even had the opportunity to share the story of how Troy and I came to adopt these three fantastic boys.

And, finally, God continues to reaffirm this adoption in His provision of a childcare fix for us. Troy has been granted a temporary schedule of 5 hours per day at work and 3 hours at home. He will work from 7 AM - 12 PM, then pick the boys up from the Y at 1 PM, and work through their naptime. Samuel will go to Afterschool at the Y. We can do this for 2 months at which time we should have heard from Bright Beginnings (the CMS Pre-K program for children with extraordinary circumstances like not being able to speak English). If we don't get into Bright Beginnings...well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Here are some pics because I know that is really why you all check this blog! Enjoy!

Daniel got his new glasses today. He is just so stinking cute, I can't stand it! The bonus is that they make his left eye much straighter.

All my boys. A self-portrait.

Papa survived the weekend outstandingly! He took the boys on an adventure that included a pit-stop at the Speedway! The boys love cars, but from what I understand there was some kind of truck on the track.

They are either excited or confused about the truck on the track.

Did I mention we love anything on wheels?

Ahhh...Fall!

2008-09-24T20:14:00.006-05:00

School is in full swing. The air is getting cooler. Our annual camping trip to Crabtree Falls is coming up. So...it must be Fall. This is definitely my favorite time of year because 1) the summer's in CLT are nearly unbearable and 2) well...you'll have to wait til the end of the post for the biggest reason why Fall is my favorite (I doubt it will shock any of you).

Fun with Mr. Potatohead! Check out Daniel and Luis' attempts at putting a Mr. Potatohead together. Be sure to note the shoes (or zapatos as we say) for ears on Daniel's and the tongue for hair on Luis'. Pretty awesome! And they were so proud of their creations.

We really are making progress with the dogs. Every morning, Samuel helps me put the dogs in their crates, then the twins spend a couple of minutes taunting them while working up the courage to stick their hands through the bars. ALL of them now let the dogs give besos to their hands. This is followed by a lot of squealing. We still can't all be in the same room (only Samuel is OK with hanging out with the dogs), but I consider the fact that they are willing to touch the dogs at all a real victory.

On Sunday we went to this really cool event called "Touch-A-Truck". It was like it was created just for our boys, but it is really a fundraiser for lung cancer research (which is a cause very dear to me because I lost both my grandmother and - just this year - my aunt to this horrible disease). There were all sorts of trucks/vehicles for the boys to sit in/on. It was AWESOME!!! One of their favorites was the army helicopter.

I have this great video of the boys running around with other kids while all of us parents stand in line to make sure that our children are able to experience the helicopter. I will have to upload it to YouTube since it is sort of long.

How cute are they? You might be thinking, "Where is Daniel?" This is about the time when mama was rushing to the restroom which was quite a hike while carrying a 30-something pound kid who kept reminding me repeatedly that he needed to "chi-chi". Can anyone explain to me why children always have to go when there is NO bathroom convenient? Is it one of Murphy's Laws?

Lastly, the real reason I am glad it is fall - TV is back!!!! I am beyond excited to be in the midst of premiere week. I have many shows that I love, and we have plenty of room on the DVR. Why else do you think we get the kids in bed by 8 PM?

Just a few more updates: Samuel has gotten a sticker from his teacher everyday this week. In fact, I think he is up to 6 stickers in a row. This is a great little victory for us because it means that he is understanding Papa when he tells him to listen to his teacher and not worry about what the other kids are doing. We are very close to figuring out what to do with the twins while I go to work. We have a couple things to work out, but I should be ready to go full-time next week.

Road Trip!

2008-09-18T19:50:00.003-05:00

For those who are keeping track, we are at the 10 week mark! Hooray! We have our good days, our bad days, our challenges and our triumphs, but overall I would say we are definitely feeling more like a family. Sometimes I can't believe that these three amazing boys are my sons, and other days, I just can't remember life without them.

The twins and I went back to work last week. We had a couple of days where Daniel would melt down as I dropped them off at Child Watch, but now they say "chau mama" as soon as we walk in the door. Everyone is exhausted as we adjust to our new schedule, but we are making it through at least.

Last weekend we took an all too short trip to see mi familia in Virginia Beach. It was a weekend jam packed with a stint at la playa and a birthday celebration for my darling niece. It was fun to show off the boys to our extended family and family friends. The highlight for me though was Troy and I finally having our own kids at one of my niece's birthday parties. For years we have longed for this as my sister and brother-in-law have a couple of families that they are close to who all have children. There were many times when I left her celebration feeling a little defeated by my inability to conceive. It was fun to see the boys running around their house, making themselves at home in Ethan's room.

Challenges: Samuel is starting to struggle a bit with school. He is not always able to understand, so now that they are getting into the meat of the curriculum he is starting to lose focus. Fortunately, ESL testing took place this week and he will start regular classes next week. Daniel jammed his thumb tonight and proceeded to scream in my ear for about 30 minutes before asking to go to bed. Poor guy! Luis is becoming more and more defiant on a daily basis as he enjoys testing what he can and can't get away with. As a result, he spends a lot of time "in the corner".

Triumphs: Samuel is speaking more and more English everyday. He has started to throw out new words and is very proud of what he is learning. His favorites right now are "yes" and "thank you". He is also learning his colors and commands like "stop it" and "be quiet" which he says to his brothers often. Daniel has learned how to whistle, not well, but he is trying and whistles along with the music in the van. Luis has become more cuddly. He runs to me everyday with arms outstretched when I pick them up from Child Watch. He then proceeds to shower me with besos! Sweet boy!

Nana and Pop Pop posing with all their "little men". The birthday girl was off doing birthday things with her friends - we have all learned that at 9 years old, friends trump family everytime.

The boys loved the giant sandbox that God created just for them. There is nothing more fun than a sandy beach. Let me just say that I did not know that sand could get into so many places. We were all covered in it, but it was the best time I have ever had at the beach. For those of you who know me well, you know I have never like the beach that much despite growing up minutes from the ocean. Having kids heightens the excitement for me. I wish I had pictures of their faces when they saw the ocean for the first time. There were lots of "ohhhhs" and "wows". It was priceless.

It must be a boy thing. The girls were in the water, and the boys were on the beach digging in the sand. E's whole goal was to make the sand in this one spot as wet as possible and he had Nana trekking back and forth to the water to fill his bucket.

This picture cracks me up because of the look of sheer terror on Daniel's face. Neither of the twins liked the water. I walked them down to where the tide was coming in forgetting that the tide sucks at your feet as it goes back out. We weren't even up to our ankles, but they both screamed like the ocean was attacking them. I, of course, have adopted a "make them suffer until they get used to it" approach to the twins' fear of everything, so I made them stand there for a little bit, screaming, hoping they would see that the beach is not malo. Let's just say, Nana did not approve of my "try it until you like it" method. Those within a two mile radius probably didn't either as the boys emitted super-sonic screams.

We played so hard with our primos (cousins), at the beach, at Nana's, etc... that the twins passed out within 15 minutes of being in the car and headed home. We need to visit Nana more often!

GUEST BABYSITTER..The Cast of Grey's Anatomy

2008-09-15T17:35:00.008-05:00

Setting: The cast of Grey's Anatomy is at our doorstep....a Snow Patrol song is faintly playing in the background...

Merideth Grey Voiceover: When you babysit, you watch children. And they watch you. Both watching. And maybe we are all children in some way. Sometimes I feel like a child. A child who sleeps around all the time.

McDreamy: Um, we are here to watch your kids.

Andrea: There's mac and cheese in the fridge.

Izzie: That reminds me of Denny! How dare you!

Pager goes off...

Troy: Do you need to take that?

The dude from Can't Buy me Love: No. There's drama going on right now. I only operate at the right time.

Troy: Wouldn't that be when someone is really hurt?

The guy from Loverboy: Not really. I need to wait until Merideth's voiceover is perfect, or at least until The Fray start singing.

Troy: I totally understand. Look our kids play well by themselves more or less, just make sure they are in bed around 8pm. We are going to see The Dark Knight...this time at the dollar theater.

Dr. Preston Burke: Your kids aren't gay are they?

Troy and Andrea: (speechless)

Andrea: Nah....don't think so.

Dr. Burke: Not important. I'm not even sure why I'm here, didn't I get fired? Wait a second, why is Izzie here? Hasn't she trashed everything about the show?

Izzie: How can you say that? I'm a perpetual victim character that way too many females relate too? Can't I be empowered enough so that everything I do should be applauded, yet the second I make a mistake I need to be comforted because I'm a a female?

Troy: I can't really say anything can I?

All the females present: No.

McDreamy: I'm actually babysitting for 2 other families tonight.

Andrea: We figured as much. You have commitment issues...we know. Anyways we have to go.

Sandra Oh's Character: You couldn't work me into this post even though I'm the only one you kinda like?

Troy: Nope. Sorry. Wait for the cast of Sideways post I guess.

Merideth Grey Voiceover: (Coldplay song starts to swell in the background) And so we are alone. With other people. Yet alone. Yet not alone. It's like being a doctor. Except when it's not.

Gearing Up For Another (Long?) Week

2008-09-07T21:54:00.006-05:00

So, it turns out that I did indeed have strep. Let me qualify this by saying that I have not had strep since the 7th grade when I had it so bad that I am pretty sure it left me immune. Well, the antibodies must have worn off or my kids have introduced me to the much fiestier, Colombian version of strep because according to the nurse I "had a different strain". It is never good when all the doctor has to say is "Yeah, that looks bad." I went to work on Thursday anyway (because I was so anxious to go back) where I promptly caught this weird-upper-respiratory-virus-thing that is going around. I have been coughing ever since. Needless to say, I am tired of being sick.

Last week was all around hard for us as we dealt with my sickness and adjusted to Samuel's new schedule. All of the boys were just plain exhausted by Friday afternoon which resulted in the following: Samuel had a note sent home from the teacher letting us know that he kept making noises and touching his classmates. This means that he got put on the "thinking trail" at school that day. When I saw the note and talked to him about it, he burst into tears. Needless to say, I just held him on my lap and let him cry it out. It was so obvious he was exhausted. Luis Angel was stacking things that won't stack which resulted in more than just his usual whimpering. He had a full out meltdown, so I just held him on my lap and let him cry it out. Daniel wouldn't go to sleep at bedtime - he gets the opposite of tired when he is tired. He wasn't making noise, but I did hear him run across the floor around 11:00 PM. When I went to see who was up, I found him laying on the floor staring at the night light. He just wanted to look at it. So, I held him on my lap and rocked him until he was still enough to go to bed for good. Hopefully this week will put us on more of a schedule and be a little less hard for all of the boys.

Fortunately, once they were asleep, they slept well and were ready to meet Nana and Pappy Shoenfelt and Tia Becca. Troy's family came to visit this weekend, and though I spent the majority of it in bed, I know that he was so glad to see them. And the boys took to them very quickly. Baxter and Sylvia also enjoyed spending time with Pappy out on the screen porch.

Here are a few pics from the weekend:

Tia Becca (with yet to be born and named girl cousin - Yay! We need the balance!), Nana S. holding Daniel, Luis, Samuel, and Pappy S. What a great family visit!!! And I HAVE to give a BIG, BIG, BIG shout out to Hospice of Central PA who have taken great care of us in the most amazing way. They donated four large tubs of clothing, plus various other items such as books and toys to our boys, in addition to a very substantial gift card to my favorite store in the whole world - Target. Their generosity is simply amazing and we are at a loss for words.

We have started playing this game called "Get It All Out" which is meant to do just that - get out all that last minute, excess, pre-bedtime energy. You have to see it to appreciate it, but basically, we lead the boys in a minute or two of shear crazy movement then we STOP and count "uno, dos, tres, go!" We do this as many times as it takes before they start falling over. But it is so fun and they really get into it. Luis' face really says it all in this pic. Yes, Daniel has his shirt on backwards, but this is what happens when four year olds dress themselves. We just go with it. Luis wore his shorts backwards all day the other day, mostly because I was too sick to fight with him about it.

After the boys went to bed, we somehow conned the fam into playing one of our favorite board games, Ticket To Ride. Oh the simple pleasures!

Carrier Monkeys

2008-09-02T20:24:00.002-05:00

So today was not my much anticipated return to work and the twins much anticipated beginning in day care. I woke up with aches, a sore throat and a fever of 101.2. I have had more sicknesses since we met our children than I can remember, so I am totally blaming them, especially since there has been a significant amount of coughing and sneezing going on in Casa de la Eisenberger and Daniel had a fever yesterday. Fortunately, Troy came home to let me sleep and he is going in late tomorrow to let me go to Urgent Care - my fever is up to 102.5 and I now have what appears to be a blood blister in the area of my left tonsil. Not good. We will keep you posted, but as always please pray for the health of the members of our household.

End of Summer...Bummer

2008-09-01T20:09:00.005-05:00

Tomorrow starts our new family schedule. Yay! Samuel will be going to school everyday, and the twins and I will be going to work everyday! I am very happy to be going back to work. We need structure...desperately. This will definitely put us on the path towards structure. Samuel is very excited to go to school, and we keep telling the twins they are going to "escuela muy pequeña" (literally translated: very small school). They are excited, but all they really know is that they are going to work with me. We will see what happens. I am packing their blankies just in case.

Today we decided to have some fun in the sun in our very own backyard. This is true parent dedication: blowing up the baby pool until you feel like you are going to pass out, making sure the dogs are nowhere near the path from the inside to the outside of the house, making sure the yard is free from dog poop and various debris, and taking turns refereeing to ensure that the older brother doesn't accidentally drown his younger brothers. They had such a good time though in their very own piscina, and Troy and I loved the fact that we didn't have to leave the house.

In other very exciting news, the boys' "certificates of citizenship" came today (well we came across them today) complete with a letter from the President. The letter is really moving. It talks about their civic duty as Americans. I hope one day they can appreciate it because right now they don't really care about anything except eating, playing and taking baths. It is very cool to have these very official certificates that simply list their names as Eisenberger. No more epic hyphenated last names for them.

Our Kids Are Rock Stars

2008-08-31T21:06:00.003-05:00

Where to begin? The bad thing about waiting so long in between posts means that there is just that much more to post.

Samuel and I went to his open house on Friday. He will indeed be in Kindergarten this year. Troy and I are pleased with this decision. After discovering just how demanding the first grade curriculum is in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system - including a lot of reading which Samuel is no where near ready for - we feel like this is the best scenario for him. We don't want him to be perpetually behind from day one, and since he has a tendency to give up on stuff without really trying, we worried that he would simply hate school and never really give it a try. He is already facing a big challenge with the language barrier. His teacher, Ms. Counselman, is excellent though and he seems to like her already. After Thursday's assessments, she pulled a bilingual boy named José into her class so Samuel will have an instant amigo. He is very excited about this, and though he hasn't met José yet he was talking about him at dinner tonight. I also met his ESL teacher and found out that she will be meeting with him 3-4 times a week which is encouraging for us.

As for English at home, Samuel has started saying "sorry" in context. He also uses the phrases "Come on amigos, let's go!" and "Oh my gosh!" Of course the twins mimic him.

Yesterday was my birthday! Yay!!!! I love my birthday. It is my favorite day of the year. Having children made the day ten times sweeter though. The boys were really excited all day. The night before during bedtime prayers, Samuel said he was thankful for my birthday (I swear I had nothing to do with this!) The boys gave me a shirt and a skirt that will both be great for work. Troy asked them what they wanted to get me and Samuel told him a blue dress like the one I am wearing in our wedding picture because I look happy - how sweet is that! My husband, who is the greatest husband in the world, made the day equally sweet because he put together a party and bought us tickets to see Iron & Wine in Asheville in November (he has even started pre-arranging childcare).

Then today we finally took the plunge and went to church. We knew today was a special service directed towards families, including the sermon. Also, with people from church bringing us meals, we knew the boys would recognize some faces. They were so good, sat still, and were pretty much quiet the whole time. I thought ahead and took the twins' blankets which I think helped keep them quiet. They of course loved the music. Troy sat with Samuel so he could translate the sermon. The theme of the service was God's Word being a lamp unto our feet. Troy was explaining to Samuel that the Bible is God's direction for our lives and Samuel says to Troy (in Spanish), "But only for me, not for Luis Angel and Daniel." Hilarious! He wants so badly for anything to just be his - even the Word! After the service they were basically rock stars since the whole congregation has been following our story on-line. Luis (our introvert) needed some cuddle time once he started to feel overwhelmed, but there were several people able to speak Spanish to them so I think they felt pretty comfortable. We skipped Suday School (one new thing at a time). However, as a part of today's "Family Sunday" theme, we had our summer picnic after church. This was a great way to further introduce the boys to members of our church family and other children in the church. It was super hot and humid, but they were real troopers. I can't believe how great they were today!

Also, one thing we have started doing is using positive reinforcement. Troy and I are so exhausted from yelling, refereeing, and policing that we thought it was time to take a new approach. So we hung some poster board up in their room and when they follow the rules and listen, they get stickers. So far, so good. We are on the learning curve right now, but there have been fewer time-outs and less yelling so I think we are getting there.

Final thoughts: This weekend has been HUGE for me. When we moved here three years ago, I did so very reluctantly, kicking and screaming. I was convinced that I would always hate Charlotte and forever mourn moving from Norfolk. While I do miss my family and friends from Norfolk everyday, I was reminded this weekend of just how far we have come. Maybe it took going to Colombia for over a month to make me finally call Charlotte home, but I am so thankful for the friends we have made here. I am also beyond thankful for the church family that God has led us to be a part of, we have felt incredibly loved by our congregation since we started attending Providence earlier this year.

First Day Of School!

2008-08-27T22:04:00.004-05:00

Samuel's first day of Kindergarten was today! He was so very excited and we were so very nervous. Troy and I went with him into the classroom to meet the teacher and make sure that I could go over my list of paranoia: "He speaks no English." "If you think he is ignoring you, he can't understand you." "He shuts down when he is overwhelmed." "Did I mention he speaks no English?" Today was an assessment day and he is off until Tuesday. We find out his permanent teacher tomorrow and then go in for the Open House on Friday. According to Samuel, no one spoke Spanish, they watched TV and took a nap. I think they did more than that, but this is what he offered up.

Two Surprise Visits!

2008-08-27T21:02:00.006-05:00

So I am a little behind this week, but so much has happened! First off, our week started with a couple of surprise visits and has just been crazy ever since.

Surprise Visit #1: On Sunday we went to McDonald's to go to the Playplace. (Please do not take this as an indicator as to how Troy and I feed our children - we had drug them to a few different stores and wanted to give them a chance to play for being such good sports.) At the said Playplace, Luis got bumped into by an older, bigger kid who he then hit and the kid then hit him back. Troy saw the whole thing, grabbed Luis and then I proceeded to take him out to the van where I could talk to him about what happened when I noticed his mouth was gushing blood. Well...it turns out that at some point during the "scuffle" he finally lost his snaggle-tooth. Yay!!!! We looked all over and couldn't find it, so we assume he swallowed it. He was so sad the whole way home, he just kept sucking in his lips. Troy and I kept rejoicing that it finally fell out. So...the Toothfairy made her first appearance in La Casa de Eisenberger. The other boys were jealous, but we have assured them that their teeth will fall out one day too!

Since Luis is so young to lose his teeth, I am not sure how long he will have the gap, but boy is the gap better than his messed-up, half hanging out teeth! He doesn't seem to mind that they are gone now.

How much is a tooth worth? Only $1 per tooth in our house, BUT we made sure they were the cool, shiny, gold dollar coins. Our kids don't really "get" money yet, so coins are just like another toy any way.

Surprise Visit #2: This one was MUCH needed. Picture it: I am on the phone, Samuel is crying because Daniel has pegged him in the head with yet another toy (when is Sam going to learn to just throw it back at him?), Luis is in his bed crying because he is in time-out for tearing a book, the doorbell is ringing, the dogs are barking... I figured the person at the door was probably FedEx and would go away when all of the sudden, my sister pokes her head in the door and says, "Hey are you going to answer the door?" Yay! Yay! Yay! I have not seen my family since April...My niece (who I like to consider my mini-me, not because she looks like me, but because I adore her and we have been peas in a pod since she was born) has grown like a foot, and my nephew (who used to never talk to me) couldn't stop talking to me! And to see my sister and my brother-in-law (who I equally adore) was like a much needed breath of fresh air. It was just the pick-me-up I needed after a hard week/weekend. The boys seemed a little tentative at first, but before too long, Daniel only wanted Tia Amanda and they were wanting Tio Rico (who is very tall) to pick them up over his head. I cannot tell you how long I have waited to see my children cling to my sister the way that Liana has clung to me. When Daniel got hurt and wanted Tia Amanda to comfort him, I had to smile with pride and nostalgia at the number of times Liana wanted me. It was such a great visit. I could go on and on...

La Familia bonita!

Poor Liana! She is completely outnumbered! Do you see her little foot sticking out? She was totally able to keep up though! Afterall, at almost 9 years old (in two weeks) she is nearly twice as tall as everyone else! I think Ethan was in boy heaven! He loves having boys his age and size to play with!

So, we adults went out for drinks but didn't have a babysitter... That joke will never get old for me. How many kids can you fit in the dog crate? And, why is it fun to lock yourself in the crate? I just don't get it. The boys were so excited to meet their cousins. When our family left on Tuesday, the boys stood at the door with the saddest faces on - Mama too.

Samuel and Liana were inseparable. When we went to the mall, she kept asking him for hugs and they would walk with their arms around each other. It was so adorable. In the car, she said to me, "Auntie, they are even cuter in person."

The boys are very thankful for the two extra dumptrucks that their new family brought! Now each of them have their own. Yes, I wrote their names on them. I have to stay one step ahead and had to anticipate that Samuel would get it in his head to play with all three at one time. Now each of them know exactly which truck is theirs. No crying, no arguments!

What We Do On A Saturday Night (or Dance Party USA)

2008-08-23T20:30:00.008-05:00

Who says that we married with children folks can't go dancing on a Saturday night? We had our very own dance party in our kitchen this evening. Check out our boys' awesome moves! We have quite possibly the coolest kids in the world! (WARNING: We are not responsible for any injuries sustained while laughing during the viewing of the following videos.)

Do our boys have the moves or what? We were in the camioneta the other day when this song came on and Samuel suddenly exclaimed, "Este es mi canción favorita!" (This is my favorite song!) I think it took both of us by surprise, simply because in all our time in Colombia, we never heard anything but traditional Colombian music - except when we were at Archie's...we did hear Bel Biv Devoe while we were there...hmmm...

We decided to go with a faster tune. We aren't really sure of what you would call this dance. Just like everything Daniel does, it is all his own!

Samuel is by far our most energetic dancer. The head bounce though makes this dance.

OK, so this isn't a dance video, BUT you have to take everything in context. Luis is all angsty from trying to stack the magnetic numbers from the fridge. He got upset and threw them into the hallway while we were listening to a Dashboard Confessional song. It was too perfect not to capture on video. After this was over, he wrote a poem about it on his myspace page.

You Know Urine Trouble When...

2008-08-22T21:32:00.003-05:00

We have had a consistent theme over the last couple of days...pee!

Incident #1: Yesterday morning, I woke up after 9:00 AM and thought "Holy cow! The kids are sleeping late...Why are we sleeping so late?!" As I walked in to the boys room a little while later, after feeding the dogs and prepping breakfast (Kellogg's), I smelled the distinct smell of urine and thought "Oh no, Luis, not again." (He had wet the bed a couple of days ago). However, Luis was sitting up, chatting, and ready for breakfast. Not Daniel though. He was laying against the wall, pretending to be asleep. So, I got Samuel and Luis up, put them in front of the TV and went to work on Daniel. It took a couple of minutes to coax him out of bed, assure him that it was OK, and realize that he was SOAKED and WARM. Why, oh, why didn't he get out of bed and go to the bathroom? I really stewed over this all day until it hit me...so we had a talk that went something like this (except in Spanish): Me - "Did you not go to the bathroom because there was no gate?" Daniel - "Yes" Me - "Were you afraid of the dogs?" Daniel - "Yes". I then explained to him that the dogs are in our room all night and all morning. Poor baby, he was terrified because I hadn't put the gate up outside their room and was convinced the dogs were lurking just outside his door. He couldn't wait for me anymore, and he just couldn't hold it.

Incident #2: I took the twins to Chic-Fil-A today to meet a friend and her son for lunch (Troy was working from home and Samuel was not feeling well). The boys were playing in the play place when Luis came running back to our table holding his "boy parts" saying "Mama, chi chi, chi chi." Well, he was shoeless and I wasn't going to let him go around like Brittney Spears. I clearly underestimated the seriousness of his pee-pee dance because as I was putting on his second shoe, the pee came gushing down his leg. Luckily, my friend Beth was very gracious and went to get the "mop guy" while I got napkins, and she even shared a story of a time when her son randomly urinated at an inopportune time. Luis didn't even cry. He just stood there in his wet pants and shoes like this happens every day...something tells me this may have happened a lot in his former life. The best moment was the look on Troy's face when Luis walked into the house naked from the waist down (I took off his pants and underpants because I didn't want the carseat to start stinking.)

Incident #3: The details on this are still sketchy. All I know is that I came home from shopping this afternoon to find Luis in the tub and Troy describing what must have been a horrific scene. Apparently, Troy went to wake the twins up from their nap and found Luis standing at the foot of his bed. His pants were soaked and his pants had extra surprises for Troy. Nice, real nice! We have been over this 100 million times!!!! If you ask him "Where do you po po?" He will tell you "In the bathroom", but he doesn't always practice what he preaches. Needless to say, it would take an entire CSI team to figure out how Luis' bed was not dirty from this. I literally stood in their room, sniffing EVERYTHING trying to piece this together. The only thing I could come up with is that he might have been trying to make it to the bathroom, but it was more urgent than he realized... The joys of potty training.

If the third time is a charm, maybe tomorrow will bring a new theme... Here's to hoping!

Can You Believe It Has Been 6 Weeks?

2008-08-20T21:03:00.002-05:00

As of today, we have been a family for 6 whole weeks. Somedays this feels like the most natural thing in the world. Somedays we feel like we are in over our heads. But 6 weeks. How crazy is that?! It is flying by! Tomorrow (if I remember) I will post on some of the changes we have seen in the boys since day 1. For now though, my usual jabber.

So, in my spare time (and I may have said this before), I am an avid "blogstalker" - meaning that I like to keep up with other friend's blogs to see how their lives are going, especially those families who have adopted. I have often been perplexed when families return home from Colombia and then all of the sudden they stop posting as much. Well now I know why... There really isn't that much going on, at least there isn't that much going on with La Familia Eisenberger. We pretty much do the same thing day in and day out...Although, I still feel like I am not getting anything done - very odd indeed.

Here is a synopsis of our daily routine:
9:00 AM (on a good day for Mama) - we get up, eat breakfast, change clothes and brush teeth. The boys are usually up before this, but it takes me a while to get out of bed, get the dogs fed and outside, then I have to make breakfast. Meanwhile, the boys are usually causing a ruckus in their room.
10:00 AM - playtime begins (this is also known as fight time, cry time, all around drive Mama up the wall in anyway we can time). Sometimes we go out - like to Target or to visit Troy.
1:00 PM - "Va a come?" "Yes it is finally time to eat." "Mama, los perros?" "They are outside." This is usually followed by a round of questions repeated in turn by each boy, including "what's this?" while we point to everything on the table, in the room, on the porch, etc... And we ALWAYS discuss the state of the dogs (are they sick, are they hot, will they bite us).
2:30 PM - The twins take a nap, Samuel hangs out in the guest room with some books and some toys and I take a break.
4:30ish PM - Wake up and watch some TV
5:00 PM - Papa comes home. The boys get very excited. Samuel squeals everytime he hears the door open. It is really sweet. Then there is the adorable round of "Hola Papa"s.
6:00 PM - We usually eat dinner.
7:00 PM - Every other night is bath night. On non-bath nights we usually take them out to the park or for a walk to wear them out.
8:00 PM - Bedtime.

And then we do it all again the next day. Once school/work starts, this will all change, but for now, this is what we are doing. And this is why the posts are fewer and farther in between. It just seems like we don't have as much excitement now that we are home, and I don't want to bore you all with the drama of Luis pegging Samuel in the head with a "weeble" or the woes of trying to figure out how I am going to get my first post-placement report done in 6 weeks without having an adoption agency. We are very glad to be back to real life, but sadly real life is a little bit more mundane than our "pressure-cooker, hotel life" in Colombia. I do have more pictures though!

Some wonderful friends brought the boys a Tonka Dumptruck and in about 10 minutes I learned the reason why my mom and my grandparents ALWAYS bought me, my sister and my cousin (who is one year older than me) the exact same toys at Christmas. The "camioneta" as the boys call it is now in a hidden location and only comes out for rationed periods of time (as in the order you finish your breakfast is the order you get to play with the truck for 20 minutes each, after that it is a free-for-all). Needless to say, the truck and the blocks from Nana and Pop Pop are a match made in heaven, especially for Luis who spent his entire 20 minutes perfectly placing each and every block on the stack (note the tongue sticking out for concentration).

Oh, and a side story... I am one step ahead of the boys and they think that I am so stupid. I knew I needed to clean a bit today so the boys would be on their own in the loft/now playroom. I also knew that Samuel knew that I was keeping toys, including the truck in the guest room closet, so I moved it to a more secure location. He totally got busted today for going into that closet. He brought out another toy that was in there, but when I asked him if he went in there to look for the truck, he admitted he had. I will never give away my new location!

The alternative to the truck is the weeble firetruck. The same rules do not apply to this one, it is simply another toy to play with while you wait your turn. There is a whole toy box full of stuff to play with while they are waiting their turn... No problem right?

Not if you are Samuel. He was not happy that his turn with the truck was over and that the same rules did not apply to the firetruck.

He continued to pout even harder when I told him that he needed to pick one of their hundred other toys to play with. The problem is that he ALWAYS wants what Daniel has...no matter what it is. He will even go so far as to try to trick Daniel into giving it to him by offering him something else. He can be kind of ruthless and has totally figured out how to outwit both of his brothers. Future Survivor player?

We finally took them to Moe's. OK, we finally took ME to Moe's! Yay! They were sort of confused by their tacos and burrito (Samuel only), but they worked it out. Next time, quesadillas all around!

Samuel begged us to get him a burrito, and then he was so perplexed by it. I don't think he expected it to be so big and he wasn't quite sure of how to eat it. He ended up eating all of his chips and then squeezing all the guts out of his tortilla and eating it with a fork.

Daniel empty his tortilla too. I am not sure if actually ate anything but chips. He was covered in cheese.

This is where I put them to get my housework done. Just kidding, they totally locked themselves in their when our friend Andrea stopped by to drop off a meal for us. They thought it was hilarious.

Anything can be a toy, even sitting in a basket.

Our pastor, Mark, his wife Tara, and their three sons, Walker, Liam and Stephen, also stopped by to meet the boys. Mark and Tara were missionaries in Ecuador so their Spanish is amazing and the kids warmed up to them in no time. The fact that they brought books helped too! Mark read The Hungry Catipillar, in Spanish of course. I don't think Daniel could have been any closer if he were the hungry catipillar, but at least they are kind of, sort of, almost getting the hang of being read to.

Per Nana's Request...

2008-08-18T22:09:00.006-05:00

My mom thought the b-boy was cute, but not nearly as cute as her grandsons. So, per her request, I am updating the blog and moving on from my SYTYCD catch-up reverie (go Josh! He was my pick from Vegas!) Besides the boys have been all sorts of cute lately.

We are definitely surviving and making it work (we plan to catch up on Project Runway next). I take the boys on field trips to make the weekday mornings pass - we have gone to the Y, Target, Papa's work, Northlake Mall and Chic-Fil-A. At Chic-Fil-A, I found out that the owner was in Bogotá at the same time that we were and he has been to Colombia several times. One of the managers gave the boys balloons and spoke Spanish to them which lit up Samuel's face. He loves having people to talk to. In the play place at the mall, I met a wonderful woman named Frances, whose husband is from Cali, Colombia. She is amazingly bilingual and a nanny to a little boy named Brock who she is teaching to speak Spanish. She gave me a ton of helpful hints and a list of places to take the boys to keep their Spanish skills up to speed in the long run. I am hoping to meet her and Brock for a playdate in the future.

In other news, we found out that Luis' front teeth are jacked because he was apparently running and fell down. This is according to Samuel who declared that "Luis Angel is always running." When we take them for their medical exams next month, Dr. Douglass will refer us to all of the specialists we need, including a pediatric dentist and pediatric opthamologist for Daniel's lazy eye.

Over the weekend, we took them to the NASCAR Speedpark. It was pretty fun. If I can figure out how to get the pictures out of my phone, I will upload them to the blog. The best part of the day was the little go-karts that the kids drive themselves. Picture Samuel who doesn't speak English and has never driven a go-kart incredibly excited to drive one for the first time all by himself and having no idea what the guy just told him to do. Needless to say, it was a rocky start, but he caught on and Troy and I were beaming with pride while the twins stared in envy. I think the other children's parents were a little frustrated that Samuel kept bumping their kids or holding up traffic when he crashed into the wall. I could hear them laughing, and all I could think is "you really shouldn't take your kid's life experience for granted." I know I have said it before, but I am going to say it again...I want to make sure that everyone is listening...our sons have not really been exposed to anything. Pretty much everything we do with them is a new experience for them - whether it is learning to drive a go-kart or dropping Luis down a spiral slide after making him think I was going to slide with him (don't worry he loved it and we did that about twenty more times). The cool thing is that it is Troy and I getting to push them on the swings, drop them down slides, comfort them when they come off a ride screaming (Luis), restrain them during story time because they have never been read to, and teach them how to play "Cooties". As challenging as it is, I think that both of us would say (when we aren't sleep deprived or being pushed over the edge) that parenting these boys is a dream come true. La Familia Eisenberger ROCKS!

Other improvements on the homefront: This morning, Baxter went into the guest room where Daniel was in bed (don't ask) and Daniel simply cried, he didn't scream. Troy bathed the boys tonight and somehow convinced Luis to tilt his head back, close his eyes, and he didn't cover his face with a towel - and there was NO crying!!! I am so jealous. I asked him to show me how do this on the next bath night. Troy has returned to work and I haven't quite lost my mind just yet. At dinner tonight, Samuel kept saying "Mama, mile...casa de patito." He has been saying this to me for a couple of days and tonight I finally got it, he was pointing to the bird house out back! But quite possibly the best news of the day that only a parent can appreciate, Luis pooped in the toilet of his own volition - no prompting, no questioning, no insisting. This was followed by me and the boys celebrating with high fives and jumping in the bathroom! Ahh...the joys of parenting!

The Monkeys Are Cute, But...

2008-08-15T16:05:00.003-05:00

OK, I know I am just now catching up on TV, so I am a little out of date with this post, BUT...This kid might just be a little bit cuter than my boys in their monkey towels. And that is saying a lot! This little kid rocks...sorry niños, but your gonna have to learn to be b-boys if you want to impress Mama!

What A Week!

2008-08-14T20:50:00.005-05:00

Can you believe we have been home for a whole week today? Troy pointed that out to me this evening, and it really astounded me. One whole week! Boy do I have some catching up to do for you all!

So, what have we been up to? Well, we have been working out our daily routine complete with three meals, naptime and baths every other night. We have gone on a couple of outings to Target because where else would we go! We registered Samuel for kindergarten on Tuesday and he is beyond excited - he can't stop asking when does he go to school. Troy went back to work yesterday (which turned out to be the longest day of my life as I tried to figure out how to entertain and communicate with mi hijos all by myself). We are basically just trying to get back into the ebb and flow of everyday life. The suitcases are still packed. I just keep washing the same few outfits over and over for the boys. We are trying to catch up on bills and touch base with family and friends. Hopefully, before I return to work on September 2, we will find something that sort of resembles order and organization in our expanded household.

The dog situation has seen some improvement. The boys are still terrified to be in the same room with them, but they are tolerant of the fact that the dogs live in the house. They often call them to the gate, and today Luis actually took Sylvia her rawhide after I put her in her crate as we were leaving the house. He couldn't figure out how to get it between the bars, but I figured it is the thought that counts.

They continue to ask what different objects are in English, though they never use the English word. Although, yesterday when I sneezed, Daniel said "Bless you!" I about fell out of my seat with delight and immediately told him "Muchas gracias!" I am trying to remember to use both Spanish and English when talking to them, but I barely remember to use English for the most basic of things anymore anyway.

Tonight we had some really special family time. We have an incredible park very close to our house complete with numerous sports fields, so we took a couple of soccer balls and began "Operation: Wear the Boys Out". It was a lot of fun and we learned some new things about their personalities. It was just great to get out and play as a family. The best part was toward the end when Daniel finally started to get the concept of playing with other kids and he and Luis started to share a ball and kick it back and forth. This is huge because Daniel is not very good at sharing anything, ever. It is really hard to describe how amazing these little "milestones" are.

Well, I know this is long, but I have a ton of pictures for you too from the past week! Enjoy!

The boys waiting to board the flight in Bogotá. The twins are both clutching their blankies, and Samuel looks so contemplative. He was so serious that morning - it was as if he knew this was huge, but didn't know how to express it.

After screaming and crying on takeoff, Daniel fell asleep on my lap for quite a while with a lollipop in his mouth. I took the lollipop out before I thought to take the picture.

Luis on the plane.

This is our first supper at home thanks to the Freys! They were kind enough to stop by Chic-Fil-A on the way home from the airport for us so we could just focus on getting the boys home.

Troy was awesome on our first morning home. He let me sleep in while he got up and got the boys breakfast, then got them dressed. Muchas gracias Papa!

The boys absolutely adore Nana, Pop Pop and Tio RJ. We had a great visit with my family. I think Daniel especially is a total "Nana's boy". Sorry E, you may have some competition when we visit - or should I say sorry Mommy, you may have two boys constantly following you around saying "Nana, Nana, Nana..." You won't have any peace whatsoever!

Tio RJ had these 80s glasses that the boys thought were very fun! And they just love to ham it up for the camera!

In Troy's words, for those who are keeping score, Baxter and Sylvia - scary, letting your brother lock you in the dog's crate, not so much.

The park near our house also has a wonderful playground. This is our fearless Samuel climbing. On a side note, our van is the blue van in the bottom left.

Because the twins have to do everything their big brother does, Luis (who is not so fearless) decided to climb the same ladder as Samuel. Needless to say, I had to put down the camera and climb with him right after this pic was taken.

Daniel has gotten so brave on the slide. He can now slide without needing either of us to hold his hand or stand at the bottom!

The best part about our park is that Mama and Papa can play too without worrying about the police or security telling us to get off of the equipment!

Daniel might be feeding the dinosaur, I am not really sure. This is one of those things (like the cars at the arcade) where he wanted to watch everyone else, but was not willing to actually try the ride himself.

Bathtime has gotten so much better now that we have a bathtub again, and one that is more their size at that! Look at that smile on Daniel's face - who would have thought it possible? They both still cry when I rinse the shampoo out of their hair. I have deemed it inevitable.

There really isn't anything cuter than our three monkeys in their monkey towels! Perfecto (as Daniel would say!)

Desperately Seeking...

2008-08-13T12:58:00.002-05:00

...childcare!

I know this is not a traditional format for finding someone to babysit your children, but we are desperate in the short run. I will be conducting a more formal search in the very near future, but if there is anyone out there in the University City (or Greater Charlotte) area who could help us out every once in a while (or knows of someone else that could), we would be eternally grateful! We are willing to pay!

Thanks!

P.S. More pictures and true-life details are forthcoming in the very near future!

GUEST BABYSITTER - Brett Favre

2008-08-11T19:31:00.012-05:00

So we are home now if you don't know that. Andrea has a post below outlining our first few days. In an effort to keep the blog interesting long after we have left Colombia, here is the first guest babysitter post in which we describe encounters where celebrities come watch our kids for the night.

GUEST BABYSITTER - BRETT FAVRE

Brett - Yeah, I think I'm ready to come back. I know the last time I said no more babysitting, and I cried. But there's just a desire to compete, to watch the kids. I'm ready to come back. Are they upstairs?

Troy - Yeah. Okay, We are going to see The Dark Knight since we are now one of the 9 people in the US who haven't seen it. I have however seen the first 20 minutes of Cars 62 times.

Brett - I love that movie. I mean I really don't like it. It's awesome. I dunno...I may change my mind.

Andrea - There's mac and cheese in the fridge.

Brett - I love Italian food. Reminds me of the time I spent 4 hours at the Olive Garden. 30 minutes to decide Smoking vs. Non-Smoking (smoking...I'm a gunslinger)....then booth vs. table (I went with table). Then I finally decided on the chicken parm. When the waitress brought it out, I told her I wanted spaghetti and meatballs, when she came back again I told her I wasn't hungry and wanted to sit in a booth in non-smoking.

Troy - Okay. Whatever.

Brett - You can count on me. I'm a great leader.

Troy - When you're not throwing interceptions, right?

Brett - You're just a bitter Seattle fan right?

Troy - Yup.

Brett - Have a good time.

Later...at the movies....

Andrea - Can I get nachos?

Troy - Sure...hey is your phone ringing?

Andrea - Yeah...hello?....oh really....i see....but then who will?...okay.

Troy - Brett is quitting?

Andrea - Yeah, he got a babysitting gig in New York. Don't worry, he got someone to fill in. Some nice girl named Erin I think.

Troy - Sweet. Let's go watch something violent.

Things Could Be Better...

2008-08-11T10:40:00.002-05:00

Well, I have to be honest...things could definitely be better. Although we did have a great (if all too short visit) from Nana, Pop Pop, and Tio R.J. this weekend, the boys' adjustment to their new home has been rocky at best. We are trying to fall into a routine which will help in the long run, but Samuel is consistently cranky and Daniel seems to be hitting more frequently again.

The single biggest, and most disheartening, challenge has been with the dogs. When I brought Baxter home on Friday night, the boys all screamed so loudly and for so long that we had to put them to bed early because we could not get them to calm down. Sylvia came home on Saturday. We have since blocked half of the house off for the dogs so the boys can have the upstairs and we put the dogs outside for meals, however, the boys continuously call the dogs to the gate and stare at them (and now taunt them) like they are at the zoo. It is really frustrating for Troy and I. Our dogs are like our children too. They were our first "babies"'. Anyone who knows us well, knows that we spoil and pamper them to the point that both of our 60 pound "babies" sleep in our bed with us. While we are trying to be patient with our actual human children, we are also very selfishly hoping that we can help them overcome their phobia as quickly as possible.

The one thing we are trying to hold onto is remembering just how much change the boys have been through. Samuel asks to watch Discovery Kids everyday despite the fact that we tell him several times a day that there is no Discovery Kids here. Poor boy. Also, the language is confusing for all of them. They are now on the other side of the fence. We just know the adjustment will take time, and I think that if we could get some real rest, or just a real break, we might be able to have more patience with the children and each other.

On the upside, we did have a touch of normalcy for the first time since being home. Last night, after the kids went to sleep, Troy and I sat in the loft watching TV with the dogs curled up on the couch. It was truly peaceful and relaxing. I finally felt like I might be able to get some rest once we get our routine down. I will post a couple of pics once I find the camera. We aren't sure what we did with it...

We're home...

2008-08-07T21:55:00.002-05:00

...need I say more?

Today was a long, long day, but it will end in nearly the best way possible: with all of the Eisenbergers (minus the pups, of course) asleep in our beds. Hooray! I am very much looking forward to it and hoping that I can keep my worsening cough at bay long enough to let me fall into a deep sleep (despite the fact that I am truly panicked because we don't have bed rails on the twins' beds and they are bound to roll out onto the floor tonight).

Highlights: We were able to get seats together! All the boys wailed on the flight out of Bogotá until a nice man gave them lollipops to help calm them down. Daniel fell asleep on my lap, then fell asleep against the window, then both twins fell asleep through the landing (praise God!) Luis spilled his entire cup of OJ on me, so I spent most of the flight to ATL sopping wet and smelling real good! No one cried at all on the flight to CLT from ATL. None of the boys complained about having to ride in their carseats.

On the way home, we put the iPod on shuffle and the boys kept asking for more songs. As we drove past the Charlotte skyline, Modest Mouse's "Float On" came on and Luis started clapping along. The boys were so excited and "ooohing" and "aaahing" about the city (their ciudad nueva), and I told Troy that should be our theme song. "We'll all float on OK...even if things get heavy." It just somehow seemed to fit. The past five weeks (...er...four years...) have been some of the most challenging of our lives, but there we were driving down I-85 with our long-awaited children in the back of our minivan. We survived! We made it through infertility, the paperwork process, living in a hotel room for five weeks, and so much more.

When we pulled into the garage, and got out of the van, the boys were so tentative. I have never seen Daniel move so slow or cautiously. We had told them all day, it is OK to be nervous, it is OK to be scared, this is a big day. Within moments though, they were running from room to room, touching stuff. They love their room and bath room. They were very excited about their toys and cars. Several of our friends had decorated the house with balloons and a banner, so the boys were more excited about the balloons than anything else. For me, to have them here, running around, is beyond words. I know I am sentimental, but it did bring tears to my eyes. Our children are very real, and they are here, in our house! It is unbelievable. Watch out America! You have three new citizens! How cool is that?!

Jumping For Joy

2008-08-06T22:41:00.003-05:00

I let the boys jump on the bed one last time before we depart. Enjoy! It really never gets old...for them or for us.

Hasta Luego Colombia!

2008-08-06T22:00:00.004-05:00

Today was our last full day in Colombia. Nothing bittersweet about it! We are ready to go home and the boys are ready to go to casa nueva. The day started off a little slow because all I wanted to do was pack, so it took us a while to get out the door. All I can say is once we got out the door, WOW! what an adventure.

We wanted to do something American to celebrate our trip to America - so we set off to find the Hard Rock Café. Well, it wasn't where we thought it was, and we ended up walking about thirty blocks to this mall only to defeatedly catch a taxi and have the driver take us in the completely opposite direction, far past our hotel. Once we were there though, it was worth it. Troy, Samuel and I had burgers, and the twins had chicken fingers. Everyone was happy to be filling up on fries and greasy food. Troy and I bought t-shirts. We then caught a cab back to our hotel because Troy had to meet Jaime to go pick up the translated paperwork. I thought I could finish packing while the boys went down for a nap after their epic walk. Apparently they cannot nap after drinking Coca-Cola. This was the first soda we let them have, and it was a great lesson for us. After our missed naps, we caught another cab and went back to the aforementioned mall for ice cream with the Uhlenbrock family (see Brian and Penny's story under our "Other Adoptions" section). Catching a cab back to the hotel was a little tricky, but we made it just in time for dinner!

The sweetest part of the day was getting ready for bed. We had Q&A about mañana and let the boys ask whatever they wanted to ask (the big question is what color will the planes be). We looked at pictures of the house, the dogs, their room, the Western Hemisphere, etc. We talked about being "una familia siempre" (a family always) and that seemed to really make them happy. This was followed by mucho besos! Daniel is so cute because he grabs your cheeks when he kisses you. I don't know how much they truly understand, but they did ask a lot of really good questions. Tomorrow is the big day!

Walking to the mall, the boys decided that Papa was way cooler than Mama and everyone wanted to hold his hand. He is working on ordering a prosthetic third arm so that no one feels left out.

Yummy! All I wanted was some comfort food!

Note to self: Coke + Child = Lack of Nap = No Down Time for Padrés

I think the twins both ended up with more ice cream on them than in them. That is pretty typical for most of their food.

When Samuel walked out of the ice cream shop with this cone, I immediately shot Troy a look like "That was the worst idea ever!", but he did really well and none of the scoops fell off.

Uhlenbrocks + Eisenbergers = Awesomeness!!!! Back row: Penny, Brian, Andrea and Troy; Front row: Laura (3), Rosita (2), Daniel, Angela (3), Luis, and Samuel. It was wonderful to meet other Americans in process, and to meet the parents of another sibling group.

Troy's treat to himself and farewell to Colombia was to enjoy a Cuban cigar and a good Dutch beer. It was a tribute to the international flair of Hotel Halifax!

Adios Colombia!!! Charlotte, we can't wait to be home!

In 24 Hours...

2008-08-06T06:49:00.003-05:00

...we will be at the airport! Yay! No I didn't wake up early just to write this post. I think I am just so excited to be so close to going HOME!

Not long after finishing last night's post I was able to resolve everything with Delta, and they were able to get Troy and I on the flight for no cost (which is good because that is why we purchased the special "adoption" tickets to begin with). The only hitch now is that they can't seat all of us together, as in one of the children will be sitting by themselves...Again, my children are 4 and 6, this is not an option. I will be discussing this with the ticketing agent at the counter tomorrow morning - or perhaps Troy will depending on how much or how little English they speak. At any rate, barring any unforeseen hindrances by weather, baggage system failure or the Dharma Initiative, we should be in Charlotte 36 hours from now.

Today we plan to wear the boys out by walking a lot, or at least that is what I told them last night. They are so adorable and wound up. They would not go to sleep last night, and they were absolutely giggly. Every time I would go in to tell them that they needed to settle down, Daniel would say "Mama, beco, beco..." which sounds sort of like this word that we have outlawed "pepeco"** which means "stinky feet" (we are trying to get them to be nice to each other.) So, Troy came in and we were asking them to tell us what "beco" is and it turns out that it is how Daniel pronounces "beso" which is "kiss" in Spanish. So we had a short, giggly talk about how kisses from mom and dad are good because we love them so much. It was really fun! And it was really sweet because they were all asking for kisses. It had never occurred to either of us that they have probably never been loved on as much as they have for the past four weeks, and I, especially, grew up in a very affectionate family.

**So, we have told them that if they call each other "stinky feet", they will get in trouble (whatever consequences we have available at the time) and they are not to use that word. Well yesterday, Troy said Daniel was laying on the bed, with his foot up to his nose, saying "pepeco, pepeco!" What are the consequences for using the word in context?

Prayer Requests: Safe and happy travels for all. I am trying to pack more incognito this time so as not to upset the boys (and their tummys). They know we are going "en un avion" at some point and are excited, and that we are going to our "casa nueva". However, we are certain they don't really know what that means. Samuel is still showing us that he is reluctant about all of the changes that have and are taking place. Please pray that none of the children have to sit alone on the plane. Also that none of our flights would be delayed. Oh, and this may seem silly, but this is huge for me, please pray that they car ride from the airport to home won't be an issue when we strap all of them into their carseats for the first time ever.

Yesterday we hung out at Parque 93 in the morning. The boys had a great time trying to make "castillos". Not exactly sandcastles in the sand, but we will wait until we get to the beach for that. At one point, we had mama's foot and most of their legs buried. It was pretty awesome oppossum.

Ever Get That Sinking Feeling

2008-08-05T19:01:00.005-05:00

***UPDATE: No Delta Representatives were harmed during the creation of this post.***

You know we couldn't get out of here without one more glitch, right? Well, we have the boys visas and that went smoothly. Troy goes back to the embassy tomorrow to pick up the translation of the birth certificates, sentencia and abandonment decree which is a new requirement for citizenship that we don't totally understand (except it is more pesos out of our pockets), but whatever...While Troy went to the embassy to pick up the visas and the boys were napping, I was busy packing away. However, I just couldn't seem to get rid of that nagging "we only have two days left, this is too good to be true" feeling that I have in the pit of my stomach. Turns out, my woman's intuition is right...again.

I am on the phone with Delta right now. I just found out that when Troy called to switch the tickets last weekend, the incompetent person that he spoke to put our four and six year olds on the flight all by themselves and did not change our tickets! So in Delta's eyes we have missed our Sunday flight and they are telling me that we may have to pay a change fee. [insert string of American obscenities] They are the ones who made the mistake. I am not paying them anything. If DirecTV thinks it heard an earful when they incorrectly installed our DVR twice, I feel sorry for the next pseudo-English speaking South American Delta rep that gets on the line with me. Sorry, but we cannot miss that flight on Thursday!

***REAL TIME UPDATE: The woman just came on the line to tell me that I am moments away from receiving my confirmation number. Does this mean I don't have to pay anything else? Stay tuned...***

27 Days Down, 3 Days To Go

2008-08-04T15:38:00.002-05:00

Our visit to the embassy was this morning! Aside from having to wait for a couple of hours in an overcrowded space with three small children, this step was fairly easy. Since the paperwork is my area of expertise, Troy had the challenge of entertaining the boys. We took coloring books and crayons which helped, but the twins are a little OCD and like to stack things that do not stack (like round crayons) which led to crying spells and stares from onlookers. What the onlookers don't know is that when the OCD crying spells begin, there isn't much comforting we can provide nor is there much we can do to stop the stacking. Here is your rock and your hard place: 1) let the boys continue to stack stuff that cannot be stacked and let them cry out of frustration or 2) take away the stuff that cannot be stacked and let them scream hysterically because you have taken their toys - it is a toss up really. Tomorrow, Troy will return to the embassy at 3:30 PM to pick up the visas and that is the last step in the Colombian process. Hooray! All we will have to do is wait for the the flight home!

Yesterday, after breakfast, we decided to seek out a flea market that Ines had told Troy about. On Sundays they close Avenida 15 to cars and open it solely to pedestrian traffic, so we decided to go for a walk. It was fantastic. There were walkers, runners, cyclists galore. The flea market ended up being much farther than we could hoof it, so we took to a side street and hailed a cab to take us the rest of the way. The market itself was pretty amazing. It was not your average American flea market junk. This was quality hand-made goods by artisans from towns all over the country-side. We ended up buying a few things that we knew we could pack, including a new bag for Mama that will go with my "everyday" shoes. Then it began to rain so we hailed a cab to bring us back. It felt great to be out and about and free! Plus, the boys love being in a taxi, and once we are home they won't get to do that anymore. We spent the rest of the day just hanging around Hotel Halifax.

Oh, and I must mention here that last night was bath night. It was slightly better. Daniel did cry the entire time, but neither he nor I screamed hysterically and at the end he even gave me a big kiss. Sweet boy!

In sad news, and news of the "can our trip get any weirder", we found out this afternoon that our adoption agency is closing. This will not have any bearing on getting us home and settled in the U.S., but Troy and I do have many questions as to how this effects the next steps in our process. The adoption doesn't end when we get home, we have to file reports on the boys every few months for something like the next two years. Also, this announcement effects the jobs of people that I have personally come to know and love through this process. Please pray for them, particularly our caseworker Sarah Huaman and the Colombian Program Director Raul Velez Velez, during this difficult time.

Divercity (a.k.a. Disaster City)

2008-08-02T22:04:00.008-05:00

***SPOILER ALERT: For anyone looking for a post on the bright, sunny joys of adopting and parenting and parenting adopted kids, you might want to skip this post! There won't be any sugar coating today!***

Oh and this is going to be a long one because it has been a long (and I stress long) couple of days!

So, we are in Bogotá and we are definitely feeling in between homes. We miss Charlotte of course, but we miss the comfort and friendly faces of Pereira too. Don't get me wrong, we are glad to be on the last leg of our trip, it would just be great if we could have accomplished everything in the comfort of our El Cortijo home with our familiar friends and food (yes, this one will involve my weird food issues). I spent most of yesterday crying, I think from exhaustion and hunger. The food here at Halifax is just plain different, and if you like everything just plain (like me), then you are simply out of luck. Troy has had a splitting headache today due in part to the fact that his brain is about to explode from constantly having to think in two languages. So this trip is starting to take its toll on us.

Friday
Yesterday morning (pre-crying spells) we went exploring. There is a parque just a few blocks from the hotel that is surrounded by restaurants, so we took the boys for a walk to get out some of their energy and let them play on the playground. It is such a treat to have a park so close by. We also have this at home and I now know how valuable it is going to be.

The day ended horribly though with the worst bath night in the history of bath nights. We don't have a bath tub here, so we had to shower the boys with a hand-held nozzle which they are not used to. I made Daniel go first, which was so stupid on my part because he freaks out easily, but I thought Luis would be far worse. He screamed the entire time and since I was already pretty much on edge I ended up getting really upset with him which upset him more. He wouldn't let me get the shampoo out of his hair and after much commotion, constant screaming on his part, I finally just covered his eyes and turned the nozzle on his head. Needless to say, the poor boy was completely panicked, freaked out, upset, confused, etc... He was still crying hysterically ten minutes later when I put Luis Angel in the shower who was also crying by this point. However, within two minutes Luis was splashing around having a grand old time. Samuel even asked Troy if he could take another "bath" when he was done. The whole time I felt completely horrible because I was not only mad at my child for being afraid and crying, but then I made him more afraid than he already was. To add salt to my wounds (and this is why I don't deserve to be a mom) when I sat down on the bed near Daniel after Luis' bath, he got up and gave me a big hug!

Saturday
This morning the boys woke up at the crack of dawn and we could hear them just giggling away in the other room. They clearly think that being able to wake up without Mama and Papa is a hoot. I would think so too if their ruckus didn't wake me up!

After breakfast, Jaime came to get us to take us to Divercity. What is Divercity, you ask? Well, it is this really brilliant concept where kids can go and "work" and earn "money". There are something like 60 types of jobs they can try out - including firefighter, construction worker, cashier, detective, and more. They get costumes at each station and when they have completed their task, they get paid, then they can take that money and buy prizes with what they have earned. Sounds awesome, right? I thought so when I read about it on the Boyachek's blog. Well, we got there around 11:00 AM only to find out that they were having a special party for the newspaper (who is a sponsor) and that they wouldn't be open to the public until 1:30 PM. So we decided that we would return to the hotel, get some lunch and come back.

For lunch we went to Archie's (sorry Brian and Penny, I have been dying to go to an Archie's for weeks now). The kids got to make their own pizzas which was so adorable. They got chef hats and aprons and were covered in flour. It was just too cute! The service wasn't great, but the pizza tasted divine! We made it back to the hotel just in time to meet Jaime again for the second time to go back to Divercity. Troy asked "Are you sure you want to skip naptime?" Of course, it's Divercity, it is going to be awesome!

So, we get to Divercity and the line doesn't look too bad until a man in a "construction outfit" points out that it is broken in half and wraps all the way around the little glass wall in the mall...Well, we waited for about 45 minutes just to get to the cashier. Then we were directed to another line that was about 4 times the length of the pay line (how is that possible!?) to get into the actual park. Luckily, that line moved very quickly, and Daniel only threw one fit in which he refused to move and I had to carry him kicking and screaming ("no big deal, he'll be fine once we are inside"). Once inside though, it was full on chaos! Kids running everywhere, some scary looking wolf thing nearly made the twins cry, and for the first time I started to admit maybe this isn't going to be awesome...

I could go on and on, but to make a long story short, I will say this: Divercity is really a place where you go and stand in line for hours on end...well your kids stand in line and parents aren't allowed to stand with them even if they are four, are criers, and are terrified of everything - which we didn't know until we had already paid. It is a place that is really cool in concept, but a little off in execution. There is nothing to do for the smaller kids. Samuel had a blast, but he only got to be a fireman because the line was so long we didn't have time for anything else. The twins were just too afraid to even try anything and they were exhausted from all the walking. At one point, they were laying on the astroturf in this fake park across from the fire station. I knew someone would probably step on them, but I didn't feel like fighting them on it so I just let them lay there for a while. In short, Divercity was a bit of a disaster for us.

That being said, I take every single day here as learning experience, from baths where my son is begging me to bathe his brothers first to family outings that fall way short of fun. Our children have not been exposed to a whole lot of stuff, including having to stand in line by themselves for an hour in order to be firefighters for five minutes. Every day brings mini-victories and to me that's what counts, that is what I take with me.

When we first got to the park the boys were more excited about the sand than anything else. What will they do when they get to go to the beach for the first time?

Playing with the kids has been the biggest treat. I think I like pushing Luis on the swing more than he likes swinging.

Me and Daniel looking at each other through this bubbly thing. He makes some pretty funny faces, but mostly he just needs to know you are there.

Samuel is so brave. He will try any of the equipment just to see what it does. That means one of us needs to be nearby!

In order to get Daniel out of the sand and up onto the playground equipment, we had to tell him that this tunnel was a cave. He immediately started yelling for his brothers, "Carlito, Luis Angel! Venga! Una cueva! Una cueva! Venga aqui!" I told Troy that it is all about how you market it!

The hermanos enjoying the cueva! Isn't my spanglish awesome opposum!

Yay! Comfort food! We treated the boys to ice cream and the twins didn't really eat theirs. Very weird! Maybe they have weird food issues too!

At Archie's making pizza! It is just so fun to watch the little chefs.

At Divercity, Troy was actually able to get Daniel to pose in one of those head cut-out things. How cute is he?!

Samuel makes a very handsome firefighter!

This picture pretty much sums up Divercity. Here Samuel and I are waiting in line to take "money" out of the ATM to go spend it on little prizes.

Scroll Down...

2008-08-01T17:55:00.002-05:00

...for a very entertaining post - complete with YouTube clips - ranking the shows we have been forced to watch since our abrupt introduction to parenthood. Troy started the post before we left for Pereira, but of course kept getting interrupted every time the boys heard the clips. So he didn't get to post it until today. As an fyi, Blogger back dates to the day you start the post.

Hola de Bogotá

2008-07-31T21:54:00.004-05:00

We are finally on the last leg of our journey in Colombia! Hooray! We made it to Bogotá around lunchtime. Just before boarding the plane in Pereira, we received an excellent email letting us know that our reservation at Hotel Halifax had been confirmed. The flight went well. The twins cried a little on take-off, turbulence and landing, but overall they were extremely brave and did very well for their first flight. Samuel was so excited and just beaming the whole time. I think the biggest surprise for all of them was that they got "jugo" (juice) just for being on the plane! I didn't get a picture, but I have to say to all those who thought we were nuts for adopting three, it definitely has its benefits - all three boys helped push/pull/carry luggage and most of it is bigger than they are. I will try to remember to take a picture on our way to Charlotte. It is pretty funny!

Hotel Halifax is definitely an answer to prayer, so thank you to all who have been holding vigil for us. Not only is it close to what we need (and now we won't need to pay to go sightseeing everyday), but there are other families here, we are in two rooms (no more closet!), and there is a swingset, toys and DVD player on-site. Oh, and Inés, one of the innkeepers, has even shown Troy a route that he can go running in the mornings! The only drawback is right now (approx. 10:15 PM Colombia time) they are doing some street work and jackhammering - I hope I can sleep through it soon. In fact, it started about 9:00 PM and when I went to check on the boys Daniel said "Mama, un avion, un avion" which is doubly funny because I had just said to Troy I bet Daniel is telling his brother's "A plane, a plane". This isn't quite El Cortijo, but it is a real blessing nonetheless and we are thankful for God's grace and to those who recommended it.

Lastly, before I post pictures, I have to mention our final moments in Pereira. OK, I admit when we were saying our good-byes to our friends at El Cortijo, I really teared up and almost started to bawl. In fact, I was teary eyed the whole way to the airport (and at the airport as we bid José and Mauricio "chua"). As the boys chatted endlessly to José about "un avion rojo" (for some reason it was very important that the plane be red), I just tried to take in the sights one last time. I kept reminding myself we will be back one day (only to visit), after all that is one of the main reasons we chose Colombia.

The boys were super excited at the airport as we waited to board. All of them kept shouting "Oooo, un avion!" And Daniel kept saying "Mama venga!" (Mama come here!), like "Mom why aren't you at the window looking at these awesome planes!" Here they are looking at our plane, and just like José promised, it was red indeed!

All of the boys looking at another much smaller (thank goodness it wasn't ours) plane.

Luis swinging here at Hotel Halifax. He was so very excited to swing, but not too high. And Troy and I learned a new word today - columpiar. We were trying to explain to the boys that at the new hotel there are new rules (namely you can't just run off without asking) when Samuel just burst into tears. It took a while to get him to tell us what was wrong when all of the sudden he says "quiero columpiar" (I want to swing) which sent us scurrying for the Spanish/English Dictionary. That little book is a lifesaver!

Daniel sort of climbing, but not really. If you look closely you can see his other foot is through the ropes and firmly on the ground. He gets an A for effort though!

Papa took Samuel to the store during naptime and he got a new hat from a street vendor! Muy guapo (very handsome!)

We had our appointment with the embassy doctor this evening, and while we were waiting, the boys collected all of the Bibles and were using them as building blocks. We would love to say that they just love The Word, but really they are just creative!

The appointment with the doctor was easy breezy. Aside from a few disciplinary issues (only because they basically put the boys in one room and us in another), the boys did well. The doctor simply had to fill out a form for each of them, and it turns out that he has adopted four-year-old twins of his own and used to work at a hospital in New Orleans. We are up-to-date on all shots, so the next step is to go to the embassy at 7:30 AM on Monday morning. I am not sure how that is going to work, our boys don't get up that early.

To everyone who has followed us this far, please keep checking in and keep posting! We definitely need the love and support more than ever to get us through this next week. It is going to be a long one!

Last Post From Pereira

2008-07-31T09:22:00.004-05:00

Well, we are finally headed back to Bogotá! Our flight leaves at 11:20 AM (Colombia time). Our agency is still trying to strong arm us into staying where we don't want to stay, so please pray that this issue will resolve itself quickly. I, especially, have no desire to stay one place for one night and them move all of our stuff to our place of choice for another. The challenge has been contacting places in Bogotá from here and we have had several "lost in translation" moments and our in-country contacts in Bogotá have been of no help since we decided that Zuetana was not the place for us. Hopefully, once we either get to the airport or get to Bogotá we can really stand up for ourselves and let them know how important it is that we find a place that is going to work for us, especially since we will be here through August 7 now.

More pressing prayer issues: Samuel was asking Troy yesterday if their foster mother would be coming to Bogotá and then living with us in the U.S. I think that he may go through a bigger bought of homesickness than we anticipated. Daniel has been saying all morning that his stomach hurts and has been really, really crying. Poor baby. He seems to be OK now, he even ate breakfast, but I think that seeing all of the suitcases and not really understanding what is going on might be freaking him out a little. Also, he has been retreating a little more this morning. He might just be tired, but he seems to be back in his own "Daniel Place" where he has been more vibrant and interactive over the past week to ten days. Luis is just afraid of everything so there is no telling how the plane ride will go. And, in the continuing Andrea-health-saga, I woke up with another sore throat that I think is due to drainage because I had an allergy attack last night and couldn't find where I packed the Benadryl, but my chest is starting to feel congested too.

Troy ran to the ATM (for the second time today - the first time it was closed, of course) to get more cash. He may have more thoughts to add to this post, but the next time you hear from us we will be at a higher elevation, in cooler weather and by the grace of God in a hotel near a parque and a supermercado!

P.S. I hate to fly too, so pray that I will be able to comfort my children through my fear!

T.V. Show Ratings

2008-07-30T16:42:00.017-05:00

Inspired by one of my favorite books, here's my ratings of kid's TV shows that I've sat through in Colombia.

WOW WOW WUBBZY
First of all, if the theme song doesn't give you a seizure, the rest of the episode surely will.

"Wubbzy" (genus species unknown) is a creature built solely of right-angles, who looks like he was drawn on an etch-a-sketch, and goes on adventures with his friends. On one episode, they helped a squirrel build a machine to help gather acorns. Just kidding, I've never made it through the opening.

Rating: D+

PINKY DINKY DOO
So here's the rundown of every Pinky Dinky Doo episode. Some stuff happens, then there is a dilemma, then Pinky tells a story, then comes up "un gran idea" and her head swells up like a parade float. It is a show rife with imagination since the entire episode is Pinky's stories, and for the most part everything happens inside a cardboard box. However, none of this matters, because after the dilemma, and before the story...there is this dance. Which is awesome in every way. Si señores positones indeed!

Rating: B+

HI-5
Maybe you've been to your local neighborhood amusement park and have seen "the show". At Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, there are people singing all over the artificially reconstructed world....in Italia....in Germany....in New France (can't we just call it Canada?). These are kids making their career stop between "lead in the high school production of Annie Get Your Gun" and "waiter/waitress in NYC". Unlike the amusement park though, there is no roller coaster to look foward too. Just more singing after the commercial break...and dancing...and singing...and dancing. Yuck.

Rating: F

BACKYARDIGINS
Not every computer animator gets to work for Pixar. If you have kids, you're likely familiar with the adventures of a yellow hippo, and a orange moose, and uh, um....a lavender eagle....and, jeesh they all look alike, a chartruse giraffe? The animals go to the backyard and act out fantasies. Think more "hey, you're a gypsy and we're all pirates!" and less "Eyes Wide Shut". This show encourages children to use their imaginations.....and drugs. At least the spanish version of the theme song is better than the US version. Just kidding...it's still horrific. It's the worst song not named "Hotel California" or sung by this band.

Rating: B-

LAZY TOWN
The only show that passes the "I would actually watch this if I didn't have kids" test. When this show comes on I find myself saying things like "Luis, Samuel...stop reading those worthless books and watch some T.V.!". The brilliance of the show can be summed up in an episode where the villian, Robbie Rotten, dresses up as a doctor, puts spots on all the vegetables and kids and declares there is a plague, tries to steal the blimp of the hero, Sportacus, and when he is finally revealed (hey residents of Lazy Town...who could the mysterious stranger be? How about the only member of the town that is not present?) declares "VOY A EXPLICAR NADA!". The show smacks of propaganda....carrots are awesome!, cookies and candies are bad, however the stingy character is allowed to stay stingy, and Ziggy, the sugar-addicted kid, never really changes his ways. It's as if right and wrong are presented, but how we interpret the information is up to us. How Postmodern!

Rating: A

This Is How The Boys Are Dealing With The Stress

2008-07-30T10:03:00.003-05:00

It's all fun and games until Luis Angel falls off the bed. Don't be too concerned though, he only cried for like a second until he was ready to get right back in the rumpus. About one second later there was an incident involving Daniel's glasses. And then another incident involving Luis, and then another one, and then another one...and so on.

P.S. The boys' favorite saying has become "Es un accidente."

Uggghhhh!!!

2008-07-30T06:56:00.001-05:00

So, the news is not getting any better. The embassy is closed on Friday which means that we definitely won't be able to get the boys' visas until next week (Hector thought we might be able to plead our case if we got in front of the embassy today). Delta cannot issue us new return tickets until next Thursday because of our "special adoption fare". And we aren't sure what we are going to do about keeping the boys entertained in Bogotá for a week because our driver there is ridiculously expensive and at this point we are needing to conserve money. Ahhh, the joys of international adoption.

Thank you to everyone who has posted/emailed with ideas on places to stay in Bogotá. Troy will be looking into those later today! Oh and as a side note, when Troy and Mauricio contacted our Bogotá rep last night her solution was that we could just drive around to the different lodging options until we found one that we like. With three boys in tow? I don't think so...

We are still headed to Bogotá tomorrow so we can make our doctor's appointment, provided we can purchase tickets. Avianca's website is having some issues and when Troy called they wanted $350/ticket over the phone. Yeah right! It is a half an hour flight!

Still Trapped

2008-07-29T19:50:00.003-05:00

The news is not good. Although we do have the boys passports (which I will recount at another time), we found out this evening that we cannot get doctor's appointments at the embassy until Thursday evening due to more vacations. Needless to say, we are not coming home on Sunday and Troy and I are pretty much devastated. We have decided to stay in Pereira until Thursday because we are far more comfortable here and aren't really that excited about going back to Bogotá except to go home.

Other challenges: We also don't have a place to stay in Bogotá. We didn't want to go back to Zuetana, and our agency (though they assured us in the beginning we could switch) doesn't have any other options for us so we are trying to find a place on our own that will be more accommodating to our expanded family. Also, I am terribly sick again. This time it seems to be the stomach virus that Troy had. I won't go into details about all the symptoms, but it does include a splitting headache, chills and aches (again!). Daniel also threw up twice this morning, but he seems to have recovered (so have I...it was kind of funny because he would burp real loud, then spew, then burst into tears. I wasn't quite sure of what to do at first - laugh or comfort him, I went for the latter and then clean up.)

We will keep all of you posted on what our plan of action is. Please pray that every detail would fall into place, that Troy and I would not let our sadness affect our parenting or take it out on the boys, and that Delta will be merciful and give us return flights sooner rather than later.

. . . - - - . . .

2008-07-28T14:20:00.003-05:00

Help! We are trapped in Pereira. Literally trapped!

Mauricio called this morning to deliver the disappointing news that Hector was unable to get a copy of Daniel's birth certificate from the town of Alcala today because the only person who can sign it is on vacation. He is going to try again tomorrow. Hopefully we will be on a plane Wednesday morning, as early as possible. We have been told that we can still take the boys to the embassy doctor in the afternoon on Wednesday. Hopefully we will be able to stay on track to come home on Sunday. If we have to shift any of our embassy dates it, we will have to change our flight and since we have special tickets with Delta who knows when we will be able to get a return flight.

Please pray that Hector will be able to get the birth certificate tomorrow morning and we will be able to get the passports in the afternoon.

Low-Key Weekend

2008-07-27T20:21:00.007-05:00

This post will probably be short and sweet which will probably be a relief to most of you since the last one ran a little long. Our weekend was pretty low key. Troy hasn't been feeling well, so we took it easy yesterday. That gave me a chance to start organizing and packing our stuff. Today, José stopped by with his six-month-old son Juan José and then came back in the afternoon to get us and take us out to the mall for a bit. The boys got to expend some of their energy at the arcade/play-place which was great for all of us.

The highlight of my afternoon was watching Samuel in the play-place (the twins are too young to go in alone and we couldn't accompany them). We had to pay for him to go in and he only got 15 minutes which he spent most of on the trampoline (surprise, surprise). But then he discovered he could climb the towers to the slides. They had two towers, one that went to the wavy slides which he did twice and then a much taller tower that went to a spiral slide. The look of pure joy and excitement when he came out of that spiral slide is indescribable. He was so happy. It is really neat to watch our kids experience these things for the first time that most of the other kids in there were taking for granted. The real highlight though is when the 15 minutes were up, the staff working the play-place wouldn’t let the kids exit until their parent claimed them, and Samuel and I were pointing at each other, claiming each other. That was really cool. Oh, and now is a good time to mention that when we first got there, I lost Luis. I went to throw something away and, without realizing it, he followed me. We looked all around only to find him in a sea of people, bawling his eyes out. As Troy ran towards him and scooped him up, he was still crying, but you could see the look of relief on his face - the best part, he wasn't looking to just anyone for help, he was looking for us. Troy's highlight was playing air hockey with Daniel. He didn't want to ride on any of the little cars or do anything else, but he really seemed to want to play air hockey. Guess we are going to have to get an air hockey table...Isn't that terrible?

Tomorrow will hopefully be packing and passports!

When I started packing the boys decided they wanted to wear their raincoats...inside...all day. The irony, it rains here everyday, but we have never actually worn our raincoats outside in the rain. I am not sure how that happened.

These are the gifts that "Tia" Rosario and the staff of El Cortijo gave the boys at their fiesta the other night. These are carros they are not allowed to play with.

Don't let our boys fool you. They don't actually read their books, but they do love to look at them. They also won't sit still long enough to let us read to them. I think they have never really been read to.

José and his son Juan José. What a cutie! The boys were so curious and weren't really sure of what to do with him. When José came back to get us later in the afternoon, Luis looked all over the car for the baby and was genuinely upset that José didn't bring him back.

Samuel will occasionally hold the twins hands when they walk down the stairs. He is very helpful when he wants to be which is great. We really want him to understand that he is the older brother and not four. We suspect that he was treated like a four year old, and we hope to help him feel more like an older brother.

OK, so Luis didn't cry on any of the little rides and actually wanted to go on everything that Samuel did. I guess that little push car at Parque del Café was a great jump start in getting him over whatever fears he had about amusement rides. Very weird, but encouraging.

Troy and I's public debut of Dance Dance Revolution. We thought that an international tour would be best. As you can see by the looks on our faces we pretty much sucked, and of course we not only had an audience but help from the twins. I guess we will have to keep practicing at home.

We're Still Celebrating!

2008-07-25T22:05:00.005-05:00

***WARNING: This one is going to be a long one, so you might want to grab a cup of café (Colombian brew of course) or té before you settle down to read this post.***

I am adding a ton of pictures to this post because really whatever I say can't do our adventures justice. The past 30 or so hours have just been fun. Plain and simple. Oh except for the fact that Troy now has a fever. He has taken some medicine, so hopefully it won't develop into anything more serious. It seems to be the same virus I had prior to my bronchitis and what Samuel developed earlier this week.

Last night we celebrated our familia with this incredible chocolate cake that we bought at a bakery downtown. It was "que rica" as the boys like to say. I know they don't know why we are celebrating, but they appreciated the cake all the same. We also learned the hard way that giving them chocolate cake about an hour before bed time is not really that great of an idea, especially when they have missed their naps. Daniel + Chocolate Cake - naptime = one crazy kid. It took a while to wind them down and stop the giggling.

Today we went on a walking tour of downtown Pereira with José. He took us to Bolívar Square (almost every city in Colombia has a Bolívar Square), a beautiful cathedral, one of the oldest buildings in Pereira where we stopped for beverages, souvenir shops, and another plaza. It was good to get out and see the city (without running errands). While we were out the most bizarre thing happened. This woman came up to Luis and was trying to talk to him and he was shying away from her. I didn't think much of it because people are always asking if they are twins or patting the boys on the heads and such. Normally the boys walk around saying "Hola!" to everyone they meet. Then as she passed José, Troy and the other boys she greeted them and got into a brief conversation with José. It turns out she is the sister of their foster mother. According to Wikipedia, there are nearly 600,000 people in Pereira and we just happened to run into someone who knows the boys. How crazy is that? And Samuel was like "Oh yeah, that was Jenny." Weird! And then Luis kind of bolted up the street like he was going to follow her. Fortunately, it didn't seem to upset them, negatively effect them or make them homesick in anyway that I could see. We went back to normal within minutes. It just struck us as odd that we would run into someone who knows them. José seemed to think it was good that she got to see the boys out and about and happy so she could let her sister know that they are doing well. I think he is right.

OK, enough blabbering. On to the photos, including photos of this evening's fiesta!

We had pasta last night for dinner. Troy and I could do an entire post just on mealtime with the boys. It is the funniest, most frustrating time. No meal passes in a timely, stress-free manner. It is always long and there is a lot of pleading. The best though is when the boys tell each other to "EAT!" and they still have food on their own plates.

This is the cake we bought. Yummy!

"This cake is so yummy it requires a fork and a spoon!"

"More cake please!"

The fam at the "Bolívar Desnudo" statue.

I just love this picture! I can't tell you how long it took me to get this shot!

The building where we stopped to get something to drink is one of the few buildings that is original to the city. The building itself was very beautiful. Here José is helping Daniel with his Pineapple juice. Poor boy does not really understand how to drink from a straw.

Luis is trying to mimic José, but he doesn't understand that you have to create a vacuum on the one end so all he is getting is foam.

Samuel is of course brilliant...and the oldest!

Throwing leaves into the fountain at the Lake Plaza. Boy was Daniel mad when we had to leave. Although, I am still not sure if he was really mad or if it was a genius ploy to get me to carry him...Regardless, Hannah, if you are reading this, I need to go to Pilates or Yoga or something, my core is too weak to carry these four year olds around!

Our last stop was a restaurant at the top of this mountain where you can see the whole city. It was so beautiful.

The best part of any trip is when the kids fall asleep in the car!

Rosario threw us a fiesta to celebrate our Sentencia, and let me tell you, she knows how to throw a party. The entire downstairs was decorated. We had appetizers, drinks, the whole nine yards. She even gave each of the boys these adorable traditional Colombian bus sculptures (I will take a pic and upload) with their names painted on front. Here the boys are admiring the decorations, mostly just ooohing and aaahing over the balloons.

We ate Mexican tacos and nachos. And I cannot say it enough - I wish that I could take Alba and Betty home with us to cook for us every day! The food here is so delicious. And they even make stuff plain just for me! Mauricio is the guy at the far end of the table and Hector's wife, I am pretty sure her name is Alba too, is in the middle.

Our lawyer Hector and his daughter Pilar (who is Mauricio's girlfriend). The kids love her and she says fun stuff like "super-bueno!"

Troy and Hector Fabio. I think that Hector looks just how I would picture our lawyer. I don't know why, but he looks like a lawyer to me!

Introducing Samuel, Daniel and Luis Eisenberger

2008-07-24T17:44:00.004-05:00

In one of the easiest steps of this entire process, the boys officially became our sons today in the eyes of the Colombian government (and thereby the world). Technically their last name is Eisenberger-Woods because in Colombia you are given the name of both your parents. When we readopt them in the states, their name will just be Eisenberger - though I love the idea of passing on the Woods name, Eisenberger is long enough!

At 2:15 PM we hailed 2 taxis (we are too big of a fam with Tio Mauricio - our interpreter to fit in one) and headed to the courthouse where we met Hector Fabio, our lawyer. The boys were really well behaved considering they were beyond bored as we waited on the legal documents to be corrected so we could sign them. It was as simple as that. We met with the clerk of court to simply sign a sheet of paper, no judge was present. Now we are officially a family.

So what's next? We went to get the boys passports pictures taken. That was fun considering we have three boys who love to smile and you aren't supposed to smile (Luis' picture just looks mean). Apparently, Daniel took about twenty tries to get it right because the photographer would say "Uno, dos..." and on "tres" Daniel would chime in with his big goofy grin. He really can't resist counting. It will most likely be Monday before we get the passports because Hector has to get all of the birth certificates, and Daniel's is registered in Alcala because of the "separation at birth situation" with him. We hope to leave for Bogotá on Tuesday and should be able to finish our embassy business in time to catch our August 3 flight home.

Tonight we are celebrating with the most delicious looking chocolate cake, and tomorrow Rosario is throwing us a fiesta. We also hope to take José and his family out to lunch at a restaurant that overlooks the city. For all of my homesickness and complaining, I am glad that we are spending the weekend here in Pereira amongst people that we have come to consider family. One day, when the boys are older, it will be great to be able to come back and visit...but only for a week or so!

Hallelujah!

2008-07-24T11:16:00.003-05:00

We have Sentencia today at 2:30 PM (Colombia time, a.k.a. 3:30 PM EST). Will post more later, but wanted to keep the die-hard followers informed!

Thank you to everyone who has been praying that this would come quickly.

Parque del Café (Day #15 if you're counting...and I am)

2008-07-23T22:26:00.016-05:00

Well, with both Mami and Samuel on the mend, we decided it was a perfect day to head to the amusement park. It's called Parque del Café, and we had a blast. There were definitely challenges, but it felt more like real family challenges, rather than "trapped in a hotel room" challenges. We first heard of this place from The Derr's Blog. In addition to staying in the same hotel [room] as Sheila and David, we now have done most of all of the same activities that they did. Although we've copied them in several ways, we at least didn't rip off the idea of adopting from Colombia from them. That was Robin and Adam. Just kidding....sort of. Anyways...onto the day.

José took a scenic route to the park, highlighting the plants and culture of the surrounding regions. On the way back, we took a more major highway through the mountains. The story plays out better with photos, so I'll just go with captions from here....

Just some quick updates: thanks to family for updates on my Dad's surgery, glad to hear all went well; Andrea is still coughing, but hanging in there; no word on our court date, we found out the paperwork we just completed isn't needed, so hopefully that's a bonus; Thursday will likely be hotel day with Papa making a run to the bank (with no kids).

During our drive on rural roads to the park, we passed through fields of coffee, bananas, and other foods that I don't really understand the name, but I'm sure I've eaten. The highlight was stopping at this pineapple field. Some of the workers walked up to us, and after chatting we bought a few pineapples right from the field. That's freshness not even Trader Joe's can top!

One more stop on the way to the park was at a hotel made almost completely of bamboo. This is a shot of the bridge.

The first attraction we checked out the park was this sightseeing tower...

View from the tower of a monument to the coffee process down below.

The walk into the park was highlighted with many educational displays, including several different types of coffee.

A rare moment with all the boys together. The following pictures tell a more accurate story.

Samuel led the pack all day. Daniel tried to keep up, José and I were trailing after, and Andrea and Luis Angel were in the back. Luis is for sure our slowpoke.

Andrea successfully guides the twins down a very tall staircase.

After a successful voyage on the train, we decided to give the carousel a shot. Daniel wanted nothing to do with it until it started up. Samuel was fine, but Luis only made three revolutions until he started flat out screaming. This was how the ride was handled the remainder of the time.

Samuel eagerly wanted to ride the cars. He was a bit bummed when he was told he couldn't drive, but was excited again when he saw a small non-functional wheel on his side. Daniel and Luis wanted to go, but weren't tall enough. As for the race report, we won of course, passing two cars when they got loose in turn 3. The #8 car was bright pink which I wish I would have taken a photo of for all the Junior fans back home.

So we were on a quest to find something the twins would like. José recommended this push cart. Luis began the ride crying, but with Mama's comforting hand and presence - by the time the ride came around he wanted to go again.

After walking and taking the train then more walking, we were finally at the other end of the park. We either had the option of a LONG walk back, or the sky car. All of us were allowed to ride in one car, and we braced ourselves of a ride full of crying/screaming. José had Samuel, I had Daniel, and Luis (who was the likely crier) was with Andrea. And then nothing. All was okay. I'm not sure how much the twins did or could look out over the edge, but everything was peaceful until we pulled into the landing zone, and we freaked out for a bit. So if you are keeping track, small pushcart scary, giant skyride not-so-much. I guess the known is much scarier than the unknown to Luis, which is the opposite of myself.

View of coffee plants from the skyride....yeah, we were up there.

2 weeks with the kids...

2008-07-23T05:01:00.003-05:00

Just a short "middle-of-the-night" post. We had intentions of getting out of the house yesterday, but awoke to find Samuel with a fever. We were again grounded @ El Cortijo.

The doctor came to our room around 11:30, it seems Samuel has a virus, but nothing major. The biggest challenge the rest of the day was getting him to rest in his bed. The twins seemed to pick up the energy he didn't have, and especially were wired before bed. They also didn't want to go down for their nap, so we separated them and put Luis Angel in our bed where he slept for 20 minutes. That was long enough for him to pee the bed though. Sigh.

Andrea is still getting over her cold. The weather makes recovery tough. It is hot, then cold, then rains. Every day. We had a massive storm kill the power for about an hour yesterday.

We are hoping to head out today to an amusement park. Everyone will keep taking medicine, we will stay out of the water, and hopefully all will be well. We are still waiting for our court date. We are hoping big for this Friday. Please. As much as we are trying to "enjoy the experience", it gets hard every day you spnd inside a single room together.

Also, just wanted to let my Dad know my thoughts and prayers are with him today. He has a very important surgery today, and I definately wish I could be there. Love you Dad!

A Day In Paradise...Not Really

2008-07-21T16:54:00.005-05:00

Okay, I admit I didn't go into today with the best attitude. I am still coughing and sniffling a bit, so when I found out that we were going to go swimming AGAIN, I was more than a bit disappointed. I have become a little bit tired of standing on the sidelines, taking all the pictures while the boys have all the fun. That being said, today was a mess!

We went to Termales Santa Rosa de Cabal which is a national park outside the city of the same name that has hot springs and waterfalls that you can swim in. To say that it is beautiful is an understatement. It is more like Eden. Troy kept saying, "How can we be stressed in a place like this?" It is lush and green, and they have basically built this resort with several pools of hot water where the mist just rises. It is incredible. So how could we be stressed in a place like that?

Well, for starters, the boys didn't like that the water was "caliente" despite the fact that every other pool has been too cold for them. Samuel was the worst. He spent the entire time pouting. We had no idea what was going on with him, only to find out that he was coveting this water spout that other kids were playing in - when it became available for him, he didn't want to play in it. Then lunch was a disaster in that Troy ordered a hamburger for me, it came with everything on it, he took it back, they said they would fix it, they brought it back plain, I bit into lettuce and nearly threw up, so I was pretty much done for and Troy felt awful. The boys were still not into swimming into the hot water, but were cold because the air was chilly. At this point Mama and Papa were both in a bad mood, so we thought "Let's try taking them up to the cascades, those are cold water." We put on their sandals (that we made a special stop to buy just for this purpose) and headed up to the cascades. It was a no go, they didn't want to follow Papa into the water. And then...the sky opened up and it poured.

It has just been that sort of day. As I write this, we have already put Daniel in time out and now Samuel is out there in the "boring chair". We have totally lost track of how many times each kid has been out there (Luis has the least because he actually listens and doesn't hit, kick or shove his brothers). I think we are both exhausted from refereeing. And whoever said that girls create more drama have not met our kids yet! Oh, and the food for me was especially a big deal today because I have been in a foreign country for over two weeks and I have not been eating well and I am just longing for food that I can eat - a hamburger seemed like a safe bet.

Here are some pics from today:

Luis enjoying the view of coffee country, Dosquebradas, Pereira and beyond.

The fam preparing for the hike up the hill to the park. Don't I look enthusiastic? Let me tell you, things go so much slower with two four year olds in tow, especially Luis who is slower than a snail...

Daniel enjoying the hike along the falls. He would point out stuff like leaves and rocks. He's such a boy!

The view of the falls from the hike. It really was amazing.

A view of the falls from the pool area. The rest of the world still has not gotten the memo that speedos aren't that attractive no matter who you are, but they sure wear them with pride...no matter how big or how hairy!

Samuel was so not into the pool today. He just sat there eyeing the water spout.

He did love the cooler water fall that Papa took him to though! Much better. I don't know what it is about being pelted with water. He is going to love the giant mushroom at the UCY Waterpark.

Daniel doesn't really get into the water anyway, so today was just another day at the pool for him. Hot or cold - it doesn't matter much to him.

This picture of Luis pretty much sums up how everyone felt today.

Bonus Pic: I need to do a whole post on why twins are awesome, but mostly why dressing twins is awesome. How cute are they in their matching, but not matching outfits?! Love it!!!

Ahhhh...Sweet Freedom

2008-07-20T18:21:00.009-05:00

For the first time in days, I saw the outside of El Cortijo! It also happens to be the "20 de Julio" which is Colombia's independence day - coincidence, I think not!

The 20th of July is a historic day which celebrates Colombia's independence from Spain in 1810 and The Eisenberger's independence from El Cortijo in 2008.

We went to La Finca again to let the boys splash in "la piscina" and let Mama rest and soak up the sun a bit. It was fantastic to be out and let them work off as much energy as they possibly can. I really wanted to be able to swim, the pool was beautiful, the sun was very hot, but my lungs still aren't 100% healthy so I mostly sat on the veranda with my book (Annie Lamott's Traveling Mercies) and just read. Again, it was great to be out and about. The boys had a blast.

Some of the highlights of the day included:
*Luis picking a flower for me (Andrea)
*Daniel ate it really hard on the tile (yes he falls down a lot) and first hit his bottom then his head. Needless to say, he was a mess. Luis kept picking up rocks and bringing them to him to cheer him up.
*ALL of the boys were beyond brave in the water and each pushed/explored beyond what they have done before in the pool.
*Grilled plantain is one of the best foods in the world.

The real highlight of the day though was just hanging out and actually feeling like a family. We are starting to find our rhythm a little bit, the communication is getting a little bit easier, the boys are definitely opening up to us more. I know that it probably won't ever be truly easy, but for now it is at least a little bit easier.

Please continue to pray for my health and that none of the boys (Troy included) will get sick. Also, pray that the boys will be obedient (as much as possible), that Sentencia will come quickly, and that we will continue to bond. And, please pray for friends in our "adoptive community", Brian and Penny, who meet their daughters at 8:30 AM tomorrow morning in Bogotá. Praise God for their safe arrival yesterday!

There were flags all over the city today in honor of the holiday. This is a view of the apartment building across from El Cortijo. On our way to the farm, we saw tons of people wearing white and walking with flags to various celebrations. It was very exciting. The boys kept shouting "colombia" (or something that sounded sort of like that) every time they saw a flag. We must have heard this over 100 times or more...

The hacienda at the finca. This house is so beautiful.

Daniel would not let me take a photo of him all day. He kept saying "no!" and giggling and turning away. He is such a goofball.

Luis was so brave in the water and did not cry at all. He has become so comfortable with us both and his trust of Troy in the water is really fun to watch. He has also started to ham it up for the camera more!

Samuel is just so much fun at the pool. He especially loved the water spout today.

Papa y Samuel playing in the water spout.

All the boys.

I usually have to wait for the boys to stand close enough together to catch all three of them in one photo, but...

...today I actually got them to cooperate just long enough for them to let me take this picture. Aren't they so adorable?! I just love this picture!!!

This is just a bonus pic. Samuel said that he made it in school and it is supposed to be us. Cute!