tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69334232003013346052024-03-12T20:12:24.002-07:00Adopting Maya & then Baby Baby makes two...Our crazy, frustrating, exhilarating, exhausting, despairing, amazing time spent in Tijuana waiting for the end of the adoption processEmma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.comBlogger118125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-3833952423525291092010-05-27T13:32:00.000-07:002010-05-27T14:14:35.736-07:00The objects of Sammy's culinary attentions- a bar of soap<br />- a cigarette butt<br />- a piece of garlic<br />- a bay leaf<br />- uncooked leek<br />- Maya's toes<br />- a small wooden chicken<br />- a piece of green chalk<br />- an earplug<br />- various stickers<br />- substantial amounts of paper, cardboard and tissue<br /><br />These are all items that Sammy has attempted to eat over the past couple of months that got scooped back out before they went down. What inept parents. Or... what a super speedy 11-month old who needs to chew on everything. He was even caught on video taking a nibble of Ahmed's heel today.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S_7dOrjSFsI/AAAAAAAAAYI/819wqTgfRj4/s1600/DSC07750.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S_7dOrjSFsI/AAAAAAAAAYI/819wqTgfRj4/s200/DSC07750.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476057441207719618" border="0" /></a><br />Here's Sammy attempting to eat the wall.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S_7dO4sUUYI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/5r-9GyzjB_4/s1600/DSC07728.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S_7dO4sUUYI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/5r-9GyzjB_4/s200/DSC07728.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476057444735275394" border="0" /></a><br />Sammy trying to decide if the ball will fit in his mouth.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S_7dPEmwvQI/AAAAAAAAAYY/kqgqTt7-8RQ/s1600/DSC07693.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S_7dPEmwvQI/AAAAAAAAAYY/kqgqTt7-8RQ/s200/DSC07693.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476057447933197570" border="0" /></a><br />Maya reading a book and Sammy wondering how it will taste.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S_7dPU5I0FI/AAAAAAAAAYg/Ye6ebv2yCfE/s1600/DSC07579.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S_7dPU5I0FI/AAAAAAAAAYg/Ye6ebv2yCfE/s200/DSC07579.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476057452305240146" border="0" /></a><br />Sammy sizing up the piñata and preparing to put all the small choking hazards that fall out of it into his mouth.<br /><br />Ah yes, life is fun. This time in a week I'll have finished my masters degree and will finally be able to actually write about the past month of our crazy new lives as the parents of two amazing kids. A barrel of laughs apart from the late nights writing about vocabulary acquisition, blah de blah.Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-41495395766997929482010-04-13T17:22:00.000-07:002010-04-16T17:51:00.611-07:00Don't let your guard down, part 2 or: All our mañanas have finally comeOk, here's the story of how a mad dash across Mexico City actually did produce a miracle.<br /><br />Tuesday, 13th April. Sammy is now exactly 10 months old. Today's the day we get to leave Mexico for the last time in our adoption process(es).<br /><br />Schedule for today:<br /><br />8am: breakfast<br />9am: pick up passport - scan and send to Francesca immediately and cross fingers for a miracle<br />11am: pick up laundry from laundromat<br />12pm: check out of hotel<br />1pm: last-minute gift shopping<br />3pm: taxi to airport<br />6pm: leave!<br /><br />Phone call at 8am reveals that passport won't be ready until 12pm, so the weekend plans are thoroughly out the window. I skype with Ahmed and he alerts the translator. After picking up laundry and quickly packing (and Sammy unpacking, and me repacking, and Sammy unpacking, and me repacking, etc etc) and checking out, which took forrrrrreeeeeevvvvveeeeerrrrr, we finally got to the passport office at 12.30pm.<br /><br />As we walked into the building, I checked my phone and had a text message from Ahmed saying: Francesca is in office for next half hour, if she doesn't get it tonight, it'll be another 24 hours, as she's really busy. In a panic, I raced upstairs, grabbed the passport off 'legalization man' and flew down the street to the internet cafe across the road to get scanned copy before 10pm in UAE. After 15 agonizing minutes of trying, the cafe owner declared his scanner to be broken, so he directed me to the next cafe. I flew again, with Sammy enjoying (or not) the bumpiest pushchair ride of his life. No scanner at internet cafe. This part of town is completely unfamiliar to me. I'd checked that there was an internet cafe with scanner the day before, and had relaxed. Ha, not knowing their dumb machine was broken. It was now 9.55pm in Abu Dhabi, and I had no hope of making it. I couldn't risk running around this crazy suburb with no idea of whether there were any more internet cafes.<br /><br />Called Ahmed in a panic as I sprinted down the street to grab a taxi, saying I was going to make it and please call Francesca and beg her to wait. Miraculously, a taxi appeared, and I urged him to run all the orange lights, which he very nicely did, all the way to Zona Rosa - a 10 minute drive in good traffic - where we leapt out as we struck a traffic jam, threw Sammy's pushchair together, flew across the street, and into the internet cafe that I knew had a working scanner. At 10.05pm (UAE time), scanned copy of passport was sent. Nothing more I could do now except wait.<br /><br />Bought some gifts, went to airport, flew to Madrid, we were picked up by my lovely friend's equally lovely mother and taken away to be looked after for the next five days as we waited for Sammy's visit visa to be ready, so we could go home!<br /><br />Or so we thought.<br /><br />In the fifteen hours since I'd scanned and sent that passport, it had been translated into English, translated into Arabic, sent to Abu Dhabi, Ahmed had sent all documents to his PRO, texted him, and finally, gone to see him, to discover he was sick. Only to be told he could go to immigration himself. Went to immigration, applied for visa and was told there was an urgent 1-hour service for an extra 100 dirhams. What!!!??? So he walked out of immigration <span style="font-style: italic;">with the visit visa in his hand</span>, went to Turkish airlines and rebooked our flights home for the following day, and then went back to his afternoon class, and then let me know that we were not waiting for three or five days as we'd thought, but would be on the very next flight. Then drove the visa to the airport.<br /><br />24 hours after arriving, we went back to Madrid airport to discover all northern European flights had been cancelled, but lovely, wonderful southern European Spain was not affected, neither was Turkey, and so we flew home. Just like that.Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-73255248033762309192010-04-13T16:53:00.000-07:002010-04-16T17:46:33.285-07:00Don't let your guard down, part 1That's right, you can't just sit back and relax. Never forget that in an adoption process.<br /><br />Monday morning, we had a sleep in, after our energetic weekend. Had a lovely chat to Ahmed & Maya on Skype, a nice relaxing breakfast, then sauntered down to the passport office, which also houses the Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores (Foreign Affairs) - or should I say, the other way around. The plan was to get the third stamp on Sammy's birth certificate, which is needed for his residence visa, and find out if perhaps the passport was already there. This all happens from the same tiny office. With Maya's case, they'd told me two working days and it only took one. So I just assumed it would be the case this time.<br /><br />The translator in Dubai had the scanned birth certificate already and was just waiting to receive the scanned copy of Sammy's passport, to translate into English and Arabic for his visit visa, which we'd been told would take 3-4 working days. With the weekend looming in the UAE, I'd had a hopeful timeline: get passport Monday afternoon (Tue morning in UAE), translations to Ahmed's PRO in Abu Dhabi by Wed morning, and maybe, maybe, he could apply on the same day and by some miracle, get it on Thur afternoon (only 2 working days, but hope springs eternal), so we could fly from Madrid on Thur afternoon (late Thur in UAE) and be home in time for weekend which starts on Friday.<br /><br />So, at 11.30am, we rocked up to SRE (Foreign Affairs), to be told that the legalization office was only open for submissions from 8 - 11am. So we couldn't go past security. Then I mentioned that we were also waiting for Sammy's passport, so she called the person in charge of that who said that yes it was ready! I was now actually picturing us at home for the weekend. A very jubilant me took Sammy up the lift, and discovered that the person doing legalizations was sitting in his office, so I just asked if perhaps he could accept our submission even though we were late. Sure thing, he said. Wow, all too good to be true. Indeed it was.<br /><br />He then went to get our passport, but no, whoever had spoken on the phone didn't know what they were talking about, and it wasn't ready. I had to come back to pick up the legalized birth cert at 2pm, so asked if perhaps it might be ready then. He said, yes, probably, just ask again.<br /><br />So off we went, quite confident in the knowledge that I'd be getting this passport to the translator later that day, and we'd be going home for the weekend.<br /><br />2pm: Birth certificate was now legalized to the hilt, but no passport, and the relevant people had left for the day, so "Come back tomorrow" Ha, there went the weekend plans.Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-43831989700600598992010-04-11T16:07:00.000-07:002010-04-16T16:48:55.035-07:00Wonderful weekendThe weeks in Tijuana all run along a fairly similar theme, it seems. Monday morning, you wake up hopeful that this week, finally, that final decree/birth certificate/miscellaneous-document-that-is-holding-up-our-process/report/visa is going to be ready and we can move to the next step of the interminable process. As the week slides by, that precious document doesn't materialize. By Friday afternoon, more often than not, the despair has set in and you resign yourself to enjoying your weekend, since all the document-producing offices are closed, and you figure: "Oh well, there's always next week..."<br /><br />Well, for our little family, those weeks are now over, and this weekend was my very last in this country during this process. I knew we were leaving on Tuesday evening - oh the joy of having some certainty! So we proceeded to enjoy ourselves very much over the weekend.<br /><br />On Saturday morning, my lovely former Abu Dhabi British Council student Maricarmen, along with her husband and son, Guillermo and Bernardo, picked Sammy and me up and gave us a brilliant weekend of their company, lots of delicious food, and insider knowledge of the city and its plentiful offerings.<br /><br />Three very keen and loving new baby-entertainers kept Sammy in his happiest mood (and he's a super happy wee charming lad). We saw Polanco, Bosque de Chapultepec, Museo de las Bellas Artes, Museo del Arte Moderno, Zocaló, The Parliament buildings (where Sammy showed off his wobbly walking skills through the ancient house of representatives until we were told off by the security guard), Torre Latinamericano, Palacio de los Correos, gorgeous old cafes, churches, streets, and we ate our way around the city. We saw Rivera's, Orozco's, Siquieros' murals - something I'd vowed to see before leaving Mexico. Guillermo took loads of photos, which he's going to send me, so watch this space for photographic evidence of this incredible tour.<br /><br />Incredibly, my two trips to Mexico City have both been without camera. With Maya, the camera I'd given to the foster family came back broken. With Sammy, I'd forgotten to bring the charger, so the battery was dead. What was I thinking?<br /><br />Anyway, Sunday evening saw us both exhausted, one of us with incredibly sore feet - I don't think Sammy's jaunt through the houses of parliament qualified him to have incredibly sore feet - and ready for two more days of paper-chasing in this fine city.Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-81730917324167883132010-04-10T16:41:00.000-07:002010-04-16T16:51:46.433-07:00Cheeky chopsAm I not just the cleverest little scallywag that lived?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S8j2GO0bKPI/AAAAAAAAAYA/VaSRiV7T2Bw/s1600/DSC07506.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S8j2GO0bKPI/AAAAAAAAAYA/VaSRiV7T2Bw/s200/DSC07506.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460885135104354546" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Note my makeshift cupboard door protectors (a hairband) on the far left. Not applicable for the one single cupboard, which of course is the one Sammy climbed into.Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-86005022281488299972010-04-09T19:17:00.000-07:002010-04-09T20:09:56.136-07:00WowYeah, wow.<br /><br />Last few days have been go, go, go. It's like something 'gives' and suddenly, after sitting about twiddling your thumbs wondering how on earth to fill your time, you have to be in three different places at once, and everything is so <span style="font-style: italic;">efficient.</span><br /><br />The boring details of the past 72 hours are... boring, so won't go into it. But in that time the following happened:<br />- Got final decree from court<br />- Got Sammy's new birth certificates - he now has a new surname!<br />- Attended Gabrielle's piñata-bashing birthday party<br />- Bought some paintings and somehow squeezed them into an already overloaded suitcase<br />- Got one birth cert legalized and one apostilled<br />- Said goodbye to Sammy's (and Maya's) foster family<br />- Packed in about 5 minutes flat<br />- Said goodbye to some lovely people we've met over past few weeks in a bit of a mad rush<br />- Took car back to rental agency<br />- Flew to Mexico City<br />- Applied for Sammy's passport<br />- Paid for all the legalizing of docos after a big long bank queue<br />- Got birth cert legalized again at another govt office<br />- Ate a whole Lindt chocolate easter egg and the better part of a Green and Black's block of chocolate<br />- Felt pretty sick<br /><br />Sammy has been a trooper throughout, though he's been stuck in pushchair almost all day, just to try and avoid adding to his growing list of bumps, cuts and bruises from all his adventuring. Phew... he really is a 10-month old hurricane, and I think he needs to wear a helmet and cotton wool suit.<br /><br />So... I've left Tijuana for good. Never have to go back to that place <span style="font-style: italic;">unless I want to!</span> That is a wonderful feeling, and I spent a lot of yesterday thinking back over the past two years, all that madness.<br /><br />I was reminded of some of the incredible, kind, generous people I've met in Tijuana, Playas, Rosarito during this time - and at the other end of the scale, some real scumbags! Ha ha, those postings shall remain unpublished...maybe ;-)<br /><br />Weekend now: relax, catch up on sleep, explore Mexico City, go out with some friends living here. And home soon!!Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-55092685352226511182010-04-01T22:32:00.000-07:002010-04-06T22:47:07.332-07:00April Fool!Back in Abu Dhabi when I was booking flights out here, I thought I'd be generous and allow almost three weeks for the final bits and pieces of stamping to get Sammy home.<br /><br />Return flight from Mexico City - Madrid was duly booked for 1st April and Madrid - Abu Dhabi for the 4th (includes a few days of sitting around in Madrid waiting for UAE visit visa to be ready). I even secretly harboured visions of being able to change my flights and come home a few days earlier...<br /><br />Well, who's an April fool then? Did I momentarily forget the sluggish Tijuana Family Court and the endless sitting around waiting as the days tick past and <span style="font-style: italic;">nothing</span> seems to happen?<br /><br />Here's the new timeline, and what the heck, I'm going to actually write it down. Let's actually, for the first time ever since we started this whole adoption shenanigan, be confident that something in the Tijuana court system will just work when it is supposed to.<br /><br />Tue, 6th April: Aida picks up Sammy's final decree at 2pm.<br />Wed, 7th April: We apply for Sammy's new birth certs with <span style="font-style: italic;">us</span> as his parents!<br />Thur, 8th April: Drive to Mexicali to get one of his birth certs certified and legalised for the UAE visa<br />Thur, 8th April (PM): Catch the last flight to Mexico City & get very little sleep<br />Fri, 9th April: Apply for Sammy's passport, if we can only figure out which office to apply at - it keeps changing!<br />Mon, 12th April: Pick up Sammy's passport. Run around government offices getting more stamps on his birth cert.<br />Tue, 13th April: Fly to Madrid, 6pm. Twiddle our thumbs in Madrid waiting for Sammy's visit visa to be processed.<br />Sat, 17th April: Fly home to Maya and Papa!Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-16810978705124089432010-03-27T21:52:00.000-07:002010-03-27T22:17:57.494-07:00Photos<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S67iYZvSUEI/AAAAAAAAAXc/IoNuvm_pYYg/s1600/Happy+bath+boy.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S67iYZvSUEI/AAAAAAAAAXc/IoNuvm_pYYg/s200/Happy+bath+boy.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453545107646206018" border="0" /></a><br />Ever seen anyone so happy to have a bath? Oh the joy of your own tub (on loan from Santiago), your own rubber duckie (on loan from big sister) and your own squeaky dragon (handed down, again from big sis). Oh dear Sammy, we need to get you some of your own stuff my boy.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S67iXI-_brI/AAAAAAAAAXE/Emb-uE2ndPo/s1600/Adoption+day+mama+%26+Sammy+02.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S67iXI-_brI/AAAAAAAAAXE/Emb-uE2ndPo/s200/Adoption+day+mama+%26+Sammy+02.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453545085968805554" border="0" /></a><br />Check out the teal green walls. Psychodelic.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S67iX2fU-hI/AAAAAAAAAXU/2eKlxxf6Twk/s1600/Dancers+Sinaloa+01.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S67iX2fU-hI/AAAAAAAAAXU/2eKlxxf6Twk/s200/Dancers+Sinaloa+01.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453545098184030738" border="0" /></a><br />A folk dance from Sinaloa, state where Maya and Sammy's birth mother is from. He sat mesmerized while I tried to shield his ears from the wall of noise blaring from the loudspeakers.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S67iXrn8D6I/AAAAAAAAAXM/UgSV8Jx4Yl8/s1600/Dancers+01.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S67iXrn8D6I/AAAAAAAAAXM/UgSV8Jx4Yl8/s200/Dancers+01.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453545095267356578" border="0" /></a><br />Dance from somewhere around this region. Big street festival of tacos and beer (of which we had neither) in Rosarito at the moment, for spring break.Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-56170926641100353882010-03-26T18:36:00.000-07:002010-03-26T18:52:29.697-07:00Adoption day take two<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S61iKw1W4OI/AAAAAAAAAW0/Ypign-E4v0E/s1600/Smiling+up+close.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S61iKw1W4OI/AAAAAAAAAW0/Ypign-E4v0E/s200/Smiling+up+close.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453122660862451938" border="0" /></a><br />Super happy chappy, trying his hardest to grab hold of the camera.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S61iKXXbkDI/AAAAAAAAAWs/KOShnZyuphU/s1600/Happy+sammy+in+walker.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S61iKXXbkDI/AAAAAAAAAWs/KOShnZyuphU/s200/Happy+sammy+in+walker.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453122654026043442" border="0" /></a><br />First set of wheels.<br /><br />Spent all week in limbo waiting waiting for some news that Mr Judge had reviewed and signed off our case, and then suddenly on Wednesday I just got a feeling that it was going to be done on Friday. Sure enough, got the happy phone call from Aida today.<br /><br />I can always tell when I pick up the phone. She says "Emma" and her intonation either goes down (95% of the time, as it's no news) or up (meaning, yes, something has happened and it's good). I was in the queue to buy a pair of jeans at the time, of all things.<br /><br />Yes, judge has reviewed and listed our case, it gets published on Monday, something or other happens then for a few days, then court is closed for Easter on Thur and Fri, and it's likely to be all done and dusted by Monday week. Then the real fun begins... getting the final decree and then birth certificate legalised (or whatever the term is) by about fifty different government departments here in Baja California and Mexico City. And then applying for his passport. So still no idea when we'll be home, but at least it's happening at last.<br /><br />Sammy, well he's a different baby from the wee lad I picked up last week. Super smiley, happy little monkey. He's a delight, and since he's got over his bronchialitis, he's just been the bee's knees. Can't wait, can't wait to go home...<br /><br />Today, adoption day take two, I was in San Diego of all places with Niamh and Karen, two lovely Irish girls out here with their babies. Meanwhile Sammy was with a lovely friend of Dawn's (one of Sammy's witnesses). Had a great trip to Whole Foods, foodie paradise, and Las Americas where we whizzed about and got lots of goodies for our babies and selves.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S61iLZtKlLI/AAAAAAAAAW8/x1mDgydQ1zU/s1600/With+dawn+1.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S61iLZtKlLI/AAAAAAAAAW8/x1mDgydQ1zU/s200/With+dawn+1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453122671833945266" border="0" /></a><br />Dawn, was one of Sammy's adoption witnesses. Bless her heart!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S61iKFHcIiI/AAAAAAAAAWk/eph7lcjCX-g/s1600/Sammy+gymboree+2.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S61iKFHcIiI/AAAAAAAAAWk/eph7lcjCX-g/s200/Sammy+gymboree+2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453122649127133730" border="0" /></a><br />Sammy starting his formal education at Gymboree at the grand old age of 9 months.Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-35744696473946550402010-03-20T03:41:00.000-07:002010-03-20T13:41:54.974-07:00I primi passi<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw-8qJ0W-oXbSoVUmkztv8hU3m_rotZBAdyM7_R3HzV3nZenP5leSEJSjMVPic-Yj3x-aZJOUCap2kw7VLboQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />What a surprise this was, little monkey, he's soooo determined to do the things he wants to do, and this is one of them.<br /><br /><murielilla68@hotmail.com><emmasmart@gmail.com><aidacapat@yahoo.com><aidacapat@yahoo.com><br /></aidacapat@yahoo.com></aidacapat@yahoo.com></emmasmart@gmail.com></murielilla68@hotmail.com>Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-49662370632992767382010-03-19T07:28:00.000-07:002010-03-19T13:08:41.178-07:00LlegadoCrazy days. Aren't they all?<br /><br />Here's a bit of time line of past week:<br /><br />Monday 3am - left Abu Dhabi, via Istanbul, Madrid, Mexico City, to Tijuana 40 hours later.<br /><br />Tuesday 10am - got picked up in TJ airport by the lovely Muriel, another hardy soul braving the TJ adoption labyrinth.<br /><br />Tuesday 12pm - picked up a poor, bewildered, sick Sammy from Mirna, who howled the whole way home in the car to Rosarito.<br /><br />Tuesday afternoon - moved into our accommodation with one super sick, clingy, distraught baby, one shopping trolley full of all the clothes Mirna had packed, one giant suitcase, a swathe of gear that Mirna piled on us, and myself: jetlagged to the eyeballs, bewildered, missing my wee girl and husband like nothing else. Sammy pretty much cried from the moment I picked him up until the moment he fell asleep at 9pm. Poor guy is in this completely new environment, with this strange person, feeling rotten, and he doesn't have a clue what's going on. Told him in English - a totally foreign language to him - that it's all going to be ok, and I think those words were equally meant for me.<br /><br />Tuesday 9pm - after 3 hours solid of yelling, Sammy collapsed into sleep, and I did the same, fully dressed, with all the lights on in the kitchen and food on the bench. Couldn't stay awake a second longer.<br /><br />Wednesday am - took Sammy to the doctor at the little hospital clinic next door, who said he had a bad case of bronchialitis, hooked him up to the nebuliser for three sessions of sucking up vapours, which he quite enjoyed, and prescribed a list of drugs as long as my arm. Have four more sessions of nebulising to go over next three days.<br /><br />Wednesday pm - met some of the other families adopting here on the beach for a walk and to celebrate Hilary's birthday. Little smiley boy from December still hasn't cracked a smile. He's looking very pensive and serious indeed. I'm pretty spaced out myself. Judge's signing off of last decree was supposed to (by law) be done last Friday. Still not done. Still about 5-6 working days of bits and pieces after he signs, but we need that dumb signature. All the other stories are equally long and frustrating, it seems. Not sure why everyone adopting in this country has to suffer so much. Though, I know that the intense joy of having Maya and now Sammy in our lives (well, it hasn't been very joyful with little man yet, but I'm optimistic on that count!) does make us appreciate being parents sooooo much. More nebulising.<br /><br />Thursday am - more nebulising. Now Sammy has decided he's not a fan at all of nebulising and I have to pin him down while he turns beet red and screams. A not-very-pleasant 20 minutes. Pretty similar experience when I have to give him his meds.<br /><br />Thursday pm - no more news on judge, who took a day off today. Oh joy, this bollocks again. Sammy definitely has a 'lucho libre' streak in him, little Mexican wrestling star. Nappies are prime time for squirming, yelling, arm-flailing. As is bed time, changing clothes, eating, pretty much anything. He loves to bang on things, has finally started to smile (and what a charming little full-face grin he has!), loves things with buttons (the lift, the hospital bed, mobile phone, remote control - typical baby in that respect, but so much more interesting in whacking things than his dainty big sister)<br /><br />Friday am - last nebulising. Screamed blue murder again. No news on judge.<br /><br />And another week closes with... no news. I really can't complain, as there are others here in similarly bad or worse situations of frustrating no-news waiting. But my goodness, just coming here brings back all the sense of despair and dread that was there with Maya's adoption. I thought I was safe from that this time, as it seemed so cut and dried, but ha, I should just wait until Aida says yes, the papers are ready for you to pick up and walk out of court with. But on the other hand, I couldn't leave Sammy a minute longer. He's now 9 months old, and I can see the trauma it's caused him to be suddenly uprooted from all he's familiar with. He's coming round slowly, but it's so hard on him. I miss Maya like nothing else. Our skype conversations so far have been so sweet, with her telling me: I yuv you Mama (she doesn't say 'l's yet), I miss you Mama (admittedly that one was prompted by Ahmed!), Mama cuddle? Ohhhh, wish they were here, but not really a possibility. There is no way on earth I could have coped with Sammy if Maya had been here too - 3 hours of trying to put a screaming baby to sleep with severe jetlag, nope, couldn't have done it, if I'd had a two-year old here as well. And one of us needs to be at work! And with this stage supposedly just a few days of stamp, stamp, well, it seemed pointless for anyone else to come out. Oh how foolishly naive we are. Every time. Don't we learn???<br /><br />Have a surprise for next blog entry. But it needs to wait for a couple of hours.Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-64409412159972422482010-03-13T11:21:00.000-08:002010-03-13T11:27:03.713-08:00The perennial questionThe question I probably get asked more often than any other is: so when are you coming home? Here's the answer (and it hasn't changed since the very first time I was asked back in March 2008 when I first jumped on a plane to go and adopt Maya):<br /><br />I don't know.<br /><br />It's such an insanely complicated process that involves lots of steps. Each step depends on a series of other steps before it, which can get complicated by silly things like the person who needs to sign the document being away at a conference, or sick, or forgetting to sign the right page, or a typo on a document requiring a new document, or any of a hundred different things. Even at this nearly finished stage, there are so many little steps that need to be completed, so many stamps that need traipsing across cities to obtain, so it will be a minimum of three weeks, I'd say. That's my guess, but my guesses tend to be horribly wrong.<br /><br />At the very end of it though, I get handed a gigantic stack of papers (almost 5 kg worth, I reckon) which is the sum of all that stamping, signing, couriering, traipsing across town. Quite impressive.Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-76020794270474620352010-03-13T10:54:00.000-08:002010-03-13T11:12:52.262-08:00What not to wearAfter much thumb-twiddling, sighing, waiting, grumbling and false starts, our final decree is <span style="font-style: italic;">nearly</span> ready to be published. Again this is a process which involves presenting of reports from one government department to another, 8 working days for the judge to sign <span style="font-style: italic;">something</span>, then 2 days for <span style="font-style: italic;">something</span> to published, then 3-4 working days for <span style="font-style: italic;">something</span> to be <span style="font-style: italic;">somethinged</span> and then finally the important <span style="font-style: italic;">something</span> is ready to be taken from court and used to apply for Sammy's birth certificate. The inner workings of the Mexican court system are still a mystery to me after all this time.<br /><br />Well we're presently quite near the end of that series of 'working days', and I'm off in 24 hours. In the past week we've been in a mad scramble of packing, preparing, printing, assignment-writing, money-exchanging, video-making, iPod-loading, birthday-party attending and nanny-hiring.<br /><br />Sammy is exactly 9 months old today. Never thought he'd still be in Mexico, but, well, heck, who were we kidding?<br /><br />Ahmed asked me to tell him what clothes Maya can wear before I leave - I swear he believes he's colour-blind, when in fact he's pretty good at finding pants and tops that match - so I've made a little folder on the desktop of photos with acceptable outfits, in case he's having a what-to-wear-for-nursery-crisis. Here are the entries under What Not to Wear:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S5vhCYuKPGI/AAAAAAAAAWE/JOQl2fKlPZs/s1600-h/What+not+to+wear+01.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S5vhCYuKPGI/AAAAAAAAAWE/JOQl2fKlPZs/s200/What+not+to+wear+01.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448195605346794594" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S5vhC8NcfxI/AAAAAAAAAWM/Ncom8nWN4bw/s1600-h/What+not+to+wear+02.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S5vhC8NcfxI/AAAAAAAAAWM/Ncom8nWN4bw/s200/What+not+to+wear+02.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448195614873255698" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S5vhDdJh0AI/AAAAAAAAAWU/wW-VZTUlbZQ/s1600-h/What+not+to+wear+03.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S5vhDdJh0AI/AAAAAAAAAWU/wW-VZTUlbZQ/s200/What+not+to+wear+03.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448195623715196930" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S5vhDi1NlwI/AAAAAAAAAWc/ZEzlSKs30hM/s1600-h/What+not+to+wear+04.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/S5vhDi1NlwI/AAAAAAAAAWc/ZEzlSKs30hM/s200/What+not+to+wear+04.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448195625240598274" border="0" /></a>Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-67895057982642894322010-02-10T00:27:00.000-08:002010-02-10T00:36:51.343-08:00DIF reports......have now been submitted to court. Only about four weeks after we were told they would be. Not too bad in DIF time, I guess. So now, just waiting for the final decree, which is the judge stating: yes, yes, jolly good, adopt this boy. Stamp stamp. All done. At which stage I leap on a plane, scoop up Sammy, get his new birth certificate saying we are his parents, and then I start parenting him!<br /><br />Feels very odd this time round. With Maya I'd been busy 'parenting' her for 14 months before we got the official paperwork to say that yes, we were her legal parents. This time, we get the paperwork to say we are the parents, and then we start to be his parents. All very odd concepts, but I guess a year down the track, this will all be a hazy memory, as we are knee deep in toddlerhood, Bob the builder, Shawn the sheep, Timmy the baby sheep, Winnie the poo(h), Thomas the tank engine (spot a pattern here?) and all the other delightful offerings of Disney inc and the rest of them.<br /><br />Still not going to make predictions about when stuff will happen. My vague response to anyone who asks is: "in a few weeks" which sums it up nicely.<br /><br />Can't wait Sammy, can't wait! I picked up my friend's 9-month old boy yesterday, and oooh, that'll be Sammy soon!Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-22661855831121835472010-02-04T10:20:00.001-08:002010-02-04T10:34:53.749-08:00WitnessesAnother 'step' has been stepped.<br /><br />On Tuesday, our witnesses went to court to tell the judge's secretary that we might just pass the muster as Sammy's parents. Took ages to get that appointment, but now that's done. Our hugest thanks to the lovely Anna and Dawn for being our witnesses. We do feel incredibly lucky to have such a crew of support through these crazy adoption stories.<br /><br />Now: still need to get word from Aida that our reports from DIF have been presented at court, which was supposed to happen 15 days ago, 12 days ago, 10 days ago, 7 days ago, 5 days ago, yesterday, today, tomorrow, etc. Dum de dum. Take your time. Sammy's growing growing growing. We're waiting waiting waiting. Ahh, that DIF, ay? If I really wrote what I feel about DIF it would unleash a string of very rude and unpublishable words, so we'll just leave it at that.<br /><br />So that's it, really. Waiting for reports to go to court, and then a week, two weeks, three weeks after that the final decree is issued, jump on a plane and go and scoop up Sammy and get to know him over a series of days spent in registration offices, passport offices, banks, embassies, courts, lawyer's offices, etc. What fun we'll have!<br /><br />Nearly there bubby! Please don't grow too much just yet!Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-32029091107568917112010-02-04T03:19:00.001-08:002010-02-04T10:17:20.200-08:00Ruby roo and baby tooMaya spends a lot of her day wanting "mama cuddle!" or "papa cuddle!", and a lot of her pretend play is based on this theme. Ruby roo and baby are perfect for this. Thanks dadima!<br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwSJHaonslwSVQEpsr3TmJrAIk8shEHHXJBhLQXxSpswYiSkz7r2T2m0aLUlLTBlq0logxT3pJfuScFF6f54Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-13803398240535870942009-12-11T10:54:00.000-08:002009-12-11T11:14:12.329-08:00And here he is<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SyKXWYBpRyI/AAAAAAAAATo/PNwd0wc4gUw/s1600-h/Family+photo+01.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SyKXWYBpRyI/AAAAAAAAATo/PNwd0wc4gUw/s200/Family+photo+01.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414056112715024162" border="0" /></a><br />First family photo.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SyKXYh_sCDI/AAAAAAAAAUI/kd27-WFWIII/s1600-h/Sammy+in+cart+03.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SyKXYh_sCDI/AAAAAAAAAUI/kd27-WFWIII/s200/Sammy+in+cart+03.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414056149750908978" border="0" /></a><br />Sammy loved sitting in the little green cart and squealed delightedly as he sat there<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SyKXYBOPL1I/AAAAAAAAAUA/mH_nzqVPh0c/s1600-h/Sammy+big+smile.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SyKXYBOPL1I/AAAAAAAAAUA/mH_nzqVPh0c/s200/Sammy+big+smile.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414056140953562962" border="0" /></a><br />Happy, cheeky grin<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SyKXX99PjbI/AAAAAAAAAT4/FE4I5974-9Q/s1600-h/Maya+%26+Sammy+sharing+02.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SyKXX99PjbI/AAAAAAAAAT4/FE4I5974-9Q/s200/Maya+%26+Sammy+sharing+02.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414056140076977586" border="0" /></a><br />These two get on like a house on fire. So long as Maya can have whatever Sammy is playing with, peace reigns.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SyKXWz-aU6I/AAAAAAAAATw/1mn2JKOCmWw/s1600-h/Sammy+%26+cushion.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SyKXWz-aU6I/AAAAAAAAATw/1mn2JKOCmWw/s200/Sammy+%26+cushion.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414056120217654178" border="0" /></a><br />This same cushion was slobbered all over by Maya last year in exactly the same fashion, as it's in my favourite cafe in Tijuana. Sammy's just checking it out to see if it's any good.Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-27705933891707526722009-12-02T11:51:00.000-08:002009-12-02T11:59:23.395-08:00Whirlwind weekLast week has been a whirl. Here's a quick breakdown (in case you wanna know!)<div><br /></div><div>Thur midnight - Abu Dhabi airport, flights to San Diego via Dublin and Chicago. Maya rocked, charmed her way through the plane, slept, smiled, played, watched Barney. That's definitely a treat for her, coz there's no other place she'll ever see him, that purple monster is horrrrrrible! </div><div><br /></div><div>Fri evening - arrived in San Diego and stayed two nights. Just had to get our heads around everything, catch up on sleep, get over colds, gather our thoughts, have yummy breakfasts at Whole Foods, celebrate Ahmed's birthday.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sun morning - drove south to Tijuana and met Mr Sammy, gorgeous little man, giant cheeks, giant gummy grin, chubby hands, blue eyes, long curly eyelashes, he's just divine. And he thinks Maya is just the bees knees, and can't keep his eyes off her, when he's not charming me with his super grin. Maya has taken it all in her stride, seeing Mirna and family again, having a baby brother, being back in TJ. </div><div><br /></div><div>Last two days we've been out with Maya and Sammy, seeing old friends, getting police clearances (while a big shootout was going on outside the police station, so we were locked in along with a bunch of other people for half an hour. Very dramatic TJ style), and today having the first of three interviews at DIF, the family services department. It was with the same Social Worker from Maya's adoption, and she's lovely. She still has the photo we took of her with Maya a year ago, and showed it to us. </div><div><br /></div><div>Haven't had a chance to put photos onto computer yet, but we have tonnes, plus videos. Might not get done till we're back in AD. </div><div><br /></div>Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-27332119035949795132009-11-26T08:44:00.000-08:002009-11-26T09:11:31.322-08:00Abu Dhabi - Dublin - Chicago - San Diego - TijuanaThis week has been one of those completely frenetic up and down experiences. Last weekend, when we were despairing at the possibility of ever hearing from DIF about when we could go for our home study interviews (with psychologist and social worker), suddenly an email arrived saying, you can have your interviews on...the following day. In Tijuana. A 30-hour flight away. Not even remotely possible that one without a teleporting machine.<br /><br />We requested interviews between 28th Nov and 3rd Dec about two months ago, knowing that we would have a week holiday then, and suddenly they decide to issue us with appointment dates on the 21st November. It just seemed a bit ridiculous. Anyway, we asked Aida to beg the DIF folk to postpone for one week, which she said she'd try to do. By Friday evening in Tijuana we'd been told that we'd have to wait until Monday, as the coordinator couldn't get hold of the psychologist or social worker to arrange dates.<br /><br />What followed were three very stressful days wondering if we'd be flying out a week later, unable to book tickets just in case we couldn't, worrying as there's the biggest public holiday this weekend and half of Abu Dhabi are flying out at the same time, and to top it all off, our internet disconnected itself and <span style="font-style: italic;">would not</span> reconnect.<br /><br />For three days, we sat and waiting, Maya and I nursing stinking colds, doing all our interneting at work and kind neighbours' houses, waiting, waiting, waiting, and checking online tickets to make sure the prices weren't skyrocketing while we had to wait.<br /><br />Tuesday morning at 6am (TJ Monday 6pm) we got the news that yes, we could have our court hearing and DIF interviews all next week! Some miracle in Mexican bureacracy terms.<br /><br />Since that moment we've been doing everything in super-speedy fast-forward mode, rushing to book flights, pack, sort out cat feeder, find cold weather clothes (which tend to get stashed into dark crevisses in wardrobes in this country and forgotten about until a flight to a cold place springs up), buy some gifts, clothes for our new baby(!), arrange car rental, accommodation, get over our colds, call up Etisalat for the tenth time to yell at them for being so slack about fixing the internet, keep making appearances at work, try not to let the stress completely take over and just collapse in a pile on the floor, etc, etc. And we managed it, plus managed to get our front door handle fixed (no more entering the house through the study window, yes, really!), get the printer fixed. The only down note amongst all this was Ahmed catching our cold, which Maya and I have now managed to shake.<br /><br />Now we're off in two hours and the reality of actually going to meet Sammy is starting to hit. Little man. Who got his first tooth a day or two ago. Wow. A boy. Our lives are so 'pink' right now, but that is set to change. Camera is at the ready to take masses of photos of this baby who is about to have his world changed radically! Bossy big sister Maya is on her way to show him what's what.Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-28987048972724168222009-11-06T10:34:00.000-08:002009-11-06T11:06:39.164-08:00Here's SamuelSamuel - aka 'Baby Baby', our code word for him when we were still in shock about him and simultaneously trying to deal with the traumas of Maya's adoption - was born on 13th June this year.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SvRspmhnLjI/AAAAAAAAATM/MWySgUtkhYM/s1600-h/Samuel+1.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SvRspmhnLjI/AAAAAAAAATM/MWySgUtkhYM/s200/Samuel+1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401061315096030770" border="0" /></a><br />Here he is in Maya's former bath...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SvRsqPnm54I/AAAAAAAAATc/zjAXgw7IjUo/s1600-h/Samuel+Aug+30b.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SvRsqPnm54I/AAAAAAAAATc/zjAXgw7IjUo/s200/Samuel+Aug+30b.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401061326127032194" border="0" /></a><br />...wearing Maya's former jumpsuit...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SvRsp7sho_I/AAAAAAAAATU/ygjjGVrA2Y8/s1600-h/Samuel+2.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SvRsp7sho_I/AAAAAAAAATU/ygjjGVrA2Y8/s200/Samuel+2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401061320778949618" border="0" /></a><br />...staying with Maya's former foster family<br /><br />I solemnly swear to you kiddo: when you are finally home, I <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">promise</span></span> to get you your own things so you're not relying on your big sister's hand-me-downs!<br /><br />In the last six months of Maya's adoption, we were dealing with the beginnings of the likelihood that we would adopt her biological brother, who was born just a few weeks after we left Mexico. As it turns out, it's all gone ahead, and this beautiful wee boy, who looks just like a bouncing version of Maya with more hair, is currently staying with Mirna and her family, while we wait for (take a guess right now which government agency, or institution, or person is holding up the process this time? Given our previous track record it could be DIF, could be the court, the judge, the BM, the visa office, or just the man on the street)...ta da...DIF to give the green light and issue us with dates to appear for our interviews for the homestudies.<br /><br />Amazingly, BM has already been to court and signed off (that one final stage of Maya's adoption that was so agonizingly long last time), we have the other judge this time, who is allowing us to appear in court pretty much any time, we got our FM3 visas from the Mexican Consulate in Dubai in <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">half an hour</span></span>!!! Sorry, italics and bold just to highlight to enormous difference between this time and last, which took six weeks of hand-wringing misery in Tijuana right at the start of the process. The only sticking point now is #@!%$# Lic. Solis at DIF, who is busy painting her toenails once again and not committing to making decisions. All other DIF officials seem to be pushing to get our case through, but ultimately they have no power. Anyway, we sit and wait, once again.<br /><br />Major differences this time: Samuel is staying with Mirna, and we are staying in Abu Dhabi, during the process. Initially we wanted to protect ourselves emotionally, since it wasn't a given that this adoption would go ahead. Also, taking another long stretch of extended unpaid leave from my job isn't really an option, financially. Luckily, I should still scrape in with 4-5 months of adoptive leave before my contract finishes in June, so I will get some time off - the adoption had better be well and truly finished by then, though!!!<br /><br />So yes, Baby Baby turned out to be a beautiful boy, we chose to call him Samuel because... it was about the only boy's name we both liked! Maya sees photos of him and says 'bebe', and we've been telling her she has a little brother and that we'll all be going to Mexico to see him soon & go to court & DIF, and hopefully, a month or two later, go back to Mexico, to bring him home. I never like to mention time estimates on this blog, as they never seem to work. All those attempts at positive visualization in Maya's case went so horribly wrong that I can't bring myself to predict anything much this time. Just hope that Solis will be suddenly transferred to the Ministry of Silly Cows or something and just get her sticky fingers out of our case.Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-82342464101225590532009-09-20T11:28:00.001-07:002009-09-20T12:12:52.182-07:00Four months on...To say that I literally haven't had a spare minute to add another post to this blog is not far from the truth.<br /><br />We've been back in Abu Dhabi, Ahmed, Maya and I, all in the same country, same city, same house and, as much as possible, in the same room for four months now and it's bliss!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SrZ082rdXTI/AAAAAAAAASw/gkbMy2o2QaY/s1600-h/Maya+splashing+with+papa.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SrZ082rdXTI/AAAAAAAAASw/gkbMy2o2QaY/s200/Maya+splashing+with+papa.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383618993386773810" border="0" /></a><br /><br />In a nutshell:<br /><br />We passed through the airport fever checks again, coming into Abu Dhabi, again holding in coughs, which still (four months later) haven't gone away completely. I'm wondering if this is 14 months' worth of stress manifesting itself in a weakened immune system.<br /><br />We moved into a new house in the outskirts of Abu Dhabi (picture a sandy, dusty wasteland with lots of construction) which is oh, such an improvement on traffic-clogged, accident-heavy, horn-honking, parking-nightmare central Abu Dhabi where we used to live! And we know that one day, the cranes will move on to somewhere even further out and who knows, maybe our dusty wasteland will turn into a pretty town with a park or something... we love our new house, the space, the garden (not yet done), the patio, the balcony, even the mosque right outside the bedroom window that lets us know the call to prayer at 4am...<br /><br />I went back to work (sigh) and started that juggling act that is mothering full-time, working full-time, studying half-time, eating biscuits to keep going and collapsing in bed every night at 2am for a bit of sleep.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SrZ09lND2hI/AAAAAAAAATA/-kOc2WMOBUs/s1600-h/Maya+ready+for+party.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SrZ09lND2hI/AAAAAAAAATA/-kOc2WMOBUs/s200/Maya+ready+for+party.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383619005875739154" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Maya and I had the loveliest baby shower - complete with 14-month old Maya attending - thrown for us by Robyn, Kate and Dawn, and I felt the beginnings of a sense that it's all just going to be OK, after all.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SrZ09ERTQ6I/AAAAAAAAAS4/DjZlGxpGla8/s1600-h/Maya+%26+Sam+in+boat.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SrZ09ERTQ6I/AAAAAAAAAS4/DjZlGxpGla8/s200/Maya+%26+Sam+in+boat.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383618997035156386" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We go to The Club most weekends, and Maya spends the whole time in the pool with any of her friends: Aida, Sam (in boat with her), Josh, James, Masha, Victor, Gabriel, Isabelle, Kai, Pace or Hobie.<br /><br />Maya's got her Abu Dhabi residence visa, her Canadian citizenship has been applied for (might take 18 months they say), she goes to nursery two mornings a week, is going to start swimming lessons soon, we've joined a mums and toddlers group, and she's growing more and more delightful (and headstrong!) by the day. She delights us with her happy, relaxed nature, her cuddles, her kisses, her funny expressions:<br />meno (nemo) = fish<br />pitoo (pickles) = cat<br />poo poo = nappy<br />shoes go car = put my shoes on, let's go out in the car now!<br />where you are? = where are you/where is it?<br />etc<br />her dancing:<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwiJwZkCWUnnnKy18iZYD6SailcHimscauOaXZKOgGP_mfSEHcuBas_yiDRngnVvx5ic1dMDOHWHWnzC_qTsw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />She adores Pickles the cat, and Pickles finally gets all the attention she craves with her little number one fan, albiet a fairly boisterous one. Maya loves her dolls, and makes sure they get fed, given water, given a bath and put to bed just like her. She also loves her cars (brmm, brmm) and her farm animals, her shoes, her handbags, and basically just finds everything a big adventure.<br /><br />Our adventure, however, isn't completely over yet. Still more to come, and one day, in the distant future, we'll both sit back and go: ahhhhhhhh, can we rest now?Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-26104988518153625122009-05-22T19:53:00.001-07:002009-05-22T20:05:20.890-07:00Toronto, Ont.Yep, that's right, that's where Maya, her papa and I have now been for more than 24 hours. We're here with Ahmed's parents and Maya's now met tonnes of new cousins, aunts, uncles, great aunts, great uncles, second cousins, third cousins and has enjoyed every minute of it. She's a happy little flea, and has all these wonderful people and toys to play with, so she's loving it. And she's gone straight back to her papa as if he'd hardly been gone.<br /><br />Getting Maya's passport was a doddle (after a minor drama of going to the wrong passport office, despite numerous checks on the matter) after all these crazy months.<br /><br />24 hours after the application was made on Monday morning, it was ready to be picked up. I have to admit I wasn't really ready for something to be done so quickly, so we waited until Wednesday to pick it up. Actually, I wandered back to the passport office on Tuesday, only to discover the office closed at 3.00pm and we were there at 3.10pm. Ah well, we weren't leaving till Thursday anyway, so what's the rush?<br /><br />Maya and I had four days in Mexico City, checking out the sights, eating in cool cafes, going to the zoo - biggest hits for Maya: the porcupines, lemurs and prairie dogs, of all the strange things. Hippo - yeah, whatever. Elephant - yeah, seen them in books. Lions - nah. Rhino - nup. Funny what things interest a 14-month old.<br /><br />Ahmed left Abu Dhabi on Thursday morning, 14 hours later, arrived in Toronto airport, and nearly gave his mother, father and sister heart attacks by surprising them by being there. Then a couple of hours later, we popped out of the plane, had the easiest customs walk-through ever. I admit, I was worried. Baby on Mexican passport, mother on NZ passport, both of us with coughs (yes, that's right, arriving from Mexico...) But, it was also a doddle. What's going on? The stars are truly lining up and shining an easy path for us. It's nice for a change.<br /><br />Back to AD on Thursday, if Maya's visa is ready, which it should be, then back to our 'real life', whatever that may be...!Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-20671346261550240922009-05-17T20:28:00.000-07:002009-05-17T20:43:01.146-07:00Mexico, D.F.It seems that only the tourists call it Mexico City. The cool people say: D.F. (Districto Federal). And yeah, Mexico City is coooool. Cool people around. Cool looking places. Tijuana is light years away. Maybe that's just my rosy-tinted first impression, and tomorrow I'll find all the broken footpaths (sidewalks, pavements for all you non-NZ folk), homeless people, grime and dust.<br /><br />I had about 44 kg of luggage, in two suitcases, including Maya's travel cot, and allsorts of accumulated schtuff. I'd say about 5 kg of that was the gigantic dossier that Aida handed me on Friday night. Probably more stuff than we'll need to apply for Maya's passport, but we're dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's, just to be on the safe side. I feel rather tentative carrying around these 14 months' worth of blood, sweat and tears (predominantly tears). Sat up late on Friday night reading some of these documents, our DIF reports, BM's DIF reports, final decree, etc etc. Everything has been stamped and signed to within an inch of its life.<br /><br />Tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn, we'll be up and off to passport office, and should soon have an idea of how long it'll take before we're off and outta here.<br /><br />Maya seems to take all this moving, flying, sleeping in strange places, in her stride. She is such a 'coqueta' - little flirt - and bats her eyelids at everyone, flashes cheeky grins, and does little dances, and offers people her half-chewed pieces of cheese.<br /><br />Not long now...Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-32630099442997935462009-05-10T14:18:00.000-07:002009-05-14T20:36:52.185-07:00Photos from Adoption Day<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SgdOUs9rnHI/AAAAAAAAAQo/LmnX7NKsOKE/s1600-h/172.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 160px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SgdOUs9rnHI/AAAAAAAAAQo/LmnX7NKsOKE/s200/172.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334318401217862770" border="0" /></a><br />Here's Maya & her verrrrrrry happy mum on adoption day<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SgdOVUN3eFI/AAAAAAAAARA/t4pIGm9Hbnc/s1600-h/187.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 158px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SgdOVUN3eFI/AAAAAAAAARA/t4pIGm9Hbnc/s200/187.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334318411754731602" border="0" /></a><br />Playas de Tijuana, Friday 8th May<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SgdOVMdXYMI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/Rp2m5p5FuGY/s1600-h/176.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 216px; height: 161px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SgdOVMdXYMI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/Rp2m5p5FuGY/s200/176.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334318409672253634" border="0" /></a><br />Fiona, Clifford, Margot, Maya, Emma, Aisha and Elsa at Playas de Tijuana<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SgdOU7l10_I/AAAAAAAAAQw/einYfFjZOyg/s1600-h/173.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 158px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_r-687sENW0I/SgdOU7l10_I/AAAAAAAAAQw/einYfFjZOyg/s200/173.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334318405144400882" border="0" /></a><br />Fiona, Margot, Clifford, Aisha, Elsa, Maya & Emma off to the beach for a swim...Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933423200301334605.post-9189260678618165152009-05-09T08:41:00.000-07:002009-05-09T08:44:27.805-07:00Adoption Day! 414 days later...Friday 8th May, 2009. Official adoption day! 414 days after first meeting Maya.<br /><br />We had a lovely day yesterday. Got up early and drove to the court to see our judge and plead our case to issue the final decree asap. I was shaking in my boots, Maya was charming everybody left, right and centre with smiles, waves, toddles, dah dah dah, etc.<br /><br />Saw the judge, in her office, with her assistant, one of her secretaries and another random lawyer, and she was lovely. Came and gave us a big hug, big kiss to Maya, said, right, where's their case? to her assistant, let's get this finished, these people have suffered enough, what a beautiful girl, blah, blah, blah. And as we were standing there, me agog, too nervous to get any words out, the assistant pulled out our case, and they got working on it right there on the spot. Wow.<br /><br />The final decree was issued today, and now, Ahmed and I are Maya's parents, totally, officially, completely, irrevocably, forever. What an amazing relief!<br /><br />Next steps (just so you know):<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Monday 11th:</span> Adoption order is published on court's public announcements website, and our lawyer submits some papers we signed<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wednesday 13th: </span>Adoption papers are ready to be picked up from court<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wed or Thur:</span> Apply for Maya's birth certificate with her new name and us as her parents. She has been Maya Iliana Noriega Medina until now and will become Maya Bulbulia Smart<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Same day (hopefully):</span> pick up the translations of adoption decree, birth certificate, and get them notarized<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Same day (possibly):</span> leave to Mexico City<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Next day: </span>Apply for Maya's passport<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">??? days later:</span> Get passport/birth cert/adoption decree notarized at three different ministries in Mexico City. Scan copies and send to ??? to apply for visit visa to UAE<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Same day:</span> leave Mexico to Toronto, avoiding the USA, as Maya won't be able to land there as a Mexican citizen without a visa (takes months to apply for apparently).<br /><br />So, potentially, we're looking at being out of here in 2 weeks' time...! I thought we'd be at this stage when I arrived in Tijuana, hence the rather frustrated feeling when I first got here, and had the swine flu scare, but now it's full steam ahead!<br /><br />In the meantime, Ahmed's found a villa to move into in Abu Dhabi, just off the island, so since our lives are obviously very <span style="font-style: italic;">boring</span> and we need more excitement, he's going to move, possibly in the next two weeks. Madness!Emma Louhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00648300723795660923noreply@blogger.com5