Day Nine: Our Miracle

"For this child I have prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition..."

1 Samuel 1:27

First and foremost, we thank God for Daniel Forrester! What an amazing day! God has truly blessed us with an amazing son and answered many other prayers.

Thank you to all of our family and friends who have prayed for us. We can tell you that God has listened.

Our Gotcha Day, or Encuentro as it is called in Colombia, was at 2:30 p.m. on May 30, 2011 at the ICBF office located near the El Dorado Airport.

We took our luggage to La Lanthana bed and breakfast and unpacked earlier in the morning and met Lucia, our escort to assist us through the adoption. After a quick lunch at the bed and breakfast, we headed to ICBF.

We were escorted to a room that was decorated with baby blue balloons and a colorful sign saying "Bienvenidos." We sat down on one of the sofas and chatted with Lucia while waiting.

Within a few minutes, a representative from ICBF and Daniel's nutritionist entered. His nutritionist said she had known Daniel since the beginning. We spent about twenty minutes talking with them about Daniel's routine, background, health and had an opportunity to ask various questions. One answered prayer was we received all of Daniel's records,which most of the time they do not provide. We also received photos from every month since his birth.

"He is very social, has a lot of energy and when you hold him he won't stand still," explained the nutritionist. "He'll try climbing up your chest and loves jumping up and down. He is a sweet boy. He loves hugs and kisses. He plays and crawls a lot."

After we asked all of our questions, they asked for my camera and left the room and disappeared into the adjacent office. We waited nervously.

A couple of minutes later, the nutritionist appeared holding Daniel. What an awesome moment! With tears in our eyes we were ready to hold our baby. He is our miracle.

Daniel was alert but obviously nervous. He was bundled up in a hooded jacket, tan pants, boots and holding a small blue ball. His dark brown eyes were wide open and taking in every detail.

Claudia and I held him with huge smiles on our faces. Honestly, I think we were all three a little nervous. I sat down on the sofa and let him stand up on my lap. That's when the ice was broken.

Daniel began to jump up and down on my lap. He stomped one of his feet and then the other. Then bounced up and down, showed a huge grin and began to laugh.

The rest of the day we spent at Lanthana, mostly in our room. Daniel continued jumping. laughing and totally washing away our concerns about his ability to transition.

He can crawl, clap his hands, babbles and completely breaks down when you tickle him. Claudia has played traditional Colombian games for children with him that his foster mother obviusly did too because Daniel already seems familiar with them. Our attachment process seems to be going very well and is another HUGE answered prayer.

I'm sure we'll make mistakes. We already fed him a bottle for 10 minutes, looking at each other approvingly of the method, only to realize that the bottle was closed and Daniel wasn't actually drinking any milk.

Our Family Adventure is just beginning.

Day Eight: Culture and Questions

We promise to share Colombia's culture with our son, but the question is how?

On the day before our Gotcah Day, we spent the majority of the day catching up with Claudia's college friend Lliana and her family. We went to a Construction and Home Design Fair, which was at Corferia Exposition Center.

Claudia spent a lot of time talking with Lliana's mother Miriam about our big day. Lliana's brother Ricardo let us borrow a small camera, since mine is a little too large and showy to be flaunting around the streets of Bogota.

After the fair we stopped by La Campina, a local ice cream shop. While we enjoyed ice cream and cake, Claudia spotted a 7-year-old selling trash bags on the street.

It's common to see desperately poor or disabled people either selling random items like telephone chargers, candies, flowers, etc. or walking between cars at intersections asking for charity. Life in Bogota is separated by two worlds: the haves and the have-nots.

Before settling down at the apartment there was still enough daylight for a walk around the neighborhood. While walking, we asked ourselves if we were prepared for Gotcha day. We passed by a man riding a bicycle & cart who was returning home from a day selling his food on the street. On top of his cart were two children about five and seven years old. Several taxi cabs zipped past the man and his children.

Before we knew it, we were walking in Santa Fe Mall.

We went to the third floor where the food court is located. We went outside on a patio and looked at the Autopista (a busy road that connects most of Bogota from north to sout). Five or six taxis, buses and motorcycles passed by. A taxi peeled off the road and stopped to pick up a passenger before jumping back into the trafifc. People walked along the sidewalk. Numerous vendors were selling their merchandise on the street.

"I love the activity of the big city. There is so much going on at any given location. It's similar to walking around the streets of Chicago," I said. "What do you miss about living here?"

"My friends," responds Claudia.

"That's all," I ask.

"Yes," she confirms.

Life in Bogota is hard for the majority of people. The street child selling trash bags and the man riding his bicycle & cart with children are obvious reminders hard to ignore.

We can celebrate holidays and cook food from Colombia, but we can't transplant the smells, noises or people in Bogota to Nashville.

"Our son is going to have a very different life," I commented and Claudia agreed.

We finished the day packing our bags for our week stay at La Lanthana. One of the last things we did was write down a list of questions to ask the social worker about our son's life and medical history. The list was important because we wouldn't have another opportunity to get information about his past.

Day Six & Seven: Family, Faxes and Fun

The calm before Gotcha Day/Encuentro has allowed us to enjoy the past couple of days without needing to run around Bogota for errands.

Friday we were invited for breakfast with Claudia's aunt Martha and cousin Natalia. They live in a condominium that's part of a two-tower residential project about ten minutes from our condo. The majority of the units were still under construction.

We enjoyed Tamalitos for breakfast and had a great time talking and catching up. After breakfast, we went to the top of the building for a fantastic view of the city. Time passed so fast that before we knew it, we were ready for lunch.

We took a short walk to Centro de Commercial Panama and ate at the Restaurante Panama. The Colombian diet includes A LOT of meat. Most restaurants serve Parrilla, which is an asortment of chicken, pork, steak, sausage and vegatables yuca and plantain. Complement the meat with arepa and fresh fruit juice.

Afterward we received a call from Lucia, who needed us to fax a copy of my passport to her office. We said our good-byes and headed toward the nearest Internet Cafe and sent a copy of my passport. We took it as a good sign our Encuentro was still on schedule since it was almost 5 p.m. on Friday.

During the evening, Claudia and I enjoyed a trip to Unicentro Mall, which has historically been Bogota's higher-end mall. The facility has recently been remodeled, we believe, because of increased competition from Santa Fe. We had dinner in a very popular restaurant named Crepes & Waffles. They have several locations around town and more times than not there is a line of people waiting for a table.

Saturday started off with rain. The good thing is we slept late and missed the downpour. That didn't bother us at all. After the rain clouds left, the blue sky and sun felt great.

Claudia's uncle Alberto picked us up and we were off on a day trip to Sopo, Colombia. The town is about 30 minutes outside of Bogota and its name means rock or strong mountain. Its main industry is livestock and Alpina Factory, which is a huge dairy factory.

The town is nestled at the foot of a large mountain. As you drive through the town, there are several men and women flagging passing cars hoping to direct them to their family-owned restaurants. Weekend lunches are a huge business for many families in the small communities outside Bogota.

We toured the town square and stopped by Alpina, which operates a small mercado full of different traditional deserts. Almost all the deserts are made with fresh cheese, yogurt, fruits and arequipe (similar to caramel).

The desert was tasty and a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. After being in the city for a week, it was fun to head out to the countryside for fresh air and a change of atmosphere.