WE GOT THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, we've received all the emails and we are sooooooooooooooo sorry that we couldn't post on our blog until now; first, we couldn't get a good wireless connection in our room for a while, second (and the real truth), we have not stopped to breathe for 1 second, since becoming a family of 5 overnight! :>)

Yesterday, we received our girls at the ICBF office at about 11am. We first had a long meeting with the director, 2 psychologists and 2 social workers. They were all very emotional because they said that was one of their most important cases, for the girls had been in & out of the system for almost 10 years (since Catalina was born) and they were almost giving up in finding a family for them. They told us that Catalina (due to her age - almost 10), told them in sessions that she had started to give up on the dream of one day having a family & when they told her she was indeed going to have a family, she cried and said that now she would start believing in dreams again!

When we met the girls, they walked in holding a gorgeous bouquet of roses for us & a letter they had written and they were wearing the little t-shirts & sunglasses we had sent them (even before we had been denied, then approved for them). They ran into our arms saying "Mommy & Daddy" (Yes, in english)!!!

We had lined up all their new clothes on the bed and when we got back to the hotel, they wanted to try everything on and do a mini-fashion show. Then we went for lunch at the beautiful restaurant by the pool, they all wanted "hamburgers w/ fries," very Colombian huh? NOT!!! :>)

Then we went for a little walk and of course, what they couldn't wait for "LA PISCINA" - the pool. Boy oh boy, do they ever love the pool!
Then of course when we were done, they had to come back to the room, shower and put on another brand new outfit. They are extremely feminine and girly and absolutely love "Pink & Red" and anything that makes them look like "UNA PRINCESA" - a princess!
They are very little for their ages (compared to American girls). I had bought size 6-6X for Daniela and they are too big, Patricia wears her 7/8, but some are big and Catalina (who will be ten on Friday), wears 7/8 and some are too big, she barely weighs 60 LBS.

Last night we ordered a Pizza in the room and they were so happy for they said they LOVE pizza but only had it a few times for special occasions. We are amazed how grateful they are for everything and how little things we take for granted, makes them so very happy. Just as another example, today we took them to the shopping center for some new shoes, they could not get over the escalator and we had to hold their hands for they did not know how to ride it and were falling. Our attorney informed us that due to the seriousness of their case, they were shielded from going out a lot for they did not want them to run into their bio-parents & have to have the trauma of dealing with the police over and over again. All we will say is that they were DEFINITELY not good people, and because of that, all the "Tourist Places" that we really wanted to visit in Medellin, we were told by the ICBF director, the psychologists and attorney's, that we CAN NOT go, for it is too dangerous to run into their bio-parents or their gang in the streets. So needless to say, we have to be in the hotel with them a lot, but it's OK, for the hotel is beautiful and the pool is all that matters to them right now!

Yesterday (our first day with them) was so good that Michael and I kept looking at each other and wondering" "this is just too good to be true," when is the other shoe going to drop (Men our faith is small)!!!

Oh yes, a few neat things to share:
- Yesterday, they were having a hard time settling down for the night, so we gave them a few warnings. First, they wanted the door connecting our 2 rooms closed, then latter they asked if we could leave it open and then they asked if I would stay with them. I layed down with them and their 3 stuffed dogies (that incidentally have already been named after our dogs: Madison, Rosie & Gigi), and as soon as I pretended to be asleep and snoring, they instantly fell asleep).

- The sweetest thing happened this morning, they were all quiet and sleeping, so Michael went into their room to peek and Catalina woke up and gave him a big smile, then he came back to bed, about 5 minutes latter Catalina and Daniela came into our room, crawled into our beds with us and snuggled for a little bit (Patricia was still sleeping), but when she woke up latter she came right in, gave us both a hug and said: Good Morning - yes, in English!

- Another nice thing happened this afternoon when we were playing with play-dough and they asked us all to do little dogs and cats, then Catalina (who was a bit quiet in the afternoon) said she was going to make a surprise for us and we couldn't look, then she worked hard making the words: I love Mami & Papi, of course Michael and I went nuts with hugging and kissing her, then she asked if we could go home to the "Estados Unidos" already, cause she wanted to go home with us. The whole time we thought she was sad, she told us she just wants to go home with us already, for she wants to make sure this is really going to happen for her!

There is so much more to share, but I know you really want photos, so we'll share some now and promise to upload a lot more latter tonight or tomorrow. Now we are literally eating our words about a lot of things, it is definitely no longer about us, it is now all about them. Our time is all about taking care of them and we will definitely be losing a whole lot of weight around here (Michael and I of course), and I mean A WHOLE LOT - Boy oh Boy, we've never been so busy!!!!!!!!