Road Trip!

Man, I can't believe it has been this long since I posted last. I have been getting emails from friends telling me I better update or else.... :)
So, I took the 3 kids and the dog on an 11 hour road trip to Orlando to see my family. Everyone kept telling me I was crazy, but the kids did so good! Jim was very busy traveling to 5 different states in the 1 week, so I thought it was a good time to go. We left at 8:30 in the morning and got in at night with Jaysa sleeping only 20 minutes and listen to this, No TV (DVDs). I didn't really plan it that way but I started out wanting to see how long they could go before breaking out the dvd player and before I new it we were there! Jaysa did get fussy at times but I kept pulling out different toys and little snacks and for the most part that seemed to work.
My mom and I took the kids to Universal and Islands on monday only hitting the things for kids and they Loved it! I loved the fact that when we saw Shrek and Donkey, Donkey spoke spanish to them! It was so cute!! We had 2 days where we just stayed at the house, swam and did a little shopping. One day we had a lot of family and friends come by to meet the kids during the whole day, and the last day we went to Aquatica, which is Sea Worlds new water park and it was SO much fun!
We are back now and my mom is here for a few days. It feels good to be back home and the kids did pretty well. So here are some pics!









My Little Princessa


Catalina dancing in the streets with the entertainers waiting on Shrek








The 2 kids with Tio Shaun


They had a lazy river where you went by a fish tank and also the dolphin area and Catlaina and Mami Loved watching the Dolphins!!

Happy B-day John!

Yesterday was John's Birthday! He is 4 yrs old now!! We started off the day by picking up my brother who has come in town for the weekend to meet the kids and then to the Doctors in Huntsville for Jaysa. We are really glad to hear that he thinks she will not need surgery. He wants her to stay in her brace at night and come back for more x-rays in 3 months. He said usually they see good progress using the brace, so things look pretty good!! We then went to Brigde street town center, which I love, and met some good friends of ours and had lunch. I then let the kids ride the carousel and then headed back to Florence. John wanted hamburgers for dinner so that's what we had! And I had made an ice cream cake, with the "Cars" theme of course. He first said he wanted to have cars for dinner, silly guy :) He opened up gifts and then spent the rest of the night playing with them. It was a pretty fun day!!

Tio Shaun with the Kids!

Kids rooms!

OK, so I know it has taken me a bit to post the pics of the kids rooms. I know a few of you have been asking me to do it. This is a much over due thank you that really needs to be said. When we were getting things ready after getting the referral, we got a very unexpected surprise. My Tia Norma bought the kids their bedroom suites and I mean they are awesome! Thank you Aunt Norma for everything!! We have been SO blown away by her and our family's generosity during this time! Thank you just doesn't seem good enough. I know in an earlier post we had mentioned some of what our family's did but I just need to say thank you all again for all you have done!! WE love you!!! Also, we did have Jaysa in a small room off of our bedroom, but while we were in Colombia we decided to put her and John in the same room. Our parents did a great job putting up a room divider for them! Sorry,I didn't show the pics before but things weren't set up and the rooms were a mess when we left but here they are...

Jaysa's Room



John's Room



Their Dressers


Catalina's Room




The Kids Play Room

It has been A week...

So, Monday morning Jim left for a business trip and was supposed to come home Wednesday night but ended up coming home Tuesday night and I am glad he did. It has been a week of testing limits especially for Catalina. Monday morning she had been picking on John all morning and they continued to fight in the pool so I finally said that was enough and they had to get out of the pool. Well Catalina decided she didn't want to get out and I started with 10 minutes in time out then 30, 45, 1 hour, 2 hours and realized that wasn't working so I ended up having to drag her out of the pool which then started a 40 min kicking and screaming fit. After she was done, she spent the rest of the time on the couch in time out, and then Jaysa decided to throw up all of her lunch and then John wanted to join in and have a fit of his own. Tuesday morning at 7:30 John comes out of his room screaming with blood all over his face and hands. It freaked me out, but poor thing had a nose bleed and it scared him. Then Catalina decides to have another big break down among many other small things going on. Idios Mia!
Wednesday and Thursday went a little better but a lot of little tantrums from all 3 of the kids. Friday was the start of a tutor for Catalina to help her with English and she was so excited. She got all dressed up, and kept looking out the window waiting for her. It was cute. I got to spend some one on one time with John during that time and had so much fun playing cars. The rest of the afternoon and Saturday went really good. We had a lot of fun playing and the kids really helped us around the house. They really are great kids and we feel so blessed that God chose us to be their parents :)
This week I have come to really appreciate Grace. Our pastor has been talking about it for the past few weeks and it has been so refreshing for me to hear. Most people have said when you first become a mom you try to do everything for your child and then when number 2 or 3 comes along that usually gets thrown out the window. Well I have felt like I need to be super mom for them and have quickly realized that it is not possible. I can't be everything or do everything I want to for them, but that is OK because I serve a great God who gives me grace. None of us are perfect and never will be. It feels so good to know that when we mess up that God is always there pouring out his love and grace on us. It is so wonderful to know that we can't do anything to earn Gods love, He already loves us no matter what. I have seen Him provide in so many ways during this journey, it just amazes me.



The next Jose Calderon


Jaysa loves to put on sunglasses and will just walk around wearing them. It cracks me up :)



Kudos to Florence for putting in this fun water area and park. Music plays and the water goes up and down and you don't know where it will go. The kids had a lot of fun!



Our 3 little monkeys jumping on the bed :)

First week on my own...

Well, this last week Jim has been in full swing at work and both of our parents went back home. Things went better then I thought they would. I have discovered that Catalina loves to help me in the kitchen! She pulls up a chair and wants to help do whatever needs to be done to make the food and even enjoys washing a few dishes :) We have been trying to work on english and a few times I have caught her in her room trying to say certain words. It is so cute. She really has a sweet personality. We are still trying to work on when I say something she needs to listen and she doesn't get everything she wants, but I know most kids deal with that. Most of the time she really helps her younger siblings out and is very loving to them. I am still trying to get her to be the kid and not feel like she has to take care of John especially. She is doing pretty good at letting go of some of that.
John is such a funny kid. He loves to make people laugh and is just so cute. We have discovered he likes to lie, so we are working on that one. Today he started to tell me a lie and then I asked him a few more times and he had this look on his face like he wanted to tell me the truth but it wouldn't come out and then he just said he was sorry without answering me. It was pretty cute :)
Jaysa has always gone to bed without much of a problem but all of a sudden she fliped a switch and now will scream bloody murder if I am not with her until she falls a sleep.
We have still been very busy getting things done around the house. We were able to lay our front yard this weekend with some great help, and put together a swingset. The kids all received bikes this week! They thought it was the greatest gift ever! All they did was talk about their new bikes. How they received their bikes is a really cool story!! A new friend that has been watching our blog and has a heart for the Colombian people asked if he could buy them this gift. We have never met this man - but only God could ordain such a wonderful present for these kids in such a cool way. I don't know if he'd want is name on this blog, but thank you for the wonderful smiles you have given us and the kids this week.

Jim and I are so fortunate. We have had a few hard times this week but nothing from what we expected. Catalina had a rough go at it with the doctor as she was getting a shot. It took 3 of us to hold her down! What fun that was!!! They are all still very much water nuts and usually are in the pool from 5-6 hours a day. Catalina is already doing flips off the diving board and ever Jaysa is getting into the action.

Sorry my updates have been far from regular, but I am getting into a system now and should be able to post a little more as I learn to catch my breath. I am off to bed to tackle another day with the 3 best kids! We love these guys so much!

Sweet Home Alabama

It has been quite an emotional week. Since arriving home Saturday night, we have been non-stop with the kids. They are so happy. Our house is full of laughter and fun, fun, fun! The kids are really adjusting well and are very well behaved.

We took them by Jim's work on Tuesday and they had a ball giving out candy and hugs. They were a little overwhelmed by all the people but love giving affection and meeting people. Again, they loaded up with treats, hats and shirts from TNT. It is crazy how happy this makes them. John especially loves it and everytime says, "WOW". It was so cute.

The rest of this week we have basically spent in the pool, in the new blow up slide or playing with toys. It has been great! Catalina is reading every night and learning new english words everyday. We are staying put for Memorial day weekend so if anyone wants to come and visit, hang out and meet the kids, please feel welcome.

I will keep this short and put some much requested pictures up. Our internet is very questionable at our house but I will try to update as much as possible when possible. Life sure is different with 3 kids! A very good different!