Departing Monday March 3rd

Woo-hoo! We finally have a travel date and plane tickets! We are leaving on Monday, March 3rd to go to Bogota. We will arrive there late Monday night. We will have Tuesday to settle in and orient ourselves, and will be presented with Esteban on Wednesday, March 5th. We will celebrate March 5th as Esteban's "Gotcha" Day for many years to come!

We are so excited. With every little step, like actually buying the plane tickets, the reality of Esteban being part of our lives becomes a little clearer, a little more concrete.

Please continue with the good thoughts and prayers.

When will we leave?

Everyone is asking - when will you leave? And we wish we knew!

Sabeth hand-delivered the last piece of paperwork on Friday morning--only to find out that we now have to WAIT for the agency in Colombia to give us a travel date. We had been under the impression that once our papers were turned in we could buy a plane ticket. Unfortunately, that was not correct. So, once again, we wait.

Thanks to all of you who have listened to us babble about baby and travel and waiting, and for all your cheers of joy and support. We can't wait to introduce Esteban to you all! In the mean time, keep those prayers coming.

He has a name

Esteban Francis Fitzgibbons Goulet.

After much discussion, and to Julien's brother's dismay, Esteban will not be named Paul. We chose Francis as his middle name after St. Francis and after Sabeth's Grandpa Fitz. Sabeth and I are delighted with our baby's name and can't wait to get to Colombia.

Today we turned in what we believe is the last of the paperwork that Colombia needs before they will tell us when we can go meet Esteban. We hope to leave soon and may have to wait as late as March 1st to go.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers of support.

It's a boy!

Last Thursday afternoon (2/7), Julien received a phone call at work that we have a baby boy waiting for us in Colombia! The phone call was quickly followed by an emailed photo, which Julien quickly sent on to Sabeth. There was much cheering in our workplaces, and a few tears of joy/disbelief. Neither of us have had much concentration for work since!

This blog will be a place to share our adventures meeting our baby and our experiences in Colombia. We hope to use it to post pictures and regular updates. Here's the first picture!

So, here's what we know already... Esteban was born on 11 October 2007, at a healthy 7 lbs, 20.5 inches. He has been with a foster mother from CRAN (the agency in Bogota) since then.
We both like the name Esteban, so we will be keeping it, though the conversations about middle or first and what to put with it are on-going. We'll keep you posted.

We are desperate to get there and meet him! We've got one piece of paperwork we're trying to expedite, and wrapping up our jobs temporarily, before we can get on a plane. We will both go to Colombia initially, and then Julien will come home after about 2 weeks. Sabeth will be joined by her mom, and will stay until the adoption is legally finished in Colombia (total of 4-6 weeks).

Check back often.