Last minute stuff

Wow, this weekend has been a whirlwind of trips to stores, getting our medicines from Walgreens and other things we think we will need.. etc. We have given up on the idea of each of us taking a suitcase. We have just accepted we will have to pay the extra fee for two suitcases. We are also taking two empty ones that we will use when we get back, (and since we are coming back as 6 instead of 2 we should not have to pay anything extra for suitcases on our way back). The other thing is that we were told that when we pick up the girls they basically come with 'nothing'... just like a baby but bigger and multiply by 4! So just think of everything that you moms out there use with your children on a daily basis... these are the things that we have had to think about and purchase. We are taking some clothes for the girls but only the basics, as we will be buying them clothes down there. In terms of toys we are not taking very many, but I just had to get Barbies. Alex could not understand this!
We are also taking educational materials. Yesterday we printed a bunch of books from our personal subscription from Reading A-Z. We are also taking Math books, flashcards, pencils, etc. I am taking a bilingual picture dictionary and a couple of other books. We plan to begin teaching English and getting them up to speed with Math while we are down there. Imagine all of this in just four smaller suitcases --(remember they cannot weigh more than 50 pounds too).
We are a little stressed as you can imagine, but at the same time excited about the change that is about to happen in our lives. I have told many people that we are somewhat naive and that is probably a good thing. We have had our share of unsolicited advice, which I usually accept gladly. We know we don't know it all.
Finally, people have asked me why we have to be down there for 5 weeks. Basically this is our understanding of what will happen. First, we will meet the girls on Friday April 16th and take them to live with us. We have a beautiful apartment that has been set aside for us in a beautiful neighborhood in Medellin. A week after we live with the girls we will be interviewed by Social Services. Two weeks after that, we will be going to court to sign our papers. Then we arrange to travel to Bogota after that. In Bogota we work with the U.S. Embassy which will prepare the girls paperwork to come to the U.S. This includes Visas, Medical Check Ups etc. It is at the embassy that the girls get their new birth certificates with our last names ( we will be using both so the girls will be Martin-Rivera). -- It is our understanding that all Colombian citizens who are adopted are provided dual citizenship until the age of 18 in which they can decide to keep it or just become U.S. citizens.-- Until we have completed these steps at the embassy, we are not allowed to leave the country with the girls. We actually gave ourselves extra time in Colombia in case things would take longer. The usual stay is about 4 weeks.
Well, once I'm down there I will update you with more detail about the process.
Thanks for Reading!
--MM