Some pics

Gotcha Day!

Happy Gotcha Day Lucy 1/16/08!

I can hardly believe that it's been a year already since Lucy made us a family. We celebrated by having the grandparents and godparents over for some traditional Colombian food that Kurt and I made.

What a change for us. Becoming a parent at 39! Not for long, I'll be FORTY on Friday. Holy shit! Being a Mom is not for the faint of heart. There is something to be said for having kids when a person's in their 20's or 30's for that matter! What I wouldn't do for 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep (LC is cutting 1 year molars at the moment).

But did I mention that she is SO worth it? I love her smell and her snuggles. It almost makes me cry when I hear that laugh. It cracks me up when I see her pretend to take some crackers out of her "snack trap" and hold out her hand for the dog. Callie falls for it every time, the beggar. That's a lab for you. Lucy loves to dance. She holds her hands in the air like she just don't care:) She even has a little pelvic thrust down. I'm not kidding.

I hope her Birth Mom knows that she is safe and LOVED. I pray every day that she does. What a gift she has entrusted to us. There is such an incredible feeling of gratitude.

I feel like we should be packing and going back to pick up our next little Colombian bundle of joy. I wonder what life has in store for us???? No news from our social worker...Sigh...oh well. My gut tells me we'll have at least a 2 year wait...

Lucy is definitely keeping us busy. We met our friends in Hudson for a play date this past weekend. Check out Hope and Lucy playing at the Giggle Factory.

Lucy and I started swimming lessons at the YMCA. SHE LOVES THE WATER! Lucy and Serik are total buds.

Feliz Navidad

I'm going to take a stab at an "online" Christmas letter. I had very good intentions of doing an actual letter but the joys of parenting a soon to be 15 mos old with Rotavirus has had it's challenges:) So here goes!

We hope 2007 has brought you a year filled with the blessings of good health and much happiness. This past year has been filled with many "firsts" for us as a family.

We arrived home from Colombia with our daughter Lucy on Feb 28Th. After a serious battle with a snowsuit, Lucy was able to play in the snow for the first time. Well, actually I just laid her on a snow bank while I took a picture of her but hey, it counts.

We went up North to the lake and spent many a day at the community pool this summer. Lucy loves the water! She couldn't get enough. She learned how to lay her head back and float in the water, while mommy held her of course. What a wonderful way to keep cool on a hot summer day. And what a hot summer we had this year!

Kurt's family and friends started building the family cabin up North over Labor Day weekend. It is now totally enclosed and roofed, the heat is on, it's insulated and most of the electrical is in. It was a huge effort from a lot of people. You all know who you are....THANK YOU! We hope that your next visit the MN north land is with a beer in one hand and a brat in the other; RELAXING with us, NOT working.

We all did a power trip out East this fall to visit my aunt and cousins. I love the look on people's faces when you board a plane with a baby! Everyone has this "look" on their face and you can tell that inside their head they're screaming, "Please don't sit by me! Please don't sit by me!" So far Lucy has been a great traveler. I know, now that I say that we'll be cursed. But the really, the girl needs her own frequent flyer number.

We also went to CA in Oct to visit a family that we met while we both were adopting our children in Colombia. I'm still craving carnitas and pan dulce. Lucy had a great time playing with Nico and Paola. Did I say CA is beautiful?!

There are some changes a foot in the Kern household. Kurt will start a new position within Ameriprise in January. He will be working more closely with advisers. This means some overnight travel so... with an ever changing work schedule at the University, I tendered my resignation and will continue being a staying home with Miss Lucy while doing some freelance work on the side. I will miss working at the U. It was my all time favorite interpreting job. But I love being a Mom more. Lucy will start at a Spanish immersion daycare 2 full days a week. We're excited to see how her language progresses.

Speaking of language, Lucy can now say Momma, Daddy, Papa, baby and Grandpa. She can sign Mommy, Daddy, baby, food, drink, more, dog, light, fan, bird and book! She started walking on Oct 27Th and hasn't sat down since. Right now she loves to read books with her momma and papa. She also saw Santa recently. What a ham! She just walked up, sat on his lap and smiled broadly on cue.

We turned in our application to Los Pisingos in October. Our social worker informed us that we've been approved for a 0-18 mos old. We will have to wait to turn in our dossier (legal documents) because they expire in 6 mos. The Colombia program has slowed considerably. This means a longer wait time for us. We hope to have a sibling for Lucy by the time she is 2 but it could be longer. In the meantime Lucy is keeping us busy.

She continues to be the light of our lives.

Wishing you all the best in 2008.
Love
Kurt, Phyllis and Lucy

P.S. You don't have to have a Google account to leave a comment just click on "anonymous"

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Wow! It's been a while since I posted anything, so here's goes.

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving this year. So fun celebrating all of Lucy's "firsts" with us together as a family. We went to Kurt's aunt and uncle's house on Thursday for dinner. Grandpa and Grandma Kern were there as well as Lucy's cousins Katie, her husband Michael, and Paul. Lucy had a great time with her family, especially Grandma and Grandpa! We'll have to get a sibling for Lucy SOON so Grandpa will learn how to share:) Grandma hardly gets to hold her!

On Friday we went to my sister and brother-in-law's house. I'm in charge of making the turkeys. Yes, I said turkeys plural:) I make 2 small turkeys. That way they cook a little faster and I don't have to get up so early! This year I did a brine and they turned out really moist and juicy. Thanksgiving is the one holiday that most of us get together. We have a wonderful time making food, eating the food, talking and playing games. Many of "the sisters" also spend the night. I love spending this day with my sisters and brother. It's become my favorite holiday.

Lucy had a great time with her cousins playing in the cupboards and reading books. I think the sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie were her favorite foods.

Blessings
PK

Adoption #2 update

We finally completed our application and pictures for Los Pisingos (the same orphanage that Lucy is from). I turned in the paperwork on Monday. What a great feeling to have one more piece of the puzzle in place. Our Social worker said that we've been approved for a child of either gender age 0-18 mos.

Seems like the wait will be longer this time around. The Colombian government started offering more assistance to moms so more people are choosing to parent, which is a good thing of course. It makes me happy that Lucy's birth country is striving to make improvements. I want Lucy to be proud of where she's from. Colombia is more than Pablo Escobar and cocaine. It deeply troubles me when people make thoughtless, negative comments about a country that has a part of my heart and soul. But... it does slow things down for those of us that are waiting. LSS is now telling families it could take any where from 12-14 mos. We'll get who we're supposed to get. Lucy was almost 5 years in the making. If the wait was any shorter or longer it wouldn't of been her. And believe me that is one girl that was worth the wait!

Lucy's birth certificate came in the mail today FINALLY. I think we sent in the forms back in....oh...May I think. We received them from the MN Dept of Health the first time back in Sept but my middle name was spelled wrong. The joys of bureaucracy. Gotta love it! But at least now we can get her American passport in preparation for our trip back to Colombia. We also have our fingerprinting appointment on Dec 4Th.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Smooch
PK

P.S. Here is a link to an interesting article about international adoption => http://www.twincities.com//ci_7377480?IADID=Search-www.twincities.com-www.twincities.com

Happy Halloween

Lucy had a great time trick or treating. She loved going to people's houses and putting stuff in her bag. Yesterday she walked around the house with candy in her hand, wrapped of course. By the end of the day the snickers bar was all mush. So are our hearts. She makes a darn cute Giraffe huh?

PK

San Jose

We were in San Jose last weekend. Kurt and I were fortunate enough to meet the Garcia family while in Colombia. Rosa is one of the coordinators for KidSave in the bay area. Paola was 14 when Zeke and Rosa adopted her. So I guess that means that Paola and Lucy are Colombiana "sisters" so to speak. Lucy loves Nico and Paola
(Zeke and Rosa too). She followed them around all weekend. There is a special bond between the 3 of them. I hope they are life long amigos.

This was Kurt and my first time in CA! The sun was a welcome sight after all the rain we've had here in MN. As you can tell by the pictures, we had a GREAT time.

On Saturday we went to San Francisco. The Golden Gate bridge is amazing. Pictures really don't do it justice. It is massive! Then we headed for the wharf where we had some terrific crab sandwiches for lunch. We went over to ghirardelli square for some dessert, or should I say supper.

Sunday we went to the boardwalk in Santa Cruz. Paola and I rode on a 103 year old wooden roller coaster. FUN! We had carnitas for dinner, muy muy rico!

I don't think I touched a vegetable the entire time we were there. Gotta love Mexican food. The picture of Lucy stuffing her face with Pan Dulce speaks 1000 words.

Good weather, good food and good friends. Thanks for a fantastic time familia de Garcia!

Smooch
PK