Christmas...The time of expectations

Our daughter's first Christmas...words that held a lot of expectation. She may have celebrated Christmas in the orphanage, but we will never know. She didn't have anything to bring from their, so it's safe to say she had never received any gifts. Christmas is a time of of family traditions, celebration, and laughter. Or at least that was my expectation. We tried to keep our gifts to a few, but I kept finding more and more things I just knew my daughter would love.

Here is how our Christmas went:
We went to church on Christmas Eve, just like we've always done. Our service was at 4:30, which is prime playtime for our child. So that is what she did. Laughed and played during the service. Not exactly the peaceful service I had pictured.

Then we went to Chinese for dinner. My family has always gone to a Chinese restaurant on Christmas Eve. It's an odd tradition, but I wanted to carry it on. All she ate was french fries.

All I wanted to do before she went to bed was read the Christmas story from Luke 2. She screamed so loud the entire time that Scott had to start over twice.

Christmas morning she was up bright and early at 6:30...the child who normally sleeps until 8. Scott went to get ready to video her reaction to the Little Tykes play set we built in the living room. She screamed because she wanted to go with Daddy, but I kept her in the bed room. The end of her temper tantrum is caught on video, and she just goes still when she sees the playground. Then promptly scoots back to her room to play with her beloved car.

Although everyone was excited for her to open her gifts she was overwhelmed by the attention, and mostly screamed when ripping open the paper. Then chose to play with the boxes and bags.

I am not saying all of this because we had a bad Christmas. We truly had a wonderful Christmas, and my heart was full just having my daughter here with us. I don't know that I could have endured another year without her stocking on the mantle. The expectations for Christmas were mine, not hers. She had a great time getting to know all her family better. She got lots of attention, was read lots of books, and received lots of love. And that is what mattered to her. Now we're slowly reintroducing some of her gifts, and she loves them. She plays everyday with her play set, and got brave enough to slide by herself today.

I learned that Christmas with an adopted child is best when expectations are set to the side. (Or maybe all children, but this is my first experience). Next year my goal is to just soak in the time with family, buy less toys, and check my expectations at the door.

Got to finally see the Sanjines family in the US!

Christmas in Virginia with the Hamilton Family

Christmas Eve...Our first nativity!

Christmas morning

 Christmas Day with the Dunton Family

Hiking with the family

Bogota, Week 5

We were assigned a new court last week, 15. It is supposed to be a better court, and our attorney is predicting that we get Sentencia by Friday. Please pray that this is true! Once we get Sentencia we should be home in about a week. Here's a recap of our last week:

Saturday: This was my favorite tour thus far! We went hiking at the Guatavita Lagoon with the Sanjines family. The hike took about an hour, and it rained almost the whole time. We still had so much fun, and the kids did awesome. Brielle LOVED being out in nature. She just giggled and giggled. I wish I could put up our better group picture, but can't show her face yet. Then we toured the historical town of Guatavita. It is all white stucco with the traditional hispanic tiles. It turned into a beautiful day, and we had lots of fun walking around. We even toured the bull fighting arena!

Sunday: We had a normal Sunday going to church, and then Jen and I got to shop at the market without any kids! Thanks Scott & Nick! Then they came over to our apartment for some last minute swimming. Great way to end our weekend!

Monday: We had a quiet morning, and I started getting things ready to move to a new apartment (again). We ate lunch at the Sanjines apartment. Nick made awesome empanadas! Brielle loves playing with their girls, and they are so sweet to entertain her. We are getting her to say 'mamama' more consistently, so now she just needs to understand that momma is me!

Tuesday: It was half price at Jeno's pizza, so we went there for lunch. This time we went down the slide with Brielle. She loved it! I can't wait to take her on kiddy rides at home.

Wednesday: Today was moving day, so we finished packing up our apartment. Someone had already leased it starting the 19th, so we found a new place to finish the rest of our time. We move in our bags, and then went to the airport to get Gramma! After a long time waiting on her bag we headed back to the apartment to unpack and grocery shop.

Thursday: This was our 4th wedding anniversary, and I honestly am so happy to be spending it with our daughter! I made crepes for breakfast because we did that on our first wedding anniversary. We had a final lunch with Nick & Jen, and some other friends from church. Then we hung out at their apartment for a bit. It was so hard to say goodbye, but we are already making plans to do some hiking together this fall! Our time spent in Bogota was so much better because of the awesome friends God placed in our path. Then we cooked steak and shrimp for dinner, and ended with a quiet night at home. We're planning to go see the Maze Runner this weekend since Gramma is here to babysit!

Gonna miss these cuties! 

(I can finally put up their picture, since their adoption is finalized)

Friday: We spent the morning at our new place playing with Gramma. Then we had lunch at Crepes and Waffles again. It is definitely one of our favorites here! We played at a nearby park in the afternoon until the rain came.

Saturday: We woke up to more rain, so we called our favorite tour guide, Rene, to see if he had any suggestions for the day. We ended up touring the historical part of Bogota called La Candelaria, and the Simon Bolivar plaza. The rain let up and the clouds cleared, so we took the cable car up to Monserrate. It was a beautiful view, and the sun decided to come out. We walked the stations of the cross and went in the cathedral. It is amazing to see the sprawling city of Bogota, but even more beautiful were the mountains on the other side of Monserrate. Then we took the train called the Funicular down the mountain.

Update on Brielle: She is continuing to do well, and showing more improvement every day! I had not idea how much a three year old can eat; she gets close to the same portions as Scott. She has gained weight over the last five weeks, and developed the typical 'toddler tummy'. I love it! She loves to be tickled, ride in the Ergo, play crazy games with Daddy, read books with Mommy. She is pulling up more and more, and walking around using the rolling suitcase. She is making more babbling noises. The people who have seen her over the past couple weeks comment how much she's changed and how well she is doing, which is so encouraging to us.

Again, please pray for Sentencia this week! We cannot wait to get home and settle into our regular lives. We have scheduled her first appointment with the adoption doctor at the end of October, so we'd love some time to settle in before we begin any medical treatments. Thanks for all the continued support!

what.i.wore.wednesday.

So I've been pretty good this week! Except my computer does the picture taking, so the pictures as less than fabulous. Also, my head is cropped out of one because of bad hair. Sadly the only day I forgot to take my picture was on Valentines Day :(. But I did have a picture taken of me while I was being sang too. Let me explain...it is a fundraiser that our school does where someone can buy you a Valentine and a song. Mine was from my parents (Scott got one too, very funny & awkward). Some of students got sang too, which was sooo funny. One little guy said when they were done, "Mrs. Hamilton, that made me hot all over." Which in kindergarten language means embarrassed. Ok, so here are the pictures...

Thursday

Sweater: American Eagle

Skirt: Hand-me-down

Shoes: Rack Room

Necklace: Christmas Gift

Friday

Pink Shirt: Rugged Warehouse

Jacket: Christmas gift

Grey Pants: Ross

Boots: Rack Room

Saturday

Went hiking to the top of Stone Mountain with my bro & his gf

Sunday

Sweater: Wet Seal

Jeans: Aeropostale

Brown Flats: Kohls

I also have to include a pic of the awesome pillow I made for my new chair.

(I can't figure out how to turn the picture around)

Monday

(We have an entire jean week at school, hooray!)

Coat: Ross 

(Kayla & Jordyn-remember when we all bought these!)

Pink shirt: Forever 21

Jeans: Christmas gift

Cute Shoes: Rack Room

Earrings: Mexico

Tuesday

(bad hair not shown)

Purple Shirt: Christmas gift

Tank: Birthday gift

Jeans: Christmas gift

Necklace: Some stand in Mexico

Wednesday

(I decided to go casual)

Shirt: School Theme shirt designed by Scott-

Our theme is Amplivate: Encouraging others to be bold for Christ.

Jeans: Target

Tennies: Ross (Best shoes ever for only $30!)

Linking up at The Pleated Poppy