Snow White... In the snow! Blancanieves... En la nieve!

Alejandra spent her first US Halloween dressed as Snow White while looking at... snow!
In a freak snow storm that came out of nowhere Connecticut was covered by inches of snow. Alejandra's reaction to her first sights of snow? She tried to lick the snow off the window. She thought it was a bunch of ice cream!


Alejandra pasó su primer Halloween en Estados Unidos vestida de Blanca Nieves mientras contemplamos... la nieve! Tras una tormenta repentina que cubrió a Connecticut de nieve Alejandra vio nieve por primera vez. Su reacción? Trató de chupar la nieve desde la ventana como si fuera un montón de helado.

Fathers and daughters

Alejandra has an amazing relationship with Mark and it has been a joy for me to watch them. I was blessed to have a great relationship with my dad, it wasn't just the fact that we communicated well, it was more like he always knew what I was going to do before I did, as if I was a reflection of himself.
Every day when Mark comes home from work Alejandra jumps up and down when she hears the door. "Papi, papi!!" she screams. It is the cutest thing. So I decided that if the last post was dedicated to Aleja's grandma this one should be about Aleja's dad, the best dad ever!

Alejandra tiene una relación muy linda con Mark y ha sido maravilloso verlos juntos. Yo tuve la bendición de tener una relación linda con mi papi, no es solo cuestión de que nos entendemos sino mas bien es como si el supiera lo que voy a hacer antes que yo misma, como si yo fuera una reflexión de el.
Todos los días cuando Mark llega de el trabajo Alejandra salta de la felicidad y grita "Papi, Papi!" Así que decidí que si el ultimo mensaje era dedicado a la abuelita Mona este debería ser dedicado al papi de Aleja, el mejor papi de el mundo.

Hurricane Mona

La abuelita Mona vino de visita y en su paseo a Estados Unidos le mostramos un huracán y un terremoto! Pasamos delicioso y la abuelita consintió mucho a Aleja. Nos dimos cuenta que los chiquitos hacen mucho para tramar a los abuelitos... Alejandra nunca nos deja peinarla pero de algún modo la abuelita le hizo muchos peinados sin problema. Aleja con su mami solo come mango pero con la abuelita come frambuesas, melón, kiwi, fresas y uvas.

La abuelita nos va a hacer mucha falta y ponemos foticos de su paseo para que vean lo mucho que Alejandra disfruto'!

Besitos a la abuelita Mona!!!

Te amamos "Nonna"!!!


Grandma Mona came to visit and during her stay she saw an earthquake and a hurricane! We had lots of fun and Grandma loved spoiling Aleja. We realize now that babies do things for their grandparents they would never do for their parents... Alejandra hates it when I touch her hair... but she doesn't seem to mind when Grandma is doing crazy hair styles for her. With me she only wants to eat mangoes and with grandma she ate raspberries, strawberries, bananas, kiwi and grapes.

We are going to miss grandma Mona very much so we are posting pictures to show what a great time Alejandra had with her grandma.

Kisses to abuelita Mona!!!

We love you "Nonna".

Miss independent.

Alejandra is very independent. She won't wear sandals during summer, she only wants to wear her boots and forget about hats... she wants to put her undies on her head!

Aleja es una chica muy inependiente. Come ven por las fotos ella no quiere usar sandalias en el verano sino botas y no quiere usar gorros sino se pone la ropa interior en la cabeza!

Alejandra and Tchaikovsky

For a while we have had the feeling that Alejandra might want to be a dancer. All our doubts were put to rest when her uncle Jorge Andres (who is also her Godfather) sent us the DVD for Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker". She watches the "Ballerinas" over and over and now can do the full pirouette!!! Only problem is... she gets a bit dizzy!

Ya sentíamos que Alejandra quería ser bailarina. Pero cualquier duda ha desaparecido. El padrino y tío Jorge Andrés nos ha mandado un DVD de "El cascanueces". Ella mira a las bailarinas una y otra vez y ahora ya sabe hacer una pirueta completa! El problema es que se marea un poco!

Baptism! Bautizo!

Hi everyone! Sunday was a very special day as we celebrated Alejandra's Baptism. Alejandra was all laughs (apart for the water bit) and she kept pointing at the little angels around her.It was a very special moment for all of us. I got very emotional, as if all of a sudden I realized how incredibly blessed we are. As I was holding Alejandra in my arms I couldn't believe our luck. How can she be so amazing? Only God knows!

Hola a todos! El domingo fue un día muy especial ya que celebramos el bautizo de Alejandra. Ella estaba riendose mucho y señalando a los angelitos con los que jugaba. Fue un momento muy especial para todos nosotros. Yo me emocione mucho y hasta me puse a llora. Es como si de repente me diera cuenta de lo bendecidos que somos. Mientras abrazaba a mi Alejandra no lograba entender como es posible tener tanta suerte en la vida. Como es posible que ella sea tan espectacular? Solo Dios sabe!

Alejandra is missing her abuelitos in Colombia.

Lately we have been missing Aleja's abuelitos in Colombia. So we are sending then a special kiss!

Ultimamente hemos extrañando mucho a los abuelitos en Colombia. Así que les mandamos un besito especial!

What's up? Como van?

Hi everyone. It is hard to believe but we have been together as a forever family for 3 months. It has been the best time of our lives. We thank God every day for Alejandra. She has such an amazing personality. I think she always wants to laugh, she just needs an excuse. In the morning she wakes up making sweet faces and saying "Mami..."Mami". She loves her "huevito" for breakfast and then the day is, as we call it, great fun adventure. We go to the grocery store almost every day since it seems to be her favorite place. She points to everything and gives names to things, waves hello to everyone and thinks the self service checkout is simply amazing. Then there's the park and the library where she grabs every book and "reads"for a while. Then she plays with mommy and daddy...What an amazing angel. She is the best gift God could have ever given us!

Hola a todos. Es difícil poder creer que ya llevamos tres meses como familia. Ha sido el mejor tiempo de nuestras vidas. Le damos gracias a Dios cada segundo. Alejandra tiene una personalidad maravillosa, es como si siempre quisiera reír y simplemente necesitara una excusa. En la mañana se levanta diciendo "Mami, mami" y haciendo caritas tiernas. Le encanta su heuvito de desayuno y luego nos alistamos para una aventura tras otra. Vamos a la tienda casi todos los días ya que le encanta mirar y señalar con el dedito y saludar a la gente. Luego vamos a el parque y la librería donde le encanta sacar todos los libros y "leer" con mucha atención. Luego juega con nosotros...Que nena tan hermosa y maravillosa. Ella es el mejor regalo que Dios nos habría podido dar.

Alejandra Dancing!!! Bailando!!

Aleja... What are you thinking about? En que' piensas mi Aleja?

Alejandra loves looking out the window... And mommy can't help but to wonder: Aleja, What do you think about?

A Alejandra le encanta mirar por la ventana... Mientras la mami se pregunta: En que piensas mi Aleja?

Our daughter's eyes / Los ojos de nuestra hija

If the eyes are the windows to the soul then Alejandra has the most beautiful, bright and amazing soul in the world!

Si los ojos son las ventanas del alma Alejandra tiene el alma mas linda, pura y brillante del mundo entero!

Awake! Despierta!

Alejandra always looks lovely but there's nothing like the look she has when she first awakes, amazing!
Alejandra siempre se ve divina. Pero realmente no hay nada como las caras que ella hace cuando se levanta, divina!!

Walking! Caminando!

When Alejandra first came into our lives she wasn't even crawling. She used to tuck one leg under her butt and push herself forward with her arms. Today she crawls everywhere and is starting to walk. It is such a great joy to watch her learn!

Cuando Alejandra llego' a nuestras vidas no gateaba, se ponia una pienita bajo la colita y se empujaba con los brazos. Hoy ella gatea por todas partes y ha empezado a caminar. Ha sido tan hermoso verla aprender!

Alejandra working at the office / Trabajando en la oficina

Aleja's room is full of toys. Yet she seems to find the room next door (office) much more interesting. Exhibit A: Aleja playing with the caps of my camera lens, Exhibit B: Aleja playing with tapes, Exhibit C: Aleja laughing at mommy for trying to contain the chaos!

El cuarto de Aleja esta' lleno de juguetes. Pero por algun motivo a ella le encanta el cuarto de al lado, la oficina. Prueba A: Aleja jugando con las tapas de los lentes de la cámara. Prueba b: jugando con cassettes. Prueba c: riendo de la mami por tratar de contener el caos que se ha vuelto la oficina.

Faces / Caras

I know everyone believes their child to be the most amazing and the most intelligent... But Alejandra REALLY is something else. She is truly the most expressive child in the world! When she laughs it isn't just a laugh, her laugh fills up the entire room. When she is surprised she is truly amazed.

Sabemos que todos los padres ven a sus hijos como los mas perfectos e inteligentes. Pero realmente Alejandra es una chica especial. Ella es la nena mas expresiva del mundo! Cuando rie es una risa que llena el cuarto, cuando se sorprende se emociona tanto... mejor dicho, les mostramos en fotos.

Growing up! Creciendo!

Today we made the change from size 12M to 18M. Oh, how fast they grow :)

Hoy cambiamos de talla 12Meses a 18 Meses. Como he crecido de rapido :)

Gracias! Thanks!

We have been home for a week and Alejandra keeps amazing us more and more every day. She loves her room, sleeps well and loves Quaker Oatmeal! All our fears of her being able to adapt to the unknown are gone. She is simply the best. As I watch her play with us as if we had always been together I wonder how can we be so blessed?
As we look back at our journey we think that we could have never done it without so much love and support.

Our friends and family know how happy we are but we also want them to know how grateful we are, to them for their support and to God for all his blessings.

To our friends at Colombian adopt Colombians, Melinda, Carolina, Juanita, Paula and others: Thank you for taking the time to explain the unexplainable and being so kind. Adoptions are made difficult by the lack of information provided for adoptive families and this group has been amazing in guiding us.

To our families: Both our parents became grandparents with Alejandra's arrival. Their joy can be seen reflected in our daughters eyes every day. Grandma Myriam who made our stay in Colombia the best time ever, Grandpa Jorge for adoring Aleja, Grandma and Grandpa Perugini for the great welcome home.
To all my cousins, aunts and uncles for helping create a great baby's paradise. From a walker to a crib, toys, clothes, highchair... Aleja had it all thanks to our wonderful family in Colombia. Ana, Mona, Clara, Jairo, Jaime, Maria Angela, and all! To my Grandpa Mario for sharing his home with us during our stay. Aleja loves you so much great grandpa!

To our friends: The Montes family for being a great inspiration in more way than I can say, the Giarnellas and Debbie for always being there, JoAnn, Tammy, Judy, Karen, Michelle and Brian and so many more for all the support.

We could have never done it without YOU. As I look into Alejandra's beautiful eyes I hope all of you understand the great joy that has filled our lives! For that and so much more:

Thanks!!!!

Abuelitos / Grandpas

Vamos a extranar a los abuelitos... Y el juguete favorito de Alejandra...Sus gafas!

We are going to miss Grandma and Grandpa... And Aleja's favorite toy... their glasses.

Coming home / Vamos a casa

Gracias a muchas bendiciones, suerte y nuestro super abogado Oscar Abril ya tenemos todos los papeles para volver a casa!

Thanks to great blessings, luck, and our layer Oscar Abril we'll be back home Friday!

High Chair

After two weeks we finally got Alejandra to sit down in a highchair... for abour five minutes...

Tras dos semanas finalmente logramos que Alejandra se sentara en mesita a comer... por cinco minutos...