One month of Bahia

Hi family,
Sienna inspired me to post. Thanks Sienna. Those of you who are on my Brasil email list already got this update today. Sorry. Those of you who are not on my list and want to be send me an email at damarispalmer at gmail dot com and I'll add you.
xoxo

Hi friends, I thought I'd give a little update on our first month of Bahia.

Our first visitors just left and we wish they had stayed longer. Josh and Heidi (Christian's cousin and her husband) came to visit us and they were so much fun. They love food, which is always fun. They wanted to eat and try everything, so we pretty much ate and hung out at the beach a lot, my ideal way to spend time. They also brought us stuff that I had ordered online, a bigger mosquito net, some chapter books for Enzo, and washable paint for Maria. Thanks Heidi and Josh! It's amazing the stuff you miss.

Our house is feeling more and more like our home. Here are some pictures. We're also feeling more like we have a routine so it's easier to enjoy where we're at.

Enzo is going to Kindergarten here. He's getting the tail end of Kindergarten because the school year ends  in the beginning of December. We're trying to get him caught up with his class and he's a good sport about it. It's fun seeing him learn how to read in Portuguese and figuring out where to put accents on words. In February he starts first grade and in first grade they only write in cursive. We'll have a lot to practice.

Maria is pretty much potty trained. During the day she only uses underwear but at night and during naps she still wears diapers. Diapers here are awful and super expensive, she was getting horrible rashes. I think we're all happy that for the most part she's diaper free.

This past week Christian and I went to an orphanage in Ilheus, the big town where stuff like orphanages exist. We got some more information on adoption and it's pretty complicated to adopt through the orphanages specially for the age that we want (under two). We don't care about gender or race but we do want a child that's younger than our two children. It doesn't have to be a newborn, but it does have to be younger than Maria. Christian talked to a local lawyer and she said the most common form of adoption is when someone gives you their kid. I know a lot of people who have adopted (my aunt, bishop, god-mother, and other close friends) and it's always because someone asked them to take their child. I'm kind of weirded out by this for various reasons, mostly because what forces people to do that in those situations are economic reasons which I find extremely problematic. Anyway I won't go into it too much but just wanted to share that we're really hoping we'll be able to adopt while we're here if it's the best thing we can do for a child and for our family. If it happens it needs to happen before March. We can't leave the country for 6 months after we adopt. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers that if it's the right thing to do then it will happen.

Love, Da