History

Monday, July 28, 2003 12:04 AM CDT

Saturday night was a memorable night for us Kedge's as I returned home with Corinne to family and friends. Nick was ecstatic and got to enjoy the first kiss. We very much appreciate the late night crowd that ventured into the night to welcome Corinne and relieve DadÂ’s shoulders.

The trip was quite uneventful. I had a good seat close to the stewardesses for the 5hr from BogotÃ¡ to Atlanta. Atlanta was very busy, very noisy and stiflingly hot. I meet an airline pilot traveling with his family who let me know about a gate in the terminal that was much cooler and quieter. [For those that make the return trip and connect through terminal C, check out gate C24 and walk down stairs.] Corinne was able to get some sleep there during the 6Â½ hr layover.

The sold out jet from Atlanta to Rochester was very new but tiny. My seat was at the very back of the plane in a seat that did not recline. But the best was yet in store when last on the plane and sitting next to me was a mid-life aged woman returning from a Mary Kay convention. She was very nice though a bit put off by having to be seated to the back of the plane and though the plane was stuffed with boy scouts returning from some big-time jamboree, not a one of them offered to relieve her and earn a Â“sitting-next-to-a-crying-baby-for-two-and-half-hoursÂ” merit badge.

Corinne had pretty much had enough of smelling daddyÂ’s underarms by that time or she was pretty tired, one or the other. Pilots prefer terminal food to airline food and didnÂ’t return to the packed plane with their Popeye Chicken Nuggets until all oxygen was removed from the tiny tin tube. Corinne and I had a hard time finding a comfortable position in the unreclinable seat. All the time, Ms. Mary Kay repeated over-and-over, Â“What a precious, beautiful, _______ (fill in the blank) childÂ”. As anyone that has been accosted by Amway-like pyramids before, I could sense that the juxtaposition of the irritability that Corinne was experiencing and what Ms. Mary Kay was saying could not possibly be genuine. After a few questions, I was keenly aware of my own voice preventing Corinne from falling to sleep and quietly excused myself from conversing with Ms. Mary Kay. Sure enough, that is when the spiel kicked in and I noticed a mitt full of Mary Kay cards. Replies like, Â“My wife doesnÂ’t do make-upÂ” were rebuffed with skin creams to beautify. Â“My wife is beautifulÂ”, turned into a recruiting campaign complete with pink Cadillac possibilities. She was very helpful in getting the video camera to Diane in the terminal, but didnÂ’t miss the opportunity to pass on her Mary Kay card to a shaking-with-excitement new mother. I have a sense that she was a very nice woman that has been eased by pyramid into totally losing contact with when and where to apply her trade. Too bad, but we can laugh at the whole scene now.

Corinne fell asleep as soon as the plane began to taxi and the flight turned into positioning her and my back into contortions that perpetuated her sleep. I am happy to report that she slept until touch down and her lingering cold did not affect her ears in anyway.

Diane seems quite pleased with my Mr. Mom impression since I didnÂ’t kill her and she still sleeps through the night. I learned that if you donÂ’t eat, you do not need to use the rest roomÂ…much. The one time I needed to use the rest room, I found that the Baby Bjorn hook nicely on the stall door. Corinne thought it was a scream. [I really did not hook her on the stall door. I am only kidding. :-} ]

I would like to take this time to thank our nanny June who even after marriage in December to fine gentleman form NYC, stayed in the area to work with Nick until our return from BogotÃ¡. The proprietor (Betty) and staff (Alicia, Laedes, and Okenes) at the house where we stayed in BogotÃ¡ were endeared to him with his politeness and mild manner. We owe much to June for her loving touch and instilling the expectation of manners. Diane and I learned a lot from you June. Thank you for helping us pull off the stressful adoption process in an environment of life enhancing trust. We love you very much.

To all my friends that remain in BogotÃ¡ and are set to return to their home soon, you will make it home fine. People will help you along and any difficulty will turn into a fun story to tell. For the most part, all time spent in travel will all be forgotten when you see all at the end of the terminal.

To all those that made our life so pleasant and memorable in Bogota and remain to provide for those that follow, thank you so very much. We will never forget you. I honestly donÂ’t know how you can sustain the emotional upheaval of meeting and getting to know so many to only see them say goodbye. I want you all to know that I have delivered all requested hugs and kisses to Diane and Nick.

I will try to get one last picture to update the site soon.

Monday, July 28, 2003 12:04 AM CDT

Saturday night was a memorable night for us Kedge's as I returned home with Corinne to family and friends. Nick was ecstatic and got to enjoy the first kiss. We very much appreciate the late night crowd that ventured into the night to welcome Corinne and relieve Dad’s shoulders.

The trip was quite uneventful. I had a good seat close to the stewardesses for the 5hr from Bogotá to Atlanta. Atlanta was very busy, very noisy and stiflingly hot. I meet an airline pilot traveling with his family who let me know about a gate in the terminal that was much cooler and quieter. [For those that make the return trip and connect through terminal C, check out gate C24 and walk down stairs.] Corinne was able to get some sleep there during the 6½ hr layover.

The sold out jet from Atlanta to Rochester was very new but tiny. My seat was at the very back of the plane in a seat that did not recline. But the best was yet in store when last on the plane and sitting next to me was a mid-life aged woman returning from a Mary Kay convention. She was very nice though a bit put off by having to be seated to the back of the plane and though the plane was stuffed with boy scouts returning from some big-time jamboree, not a one of them offered to relieve her and earn a “sitting-next-to-a-crying-baby-for-two-and-half-hours” merit badge.

Corinne had pretty much had enough of smelling daddy’s underarms by that time or she was pretty tired, one or the other. Pilots prefer terminal food to airline food and didn’t return to the packed plane with their Popeye Chicken Nuggets until all oxygen was removed from the tiny tin tube. Corinne and I had a hard time finding a comfortable position in the unreclinable seat. All the time, Ms. Mary Kay repeated over-and-over, “What a precious, beautiful, _______ (fill in the blank) child”. As anyone that has been accosted by Amway-like pyramids before, I could sense that the juxtaposition of the irritability that Corinne was experiencing and what Ms. Mary Kay was saying could not possibly be genuine. After a few questions, I was keenly aware of my own voice preventing Corinne from falling to sleep and quietly excused myself from conversing with Ms. Mary Kay. Sure enough, that is when the spiel kicked in and I noticed a mitt full of Mary Kay cards. Replies like, “My wife doesn’t do make-up” were rebuffed with skin creams to beautify. “My wife is beautiful”, turned into a recruiting campaign complete with pink Cadillac possibilities. She was very helpful in getting the video camera to Diane in the terminal, but didn’t miss the opportunity to pass on her Mary Kay card to a shaking-with-excitement new mother. I have a sense that she was a very nice woman that has been eased by pyramid into totally losing contact with when and where to apply her trade. Too bad, but we can laugh at the whole scene now.

Corinne fell asleep as soon as the plane began to taxi and the flight turned into positioning her and my back into contortions that perpetuated her sleep. I am happy to report that she slept until touch down and her lingering cold did not affect her ears in anyway.

Diane seems quite pleased with my Mr. Mom impression since I didn’t kill her and she still sleeps through the night. I learned that if you don’t eat, you do not need to use the rest room…much. The one time I needed to use the rest room, I found that the Baby Bjorn hook nicely on the stall door. Corinne thought it was a scream. [I really did not hook her on the stall door. I am only kidding. :-} ]

I would like to take this time to thank our nanny June who even after marriage in December to fine gentleman form NYC, stayed in the area to work with Nick until our return from Bogotá. The proprietor (Betty) and staff (Alicia, Laedes, and Okenes) at the house where we stayed in Bogotá were endeared to him with his politeness and mild manner. We owe much to June for her loving touch and instilling the expectation of manners. Diane and I learned a lot from you June. Thank you for helping us pull off the stressful adoption process in an environment of life enhancing trust. We love you very much.

To all my friends that remain in Bogotá and are set to return to their home soon, you will make it home fine. People will help you along and any difficulty will turn into a fun story to tell. For the most part, all time spent in travel will all be forgotten when you see all at the end of the terminal.

To all those that made our life so pleasant and memorable in Bogota and remain to provide for those that follow, thank you so very much. We will never forget you. I honestly don’t know how you can sustain the emotional upheaval of meeting and getting to know so many to only see them say goodbye. I want you all to know that I have delivered all requested hugs and kisses to Diane and Nick.

I will try to get one last picture to update the site soon.

Wednesday, July 23, 2003 12:50 AM CDT

HOMECOMING INFO!
Greg and Corinne Kedge will be arriving at the ROCHESTER "international" airport this Saturday, 26 July.

Delta Flight 5056 (from Atlanta)
Arrives 11:35pm

We know this is a late one, but will love to see anyone there
that can make it.

------------------------------------

Hola! Sorry for the delays in writing, but the last few days have been pretty hectic. Lots of diplomatic officialdom and Corinne seems to have picked up a bit of a chest cold.

I am taking her to FANA to Elizabeth and Dr. this afternoon. She is still sleeping and eating well and smiling just the same. The visit to the nurse is a precaution for the trip.

All of the documentation issues went well if harried. We are really pushing Annette. Two of my appointments were made with only a couple minutes left before the doors shut. The most fun was in the US Embassy doctor’s office. Annette took me to get the passport, but had Joaquine take me to the doctor. When the doctor asked me for all my medical documents, the image of placing all those documents on the back seat floor of Annette’s car flood back to the frontal lobe. We had waited a while in the waiting room and by that time Annette had found the documents and raced back to the Embassy doctor’s office. When the doctor reached Annette on the phone, she already had someone running the document up to the office. So, from the moment of discovering them missing to the point that we had those documents in hand was about 5 minutes.

The other fun story at the doctor’s office is that as I initially walked into the doctor’s office and introduced myself, he asked if I saw the Rochester resident adopting through CRAN with her daughter that just walked out. I caught up with her at the Embassy the next day and figured out some interesting “small world” work-related stuff from her.

The doctor told me how much she weighed and her height, (well it’s really a length isn’t it), but since I lack the gene that retains such trivia, I confess that I have no idea what those dimensions are. Sorry.

Sunday, July 20, 2003 10:33 AM CDT

Today is Colombia's Independence Day celebration. There is bound to be a measure of bad news that will come through US news channels. Two days ago the mayor enacted to a law to make street vending illegal. Any visitor could easily conclude that that would affect about half the city.

Street vending can shock an American's sensibilities, especially when some of the hawking is performed by some of the very young in rather dangerous traffic situations. But, in an atmosphere of poverty, one has to respect that they are actually trying to improve their lives by being industrious.

Mixing Independence Day and nixing many peoples ability to provide for their family seems like bad timing to me. But, please rest assure, FANA and Betty’s place is far from where demonstrations are likely to occur for the cameras. This city is HUGE! We are safe and staying low.

Saturday, July 19, 2003 0:35 AM CDT

Long, long day. We signed Sentencia (final adoption decree) this afternoon. So, we will be free to travel home later next week. We will keep you updated on our schedule.

Other than that...I could only could update photos. Sorry.

Wednesday, July 16, 2003 0:54 AM CDT

I spent a most excellent weekend with my adoptive Colombian family, the Crespo’s. They took me up to a beautiful lake further up into the eastern branch of the Andes that braces the southern boarder of the plain that holds Santa Fe de Bogotá. It was a very nice drive and the lakeside town of Guatavita was beautiful place to spend the afternoon. The sun was absolutely brilliant. I was posing for pictures where I simply could not open my eyes. It was that bright. The church there was in full celebration of a wedding. Surrounding the church were many artisans to walk about and have a look. Some of the pottery was quite nice. We had a massive lunch at a restaurant there and ate way too much. On the way home, we stopped at Bogotá’s largest producer of dairy products and stocked up on all kinds of desserts, most of which did not make it home.

The next day was spent at their club Hato Grande for a round of 18 holes of golf. Now I have to say that although we did walk the 18 and walking 18 at 8000ft was positively exhausting, we did get have caddies, a first for me. Hector, my caddie, helped me negotiate the hilly terrain, but I just never seemed to be able to judge the wickedly fast greens. And, yes, if you hit the ball sweetly, it does seem to go further in the thin air. But the grass is most unusual. The moisture of a daily sprinkle on the local grasses creates a lush dense grass where a ball at rest sits in a nice high lie. But a ball will not roll on it, even in the fairway. The grass seems to grip the ball. I was quite honored to receive a club shirt and cap from the club.

Diane and I had some really good news: or buddy couple Peter and Deb Cullen have been referred a baby girl name Laura Adrienne at the golf tournament fundraiser Monday. They plan on being down here a week from Thursday and there is a good chance I shall still be here at Betty’s to greet them. Checkout a picture of Laura at their web site: Laura Cullen

A Privileged Journey Not of Our Choosing…
Is the secret to a life well lived that you allow yourself to defy the innate tendency of safety and open up yourself to risks of love?

I am finding that I have rarely meet with good fortune for things that do not really matter whether they be games of chance, experiencing my team hoisting the Stanley Cup, or growing grass in the front yard. But, if I risk in ways linked to love, I seem to deal myself a full house. As impossible as it once looked, my house is now full.

I recall times when Diane or I could not see a home that included Nick and Corinne. Glimmering through the fog of disappointment we only saw a thin, three-stranded braid of faith, hope and love for each other. We placed trust in each other when we didn’t trust our own selves and headed in a direction guided by the one goal of satisfying a desire to have a family with children. Each risky turn in the five (or is it six) year odyssey, seemed to be paved along a heartbreak ridge. An occasional wheel wavered precariously close to that ridge, be we never seemed to lose it.

We realize that we have 18 years of time to borrow these precious two and in that time we have many more turns to navigate, but I have to stop and look in this crib next to me and touch her cheek again to revel in my good fortune.

It may seem unusually risky to adopt internationally especially in a troubled country such as Colombia, but my experience of this country does not place it in the hopeless state that our government and media portrays the source of our insatiable desire for cocaine. I feel privileged to have been invited to experience its beauty in both its people and its terrain. I also feel an added sense of responsibility having been entrusted with two of this country’s most valuable assets.

Colombia According to Nick
After Diane and Nick returned to Rochester, Nick was looking at Corinne’s picture on this web page and shared these pearls to Diane:

“She’s happy because she has a big brother”

“I just need Corinne to love…and Mommy and Daddy”

“I know something about Corinne…she’s important” (I say “to whom”) Nick says “to me”.

Does it get any better than this? Perhaps after they go through the ‘I can’t stand her/him’ phase and they come back to each other at some point.

One most excellent quote from Nick while he was still here that I neglect to share was at a point when Diane's back was beginning to show the signs of fatigue that a trip like this is bound to bring on:

"Mommy is a broken-down, sick, old donkey."

Brutal.

Friday, July 11, 2003 2:46 PM CDT

I am really at a loss here, because my daughter is not providing me much woo-is-me story material. She is just too easy and delightful to make for entertaining stories. I am getting plenty of rest and when she needs to eat, the call for vitals is more a gentle wiggle and smacking of the lips on her finger to let me know. She will do this for an hour and still will not break out in any type of hollerin’.

The only time she cries seems be when she is hungry and she has to wait for her bottle while I change her. She stays content if I swap those chores. She is actually close to sleeping through the night.

Gratefully, whatever gripe (colds) that have swept through the house tagging Diane and Nick has missed Corinne and me. Diane and Nick have fully recovered and are doing fine just in time to make the plane trip a bit more comfortable.

Diane, Nick and I made a trip back to FANA for the morning to get a tour of FANA and get Corinne's Social History. Check out the photo area for a couple new picks including one of Flor and family. Nick got a chance to see where he waited out our arrival. He liked the medical staff a lot and was very quiet and polite while Diane and I listened into Corinne's Social History.

Probably the highlight of the tour was when we were in the medical examining room for birthmothers. As one of the English speaking staff was telling us about the room's facilities, I noticed a woman sitting next to her on the phone that looked very familiar. It was the woman that presented Nicholas to us at FANA 3 years ago. We never knew her name and we were so happy and excited to have met her again. Since I have not updated the kedges.com website since that time, I was able to download for her pictures of her presenting Nick to us. We finally have her name!

To better recover from the cold and since Colombian’s will typically eat much latter that Nick is familiar; Diane and Nick did not join me for the dinner invitation from the Crespo Family. They missed a very nice dinner.

They served me a Colombian beverage called refato, which is a mix of a kind of cream soda, beer and aqurdiente, which translates to “water with a bite”. It is a clear grain-like alcohol that has a pleasant anise, fennel, or licorice taste. The drink sounds unusual, but instead of upsetting the stomach, it seemed to settle mine.

I was served sobrebarriga, which is a cut of beef that is a muscle above the stomach region. I practiced all night trying to pronounce it correctly and I still couldn’t get my tongue to roll out those double r’s properly. I could fake it a little by bouncing my uvula around, but it really just isn’t the same.

The youngest son of the family invited his girl friend to the diner and she brought with her a kind of corn based biscotti called biscochos de cuaiz that is a favorite from the area of Colombia she is from.

At the end of dinner, the patriarch of the family paraded out four fruits that I had never seen or heard of to try: curuba,lulo, feitoa, mango extra sugar.

They have now planed a trip with me for Saturday to a town with a small lake in a beautiful area that is about an hour away. The small lake has a folklore associated with it that the indigenous people would throw sacrifices of jewels including emeralds into the lake for the gods. Sunday, I am to go golfing with the father, our 10yr. old translator and the son.

Colombia According to Nick
All day today, Diane is trying to pack for the return trip to Rochester. Nick is ready to go back home. The experience has been excellent, but he is ready to get home and play with his other engines. He has stated an interest in driving back. He contends that driving would be much better than flying. He still rules the roost here and regularly interacts with the maids/cooks.

He is once again smitten. This time with a new Betty’s Place resident. A Hartford, CN couple arrived with their newly adopted son Santiago from Cali Colombia to deal with the US Embassy here in Bogotá. Santiago’s mother is a “beautiful” (Nick’s words) Venezuelan. He never quits charming the ladies.

Tuesday, July 8, 2003 10:09 PM CDT

We have been adopted! On the flight from Atlanta to Bogotá we met a family whose one-year-old grandson was adopted from FANA. With them on the flight was their 10yr old granddaughter returning to Colombia from a 10mo. stay in Indiana with relatives. She acted as translator. They invited us to the very nice private club for the day on Sunday. We meet the whole family, grandparents, two daughters and sons-in-laws, with three children including our 10yr old translator and the one year old adopted son. They were very honored to host us and we were truly overwhelmed by their generosity especially with all the time they spent with us. Diane and Nick returned early to get a nap and I stayed on for a long Sunday drive through three suburbs of Bogotá. It was a lot of fun and an excellent experience. We are invited to their home for diner Thursday and I may get to play golf with them after Diane and Nick returns to Rochester.

Monday, Diane, Nick and I and the other couple we are staying with were hosted to a dinner party at Betty and Rafa’s home on the mountainside overlooking Bogotá. The last time we were in Bogotá for Nick, Rafa was out of town. Diane described it as getting to meet royalty. Though I have to say that it was a bit risky to allow him to pour my scotch on the rocks. Wow! That man knows how to pour a drink!

Unfortunately, Nick had come down with a cold and he was a little bit lethargic. Betty and Rafa made him feel very comfortable nonetheless. And the meal was fantastic and, of course, too much for our meager frames.

Today was an important day for us as we had an opportunity to visit the Hogar Marguerite d'Youville. There the birth mothers of many of the children adopted through FANA are provided a place to stay, nutritious food, life skills training, counseling, and some vocational training. Our donations for the adoption are used to support this facility. The Hogar is the primary reason that I was sold on FANA when considering our adoption options.

When we visited Bogotá last, a visit to the Hogar was not an option. This time, I am grateful that we were given the opportunity to visit. It is quite an emotional experience for all, one that the birthmothers that hosted us and we parents will not long forget.

I should first mention that the facility is beautiful appointed and maintained. All of WNY Families of FANA should be justifiably proud of what their donations have resulted in with the new addition to the Hogar. I cannot tell you how special this place is in helping these women gain a sense of confidence as they pass through this very difficult stage in their lives.

We all got a chance to speak about Nick to the birthmothers and how he has blossomed and the birthmothers got a chance to see their hopes and sacrifices realized. Diane and I got to hug these birthmothers as if they were Nick’s and Corinne’s. They got to hug us to get a sense of how their children would be lovingly held. It was all very important.

Though Diane and I are keeping a rather hectic schedule, we are staying pretty well rested. Corinne is making to quite easy on us. Maybe because Corinne is our second child, we are able to suppress the overwhelming desire to hold Corinne every waking moment. Due to the somewhat institutional nature of the orphanage, these children, especially at Corinne’s 3mo., are more content and need not be held all the time. Corinne loves to be talked to while in her baby chair and constantly offers a smile of invitation to engage her. I have no doubt that as the days go by, she will be less and less content to lie there smiling. But, not holding her all the time allows for dealing with Nick in such a way that he gets enough attention to deal with the transition of divided dedication. Diane and I are able to garner Corinne’s Colombian story and get the necessary rest to deal with the whole experience. Of course, Alicia, Betty and the cooks/maids help considerably!

We have gotten a lot of positive feedback from the staff and Betty regarding Nick’s behavior and engaging personality. A lot of it is innate to him, but he has had much help getting to this point from his nanny June and his mommy. His nanny sets out the expectations of politeness and Diane has taught him a security of love even among strangers … that is as long as Diane or I are within hailing frequencies!

Friday, July 4, 2003 10:28 PM CDT

Corinne is being very easy on the daddy for night duty. She had a bottle at 8:00PM and didn’t begin to murmur for a bottle until 3:00AM. She took close to 4 oz. Before falling back into a coma until 7:00AM.

Today we stayed pretty much at home. Diane had manicure/pedicure combo. Nick was not too keen on that idea and threw a fit. I think he thought she was having surgery. Well, the solution to get him to feel that what she was having done was not painful was to have him get a manicure. He loved it. Check out the photo album for an updated picture of this event.

There is another picture of Nick helping out Alicia give Corinne a bath. Anybody out there who has stayed in the double room off the kitchen knows of the intimacy of this bathroom. Now imagine mommy and daddy in the doorway taking lessons and some rummy trying to capture the scene.

The walls at Betty’s house are wallpapered with photographs of the kids; many pictures of the children are of those updated through the years. I think we found about five pictures of Nick in the wall-sized collages. One of Nick’s pictures we often see as the background for other children’s poses shared on websites like this one. The reason being that it is right at shoulder height above a couch in the family room; a setting often used for pictures. And of course, it is the most humorous of the five contributions. It is a picture of him sticking his tongue out when he was a little less than a year old. Check out the composite in the photo album zooming in on that picture. We got Nick to pose under it with his tongue out to mimic the picture, but we had to let him have “steam” come out his nose. It’s a Thomas the Tank engine thang…

The sweater lady arrived today. It is hard to pass up those beautiful, only-to-be-worn-once-before-they-out-grow sweaters. Just like for Nick, Corrine’s christening ensemble will be sweater ladied.

Colombia According to Nick
Now doubt about it, Nick is a momma’s boy. That is not a tattoo on Diane’s leg, that’s Nick. He is getting more confident with his surroundings and loves ducking into the kitchen to ask or thank the cooks/maids for something or other. But, all the same, it is often tough to get Nick to join dad on some adventure especially with Mom in the room. Even as a momma’s boy, Diane has to beg for a good long hug that he will typically capitulate to, but it is real tough for him to want to be snuggled by either of us. So, tonight, a very sweet thing happened to me while Mom sterilized bottles.

My ever-present wad of bubble gum, especially the bubble blowing episodes, always entertains Nick. So, while chewing he climbed up on my chest as I sat in one of Betty’s puffy chairs and tried grabbing bubbles giggling with each one snagged.

I commented to him, “It has been a long time since I remember holding you like this.” To which he replied, “I remember! I remember when I was a baby and you held me and took me home.” Daddy, beginning to dew up in the eyes, “From here?” Nick matter-of-factly, “Yes. I remember.”

Second-timers: Bringing you firsts is hard, but if you prepare them and you can run a 6min. mile ;-), you and they will be handsomely rewarded.

Thursday, July 3, 2003 9:53 PM CDT

If you are continuing to return here to check for another journal entry, you are probably interested in more than the ordinary Greetings from Bogotá. Well, I am afraid that I must disappoint this time around because I want to discuss the VERY ordinary. So ordinary, that it occurs to half the population of children under the age of 2-3 around the world on a daily basis and I don’t have a clue on how to deal with what would seem to be so ordinary.

Allow a bit of a digression here, as I need to share with you, if you don’t already know, that I am an engineer and knowing how things work and checking if they work kind of goes with the territory. I remember when Nick was brand spanking (I don’t spank) new and he didn’t poop for a day or so. When he finally did, I was so relieved. Something about seeing (more like smelling) that all the plumbing worked from point A to point Z just made me feel we had a working model.

So, same thing with Corinne…. YEAH! She pooped. Let’s check it out. Nothing-new here. It was substantial but we are veterans of poop patrol. We’ve dealt with behind the sack, up the crack, up the back levels of relief before with Nick.

First wipe on Corinne and suddenly I feel that I am on the southern flank of Vesuvius revealing an undiscovered labyrinth to Pompeii. I was about to begin an archeological dig! We did not know that cleaning up after our little princess would involve hand crafted diaper wipe origami-like excavation tools that would be needed to reach such crevasses! Remember, only boys, nephews, and other forms of XY material on both sides our family. We were caught a bit…unprepared. Any advice would be helpful. gd@rochester.rr.com. I am thinking about getting a headlamp….

I have updated the pictures in such a way that they should load much faster. There is a new picture of Corinne in the photo album. That smile is given to me virtually every time I stick my mug in her view. Scary, but true! She readily engages us in conversation. We have no idea what either of us is saying, but each of us seems riveted.

After we had returned from Colombia with Nick, we would always look at luck gone bad as payback for the astounding luck that we were experiencing with all that is Nick. Corinne is so perfect in so many ways, we fully expect that whatever good fortune we had remaining has been thoroughly exhausted.

Corinne was again easy on me last night. She had her bottle @ 11:30PM and then again at 5:00AM. We needed to get up at 6:00AM to be at Bienestar, the child welfare agency, very early. It is the state’s opportunity to interview us, but it was Nick that ended up answering the most questions…

Colombia According to Nick
Nick was a perfect gentleman at Bienestar. June, you would be so proud! Nick exercised some of his Spanish, much to the interviewers surprise. He sealed the deal! Probably the most humorous part of the Nick exchange with the interviewer was he continually referred to her as a mermaid (he has a soft spot for Ariel in the Little Mermaid). To understand his point, the context of her ensemble has to put into place. The jacket part was very loooow cut and it flared out like a tail. The color of her dress was a green they don’t make in drab Rochester. It kind of glowed. And just like Ariel, she had red hair. Gratefully, she only spoke Spanish and our translator was wise not to pass that observation on…

Wednesday, July 2, 2003 2:40 PM CDT

Well folks, I totally lucked out. The only thing that kept me awake was my own nervousness and that squeaky trundle bed. Corinne got a 2:30AM feeding that I could sense coming on for about 15mins so I had plenty of time to get out diaper change gear, rubber gloves, face mask, athletic supporter, Bozo the Clown hat and turn on Classical Music for Babies before the first whimpers could be uttered.

Unraveling the swaddled layers to the diaper was the most time consuming thing. I was able to mix, nuke, and shake the bottle with one hand while she played tightrope walker on my twig of an arm. Even burping was right on cue. The only thing to quibble about is that she is not guzzler and I couldn’t get her to take more than 3oz. Laying her on the floor and stomping on the bottle did not produce the desired effect.

After the bottle, she wanted to stare and smile instead of sleep, but all I needed to do was wrestle with the octopus of extension cables to swap the bright lamp back to the night light (being careful not to short the space heater) and when I turned around, she was out.

Nick actually had more difficulty through the night than Corinne. He slept in a different room than the previous two nights and that threw him off a bit. We are going to rearrange the rooms yet again to get the crib in the other room so Nick can have his familiar room back and I can get a bed that my vertebrae can relate. I will take a picture so folks can sympathize with the maids trying to maneuver a sheet change.

Much of the upfront documentation is being handled quite quickly. We have notarized powers of attorney, meet our lawyer Dr. Polo, and will do Bienestar (Welfare interview) early tomorrow morning. Not a lot of dead time waiting for all the legal channels to crank up.

It is really nice to work with Annette again and travel in her car decked out with seat belts! The “personal space” allotted to cars is about 1/10 of what we might find comfortable. Its just another one of those things you just experience and let happen to yourself here and think about latter.

I have reacquainted myself and the Walton’s with the layout of the streets and shops around Betty’s house. Tomorrow, I will probably introduce the Walton’s to Macu (More Artifacts of Colombia than U need).

Bye for now…

Tuesday, July 1, 2003 9:00 PM CDT

The presentation was a dream. We shared the event with two other couples getting their sons: one couple from our FANA group, the Walton’s hailing from Toronto (Oakville) were presented their son Benjamin and the other couple from Luxemburg were presented their son Andres. Annette and Guillermo took us all in his proudly polished red van decked out with 1in. whitewalls.

Diane and I received Corinne first. I held Nick while Corinne turned the corner. Nick had treated the news of Corinne at the referral in such a nonchalant, mater-of-fact manner; I didn’t know how he would react to Corinne at the presentation. Nick could not contain his excitement: “WE HAVE A NEW BABY NAMED CORINNE!!!” I really could not contain him and had to set him down. Nick had brought a little pink bunny for Corinne and from the floor, tossed it up at her as we were receiving her into our arms.

Perhaps Corinne is saving it for me tonight, but she has yet to cry or hardly fuss; that is how docile she is. She was all eyes for us and as soon as Diane said, “I love you”, she began to chat with us. Since both of the other couples were without video, I busied myself with the camcorder capturing the enduring images for all. Finally, I got to hold her. I think she likes me. I never let her go after that until perhaps an hour after we arrived back at Betty’s. Betty sez I turned into a marshmallow. All she wants is to be at the wedding when I have to give her away.

Mercedes, Flor, Elizabeth and many more familiar FANA faces were present for all the festivities including the Champagne (it is a Kedge event).

Celebrations continued at Betty’s with traditional empanadas. Steve Walton and myself have busily gotten the fireplace and space heaters stoked to warm the rooms for the night. We both have an interesting night ahead. I am going to go get prepared, if I can….

Monday, June 30, 2003 12:36 AM CDT

We have arrived!! Sorry for the late update, but we were really exhausted last night. And this morning was all Betty...need I say more? I have delivered to her the collective WNY hug.

Nick was positively wonderful on the trip up. The flight from Atlanta to Bogota was 4 1/2hrs with a couple pockets of small turbulence (the pilots made more of it that needed). He was very patient. A cute 10yr old Colombian girl behind us, fluent in English, entertained him for a while.

The most stressful part of the trip was making the connection in Atlanta. We had no time to spare just getting on the plane. Due to the late reservations and not getting to the gate early enough, not one of our three seats were together. The stewardess was unwilling, at first, to assist us in getting the seats together. Diane changed her attitude in really short order. We all sat together.

Probably the most wonderful thing was Nick coming into Betty’s and feeling right at home. He found all the train toys in about 10min. and checked out all the rooms within 15min. He slept right through the night. So, Nick is making in easy on us.

We are here with the Walton from the Toronto area for their first. We are doing are best to help them with the “lay-of-the-land”. The most important task is getting everybody’s computer up in running. Things are going pretty well. The penetrating coolness takes a bit getting used to, but the fire places are now warming everything up nicely.

Time for lunch. We should be good and rested for the big events tomorrow.

Colombia According to Nick
Nick’s first misstep in his new surroundings was a visit to the hall restroom here at Betty’s. Anyone can miss that step down. Nick does not feel that the toilet cover is agreeable to his tastes, but he thinks the term “fat lip” is funny.

Sunday, June 29, 2003 6:35 AM CDT

Friday, June 27, 2003 9:19 AM CDT

This weekend of our trip down to begin Expedition Corinne 2003; we have to miss two special annual parties: the Rochester FANA Pool Party hosted by Nick’s buddy couple John and Kitty Budney and the Schmitt Family Picnic (The Kedge matriarchal branch…). Very sorry to miss everyone. Someone else will have to remember to bring the SPF-45 sunscreen. At least you won’t have to endure Nick making a point about you looking like “raw chicken”. Party on and catch you next year.

Colombia According to Nick
As we progress with Expedition Corinne 2003, we often pause to look at Nick reminiscing and wondering at how he has grown since Nick Trek 2000. Diane verbalized her wonder to Nick in what would be a rhetorical question to anyone but a 3 year old, "Where is my little baby"? Nick's matter-of-fact point-out-the-obvious response was, "IN COWOMBIA, I'm a big boy". (The L's are coming along...)

To see our previous journal entries, click read journal history.

Monday, June 23, 2003 11:41 AM CDT

Yesterday, was interesting from a pastime perspective. In Rochester, everyone is a photographer and everyone plays golf. How these two pastimes evolved at this Arctic outpost is amazing to most, but it is rumored to be the results of a Disney brainwash. As everyone with two or more children knows, they are THE pastime.

Got up at 5:30AM for a 6:30AM tee time to shoot 9. 1st hole was a pick up 10 and the rest were varying degree of futility. I was just delirious with a bogey on 9!

Diane and I then traded time slots to go see the final day of the LPGA tournament (Ladies Pro Golf) here in Rochester. Lorena Ochoa standing at about 5' 7" (maybe 120lbs. - not a good judge of ladies weights and, surprise, the LPGA website doesn't publicize them) went out and shot a 66 that day, showing all what a simple, simple game it truly is. Her drives averaged 260yds for the 4-day tournament.

My clubs have been moved from the trunk of the car to the basement to be slowly transmogrified into quaint antiques until it comes time again to have a pastime...like when I take up the pastime of trying to convince Corinne what a simple, simple game golf is!

To see our previous journal entries, click read journal history.

Colombia According to Nick
Returning from golf after he woke up, Nick asked, "Why were you playing golf?" I had no answer for him.

Saturday, June 21, 2003 2:27 PM CDT

To see our previous journal entries, click read journal history.

Deb Cullen passed on a special picture she took on Referral Night of Nick and Diane. Check it out by clicking view photos.

I changed the background of the web page 'cause it was making me "giddy", as Nick would say.

On the 6-month anniversary of dismantling Nick's crib, we are having a re-mantling of crib party today.

At 3 years of age, Nick is actively offering classic “Nickisms”. I expect quite a few of them as we venture off to Colombia. When we first brought Nick home at 3mo., Diane’s mother asked her when she would tell Nick he was adopted. Diane’s response was, “I already have.” Though he doesn't really know what adoption means as that could take a life time, Nick is quite aware of where he hails from and that his birthmother says a prayer for him each day. Nick is looking forward to going to FANA and getting the baby, meeting Aunt Betty and talking Spanish with Flor. What I hope to capture is some of these “Nickisms” and pass them along in a section of the journal entitled: Colombia According to Nick. I kick off the section with these he shared with us yeterday…

Colombia According to Nick
“Corinne is lonely. We have to go get her.”

Nick is quite attached to each and every "stuffed" animal he has. We have reassured him that he need not share his bears with Corinne. But, when Diane indicated that we needed to get two FANA bears, one for him and the other for Corinne, his reply was, "I don't need a bear 'cause I am a big boy." We fully expect him to flip between "big" and "little" as the situation fits...

Tuesday, June 17, 2003 12:17 AM CDT

Diane and I are overjoyed with the presentation of our Fathers Day referral, but before we share with you some of our joy, I would to take of few moments with our greater FANA family.

For the Kedge friends and family members that come to this web site without the underlying back ground about what I am about to touch upon, our FANA family has suffered the sudden and tragic loss of Carloyn Van Schaik, a vibrant and engaging member of our very tight community and the mother of two precious daughters.

http://www.niagara-gazette.com/articles/2003/06/15/news/news1.txt

Over the next few weeks our FANA group will look to the Kedge's Caringbridge page for diversion, a diversion from much pain in our loss of Carolyn, a diversion of hope, a diversion to the promise of long held dreams fulfilled, the diversion that binds us all, a diversion that I promise to deliver on. But, before I can begin, I need to do what most all members of the extended FANA family need to do before we can carry on with our joys, our work, our responsibilities; I really need to let the tears flow as they will.

Crying is a uniquely human gift we (especially us guys) too often feel we need to suppress. To cry is to allow ourselves to escape the spiral that attempts to make spiritual sense of something that cannot possibly make sense. To allow ourselves to cry gives us the opportunity to reach a peace that will eventually allow grace to intervene. Tears will allow us to sleep so that we can handle the challenges of our days ahead. It will expose our vulnerability to our partners and even our older children who seek to validate and share with us their own fears.

Predestination never did it for me. If I am to believe freewill, then I have to believe that my god is as devastated as I. He cries with me. He holds me as I collapse in His arms and encourages me to let the tears flow. Please borrow Him.

I consider myself fortunate to have been acquainted with Carolyn. I will hold with me her excitement at the home coming for her second daughter. I will remember her disappointment at coming home so soon, because "...we were having so much fun!" I will remember her enthusiasm and grip on the crowd while she spoke at the annual board meeting; a command that needed no balky microphone. And I will remember and hold dear our casual conversations at FANA events.

To Carolyn's husband Rob: Let your God and your FANA family carry you. My heart, thoughts and prayers are with you over the next few days. I cannot comprehend you and your girl's loss, but I can promise you that I will go to Bogotá to seek and return with the joy that binds us.

Now onto that joy! Diane and I have come to a decision on that bundle of joy's name. Her FANA given name is Diana (Dee-anna), which really put goose bumps on Diane's goose bumps upon getting the referral. We will retain that special name as her middle name and her first name (trumpets sound) will be Corinne!

Sorry if I go on too much, but rambling is a tendency that is hard to break, but I wish to share with you a short story. When I was 9 or 10yrs old, I brought home a cat. Mom and Dad relented and Oscar the cat became a member of the Kedge family. Well, little Oscar wasn't “Oscar” for long, probably not more than a day. In a family filled with 4 boys, when Mom found out Oscar was female, not only was the poor feline renamed, but also it wasn't my cat anymore!

Like myself, Diane's siblings are all brothers. We have 5 wonderful nephews (no nieces). The extended Kedge family now has their princess! I share this with you for two reasons: 1) FANA has made Diane's and my dreams of a family with children come true but to try and put words to that joy for all our FANA friends would be a lot like preaching to the choir. So, we would like to take this last opportunity to give voice to the joy that FANA has brought to the extended Kedge family. Like most FANA parents, our extended families patiently endured with us our long journey extending every prayer and every hope. They all bask in a joy that FANA has made possible.

I did say two reasons and the second falls into the "public service" category: 2) If you are looking for a small cute pink dress, you may have to mail order from a distant land or wait for fall fashions, since Mom has already canvassed the Buffalo Metropolitan area.

We would also like to extend a note of appreciation to Peter, Deb and Mathew Cullen who have long journeyed with us and got to present Corinne’s referral to us on a magical Fathers Day! At the end of that night, Nick said to Mat, “You are a good friend!” To which Mat replied enthusiastically, “YA!”

Stay tuned for more caring on about Corinne...

Kind Regards,

Greg Kedge

Sunday, June 15, 2003 10:42 PM CDT

We are so happy to announce the arrival of our little girl. The Cullen family surprised us with the news on Nick's 3rd birthday, which was also Father's day. We can't wait to meet her!

Sunday, March 9, 2003 3:38 PM CST

We are so happy to announce the arrival of a little sister for Nick. The Cullens surprised us with the news on Nick's 3rd birthday, which happened to be Father's day also. We are so excited and happy to have Corinne join our family!

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