Many of you received the original emails we sent.  For those of you who did not receive them and are interested in the blow-by-blow, read on.

Richard has been with us for just about three weeks now.  He's gained over 1.5 lbs. in that time.  The horrible rash he had when we first got him is now completely gone.  Luna initially went through an adjustment period, and she's reverted to a few things - like her pacifier and her bottle.  Aside from those things, she's doing really well.  She looks for her baby brother every morning and seems to get a kick out of him.

We've gone out a couple of times already.  We went to mass last Sunday - just the four of us - and Luna was amazingly cooperative.  That was successful.  We've also gone out to dinner - which, although challenging, we managed to get through with minimal problems.

Things are going well.  The three weeks have flown by.

Yesterday, we became parents again.  As many of you know, we were looking into adoption options here in the Philippines.  The short story is that we are currently taking care of a three week old baby named Richard.  Whether we end up adopting him or not is yet to be determined.  If you want to see what he looks like, scroll down.  Otherwise, read on for the details.

This all started about four weeks ago.  At that time, we began inquiring on what it would take to adopt a child here in the Philippines.  We are still trying to have our own child naturally, but saw that there was an incredible need - especially after visiting the orphanages.  Thus, we made an appointment with the director of the Inter-Country Adoption Board (ICAB) - the government agency that oversees international adoptions.  Meanwhile, the maids here at Seafront quickly got wind of our interest - they have an incredible "chismis" network.  About a week later, we found out that Premie, one of the maids here on the compound, tried to bring over a four day old baby to our apartment!  The baby's mother, a 19 year old who, from what we could gather, lives in one of Manila's many slum areas, wanted to give up the child.  Well, we weren't home.

We ended up meeting with the ICAB director, who advised us on the most logical avenue for adoption.  The following week, we then met with a social worker from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on what we needed to do to become licensed foster care parents.  On the same day, the mother of the baby was also supposed to go to DSWD to arrange for the surrender of the baby.  The night before, Premie informed her of what she needed to do.  She was hesitant about going to DSWD - and we surmised that it may have been because she was interested in money.  As you can guess, she did not show up for the appointment the following day.

We moved ahead with our inquiries, uncertain of what would happen, but perfectly at peace with it.

Yesterday, at about 9AM, while Sonia was in the middle of a manicure, Premie showed up with baby Richard.  The mother had changed her mind and no longer wanted the baby.  With no home to go to, Premie brought him over to our place.  It was chaotic.  Sonia was getting a manicure in the bedroom while some of the embassy kids were in the living room playing.  Then this baby showed up!  Thankfully, there was no shortage of hands to help out.  Sonia only got one nail done.

Sonia took him to our clinic here for an initial check up, then to Luna's pediatrician in Makati.  Sonia put the baby seat back in the car and the two of them took off!

The doctors have said that he appears healthy.  He has a really horrible diaper rash, but in just one day, we've seen an improvement already.  We can't tell what his temperament is yet, but he struggles to get his arms out whenever he's swaddled - just like Luna would do.  He's super cute.  It took a few times before we finally realized the difference between boys and girls when it comes to diaper changes - we both got sprayed.

Luna appears to be adjusting fine.  She's definitely curious.  She looks at him a lot when he's in the bassinet - she goes up to the bassinet and shoves her face in the mesh to get a close look.  When Richard drinks his milk, she has to as well.  Otherwise, she's her usual oblivious, malikut (squirmy) self.

It's wonderful to have Mercy helping us.  We wouldn't be able to preserve our sanity without her.  Of course, we'll probably go to pieces during the weekend when she's not around.

We don't know what's going to happen at this point.  There are a number of possibilities.  We may be able to adopt him; we might just end up foster-caring until something else happens.  There are a lot of bureaucratic hurdles to overcome.  The worse thing that could happen is that the mother disappears and he gets stuck in the Philippine court system.  That could mean living in a children's home for at least three years before getting matched to a family.  We're currently trying to figure things out between ICAB and DSWD.

Chances are slim that we would be able to take him over Christmas - bureaucratic hurdles mainly.  In which case, if he'still with us, we'd leave him with our good friends Rick and Nancy.

Keep us in your prayers.

We hit a major milestone today with Richard.  A DSWD (Dept of Social  Welfare and Development) social worker came today and interviewed us to be foster parents.  They also made a decision to just leave Richard with  us, even though we won't be officially licensed until the end of the month.  This is fantastic news.  We originally thought that Richard  would have to go to a children's shelter while we waited for licensing.  This means that we get to keep him here for now, until such time as we  figure out the adoption options.  Our goal is to adopt him, but the road towards that end is a long one.

He's been with us now for one week, and he has already gained a pound.  This also is great news.  The bad news is that we're not sleeping very much.