Crying a River

Our attorney got a call from PGN saying that our file had been approved. When he got there, they said it had been changed and we received a previo or kick out. They would not tell him the reason for the previo- only that the file would be ready to be picked up this Friday, Feb. 1st. Oh, we are so sad and heartbroken! We won't know what the previo is for until Friday. We are PRAYING it is something easily fixable. Will you pray that with us?

Seven Months

Isabella,

Happy 7 month birthday, baby girl. We miss you so much it hurts. It's a tough day for me because you still aren't home with us. You get a little bit older each day, and I don't want to miss any more of your first year milestones. Nobody in this whole world could love you more. I am so blessed to get to be your mama. I will keep fasting and praying until you come home.

Love,

Mom

Drops of Mercy

Lord, I pray for your sweet drops of mercy to fall over Isabella's file. Please be with our precious baby girl today. We miss her. Please keep her safe and healthy. Amen.

Trying to Breathe

Yesterday marked 5 weeks in PGN. Eight weeks seems to be the magic date when cases are approved. I did not call this week to check on our case. A friend of mine got a late kick out from PGN (her 3rd previo), and her agency said it was because she called PGN too much. We do not believe this was the real reason for the previo. However, I didn't call PGN just to play it safe.

At this point in the process, I feel like I'm holding my breath and I'm about to turn blue. I just need to breathe... in, out, in, out... and try harder to trust that the Lord's plan for Isabella's homecoming is best. Lord, help my heart to relax. Help me to breathe again as I surrender to your amazing plan.

To my surprise, the "nesting instinct" has appeared with a vengeance. We completely re-did my youngest son's closet and re-organized his room. All of the too-small clothes have found a new home at my nephew's house. Every last toy and book has its own special place. His room is decked out in a Pottery Barn surfer theme, complete with a real surfboard on the wall. It feels great to have his room super organized.

Instead of having the boys share a room when Isabella comes home, my oldest son decided that he'd like to move into what we were using as the playroom. We agreed and set to work. The four of us painted, organized and decorated his room this week. I'll post some pictures below of the 5 day process start to finish. I won his Pottery Barn quilt and bedding in an auction. Woohoo! We still have a few more things to finish~ like his window treatment and Kirk is building out a desk to install under his loft bed. It will be a great place for homework and a place to display some of his favorite latest-and-greatest Lego creations.

Primer time~ "Mom, we have work to do. Put the camera DOWN!"

First coat of blue~ Yikes! Too electric! Well, back to Home Depot to make it darker!

Ah, just the right shade~ just like in the magazine.

A few shelves to display trophies, school awards and his beloved home run ball

Finished product! Now we have an empty bedroom upstairs, which will someday be Isabella's room. I have always said that I would never start her nursery until we are safely out of PGN~ but guess what? Someone from church dropped off a fully-assembled, beautiful, white crib today on our front porch. It's currently sitting in my living room, of all places. Talk about an "elephant" in the room! Things are happening a little faster than I am ready to process. I want to guard my heart BIG time, but at the same time I want to be excited about Isabella's homecoming.

O.K... breathe... in, out.

Favorite Foto Friday & Update

I love this picture. It was taken a few weeks ago, shortly before we left to drop Isabella off at her hogar. I love to see how much Kirk loves Bella. He loves her with all of his heart. He is so proud of her and shows her picture to everyone. I love how he loves her. It shines in his eyes! I love you, Kirk! You are an amazing daddy! It's fun being parents with you!

Someone the other day either posted a comment on my blog or emailed me asking where I get Isabella's bows and headbands. I looked up the site to make sure I had the right address. When I checked out their site last night, I was happily surprised to see Isabella's picture under "Photo Gallery". Her picture is on the 5th row, I think. Their bows and headbands are wonderful! The headbands are so soft and comfortable. Bella never complains when she's wearing one. Their website is http://www.bloomingbows.com/. Cute stuff!

I am so sad to say that my beloved laptop caught a nasty virus two weeks ago. All my favorite Guatemalan adoption blogs that were saved under "favorites" are now history. That was about 7 months of work to find those blogs! I am sad, but truly I spend way too much time on the computer doing my "research". So, if I read your blog and I haven't stopped by to "visit" you in a while... I can't find you!!! Maybe you can post a comment at the bottom of this post. I should be able to click on your name and find you again. I miss seeing how all of you are doing!!! I pray individually for each of you and I LOVE it!

Thank you for your dream interpretations. They were AWESOME!!! Weren't those unique dreams? I sure thought so. I had another last night, too. I can't remember all of the details, but I was hugely pregnant, towards the end. We, in the Guat adoption process, refer to finishing the process of the final court (PGN) as "out". I can only hope and pray that Isabella will be "OUT" soon! Oh, called PGN today. Why can't I ever get ahold of an English speaker??? I tried calling for 45 minutes today, even before the sun was up. Thankfully, we are still with the 2nd Reviewer, I think. Praise God!!! For those of you still waiting to get into PGN, I am praying daily for you that the new Central Authority will process your papers quickly and efficiently. God is moving mountains for our children!

Two Dreams

Isabella is always the last thing on my mind when I go to sleep and the first thing I think about when I wake up. I have been sleeping fairly soundly, and haven't had any significant dreams lately... until late last week and this weekend. I had two significant (possibly adoption) dreams back to back. Here they are:

Dream #1 (Friday night):
The first one was about giving birth. In my dream, I was in labor. Out of nowhere came the obgyn/God. He delivered the baby girl faster than expected. It was shocking, but of course I was happy. Then I woke up.

Dream #2 (Saturday night):
This second dream begins shortly after I had given birth. The delivery team had just handed me my baby girl. She was healthy and perfect in every way. I was elated and the room was filled with such peace and joy. Then things got a little weird. The doctors and nurses were astounded that I was holding my precious, healthy daughter~ but there was NO UMBILICAL CORD! Not to get graphic... but they searched everywhere, if you know what I mean. They even sent me to a specialist, but no one could explain the mystery of the missing umbilical cord. Then I woke up.

Now, sometimes my dreams mean something and sometimes they don't. If you want to make a guess and interpret them for me, I would LOVE that! What do you think they mean, if anything?

Good News Friday

One of my blogger friends, sferrick, informed me that today is "Good News Friday". She had me read Isaiah 40. Those verses were such a good reminder to me that God is completely in control.

For some reason, Kirk felt it was important we call PGN for an update. I was hesitant, but he insisted. Of course Laura was on her lunch break, so it was up to me to get the update in Spanish. Ugh! I spoke with a really nice woman who told me we have been with the 2nd reviewer since the 8th! Praise the Lord!!! I am feeling so thankful that we're one step closer to bringing Bella home!

Snow Day

Today was the last day of Christmas vacation so we decided to live it up and have some fun at the snow. It started snowing and was just beautiful! In one of the videos I lost my white snow glove. It was kind of embarrassing because it was stuck to my sled. I'm such a dork!!! Bella, you are in for trouble next year!

No REAL News

Another day down and no REAL news. PGN (final court) couldn't tell me anything about our case today. Laura and Laura's boss both told me that their computers were down because of a storm. Hmmm... is that the full truth? I know that they are holding cases now until the new Central Authority is set up. Is ours one of them or are we with a reviewer?

Laura's boss (forgot his name) was able to tell me that we were resubmitted on the 21st of December. Hmmm... I thought the computers were down. How was he able to tell me this? Please don't tell me that they are working with an assortment of sticky notes!!! He also only spoke Spanish with words flying at 100 mph~ Ricky Ricardo style! Usually my Spanish holds up just fine, but it's more difficult over the phone~ so I'm afraid something could have gotten lost in translation. I just need to know what's going on!

Well, PGN is now closed for the day. Monday will be a new start, and I'll try again.

Isabella, you are MORE than worth the wait! We're doing everything we can to get you home. We'll never give up!!!

Here's my verse for today. It's from Psalm 25:5.

For you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

What a Beautiful Place

We loved staying at the Vista Real (Quinta Real) so much. It was just beautiful inside and out! We loved the food and the breakfast buffet was included. I love a good deal! We booked online and it was much cheaper. You should see it at night. The outdoors is lit by candlelight.

Do you like this little commercial? Ha! Ha!

No, seriously... we had such an amazing, relaxing time. We met some other adoptive families and prayed for them. All I can say is that God just blessed our time with Isabella, even though she was recovering from chickenpox.

Quick Update

I called PGN today. They have no record of our 12/21 resubmit. The last thing they have in their computer is our previo for no PA back in September. I told Laura at PGN that I have a receipt in hand as proof of our resubmit. She said that things must be backed up.