Embassy Day

Monday, April 28, 2008

Today was Embassy Day! Our appointment was at 8 am, and we were #25. Everything went so smoothly. We're so thankful about that. We weren't exactly sure which documents we needed because our unhelpful attorney refused to give us advice. Thankfully, the Lord had us run into the right people who assured us that all our documents were in order. What a blessing! Our Embassy appointment took 2 1/2 hours and Isabella was such a good baby. She took her bottle at 9:00, took a nap in my arms while we talked with all the other waiting parents, and woke up for our interview in the "little room" where we were interviewed about our adoption paperwork. Next, we were called to Ventanilla (window) #8, raised our right hand to swear that all of our info was true, signed on the line, and Isabella's adoption was a done deal. She is ours! She is ours! I have tears in my eyes as I write this. Kirk and I must have said 100 times yesterday that we can't believe this is all over. Her adoption was so difficult, but the Lord walked us through the fire. He is faithful! We pick up her visa today (Tuesday) and fly home tomorrow. I can't wait to go home and see the boys! The are going to go crazy over their baby sister. She is such a riot!

On our way to the Embassy

Grami picked out Isabella's Embassy dress. She packed it in Kirk's suitcase along with white tights with ruffles on the bootie. Kirk had the whole outfit laying out on the hotel bed when I arrived on Sunday. I love you, Kirk!

We had a celebration lunch at Chili's. It seems kind of funny to celebrate this monumental day at "Chili's", but we have limited option here, people! ; )

Last Day Fostering in Antigua

Sunday, April 27th, 2008

Meghan and I went to brunch at Hotel Santo Domingo. It's such a beautiful place. The whole hotel was built around the ruins of an ancient monastery. There are flowers larger than my hand, rainbow-colored parrots in the trees, the smell of sweet, fresh tropical flowers in the air and soft music playing in the background. This hotel is located near the entrance of La Antigua, and is a great place to have lunch or just walk around.

I SO enjoyed my stay with you, Meghan! You treated Isabella and me like family, and we couldn't have had more fun! God bless you, and I'll talk to you soon!!

Here are a few pictures from brunch:

We're PINK!!!!!!

Thank you, Jesus! We are PINK!!!!

Our Embassy appointment is early next week! I still can't believe it. I feel like it's a dream that we get to take Isabella home next week. I am so thankful and grateful for your prayers. It is such a blessing that the end of our process has happened so quickly. I can't wait for Isabella to meet her brothers and the rest of our big extended family. From what I hear, Kirk and the boys are busy finishing up Isabella's room tonight. I wonder what it's going to look like? I left them with my "vision" for the room. I'm excited to see the finished product when we get home. I'm so proud of my "three" boys!!

In anticipation of receiving our pink appointment, Isabella wore pink today for some "good luck".

First, we prayed for pink.

Then, I tickled her pink.

Next, she put on her pink tiara and chewed on a pink hair bow.

I think it was chewing on the pink sandals that did it! ; )

Thank you, Lord, for answered prayer!

Baby Was Sick

Isabella was so sick on Saturday. I had to find a good pediatrician and lab to run some tests. Thankfully, there is a GREAT network of fostering moms down here in Antigua. They told me where to go to find a good pediatrician. My tuk-tuk driver, Solomon, arrived to pick us up at 7:30 am. He brought us to Dr. Juarez, to the lab and to the pharmacy. I was so thankful for his help. I was also SUPER glad that I speak Spanish, so that I could explain to everyone what I needed. That gave me more confidence to travel alone with a sick baby in a city and country I don't know very well. People are SO nice and helpful down here. This is a wonderful place to stay.


The lab confirmed that Isabella had Roto virus. I don't even know how to spell it correctly. Thankfully, she only had it for two days; and today she is back to 100%. Saturday was a rough one! I think she went through something like 17 diapers in a few hours. I had to buy diapers one size too big, plus a Pull-Up on top! Here's a picture of sweet girl when she was so sick. She still had smiles for her mama!

On a happier note...

2nd DNA arrived to the Embassy today at 3:30 PM! Yahoo!!! Now we wait for our PINK slip/email. It's actually not pink anymore from what I hear, since it's sent via email; but it's still called "pink". This email will tell us when our appointment at the U.S. Embassy will be. I called the Embassy today and all of our documents are in order. They just needed the official DNA results. The woman who processes the pink slips hopefully will be back tomorrow (Tues.). She is in Washington, D.C. finishing some training. I, of course, am praying that we'll be pink tomorrow. Come on! Pray with me!

Oh, guess who I spoke with at the Embassy? It was John Lowell. I had no idea with whom I was speaking! He was SO nice and easy to talk to. He said he could hear my baby cooing in the background and asked where I was living in Antigua. We talked for a few minutes, and I explained my situation. I Googled (Is that a verb?) him tonight, and Mr. Lowell is the Consul General of the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala. Holy Cow! I talked to the Big Cheese! I'm SO glad I didn't know that when I was speaking to him. I would have been a frozen ding-dong! We'll see what happens tomorrow with pink. Every day is a new adventure down here!

Good News For Baby Z!

Hi friends,

Go check out my friend Meghan's blog. Meghan is my roommate here in Antigua. She's got good news to share! http://adoptingbabyz.blogspot.com/

You would not believe how strong Meghan is. She got prayed up on Monday morning, and went and talked to Sr. Barrios face to face! If you're not familiar with who Sr. Barrios is, he's the man in charge of ALL Guatemalan adoptions. He is a powerful man who has made adoptions extremely difficult. The President of Guatemala is trying to get rid of him, but he refuses to leave. Praise God for Meghan's boldness and determination... and the Lord's favor!

This is Baby Z waving adios to PGN!!!

4-17-08

Update: I just got an email from Pat at Labcorp. Our DNA arrived on Monday, and it was shipped back out to the Embassy in Guatemala TODAY! We are officially waiting for PINK! Pink is our appointment at the Embassy here in Guatemala. After that, her adoption is complete and we can take Isabella HOME! She will be an automatic citizen when we land in the U.S. Ahhh! I am so excited I could almost cry!!!

Today Isabella has been with me a full week. She is adjusting well. The first four nights she was grieving hard when she tried to sleep. She would startle and wake up scared because she didn't know where she was. Poor baby! She started relaxing on Monday night and has slept through the night each night since. Thank you, Lord! Bella loves to be carried around in the Bjorn ALL day. In fact, I have mastered using the bathroom with her still attached to me!! She will cry for me when I leave her in an unfamiliar location, and she follows me in her walker wherever I go in the apartment. I am pleased with her attachment. I think she is really starting to realize that I'm her mama. I love it! She is pure JOY to my heart.

We usually walk everywhere we need to go. However, if we need a quick ride we take a three-wheeled Tuk-Tuk (pronounced Tuke-Tuke). It's a wild, bumpy ride!!!

This picture is from a few days ago before Kirk went home. Isabella was wearing her first two-piece.

Hanging out on the grass in front of the apartment

She can't crawl yet, but scoots backwards.

Earthquake!

Well, wouldn't you know that the first night here in the apartment we experienced an earthquake (click link)! It felt like it lasted about 45 seconds, and it grew in intensity. I was just about 10 seconds away from scooping Isabella up from a sound sleep and running outside. As one of Meghan's kids said, " We were swayin' and prayin!"

4-14-08

Kirk is packing up and heading home today. Isabella and I are almost packed and headed to the apartment to start our journey of just the two of us here in Guatemala. My awesome roommate, Meghan, has been so wonderful and has collected "2" of everthing so our babies have tons of toys and supplies. This will be fun, but to be honest, I do have butterflies in my tummy!

Here are a few last pictures for daddy to take back home. We love you!!! Be safe!!!!

4-11-08

What a daddy's girl! She's 19 pounds of scrumptious chunk!

We visited the cathedral ruins today. It was built in the 1500's, but was destroyed by an earthquake in 1773. The ruins are a gorgeous mixture of Spanish architecture with Mayan influence.
Isabella's first time on the swings. She just laughed and laughed because she kept bumping into her daddy with her feet.
These birds were so cute. They love to be pet- but not by Isabella! When the bird on the right saw Isabella he made the sound of a crying baby. What a smart bird!

2nd DNA and Embassy Dr. Appt.

Wow! It's good to be back. I just love this country- truly! I love the sights, the sounds, the smells...well almost all of them! I got off the plane yesterday and it felt strangely like home.


One of my secret prayers was to be able to attend Isabella's 2nd DNA test and Embassy Dr. appt. We did not plan to make this happen- it just did! We arrived at the hogar this morning to pick Isabella up, and lo and behold, our appointments were within the hour! I couldn't believe it! God answered this specific prayer! I am just so thankful to share this with her and to document it for her baby book.

Here are a few pictures of our day: Last pictures at the hogar- !Adios! Whoo hoo!!!!!!

Preparing for the 2nd DNA test- It's my first time signing as Isabella's mom!
Isabella gives her thumbprint as her "signature".
Collecting the DNA sample- Isabella loved it! I think it felt good on her gums. She even opened her mouth for the nurse. We all laughed!
Embassy Dr. appointment

My other prayer was that Isabella would catch up physically and developmentally. We were here in GC with her 6 weeks ago and she was way off in all areas- to be expected, but way off.

She's always been off-the-charts tiny. Guess what? Today she's at the 50th percentile in ALL areas! Also, the doctor said that she is perfect developmentally. I was in such shock that I had the doctor weigh and measure her again. I still can't believe it! I am blogging tonight to say that God really, truly answers prayers!!!

My Favorite Color of the Day!

No, I'm not in Guatemala yet...

but...

We're ORANGE!!!

What does ORANGE mean, you ask? It means a series of things have happened in the last 7 days: Isabella's birth mom gave her final consent, Bella has a new birth certificate with our last name on it, she has her passport, and all of these documents have been submitted to the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala. In turn, the Embassy has issued their approval for the 2nd DNA test. From what I hear, this is called ORANGE because the DNA authorization used to be issued on an orange piece of paper. Now it's issued electronically, so ORANGE is actually WHITE, but people still call it ORANGE- weird! I'll call Labcorp first thing in the morning and fax the paid receipt back to our attorney in Guatemala. From there, our attorney will schedule Isabella's 2nd DNA test, which I'm guessing will be sometime this week.

All of this is happening so quickly! I am just so thankful to the Lord for His faithfulness. Do you remember my post a long time ago about my dream about Isabella being "born" really quickly at the end? This is just like my dream! Amazing!

To my Guatemama friends who are still waiting for PGN approval... I am on my knees daily begging the Lord to release your babies. I care so much! The phrase, "Pray without ceasing" keeps coming to my mind. I am doing just that!

4-7-08

Gosh, it's been a whole week since I last blogged! Things are moving crazy fast around here! We are trying to put together Isabella's nursery, which still remains a work in progress. I don't have any pictures yet because it's only halfway done. However, if your curiosity is piqued, think... Pottery Barn, girlie, cheerful, white waynes coating... and there you have it! The boys helped Kirk measure and saw the waynes coating. It's not perfectly straight, but it was done with LOVE by two big brothers! I can't wait until it's done. It will be my new favorite room in the house. Today I worked on a photo project for above her crib. I used black and white photos of Isabella in white frames, and they'll hang from pink and white gingham and organza ribbons. Ooh la la! My blistered finger from the hot glue gun is a small price to pay for a cute homemade project!

Our attorney emailed to say that we should have Isabella's new birth certificate (with our last name) tomorrow. We are praying today that there are no issues with the Civil Registry (They issue the birth certificates). Then he will get her passport the same day. After that, he will submit those docs to the U.S. Embassy and get our approval for the second DNA test (to prove that she is the same baby as in the beginning of this adoption process. We already know she is!). He said that our Embassy appointment will be approximately 3 weeks after Isabella's DNA test. If someone knows differently, please let me know!

Thank you all so much for your comments, well-wishes and especially prayers! Each one is like a little gift to me when I open my email. It reminds my of this verse...

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

My next post will most likely be from GUATEMALA!!!

Hasta luego,
Stacy