Winding Down

Well, here we are at Dec 28th. PGN seems to be open this week. I have seen a few cases signed out for other people but unfortunately I haven't received "the call" yet. Tomorrow will be the last day to get out of PGN this year. I am not optimistic but I know it is getting close.

I am having such a hard time sleeping lately. I was up until 3am today and then when I laid down my mind just started going a million miles a minute. Mostly about Evvy and the adoption process but work did squeeze in a little bit last night too. I have been off for almost 3 weeks and I will be going back next Tuesday (next year!). Not really dreading it, just know there will be a lot to do. I'm not looking forward to the "do you know anything yet?" questions starting again. That has been a nice part of the vacation is that I haven't had to hear that question at all. I have pretty much kept to myself or with Peggy's family or with my other friends that are in the process or have just recently completed their adoptions. They all know better than to ask the question.

Part of the reason I was up late last night was that I wanted to upload some pictures. To see them, click on the "My Pictures" link in the sidebar. I created a Misc Pictures album that has pictures of our big snow storm, my baby shower, making gingerbread houses, Parker's (Peggy's son) Christmas Posada school play and Christmas morning.

Evvy's foster family emailed me last week that their computer was functional again and sent one picture (taken in October). It is really sweet but I am really craving a new picture. I requested one in her Christmas outfit but haven't heard from them since last week. I hope computer didn't crash again.

A frien of mine who just brought her daughter home last week, received free tickets to a dinner theater yesterday. She invited me and we had a really nice time. The play was very entertaining and the food was fabulous!

I am also working on painting my kitchen. I just have one corner (behind the stove) left to complete. I guess I better stop avoiding and get back to it. Need to finish washing wall and get the primer on it. I am hosting quilt night tonight so it woujld be nice if the kitchen were put back in the kitchen prior to that. My dining room table is pretty full right now. I also want to clean out and rearrange the cupboards to make room for baby stuff!

I will check back in before the end of the year if I get "the call." Otherwise I will probably start the new year off with a post.

Susan

Merry Christmas!

I can't believe it is Christmas already. This has been a very calm season for me. Having the last 2 weeks off of work has been nice and relaxing. I have got a lot of things accomplished.

In preparation for Christmas I baked some cookies and made 4 different types of candy. I always enjoy making it so that I can give it away. On Thursday, I went to Peggy's house and made gingerbread houses with her 3 kids. We have simplified the last couple of years and used graham crackers instead of baking the real ginerbread house pieces. The kids sure do enjoy making the houses. Couldn't have anything to do with all the candy! I can't wait until Evvy is big enough to make her first gingerbread house.

This is only my second Christmas in my life that I haven't spent it with family. I really had hoped to have Evvy home this year so I hadn't made any plans. I am remarkably upbeat though and hoping she will be home for Valentine's day or my birthday a week later.

Good news, this week I received an email from Evvy's foster family. There computer has been broken since I went down to visit so I haven't had any contact with them. I had really come to count on the email updates and occasional pictures that they would send me.

Here is the picture they sent me this week. It was taken back in October but it is still very sweet.

I sent down a little Christmas outfit and I asked the family to take a picture of her on Christmas to send to me. I hope they send it to me on Christmas. That would be the best Christmas present ever.

Evelyn has started eating fruits now according to the foster family. She continues to be healthy and happy.

Hopefully will have an update soon with a Christmas picture!

Susan

Passing the Time

So I am now starting week 2 of 3 of my "forced" vacation. I stayed pretty busy last week with projects around the house; doctor and dentist appointments; hemmed curtains in Evvy's room; cleaned out back porch for donations to DAV; raked up some leaves; made a lot of phone calls.

This week I have been baking and making candies for Christmas gifts to friends and neighbors. It has been fun and I hopefully will give it all away so I don't snack on it.

I also started handquilting a pinwheel quilt that I made the top for a couple of months ago from scraps. It is a simple but pretty quilt. The quilting is very simple also. I am just quilting a quarter inch inside each triangle. It is really just a project to keep my hands busy. My girl is going to learn to love quilting! My friend Peggy and I can't wait to teach our girls how to quilt. Erica will have a couple of years headstart on Evvy but that is OK. Erica is so cute. Peggy has been hand quilting a beautiful quilt for Evvy and when Peggy sits down to work on it now, Erica says, "Mom, you quilting?" "Mom, you done quilting?" I think Erica is ready for Evvy's quilt to be done as much as Peggy is. She finished all of the blocks this past week and now just has the border to finish. It is a truly beautiful quilt. Peggy has such tiny stitches. I think she measured last week and she quilts 10-11 stitches per inch. I on the other hand stitch about 6 stitches per inch. She wonders why it takes her so long to quilt! Click over to Peggy's blog (see sidebar for link) to see a picture of the quilt. I don't think she has a recent one with all the squares done yet.

I can't believe that Christmas is just a week away. This will be only my second Christmas that I haven't spent with at least a part of my family. The other Christmas was when I was in training preparing to serve my mission to Guatemala. My life has just been totally put on hold waiting for Evvy to come home. I haven't made any plans. I am also just trying to save all of my money to pay for the adoption and to pay for living during my time off when she comes home. I am surprisingly not too down about Christmas. I feel bad that mom & dad won't have any of us kids with them this year. Last year Allan's family and I were out there for the holidays. They just have one month left of their mission service in Salt Lake. They will be back in Texas the end of January. Hopefully, we will be taking a trip to Guatemala shortly after they get home. We can then all celebrate our birthdays in Guatemala. Mom's is the 4th; dad's the 16th and mine is the 21st. I can't think of a better birthday present for any of us!

I am feeling a little more upbeat now that I have received an update out of PGN. Not the best of news but at least it was easily remedied and they haven't found anything else wrong with the paperwork. And I would think after 13 weeks they should have found any and all problems with the paperwork!

7 more days to Christmas! I am going to try to call and talk to Evvy's foster family on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Susan

I asked for news and got it

I emailed my social worker on Monday and requested information about my case. The file has been in PGN since Sept 12 and we haven't received any good, bad or indifferent news since then. It has now been almost 14 weeks which seems like an eternity.

Well today, I finally got an email back from my social worker stating that PGN has requested a copy of Evelyn's DNA report. This should have already been included in the file but apparently either it wasn't or it got lost in the last 14 weeks of the file being shuffled around PGN. Good news is that my SW faxed a copy so hopefully we can get back in PGN quickly and hopefully out for good.

It seems that this week there have been a lot of cases released that went in during September so maybe they are making a concerted effort to clear out some of the older files before the end of the year. Maybe they need to make their numbers look good or something.

Anyway, I asked for an update and I got it. I am relieved to at least know that my file isn't lost and it has been looked at.

Hopefully good news to follow soon.

Susan

Tired of waiting

Really down today about the wait. I can't believe it has been 3 months since our case went into PGN and we have heard nothing. Going to call the agency on Monday and push for some answers. I just can't believe that the lawyer can't tell them any information. I keep seeing other cases that went in over a month after our case did and they are already out. I know that cases don't go in order but for having a very "generic" no problems case, I am very frustrated. I just want to find out something before the end of the year.

Sorry for the downer post.

Waiting

The waiting is really getting to me. I get asked the question, "have you heard anything?" or "when does she come home?" at least 20 times a day. I know people mean well and it is after all what my life is revolving around right now so it just tells me that people are interested and concerned with what is going on in my life. I don't get mad about the question, just frustrated that I can't answer it and don't know when I will be able to answer it. Most people don't understand the whole international adoption process (although they are getting a lot of education from me).

The wait is so much harder now that I have met little Evvy. I have 5 pictures of her lined up on my entertainment center so that I can look up from the computer or TV or just walking through and see her sweet face. She is so real to me now. I was so lucky to have Peggy get about 40 minutes of video of us when we visited. I was able to put the video on DVD so now I can watch it whenever I want. I might need to make a couple of backups in case I wear out the first one. Mom, if you are reading this, you and dad will get a copy and if it arrives before Christmas, I give you permission to watch it!

She is such a sweet baby. Her little coos are so sweet. It is like she really wants to talk. I think she is maybe a little behind developmentally as far as rolling over and supporting weight on her legs but from what I have read, this is somewhat common since the babies don't always get as much tummy time as they need. But what do I know? I don't have any personal experience to go off of. I just have read some posts on the forum that I frequent (way too much!) about some babies that have come home at 8 months old and can't roll over yet. On the bright side, they catch up very quickly when they get the tummy time and are put in the right situations.

I have started to make a list of all the things that I am going to work on during my 3 weeks forced vacation. Since I thought I might have brought Evelyn home by now, I had saved all of my vacation. I had hoped that my employer would grant an appeal to let me carry over my vacation time to next year for when she comes home. However, they decided that they would not let me do that. So now during one of the busiest periods of the year, they are going to force me to take 3 weeks off. I will be off from Dec 12 and return to work on Jan 2 after the holidays. As I said, my list is getting pretty long. I am hopefully going to get lots of things done around the house that I have put off too long (painting the kitchen that I stripped the wallpaper from 2 years ago). I will also be getting the car seat installed; going to the dentist; going to the eye doctor; hair cut; looking into pediatrician so that I can get her in as soon as she comes home for a full checkup.

I really hope I hear something soon. My social worker is out of the office the rest of the week but assured me that if anything is heard on my case, someone from the agency would call me. PLEASE!!!! PRETTY PLEASE!!!!SENOR BARRIOS, PLEASE LET US OUT OF PGN BEFORE CHRISTMAS!!!

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS TO BE OUT OF PGN!!! Evvy turns 6 months old tomorrow.

Susan

Name Spelling Dillema

I am still debating around Evelyn's name. Well, I am set on the name, just not the spelling and nicknames and their spelling.

Originally, I had planned on the traditional spelling of Evelyn May after my grandmother and mother. I had decided that I was going to call her E v v y. However, not sure about the spelling since Evvy looks kind of funny when typed out.

Anyway, after communicating with Evelyn's foster family and meeting Evelyn, I am torn.

The Spanish versions of her name are Evelin; nickname Evi; affectionate Evita.

When I was in Guatemala, it seemed natural to call her Evita because I was speaking to her in Spanish a lot. However, when I am at home and refer to her, I always call her E v v y. I was given a beautiful beaded bracelet at my baby shower with E v v y on it. I love the bracelet. I love both nicknames. I worry that if I call her Evita, that as she grows up people will make fun of her or sing "Don't cry for me Argentina" to her all the time.

When I was in Guatemala, I bought some Guatemalan painted letters to spell out her name and bought the letters E V E L Y N. When I go back to bring her home, I can of course buy other letters. At this point I will probably just buy all the additional letters to spell out any variation of her name. So it looks like I will need an two I's, a T, an A, and another V. I guess that isn't too bad. Just another $10 or less.

I just can't make up my mind on how to spell her name. I sort of want to keep some of her hispanic heritage in her name but I don't want it to be difficult for people to spell.

Any thoughts? Maybe I will just put them all in a hat and pull one out.

Susan

Meeting Evelyn May

I am very late in getting this post out and I apologize. I have sat down to do it many times. I think I have been avoiding it emotionally. Somehow thinking that if I write it all down that I will lose it out of my inner being. I want to hold these wonderful memories close to my heart to help me make it through the next who knows how long until I can bring my beautiful daughter home.

This trip has forever changed my heart. Evelyn's foster mother, her daughter and mother all came to drop Evelyn off at the hotel to spend the weekend with me. We saw them coming to the hotel doors and Peggy starting shooting video. They walked into the lobby and I walked towards them with tears in my eyes. They had her wrapped in the soft blanket that I had sent down in her first care package right after she was referred to me. She had been sleeping but woke up when the Julieta (foster mother) uncovered her face for me to see. I was overwhelmed at how beautiful and calm she is. We walked over to a couch at the back of the lobby and Julieta handed Evi to me. Peggy captured all of this on video and fortunately I was able to pull some good pictures off of the video to freeze that first moment forever.


This was the first moment that I took my daughter into my arms. It was amazing. I just sat in awe of her and kissed her and told her how glad I was to have her. She gave some good smiles and coos. Julieta was very sweet and told me about her formula and how much she takes and how much rice cereal to add to one bottle a day. She told me that she had diahareah (spelling?) but that she had taken her to the doctor 2 days earlier and he said she was fine that it was probably just teething. She told me that Evi weighs 15# 80z. Wow! It sounds big but she really isn't terribly huge in my opinion. I think it is all in her cheeks! She has the cutest chubby cheeks that are just so kissable.

After visiting with Julieta and her daughter Jeaneth for about 15-20 minutes, they left Evi in my care after making arrangements to pick her up on Tuesday morning. It was wonderful to meet Julieta and Jeaneth and see how much they care for my little girl. They told me how much they adore her and how much they will miss her. Jeaneth is very sweet. Her mom said that she takes on a lot of the responsibility of taking care of Evi. They also brought down the baby doll rattle that I sent in one of the care packages. They had sent me some pictures with her and the doll previously and Jeaneth told me how much she loves "talking" to the baby doll. I found this to be true over the course of the next several days. I was so nervous talking to Julieta. I felt like I should have asked tons of questions but I was so overwhelmed at having Evi in my arms that I really coudln't think of much to say. I am glad that we had emailed many times so I had already asked questions about her routines and schedules.

I was so grateful to have my best friend Peggy along with me. She was my videographer, photographer, moral support and gave advise when asked. She was so wonderfully supportive. She really just sat back an observed. She got lots of quilting done on Evi's quilt. As the end of the trip neared, she told me how wonderful it was to be there and told me that she had watched me become an instant mother. It brought tears to my eyes then and it brings tears to my eyes everytime I think about her saying it. It truly was an amazing experience. It was like a switch flipped inside of me. It all felt so natural. I felt so protective and felt the huge responsibility of caring for and raising this beautiful baby girl.

I must say that I am blessed with a very easy going daughter (at least based on my limited experience of 4 days). She rarely cried, was very patient, very relaxed. I can tell that she has all of her needs met by Julieta and Jeaneth. She knows that her needs will be met so she just basically told me what she needed and then waited for me to get it done.

After coming up to the room, I just sat on the couch and looked her over (making sure that she had 10 fingers and 10 toes). She was just perfect. She layed there and cooed and talked to me. Then I gave her her first bottle. She drank it down pretty slowly. She is a slow eater (hard to believe with her weight). She would take frequent breaks to just look around or smile or coo or play with the bottle. Then she would take some more. It was so amazing just sitting there with her in my arms looking into her eyes with her holding onto my finger while she drank her bottle.

After her bottle, she got a diaper change (lots of messy diapers this weekend but for some reason it isn't as bad when it is your own child) and then she went down for a nap. She let me rock her to sleep and really went to sleep pretty easily. The hotel had a very sweet miniature crib. It was white with a blue bumper and a white eyelet coverlet. I had also brought the flannel quilt that I had finished for her (see baby's first quilt post) and had the blanket that the foster family brought with her. I just wrapped her up and she slept contentedly. When she woke up she just cooed to let me know that she was awake and when I came in to get her, she greeted me with a big smile. She melted my heart everytime I would get her out of the crib (even at 4:00 in the morning).

We really just spent our days feeding, holding and playing with Evita. We went down to breakfast every morning to the hotel dining room. They had a wonderful breakfast buffet with lots of fresh fruits, omelettes made to order, tortillas, breads, fresh juices, etc. We didn't go hungry. It was nice that it was included in the cost of our room too! We ate a pretty hearty breakfast and then ate a late lunch and a light dinner. Evy was a hit with all of the waiters in the dining room. I think it helped that I always spoke in Spanish to everyone at the hotel. I think they appreciated that and then they were able to talk to Evi in Spanish without me worrying about what they were saying. Peggy picked up a little Spanish also. She can now say Hola and gracias very well. The hotel staff was really wonderful. They all spoke English so Peggy was able to venture out in the hotel without me when she wanted to. I think her favorite place in the hotel was the gift shop! Of course, I loved it too. It was small but had very nice "typical items" that you could find at the markets. The prices were very reasonable also. We were able to pick up a few items there that we hadn't bought at the market since we didn't have too much time in the market in Antigua.

For lunch and dinner, I would go to one of the nearby restaurants and get carry out. Our favorite was "Tacontento." It was very typical food and good size portions and pretty cheap. I was lucky to actually get out on the street a little. I felt bad that Peggy didn't hardly leave the hotel and get some fresh air so our last full day there, I let her go out and get our lunch at Schlotzky's. I had a take out menu from a previous day so I circled what we wanted (the menu was pretty much in English) and then wrote down how to say "to go." I thought it would be easy for her. I told her that she just needed to show them the menu and point to the bread and chips that she wanted. When she came back to the hotel, I can happily report that she got all the food that she had ordered. However, she looked a little frazzled. I asked her what was wrong. She said, "they didn't speak ANY English." I said, "well, you had the menu and you shouldn't have had to say anything." She said, "well that is all fine and good until they started asking me questions." Anyway, she survived and we had a nice lunch.

The last day full day at the hotel I started to get pretty emotional at the thought of leaving. I knew that we wouldn't have very much time the following day to get packed and ready to go to the airport so we started packing that day. I would start crying at the drop of a pin. I had to go through all of the clothes that I had brought with me and pack them in a bag to leave behind. I left a couple of the toys that I had brought down with her also. I had packed a whole small suitcase (carry-on size) of just stuff for Evi and the foster family. It was really hard to repack that same suitcase with souveigners of our trip. I cried when I changed her diaper; I cried when I sang her to sleep; I cried when I gave her the last night time bottle; I cried when I put her to sleep for the last night. I was an emotional wreck. It just continued the following morning. I was so glad that Peggy was there for the emotional support. So that you didn't have to see me crying on video some of the last video was actually shot by me with Peggy holding Evi on her lap so that I could look at her and have her smile up at me and the camera.

The following morning, Evi let me sleep until 5am! The previous mornings she had woken up at 4:00 and 4:30. She would take about 3 ounces of formula and then go back to sleep until about 8:00. Again, she was so happy and didn't really cry when she woke up just let me know she was hungry. She would then lay on the bed until I fixed the bottle and sucked it back pretty quickly (compared to her daytime bottles) and then go back to sleep.

Anyway, we all got ready. Evi got a bath so that I could return her smelling just as sweet as when she was brought to me. Then we went down to breakfast and came back to our room for a few minutes. The arrangement was that Julieta and Jeaneth would come at 10:00. We went down shortly after 10:00 and they were patiently waiting in the lobby. It was so sweet. They didn't rush me at all and let me have my last minutes with her. It did break my heart a little bit when she saw Julieta and broke out in a huge smile. Not that she hadn't given me plenty of big smiles it was just the recognition and almost relief that she had come back. It made me a little sad but at the same time good to know how much she loves Julieta and that she is so well cared for. I handed Evi back to Julieta and then walked out to the car with her and Jeaneth. Her son was in the car so I got to meet him also. I had brought down an umbrella stroller (per their request) so I put that along with two bags of clothes and supplies in the car and then said my final good byes. It was probably one of the saddest moments in my life to watch them leave with my baby girl not knowing when I would see her again.

I wouldn't have traded this trip for anything in the world. I now have memories and tons of pictures and video of my baby when she is still small. These will be precious memories that I will share with her as she grows up.

I now have a shrine of pictures of Evi on my entertainment center so that I see her all the time when I am home. I have one of the pictures on my computer screen at work and it makes working hard sometimes when everything is minimized.

The waiting is definitely harder now that I have met Evelyn May. I just keep telling myself that these are just a few short months that we are apart and that she will be home soon and that we will have the rest of our lives to spend together.

Te quiero mucho Evita!

PS don't forget to check out our pictures. Click on the link to the right that says "our photos" to go to our photo website. There are several albums of pictures to see and this is where I will put most pictures since it is easier than putting them on blogger.

Update #1 from Visit (Day 1--visiting Antigua)

OK. So I've been home two weeks and haven't updated my blog. Well, I sort of did. I redid the formatting and added a link to my pictures over on shutterfly. It allows much larger files and is easier to organize and upload. Still not happy with the colors and whatnot on the new blog format but I will keep working on it.

So, my bestest friend in the world and I set off on an adventure two weeks ago. We flew from Kansas City to Houston and then Houston to Guatemala. The flights were pretty smooth and just ran into one nutcase on the flight to Guatemala. Probably the reason that DHS had their sniffing dogs and questioning everyone as they got on the plane. We were an hour leaving Houston and thus an hour getting into Guatemala. We got there about 11:00 pm and we were pretty tired. We were told by my agency who setup the hotel that the shuttle would be there to meet us. Well, it wasn't. Thankfully I spoke Spanish and there was a helpful man (airport employee) with a cell phone that called the hotel for us. It only cost me a $2.00 tip. I initially gave him $1 and he came back and said that it was a $2 tip for the phone. Oh well. He was pretty nice and he moved our luggage out of the way next to a post so it was secure. The shuttle showed up about 10 minutes later and we only had one little girl come over to beg from us. Again, speaking Spanish and having lived in the country has its advantages.

The hotel was very nice. Large 2 room suite (living room and bedroom). We settled in and the next morning got up and went down to a very nice breakfast buffet. We then walked around the area a little (window shopping and just getting a feal for the area). I took Peggy down to the big main street so she could see the buses and traffic. Such a difference in the sound level. We then went to the bank to change some money. It was an different experience. We weren't allowed to take bags in but they had little lockers outside the bank that were free. I'm sure they were secure with the guard standing there with his rifle. Then only one of us were allowed to enter at a time through an entry way. It must have had some sort of security between the two doors because as soon as I entered, they let Peggy in. We were a little worried that Peggy was gonna have to go it alone in the non-English speaking bank. We changed our money (better rate than the hotel) and then headed back to the hotel.

Well on the way back, it started to rain a little. As we were walking I slipped on some tile and twisted my ankle. Lucky I didn't fall and take Peggy down with me. Well it was hurting pretty bad but I figured I could just walk it off. We went back to the hotel and changed into tennis shoes. Then we went down and setup a tour to Antigua with the concierge. It was a pretty good deal. The tour company van picked us up at 10:00 and we were dropped off around 7:00 that night. There was just one other couple from Mexico on the tour with us. The tour guide was very informative. We went to places we would have never found if we had done it on our own. Fortunately, it was mostly a driving tour (except for the last couple of hours). My foot got worse and I could hardly put weight on it when we got out at our first stop to walk around a beautiful cemetary. I had been there on a previous trip so I hobbled into the cemetary and found a bench to sit on while Peggy went with the group. Got a few nice pictures from the bench.

Antigua is such a nice and peaceful town. I really like it there a lot. It has a lot of beautiful architecture. I really enjoyed watching the people in their daily activities....gathering water, selling their wares, doing their laundry at the public "pilas." Pilas are rock/cement sinks that are used for washing clothes. In front of the pilas is a large well of water that the women use to scoop up into their pila to wet and rinse their clothes. They wet the clothes, rub them down with a ball of orange soap; scrub them on the rock surface of the pila; rinse them; ring them out and throw them into their clean pile. They then take them home and hang them on lines usually from the rooftops. This is a place that the women gather to socialize while they work.

After seeing many tumbled down churches in the morning, we stopped for lunch around 1-2 pm at a little restaurant off of the main square. It was really nice. We had a sampling of "tipico" food and a yummy Jamaica drink. I have been craving Jamaica for years. I haven't been successful in locating it in the states. It is made from Hibiscus. I always drank it as an herbal tea when I lived there before but it is just as good cold we discovered on this trip.

After lunch we went to a Jade "factory" where they create very beautiful jewelry made from Jade. Guatemala is one of I believe 5 countries where Jade is found. During the last hurricane (Stan) a new variety of Jade was discovered. It is a translucent purple color. Very pretty but expensive since it is so rare. It was neat to see how they work with the Jade. They have to use diamond tip tools to shape and etch it because it so hard.

After lunch we walked around the square for some more history lessons. I was ready to shop so I stopped in a couple of shops and bought some cute outfits for Miss Evelyn. I also bought a few things from some of the street vendors on the square. Our tour guide took us to the public artisans market and we had a little while to pickup some gifts and souveners. My foot was dying. Walking on uneven sidewalks and cobblestone didn't help too much.

By the time we reached the hotel at 7:00 we were both beat. We didn't even eat dinner, just put our stuff away and settled into bed. I went to sleep thinking that I would be meeting my baby girl the next morning. I was nervous not having confirmation of all the details and not having received a call from the in-country contact. I did have the foster family's phone number if anything went wrong though.

So glad that we were able to visit Antigua so that Peggy could get a feel for Guatemala. Just driving there allowed her to see how the people lives and how neighborhoods are laid out.

I will add another post about the wonderful time I had with baby Evvy.

New blog settings & link to pictures

OK. I know I am way overdue in updating my blog. I have been so busy since coming home trying to get pictures edited, posted, printed and distributed. I have setup a separate webpage that has all the pictures on it. The link is to the right of the posts here. It is labeled "Our Pictures." Just click on the link and you can go see the pictures from my wonderful visit with baby Evita.


I will post more on the trip this weekend.

More Nursery Pictures

I finally have curtains up in the nursery. It really changes the look and feel of the room. I was pretty impressed with myself as I found the material and made them myself. They aren't hemmed yet (just pinned up) but I did hang the curtain rod and the curtains are hanging. Of course Bella loves them as she can now play hide & seek in there as well as under my quilt frame.

Peggy & I leave for Guatemala in less than 2 days! Just have to make it through one more day of work and it will be busy as everyone is throwing stuff at me that needs to be done before I leave (they think they can't function without me!)

Happy Birthday Abuelita

I just received a few pictures of Evvy at the birthday party of her foster sister's grandmother. Look at Evvy eyeing that cake! Again these pictures are evidence of how well loved she is.








Isn't she just the cutest little girl! The little girl in pink is her foster aunt's granddaughter.

Cats in the Cradle

Well I survived another week at work. Had to answer the question of "how was your trip" and "why are you back at work already?" about 3000 times. But everyone at work is really very nice and supportive.

I did get good news on Wednesday that it is OK to rebook my trip to visit Evvy. I rebooked Peggy's and my flight last night. We will leave next Thursday and return the following Tuesday. Our itinerary is the same as last time. We plan to go to Antigua to sightsee and shop on Friday and then cuddle and play with Evvy Saturday through Tuesday. Then home Tuesday night and back to work on Wednesday.

A twist to this trip is that one of my friends Julie (and husband Mike) received word that they have received clearance by the Embassy to go pick up their daughter. We are using the same Agency so will be at the same hotel. They think there appointment will be Monday or Tuesday (Nov 6 or 7) so they will arrive on Saturday to have their little one brought to them. So we will be in the same hotel from Saturday til Tuesday when we leave. We have joked that it would be great if we could be down in Guatemala at the same time and now it looks like we will be. I'm very happy for them. They have had a bit of a bumpy process due to things out of everyone's control.

Here are a couple of pictures of my cats checking out the crib. I have been keeping the nursery door closed to keep them out but there have been a couple of times when I have gone in and forgot to close the door. One or the other of the cats will disappear (they usually hang out in the living room with me) and when I go looking for them they are curled up in a corner of the crib. It is pretty cute for now since Evvy isn't there but I will have to be careful to keep the door closed when she is sleeping so they don't jump up and nap with her. There have been tragic stories that I have heard of cats loving too much on babies in cribs.

I'll post more later. Gonna spend the weekend packing (unlike Peggy I didn't finish packing last time other than Evvy's stuff). Peggy never unpacked so she is all ready to go!

Susan

Disappointing News

Well, this hasn't been the joyful weekend that I was anticipating. On Tuesday night, there began to be some rumblings of possible security issues in Guatemala. My source of these initial rumblings was on the adoption.com forums that I frequent. As rumors often get started here, I emailed my agency late Tuesday night to see if they knew of anything that was happening. I received an email and call at 10:00 on Wednesday that said that everything was fine and that there should be no problem with Peggy & I leaving the following day. I kept an eye on the forum during the day and heard nothing from my agency so felt secure that all would be fine for our trip. When I got home about 6:00 Wednesday night, I had a message from my social worker asking me to call her on her cell phone as soon as I received her message. My heart just dropped into my stomache. She said that the agency director had been communicating with the lawyers all day and that they had decided that all visit trips should be suspended for now and that I should not travel down Thursday. I was told that I could travel but they were advising the foster parents to not take the children out. I checked with the airline who said that they would issue a credit and we could use the amount in the next year for a $100 change fee. I decided to wait until Thursday to make a final decision to see if by some twist in fate that it was all just a bad dream and that things would settle down. By Thursday noon, the agency still said no to travelling. I was pretty upset and depressed.

I finally pulled myself together and went over to Peggy's where we had a pity party and worked on our quilt projects. Then we went out to dinner and made Tom (Peggy's husband) keep the kids so he could at least have a couple of hours of child care since he was getting out of 5 days worth.

I was going to go to work on Friday but when I woke up decided I just couldn't face it yet so I stayed home and continued my pity party. Saturday night I was able to go over and meet up with a couple of other women who are in the process of adopting children from Guatemala that I had met on the forum. We ended up talking until about 1:00 am. It was a really nice support group.

So now I am gearing up to go into work tomorrow and face all the questions about why I am there and not in Guatemala with my beautiful daughter.

If you want to read more information about the situation in Guatemala you can visit www.guatadopt.com. This is a very good website talking about the current events in Guatemala as relating to adoptions.

Here is a picture I received from the foster family on Thursday when I emailed them and told them I would not be coming.

Hopefully we will get good news this week that we can reschedule our trip or go pickup her up for good.

Susan

Ponderings of becoming a mother....

One more day of work and then Peggy and I are off to Guatemala to meet Evvy/Evita for the first time. It is still so surreal. I am worrying myself to death about details and about how I feel.

I still really can't imagine how my life is going to change when she finally comes home with me forever. Forever is such a long time. I am such a control freak that I don't like uncertainty and there is so much uncertainty in parenthood. I think of all the details about medical care, shopping, day care, juggling work and my daughter, finances, etc, etc, etc. When I think of those things I get a little overwhelmed. But then I think about cuddling up on the couch with her, watching her smile at me; waking up to her outstretched arms; singing to her; going to the park; taking walks; watching her and her best friend Erica play while Peggy and I sit back and watch them in amazement and awe.

I know I am doing the right thing and that there will be ups and downs. I know that my life will be better and hope and pray that Evvy's life will be better.

I have been very lucky to have email communication with Evvy's foster family so I have an idea of her schedule and routine.

**She likes her bottle warm (many in Guatemala take them cold)
**She takes 3 bottles in the morning; 2 in the afternoon and her last one before bed at 8pm. She takes 5-6 ounces at a time.
**When she takes her night bottle well, she sleeps til 8am otherwise she is up at 5-6! (I am hoping for good night time bottles!)
**She takes 2 naps a day (1st one after her morning bath)
**She loves to be talked to while you play with her. She likes the baby-doll I sent down to talk to her.

I am attaching the following picture with a little hesitation. It is definitely not the cutest, most flattering picture of my girl but, oh well. She is well loved and fed.

I will try to post once or twice while in Guatemala and will definitely post when I get home (after I catch my breath). We fly out Thursday afternoon and home on Tuesday night. Then it is back to work on Wednesday.

Susan

Evvy Smiles! She is in PGN!!

I received a great batch of pictures this week from the agency. I got the first wide awake pictures from the agency. They got her really smiling/laughing.

Yesterday I found out that our case went into PGN (final court in Guatemala) on September 12 the day after the attorney picked up our pre-approval from the Embassy. We probably could have been in a couple of weeks earlier had the embassy actually notified the lawyer that the pre-approval was there when they initially issued it. So we have been in PGN for 3 weeks. Typically you don't get any updates while you are in PGN unless you get "kicked out" for missing/incorrect/bad spelling in the paperwork. So we have been in 3 weeks with no kickouts! It seems the trend is that if you are going to get kicked out it happens in the first 3-6 weeks. Then again there is really no norm in PGN. Some people are only there for 3 weeks and some have been there for more than 6 months. As long as we aren't out in the next 12 days, I will be happy. We can get out in 13 and I will be ecstatic.

Peggy and I are flying out on Oct 19 to go visit Miss Evita. I have been putting stuff in the crib and it is getting a little full. A lot of it is just small gifts for the Foster Family. It is mostly just candy and small mementos from Kansas City and the US (M&Ms, Jelly Bellies, postcards, chocolate covered sunflower seeds, etc).

Tomorrow I am going to go buy an umbrella stroller to take down to the foster family. They requested one to take Evvy on walks. She is pretty heavy and they have been carrying her in a baby carrier (see picture below).

There is a ray of hope still that Miss Evvy will be home for Christmas in Missouri.

Enjoy the pictures.

Evita in the garden courtyard of her Foster Home.















Enough pictures already. I just want to get out of PGN and go home to my mommy!

Happy 4 month birthday Evvy May!

Love,
Mommy

The rest of the pictures

This picture was taken on the day that Evvy was turned over to the Foster Mother on June 14, 2006 (8 days old).






8/4/06 Lots of Teddy Bears (she looks a little scared :)

8/3/06 Asleep on the boppy pillow under her "gym" Playing is such hard work.

8/15/06 Evvy & Julieta (foster mom) in outfit that mommy sent down in care package.

8/25/06 Evvy in her bouncy seat.

Hola desde Guatemala (email from foster family)

This past week was a little trying. I knew that the director of the agency was in Guatemala so I was checking my email all week looking for pictures. Work was crazy and I put in horrible hours (left 8:30, 9:00 and 10:00 Wed-Fri). So Thursday night at work I was waiting for something to update on the computer and flipped over to my personal email. Again there was nothing in my inbox so I was flipping to clean out my junk mail folder and saw a subject line "hola desde Guatemala (Evelin last name)." My first thought was how did someone get ahold of my personal information? Those darn spammers have hacked into my computer. Then I opened the email and received the best gift I could have imagined.

I had sent a package down with the agency director with a card that had my email address in it. I didn't know if they had email or not but one can always hope. Well apparently they do have access and sent me a nice little note and attached 6 beautiful pictures of Miss Evelyn. There were pictures from July, August and September. It is amazing how much she has changed. The email said that Evvy is doing well and went to the doctor this past week. She weighs 14 1/2 pounds! She said that she eats as a 6 month old should be eating (she is only 3 1/2 months). That's my girl. Loves her bottle. She also says that she loves to be talked to.

I can't believe that 3 weeks from yesterday I will be meeting my daughter for the first time. The crib is getting full of things to take down with me (bottles, binkys, clothes, burp clothes, blankets).

Peggy and I went and bought some gifts to take to the foster family. We went to a store that sells Kansas City stuff. We got a box of Andres chocolates which are some of the best; apple butter from a local cidar mill; jelly; gates bbq sauce and peggy insisted on getting a deck of playing cards that has pictures of Kansas City on them.

Last night when I came home I checked my email and was happily surprised to receive another email from the foster family with yet some more pictures. These pictures show how well she is being cared for. They have one of those little play gyms that you lay the baby under and she is propped on a boppy pillow. I have heard so many stories of some children just laying in their crib all day and not getting enough stimulation. I have no worries about the care that Evvy is receiving. I feel so blessed to have her in such a great foster home with people that are caring for her because of the love that they have in their hearts. I sent an email again offering my thanks for the care and love they are giving my daughter and the response back was that I didn't need to thank them, they are doing it because of the love they have for the children.

In the second email I found out that they live in zone 18 of Guatemala City which is where I lived for 5 months during my mission. It really helps me to know the part of the city where she is living and that I lived there too. We both lived in the same part of the city. That is just an odd coincidence.

Well, without further ado, here are many pictures of my sweet Evvy.


Evvy just shy of 1 month old. "If I don't sleep, nobody sleeps" onsey. What a long skinny body.













August 17, 2006 What a sweet close-up shot of those chubby little cheeks. And look grandma, her eyes are open!





8/22/06 OK so she is sleeping yet again :) Look at that new hair coming in. Does it look red to anyone else?



8/25/06 Bathtime!

8/25/06 I am all clean now!

Sept 14, 2006 Pretty in pink! This is one of my favorites.

Well, I can't get the other pictures to upload wo maybe I will try again later or tomorrow. I should get more new pictures from the agency this week if she gets around to sending them.

3 more weeks til I see the real thing!

Susan

Nesting

So this weekend I pretty much stayed home. Saturday I did get up and go to workout and ran a couple of errands then out to lunch but then I have been home the rest of the weekend. I think I am nesting. Now that the nursery is almost ready, I am just settling in to the house. I did a lot of cooking/baking this weekend. I want to get into a habit of cooking on the weekends so that I have lunches and dinners for the rest of the week. I think this will help especially after Evvy comes home.

So yesterday I made one of my comfort food skillet casseroles. It is really simple: ground beef, cream of chicken soup, brown sugar, soy sauce and rice. It is really yummy. Then I made some banana bread for my new neighbors. They were really appreciative. They are still unpacking boxes after two weeks. He is diabetic and he came over this morning and told me that his sugars were down to 50 last night and he ate 3 pieces of the bread to bring it back up.

Today, I made a breakfast pizza which will provide breakfast this next week. I also made two batches of cookies (my other neighbor, Leila, loaned me a couple of cookbooks and I tried a couple). I gave a plateful to Chris & Leila who were in a car accident last week and are still hobbling around. He will be in a cast for at least 7 more weeks.

Then I made some chili for dinners this wek also.

In 27 more days I will be in Guatemala with best friend Peggy snuggling with baby Evvy. It still doesn't seem real that I am going to be a mom. If I really think about it, I get a little overwhelmed. My mom reassures me that I will be a good mom.

I finished reading the book "I Rigoberto Menchu" this week. It is the story of an Indian woman in Guatemala. She was born in 1959 and was a big participant in helping to bring the issues of the Guatemalan indians to the attention of the world to help them get better civil rights. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991? It was a very hard book to read. The events in the book took place less than 8 years before I went to Guatemala as a missionary. It was a very sad book. How someone could endure so much and still maintain sanity is beyond my comprehension.

I am now reading a book about a Peace Corp worker in Guatemala and the experiences that she had. I am just starting it but I am enjoying it so far. I have made a list of a lot of children's/youth books about Guatemala that I will read with Evvy when she is older. I also checked out some Spanish children's music tapes so I can learn some simple Spanish songs (twinkle twinkle little star, heads shoulder knees & toes, etc). My cats think I am crazy singing in bed at night. I also checked out some Spanish language CDs so that I can get used to hearing Spanish again. Even though we will only be in Guatemala a few days, I still want to be able to communicate and understand.

Hopefully I will have new pictures and an update on Evvy this week. The director flew down today and I'm not sure when she is meeting with the foster families & children.

I will post again when I get new pictures.

Susan

Nursery

Argh. Technology. I just had a very long post typed up and was adding the pictures when my computer burped and I lost the whole thing. So here goes again. Here are the pictures. I will repost the weeks events tomorrow when my brain is functioning again.

OK. Here goes again trying to recreate what I typed last night.
This week was a really good week.

Monday my lawyer picked up our pre-approval from the Embassy.

Tuesday I received a DVD of the agency director's August visit to Guatemala. I have about 5-7 minutes of video of Evvy sleeping like a little angel. All of the foster mothers bring the children to the hotel where the director is staying so it is utter chaos in the room with lots of baby's and kids. Then they put the children on a chair to video tape them and take pictures of them to send to us waiting parents. It was really noisy and I can't believe that Evvy slept right through it all. She did half open her eyes a little bit. It was really sweet watching her sleep and having baby dreams. She gave a couple of really big smiles. One of my favorite parts is when she tried to open her eyes but instead she just rolled them so all I saw was the white's. Two months old and already rolling her eyes at her mother. Hope this isn't a sign of things to come.

Wednesday I went to Peggy's for dinner and was given a great surprise. Miss Erica has graduated to a big girl bed and gave her crib to baby Evvy. I brought it home in the car and put all the pieces in the nursery to wait to be setup.

Thursday I scurried around trying to get a care package put together for Evvy. The director of the agency is going back down to Guatemala Sept 24 so I should get new pictures soon and hopefully a new DVD also. I wanted to send a little photo album of our family and friends so that the Foster Mom (Julietta) can talk to her about her family. I sent that as well as a photo album for Julietta with all of the pictures I have of Evvy so that she can have an album also. I also sent Evvy her first baby doll. It is really soft and has a rattle inside it. Then I sent a few little outfits also.

Friday I dropped the package off at the agency and talked to my social worker for a while. She is a really nice, down to earth girl. I like her upbeat realistic honest attitude. Friday night I was went to a "twins garage sale." A coworker has twins and his wife is a member of the club and got me an "advance" invitation to the sale for the club members before it opened up to the public on Saturday. I was very lucky to find the stroller that I had previously chosen at Babys R Us. It is in pristine condition and was 1/2 the price of the new one. I also found a crib mattress for $5. It was a little thicker than the one that came with Erica's crib and I thought it would be more comfortable. Also found a pretty pink winter coat since we are being optimistic that Miss Evvy will be home for her first Misouri winter this year. Then I found a couple of cute outfits.

Saturday morning I went to Joanne's Fabric to buy the fabric for the curtains in the nursery. I hadn't found any premade curtains that I just loved. Plus the ones I did like were really expensive. So I found some pretty lavendar fabric that was perfect. However, when I went to get it today, they didn't have enough so they had to order some for me. Hopefully will have it in a couple of weeks. This saved me from having to sew them this weekend :) Then it was off to Target to look at a rug that I found last week. While I was there Peggy called on the cell phone to say she was pulling into the parking lot to go to the shoe store in the same shopping center. She came into Target and said that the rug was perfect. So I bought it. Then we went and got Miss Erica a new pair of shoes.

We then all came to my house to put the crib together. It was a little stressful but with the help of Peggy's two boys and Peggy and myself, we did manage to get it put together. We then put the crib comforter that I bought from Ebay and the quilt that my mom made in the crib. It is absolutely beautiful to have the crib up. The room now feels like a nursery and not just a storage room of baby stuff. We spent some time moving things around and pulling the dresser out of the closet and putting the clothes bins in the closet and sprinkling a little bit of Guatemala around the room. Then we put the rug down. I LOVE THIS ROOM. I just need my precious baby girl in it now and it will be perfect.

As you can see from the last picture, Bella has checked it all out. Not sure if she approves or not. Hopefully that will be the first and last time she will be in the crib. The door to the room will have to remain shut when I am not here. I hope I don't have to get a tent to put over the crib to keep her out when Evvy comes home.

Getting the nursery put together and buying a stroller makes me feel so ready to have Evvy home. I somehow feel more prepared having the crib and stroller.

I can't wait to get new pictures. It sure helps time pass more quickly. In 32 more days Peggy & I will be landing in Guatemala. In 33 or 34 more days I will hold Evvy in my arms for the first time. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

Hopefully I will have more updates soon.
Susan






Hopefully, this will be the only time Bella is in the crib. I hope I don't have to get one of those crib covers to keep the animals out. She was just exploring all the new stuff in the room.

Another Step Forward

Last Wednesday night I got a little impatient with the US Embassy as I still had not received pre-approval of my case through the Embassy. This is supposed to take place within 30 days of the DNA results being submitted. Through reading on the Adoption.com Guatemalan Family Forum, I knew that if you hadn't received your pre-approval after 30 days that you could email the Embassy for a status on your case. So Wednesday night I sent an email to the Embassy requesting status on my case. On Thursday morning I received an auto-generated message stating that they would try to respond as soon as they could. I checked my email several times during the day and still received nothing. When I got home I checked again and received a second auto-generated messages (same as the first one). Well, I figured it was now after hours so I wouldn't receive anything until Friday. I had Peggy & Erica over for quilt night and we quilted until about 9:30. Before I went to bed I decided to hit the send/receive button on my email one last time and to my amazement I had received an actual email response from the Embassy. It was sent at 6:39 pm so I guess they were putting in a little overtime.

The email said that the pre-approval notice had been issued on August 25 (2 weeks previous) and that the paperwork was just waiting for my attorney to pick it up. I forwarded the email to my social worker at the agency who then forwarded it to the director of the agency. The director then sent a rather candid email to the Embassy stating that "my client received this email from your office. She stated that the attorney, nor the agency and obviously not the family had received this notification previously. In addition, the attorney was at the Embassy three days prior and had asked specifically about this case and was told that the paperwork was not ready for pickup." She requested an immediate response back with the official notice to pickup the paperwork so that the attorney could go pickup the paperwork on Monday. I received an email from my social worker on Saturday stating that the Embassy had responded late on Friday with the official notice and that the paperwork would be picked up on Monday.

This is great news since this pre-approval is required in order to enter PGN (the final court). We are still waiting to exit the Family court but as soon as we exit Family Court we are ready to go into PGN. Oh yeah, I forgot.... The Power of Attorney that I redid a couple of weeks ago (to have the accent marks added) was received back from the Guatemalan Consulate and forwarded to the agency director so it should be in Guatemala on Monday or Tuesday also. This is also important to have before we go into PGN because if the old Power of Attorney was submitted we had a high likelihood of being kicked out to have it corrected.

We are still at the mercy of the courts in Guatemala but if things keep moving along and there are no errors in any of the paperwork, things should be completed by the end of the year. My biggest fear right now is that it move too fast and that I don't get to visit before we get out of PGN. That is highly unlikely but who knows. It is so hard to predict how things will move.

I am learning to keep the step by step perspective. I just have a checklist and each time something gets completed, I check it off. So now I can checkoff pre-approval by the US Embassy.

This weekend I went shopping for rocking chairs. I am looking for a rocker/recliner to put in the living room. I want something comfortable to cuddle with my little one. I have fond memories of being rocked by my mom when I was little. I especially remember being sicked and cuddling in the rocker with mom and her humming a lullaby to me. I don't know how comfortable that old wood rocker was but I think I am spoiled and want something a little softer. I think I found one that I like. It is a leather recliner/glider rocker with a swivel base. It is the best price I have found for a leather. I want the leather because of the durability and it will hopefully resist the cat hair. I fight to keep the couches free of cat hair.

There just seems to be so much that I still need to get done but I am sure it will all come togehter.

I also received notice from my agency on Friday that the DVDs that the director took on her last trip would be available to pickup on Tuesday. I am excited to see a moving picture of little Evvy. Hopefully they got her to wake up :) I don't even care if she is crying, I just want to see her moving around with her eyes open.

I will write again after I get more news or view the DVD.

Susan

Planning a visit

I am so excited. My friend Peggy got her passport a couple of weeks ago so we can now go visit little Evvy. She and her husband sat down and went over their family calendar to figure out when a good time would be for us to go to Guatemala. Peggy's husband works as a nursing supervisor on an overnight shift several nights a week so we have to really look at his schedule so that he can be on a day schedule to stay home with their 3 children. So we found a long weekend in October that will work.

We are tentatively planning to leave on October 19 (Thursday) and return on October 24 (Tuesday). We just looked at the flights that are available and we can leave at 4pm (to allow Tom time to sleep before the kids come home from school) and get to Guate at 9pm. We then would take Friday to sightsee. Then either Friday evening or Saturday morning we would have Evvy brought to the hotel where we would keep her until Monday afternoon/evening. We would then leave on Tuesday 12:30 which would allow a little time to shop some more if we needed to and then be home that night by 8pm.

I think the times are going to work out really well as I will only have to take 1/2 day off work on Thursday and then take Friday, Monday and Tuesday off. With any luck they will only charge me 3 days comp/vacation time at work. I have almost earned 2 comp days so I would only have to use 1 vacation day.

I am really excited. Of course the pessimistic side of my brain says, "with your luck your case will really move fast and she will be out of PGN before you travel." If this were to happen, we would lose the benefit of getting the IR-3 visa which saves readoption and additional paperwork when she comes home. If she comes home on an IR3 she is an automatic citizen instead of a "permanent resident."

Anyway, I will keep the blog updaed as we get our travel plans solidified.

SO EXCITED!
Susan

Sad news

I just received a call from my SIL. She just had a doctor's appointment and the doctor couldn't find her baby's heartbeat. She was 22 weeks pregnant and they had just had an ultrasound a couple of weeks ago and found out they were having a little girl. She was due the end of December. She will have to go into the hospital to be induced. I can't imagine the sadness that she and my brother and nephew are feeling. I am so sad for them. My nephew just started kindergarten and they have been trying to have another baby for a while so we were all very excited for them. I was really looking forward to Evvy having a girl cousin close to her age.

My thoughts and prayers are with Rob, Aimee and Ethan during this sad time.

Love you guys!
Susan

Small shopping trip

I decided to stop in at this close out/damaged good store last night on my home from the gym and eating dinner. It is pretty hit and miss finding something that you are actually looking for when you go in but if you go in without any expectation of finding something specific, you can usually find somethings that you need. So I went in specifically to see if they had a recliner or rocker. I need one before Miss Evelyn comes home so that we can sit and cuddle and rock together. No luck finding one there but I did take a trip down the baby isles and found some miscellaneous baby supplies. I felt like a real mom buying just the few things that I bought. I have only bought a few clothes up until now. I didn't even buy anything big but it felt good. I bought some disposable bibs (good for eating out and traveling); baby bottle liners (I plan on using the Playtex bottles); medicine dispenser syringe thing (hopefully won't need it much); travel size baby powder; 4 child size toothbrushes (they were only 4/$1); and then some bubbles for when we go to visit.

Then I went across the street to the library to pickup two big bags of books, videos and CDs that I had found on the online catalogue. They are all about Guatemala (mostly children's books) and a couple on talking to children about their adoption stories in very basic stories in kid language. Kind of like how to answer the question, where do babies come from. Most parents talk about how their child came out of mommy's tummy. I can't exactly use that line. I am looking forward to reading these books. Kids books are so much funner and faster than adult books!

Slowly but surely I am figuring out what I need to get done before Evvy comes home. I am working on distinguishing between what is necessary (formula, diapers, clothes, car seat) and all the extra bells and whistles.

Susan

Short Update

Recently it seems that a lot of people that have been submitted to PGN (the big court in Guatemala) and then kicked out for missing accent marks on their paperwork. So last night I pulled out the Power of Attorney that I signed and sent to Guatemala with my case and compared it to Evvy's birth certificate. Well, there were two accent marks missing on the Power of Attorney. So I emailed my Social Worker last night and asked her if she thought we should redo the Power of Attorney. I also asked her if she could get me an update about our progress through Family Court.

She emailed me this morning and said that the agency director said that we should go ahead and redo the POA with the correct accent marks so that we could get it down to Guatemala before the case gets to PGN. So I went over and signed it this afternoon and my Social Worker notarized it. Now it has to be sent to the Missouri Secretary of State to be "certified" and then off to the Guatemalan Consulate to be "authenticated" and then down to the attorney in Guatemala. I am grateful we are getting this taken care of before we get into the final court as the reviewers are very picky and this could cause several weeks of delay.

My social worker also was able to find out that Evvy's birth mother has been interviewed by the Guatemalan social worker and we are just waiting for the report to be written up. Also still waiting on the pre-approval from the US Embassy to move forward with the case. After these two things are completed (and my new POA arrives in Guatemala) we are ready to go to PGN. There were over 80 cases released from PGN for the month of August (as of Monday 8/28) from one of the adoption forums that I participate in online. This is the biggest month this year which is great since the last several months have been extremely slow. It looks like the average stay in PGN is around 6-8 weeks if there are no problems with the paperwork.

Also, my friend Peggy received her passport in the mail so we can go down and visit little Evvy. I am still waiting until our case enters PGN so that the wait after coming home won't seem so long.

Just a short update tonight.
Susan

How I am staying busy while waiting

No new news this week on the adoption front. Just can't stop staring at the pictures of my beautiful daughter. I am currently waiting on two key events on the adoption. First, the US Embassy needs to issue what they call "Pre-approval" based on the intial case file and the DNA results. The second step that should be happening right now is the Guatemalan Family Court process. This includes social worker interviews and having the case approved through the family court of Guatemala.
After these two steps are accomplished our case will move into PGN which is the final court (Procurderia General). Things are moving pretty well in PGN right now and it seems that the new cases are averaging about 6 weeks.

So, besides checking my email for an approval from the Embassy and reading the adoption family forums what am I doing to keep busy? Well, I started a new quilt project for Evvy's foster mother. I met someone else on the family forum who's daughter had the same foster mother (she just picked up her daughter last week) and she said that she is wonderful. I have the quilt cut out (there are about a bazillion small pieces to be sewed together). I started sewing this week and really need to stay focused on it to have it done before I go pickup my little girl.

I am also trying to do maintanence work around the house. I bought 10 tubes of concrete caulk to fill in cracks in my sidewalk (between the house and sidewalk/porch) and the basement walls. I feel like I am just gluing my house back together. My only consolation is that the previous owners had done patching before and the house is still standing. I still have some work to do. I have used 5 tubes so far. I also need to scrape, sand and paint the window frames in Evvy's room. This shouldn't take too much if I just get on it. I also need to hang pictures in Evvy's room. Also a friend gave me some big paper mache' butterflies that I am going to hang from the ceiling I think. They are just the right colors.

My friend Peggy is working on hand quilting a quilt for Evvy. It is BEAUTIFUL!! She is such a skilled quilter. She takes the tiniest, straightest stitches I have ever seen. Did I tell you how BEAUTIFUL the quilt is. Evvy is a very lucky girl to have so many pretty quilts. We will have to have a different quilt in each room, car, diaper bag so that they all get equal love. I know I love them all and all the people that have made or are making them.

I am really anxious to get this process moving. I want to hold my little girl and snuggle her. I see the pictures and how much she is changing already. I still can't even imagine how much my life is going to change. I try to imagine driving around with a little one in the backseat and waking up in the morning and trying to get both of us ready to go.

One thing that I am relieved about is that I think I have found my childcare provider. A friend from Church is watching Peggy's little girl part time and I asked her last week if she would be interested in another one to watch and she agreed. That takes a big weight off as I didn't really want to put her in a day care center. She has three little girls (9, 5, 3) and they are very sweet and adore Erica. Jeanne is a great lady. She actually has 3 older teenage boys also.

Here is a picture of a square of the quilt Peggy is making. Well I can't get blogger to upload the picture so here is the link to her blog http://quiltclogmom.blogspot.com/.

I'll try to update more later in the week or if I hear anything else.

Susan

New Pictures!

This morning I received an email with pictures from my agency that were taken this weekend. I haven't received the official 2 month medical update but according to the report I received Evvy is around 11#. That seems incredible to me that a baby could go from 4#12oz at birth to 6#1oz at one month to 11# at 2 months. I guess it is good that she is eating and growing. Her cheeks are so cute. It also looks like her Foster Mother (Julietta) has pierced her ears. I was a little shocked to see that. I was hoping to not have to deal with pierced ears until she was old enough to take care of them herself. Oh well, it is kind of cute.

My friend Peggy has been taunting me that she is making Evvy a quilt but she wasn't going to show it to me until Evvy came home. Well she slipped up a little yesterday by leaving it out in the living room. I probably wouldn't have noticed it had she not said something. So the surprise is out. It is very pretty! It is made of batik fabrics (pinks & purples) and will go perfect with her room. The quilting is absolutely going to be gorgeous. Peggy makes very tiny stitches (9 per inch). Mine are much bigger. She has her work cut out for her to get it done before Evvy comes home. She is a little relieved because she can now work on it when I am around instead of just in secret. Evvy is going to have a room full of quilts! That should help us save on the heating bill in the winter (just kidding).

I also received a CD of bedtime music from my mom today. I think I will have to give it a test drive tonight.

Well, without further adieu, here are the pictures of my little angel.

Grandma's comment was does she wake up or cry? We only have a couple pictures with her eyes open! What a life, eat, drink, sleep and no worries!



















Help! I'm blinded by my cheeks!