Just another day in paradise

Ariana is napping right now, so Mommy snuck away to post more pictures! I cannot express how amazing and beautiful this child is! She is such a miracle and blessing to us. She has started playing silly games with me, and I love it. She likes for me to move her legs in a bicycle type motion. When I stop, she kicks me and smiles up at me until I start doing it again, then she laughs out loud. It is the funniest thing to watch. She also rolled over yesterday! I couldn't believe it. She was laying on the bed beside me on her back. She reached across her body, so I gave her my hand. Then she used my hand and pulled herself all the way over onto her tummy. She was so proud of herself and started laughing and smiling. Of course, we then had to do it a bunch more times because she liked it so much!

I'm posting more pictures today. I am trying to put together a slide show, but the computers here have not been very cooperative, so that may have to wait until we get home. For those of you who asked, she is still in mostly 0 to 3 months clothes, but is wearing some 3 to 6 months that aren't too baggy on her!

A few more pics today!

I'm having a tough time choosing amongst the thousands of picture I've taken, but these are a few of my favorites! Thank you to Grandma Diane for the green outfit and to our friend Bonnie for the purple and white one.

Needless to say, we are having a wonderful time. As you can tell from the pictures, Ariana is very happy unless she is hungry. She is full of smiles and coos, but everytime Mommy picks her up she goes right to sleep! I have to put her on the bed or in the Bumbo seat to be able to play with her! Daddy, on the other hand, gets smiles and laughs when he holds her but has a tough time getting her to sleep. Of course, he gets the fun stuff and Mommy gets sleepy time! :-) That's okay with me though, because there is no greater feelign in the world than holding your sleeping baby!

We got Pre-approval today!

The past two days have been more amazing and wonderful than anything I could ever imagine! Ariana is the sweetes, happiest baby. Last night, she actually slept for four hours, had a bottle, and then slept for another4. So today Mommy and Daddy are much better rested and enjoying her even more. She is so full of smiles and laughs. However, every time we get out the camcorder, she immediately stops whatever she is doing and just stares at it. When we get home, I will try to post the video we got before she realized she was being recorded. She was laying on the bed, kicking her feet, and "talking" while we were secretly recording her. You can tell the minute she noticed the camera because she got very still and very quiet. I wish I knew how to post it!

This morning we shared what was probably the sweetest moment of my life. She was sleeping in the co-sleeper beside me and I was just watching her sleep. She opened her eyes just for a minute, looked right at me, smiled and reached for my hand then fell right back asleep holding onto my finger. It was the most beautiful thing, and just that one single moment has made this entire process more than worth it. She is an amazing miracle and we are so blessed to have her in our lives!

While I was waiting for the pictures in this post to load, I opened another window to check my e-mail, and there it was! We got our pre-approval! What a perfect day today is! I get to spend it with my baby girl AND we get to celebrate our PA as well! God is good, all the time!

Here she is, as promised!

Ariana is such an amazing baby! She was even adorable when she thought three AM was a great time to play with Mommy. We are completely and totally in love! Here are the pictures, as promised. I'll work on a slideshow soon, but not as long as she is awake and ready to play. Hope you enjoy!

We are here!

We are at our hotel and as I type this, Ariana is asleep on my chest. I cannot even begin to tell you what an amazing feeling that is! We have not had a chance to upload pictures or anything, but we will post some very soon. For now, we are going to go eat dinner since the egg sandwich on the plane is long gone!

The next time I post will be from Guatemala!!!!

Can you believe it? Tomorrow is the day I meet my baby girl!! We are heading out late tonight for the airport in Chicago. By this time tomorrow, we should be well on our way to Guatemala. I hope to post a few pictures tomorrow night after Ariana goes to sleep, so check back then! Please pray that we have a smooth trip there!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! Before you read any farther, I'll warn you that this post turned into a bit of a mini Christmas sermon as I was typing it!

In all of the hustle and bustle of Christmas and getting ready for our trip, I realized that I hadn't taken a lot of time to really contemplate the reason for Christmas this year. So, I sat down to write a few of my thoughts. I hope you don't mind me sharing them with all of you! First, in the midst of our adoption, I have thought a lot about how Ariana's birthmother must feel having made the choice to make an adoption plan for her. I thought about how hard it must be for her to be away from her daughter and how selfless she is to choose adoption. That led me to thinking about how God must have felt when He made the choice to send His son here to earth. I realized that it must have been terrible for Him. Even as men rejoiced at the arrival of His Son, He must have been grieving. He knew on that first Christmas all those years ago just what He had sent His Son here to do. He knew as He looked at the Baby lying in a manger, that one day He would have to watch that same Child hang from a cross. He knew all of this, and yet He loved us enough to send Jesus anyway. I don't think I had ever really appreciated just what the gift of Jesus must have cost God until I became a parent. I can only imagine the horror of sending my child into a world where I knew she would be persecuted and die. It makes me appreciate His gift of Jesus even more. I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas and that the real reason for the season remains in all of our hearts year round!

It's almost here!!!

As you can tell from our ticker, we have only four days left until we finally meet our sweet baby girl! Since we also have not one, not two, but three Christmas celebrations and a lot of packing to do between now and then, I think that time will fly! In case I don't get to post again before we head out, please pray for us to have safe travels. And be sure to check back often after Dec. 27th for new pictures, slideshows, and (if I can figure out how to do it!) maybe even a video or two of our visit trip! Merry Christmas, everyone!

Out of Family Court and In to PGN!!

We got a call from our agency to let us know that we exited Family Court (actually over a week ago, about Dec. 7!) and that our attorney decided to go ahead and submit us to PGN without our pre-approval. So, we officially entered PGN on Dec. 13, 2007! I know we will get a previo for not having PA, but I still feel so much better knowing we have a case number and such now. And, I can't believe I'm saying this, but here's to a quick previo (kick out) so that we can go right back in as soon as we get our pre-approval! Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us! This is the best news we could have hoped for at this stage in the game! God is good, all the time!

Please keep praying for Stacy and Kim as they wait for their pre-approvals well past the time they should have had to wait.

The countdown is in single digits!

In only 9 more days, we will be meeting our daughter for the first time!!! I am beyond excited and just can't wait to hold her in my arms! We feel so blessed that we will get to spend part of the Christmas season with her. It will be hard not to be with her on Christmas day, but we know her foster family will cherish that time with her since it will (hopefully) be the only Christmas they have with her in their home. I don't know how much I will be able to post in the next week as we attend Christmas parties and celebrations, but be sure to look for lots of pictures and maybe even a video or two once we get to Guatemala!

Please continue to pray for all of those who are in the process of adopting from anywhere in the world. It's very hard to be away from your child at the holidays. Also, say a special prayer for the families I listed in my earlier post. They are still waiting for the US embassy to issue their pre-approval and it has been well beyond the 60 days that the embassy says it should take.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and remembers to thank God for that most precious gift on the first Christmas-His son Jesus!

Prayers for these families, please!

I have asked so many times for everyone to pray for us and for Ariana. I've come to realize that there are so many other families who have been waiting so much longer than us, and today I'd like to ask that you send your thoughts and prayers in their direction. Specifically, I'd like to ask for prayers for StacyD and her daughter Bella Grace and Kim, Steve, and their son Zackary. They have all been waiting more than their fair share of time for embassy preapproval, so I ask that everyone pray that they get good news very soon on this important step to bringing their children home.

Christmas Adoption Song-It WILL make you cry!

This song will make you cry if you go to the web address and listen to it. It made me cry like a baby, and I am not a crier. Get your tissues out before you read or listen.


http://www.supload.com/listen?s=J7J30VF5NNA8

GROUP: Third Day SONG: Merry Christmas

There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn
Crying for momma's arms
At an orphanage just outside a little China town
There the forgotten are

But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire
And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine
It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lightsI
'm warmed by the fire's glow
Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white,
Make angels in the snow

But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears
And hope that heaven's angels come to carry you here
It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

Christmas is a time to celebrate the holy child
and we celebrate his perfect gift of love
He came to earth to give his lifeand prepare a place for us
so we could have a home with him above

It's Christmas time again and now you're home
Your family is here so you will never be alone
So tonight before you go to sleep,
I'll hold you in my armsAnd I'll tell you from my heart,
and I'll you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

A quick update from Ariana's doctor

I forwarded the new measurements and photos of Ariana to our international adoption doctor last night when I received them. I got a reply today saying, "Beautiful pictures, beautiful baby! Sure looks like she is being fed:)!" Sounds like Dr. Keck agrees that we don't need to worry about her size anymore! I think her fostermom must have started her on Miracle Gro last month!

Nothing new to report in the drama over if we have or have not exited Family Court. I am hoping and praying to hear something tomorrow. I, of course, will post as soon as I do hear anything!

New pictures and updates!

We got our monthly updates today! It sounds like our worries about her weight were unnecessary-she was up to 10 pounds as of Nov. 20th! I guess she was a slow starter and is playing catch-up now! She is 21 3/4 inches long as well. This is great news! Now I can start washing and packing her clothes. I think the 3-6 months ones will be okay even though they will be a bit big. I'm also excited because she is wearing one of the outfits we sent to her in our care package. I guess that means it arrived safely. And did anyone else notice she has a barrette in her hair? A barrette! And she is only 2 1/2 months old! What are we going to do with all of that hair? Of course, for those of you who know me, you know tons of hair is what i'm used to, so I think we'll muddle through.

I want to say thank you to everyone who prayed that our girl would grow and catch up this month. God is good and has answered our prayers!

The new law passed today.

It's official. The new adoption law passed it's third and final reading today in Guatemala's Congress. I am not sure if that is good news or bad news at this point. It does include a grandfather clause for cases in-process, but it is vague. It doesn't define what in-process means and requires registration with a central authority that doesn't yet exist. I guess we wait again to see how it all plays out in the end. If this new law truly protects the rights of children, birthmoms, and adoptive families while still allowing children in need of loving homes to find them, then I will be happy!

In other news, I got a somewhat confusing update from our agency and attorney today. Our coordinator forwarded the following quote from our attorney: "court was dec. 3. Should get it back this week too!!.". I assumed this meant our case had gone before the Family Court judge on Dec. 3 and we should expect our final report very soon. However, our coordinator interpreted it to mean that our interviews that we were told had been done in November had not actually occured until Dec. 3. I like my assumption better! For anyone who has done an adoption in Guatemala before, I'd love to hear your insights in the comment section about which you think it means! I am praying that Heather (who is relatively new to the agency and didn't seem to even know about a judge's hearing in family court) is mistaken and that we will be getting our Family Court approval this week. Please pray that is the case because my nerves are just about shot!

Guatemala's new adoption law vote

Tomorrow is the day when Guatemala's Congress is set to vote on a new adoption law. The new law contains lots of positive things, and also lots of negative things. My request for everyone today and tomorrow is to send up lots of prayers that the grandfather clause for cases like ours that are already in process is passed and that it includes all cases where a child and a family have been matched. My other request is that everyone pray that the Congress is truly looking at the best interests of children and families when and if they pass this new law. I hope there will be amendments added tomorrow to help insure that all children who need a home are still able to be adopted in the future. I also hope the law will protect the rights of the birthmother to CHOOSE whether to parent her child or make an adoption plan. Thank you in advance for your thoughts and prayers!

PS: It couldn't hurt to also send up a couple of prayers that we get Family Court approval this week before our social worker goes on vacation for an entire month!

Time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking....

Can you believe how those tickers just keep ticking off the days until I hold my sweet baby? I thought this wait would drag on and on, but I'm now finding myself wondering how I can possibly get everything ready to go before our visit trip! Only 18 days left-and that includes a ton of Christmas festivities in addition to our every day stuff. I'm getting more excited with each passing day!

The US embassy has been sloooowly releasing visa preapprovals over the last two weeks. It seems they are taking about 45-50 days on average. That means the earliest we can expect to hear about ours is during our visit trip unless the times speed up again. (In late October they went from 50-60 days all the way down to an average of 14 days or less!).

We are still in Family Court, and we're praying HARD for an out prior to Dec. 14. The social worker will leave for a month's vacation then. If we aren't released before then, our file will sit on the SW's desk until he/she returns in mid-January.

We're hoping for an update and pictures sometime this week. I'll post them as soon as I get them!

New JCICS statement-PLEASE pray for Guatemalan adoptions

The Joint Council on International Children's Services issued a new statement about adoptions in Guatemala. Please, please pray that ALL of the families who are waiting for children from Guatemala. Please pray that the government of Guatemala makes choices in the best interest of children and families. Thank you!

This is the statement from the JCICS website:

December 7, 2007
As part of the Joint Council Guatemala 5000 Initiative and our ongoing assessment of the situation in Guatemala, we now have considerable concerns regarding the processing and completion of all transition cases. We call on the Guatemalan Congress and the Berger administration to publicly clarify the process by which the adoption of those children who have been referred to a family will be completed.
As previously announced, the Guatemalan Congress hopes to review and vote on Bill # 3735 on December 11, 2007. It is the assessment of Joint Council that Article 56 of Bill # 3735 could in effect, preclude the completion of in-process adoptions under current law. Article 56 states that all pending cases must register with the Central Authority within 30 days. Given that the 3735 also requires the creation of a new entity as the Central Authority, we express our concern that a new entity may not be created with sufficient time to allow for the registration. Joint Council calls on the Guatemalan Congress to amend Article 56 to clearly state the process by which registration will occur. It is our recommendation that Article 56 permit and require all adoptions with Powers of Attorney as of December 30, 2007 to be registered with the PGN by January 31, 2008 as a condition for continuing the adoption process under current law.
In the event the Guatemalan Congress does not vote or pass Bill # 3735, Joint Council calls on the Berger administration to issue a similar clarification of the process by which the government will process all pending adoption cases. Joint Council urges the administration to permit and require all adoptions with Powers of Attorney as of December 30, 2007 to be registered with the PGN by January 31, 2008 as a condition for continuing the adoption process under current law.
It is Joint Council’s understanding that discussion by many stakeholders include a plan to ‘grandfather’ only those adoptions which have been registered with PGN by December 31, 2007. This requirement is overly restrictive, severely limits a child’s legal access to the process (50% of Guatemala’s courts are in recess through January 15), needlessly penalizes those children who are in the abandonment system and is clearly not in the best interest of children.
Joint Council also calls on the United States government via Congress and the Department of State to protect the rights of children in need by assisting in the creation of a sound transition policy for all pending adoptions.
As part of our continuing Guatemala 5000 Initiative, Joint Council has requested a meeting with Guatemalan President-Elect Alvaro Colom. Joint Council will strongly urge the new administration to provide sufficient protections for all of Guatemala’s children while continuing to promote a child’s right to a safe, permanent and loving family.

I love my niece!

Just had to write a post about my precious niece, who never fails to amaze me with her spirit and kindness. For those not in Indiana, let me start by saying it snowed last night. Since Belle is not quite 2 1/2, she was fascinated by this. When I picked her up this morning and walked out to the car, she saw the snow, gasped, and said, "Hey! Who put all of this here?" I told her that it fell from Heaven and God sent it. So, she said, "Oh, it's a present from Jesus!" I have never in my life thought of snow in that way. (I'm usually the one cursing it since I HATE to drive in it!) What a great perspective to have! Then, on the way to my friend's house, she saw Christmas lights. She started saying, "Look! Christmas lights! It's almost Christmas!" She then proceeded to tell me that Christmas is Jesus' birthday. My favorite part was that she then said, "Jesus gives me presents and then I give them to ezzeybody else." She is just too sweet!

Family Court Update!

No, we haven't exited yet. But, I did get word today that the social worker has done the interview with the birthmom! Now we just have to wait for the social worker to issue the final report, and we'll be all set for PGN as soon as we get our US embassy visa preapproval! Things are moving along nicely and I couldn't be happier with our times so far. If current trends for preapproval (PA) continue, we should get ours sometime during our trip to Guatemala and will hopefully enter PGN by early January. I'm getting even more excited with each step!

Please continue to pray for Ariana's birthmom, as I am sure she is saddened by the choice she has had to make for her daughter. Please ask that the Lord give her comfort and peace in knowing her daughter is loved and cherished by many. Please also pray that our process continues to move along smoothly so that we can bring our daughter home in God's perfect time.

Ariana's Doctor Report

Hello, all. I just got an e-mail last night from Dr. Keck about Ariana's November update that I sent her right after we got it on November13. Dr. Keck is an international medicine pediatrician at Riley Hospital for Children. She is the one who evaluated Ariana's referral pictures and information to tell us if she appeared healthy. In the e-mail yesterday, Dr. Keck expressed mild concern that Ariana isn't gaining weight as quickly as she would like to see. She asked me to get further information about what Ariana's feeding schedule is like from our agency. Also, Dr. Keck seemed to think the weight update said she weighs 7.14 pound, not 7 pounds 14 ounces. (The report says "weight: 7.14") Apparently this weight means that Ariana has fallen completely off the US infant growth charts for her weight. She was at the 10th percentile at birth, so that is a bit of a drop. Her head circumference also dropped from the 10th percentile to the 3rd, but Dr. Keck said that isn't a major drop and she isn't concerned about it at this time.

I am not overly worried, and neither is Dr. Keck, but I would like to ask that everyone pray that Ariana is healthy and continues to grow. I'm okay with her being small as long as she is healthy and growing. My niece was also very small and didn't gain much weight for her first several months, so I know it is possible to be perfectly healthy and tiny. I guess the only difference is that I don't get to see Ariana every day and I don't get to control how much she is eating. I have to trust a lady I've never met to take care of my precious daughter, and that isn't always easy. Maybe those prayers need to be for me as much as for Ariana:-) Thanks in advance for your thoughts and prayers.