McDonald-Paull Family

Summer Hair Cut

2009-05-28T09:42:00.005-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I finally got my courage up and got my boy's beautiful hair buzzed off for the summer. I love it when he has longer hair, but his head just gets so hot. He stays so much cooler now, and there's almost no need to get the dreaded comb out. So here's a before pic and then a pic of his buzz cut at the kiddie salon. He already needs it buzzed again!

With those beautiful but hot locks

Cool as a cucumber

A brave new world

2009-05-27T20:53:00.004-04:00

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. I put Alex in his crib and began putting his toys away - our standard bedtime ritual. Suddenly I heard a loud FLUMP from behind me, and then a loud round of crying. I turned and what to my wondering eyes did appear but a sweet little boy on the floor beside his crib. We stared at each other for a moment in shock. He had escaped his cozy nighttime prison! A major developmental milestone had been achieved.

Alex was none the worse for wear - his floor is covered with a soft play mat. Still, he learned from his mistake and before the next few attempts threw everything in his crib out so he would have a soft pile blankets to land on. Smart kid. Kathy and I are mentally preparing ourselves for the nocturnal adventures that are sure to follow.

We will order the crib to toddler bed conversion kit this weekend. I hope it gets here soon...

New photos uploaded

2009-04-23T15:20:00.003-04:00

I have uploaded some new photos of Alex! Check out the photo album link on the right side of the screen.

Alex is doing fine, and is getting plenty of attention since his Nana is visiting to help while Kathy recovers from an injury. He is now a bit Thomas the Tank Engine fan, and also loves to pretend to talk on anything that looks like a cell phone. :)

Alex's New Room - Day 2

2009-03-08T21:20:00.003-04:00

OK, so getting Alex settled into his new room was easier than we expected. Little Alex had no trouble sleeping in his new bedroom last night, and so far things are going well tonight also. Kathy and I are pretty exausted, though. Kathy isn't feeling well, and her illness kept her awake last night. I made the foolish mistake of drinking a caffinated soft drink at lunch yesterday. The lift was helpful in getting Alex's room ready, but it wasn't so helpful when I tried to go to sleep. I lost count of the number of times I woke up last night, and I am pretty tired right now...

Alex's New Room - Day 1

2009-03-07T21:18:00.004-05:00

After months of delay, the day finally arrived that Alex's bedroom was ready for him to move in. Right now, he is sleeping peacefully in his crib with hardly a peep from the baby monitor. How long will the quiet last? Time will tell...

We will miss having Alex around at night, but it sure will be nice to have our privacy back!

National TV Debute, Sunday Jan. 25th

2009-01-24T18:13:00.002-05:00

We got the call today from America's Funniest Home Videos saying that he will be on tomorrow night. So check your local ABC station for the time and root him on! We titled the video clip "Bumped by a pumpkin" but don't know what they will call it. Obviously there are pumpkins in it and our guy is wearing green overalls. And most importantly wasn't hurt during the video! I tell you all this because the clip is very short and don't want anyone to miss it by taking a potty break.

Wild and Crazy Day!

2008-11-18T23:50:00.003-05:00

SNOW! Our little man got to see his first snow and it was before Thanksgiving. It was amazing. I saw the few little flakes, grabbed my confused babe, took him outside, and attempted to show him the white stuff falling from the sky. He had no idea what I was babbling about. It stopped about a minute later. Typical snow around these parts.

And this evening we found out our son is going to be on America's Funniest Home Video's. No air date yet, but we'll let you know as soon as we find out. You won't want to miss it. It REALLY is funny.

McD Family Reunion

2008-10-25T21:41:00.005-04:00

Earlier in October, the McD's had their annual family reunion. This was to be Alex's debut. It turns out he had to share it with lots of other babies, but still he was quite popular. Once the music started he started dancing and tried to clog with the cloggers, but ultimately he had to go with his own style. He was totally fascinated by David's fiddling. I'm surprised he didn't end up with a bow up his nose. Seeing as it was a family event, I got advice ranging from how to fend off the pre-teen girls who are sure to start calling him once he hits that lovely age to what age the suzuki violin lessons start. Both, entirely useful advice. Yes, this is the same outfit as you see in the next post....I like it!

Alex wanting to go play. After just winning his door prize of a gardening set.

Playing with a distant cousin.

Playing in the ice after the party.

This last picture just breaks my heart. I had to break it to this poor little boy that was born in the tropics that, well, it is likely that this is as much "snow" as he will see this winter. So please, if anyone has any pull with the snow gods, can you let them know that this little guy would like to see some REAL snow this winter. BTW, he just waded right into the ice like he didn't feel cold or anything. Brrrr!

More Fun Today

2008-10-09T22:57:00.007-04:00

Well, it turns out I really like this hair cut more than I thought. I seem to be taking pictures of our guy now all the time. One thing I like about the cut is that I don't have to comb his hair for days. Oops....did I really say that!

I'm also adding more pictures because it's just so hard to get a smile captured with this camera. He is really a happy smiley little boy despite what the photos show. But I finally succeeded with the smiles today!

Reading is FUNdamental

Playground Fun with a Friend

Going Down

Back Up

Practicing Stairs

2008-10-08T23:24:00.010-04:00

Lots of obsessive practicing of stairs like only a toddler can has been happening for the past few weeks. Too bad our house is pretty much devoid of stairs. These coming off our deck are all he's got to practice on.

Going Up--ALL BY MYSELF

Going Down with a Little Help

First Hair Cut!

2008-10-07T20:44:00.005-04:00

We finally took the plunge and got our guy's hair cut this past weekend. It was less traumatic all around than I was expecting. I didn't freak out and neither did our little guy. We took him to one of those kid places and I think that may have helped, but basically I think he just liked all of the attention. And, yes, Kevin desperately needs a hair cut too!

Before

During

After

Busy Weekend

2008-09-21T20:24:00.005-04:00

The weather has finally turned and we are peeping our noses out of our a/c'd homes and cars. On Saturday we went to Bugfest, a festival run by the Museum of Natural Science. Today we worked out some kinks with our "new to us" baby backpack on a short hike with the dogs at a local educational forest run by the Forestry Service. Then we went to a playground. Alex had a blast and Kevin and I are totally exhausted!

Bugfest was really fun. There were tons of people. I had no idea that it was such a huge event. We went with another friend and her toddler and ended up going over to the toddler play area. Well both kids were too young for the games/rides but we found a somewhat quieter spot nearby in the grass. Alex ran around all over the place with us running after.

On the edge of the inflatable ride:

The backpack turned out to work well. Alex seemed to like it. He wasn't excited but rather lulled into a very relaxed state and then promptly fell asleep in his carseat on the 10 min drive home to drop off the dogs. I think it may have been his first time in the "woods". He has been pestering us to go outside all this past week so I'm really glad we got him out to some area that is wooded.

Alex cried all the way to the playground. He wanted OUT of his carseat. Once we got there though....serious mood shift. He throughly enjoyed himself and made a total pest of himself to all of the older kids, but also made several friends. After warming up in the baby swings, he tried out the slides. Eventually we discovered that he liked climbing up the slides more than going down them. And was able to climb up them all by himself (with just a spotter).

Will try to catch you all up on the previous events (esp. the B-day!) at a later time.

Long time no blog

2008-08-02T17:29:00.008-04:00

Wow has it been a while esp. in the time of a little persons life. Kevin and our wee one are out this afternoon on their own and mommie got a little me time (yea!!!!!! finally), so maybe I can now sit down and write. Everyone is doing fine.

At the beginning of July, he had a weight check and was at 19 lbs 12 ozs. We were also told that we were just going to have to live with his diarrhea since nothing else seemed to be wrong....whoopie. I'm glad nothings wrong.....but I'm so tired of diarrhea diapers.

We started our post-placement homestudies so that we can begin our re-adoption. Yep, we get to do this all over again. Ok, not really, but in a way. Our little guy was adopted in Guatemala so to ensure all of his rights we are going to re-adopt him here and apply for citizenship (no, he won't have to take the test!).

Our guy is starting to walk now too, he's up to about 15 steps before he falls. I'm not sure when you "call it" walking. Now he's bumping himself even more than before. He's already had his first nosebleed.

Enough blabbing from me here are some pics from his first swim in mid-July (pics courtesy of my friend Erin):

Catching Up

2008-06-15T12:27:00.007-04:00

Since we've been so slack about keeping up the blog since arriving home (due to the subject of this blog!), I thought I'd give a hopefully brief update on our little guy's milestones to date and throw in some pictures too.

He went from a weak sitter to a strong crawler to pulling up to cruising to practicing balancing standing in a little over a month....I don't think it will be long before he's walking and I'm running after him. He now likes to play ball (affectionately known as "fetch") down the hallway....he crawls fast!
He's saying dada and other baby words. He only says mama when he's really mad. Hmmm...
He can pick up finger food now and seems to be a righty.
When he's done eating he lets us know by spitting/motorboating it back out at us.
He's had an ear infection in both ears which are now resolved.
He's STILL suffering from diarrhea.
He's fascinated with our cat; he'd only known dogs before. Partly because our cat doesn't let him get close! He gets along dandy with one dog who he feeds from the table; the other dog would rather not be bothered (she's an old hound).

Here's some playtime pics (it was laundry day):

One Month Anniversary

2008-06-05T20:03:00.005-04:00

It's been a month since our son has joined our family. In honor of that we will highlight our first family photo taken of the three of us in the court yard of our B&B in Guatemala.

This one was taken today as our camera-phobic son bounced in his jumper. Ya gotta catch 'em when you can, even when he needs a bath!

New photos!

2008-05-30T21:04:00.003-04:00

This is just a quick note to let everyone know that there are a couple of new sets of pictures on our Picasa picture site. Just follow the link below on the right side of the page.

Baby aerobics

2008-05-28T19:32:00.003-04:00

Since taking custody of our son I have lost approximately 20 pounds. I figure this makes me as much a weight-loss authority as anyone, so here is a free sample of my new-found wisdom:

Baby Aerobics
Step 1: Place baby in a bouncer. My preference is for one that hangs in a doorway, but any baby bouncer should do.

Step 2: Jump up and down (yes, that means you) while singing the following song...

He's a bouncing, bouncing, bouncing baby!
He's a bouncing, bouncing, bouncing boy!
He's a bouncing, bouncing, bouncing baby!
Gonna bounce and bounce and bounce some more!

Repeat as needed. If you have a girl, make substitutions as needed - the effect should be the same. To make it rhyme I suggest making the last line say "Gonna bounce and bounce until we hurl!"

For more, please consult my new book available at quality bookstores everywhere! ;)

We're home

2008-05-12T22:23:00.002-04:00

We made it home Friday and have been totally exhausted ever since! Kevin has been keeping the baby's sleeping schedule so has only been exhausted. I've tried to get a few things done around the house during nap time and bed time which has left me walking around like a zombie. That is why I'm keeping this very very short. We're home. Nite nite.

All systems go

2008-05-09T05:58:00.002-04:00

It is 4am here and the little one sleeps while we scurry around getting ready to go. Everything is on schedule so far.

Next stop Huston, and then home!

-Kevin & Kathy

His first tooth!

2008-05-08T23:51:00.004-04:00

BTW, this is Kathy not Kevin....I am just too tired to change the author!

Yep, our little man finally got one of his new teeth in today. He hasn't let us really see it yet, but boy can we feel it as he chomps on us. Hopefully, the other bottom one will break soon and maybe, just maybe some of the crankiness will pass. Well, I can always dream can't I.

Our trip to Antigua was canceled today because of a truckers strike that blockaded all of the highways. They were striking because of the high price of gas (just above $4 US/gallon) and the lack of security on the highways. Don't forget that Guatemalan truckers make a lot less money than US truck drivers so $4 / gallon is a lot more painful to them.

So we ended up going to the zoo and the handicraft market. Our guy enjoyed watching the people at the zoo and got a short nap in. We of course over did it and now he is very overtired and will probably be cranky the entire plane ride home.

We have to get up in the middle of the night (3 - 3:30) for the flight that leaves at 6:30. There is so much here that I still would love to see; I don't want to leave. It really is a lovely country. Buenos noches.

Seeing more personality

2008-05-07T23:43:00.002-04:00

We're getting to see more of his personality now. And it's cracking me up. He has a monster voice he uses when he's happy....a low voice that he just babbles in baby talk and then his normal baby talk will kick in . It''s hilarious. I'm sure one of his foster mom's grandkids taught him that. It just amazes me that an 8 month old can do it. He mostly does it when he's eating. He likes to eat. He also likes to raspberry as he eats...I don't need to say more!

We also finally ventured out this evening to a restaurant. We went to Kacao, which the guide book describes as a gourmet Guatemalan restaurant with a classy atmosphere. It had a high thatched roof and waiters dressed in regional Mayan outfits. For the atmosphere I thought it was too touristy, but Kevin really like it. The food was very good though. And I think we may have a budding gourmet on our hands too. EA overall did really well at the restaurant. The main tactic that worked best for us was to feed him things that he could eat....he loved it! And this was just after his dinner.

And speaking of food.....I finally got around to eating a banana today. What we eat in the states are NOT bananas.

Today we spent a lot of time working on getting our guy some much needed sleep. He slept great last night (only waking 2 times), but other wise got 12 hours of sleep. And got 2 one hour naps in. We've also been dealing with the big D. He's had it since day one. And stupid mommy thought well since he already has why don't we go ahead and change his diet now rather than waiting.....wrong answer! 3 explosions Luckily for us he does not seem to be too distress by them.

And saving the best for last.....Kevin and I were both inaugrated into parenthood tonight.....I was holding onto him pre-bath waiting for Kevin to fill the tub and I guess the water noise was too much.....got pretty much all my clothing excluding my socks and my right shoe. And then 15 min later (or so) Kevin was bringing him out of his bath and got it. It wouldn't be a problem if we had more clothes to wear, but we packed very light for this trip. I see some laundry in our near future.

As for the legal stuff, we picked up his visa today (our lawyer did). So now we're done except for the re-adoption which we have to do within 6 month I think. Something has to be done within 6 month because that's when his visa expires.

We're planning a trip to La Antigua Guatemala tomorrow, the former capital of Guatemala until an earthquake took care of that. It's suppose to be a beautiful city.

Embassy Appointment Day

2008-05-06T22:57:00.002-04:00

Today was the day for our Embassy appointment. We were number one in the waiting list, the first time our attorney has ever had that happen. We had to go to multiple windows, wait numerous times, pay our visa fee, swear to various things, and sign several other things. You'd think I might remember what any of them were. Anyway, we received final approval for our son's visa and pick it up tomorrow afternoon!

The appointment was early in the morning which meant that all of us including our son (who is a late riser) missed out on some sleep. He was not a happy camper at the Embassy. I think I can honestly say he was the loudest crying baby there.....and cried the most. Finally our lawyer took pity on us and took him and got him settled down, the Guatemalan way. Now I know why they say they don't use pacifier here. They just use empty bottles instead.

Our son is still quite fussy which ended up with us staying at our b&b all day even though we were back from the Embassy by 9. He's having a terrible time sleeping (several times taking us 2 1/2 hours to get him to sleep) and so by being overtired it is affecting everything. He is also eating like a newborn, about every 2 hours or so which also makes doing things a little difficult.

We also discovered today that he HATES squash. Daddy just sat there with a funny look on his face, even though he bought the squash. I almost wonder if he tampered with it (laugh). Like father, like son. Our son had a great time today playing with his friend Rudy (15 mo old) in the walkers---they played crash up derby or something like that.

We are still unfortunately unable to post pictures because we can't download them from our camera. Kevin bought 2 USB cables today and neither of them worked with our camera. I guess we'll just have to put together a really cool slide show when we get home....with all our free time of course.

He's here at last!!!!!!!!

2008-05-05T23:55:00.002-04:00

We met him today at 11:20. Of course I wasn't ready, but was writing out the thank you letter in espanol to the foster family. It came out totally garbled since I was told as I copied it that he was here! It's been a very emotional day to say the least. The foster family loves him very much and it was difficult for them to say good-bye to him. We are so thankful to them for the love that they have shown him.

He has had a very difficult day today as well. It took him about an hour to realize that they weren't coming back. And then it's been a toughie all day. I'll admit some of it has to do with our total inexperience as parents. Especially since they seem to raise kids very differently down here (he still wakes up 3 times for bottles at night!). And some of it is because he has a little bit of a cold, possibly due to the vaccine that he was given right before we came down--it was required we tried to delay it until we got home, it makes many kids sick. And he just started teething yesterday. So which of these things is it when he's upset...i dunno.

He does seem to need to be touching one of us at all times already so I think that is a good sign. And I think he recognized us when he first met us (from the photos we sent) and recognized our voices and books we read to him from the recorder we sent down. He did have a really fun time with daddy taking a bath tonight. He was splashing about in there happy as a clam until I forced Kevin to get him out because the water had to be getting to cold. It took us forever to get him to sleep, but now he and daddy are passed out on the bed together. I wonder how the switch to the pack and play will go. Tomorrow is our embassy day....bright and early so I must go now.

Trip to Tikal

2008-05-05T00:08:00.002-04:00

Today we went to the ruins of the Mayan city of Tikal. Wow! We had a great time, and our tour guide was a font of information. The place itself is very impressive The city and its buildings were much bigger than I expected. Huge, really. Pictures really don't do it justice. Those ancient Mayans were building fiends.

Speaking of pictures, we have run into a technical glitch. We forgot our USB cable, so we can't upload anything from our camera. We will try to fix it as soon as possible, since we will very much want to let everyone see pictures of Eddy Alexander's first day with us - tomorrow!

Kevin & Kathy

Our first few hours

2008-05-03T22:28:00.002-04:00

It was interesting flying in over Guatemala City. It definitely had the look from the sky of a very poor country. There was even some areas where I at first thought the locals were burning the forests to expands their neighborhood, but may actually have been volcano smoke.

Once we got on the ground the airport was pretty easy; just masses of people at the exit. Our B&B sent a driver for us and he quickly got us to our lodging in zona 10 (the safest area--we happen to be next to the Isreali embassy). The area looked a lot like an upscale LA to me rather than the poor city I saw from the sky. I guess it's all where you go. Everything is pretty much walled in but it's often done colorfully and with lots of plants. Almost all of the advertising (which was everywhere...wall to wall billboards in some areas) was in spanglish or english.

Our first big adventure was to go to the tienda (grocery store). We were dropped off and picked up a half hour later. Many, many of the same products as in the us. Seemed more familiar than many mexican markets that I've been to. Probably partially because there was american pop music playing the entire time. The most difficult part was the money exchange but Kevin handled it ok.

Our B&B is very unamerican it has cement tile floors, no a/c, cement walls. It has a very spanish feel to the main areas with a beautiful staircase and enclosed courtyards (no plants). Our room opens to one of the courtyards. It even has a play room. It's quite except for the barking dogs and fireworks. It's almost eerie to me how familiar this country feels.

Tomorrow it's onto Tikal and we'll have lots of pictures to post too (unless we're too tired!).

Arrived safe and sound

2008-05-03T18:17:00.002-04:00

Just a quick note - after getting 1.5 hours of sleep last night we successfully made the trip to Guatemala City and are now checked into the Casa De Luna bed and breakfast. We are very pleased with the place. Facilities and service have been excellent so far!

-Kevin

...to the finish line!

2008-05-01T16:14:00.005-04:00

We haven't had time to post to this blog recently because we are getting ready to pick up our son! Our embassy appointment is for Tuesday, May 6th, and we are frantically working on fixing up the nursery, getting a pet-sitter, fixing up the nursery, washing baby clothes, fixing up the nursery, getting room and flight reservations, fixing up the nursery, and working out the financial details.

Both of us are very tired, but also very excited that we are finally going to be able to hold Eddy Alexander in our arms and take him home.

~Kevin

It's a race...

2008-04-18T19:08:00.002-04:00

Our hijo's 2nd DNA sample arrived in the states today to be analyzed. Lately it's only been taking a few days before the results are sent back to Guatemala. Unfortunately, we are having a problem with some paperwork on our end. The US Embassy won't issue us a visa appointment without this paperwork from the US National Visa Center. So now it's a race to see who can get their paperwork to Guatemala faster....

We're hoping that this visa issue won't slow things down at all but if it does it'll only be by a week or so.

2nd DNA Done!

2008-04-16T11:58:00.002-04:00

We just got word from our agency that our son had his 2nd DNA test done. This test is done at the end of the process to satisfy the US Embassy that the child that under went the first DNA test is the same one that is going home. The sample now has to come to the US (NC ironically) be analyzed and the results sent back to Guatemela. This can take anywhere from one to two weeks. And then we wait for our appointment date; that is when we go to the Embassy with our son.

It turns out I technically should re-name our last post. It turns out that the Guatemalan government decided to give our child only one last name, Kevin's. We got a faxed copy of his passport---very cool. Kevin didn't get a passport until just last year and here our kiddo has one at 7 months old.

He's now a McDonald-Paull!

2008-04-05T17:33:00.004-04:00

The title pretty much says it all. Yesterday after calling our agency we found out that our hijo (son en Español) has gotten his birth certificate with his new last name. He's also gotten his Guatemalan passport which he'll use to enter the US.

On Monday we're told they'll be presenting his paperwork to the US Embassy to get authorization for his second DNA test. This is to ensure that he is the same child that started the process. Once they do the DNA test it will take about 2 1/2 weeks to get the results back to Guatemala and then have the US Embassy give us an appointment. Yes, that's what I said, give us an appointment! So maybe, just maybe, we'll be picking-up our son sometime around the beginning of May!!!!!! Realistically, the first half of May.

A New Niece!!!

2008-04-01T09:11:00.010-04:00

Say that 5 times fast. I'm so excited. My beautiful niece (it's so cool to say that!) was born yesterday in the wee hours of the morning. She on the other hand is not a wee one, but weighed in at 8 1/2 lbs and nearly 22 inches long. Everyone is happy and healthy.

She is already taking after her Aunt by being late; two plus weeks overdue. Her daddy who is always early is going to have a hard time with that (evil laugh).

I'm also thrilled that our son will have a cousin that is essentially his same age. How cool is that?!

Here she is, just hours old:

Nursery Progress

2008-03-25T09:54:00.003-04:00

On Saturday I finally got around to counting out the weeks left until our earliest probable pick-up date...WAHOO, NEXT MONTH....PANIC!!! NEXT MONTH. We'd go and get him tomorrow if they'd let us. Technically, they would let us have him now since he is our son, however the US will not let us bring him into to the states yet. And since we can't afford months or more of hotel and pet sitter bills (more on that later) we decided to wait it out at home.

So while we're ecstatic that he might come home as early as next month, Kevin and I were both stunned that it could be as early as the end of April. We both had it in our heads as sometime in May or maybe even June. I think as an emotional defense mechanism against this whole tortuously long drawn out process. And it could still take as long as June or whenever. We won't know until the US Embassy in Guatemala gives us our appointment as to when we can bring him home.

Well, the nursery is still an office (another defense against this process), but now that our niño might be home next month the PANIC! has set in. Since our nursery coordinator and fellow international prospective adoptive parent, Sharon, will be checking on our progress, I will be boring you with our progress here.

Without further adieu, our fabric choice for the valance:
This is a handwoven Guatemalan (Mayan) fabric that was made on a foot or treadle loom. I purchased it from a fair trade internet web site. And will sew it into a very simple valance (as my sewing skills are very simple). I may even have to make it after our niño is home but at least we will have the colors so that the room can be painted soon.

WE'RE PARENTS!!!

2008-03-14T08:20:00.004-04:00

YES!!! It's FINALLY happened. Kevin and I are legally his parents. We got the phone call yesterday afternoon that we were approved by PGN and that the birthmother had signed off the 4th and final time. We are beside ourselves with joy. So according to Guatemala we are his parents and now we just have to get his visa to get him into this country (ok, it's a lot more complicated than that but that's the basic gist!).

We're told that we can expect to travel in about 6-8 weeks so that puts it at about early to mid-May. He'll be about 8 1/2 - 9 months old when he gets home.

Kevin found out before I did and I think the scene I made when he told me wasn't TOO bad. It was a beautiful spring-like day so my car windows were down allowing other people to hear my scream, and then my sobbing. All the years and years of waiting for this child and then finally, finally being told that yes, you can be a parent....it was just too much.

See you soon kiddo...Mommy loves you!

6 Month Milestones

2008-03-07T11:02:00.004-05:00

We received a video update from our agency yesterday where our kiddo showed off all of his newly acquired skills. He's now able to turn over on his own, is sitting with just a little bit of support, and can stand with support. He's saying things like "ba". He's eating baby food and cereal now. He's smiling and laughing in the video. And most importantly....not crying! Our first video with no tears. YAY!

All Smiles!

2008-02-27T22:09:00.003-05:00

We got some more updated photos from our agency today. Our niño was all smiles! He's now able to roll over and pull to sit up. He's growing really well and won't fit in any of the outfits that I sent down for longer than a week or two. Oh well!

He's weighing in at 15.5 lbs (10th - 25th percentile which means he's holding steady there). He's catching up in height and is up to the 25th percentile.

Check out the new photos under the "Lots more photos" link in the right hand column.

Our first smile and laugh

2008-02-21T13:04:00.005-05:00

Today was our son turned 6 months old. I handled it better than I expected, but it certainly has been a long 6 six months for us. He's been growing and enjoying his foster family but we've been watching him through the lens of our agency; in a picture here and there and in 5 minute video segments. These pictures are our lifeline to our son and we are so thankful of our agency for providing them to us.

We got a surprise bunch of photos and a video last week. Check out the link on the right hand side for the photos. They contained our first glimpse of our son's smile complete with a few giggles. What a bittersweet feeling. It's so hard to miss all of those "firsts". Yes, we will have all of our own firsts. But I have to wait for those, and I'm tired of waiting. However, I am consoled that he is smiling and has a laugh or two in him.

The video has also confirmed some of my fears about part of our niño's personality. He is a VERY active little boy. He's trying to pull himself up now and I can already imagine by the time we get him home he'll be hanging off of the ceiling fans. He really does sound just like Kevin at this age. By adopting I had hoped we had dodged that bullet, but karma took care of that... I hope Kevin can come up with some answers for this one!

As for getting ready for him to come home, I finished off the knitting on his blanket last night. It took me 6 weeks. I still need to figure out the edging though. I will upload pictures of the blanket to this blog as soon as I am done.

WE'RE REGISTERED!!!

2008-02-12T10:01:00.000-05:00

Our case was registered with the Central Authority this past weekend. What a crazy weekend! Yes, I said weekend. We were registered over the weekend with a governmental agency. On Friday it was announced that the entire previous registration process was to be scrapped and that everyone (all 3000+ cases) had to come in and re-register by Tuesday. And to do this they would stay open over the weekend. So that's 3000+ cases in 5 days.

To accomplish this registration, word from Guat says that it has been a mad house. Imagine over a hundred lawyers standing in line. Eventually they started giving out numbers. The Central Authority has been staying open until midnight to try and get cases registered. Again, this is a governmental agency, staying open until midnight on a weekend. Wow!

I can't even begin to express how thankful I am that our case got registered. However, I am fearful of the few cases that will slip through the cracks and not get registered. That could mean a very different life for those children.

So what does our case being registered mean? Well, it means that our case will be grandfathered in under the old laws and that our son will not be un-matched with us. If our case was not grandfathered in, we would have been required to comply with the Hague laws. This could have ended up with our son being taken out of foster care and put in an orphanage. We also may have been un-matched with our son and re-matched with another child. This is assuming that we would have been able to continue with an adoption at all under the new laws. So this is why we are SO THANKFUL that we were registered and therefore grandfathered under the old laws.

I think that last paragraph explains the why's of our stress pretty much. This past weekend has been absolutely horrible. We have both been terrified of losing our son. We love him so much. It's somewhat odd to love someone so much that you haven't even met yet, but we do.

So what's next? We are suppose to be entered into PGN later this week. Our agency is still staying that if everything goes perfect our son could come home in 3 1/2 to 4 months.

A brief adoption update

2008-02-06T13:13:00.000-05:00

In our last adoption update we mentioned that our adoption was stalled waiting for a new "Central Authority" (CA) for adoptions to be established in Guatemala. At the time of that update, the CA had finally been created, and a new president had just taken office in Guatemla. We were hopeful that our case would start moving again soon.

Well, the new president wasn't happy with the people that his predecessor had appointed to run the CA so he fired them. They challenged this in court, and after a few weeks of fighting finally gave up and resigned yesterday. So, we are once again hopeful that our case will start moving again soon. Lets hope we are right this time!

Picture Day!

2008-01-31T15:05:00.000-05:00

We received updated pictures of our niño from our agency! Happy, happy, joy, joy! In the right hand column is a link to "Lots more photos" click there to take you to our photo album.

One Semester of Spanish-Love Song

2008-01-30T11:55:00.000-05:00

Because I just can't leave something so hilariously funny well enough alone, here goes as to why I've included it on our blog about bringing our son home. See a *ahem* years ago when Kevin and were in college--undergrad that is-- we each took "a year" of Spanish, aka Español, to fulfill some sort of requirement. And well, let's just say we both had some problems. Kevin ended up having to change schools just so he could pass Spanish because NCSU only taught it as an oral program. I ended up having to get a Costa Rican woman as my tutor who really couldn't understand what my problem was. I really only passed because of the written portion of the class. If someone spoke to me in Spanish, I looked like a deer caught in headlights. So naturally, two Spanish impaired individuals decided to adopt from Guatemala. And now we are suppose to be "brushing up" on our non-existent Spanish during our long, long, long wait. Did I mention the wait was long?

Oh BTW, did you notice the French in the video? Better go watch it again LOL! Curses of the HS French and College Spanish (I do it all the time).

Leap of Faith

2008-01-14T13:42:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine is waiting for a referral from Vietnam and over the holidays she and her husband painted their nursery. It looks absolutely awesome! It was a big leap of faith for her to do that; not knowing when her daughter will come home. So here is my leap of faith:

Our son will never have cold toes! I knitted these before we found out who our son was, but was never able to finish them. I didn't know if we'd ever have someone to use them. The green pair and the green/blue/yellow pair are from yarn that I hand-dyed using kool-aid. Thanks to my mom for helping to get the ends woven in over the holidays. Now kiddo, you have to come home soon before you out grow these!

Misc. Stuff

2008-01-14T13:17:00.000-05:00

Several small updates today:
1. Our revised paperwork to fix the previo has been completed and is now in Guatemala. It only cost us 50 bucks for this one piece of paper :-P. Keeping our fingers crossed for no more previos; each previo causes a delay of about 2 months.
2. Rumors have it that in-process adoptions are going to start moving again in Guatemala. PGN has not been accepting new cases or cases that have a previo (like ours). But it is looking like soon, as in the next few weeks, we'll be able to get our case resubmitted.
3. Guatemala's president and vice-president, Alvaro Colom and Rafael Espada, were inaugurated today. Colom worked with the Guatemalan government and the UN to give homes to refugees (many of who were Mayan) after their civil war ended in 1996. Despite being of European descent, he was honored for this work by being trained as a Mayan priest. The VP, Espada, was head of heart surgery at Houston's Methodist Hospital and returned to Guatemala to run for the vice presidency. He often did charity medical work/surgery in Guatemala. Here's hoping that they are able to aid Guatemala and it's people.

Waiting...

2008-01-08T14:50:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here obsessively hitting the refresh button on my computer hoping to find out if and when our case will be allowed back into PGN. Currently PGN is not accepting cases that have a previo (us included) and there is suppose to be announcement anytime now (meeting held yesterday) regarding this issue. Patience is a virtue. That's what I keep telling myself. (It's not working!)

While I was obsessing, I came across this article about the stress of the adoption wait: http://onmilwaukee.com/family/articles/motherfest010708.html?13680

Progress---sort of

2008-01-04T12:44:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we got a voice mail from our agency saying "call me". After I nearly had a heart attack wondering what type of bad news we were going to get, we found out that our case got a "previo" from PGN (the Guatemalan Attorney General Office--Procuraduria General de la Nacion). This means that the PGN rejected our case because they needed some more paperwork. In our case, this previo is actually a good thing. First, we didn't even know that we had been submitted into PGN and are actually quite relieved to find out that we were submitted. Due to the new laws taking effect on Dec 31 there was the fear that if your case was not submitted into PGN by Dec 31 that it would not be covered under the grandfather law.

Second, we were issued the previo because they didn't like Kevin's employment verification letter. So we have to get a new one done; notorized, secretary of state approved, and guatemalan consulate approved---just like for the rest of our dossier. Hopefully, we'll be able to turn this piece of paper around in a week a half or so. We also got the previo for not having the US Embassy's pre-approval for the visa. Since we got this form just this past Saturday, we can now add it to the file. You can't add forms to your file while it is in PGN--their rules.

So all in all it looks like by being submitted to PGN early (before we got our PA which is an automatic previo) it actually has saved us some time since they found the employment letter that they were unhappy about. In the past, after your file gets resubmitted with the corrected paperwork, it takes them about 8 weeks to review it (on average and assuming no more previos). Now here's to no more previos!

We also got our medical update from December. As of December 21 (4 months old), our son was 13 lbs. So he's staying in the 10-25 percentile for weight and has moved onto the carts for height (5-10th percentile). Our consulting pediatrician here in the US said that everything else looks fine so far and reminded me that these kids see the dr more frequently than those in the states and that I shouldn't be such a worry-wort (he said it much nicer than that). No pictures this month though. Rats!

On the down-side, adoptions are in chaos right now in Guatemala. With a new adoption law taking effect Dec 31 and the lack of definition of who will be grandfathered in under the old laws, no one knows what is going on. There are rumors that PGN will not be accepting resubmits (like ours) until a new governmental agency is formed to comply with the new law. However, there has not been any official statements as of yet. So while we've gotten fairly good news recently on our case, because of the current turmoil, Kevin and I are quite stressed and worried. We are so ready for our son to come home!

PA PA PA!

2007-12-29T13:44:00.000-05:00

We got pre-approval (PA) for our son's visa today at 1:21pm. Yes, today, a Saturday. It seems the embassy does work on the weekends. I was so excited I screamed loud enough that he could probably hear me in Guatemala City!

It took 41 days for us to get this pre-approval. The embassy looks at our paperwork and the DNA results. And then they determined that he was eligible for immigration to the US.

The case will now go to the Guatemalan Attorney General's Office (PGN--Procuraduria General de la Nacion). It will probably take a little while to get submitted (from a few days to a few weeks). A few documents need to be translated before we can be submitted.

Happy New Year to us!

Our Case is Progressing!

2007-12-14T14:12:00.000-05:00

We found out today that our case has been approved by the Guatemalan Family Court! This means that the Guatemalan government's social worker has approved us to be parents (by reviewing our homestudy and other paperwork). This social worker has also agreed that the birthmother can relinquish her rights (by interviewing her to find out about her socioeconomic status and to ensure that she was not coerced). On the Guatemalan government side this means that our case can move into it's final stage of approval (PGN). Exactly when this will happen is unknown right now. Typically, our case would wait until we got pre-approval for our child's visa before we were submitted into PGN. However, with all of the uncertainty around which cases will be considered "in-process" as of Dec 31, we might be submitted to PGN without the pre-approval. If that happens it will then get rejected until we get pre-approval of the visa. I keep trying to tell myself it's in the lawyers hands now.....but really I'd much rather be walking this paperwork through the system myself!

For anyone who is counting (besides me!)....We waited 51 days after the interview of the birthmom to get approval. We are on day 25 of waiting for visa pre-approval (the embassy says not to expect anything before day 60). I hate waiting!

Reaching New Levels of Geekdom

2007-12-12T21:59:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I am ashamed to say that achieved a new level of geek-dom. I ended up spending the entire afternoon glued to my computer watching the Guatemalan equilivant of c-span. Now, this wouldn't be nearly as geeky if I knew more than a handful of Spanish words!

So I spent yesterday watching the Guatemalan congress vote on the adoption bill (Ortega law). It is still unclear as to what the passage of this law will mean in the long run for us "in-process" cases. We are hoping that it may just mean that we (meaning our lawyers) have to submit one additional document to the Guatemalan gov't.

It also is unclear at this point what "in-process" means. This murkiness resulted in a panicked email to our agency last week to find out if we are considered "in-process". We may not be, despite the fact that we started this whole process 10 months ago and accepted a referral 3 months ago. Things are still murky on that front. Our agency tried to calm me down, but really until they sort out what this new law means I'm going to be STRESSED!

On the up-side I added some more photos to our photo album. Still no smiles though, he doesn't like having his picture taken. Use the link in the right-hand column.

New Photos and Medical Info

2007-12-05T13:29:00.000-05:00

We got the monthly update of our son yesterday. There's a link to the new photos on the right-hand side of this page. These updates are better than christmas!

It looks like his foster family is taking excellent care of him. He's gained 3 lbs this past month! As of November 14, he weighed 11 lbs 11 oz. That puts him between the tenth and twenty-fifth percentile for weight, up from the 3rd percentile that he started out in. Of course he's still in the 3rd percentile for length. Hmmm....this is starting to sound like his mama's body type. And he hasn't even met me yet!

We're expecting more photos from his foster family soon. We sent down some disposable cameras and they have returned them to our agency. I'm hoping for a smile. He looks p.o'd in most of his photos and the foster mom has said that he is a serious baby. So maybe, maybe, he'll be relaxed enough with just his foster family to give up a smile for a photo. More photos are on their way over the next week or two....stay tuned!

It's a match!

2007-11-23T17:41:00.000-05:00

Wahoo! Our case is making more progress. We received the results of our son and his birthmom's DNA test today; it's a match -- 99.99%. This means that the birthmom is able to legally relinquish her parental rights according to the US government. As part of the DNA testing procedure they take a picture of the birthmom and our child. In the photo he's wearing the fleece outfit that we sent down for him last month! He looks cozy and not too warm (the birthmom is also wearing a heavy fleecy coat....a low of 52 degrees F in Guatemala City that day!). We also got a copy of his thumbprint. It's soooo cute. Ok, really it's just a tiny little blur, all smeared and everything. But it's still cute to me.

The DNA results are part of the process of getting pre-approval for a visa from the US embassy. We're told to expect this part to take 60 days.

We also have heard pretty substantial rumors that the Guatemalan Congress won't be voting on the adoption laws this year. They're on vacation Dec 1 - mid Jan. We think that this means things will progress 'as is' until the vote, and then who knows.

The good, the bad, and the maybe

2007-11-12T18:02:00.000-05:00

We got a few of pieces of good news last week. We got DNA authorization on Wednesday! This is a big step since it was previously something that took very little time, but now thanks to a new rule at the US Embassy in Guatemala it is taking a lot longer (gov't being obstructionist...who'd a thunk it).

Good news for the Guatemalan people is that last week they elected a new president, Alvaro Colom. It was a violent campaign with dozens of people murdered. Colom was the "dove" candidate which gives me some hope for the Guatemalan people. He'll go into office on January 14. He hasn't declared his official stance on intercountry adoption though.

We also heard that the Guatemalan congress is discussing a new bill/amendments that will be very helpful to those of us in the process of adopting. It includes a "grandfather" clause and pushes back the date for Hague compliance to April. If this passes it would be very good for us since it would allow our case to proceed with only the typical hiccups. If this doesn't pass...well, I don't really want to think about it.

Then the bad news came less than 24 hours after our day full of good news (just 24 hours to celebrate...is that too much to ask?). The US DOS is causing trouble for us prospective adoptive parents. They are trying to get the Guatemalan congress not to pass the bill/amendments that would push back the Hague compliance until April. This of course required us to phone our representative and senators, send emails, and faxes. I think I might just have to put them on speed dial.

And so this leaves us this week wondering just what will happen in Guatemala concerning adoptions. Will our case progress as we expect when we entered this process? How many other hoops will we have to jump through? Will there be horrible delays (possibly lasting years)? Will we even be able to complete our adoption? The Guatemalan congress is suppose to be voting this week. So we wait with baited breath....

Another good article

2007-11-06T13:06:00.000-05:00

This article from the Philadelphia Enquirer gives a good overview of what hopeful parents like us are going through.

Awaiting adoptions that may never be

Thanks to everyone for their love and support!

By the way, the better of the two Guatemalan presidential candidates won their election! The vote on the "grandfather" amendment is right around the corner. Wish us luck!

Finally, a positive news article

2007-11-04T13:07:00.000-05:00

There has been a lot mis-information touted as facts about Guatemalan adoptions in the press in recent months. These have come from such reputable sources as NPR, BBC, and CNN. I'm happy to say that there is finally an article that is evenhanded, factual, and more importantly one that I agree with ;-). It's from today's Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110201782.html

Today, Guatemala is voting for their president. Here's hoping for a peaceful process and transition to the new government.

Politics makes strange bedfellows.....

2007-11-02T18:40:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that I'm writing "thank you" letters to our two republican senators and an "I'm watching you" letter to my democrat representative. Me, a "card carrying liberal". What is this world coming to?

To back up a bit, the situation between Guatemala and the US is a bit strained right now in terms of inter-country adoptions. About a week and a half after we accepted our referral, the US Dept of State issued a very dire warning telling US citizens not to adopt from Guatemala because the Guatemalan government has declared that it will be stopping all adoptions to the US on Dec 31. Guatemala declared this because the US will not be in compliance with the Hague treaty on international adoptions but Guatemala will be on this date. As near as I can tell it's a way of Guatemala thumbing it's nose at the US. So the international adoption community got congress to write a letter to the Guatemalan president (Oscar Berger) to request that all adoptions that were in process as of the first of the year (that includes us!) be allowed to complete. So Kevin and I wrote our congresspeople requesting that they sign this letter and well, you already know the rest of the story.

This is a very short version of the politics going on right now between our two countries. It of course is much more complicated than I described. However, we have been worried sick that our adoption would not be allowed to complete. We're worried that if what the Guatemalan government is threatening comes to pass, our son will be stuck in a legal limbo for a long time and may not ever make it home. It is absolutely amazing to me how quickly we became attached to our little boy; it only took minutes of looking at his picture. Our agency keeps reassuring us that they think it will work out in the end. It is likely to take longer than we'd like though.

Welcome and some background

2007-10-31T19:58:00.000-04:00

It's Halloween and the trick or treaters are ringing our bell. What a nice change not make Kevin answer the bell because it's too painful for me to see all the kids in their cute and not so cute costumes. Finally, we too will have a child and can celebrate all of the holidays together.

After all of the ups and downs of trying to add a child to our family, we are very excited to be in the process of adopting a baby boy from Guatemala. We started our journey in February with all of the paperchasing that needs to be done (birth certificates, reference letters, medical clearance, fingerprints, etc). We survived our homestudy in April which included two visits from a social worker to decide upon our worthiness at being parents (ok, not really, but that's what it felt like). We barely made it through the long, long wait for our approval from Immigration to bring an orphan into the US. It took us 4 1/2 months to get that approval. Once we got that stupid form we were good to go. We made an appointment to discuss the referral process with our agency a few days later. Two minutes into our meeting, SURPRISE! there's a 3 week old baby boy that needs a home.

We accept the referral a few days later after consulting with an international adoption pediatrician. While our son is quite small (in the 3rd percentile on all growth charts), he was considered of "average risk" for developing medical problems. Our son was placed in private foster care in Guatemala City when he was 3 days old. We are so ready for him to come home, but we still have months to go........