Since 2006 was a pretty big year, I figure I'll do a year in review.
January 27 - The first post on my blog! A review of where we were in the process:
We officially signed on with an agency at the end of November with a request for an infant girl and thus the official paperchase began.
We had our homestudy visit in December and were waiting on the final copy of the homestudy.
February 4 - We received our I-171H
February 11 - Dossier sent to Guatemala. We're officially waiting on a referral.
March - A whole lotta nothing but waiting and going crazy!! I resorted to nothing but pictures of the cats and the pool.
April 7 - The day we had been waiting for!!!! We received the referral of Gabriella, born March 14, 2006. She was a tiny little peanut (4 lbs 7 oz at 2 1/2 weeks old), but cute as can be.
April 12-14 - I drove from one end of the state to the other to get our Power of Attorney documents quickly certified and authenticated and off to Guatemala to get the ball rolling on the process.
April 28 - DNA is done!
May 5 - Entered Family Court.
May 27 - June 4 - We are in Guatemala for our visit trip. We spent the weekend in Antigua and met our precious angel on May 29. We had the time of our lives and Gabriella was such a perfect baby. A piece of our hearts left when we had to say goodbye to her on June 2. But, we knew she was in good hands and we prayed we'd be back soon to bring her home forever.
June 8 - We got Preapproval from the US Embassy and exited Family Court in record time!
June 23 - Entered the black hole known as PGN. We steeled ourselves for the hardest part of the journey and prayed for no previos. The current average was around 6-8 weeks if no KOs occurred.
July - July was spent finishing the nursery. My baby shower was also in July and was such a special day.
August 9 - Got THE call!!!! OUT, OUT, OUT of PGN!!!! I had been really beginning to stress over being in PGN and just when I couldn't take it anymore, we were released.
August 22 - PINK!!!! Our Embassy appointment is Monday, August 28. She's coming home!!!!!!!!!!
August 24 - August 30- The pickup trip. We're a forever family and life will never be the same.
September - Gabriella turns 6 months old, Ferdy has a birthday and we are enjoying being a family. The transition was amazingly easy for Gabriella and she's such a good baby.
October - Uncle Charlie comes for a visit and baby's first Halloween.
November - Gabriella is baptized on the 19th and she meets lots of new people! We enjoy Thanksgiving at some friends' house. Gabriella visits Santa for the first time and is as happy as ever.
December - Mommy turns 40(ick!) and Gabriella enjoys her first Christmas! We close out 2006 the happiest and luckiest people ever. We've been blessed many times over to have this special angel be our daughter. She's the light of our lives.
Blessings to everyone for 2007!!!
LEGACY OF AN ADOPTED CHILD
Once there were two women who never knew each other. One you do not remember, the other you call Mother.
Two different lives shaped to make you one. One became your guiding star, the other became your sun.
January 27 - The first post on my blog! A review of where we were in the process:
We officially signed on with an agency at the end of November with a request for an infant girl and thus the official paperchase began.
We had our homestudy visit in December and were waiting on the final copy of the homestudy.
February 4 - We received our I-171H
February 11 - Dossier sent to Guatemala. We're officially waiting on a referral.
March - A whole lotta nothing but waiting and going crazy!! I resorted to nothing but pictures of the cats and the pool.
April 7 - The day we had been waiting for!!!! We received the referral of Gabriella, born March 14, 2006. She was a tiny little peanut (4 lbs 7 oz at 2 1/2 weeks old), but cute as can be.
April 12-14 - I drove from one end of the state to the other to get our Power of Attorney documents quickly certified and authenticated and off to Guatemala to get the ball rolling on the process.
April 28 - DNA is done!
May 5 - Entered Family Court.
May 27 - June 4 - We are in Guatemala for our visit trip. We spent the weekend in Antigua and met our precious angel on May 29. We had the time of our lives and Gabriella was such a perfect baby. A piece of our hearts left when we had to say goodbye to her on June 2. But, we knew she was in good hands and we prayed we'd be back soon to bring her home forever.
June 8 - We got Preapproval from the US Embassy and exited Family Court in record time!
June 23 - Entered the black hole known as PGN. We steeled ourselves for the hardest part of the journey and prayed for no previos. The current average was around 6-8 weeks if no KOs occurred.
July - July was spent finishing the nursery. My baby shower was also in July and was such a special day.
August 9 - Got THE call!!!! OUT, OUT, OUT of PGN!!!! I had been really beginning to stress over being in PGN and just when I couldn't take it anymore, we were released.
August 22 - PINK!!!! Our Embassy appointment is Monday, August 28. She's coming home!!!!!!!!!!
August 24 - August 30- The pickup trip. We're a forever family and life will never be the same.
September - Gabriella turns 6 months old, Ferdy has a birthday and we are enjoying being a family. The transition was amazingly easy for Gabriella and she's such a good baby.
October - Uncle Charlie comes for a visit and baby's first Halloween.
November - Gabriella is baptized on the 19th and she meets lots of new people! We enjoy Thanksgiving at some friends' house. Gabriella visits Santa for the first time and is as happy as ever.
December - Mommy turns 40(ick!) and Gabriella enjoys her first Christmas! We close out 2006 the happiest and luckiest people ever. We've been blessed many times over to have this special angel be our daughter. She's the light of our lives.
Blessings to everyone for 2007!!!
LEGACY OF AN ADOPTED CHILD
Once there were two women who never knew each other. One you do not remember, the other you call Mother.
Two different lives shaped to make you one. One became your guiding star, the other became your sun.
The first one gave you life, and the second taught you to live it. The first gave you a need for love. The second was there to give it.
One gave you a nationality. The other gave you a name. One gave you a talent. The other gave you aim.
One gave you emotions. The other calmed your fears. One saw your first sweet smile. The other dried your tears.
One sought for you a home that she could not provide. The other prayed for a child and her hope was not denied.
And now you ask me, through your tears,the age-old question unanswered through the years. Heredity or environment, which are you a product of? Neither, my darling. Neither. Just two different kinds of Love.
13 comments:
I second what Michelle said- I love that we get to see Gabriella grow up with you. It's been an awesome journey. God Bless!
HNY Alleen, Ferdie and Gabriella!!
I saw your blog off of Farrahs, I saw that you live in Merritt Island. I live in Palm Bay and have two little girls from Guatemala, Isabella is 27 months and Gabrielle is 15 months. My email is amyeni@yahoo.com if you want to get in touch
Dear Family,
It only gets better from here!
Happy 2007, and another year of "firsts". First step, first word :-)
Love ya,
Auntie S
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!--I loved reading your journey!!! I wasn't blogging then so it was so interesting to see your timeline!!! You had an amazing one!!!! Gabriella needed to come home and be with her family and her kitties!!!!
Beautiful post! WOW what a year for all of us!
I am so excited about all of the wonderul things to come in 2007 - I can hardly stand it!
Julia;)
Happy New Year! And Happy late Birthday!
Happy Birthday and Happy New Year, dear one. What a year it's been! Your daughter gets more lovely with each post.
And that poem totally made me cry. Mind if I steal it for my blog? ;)
S.
Happy New Year!! What a year you had!!!
Did you know you were going to have such a GREAT YEAR?!!
I loved reading your Year in Review. What a great year for your family. I hope you plan to continue blogging. I absolutely love your blog.
Amy Farrah & I all got annual passes to Sea World on the same day, we had a "family" day
My Luke is 19days odler than her Gabby
We shpuld definatly all get together... Plus there is Shelby
http://princessbreahna.blogspot.com
Who is also in our group!
Happy New Year!!!!!!
2007 will be just as great
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