Travel Plans

We have finalized our plans. We arrive in Guatemala on Thursday, Aug 24 and will have Gabriella at 3pm on Thursday afternoon - FOREVER!!!! We come home on Wednesday, Aug 30 around 10:15pm.

We plan on updating the blog while we are there, so follow along.

Color of the Day - PINK!!!!!!!!!!

The post we've all been waiting for.... It's official - we have PINK!!!! Our Embassy appointment is Monday August 28 at 7:15 AM. Since baby drop-offs are only during the week, we have to be in Guatemala no later than Friday. So, we are scrambling now to find out the most economical way to get there and see if we can use our miles for a free ticket or not. We may have to go Thursday in order to do that.

Gabriella will be in our arms forever by Friday afternoon at the latest. We are so thankful.

Stay tuned!!!

Blessings From Afar

Gabriella received gifts this week from two wonderful ladies using the same agency to adopt their little princesses.

Michelle is waiting on her referral. I expect it will be any day now!!!!! She sent these adorable clothes:



Tricia is still paperchasing. She sent this beautiful bracelet she made as a PGN gift!!! The little charm on it is a tiara. Fitting for a princess(I sense a theme here). Sorry the lighting isn't so great - I tried everything.



Click on the pictures and you'll see them much better.

I'm so lucky to have made some really great friends through this process. We'll always share a special bond. Someday Gabriella will be touched by how many people followed her journey and cheered her on.

Gabriella's "sister" is OUT too!!!

I just had to post the good news that Maegan is OUT of PGN in record time!!! Only 4 weeks!

For reference, here's the pic of Gabriella and Maegan

Monthly Update Pics

Another dose of update pictures taken August 10.

August Surprise Foster Mother Visit

Here are a couple of pics from a surprise visit to our foster mom on August 9.

Belly laughs!


Taste-testing the sofa...




Quite the pouty look, wouldn't you say? I have a feeling that will be one of her favorites to get mommy and daddy to give in!

I'm It

I've been tagged by Tricia to fill out this about myself. So, here goes nothing:

I am .... shier than I seem(really!)
I want .... to have Gabriella home NOW!
I wish .... I could worry less about things I have no control over.
I hate .... that the world is in such turmoil.
I miss .... my friend Connie. She would have loved to meet Gabriella.
I hear .... the sound of the A/C working away to keep up with this heatwave!
I wonder .... what Gabriella will grow up to be (hopefully anything she dreams).
I regret .... too many things sometimes and I'm working on that.
I am not .... timid to speak my mind.
I dance .... like someone with NO rhythm whatsoever!
I sing .... badly, very badly.
I cry .... easily ~ when I'm happy, sad, mad, watching a TV show, you name it.
I am not always .... as patient as I wish I were.
I make .... great lasagne I'm told.
I write .... in email and my blog but not much else.
I confuse .... lots of people trying to explain the adoption steps.
I need .... to start eating more healthily.
I should .... slow down and take in the small things in life.
I start .... too many hobbies and then lose patience.
I finish .... things at the last minute.

I now tag Kim , Lisa and Sam

Cinco Meses

Gabriella is 5 months old today! Barring any unforseen delays in the last stages of the process, we will be able to celebrate seis meses with her here at home.

What's Next?

We got an update today that the birthmom signed off on the adoption for the final time. She's legally ours!!! So, I thought I'd post what the steps are after exiting PGN:

1. Attorney picks up the file from PGN
2. Attorney arranges the birth mother to come and sign (same week usually)
3. The Final Escritura is drafted
4. The Final Escritura is dropped off to be registered in the general archives
5. The Final Escritura is ready and picked up (48 business hours later)
6. The New birth certificate is requested from the civil registry where your child was born
7. The new birth certificate is ready and picked up (varies greatly depending upon municipality – two days to three weeks, with Guatemala City being the longest)
8. Baby is taken for new passport (this can happen any time between birth certificate and picking up pink slip)
9. The new birth certificate and the entire adoption file of documents are sent for translation from Spanish to English
10. After translation, the file is submitted to the Embassy for pink slip (which takes 2 business days, not counting Fridays, weekends or holidays)
11. Pink slip is picked up at 3:30 - embassy appointment day and time will be printed on the slip.
12. Any time after we have pink slip but before appointment, baby can go to the Embassy panel physician for final checkup and for visa photos.
13. You come for Embassy interview appointment (M, T, W, or Fri, usually 7- 14 days after pink)
14. Next Day – Visa is ready (3:00 pm M-Th; 11:00 am Fri. – FTC will pick this up for you)
15. Next Day – you can fly home


Steps 1-4 were done as of Friday. Tuesday, August 15 is a holiday in Guatemala, so nothing will happen then.

So, here's hoping for the color pink!! The appointments are apparently actually issued on a pink slip of paper, thus the name.

Our growing girl

Here are some pictures from Gabriella's Dr. Appt a week ago(Aug 4). She is now 13lbs 4oz and just over 23" long(I guess she'll be short like me!).

The report says she's very alert and listens attentively when spoken to responds to the different tones of voices she hears, especially to no and is very vocal herself making many cooing noises of her own, she also produces some consonant and vowel sounds,vocalizes her laughter and her feelings of pleasure.

Enjoy the pictures! I hope this is the last dr. report before we have her home!!!!! That smile just lights up my world!!!!! And, if you look closely, she has her ears pierced.

O-U-T!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just received the call from our agency director that we are out of PGN!!! I still cannot believe it. We should be travelling to get our baby girl in about 3 weeks, give or take.

It's been a stressful time, but the anxious waiting is over and the end is in sight.

For all the other fellow PGN waiters out there, hang on, you'll get there!

Word Cloud

So, I've seen a couple of people post these on their blogs. It's kind of cool. Here's the website . You just enter your blog address and it scans it.

Fun with Sorting & Organizing

This is how Ferdy caught me last night.... I still can't get over how wonderful everyone was to us. I am overwhelmed with the abundance of gifts for our sweet Gabriella.

Like the shirt, BTW????

It's the Rainy Season

Shower? No, that was a monsoon!!!! Such generosity.

Saturday was my baby shower. All I can say is wow..... We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. 26 of the greatest people came to give their good wishes and blessings to Gabriella, Ferdy and I. The day was just marvelous!!!

Look closely at the "flower" arrangment to the right(click to enlarge).... The "vase" is made of bottles and the "roses" are little socks! How cute is that????

I would like to personally thank my friends who helped put together the shower: Beth, Jeri, Kim, Sarah and Vickie. You guys are the greatest!!!! My best bud in the world, Sarah came down from Nashville for my special weekend. She tells me she's been dreaming of this day for a long time. I have too and it was perfect!!

I would also like to give a special shout out to my friend Laurel who drove down from North Carolina to be here. She had just returned from driving from Canada to NC the day before and then got back in the car and came all the way here. Thanks!!

My mom also deserves special thanks. As if she hasn't already done enough before now..... Not a dry eye in the house after I opened one of the gifts to find two blankets that looked oddly familiar, but I wasn't sure why.... The enclosed card read:

"My Dear Daughter,

These two blankets were given to you from my mom when you were born in 1966. I am so proud to give them to you for your daughter, Gabriella.

With much love, Mom"

Gulp. I couldn't read the card out loud and had to have someone else read it.

And she made the beautiful photo album you see here.




Each person wrote a message that will become part of a scrapbook that my friend Vickie started and will help me put together with pictures of the day.


The cake was so adorable as you can see.
I also present you with Gabriella's room now. Oh boy, do I have some organizing ahead of me now. The crib, by the way, is FULL of gifts.


Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who came and made it a spectacular day.

Filled with happiness and love indeed.....

The Reveal

OK..... Here are the "after" photos of the nursery. Still want to get some things to put on the walls,etc. We had to try lots of configurations as the furniture was quite large once it got in the room. Funny how that happens, huh?




I figure a lot of hours will be spent in this chair. Good thing it's comfy!
















A crib fit for a Princess.

A Preview

Today the nursery furniture is going to be delivered. I'm so excited!!! Yesterday, we finished up the room by putting up the wallpaper border(well, we still have to to put up the blinds).



Here are some pics without the furniture. I will take more later once the room is set up. Think of it as a little before and after.

And yes, there's more!

Here are some pictures for the regular monthly update that is done for all the babies on the same day.

I think Gabriella had just woken up as she is very sleepy in all the photos.

July at the Doctor

Gabriella had her monthly checkup on Wednesday, July 5 and I received the report this evening. She is now up to 11lbs 10oz. We're so happy to see that she definitely seems to have recovered from her initial low weight issue.

The dr. reports that per the foster mom, she turns her head in response to sounds (especially voices) makes cooing noises of her own and shows a differentiated cry for her needs (now she'll have to teach us which cry is for which need!). She shows voluntary control of her arms and legs, alternates opening and shutting her hands and will also kick and push with her feet.








The pictures this time weren't the greatest(too close and poor lighting), so I leave you with a couple that show that million-dollar smile!

Spoke Too Soon

Well, turns out I got an email tonight with pictures from a foster mother visit June 23. She is changing so much already. We miss her so!

Nothing New to Report

It will probably be longer between updates now since we are in PGN and just waiting. Gabriella is due for a doctor's visit on July 5th, so hopefully we'll have that report and pictures by the end of the week. I think there should be a foster mother visit soon as well, so I'll post those pictures whenever I get them.

In the meantime, I leave you with a rare sight in our house - all 3 cats in the same frame and no hissing, spitting, growling or otherwise happening.