Nesting and packing...

"Gook! Gook! (Look! Look!)"




I am officially off from work. Unfortunately, the only reason I am not working tonight is because I have a nasty sinus infection and hoping to beat it by this weekend. The kids had a really nice Christmas, and in retrospect I am kind of glad our trip to Guatemala isn't happening for another few days. I think it would have been too much at once after all. Tomorrow starts the great "clean-up"- nesting and babyproofing! I have four days, hopefully with everyone helping, to get the place in tiptop shape, plus do laundry and finish packing. We will be heading up to Salt Lake on Sunday or Monday depending on the weather reports, and then down to Guatemala on Thursday at dark thirty. Our flight is around five in the morning so we have to be at the airport at 2 or 3. This may be my final blog until then as I won't have internet access in Salt Lake. But I will be back online, hopefully, once we get to Guatemala!

Just plain excited!!!

Between the Christmas holidays and our upcoming pick-up trip, and even the thought of having 5 weeks off from work, I am just plain excited!!!!! I spent my days off this week working on finishing up my Christmas shopping, and I got to work on sewing a new supply of cloth diapers for Estuardo, as he has outgrown his last batch. This coming week I want to get Christmas presents wrapped and ready, sew up some diapers for my granddaughter, mail off long-distance Christmas packages. Next week, once Christmas excitement starts to calm down, it will be time to PACK!!!
I got Onnolee's DNA results the other day and they came with a beautiful color Polaroid photo. She is just getting so pretty!! I can't wait to see her again, and this time we won't have to give her back.

The rest of the dates in our adoption timeline are...

Onnolee with her fostermom last April 2007, 1 month old

January 3rd, 2008- in our arms forever
January 4th, 2008- Embassy appointment
January 8th, 2008- HOME FOREVER
WE ARE OFFICIALLY "PINK"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Countdown to pink...

I hope we hear something tomorrow!

Dec 12, 2007
3:34 PM
Delivered
GUATEMALA CITY GT

2:50 PM
On FedEx vehicle for delivery
GUATEMALA CITY GT

2:33 PM
At local FedEx facility
GUATEMALA CITY GT

7:55 AM
In transit
MIAMI, FL

7:55 AM
At dest sort facility
MIAMI, FL

1:19 AM
Departed FedEx location
MEMPHIS, TN

Dec 11, 2007
11:15 PM
Arrived at FedEx location
MEMPHIS, TN

8:48 PM
Left origin
GREENSBORO, NC

7:18 PM
Picked up
GREENSBORO, NC

9:32 AM
Package data transmitted to FedEx

Fedex...

...should be delivering our DNA results to the Embassy TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!! Then we officially begin to watch our email for our e-PINK slip!!! We may just get to Guatemala before Christmas after all!!! :oD

Tomorrow...

...we may have some good news...

Maybe...

Labcorp says to keep our fingers crossed.

Okay...

DNA has reached Labcorp. The only bad thing is that they tell me it will take 7-10 days to complete. So we may not get to Guatemala before Christmas. BUT, thank goodness it's moving, it's there and we are countdown to PINK.

Will this be the week??

Okay, I admit it, I am getting IMPATIENT!!! I hope that the DNA test has been done and is on it's way to Labcorp.

JEEPERS CREEPERS!!!!!!!!

BEFORE........

AFTER...

Marisol's Eyes

Marisol may be getting her first set of prosthetic eyes tomorrow, and she calls them "chocolate brown." The eyes that she was born with are shrinking and causing problems that will hopefully be helped with the prosthetcs. I will post pics as soon as possible. I am curious to see what she will look like...

Waiting and wondering

All I know as far as a status report is that Labcorp has not yet received Onnolee's DNA sample. So we wait. These last few weeks are the easiest and the hardest. I am feeling happy and excited because baby girl is finally coming home, but I am also feeling impatient and anxious because we do not have a date yet. We are still hoping to have her home by Christmas but either way, I am happy that she will soon be here! Hopefully we will have some news by the end of the week.

ORANGE!!!!!!!!!!

The color for today is ORANGE!!!!!!!

Orange means that they have issued Onnolee's new birth certificate already and we have approval for her second DNA test!! That was really fast...Next step is pink slip then pick-up!!!

IT FITS

...BOTH THE SHIRT AND THE SAYING ON IT...

Thanksgiving weekend...

Here's my Mom, clowning around while she bakes Stew an apple pie...
Here's Stew's response...
This is Jesse enjoying all of our company...
And Marisol having a Happy Thanksgiving...
More smiles from Kory...
Estuardo enjoying his turkey soup...
My grandson Elijah...
Little Ava wasn't feeling well...
Granddaughter Isabella, as well as my daughter Serena and her husband Enoch were here also, but they managed to duck out of all the pictures.

I am SO THANKFUL...

This is the week of Thanksgiving, and I am very grateful that Estuardo and I got to make that special trip to Guatemala to spend some time with beautiful Onnolee who is such a little princess! We had a wonderful trip and made some great memories!
But...
I am also very, very, very extremely thankful that 2 days before Thanksgiving
WE ARE OUT OF PGN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They have signed off on our case and it's official!!!!!!!!!!! Our coordinator has guesstimated about 4 to 6 weeks until pickup, but with all of these holidays coming up, that could either speed things up or slow them down. But some time in the next weeks, Onnolee is COMING HOME!!!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ...

Okay...more Guatemala pics!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's Onnolee for a brief moment when she allowed me to set her down. Most of the time she wanted to be held...She's not crawling yet, but give her a few weeks at our house once we get her home!

My happy girl!

Some Orvile Redenbacher's with pourover butter and a bottle of juice! Notice his Crocs---they hardly ever come off!!!

Just the thing for watching Bullwinkle in Spanish!

The three of us!!! We miss the rest of our family and wish they were here too!!

Estuardo the Cowboy

I hereby interrupt the trip to Guatemala, to post these pics that are just too cute to miss!...

She's AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

Estuardo and I flew into Guatemala City on Thursday night and Onnolee arrived at the hotel about 8:30 or so on Friday morning. We've been busy just hanging out. Onnolee is absolutely precious! It took her a day to get used to us, but she is starting to relax and let us see her cute little self.



And of course...Estuardo the Explorer...

A lot going on...

November is keeping me very busy! No new news on the adoption front, just counting the minutes until I see my sweet baby girl again on Thursday. On the homefront, whereas we were formerly homeschooling all the kids, due to our chaotic lifestyle and a certain child's inability to stay on task etc, we decided to enroll Kory, Jesse, and Marisol in public school. Kory started last week, and after a few behavior issues were addressed, he seems to be doing fantastic, and is easily able to keep up in a regular fifth grade classroom. Marisol started today (Tuesday) in a regular second grade classroom with accomodations for her blindness, and she was one excited girl. The other kids in both classrooms seemed genuinely excited to have them there, which was a big surprise for Kory. Jesse won't start until after his educational planning meeting which hasn't been scheduled yet, but he was superhappy to hear that he will be able to have a paying "job" at school as part of his adult living skills training. He's already planning to take us all out to dinner.
Meanwhile, the house looks like a cyclone hit. Stew has been busy ripping carpet out of the kids' rooms and laying tile flooring. I had started cleaning in preparation for the Thanksgiving arrival of my daughter and her family, and my mother, when I decided to go on the visit trip to Guatemala this week. This will leave a matter of only a few hours of available time next week to get the whole house clean. I am hoping that the men in my life will at least start the process while I am gone, but I have realistic expectations. I already warned the visitors that the hosue might be a mess.
Plus, my college math class starts today and I haven't even been on the University of Phoenix website in over a month---burnout. Algebra spilling off the edges of my full plate...

Another doctor visit already!

Time is just flying by...seems like Onnolee just had her 7-month check and here are some pics from her 8-month check. Her height and weight have pretty much stayed the same this month. I think she is going to be tiny after all. Can't wait to see you baby girl! 6 more days!!!
This is a photo of Onnolee and her fostermom. I can tell that Onnolee is very well cared for and loved. And she is wearing the dress that I sent down a few weeks ago in her care package!

Ah, the classic monthly photo of Onnolee's opinion of that darned scale! She sure does hate going to the doctor, and especially getting weighed!

VISIT TRIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I just had this feeling it was time to go see Onnolee so I started searching for tickets. Me and Estuardo are flying down NEXT THURSDAY!!!!!!! So Mama can have an Onnolee fix right before Thanksgiving, and maybe if we go on down, it will challenge fate and we will have to go right back down again in a few weeks. Just got a few new pics today. I will post later on!!

Almost...

I found out today that it looks like our adoption case is with the second reviewer. Once we make it through the second reviewer, the final stop is Mr. Barrios' desk for final approval. I am praying...

"Worth the Wait"

I have a pink onesie hanging on my locker door at work that I got at Target, that says "Worth the Wait." That's what is keeping me going right now. I am hopeful for any news of progress this week. If you are reading this, please pray for Onnolee and all of the Guatemalan orphans.

8 months old

Happy 8 month birthday baby Onnolee!
No new news this week. Guatemala is having presidential elections this weekend so everything is pretty much closed down. Maybe next week will bring the news we are all hoping for.

ESTUARDO'S 18-MONTH PHOTOSHOOT

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What a handsome little man!

LOOK HOW BIG I AM!!!!!

Doctor visit---

Onnolee had her monthly doctor visit. The new number is...
17 pounds 7 ounces! She's getting so BIG..she's sitting up strongly all by herself now and has more teeth. I will try to post a pic later. It's bittersweet to get pictures because I wish she was here.

Impatiently waiting...

No news at all this week :o(
I am express mailing off our third care package today for Onnolee. It's easy now, I just go into her stash of outfits and pick out all the ones that would fit her now; no need to go shopping any more. I have a whole laundry basket full of clothes that are getting ready to be too small. Please, Mr. Barrios, let Onnolee come home!!!!!!!

IN

We are back IN PGN as of October 1...September sucked big time. I hope October rocks... Please Mr. Barrios, let Onnolee come HOME...

Nothing...

No word yet as to whether we are even back into the PGN yet. With the release of more bad news from the adoption world in Guatemala, that things may be completely shutting down in January, the mood at our house can only be described as solemn and hopeful that we will be out of there soon. We were able to get all of our paperwork in to renew our I171-H this week so hopefully that won't hold any thing up. Now we wait and pray.

The repaired docs are in Guatemala...

Okay, so after spending a week and a half sitting on desks, Fedex got our docs back to Guatemala in less than 24 hours!!! Now they need to translate them and then we will be BACK in PGN!!! I am praying for a quick and positive "out" this time around! Onnolee gets cuter and prettier every month...

Hi Mom!!! Onnolee, 6 months old

This is TORTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Santa Fe held on to our documents for a WEEK before they even sent them to Phoenix...AAAARRRRGGGHGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So we are waiting even LONGER! I am SO FRUSTRATED I could SCREAM!!! They could have been back in Guatemala by now and they just sent them to Phoenix today...grrrrr... I am now planning to fly up to spend time with my dear mother and daughter in Salt Lake City. We must go SHOPPING... Hopefully in a few weeks we will know SOMETHING......

KICK-OUT

I just got off the phone with our co-ordinator. Our case has been kicked out of PGN for a typo on our homestudy. Now I have to try to get a hold of our local social worker to send an addendum, get the addendum notarized, certified and authenticated, express it to Guatemala, and wait. This really sucks...

6 months old

This is an older pic of Onnolee from our visit trip a couple of months ago. This is how I remember her. I am aching to hold her again. She was six months old on Saturday. Still no word from the PGN. Happy half-year birthday, Onnolee! We love you and miss you!!!

My Budding Artist Estuardo!

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TIPPING THE SCALES...

"My doctor must have swapped out scales...this one is too small!"

Onnolee, 5 mos 1 wk, 15 lb 8 oz, 24.4 inches

Entering week 8...

We are entering Onnolee's 8th week in PGN, and the average PGN stay is...8 weeks, so we are hoping hard that she will get out this week. Then she will be subject to the new "2nd DNA" testing to make sure she is still Onnolee...I hope she comes home soon!

She needs to come home!!!!!!

What a happy girl!!! Onnolee, 5 months old, still in Guatemala...
We are so glad that she has a fostermother who loves her so much!
And feeds her so well !!!
But I am missing her so!!!
I think it's time for Onnolee to come home! We are hoping she gets out of PGN soon.