A KICKOUT OF PGN AFTER FINAL SIGNATURE AND OUR BABY THINKS HE'S A DOG!

Yes, this is the wonderful news for the day. Apparently even after everyone reviewed our file and it was signed off, 20 files were asked to be rereviewed and what do you know, the name of our Guatemalan attorney (the mandatory) in charge of our case was misspelled on several documents. We were told that we were not the only file previewed with this rereview so that makes us feel better, but still. It is beyond disappointing when you were just told you were getting ready to go home and now it's going to be a bit of a delay. The good news is that if our facilitator here has a name affidavit for the mandatory then he can pick up our file and have this fixed in a couple of days. If he doesn't, it will be like 5 days to fix. After it is fixed, we will be resubmitted and we were told that we should be moved right along upon resubmission to perhaps get out again in 1-2 weeks. We'll see. Please keep your fingers crossed for us.

Blake is doing really well and continues to brighten my day with new little things he's learned. He's been a little clingy lately (which I'm not complaining about) and loves to climb up on me and then stand up with my support. He has also discovered his tongue and crawls around the floor with it sticking out quite often. These pictures I've posted I'm sure will make you laugh! He is growing every day; in fact he must be 20 pounds by now. We have his 9 month doctor visit around his 9 month birthday - November 7th. It looks like we probably won't be home for Thanksgiving now which is SO disappointing. We will hope for Christmas now. What a journey.

A Scare with PGN

We need your prayers and positive thoughts as much as possible at this time because as of Friday, our file (yes, after being signed) was pulled back along with 19 other files for rereview. This is our worst nightmare. Apparently one of the twenty files has something wrong and they are uncertain as to which file it is. Therefore, all twenty have been "recalled" for rereview even after being signed. We thought we might hear last night about the status, but we didn't so the soonest we'll know if our file is OK or not will be at 10:00AM on Monday morning after a meeting with the sub general attorney. If ours is the one with the error, we WILL get a previo (kick out) and have to begin all over again at step one in PGN. Depending on the error, it could be as short as a 2 week fix or as long as an 8 week delay in the adoption. We are praying that our file is OK. If it is OK, we'll go on as if this never happened and we'll be back where we started last Wednesday - getting the Passport, new birth certificate, etc. to go home. Now, here Blake and I sit in Antigua and Chris in Seattle, nervous all weekend as to what's going to happen on Monday. We can't believe that we got final signature and then the file was asked to be seen again (along with the others). If our file is OK, I feel awful for the family who will get a previo after all of this waiting. This is torture! We know we have to stay positive, but it is hard at this point - just when we thought we were going home fairly soon. Thank you for your support - we need it right now.

More Antigua and Blake Pics!

WE ARE OUT OF PGN AND COMING HOME!!

Hallelujah! I can't believe that we are actually on our way home soon. What a relief. We spent 6 weeks waiting to get into PGN because of a missing document and then 8 weeks exactly in. We had no previos (kick outs) though so we are counting our blessings. We got the phone call yesterday afternoon while walking in the market! Amanda took a couple of pictures of me with Blake immediately after the phone call to show how excited we were!! Now we have to get Blake's passport, new birth certificate, 2nd DNA test and then we'll wait for our Embassy appointment once all of this is submitted. Once we have our appointment there, we pick up Blake's Visa the next day and we are free to return home!! I can't wait for Chris to come pick up his son and then return as a family together. We have never been happier. Blake will turn 9 months on November 7th so I'd say by the time we get home this whole process will have taken about 9 1/2 months. We have no regrets whatsoever even though it got really tough emotionally along the way. Blake is worth every minute, hour and week we waited. Right now it's 5:50am and Blake is wide awake playing with tupperware on the floor next to me! You got to love these early mornings! I think on Monday we'll be able to go to the city together to get his Passport picture taken and to pick up his adoption decree (which his biological mom will sign for the last time in the next couple of days). Thank you friends and family for your continual support, prayers and love to bring Blake home. We cannot wait to take him to the park, have Christmas together, have him meet his new doggies Remi and Lucky and meet his new family. What a joyful time! Here are some new pictures of Blake with his cool red flip flops! Mayela and Melina - you did good! He loves them!! Miss you all.

Early Morning Blogging in Antigua!

Hello friends and family! Blake just went down for his morning 7-9 nap and I'm enjoying the tranquility of Casa Bella with a cup of coffee. Yesterday, Amanda and I had quite the afternoon after the babies woke up from naps. Our initial goal was to go the market to get fruit, but instead we ended up with a tire almost falling off of Amanda's jogger stroller, amidst a rainstorm with 3 babies and running around town looking for a bicycle shop that fixes wheels! Whew! During the rainstorm however, we took shelter in an ice-cream shop where Amanda introduced me to a banana split for 10 quetzales. She's been doing a great job helping me gain back the weight I lost here this summer by taking me to bakery's for the best banana bread on the planet, cookies, ice-cream, etc. She's not a great influence, but I love her anyway. Blake is doing well and is growing every day. He's eating pureed carrots, crackers, mashed potatoes, refried black beans, bananas, and other baby food vegetables and loving being introduced to new foods. He didn't quite care for the cold ice-cream yesterday, but I'm sure that will change! I took some great pictures of the market and children there yesterday while we were trying to maneuver jogger strollers through tiny pathways! It's always a laughable adventure when we take the strollers out. Our lives are shown perfectly here in the pictures of us with our babies and the strollers! This is what we do everyday! Love you all. P.S. Blogger is having problems downloading photos so the ones I was trying to post just now, we'll have to try again later!

Up at 5:00AM everyday and Mom has a new bedtime!

5:00 AM...hmmm...this is an interesting hour to get up each morning. First of all, there is no sound to be heard in the whole entire village or house, it's still dark out and I can barely see the stairs I'm stepping down with 19 pounds of baby in my arms. This is safe I must say! So, I've decided that 8:30PM is my new bedtime or I will not function at this early hour anymore! You've got to love it. I keep trying to keep Blake awake a little later each night, but regardless, he's still up with the roosters (I forgot to mention sometimes I hear them at 5:00AM). I love how each morning, Blake wakes up with a giant smile on his face and he kicks his legs and flaps his arms when he sees me. If I can look forward to this every morning, the early hour is worth it.

Not too much news around Casa Bella lately. We are expecting a new mom and her baby girl today. This will be fun to have a new friend in the house. Blake and I are going for a crazy taxi ride today to the city to visit Rocio (his foster mom) so we can get the rest of his clothes, toys, etc. she forgot to bring to the airport. She will be so happy to see Blake!

Oh, how could I forget about our doctor excursion yesterday morning. One of Amanda's little girls, Aleeyah, was running a fever for a few days and with Blake's lung and breathing issues, we decided we should make a trip to our good friend Dr. Juarez (who thinks we are nervous Gringas!) No, he's very nice, he just thinks we worry too much. Turns out, he agreed with me that Blake is allergic to something in this house so he prescribed Claritin and an anti-inflammatory/phlegm medicine. Little Aleeyah had the start of a tonsil infection (puss on her tonsils) so she was put on antibiotics. She's already feeling better thank goodness. Interesting though that Dr. Juarez did not specific CHILDREN'S Claritin on his prescription and when I asked about it, sure enough, they ended up trading the ADULT version for pediatric drops. That's not a huge ERROR OR ANYTHING!! Aghh! Blake would have been a wreck on adult medication. Thank goodness I speak Spanish - that's all I have to say. So anyway, here we are today constantly checking my emails and phone messages to see if we're out of PGN. Tomorrow will be 7 weeks in so this week should be it. Please cross your fingers for us!

A Bouquet of Flowers for $1.00!

Yes, it's true. Flowers for $1.00. I'll explain. Yesterday, Blake and I went for a long walk in the section of the market that is not the most pleasant for some, but for me, the most interesting! When I took my sister to this section of the market for example, she had to leave because she almost threw up from the raw meat smells lingering in the air. I like this market because everyday you find something new. I think I mentioned this market last time I was here, but I swear, I just found that it continues on and in a way it is kind of intriguing when you have nothing better to do in Antigua! So, getting back to the point of this entry. I came across a Mayan woman selling flowers in a back corner. She had a variety of Mums, Roses, and Hawaiian looking flowers. The ones that caught my attention were so fragrant. They reminded me of the scent of a Hawaiian lei. They were gorgeous. So, I asked the woman how much a bouquet would be figuring that this fancy of a flower would be about 50 quetzales (about $6.00) but no - she first said, "8 quetzales" which is the equivalent of about $1.00. I couldn't believe it. Of course I bought them and just gave her 10 quetzales. So this was the nice part of today's events. It became not-so-nice later that evening. We brought the flowers home (I gave some to Amanda to put in her room and I put the other vase in mine) and Blake grabbed and smelled them the entire way home from his front pack. We ate dinner, got ready for bed and then Blake went down for the night. At about 9:30PM, Blake was restless, and he was coughing and congested. Blake has always had a little bit of a lung thing (which the doctors here say is Bronchitis, however after having it for 4 months now, I'm beginning to think it's something else) so I thought nothing of it. I got up with him, made a new bottle and we walked around a bit. Finally it dawned on me that perhaps Blake's breathing issues are allergy related and are brought on by things like fumes in the air, FRAGRANT FLOWERS, etc. After 4 hours of no sleep, I removed the flowers and wouldn't you know, Blake was out. I don't know if this was just a coincidence or if indeed he does have allergies or allergy onset asthma. Any nurses out there? So, here we are today and Blake is sleeping well. In fact, he took a 3 hour nap this morning (7:30-10:30) to make up for last night's lack of sleep (I took advantage of this nap time too!)
The sun is just beginning to come out again after 7 days of Seattle weather (rain and clouds). It's actually rather cold here at night, so we get fairly bundled up before bed. Let's hope the sun stays for awhile now! It's much more fun to explore Antigua when it's sunny! Enjoy these new pictures - steak anyone?!!

PLEASE HELP ADOPTIVE FAMILIES!

Dear Friends and Family,

As many of you have read in numerous newspaper articles, the US Government has decided to implement the Hague Convention Law beginning on January 1, 2008. To put it simply, this could mean that adoptions already in process at that time, may not finish or could take a ridiculous amount of time to finish based on new regulations for adoptions between the US and Guatemala. Therefore, we need your help in bringing other babies like Blake home to their families in the U.S. It would be like someone saying to us that after all of this time, Blake's adoption would be stopped and that he was going to an orphanage until further action from the U.S. Can you imagine? I have left the link for the online petition that has been circulating on I think about every adoptive mom's blog site. It takes 2 minutes or less to type in your name and add it to the list. Basically, you and thousands of others will be signing to say you too, disagree with this. We pray that adoptions already in process WILL finish and WILL go home to their loving families even when the Hague is implemented in less than 3 months. Thank you for your support. The link is: http://www.petitiononline.com/guatpos/petition.html

This is Paradise!!

We are together at last! We are having a great time already, however we are wishing Chris were here to enjoy it with us. Hopefully he'll be coming down soon. Seeing Blake for the second time was almost surreal. I still can't believe he is really OUR baby. When he saw me at the airport he gave me the biggest smile ever and right then and there I knew this was where I was supposed to be. Blake has had no separation anxiety from his foster mother so far and has in fact transitioned to being with me with no problem. I really think he does still remember his mommy! Whew! We are having so much fun together and I am loving this age. He has so much more personality now and he giggles all the time. It is so adorable. He also has almost 6 teeth now (two on the bottom and 3 1/2 on the top), is beginning to crawl (he's scooting and pulling himself around, however got on his knees and almost did it today), grabbing at everything in his reach and so alert with his environment. If he hears the slightest noise, he immediately turns his head towards it and he observes everything all the time. It is so fun to watch him take in this world. His hair is thicker now and he's grown so much (18 pounds now). I really understand now when people say, "they grow up too fast." It is true. That is why we plan to enjoy every minute of this journey together as a family.

This morning, our friend Elizabeth and Isabel finally got to go home. I lived with Elizabeth all summer and we became great friends. It was sad to see her go. Now we're down to me and Amanda who has 2 little ones ages 6 and 13 months. They are darling little girls and we have had a lot of fun together since our arrival. Blake is the man of the house now! Next weekend another mommy will arrive with her two daughters (one of whom she just decided to adopt at 2 weeks old)! The first daughter is still in process. We are still hoping to be out of PGN this week or next - no word yet, but we'll keep you posted. Right now I am enjoying every minute with the happiest little guy ever! More to come so stay tuned :)

Happy 8 Month Birthday, Blake! Oct. 8th. Mommy will be there in the Morning!

Thought you'd enjoy these pictures we just got about two hours ago! What great timing right before I leave! These pictures definitely get me even more excited to squeeze Blake in my arms as tight as possible and this time never let go!!

Lara leaves for Guatemala in 2 days!!

I am actually leaving to be with Blake again! We've been so busy lately with work and everything else, that this time has just kind of crept up on us. I am so excited to be with that sweet baby. It's also hard to believe that this time I will be staying there until we bring him home!! Yes, we will be bringing him home! Of course, we don't know the exact timing, but we're aiming for before Thanksgiving. We'll keep our fingers crossed. My flight leaves on Sunday night at 11:45PM and then I arrive in Guatemala City at 11:30AM the next morning! We've talked to our agency and the proper fostering documents will be given to me at the airport so I no longer feel nervous about fostering and not being quite out of PGN. Hopefully that will be soon too. Next Wednesday will make 6 weeks. At this point, the time doesn't matter as long as I'm there with Blake. Chris is trying to come for a week or two when we have our embassy check out appt. He will be there to come take us home as a family! What a long haul this has been, but it has been worth it every step of the way. Just having the opportunity to experience another culture in Guatemala, spend time with our own baby, and meet wonderful fostering families along the way has been an experience of a lifetime. I promise to keep you all posted once I arrive on Monday! I'm sure you will be overloaded with Blake pictures! I am officially on leave from work as of Monday and will return to work full time on January 7, 2008! I am so lucky to have all this time to spend with Blake. Once I return to work, Grandma Bennett will get to take over and she is SO excited. She's been busy buying a crib, clothes, and fun toys to keep Blake happy while he's at her house. He will be in loving hands indeed. We love you all and until Monday - hasta luego y bon voyage!