A Little Blurb on Baby

We received Gabriella's birth certificate earlier this week. She was 5 lbs. 8 oz. when was born and delivered at home. Her mother and grandfather were listed. But the father was not. I'm not complaining about what WASN'T there. In most countries, you never have the luxury of knowing who your child's biological parents are. So I feel very lucky that Gabriella will have that information.

Supposedly, we are being submitted for DNA authorization tomorrow morning. We'll see how that goes...

Our little Reagan turned 8 months on the 15th and she's in PGN. We're hoping she has a speedy stay and can get home by the end of June. She is so beautiful and I can't wait to get my hands on her. She and her mom, KW, will be staying with Gabriella and me when we visit at the end of May. Cannot wait!

Not the Best of Luck

Let me give you a snippet of the drama that has ensued in my life over the past week. First, I awakened on Good Friday with severe back spasms that left me horizontal until 5 pm. Thank goodness for muscle relaxers. Ed left for Singapore on Tuesday. While he dined with the President of Singapore (seriously), I went to celebrate Gabriella with some fellow students/friends. When we returned to our building on campus, I ran into the restroom. Next thing you know, I turned around in the stall and my key flew into the toilet as it was already flushing. Down the drain! Of course, it wasn't just a key, it was the electronic keyless entry type. That'll cost me a pretty penny. When I called the dealership to ask that they order me a new one, the service manager couldn't stop laughing.

The evening continued along that line when my friends had to drive me home to get Ed's key and we discovered that the dog had diarrhea in AND around the kennel. I threw her in the shower, while my friend cleaned up the kennel. The dog bed had to be pitched. While I was showing the girls some of the stuff in the nursery, I hear the front screen door open. Izzy had run off in 30 degree weather after just having a bath. By now, I was about 3 hours behind my schedule for the day. Luckily, she returned when she realized how cold it was outside.

And finally, I ended this stellar week with the onset of a cold... oh joy!!! When it rains it pours. I missed my dear friend's going away party in Mt.V. and feel like a big loser. But geez, something's gotta give.

BUT, my friend Karli is pregnant with her second bebe. I'm so excited that her Madeline will be a big sister. There are a lot of babies in the making right now!

In adoption news, we received some info about the birth mother. The preliminary interviews with her and the family revealed that they are all every supportive of this adoption. That's a relief. And we should be submitted for DNA approval this week. That's all I got...

April Showers

We hope everyone had a happy Easter. We did. We spent Saturday in Effingpatch with Ed's family. A baby shower was given for Gabriella by my sister-in-law and it was beautiful! We had delicious food and NO games (which I was very grateful for), but lots of fun. Most of the guests were from Ed's side of the family, as well as my mom and our Effingham crew of friends. We were so spoiled and it was really fun to celebrate Gabriella with such important people in our lives. Edward was especially moved by how genuinely happy everyone seemed for us.



Later in the day, the rest of the family joined us for Easter dinner. The kids had an egg hunt in the basement (to avoid the winter climate outside) and enjoyed a prize or two-- candy and cold, hard cash! Griffin was easily distracted by a single egg with a piece of candy in it. No need to spend all of his energy racing around like those crazy, big kids... while big brother, Spencer, burned off his chocolate buzz performing for the adults.

Well, Gabi Sol is a little closer to having all of her creature comforts. A sampling of her loot:
- a pack 'n play
- an exersaucer
- a high chair
- a music box for all of her special treasures with her mom's teething ring and baby ring, books and brag book photo album
- a cake made out of diapers, a bottle of champagne (for mom and dad) and outfits galore
- Leap Frog musical table
- special shoes from her friend, Emma
- beautiful smocked dress with organza bow and winter dress with rhinestone tights
- a gardening pot with toys and shopping money
- lots of summery outfits (capris, bubble romper, and dress) including a swimsuit with matching skirt and sunglasses for next summer and toy for her carseat
- beautiful blankets and toys that any little girl would dream of
- a picture frame plate and keepsake ceramic booty with Gabi's picture
- a basket with a funny book, a bathtub, cozy blanket and bibs
- and a very special handpicked bear from her cousin Emmie



Can you say SPOILED ROTTEN? Gifts are wonderful and we are so appreciative, but more than anything, we feel so blessed that so many people love Gabriella already. What a lucky little girl!

In other news, my friend Kathy and her husband have decided to adopt through the foster care system-- so excited for them! My friend, Meagan, is pregnant with her third child and due in October. And I passed my Praxis exam and Illinois Certification tests!!! That's a lot of good news in one week. Let's hope it keeps comin'...

On the Road

Edward has added quite a few clicks to the 'ole odometer over the last week. In addition to traveling to Springfield and Chicago earlier last week to complete the POA process, he headed back to Springfield today to certify the rest of the dossier documents. All of the paperwork is out of our hands and on its way to being authenticated by the Guatemalan consulate now. After this, it heads back to our agency in SC and on to Guatemala shortly thereafter.

In the meantime, we're learning as much about the process as we possibly can. We couldn't live without our Kristin, who is the expert in this area. While we wait for Gabriella, we pray a little harder that Reagan will get out of PGN and be heading home soon. We can't wait to see her at home with her parents and big brother (who has a striking resemblance to our Gabriella). We love you Reagan! We promise you'll be home soon.

Love at First Sight...

At the beginning of this week, we received pictures of our daughter. She was tiny, dehydrated and sad but PRECIOUS and PERFECT. We were immediately smitten. All week we waited, rather impatiently, for pictures of her after being in foster care and getting proper nutrition for two weeks. Finally, this morning we received pictures of her in a much healthier, much more contented state. Her cheeks are round and pink. Her eyes are dark and bright. She has tons of hair and her foster mother obviously loves her. Her foster mother looks proud and tender about this tiny charge.

Gabriella logged in a healthy 6 lbs. 4 oz. and 49 cm long at her doctor's appointment yesterday. That's an almost 2 lb. and 2 inch gain from 2 weeks ago. Nothing can settle her parents' hearts more than knowing that she is doing well and thriving in her new temporary home. Thank you to her foster mother for working so hard for our baby girl.




The doorbell just rang and we received beautiful flowers and balloons from my lifelong friend Jessica and her family. Thank you for celebrating with us Jess, Brett and CC!!! Sharing the joy of our new addition is one of the most amazing experiences.

So this is what everyone who has ever been a mother was talking about. I am overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of my love for her. Thank you God for this amazing blessing. It might have taken 6 years to get here, but Your timing truly is perfect.

and the Stars Aligned!

Let me just paint you a picture. The following items were arranged so that we were in a position to find our beautiful daughter.
* Edward predicted we would get our referral this week, as did our friend Mark (but Edward refuses to give him credit on the grounds that he's the Daddy and it was his call)
* We did NOT go to NY like we were supposed to from Saturday to Tuesday because of erroneously purchased plane tickets
* Worldwide did NOT receive their license in Vietnam or any baby girls in the baby home
* We were on spring break, which afforded us much needed time to assemble our dossier... in world record time. 3 days.

All of these things retrospectively make sense. Gabriella is OUR daughter. She wasn't supposed to come from Vietnam and we know that God orchestrated this amazing plan. How awesome is that!!! Even though we're not with her, we know that she can feel our unconditional love and commitment to her. We feel so blessed to have her-- even from afar.

Did I mention that Edward can't stop smiling? (Neither can I.) Thanks to everyone for sharing in our joy. It's been so fun getting the emails back!

It's a Girl with a plot twist...

Who knew it would turn into this? We have been blessed to receive a referral for a beautiful little girl who is 30 days old... from Guatemala! Now I know what you're thinking. Guatemala?!? What? So God threw us a curve ball. Good thing we had our glove down. Ok ok, I'll explain...

Monday, our agent called and said that she had an odd situation for us to consider. Guatemala is rumored to be closing its doors on April 1, 2007 to international adoption for an undetermined amount of time. Any adoptions that are in process (meaning that a Power of Attorney is in effect upon receiving a referral) by April 1 would be honored and facilitated to completion. No one knows for sure if it's a rumor or truth, but to be safe, our agency wanted to find families for the babies that they have in foster care in Guatemala. There were a few. It's always better to have families waiting on this side, rather than babies waiting for families. Even though we were part of the Vietnam program, we were the next on the list for a baby girl. Our agent felt compelled to present the circumstances to us and see if we were interested.

After discussion and prayer, Ed and I decided that this little girl felt like ours. We're not sure why or how, but she was supposed to come to us. After the decision was made, we had to move fast. The POA must be processed through Guatemala by April 1. It takes a week on their side and we needed to get the POA notarized, verified by the Sec. of State and authenticated by the Guatemalan consulate in Chicago. Thank goodness it's spring break. We would have been hard pressed to get all of that accomplished in 3 days otherwise. So Ed is on the road today and tomorrow to get the POA in place for our sweet girl. This must be why people refer to it as the paperchase! How appropriate.

We would love to introduce our daughter, Gabriella Sol. She is precious and tiny and we can't wait to get her home. We celebrated by shopping for some comfy clothes for her and having Mexican for dinner last night. I'm not sure where you would get Guatemalan food in Chambana. So we settled for Mexican.
We hope to have her home in less than 6 months. And don't worry. We haven't abandoned our plans to adopt from Vietnam. We will go there for our other children. We just feel that in this case our daughter was in Central America, not Asia. No harm, no foul. Just pure elation that our dream of being parents is finally coming true.

SURPRISE!

My friend, Jill, threw a surprise baby shower with all of my classmates last night at school! I had no idea. When we walked in the room, I thought we were interrupting something and then everyone yelled "Surprise!" I think it took me five minutes to figure out what was going on. That was after I did the ugly cry. I finally realized that Ed was there too.

Well, Addi will not be short on U of I gear! She got lots of sweet outfits in Orange 'n Blue, cute onesies, lots of pink and yellow and hair ribbons, bibs, toothbrushes, a cup, a Snugli carrier, a basket of goodies, a Boo Bunny, toys, CD, books and lots of other stuff. I cannot say how blessed we both felt that our friends would do something like that. You guys are the coolest!!!

I'll post pictures when I get them from everyone else, since I didn't have my own camera. Thank you, thank you, thank you friends!!! I am so grateful that I've gotten to spend the last two years with you. You are incredible women who are strong, smart and passionate about what you do. I really feel like the world is a better place for having you in it. Thanks for supporting Ed and me over the past two years and I look forward to seeing all of the blessings in your lives over the years to come.

And Jill, I shouldn't be surprised that you would do something like this. You have such a generous soul. I can't thank you enough! I just love ya!

Seeing is Believing!

No news from the agency. However, we didn't expect any. It's holiday time in Vietnam and most of the offices are closed for at least a week (if not three).

What we did get to see are pictures of the children who have already been matched with families from our agency. They are beautiful!! So healthy-looking and happy. They are obviously getting lots of attention and love. Somehow, just seeing these children who are seemingly so close to our Addison makes us feel like this really might happen. It's funny how you begin wondering who your child will resemble... I imagine this is how pregnancy is. That is... before the days of 4D ultrasounds.

In the meantime, we do piles and piles of homework and barely see each other, despite living in the same house. Sometimes I think I talked to Edward more when we was deployed than I do now. It's unfortunate, but almost over. If we can survive until May, I think all will be well.

Happy Valentine's Day

XOXO to everyone on this beautiful Valentine's Day! We have much to celebrate today. First of all, we're snowed in for the second day in a row. We got about 12-15 inches that turned into 2-3 foot drifts. Classes have actually been cancelled at U of I, which is an anomaly. They haven't been cancelled since 1979, according to reports... and they weren't cancelled for one day, but two. WOOHOO!! Edward-- on his way to shovel the driveway and get a workout!
Our neighbors' house had snowdrifts halfway up their back door!
Ed takes a break to play with Izzy, who practically disappears in the snow.

Aside from that, our friends are in Guatemala with their baby girl, Reagan, for about 5 days. This is their first meeting and we've already received pictures. She is precious!!! They say she's a happy baby and so beautiful. She's six months old and her big brother, Ryker, is not so sure about her. That's not surprising, but pretty funny considering he's been talking about his Rea-Rea for about 5 months. We're thrilled that this family is getting to spend some time together, especially on this Valentine's Day.

In other news, our friends in Kansas are enduring hip surgery for their two-year old little girl today. Our prayers are with you, Cappadoros. We love you , ME! Keep us updated on her recovery.

The most recent health news about the babies in our orphanage is that they are all growing and developing normally. They appear to be happy, well taken care of, and loved by their caretakers. This is so reassuring for us.

And the latest with our agency is that we are waiting for a "final" document to be translated and filed. As we understand it, the translation is being completed right now, but cannot be filed until after the New Year celebration that is going on now. Tet is actually on February 18 this year and the government offices close for a week to three weeks during this time. We hope to receive word that we have the license by late February or early March. We're keeping our fingers and toes crossed.