Status

I just emailed the US Embassy in Guatemala to check on the status of our Pre-Approval. Today is day 60 of waiting, so time for action. :) I have heard rumers that the Embassy was closed for training all week, so it might not happen until next week. They sent back an automated reply saying there are delays in adoptions (nothing new). We have no other updates from the attorney regarding our Social Worker Report. Keep praying!

A "Small" Gift

One day, while in Guatemala, I was with Ellie in the children's home. I had sat down at the kitchen counter to feed her lunch. A young girl, Onoria, pictured with Ellie above, came over to us. She handed Ellie a small, yellow ball that the children had been playing with at the pool earlier. I smiled and replied "gracias", and she bounded off to play again. Ellie was not interested in the ball so, when another child came up and asked for it, I simply handed it to her. As we left the home, I passed Onoria, in tears, pleading with a mama. She pointed to the ball, now on top of the fridge, and then to me and said "para ella" ("for her"). The mama looked to me and handed me the ball. It was then I realized the significance of the gift. There are plenty of clothes, and a good share of toys at the home, but any one child could really lay little claim on anything specific. This small gift was something that she could claim, and wanted to share with another! What a generous act! I pray that the Lord will get a hold of her heart and continue to use for Him the seed of generosity that is already there! Please pray for sweet Onoria as well! We are promised in scripture that our Father "will not leave us as orphans: I will come to you" (John 14:18). While I pray that the Lord would not leave her as an orphan on earth, I more urgently pray that He would not leave her as a spiritual orphan.

Lord, please bring these children that you have brought into our lives into a saving knowledge of you through your Son! I pray that the Holy Spirit would cause them to seek a relationship with You, meeting the greatest need they have for a Savior from their sin. Use their lives to glorify Your name!

More Fun Pics!

We had a team reunion this last weekend to talk about thoughts of the trip and how the Lord has used it in our lives since we have been home. It was an encouraging time. We also exchanged pictures, so I now have a new crop to post. :) This week has potential to be a "good adoption week" for us . We anticipate hearing that we have PA (the count is now at 56 days) and we should be out of Family Court this week or next. Then onto PGN...whoohooo!


Yeah! A good one of the three of us!


Love her little grin and light in her eyes!!!


Nicole and Vivan with Ellie and another sweetie! This was taken the week after we were home, when the girls were there without the team.
Ellie stayed close by while I helped out with the other kids.

Another day, she just couldn't stay awake while we worked.
The funny hat Ellie is wearing is from America, not Guatemala. :)

No news yet

53 days into waiting for PA.....

Our Belated Update and The Photo Shoot

The August update has finally arrived! It was sent out well before the 10th "due date", but we were having some problems with email then. When I found myself getting a little impatient, I just needed to remember the amount of work that went into getting the pictures and getting them all to the right families! The Lord allowed me to experience this first hand while we were there.

Although, I participated in helping to take lots of the pictures for this update, I had run to the room to change when Ellie's were taken, so I had not seen them yet (even though I saw her just minutes before and after). I was told that they were not great pics, but they went with them anyway because we had the real thing that week. :)

She is 19 lbs and 27 inches long (5-10th % for weight and below 5th% for height). She is on medication for a cold, but we are told that most of the kids are sick, too. :(

I had an interesting thought. When we would take Ellie outside, she was much more reserved than when she was inside (more like first of the week behavior, rather than end of the week). I know she was outside around Easter for a picture, but other than that, her exposure to the outdoors has been very limited or non at all, which would explain the difference in her personality. The mamas' are very leary of taking babies outside.

Ellie with Gabby from our team (the same Gabriella who picked out Hannah's doll).

Our team was asked if we wanted to help with taking the monthly pictures of the children. I was excited to be a part of the process, because I know how important these pictures are! The home had been getting requests from parents to "see more skin" in the photos, and I can totally relate. I remember looking forward to seeing Ellie's feet, because I hadn't gotten a good look at them in photos that I had. So, they had decided on a beach theme and were trying to round up swimsuits for the kids to wear while posing them next to beach balls on a towel. The older kids have suits, because they take them swimming every so often (the conditions have to be perfect for the mamas' to say "yes" :) )! I had packed Ellie a suit, not knowing if we would take her swimming, but it came in handy for the pictures. We found a few more in the donated items that we had brought and sorted.

Let me just tell you, taking those photos is no easy task! Especially when an ambitious theme is decided on!! The older kids were just pulled to the side while they were swimming with a few from our team (I got to participate in this as well because I was one of the few that had packed a suit.) For the younger babies and toddlers, we set up shop in the office, and I helped "snag" kids to keep the line going. One of our team members, who has skill in photography, took the pictures and two gals staying for about two months, kept track of what kids were being photographed. As the afternoon went on, I discovered that every baby I went to put a swimsuit on, was in desperate need of a diaper change. This involved hauling them from the office, going down the hall, changing the diaper (no wipes, wash cloths), sneaking them past the mamas' with only a diaper on, putting on a swimsuit, then off to find the next kid! Ellie was crawling around the home, so between kids, I had to sneak in a kiss or hug. :)

Some Days I Miss Her More

It is amazing where this adoption roller coaster takes your emotions! I can be upbeat and excited about the progress in our case, and then some days it just hurts that Ellie is not here. (Wal-Mart, at night, alone, is especially hard for some odd reason. I don't do this very often and maybe I don't know what to do with the brain power that I usually need to keep three in-tow and make it out without all the groceries squished.) We hung the paintings we purchased in Guatemala, which look nice, but are another reminder of our little girl, so far away.

I have been surprised by the affect the adoption has had on our children at home. I knew they would answer the frequent question, "Are you excited to get a little sister" in sweet, predictable ways. They would talk about having a fourth to play "Narnia" with and how there would be three of each, boys and girls, in our family. But, they have been emotional, too.

While preparing the trip video, the kids would watch what I was doing. One day, getting to the end, Austin turned to me and said, "When you all were leaving, I felt like I was going to cry!" It was precious and touching. He also loves watching and rewatching the scene where Ellie says, "Ahhhhheeeeee", when I ask her to say Auggie (Austin's nickname). Today, was the ministry fair at church. The adoption ministry had a booth with the visit trip video running. Austin stood and watched for a while, and turned to me as it finished, with huge tears in his eyes, and a look that said, "How could you have left my baby sister so far away!" I pulled him in for a hug and started crying too, in the middle of a full gym of people around us. I didn't realize how much a four year-old could understand about this process.
The affect on Hannah has shown up at night. She says she is lonely and cannot fall asleep. The plan is to put the girls together in a room and I wonder if Hannah has been thinking more about this. She is so sweet to cuddle her Guatemalan doll we brought her. She named her Maria (Ellie's given name) Gabriella (a form of her own middle name, but more Spanish sounding, and the name of Hannah's friend who picked out the doll). Yesterday, Hannah had me style her hair to look like the doll. When she watches video of Ellie, her comment is that "Ellie will fit in our family really well!" To read a touching story of her sacrificial heart, visit Daniel's blog.

Noah prays for "UHHHEEE" and recognizes her picture. Through our own mistakes, we are pretty firm believers in waiting until a child is really ready to potty train. Since Noah is newly 2, I will be more than happy to change two sets of diapers, if the Lord chooses to bring Ellie home before Noah is ready! :)
I am often told (at Wal-Mart, no doubt), "My, you have your hands full" or other forms of the same comment. But I am thinking, they are not full enough! Ellie, I miss you, my little Guateangel! Lord, please bring her home soon!!

P.S. Daniel was unable to be at this photo-shoot, he was riding roller coasters with the youth group, the non-metaphorical kind. :)

Things Continue to Roll!

We got a case update last night! (See timeline if you are not following...they helped me a lot when I was just getting used to the lingo.) The social worker interview took place on Tuesday, before we thought it would happen. The social worker now will write a report, and that takes 2-3 weeks. Then, we are submitted to PGN, final court! Yes, those initials were in the email! I feel strange that we are actually getting nearer to that point! We are due for PA (preapproval) around August 31st, so we might have it in time for our first submission to PGN. There are still reasons that this could be held up, but we are moving along!!! Thank you so much for your prayers for Ellie and her case. The Lord is good! The test is to see if I am still saying that if He chooses to slow things down...but in that case, it would be to His glory as well!

Video

These are some highlights from our trip. Also, my first attempt at putting together a "movie" and adding a video to the blog! :) Sorry, it is a little long in blogland time! The first song is "Precious Gift", an original composition by Emily, a dear friend, who is waiting for a referral of a baby boy from Vietnam. The vocals were provided by Beth, her sister, also a sweetheart and future adoptive mom!





I realized that I have not mentioned too much about MEETING Ellie! As you can see, we got into the home and they had us stand near the door. I could see her right away in a crib near the middle of the room (hence the excited, nervous pointing). She was smaller than she looked in her pictures, which was wonderful news for me! Karen, there short-term, while the main couple that directs the home are in the states, brought her to us. Just as she reached me, a little five or six year old girl, gave me a huge hug (which you cannot see in the video). It was so sweet! Ellie was a bit apprehensive, but no major meltdowns in meeting us.

For the first day or so, Ellie was snuggly, but did not like to be passed, content to stay where she was. So, if I took her from Daniel, or vise versa, she would cry for a bit. Ellie did not like her hands to be touched for a while as well. This is why I liked the segment of her touching Daniel's nose, because it was when she was first willing to "share" her hands with us. It was amazing how she opened up to us and let us glimpse at her personality as the week went on!

Daddy and Me!!!

As promised, some fabulous shots of Daniel and Ellie! He is such a great dad! I am so blessed to raise a family with him!

First hug with Daddy!

Snuggling at lunch, even if Daddy has been working! :)
Reading the Bible with Daddy, what he does best!

Playing "This Little Piggy" early in the morning.
I love this shot of her holding on to her daddy's leg!
Toss me up in the air, Daddy!!!
Whoaaaa, not too fast, Daddy!


Please welcome Amy to blogland! They are waiting for the referral of their 7th child, 1st from Guatemala! This dear lady has been such an encouragement to me from the time we started considering adoption and then joined us in the process! Their family has an amazing testimony of God's grace in their lives.

Ellie turned 13 months yesterday... I wonder if she is walking. She was so close when we were there.

Mommy and Me!!!

I dreamed that Ellie was home last night and I had not known it! I just remember asking, "So, I can hold her?" My dreams lately have been unusual because usually it takes a while to "add" another person to my dream world. It was months after our wedding before I dreamt that Daniel and I were married, and each kid took a few months to enter the scene, with the exception of Ellie! I am already attached pretty deeply!

Here are some pictures of us:


WE meet!Taking a nap on our first afternoon together!
There are those dimples!
I am not being mean, as the older kids worried! :) Ellie loves to stick out her tongue!


Ahhhh, this one would have been great, if it wasn't for those eyes of mine that I am prone to shutting in pictures!!! They need a photo shop edit for that!

Stay tuned for some "Daddy and Me" action!

Ellie's buds

There are a few families that I wanted to rejoice with and others to pray for:


Jami will be bringing her little Hudson HOME next week!!! She was the reason I was introduced to blogland!


Ellie's bud at the children's home, Cameron, is out of PGN, YEAH!!, but is waiting for the last details to fall in place to come home. I praised God as I spent time with him because he would not be there much longer.


Another friend at the children's home, Joseph, needs your prayers. His parents have been waiting since he was 20 days old and now he is over 15 months old! There has been one thing after another with their case, and bottom line, he needs to GO HOME!! I really struggled to keep my emotions in check for the first few days I was around him. This is such a heartache and burden for his family. Please pray him home!!!


Olivia has been waiting quite awhile to leave, as well. What a sweetie!!! Pray for her attorney to make some progress in her case soon!


There are others at the home that have their own stories and families that need your prayers. You can see their latest pictures here by clicking on the "August Pictures" link. At least three of those children will be within 45 minutes of us! There are many others who I have met in blogland who are waiting for their children, so pray for them as well.

Happy Anniversary!!!

We are celebrating EIGHT years of marriage! I can vividly remember when 4 years sounding like a "long time" to be married, and now we are twice that!

So here's the math: eight years, four kids, six plus years of diapers, two bachelor's, one master's and a partial doctorate degree(for the first five years, one of us was in school!), six addresses (Noah had four addresses before he was four months old), four jobs between us, two stamps each in our passports (praying for a third soon!), six ER visits(ummm, remembered a 7th last night), four cars, tens of thousands and thousands of driving miles, three sibling weddings, one nephew,....this could go on and on!

We grew up around the corner from each other and were high school sweethearts. Who knew a little girl could still marry the neighbor boy!


Daniel,

I love you!!! There is no one else I'd rather go through this crazy thing called raising a family and even crazier adoption process than with YOU!! You beat me to posting, but I had planned to post as well. :) I love you more today than I ever thought possible the day of our wedding!

Happy Anniversary!!!

We Have Heard from the Attorney!!!

We are 34 days into our 60 day wait for Pre-Approval(PA)! The attorney plans to submit us into family court on the 15th or 16th of next week. The average stay in family court is 4 or 5 weeks, we are praying that this will be completed in a timely fashion, against the custom of Guatemalan adoptions, because this looks to be our hold up to get into the final court, PGN. I am trying not to get my hopes up, but I was thrilled to see that we had been submitted for PA earlier than I expected!

These pictures are from Thursday of our trip. The entire team took a day trip across the lake and we chose to stay with Ellie, who was not allowed to leave the property. It was great to get some time just the three of us, without having other responsibilities. We did have to "practice" leaving her because we met the team in town for dinner.


Nothing like a good Daddy wrestle!

Sleeping (sweaty) Beauty! :)

Wearing Mommy's shades!


The coffee shop we visited to pick up the coffee order for the team.
Lake Atitlan, that the team crossed to visit an area destroyed by mudslides shortly after Katrina. Families are still living in temporary shelters.

Daniel and I at the restaurant. We had just ran, yes literally, into the market to find a painting that Daniel had seen earlier, but wanted to show me before buying. The restaurant had a beautiful view of the lake!

A First Birthday Party

We packed a candle and a cupcake (look at all that store-bought, plastic-packaged, airline-squished love :) ) to celebrate Ellie's birthday with her (just two weeks late). She turned one on July 12th. Ellie was not too sure of eating the cupcake, but she did put it in her mouth a few times, only to pull it right out, without a bite! :) So, the only thing that is messy for that "First Birthday Cake" picture is her lip (and Daniel's fingers)!








Although the American couple temporary in charge at the home while we were there gave me "permission to be her mom", I felt somewhat like a grandparent spoiling a grandchild. We tried to give her a few things that I know she is not eating now (ex: an Oreo). I was paranoid that I would get "in trouble" with the mamas' if they found us doing something they would not be doing with her. Another example, we had Ellie outside around 9 pm checking email outside the children's home. A mama encouraged us to come inside on two occasions, and finally brought a huge blanket to be put around her. They are very worried about the "night air" and keep things shut up tight after 5 pm. The windows in the home would get all fogged up, and yet we were asked to keep the door closed. It is just a Guatemalan cultural thing, along with bundling the babies! All of the children wore onesies and socks under footed pajamas to sleep. Then, they are placed under heavy blankets after that. With 80 little, very sweaty, bodies, no wonder the home is an oven! :)

Esta bien

A short fashion show to lighten the mood of the post:


An Easter dress Hannah wore as a baby, too:


This was a Guatemalan dress from friends that she barely fit in. I am so glad I brought it and at least got a picture of her in it.

Ellie and her care giver, Mimi, taken in June.


When I talked to people about the trip before we left, a common first response was, "How are you ever going to leave her"? I was so nervous about this before we met her. When she was placed in my arms, I had tears of great joy of the blessing that will be added to our family. I was emotional off and on throughout the week, some tears were of anticipation of leaving, some were for families struggling to get their children home. Overall, I was content to live in the moment of soaking in her and her current surroundings. Nighttime is usually a much more difficult time for me when going through a trial, so Thursday night, I allowed myself to cry to my heart's content as I rocked my sleeping baby. Friday morning , the day we headed back to Guatemala City, I had a constant dread of the "big moment", when we would have to physically take her back to the mamas' and walk out empty-handed. I had known for at least 9 months that this would happen, someday, if the Lord willed. When the bus pulled up, and all was loaded, Daniel and I prayed with Ellie in the office outside the children's home. He gave her a hug and returned her to me. As we walked into the room, I could not see her Mamas' right away, but Mimi recognized the situation and came to me. I was, of course, a blubbery mess, as any self-respecting adoptive mother would be in this circumstance. Mimi held out her hands and spoke a simple phrase "Esta bien"...or "Its okay" (loosely translated) as our eyes met. At that moment, the Lord knew that is all I needed to get out the door and onto the bus. I knew that she was right, that all would work out for good. I had an amazing peace that was completely unexpected on the four-plus hour bus ride to the city. The "big moment" was over, and Lord willing, our challenges to come will not be as dramatically hard as leaving her in a foreign country. So, that was how we were given the grace and strength to leave without her.

Going into the trip, knowing we had our referral, I was not super excited about the possibility of doing the hardest thing ever in such a public manor. As the trip got closer, we were approached to use our story as a potential TV news segment, to be viewed by thousands. Daniel was lined up to preach that Sunday, hours after our return, and I knew that our trip would provide great material, and yet another spotlight. Post-trip, I can say that I was so grateful to be surrounded by 24 believers who are emotionally invested in the ministry of the children's home and in our daughter's story. It was a fabulous distraction to have so many to talk to and those people really understand the depth of our heartache. We left two others behind, and I know that they are loving on my girl, generously sacrificing another week of their time. Upon coming home, I had quite a full inbox of prayers, encouraging comments and notes, and also, lots of hugs and uplifting words from family at church. Our family far away has been patient to let me talk as I have been ready, not demanding of my time and details of a soul they are emotionally invested in as well. Thank you, faithful blog readers, writing our story is very soothing and comforting!

To My Ellie Vane:

"And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in knowledge of God." Col 1:9-10

Lord,

Strengthen us with all power, according to Your glorious might, for ALL endurance and patience with JOY, giving THANKS to You, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
from Colossians 1:11-12