Sick is No Fun!

A dear friend and former co-worker of mine once said, "You're not really a mother until your child christens you with the 3 P's"... or she said something like that! It took quite a while, by those standards, for me to become Drew's mom. NOT SO with Carrie, however! I have been peed on, pooped on (if you can call what is coming out of her poop-- UGH!!) and puked on, too. NOT FUN, I say!
After our now third trip to doctor in as many days... I'm wiped out, exhausted and frustrated. But so in love!! Carrie is a real cuddle bunny and she is so sweet. She just is not well yet and really isn't eating much of anything. The doctor today said she believes it to be rotavirus. Fortunately, C is showing no signs of dehydration and actually gained a few ounces from yesterday just on Pedialyte! The doctor says in general Carrie's health is good... we just have to get over this hump!!

Dan's parents were with us until yesterday afternoon, thankfully! They were a huge help and my poor MIL got christened as well. I have done a LOT of laundry!! Today various church friends will begin delivering meals and I cannot even say how thankful I am for that! I will be the most unshowered, well-fed person around :)) Just kidding... I have showered, really! My hair just wouldn't make you think so. Oh well... it'll all get better soon enough!

I WILL be posting some airport pictures soon! I just haven't had much time as Carrie has either napped ON me or in the car and then not at home for very long. I told you she's a cuddle bunny. Thanks for your prayers for our health... oh, I've got a sore throat and virtually no voice... forgot to tell you that part. Other than all this mess, things are going well! ;) Thanks for your emails and phone calls!!! I will hope to return them soon!!!! You know I love you!

What's That I Hear? You Want Pictures?!

Okay, okay! I'm sorry!!! I haven't gotten much "me" time just yet! We got back from NJ around 11 pm on Friday and the past two days have been a little crazy! But both kids are tucked in their beds right now and I have a few minutes to try to catch you all up! Some issues with photo uploading... but we're on board now it seems!! Hurray!

Wednesday was so wild! Our drive to NJ was great and the airport was just like any other day!! We never expected that to happen! We had dinner at the airport and waited for Bill, Val & Liam and then sat with them so they could eat... and then we all paced, more or less. The plane was a few minutes early... God is SO good, so many prayers answered!! It was SO hard to wait as the minutes counted down though, and then I felt nauseous! THEN a young woman strolled past us with a baby who looked far too young and tiny to be Carrie. We all gave the two of them a good stare and decided that the woman was too caucasian and the baby too little. Then, as they were about to get on an elevator I thought, "What could be the harm in checking?" So I called out our escort's name and low and behold, she began to turn in our direction!! We were all completely agasp!! THAT baby was MINE!!! She was very warm and not looking like she was feeling well at all. I scooped her up out of her stroller in total disbelief... THIS little thing was my Carrie!! We all carted her off to the ladies' room (well, the women anyway) for a clothes change and some cooling off! She seemed to feel less hot and I couldn't believe how relaxed she was.

Carrie is a really chill kind of baby. She loves to cuddle and she is really silly and playful. With new people she is more reserved and will just stare them down for a couple of minutes... not blinking once the whole time! She babbles a lot when she wants to and she loves to share things with people and play peek-a-boo. Tonight she was banging her legs and mine like drums and singing... maybe some kind of game she played in GT?? No idea, but very cute, nonetheless!

She's been to the mall already and yes...I got her ears pierced! Dan thought I was really nuts and that's okay with me. I've waited a lifetime for a baby girl and I wanted her ears pierced!!! He does like it now, it makes her look so much more girly :) C's been having some digestion issues, we'll leave it at that... today was pretty gross. Hoping for better day tomorrow. The only hard part of adopting an older baby is not really knowing what kind of foods they can handle or like and how different it is from what they're used to. She doesn't seem to like too much of what we've tried, other than Muesli. That went over pretty well! Okay... I have to upload some more pictures for you now! She is REALLY HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

First Trip to the Mall Outfit

Reflections Of...

Our first home coming! Drew's homecoming was nothing short of miraculous! It was the most amazing day in my life, the most amazing moment! To be handed this 13 and a half month total stranger and just bond instantaneously!!! That is a "God thing" to be sure!
What will today bring? It's so hard to know, but we are completely aware that all things are possible with our great God, and we are praying that Carrie will come into our arms and home just as readily and happily as Drew did almost five years ago!!!

Here are some pictures of that incredible moment!! Is he the cutest little guy or what?? (Okay well... despite numerous attempts, these pics will not upload! I will work on them when we get back... I have to get motoring now!!!!)

THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL OF YOUR PRAYERS!!! Carrie's flying high in the skies over the Gulf of Mexico right now!!! All flights running on time so far!!

Anticipation!

It's 6 am and while I'm really tired I am also too excited to sleep! One more day until she's finally here!! We can hardly stand it! My sweet hubby was playing with outlets last night and I did not get it!! What was he doing that for? He has his own way of preparing, you know?! He was switching our outlets to GFIs so that if Carrie did happen to mess with them she wouldn't get shocked. How cute is that?

I more or less resorted to last minute retail therapy (what else is new?). I even went to a MATERNITY store yesterday!!! I got a Hotsling carrier to help me hold my 20-ish pound baby so that my wrists won't have to always be bearing weight. It's pretty cool and I'm hopeful it will be easy to use! I had my eye on a few other types, but procrastinated in ordering them for too long as they were things you could only buy online! So... we'll try this out first :) It was just weird being surrounded by pregnant people stuff!

I also got two baby Einstein DVDs for Drew and Carrie to watch together as I have PROMISED my son for over a year that WHEN Carrie came home I would buy some for them! Almost 6 years old and still in love with baby einstein! He could sit and watch video clips on their website for hours if I let him! You shoud hear him laugh and laugh!! He giggled with delight when I gave them to him. We have some long car rides ahead of us and the music might soothe my girl... and her brother's hysterical laughter might cheer her, too! So, they seemed like a worthy investment!

Today we have a lot of mundane errands to run. I hope that will keep my mind too busy to think a lot! I hope I can sleep tonight! I hope she likes us!

She's Leaving On A Jet Plane!!!

The tickets are PURCHASED!!! It's really happening! Wednesday night, 7 pm... we meet our baby girl for the first time!!! Thank you, Lord! Our heads are spinning here and we're very excited... but SO much to do. But tonight me & hubby are having a DATE!!! So I better go get pretty :)

THANK YOU MORE THAN WE CAN SAY FOR ALL OF YOUR PRAYERS, THOUGHTS, ENCOURAGEMENT, EXCITEMENT and LOVE THROUGH THIS PROCESS!!!!! We don't really have words to express how much gratitude we have for you!!! BLESSINGS to you this Thanksgiving as you have helped us have so much more to be thankful for!!!

Yes!!!

Okay... when I have gained some composure after all I have experienced this past three days, I will write it all better. For now I will just let you know that our BIG GOD cares about EVERY detail!!! It is very true. The level to which I'm experiencing Him right now is surreal and let me never fail to give the glory for all of these events to Lord Jesus!!!

Against all chances of hearing any good news this afternoon, as the embassy (who never responded to my calls or emails) closed at 1:30 my time.... my agency called! They have an inside contact who was able to go to embassy and confirm the visa's existence!!!!!!!!!!

Carrie WILL be present for her appointment on Monday morning. Her visa WILL get picked up on Tuesday afternoon and Carrie WILL be escorted home... on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving :)))))) Now we're trying to figure out escort's timeline so we can buy the plane tickets for her from Guatemala and back! Last overwhelming feat to accomplish!

How does one sing praise loud enough?? It's been an emotional rolllller coooaster and we're only really beginning it, let's face it! A whole new child to learn and love and raise. Wow! A baby girl... pink and red, ribbons and jewelry! Oh, I cannot wait to get her ears pierced! Our precious daughter, so beautiful... such a beautiful gift. She's almost here.
Thank you, Jesus! We are truly in awe.

The Visa!

Well, God is certainly in the miracle business!!! ALLLLL things are possible with Him, undoubtedly!! Let me never question again! Our visa was reportedly cabled to the embassy YESTERDAY as per the supervisor I FINALLY reached just minutes ago at the visa center!!! Yes, they work 24 hours there, can you believe??

NOW... all we need by TOMORROW is an emailed confirmation from the embassy that they are actually in possession of that document and we are GOOD TO GO, BABY!!!!!!!!!!! Pinch me!!!! :)

Newest Photo

Thanks to Labcorp, we actually have a new polaroid photo of C! Taken 10/30, notice that Carrie is wearing the SAME shirt in her 4 month old picture to the right! It was just huge on her then and fits her now!! I knew it looked familiar :) Sorry for the poor quality. My scanner doesn't communicate with my computer for some reason, so I took a picture of the picture!!

Come home baby girl!!!

Keep Praying!

Well folks! I met yet another angel today! I went to our homeland security office to attempt to learn the status of our visa!! I was VERY fortunate that it wasn't processed yet... because that gave me the opportunity to speak to the person in charge of adjudicating it and that led to the following!: She adjudicated the case in front of me and then sent it on to the National Visa Center via email with an URGENT notice. She was able to include our pending embassy date and plead with them to have the visa there ASAP. Whether or not they will is another issue... but the urgent notice will certainly help us get the visa done sooner than it otherwise would have been!
Thank you, Lord... you have been SO mighty and gracious to send the exactly right people our way as you go before us in this process!

Now... the miracle process would look like this:
Visa cabled today or tomorrow (and I learn about it). US Embassy emails me to tell me that the visa is there by tomorrow!! Last minute plane tickets are available to escort Carrie home (remember it will be one or two days before Thanksgiving!) and escort is also ready & willing.
Carrie would have her embassy appointment on Monday morning and then the visa would get picked up on Tuesday morning.... and then she comes HOME!!!! AT LAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!!!!

Hangin' On....

Yesterday was tough! I had to wait until 3pm to phone the US Embassy and I checked ALL day to see if they emailed me back first. They didn't. The phone lines were problematic, so the first 5 times I called I just heard nothing! No ringing, no answering... nothing! I prayed SO HARD! Lord, PLEASE... I can't bear more waiting!!! Then I got hung up on the next two calls. Apparently they couldn't hear me, because when I finally reached a live human, they struggled to hear me even when I was yelling!! UGH!
BUT.... we did get our PINK SLIP! It was issued on 11/8 and the embassy date IS for 11/19. This is all a little crazy, however. We need to find out when the visa cable will be down there and first get an emailed confirmation that it is there BEFORE we can make any travel arrangements for escorts! The visa would get picked up on the 20th. They would travel home the 21st... you guessed it, the DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING!!!!! What a truly horrible day to have to attempt to buy last minute plane tickets!!!! It's hard to believe that we could be THIS CLOSE to having our little girl home for the holiday and have it just be a little too close!
This morning I will go to homeland security to attempt to learn visa status. I will let you know what I learn and how this is all boiling down!!! To my obsessive blog readers :), I'm so sorry I didn't post this last night! My head was just spinning and I didn't even know what to say!!!!! Love to you all :)

Quick Update!

The US Embassy will receive Carrie's final DNA test results TODAY!! That means they will be able to issue our pink slip SOON! Pray that they do! If we haven't heard about the visa cable by the time we have an appointment date, I will pay the office a visit to beg :) This is such wonderful news and we're SO grateful to the angel at Labcorp who passed it on to us!!!!!

November Prayer Requests

Well, it's getting REALLY exciting now! We're in the HOME stretch!!!!

I dropped our final adoption documents off at Homeland Security today to be adjudicated (whatever that means) and Carrie's visa cable processed! Unfortunately, I was given absolutely no idea how long this will take. I know it took two days for Drew's... but it could potentially take weeks this time around. Only God knows. Carrie's final DNA test is being processed at the lab right now and the results will soon be on their way to the embassy! The embassy can then issue our PINK slip and give an appointment time for Carrie's VERY LAST okay to come home!!!!! Hallelujah!

The main prayer request is this:

That despite what odds we're against, Carrie would be home by Thanksgiving!

This requires the following:
1) the embassy receiving the DNA results by early next week and issuing our pink slip with a date for like 11/19 or earlier.

2) the visa cable being prepared and faxed to embassy before then and all parties being aware and in agreement of the fact that those documents are in fact there (things tend to get misplaced?).

3) one of our 3 possible escorts being ready, able & willing to bring our girl HOME!!

We cannot begin to tell you how excited we are that we are so close now! Please pray for us!!!!
Here's a picture of our bigger turkey dressed for halloween as Zurg. This kid needs a sister :)

Baby Therapy

This is a self-pictrait of me with sweet Maggie! Maggie is my baby therapy sweetheart and one of Carrie's future friends and classmates! At just 3 weeks younger than Carrie, she has been a constant source of comfort and joy to me this past 9 months. I am so thankful for her delightful disposition and smiles as she lets me just hold her, hug her & kiss her... she humors me and all my weirdness. How amazing for such a little girl to already be such a huge blessing to others. I feel like Jesus sends her my way just when I need her most. She is someone I am SO thankful for, as well as her awesome mother, Amy, who just hands her over knowingly. Amy, I can't wait to see our two girls playing together one day SOON!! Maggie, thank you for helping this crazy lady get through some tough times... God bless you, little one!