Carmensita really is that amazing!!!

And she really is this cute...

And this beautiful...
Yup - that's right - we're home from visiting our little Carmen - or as her foster family refers to her - Carmensita.

As my wife just told her father - she has me totally wrapped around her little finger. CJ is the sweetest little girl in the world. Her smile lights up a room, but she's a little stubborn with her laughs. Actually, many of her smiles are little smirks that sometimes develop in to full blown smiles and sometimes do not. She loves to be held, and hugged, and kissed. She's not at all bothered by noisiness and in fact prefers that you go ahead and be loud! She likes to eat about every 3 hours and will tell you with all her might when she's hungry.


We flew down last Sunday afternoon from Philly via Miami, with a fairly uneventful flight. It's 2 2.5 hour flights that way, with a 2.5 hour layover in Miami (not the most pleasant airport in the world). Even with smooth travels, we were weary, and anxious for the next day to come. We traveled with Carmen's Tia S - who really helped with advise, a little Spanish, and of course - videos and snapshots.

The plan:

1. Meet Carmen, her foster mommy - N and translator - O, at 10AM Monday in the hotel lobby.
2. Spend Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday with her
3. N will come back to hotel mid-day Thursday to take her home
4. We spend the next day and a half as tourists - possibly visiting Antigua (a beautiful colonial town about an hour from Guatemala City.
5. Then we head home Saturday

Reality in Guatemala:

1. We awake Monday morning, brimming with anticipation, but expecting Carmen to be a little late as we were warned might be the case.
2. The phone doesn't ring until 10:45, but it's not O.
3. We call O at 11:30, and leave him a message.
4. The phone proceeds to ring 3 more times, including a call from O telling us they will arrive around 2:30 with the baby.
5. The phone rings around 2:35 - it's O in the lobby with Carmen and N.
6. We head downstairs, Carmen is placed in our arms and we review all kinds of info. B shows up just as N and O are about to leave so we get to meet her as well.
7. O unexpectedly tells us that N and B will meet us in the lobby of the hotel at 5PM Friday!!!
8. We spend the week with Carmen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9. We head down to the lobby at 4:55, N walks in at 5:00.
10. B finally shows up around 5:50, after having been called by N.
11. We travel back to the US, slightly down in the dumps, but confident because N is so awesome.

There you have it - our week in a nutshell. But it was so much more than that. It was so much more than diapers (yes - she peed during one of my diaper changes), bottles, drool, zerberts, and naps.

But, then again, that's exactly what it was about. It was about getting to know our Carmensita. And we learn about her through her play, how she eats, and how she laughs and cries. Right now she expresses who she is through these things.

Will she remember us? Not really sure. We made an audio tape of us playing, singing, and talking to her, which N was looking forward to playing for her. This might help in that regard. We're pretty sure she missed her Momma N, as she has known only her foster family since day 10 of her life. What an amazing family she has in Guatemala.
She loves to play with her hands and suck on her fingers and wrists. She hiccups quite a bit and yawns regularly - we have both on video. She has smooth brown skin and a complexion that looks great in yellow, blue, and green. She has beautiful deep brown, expressive eyes - I can see my reflection in them - literally.

As you can see above, her hands and fingers seem a little large, but her feet are a bit on the small side.


As luck would have it, we received a new set of pictures, a medical report, and a case update while we were there with her. She's 16 lbs now at 4 months old - very healthy. We're still waiting on Pre-Approval from the US Embassy, but the case has entered PGN - the Guatemala attorney general's office that handles adoption cases. They will review the file, and tell our lawyer what items must be fixed. We know for sure the Pre-Approval must be there, but some lawyers will submit knowing this so they can find the other potential problems and fix them quickly. Not sure yet if this will speed up our case in the end game, but it may give us more certainty a little further down the road.

It was an amazing week. Totally amazing. She's a wonderful little girl who is developing her own personality right now. Her family right now in Guatemala loves her to pieces. We were are at piece knowing she is so loved- this helped us a great deal as we watched her leave us.

We will be back. Soon I pray.

I've got tons more pics (as does Tia S), so I'll share more soon. We've also got hours and hours of video (again thanks mostly to Tia), which I'll share as well. Not sure exactly how I'll accomplish this yet.

I must end this post with the cutest picture in the history of photography. You've seen all kinds of cute pictures in your day right? Babies, puppies, kittens, babies with puppies, kittens with puppies. All of them are cute.

But not like this. I present to you: CJ lounging the pool with one of her trademark smirks.

Tag, I'm it!!!

I've been tugged! Thanks to the wonderful and witty Melissa (not the M who sleeps next to me)- who's in the process of adopting from Uzbekistan, I've got to come up with some clever answer now!

Here it goes....

5 Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago:
Working for an Automation/Systems Integrator in suburban Philly
Moving into my first post-college apartment
Gaining weight (half of it’s gone now)
Spending too much money (all of that’s gone now!)
Working on my Matchbox collection (not so much these days)

5 Snacks I Enjoy:
Potato Chips
Fresh Roasted Peanuts
Moravian Sugar Cake
Doritos (just about any flavor)
Chewy candy (Swedish fish, nibs, gummy bears)

5 TV Shows I've Seen Every Episode Of:
--Seinfeld (still the funniest show ever- although The Office is catching up)
--Who’s the Boss? (you shouldn’t have to ask why)
--Gilligan’s Island (hilarious, but not for the reasons intended)
--Sledge Hammer (oh how I miss that show)
--Heroes (yah, I know big deal it’s only 1 season so far)

5 Things I Would Do If I Were A Millionaire:
--Invest and find a way to keep it from Uncle Sam
--Support a variety of ministries that shall remain nameless
--Build a home up in the mountains
--Build a home on the Outer Banks
--Quit working a regular job (anyone who says they would keep working is lying!)

5 Bad Habits:
--Procrastinating
--Caffeine
--Wasting time browsing news/sports/adoption sites instead of getting some exercise
--Over-analyzing all decisions
--Potato Chips

5 Things I Like To Do:
--Spend time with my friends and family
--Disc Golf (don’t call it Frisbee golf!!!)
--Geography (GIS, maps, political, archaeological, etc)
--Cook
--Dream about bringing Carmen home

5 Things I Would Never Wear Again:
--My high school basketball uniform (particularly the shorts)
--Silk shirts
--Long Hair (at least not as long as it once was)
--Necklaces
--Combat boots (don’t ask)

5 Favorite Toys:
--My laptop
--My pickup truck (yup, I’m a bit redneck – gotta have that truck)
--My Mantis Tiller (most reliable piece of equipment I own)
--My electric knife (carves a fine turkey, roast, bread, etc)
--My blackberry (me = stereotypical blackberry addict)

5 Things I Can't Stand:
--Madonna
--Mushrooms
--Waiting
--Lying
--Ink on my hands

Phew - that wasn't so bad. So, now who to tag?

Let's go with Lisa, Mike, Sean, Jonathan & Matthew - growing their family with a little girl from Uzbekistan (yay - the news is out!!!)

And how 'bout our new friends Tammy, John, Delicia, Meghan, & Courtney who are preparing to bring home Anthony, running very close to us in time-line. These folks are a really neat family - and yes - I never thought I'd say that about anyone from New England (hehe).

I've got to include a different Tammy and Sean from my home state of PA, who just recently brought home Sweet Elena(If she isn't' cute, then I don't know what cute is). Don't worry if it takes you a little while to get to it, I'm sure you've been busy!

How 'bout another new friends, Andrea and Dave, who are blessed to be adopting the quadro-dimpled and amazing little Kylie America.

Ah, I guess I should include the Melissa who actually does sleep next to me. The red head doesn't post as often as me, but when she does it's quite thoughtful.

Have fun!

Meanwhile...

On Jun 1, the standings looked like this...

Today, they look like this...


Down to 2 games in just 2 weeks. Cole Hamels might not win the Cy Young award this year, but he will win one sooner or later.

Probably after the Phillies trade him.

Progress in Guatemala!!! and some links...

We have 2 updates straight from Guatemala City. Both great news!!!

First, we found out yesterday that our dossier is already in the process of being translated into Spanish. As you might imagine, this is necessary step to complete before our case can be reviewed by the various government agencies in Guatemala. This is a little early evidence that our lawyer there is really on top of his game.

Second, today we received our first medical update since the referral of Carmen.
She's now 10 lbs 1 oz and 22.5 inches! Getting so big already - she's gained almost 2 lbs and grown 1.5 inches.

We're hoping for pictures soon. I believe the doctor's office is located in the same building as the Bethany agency office, so the usually check in with both at the same time.

While I've got your attention, I want to point out some other adoption blogs that I read regularly. In reality, I read dozens of adoption related blogs - some by other adoptive parents, some by adoptees, some by birthparents. All of them inspire me, provide ideas, and insight.

But for now, I'm going to keep my links a little more light. The blogs I've linked to along the right are mostly adoptive parents. Some have brought their children home, some are in process, and some are both!

Oh, and don't miss the new link to Mission Guatemala, a site put together by one of the bloggers and a new friend with an adoption for an awesome little girl in progress. The work she and her organization do in Guatemala is truly amazing. I have great respect and admiration for those who serve the Lord in this way.

A little more about Carmen

OK, so - I'm sure you want some more details. The first thing I want to say is that please know that just because I have this blog, do not hesitate to call, email, write or whatever. Yes - my blog is a place to provide updates, but it's also about reflection.

Today, we received more information about the information we already have - so that was kinda neat - if that makes any sense. Mostly it was further explanation about some of the documents, including some translation of the standard medical report used by the Bethany doctor for checkups.

So, I think this update should take the form of an FAQ. I must say, it's taken me till now to get back to thinking analytically in any sense. Even now, I can't go more than 10 min without glancing over at one of the pictures I have either in my cubicle or around the house. Better yet - minimize everything on my laptop and I'll see Carmen's beautiful face on my desktop.
............
OK, I'm back from doing that.

1) Look at all that hair!!
OK, that's more of a statement, but ya - she's got a lot of hair!!!

2) When can you bring her home?
I wish it would be tomorrow, but we have a lengthy process to go through in Guatemala - check the time-line along the right hand side and you'll see what I mean. In a lot of ways, the referral is the beginning of the process!
The time frames typically average 8-9 months. We'd be extremely lucky to have her home by the end of the year which would be about 7 months. More likely, it will be some time around Feb of 2008. This is what we are prepared for, but there are cases that take 12 months or longer if there's paperwork problems.

3) How'd you pick her name?
Carmen is a name that the red-head and I really love. We actually have been talking about using that name for a little girl way before we started the adoption process. Julia is my late Mother's name. López provides a connection to her birth-family.

4) Where is she now?
Right now she lives with a foster family in Guatemala. Much like temporary foster care here in the US, they will work with our agency to make sure Carmen receives all the attention and care she needs and deserves. They have raised four children, and fostered other infants, so they are more than capable.

5) Will you get updates?
Yup. CJ's foster mother will take her to the doctor about once a month for a check-up. She'll also take her into the Bethany office regularly for a progress report and pictures. These will be passed on to us along with her medical reports. The next big thing we're actually waiting on is a video!!! That should come in a month or two.

6) How did she end up being placed for adoption?
We really don't know a lot about that yet. We do have some information about pieces and parts of the circumstances, but that's not the kind of thing I would share on a blog. It's really impossible for us to even imagine what CJ's Birth Mother is going through. As I've said before, she deserves our prayers and respect.

7) Will you get to visit Carmen?
We certainly hope so!!! We have to get through a couple of early steps in the process, then we'll be allowed to visit. If we can arrange and afford it, we'll go for a visit some time in early fall.

8) What will you do with yourselves in the mean time?
Oh, we'll keep busy. I believe it will help that most of the wait will be through Summer, where we can get out and be active more easily. There's still quite a bit to do here at home to prepare for Carmen's arrival. We have her room to paint and arrange - that alone will take some work. We've got a list of chores around the house that will occupy plenty of time over the coming months.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!!! Not a lot of variety in the photos, she was pretty zonked out during her visit to the office.

New Life for Carmen

No referral just yet. It could happen any day now, but not just yet.



I've been thinking a lot lately about preparing for CJ. Making a room for her, organizing the house. Talking about her with our family and friends, including our nephews, who have heard us discuss her, and oddly seem to understand that she'll be coming home, but not just yet.

Our dogwoods are blooming right now, as I'm sure you've seen if you live in the same basic climate as SE Pennsylvania. What's this have to do with preparing for Carmen to come home? It's about planting new life to represent when she comes into our lives.
I love dogwoods, they have large-ish, but still delicate looking flowers, and nifty crooked and variable(some smooth spots, some rough, dark and light) bark covered branches.



The former owners of our home (one of whose parents built the place) were kind and loving people who were raised 3 girls here. For each one, they planted a dogwood tree in the front or side yard. So, we have 3 beautiful dogwoods, each one a little bit bigger than the other. The girls were all teenagers when they moved out, so 8 years later, each of those dogwoods are now over 20 years old.



I really like this tradition, and have decided to plant a tree some time in the next year or so, perhaps this fall in honor of CJ coming into our lives. The problem is we have 2 dogwoods in the front on either side of the walk, then a dogwood and magnolia in the side yard. All of these are nicely spaced so that there really isn't a good spot for a decorative tree out front. So, we'll be finding a spot in the back yard where we have a mix of sun, part shade, and full canopy shade. I have not decided if it will in fact be a dogwood, or some other type - the red-head has always wanted a weeping cherry. I'm open for suggestions!

Things are getting exciting around here!

We continue to wait. I know that's not the first sentence you were looking for when you fired up my blog today, but that's still our current status. It's really hard not to be getting excited though. We've been on the waiting list about 2 months, and while Bethany does not tell it's clients their position on the list, we do know that referrals continue to roll in, so we're making progress. Also, one online friend of ours has heard the wait times could be as short as 2-4 months for a girl, but we've also heard 3-6 months. So, realistically, we're looking at May or June to finally see a picture of our Carmen. Lately, I've really been thinking a lot about welcoming her into our family, kinda like this post from many months ago.

I'd been hesitant to post this specific of a time frame, but I know you're all anxious as well. It's just that I'm so excited to become a father. Easter is one of those times of year (like Christmas and to some extent Halloween) where parents work very hard to provide something special for their kids. An Easter basket full of candy and toys, a brightly colored Spring dress, or a tasty family meal.

Holidays are a important in our household. We're known for celebrating birth week, not just birthday. Thanksgiving is a huge deal for us, and the red-head likes to celebrate Christmas from the day after T-giving all the way into January. These are the times when we truly find it hard to contain our excitement - I just know that the long road to becoming a parent will be worth-while.

At this point, we feel like we've made some progress down that road. It's quite possible CJ has been born by now - referral paperwork usually does not reach the local Bethany office (after being processed in Guatemala) for weeks or even a couple of months. So keep us in your thoughts and prayers over the next weeks and months, and maybe we'll have some truly exciting news. And stay tuned for some more in-depth thoughts on adoption, and not just the process, but the people involved.

Happy Easter!

The unexpected adoption

Honey, sit down. I have some news for you.

What is it?

Well, I don't know how to say this, so I'll just come out with it. I went to the mailbox today and... well, we got an I-797C.

A what?!? An I-797C? As in, we're going to have a baby?!?

It looks that way.

But how? We've been so careful! I put away all the blank I-600A forms. Didn't you hide our homestudy update?

Of course I did, but don't forget, there was that one night...

What night? (pauses) Ohhh, that night, But it was only once. We were just messing around. I didn't print clearly. I didn't even use ink! (pauses again) But it was kind of fun. (giggles). It was, wasn't it?

I'll never forget how cute you looked getting your fingerprints.

So now we've go our I-797C, eh? But that doesn't always mean you'll adopt, does it? I mean, shouldn't you see the agency or something, make sure everthing's okay?

I already did.

And?

I'm five documents along.

Five documents! And they're all notarized, certified and authenticated okay?

Just great. There was one small scare when the agency couldn't see the Notary's middle initial but it showed up just fine under the magnifying glass. Thank God. And you, honey? Are you feeling okay?

I'm feeling fine. As long as I know you're happpy about this.

Happy? I'm thrilled! It's always a shock at first when something like this happens, but of course I'm happy.

Author Unknown

Tamales for CJ

Well, it's the end of a long day still on the waiting list for our little Carmen.

As I promised a while back - we had our first experience practicing making tamales. And boy - do we need more practice. It was a lot of fun and a lot of work. At the very least, we learned a lot about what we like and don't like, and the masa turned out pretty good, which is something I didn't expect.

Take a look over on the tamale section of my food blog to see our experience.

My little Philly

OK, so on to something a little less intense and certainly more fun. You must understand, that just like announcing a pregnancy, telling people you're adopting leads to lots of fun gifts and offers to borrow stuff. We already have been given or are borrowing a matching crib and changing table, some cloths, a car seat (that actually matches the interior of my pickup truck!), and few other items. Oh, and not to mention advice several free notarizations!

It's tuff to buy too many cloths at this point because we don't have the referal, and we don't really know for sure how big she'll be when she comes home. The best guess is that she'll be under a year old, so all shopping is not in vain!

So last week, the wife and her best friend spent the day browsing at baby stuff and she picked up a present for me. Yup, this is a present for me. I can't wear it, but I sure will show it off some day! Hanging next to it is my own Phillies hat - also a present a couple years ago (along with a trip to awesome Citizen's Bank Park)

Yah, that's a Phillies chearleader outfit. I know, there's no cherleaders in baseball, but heck - it's cute isn't it?

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I love baseball. I remember the Phillies winning the World Series in 1980, and losing it in 1983. Then I remember the total silence for 15 minutes amongst a dorm room full of friends after Joe Carter hit that home run off of Mitch Williams to win the series in '93. Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton were my idols during the 80's. I cringe when I see Curt Schilling and Scott Rolen winning titles while the Phils keep missing the playoffs by 1 or 2 games! I sense hope with our current lineup of Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, and a rotation of Cole Hammels, Bret Myers, and Freddie Garcia. Can they win the division this year - you bet. Will I be taking my CJ to her first big league game summer of 2008? Absolutely!