One Year Ago Today

One year ago today Mike and I received the pictures below and had the decision to accept this sweet little girl's referral or not. Below is part of a post from my old private blog explaining Ella's referral.





During my drive to work on February 28th I prayed for God to bring us a little girl today and later that day he delivered.This was the first time I had asked for her my prayer had always been for a healthy little girl when it was in his timing. I received a call from our agency around 11:00am indicating there was a beautiful little girl for consideration. Later that day I received Ella's first pictures and forwarded them to Mike in Atlanta. This was an extremely difficult time for Mike and I as we were geographically separated during this, the most exciting time in our lives. We both came to one conclusion and that was that this little picture of a girl...was our little Ella.

And look at our sweet girl one year later....

We love you baby girl and will be with you in a few days.

Plans are made

Sorry to leave you hanging after I posted that we got PINK. We have been completing alot of unfinished projects, baby proofing, and paperwork. Our flights have been booked and hotel reservations have been made. We will be traveling Monday March 3rd thru Thursday March 6th to pick up Ella.

I still have to pinch myself into believing that Ella is finally coming home. Now that I know she is so close to being in my arms forever I can't help but worry about our foster mom. Just about a week after we take Ella home Amanda will be going to Guatemala to foster Gabi. Under the new adoption law in Guatemala they have eliminated foster care and that will leave our foster mom with no babies to care for once Gabi and Ella are placed in our arms forever. So I ask you to please pray for her family as they have new changes and decisions to face in the future.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers.

WE GOT PINK!!!

We have our visa appointment at 7:15 on March 4th. So hopefully we will be in Guatemala from Monday thru Thursday. Just wanted to let everyone know and will let you know more details as we find out.

Thank you for all your prayers and support during this adoption. What a wonderful birthday present for Ella to get her appointment to come home.

Happy 1st Birthday Ella!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Ella. While we wish you were here we are comforted in knowing you will be home in a few weeks. We love you and can't wait to get you home. I hope to post that you get PINK for your birthday!

No PINK Today

Well we didn't get PINK today. Tomorrow is Ella's first birthday and I am very confident we will get it tomorrow being such a special day. I will however wear PINK again tomorrow and my wonderful co-workers are suppose to support me as well by wearing PINK.

Waiting on PINK

In the spirit of getting PINK today both Mike and I wore PINK shirts today. Let's hope and pray PINK comes today so Mike and I don't wear PINK all week. The PINK we are waiting on is the actual paper color that our appointment time for Ella's visa is issued on. We receive the appointment time via email so all day I will be hitting the refresh button on my email.

Answered Prayer

While we have been waiting for pink this past week we began to worry about Mike's time off when Ella comes home. If our appointment falls on a Thursday we would need to be in Guatemala on Wednesday and couldn't leave until Monday or Tuesday. In this scenario he could be using 5 of his 8 days leaving only 3 days with Ella at home. I planned on taking 6 weeks off with Ella and 4 of those 6 are unpaid so we could not have both of us taking time off without pay. On Wednesday at Bible study we brought up our concern and others in our group mentioned asking if Mike's company had a maternity/paternity leave for our situtaion. Thursday Mike emailed his contact at human resources and she didn't think their company had any paid time off so she suggested contacting another benefits department in the company. Mike called them yesterday as well and their answer was no benefit. Well, today Mike gets an email that was sent to the entire company from the benefits department that announced changes to their maternity leave benefits. It stated that parents will now receive an additional 2 weeks paid time off to bond with their adopted child. This news comes within 24 hours of him being told his company had no benefit. I do have to add Mike works for a very large company who is already offering a generous adoption reimbursement so this being added to the adoption benefits is huge for us.

Our DNA has been delivered

Ella's 2nd DNA results were signed off by someone at the US Embassy in Guatemala at 3:35pm today (who hoo!!!). Most likely it will be Tuesday or Wednesday before we are assigned an appointment (Monday is President's Day so the embassy is closed). We are very close and I hope to post soon when we are picking Ella up.

Chloe is even waiting patiently for Ella

Good News for others

Gabi & Jeremiah have been registered with the new Central Authority and can now be resubmitted to PGN. I am so glad they are finally making progress again. Please keep them in your prayers for a short stay in PGN.

Our Week in review

We arrived late on Saturday. The flight left 45 minutes late from Charlotte and as soon as we got to the hotel Sara and I went looking for Ella. The picture above was taken by Amanda right after getting to the hotel. Saturday night we had dinner at the Marriott with Amanda, Gabi, and her mom.


Sunday was a day spent by the pool. Ella isn't too sure about the pool at first but she warmed up quickly. She does however love the bath and screamed when bath time ended. Sunday night we watched the Superbowl in the hotel lobby and had a hamburger buffet there. The hotel was showing the Superbowl in 3 different locations of the hotel.
Monday was a day in Antigua. We wanted to show Sara and Jim more of Ella's birth country than just Guatemala City. Amanda, Gabi and Sandra (Amanda's mom) joined us on a tour. We had a very informative tour guide however we were not clear enough that we wanted to do less touring and more shopping. We had lunch at an old monestary turned into a 5 star hotel.
Tuesday was Jim and Sara's last full day in Guatemala which was spent just hanging out around the Marriott. The above outfits were compliments of Sara. Mike and I received a call from our translator that morning informing us that our attorney was robbed the night before and that Ella's passport and orange slip (DNA authorization) were stolen. He asked us to meet him that afternoon to have the passport reissued. Once we got there we were pleasantly surprised to meet the head lawyer as well for the first time. He worked very hard on our case when the social worker was trying to talk our birthmom into keeping Ella.
The above picture is Mike is holding a copy of her Guatemalan passport. It was a wonderful/emotional feeling getting to take Ella to have her passport and 2nd DNA. Normally parents do not get to be a part of these steps unless they are fostering, so physically completing these steps were very happy memorable moments for us.

Wednesday Sara and Jim had to say goodbye to our sweet Ella. We are so grateful they were able to meet Ella and see her birthcountry. On Wednesday we spent most of the day by the pool until our attorney showed up and said we had to take Ella right then to do her 2nd DNA test. The above picture is a receipt of the 2nd DNA test and a polariod of Ella while they performed the test. We left the pool so quickly we forgot our camera.
Thursday was another day hanging out by the pool and letting Ella stroll around in the walker. The above picture has nothing to do with the walker but don't you just love her gummy smile. Ella can be quite a talker, she will hold her hand up and say "que" which means "what" in spanish.

Friday-another day hanging out by the pool. Amanda got sick so they were unable to join us for dinner. She still wasn't feeling good on Saturday and I hope now that they are home she is feeling better. Our foster mom met us around 10:30 to pick Ella and Gabi up. We said goodbye for the last time and then did a little last minute shopping since our flight didn't leave until 3:30. All in all we had a wonderful trip with Ella and our file made tremendous progress. This past week she really bonded with us. It was such a good feeling knowing that she was comfortable with us.

A few Thank you's are in order

First David & Shawn for keeping Chloe. It always is nice to know our dog is being well taken care of and having a good time without us.

Second Ann & Dave for getting Chloe back and forth from our house. Also for picking up our mail and Dave for staying at our house the first night with Chloe.

Mom & Dad for keeping Kaycee. It again is always nice to know she is well taken care of.

Sara and Jim for going with us to Guatemala and for picking us up from the airport.

Amanda thank you for the hairbows we will enjoy them for years to come.

Today is our last full day

Today our DNA arrived early at the Paternity Testing facility. Hopefully they will have the DNA tested early in the week and on its way back to Guatemala by Wednesday or Thursday.

Its our last full day with our baby girl. Tommorrow we give her back to the foster mom around 10:30 and our flight leaves around 3:30. I am dreading giving her back but knowing we are so close to the end will make it easier. Ella is such a sweet baby and we cannot wait for all of you to meet her.

Please continue to pray for our progress in getting Ella home. Also please pray for Gabi's family and file to make progress. They have lost the past 2 1/2 months waiting on the new Central Authority and still have to go throught PGN again. We have enjoyed spending the last week with them and we want Gabi home as much as we want Ella home.

*** UPDATE***
I emailed the DNA facility and they estimate for the results to be back at the Embassy in Guatemala by Wednesday afternoon. Very Good news!

Thursday Pictures

Ella walking

More Pictures

More Good News from Guatemala

Our attorney showed up at the pool today around 2:45 and said we had to go now to do the 2nd DNA test so we scooped up Ella and went. Now the DNA will be shipped via DHL to the USA to be tested and compared to the first test...then the results will come back to Guatemala. Once the US Embassy receives the results they will issue our visa appointment. I estimate the appointment to be the first week on March. We are very fortunate to have been part of these last few steps and to have made so much progress since we have been down here.

Meanwhile, Mike is about to head downstairs and join the Guatemalan people for a huge soccer contest of Guatemala versus Argentina. Pics and video to come.

Tuesday in Guate...by Mike

Hello everyone, I've decided to take over and post for the day. It started off with a bang when we received a call from Hector (attorney's translator) telling us that Walter was robbed at gunpoint last night. The robber took his briefcase which had Ella's passport in it! Walter is okay and they asked us to take Ella to the Central Immigration office to obtain a new passport. We were pleasantly surprised to finally meet Julio, who is the lead attorney. He spoke English very well and we got a new passport and right now we are planning on taking her for the DNA test on Friday....assuming all goes as planned. All in all, it was a good trip to the Central Immigration as we were able to meet Julio and see Walter. Ella is really comfortable with Robin and I now...not that she hasn't been before, but it's on a new level so far (Tuesday evening) and we are loving it. Other than that, we spent the day by the pool with Amanda, her mom Sandra and Gabi...Sara and Jimmie relaxed most of the day in their room. Ella was able to try out a Walker for the first time while by the pool and really enjoyed it and we enjoyed watching her. Below you will find a short video showcasing this new talent and her enthusiam. I have more and tried to edit it all together but the end product wouldn't upload. Well, that's all for now...enjoy the video and pictures. Mike

Monday Pictures

Here are a few pictures from Antigua and this morning. In other news we got DNA authorization today so we hope to take Ella this week for her second DNA test. Once the test is performed then the sample is flown to the USA to be tested against the first results to make sure the baby that started the process finishes the process. This should take a week to two weeks. Once the results arrive at the Embassy back in Guatemala they will schedule a visa appointment and we can make our travel arrangements to bring Ella home.

Superbowl Sunday!

Here are a few pictures from our Superbowl celebration. Adrian is holding the sleeping baby. He is on his pick up trip to take Natalie home. We are so happy for them.

Tomorrow we will be going to Antigua with Gabi's family so there will be no posts until tomorrow night.

PS: For more pictures of our trip go to Gabi's blog on the side bar. Amanda is a lot better at blogging than me.

Our first Full Day in Guatemala

Ella has one tooth and she is crawling around quite fast. We had a rough start yesterday but today has been alot of fun with her. We spent the day doing a little shopping followed by some time by the pool with Amanda, Gabi and Sandra (Amanda's mom). We always enjoy their company. Tonight we plan on watching the Superbowl in the sports bar with Gabi's family and another family that is arriving today.
Enjoy the pictures!

We Made it to Guatemala

We arrived yesterday after our flight was delayed and then we spent almost an hour in line waiting to get throught Guatemala Immigration. Much to our surprise we had our Foster mom, Ella, Amanda and Gabi waiting on us when we arrived at the hotel. Sara and I were the first to see Ella while Mike and Jim were getting our bags. My heart just sank seeing all of them and to top it off Ella reached for me. Sorry I have no pictures of recieving Ella since Mike and Jim were not with us and that was the last thing Sara and I were thinking about. However Amanda was better prepared and I think she got a few pictures I hope to get later. Overall we haven't taken many pictures since arriving Ella has been greiving for her foster mom. Today is a new day and hopefully she will be more comfortable with us and we all have tons of pictures.

Ella passport wass done last week and we hope to have DNA authroization this week and for the test to be performed.

We Leave in less than 24 hours

Our flight to Guatemala for our visit trip leaves in less than 24 hours. I am so excited. Please pray for all of us to have safe travels. Next time I post we will be posting NEW pictures of our babygirl from Guatemala.