Many thoughts in one...

First, let me ask you all to pray for our precious friend, Tucker. He is having surgery today to remove the tumor in his leg. They are probably operating as I type this. It is a 4-5 hour surgery. Pray for his parents to as they wait. God has been so evident in this precious family. I know He is going to continue to do mighty things! You can read more about his story by clicking on the link to the right.


Well, today marks one year ago when we became #1 on the waiting list for the boys! In some ways it feels like a year and in others it doesn't. I never dream that we would be where we are 1 year later. God had a different plan than us and we are following and trusting.

Also, we found out today that PGN is starting to schedule our BM interview. So our lawyer sent a runner to her address, but she no longer lives there. They will start investigating and trying to find her. PLEASE PRAY with us that they will receive the correct information to be able to locate the birth mother without delay so we can move on with the interview. I am trusting that the Lord is going to see us through this adoption with our son home in our arms forever. This would not be a journey without adventure, right?!?

Thanks for following and praying with us....

11 months...

WOW... he is already 11 months old?!?! Not far from a year.. Where does the time go?? Lord, please bring our baby boy home.

We Love and miss you terribly Nathan! We are praying that God moves mountains to bring you home fast!!

After 5 months and 3 days....

We are back in PGN!

this was our update we received yesterday:

"May 21, 2008: Praise the Lord!!! The case was resubmitted to PGN complying w/the Mixco previo on May 20, 2008!"


Praise the Lord is right!!! I can not even begin to explain the emotional roller coaster of the past 5 months have been. We know this journey is not over yet, but we are so thankful to be moving in a positive direction again. PLEASE join us in praying for PGN. Pray that the authorities will begin processing and releasing cases soon! There is still a lot of unknown about what is going on in PGN and what will go on. But we do know that GOD IS IN CONTROL and his plan is perfect for each of His children.

We should be notified when we have an appointment for Nathan's birth mother interview. We will need your prayers during that process.

On other note, my heart is aching for the Chapman Family (Steven Curtis Chapman) who lost their precious daughter. Please pray for them as they deal with the tragic loss of such a precious life. It so hard to understand why things like this happen. May God give them strength, peace and comfort....

Day 3

Monday was a good day with Nathan. We started our day out early as usual. Nathan usually slept through the night well, other than waking himself up with a couple of coughing episodes. He did have a little congestion, but it improved each day.

We ate breakfast, cereal and a bottle, then it was bath time!

Have I told you my baby loves bath time?!?!? He does not even mind the water in his face. It would sometimes take his breath away, but he would just sit, play and smile! His hair just makes me laugh!

Each morning after bath time Nathan would start to get a little fussy because it was close to nap time, so we would have to find some sort of entertainment. The best thing I found that I am so glad we were able to pack and take with us was a chair that was kind of like a bumbo but had a tray around it with play stuff on it. Nathan loved it!! It is a multi-functional chair set that came in handy while there with him for a week. (And we donated it to the orphanage for when other parents visit, so be sure to ask for it when you go!)


Another form of frequent entertainment was WALKING! LOTS AND LOTS OF WALKING!! Our backs still have not recovered. This boy LOVES to walk. He cares nothing about trying to crawl. He is going to skip right over that and straight to walking! I need to start baby proofing now.



Of coarse, we took time for a photo-op with our baby boy. It was hard to get good pics of him this time because he was sooo busy! He did not like to sit and smile for the camera like he did when he was 4 1/2 months old;).


After walking all over, it was time to for lunch! We always went to the orphanage a little early so that Nathan could get him some "nanny lovin" and watch the TV, which he loves!!

We took some small gift to the nannies. I wish we could do so much more for these precious women because they do so much for our children. They are so sweet and such a blessing! They are loving and taking care of my baby boy when I am not able to, and doing a great job!!! I will never be able to repay these ladies.

precious ladies!

Nathan's area. His bed would be the one on the right of the picture. Right next to the highchairs;)

"Libro!" This is what Poppy heard everyday when we got there. The children love for you to read to them! Such sweet babies!

Nathan getting some good lovin' while watching the tube;)

After lunch, we all took our daily nap. I loved napping with my baby boy even though he likes to sprawl out;). When he woke up we did a short photo shoot with him in an outfit that Papa and Gammie got him for Christmas. He was precious in it! It had his initials on the chest of the outfit. The session did not last long because, like I said, Nathan wants to be busy! But we did manage to get a few good ones.



After the photo session we went on another walk and played! Nathan was having some stomach issues and we were not real sure what to do. So Casey looked up a few words in the Spanish dictionary and went to talk to the nannies. When he got back he said the nannies wanted to see him. We were not sure what they were going to do, but being a nurse, I had a good idea.

We got there and they took him to the back and of coarse I followed. It was what I thought- The BIG "E"! Poor baby! But he did real well and it seemed to help. His diet is full of sugar, starches, formula and very little actual vegetables so you can imagine this is probably a continual problem. I will be so glad to get him home and adjust his diet so he can be "normal".

I miss those sweet cheeks! You are so precious baby boy! I long to have you home with us. I pray that things will start to improve with the process and that God will bring you home to us fast!

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary. I can not imagine life without you. The past six years are indescribable! It is amazing to see where God has brought us from and where God is taking us. I can not think of anyone else I would want to be on this journey with than you! You are the best husband and the best Da-Da in the world!
I love you more.
~me

Many thoughts...

Well, so much is going on in our lives and so many thoughts are in my head. I do not know where to begin. Hope this makes sense....

First, let me start with the good news we receive today: WE HAVE A RECTIFIED BIRTH CERTIFICATE!!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!! We are so thankful this process of rectifying the BC is over!! The elephant is almost off my chest;) This has been the hardest part of the process so far. It will be 5 month on Saturday since we were kicked out of PGN for an error on the birth certificate.... Pray that the lawyer will get the dossier all in order and resubmit us into PGN very soon and hopefully, LORD WILLING, for the finally time!

Onto PGN- Well, those who are on this journey with us, know the latest saga with PGN and all the changes. I am not going to go into much detail. I am tired and honestly I do not think my heart can take thinking about it right now. So here is the short version: They fired the old guy; they have new authorities in control. They claim to be better. They are re-doing some things, probably to make themselves look good. One thing they are doing is interviewing the birth mothers again. This is not fair to anyone! Not fair to the birth moms, not fair to adoptive parents, not fair to the children. But who said it had to be fair, right? The babies have to be present for the interviews. This scares me to death. But, as a dear friend told me today, "God did not bring us this far to leave us now." I have to keep telling myself, as I have been through out this whole journey, GOD IS IN COMPLETE CONTROL and there is nothing I can do but TRUST HIM! (I need this tattooed on my forehead)

So, when we get rolling in PGN again, Nathan's brave birth mom will have to go through another interview process with Nathan sitting in the room. I will let you know when that day comes.... everyone involved will need your prayers.

With all the delays with the adoption we decided to put our house on the market. We have a contract. We are moving?!?! To where- we do not know yet. Pray we find a house and soon! We know the perfect one is out there. It is so clear that God is orchestrating all these events. To Him be the glory! I will update on this when we know more.

Thank you to all who are following our journey and praying for us- those we know and those we do not. It amazes me and makes me laugh when I am out and some "stranger" comes up to me and says "I read your blog and I am praying for you!" It is amazing how many people are praying for our little baby boy to come home to his forever family. God has truly blessed us beyond belief during this process.

We miss our sweet boy. We know that God is protecting and providing for him. Nathan is His child. God has a perfect plan for him and for our family. I can not wait to see what God is going to do... WOW, it is going to be amazing.

Side note: Casey got REAL sick from out trip. Some type of food poisoning, but NOT from eating at the orphanage! We think it was from his meal in Antigua because that was the only time we ate a different meal from each other. He was not sick until we got home. He is getting better now, but he is at least 10-15lbs lighter. So those of you planning to visit Antigua- be careful what you eat and have a Cipro and Phenergan prescription on standby:)

Day 2 & Happy Birthday Gammie

Happy Birthday to Gammie!
I know your day was not exactly how you wanted to spend your birthday, but know that we love you so much and are so thankful we have Gammie!



DAY TWO WITH OUR LITTLE MAN:


Well, Day two was a good day. We got up early and got ready and headed up to the orphanage to get our little man. He was already awake and eating! He is an early riser and so happy in the mornings. We got him and his bottle and headed down stairs to the room.

We gave him his first bath of the week. He loved it! I brought toys for him to play with, but he would rather play with anything else within his reach;). Washing his hair is fun! It is so thick and long! In the longest parts it is probably 4 inches, no lie!!!

At this point, Nathan was still not real sure about Daddy and Poppy, but he was starting to warm up. He mostly only wanted me, which was fine:). He is not use to men holding him. Although all the construction workers at EN love him!! They would call out his name when we walked by and he would just smile!

Once he was ready for the day, we headed outside. This is when we realized how much Nathan really liked to walk! He would have walked miles and miles if we had the energy and if our backs would let us. When we would stop, he would cry! We definitely got our exercise for the week thanks to my baby boy;). He loves being outside too!



After walking all over, I got Nathan down for his nap by putting him in my peanut shell (thanks Jenn!) and walked him around for a few minutes and he fell asleep! He slept well and woke up happy! After his nap, we went to the orphanage for lunch. Nathan ate lunch at the orphanage everyday and so did we. Luky cooked for us and every meal was great! If you are planning to go to EN, I recommend Luky's cooking! It is great! She is such a sweet lady, such a blessing to the children. They ALL love her and so do we!!




While at the orphanage, when a nanny or a child would talk to Nathan, they would call him by a name, but it was not 'Jose Pablo'. My Spanish is limited, so I did not know exactly what they were saying. While holding him before lunch a nanny was talking to him. she told me that everyone calls him "Colocho". She pointed to his hair. So when we got back to the room, I looked it up in our Spanish dictionary and sure enough it means "curly hair". Nathan does not respond to any other name but "Colocho"! So that is pretty much what we called him the rest of the week, especially if we wanted to get his attention.

The weather was a little on the cold side in the afternoon of this day and it would drizzle on and off. So, after the afternoon nap we changed Nathan into some warmer clothes and went walking some more. He absolutely loves being outside! He is going to love his daily stroller ride when he gets home!




After the people from the conference checked out of the apartments, we were able to choose between Apt#5 (where we were suppose to originally stay) and where we were already staying. We weighed our options of both places and decided to pack up and move to apt #5. It was a good move!

Nathan did well once it was time for bed. We played a CD for him when it was time for sleep and I or Daddy would rocked him (apt #5 had a rocker!). He would usually fight it for a few minutes, but would fall fast asleep.


We miss you baby boy! I think about you every minute of everyday. I pray that God will work miracles to bring you home to us where you belong. I long to have you in our arms again...

Day one and May update...

Well, we are settled in at home and missing our baby boy. Casey is sick, not sure if it is a virus or from the trip. Pray he gets better soon!

Our trip was amazing! Our time with Nathan was unforgettable. He has changed in so many ways and in other ways he is the same.

Well, I want to start sharing with you about our second adventure to Guatemala. We left on May 3rd bright and early that morning. We had a rough flight down there (I have a fear of flying!!).. But we finally landing in Guatemala on time that Saturday afternoon. It felt great to be back! We were much for comfortable and confident this time while in the airport and in the city.

We started our journey up the mountain with Jose as our driver- I just love him!! We took the main road that is still under construction but we did not hit any major delays. It still took about 4 hours to get up to Eagle's Nest. We arrived about 5pm. We unloaded our suitcases (all 6 of them) and then went to get little BIG man!

When we got to the orphanage it felt just like last time. But as the nanny was bringing him to us, it was so different. I couldn't just grab him. He would have cried. I had to let him take us in while we took his beautiful face in and finally he was back in my arms! He was not as big as I though he would be, but he is definitely HEAVY!! He now weighs 25.8 lbs! He was perfect! He just stared at me and I stared at him. The first thing he did was grab at my necklace, he loved playing with it. I let his daddy hold him and he did well with that. It melted my heart to see them to back together again!


We let him get use to us in the orphanage for a few minutes, then we took him to our room.
Our room was suppose to be apt #5, but there was a conference going on so they put us in the apt below the orphanage.

We got to the room and Nathan was not sure what to think. He had his "serious look" on most of the night. We played, took our bottle, loved on him, pinched ourselves, tried to watch Shrek and Nemo but he is scared of both of them;).

We had been there for about 3 hours, and it was time for bed. We were trying everything, but Nathan was just not ready to fall asleep with us just yet. So as bad as we did not want to, but we knew it was best, we let Nathan sleep in the orphanage that first night in his on crib.

You are probably wondering where are all the pictures from day 1, because those of you who know me, know that I took over 2000 pictures while we were there. Well, they are out in never never land, never to be found again. It is a long story and we are still not sure what happen, but thankfully those pictures are the only ones we lost. We all looked bad anyway from traveling, except for Nathan;)

May Update:

Well, we got our May update when we got home from our May trip. We pretty much new what the May update would or should say. And we had lots of pics for our May update.
They said he weighs 25.8lbs, which we weighed him while we were down there. and we knew he was real close to 26lbs, but he would not be still on the scales;). He is still 28.5in long. He did have a little congestion/cough, but it got better as the week went on.

This is what they said about Nathan: "Is well. Walks in a walker, likes to watch TV, likes to play sitting down, eats cookies, likes his bath and eats good. Has 3 teeth above and 2 below.
All that is true. He loves to walk in his walker and he also loves for you to hold his hands and let him walk. Our backs are still sore from doing all that walking. He would cry if you stopped for a break. He does like to watch the videos they play each day. Barney is one of them. I guess we will have to breakdown and buy one. He does love to eat! Anything sweet!! We took some graham crackers and he loved them!!! He never once cried while getting his bath. He loved it!!

He has a total of 6 teeth and it looks like two more are coming in, one on top and one on bottom. And, YES, they are SHARP!!!

He is very much loved and spoiled by all the nannies. They call him 'Colocho", meaning curly hair. He does not respond to any other name;). The nannies would fight over him each day we went to the orphanage at lunch time.

He is very active and curious!!! Never a dull moment with him. He has a long reach so we have to keep things far away from him that are not his;). He can say a few words- "DA-DA" was his favorite!!! "MA-MA" was few and far between, but it melted my heart every time I heard it! He also said ball while we were their and would also jabber a few other things, probably "Spanish type" words;)

Nathan, mommy and daddy miss you sooooo badly!!!!

Happy Birthday To YOU!

Happy Birthday Da-Da!! We love you more than words can say. We are blessed beyond belief with such a wonderful husband and father we have in you! I can not imagine life without you.
Love
~me and nathan