Here are the pictures I promised

Update from my trip

I have been a bad blogger. Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. Our trip home was delayed too and then Kainen got sick on the last leg of the trip. It was a bit stressful and then with the holidays and work I just haven't felt like posting. I know your curious about what I learned at PGN, so here goes.

I went to PGN Monday morning at 9am before I had to head to the airport to fly out. I met with Alicia(attorney's assistant), Ludwin (someone who Alicia has asked to help us), and Mayra (our translator/adoption case helper). We all went in PGN together. I was told we were meeting with the PGN attorney, Nohemi. She has our file. I was told to tell her all about my relationship with Kinsey and how many times we have visited. Once arriving in her office, I didn't have to say too much. This is what I learned:

I have 2 files in PGN. One is with the investigator and one with the court section of PGN.

PGN attorney remembered our case and pulled our file. She showed us where she had made notes about our case in her BIG book of notes. There has to be a better way to chart and document on these cases.

She showed us where the judge had sent the preliminary resolution. So they do have that in our file. That was good news. BUT They don't have the "official" signed one from the judge yet. She said she was told by her boss to appeal our case to the judge to stall the case, but she knew that it would just get sent back to her so she waited a bit. Then she was pushed again by her boss to appeal the case, so she eventually sent a generic letter to the judge saying they needed more time. The judge sent back a nastygram saying to finish the case. Since she stalled, the time frame for an actual appeal expired. So PGN cannot appeal our case at all. The PGN attorney was very nice and you could tell she was frustrated with how things were being handled with these cases. At one point our case was moving out of investigations that day and Ludwin was told not to leave PGN until we were back upstairs to the normal PGN. I was thrilled....... I could barely stand it. Then once they all got to talking, they decided that they really needed the "official" resolution from the judge, because that is the legal one. The good news is that they can't appeal our case, they are all aware of the case and they were all very positive about the outcome. The investigator did look for the BM again without success. Court #2 is closed until Dec. 7th and that is where our resolution is. So everyone seems pretty hopeful that they will get it that day then we can get out of Minor's and back into the normal review process. The problem I have is that we have been trying to get this stinky paper since May and we still don't have it. There were typos and it was sent back to be fixed and still has not been released. They all work at a snails pace. They told me Jan or Feb Kinsey would be home, but unless a miracle happens, I am not so sure. There are still several steps needed to finish this case. Another future problem is that the US Embassy has halted all 2nd DNA testing on the babies until further notice. So, all the children right now that are done with PGN and are waiting for DNA testing, can't come home until the US gets their stuff together.

I did learn that Ludwin used to work at PGN for 12 years. He knows all the ropes and was a huge help during the meeting. This was a huge plus for us. Everyone exchanged numbers that day and are keeping in touch. Everyone was pleased with how things went. Of coarse I want to be completely done with everything, but at least I know things can't be held up by investigations.

For all the prayer warriors, here are some specific things to pray for:

The resolution gets released on Dec. 7 or 8 and sent to PGN.
The freeze for the 2nd DNA testing to be lifted.
Pray for the children left waiting to come home. Here are a few close to our hearts.
Nola, Olivia, Kayla, Lily, Melany, Hudson, Micah, Mateo, Meilani and Juan Pablo.
There are so many more that need your powerful prayers.
We stuffed 145 stockings and sent them to the orphanage Nola is in. It was very emotional to see all the different names on the stockings and know that they may never be matched with a family. Kainen was able to go with Pam to deliver the stockings. I am glad he was able to be part of that. I will post some pics of Kinsey at a later time. Just wanted to post an update about my PGN visit.

Drama!!!!!!!!

Ok well it is 12:21pm and I am still not in Guatemala. Yesterday Pam and her daughter, Kainen and I embarked on our journey. She flew Continental and I flew Delta. I know that sounds crazy, but she already had her tickets and Delta was cheaper at the time. So, we land in Atlanta and sit on the runway for an hour. Since their computer system had crashed, all the departing flights were delayed. They made all of the landing planes wait until the departing planes were out of the way. Basically a big traffic jam. So Kainen and I run as fast as we can to find out that we had missed our flight. It had already departed. So I stand in the stinky Delta line to find out that they cannot get us to Guatemala until today at 2:45pm. I was a tearful mess, then of coarse Kainen is crying. I was more upset that I was supposed to go to PGN as soon as I landed and by arriving today at 2:45, that only gave me a hour and fifteen minutes to try to talk to someone because they close on fridays at 4pm. And then comes the weekend and we leave monday. SOOOOOOOOOOOO, we ended up getting a hotel vouchure. Not a free night, but a discounted rate. Oh yes, it just gets better and better. SO then I go to get my luggage and they tell me that it is in international holding and needs to stay there so it can get to Guatemala by today. OK fine so I am trying to keep it together. No big deal, I will just walk from the hotel somewhere nearby and get some new underclothes for us and get something to eat. Oh nooooooo, they stick us no where near any civilization. So we ate the nasty hotel food, washed our underwear in the sinks and vegged out in the hotel allllllllllllllll day. The best part is I have 2 of Pam's suitcases because she took several due to having orphanage stuff. The 2 I have are Maria and her clothes and toiletries. So they have nothing either. Boy, I am having a blast. The good thing is I will be there in a few hours. We had to fly to Miami from Atlanta and catch a flight that way. So, I am sitting in Miami airport waiting to board our next flight. Bye

Missing our girl

I have not forgotten to update the blog, there just isn't much to say. I mean, unless you are physically going through this or have been through an adoption, it is hard to relate. Lately I haven't really felt like posting.

We have been very busy the past month with Kainen's football, Halloween and work. Kainen was a GI Joe for Halloween. We hosted a "Movie Night" at hour house a few weeks ago. Kainen invited all the neighborhood friends over. We had admission tickets, a snack bar (Danny worked behind the counter), and made the living room like at the "real" movies. The kids LOVED it. It was a very inexpensive evening.

Me, Kainen, Pam and her daughter Maria fly out Thursday morning for Guatemala. We will be there 5 days. Pam has been busy sewing stockings for the children at Casa Alegria. She plans to deliver them and have a short visit with the children. I have been trying to find out more about our case and why PGN refused the judges ruling to move forward. It is insane down there. I talk to family after family who is in this mess like us. If only the government saw the children behind the paperwork. I am going to PGN on Thursday to talk to them. Not sure it will do me any good, but I will be as persistent as I can. It is very hard to be persistent when you live 2800 miles away.

Kinsey is well. She is as healthy as she has been in a very long time. I am so thankful for that. She is saying full sentences in Spanish now. I am soooo in trouble. My Spanish gets better and better, but I am not anywhere close to where I need to be. We call her twice a week. I don't know any child that will sit for 25 minutes on the phone and talk without getting up or losing interest. It is amazing. She has always done this. She sits and says "Hola Mama" "Hola Papa" over and over. It is great. I will post info as it comes. Thanks for being so supportive. I know Kinsey is loved by so many people and you want her home as much as we do.

Another 5 months gone, wasted

So we have been waiting since May 15 for this certified resolution from the judge. Thinking once we got it, we would be moved directly back to the review process of PGN for approval. Well, last week we find out that the PGN finally received it. However, they immediately sent an “act” back to the judge stating they were not going to comply with the order and they are not wanting to review our case for approval. They basically want nothing to do with approving adoptions right now. I am assuming this is especially true for the ones that did not have the last bmi’s, which were an illegally “un-grandfathered” thing to start. Had they not added this new requirement last summer, she would be home with us right now!!!!!
We are now waiting for the judge to make a move. Our attorney says this is normal, back and forth between PGN and the judge. They eventually have to go with the order, but I am guessing it is somewhat like an appeals process. And who knows about this new unit, which involves the MP. Which was supposed to be set up due to the pressure from our Govt. to finish all the cases quickly. Yeah right.

Yep, you guessed it….more waiting!

They have no idea what they are doing to our family. I am at a loss for words, and am really trying hard to keep it together…

You can tell I am on vacation. I have waaaaay too much time on my hands.

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Sorry so long since last post.

When we are with Kinsey, nothing seems to matter except our 2 kiddos. I should back up to last Monday and tell you that we showed up unannounced at our attorney's office. Basically that was the only place we ended up going to because our attorney's assistant had already went to the courts that past Friday and was going back that afternoon at 1pm to check on our resolution. We learned that the judge has 6 officials. Each official types up the resolutions and has to take his/her turn to have the judge sign them. When it was our officials turn, the judge found a typo on Kinsey's birth name and the date. It was sent back to be fixed. Instead of the official retyping it and going straight back to the judge, she waited til it was her turn again. Evidently having it be your turn again takes forever. Our official just had a baby too, so she is out of the office alot. They said they have to be very kind to the officials and not make them mad so they will get things moving. We called later that day and found out they were told it would be done this week and to check on Wednesday. Well, it is Sunday and I have not heard anything. We usually get updates from our agency on Monday's or Tuesday's so we shall see. This past week was our officials turn to have her things signed so I hope it got signed. We decided not to go to PGN because they are on hold until this signed resolution is in their hands. I will let you know. I guess I didn't feel like I had any good news to post so I wasn't in a huge hurry to post anything. Kinsey on the other hand is hilarious. I am the one that makes her belly laugh out loud and we play crazy games. But her Papa is the one she wants to console her and make her feel safe. She knows her body parts in Spanish and some English. She is a typical 2 year old. She is a sponge and takes everything in. I can't express enough how much she loves music and books. We painted her fingernails and toenails. When someone would ask her who painted her nails she would say "mama". It was soooo cute. Kinsey's FM gave us a huge vinyl banner about the size of me that said "Happy Birthday Kinsey" on it with all kinds of baby pics of her. It was supposed to be ready by her party,but it wasn't. She gave it to us to bring home. It is so nice. I think I am going to hang it up for all of her future birthdays. Going to a christian church in Guatemala was awesome. It felt like we were at home. Except for the plastic patio chairs the congregation sat in. They had a band that played the worship music and the words were on the screen on the wall. They were all in Spanish, but I somewhat got the jist of what we were singing. This was our FM niece's church. They have prayed weekly for our family about the adoption and were very excited to meet us and Kinsey. Before church started we all were in a circle and prayed for different requests including the adoption. There were a few English speaking people there so one young man sat with us and translated the sermon and the verses from the bible for us. It was great and overwhelming and exciting all at the same time. We had talked so many times about when we would get to take Kinsey to church. Too bad it wasn't in the states. She was clapping to the music and did very well during the sermon. I was tearful through so much of it though. I am emotional anyway. The best part was that we were all praising the same God. So what if we can't speak each others language. I felt God's presence there that day. After church they had a fellowship time. We ate flat corn tortilla's with some kind of red sauce spread on it topped with mozzarella cheese, juice, coffee, bread and cookies. The entire congregation welcomed us with hugs and kisses and we hope to go back again next time we are there. WOW! I guess I can say I would have never experienced all of these blessings if Kinsey was already home. Here is a pic of us at church and a hilarious video clip of her getting so excited about the music that played on her book we got her.

Been Busy...

Sorry I have not posted since I have been here. We pretty much skype everyone now so I am not posting pics as often. Kinsey's party was a great turn out. There were 15 people there including us. That is quite a turn out for a Guat. party. Kinsey's fosterfamily and their extended family came. They are wonderful. Kinsey though was not to impressed and did not want to have anything to do with the party unless her FM was at her side. She did blow out her candle. She fell asleep and then woke up with just Mama and Papa at her side. She was not too thrilled about that. She cried for a good while, but is better now. She still looooovvvvvvessss her papa. That is just the norm. She loves to dance and do the itsy bitsy spider. We sing that song every time we talk to her on the phone so she knows it pretty well. When she wants to go to sleep she points to her crib and says "Pache", which is her bottle. She drinks it, throws it to the side, and rolles on her belly to sleep. THat is soooo great. We don't have to fight her to go to sleep. SHe just tells us when she is ready. We went to church yesterday with Lilian's niece. It was amazing. Just like home. Someone who spoke english sat beside us and translated for us. I will talk more about that later. I am getting ready to go to all the fun government places shortly, so I better go.Here are some photos to last you for awhile.

Manana, Manana, Te Amo, Manana

That is the song that we sing the day before we leave to see Kinsey!!! Yes, we are going down for her 2nd birthday. We are one day away from holding her again. We are having a birthday party tomorrow at the hotel after we arrive. There will be several people there including most of her foster family. Kainen will stay here due to school. His grandparents already have tons of fun things planned for him so he probably won't miss us much. We skype several times a day too, so that really helps. Kinsey is on a new medicine regimen. She is seeing a new doctor and had several tests ran. She had bilateral pneumonia a few weeks ago, shortly after she was out of the hospital for the second time. She was taken off milk and put on soy. She was taken off her antibiotics too. Her labs came back showing she didn't have much of an immunity. Everything on her labs were low. The doctor thinks it may have been from the other doctor putting her on so many antibiotics in such a short time. She has to drink this immunity boosting stuff for 2 months. She is also on a new inhaler and some other meds. She is soooo much better. They say she is pink and has more energy and is not sick at this time. I am thankful for that. I don't know what she looked like while she was sick, but it must have been pretty bad because the fosterfamily is very very happy she is so much better.

While I am there I am once again am going to PGN and the courts to see what the hold up is. Some of our hard work has paid off though. Adoptive families had several state representatives and senators sign a letter to Hilary Clinton urging her to do something about the delays in Guatemala. She evidentally did something because it is all over the news and radios in Guatemala that the government is feeling pressure from the US on getting the adoptions completed. Our fosterfamily said they heard Hilary gave them a deadline of december. Now we all know that Guatemala time is like a snails pace. PGN has developed this "new" unit to try to finish cases quicker. Well if they had been doing it in a timely manner to begin with we wouldn't need to try to create a NEW unit. HELLO!!!!!! Anyway, I will try to post some photos while we are there. Have a great weekend.

Waiting is the hardest part

Not knowing what our future holds with Kinsey is enough to drive me into the insane asylum. She IS coming home someday, there is no doubt about that, it is just when? Our judge ruled in May that the adoption could proceed. Whoopee! BUT the judge has yet to send the "resolution" to PGN so our case can do so. I guess the judge went to sign the document recently and found some typos so she sent it back to the official to be retyped. Golly Gee people. It never fails to amaze me with the delays in Guatemala. There are still little ones coming home which awesome and keeps my spirits up. But there are alot of us that are stuck with delays.Our dear friends Pam and Mark who are waiting for Nola just got word this week that the judge set a 2nd hearing on their case for JUNE 24th, 2010 Why on earth would the judge set the hearing so far away? Please keep them and Nola in your prayers. THey have been through so much already and now they are possibly looking at a NOT NEEDED 9 month wait for a court hearing. Another family we know have a 2nd court date March 2010. It seems like it is never ending.

Summer pics

Wanted to share a quick slideshow of pictures of things we have done in the past few weeks. Even though we pray and think of Kinsey every single day, our lives do have to go on and we have a fantastic 7 year old that we are blessed with every day. He is so funny at this age. He asked me one morning if I was going to wear what I had on to take him to school. I said absolutely! He was embarrased, but I don't even get out of the car so why get all dressed up right? He is in 2nd grade. He is playing football for the fall. This will be his 3rd year. And he loves baseball.
A few weeks ago we went to Wrigley field for a Cubs game. Danny's cousin Meredith met us there and we stayed 2 nights in Chicago and also went to Legoland. We had a blast. If you have never been to Legoland you need to check it out. They have a lot to do and see and it is amazing how they build some of these things out of Legos. And of coarse they had a Lego store at the end. THe adults enjoyed it just as much as the Kainen. A few of the pics from Legoland are sideways. One of them is darth vader from Star Wars. His head was cut off when I made the slideshow. This was Kainen's favorite piece made out of Legos. I also put in a few pics from the birthday party my parents had for me last weekend. We celebrated August birthdays along with my grandma's whos is Sept 4. It was an absolute great day. My mother in law made a small blanket with Kinsey's name on it for when we go on our visit trips. It is for us to cuddle her with and have her sleep with while we are there and then bring it back with her scent on it so we can remember her until next time. It is kinda funny that she thought of this because we do try to not wash some things that she has worn or had with her while she sleeps so we can smell her. Kinsey is talking more and saying some english words to. She says "luv you" and "night" for good night when we end our phone calls. It is cute. Can't wait to give you all some good news about the case. It has been a while since we have had some good news. I hope everyone has had a great summer break.

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4 days.......

That is how long Kinsey spent in the hospital this past week. We knew she was running a high fever and was having some difficulty with her breathing on wed. night. The doctor had made a house call and started her on antibiotics. Well by thursday she was not better and they admitted her. I do not know a lot of details becuase we just found out on sunday night that she was in the hospital. I do know that she was released last night and did have IV antibiotics and respiratory treatments while in the hospital. She sounded lousy last night while we were calling to check on her, but atleast she is home. She is ALWAYS on medicine. We have visited her 8 times and have always had some kind of medicine to give her. Usually antibiotics and it is always for her breathing. Hopefully asthma and not something more serious. She has been hospitalized twice now for her lungs. We are still waiting for the judge to release a document to PGN so we can get out of minor's section and go back to the normal PGN process. Our attorney was suppose to go today to the court to let them know how sick Kinsey has been to see if they could SPEED things along. We shall see..... Please remember Kinsey this week as her little lungs are trying to get over this illness. I know how scary she looks when she can't breathe. It is horrible.

She asks for Mama and Papa........

Our fostermother said she was out at the supermarket with Kinsey and saw a boy that resembled Kainen. She got very excited and the boy came over to play with her. She went right to him and asked where Mama and Papa was? She got very upset when the boy had to leave and had to be distracted so he could leave. This of coarse made us very happy knowing she knows us and remembers us, but sad that she doesn't understand all of this. We also had a friend of ours call to tell our FM some things. Kinsey kept asking to talk to us thinking we were on the phone. She wouldn't take no for an answer and our friend, Eva had to talk to her so they could prove to Kinsey it was not us. I guess I got my confirmation that all of our visits have paid off. Nothing new worth reporting on the adoption front.

Also I have a funny converstion to tell you about. This was between me and my 5 year old niece. She spent last weekend with us and went shopping with me. We have never stopped trying to concieve on our own and was at the store to buy some ovulation sticks. Here it goes:

Brittney: (Picks up a box of ovulation sticks and heads to the checkout)

Grace: "Aunt Brittney, what are those for?"

Brittney: Uncle Danny and I are trying to get a baby in my belly"

Grace: (looking puzzled at me) Why don't you get 2 boxes? Don't you want to have 2 babies?

Brittney:(laughing) Oh, yes Gracie, but that is not exactly how it works.

She cracks me up. She was so serious too. She really made my day. Sometimes that is all I need to keep me going is good laugh from a child.

A lot to say, so little time.........

Well we have been back from our trip for 9 days now and it stinks a big one. Kinsey was so confused about what was going on that her FM said it took her 2 days to get back to her routine. She said she was confused and sad. Once she showed her the home video of us she said our names and then was happy. As the trip progressed she was more at home and looooves her brother. She calls him "Ka Ka" which sounds like "da da" but she made sure we all knew that he was who she was talking about. It was so sweet to see them interact more now that she is older. He is a trooper too. He can pretty much sum up the adoption for you. I know he wants her home as badly as we do. That was what he asked for when it was his b-day, to go see her.

Danny went with Pam and her family to Nola's orphanage. They were all overly blessed and was able to purchase a jungle gym, ride on toys, bouncy seats, and tons of other stuff. Danny really enjoyed his time. Check out Casa Alegria's blog or Journey to Nola to see some photos.

While there I went to PGN to see if there was anything I could do to help our case along or to get a better understanding of what is going on. Boy, was I a nervous wreck. I used one of my contacts I have in Guatemala and she goes to PGN alot with families. She knows the process and is a great translator. I have no idea how she did it, but she got us into the minor's section of PGN and next thing I know the man who has our case is shaking my hand and sitting beside me with OUR case on his lap. We talked and I tried to present myself well in hopes that he got a good vibe from me. He was VERY nice and seemed genuine. The bottom line is he was just assigned our case and didn't even know he had it. The woman that has had it all this time was recently fired and his desk is piling up with cases to review. Alot was said and learned. There are some things that still need to be done and one thing is to get the judges "certified" resolution to PGN into our file. He did give me his personal contact phone number and said he was glad I came. He was going to make our case a "priority". Yeah, well we all know Guat. time is soooooooooooooo not our time. This guy has the power to release our file from minor's and send it to regular PGN. There are still so many steps that have to happen for Kinsey to come home. I met and spoke with our attorney's assistant too while I was there. It is amazing how loooooooong these little steps take. The document PGN needs is in a huge pile at the judges office waiting for some kind of certification. Come on people!!!! Our attorney is as frustrated as we are. We have not paid one cent towards this adoption to our attorney's or agency since March 2008. Once the adoption is complete, then they recieve the rest of their fees. No-one knew the major delays that were ahead. Even though our attorneys have not recieved anything, they are still paying for Kinsey's fostercare, diapers and other needs and have never once asked for additional fees due to all the delays. We are very thankful for this, but wish it was all over.

With her 2nd b-day fastly approaching, please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. I have some really hard and low days. Some days I barely get off the couch. I call them "Poor Me Days". They are fewer these days but they come to haunt me on occasion. I have more good days than bad thanks to Kainen keeping me on my toes.

Well you know the usual post ending phrase. I will keep you all posted on any news.

Rain,Rain Go Away!

Yup, it is rainy season here and that is all it does. It is like a monsoon at times. We went to the zoo today and spent most of the 2 hours we were there dodging the down pours. Now, it was perfectly sunny all morning until we decided to get in a taxi and head out on a adventure. And an adventure it was!!! Kinsey is still very very attached to her Papa. She is letting me do more, but still prefers Dan. I did go to PGN yesterday. WOW! What an experience that was. It is a very long story, and will share it at another time. I was a nervous wreck, but was able to talk to the man that actually has our file and saw our file while I was there. From what I hear, being able to do that does not happen too often. So I am blessed that God brought the right people in my path yesterday to make that happen. Well time to eat dinner. Hasta Luego!!!!!

Changed Hotels and Much better!

I know this is crazy, but we had wondered if being at a different hotel than Kinsey was used to may be contributing to her unhappiness. Well, we decided to check out of our hotel a day early and go to the hotel that Kinsey has always been to and she was almost instantly better. She has been playing in the room and not needed held. It is so crazy that she recognized the hotel room. We always stay in the exact room. Now we know where to stay. Well, I am going to go for now. Just wanted to let you all know that things are much better now that we are in our home away from home.

We are still here!

Well everyone is physically feeling better. We had a very rough day emotionally yesterday. Or should I say I did. I almost hate to admit it because I feel defeated in some ways, but it was rough yesterday. Kinsey has alway loved her Papa, but yesterday she only wanted him. There was no consoling her by me. She cried and cried. She did have a bit of a low grade fever so that may have contributed a bit. Nothing really went smoothly. We got our valuables locked in our safe and 3 Guatemalan people were in our room for an hour with our safe and the table upside down trying to get it unlocked. They finally did. We went to Mcdonald's for ice cream and were stared at the entire time because we were the minority. (which we usually do not have a problem while we are here)

Kinsey and I took a nap while the boys swam and I was awoken by Kinsey screaming with fear in her eyes looking for Papa. Well I take her down to the pool to see him and she is a bit better, but still tearful even with him. They all go back to the room and leave me to pick up everything and bring it back to the room. I have my hands full and manage to drop the glass baby food jar on the floor and glass flies everywhere. (Kinsey doesn't typically take baby food, but she is not eating well so we were trying everything) By now I have tears in my eyes because I have emotionally hit my max and all these people are talking to me in spanish and I have no idea what they are saying. Two men help me clean it up and off to my room I go. I have my meltdown and then feel a bit better.

Then the strangest thing happens. Well God had his hand in it. Kinsey's mood changes and she only wants ME! She reaches for me and wants ME to do everything for her. She even shook her head no to Papa at one point. WOW! God knew I needed that! We finished the evening out playing and laughing. She is an angel! SO maybe she was having a bad day, who knows.

Early Morning!! Sick family!!!

Well, I have been up with Kainen since 4 am. He has been on the toilet with diarrhea and vomiting at the same time. My poor baby! I hate when he is sick. Especially when we are thousands of miles away from home. He has been rolling all over the bed with stomach pain. I hope it is just a bug and not something more serious. Danny too is not feeling well. He says his is more jet lag and not sleeping well. Me and Kinsey on the other hand are doing fine. She has been all smiles and just loves to play with Kainen. Though he is not up to par this morning.

We are here!!!

We made it with no problem here. Kinsey is sleeping on her Papa's chest right now. She teared up for a few minutes and then fell asleep so haven't spent to much time with her awake yet. I'll post pics sometime later...................

Happy Birthday Kainen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today my Kainen turns the big 7. I can't even believe that I am a mother of a seven year old. Boy am I feeling old. He had his party this past weekend. Of coarse it was spongebob. Everyone had a great time.

We are heading to the movies to see Transformers 2 this afternoon. Then tomorrow, we head down to Guatemala. Bye for now!!!

Guatemala 900

We were unable to attend the Guatemala 900 march in Washington DC, but had some friends from our agency take some photos of the girls there with them to put on the Guatemala consulate steps. They lit 900 candles, one in honor of each child still waiting. There was a good turn out and the US is trying to see what they can do to move us all along.




We are leaving Saturday for Guatemala. I have made arrangements to go to PGN and possible the Judge ( if needed) to see when this "opinion" might make it to PGN's hands so we can move forward. Evidently there were some people signing off corrupt cases in PGN within the past 2 weeks and they were caught and arrested. So of coarse PGN is now even more strict with there approvals. I hate hate hate that there are still 900 children waiting to come home to waiting families and even more that are not even referred to families due to the shut down of the adoptions. Dan and I both know that God chose Kinsey for us. There were children referred to families before and after our referral and those babies are home now. God has set us on this journey and we are never giving up on her. If I could only sit down and tell you all the blessing we have had since this journey started. We have grown so much in our faith and all 3 of us know who comes first in our lives. One day Kainen was talking about everyone he loved and he said God first and then family. We were in the car when he told me this and I had tears of joy to be able to hear my 6 year old say those words.

I will some pics while we are there and of coarse any updates we might have.

Guatemala 900 march and vigil

On June 17th there will be a march in DC to the capital and a candlelight vigil in front of the Guatemala Embassy representing the 900 cases that are STUCK in this process. There will be 900 candles lit representing each child. There is a memorial area where the children's pictures will be. Please pray on wednesday and continue to remember that there are so many children left that are not home yet.

Also, if anyone was interested in donating items for Casa Alegria, time is running out. Pam has gathered a small team together and they will be delivering items the first week of July. Just let me know if you want to help. She has had such a great response. Last night I had 5 huge totes full of clothes donated for the children. Mostly girls clothes, so if you have any boys items that would be awesome.

We will be going down to see Kinsey for 1 week soon. We will leave June 27th. We called her last night and she just talked away. Some of it was spanish jibberish but she said Mama a few times and Papa of coarse. Nothing new from PGN. Still waiting! I am getting really good at this waiting stuff. I won't know what to do when it is all over.

GIRLY GIRL PUTTIN ON HER MAKEUP

Mama's braggin post!

Every mom should be able to brag about her kids atleast once right? Kainen has been very busy the past few months. He absolutely loves sports! He has been taking tennis lessons since March and just finished. He has seemed to pick up the basics of tennis quickly and even taught me a few things. He is now playing baseball. Well his Mama played softball in high school so she loooovvveess to watch him play. Usually they play very basic rules since most of the kids are just learning. They only get to run to one base and always throw it to 1st base. They never keep score or track of the outs. Monday night they played a "real" game. Kainen was thrilled. He hit a line drive over the short-stops head out to the outfield. He ended up hitting a home run. It was so exciting. I am so gonna be one of those Mama's that are loud during the games. Poor Poor Danny!!!! Kainen slid into home and tried to act all relaxed about it. It was sooo funny. He did a really good job. SO, I wanted to post a few pics from baseball and tennis lessons.






Nothing new on the adoption front. Still waiting on PGN. We have heard our case is still in the Minor's section of PGN waitin to be sent through the "normal" review process. Who really knows. All I know is that the big mountain that was holding us up for almost a year is now gone. We did learn from reading the judges resolution that the investigation that was done to look for the birthmother was NOT NECESSARY!!
Wonderful huh? Keep you posted on that subject.

Praise God again, We have approval from the judge!!

I was so not expecting to hear anything today. I figured it would take several days or weeks to get the ruling. I was sitting on the deck reading a magazine and the phone rang. Now usually I jump up to get it but this time I just let it ring because I wasn't expecting any news today. Danny came out with the phone and I could tell it was the agency. They just recieved the report from the judge and the ruling was in our FAVOR. The judge is sending it back to PGN for approval. So hopefully PGN will approve it soon and we can get her home. Pray for a quick in and a quick out. I will keep you all posted. THanks for all the prayers. Keep them coming.Praise God! Praise God!!!

He is Mighty to Save

Kinsey loves to dance. We have a song that is on our blog called Mighty to Save by Laura Story. THis has become our families "theme song" while on this journey to Kinsey. Everytime we hear it we think of her and sometimes we cry, praise him, pray or sometimes dance. Out of all the songs I have on the blog, this is the one she chooses to dance to. She knows it is mommy and daddy's favorite. Here she is the last morning I had her before I left to come home. SHe is still in her PJ's. Check out her morning hair-do! You may have to stop my blog music first to hear the clip.

WELL.......NO Ruling......yet

Yea, you heard me right. I could not believe it either when the agency called late last evening. Everything went down as it should and everyone showed up that was supposed to. I just can not fathom how they could bring everyone together; our foster mom, Kinsey, our attorney, and PGN, and still do not make a final verdict right there. We were told that now the judge(since she has heard both sides) will go back to her "chambers" and make a final ruling and write up the report. They are hoping to get this next week, but we will see---a week to them usually means a month or 2. Our attorney feels VERY confident that things went well in the hearing, but he really has nothing to base it off of, because NO case has ever gone this route, not having the 2nd illegal BMI. But he did say the judge was very happy to see the connection we had to Kinsey; visits, pictures, video, etc. I also know our sweetie was as good as gold all day, smiling and waving saying hi to everyone, and it was a LONG day for her. The hearing started over 2 hours late and they were there about 4-5 hours, so they were there about 7-8 hours total. So we still don't know where we will go next, but I guess at least our case is being worked on. Thank you everyone for all your prayers, and we could still use them...

Praise God, We have a date with the Judge!

and the best part is.............It is this coming Friday, May 15th-just 6 days away! Our foster mother emailed us today to tell us this news. It would have been at least Monday before we would have heard anything from our agency. We absolutely love Lilian. She is an angel sent from above. She also stated in the email to please pray that the judge rules favorably,... WELL YEAH!!! We will definately be doing that, and we ask all that come here and read and follow along with us to please join us and lets lift our little sweet Kinsey up to him and let HIS will be done. Everything hinges on this ruling. Not only to see if our adoption can continue, but to see also which route we are going to go after this; back to pgn or what. We are going to try and call soon to get more info and will call again Friday night to see how it went.

Mommy, Can you fix my hair???????

I tell ya, this girl has some hair! This is what she looks like in the morning. She has the softest ringlet curls, but by mid-afternoon they start to go frizzy on me. All I have to do is damp them a bit and they go smooth again. Does anyone have any suggestions on a child-safe product that will not hurt her hair in any way that I can put on it to keep the curls not so frizzy. If I keep it in pigtails or up it is tame, but boy oh boy, watch out after I take the pigtails out.It looks like she has a wig on sometimes. But she is still my adorable sweet angel that God sent to us!!!!

Sorry so late

I have literally been running around the past several days and just now have time to sit down and post. We skyped several people during the trip so there wasn't an urgency to post pictures. Our trip was great. I first off want to say that Praise God, Pam got to see Nola. Check out her blog to read about it. Secondly, it was so nice to go with her on our visit. We had such a good "girl" time together. I think I really needed that. We could talk girl talk and talk about adoption topics 24 hours a day and never got tired of it.

Kinsey has grown up so much since I last saw her 8 weeks ago. She is talking up a storm and she was my little shadow. She says agua, bye, hi, papa, mom mom,and several other things that I can't make out. Partly due to my lack of spanish. She understand English though. I asked her to go get me her diaper so I could throw it in the trash and she did. She adjusted very well which was good considering she usually attaches herself to her Papa. She absolutely loves the Ergo baby carrier. I didn't think she would this time since she is mobile, but she would point to it and get my attention when she wanted in it.She would snuggle up and go to sleep or just hang out in it. Still no news on a court date. Our FM said the social worker visited the house 2 weeks ago and focused on us. She asked several questions reagarding our family and our FM showed her pictures of us. She wrote down several things. The attorney's assistant told our coordinator last week that the judge may rule on our case without a hearing. This is hard for me to believe since every other case has had a hearing scheduled. I am not putting restrictions on God's miracles, but So far this has been the case. THe attorney's assistant doesn't typically give us that kind of info unless she has been told something so I really don't know. Maybe having our FM work so hard for us while the SW is there is helping. Who really knows.

Moms On A Mission

Well, Pam and I leave in the wee hours of the morning for our Guatemala trip. Initially weeks ago, we decided to go fight for movement on our cases and actually go to the judges office and PGN to see what the hold up was. After we purchased our tickets, we started getting all kinds of news. Pam finally got a court date for Nola which is still a bit ways away in August and we heard the judge has our PGN report. We have yet to actually get the report in our hands but they say they have confirmed that is it done and in the judges hands. So, we still sit and wait for some more news.

Our goal for our trip is to try to have Pam see Nola somehow. It has been 6 1/2 long months that she has heard nothing about her sweet angel. Please say a prayer for her and for our trip. Pray that we have a safe and productive trip. I will post pics of Kinsey while down there and keep you all posted about any other news we have.

There is another family who I would like to remember. THey are with our agency. They too did not have the second birthmother interview but PGN just recently found the birthmother and she consented for the adoption to proceed. This was such great news to hear and we were all happy for their family because PGN would soon release the case and the child would come home. Well yesterday they found out that the CNA is convincing PGN not to release any cases. SO, now they are up in limbo again not knowing what is going on. CNA is the council created who will be in charge of adoptions once they start again. I have know idea what this means. GUatemala's adoption process has went to bad to very bad very fast.

Creation Museum and Adoption News

Kainen is on Spring Break this week and we took a 2 day trip to the Cincinatti area and visited the Creation Museum. If you have never been, you have to go. It is awesome. It talks about Evolution vs. Creation. They have a ton of stuff to see and learn about. Kainen's little wheels in his head have been spinning since the trip. He had lots of questions afterwards. He has learned about Creation and Noah's Ark and such during sunday school, but to see it like they have it set up was really eye opening to him. It takes approx 2-3 hours to do everything. There is a garden to walk through and a petting zoo with some of God's animals. Danny and I both enjoyed it as well and we learned a few things ourselves. THey have some "cafes" to eat at if you want and they were very reasonable. All I have to say is you have to go check it out. Here are a few pics from the visit.






Adoption news

Well, We had not heard anything for so long that we decided to take some action. Our friend Pam is in the same situation as us except her daughter was taken and sent to an orphange this past September. We decided to take a trip to Guatemala in 3 weeks. We had obtained lots of contact info, recieved the judge's phone number and such. We were so ready to fight fight fight for our babies home. Well this morning we got an email with all kinds of info. I will let you read Pam's news on her blog. Click on the "Journey to Nola" link on my sidebar. Well our news is this: Our attorney is under the assumption that our investigation has been completed though he does not have proof in his hands. The judge requested last week a copy of the POA that our BM signed and that was submitted last week. Once the judge has the investigation report ( which they are saying is done) then she will schedule a hearing for her resolution. You need to read Pam's blog for her news because she has the same lawyer and judge as us. So, the good news is that someone is viewing our case. THe stinky news is we need a hearing set and we don't have a date yet. Our agency is calling the judge tomorrow to see if there is any news they can obtain for us. We shall see. So yes, Pam and I are still going in a few weeks, but there may not be anything we can do if we have a hearing date set by the time we go. So it may just be a visit with Kinsey. Which is fine with me too. Keep you all posted.

Happy 18 months sweet girl!!

Su Mami y Papa y hermano los amos muy mucho! Here are some more photos from our last trip. The middle one is at the aquarium restaraunt in the mall. You actually had to crawl to get inside this cylinder opening in which you were surrounded by all the fish.

As far as news on our case, well, there just isn't any. We are still waiting for PGN to "finish" their investigation. We were told awhile ago that they thought it was done, but it is not. At least not yet for whatever reason. We have a friend who we met along the way who lives in Guatemala. She has alot of connections in the adoption world, and we had asked her to check on our case at the minors unit of PGN and see where we are in the investigation and/or what else was needed. We are still waiting to hear concrete evidence of what stage we are at or when it will be done...

New Pictures!

We received these Friday. She is getting so big! The last one looks like she's ready to fight......bring it on PGN! It seems like she has changed even more since the last time we saw her over a month ago. I guess that's what happens, though, when you are not there everyday to see her grow. I can't begin to express my longing to have her home with us. It is a hurt that runs deep and can only be healed by her coming home. We know she is very well cared for, and all of her needs are met by our wonderful FM. But WE want to do those things. WE want to be doing the daily needs stuff. WE want to be who she cries for in the middle of the night. WE want to be there when she falls and scrapes her knee(she is walking, or should I say running everywhere). WE want to be her PARENTS! Not just a distant memory of a family that comes every 3 months or so and visits for just a few short days. NO, WE want to be Mami and Papa fulltime. BUT, it is not about WE or US. It is about this beautiful little girl in which God has given us the opportunity to adopt. It is about what is in HIS will for our lives. It is about when the right time of her coming home will be. For many reasons, there are obstacles in our way, and we have to be patient and let God work them out. HE is mighty to Save!

9 Wonderful years ago.....

I married my best friend in the whole wide world. Danny and I shared our 9th anniversary today. Now tomorrow night is the real celebrating. No child ( staying with Mamaw overnight), dinner paid for, and well whatever happens after that. Maybe some shopping. We would like to see a movie, but I never stay awake. I was surprised with a dozen roses in my car tonight after work with the sweetest letter reminiscing about when we firt met and were dating and had no worries in the world....just him and I. Ok, Ok I know that sounds corny, but hey, that is how we are. Corny!!! I love you babe!!!

Nothing new on the adoption front. I have been hearing from other families about some slight movement with their cases. Of coarse they all are in different situations, but atleast they are somewhat working down there.


Thanks everyone for posting their comments on the blog. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. All of your thoughts and prayers are so uplifting. I wanna give a shout out to my Godmother Vicki. I knew you were a lurker, thanks for posting.

Here are some more pics from our visit a few weeks ago.

ATTENTION ALL LURKERS

Ok I saw this on another blog and thought this was awesome. I am so encouraged by all of the encouraging words you give my family during this time in our lives. I want to know who you all are that lurk on my blog and never reveal yourself. So I challenge you now to reveal who you are and leave a comment. If you do not have an account, it is easy to sign up. All you do is make a username and password. This is how you sign in to leave a comment. It is that easy. Hope you see who you all are that check out our blog. Feel free to leave encouraging words. Besides God on our side, this is how we get through our days.

Kinsey dancing to the tv music

Happy Valentines day!

Just wanted to post some more pics of our visit. First I want to update you all on the meeting we had yesterday. Basically the judge has notified the attorney that the investigation is completed and once the report is available for pickup the judge will review it and make a ruling. The letter the judge sent was on the 28th of January. So maybe a ruling will be soon. If it is a positive ruling then it will be sent back to PGN for approval. PGN will not be happy about this since they initially sent us to court to begin with, so she said to prepare for a kick out. Some of you may not know all this adoption lingo. Sorry. Anyway, PGN can then approve the case or deny it. If it is denied then it will go back to the judge and the judge will say APPROVED and Kinsey comes home. Too bad we can't bypass PGN again. The judges ruling is saying that Kinsey needs to proceed with the paperwork to get her home. A social worker came to our FM house last week to check on her and she told Lilian that everything looked good and the adoption should proceed. So I guess it is a matter of time for all this stinky paperwork to get completed. Our attorney's partner has a case like ours and the judge approved it and sent it back to PGN so we are anticipating to hear how that goes. SO that is all we know for now.

We are here....

THe first day is always hard for me to post pics because we are so busy with everything. Not too many pics yet. The more she gets older, the more attached she is to her FM. She is a delight and defiently understands when spoken to in spanish. She is taking a step here and there but not actually walking on her own yet. She runs if you are holding her hand. Here are some pics. Meeting with the attorney assistant today at 11:00. Pray for positive news!!!!!!!! Eveyone is so overdue that is in this process. I will post more as the day progresses.
One pic is when we first got her yesterday. Kainen is hiding from her, he is not upset or anything. It just looks like it. Another is of her WILD hair without anything in it to help tame it down.

Newspaper article on Guatemala adoptions.

This was posted in a Guat newspaper and translated by a Guatemala citizen. There are several different translations by different people, but this one makes the most sense. Some may not understand it all, but those that have adopted before will understand.


The CNA requested the Children and Adolescents Courts protection for over 200 children whose adoption files were not presented during the verification process done by PGN. In the past few days 832 similar requirements were made.
Elizabeth de Larios, CNA's president, commented the institution's worry for the safety of these children, so they came to several courts.
There is total of 1032 children that were not presented to the authorities by the attorneys in charge of their cases in 2008, when it was required the presence of the child and the birth mother to prove their familiarity and the mother's desire to give her child for adoption.
The CNA is still evaluating another 122 cases before requiring the placing of the minors. Among other things they have to verify if there is any duplicity in these files registers.
The judges recieved the addresses contributed by the attorneys to locate the children, who might be in danger.
A co-chairwoman from PGN, Florencia de León, informed that her unit's registers say they identified 43 children that were not presented for the verification process, for 27 of these cases they opened a judicial file.
She assured that those minors are located in particular homes or with foster mothers.
She also exposed that they are a process to purify their information to stablish why there is so many difference among CNA's cases.
Yesterday, about 30 adoption cases were filed to PGN to be evaluated in order to their approval, they all correspond to previous requests from 2008.
Nidia Aguilar, from Child Defense, hopes this year adoptions will be fast forward, so the number of completed adoptions increases.


We are in the judicial system, so I wonder if we are one of those 27 cases they refer to. Who knows. I will keep praying and stalking the computer with more news! 7 days til we hold Kinsey girl again.

I guess we have a walker!!!

This is how we left her in December walking with our hands.

We spoke with out Foster family last night and they said Kinsey is finally walking. Darn, we missed her first steps by 12 days or so. We will be visiting her again in 11 days. Whoo-hoo!!!! Still no real news regarding our case. There have been some articles in the Guatemala newspaper and on some websites regarding what is taking place right now. I may post that article later. In the meantime, here are some snow pictures from this weekend. Last week we received around 10.5 inches of snow in different parts of our area.

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Keep those Prayers a comin.....

I know they are being heard. We recieved an update today that said our attorney is now waiting for the judge to make a decision and is hopeful it may be in the next several weeks. We asked if we can assume that PGN did their investigation and that the judge has the report. Our agency said it was not specifically stated in the update, but we are going to assume that it is. I know we have been let down by all these crazy adoption changes before, but our attorney does not typically give us false hope. THey have always been straight forward with us. On occasion, we have had a communication mishap but I feel that the judge has came back from her vacation and is ready to clean her desk of these left over adoptions. Let's pray for all of these cases!!!!!!!! I know this journey's end is right around the corner. We will keep you all posted. God works miracles, I have seen it happen with my own 2 eyes.

One Year Ago Today...

We held sweet Kinsey for the first time. We had originally debated on whether to take a visit trip to see her. We thought it would be a short few months and she woud be home forever. We were in the Marriott lobby walking to the telephone to call our coordinator to tell him we were there when we passed our FM and Kinsey sitting in a chair. They were early and we were unprepared. We all 3 stopped dead in our tracks. Of course I was crying because she was beautiful. Danny went on to make the phone call. Kainen was the first one to hold her. All he wanted to do was hold her and hold her standing up. It was so funny because he thought he would be able to carry her everywhere. Well, he soon learned she was alot heavier than expected. I knew long before then that she was our daughter, but to hold her and smell her made it feel so real. Now we can't get enough of her. I never dreamed we would have been there 5 times, going on six in Feb. Sometimes Kainen will stop what he is doing and reach out his hand saying "Mom, smell this, it smells like Kinsey!" Now, I do that sometimes, but it amazes me that he remembers her too. Some of the simples things remind us of her.
Yesterday we called our FM and Kinsey got on the phone. She said jibberish non-stop for about 30 seconds. It was soooooo funny. She was telling us quite a story. She says Mama and Papa on the phone about every time we call. THe niece translates for us and she said that when they come over to her aunt's house, Kinsey associates them with a phone call to us. She thinks that she will get to be on the phone if they are there. So funny.

Well, maybe the next time I have to post a "One Year Ago today post" Kinsey will be sitting on my lap at home in the USA helping me type it.

Here she is from a few weeks ago at her FM's house

Not much to say....

......But I will post anyway. I wish I had some news for all of you dedicated readers and prayer warriors. There just isn't anything to say. I have wanted to post several things lately, but I don't have the strength I guess. Still waiting for the judge to come back from vacation. We are planning a visit in Feb though. I am looking forward to that. Kinsey still talks to us or giggles on the phone when we call. That is always nice to hear. Continue to keep us on your prayer lists. God, family and friends are what keep me going. Laughter is such a contagious thing and I love belly laughing. Well, there is nothing like hearing a child laugh out loud. The other day Kainen was watching Tom and Jerry. Something funny would happen and he would just belly laugh out loud at the tv. He did not know I was watching him, but his child-like innocent laugh was so uplifting to hear. In his little world that was the funniest thing he had ever saw. It made me stop, smile and remember that the littles things are a blessing just as the huge ones are. I wanted to post a little clip of Kinsey girl from our November visit. Big brother was blowing bubbles to her.

Our Christmas this year

Well we made our Christmas this year the best we could under the circumstances. Everyone knows what would have made it the best ever, but we did the best we could. Anytime we can focus on Christ's birth and the events leading up to it is a blessing. We teach sunday school and I enjoyed the past several weeks story because it focused on the different amazing miraculous things that happened leading up to his birth.

I am going to sum up our Christmas events in one post and hit on the highlights. The photos below are from Christmas at home, my parents house, and Dan's family at our house on the 27th.
So on Christmas eve Danny and I both worked so I sent Kainen to my Grandparents house with my parents for Christmas with them. It was Kainen's first time reading Luke chapter 2 from the bible so they had me on speaker phone. He did a great job.

Christmas morning Kainen came to our room at 8am. He said " Mom, I checked to see if Santa came and he did and guess what? He even brought stuff for Kinsey" He was amazed that Santa even remembered his sister. It didn't take long for all the gifts to be opened. Santa's toys are quite expensive these days. We had breakfast then headed to my parents house for more fun. My mom always says she is not going to over do it. But every year she over does it. It think she forgets what she buys and continues to buy right up til the end. I think Kinsey would have been lost under all her gifts if she were here to open them. Mommy helped her out this year. It is my dad's b-day on Christmas so we try to make it a bit special for him. Too bad his b-day gifts get wrapped in holiday paper. That is the only thing I keep forgetting to do. Someday his b-day presents will come wrapped in b-day paper.

On the 27th Dan's family came over. We play games and eat all day. We had our second batch of "Ponche". Our first batch was on Christmas eve. It was a huge hit. It is way easier than I anticipated. I altered the recipe a bit. We did not use coconut or papaya. We did use cranberries though and it was good. THere are a ton of variations to this recipe. We watched our last visit trip video with everyone. Danny wore a picture of Kinsey around his neck all day. Papa misses his baby girl. It was nice to have everyone sit a laugh and see her in action. It made me feel a bit better about the day knowing she was included.
We received a call from our Foster family that night. We talked about their Christmas. THey said they stayed up til midnight and watched the fireworks. Kinsey loved them they said. She is wantind to walk everywhere but only with help from them. Not brave enough to do it by herself yet. They took some photos of her for us on Christmas. I can't wait to see them.

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Ponche recipe

Well since several have requested the recipe I put it here for everyone. I know you can use different fruit if desired but this recipe came out of my Guat. Book. The punch we had did not have rum in it and I don't think coconut. But this sounds just as good as what we had. I am sure the Guatemalan families adjust it to their likings. Enjoy!

Ponche

Hot Fruit Punch

This fruity Christmas punch is served hot with lots of fruit in the cup. In the Christmas Posada tradition the host household prepares ponche for the group seeking shelter as did Mary and Joseph the night Jesus was born.

14 servings
1 small pineapple or half of a large one
1 small coconut, about 2 3/4 cups grated meat
1 small papaya, about 3 1/2 cups cubed fruit
2 apples
3 quarts water
1 stick cinnamon
4 cloves
1/4 cups raisins
5 prunes
sugar to taste depending on ripeness of fruit, begin with 1/4 cup rum (optional)

Remove the top and scrub the pineapple to clean it well. Remove the outer peel of the pineapple reserving it. Chop the pineapple into very small quarter inch pieces, reserving all the juice and place in pot with the peels. Grate the coconut meat and add to pot. Peel and seed the papaya and apples and chop into ½ inch pieces and add to pot. Add water, cinnamon and cloves and bring to boil. Simmer for ¾ hour, then add the raisins and prunes. Taste and add sugar. Cook another 15 minutes. Squeeze the pineapple peel to remove any juice and discard peels.

Fill cups with hot punch and fruit and pour in a shot of rum if desired. Have spoons handy to eat the fruit.

Leftovers are good cold too.

Is everyone ready for Christmas?

Well, we are as much as we can be. Of course it is the obvious. We would love to have one more set of little feet toddling to the tree this year, but until then we will make the best of it. We have been hustling and bustling the past few weeks. We put our tree up later than usual this year due to being in Guat. Thank goodness we had 90% of our shopping already done prior to leaving. We have been making Gingerbread houses, cookies, and truffles the past few nights. Kainen loves to help with the sprinkles on the cookies. He cannot wait until Christmas morning. Though we continue to remind him often what the real meaning of it all is. We are going to make "Hot Fruit Punch" this year for Christmas. While in Guatemala this last time we were able to have some traditional home-made punch. They serve this during the holiday season. It had big chuncks of fruit in it and it was hot served like cider with a spoon. YUMMO! So, we wanted to incorporate it into our traditions. I have a recipe from one of my Guat. cookbooks if anyone wants it.
I have also made a shift change this past week. I have always worked 12 hour shifts but I just went to 4 10's. I get off at 5pm now instead of 9:30pm. I will be gone one extra day of the week but will always be home at night which will be nice for Kainen to have us both home at night. Plus working that additional day will keep me out of the mall. I tend to shop when I have big stretches off from work. Hee Hee!!

Last night we called our Fm. We had left a home-made video of us at home and such with Kinsey so she could watch it. Lilian said she plays it everyday (poor Lilian, the video is quite silly) to Kinsey and Kinsey trys to jump through the tv to get us. She giggled on the phone when we talked to her. Can't wait to see her again. She said the attorney's office had called and told her she may get a call to have to go to the judges office ( possibly for a hearing or something). She said she did not recieve a call yesterday like they had hoped so that means we are most likely waiting until the judge returns Jan 15th from vacation. Continue to keep us on your prayer list through the holidays. Especially baby Nola and the other few families we have that are waiting for some kind of word. We feel all your prayers. Here are a few more pics from our last trip.

Jesus The Faithful One

The confidence we have...
the trust we hold...
the hope we carry...
rest in his faithfulness...

Every promise He has made
He purposes to fulfill.

He has the authority to
accomplish all He has spoken.

His power is limitless...
His character changless...
His love endless!


May you experience
His faithfulness and love
during this Christmas season
and the coming year.

We are still alive

Just haven't had much time to post. Kainen and I arrived safely on thanksgiving day. We were upgraded to first class on our flight so we had an absolute blast. Boy do they treat you different up there than in coach. Kinsey is an angel as always, EXCEPT she LOVES her PAPA and she lets you know it. She hits me and smacks me alot. Not while she is crying, but randomly. Hopefully it will pass. She is a meany. She does the same thing to Kainen. Lilian says the mediceine she is on makes her mean. She has fell into a routine with us and we have seen our Foster Mother on 2 occasions while here and she prefers to go to Danny over anyone. She does let others play and hold her, but if she has a choice, she chooses him. We have done many things while here this time. The zoo was very nice. There are a lot of families here this time picking up. I think there were 7 families at breakfast this morning and that is a lot considering almost all the babies are home. Our attorney meeting went fine. We are basically waiting for the Minor's section of PGN to do their investigation to look for the birthmother or her family. Once that is done, then they will send their report to the judge and he will make a ruling. Alicia (our attorney assistant) said the judge knows that the second BMI is illegal and the judge has seen our file and photos of us and knows there is a family waiting for her. They feel the judge will approve our case once the search for family is over. We probably won't hear anthing until after January 15th because they are all on vacation until then. Though, miracles do happen. I am not putting any restrictions on God's powers. I have tons to say, but little time so here are some photos of Kinsey. I know that is really what you all want anyway. Well at least the family does......
Mommy and Kinsey

Mommy and her kiddos

Kinsey with her curly-Q's after a bath

Kinsey having a snack

What a girl wants...what a girl needs...

Whatever makes you happy. I know I've heard that somewhere. Well, I have to start off by saying this was a bit more challenging than I imagined. Probably had alot to do with the fact that she was pretty sick when I got her on Sunday. But boy, when she looked at me and pointed to me, held out her arms for me, and kissed my face saying Papa Papa, I got to tell you, I felt like the luckiest guy on earth at that moment. Our FM does an excellent job making sure she knows us and it shows. The last four days have been some of the best days of my life. Just me and my baby girl, hanging out, playing, singing, dancing, doing all the things we would be doing if we were at home. I never had imagined the impact she would have on me. I can't begin to express my love for her. I can not go one day without thinking of her at least 30 times. So you can guess I have been like a sponge soaking up these very short days with her. Because we all know what is coming; the goodbye...the handing her back...I don't want to think about that right now, it makes me very very sad. So, I am going to go to bed. Tomorrow Brittney and Kainen get here and I can't wait. I miss them very much. And we will all be together as a family once again....even if just for a short bit. We are meeting with our attorney's assistant tomorrow and I better get some answers on our case, or I will go ballistic! We also want to meet with the judge who has our case. We shall see...

Here are some pics

No time for Pics

Well, Danny is busy busy with Kinsey and has had no time for pics. She is ill again and he spending all his time making sure she does not choke on her mucous. She coughs and coughs until she gets sick. She is on medication, but being by himself and in a foreign country is tough at times. Otherwise she is a happy baby. He said she came right to him and started kissing his face and saying "Papa". She had always took to him well in the past. Being the nurse in the family, he wishes I was there. But, I have faith that he is doing just fine. He is doing all the things I would be doing. Just a few more days and we will all be together. As soon as I can, I will post a pic or two that he has emailed me.

Father/Daughter Time

In just a few hours I will send Danny off to Guatemala to spend some Father/Daughter time together with Kinsey. THen on Thanksgiving day Kainen and I will embark on our journey down to see sweet Kinsey. Kainen planned this trip basically on the plane ride home from our last visit. With no hesitation he had said we will be back for Christmas to see her. Well, unfortunatly flight prices were not even close to being realistic at that time, so he settled for Thanksgiving. On Thursday we are meeting with the attorney assistant to try to get some answers. As of yesterday, the judge had not received a report from PGN like he had requested. Surprise, surprise!!! The government people and court systems there take a huge amount of time off during the holidays so who really knows when we will hear something. Dan should be posting pics starting tomorrow, so stay tuned for new pics from Guatemala.

The Small Mountains

I am going to ask for God to move the smallest mountains first instead of looking at the BIG one ahead. Sometimes I think we get so wrapped up in the end results that we don't see the littlest blessings happening right in front of us. "Our God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing our God cannot do." That is a line from one of the songs Kainen sings as church. Isn't it true? These are just small mountains to God. There is nothing he cannot do!!

I don't have much to share about the adoption. We did find out that the judge who has our case asked PGN to write up a report about our case and their concerns with it. What in the world for? I don't know. But, I am now praying that PGN gets this report done quickly and back to the judge so he can make a ruling. They can be very slow at things. I am a bit emotional today. Could be the holidays coming up and the fact that she will not be home for Christmas. I am thankful for many things in my life though, and I am focusing on those right now. How blessed we should be for simply waking up each morning, for being able to have something as simple as dinner on the table. I know where I am going to sleep tonight and so many out there do not. I know who my Lord is and so many do not. I pray tonight that someone comes into there lives and touches them with God's word and they learn to know the Lord. I have been witnessing to people with our blog and adoption journey and didn't even realize it. We have had people tell us how others reading our blog have been questioning their faith, and seeing him working in our lives has made them a believer. WOW! How humbling! I was witnessing to others and didn't even realize it. I am a bit ashamed, though I know this adoption journey was part of God's plan for us and to others we are reaching out to. So while I do not know how long this journey will take I will continue to pray that God move these small mountains in our journey and hope to bring more believers to Jesus Christ along the way.

No news is..............No news!

I am sorry for not posting something sooner, but there is nothing to really post. We have not received any new news regarding our case. Our program director, Chris went down to Guat on tuesday and was to meet with our attorney regarding some cases still in process. He will come home on Saturday, so hopefully by monday we will have some answers to what the plan of action is. We will continue to pray that our case is with a judge who:
#1. does not go on holiday vacation for 2 months like some.
#2. sees the best interest of the child at heart.

I hear some judges like chocolates, Hmmm, How much chocolate can I fit in a suitcase without going over the 50lb. limit?

A little Update...

We were informed today that our case has been sent to the Minor's Court of PGN. This is totally separate of the regular PGN where our case has been living for the last 8 months. It is a section where they do a little investigation like stuff. We were told that since our interview did not happen, this is where they are sending our file, along with all the other files from our agency w/out the second BMI. What they have told us is that a judge will rule on our case(hopefully this week). He/she will either approve it, disapprove it, or send it back to PGN where it will probably sit again for who knows how long! We NEED for THIS judge to APPROVE us so we can move ON with our adoption. If it is approved, we have been told that our file will FINALLY exit the black hole called PGN. Let us free PGN!!! Please God!

The first time we ever saw your face...........

One year ago today was the day we receieved Kinsey's precious picture in the mail with her referral packet.
One year ago yesterday around 1pm, I was working on painting our hallway and foyer and Dan was in the office working. My cell phone rang and it was our coordinator HOlly calling to tell us she had some good news. It was our referral call. She told us about a little baby girl who was around 3 1/2 weeks old weighing just 5lbs. 8 oz. I was shaking and crying as I jotted down all the info she gave me. We we thrilled only waiting 9 short weeks to get the call. We were on cloud nine. That night we announced to our family that Kainen had a baby sister by having him wear this shirt.


The next day I had to work but we knew that Fedex was delivering our packet sometime that day. So around noon Dan called and said he was outside in the parking lot. I knew he had the pics. I left what I was doing and ran outside. I started crying when I opened the folder and saw her sweet face. She was perfect in every way. I couldn't even hardly concentrate the rest of the day. Here is her referral photo


Fast forward to today:


It feel like we are in such a mess with this adoption. Guatemala adds new rules and requirements that aren't even legal every day it seems like. If I only knew what the future held for these babies that didn't have the "illegal" second birthmother interview. Our BM came and had DNA testing (which was a match), she did the family court social worker interview way back when and signed POA for our attorney. Hello, what other proof do you need that she did not want to keep this baby. Now we sit and wait and wonder what "judge" our case may go to or if it is going to a judge. No-one really seems to know.

Kinsey,
Sweet little one, we are so thankful for your foster family who loves you and takes wonderful care of you. We all love you so much and I wish I could just pack you up and bring you home to us. There are so many people who want to hold you and cuddle you. Until then Mommy, Daddy and Kainen will continue to come see you and fight with everything we have to bring you home. You were born in our hearts way before we ever saw your face and you are our daughter. If words could only express our deepest love for you. Kainen has been such a patient big brother and sleeps with the bunny he made you at Build-a-bear every night. He says he is keeping her with him until you can take over. One day, but until then we will enjoy and take in every moment we are able to share with you.

Mommy

Kainen and Kinsey

This is a little clip from our last visit trip a few weeks ago. Big brother Kainen is singing a nursery rhyme and Kinsey is singing and clapping. I had to share it because Kainen is so silly in it. He was really getting into the song and Kinsey just hummed and clapped. Don't forget to go to the bottom right of the page to pause the music so you can hear them.

COVERED BRIDGE FESTIVAL TIME

Most people that live close to us know what the "Covered Bridge Festival" is, but if you don't I will go ahead and explain. There are over 30 Covered Bridges in Parke Co. Indiana. For several years now, there has been a festival in the Fall where vendors from all over come to sell their crafts and treasures. Hundreds of thousands of people come every year to visit the historical buildings and bridges. I grew up around 6 miles south of the festival. I remember Mansfield( which is one of the busiest places to see a Covered bridge during the festival) when it was all not so commercialized. Now, it has paved walkways and really caters to people who come to shop during that time. Anyway, when I was younger I used to work at some of the vendors stands for some cash when I was in high school and college. It was easy money. I have been a Sati Babi girl, a bloomin onion girl, which is not fun because I cried all day trying to cut the onions. I have worked at a hamburger stand ( boring) and Danny and I both worked at the Fried Veggie stand. It is funny to look back and see all the crazy things we did back then. Well today the 3 of us went on our yearly outing there. No more work for us, we just go to eat the greasy food and try to find a good deal. We know all the back roads to avoid all the traffic. It is sooooo pretty driving in the country seeing all the fall trees. It makes you stop and thank God for all the little blessings he has given us. Here are some pics of our day.

The drive to the festival


Kainen eating lunch

Kainen in front of the Covered Bridge

Mommy and Kainen by the damn

Kainen walking by the damn


Adoption news,
There is none. Have not heard anything from our attorney in over a week. Not happy at all. We will see what tomorrow brings.

Praise the lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!!!!

We did not hear anything yesterday from our agency, but had made arrangements with our FM that we would call her last night at 9 our time. Yesterday was the longest most difficult day to endure. We were on our knees early in the morning, the calls started to come in with questions. I pretty much kept myself in the house. By 9pm, Danny was feeling physically sick and I had started shaking with nerves. Some family came over and we prayed on our family room floor. I could barely dial the phone number. When her niece( who speaks some english) answered. We asked the big question, Was Kinsey still with her? And with excitement she answered YES!!!!!!!! We were all on the floor crying. All tears of joy. God heard all of you and us. Your prayers for us were answered that she stay with Lilian until the adoption is over. She said Kinsey was playing Peek-a-boo with the PGN guys and giving besitos. She knew she had to turn her Kinsey charm on. They both had to go through a psych evaluation. In the end she got to stay with her. Our FM had a party for the great news last night. We love her family so much.

Now I do not know what is going on with our case yet, but this makes me feel like I can fight an army. Hopefully I will find out this week. On the phone last night they repeatedly said "Your adoption is on its way". Not sure what that meant. Well gotta take Kainen to his football game. Thanks again everyone for your prayers. He DOES hear them.

We need you Prayer Warriors

This is yet the hardest post I have had to do. The last night we were in Guatemala we were notified that Kinsey was to appear the next day with her FM at PGN. Yes, PGN wants our daughter too. From what I understand it has to do with the birthmother not being able to be contacted for the interview. She may be sent to where baby Nola is. It was the worst day of our lives. Tears just rolled down all of our faces. THe next morning when the FM came, it was emotional for all of us. She loves Kinsey as much as us and we all gave it to God that he would take care of Kinsey. The hardest thing was handing her back not knowing what will happen and if we will see her again. The airplane ride to Houston was quiet. We prayed and prayed. Once we got there our agancy did notify us that the attorney was able to get an extension for the appointemnt til friday afternoon. So as of now, Kinsey is still with Lilian and they have to go to PGN on friday. I have no idea what will happen. I know we love this little girl and will fight to bring her home. JCICS did post that there are 800+ cases in Guatemala where the BM was not located and these cases will probably go to abandonment and a judge will decide on the cases. So, please pray for us, especially friday. It will be a very difficult day.

Some more pics

Sorry about not posting as much as I would like. Danny and I have been under the weather and trying to keep a 1 year old and 6 year old entertained when your not well is hard. Plus it is raining like a Monsoon down here so we are trapped in this hotel. There are only 2 families here this time. It is very quiet. Kinsey is such a daddy's girl. She wants him all the time. We taught her peek a boo so she wants to do it all the time. It is sooo funny. Well here are a few more pics of yesterday and this morning.

Oh my goodness, Please Pray......

Ok Prayer warriors. You have some work to do. Our friends who are adopting baby Nola found out today that Nola was taken from her foster family by PGN. They do not know any details just that she has been taken by them and placed in an unknown orphanage. PLEASE PLEASE pray for Nola and her family. I can't imagine how they feel and WHY would they do this. Nola's parents live close to us and we have started this special bond with them and have met sweet Nola.

It is so hard to post these pics after hearing about our friends but maybe this will lighten the mood some. I know the grandparents want to see photos. Kinsey's party went well. Her FM brought her neice and 4 year old granddaughter. It was so nice to talk with them. We had some good cake and the 2 kids colored together. Even though they could not speak to eachother, they had no problem coloring together. Kinsey's face just lit up when Lilian walked in the room. It was so cute to see her get excited. She is very well loved by her FM. Well enough said here are some more pics.

Kinsey's birthday dress


Getting ready to cut the cake

Just me and my Papa

Get this silly hat off my head

Finally able to post.

OK I know especially for family you are wondering where we have been and if we are all ok. Yes, we are ok, just extremely exhausted. We did not go to sleep until midnight on wed night and then got up at 230am yesterday and went nonstop until 10 last night. Kinsey has such a passive personality. she gives kisses and scrunches up her nose. says Papa and this morning she finally said Mama. She did have some issues yesterday with napping. She doesn't care to be with us, just don't think about putting her down. That makes things difficult since we have Kainen to entertain also. I ended up letting her sleep in her clothes last night just so I wouldn't upset her. I did find out she had to have a IV while in the hospital so she may be a little traumatized with her hospital stay and nervous about what we are going to do to her. She loved and played in her bath this morning. She had some eggs and cereal. She overall is doing well. I just hate that she finally gets adjusted to us and then we leave again. I don't know how much I will post. I fell down the hotel stairs yesterday, yes call me Miss Clumsy and I have had to visit the little girls room alot. Not sure what is going on. Just really not feeling up to par so far today. Well here are a few pics. Kinsey's birthday party is today at 230. Her foster family is coming too. I will make every effort to post those tonight. talk to you all soon. Here is some video od kinsey giving "besitos" which they tell me means "little kisses"

Just a quick note.

We will be arriving in Guatemala tomorrow to be with Kinsey for her 1st birthday. Birthdays are a pretty special event in our household ao we had to go. I am sad she is not home for all of you to see her, but I will give her lots of lovin from everyone. We will be in Guat. at 11:15ish tomorrow. I will post tomorrow night some new pics.

Update on her health:
It sounds like the info never got to our Attorney from the doctor that put Kinsey in the hospital so no-one knew about it.That is why we didn't find out until almost 3 weeks later. I think our FM told us because we hadn't inquired about it or called to check on her. Every other time she has been ill we always called right away. She had pneumonia and lost 4 lbs that week. She was 22 then down to 18lbs. At her checkup last friday she was back up to 20lbs. I can't wait to see her again. Praying for the approval call to happen SOON!!!

Please Pray for Our Family and Kinsey

Well, we haven't posted anything for awhile. Not much to say and I have not really been emotionally in the mood to post anything. We have been waiting, waiting and waiting to be released from PGN. One of the families that are having issues like us did get released last week. That is awesome news so it should be any day now for us. Anyway, last night we called out fostermother to check on Kinsey before we go visit next week. We found out that she was very ill and in the hospital for 5 days at the beginning of Sept. HELLO!!! Don't you think I should know this. Her little lungs are so fragile. She gets sick often, but never too sick to be hospitalized. I was so upset and sad that I couldn't have been there with her nor even prayed while she was ill. I am still investigating why our agency did not know. Our FM said she was so worried about Kinsey. I am so emotionally drained right now. I WANT HER HOME!!!! This chapter in the Reyher book needs to be over ASAP. My heart just aches for her to be here with all of us. I absolutely love our FM and know she will take care of her, but I am her mommy and I want to start our lives together. Especially knowing she has all these breathing issues. UGGHHH! I can't beleive she was so sick and we didn't even know...... Well the good news is she is doing fine now and was belly laughing last night on the phone. I can't wait to hold her and kiss her again. Kainen is going this time and is excited about seeing her again now that she is older.

Please keep us in your prayers. Pray for Kinsey's health and our file to be released soon. God willing, she will be home soon.

Brittney

New Pictures!...WHY HAVEN'T YOU COME TO GET ME YET!!!

We got new pictures yesterday. YAY! Although, Papa(Daddy) is not too fond of her hair pulled way back like that. She is still a doll baby. For the past couple weeks we have called our FM and spoken directly to one of her relatives who speaks pretty good english. We also have gotten to talk to our sweet baby. They try so hard to get her to speak the few words that she knows. She hasn't said anything yet, but we can hear her breathing and it sounds as if she likes to eat the phone.

Ok, now on to the news we got Friday concerning our case. We were pretty much guaranteed by our attorney that our case will be approved by the PGN. When? Now that is another matter. We are hoping it will be before our trip. If it is, we might have some plans up our sleeve!!! We will let you in on that later...

New feature added to my blog.

I have finally decided to add to my blog some of the other blogs I read on a regular basis. There are many more, but added a few at this time. The links to the addresses are under the photos and above are timeline on the right hand side. These people have been an inspiration to our family more times than once. They all have had such encouraging words and have all prayed for our little Kinsey.

I hope you all had a great Labor day weekend. I ( Brittney) worked saturday, and was called in on sunday. Sunday night we went to see the new Star Wars movie ( it was pretty good). Today we lounged around most of the day and then went to our nephew's 14th birthday party.

This week is going to be a good week, I can feel it. I will post with any new adoption news I have.

On Our Knees...

Is how we are starting the week. While I walked into the sanctuary at church today my mother in law said "Let's start our week off on our knees" I instantly said yes. There is no better way to start the day then to hand all your troubles to your Lord and Savior. I felt much better after we all went to the alter and prayed. So with that said I KNOW we will hear something this week on our case. Our deadline is fastly approaching. Our attorney is great, our agency is great and of course our GOD is great.

This morning our teens did a black light skit. It was awesome. I had seen it on you-tube before, but it was special today because our teens worked really hard on it and I am so blessed to see the teens coming to church and being active. I am not the best camera-woman so it is shaky at times.
You will need to go to the right side of the page and scroll to my playlists and pause the blog music so when you can watch the skit and hear the music.

My Montage 8/24/08

Just the two of us!

Well, this past Sunday Danny and I had a day out by ourselves. My birthday is the 20th so we spent the day together. All Colts season ticket holders were invited to see the new Lucas Oil Stadium they have built. They have been working on it for quite a while now and it is so nice to see it finally done. I of coarse forgot my camera which I was very mad about. I took some photos on my phone but they didn't turn out to good. It was amazing in there. My jaw dropped as I walked into the huge place. FYI there are over 1100 flat sreen tv's throughout the stadium. So no matter where you are you will not miss a play. I will post some photos throughout the season. Kainen and daddy are going to one of the pre-season games this weekend. After checking out the stadium we went to the pro shop and made some purchases. None for us of coarse but Kainen and Kinsey got a little something. We had dinner and then came home. It was a beautiful day to be in downtown Indy.

Today was Kainen's first day of 1st grade. I can't believe the years are just flying by. He was nervous about going until we met his teacher last night. He realized all of his Kindergarten friends were in there so he then got excited about it. It is weird to think I will have almost 7 hours to myself on my days off. I may get some stuff done. HEE HEE! Today is only a half day though, so I need to finish this post so I can meet him at the bus stop. Here is a pic of him this morning.

YET ANOTHER HURDLE...

Even Kinsey is boldly praying. We learned this week that the CNA has put a deadline on when the PGN interviews must be completed. Yes, the same CNA that was NOT supposed to have ANY governing of the “grandfathered” cases. That date is August 31. Only 3 short weeks away. It is not clear what will happen if the interview is not completed by this date. The CNA stated that the cases will be handed over to a judge. Some sources state this possibly means our case would become an abandonment case. NOOOOO!!! Not after ALL this time waiting through the relinquishment process. We would basically be starting over going through that way! Our attorney has assured us that he will complete our adoption and we have to trust that he will. It was also stated that he will have all the interviews completed by the deadline. First, our BM needs to be found. We have never needed or begged so much of our Great Lord and Savior to move this mountain than we do right now…some how…some way. Please also remember the other ones in this situation right now.

Picture Day!!!

We got new pictures of our sweet beautiful baby girl today. That is one positve thing we have been looking forward to. She is getting so big! Our FM emailed us and told us the bassinet she has her sleeping in is way too small and she needs a bigger crib. We really didn't think we would have this problem...especially if she were HOME like she was SUPPOSED to be months ago!! We are hoping to hear some news soon about the additional help we have inquired about in finding our BM. Please continue to pray for us as we wait through this grueling time. I know he hears us. And one day (hopefully soon) he WILL move this mountain!

Happy 10 months baby girl!!!!!

I never dreamed I would be celebrating Kinsey's 10 month birthday from home without her. For some people it is one thing to know that the adoption is going to end soon and they will have PGN approval, but for those like us, we have nothing to make us comforted that it will end soon. We have to find our birthmother first and this is making me crazy!!!!!! We have not heard any new news on the progress of the hunt for her. There are 4 families in the same situation and none have been located yet. It has been approx. 6 weeks or so since we heard this news about them being unable to find her. UGGHHHHHH!!!!! Then of coarse we know of 2 families that have been approved by PGN without a birthmother interview. How is this happening???? If they do it for one they need to do it for all. I just do not understand. I am very happy for these families. I just want us ALL to have this nightmare over. We have inquired about some "assistance" in finding our BM. We shall see. Please pray that we find comfort in the decisions we make about our case and that the Lord guides our attorney to the place that our BM is. Or best case scenario, we get approved without a birthmother interview. I hope you all have a great weekend. Here a some pics of Kinsey girl on our visit last month.

Patience is TRUSTING in God's timing.....

This was one of the quotes that a co-worker brought to my attention this past week at work. Thanks Amy! It is so true and sometimes I need others to help me understand things better. My co-workers are my therapists. They listen to me be irrational, rational, cry, smile, be happy, sad, you know the whole roller coaster effect that this process brings. They are very special people in my life. They may not understand the whole process but they are there to help me through the day and always know what to say to cheer me up and are genuine in doing so.

We have had such a blessed week. I love to spend time with our families and do Family Fun day or night. Besides working my 3 days this week, we took Kainen bowling Thursday night. He beat me of coarse. Danny bowled a 120 or something close to that. Go Babe!! Friday while I was slaving at work, my mom and aunt came over and swam most of the day with Kainen and Danny. Then Danny grilled out for the ladies. (You are such a great husband to entertain my family and cook while I am at work.)

Today Kainen and I went to the mall because they were having there sidewalk sales. Then Daddy met us at the movies to see Wall-E. It is a really cute movie. Go see it if you can. Then Dan's parents came over for dinner. We grilled out and went swimming some more. The in-laws really enjoyed themselves in the pool. We finished the night off by watching the video from our last visit trip to see Kinsey. Perfect ending to a perfect day. Tomorrow my parents are supposed to come over for some fun in the sun too. It has been so nice to relax and just enjoy family. I hope next week continues to bring goodness.

No new news on the adoption front. They still have not found the Birthmother. Someone from our agency got approval without having a BMI. This gives us a little hope that they may do away with the interviews but nothing has been confirmed. Just rumors. I think if they are going to approve one family then we should all get approved but no-one ever listens to me.

Kinsey will be 1 in September and we wanted to be there for her 1st birthday if possible. I found flight for $258.00 round trip. This is crazy!!! I am so very excited. The flight times are great and it is with the airlines we always fly with so we will get our flyer miles. Kainen is going this time. I would love to make it a pick-up trip instead of a visit in sept. but at least this gives me something to focus on. Soooo we will be holding her again in approx 10 weeks. Whoo-hooooooo!!

Here are a few pics from this week.
Mamaw and Kainen in the pool


Mommy, Daddy and Kainen

The in-laws squirting each other with water.

The things you did with your kids. Yes folks that is mommy on the whale with Kainen

BIRTHDAY FUN

Kainen had his 6th birthday the end of June. Birthdays are pretty important to us so we try to make it special. It is usually the one big party we have at our house over the summer. This year a storm was brewing in so we had to sing fast, eat cake and open presents then run inside for an hour. Once it came through, then we were back out to finish the party with swimming and playing. It is Kainen's day so we pretty much do whatever he wants. He wanted a Nintendo DS for his b-day because all the other kids had one(of course). We had told him that he was not getting one so he thought there was no way he would have one on his birthday. Here are some photos of his special day. The reaction of him opening his DS was a true in action snapshot. He was thrilled. He loves star Wars right now, so for a month or so all we heard about was a Darth Vador outfit. He wanted one so bad. So to his surprise he had told enough people about it because he recieved 2. So when I come home from work sometimes Darth is in the house. On his actual birthday( which was during the week) he woke up to special birthday pancakes. I can't believe how fast they grow up. He is my baby, even though he rolls his eyes at me when I say it. There is something special between a mama and her son that I can't explain.

Home from visit and Kinsey says Happy 4th of July!

Kinsey was picked up monday from the hotel 30 minutes early. Bummer! Anyway, it was the usual tearful goodbye. Even our FM tears up when we leave.She gave us a photo album of pics she has taken of Kinsey over the months. It was so sweet and nice to have something to look at on the plane ride home. Our flight was uneventful. We went to pick up Kainen which was around 12:45 am and we were about 3 minutes from my mom's house and she called saying Kainen woke up vomiting. SOOO, after a long flight home, we had a sick little guy that couldn't keep anything down. But I am glad his mommy was home to take care of him. All kiddos need there mama when they are sick. Tuesday was my only day off to get things unpacked, laundered, and cleaned up. Then of course I had to go to the grocery store.Anyway, I worked yesterday and today and have family coming in town from out of state for 5 days. What a busy time. But it has been fun.

Nothing new on the adoption front. Even though we spoke with the attorney's assistant. We are going to give it around 2 weeks and if we haven't heard any news then we are going to bug them again about the process on finding her. If we need to intervene somehow then we will, but I have faith they are doing there job. They said our attorney takes failure personally and he will finish the adoption. It is just so hard knowing she is growing up and we are only there for 4 short days of her life every few months. Unfortunately for us, we have no light at the end of the tunnel right now. We will have zero movement until she is found. Ok, I am rambling on and on. I do this quite often. We will keep you posted. Here is Kinsey's 4th of July photo. It was her "coming home outfit". but she will out grow it soon so we took it down with us. Have a great 4th of July..

Last morning with Kinsey

We have to give Kinsey back in 2 hours and 15 minutes but who's counting. She is napping right now so I thought I would post one last entry before departing for home. Daniel and I hate when this day comes. She is saying "papa" all the time. NO mommy yet but they said they have been working on both. She stayed up late last night and just babbled and rolled all over the bed. She must of known we needed some more play time since it was our last night. It has been nice to visit with the other families and hear their stories. Kinsey went to her first birthday party last night. There was a little boy turning 1, so we all joined in the dining area and had cake. It was nice to be able to be a part of that. Here are some pics from last night and this morning. Kinsey looks tired in the one with me holding her. That was at breakfast. And the one of her sleeping is the one I took right before I came down here to post. We only have a 1 hour layover in houston today and have to get through customs. Please say a little prayer that we make it safely. Talk to you all soon.

still having a blast

Kinsey is sooo happy. That first day was rough, but she has been such a joy since then. She is so cuddly. She used to want to sooth herself but now she will cuddle up to my chest and sleep. I went to grab her out of the playpen this morning to put her on the bed and as a picked her up she layed her head on my shoulder and was zonked again. I didn't even have time to lay her down on the bed to play. Of coarse I didn't mind a bit. It is so nice to bond. Her hair is hilarious in the morning. These babies have so much of it. Her curls kinda go this way and that. Anyway, here are a few more photos. Enjoy!!!

Click on Kinsey to see her in action.

My Montage 6/28/08
Kinsey loves this walker. She just smiles in it. She can get going pretty good in it.

Today is a brand new day.

Kinsey went to bed last night and woke up like her old self. She can be put down to play without crying. She is taking her food and bottle just fine. They sure don't call it rainy season for nothing. It rains nonstop and is chilly. We were told that Kinsey had bronchial pneumonia last week and just finished more medication. Yuck. I hate that she has been ill so much. She sounds fine right now, yes I brought my stethoscope. hee hee!! Anyway, here are a few photos from this morning. We met with the attorney assistant yesterday and she said to be calm.They are trying everyday to locate her and have a possible lead on where she is and that she is not hiding. She just doesn't know that she needs to come in for another interview. They felt very confident and didn't doubt that they would not locate her so it is just a matter of time. I will post again later.

Separation anxiety....

We have had kinsey for 4 hours now. She is getting so big. She took to us while Lilian was there, but after we took her to our room. The separation anxiety set in. She was tired anyway, but she cried and cried. It is soo hard to see her like this. She has not ever been like that so of coarse we were upset too. I guess she is at the age to have that though. So as long as you are holding her she is fine. She did get in the walker a bit and go all over. And she has cackled at us. So I figure it will take some time and she will be fine. Our attorney had something come up so we are meeting with his assistant today. I will try to post pictures throughout our trip.

we made it

We are here. Our flight was delayed and it was 12 plus hours of travel time. In about 1.5 hours we will be holding Kinsey. I will post soon.

Last post til....

Guatemala. We will be arriving tonight. Hope to keep you all posted on the Birthmother issues. We don't have all the details lined out yet, but it seems we may be able to meet with our attorney tomorrow. Our agency is trying to work out the details. SO, hopefully I will have some answers. I can't wait to see and hold little Kinsey again. Bye for now. Next post from Guatemala.....

Never any positive news.

I wish I had something positive to say these days. We recieved an email today from our agency saying that our Birthmother had 3 interviews scheduled since the end of May but has been unable to be located. So basically, she is missing. THey are searching for her, but she is not able to be found. Our attorneys are still searching diligently. PGN has not said how many times a interview can be rescheduled, so as for now we are good and can reschedule if we find her. There is a worse case scenario, but I don't really want to talk about that. She needs to be found and interviewed before things can proceed. I feel like the wind has been knocked out of me. I never dreamed that this could happen. Please keep us and our friends Pam and Mark who are als adopting little Nola in your thoughts. They too are having the same problem Their BM is too missing. http://journeytonola.blogspot.com/ PGN is releasing files like crazy, so congrats to all the OUTS! We too hope to be there soon.

No News Yet...

Well, we have not heard anything else regarding our BMI. It has not been rescheduled as of Wednesday. We got an email from our Fostermother that said she had not heard. How depressing. You feel so close and then pulled so far away. Today is Friday the 13th do you thing something good could come out of this day??? I doubt it. Just another week of this crazy wait down the tubes. I have been trying to keep busy with Kainen. Since I started my new job 2 1/2 months ago I am way not stressed like I was. I feel so relaxed at home now. Kainen and I had a picnic and went to the park, we went shopping for him a new birthday toy and have went swimming several times this week. It is nice to spend time with him. As he says " just me and my mom."

Anyway, I will post if there is any other news. Oh, we are going on another visit trip in 2 weeks. It will be so nice to hold and smell little Kinsey again. Her Daddy is very excited about this trip.

Birthmother interview a No Go!

We called our FM friday night and she said our BM did not show up for the interview on the 5th. I guess there were heavy rains and mudslides around the town she lives. They are saying that is probably the reason. She has always came to all the necessary appointments for the adoption, so I am hopeful this is why she didn't come. So now we have to wait for PGN to reschedule it at their convenience. What a bummer. I was upset after the call and then that night it rained so heavy our city was under a state of emergency for flooding and no-one could get out of our subdivision due to the flooding and there were people being evacuated all over. Even the mall was closed. It was crazy! Sooooo, I guess I can't be upset if the heavy rains caused her not to travel the long distance to Guat. City. Isn't it funny how God has to show you sometimes before you can understand things. (Such as the flooding)....

Well the positive news we got out of that phone call was that Kinsey has 2 teeth. WOW! I was so surprised. She also said she is eating well and smiles when shown our photos. She is 18lbs. now. She gained 2.2lbs. in approx 2 months. She likes her food I guess. SO, all you prayer warriors, start those birthmother interview prayers again for round two. And don't forget all those other families inpatiently waiting like us to get our babies home.

PGN Birthmother Interview Tomorrow!

Our wonderful foster mother emailed us today telling us that our PGN BMI is set for tomorrow. We need LOTS and LOTS of prayers as this has to be very difficult on Kinsey's BM to have to see her again and hold her during the interview. Please pray that they treat her with respect and do not try to badger or intimidate her as we have heard some BM's have endured. We will keep you posted on how it goes.....D

More New Pictures!

Hot off the press, the newest pictures of our nina bonita. These pictures were taken on 5/20. She looks kinda tired in these pictures or maybe she just misses her daddy and mommy!!!

We have learned this week that some cases have been released from PGN. Now it has been reported that most of those released were KO's, and just a handful of actual APPROVALS. We are hoping to hear more outs next week, as well as possibly hearing about our BMI being scheduled or completed.

Happy 8 Months Nina Bonita!!!

She is 8 months old today. Please PGN be nice to us and start releasing files! Including ours!!! I emailed our foster mother friday and she said our interview was this week. We plan on calling her maybe sometime next week to see how it went. We have been hearing some horror stories of what the birthmothers have been put through during these interviews, or as some have called them, interrogations. Please pray that all goes well and hopefully we can move forward.

UPDATE***5/28*** I emailed our FM again to see if she had went yet and how it went, and we think she was stating that the interview is soon, but not yet scheduled. Translation can be a bit off sometimes(all of her emails are in spanish). She did tell us that she would email us after it has happened. So, were happy she at least knows about it, but for now, we wait some more.......D

Pray Them Home

After having 4 years of secondary fertility issues, we decided to embark on our adoption journey to Guatemala. I felt so relieved when I sent the application in knowing in approx. 1 year or so we would have a beautiful baby to add to our family. This adoption journey has brought me many happy and many sad tears. Most of you know by now that Guatemala has suspended all adoption cases for now until they feel they have a grip on the legal aspect of the cases. There are approx 2900 cases on hold right now. PGN(attorney general's office) has held all cases for almost 4 weeks now. They are reinterviewing birthmothers who have already been interviewed in Family Court and making sure there is no change in their decision to relinquish their rights. It seems everyday there is another rule or hoop to jump through. Sometimes I feel so defeated. Poor Kainen is 6 years old next month and has stopped asking about when Kinsey is coming home. I cry at the drop of a hat, I can't sleep, I am tired of people asking about the timeframe. I DON'T KNOW the timeframe. THere are so many families who are experiencing this heartache and I hate it. Just know that there are many delays ahead and I believe the Power of Prayer is bigger than anything else. Kinsey and all the other children out there need us and your prayers. Lets Pray them home......

New Pictures!

Here are some new pics of our little Nina Bonita(beautiful baby girl). She looks very well and our coordinator says she is much better! YAY! These were taken this past Tuesday, so they are very up to date. As for the PGN, well, I really don't know what to say. The new PGN is requiring things that they never did before and those of us that are left are feeling the brunt! We have heard that things are still moving along in there, but nobodys file has been released for well over 2 weeks. We may have another few weeks before we start to see cases being approved and actually leaving the PGN building. Our agency did prepare us that we might not see anything on our cases for another 6-8 weeks. NOOOOO!!!! So for now, we wait, and pray, and wait, and pray.........and wait some more.

Resubmitted to PGN

We got word that we are back in PGN as of April 30th. That is great , but PGN is not processing cases right now. THey haven't been for almost 2 weeks and it looks like they aren't releasing any of our files. They have not said when they will reopen the process. So, everyone's children are sitting down there without their forever families. There are some issues that the President of GUatemala wants straightened out before they continue them. Just another delay. Truthfully, I am about to my max. One day I am fine, the next I am a mess. I know everyone has their own story to tell. I am just venting a bit. I pray that PGN opens their doors and sends everyone sailing out, but I don't think that is the case right now. Anyway, as soon as I hear about Kinsey's health update, we will let you all know. We hope to get one soon. They were going to check on her for us.

Please Pray, Our Kinsey is sick!

We received a call from our agency today stating that Kinsey had been taken to the doctor and was on respiratory treatments and was not to leave the house. They advised us to call and check on her if we could. Of coarse I was at work when Danny called me. I was flipping out. Being a nurse does not help sometimes. After a call by our translator we learned that she had been running a fever and had a cough. She is on 3 medications and is seeing another doctor tomorrow. Our FM did say that she is doing better and has not been running a fever at this time. WHat I really want to do is catch the next plane to Guat. and hold her in my arms, I know she is in good care, but the mom and nurse in me wants to take matters into my own hands. ( It must be the control freak in me). I am a bit concerned though because the 2 times we visited she was very congested. I did listen to her lungs in March( yes, I did have my stethoscope) and they were clear, all the congestion was in her upper airway. Anyway, I am rambling on because that is what I do best. As if I have anything else to do with my time except to worry about every little thing going on. To me Kinsey on Respiratory treatments is a big deal because I am not there to see it first hand.

Adoption news:
We heard today that we were supposed to be resubmitted to PGN on the 29th. If so, please pray for PGN to resume processing cases, pray for a quick out and most importantly Miss Kinsey is well and healthy. Thanks so much........Britt

Happy 7 months Baby girl!

Today Kinsey is 7 months old. I can't believe she is already 7 months old. Time is flying by. Well, the reason for our kick out was they wanted a copy of the birth of records page from the civil registry, so they can compare the numbers on Kinsey's birth certificate to make sure she was registered correctly. Or something like that. They say it is a common request. Anyway, please pray this week, especially on Monday for the adoptions. Some things are happening in PGN again and there could be some delays. To be honest, I don't really want to go into the reason why for the delays, just know that there are once again some issues to all grandfathered adoptions and we need prayer. We should hear some news maybe Monday. Our attorney hoped to have us resubmitted to PGN on the 25th. I leave you with a picture of our precious baby girl.....

Kick Out Confirmed!

We heard today that we did indeed get a Previo ( kick out) from PGN. This meand there was something that PGN wants either fixed, a new photocopy of, or something added to our file before it can be resubmitted. It was officially able to be picked up on the 17th. We are waiting for our agency to give us the reason. Our coordinator said we should hear soon. So, the last 5 1/2 weeks have gone down the tubes and we have to wait to be resubmitted and the PGN wait begins again. Lets all pray that we get back in soon. Please don't forget all the other adoptions that are also going on right now. They need lots of prayers too. I know we will get through it. So many people have. I think that is what helps me when I am down. The song by Casting Crowns "Praise you in this storm" is an awesome song. Praise him even through the hard times. Praise God that we have the opportunity to do this adoption.... I will post when I find out the reason for the previo.

Waiting on confirmation of our KO :(

We started out the first full week of the this month with a really funny feeling. Well, we were sensing something. We called PGN on April 11th and were told we had a previo. Not getting any news from our lawyer or agency Monday or Tuesday, we called again on the 17th and she re-confirmed our 4/11 previo. Not sure if our lawyer is able to pick it up yet, or maybe he is working on the problem(s) and working on getting us resubmitted-HOPEFULLY & PRAYERFULLY!. We also hope it is not a problem that could take several weeks more to correct. It really feels like a kick in the gut and that we have lost even more time with our sweet baby.

I know God is in control and he will see us through in his time. And I will pray very hard every day until that day arrives and long after...

This picture of her is from our January visit but you can see how upset she is over the previo! She wants to come home!!! Later....D

One year ago today....

We sent in our application to our Adoption agency. This past year has been a whirlwind and it is not over yet. Hopefully soon we will be able to bring sweet Kinsey girl home. This has been the hardest of the waiting so far. I haven't posted in awhile. I started a new job last week. I am still at the same hospital, just a different department. I needed to leave the ER atmosphere for awhile. I have been in that kind of stressful work for quite some time. I am definetly loving my new job. I am excited that I get to eat lunch and go to the bathroom all in a 12 hour shift. WHoo-hoo. It doesn't take much to get me excited. Well I thought I would post Lil Miss Kinsey laughing on here. It brings joy to my day when I am missing her most. This is from 3 weeks ago when we were visiting her for Easter. You may have to pause the music at the bottom right of the page in my playlist, so you can hear her.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Kainen and Kinsey have been tagged.......

by Eli, http://www.journeytoeli.blogspot.com/. You are supposed to say 10 things random about yourself, so here it goes.....


1. My name is Kainen Daniel and I will be 6 years old in June.

2. I have been the only child so far and am very spoiled. I am learning though that I can't always get what I want. I definetly try though. I am very persuasive.

3. I love sports. I play baseball, football and am very competetive. I am learning that it is ok if I don't win everytime.

4. I am a mommy's boy. My favorite thing to do is lay in her bed after a bath at night with her and watch tv. Dad usually comes in and puts me to bed. I never get to stay all night but I enjoy my time with mom.

5. I love lego's right now. I love building things with dad.

6. I have a school day ritual and I get very upset if it is broken. I wake up at 8:30, eat breakfast and watch Curious George at 9am. I go to school at 12pm and get off the bus at 2:45pm. I then eat a snack and watch the same Curious George as the 9am one at 3pm. I must do this everyday. I absolutely love George.

7. I am learning to read. I read mom and dad 2 Dr. Seuss books with little help. Mom giggles when I try to sound out words. She says it is soooo cute. They say I am doing really well.

8. I love waffles. I would eat them everyday if I could.

9. I went to the zoo yesterday with my Mama and mommy. It was really fun. I loved the monkeys and the dolphin show. It was a great day.

10. I have a monkey named Marvin I made at build a bear in November. Marvin goes everywhere with me. He even went to Guatemala to see my sister. He must wear his seatbelt in the car and sleeps with me every night. He is my special friend.



1. My name is Kinsey Avan Maria, I am 6 months and 1 week old.

2. I love to giggle and love to laugh at mom and dad's silly faces

3. I only cry when I am tired, but even then I just wimper. Never really scream out. I am saving that for when I come home to the USA to be with my family.

4. I have started eating cereal and baby food. Not too fond of prunes. Mommy tried to feed them to me. I ate them but my faces let her know they were not that great.

5. I am petite, but I take after my mommy. I have big chunky thighs like her. hee hee!!

6. Daddy, well I have him wrapped around my finger. I smile and he melts. I wimper, he is right there to pick me up. Oh, how wonderful life is.....

7. I sleep well too. I go to bed at 7pm on the dot. Don't try to keep me out late because I want to be in my Jams in my crib by 7. No exceptions. I sleep until around 2am and then take another feeding and sleep til about 6am. I wake up happy as always.

8. I can't quite roll over yet, but soon I should be. I really have no desire too. Maybe when I really want a toy I might try it.

9. I miss my family... Lilian my fostermother plays a recorder to me 3 times a day so I can hear mommy singing and daddy reading me a story. Lilian tells Mommy and Daddy that I miss them for me.

10. I can't wait to come to America to be with my bubby. He is pretty silly. I have only met him once. But soon I will see him again and then the fun begins. I will be all into his stuff like little sisters do. THat will be great..........

Glad to see Kainen, but miss Kinsey girl

Hola! We are back home safely. We got in last night. Kainen was supposed to stay with my mom last night and we were going to pick him up today, but I couldn't stand it. We scooped the poor kid up at 12:15pm off the couch and put him in his seat. He was so tired. I even sat in the back seat with him so he could rest his head on my shoulder. I know I am a bit crazy sometimes, but I really missed the little guy. He crawled in bed with me this morning and wrapped his arms around my neck and fell back asleep. It was so cute. I don't care how old he is, he is still Mommy's boy.

Yesterday was much more difficult for me this time around. Danny did better this time, thank goodness. We always seem to compliment eachother. Thank goodness. I would hate to see us both a wreck.

We had a great time with all of our FTIA families. We had a great Guatemalan dinner in the city our last night with our friends Steph, Jason and little Eli. Thank goodness they spoke some Spanish because I had not a clue what they were saying. Here is a pic from dinner.

We also met Missy, Jerry and baby Shayla. They are also from our agency. Shayla is 10 days older than Kinsey. Here is a photo of them together.

I will post pictures of Easter in Antigua soon.
Kinsey is 6 months old today. We will be back to get you soon. We love you....

Still having fun....

We are still having a blast with Kinsey girl. We have met lots of families this trip. The baby lounge has been full of babies all day. We are getting ready to go eat with some friends. This will probably be the last post until we get home. Bye for now.

More photos

We had a great time seeing the processions yesterday and visiting Antigua. We feel blessed that we had the opportunity to experience Semana Santa. Here are some more random shots of yesterday.

Music in Antigua

Kinsey shopping for a toy


Volcanos in Antigua


Kinsey girl belly laughing


Kinsey laughing some more

Happy Easter

We are heading to Antigua this morning for Easter. We get to see some processions. The Marriott restaraunt was full of families going to church this morning. It was cute to see locals all dressed up in their Easter attire. Here are a few more pics.

We are back.........

Yup, you guessed it, we couldn't stay away. Thanks to my husband's willingness to part with some of his valuable hot wheel, wrestling figure collections and a unexpected bonus from work we were able to come see Kinsey girl again. We had planned this trip shortly after we came back in Jan. but it was nice to have the financial means fall into place too. Kainen did not want to come due to it being " a long ride." Yup those were his exact words. If you have the opportunity to come down here I highly recommend it. Kinsey has changed so much, but is still a tiny peanut. She is not having the eating problems like we thought. She is taking formula, a jar of baby food and cereal all in one day, so she is fine. Here are some pics from today so far.

Coloring eggs

We colored eggs last night. It was great fun except for the one pink egg that rolled away off the counter bounced onto the kitchen floor and rolled into the family room on the carpet. Thank goodness for resolve. Kainen did Transformer eggs this year. He is obsessed with the them since watching the movie. We made Kinsey an egg too.

Horton Hears a Who

Yesterday Kainen had a field trip to see Horton Hears a Who. I love field trips. I love to watch him interact with his friends. I was in charge of Kainen and 2 of his friends. The picture is of them getting ready to go into the movie. Popcorn at 10 am was exciting for them. THey ate every last drop of it. The movie was really cute. We have always been a Dr. Seuss fan.

Adoption news, don't have much. We are still in PGN. We called our FM last night. When we got Kinsey's measurements on monday she is still 14 lbs. She didn't gain even an ounce. Lilian our FM said she is not eating much. Only 3 5oz bottles a day. That is a huge decrease from when we were on our visit trip in Jan. She has her on pediasure supplements per the doctor request. She has always gained weight, so please keep her in your prayers. Lilian said she is starting her on cereal too. I guess we shall see.

Ask, and Ye shall receive!!!

If it is in HIS will! YES! We are submitted to PGN as of today. As we have stated before, this is the last major step in the process and should take about 4 weeks, BUT, we have seen(and know people) who are past that point right now(some WAY past). We have also seen people be approved in as little as 3 weeks. Please pray that there are no mistakes with our papers in our file, and that they are correct and pleasing to the PGN attorneys who will be reviewing them. After PGN approval, the final adoption decree is signed(which makes the adoption final and legal, and most importantly means Kinsey is OURS!), her new birth certificate is issued in our last name, final medical exam/2nd and last DNA appt, and finally the PINK slip is issued which is our Embassy appointment to pick up Kinsey and bring her home forever! Please join us in praying for our file to just fly through PGN....

PGN!!! Let us in!!!!

That is the chant we have been singing the past several days. We did not get an update yesterday from our attorney. It doesn't mean we are not already in, it just means we don't know about it. It has been 1 week since we got pre-approval. I hope we are already in. Every part of the wait seems to get harder. I would hate to see what it will be like when we are out of PGN waiting for the last few documents to be finished. I guess that time is nearing though....

We have Pre-Approval

Oh my goodness, I can't believe it. After 48 days of waiting, we received pre-approval from the US Embassy. This means we can now be submitted to PGN. This is the last major step in the adoption process. We are so excited. Praise God for his wonderful hand in this adoption. Pray that we have a speedy PGN wait so we can bring our little Kinsey girl home. Pray that all the families have a speedy process too. I pray that no matter where you are in the process that you will find peace with God and he will provide........

To Kainen

Kainen has mentioned several times lately how he misses Kinsey. When I showed him what I had made for him he said " That is not going to make me happy!" I asked what would( thinking he wanted a snack because it was right after school). He said "THe only thing that will make me happy is having her here!!" and then gave me a big kiss and said thanks mom.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Picture Day

We received our new update pictures from our agency today. She is such a doll and we can't wait to see her again! We noticed right away that her little ears were pierced. We have heard that it is something they do sort of like tradition in their culture to do it at a young age. Which is fine, the younger the better probably. Hopefully just a couple more weeks until we get our embassy preapproval and can enter PGN-which is the last major step. Please join us in praying that PA's start coming out faster. Later...

Our Anniversary/ Kinsey 5 months old

8 years ago today Daniel and I were married. It was a rainy/cold day. Much like it is right now here. We grew up together in the same elementary school and then started dating in high school. He is my best friend, I still get butterflies in my belly when we have a "night out" by ourselves. He is a great father and I am grateful to have embarked on this adoption journey with him. This process has brought us even closer than before. I love you babe! Today is also Kinsey's 5 month birthday. It is sad that she is growing and getting older without us, but I guess that means we are getting closer to bringing her home. We miss you Kinsey girl.

Out of Family Court? Check!

Yes, We get to mark another step off of our adoption checklist. We received notice that we are out of family court as of Feb 18th. This is great news. Now we are waiting for Pre-Approval still from the US Embassy. This is taking an average of 60 days and we are on day 40. Pray that they speed things up for everyone in the process. In October of last year it was taking an average of 17 days to get PA. It is frustrating when you know it can take so much less time than 60 days. Anyway, it is good to know we are almost there.......

Family Fun Day

We had our Family Fun Day again today. We took Kainen to lunch then went and played black light miniature golf. Dad of course won, but not by much. Kainen and mommy were just a few putts behind. Here are a few pics from the day.

Happy Valentines Day!

I hope everyone has a Happy Valentines Day with their sweeties!!!!!!

Checked on Kinsey

We called Lilian our FM last night to check on Kinsey. There was a horrible connection and we had to call a total of 3 times to talk. She said Kinsey was watching tv. That cracks me up! We noticed on our visit trip that she would look at the tv whenever it was on. At one point we turned it off so we could get her attention. She said that Kinsey acted like she missed us when she got home with her. That is always nice to hear. We probably spoiled her! She took her to an ENT doctor for a stuffy nose last week. She is on some allergy medicine for 1 month. She said she weighed 14 lbs. She keeps growing and growing. She is now able to lay on her belly and lift her head up high she said. She could do that on the visit trip but she did not like it much. Maybe she is giving her more belly time. Anyway, not much else going on. No news for 2 weeks now. Still waiting to get PA and out of family court. Have a great day! Today is family fun day at our house.

I have been tagged.....

.... by Sandy www.jsburnette.blogspot.com/ I met her through out adoption agency. We are both nurses and have a love for children and being mothers. I love checking her blog and watching her kids grow.

The rules are to link the person who sent this and leave a comment on their blog so their readers can visit yours~Post the rules on your blog~Share 7 strange/weird facts about yourself~Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and link their blog~Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

O.K. here goes. I honestly don't usually do these, but what the heck. It seems with all this waiting I don't have much more to do. 7 weird things about me.......'

1. I am one of those people you don't want to get behind in the grocery store. I am obssessive about sales and use tons of coupons. I also do my homework before I go to the store and "comp" prices from other stores. Hey, I only spend $100.00 every 2 weeks. So it is worth it to me.

2. Chocolate is a food group of mine. I MUST have it everyday.

3. I am amazed at how wonderful my front loading washer is so I label my laundry detergent for the date I open it to see how long it lasts. The last big container of ERA lasted 8 months.

4. I hate when people don't do their job. It doesn't matter what the case may be. If everyone did what they were suppose to, I would be a happy person.

5. I am a very scheduled person. If I lost my day planner I wouldn't know to get up in the morning. My life is in that book. People that just have no sense of what day it is or time it is drive me crazy!!!!! Sometimes I wish I could be more like that.

6. I am a human phone book, Tell me a phone number once and I will remember it. My husband used to make fun of me until he needed a number a few times.

7. Last thing about me is I can't wait to be a mother to 2. I have longed for so long for my son to have a sibling and soon it will happen. You picture how you think your life should be and God has a different plan. I am so in love with the thought of having a noisier house, toys everywhere, and more laundry to do. That ERA may not last as long when Kinsey comes home.

Well, I can't tag 7 people because I don't even read that many and a few I read have already been tagged. So I did tag....

http://gfivefam.blogspot.com/

http://journeytoavagrace.blogspot.com/

Kinsey girl is 4 months old!

We miss you baby girl. Can't wait to come get you and bring you home forever.

DNA is 99.99% a match!!

Well, we got home monday night around midnight and yesterday we had family over all day visiting with us. Today we both returned to work, so now that I am home I thought I would post a few pics. I know several friends and family members are ready to see some new pictures. We absolutely had a blast. It was the best thing ever and I did surprisingly well about leaving. All 3 of us have had our moments. She is an angel. Very passive and content. We can't wait to go back and pick her up. Now we are going to work on her room. We wanted to save that for when we returned home that way we had something to keep ourselves occupied. We did receive DNA results in the mail yesterday. That was nice. Kinsey and her brithmother's DNA match, so now we are on to the next step which is waiting for Pre-Approval from the US Embassy. That can take an average to 40-50 days. We are already 7 days waiting bacause the embassy actually received the results before we did one week ago. Yeah!! Only approx 40 more days to go. We are slowly making process. Enjoy the pictures.

Last full day in Guatemala

Well, this is the last full day in Guatemala. Tomorrow we will have to hand Kinsey back to Lilian at 10am, and won't get to see girl again til our pick-up trip. So today we plan on hanging out at the pool, watching some football and kissing Kinsey until she can't take it anymore. Last night she went to bed at 7:30pm, woke up at 1am and 6am for a bottle. She still never cried, just sucked real hard on her right hand. I am not able to post anymore pics until we get home so you will have to enjoy the few I was able to post. I'm gonna go play with the kiddos. BYE!!!!

Back from Antigua

We took a taxi to Antigua today. Kinsey is SUCH a GOOD baby. With all of the walking, riding and the hot weather I was sure she would be fussy at some point. Nope! Not even when she needs changed or she is hungry. We have learned her personality some and that is sooooo neat. We have met nothing but nice people here in Guat. No matter where we have went, great people are there, even if we speak NO spanish. Here are some pics from today

We are here having a blast!!!!

We are finally here, we arrived to the hotel at 1:30pm and got Kinsey at 2pm. I cried my eyes out. We were so running on adrenaline due to getting up at 2:45am to catch the flight. She is such a passive baby. She did not cry until 7pm last night and that was because I put her in a bath that was not warm enough and she quivered her little lips. I felt horrible. Lilian her fostermother is wonderful. Her niece was with her and you can see how much they care for her. She is like clockwork, she eats every three hours but does not cry when she is hungry she sucks on her right hand. She slept from 8:45pm t0 6am without a night feeding. WOW! That would have been great except for the fact we were like new parents again checking on her every 2 seconds to make sure she was ok. She has a lot of nasal congestion. No drainage, just congestion. She really is noisy when she eats. I hope it is just a cold. If she is in a deep sleep you can't hear it. Anyway, we are going to get some breakfast. We will post again soon.

Bye Bye cold weather!!!!! Hello Kinsey!!!!!!

Yes this will be my last post until we arrive in Guatemala City. We are heading to Danny's brothers tonight because we have to be at the airport at the wee hours of the morning to catch our flight and he is going to drive us there. Everything is packed. There were a few things I couldn't fit in the suitcases, but that is ok. It is suppose to get down to -3 degrees one night that we are gone, so I am excited to miss all the cold weather. We can't wait to post new pics of our sweet baby girl. Kainen cannot wait to hold her standind up. THat is all he talks about. He thinks he is big enough to carry her around the room. We will see about that........Bye for now!!!!!

Good news after all

Well just when I thought it was another ordinary day. We got word that our DNA testing was done on January 8th. We thought it may have been the same day as the Birthmother interview on Dec. 26th, but we were wrong. So we should get results in 2 weeks or so and then we will officially be waiting for PA. PA stands for Pre-approval. That is when the U.S. Embassy approves you to move forward with the adoption process. Just another step to the many to get Kinsey home. It takes anywhere from 3-6 weeks. The average has been about 40-50 days right now.

Not much news today

Not much is going on. Did not get an update this week from our attorney. Still in family court and awaiting our DNA results. Maybe this week we will get them in the mail. I started packing Kinsey's suitcase. At first I thought Kainen and her could share one, but after sitting on the thing to get it shut I don't think that will be happening. THe girl has way to many outfits, dresses and shoes for a 4 day trip. Oh well. A girl needs her clothes! I am going to shop for some last minute items today after I send Kainen to school. I have been working every other day for the past week plus I got the stomach bug on tuesday and didn't get anything done. So today is the day to be productive.

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!

We just received these pics from our Fostermother today. It is great to know she is making an effort to send us pictures of our precious angel. She is beautiful and can't wait to get my hands on her.

Happy Birthday! Our Princess is 3 months old.

I can't believe Kinsey is 3 months old. Time goes by quickly. In this case, I guess it is good because that means we are closer to getting this adoption process completed. We had a wonderful christmas. I love spending time with our families. Kainen had a great time, except for the fact that we got woke up at 5:30AM christmas morning. I didn't think those early mornings happened until they are older! Oh well, it made for a long day. But, it is amazing what you can get done by getting up at 5:30 in the morning. I had the wrapping paper picked up, breakfast made, the kitchen cleaned up and a load of laundry done all by 7am. Maybe I should get up early more often. We thought of Kinsey several times yesterday. I'm sure she had a great christmas. She probably slept, ate, slept and ate. Anyway, I hope everyone had a great holiday.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

We are in Family Court

We got word today that we are in Family Court. This is just another step to the adoption process. Some of you will understand and some not. Just know that we are SLOWLY making some process. Of course we celebrate during every little step.

2nd Call to our Fostermom

We called our fostermother last night to check on Kinsey. We were hoping to hear that DNA had been taken or that she knew when the appointment was, but she has not had it done nor did she know the appt date. Quite a disappointment. I did find out that she is 10lbs 8 oz now and has only worn the clothes we sent one time because she is growing into the next size ( 3-6months) wow. And I was worried she was going to be this itty bitty petite thing. She probably likes to eat like her Momma, hee!hee! We can't wait to get out hands on her. Lilian also said she has been taking pictures of her with the disposable camera and she took one of her in her christmas sleeper by the christmas tree. I can't wait to see that one.

Santa, I want a skateboard!

We took a field trip to see Santa with Kainen's class and he told him he wanted a skateboard. Last I talked to Kainen, he wanted a Lego fire station. Boy how they change their mind. Thanks Santa for also stopping by Mamaw's house too. Maybe there is room under her tree for a skateboard.....

We have DNA authorization!

Yes, that is right! We got DNA Authorizaion yesterday. We waited approx. 6 weeks. I was getting a little nervous. We also got the email that our POA was registered in Guatemala. That is a sigh of relief too. We will keep you updated........ Come on family court!!!!!!!!

Visit trip to see Kinsey

We have planned a visit trip to see kinsey January 18th-21st. We are very excited and hope by that time we have heard some news on our progress. No news is good news right? Well, that is what I keep telling myself. I know in God's perfect time everything will fall into place. I can't wait to hold her and kiss her and of coarse dress her up in PINK.... I have always had blue in the house. Pink will be a nice change. Kainen is going to go with us this time. He is very excited to see his little sister. Hope to post some news soon. Bye for now.

New Pics of our Kinsey

Here are the November pictures of Kinsey. We received them today. This is what I needed to end a week of waiting for news on our process and got nothing. Still waiting on DNA, but I'll take pictures of our daughter instead. She definetly brought a smile to our face.

Kainen's Build A Bear trip

We took Kainen to build a bear workshop to make his baby sister a bear. He picked a bunny for her, and picked the monkey for himself. Of coarse he had to have all the Colts attire to go with "Marvin" the monkey. We then ate at the Cheesecake Factory and snuck in a stop at Babies R Us to buy Kinsey a little something. It was a great family night out.

Our baby girl is 2 months old....

Happy 2 month birthday Kinsey Avan. Daddy, Mommy and Kainen love you and can't wait to see you.

We called our Foster Mom Lilian

Yes it is true. We called last night from our translator's home around 7pm. It was 6pm in Guatemala. She was excited to hear from us. She said Kinsey is 7.5lbs now. That is great considering she was a tiny 5lbs at birth. She gets up at 8 am and takes a bottle and bath then sleeps most of the day except for short awake time of 1/2 to 45 minutes throughout the day. She is taking 4oz every 3 hours. She goes to bed at 9pm and wakes up at 3 and 6 for a bottle. Her next doctor appt is Nov 25th. It was exciting to get an update from Lilian the fostermother because we are usually stalking our computer waiting for an update from our agency. It was more fun hearing it from the woman who is taking care of her. Lilian said Kinsey was sleeping when we called. Boy, I wish I could of just heard her little cry or some noise. Thats ok though. Soon enough.......

Fish Fry was a success

The Fish Fry was Saturday to raise money for our adoption. It was a huge success. I can't even express in words how thankful and blessed we are to have so many people support us. God has his hands in this 100%! Some are askin about the next step in the process. We are waiting to get DNA authorization and enter family court. DNA can take 2-8 weeks and our case could be in family court 6-12 weeks. We will keep you all posted on every little update we get. Thanks again for your support.

Kinsey Avan Maria Reyher

We gave her a name. She is now Kinsey Avan Maria Reyher. We have posted her pics for all to see. We will keep you posted.

Our baby girl has arrived

We got the call today at 1:15 pm that we have a baby girl. She was born Sept 26th weighing 5lbs 8oz at her 2 week check up, at this time do not know her actual birth weight. We will get her info and her pictures tomorrow. We will keep you posted on an officail name.

We are thrilled........

Dan and Britt

It's raining referrals...

We have had so many referrals the past several weeks. Congrats to all!!!!! Everyone is moving on up the girl list.

More Girls....

My coordinator had called me this past week and said there were lots of girl referrals to give out. Congrats to all who received there call this week..Keep them coming.

Maybe some good news......

We are not due until december to get our referral. My coordinator called out of the blue today to check on us. She feels confident things will be fine and we may get a referral before November 30th. THat would be awesome. I will post more updates as they come.

Please help our children!!!!

This past week has been full of bad news for adoptive families. The president of Guatemala is trying to put a stop to adoptions as of January 1, 2008. Please help us keep them going by signing this petition. Please keep all of the families that are currently waiting to bring their children home in your prayers. God can work wonders if he hand our burdens to him..........

http://www.petitiononline.com/foafoa1/petition.html

Casting Crowns - Praise You In This Storm

Here is a song that is helping us get through this tough time of not knowing what the future holds.........

Lots of babies

Yippee! We seen lots of referral action this week. Boys and Girls. We had 4 girl referrals this week.... Congrats to all teh families who received their children......

Kainen's 1st day of school in August

We are family..............

My husband and I have been married since 2000 and have a biological son who is 5. After 3.5 years of infertility, we have started the adoption process.

Big Brother sending dossier to Evansville

Hello, We have decided to start this site so our friends and family can go and look up the process of our adoption. We are now on the waiting list for a baby girl from Guatemala. We have been on it for 4 weeks and have several more weeks to go. The wait is approx 16-18 weeks. Keep us in your prayers that it will come quickly......