Welcome Home

Paula's first airplane ride went nicely. She had her apple juice while the plane took off and fell asleep before her bottle was finished. She woke up a while later, smiling, but needing to be changed. We had a grumpy seatmate in the aisle who wouldn't change seats so that we wouldn't have to climb over him so much, so we made sure the next time we needed a bathroom (not even an hour later...we usually never use the bathroom on planes!) we climbed over him again! This time, a couple a row ahead of us, offered to switch so we could have the aisle and middle seat. They felt bad that we had to climb over someone with a baby in our arms.

The rest of the flight went smoothly, and when it was time to land, Paula fell asleep again!

Once we landed, we changed Paula into her coming home outfit, which she is wearing in the photos. We went through customs, and then picked up our luggage and were greeted by both sets of Parents. Paula rode home with her mommy and Grandma and Grandpa (Jennie's side) because they had a car seat, and Paul rode home with the luggage and his parents. Paula didn't know if she liked her car seat, as they did not have them in Guatemala, but by the end of the ride, she was almost sure she liked it.

Mom and Dad had picked up some subs from our local Italian Deli for snacks (and our dinner) when we landed. Boy were they good and it felt great to eat an American meal again! We all enjoyed Paula's first night in her new home!

Our Day in Antigua with FTIA friends

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Let us start by saying, if anyone is planning a trip to Antigua, do not hesitate to give Alfredo and Claudia a call. If you need their contact info, just ask us for it. They are the best! We toured all day with fellow FTIAers, Beth and her sweet baby Stefani (along with Beth's parents Marv and Alice) and Terri and her little girl, Amelia. We had a great time and are so glad that we found the time to make a trip to Antigua! Little Paula was so good on the trip to Antigua. She babbled and giggled the whole trip there and back. We had a great day and met new friends along the way also.

Gotcha Day!!!

Hi all!

Well we're a day late posting this, but it's been a very busy few days and we're usually too tired to do much but enjoy Paula and then go to bed fairly early at the end of the night. I'm staying up a little late to get our news posted, since tomorrow we will be spending the day in Antigua and then we need to pack to come home and I'm not sure if we will have time to post.

Our day started out at 5am taking showers and getting the three of us ready for Gotcha Day! That's the day that we go to the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City and sign many forms, answer questions about our adoption process, and then sit around waiting. Our appointment was scheduled for 7:15, but we didn't get out until almost 11:30. After a long wait, our name was called to come to another window and then we had to take an oath that everything we have said about the adoption and about us is true, we had to answer a few more questions, and then are told that we can leave and come back on Thursday after 3:30 to pick up our daughter's Passport and Visa.

We shared a fun Gotcha Day dinner with a couple from Pennsylvania and their baby boy and then took photos together. After dinner, it was upstairs to get in touch with home, and then it was time for bed.

More photos will be posted in the days to come, but for now, enjoy the ones I've included.

Finally in our arms forever-we're not letting her go!

Monday Update (a few days late!)

Monday at noon, Rafael and Vilma, along with her son Leonardo and Rafael's son Diego, brought Paula to the hotel for our pick-up trip. We enjoyed a visit in our hotel room, which was more private than the lobby. We asked many questions about our daughter's schedule, which Rafael translated for us and talked for a while.

After walking everyone downstairs and watching them go, we went back to our room, where we fixed her lunch, as she was telling us it was time to eat! She enjoys eating anything...she is not a picky eater at all so far! Her first meal with us was Gerber Baby Apples (Manzana) and then she wanted her bottle! She's a hungry girl!

She napped after lunch, as it was a busy morning for her. Then we took a walk and showed her off! Dinner that night was right in the hotel, room service, as by dinnertime, she was a little fussy.

All in all, she's adjusting to us very well.

We're here, safe and sound

Hi all,

After a long day, we are finally relaxing at our hotel and getting ready to turn in early (our day began at 3am to get ready for our flight, which left at 7:45am.) Once we finally arrived in Guatemala, we checked in to our hotel. The hotel is close to the action in town and clean, so we're happy. Especially when we almost didn't get a room, as most hotels we checked did not have any vacancies.

We walked to the supermarket today and picked up some things we know that Paula will need (and a few things that we felt we would like to have in our hotel room, such as soda and water.) We also did some exploring and had a really nice dinner at a local steak house. We each had steak, wonderful sides (plaintains, fried plaintain chips, and rice and beans, garlic bread, and some great toppings for the steak). It was REALLY delicious! We also ordered dessert to go and brought it back to the hotel for later on...had a taste of it before putting it away...Tres Leches Cake...yummo!

It's a small world...we already ran into someone from our agency on the flight to Guatemala...their appointment is Tuesday morning and ours is Wednesday.

Well I'm going to sign off now, as I'm falling asleep as I'm typing this...I'm so excited knowing that tomorrow Paula will be ours and we won't have to leave her at the end of our week...this time she can come home with us!

I'll write more tomorrow :)

We're Tickled PINK!!!!!!!!!!!!

I received the shock of my life yesterday when I checked my email (I
happened to be on the phone w/our adoption coordinator asking a question about paperwork and started the conversation with "I'm not calling about PINK, no word on that yet" and before hanging up happened to check for new messages and there was our PINK message.)

I then called my husband to tell him, but was so hysterical that he couldn't
understand what I was saying. He thought something had happened to me, which made him upset. I finally was able to tell him that nothing was wrong, that everything was very good. That OUR DAUGHTER WAS COMING HOME!!!!

Next was a call to my mom and then telling my boss and everyone at work.

The original plan for the evening was to get the border up in the baby's room. My Aunt Marie and my friend Dawn were in charge of that. Learning that Paula would be home VERY soon made it very important to get the room done ASAP and the two of them worked like dogs to get it done.

It turned into a "Border Hanging Party" and we had a Champagne Toast and then Mom's Homemade Chili for dinner with Peach Pie ala mode for dessert! Yummo - a great way to celebrate the news! My parents were there, along with Dawn and Aunt Marie. We all can't wait until she comes home to us forever!

While the border was being worked on, Paul and I booked our flight and then our hotel. We had a little scare when we realized there weren't vacancies in any of our Top 5 Hotel Choices. But we found one that seems to be nice and we are hoping for a good pick-up trip!

Oh, and for those who are wondering what "PINK" means or if someone having a boy "gets blue", Pink is when the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala gives us an appointment to come to Guatemala and bring our daughter home. We will be interviewed on Wednesday August 13th and get to pick up her papers on the 14th. The reason they call this step "pink" is because of the slip of paper that it is issued on (although we get it through email.) Also, adopting a boy does not mean you "get blue"...you still get PINK :)

Well that's enough for now...I need to get off this computer and pack!

Even Closer Yet

Jennie and I just found out today that our 2nd DNA arrived at the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City, today, Mon Aug 4 2008 at 4:06PM. This is the final step and we are just waiting for our pink sheet, which will come to us through email, and then we can go to Guatemala to pick up Paula. Jennie and I, and our families, are very excited that little Paula will be home soon...FOREVER!!!!!

Please, keep praying for us that we receive a speedy pink, which we have been told should come sometime this week.

Thank You, everyone, for your support through our process!

It's getting closer!!!!

After not checking our email since Saturday afternoon, I was surprised to find an email from our adoption coordinator at our agency when I checked our email tonight. Last night, at almost 7pm, we heard that Paula's DNA results have been sent back to the Embassy in Guatemala. They should arrive Monday at 6pm, but the Embassy will already be closed, which means that by Tuesday, hopefully they will have the results, which means that by the end of the week or the beginning of next week, we should have our Embassy Appt and will need to make our plans to travel.

I can't believe it's almost over...Paula is almost home!!! Forever!

Hip Hip Hooray!!!!!!!!