Bunk Beds

We are definitely ready for Wendy Kate to come home now . . . . we finally have bunk beds for the girls!! Meg is thrilled (but "a little scared about falling off the top bunk")! Since we were pulling out all the furniture (we got a bigger dresser too), and because Meghan had been begging me to change the color of her walls (she HATED the beautiful shade of pastel pink I had so lovingly chosen before her birth) - we decided to repaint everything. . . . .and boy is it different! It's like a pink explosion!! Definitely not my taste in colors, but Meghan LOVES it! I figured that I got to have my favorite pink on the wall for 7 years - so I'll give in and let her pick (somewhat). :) Now comes the fun part of putting everything back in the room and organizing it so there is equal space for Meg's and Wendy's things, and then decorating the walls (pictures, etc).

Meg got to decide what colors went where on the furniture (the panels come out and can flip over to a different color - pink, purple, green or white). Her drawers are the pink and white ones, and Wendy has the purple and green. :) She insisted on green at the top of the mirror too. I asked her several times if she was SURE she wanted green up there . . . "not pink or purple?". Yep - she wanted green. I then spent forever unscrewing (and re-screwing) about a dozen screws on the back of that piece and got the green "just right" (the holes were not wanting to match up). Meg came in an hour later and said "GREEN?! I didn't want GREEN up there!" . . . . oh yes you did Chica! :) I reminded her of her adamant stance on the green panel earlier. Her response - "Oh yeah. That's right. OK green is fine." . . . . . . she is definitely ALL girl! Fickle as they come!! :)

Here are a few pics of the furniture and paint choices. :)

All that to say . . . I'm keeping myself plenty busy as we wait for word on our adoption. Last we heard the lawyer was trying to get a new birth certificate to submit us to the Embassy for Pre Approval (PA). That was over a week ago. As of tuesday we have been in PGN (the Atty General's Court) for 2 weeks. No news on that front either - though I really wouldn't expect to hear anything till around 6 weeks. That seems to be the earliest people are getting out or getting Kicked Out (KO'd or also called getting a Previo). So - probably mid- May sometime. I've got enough to keep me busy till then too. Meg's b-day is the 5th - and once I get her room together, I need to plan a party. :) We have other family b-days in May too. Then the end of the school year comes - with all the SOL's, final projects, parties, gifts for teachers, etc. :) June is actually in my mind already. So . . . . when will Wendy Kathryn come home???? . . . . . . In God's timing! Until then - I'll keep trusting God's plan and try to get a few things done around here!

Blessings to you all!

Lori :)

Happy Birthday Wendy!

Feliz Cumpleaños a tu. Feliz Cumpleaños a tu. Feliz Cumpleaños a Wendy . . . . . . . . . ¡Feliz Cumpleaños a tu!

Happy Birthday my darling! I wish we could be there to celebrate with you TODAY. But I'm glad we got to celebrate with you last week. Hope you enjoyed your birthday party! We are looking forward to many more to come! We love you a ton!

Te Amamos,
Mami y Papi

Videos from Visit Trip

Here are a couple short video segments that I took with my digital camera. I'm not sure why they look so bad - but I'm sure it has something to do with YouTube and not my camera. :) They looked fine on there. (I didn't really know if I would be able to upload them all by myself - but I did it!) I'll have to get J to upload a few short segments of our 1&1/2 hour video of our trip when he gets the chance. I have a few other shots - but I accidentally recorded them sideways. Oops. I was taking a picture of her vertically - and then decided to record it . . . but you can't rotate the video! Duh! Oh well.

Enjoy!
Lori :)


WENDY SWINGING 4/7/07



SHE SPEAKS! 4/10/07



BELLS RING IN ANTIGUA, GUATEMALA 4/12/07

Pictures of our visit trip!

Here are "some" pics of our visit trip to see Wendy April 6th through the 13th. :) I say some . . . but you'll find there's alot! I took around 700 pictures though - so be thankful I didn't show them all to you!! :) Some pics were of the other kids at the orphanage and, of course, a lot of other shots of Wendy! :)

Enjoy!
Lori :)

Trip to Guatemala

This was Easter day! She LOVED the dress, shoes and sweater we brought her (just like her sister's)!

Our Visit and PGN

Well - we are home from our week-long visit with Wendy! I am so thankful for the ammenities here in the US! :) Despite some frustrations with certain aspects of our visit - we are so thankful that we got to spend a week getting to know our beautiful daughter! She will fit into our family just perfectly! She has a similar sense of humor as my other kids (esp the youngest 2), is girly yet can be a tomboy, sweet, very smart, happy, easy-going and obedient. We couldn't have picked a better child for our family. God really knew what He was doing!

As for what we did all week. . . .there is too much to tell . . . . we had a b-day party for her (she'll be 3 this week), played with bubbles, sidewalk chalk, colored with crayons, painted finger and toenails, went for walks, looked at the pigs, played on the playgrounds, read "libros", danced, kicked a ball around, made candy necklaces and bracelets, went for wagon rides and more!
We were called "Mami y Papi" all week . . . by ALL the kids. :) We finally had to start telling the other kids to call us Lori and Heremias (spanish for Jeremy) as I didn't want Wendy to be confused and think we were just visiting workers or were not really just HER parents. Hopefully she got it. :) She was a bit sad when we were not there one day (we got away for a few hours to visit Antigua and go out to eat), and seemed a bit sad that we were leaving. But we promised her we would return soon to bring her home. I hope she's doing ok and knows we will be back. We love her so much! Jeremy was the one who cried when leaving . . . which, of course, made me tear up as well. It happened on the plane when we saw other couples bringing their kids home with them. :( One day . . . hopefully soon, it will be our turn.
The caretakers said they will start talking more in English with Wendy (and another boy about to be adopted) so that she will be able to say more in English when we get her. She understands alot of English, but she doesn't really speak it - unless she is just repeating what you said.

I will hopefully upload some of the 700 pictures I took for you to check out. Maybe even a video snippet or two. Be patient with me though as I have been trying to get settled here again - and J had to leave on business this week - so it may be a little while before I get things uploaded. Sorry. Don't worry - I won't post all 700 . . . maybe only 650. :) hee,hee.

While we were down there, our agency called and left a message for us to call them when we got back. I was worried that it might not be good news as they didn't send an email about it. I finally got ahold of them today and it is, thankfully, good news . . . .

WE ARE IN PGN!!

The possible bad news is that we were submitted before we got our PA (preapproval) from the US embassy. By doing it this way the PGN reviewer can start looking over our papers while we wait for PA. However, it means that we will most likely get KO'd (kicked out) at some point for not having our PA with our paperwork. But hopefully, by that point, we will have our PA and we can resubmit right away (barring any other problems we need to fix). We've been told that they need a new BC (birth cert) for Wendy to submit us for PA as hers had expired on the 13th (though, I thought it was just certified in Jan?? Who knows). So - once they get that - then we can be submitted for PA (which has been taking 4-6 weeks lately). Once we resubmit it (and anything else that needs to be fixed) to PGN - it could possibly take another 6 weeks - or more - or less. Who knows. It all depends on the reviewer.

So here's our prayer requests:

1. For Wendy to be ok with our absence and to know that we are returning for her soon.

2. For a very speedy and efficient PGN reviewer!

3. For our paperwork to be submitted for PA very soon (need that BC!) and for a fast PreApproval!

4. For continued provision with the remaining money needed for the adoption.

Thank you all for your prayers for us. God had mercy on us on Sunday as we (me and the 4 kids) were taking Jeremy to the airport! Amazingly, the cars in front and behind us were spaced about 3-4 car lengths from us when a truck to our right (and about a car lenth or two ahead of us) started fishtailing (it was pouring down rain) and then started spinning headfirst towards us. We slammed on our brakes as he did two 360 degree spins across the 3 or 4 lanes on the highway in front of us and amazingly enough ended up facing forward and still moving forward without crashing into the median!! Wow! God had mercy on his life that day as well!! It was like a crazy car scene from a movie! Within minutes there were cars all around us again. I am amazed that there was all that space around us and the truck at just the right time! That was definitely God!!! I have been soooooo thankful to not only be alive today, but not even injured! Praise God for another day to live!! Our lives can end when you least expect it - and God awakened me (and hopefully that other man) to the fact that each day I have here is a total gift!! :) Of course - the kids had to say "I hope mom can take care of us while dad is gone" as we left the airport (I had been the one driving) . . . as if that possible crash was all my fault! Ha! Little do they know how I protected and saved them from possible injury by my excellent driving skills in an emergency!! :) It wasn't a "woman driver" who almost caused that accident!! :) hee,hee.

Blessings on you and your family today! Be grateful and enjoy this gift of life you have been given today! I hope and pray that each of you know (and are excited about) where you would end up if this was your last day. If not - let me know . . . . . we need to talk! I know where I'm headed . . . . . but hopefully not for a looooooonnngggg time! :)

Lori :)

4 Weeks . . . and 3 days!

Yes folks - it has been 4 weeks since we (supposedly . . . I mean. . . . hopefully) entered Family Court. I was hoping that we would be out by now as I know they didn't have to interview the birthmom or do DNA. But - I guess not. This week is Holy Week (Palm Sunday through Easter), so many things slow down or shut down for all the festivities. So - I'm not sure if we will hear much this week or not. We'll see. One can hope.

3 Days!!! Yes - that's right . . . only 3 days till I am snuggling with my little girl - Wendy (Kathryn) Elizabeth!!! (still not sure if Kathryn will be her first or middle name . . . as of late - it's looking like it may be a middle name. stay tuned though . . . )

Jeremy and I are very excited to see our beautiful daughter in person - to get to know her and for her to get to know us. Pray that it all goes well - our flights, our visit, etc. I know it will be odd for her - and I don't want her to think we are leaving her (for good) when we have to leave next week to come home. Pray that, even at her young age, she will understand somewhat.

Also - please pray for Wendy Kate's housemom. She is having surgery on April 10th - on her back. Pray for her safety and quick recovery, and especially for her husband - who, obviously, doesn't want anything to happen to his wonderful wife! They are in charge of 18 kids in the "baby house" (along with a couple missionaries) - so it will be a challenge to not have the housemom being able to do anything for a month and then only light duty for a few months after that. I know they covet your prayers. Thanks so much!!!

Blessings to you all and your families today! We are so grateful for you and your prayers! Keep praying for a "speedy" process for the rest of this adoption! Thank you!

Lori :)