Samuel's here

I have thought of so much to share, but to be honest I am so tired right now.

I didn't sleep much last night in anticipation.

We met Samuel around 1pm.....I held him and he took a bottle and then fell right asleep while the translator went over our Embassy appt. The foster mom held him while he slept.

She and her daughter were fighting back tears.

For the most part he has done great. He is so much more interactive, playing with toys, etc.

After about 2 hours of play and calm, he started crying and was hard to comfort.

He did have some baby food from a jar and then a bottle. He then slept another half hour and now is doing great again. Hopefully he will sleep well.

He loves this one toy that has a mirror on it, he keeps putting his face to it as though he is kissing the baby in the mirror. Very fun to watch.

well, here are a few pics- probably what most of you want to see. We don't have a ton yet, which i guess makes sense giving we have mostly been staring at him!!

Thanks for praying for us!!

I have asked Bob and Sue to be guest posters- so look to be hearing from them soon.

melanie

We are here....

Just a quick note to say we are here!!

We landed in Guatemala City at 9pm and are all checked into our hotel.



In approximately 13 hours we will be down in the hotel lobby meeting Samuel.



If you read this in time, please pray for his five hour bus journey Monday morning.
We will post more tomorrow- with pictures, but wanted to at least let inquiring minds know that we are here safe and sound.

Bob and Sue say "hey" and that they are glad to be here. ("Hey" is a South Carolina term!!)

Talk with you all soon.
love
melanie

Three More Nights

As Rob and I went to bed the other night, I said we only have 5 more nights of going to bed without Samuel. After that he will be with us. It will no longer be just the two of us going to bed.

And now, it is three more nights. Only Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Monday night we will fall asleep in our hotel room in Guatemala with Samuel with us. And a week from tonight, we will fall asleep in our bedroom in Seattle with Samuel in his crib close by.

And as we count down with tears, I wonder if the foster mom is also counting down. Only three more nights of taking care of this precious baby. In only three nights, his giggle won't be heard in their house.

I am so grateful for the care she has provided. She has given him a foundation. She has been his mom for almost eight months.

Someday I will tell Samuel of his three moms. One who brought life, one who cared for that life while he was a baby and one who taught him who to live that life.

My life has unfolded in a manner that I am not the one to physically bring forth life, nor the one to be giving care in the first few months. And while I will always miss those experiences, I am overwhelmed with gratefulness that I am the one who has the amazing adventure ahead of being Samuel's mom from this day onward.

Baby Shower!!!

Here are some pics from my baby shower on Saturday. It was wonderful- just remembering brings tears. I completely enjoyed the day and was able to really know that I am a mom.

Here are some of the highlights for me:

• Guatemalan decorations and food (delicious)
• Fun Game- pictures of Samuel and everyone wrote bubble captions on what he might be saying. And I was the judge to pick out my favorites.
• Hearing women tell me what characteristics they see in me that will make me a great mom and what traits they think Samuel will inherit (although I disagree with the number of people who said I was competitive- but guess I should admit my friends warned me before the shower I couldn't compete in my own shower games....and they thought I might have an issue with that)
• And my favorite- each person brought a piece of fabric and with it a prayer or wish for Samuel. My friend Kathleen is going to take the pieces of fabric and make a quilt and a quilt book. I guess the book will have a small piece of the fabric with the note. And then when Samuel's older, I can read each of the prayers to him and he can find the piece on the quilt from the little swatch next to the note.
• And two of the most precious pieces of fabric were: A piece of one of my Dad's shirts- sent by my mom. And a piece of fabric that Sue used to make pants for Rob when he was little.

Me with the beautiful flower wreath that was made for me!

The great foods and the fabric is from Guatemala and Nicaragua.

This is me with four of my friends who planned the shower. Minus Liza, who put so much time into planning although she knew she couldn't be there.

State of Guatemalan adoptions

There has been so much news in the past week regarding the future of Guatemalan adoptions. I have wanted to post about it, but have struggled to figure out how to capture all the complexities. Today, I saw that someone from the adoption community has put together a website to talk about the issues.

Please, please check it out.... http://www.5000orphans.com/

In quick summary, the day we heard we had our Embassy appt., the DOS (US Dept of State) issued a statement regarding the immediate future of adoptions from Guatemela. There has been much of this in the last months....but this one being more immediate- stating that effective 12/31/07 adoptions have the possibility of being halted. Even ones currently in process (in PGN). In the past there was talk of in process cases being grandfathered in. There are currently about 5000 in process cases- that is not only 5000 families who have already fell in love with their son or daughter- but more importantly 5000 babies who's lives hang in the balance- as talk of transition and changes occur.

We are so thankful that we are bringing Samuel home. Legally, he is our son- he has our last name and Guatemala has finalized our adoption. We are at the end of the long process- now we just have to travel and pick up his visa from the US Embassy. One the day that brought such closure and relief to us and many of you who have journeyed with us, brought chaos and fear to many waiting.

And we know so many families who are devastated as they face the possibility of not bringing their child home. And we know our own past fear and uncertainty as we would hear rumors of change. Right after we accepted our referral in Feb, our agency stopped giving referrals for a few weeks after the news that as of April 1st cases would cease. Thankfully they didn't.....but I know I had a glimpse of what mothers in process now are feeling- with more intensity than I did.

Please pray- pray for those facing such uncertainty, pray for wisdom, pray for governments, pray for all in process cases to be completed, pray for smooth transitions to a new system, pray for health and care of children who are threatned to be abandoned in the process. Samuel's future brother or sister may be impacted by these prayers. Children of our friends definitely will be.

melanie

For you to look forward to....

I was just realizing tonight that we can soon be putting pictures of Samuel back on the blog. As you may remember our social worker requested that we not have pictures on the blog until the adoption was finalized.

And now that Samuel has our last name- and from what I understand, now that the Adoption Public Deed is signed, we are legally his parents!!

But I will wait until we are there and have him in arms- and then this blog will probably turn into a photo gallery!!

Good night.
melanie

October 9th at 7:15am

On that date, Rob and I will be sitting at the US Embassy in Guatemala with our son Samuel.

We found out our date this morning.

That's about all I can type right now through my tears....it is real, he is coming home.

melanie