Grumpy Stiltskin

Visiting Santa...
Yes, my sweet, always-smiling son was none to happy with ol' St. Nick! I guess mommy didn't do the best job of timing this around his snack time. Ah well, at least he wasn't crying....he just looks really pensive to me...or maybe just gassy. ;-)

Of course, the minute we left Santa (and had some of our bottle) Kaden was all smiles for grandmother and grandaddy!!
Check out my chompers, grandaddy!! :-D So here I am, enjoying my second week as a SAHM (that's "stay at home mom" for those of you not in the biz...), and all is going well. Believe it or not, Kaden hasn't bored me yet. He's still a LOT more fun than crm development!

I know this will shock you, but I have more cute pictures of the K-man to share. But before I do, I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!

Giving Thanks...
As the holidays roll in, I can't help but think about this past year and the past few years. We all have our good days and bad days, and ,for some of us, good and bad YEARS. So maybe you're going through a tough one right now. I hope you that you will find peace and joy over the next couple weeks. I hope you will know and believe that there is a mighty God who cares for you and walks you through every trial and circumstance in life. The past few years have been tough on me and Mike in a lot of ways, but we also have so much to be thankful for....and not JUST because our son is finally home, (although, of course that's at the top of the list!) I'm so thankful for so many things this Christmas season. I thank each of you for how you have supported us this year...with your thoughts and prayers and kind words and hugs and phone calls and notes. But most of all, I thank my God. He has walked us through so many challenges and provided for us in so many ways.

This morning I was holding my son...MY SON...the son the Lord gave us....the son that was always meant to be ours, and I was in awe. Oh what joy that God has allowed me to finally be a mommy and of this sweet little boy. I can't describe how precious the last week has been to have "Daddy" come home at night to me and Kaden....to have family time, to change stinky diapers and to pray with our son. Lord, help me to remember you this Christmas, to remember how great and mighty you are and to keep my eyes fixed on you every day of my life, no matter what. I wish you all peace and true joy, no matter what life brings you.

More Pictures...
Now back to adorable and frivolous matters....Kaden and I finished decorating the tree this morning. I found the Santa hat and thought I'd try it out on Kaden. He liked it at first, but soon changed his mind....

Where did everyone go, mommy??

Why do grownups always think we babies like to wear hats??Yay! I won! No more hat for me!! Ha!

I hear sounds in the other room....its time to put more gruel down to fill my son's belly. ;-)

Kaden's Mom

Kaden's First Year and My Last Day

This weekend was emotional for me. Friday was my last day at the office. I am now a stay-at-home mom, home maker, housewife, etc...I'll be drinking mint juleps by the pool...at least that's what they tell me. However, the pool is closed down for the winter and I don't see anyone offering me a drink yet. :)

(Pictured Right: Kaden showing Fezzi the proper way to enter his doggie crate)

I'm excited to start this new chapter of life, but it was also emotional to say goodbye, pack up my desk and hand in my laptop. No more crashed servers or crm development for me. Now it's all about nap schedules and poopy diapers...and maybe I'll be able to make my husband a home cooked meal here or there. :-)

I'm very thankful I can even do this, very thankful God has provided a great job for Mike and thankful that we've been able to watch the budget through this adoption, make some cutbacks and not be in a deep, dark hole of debt now that we have our sweet boy home.

Kaden's First Year
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my son seemed to have no knowledge of my emotional state or the big change in my life. Shockingly, he was all about the cupcake!! Or the cupcake wrapper, rather...We had a great birthday party on Saturday, which was also emotional for me. Its been great having him home, but Saturday just really hit me...remembering so many ups and downs of this year, so many times we were helpless to do anything to bring him home...so many times we wondered if we would see him before he turned 1. And there he was...sitting in his high chair, gnawing on the cupcake paper and smiling at me like this was all meant to be. :-D Too bad Thanksgiving is over....I keep seeing reasons I need to fall on my knees and thank my God. (well, I guess I could do that anyway...don't need to wait until next November. ;-))

So Kaden is 1 and I'm at home. Oh, and if that wasn't enough excitement, he's whiney today!!! I mean, uh...he's cutting tooth number 9!! You can see it coming through! He's trying to be a trooper. He really is easy on this first-time-mommy. I'm hoping his pain will subside enough to take a picture with Santa tomorrow....we'll let you know how that goes. :)

And last but not least, Kaden started sporting a new hair do yesterday!! I would call it his "Doris Day" or "The Flying Nun" look, but I fear his father wouldn't approve.

Happy post-Thanksgiving-pre-Christmas to all.
Kaden's Mom :)

Thanksgiving and bath bubbles!!

I haven't had time to download video yet, but I thought these pictures were just TOO cute not to post. Believe it or not, it's a bit complicated to download, then splice our video....but I'll try to get some online when I have time....hahahahaha.
Last week we had a great time with family over Thanksgiving. My brother had so much fun playing with Kaden, he didn't mind when I volunteered him for dinner duty! And not only was Jim helpful, but Snicker too....as seen below, trying to "help" Uncle Jim feed his nephew! :)
Secondly, for those concerned about my son's hygiene, I wanted to show proof that I DO bathe him regularly, and well, the dog likes to help too...(starting to notice a theme around here?? :) )













Boy what a change! Kaden is all smiles when it comes to bath time now. That is SOOOO different from our first week together. I guess he realized he does truly love being clean. Oh, and he doesn't seem to mind when mommy gives him a funky hairdo either (shhhhh! don't tell daddy)

When a lava lamp just won't do...

I know you're probably wanting to see more pictures of our punkin' but I wanted to share more from my dad and my trek up to the Pacaya Volcano. :) In the first photo, you can see the peak of Pacaya in the background. More directly behind me you can see a smaller peak. This peak continued to spew out lava and rocks while we watched. OH and no, that's not some new hairdo I was trying out. My hair was in a tight pony tail, but the wind was so strong it still blew every which way. :)


This photo shows what we had to walk on once we neared the peak. This is dry, hardened lava. It's hard to walk on because it often crunches, it's not smooth at all, and sometimes it crunches and breaks through to lava below. Also, the wind gusts were so strong I was sure I would fall over and break a leg at any moment. Thanks to God, I was not limping due to injury the next day when I received our son! :)

I'll try to post some video of the flowing lava river next, along with some sweet sounds from our son. Now onto the Kaden update...

Kaden is such a happy boy. He continues to be easy on me and daddy. We were very sad to see Mike's mom leave on Friday but I'm sure she was happy to finally be back in her own bed....and not having to cook and clean for us!! Dad McKinley promised he would pamper her for a couple days when she returned home. I'm still waiting to hear if that happened or not! ;-)
Here are a couple more pictures from our trip, but I'll post recent ones soon too! He has a gorgeous grin and an extra dimple on his right cheek, (I'll let you guess which cheek!! ;) )
The last photo is of us cruising at the Guatemala airport gate. He was a real trooper and did very well on the flight home. :) Now he loves to fly in daddy's arms...although mommy prefers that daddy not do that RIGHT after Kaden has had lots of dinner. :)
We had a great Thanksgiving with family at my brother's house. Everyone was very welcoming to our sweet boy. Fezzi seems to be getting used to him now too...and used to sharing the limelight. Although he's also become an annoying beggar at the dinner table. I guess it doesn't help that Kaden likes to eat some food, then put his hand out so Fezzi can lick it off for him, then repeat the process. :)

El Nino!!

Yes! We're still alive and doing well! :-) I would apologize for not updating you all sooner....but it's not my fault! Our little nino seems to think I should constantly be focused on him! Sheesh! :D...well okay, he's mega-super cute, so I guess I'll allow it....for now.

Kaden is doing very well...seems to be bonding to me, especially during his whiney time. :) Here are a few pics...As you can see, my dad was an expert baby-feeder. Dad was a huge help last week. I really missed Mike but I definitely could not have done this trip by myself! I expected dad to sleep in for 3 days once we arrived back in Atlanta. However, he called the first morning....wondering where his grandson was. He already missed the sweet morning "coos". :)

Even though we were a week past Halloween, I still wanted Kaden to be my little "punkin" so here is his in his pumpkin sweat suit. He's a very good eater and enjoyed sharing the Marriott buffet with us each morning.I think most of you saw the pictures I sent of Pacaya, but in case you missed them, here's one. (I know, I know, get back to the baby already!) Behind Dad you can see the large Pacaya peak, then more directly behind him is a smaller hill/hump. We saw multiple rocks and lava flows come off of this one (you can see it's smoking in the picture). Also, about 50 feet behind dad is an actual lava river flowing.

We had a lot of fun treking up to this volcano, but I must admit it is a distant memory ever seen James Kaden McKinley was placed in my lap.

Now for a few pics since we've come home...

Thanks to Jessica Gunkel for the GREAT suggestion of a swingy thingy. Kaden loves it and it gives him great exercise! :) He's got 8 teeth and loves to eat any table food we give him. He wasn't too crazy about the green mushy baby food I tried to give him the other day...but mommy forgot to warm it up...don't think I'd want to eat cold green mush either!!

Here's a good one with Mom McKinley. She has been a HUGE help during the first week of having Kaden home. Obviously, he loves to play with his Grandma. And she seems very happy and proud to have a 7th grandson, 9th grandchild. :)

I've said it a million times before but THANK YOU so much to everyone for your prayers. Our precious child is home and he is a delight. We are so thankful to God for him and to you for all your encouragement and support. We're going to try to get into a good routine over the next few weeks, but visitors are WELCOME so please come by to play with Kaden any time. :-)

Love,
Kaden's Mom

A good day

Today is a good day. No, we didn't get pink yet, (the embassy appointment). No, we still don't know if Mike will graduate this semester, but its a good day. I feel like God has been trying to help me see that.

This year has been tough...a lot of waiting, a lot of late nights for Mike, a lot of disappointment and missed expectations, but we've had a lot of good days too. And I don't think I've been fully appreciating that.

I made a decision yesterday about the adoption. Most of the time when I think about all of our milestones, I am keenly aware of how long everything has taken, and how much LONGER everything has taken for us than many others in this process. But yesterday it hit me....that God has gotten us through every one of these steps. We're done with those steps....God got us through....they didn't happen in the timing I would have liked or expected, but they DID happen. We got the referral of a beautiful little boy, we got the dna, we got pa, we got in and out of pgn...God truly has answered our prayers.

And about the Phd too....we still don't know exactly when Mike will graduate, but he DID write his dissertation, he DID get a great job, he IS working on his defense presentation. God has answered our prayers!

So I decided yesterday that no matter when Kaden comes home, I need to trust my God. I was hoping I would get the call yesterday or today. I will be sad if I have to wait another week or two or three.....but I know that God WILL bring him home. I need to let go of all the timing that I WANT and trust Him. There's no doubt that Kaden is our son and will be coming home. God has answered every prayer and He is watching over our son right now.

Its such a "pat" thing to say sometimes....trust in God's timing....God's timing is perfect. I admit, most of the time that is not a comforting thought to me and it doesn't lessen my pain or anxiety. But for today, that is what I'm clinging too. God has proven himself faithful over and over....and how weak is my faith that everytime the timing is not what I want, I question Him and His goodness? Who am I?

So, today is a good day. The sun is shining, the sky is blue. I have a good job, my husband has a good job. We are both in good health. Mike has finished writing his dissertation. And we have a son....a wonderful son in Guatemala who will be home with us in God's perfect timing.

Today is a good day. :-)

The shower, the drought, and the Phd

The Shower!!
Finally, I have some pictures to share from our shower. My office threw us a baby shower a couple weeks ago, and BOY did they ever shower us with gifts!



Our friends Amy and Evelyn did a great job (pictured on the right), the food was delicious, the games were fun, and our baby registry is now largely fulfilled! :)


I accidentally unwrapped the jogging stroller hood before knowing we would also be unwrapping the jogging stroller. Oops!! :-)


Mike did a great job explaining the engineering aspects of the bathtub baby seat!!

The Drought!
Most of my life I have lived with a "drought" through at least parts of the long, hot summer in Atlanta. But this is the worst I've ever experienced....reports of potential water rationing, fighting over whether to cut back on water released from Lake Lanier (because if we don't we'll run out, but if we do cut back, it will endanger water life further down stream, etc...). Wow, I've been praying for rain some lately but we really REALLY need it now! Mike has offered to only take a shower once every 3 days but I'm not sure I'm willing to make that sacrifice QUITE yet. So please pray for rain in the South. We really, REALLY need it!

The PhD!
This whole year has been quite the roller coaster of ups and downs. I look back and see things I hope I never have to go through again, but I also see amazing ways that God has, and continues to provide for us. The latest with Mike's Phd is:
-He turned in his final copy to his advisor on Tuesday
-He found a replacement committee member for the one that can't serve on it.
-He hand delivered lovely, color, bound copies of his 156 page dissertation to the committee members yesterday.

Now we just need to pray and pray and pray that he passes! His defense date is set for November 7th at noon. Civilians :) are welcome to attend the presentation part which will last about 40 minutes or so. If anyone is interested to sit in on one of the geekiest presentations of your life, let me know and I'll give you more details. :)

One last item....we are still waiting to hear about when to pick Kaden up, but I think we are very likely to hear something in the next week. SO, I want to put in a plug for the airport. If anyone is in the Atlanta area and would like to meet us upon arrival, we would LOVE to see you!! Whatever day we come, the flight will arrive at 6:30 PM, then we have to go through customs, so I'm guessing we will be at baggage claim by about 7. My current guess is the first full week of November, but of course, I'll let you know when I know for sure. (I'll go out to the roof and yell for all to hear, in fact! :) )

2nd DNA!!

Did you think the first DNA was good enough? Ha!! The good news is that I don't think they've instituted a 3rd DNA test yet :-\....surely Kaden will be home before then!!

As you know, we turned ORANGE on Tuesday. We just received an update that the 2nd DNA test should happen today. Next they send off the data/specimen to a lab in the U.S. That should take a week or so, then they send the results back to the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala. After that, we should get our final appointment!!!

I hope you won't be too jealous but it looks like my dad will be going to Guatemala too!!! He has excitedly volunteered to go with me if Mike can't make it. Yes, that's what I said, it looks like Mike may not be going for the pick up trip. :( :( Maybe the rest of you had already this figured out, but Mike has SO much to do to get his Phd finished that we just don't see any way that he can go down before he's turned in the final product (11/14/07). And I am very hopeful that we'll have our appointment in the next few weeks!!! :-) :-D

On that note, please pray for Mike. He's doing well but he has to send his dissertation to the committee for review soon, then he'll be doing an oral defense around the first week of November. He hasn't been getting a lot of sleep, plus he's working full time now, but somehow he still has a smile on his face. :)

Kaden, we're coming to get you soon!!! We can't wait to hold you in our arms forever! Speaking of Kaden, we received a medical update yesterday. He is now crawling and has dropped a few ounces. I am actually relieved that he's not over 20 lbs yet...not sure my back is prepared for that! He currently weights 19 lbs 8 oz and is about 28 inches long.

Oh and last but certainly not least, some coworkers threw a baby shower for Mike and me this week! We were overwhelmed with the gifts and enjoyed the party immensely. :-) We now have a brand new jogging stroller! We also have a bumbo! (You'll have to come for a visit if you want to know what a bumbo is. ;) )

I'll post some pictures of the shower this weekend.

Love to you all! Thanks for your prayers!

Susan and Mike and Kaden.

Call to Action...

If you are able tomorrow, would you please consider contacting your local and federal legislators? Recently the Guatemala government made some announcements about becoming "Hague compliant" (The Hague treaty is an international treaty that the U.S. and other countries are requiring compliance to with regard to how adoptions are processed.) The jury is "still out" on how good this treaty is...it seems okay but I haven't studied it thoroughly. What is NOT okay is that the Guatemala government is up to their old tactics....threatening to shut down ALL adoptions no matter where they are in the process, kids will be pulled out of foster care, newly born babies will have no place to go, etc...There are currently about 5000 legal, ethical, good adoptions in process in Guatemala, just like ours!

Specifically regarding our adoption ---we should be fine. We are finished with any Guatemalan requirements at this point, just waiting for the final U.S. pieces, (although I will only really feel relieved once we're home with our boy. :) ). Even so, there are SO many families we know that are absolutely at risk. So we're asking you to speak out with us.

If you have time tomorrow or the next day, please consider letting your voice be heard. More details are below, including templates you can use for emailing, writing, or calling your congressmen. Above all, PLEASE PRAY for these children.

Sorry for the long post, but everything you need to know is below.

Joint Council Update (http://www.jcics.org/)

Program International Relations Initiative
Date September 28, 2007
Regarding Guatemala A Call to Action - REVISED
Guatemala 5000 An Overview

1. September 27th - Joint Council will provide a detailed Call to Action Plan to all Member Organizations.
2. October 1st - Member Organizations will provide the Call to Action to adoptive families.
3. October 1st to 9th -Joint Council will educate members of Congress, DOS and UNICEF on the issues. a. Joint Council will submit to Congress and UNICEF letters requesting their immediate involvement in the positive resolution of this pending crisis.
4. October 9th, 10th & 11th - Adoptive families will contact via phone/fax, Congress and UNICEF requesting that each sign the letter provided by Joint Council, forward the letter to President Berger and lend their considerable weight and influence to this effort. a. Adoptive families will participate in an email petition sponsored by Joint Council
5. October 12th to December 31st - Joint Council will monitor the response of Congress and UNICEF and issue a second Call to Action if needed.

Guatemala 5000 - Additional Joint Council Actions
1. On September 28 Joint Council will issue a letter to Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State requesting her personal and immediate involvement and to lend the full weight and influence of the U.S. government in positively resolving this pending crisis.
2. On September 28 Joint Council will issue a letter to President Berger detailing our concerns and requesting, at a minimum, the inclusion of a ‘grandfather clause which would allow all adoptions in process on January 1 2008 to be processed to completion under the existing notorial laws.
3. On September 28 Joint Council will issue letters to Ann Veneman, Executive Director of UNICEF and Manuel Manrique, Executive Director of UNICEF Guatemala requesting, based on UNICEFs stated support of intercountry adoption, their immediate assistance in ensuring that all adoptions be processed to completion under the existing notorial law.
4. On September 28 Joint Council will post on its website our statement and detailed Call to Action.
5. On October 1 Joint Council will initiate an email petition in support of Intercountry Adoption.
6. On October 9 Joint Council, in conjunction with the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, will issue a series of letters to the 187 members of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption. We are asking all members of the U.S. Congress to forward to President Berger the CCAI sponsored letter. We are also asking all members of the U.S. Congress to forward to UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman and UNICEF Guatemala Executive Director Manuel Manrique the Joint Council sponsored letter.
7. Joint Council will continue to advocate for a rollback of the date The Hague Convention goes into force in Guatemala.
8. Joint Council joined forces with the National Council for Adoption and the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute as part of our efforts. Both have agreed to publish a joint statement and to assist in garnering the support of the U.S. Congress.

Guatemala 5000 - A Call to Action Details
Following is a detailed Call to Action which we encourage all Member Organizations to distribute to their adoptive families. Joint Council successfully utilized this strategy with the Casa Quivira families and Haiti families in effecting action and a change in policy. We remain confident that we can, at a minimum, secure a grandfather clause in Guatemalan adoption policy.

GUATEMALA 5000

Dear Friends,
Guatemalan President Oscar Berger has announced plans to suspend all intercountry adoption with American families on January 1 2008. The Joint Council on International Children’s Services strongly opposes such a suspension and asks for your support in their efforts to ensure that all children retain the right to permanency through Intercountry Adoption.
President Bergers plans also call for the suspension of adoptions currently in-process. Such a suspension would be extremely detrimental to the children referred to adoptive parents. If President Bergers plan is actually implemented, up to 5,000 will unnecessarily remain in foster care or orphanages indefinitely.
This situation represents a pending crisis for the adoptive families who have lovingly chosen to provide permanency, safety and love to a child in need and most importantly a crisis for 5,000 children of Guatemala.

What can you do? Make six simple phone calls and one email.

1. Call your U.S. Senator.
- You can find your Senators phone numbers at http://www.senate.gov/
- Ask to speak with the Legislative Director or Chief of Staff

2. Call your second U.S. Senator.

3. Call your representative to the U.S. House of Representative.
- You can find your representative at http://www.house.gov/
- Ask to speak with the Legislative Director or Chief of Staff


4. Call or fax UNICEF Headquarter
- Ask to speak with Ann Veneman, Executive Director
- Their number is 212-326-7000
- Their fax number is 212-326-7758

5. Call or fax UNICEF Guatemala
- Ask to speak with Manuel Manrique
- Their number is 011-502-2327-6373
- Their fax number is 011-502-2327.6366
Please note that calls and faxes to Guatemala are international calls

6. Send and email supporting Intercountry Adoption to guatemala5000@jcics.org
- Write briefly or at length
- Joint Council will use the cumulative email petition in our advocacy for Intercountry Adoption


When should you call? Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (October 9th, 10th 11th)

For maximum affect, we are asking you to make these calls within a 72 hour window!

What should you say or write to member of the U.S. Congress? Speak from your heart and give them the following information.
A· Inform them that you are calling regarding Guatemala 5000
B· Ask them to sign the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) sponsored letter to President Oscar Berger
C· Ask them to sign the Joint Council on International Children's Services sponsored letter to UNICEF
D· Inform them that the Guatemalan government has announced that all intercountry adoptions with the U.S. will be suspended on January 1 2008.
E· Inform them that President Berger's announcement also indicated that there will be no grandfathering of adoptions already in process.
F· Inform them that if children referred to families are not allowed to be adopted, they will languish in institutions or foster care.
G· Ask that their office get involved and sign the sponsored letters to the President of Guatemala and UNICEF. These letters ask that all adoptions in-process as of January 1 2008 be allowed to process to completion under the existing notorial laws.

Sample Statement

Hello,

We are calling/writing on behalf of the Guatemala 5000 Initiative. We, as your constituents, are asking that the Senator/Congressperson add their signature to two letters. First, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute sponsored letter to Guatemalan President Oscar Berger. Second, the Joint Council on International Childrens Services sponsored letter to UNICEF.

As you may be aware, the Guatemalan government has announced that all intercountry adoptions with the U.S. will be suspended on January 1 2008. Their announcement also indicated that there will be no grandfathering of adoptions already in process. If children referred to families are not allowed to be adopted, they will languish in institutions or foster care. Your office must get involved and sign the sponsored letters to the President of Guatemala and UNICEF. These letters ask that all adoptions in-process as of January 1 2008 be allowed to process to completion under the existing notorial laws.

Sincerely,


What should you say or write to UNICEF? Speak from your heart and give them the following information.
A· Inform them that you are calling regarding the Guatemala 5000
B· Ask them to support the rights of children and lend their considerable influence to ensuring that intercountry adoptions currently in-process be allowed to process to completion under the existing notorial laws.
C· Inform them that the Guatemalan government has announced that all adoptions with the U.S. will be suspended on January 1 2008.
D· Inform them that President Bergers announcement also indicated that there will be no grandfathering of adoptions already in process.
E· Inform them that if children referred to families are not allowed to be adopted, they will languish in institutions or foster care.
F· Ask them again for their support of the Guatemala 5000 Initiative.

Sample Statement

Hello,

We are calling/writing on behalf of the Guatemala 5000 Initiative. As financial supporters of UNICEF (through our tax dollars), we are asking that UNICEF lends its support and considerable influence to the Guatemala 5000 initiative.

As you may be know, the Guatemalan government has announced that all intercountry adoptions with the U.S. will be suspended on January 1 2008. Their announcement also indicated that there will be no grandfathering of adoptions already in process. If children referred to families are not allowed to be adopted, they will languish in institutions or foster care. UNICEF must get involved and help ensure that all intercountry adoptions in-process as of January 1 2008 be allowed to process to completion under the existing notorial laws.

Sincerely,


Can you explain the problem behind the pending crisis? Here is some additional information:
A· Guatemalan President Oscar Berger has announced plans to effectively stop all adoptions into the United States including those children who have already been referred to adoptive parents
B· Over 5,000 children have been referred
C· The birthparents for these children have already relinquished their parental rights. As a result, they currently have no family and the Berger suspension will result in these children having no prospect for a permanent, safe and loving family
D· The government of Guatemala currently does not have the finances or facilities to even provide housing for these 5,000 children
E· The Berger plan is a crisis waiting to happen

What else can you do? In addition to your primary calls to U.S. Congress and UNICEF, you can call the following.

SOSEP (Guatemala)
Director Teresa Echeverría de Bastarrechea
Office Phone- 011-502-2383-8400

Assistant Director- Edin Palma- Same office phone
Office Phone- 011-502-2383-8400

Jaime Tecu
Office Phone - 011-502-2239-0000 ext 2766
Please note that calls and faxes to Guatemala are international calls

Guatemala Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Minister Gerth Rosenthal
Office Phone 011-502-2410-0000, 2410-0010

Vice Minister- Marta Altoaguirre
Office Phone 011-502-2410-0020
Please note that calls and faxes to Guatemala are international calls

PGN (Guatemala)
Carlos Victor Hugo Barrios Barahona
Office Phone 011-502-2248-3200 Ext. 207/208
Please note that calls and faxes to Guatemala are international calls

Procuraduria of Human Rights
Dr. Sergio Morales
Office Phone 011-502-2424-1717
Please note that calls and faxes to Guatemala are international calls

Embassy of Guatemala in the U.S.
2220 R Street N.W.Washington, DC 20008
Office Phone 1-202-745-4952
Office Fax 1-202-745-1908
Website: www.guatemala-embassy.org/

Lucky Number 7!!

I am delighted to report that we are now (legally) the proud parents of the 7th McKinley grandson!!! We just received word that the birth certificate was issued!!!! His legal last name is now MCKINLEY!!! Woohoo!!!!

This calls for some pictures of the cutest little Guate boy you've ever seen! (Unfortunately we haven't received any recent pics so some older ones will have to suffice).

Mike and I are heading to FL for some much needed R and R tomorrow. Yes, we have our sunscreen packed and no, I'll try not to blind anyone on the beach with my pasty white skin. :-D

The birth certificate and other docs are now in translation (from spanish back to english) and will be submitted to the Embassy next. (Pray it happens next week!!!)

Until then.....audios and have a great weekend!

Love,

Susan, Mike and Kaden

Our son is dancing??

Just a quick update today. We received word that yesterday the final Adoption Public Deed was signed by the birth mother. That is great news for US. That means she has fully relinquished her rights. He's our boy! However, I would like you to pray for his birth mother. I don't know what her life is like, but I imagine that it couldn't have been easy to give up this sweet little boy. God bless her.

We also received a medical update. Kaden is the same length as last month (72 cm) but he's gained over a pound!! Now he's 19 lbs 12 0z! :-O I better get going on those push ups! My back hurts already!! :-D We were also told that he can stand with help and he dances when he hears music! Which side of the family did he get that from?? ;-D

In other news, I think Fezzi is starting to prepare for our new arrival. I figured I better post another picture of him since before long he will no longer be the center of attention. You can already see how neglected and sad he looks. Good thing he still has his blue moose to comfort him. :)

And continuing my theme of "nieces and nephews", here is a picture of my niece Rachel with my favorite brother :-D Jim. Don't worry, I was assured that the bottle in front of Rachel is only root beer. :) But wait! There's more!! I'll post a picture of my nephews on their first day of school next.

TTFN...

OUT! OUT! OUT!!

I still can't believe its true. Our agency sent us an email yesterday afternoon saying "still in PGN", which totally depressed me. Then this morning at 9:45 AM we got the call! We're out! We're really truly OUT!!!

Praise the Lord! Thank you, God!!! :D :D :D It's peanut butter jelly time!!!!

http://emuse.ebaumsworld.com/flash/play/733/

So what does this mean, really? It means that the Guatemalan government has FINALLY approved our adoption of Kaden. What remains is some paperwork that the U.S. Embassy requires. We were told to expect to travel for final pickup in 6-8 weeks. However, I am guessing it will be more like 8 - 10 weeks (given a new step that the embassy recently added).

Wow, what a week, Mike gets a great job offer, Kaden is out, we have a new A/C (okay, well that wasn't so exciting but it's really cool in the condo now! ;-) )

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! for your prayers and support. I'm still in shock so I'm not jumping up and down yet, but I'm sure it will come soon.

Our son is coming home! Our son is really, truly, finally coming home!!! Hallelujah!!!

Mr. PGN, please let us out!!!

Would you pray for us this weekend and next week? We are, (well, okay I am), getting very weary in the wait. We're so happy for other adoptive friends who are already out and bringing their kiddies home, but we want ours too!! Today marks day 92 since we first entered PGN. :(

There's a joke on one of the forums that says after you've been in PGN for 100 days, you get to join the Copa Cobana club. Although I'm a huge Barry fan, I really thought I'd never have to consider joining. :-\ I don't even like Pina Colada's....coconut, ick!!

Specifically you can pray for:
1.) The PGN reviewers , that they are diligent and honest,
2.) "Mr. PGN"---not going to reveal his name here but he's the one that does the final signature. We are hoping/praying our document is at least on his desk by now, if not already approved.
3.) For our paperwork, that God would protect it, allow it all to be approved, no fault to be found and that we would get out today or some time very soon!
4.) For our attorney, I'll call him Mr. U. --that he would be diligent and honest and find out from PGN as soon as we're out and promptly notify our agency. (Sometimes it takes a few days for them to let the agency know, then for the agency to let the adoptive family know).

In other news, Mike is kicking into high gear on Chapter 5 of his dissertation. He hopes to plow through this weekend and get a lot done. He also received word that his company will give him a formal job offer some time in the next few days!! Our hope is that Mike can start full time with them October 1st! Praise God for providing this job!!!

Oh, and most importantly, we received a video of Kaden last Friday, for which we were very excited, that is until we tried to play it and found that it was broken. The good news is that our agency promised us that they are mailing a new video out. So hopefully we'll have some new video of our cutie pie next Tuesday or Wednesday!!

Again, please pray that we will get out of PGN soon, and while you're at it, pray for the post-PGN process. Unfortunately, new/additional steps are being added...so it's possible that instead of getting Kaden home 5-6 weeks after he gets out of PGN, we could be looking at another 8 - 10 weeks. :-\

Have a great, safe Labor Day weekend everyone! We are very thankful for you all! :-)

-Susan, Mike, Kaden and Fezzi :)

What's more loving than earth worms?

Well, my poor hubby has been sick this weekend, but he was immensely blessed by 1/2 a pint of earthworms! Can you imagine anything so sweet??? :)

To make a short story longer....some of you know I've been trying to cut back on eating out. It's been a challenge, but also fun to see how many days I can go. I am happy to report that I've only eaten out 3 times in the past 37 days! Friday I had a hankerin' for some mexican at my favorite cheapo restaurant so I talked Mike into going..."honey, do you realize that we have not gone out to eat together in 35 days??" Poor guy, he gave in ...and for what? Well, I'll spare you the details but he has not had a fun weekend and has let me know he thinks he would rather have PB and J sandwiches next time. :) It was especially distressing to me since I *LOVE* this mexi place and have eaten there for over 10 years and never gotten sick! :(

Oh, so back to the worms, no there weren't worms in the food, no Mike doesn't have....okay so anyway, Mike has searched high and low on the internet and around town for some good ol' earth worms to put in our garden. Their uh....residue....shall we say --trying to be a lady here-- apparently provides great fertilization for plants. So today while Mike was at home sick, dear sweet Dad ran down to the bait shop near his house and bought Mike a few! Needless to say, Mike felt very loved by this great act of kindness! (Did I mention that Mike is working REALLY hard on his thesis and probably needs to get out more??) He can't wait to put the worms in the pots and let them uh...do what they do... :)

But wait! There's more...before we get away from the topic of my Dad, I have to show you this picture he took last week. He FINALLY found a motorcycle built for the "big and tall" man!!!

I'm not sure how good the gas mileage is on this puppy, but Dad is retired so he can avoid the traffic/gas guzzling times of the day. :)

The only adoption news I have to report is that we got a video of Kaden on Friday (Yay!)...but then we opened the package and the cassette was broken (Boo!). We thought about trying to hold the tape part up to the light and rotating the wheel as fast as we could (Yay!) but that didn't quite work. (Boo!) I put in a call to our agency so hopefully we can get a replacement.

We had some crazy storms this weekend...lots of thunder, lightning, wind blowing etc...but thankfully our power only went out a few times and never for very long. We are very thankful for the MUCH needed ran in Hot-lanta! Thank you Lord!

The devil went down to Georgia!

Today is another hot day in Georgia. :-\ It's crazy how there have been horrible, damaging floods across the midwest and yet here we sit in Georgia, desperately in need of rainfall. So while your praying for rain to STOP in the midwest and praying for those poor people in the path of hurricane Dean, maybe send up a prayer for rain in the South too. :)

I have a few updates for you. First of all, I met up with some Guate Mommies** on Saturday night to see the laser show at Stone Mountain. ("...the devil went down to Georgia...he was lookin for a soul to steal...") It was a lot of fun to hang out, talk about adoption, watch the show, talk about adoption more, eat our picnic lunches, oh, and talk about adoption. :) I think Mike appreciated that I had an outlet other than him. :) My friend Becky drove us and she has a mega-cool Nissan minivan. Who knew that all 8 passengers needed their own individual sun roofs? Who knew how much fun it would be to tease Becky about all the lights and gadgets and knobs while she's driving?....yea, guess I need to get out more. ;-)

**A Guate Mommy is defined as a female who is in the process of adopting or has already adopted a precious little one from Guatemala.

Secondly, my friend who is going through the nightmare with that orphanage that was raided in Guatemala (she is adopting twins) was interviewed by the BBC. If you have 15 minutes, please listen to the interview and the Guatemalan reporter afterwards. The only point I differ on is the "transactional" perception of adoptions down there. I know there are unethical lawyers down there trying to make lots of money, but I have a lot of faith in the adoption agencies most adoptive parents are going through. My point is although that may be the perception, it is NOT the reality in most cases. Most parents and agencies go through painstaking steps and processes to insure the legality of the whole adoption. As you listen you may be surprised at the mis-perceptions of some Guatemalans about the whole process and the resulting actions they take. Please continue to pray for this orphanage and these little ones.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/outlook.shtml#Mon

On a lighter note, I saw some funny posts the other day about adoption and adoption agencies. My and Mike's eyes have truly been opened to the realities of adoption procedures, interacting with people who consider you just another number, etc... I don't think you have to go through what we've been through to enjoy these, however. If you've ever dealt with any bureacracy, surely you'll appreciate these. :)

• You don't have to be crazy to adopt - but you will be before it's over!
• Bringing Families Together......Eventually...
• International Adoption....bringing children and their families together before either draws social security...And that is our commitment to you.
• When it absolutely, positively has to happen in this century.
• Adoption: Not for the faint of heart, or the sound of mind.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Mike is working on chapter 5! (woohoo!!!) of his thesis. Also, we got our first 'maters from the garden! They are a bit smaller than we anticipated but quite tasty! I plan to cook up our green beans once we harvest just a few more from the vine.

And for those who skimmed down this whole blog just to see if there were any pictures, here you go. :)

Mike and I with our nephew Scott and one of their cocker spaniels --Rusty, this past spring.

We have lots of wonderful nephews and nieces so I'll try to find more pictures to post!

We're still in PGN, (the Guatemala Attorney General's office), as far as we know....I'm hoping/praying we'll get out around August 30th, so please mark your calendars and lift up the prayers! We want out boy home!! And speaking of the cute little chunk..... :)

Lastly, we would like to mention our friends Josh and Jessica who are bringing their Guate baby home for good tomorrow!! Congratulations to the new parents and ,Jadon, we can't wait to meet you!! :)

Kaden is 8 months old!

Greetings friends and family. I have several updates for you but first lets look at some pictures of the sweetest little Guate baby!



We received these pictures last week. Kaden turned 8 months old on August 8th and he's close to 20 lbs now! I guess I better get crackin' with those pushups and arm curls! :)

Kaden is doing great. He's very healthy, and continues to receive great care. For that we are VERY thankful.

On the agenda for today are:

• 8 + 3 = 6 ???
• The parallel Wiener section
• Our Ultrasound

8 + 3 = 6 ???
Today marks week 6 in PGN. What's that you say?? Week 8 was 3 weeks go so how can we be at week 6 now? Very simple, my dear Watson....we were kicked out back in June and were resubmitted to PGN on 07/05/07. We only found this out in the last week or so. When your docs are submitted to PGN, (the Guatemalan Attorney General for those who don't recall ) , they are reviewed by 2-3 reviewers over several weeks. If any of the reviewers find something they don't like, then your docs will be kicked out. We had been told for the past several weeks that we were "still in PGN" but that was not the case. Apparently there was some miscommunication with the "powers that be" in Guatemala. It was disappointing and depressing to find this out, but we were also relieved to have an answer as to why it was taking so long.

So, it is what it is....(or as my Uncle Rick says "things are more like they are today than they ever were before!"). Now we're looking ahead and hoping for the best. Today marks week 6 since being resubmitted. So we're praying and hoping that we'll be out in about 2 weeks. We would appreciate your prayers for the same. After that, are we done? Of course not!! More details to come...

Meanwhile we are continuing to progress with the nursery. We've made quite a few trips to goodwill to get rid of clutter and my kind brother has offered to store some stuff we don't have room for (uh oh...does he realize what he's done??). And the BEST news is that the fall season consignment sales have started ! I'm hitting the Cobb Civic Center Saturday and will definitely cruise 3-4 other baby consigment sales over the next month. (Who says shopping isn't therapeutic??) :)

The parallel Wiener section
This, of course, refers to part of Mike's dissertation work. He is now working day and night when he's not at his part time job. I'm amazed at how he keeps up the perserverance...meanwhile listening to my rants and ravings about the slow adoption process and still having time to walk the dog! We thank GOD that he finished chapter 2 Monday night. Now he is working on the LAST chapter. Please pray he will continue to be motivated and have good, clear thinking as he finishes this last chapter.

I told Mike on Wednesday that when he finishes this last chapter, we're taking a mental health break! We have some friends in north Florida who have offered up their sofa bed and we can even bring the dog! So we're going to take a long weekend (hopefully late next month) to go veg a bit, breathe some sea air, take a walk...and not worry about the thesis or adoption details or Atlanta traffic for a few days. :-0

Our Ultrasound
I saw this on another site and thought it was great. This is the latest ultrasound of our son and how he's progressing. :-) I know that being truly physically pregnant is a very different thing, but I tell ya, I've definitely felt a lot of labor pains over the last few months!

We hope you are all doing well and would love to hear from you.

Last but not least, keep your calendars marked for December 14th. Mike IS graduating from Georgia Tech at 7:00 PM on this day! :)

Week 8 has started...

Today we start week 8 of waiting to hear from PGN (Guatemalan Attorney General's office). The good news is that we have not been kicked out....although that could still happen. We received word earlier this week that we are "still in PGN"...so that's good, I think. :)

In other news, Mike's garden has been growing well. And considering that we live on the third floor of a condominium and have no yard, that's quite a feat! We have already enjoyed a good bit of salad and saw that our first bean came up this week! I also saw our first little tomato this morning (planted a little late). We're excited to enjoy some fresh veggies before too long!


This picture was taken a few weeks ago, before Mike's haircut. (If you think he looks cute here, you should see him now! )


The second picture was taken a few days ago. Is this an engineering marvel or what?? :)














I do have some good news. I am seeing a good number of people get out of PGN, so that encourages us that *maybe* we'll get out soon too. Once out of PGN, then they say it can take another 4-8 weeks before you can pick your child up. The past few weeks have been tough, but we are very thankful that we are finally looking at that light at the end of the tunnel. And as I mentioned in a previous email, we will praise God on the good days and on the bad. We know He is in control and He is mighty and faithful. :)

The nursery is getting closer and closer to being ready every day as is Mike's thesis. He's made great progress in the past few weeks and is hoping to have his rough draft done by end of August.

As always, please pray for our son Kaden, his paperwork to make it through and out soon, and for Mike's thesis to get finished. We can almost taste it!!

Blessings and best wishes to all of you.
Love,
Mike and Susan

Zee black hole de PGN

Sorry it's been a while since our last update....but my excuses are:

1. My mom fell and broke her hip (not recommended by the way....VERY painful!)


2. We got into PGN but haven't really had any updates.

But alas, my public beckons and I comply... as it happens, I do have a few quick updates:

1. PGN - the latest


2. More cute pictures of the sweetest, cutest little enchilada you've ever seen


3. Paris Hilton is finally out!

PGN - the latest
We received an update yesterday that said "Still in PGN...since 05/31/07" If you don't remember what PGN is, its the Guatemalan attorney general's office and our last big step of the process. It's known as the "black hole" however because some people get in and out in a couple months, for others it can take 6 months or more. :( And there ain't a dad-blamed thang you can do about it...just pray and wait and pray and wait.

We have some other friends who were submitted to PGN around the same date we were. Some have already had a "KO"--kick out. That means some PGN reviewer found something they didn't like in the docs and so kicked the docs out. Now the adoptive parents' attorney has to address any issues or mistakes that need to be corrected. So it's a good thing that we haven't been kicked out yet....but it can get a little nerve racking to ponder that we might get kicked out at 8 weeks or 12 weeks and then have to wait an additional 8 -10 weeks where as others have gotten kicked out much sooner, and have been resubmitted much sooner. Anyway, it doesn't help to fret over this....we have control...may not get any kick outs, who knows?

Cute pictures of our enchilada
Here are more pictures for those of you who just couldn't stand not seeing Kaden for another month. They sent us a few more pictures recently along with a very short video. But before I show you that, I wanted to share the bible verse I have been praying for Kaden.

"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He wil quiet you with his love. He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17 (KJV)

At the last update our sweet little boy was a whopping 16.5 lbs! I'm trying to do more arm curls in preparation but I'm only up to 10 lbs thus far...not sure I can keep up!

Also some dear friends had a shower for me last weekend (my first ever!) Kaden is getting some great loot. Now we just need to get him home so he can start using it !

On the top left are Lisa, Me, Penny and Lesley. :) On the right are diapers that have uh, encouragements? and advice written on them. :)

Paris Hilton is finally out!
If you zoomed down to this section for an update, you really need to get a life! Kaden is SOOOOOO much more important than this! :) And so are all of you!

Mom didn't want her picture on my blog this time, but I am thankful to report she is doing well. It's been a tough month but she is a fighter and has worked hard at her physical therapy. Please pray for her continued healing and strength.

Have a great week.
Susan

One more to get you through the weekend

I had to share one more post...you've gotta see ME with my son! I'm not having a good hair day in this video, but hey, all you care about is seeing the cute baby, right? This was taken our last day with Kaden. He loves doing the "bouncey bouncey" as you'll see here.


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I've been hearing some good news on the Guatemala side this week. Pre-approvals seems to be coming a bit faster, although we're still waiting for ours. I have dreamt twice this week that we got ours. Would you pray that we will get "PA" this weekend or early next week? It sure would be great to know we're finally headed towards our last big step to bring this little one home.

And finally, about the charcoal...we took some Acidophilus pills with us to Guatemala. We were told to take some with every meal to fight off any food illnesses. They have the "good" bacteria...that sounds funny, anyway, the "good" bacteria that you need to fight off any "bad" bacteria you may be eating. However, once we returned home we found out that charcoal also does a good job of neutralizing any "bad" bacteria. So, since I was not doing well the first part of this week, Mike went to GNC to buy more acidophilus pills but came home with charcoal pills as well! I've been taking them this week and I must say...they're strange. It's a weird experience to swallow solid black pills and people give you strange looks as well. I have found, however, that this natural remedy is not unfamiliar to some other people. A Russian friend at work said that charcoal is what they all use for any stomach troubles. "What Pepto Bismal is to you in the U.S., charcoal is to us in Russia." Go figure!! Well, I'm not sure if it helped me or not but I'm definitely feeling better. If anyone needs some charcoal let us know, I think we have extra left over!

Pray for PA and Pray our boy home!

--Susan

Mike made me eat charcoal!

Yep folks, you read it right...my husband made me eat charcoal! But more on that later. :) First lets take a look at the sweetest, happiest, cutest little Guatemalan you've ever seen! The light is a bit dim here, its first thing in the morning and our little one is doing his morning coos and goos.

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We had a fantastic week in Guatemala City. Kaden is a sweet, wonderful baby and it was great to finally meet his foster family. I chuckle every time I look at this picture of us and Kaden's foster mom.

The Marriott we stayed at was very nice but a bit pricey for our taste (I think we're used to Motel 6 or something!). We stayed healthy for the most part except for one day when Mike started turning a greenish-yellow color. It didn't take me long to decide that it would be worthwhile to have an english speaking doctor pay him a visit! He got some medicine and was fine the next day.

But back to Kaden....he kept us up a good bit the first night, but he's just a darling little boy. He was a bit whiny...probably due to anxiety, but he wasn't a big cryer. He has a wonderful smile that lights up his whole face and is quite the cuddler.

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We spent most of our time in our room or in the baby lounge. This Marriott has a very nice baby lounge on the 3rd floor stocked with toys, a changing table, comfy furniture and a PC that anyone can use to download pictures and connect to the internet. It was nice to meet other folks like us while down there. We got to meet a very nice couple from Boston and another one that flew in from Ireland. We also got to meet up with a couple from Atlanta that is adopting through our same agency.

I'm not sure what else to say unless you want to hear about the poopy diapers or me kissing his feet or Mike reading his deep theological books to Kaden. It was just a wonderful, amazing week. We are so thankful for this little one and can't wait to make the trip back to bring him home! Speaking of which, we still don't really know when we'll be able to bring him home, but we're hoping to hear good news in the next few months. So, please keep praying our boy home! And thanks so much for everyone's continued prayers and support. This has been an awfully long journey, but oh, what a precious little boy he is. We can't wait to introduce him to you all!

This picture was taken on our last day together. Mike wasn't feeling well so he was lying down and rubbing Kaden's tummy. I got him to smile at me while I held the camera at an indirect angle.
I'll post more details and video in my next few blogs. :) Oh and I guess I'm outta room so you'll have to wait until my next blog to hear about the charcoal!

And...we're off!!

I can't believe we get to meet our son in 10 days! I'm starting to de-stress a bit now that one suitcase is fully packed.....that and my darling husband figured out our new video camera! (Details further down).

Speaking of my sweet husband, did I mention that he sent me flowers last week? :) Aren't they gorgeous? 2 dozen roses and they still smell sweet.

In other news, Mike's thesis is going well, but we've decided to plan for a December graduation. He is making great progress on his thesis, but due to the time it will take for committee members to review it and then scheduling the defense around summer vacations, we decided to be safe and just plan for Mike to "walk" in December. The info for his graduation is:

December 14, 2007
7:00 PM
Alexander Coliseum, Georgia Tech

Let me know if you want recommendations for hotels or best areas to stay.

Okay so back to the video camera...I was starting to stress because it appeared that when you record something, then do a second recording, the first recording is overwritten. I spent an hour going through the 2 inch thick manual. Then I got my dear father to spend another 30 minutes reviewing the manual to try to figure it out. But, alas, it only took my engineer husband 10 minutes of "playing with buttons" to see that nothing had been erased!

Without further ado, my first video clip is below. The video is dark, hard to hear, gets blury and a little bumpy at times but I thought it was quite amusing. Oh, and I also recorded this as "wide screen" so it looks a bit squished. Other than that it's great footage! :-D Hopefully you won't have to take dramamine to watch it. :) (I think this video proves the validity of the commandment "Thou shalt honor thy father and mother". If you listen closely you can hear me rag on my dad right before whacking my shin on the sharp corner of our coffee table. :) )

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Please pray for a safe journey...and that Mike and I remember to feed the baby, to not put his diapers on inside out and that we can't leave him in the room and go out for a while like we do with Fezzi. :-) I am going to try to post some pictures and videos while we're in Guatemala, but I can't make any promises!

Last but not least, pray we get into PGN soon!! That's our last huge hurdle!

Leavin' on a jet plane...don't know when we'll be back again...

So it's really happening, we're really going down to Guatemala to meet our son. We're excited but it also seems a bit surreal. He doesn't even know what's going to hit him! :) If you wanted to know where Guatemala is or where Guatemala City is, I posted a map for your viewing pleasure.

We are flying down May 6th and will meet our son for the first time on May 7th. Kaden's room - formerly-known-as-the-guest/storage-room is full of stuff to take down. Now if I just had a maid or butler to show up and get everything organized and packed!!

We are hoping to do a bit of sightseeing at the end of the week but we will remain in the hotel while Kaden is with us. (It's best not to go out much since he isn't "officially" ours yet). We would appreciate your prayers for safe travel and a great visit--obviously. :) The first day we will get to meet his Foster Mom and ask questions about his care, health, personality, etc... I have a list of things to ask but I'm sure I will be overwhelmed with emotion and excitement. (This may even be more exciting than when I bought my first car! ;-) )

In other news, we had to keep this on the "down low" last week, but we surprised Mike's Mom for her 39th...uh, yea that's it, birthday this past weekend! We had a great weekend with McKinleys out in Spokane. It was also very fun to call Mom on the phone to wish her happy birthday, then see her be-grudgingly head towards the door (she didn't understand why Blake/Dad couldn't just answer the door since she was on the phone!) and see us.

Our sister in law Dana made a wonderful breakfast for us that morning and then we ate at Mom's favorite seafood restaurant downtown for dinner.

Why do I always return from Spokane feeling like I need to lose weight???

If you can't decipher the button Mom is wearing, it says "70 and Smashing", but I promised I wouldn't reveal how old she is so please don't ask. :)

Back to adoption news, the last we heard, we are in Family Court(FC). We should hear that we are out of FC and that we have Pre-approval (PA) some time in the next month or so. Then its off to PGN for an unknown number of days or months.

Oh and if anyone would like to take care of an adorably fluffy, licky, sweetest doggie for a week in May, let us know!

Last but not least, we got a second video of Kaden! Its from a little over a month ago but he held his head up and looked around a bunch. :) Now Mike and I need to get back to studying our Spanish. Asta Luego!

99.99% !!!

You will often see this heading "99.99% !!!" on international adoption forums. It means that the DNA test has been done and the results were positive! Woohoo!! This is a requirement by the U.S. to cut down on human trafficking, i.e. make sure the birth mom really is the birth mom.

I was stressing about these results last week...wondering what if they were negative? What would I do ? Its hard not to second guess stuff, going through this long, tedious process. We are so very thankful for the results, though....now it's time to worry about the next steps! (lol). I'm not sure it has quite hit me yet though....maybe it will once we hear from our agency that our dates of travel are approved.

Travel, you say? Yes! We are planning to go for our first visit in early May. We will get to keep Kaden with us in the hotel for 4 nights. I've got a few "baby" lists of what to pack but I need to get going on actually acquiring all that stuff!

And speaking of the cutest baby ever, they sent us new pics over the weekend too!

I call this his "I love doing push ups!" pose.


And how about his "I look like a balding old man, mommy. Why did they part my hair on the side?" pose.

And last but not least, the smiliest, happiest little boy you've ever seen!

We wish all of you a blessed week and a wonderful Easter. Thanks again for your prayers and support. I don't know how we would get through all of this without all of you.

And for those who really want to know, our next steps are:
1. As far as we know, we are currently still in Family Court. The social worker interview was about 10 days ago. Once the SW writes up his/her report and submits it, we can leave Family Court.
2. Next we get submitted to PGN (their Attorney General). This is the last big, potentially long step. I have seen people get in and out in a month but most people are in for 2 - 6 months.
3. We actually need whats known as "Pre approval" before entering PGN, but some attorneys submit everything to PGN before Pre approval ---aka PA. The reason is that pretty much ALL cases get kicked out of PGN mulitple times, due to errors. If they submit before PA, they know we'll get kicked out, but it's likely that PGN will note other errors....save us from an additional kick out later. Yea, I know....kinda cooky.

Post-Saint Patrick's Day Update

I already sent out this update, but in case you haven't heard, we heard this morning that the DNA test will finally be done this week! We were also told that the social worker interview (a.k.a. the "SWI" for those familiar with the lingo ;-) ), with the birth mother will happen this week. So we're praying/hoping that all goes well. We hope to hear the DNA results in the next week or two. :-D :-D :-D (Can you tell I'm excited???)

We have not received any more pictures, although I've heard rumors that we will receive a picture of Kaden with his birth mother when we receive the DNA results. I look forward to receiving that picture and sharing it with our son one day.

On a lighter note, Melanie - a friend from church - tried to show me how to use one of those sling-thingies yesterday. We're taking one down for our post-DNA trip to try out. I was impressed and yet concerned that she trusted me to wrap this thing around myself and her sweet little 7 month old baby girl. I was just sure she would slip through and her head would "fall down and go boom" any minute. Thankfully I have no injuries to report. However I think I'll revert to practicing with the stuffed bear for now. :)

Also, someone posted this on one of the forums. I thought it was quite funny. It has some "adoption" lingo but I figured those of you not familiar with the adoption world would still get a kick out of it! :)

"Accidental Adoption"
Have you ever noticed that you hear all the time about "accidental"pregnacies, but never about couples who experience "accidental" adoptions? Can you imagine:

Honey, sit down. I have some news for you.
What is it?
Well, I don't know how to say this, so I'll just come out with it. I went to the mailbox today and... well, we got a 171-H.
A what?!? A 171-H? As in, we're going to have a(nother) baby?!?
It looks that way.
But how? We've been so careful! I put away all the blank I-600A forms. Didn't you hide our homestudy update?
Of course I did, but don't forget, there was that one night...
What night? (pauses) Ohhh, that night, But it was only once. We were just messing around. I didn't print clearly. I didn't even use ink! (pauses again) But it was kind of fun. (giggles).
It was, wasn't it? I'll never forget how cute you looked getting your fingerprints.
So now we've got our 171-H, eh? But that doesn't always mean you'll adopt, does it? I mean, shouldn't you see the agency or something, make sure everything's okay?
I already did.
And?
I'm five documents along.
Five documents!
And they're all notarized, certified and authenticated okay?
Just great.
There was one small scare when the agency couldn't see the Notary's middle initial but it showed up just fine under the magnifying glass.
Thank God. And you, honey? Are you feeling okay?
I'm feeling fine. As long as I know you're happy about this.
Happy? I'm thrilled! It's always a shock at first when something like this happens, but of course I'm happy.

Author Unknown