How the day went.....

Rosalia and I got to the orphanage a little before 1pm and we waited for our notary (lawyer person who is on our paperwork.) I did not think I was allowed to go to the PGN with them, but a nanny at the orphanage came and got me and communicated that our ride was there. When I went outside I tried to introduce myself, but it was like "lets go". I got in the back seat with Rosalia and there was another nanny with a little boy from the orphanage already back there. So off we go to the PGN with (I think Susana's secretary) driving and our notary in the front laughing and talking (in very fast Spanish) and Christopher crying in the back seat hanging on to the nanny, Rosalia looking around, babbling and grabbing onto the crying boy with Linda trying not to puke!!
We get to the "almighty PGN", which for those who have gone through this process understand what I mean. Walk through the doors and through what I think was supposed to be some kind of security system and head down the stairs to the basement. At the bottom of the stairs are white plastic lawn chairs (about 12 of them) sitting facing a wall, with one door to the side. We sit down and start to wait. Rosalia, of course is past her nap time by now and doesn't want to sit.. so we walk around looking at things on the walls and practice our walking with me holding her hands. There were people walking in and out of a few offices and up and down the stairs. After about 15 minutes of Rosalia and walking around I looked over and saw Rosalia's mom sitting in a chair. I recognized her from the picture we had received. I teared up and she had teared up too. She started wiping her eyes with the shirt she was wearing and I got a Kleenex out of my purse and handed it to her. Rosalia was still kind of restless so I continued to try and keep her entertained with us sitting down and then getting up. I had brought a shopping bag of toys, sippy-cup, diapers, clothes, etc. not knowing how long it was going to be and what was going to happen. While I had Rosalia in the chair and I was kneeling down showing her a book, the birth mom was sitting behind her and watching her. I commented in my broken Spanish that Rosalia has her hair (curly). She smiled and touched her head. We waited for 50 minutes in this area, getting up to the bathroom, walking Rosalia up and down the stairs, looking at every piece of paper on the walls. At one point we sat down next to the birth mother and Rosalia reached for her styrofoam cup of water she was drinking and we laughed about her sipping on it and trying to bite through the cup. I was starting to feel a bit more relaxed, but we were both looking at our watches periodically. The birth mom had come with an older woman and a younger man, whom she seemed to be close to. FINALLY, they called "them" into the room. A nanny took Rosalia along with her "stuff" and the birth mom and the notary went in. I started tearing up again, but prayed. The woman that came with the birth mom was talking to "the secretary" and the man (looked to be in his 20's) was sitting behind me. I got up to walk and he asked me what we were going to name the baby (in his broken English). I told him Rosalia (the name her birth mom gave her) and told him we thought it was a pretty name. I started crying again and kind of excused myself for a moment. He asked where we were from and I told him. He said that he had a brother in Utah and I asked if he had been to the United States and he said yes. He pulled out a photo ID with a high school name written in english. I asked him if he was family and he said yes. (I didn't know if this was Rosalia's father or not?) When I went through the list of male relative names I know in Spanish, he said "amigo". I told him that my son and husband were in the states and got out a picture of Joshua. He then asked about picture(s) of Rosalia and I said I didn't have any with me... then remembered I had my digital camera. So I pulled it out and started showing him pictures of Rosalia and when Tony and Joshua visited. After getting through those and knowing that neither of us knew what else to say in our "spanglish" I thought I had better call Tony and give him an update. It was well after 3pm and I knew he would be anxious. I gave him the update and told him they were still in the interview room, but felt everything was going to be fine. I think the power of all your prayers covered us!! I could hear Rosalia inside making sounds and screeches like when she is playing or "talking" to someone.
After 40 minutes the door opens and out comes the birth mother with a semi-smile on her face and walks over to talk to her friend, and a minute later Rosalia comes out with the nanny. I go over and get her and you can tell she hasn't had her nap!! The birth mother and her friends/family are getting ready to leave and pass by me holding Rosalia. I say "gracias, gracias" and kind of ask her if she wants to give her a kiss, but she communicates "that's ok", and they leave.
We wait for the little boy and nanny that came with us and I call Tony to tell him it is done and Rosalia is in my arms. On the way out, the notary tells me..."todo bien" ? (all is well). We get back in the car to go back to the orphanage and on the way out see 2 other nannies that came with 2 girls waving to us with the hood up on their car. Their battery was dead so we pull over to give them a jump. I cracked the back door to let some air in, since it was getting hot. When I looked over I saw Rosalia's birth mother walking toward the car. She bent down, reached inside and gave Rosalia a kiss and I said thank you again and touched her hand. She then disappeared behind the car and left. Still seams surreal.
We got back to the orphanage and we waited to see the doctor there.... since they have seen her since birth. One of the nannies brought me a bag of a some of the toys and a blanket we had brought Rosalia and not got back when I started fostering. It was a nice surprise!! I kept a few things and left the rest for the orphanage. It was strange to see all the children still there... in May it was quieter and now it seemed booming again. When I said something to the doctor he said that another orphanage had flooded and those children came to this one.
Poor Rosalia, after having a heck of an afternoon, got to have a vaccination shot too. She is up to 19 lbs and 12 ounces. (We will break the 20 pound mark soon!!) Everything else on her chart and developmental scale looked good. Of course most 14- monthers are walking on their own, but we did not think that would be too long!!
We got back in the car to go back to Antigua and I had the worst headache I have had in a long time! (Combination of stress, hunger, thirst, excitement & lack of sleep, I am sure.) Rosalia crashed I think before I sat down.
Soooo.... what does this mean for our case now. PGN could release our case (soon or not soon) or we could be issued a "previo". That is something that they find in our file that needs to be corrected. That "something" could be very minor, like the pages not being numbered correctly or whatever they decide "needs" to be corrected. You would think after months they would know by now. We always joke that we hope whoever is looking at your file has had the right coffee that day.
Anyway, I think this was really the biggest and scariest of the hurdles. THANK YOU ALL for your thoughts and prayers and THANK GOD for getting us through it!!
We will wait for GOOD news hopefully soon.
Love you all, Linda and Rosalia in Antigua

YIPPEE- It's done!

Yes we just got back (saw the doctor while we were in the city) and things went FINE!!
I did meet the birth mother and I WILL write more tomorrow, but for now we are both VERY tired and hungry girls.
THANK YOU so much for all your prayers and support. I could feel them and God's peace.
Love to all-
Linda and Rosalia

Birth mother interview scheduled tomorrow!

Just found out today that our birth mother interview is tomorrow afternoon. We will have to be in Guatemala City by 1pm and hopefully it won't last too long. I don't know what else to write except that we ask for all your PRAYERS..... hopefully one step closer to bringing Rosalia HOME!! It will be a sleepless night tonight.

Love to all - Linda and Rosalia

She's getting to be a big girl

As you can see, Rosalia loves exploring everything. She got stuck under this table and couldn't get back out on her own. She also likes when Mommy crawls after her and she tries to get away. Her smile cracks me up with her one "chiclet" tooth. Hasn't taken the first step by herself but is close! (I know I keep saying that!) Rosalia has a high-pitched screech when she gets excited and hears Daddy and Joshua calling us on the computer. I'm sure she thinks Daddy and brother Joshua live in the computer screen. (It is time for another trip from the boys!!!)

We were hoping to hear something today about the birthmother interviews ending, but we haven't of course. (This was the latest rumor going around.) We will have to push our lawyer to let us go ahead with the interview so we can get out of PGN. She has not had any birthmother interviews since the one where they took the child. It is so hard to see others moving forward and getting out of the PGN and we are stuck waiting. On the other hand we would hate to have something go wrong and possibly lose Rosalia.
Keep up the prayers that something good will happen soon. By the way, I haven't had any more bites from unwelcome critters in my bed...the landlord sprayed the apartment and we spent one night in another place before we moved back in. There was quite a saga within the apartment complex and ended up having a mom move to another place. She is really nice and has the same lawyer as us, but a different agency. We have stayed in touch.

Love to all, Linda and Rosalia

4th of July in Guatemala

I bet you can only imagine how long this took.

Next year I will be an American too!!

Poor Barney... he has no idea what's coming.

Our sweet angel!!

Hola everyone! We have had several birthday parties and a 4th of July celebration this week. It seems like all the kids are turning "1" in the next month or so. Several more people I have met are getting close to going home soon. That is great news for them and gives the rest of us hope that we TOO shall someday see the USA again. I feel especially grateful this 4th of July for the country I was born in and the MANY blessings that has brought.

Sorry it has been kind of dry on the blog lately. It has been kind of tough going and to top it off for the past week or so I have been waking up with some major bug bites. At first I thought it was mosquitoes but I had them around my trunk and hips too and we think they are bed bugs.
At first I thought--"oh no big deal "-.but they itch like crazy and the more research I have done on the web... it looks like they are a major problem- even in the U.S. there has been a resurgence since the 1950's-60's. I have talked to the landlady who thought it was mosquitoes, but I am sure I will be talking to her some more. Others in the complex haven't had a problem yet but it sounds like they will travel well. I guess they can multiply quickly, only come out at night, very hard to find and kill. I don't want to go into much detail, but "google" bed bugs sometime when you don't want to sleep that night! It has been tougher getting to sleep when you feel every little thing (YIKES!) Luckily they haven't found Rosalia yet... she sleeps in a pac-n-play several feet from my bed and I cover it in mosquito netting.

She continues to do great. Pulls up on things and walks along furniture as long as she has a hold of something. Loves to walk behind the wooden chairs as she pushes them along the tile floor. Likes to run after her girlfriends when they are all in their walkers.

Well, I am dreaming of hot dogs and barbeque's. I pray everyone has a safe and happy 4th!! I will keep you updated when we hear more about our case.

Love to everyone, Linda and Rosalia

No news

Sorry it has been a while since I posted. We are still waiting to hear about the birthmother interview and when we will proceed. I am just trying to take one day at a time.
Hope everyone has a great 4th of July.