Embassy Day Picture

Sorry I haven't posted in several days. Bella keeps us busy. My friend, Lauren, brought it to my attention that I have been a bad blogger and hadn't posted an embassy day picture yet. Well, we didn't get very many pictures. We had t0 leave to get there at 6:45 (the taxi got here early) and we didn't get home until 11:00. While we were there Bella's diaper leaked, so we just took a couple of quick pictures as soon as we got home before we changed her clothes. Bella did good at the embassy and didn't get cranky even though we were in a crowded room for a long time today. It was noisy, but she even took a nap. She loves playing with her daddy, and we are so happy our family is finally together. Bobby will go the embassy to pick up Bella's visa late tomorrow afternoon and we will start packing for home. We will be flying home on Thursday. I can't believe we are finally bringing our sweet darling home. Someone please pinch me! I still don't think it will feel real until we get off the plane and are home. Thanks for all your prayers. We'll see you soon! Tonya, Bobby, and Arabella

I'M COMING HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi everybody, I'm finally coming home! YEAH! We got our pink notice today with our embassy appointment on it. Our appointment is Tues., her visa is issued on Wed. , and we will be home on Thursday night. We will land at the airport in Louisville, KY at 10:08 p.m. We can't wait to see you. Grandma Charlene went home on Wed. and Daddy is coming on Sat. Then our friends Valerie and Ray and baby Maria Jade will be here on Sunday. They are one of my sets of friends who I have been asking you to pray their baby home from GU with me. They are heading home on Tues. God is good! He answers prayers! Praise Him with me for answering ours!

DNA IS DONE!

I couldn't resist using this picture, but Bella will probably not like me for it when she sees this when she gets older! Anyway, our DNA testing is done and should be back to GU in the next couple of days. Then we just wait for our "pink" slip that tells us when our exit visa interview appointment will be. We should be home by the end of next week! PRAISE THE LORD! Bobby is coming this weekend; he can't wait to see "his girls" as he calls us now. Our family will finally be together and home soon! Love to you all, Tonya

DNA is at the lab!

Well, the DNA finally made it to the lab today! It was a stressful day of trying to track it down, but I got the good news this afternoon. Hopefully by next week we will have the results and they will be sent back to Guatemala to the embassy. Then we just wait for our appointment for the exit interview. The day after the interview we get the visa, then United States here we come. Please pray that the sample is good and that the lab is fast! We'll see you soon! Love, Tonya, Arabella, and Grandma Charlene

Arabella is 11 months old today!

Arabella is 11 months old today! It was exactly 7 months ago today that I got the call that they had a referral of a 4 month old baby girl. My life hasn't been the same since. I know that all my family and friends think it is crazy that it takes this long to adopt internationally, but I am so fortunate. My case is one of the fastest my attorney has seen lately. Many are still stuck in PGN, some since last year. Pray daily for all the babies to make it home soon to their forever families. No news on the DNA yet, it didn't make it to the lab in the US today as I had thought it would. Please pray that it gets there tomorrow and that the testing goes quickly and smoothly. We are almost to the end, but each step is still stressful. I am so anxious to get home and just be a normal family. I love being here with Bella in her native country, but I miss my husband so much and Bella needs her daddy!

I also have to go about getting help to get my classroom ready for the fall with me not being there. Kindergarten launch day is coming up on July 31st, and it has to be ready by then. I had hoped to be home for that, but the last few steps have taken a few days longer than anticipated so it will be cutting it close (to be home in time). School starts the week after that and I will be taking the first month of school off with Bella, but I still have to have everything ready for my substitue and all the lessons planned. I can't access anything from my school computer to get things ready from here, so I can't do any of it until I get home. Then I won't want to leave Bella and spend all that time away from her to do it. I am sure Grandma Charlene will watch her for me while I go to school to prepare, but I don't want to leave her until I have to.

Bella is so much fun. As you can see in the above picture, she is crawling everywhere. She now has 2 teeth on the top to go with the 2 she already had on the bottom. She is starting to pull up on the furniture and is finally interested in "practicing" her walking by us holding her hands. Before this week, she just stomped her feet or danced when we tried. Now she is putting one foot in front of the other to try to walk. She is saying all kinds of new sounds. She says: dada, mama, baba, and this week it sounds like she is saying yeah, yeah, yeah. Mom says it sounds like she is singing a Beatles song. She waves bye-bye and claps her hands a lot. She eats almost anything we give her. She reaches for you to pick her up and motions with her hands to come to her or give her something. She smiles really big to say thank you for something. She loves shoes, but not to wear. She loves to chew on them, yuck! Needless to say, at the end of the day we are tired from keeping up with her. Well, keep praying for the DNA and a quick embassy appointment. I can't wait for you all to meet my sweet darling! Love and blessings, Tonya

Fashion Show Friday

What do you do when it is too rainy and cool to go and do anything? You have a fashion show, of course! The weather is yucky in Antigua today; so since we walk everywhere here we've been stuck in the house today. We thought it would be fun to try on bathing suits and short outfits that Arabella hasn't been able to wear since it hasn't been warm enough here. She looks like a little model, doesn't she? She can't wait to go swimming when we get back to Kentucky; she looks ready in her swimuit, doesn't she?

We had her last doctor's appointment and 2nd DNA taken yesterday. The DNA should be on its way to the US right now. Hopefully we will get the results next week and then we have to wait for the embassy to issue the "pink" slip with our embassy appointment date on it. Then we are heading home! Can't wait to be back in the United States with our new little citizen!

Love you all,

Tonya

Arabella has her 2nd DNA appointment tomorrow!

Well, we got news yesterday that we have the "orange" slip authorizing the 2nd DNA appointment and the embassy doctor's appointment. We go in the morning at 10:30. After this, we have to wait for them to send it to the lab in the US and for it to be tested. When the results are finished, they send it back to the U.S. embassy in Guatemala. Then they issue a "pink" slip with your visa appointment on it. When will we be home? It all depends on how fast the DNA gets to the U.S., how fast the results match 100%, how fast the results get back to GU, and how fast the embassy issues the visa appointment. You get the picture, but we know it will be by the end of July if everything goes as planned. It is so exciting to be at the next to the last step in this adoption process! YEAH! Arabella is coming home to meet you all soon! Thanks for your prayers, Tonya aka Arabella's Mommy (Mami)

HAPPY 15TH ANNIVERSARY TO MY FABULOUS HUSBAND, BOBBY!

Well, this is my second post for today (read below to hear about our day yesterday). I couldn't let the day pass without wishing Bob a happy 15th anniversary and telling the world how blessed I am. Bella and I miss you very much and can't wait until you are with us in GU for our embassy appointment and then our trip home!

Love,

Tonya and Arabella

Arabella has a passport!

We had a very busy day yesterday. We had to go into Guatemala City to get Arabella's passport. We also went to get pictures taken for her visa that the embassy will need. We had extra time between this and her doctor's appointment, so we went to a mall. It was a nice mall and it had a Payless Shoe store in it; I was so excited! Bella is the proud new owner of a very cute pair of white sandals with pink and green on them. All of the sandals we brought were too big, so she needed a smaller pair. Lastly, we went to Arabella's doctor for her to get the last immunization she will need before she will be permitted to leave the country. I don't like needles, so I was very nervous about having to watch my baby get a shot. I had to hold her down for the doctor, but she only cried for less than a minute. Then she was fine and was in a great mood last night. It was neat to be able to meet the doctor who has been seeing her every month since she was a few weeks old. I thanked him for the great care he has given her. Hopefully our embassy doctor's appointment and 2nd DNA will be next week, then we will just have to wait for the results to get back to the embassy and for our final appointment. In a few weeks, we will be bringing Arabella home to KY! I still can't give you an exact date until after the 2nd DNA and results, but it won't be too much longer! We'll see you soon! Tonya, Arabella, and Grandma Charlene