Happy Valentine's Day My Precious Bella!

Happy Valentine's Day Bella! You are 6 months old today! One of the teachers I work with today decided to throw a celebration for your turning 6 months old. She bought you the cutest pink sleeper that you will get to wear when I visit you in 7 weeks. She also crocheted you the most beautiful blanket that looks adorable in your nursery. Then she gave us cupcakes with a candle in them for us all to blow out the candles and make a wish for you. I wished for you many things: to be healthy and happy; to feel loved; and for you to be home for your first birthday. I know it will be a miracle to bring you home that soon, but my God is a God of miracles! It will all happen in His timing.

We got some exciting news this week. First of all we finally got registered with the new Central Authority in Guatemala. This has been a long and frustrating process for our attorney. I won't explain all the drama involved in that, but she got it done. YEAH!!!!! Yesterday we got word that Bella's and her mirthmom's DNA matched, so the results are on their way to the embassy in GU now. As soon as they arrive, we can start waiting for our preapproval from the embassy needed to enter PGN. Please pray for favor from the Lord for a speedy PA to help make our miracle happen!

I just booked our flight to visit Arabella over spring break. I can hardly wait to hold her, feed her, bathe her, etc...... I could go on and on. I am even looking forward to changing diapers. The neat thing is I found another mom who is adopting from GU. She is going the same week we are and is staying at the same bed and breakfast. It's kinda funny how God brings poeple into your life right when you need them.

I hope you had a wonderful day, my sweet Bella. Momma and Daddy will be there in 7 weeks to spoil you and spend a whole week with you.

February pictures of Arabella

These are pictures from Feb. 11th. She now weighs 16 pounds! I love the last picture. It makes you really want to know what she is looking at that is so enthralling. Her hair is getting longer, too. She already has more hair than her daddy. As I said in my last post, the DNA samples are at the lab and we should hear something about the results next week. As soon as we get these, we can purchase our airline tickets for our visit trip on spring break. I am so anxious to hold her I can hardly stand it! I have a prayer request for you as well. Please pray for Bella's birthmom. I can't imagine the grieving she has to go through. Imagine being so poor that you can't afford to feed your baby. You know the only way for her to be healthy and happy is to let another family raise her and that after she leaves your country, you will never see her again. Pray that the Lord will give her peace that she made the right decision and for her to know that we will love her child as our own unconditionally. I read a statement recently regarding adoption that sums it up: For my dreams to come true, someone's heart had to be broken. It is sad, but true. We will get a picture in the mail of Bella's birthmom with our DNA results. I will keep this picture to show Bella what her birthmom looked like when she is older and asks about her. I will forever be grateful to Bella's birthmom for choosing life and for giving her a chance at a healthy and happy life with us!

January pictures of Arabella and updates

Here are pictures of Arabella in January. She weighed 14 lbs., 2 ozs. Doesn't she look pretty in purple? She gained almost a pound and a half since December. She is really growing! I thought I would try to give you an update about where we are in the adoption process since December when we started. Like I said in my first post, we started the adoption in Dec. We got our power of attorney signed and registered in Dec. Shortly after that our dossier (adoption paperwork) was sent to Guatemala. Then it had to be translated into Spanish. We entered family court on January 31 and should have a social worker assigned to our case by now. The social worker interviews the birthmom and the fostermom and then writes a social worker report. She needs to write a report with a favorable opinion for us to proceed further with our adoption. After we exit family court, our case can then go to PGN (it's like the Attorney General's office), but not until after DNA and PA. I'll tell you more about that next. We got DNA authorization on Feb.1. This means that Guatemala authorized the sample of birthmom and Arabella's DNA to be taken. The appointment was scheduled for Feb. 8. This is done to ensure that the person who is giving up the baby for adoption is in fact the biological mother. They put this safeguard in place to help stop corruption in adoptions. The DNA appointment happened as scheduled on Fri. and it is now at the lab being tested. When the test is done, they will send the results to the United States Embassy in Guatemala. When it arrives there, we start waiting for preapproval (PA) for our case. Like I said earlier, you have to have the social worker report and PA to enter PGN. Pray for a quick PA. Right now PA is taking up to 60 days or longer. The faster we get PA, the faster we can get into PGN. PGN is the office that eventually approves the adoption. After you get "out" of PGN, there are only a few steps left. You are usually in PGN for a couple of months or longer. Again, pray for our paperwork to be perfect so we can sail in and out of PGN quickly. Usually after your exit PGN, your baby is home within 6 weeks after that. Hopefully this has explained a little bit about why it takes so long. Everybody keeps asking me that. International adoption is not for the weak at heart. It is a very long and tiring journey, but we are up for the challenge! It will be well worth it in the end. We feel very blessed to be the ones chosen by our Heavenly Father to care for Arabella while on this earth. One day last month as I was driving down the road I started thinking about how much I love this baby that I haven't even got to hold yet. A realization hit me and tears ran down my face. The Lord knew Arabella would need me. I have had a place in my heart that only a child could fill; I have been devastated by not being able to get pregnant and have a biological child. If I could have had a bioligical child before now, I would not have pursued international adoption and I would not have found my precious Bella. I found a lot of peace in that realization. I wouldn't wish the pain and grief of infertility on anyone, but now I know God had a plan. He always has a plan, it is just hard for us to see at the time. I know the Lord is watching over Bella now and will keep her safe until we can bring her home.

December pictures of Arabella

These are December pictures of Arabella. She weighed 12 lbs. 11 ozs. Wouldn't you just love to pinch those chubby cheeks? They remind me of my niece Lyndsey's chubby cheeks when she was a baby. The first picture looks like she is waving at the camera. The second picture looks like she loves to chew on her fingers; she might be teething. The last picture is my favorite of this bunch. You can't tell it, but someone is holding her arms down because she wouldn't keep her hands down and out of her mouth for the pictures. What a serious look she is giving them! I love this little outfit with the pink heart on it. Look at her mouth closely, it is shaped like a heart. How sweet! I have a feeling we will have to chase the boys away when she is older.

November pictures of Arabella

She just keeps getting cuter, doesn't she? These are from November, when she weighed 12 lbs. 3 ozs. I love the bow in her hair. Her foster mom dressed her in cute clothes. Look at those long fingers!

October picture of Arabella

Doesn't she look like an angel? This picture was taken in October when Bella was 2 months old. She weighed 10 lbs. and 3 ozs. October was the month that we got our dossier ( all the paperwork for an international adoption) done. This was also the month we found out that we might not be able to adopt from Guatemala due to the adoption laws changing. I started looking for another country to adopt from, but I could not find any peace changing countries. This is because my daughter was already born in Guatemala; I just didn't know it yet. But... God knew.

September pictures of Arabella

Arabella was born on August 14th. These are two of the pictures we got with our referral. This is when she was almost a month old. They dress their babies in layers in Guatemala. She weighed 7 lbs. when she was born. She weighed 9 lbs. 4 ozs. here. She looks kinda grumpy in the second picture, doesn't she? I think she is thinking, "Why are you that close to my eyes with that camera?" Bella's foster mom takes her once a month to the doctor for a checkup. We get pictures and a medical update once a month from our agency.