Kissing my boy!

Sigh...the cute little bugger! I imagine he'll sue me for emotional distress when he grows up and realizes I posted a nakey picture...

Family picture

One of my favorites (edited!)

As my mom pointed out, some of the most beautiful pictures are those with just skin. So, here is one she took of Owen and I after my shower and his bath.

Photos from his doctor

Here are some pictures taken by Owen's doctor in Guatemala City on April 17. A little older, but they are just adorable and I was looking at them again today. When we got them, I was still wading through the 300+ photos WE had taken while there for 2 weeks!

Today is 30 days in PGN. That's not bad! So far so good, no previos (kick-outs) that we know of. PGN will be closed next Tues. for Guatemala Labor Day, so nothing will happen then. But, it's just 1 day in a series of many spent waiting!

Today marks 4 weeks in PGN

Four whole weeks in PGN...and the scary part is that there's no way to know how much longer we'll be in! I'm telling myself today that probably if we have any previos (errors in our file, aka kick-outs or KOs), we'd have heard by now. That's not ALWAYS the case but often either at 4 or 6 wks or so, you hear about a previo.

Of course, HOPEFULLY we won't have any previos and be OUT in a couple of weeks!

I made reservations today at Casa Ovalle, where we stayed earlier this month, for my place to stay while fostering. I'll be there 28 May (unless we get out of PGN and get our pick-up appt. earlier than that! that would ROCK!)!

Daniel!

This little sweetie is being adopted through the same agency we are using--he is so adorable!!!

Market in Antigua

This is the market that sets up in Antigua on Thurs., Sat., and Mon. mornings. It is unreal--you can get every type of fruit/veg on Earth, and clothes, crafts, everything. It's awesome!

Sweetie spit-up!

Water babes!

These are 3 other babies who are being fostered by their future mommies in Guatemala. They were swimming the same day we were! Hee hee! Soooo cute!

Owen with his dragon!

Another game!

He also loves the swaddling game...you wrap him up in a blanket or towel, and he grabs at it all crazy, like a cat under a blanket! And he kicks it off wildly, grinning the whole time.

Dozing on Easter Sunday

He's in his sweet Easter outfit! I miss him so much.

Happy upside down boy!

This is his favorite game! He hangs his head upside down over my lap and giggles as I kiss under his arms!

Here is a picture of a woman from Germany, who is adopting a baby girl from Guate. along w/her husband and her 3 biological sisters adpted from the Ukraine. This is their 2nd family ,so to speak--they have 4 adult boys!

Here are some more pictures of our trip!

Let me also say that today marks 23 days in PGN...sigh! The adoption forums I lurk upon are showing some PGN outs for files submitted at the end of Feb. and the beginning of March. This could be good, if the files keep rolling through, since we were submitted 3/28! Keep 'em coming!! Owen wants to come home!!!

Our two-week trip to Guatemala to visit Owen

Where to begin? When we arrived in Guatemala, his foster mom was there to meet us, and I snatched him right up--politely! We gave the gifts we had gotten for his f/m, her family, and our facilitator to them, and then boarded the van. Owen's Grammy, Ida, who was meeting him for the first time, was immediately smitten. They laughed and giggled at each other until we finally got under way and headed for Antigua. Once the van started moving, Owen promptly fell asleep!

From Sunday till Wed., it was just me, Owen and Grammy. We shopped a lot, since she'd never been there before, and even though she was struck w/some sort of tummy issue (no doubt because of the unfamiliar food/water!), we had a great time reading to Owen, playing w/him, singing to him, walking w/him. Our jogging stroller did not show up that Sun. at the airport as it was supposed to, so I lugged Owen around in a "sling" that the native Mayan women use down there until Thurs., when Shannon arrived w/our stroller, which was at the airport. It was hot!

The four of us really got into Holy Week. The celebration of Jesus' trial, sentencing, death, and rebirth are celebrated and revered there, and made our little church-attending/Easter-egg-hunting traditions for Easter here in the USA seem paltry and commercial. In Guatemala, and specifically Antigua, there are processions days and night with men and women in robes, carrying huge platforms (some weighing up to 7000 lbs) through the streets. These depict stages of Jesus' days through trials to his death, in steps and in detail. Some of the platforms have been around for hundreds of years, and some were hidden ('buried') when Guatemala was invaded. There is incense, and weeping, and the magnificant churches in Antigua are decorated gorgeously. The streets are covered in alfombras (carpets) that are made of dyed sawdust, and/or coffee beans, loaves of bread, flowers, pine needles, and other beautiful things. The processions walk right over these, day and night, and the alfombras are rebuilt, usually in a different pattern than the previous ones.

So Antigua was packed on Thurs. afternoon, when I saw Shannon coming down the street with our stroller, walking w/another husband of a woman who is fostering their son there. We were outside helping w/the alfombra of the B&B we were staying at--and there he was! It was so wonderful to see him coming, how he stands out above the shorter Guatemalans! :)

Above is a picture of one procession and some participants.

My sweet boy!

Taken the week of April 1-7. He is getting so big!

This is a wonderful picture Owen's Grammy took while in Guatemala with us from April 1-8.

Today we have been in PGN for 3w1d. I am already gnawing my nails off! I know some cases that have gotten out of PGN in 6-8w, and some that have been in for 4, 6, 8 months. There's no rhyme or reason, which is why it's so scary!

More pictures!

Our new blogsite!

We are going to now be at this address, since rkblogs.com has shut down. My brother has saved the previous blog on a CD for me, and when I get it, I'll save it here on this blog. In the meantime, here's some new pictures of Owen! I was in Guatemala for 2 whole weeks, the week before and after Easter. My mom was there the first week, and Shannon was there from Thurs till Mon. Owen is growing so much, and laughs and giggles and is a wonderful baby!!