Here in Antigua w/Owen!!

Ok, first of all, so sorry about the lack of pictures. I have been SO TIRED that I didn't even try to log onto my laptop till yesterday...and then couldn't get it to work! So I am on the hotel laptop. Well, it's a bed and breakfast, not a hotel.

Anyway! OWEN!!! OWEN LAWRENCE!!! He is, without a doubt, the sweetest, most adorable, funniest, happiest baby EVER!!! I'm serious!! He laughs and smiles all the time, giggles, loves people, can sit up on his own, altho he does tip often! He is so SO cute when he's sitting up--such a little guy, sitting there, looking with all seriousness into my face, looking at me for the first time as another little person, sitting face to face instead of up at me. He loves it when I kiss all over his bare belly, and puts his hands on my face and hair. When he wants me to do this or to come closer, he puts his hands out for me to come to him.

We went swimming today, and he kicked like a frog the whole time! He splashed his hands and hit the water, and even did it when the water splashed up in his face. It's rainy season here, so no more perfect sunny days, but it still wasn't bad for swimming, for a change!

He sleeps from about 8:30 or 9 till about 7:30am, wth 2 feeding times in there. He LOVES to eat, just like his mom and dad! Perfect fit w/the Hensons. He is eating about 300 million ounces of formula a day--an exaggeration, but not by much--and also some baby food and mashed banana.

His eyelashes are about a mile long and hit his cheeks when he blinks. When he smiles, his eyes squint up, like that picture of him in his hat, laughing at me on the bed. He sticks his tongue out, and says 'dadadadadada' and 'yayayayayaya', altho no 'mamamamama' yet! But I daresay he knows who his momma is!

There is some bad news, however. We found out today that our file has yet another kickout coming, so we will be kicked out of PGN AGAIN. This sets us back AGAIN. The fix itself will only take a day or so, but we also have to wait for the OFFICIAL kickout before we can resubmit the file with the fix. So, now we wait for the file. It could come out with the kickout on Monday...or in 2 weeks.

And then, when we do resubmit, we are basically starting over this step...again. For the 3rd time. It will be at least another 8 weeks, most likely, AFTER the resubmit.

Why the reviewer didn't give us this kickout with the first kickout, I do not know.

Please be nice to Shannon...he misses us terribly, and now we are discussing the possibility of me coming home for a week, getting ready for school, and then coming back here to foster until Owen can come home. It will be hard, but Owen is so worth it, and we want the best for him. We are thinking that the older he gets, the harder it'll be for him to make the transition from his foster mom to us, and we want to minimize any hardship for him. And, of course, we are tired of missing out on the first year of his life and are gonig to try to have one of us, at least, participate in these precious months.

Pleae keep us in your prayers. We love you!