I haven't posted for awhile! We're still doing really great and Elena is still wonderful and sweet (of course). I can't remember what it was like without her, nor do I want to. We just love her so much! She's still on a really great schedule; although, we are usually out and about every afternoon. This means mommy is messing up her afternoon nap. She sleeps really well in the car. Today we went to work again. I've worked for my company for fifteen years so I know a lot of people; all who want to meet her. This was our third trip to meet people and I still have another building to go to. She only lasts so long and I don't blame her for that.

We had a very special day on Sunday. Elena was baptized. It was very emotional for us and we had a very blessed day with our families. She did so well while being baptized. She just looked at our pastor while grabing at his robe. He said "she was a gem!" I love our pastor so much; he is so wonderful with children. Our families came back to our house and we had lots of food and just a very nice afternoon together. The day is just how I envisioned it. I've been waiting for that day for a long time. My daughter is a child of God . . . officially. What a wonderful gift.

Well Elena is still not crawling or walking. Is that bad? People say not so we will just remain optimistic and be thankful that all of our picture frames are safe on the end tables. She stands pretty well with our help so we think it will be soon. I also am struggling with things to feed this little girl. Now that we have introduced her to rice cakes, Cherrios, ripe fruit and other things that she can chomp on, I think she is doesn't care much for baby food. She still loves her banana cereal in the morning though. Sean called Enfamil just after we got home from Guatemala to ask them which formula here in the US is comparable to that in Guatemala. Ever since then, they have been sending us great coupons ($5.00 off) and samples too. We just got a can in the mail yesterday. Sweet!

I only have one more month until I have to go back to work. Ugh. I will miss her very much, but we found a GREAT daycare center. The original center we were to put her in fell though, which is another blessing! This center is secure, clean, has educated teachers, small ratios AND she loves the director of the center, which sealed the deal. We visited a center near our house the other day that was not secure at all (we walked right in amongst the children) and she cried like I have NEVER heard her cry before. We left her with one of the teachers to go talk to the director and when we got her back, we could hardly calm her. I couldn't watch that happen everyday! We feel good, actually great, about our pick.

That's it for now. I want to end this post by saying "CONGRATULATIONS" to Peg, Joe, and their son Timothy! They are finally home from Guatemala forever. I think they need to move to Pennsylvania.

So our most exciting news is Elena said her first "word!" I have been trying to get her to say "daddy" or "dada" since she has been home. She said it tonight and I mean over and over. Then I said it and she repeated it over and over. Ha! It was exciting. I'm anxious to see if she says it again tomorrow. It was a big moment for me! We ran outside to let daddy hear too. She said it a little, but I think I killed the moment at that point.

We finally got a little pool for the deck. Elena really likes to splash around in it. I sit in it with her and that keeps me cool too. Funny that everyone we know has a pool and we sit in four inches of water on the deck instead.

We took a trip to Sean's Nana's house in Bally PA on Saturday after the July 4th holiday. It was great to see all of his relatives and for all of them to finally meet Elena. We had a great time. They had a cake for Elena and gifts. It was a really nice day as it always is at Nana's. Sean wasn't able to go since the State hadn't passed the budget yet. He was at work.

Sean and I took a CPR class this week. I highly recommend this if you have never taken one or if it has been awhile for you. I had taken it years ago, but seriously needed a refresher. This focused on child /Infant CPR and addressed choking. We are certainly glad we took it.

The 4th of July holiday was very good. We went to a picnic at my parent's friends' house, which was really nice. It was hot, but Elena did really well. Yesterday, Saturday, we went to Sean's Nana's house in Bally PA. Sean was not able to make it because he had to work (State budget still not passed). It was a long trip, but again, Elena did well. She didn't nap at all, but she ended up sleeping through the night anyway.

Today we went to Toys R Us and got Elena her first pool. It's hot enough for sure! We also just bought our second box of 160 count diapers! Wow, she goes through them. Sean bought Elena her first camouflage outfit. Oh grief. It's pink, so I suppose that is okay. ;) She's cute regardless.

Eating continues to be a challenge. She likes all fruit, but vegetables aren't going well. Sean got a carrot, apple, mango medley and she likes that. The first ingrediant is carrots so we'll go with that for now. The pediatrician says she fits right in with all the US children since she hates vegetables. She had to get a TB shot on Friday. She only cried for a few seconds. We have to go get blood taken tomorrow, which I'm really not looking forward to for her. That would be after I drop off her poopy samples . . . aaahhh . . . I think that officially makes me a mommy!

Elena is being baptized on July 29th. I'm looking forward to that. It will be a wonderful, blessed day. Our pastor was just elected Bishop so he is leaving our church on July 15th. This is very sad for me; I love him very much. Our Youth Pastor will be baptizing her, which is great too! He's awesome.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and is doing well! I continue to have trouble with my DSL connection so if I don't get back to you right away, that's why! SORRY!

We're Doing Great!!

We are just having so much fun! Elena is such a good little girl and so sweet. She is very content and happy and such a blessing to us. She is on a schedule; the same one she was on with her foster mother and she rarely fusses. If she does fuss, we know it is because she is tired or hungry. I've never been a mommy before, but I believe she is just the easiest baby to take care of (so far anyway!) and we just love her sooo much! Sean is doing great with her. I had a dentist appointment on Monday morning and he was forced to change his first poopy diaper . . . te he! Funny that he can gut and skin a deer, but can't tolerate baby poop!

We had our first pediatrician appointment as well. Elena was really scratching her forehead where her birthmark is. She was doing it in Guatemala, but even more so with the dry air here in PA. Well it ended up getting infected, but it is great now with a prescription we got. Our pediatrician is AMAZING! We feel so blessed to have found him! I was very discouraged because we where turned away from three other doctors because Elena is not a newborn (don't ask, poor subject with me). It turned out for the best because Dr. Ryder is incredible! He see many, many adopted children and apparently is one of the best in this area. He is from South Africa and financially supports orphanages there. He is the author of "Take Your Pediatrician with You" which is an awesome reference! He sells them for $15 and all proceeds go to Chance Children's Home is South Africa. He signed and gave a copy to Elena as a gift. Like I said . . . he's amazing and was so great with her; so personable! If you come across this book, I highly recommend it or if you want me to get you a copy, please let me know. Her next appointment is her wellness check-up next Friday. He did a quick exam while we were there this week, but will do a more thorough exam next week. He says he can tell she's very healthy and was well taken care of, which we knew. She weighs 20 lbs now! (Kendra: Eeeeek!!!) The heck with the gym, I'm getting a great workout with Elena! Ha!

We're really enjoying all of our visitors and continue to be blessed with generosity from others. We have been out to eat at least four times now. Elena is so laid back that we are able to do it. She loved Red Robin because it is so colorful. Today we are headed to Toys R Us to get a little pool for the deck. It has been too hot to be outside this week . . . we need a pool!

That's all for now. She should be waking up from her nap soon. Love to all!

Our Trip

We traveled to Guatemala on Monday, June 11 and arrived around 8:00 in the evening. We just settled in since we were getting Elena the next morning. We didn't know exactly when so we were ready by 9:00 a.m. Well, 9:00 a.m. came and went and the phone didn't ring. It was the longest morning ever! Finally around 11:00, I checked the phone and they weren't working!! I couldn't believe it; one of the most important calls of our lives and the phones in our room didn't work. Sean rushed down to the front desk and as he was coming back, he ran into our foster mother, her daughter, and Elena coming in the door. What a coincidence! They actually asked if they could come early, before the coordinator, to spend time with us. She is comfortable with us because Sean speaks Spanish. We sat together then had lunch. I didn't take Elena from them; I let them hold her the entire time. We knew that this was a very emotional time for them. The coordinator/translator, Oscar, came a few hours later and we went over the Embassy appointment and what was needed for that. He is a true blessing! He was the only person that we met from our agency on both trips to Guatemala. We couldn't have done it without him! He took some pictures of all of us together and let them know it was time to say good-bye. Our foster mother told him that she was just going to wait there for the taxi, so he left. The taxi arrived and we said our good-byes. It was very sad for all of us. Sean promised her we would call as soon as we got home and he did. Her and Sean have a special relationship since he speaks Spanish. I know that she appreciates that he does.

We hung out for the rest of the day and got ready for the Embassy appointment on Wednesday. We were so excited that our friends John and Nina were visiting their new daughter the same week! It was so great to meet them face to face and spend some time with them. While they were visiting with us in our room, the earthquake happened! Sean was the only one who felt it, but he didn't know what was going on at the time. It measured 6.8, but Guatemala City didn't experience it like the coast and places like Antigua.

Thanks to our awesome coordinator, the Embassy appointment was a piece of cake! He picked us up, along with another couple, and walked us through the whole thing. I hope that all of my friends who are on their way to bring home their babies have the same experience. We were there for three hours (that wasn't so great), but Elena did great! She is so content and is so easy to care for. We just love her so much! Once it was over, we headed back to the hotel and hung out at the pool. Daddy did a great job swimming with his daughter. It was so sweet! Elena's visa arrived on time Thursday afternoon and we started packing for an early departure the next morning . . . holy early . . . we had to be in the lobby at 4:30 a.m. I packed the night before, so it wasn't so horrible.

Our flight left at 6:25. We checked in at the airline office located at the hotel which made the airport very easy. I carried Elena in the carrier in front of me and had the diaper bag (backpack style) on my back. It was a good workout, that's for sure. I carried her all day and I think I did pretty good. I wasn't even tired when we got home. Our first flight into Houston was about 3 hours and Elena didn't make a peep! She actually fell asleep during take off! Sean and I didn't realize it, but on both flights, we were separated. Ugh. We managed to trade seats on the first flight, but not the second. He was eight rows back and had all of Elena's toys! Our flight attendant was wonderful though. She passed things back and forth and tested the bottle for us and everything. I highly recommend Continental; they were awesome. Elena did great on the second flight as well, which was another three hours. I was relieved and immigration was easy too!

Once we got to Baltimore, we called Sean's parents who met us at luggage claim. It was a great reunion!!! We made it home to another wonderful reunion of friends and family! It was just great to be HOME with OUR DAUGHTER! My nieces decorating our house with balloons and welcome signs and best of all . . . food! We were starving. Elena did great with everyone.

The entire trip was smooth and we are so happy!

Back in Business!

I'm back!! AND . . we're home! Our sweet Elena is home too and we are just so excited! I have so many updates, but only just last night had the opportunity get this borrowed laptop hooked up and working. Elena is sleeping right now, but I'll update you on our trip and how we are doing really soon. And, of course, some pictures! She's so incredible! Love to you all!

PINK!!!!

Need I say more?! It came much quicker than we thought in terms of the notice they gave us. We got the call this morning around 10:30 and we leave MONDAY!! We still can't believe it! Our Embassy appointment is on Wednesday! We'll be flying home with our sweet Elena on Friday . . . forever. What a wonderful feeling! We are so blessed!

We are even more excited that we will be in Guatemala at the same time as John and Nina!

Well, we have a lot to do!! I'll be posting as we go! Praise God! Our Elena is coming home!