6 month medical

15lbs, 23 inches, and now with EARRINGS! Its very customary for them to pierce the baby girls ears there. The foster mom asked our permission and we said yes when she got a bit older. So now shes all fancy. A few of the photos we got to share. We sent this outfit down just recently. Click on the photos to make them bigger.
A bit from her medical report...
she is now aged 6 months an has been, the caregiver tells me,
doing well in the time since she was seen for the last time one month ago,
from what the caregiver tells me the development appears to be progressing
well and her growth from what I can see also appears to be progressing in
the right direction, shows interest in all that goes on around her, will
turn to sound and responds to the sound of her name, she also continues to
enjoy listening to music and is also very vocal herself making many cooing
and some babbling noises of his own, she is now able to roll over completely
and will also try really hard to sit up, reaches out and grabs things that
are nearby and will put everything into her mouth. She will also pull at
her socks. The caregiver tells me that this like one takes well her formula
and is also receiving her ordered vitamin supplement. Upon exam today I
found this little one in good health with no obvious physical or
neurological abnormalities....

I cant wait to hold her in 1 week!

January Social Visit Pictures

From Monday the 22nd.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!!

Ryan is 7 years old today. Hes still a small guy but hes not our little 5lb 4oz baby in the NICU anymore. Tonite we went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner (his choice, he loves the Bloomin Onion). Tomorrow hes going to Stonefire Pizza with a friend. Then Sunday is the family party. A busy weekend for our favorite 7 yr old in the world. We love you turkey sausage!!

Now Natalies turn!

Woo hoo. Natalie is out too!!!! I email her mom Anne in NC on a practically daily basis. I met Natalies dad David on our visit trip in October. Anne and I are doing solo visit trips in Feb together!
Unfortunately, where Natalie was born in Guatemala, they are having a bit of a delay with getting new birth certificates which is an essential part of the paperwork needed to enter the US. So it may take a bit longer for her to come home but she is coming home! Woo hoo!!
The photo is of Natalie and Nora sharing Natalies stroller during dinnner in October. They are 5 days apart. :) Natalies blog is below!

Her foster sister too!

The foster mom and her family that takes care of Nora always cares for another baby. She is 5 days older than Nora. The family adopting her lives in Illinois. They got their out of PGN call yesterday. So the legal process is also over for them and their daughter will be coming home hopefully in 4-8 weeks.
They entered PGN about 2 weeks before us. Sure it would be great if PGN went in exact order of when files were entered, but they dont. I wish I could say we could then get our out in 2 weeks but I cant. Its the craziness of the Guatemalan adoption process. Theres no rhyme or reason to why some files get thru faster than others.
We are so excited to hear about babies out of PGN though. This means we are getting closer though we hope!

YEAH for Isabella!!

Some wonderful people we have met thru our agency just happen to live 30 minutes away. We were able to spend time with them on our visit trip in October.
Their daughter Isabella got out of PGN TODAY!! Yeah! This means the legal process is now over for them and Isabella is officially theirs!
A pic of them from October. Isabella and Nora, buds.

January surprise visit

Sitting up a bit on her own. And her legs are really filling out. Shes wearing a 3 month outfit so not too big yet. Shes not a sullen girl all the time I swear. Almost time for her to come home I hope.

Nothing to report

PGN land is lonely as you get no information for 8-10 weeks. No news is good news. We are past the point where we got the kickout/previo last time and we can only hope its smooth sailing from here to the end. Knocking on wood. So hopefully we will have more info in 4-6 weeks.
But great news for several other families I know in process. Emma and Isabela (links below) are both HOME! Four families with our agency got out of PGN today. So cases are moving.
Jim is doing fine. He's realizing he cant work a full day quite yet. Hes doing his physical therapy and trying to take it easy the best that he can.

Gimpy

Jim had both knees operated on today. Heres the update.
So far so good. Took longer than he thought (2.5 hrs). He does well with anesthesia luckily so after a 2 hour nap he woke up ready to go. We came home at 3pm. Ryan is so concerned about his dad its cute.

Left knee. Bad arthritic, needs a knee replacement. Hes only 36 so they want to wait a few more years. They took out 7 floating foreign bodies and chipped off a few bone spurs. His ligaments are shot. ACL totally torn but not repairable on that side. Hes able to walk on it with crutches but not bend yet.

RIght knee. They gave him a sort of nerve block to his leg before surgery to help with post op pain. So far its still feeling okay but Im thinking it will be bad in the am.
They repaired the ACL and were able to use some of his patellar tendon to do that. They did some microfractures which I guess is supposed to help new cartilage develop.
Hes unable to bear any weight for 6 weeks. Hes in a CPM (continuous passive motion) device that basically constantly bends your knee slightly for you and straightens it out.

He has an ice machine that he switches between knees but his right knee is now quite swollen.
I have to take him back to the doc at noon tomorrow for a dressing change and recheck.

5 month medical

Shes wearing her holiday outfit we sent down. Again she looks SO healthy and well taken care of. It makes the waiting a bit easier.
Her report...
she continues to show a steady growth and her development also appears to be progressing well, she likes to listen to music and continues to enjoy being talked to, making cooing and some babbling noises in return, she will also vary the pitch of the sounds she is able to produce and will laugh a out loud, she is now able to roll from her stomach onto her back and will attempt to rollover completely,
attempt to grab things that are nearby using a single arm approach, of
course everything she manages to get hold of will end in her mouth, she will
also bear weight upon both legs. The caregiver shares with me that this
little one takes well her formula and is receiving her ordered vitamin
supplement. Upon evaluation today I found her in good health with a normal
physical and neurological exam, her weight is 14 lbs, length of 58.2 cms and
head circumference of 39.6 cms. Please find some pictures attached.