Valentines Day surprise visit

Just got the photos today from her foster managers monthly surprise visit.

Congrats to Isabella and family!

Our friend Isabella got pink today and will be coming home forever in 2 weeks! So happy for Chris, Rachel and big brother Jacob!!

Gotta love photos

This is from the foster moms social visit on Monday the 18th. She looks SO good in that color. Not an outfit we sent down. The foster mom has 2 daughters of her own and just loves to dress her little ones up so sweet. I got an amazing photo of her with her foster mom but I cant post here as it shows part of her face. You can easily tell how much our little girl has been loved and cared for by this great woman.
Have to add one of the boys from last night. Crawling on the floor pretending to be Remy the rat in their little chef outfits.

Second DNA done!

They did the second DNA test on Nora yesterday. They compare this to the first sample of her DNA only to make sure shes the same baby and hasnt been switched (although we arent worried about that).
This means we will find out the exact date when our embassy appointment (and thus the day we can bring her home) is in about 2 weeks! The embassy date is referred to as a "pink slip" thus everyone in Guatemala adoptions is always excited and wanted whats known as simply, being PINK.
I think shes smiling because she knows she coming home soon!!! Shes grown SO much since that bottom first DNA photo done at 1 month old!

She has our last name!!!

Our new Guatemalan birth certificate from the city of Santa Catarina Pinula where Nora was born was issued yesterday, Valentines Day. What a sweet gift! She now legally has our last name. Her birthmom has signed off for the last time. My thoughts go to Aura, Noras birthmom, and wish she could know how grateful we are to her and how we will forever remember her.
Next step is Guatemalan passport, then second DNA test. This test is on Nora only and they compare it to the first DNA of hers to ensure she is in fact the same baby and hasnt been switched.
We are SO relieved. Measuring windows to order blinds for her room as we speak. It looks like she will be home before Easter!!

Monday

I had to give her back to foster mom today. We are so fortunate she is being cared for by someone you can just tell loves her as much as we do. It will be very hard for her foster mom to say goodbye. Nora could quite possibly be her last foster baby because of the changes happening with Guatemalan adoptions. It was a wonderful trip and I really feel she started to bond with me. I cant wait to bring her home forever!
Nora's amiga Natalie in the photo got her birth certificate so she will be coming home VERY soon! Woo hoo!!

Sunday

All is going well. She loves to move and hates sitting in one place for too long. Anne made me do the tutu. Our sweet little cupcake. Hope we get pink soon!

Day 2

She was up every 4 hrs as the FM said but would quickly eat her entire bottle and fall right back asleep. Shes cutting 1 tooth and it doesnt seem to bother her but she is putting everything in her mouth. She jabbers alot saying lots of consonent sounds and even says dada all the time but I dont think she knows what it means (sorry daddy). She LOVED her bath and didnt want to get out. She loves playing and trying to eat all her toys.
She continues to do great with me. She stares so intently into my eyes and then tries to put her fingers in my mouth as she takes her bottle. Awww, sweet baby love. She loves music and even my singing makes her smile and giggle. I get a huge smile when we play "Super Nora" and then she pats my arms wildly as her way of saying she wants more.
Will add more pics later tonite. Might try the pool later.

Mama visit day 1

Got Nora at 10am after getting in last night at 1030pm. She is so sweet. Very observant little girl. Shes almost sitting up but falls over after awhile. She loves to stand with support. I was so happy to see her smile again. Shes eating cereal and baby food. Today it was chicken with veggies and she loved it. She hasnt barely cried at all. Shes playing with her amiga Natalie now.

The longest wait

Happens now. Shes ours but cant come home yet. First we have to wait for a new birth certificate. Our legal team in Guatemala has to apply for one from the city where Nora was born, Santa Catarina Pinula. SCP is not known to be super quick but not super slow either and will still probably take a couple of weeks. The birth certificate will have her legal first name Angela (not named by birthmom) and our last name (she has no middle name). Then everything can start rolling after that. Her passport and DNA test all needs the new birth cert first. When she gets home we will start a formal legal name change process and apply for new US issued birth certificate and passport.
Here at home we are pretty much ready. Her crib has been up since Thanksgiving and the walls are painted. We have to buy blinds for the windows in her room and hang things on the walls. She has some clothes hanging in the closet and in her drawers. Not too many but at least enough to get us thru her first week home we hope. We have a carseat. All we need to do is wait for her. But the waiting turns to not so patiently at this point.
Thanks for all the congrats everyone. I sincerely hope all of you waiting get out soon too. I know its hard to see someone in this process pass you by. Weve been there. I wish it was more fair, that PGN would go in true timeline order, but they dont. And we all knew this going in, but yeah, it still hurts. I wish I could let all the long timers/copa cabana club members out with us. I wont give any of that "all in the right time" hogwash because everyone waiting knows that even one more day is too long and we ALL want our babies home asap!!!
I am actually mostly packed for my trip this weekend. I cant wait to hold her again. We are hoping she might remember me when we pick up forever to make the transistion smoother for her.

WE ARE OUT!!!!!!

We are out of PGN. This means the Guatemalan legal adoption process is approved. Nora is OURS!! Yeah. SO EXCITED!! Theres a few bits of paperwork to be done yet. New birth certificate with our name, Guatemalan passport, second DNA test. But she should be home in 6-8 weeks. WOO HOO!!!!!!!!