Friday, Feb 29

I'll try to put pictures on tonight--

Had a pancake breakfast this morning w/ new friends, Paula and Emma. Paula came almost 5 years ago on a mission trip and has stayed as she is in process of adopting Emma. She has a very difficult case (Emma has been classified as abandoned which is a whole different ballgame) and currently lives at childrens' home outside Antigua with several hundred other children and some staff. I met Paula through another friend, Paula Voss, from Lakeland Church in Lee's Summit. I am meeting them again this afternoon to play and learn more about their situation. With the recent surge of Guatemalan adoptions in our church and area, I think it could be great opportunity for us to do a mission trip here in the future.

On a very different note, the daily conversation change I've had has been interesting. A month ago it was eye fatigue/pain/blur... where we discuss frequency, onset, relief, duration, location, etc. Now, living w/ 3 moms and 5 kids it's poop frequency, onset, relief, duration, consistency, composition, etc!! What a change a month can make! :-)

March will be busy--yeah!!--as Todd and Nicole Harris are coming to visit their little Paolo, Emily Armstrong is moving down to foster Samuel and be our new housemate :-) Pat and friends are coming down and we're taking a roadtrip :-), and the Embrey's are coming the 1st of April to see their girls and celebrate a birthday!

Most importantly we get to be part of celebrating our Risen Christ! God is so good!

A Day's Work

Pics: playing with house friends in the sea of toys, Erick praying to the plant that he could eat some of the dirt in the pot, Sunday stroll with friends, Beth and Angie.


Some of you have been asking what I do all day now that I don't have a job and I'm in a lovely, warm city. Well, I don't sunbathe and eat chocolates all day! OK, maybe a little here and there. We did get into a kiddy pool for a few minutes yesterday. He loved it!







Erick wakes up now at ~6-6:30, we stroll in to make breakfast, play in the playroom with the other kids, skype/videocall Daddy at 8:00, get dressed and climb the stairs for awhile and burn some energy, and then usually get into the stroller and head in to town to explore, run errands, stroll him to sleep, etc. We're back for lunch, I chase him around some more, try to get him down for a nap around 3, chop fruits and veggies for the next few days or do laundry, dinner at 5, play, read, call Daddy again, bottle, bed around 8. And I'm pooped! He's at a pretty clingy stage, so there's no alone time. It's a stretch to get the bathroom door closed for 2 minutes! Again, I know, all you parents have "been there done that" and it's nothing new to you!







I'm learning those fine-tuning skills like just the right moment to transfer a sleeping baby from arms to crib w/o waking him, the wonders of cheerios in the bib pouch to keep him occupied for a few minutes, and how to cut nails!! I wait til he's really tired and asleep, lean over his crib to trim and file with a petzel on my head (my brother's mini headlamp--he'd be so proud of my innovative use!)







Our adoption process is moving along at a normal speed as far as we know. We haven't heard of any glitches yet. Pat and I will likely meet w/ our Guat attorney at the end of March when he comes here. I haven't posted a timeline as I really don't know what the details are and I'm trying to focus on getting to know Erick right now. I trust and am very appreciative of our agency and know they are working hard on our cases. Yes, it will still take several months. That's my timeline.







About Pat coming--he's coming March 21 and care packages with homemade sweets would be very appreciated!! He can make room!

Settling in

Sunday we went to a bilingual, non-denominational church service. I was missing Gateway but it was a good worship time. Singing a familiar praise song is such comforting feeling when you're in an unfamiliar place! Erick did great, slept half and quietly ate Cheerios the other half. After church we strolled through town where they are beginning the Lent season celebrations. Not sure what they are called, but businesses and families make intricately patterned and colored sawdust murals in the streets. It's a festive time for the locals and tourists.

I also found Casa Santa Domingo, a romantic, historic hotel. The landscaping and gardens are amazing! Hmm, maybe Pat needs to take me there??

This week I am going to check into Spanish lessons. It's ridiculously cheap to have a teacher come to your house--like $5/hour! I am getting around OK on what little I know, but it's definitely frustrating not to be able to speak the language well. I feel like it's just a common courtesty, too, that if you're going to be in a country for awhile, learn their language.

It's still a process of trying to slow my U.S. pace of life and settle in and just BE here. There's a potent mold smell under my bathroom sink that needs attention, I want to get going on Spanish lessons, figure out this whole adoption timeline, learn to be blogger-efficient, journal more, learn about the childrens' homes in the area, take some local cooking lessons.....then I sit back and think, 'OK, God's given me a unique opportunity here to pour a whole bunch of love into this little guy named Erick and be a mom for awhile. We've waited for this and He has answered. Just sit with Erick and enjoy his fingernails digging into the dirt, and not think about washing them or the clothes. Spanish lessons will come and the mold under my sink isn't in any hurry to leave.'

So, I'm working on it.

just more pics

New Friends

A new friend in Overland Park, Sarah, who also fostered in Antigua, hooked us up with a Guatemalan gal here, Mayra, who runs a tour company in Antigua. Mayra's family does airport shuttles, tours of the area, and trips around Guatemala, and is just all around very helpful. They also run a feeding program that feeds between 40 and 50 kids for lunch every Saturday. Mayra said they use some of the money from her tour company and the rest her family just pitches in. Erick and I had the chance to go with them today to help. Her dad, Jose, picked us up along the route through a few other communities picking up the kids. When we got to Mayra's house, her mother, Melinda, and two other ladies were busy making hamburger patties, rice w/ veggies, pico, tortillas, and koolaid. Jose had a mini "Sunday school" type talk then the kids ate and went to play while we cleaned up. Delicious food!

Erick's new things are stopping at the door to jiggle the doorknobs, flicking the light switches, picking up rocks and trying to eat them, and he loves to go up and down steps. Out in the street I'll stand in one spot pivot as he twirls me in a circle--on the curb, off the curb, on the curb, off...gets me dizzy! He took his first eyebrow to the pavement this morning as he got a little carried away and let go of my hand. Nothing a bottle and a rocking chair couldn't fix. My next projects are getting nails trimmed and hair rinsed without a major screamfest. All in a mom's day's work!

Happy Valentine's Day

I spent the day with my new valentine today. As cute as he is, he doesn't replace the original, though! We went to the market this morning. They have a huge outdoor consignment shop that was fun to browse through and I picked up a cute top and skirt. No romantic dinner with Pat, so I at least deserved to shop a little! The market has a great varienty of fresh, inexpensive fruits and veggies, in addition to just about anything you'd need. The girls I live with are all health nuts, so I'm guilted into eating healthy, too, which isn't all that bad. Erick usually has oatmeal or rice cereal with fruit for breakfast, and the rest of the day he has some combo of chicken, broccoli, carrots, avocado, cheese, eggs, bananas, mangos, strawberries, or yogurt. We haven't had a food yet that he doesn't like, other than some Gerber green peas or beans I brought. Seems pretty healthy to me, coming off of Chipotle and Popeye's in KC!

Every Friday a group of fostering parents in Antigua get together for lunch with their kids just to socialize and be of support to each other. Looking forward to that.

Well, being Valentine's day, the girls and I are popping in a movie (Perfume??) and digging into some chocolate....

Hola from Antigua

Pictures: doctor visit, "tuk-tuk"cab ride to doctor (oversized go-cart), Erick learning to climb steps and victorious at the top (yes, I hover over him so he doesn't faceplant), the street we live on with Volcano Agua in the background--inactive, and 3 of the other kids we live with.

I don't want to rub it in, but it's warm and sunny here and I'm pretty sure it's cold wherever you are!

Erick is a mover so I'm definitely getting my exercise chasing him. It's hard because there's a grassy courtyard area in the middle of our house that he really wants to roll around in but there's also a water basin there which attracts mosquitos. He's super sensitive to bug bites and must have the skin type that attracts mosquitos, etc. If he gets bitten he scratches at night keeping him uncomfortable. I do let him dig in the flower pots. And that's where our first lesson on "no" has been--not eating the rocks in the pots. He's doing pretty well at that and will repeat, in a surly pout and headshake, "no, no, no, no, no." It's hilarious.

I wanted to try out a church here Sunday morning, but I'm learning that kids often dictate your schedule. If' he's kept me up at night and back asleep at 10am, let him sleep! He's been waking up at 5 which is a little early for me yet, but I'm getting there. Yes, all you parents, go ahead and laugh. You knew Pat and Lee Anne had it coming to them sometime!

I'll get more consistent in writing once I get this schedule down better. Still trying to figure it out, but it's all good!

HAPPY birthday boy!

Erick must have been the happiest kid I have ever seen on the day of his/her birthday. We had a great party with all of his new friends and their parents-- Kylie, Andrea, Elijah(Eli), and Milo. We had a GREAT party complete with hats, balloons, BUBBLES, cake, ice cream, presents, and sugar-hyped kids running everywhere! We had a total blast!

Erick's first birthday present was a big box of blocks from his new friends. He loves his blocks and especially likes to bang them on the table! The kid did not quit smiling for 2 hours!

Thank you Angie, Heather, Lesley, and Brett for helping put on an absolutely wonderful first birthday for Erick. We will never forget it. We're very lucky to be spending this chapter of our lives with such wonderful caring people who make us feel like family already.

I failed to thank...

...a few people on our journey down here. Thank you so much Tony and Claudia Meyer for your generous gift in connecting us with Jeff Timmons. You don't know how much that meant. And Jeff, thank you for your generosity in the Buddy Passes...words can't describe how thankful we are. And Todd and Jerry, thank you for all that you did to help get us down here. I'm not kidding you, the SECOND best moment of my life(outside of walking down the aisle with Lee Anne) was climbing aboard our flight to Guatemala from Atlanta in seats 1A and 1B! THAT's RIGHT FOLKS, seats 1A and 1B! For those of you who don't know, that's FIRST CLASS! We have never flown first class before and now we were in 1A and 1B flying down to get our son in just a few hours!

Well that WAS the second best moment of my life, now it's the third. I didn't mention(in the previous blog) on day one what was the second best moment. When we finally went downstairs to see if Erick and his foster family had left(they went out of view from where we were looking down from the ninth floor), the elevator doors opened and there he was, sound asleep in his foster mother's arms. She looked up at me and recognized me from November 9th(when we first met Erick in Guatemala) and smiled a big smile and handed him to me. OK, I will never hear the end of this from the guys(calling me sappy, Mr. Kleenex, etc.), but man I couldn't hold back the tears when that kid was put into my arms. Unbelievable feeling. Indescribable. Thank you God for such a wonderful gift.

OK, now, enough sap for now. Knowing me you'll probably get a little more later. But guys, come on, you gotta admit, I bet you all got choked when your son or daughter was born. Plus, I don't want to have to tell this story over and over a thousand times when I get home because it will be hard enough as it is.

Well, we've had a great start to Erick's birthday today! We went to town and ate brunch at one of the best cafes in town, Cafe Condesa. Then we went and bought some wall pics to put on Erick's walls in his bedroom in KC. Then we went and got him birthday balloons and cake for his party at three. I'll get pics of his party to you tomorrow.

Oh, I almost forgot, thank you Sara and Katie for spending time with Lee Anne on preparing us for her trip here and life here. Sara and Katie and their families have both gone on this same journey and now have their children home. If you would like to see a VERY well written account of life here in Antigua(with pics) you can visit http://www.katiemohr.blogspot.com/. Katie and her son Elliot lived here in the same house that Lee Anne and Erick are in. Sorry Sara, I'm not sure whether you had a blog or not...I'll have to check that out. Oh, and thanks DJ Lee for connecting us with Katie and Russ. Reading their blog was a huge blessing to us prior to coming here.

Gotta run now, but thank you to everyone for your prayers and all that you have done to be a part of our journey. I know we're forgetting to single out others we need to thank but know that we are very appreciative to everyone. Take care, gotta get ready for my son's one year birthday party!

Diaper again?

Ok, this whole mommy thing is alot of work! :) I don't know what I'll do when Pat leaves! We've both had the Montezuma sickness already--me a couple of days ago and Pat for the last two. Guess it's good to "get it out of our system" early (sorry if that's TMI!). I hear you aren't quite as sensitive after the first time or two.

We're loving being with Erick. I won't always go on and on about him, but the sweetest thing is to hold him, kiss his head, whisper in his ear, and have those big brown eyes look up and smile. That, and when he reaches up for us or when he lays on our stomach and giggles; he's particularly fond of Pat's bellybutton. And he's such a photo cheeseball. You can just aim the camera at him and he instantly gets this big, cheesy, bottom-toothed grin. He was definitely raised around a camera! Ok, enough gooing about our kid.

Tomorrow is his first birthday so we'll have cake, ice cream and party hats. Thanks Emily and Kari for sending the hats!

...a few picks...

Our first blog...

.....never thought we would have a blog. This is Pat writing right now--most of the time it will be Lee Anne. We have set this up so friends/family can see pictures and read about what life is like for Lee Anne and Erick while they are here in Antigua, Guatemala. Also, this is for Erick, for when he is older and wants to read about his life when he was about to turn one. Speaking of, Erick will celebrate his one year birthday on February 7.

Quick summary of the past few days: We arrived Wed., Jan. 30 to Guatemala City. We stayed at the Grand Tikal Futura Hotel(which I highly recommend). Erick and his foster parents arrived on time at 7:00 but the social worker wouldn't arrive for another 1 1/2 hours(typical in Guatemala). We watched Erick's foster parents interact with Erick for about an hour and a half from the ninth floor veranda waiting for the social worker. That hour and a half seemed like 10 hours. We could hardly wait to get him into our arms. Erick was VERY well taken care of by his foster parents. To them we will forever be grateful. When the social worker arrived at approximately 8:30 we talked with them for about an hour asking them our long list of questions of things to know about Erick(foods he eats, sleep schedule, etc.). When they left Erick cried for about an hour but then went to sleep with a bottle. He only woke up once, looked around, noticed he was sleeping with strangers, cried, got another bottle, and went back to sleep.

He woke up the next day happy as a lark and very playful. He didn't cry all day and we played and laughed and just got to know each other better. This still feels like a dream. I can't describe what this feels like after so many years of wanting children.

On Friday we were picked up at the hotel and left for Antigua. On the way we made our first trip to Hyper Pais(owned by Wal-Mart). Let's just say I felt like we were on Candid Camera....exploding diapers, juggling active kid while picking up numerous items, trying to talk to someone who knows no English about which Pack and Play is the sturdiest, etc. etc. only to get to the checkout and have our credit card rejected(after an hour of shopping). Well, long-story short, we got our merchandise and headed to Antigua.

Antigua....not joking must be one of the most beautiful cities/towns in the world. Pictures on the internet don't do it justice.

Casa Bella...this is where Lee Anne and Erick will be living. You can see photos of this beautiful home on the internet at www.casabella112.com.

There are three other women living here with their children waiting to bring their children home. Heather, from Colorado has been here 5 months, Leslie from California 3 months, and Angie from London has been here a little over two months. We couldn't have ordered three better roommates for Lee Anne and Erick.

Well, that's it for now. This first blog has been long enough. I'll get pictues on here hopefully today or tomorrow.

Thanks for all of your prayers and support. We are very blessed to have so many friends and family that love and care for us so much.