Pictures

I uploaded some pictures from the past 2 weeks to flickr.

Grammy babysat Karla this morning for 2 or so hours. I didn't cry when I left and Karla was completely fine while I was gone...didn't even ask for me!

Karla and Mommy complete a project

...so I have to blog about it even though I should be folding laundry or cleaning...or sleeping.

I have been wanting to buy some kind of storage for toys for our family room since we got home. I have saved gift cards and looked at lots of options. I finally figured out what I wanted and bought it last week. Once I got the heavy box in my shopping cart, in the trunk, up the stairs, into the family room - I realized it was damaged. So today I was feeling energetic and took it back and got a new one. I don't usually put things together because I don't have much patience with things like that or lots of experience with tools. Today I was determined to do it - with a 2 year old and all! I will not say how long this afternoon we worked on this project because it would be embarrassing. The box claimed "assemble in minutes" but that was not our case!! It is a miracle the thing wasn't damaged by me or Karla during the construction. I actually had to take part of it apart twice because of using the wrong part at the wrong time. But I finally figured it out and I feel proud. Hopefully Karla does too. She was actually good at cheering for me or saying "oh no" when appropriate. She also was good at holding the little dowel rods and putting them in the tiny holes when needed (this kept her occupied for some time because she likes to finish a job and be precise too)!

Here is a picture of the toy section of our family room BEFORE. It is a little embarrassing.

This is a picture DURING construction. Karla loved climbing in and out of the cubes. At one point I was bent over trying to hold two pieces together, put in a screw and she was holding my head for balance. I had to stop and sit down because I was laughing so hard. I think Karla thought I was nuts. I'm glad no one was around to witness the event.










































Here is a picture AFTER construction.


I think the room looks better. I did end up taking some toys up to her bedroom but at least things feel a little more organized now...and there is a little more floor space.

*Karla did a great job kicking today at her swimming lessons! Getting a little better every week.

*Her new favorite word is "mine". Ugh...

*We got our final document notarized today so now we just wait for a court date.

*We received ALL of the original paperwork from Karla's adoption/visa/citizenship from the Dept of Homeland Security today! We were expecting to wait months. It was a nice surprise. I need to look at it some more because there is quite a bit of paper but I learned what time of day Karla was born - 10:01pm. We also got a small color picture of Karla's birthmother and birth-grandmother, specifics on where they live(d) and confirmation that they did not have economic means to support a baby. It made me feel sad too for the young birthmother and when I saw that she and her mother gave up all rights early in the year 2007. Doesn't seem right that we had to wait until the end of 2008 to finish this...but I can't dwell on that.

That is it for now. Tomorrow will be another adventure I'm sure.

Last Week

*I got to talk to our friend Diana in Guatemala on Skype. It was the first time I have talked to her since we've been back - except for an email or two. I have missed her!

*We had our playgroup again last Tuesday. Karla is getting to know the kids better.

*Our sleep "strategy" failed miserably. We tried. Now we've changed the game plan again. We will try to get her back to sleep in her crib after waking up once. If she wakes up more than once - she gets put in bed with us. I didn't like this idea at first but it seems to be working because none of us are as tired when it happens AND Karla sleeps in a lot longer! I think when we transition her to a bed we will have to make a BIG, HUGE deal of her sleeping in a bed by herself. We'll have to wait a bit longer because I am not sure she would understand that yet....and because I am just not ready to get rid of the crib. We've discussed it and it is probably selfish but I'm not ready to be done with it just yet. I need a baby just a little bit longer.

*Last Thursday I went to bible study again and Karla stayed in the toddler room again for the entire two hours without any problem!

*Our pastor came to our house last Thursday night to meet with us before the baptism yesterday. Karla liked playing with him and giving him shots with her medical kit. She also enjoyed him reading from the "Book of Church Order" to her. He tried getting out a Dora book but there was no distracting her from the book he had brought. She gave him hugs and kisses when he left which was really cute.

*We were waiting to hear from our attorney about when our hearing would be at the court house to finally have this adoption TOTALLY complete. I guess there was a little misunderstanding. We were waiting for her to get back to us and she was waiting for us to get something notarized and give to her before submitting everything for the hearing. So...we probably won't have our hearing until March but that is okay. Karla is here so it doesn't really matter. Jason is very anxious to get it done though (so we won't have to think about it at all anymore). We're going to the notary this evening after he gets home from work.

*Last week I left Karla home with Daddy twice. I cried both times when I left - and of course Karla was totally fine! I'm glad she was fine...now I just need to work on being fine when I leave. :) Tomorrow is Grammy's first official baby-sitting morning. I just have a check-up at a doctor's office in town here. So I will be close by BUT I am sure KARLA will be fine...I should be...

*Saturday morning we had our first official family photo taken!!! I am so excited to get the pictures back because we got a few good ones! Feb 3 we get to go pick them up. We went to JCPenney - which I had heard mixed reviews about but it was a good price - and I was pleasantly surprised. It went well and the photos turned out nice. It was our first trip to the mall together...and the first time in months for me. I haven't been brave enough to take Karla to the mall by myself. I had fun...not sure about the other two. I had gift cards that were burning holes in my pocket. So Karla got a new outfit and more accessories. She is very in to necklaces, hair things, etc. right now. Here is a picture of last week. She actually doesn't have as many barrettes and necklaces on as she had had a few times.


*We had a spontaneous dinner with Rich, Carey, Lola, and Tyler last week. We had fun watching the girls dance together and I enjoyed getting to talk to Carey while the girls and dads played.

*Karla talked to Austin on the phone last week which was pretty darn cute!

*Yesterday's baptism went very well. Karla liked getting the water put on her head (that didn't surprise us!) After the water was put on her head she asked our pastor to put some on "mommy". That was pretty funny. Then when we were listening to the vows and responding to them...Karla ran away. She didn't get too far so that was good. We went to Walnut Grove restaurant after church with family and then came back to our house for cake and ice cream.

Special Day

Well, most days are special around here - but today our little girl (okay, my sweet baby) was baptized!!!


Lots of family and friends celebrated the day with us. Jason and I are exhausted but happy. We have had a busy week. I hope I have time to blog about it tomorrow! I'm going to have to bug other people for pictures taken at the church because I didn't get any when we were up front. :) Karla looked beautiful in her white dress (of course)!

Many prayers of thanks were said today! Thank you Lord for Karla and may she grow up to know and love you!

Williams College

Our dear friend Sara is a professor at Williams College and she has bought Karla and I some nice t-shirts to remind us of her. (I think you should have gotten one for Oso too, though) :) We wore our shirts together today!


Karla is ready to take notes (in economics, most likely) with a notebook her Daddy gave her just the other day. Amazing how flipping through little sheets of paper can be so much fun!


On an unrelated note - no, Jason and I NEVER fight over time with Karla. :)

Not Monday!!

I think that is how Karla felt this morning. I usually pick out what she wears but today she was quite adamant about what she wanted to wear - clothes that didn't match at all. Here is a picture of her with a pastel sweater, gray/red/black pants, purple socks, followed by pink shoes, and then a t-shirt on her head as a "hat". We were able to get out of the house to the Y without the "hat" and luckily she had a coat on until we got in the Y and put on her bathing suit.

The first night of our new "sleep" plan happened last night. Karla was not too happy with me last night OR this morning. She wanted Daddy before she wanted Mommy today. She woke up once in the night for over an hour. Nap time today was also harder. We're going to give it 3 nights and see if there is any improvement. If not....re-evaluate. Basically we are trying to put her in her crib while she is "drowsy but not asleep" so that she will be able to put herself to sleep without us rocking her. The doctor seemed to think this would allow her to put herself back to sleep in the middle of the night without having to wake us up multiple times.

Mommy is feeling pretty stressed out right now and I am sure it is mainly due to lack of quality sleep.

Karla had another swimming lesson this morning that went well. She was more interested in watching the other kids today than focusing on what she was supposed to be doing. She did try kicking on her own today though.

In the afternoon Heather came over for a playdate. The girls had lots of fun and I had to get a picture of them in Karla's favorite spot - at the bottom of the stairs enjoying clementines.

Jason and Heather's dad work together so the 6 of us had dinner together at one of my favorite restaurants! It was really the first time Karla has been out to eat in the U.S. other than a trip to McDonald's and a family event where we had a whole room to roam around in. She did a great job in her highchair. I have to say I really enjoyed getting to go out to eat again! :)

The doctor is in!

I got Karla a medical kit this week (so hopefully, maybe future doctor visits won't be so traumatic). She loves it! She played with it most of the day yesterday.

She also surprisingly spent some time in a laundry hamper. I kept asking her if she wanted out and she would say no. She had her doctor kit and Oso - didn't need anything else.


Karla had quite the hairdo when she finally got out of the hamper.


We only had those 3 nights of solid sleep. The problem almost seems to be getting worse. Last night, starting at 11:30 she was getting up every hour until I finally put her in bed with us. And then she was up before 7. Jason and I are going to have to discuss some type of plan because this can't continue - which I'm not looking forward to because it will probably involve more tears (for Karla) and more difficulty before things get better. I'm tired.

And of course now she is looking so cute and dancing around to her own happy beat that I have no choice but to go play with her! Just wish I had more energy!

Healthy Update

Karla had her second "adoption visit" today with the doctor and social worker. Karla has gained 12 oz. and grown 1/2 an inch since we were there 2 months ago! She doesn't have any developmental delays or health problems, praise the Lord! We are so thankful. We decided to say goodbye to this doctor because it takes a good 40 minutes to get to her office when there isn't any traffic or bad weather. Since there aren't any concerns related to adoption we're going to pick a doctor near our house. I got teary eyed when the doctor hugged me good-bye but I didn't cry! I felt emotional because she has been with us since the day we found out that Karla had been born. She has checked Karla's medical reports every month that we received one and always had something encouraging to say in her email responses to us. She was helpful when Karla was in the hospital when we first got home (and she still hadn't even met Karla in person!). She was one of the few people we met in our adoption journey that was nice the entire time and truly cares about children (and their parents). Thank you Dr. Springer! The social worker was also wonderful. She made me feel better today - just reassuring us (okay, me) that we are doing things right for Karla. She also gave us her phone number so we could call her if we ever have any adoption related questions.

On to pictures. Karla had fun on Sunday at Rich and Carey's house for a Steeler's party playing with Lola and her cousin. They dressed up like princesses. I don't know who had more fun - me or Karla. Here is Karla as Tinkerbell, Belle, and Jasmine.




Karla is doing a wonderful job with her language and with her signing. She even makes her stuffed animals sign. The other day her cup had to sign "more" because it was empty. I can't keep up with the words she says anymore - it is too hard. There are too many words and she is imitating a lot.

Karla is also big into pretending a lot (the doctor said this is "ahead of the game" for her age). :)

Last Thursday Karla stayed in the toddler room at church with 3 other kids for 2 hours while I got to go to my bible study! Her first time away from Mommy or Daddy for an extended period of time. She was only 2 rooms away from me so I didn't have to worry about her. And apparently, she never asked for me. :)

Sunday she stayed in the toddler room again by herself. I am so proud of her! (Several of the kids that she is with in the toddler room are there on Thursday morning and in her new playgroup too so she will get to know them!)

Now we just have to get Mommy to relax (not worry) about care-giving things so much!

Karla has slept all night for the past 3 nights...I'm hesitant to write that because we are afraid it will be a fluke. Jason and I were SO worn out by the end of last week wondering how we were going to keep going with so much interrupted sleep. Maybe Karla knew we needed a few nights of solid sleep. :)

Swimming Lessons

Today was Karla's first day of swimming lessons! Her friend Austin, his cousin, and another one of Austin's friends are in our class. So it was a fun, friendly group. I think there were 8 kids with their moms. Karla LOVED being in the water. She had no trouble jumping off the side of the pool or putting her face in the water. She showed Daddy tonight how she learned to "scoop" the water (moving her arms like she was swimming the freestyle stroke). So we've been "scooping" this evening. We just need to work on kicking.

Aunt Brenda, the "professional" swimmer, came to watch Karla's first swimming lesson. She was also there to be the photographer. Well, after she had taken a few pictures she was told pictures weren't allowed during lessons. :( So she stopped.

Karla enjoyed periodically making sure Tia Brenda was watching her and then waving. After Karla's class there is a class for older people, I'll say retired people. On the way out of the pool Karla was sure to show them all her toes and said "toes" to them. She is really into her toes right now.

I have uploaded a bunch of pictures to flickr again so check them out.

Steelers Fans and Cinderella

Mommy and Daddy with their princess. :)

Winter Wonderland

Gorgeous Girls

Here are the girls (Karla and Lola) in their matching Guatemala shirts and bows. Haven't seen too many things cuter than this!

(Good) U.S. Attorney

*Jason met with our attorney today to discuss Karla's readoption. He had called several asking specific questions so we would be sure to get a "good" one. This one was recommended by a coworker who has adopted. Jason really liked the attorney! It probably helped that she told him he was the most organized adoptive family she'd ever met with. He has spent time over the holidays organizing and filing all of the paperwork. It is quite a stack!! I guess the attorney would ask him something (thinking he'd get it to her later) and he'd say "It is right here" and he could find it easily in his files. So now all we do is wait for her (which shouldn't take long b/c Jason gave her everything she will need today) to do all the paperwork for readoption in PA and then we will have a court hearing at the Butler courthouse in February or possible March. Then I can change the top of my blog because we will be done with Karla's adoption!!!

*More on my transition: :) I've decided part of my problem is that I want everything to be perfect from the beginning (the day Karla got here). Our schedule, my energy, Karla's behavior, meals, etc. I need to remember that things are never perfect in life! :) I have to change my attitude and expectations. AND realize that things are going to take longer to do - and that is okay!

*Yesterday we received a letter stating that it would be up to 120 days to get ALL of Karla's papers from Immigration services. That is fine. We don't need them. Just want them and are hoping they might have a tiny bit of info about Karla's birth family in them.

*Karla and I went to our first playgroup today. There were 4 moms and 6 kids. We will be meeting twice a month. I enjoyed it because I got to ask experienced mom's of toddlers some questions. :)

*Karla also tried fingerpainting this afternoon for the first time. She had fun but was very "delicate" about the paint on her fingers. I'm Karla's mom so I get to say this- I think she is so smart! Her language is amazing me everyday and she is following directions I don't really expect her to. She is also quite good at trying to "distract" me or her Daddy if we want her to do something that she doesn't want to do.

*Here is a picture from when we went to Karla's great-grandparents. I had trouble posting pictures to that post and I love this picture.

Pictures - from a while ago

As I was sitting at my computer I got an email from Karla's foster mom with some pictures - a pleasant surprise. I'm not sure when they were taken - I'll have to look into that later. Just wanted to share my two favorite!

Quick Update

*Jason went back to work today. He had been off for the past 12 days! I was a little worried Karla would be upset all day but she did alright. She asked about "Poppy" or "Daddy" a few times and was okay after I said "He's at work". I think the holidays fell at a good time because Karla got extra "daddy time" and the two of them really bonded - even more. She even wakes up calling for him - probably 50% of the time now. She used to only call for me.

*Karla is growing! I guess I knew it would happen I just wasn't thinking it would happen anytime soon. I wasn't prepared to see her clothes get tight and short! I'm glad she is healthy though.

*I am feeling better this week. I got an antibiotic and decongestant from the doctor last week and it has helped me a lot! Karla has slept through the past two nights also so I'm not as tired.

*Our church put up pictures on the hallway bulletin board of us since they had all been praying for us. They had also put a sign in front of our house when we got home from Guatemala. I took a picture this past Sunday. I kept forgetting to take my camera.


*Saturday we went to see some of my good friends that I went to high school with. Here is a picture of us with our kids.


*I know I wanted to blog about something Karla did today but I can't think of it right now!! All I know is she is so cute and such a good little girl!

Great-Grandparents

Karla visited her other set of great-grandparents yesterday. She has met them once before but I showed her their picture before we left home...and then she wanted to take it with us. She held it almost the whole way to see "Mammaw" and "Peepaw".



She liked playing with Peepaw and seeing what was in his pocket. He took her on a few walks down the hall of their housing complex.






She enjoyed calling out for "meme"(Mammaw) when she was told "no" by Mommy or Daddy. She also liked her walker. Karla was on "Blue Boy" (tricycle) and she and Mammaw would chase each other around.







Karla had lots of fun on "Blue Boy" something her great-uncle's and grandpa used to ride around on.






It was a fun and special day! Plus, Karla slept all night last night!!

Karla is speaking Mandarin now while watching Dora...I better go. Two languages is enough for now!

Happy New Year!

Last night we went to some friend's house for dinner and to hang out for a little while. Karla got to stay up later than usual...and wasn't fussy about it! I had packed my camera to take last night but didn't realize that someone small had taken the camera case out of our diaper bag and dragged it to another part of the house before we left. I also didn't take pictures yesterday when Tio Kevin came over to play with Karla or Monday when some of my good friends came over to meet Karla. I am slacking!!

We had a great Christmas! We were home Christmas Day and Jason's family came over. Then we went to my family's house the next day. Karla was spoiled with presents from all of her family! She got a table and 2 chairs for our family room, a rocking chair that is just her size, a Dora tent with a tunnel, clothes, a Dora sleeping bag, a Little People farm, among other things. The main things she got from Santa were a Fur-Real dog that rolls over and barks and a wooden train set. Both were a big hit.

Karla is imitating words all the time and using 2-3 word phrases more often. My favorite phrases are "Good job, Mama", "Okay, Mama", and "Excuse me, Mama". (notice a theme?) Other words are "thirsty, salsa (as in the dance), knock-knock, tickle, spoon, circle, color, elbow and armpit (guess who taught her that one)." A Spanish word she started saying is "naranca" for "orange".

Karla is also big on boo-boos right now. She gets some by just slightly bumping into things or by making herself bump into things. She likes to say "boo-boo" and then whoever is around has to give her boo-boo a kiss. Jason and I don't mind this game at all. We've even "tricked" her into giving us kisses for boo-boos we have on our cheeks. :)

Karla in her sleeping bag - pretending to sleep.


This is the rocking chair Grammy and Pap-Pap fixed up for Karla. It was Jason's grandfather's when he was young.


Karla's new tunnel:



Karla has been a little off schedule since Christmas which is hard on all of us but I think she has done very well considering all the excitement. Today we seemed to be back on track. Karla still isn't sleeping through the night. She goes back to bed easier though once she wakes up in the middle of the night. I think she has done a great job transitioning to being home. I feel like now - for some reason - the transition is hitting me and at times it feels overwhelming. I can't explain it really. I also have been fighting a sinus problem for weeks so I don't think that helps my overall well-being. I'm not sure why I feel like things are difficult right now but I do. I guess the combination of not having a good night's sleep and not feeling that great don't add up to anything pretty. :) Then I have to remind myself we haven't even been home 2 months yet...almost, but not yet. That really isn't a long time for such a major life change - for any of us.

Today Daddy took Karla to Home Depot. It was their first outing together without me. I didn't even realize this until Jason told me. I think I may be sending them on more errands together! :) It sounded like they had a great time. Karla helped Jason pick out a new hammer and they looked/walked around a lot. Daddy was trying to give me some relaxation time. :) I got to take a long shower and call a friend. Daddy also dressed Karla today and did her hair. She was in Steeler's gear and had a new hair-do (which was cute). Karla made a point of showing me her new ponytail as soon as her Daddy was finished with it.

It has been so AMAZING and fun having Karla here for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve. I'm so glad she made it home in 2008! I'm still praying for the other families that still don't have their children home from Guatemala. U.S. Adoptions have been closed with Guatemala for a year now and there are still a lot of cases not completed. Ridiculous if you ask me!

One final picture. Just look at that adorable face. :) Daddy helped Karla make a snowman (she loves snowmen-mainly the stuffed toy kind) with snow that was on our front porch this evening. She liked touching the snow at first but then kept saying "cold, cold".