Adoption Paperwork is DONE!

Well, this is my first blog posting here since we got back from Guatemala I believe. However I thought that I would share the good news that as of today, 2010-01-30, every last item of paperwork for Karla's adoption is ........ DONE! Karla's US Passport came in the mail today along with the original supporting documents. This included her Certificate of Citizenship which I was very reluctant to send back to the federal government. However it's all returned and will be heading out to the safe deposit box shortly. Karla's passport was the last paperwork item we had to do. While not strictly necessary, it "ties" all of Karla's birth and citizenship information into one document so forever after now she'll only need to present her passport to show citizenship, not a birth certificate + CoC. So strictly going by the dates and paperwork, Karla's adoption has stretched from August 2006 to January 2010. That's an amazing 3 years and 5 months!

Pictures

New pictures uploaded to flickr.

Comparison

December 27, 2008:


January 28, 2010 (13 months later):


Then and now - Oso and orange juice are never very far away in the morning. :)

We do still play on the steps but not nearly as often as we used to. It used to be one of her favorite spots for some reason. Usually the bottom 4, not the top. I guess since the step doesn't make a perfect size "bed" anymore it is less appealing for play.

Nice Catch!!

We've had some fun this past week.

We had a playdate with Aaron and Aidan that included playing at our house and then eating at Chik Fil A.

We went to visit Mammaw and Peepaw since we hadn't had a chance to see them for Christmas yet. Karla got spoiled there, of course. She got some new gifts and then we ate in the cafeteria and Peepaw gave Karla her own money to pay for her lunch. She really liked that. She had some money left over after she ate her lunch so she went back for ice cream. :)

I shouldn't have said anything about Karla sleeping through the night. I think that trend is over again for a while. She has now just started to be afraid at night. Ugh... Another challenge...

Playing a game with Mammaw:

Karla with her friends Aidan and Aaron.

Karla is "into" babies right now. Real ones...not dolls - Barbies are still tops! She likes to "help" babies. She was helping Aaron pose for the pictures.


Karla had her third swim lesson on Monday. She couldn't get over to her classmates (and away from me) fast enough once we were on the pool deck. She barely looked back at me. She looks so cute out in the water! She is the youngest and smallest one so when they get out into deeper water she reaches for her teacher or her friend Sophia. It doesn't bother her though. She just knows she needs a little help to keep up. I could tell through the window this past week that she was talking a lot to her teacher. I wondered (worried :) ) what she might be saying to her! During her lesson Karla "fell" in the pool. The 5 kids and the teacher were by the "deeper" pool - it is about 4 ft I think. The kids were sitting on the side of the pool while the teacher was out in the water with one of the kids. (The teacher never goes out very far, she stays close to the whole group of kids) I'm not sure exactly what happened but Karla kind of slipped in from the side of the pool. She had just taken her turn in the water. I saw her teacher catch her right away and I could see that Karla was smiling or laughing so I knew she was fine. I didn't really think much about it until after class when I went in to get Karla. Her teacher came up to me and told me Karla fell in today...she knows I watch her class like a hawk. :) I said I saw her....but I was wondering why she was laughing when she told me. Then she said - as she was still chuckling a little bit - "I know I shouldn't be laughing because it wasn't funny that she fell in but when I caught her, Karla said "Nice catch" very enthusiastically. She said it was so funny. She was still laughing about it after class. I can just hear Karla saying that!

I got in the pool after the lesson with Karla this week. It makes me happy to see Karla in the water. She really loves it. I haven't been in the pool with her in a while since her Daddy usually takes her. So this time, she let me hold her a lot. Usually she doesn't want you to touch her at all. She swims alone - with her floatie. Of course, we were pretending to be Little Bo Peep and a sheep. But Bo Peep and the sheep gave lots of hugs, got lost, missed each other, hugged some more, etc. So it was fun!

This and That

Haven't been doing too much. I was sick over the weekend. Worthless on Saturday. I was so glad Jason was off that day. I slept most of the day...that hasn't happened in at least 1 1/2 years! :) Monday Jason wasn't feel too great but recovered quickly and Karla seems to have a little cold.

Since I was sick I used that as an excuse to start "Eclipse", Twilight book 3. :)

Karla had her second swimming class on Monday evening. She did great! She barely noticed that I was leaving the pool area. Grammy and Pap-Pap had the day off and came to watch Karla's class with me. She waved at us all through the glass wall. After class her teacher said "Wow, she did great today!" I could see her talking to the teacher and other kids this time too. Whew. Oh, and she had FUN! After class she got to swim with Pap-Pap and Daddy. She slept well that night!

I'm afraid to write this but I will - Karla has been sleeping through the ENTIRE night more often than not for about 3 weeks now!! She would occasionally sleep through the night but nothing consistent before. Ever since potty training started in August she'd get up at least once a night to use the bathroom. At least she woke up and didn't wet the bed, I guess! So, for the first time in well over a year we're actually getting to sleep all night! It is AWESOME!

We got Karla some games for Christmas and we've really been enjoying playing them with her. I think it is most fun when the 3 of us are able to play together in the evening! :) I enjoy seeing her play games.

Today the sun came out in the afternoon for a little while and I decided we were bundling up and going outside. Karla's eyes lit up when I suggested it and we couldn't find her shoes fast enough. I told her we were staying on the sidewalk because the grass would be all muddy. We ran a few races on the sidewalk and then she found a patch of snow on the driveway to play in...she reminded me "it wasn't on the grass". So we stomped on the snow and kicked the snow for a good 20 minutes. It was fun to be outside for a while!

I followed the news closely yesterday because there were 53 orphans from Haiti who were flown in to Pittsburgh. I cried during Karla's nap yesterday while watching the news coverage. It is sad what it was like in Haiti and then the earthquake... Then just thinking about adoptive families waiting for the child(ren) and then not knowing where they were...and paperwork destroyed. Sick. Anyway, this local story is great if you haven't heard about it!! Here is the link. I was also very curious about whether or not the 53 orphans would all have homes in the U.S. My mom tried calling me yesterday morning and Karla and I were out. When she got a hold of me she said "I thought maybe you were in Pittsburgh adopting some babies!" Ah, if only it were that easy. So last night and today I was trying to find out what will be happening to orphans not matched with adoptive families yet. It was actually easy to follow with my adoption friends from facebook and Safe Families for Children's website. I guess there are around 300 children coming to the Indianapolis area in the very near future from Haiti. And since the announcement there has been an overwhelming response of families in that area to foster and/or adopt these children! You can read all about it on the site's blog I posted above but I just thought that was great that so many people were coming forward with interest in adoption. Yeah, it isn't as easy as saying "hey, I want to adopt one of those kids" but you've gotta start somewhere! I could go on and on...but won't. You can read about it if you want. :)

I haven't taken any pictures lately! I better get on that tomorrow!

A verse to leave you with:
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (NIV) James 1:27

Two Quick Stories

**I wrote this as a draft weeks ago. It is Karla's dialogue with Santa. :)

When Karla first saw Santa she slowly walked up to him. She looked up at him and - as he was lifting her up into his lap - she said "You are such a big guy". Santa kind of chuckled and said "Yes, I am". Santa asked Karla what she wanted for Christmas and since she was a bit nervous she just said "a gray present". I don't think he heard what she said but he kept talking to her and asked if she had been a good girl. Of course she answered "yes". After he told her about how she needed to go to bed early on Christmas Eve (Jason and I thought, "wow maybe this REALLY is Santa, he knows what to say to Karla!") he set her back on the ground. She was standing directly in front of him just looking at him and then said "I lub (love) Santa" and "I have gloves on just like Santa". Then Santa gave her a piece of candy. It was candy she'd never had before (taffy, I think) so she was happy as could be.


**Karla likes a song on a CD we have in the car called "Do To Others". We listen to it a lot and the other day I found a way to work "doing unto others as you'd have them do unto you" into a real life situation. I thought I'd taught her something. Then yesterday, she saw a commercial on TV with a girl in a tutu. She said, "Hey Mommy!! Look!! TUTU others! Like the song in the car." .....uh, we'll keep working on it. :)

Swimming

Karla had her first swimming class last night. Only one of us cried...and it wasn't her. I was pretty embarrassed. She had been a little nervous before we left home because she knew she was going in the pool without me or Daddy...and that she wouldn't be wearing her floatie. When we got on the deck of the pool she kept her arm around my leg. There were two other kids there with the teacher already and they were trying to get Karla to come sit with them. She wasn't budging. The teacher said that parents had to leave the deck of the pool and go sit behind a glass wall in the Y lobby. I totally understand that and from my work with kids know that sometimes it is best if parents leave the room...but I said I'd sit on a bench for a minute or so until Karla was comfortable. I really thought she'd be fine once she realized what was going on. Well, Karla wasn't leaving my side. Then the other 2 kids arrived - one was Karla's friend Sophia - I thought that would get her to join the others for sure. She still stood next to me. The teacher came over and said "Should I just take her?" A million things were running through my mind and I wasn't being decisive!!!! I said "okay". So the teacher scooped her up, Karla made a horrible face like she was going to start howling and I walked to the door of the locker room - where K couldn't see me. I waited to hear howling and crying....and was going to go get her and forget the whole thing if that is what I heard. I heard nothing. I waited a minute and then peeked around the corner. She was in the water with her class already doing their first little activity...without tears or anything. I walked to the lobby then started crying. I felt so bad like I'd done something terrible to her...and by this point I could see her through the glass and she was totally fine. So during the parent orientation where there were a bunch of parents for the three new classes starting (one in each pool)I was sitting there crying. I was embarrassed but couldn't help myself.

At the end of the 30 minute class she was fine and already talking about her next class. When we prayed at dinner and bedtime she thanked God for her new teacher...so it must not have been too bad for her! Took me longer to recover than it did her. She told Jason all about being "sad at first" but then having fun and then the activities they did. She seemed pretty excited about her next class and proud of herself. Hopefully I will behave better next week. :)

Another Week

We haven't been doing too much lately because it has been too cold!

*Friday we stayed in all day. Karla saw me putting some yarn away in the morning and said she wanted to sew. I thought about that for a few minutes and remembered that I had a little "My First Sewing Project" that I had used with my niece a few years ago. There was one little project left. Even though the box said "ages 6 and up" I thought we'd try it. It was just 2 heart shaped pieces of felt with pre-punched holes to put a plastic "needle" through with yarn. I knew she could lace since we'd tried yarn through holes in a paper plate before (I used to work with occupational therapists...wanted to keep Karla up to speed with those skills). :) She did it without a lot of help! She would work on it for a little while and then play with something else, then go back to it. After she finished it we glued little sequins on it. Of course she HAD to do that part by herself too! We both enjoyed the "project". I'll have to take a picture of her with the heart.


*The other day I said to Karla: "Please come here, dear." She said, "I'm not a deer. I'm not Rudolph!" It took me a minute to get it - and then I started laughing. :)

*I'm now halfway through the Twilight series but I'm taking a few days off before starting the third book. :) I am actually going to try to be on my computer a little less this year. So many other things to do. I set New Year's goals instead of "resolutions". I read about someone else doing that...I didn't think of that myself. I wrote the goals down too...don't usual do that!! So I've been trying to get started on those too...and it is only the 2nd week of January! Hope I keep the momentum going.

*My sister and my friend found out the sex of their babies this week - both are having GIRLS!!!! :) My parents are going to have a 5th granddaughter! :)

*I'm off to make a "book" about bedtime. We photographed all the "steps" of our routine tonight. Karla enjoys books, especially when she is featured in them so I am hoping that if we read the bedtime book enough it will help make that time of the day better. Wonder how many "tricks" we've tried for bedtime.... I'd rather not think about that. We do have days or stretches of time when it goes pretty well...but there are some really hard stretches too!!

*A picture from New Year's Day


Oh! Tomorrow is Karla's first swim class of the year. She will be going in the pool (to class) without me for the first time!! I am sure I am more nervous about it than she is. I think she will be fine. I will be able to watch through a glass wall but still.... The other thing that is REALLY helping (me) is that her friend Sophia will be in her class! I think there are 4 kids in the class.

Happy New Year

We have enjoyed an entire calendar year with Karla!!! Hard to believe at times.

We spent New Year's Eve with some friends who live nearby. They have an 18 month old son so it works out that our celebration ends a couple hours before midnight. :) They fed us dinner and then we watched the kids play and we played some Wii.

New Year's Day we got to see Jason's family as well as his two cousins, Aunt and Uncle. Karla LOVED having more people to give her individual attention. She has talked about all 4 of them ever since!

I haven't felt like blogging much lately for some reason. Part of it might have to do with the fact that I'm reading the Twilight series. I'm behind the craze but oh well. I find myself just wanting to read whenever I have free time in the evening. :)

Karla and Jason made some snowmen on New Year's Eve Day. I ran to the store and when I came back there were the two snowmen (Daddy and Baby) in the front yard as well as Karla and Jason waiting to greet me in the driveway...with snowballs. It was pretty hilarious to watch Karla TRY to throw a snowball at my car with a huge grin on her face. It flew right behind her head. Wish I could have gotten a picture...she is pretty cute all bundled up!



When we saw Carey and Lola last week they brought a gift bag for us from Heidy and her family that they had picked up when they were in Guatemala in November. Karla received a nice note from Jennifer (glad Diana and Hugo were here to translate), a figurine type thing from Jennifer, a doll and a tablecloth type thing with ducks on it. I didn't expect to receive anything but got 4 matching placemats with napkins, a napkin holder and a little zippered bag. Jason got a wallet that says Guatemala on it. In the wallet was a picture of Karla that we have never seen before!! I'm not sure how old she would have been....probably just a few months. I think it was probably with documents Heidy had for fostering Karla. Jason and I were really excited to receive the picture!! We took pictures to send to everyone in Guatemala.

Us with our gifts from Guatemala:



More later....Still have to write about Karla's curly hair and the camel (two separate stories!)