I've started a new blog...

I now have a new blog. If you would like to follow it - I would love to have you join me.

The name of the blog is: Dana's Dissolution Dis-illusion
You can find it at: www.partingwayswithpaul.blogspot.com

~Dana

Presenting ... Eddy Munster & Cowgirl Kenz

Happy Halloween!!! I hope all of you had a wonderful Halloween and had your plastic pumpkins overflowing with the good kind of candy and not the kind that is wrapped in those orange and black wrappers (LOL)! I always hated those when I was little.


We dressed Edison as "Eddy Munster" for his first Halloween in the U.S.A! I think he quited enjoyed this holiday. It's not everyday you can dress silly, walk up to someone's door, ring their bell and say "Trick or Treat" and they give you candy. How cool is that??? Here are some pictures of our little "monster"! Is he cute, or what???

Also dressing up this year was Kensley. She, of course, is my cowgirl and she wanted to dress like she had been kicked by a horse a time or two. This horse must have been really upset because Kenz looked as if she had taken quite a ride, a big fall and then a kick or two. Her costume was complete with "open wound" tattoos I found at Wal-Mart! She told everyone that she had been kicked by a horse but that she was having more fun getting candy than she would have had at the hospital (LOL)! Here are a few pictures of my cowgirl!

Of course, Miss Emily is too old for trick-or-treating! The most important thing for her was getting to the high school so she could hang out with her friends at the Friday night Football game! Go Lions!!!

I hope to post pictures from the Commonwealth Soccer Cup tournament after tomorrow. The Garrard Green Dragons won their first game this afternoon (8-2) and tied their next game (1-1). We play again tomorrow morning at 11:00. If we play well tomorrow - we have a good chance to making it to the play-offs next weekend! Go Dragons!!!

I'm finding I have very little time...

Since adding a 17 month old to our household a little over one month ago, I am finding that I have much less time to "play" on the computer than I did before he arrived!

I can't believe he has been with us for a month. It mostly seems like he has always been with us and there is still a little part of me that remembers how "easy" life was with our two girls.

Edison is now officially a United States Citizen - we received his Certificate of Citizenship and a letter from George W. Bush welcoming him to our wonderful country and referring to him as a "Fellow American"! Since we are changing his name, we will have to pay for a new Certificate of Citizenship which costs $200.00! Paul suggested that Eddy is a fine name and Edison could be his nickname. I am holding firm - I think he needs a grown-up name! For those of you adopting from China, be happy that you get to rename your child in China - it saves money and eliminates extra paperwork - believe me when I say that I am soooo tired of adoption paperwork! Can I get an amen??? Paperwork is the last thing you want to think about when the adoption is final!!

Edison is into a nice little routine now. We still keep all of the doors closed but he checks each of them periodically to see if he can get into the "fun places". His favorite game to play (and the place we can always find him when he is missing) is in the bathroom, transferring the garbage out of the trash can into the toilet! Gross!

Edison knows several words - Mama (my favorite), Dad-da, look, doggie, drink, he calls Emily - "Nemma" and he calls Kensley something that I don't know how to type. He kept saying one word over and over that sounded like "mom" but I knew it wasn't Mama. He used the word when he wanted a drink or was eating. One day, I thought, maybe he was saying "more" or "mas" (the Spanish word for "more") so when he said it, I asked, "Mas?" and he looked at me with this gleam in his eye that said, "Wow! You know Spanish???" Since then, I have tried to use more Spanish words that I think he might have known. His favorite food is eggs and you can tell he knew the word "huevos". I took him into work the other day and Maria heard him say "Ja!". He says that a lot and I thought it was just baby talk. Come to find out - in Spanish, Ja means "ready" and that is exactly when he says it - after changing his diaper or when we tell him we are ready to go! Amazing! The best thing is to see the twinkle in his eye when he understands what we are saying.

Other things he does:

• Says "Tah-Daaa" when he does something cool!
• Climbs up and jumps off of everything!!
• Expects someone to catch him when he jumps - even if you are across the room!
• Plays "peek-a-boo" and covers his ears instead of his eyes.
• Plays patty-cake.
• Chases the cats - they have learned to run if he comes in their direction.
• Loves to watch ceiling fans!
• Emily says he will be 50 years old, pointing at ceiling fans and saying "Ah!"
• Philip told me to take him to Lowe's Ceiling Fan Dept - he will think he is in heaven!
• Loves to dance and is partial to rap music!
• Leaves bruises when he bites - just ask Kensley - she'll be glad to show you hers!
• Throws tantrums by throwing his head and arching his back - usually these are due to him not getting his way!
• Loves to play outside.

There is much more I could write but it is time I go to bed - I'm tired!

Things We Have Learned About Edison...

You can learn alot about a child's personality after being with them for a very short period of time. When I look back at the pictures of the first days we had him in Guatemala, he looks very "out of sorts". I'm sure the little guy was terrified with new people with light skin who spoke like aliens. As each day passes, we are learning more and more about Mr. Edison Underwood. He seems to be adjusting very well and each day comes out of his shell a little more showing us who the real Eddy actually is. I have to admit that I asked him today where the little boy we adopted in Guatemala was because the new little boy that is running around my house is a WILD MAN!

I like to call him Hurricane Ed and let me tell you, he may have arrived in the United States the same time as Hurricane Ike but Ike has nothing on my Hurricane Ed because he continues to search and destroy all that is in his path!

I would like to make my own list called...
"Things We Have Learned About Eddy in Less than Two Weeks"

• He has a mouth full of very pretty, straight, white teeth.
• He can bite really hard!
• He likes to play in the water (swimming pools, bathtubs and toilets!)
• He laughs really loud while unrolling a roll of toilet paper.
• He likes to eat cat food (Meow Mix must be quite tasty)!
• He picks up the cat by its tail (and thankfully the cat just looks at him).
• He can squeeze into tiny places when he has an object he shouldn't.
• He hates getting his haircut.
• He likes to eat most everything.
• If you give him a bite of something he doesn't like, he will spit it out for at least 5 minutes.
• He likes to smack people of all sizes - preferably in the face.
• He can smack very hard!
• He is down from 8 bottles to 3 bottles a day.
• He sleeps through the night in his own bed!
• He takes two naps each day - one very long and the other very short.
• He is frightened of dogs.
• His baby talk sounds "spanish".
• He is very smart and catches on to new things quickly.
• He enjoys being the center of attention.
• He likes to be held and rocked.
• He gives good "besitos" or "little kisses".
• He gets his money's worth at the KFC Buffet.
• He can scream very loud if he doesn't get his way.
• He is a very good dancer - he has the Latin rhythm going on.
• He likes to walk on his hands while you hold his feet up behind him (wheelbarrow)
• He has cleared everything from the end tables in our living room.
• He has forced us to keep all bedroom and bathroom doors closed down the hallway.
• He loves to sneak into Emily or Kensley's bedroom.
• He is partial to a real cell phone over a toy phone.
• He can run very fast and likes to run onto the soccer field during his sister's game.
• He is a whirlwind of activity!
• He is a good source of exercise for his mom!
• He is loved beyond measure!

An adjustment - yes! Would I change any of it? Absolutely not! (well - I would like to do away with the poopy diapers...)

If you haven't already, be sure to go to our shutterfly account to see photos: http://www.edisonisourson.shutterfly.com

We have a playdate tomorrow (Thursday) with Edison's friend, Kayma. We are going to eat at McDonald's and then play at the park. I hope to get lots of good pictures and hopefully can post some of them tomorrow.

To see pictures - go to this site...

http://www.edisonisourson.shutterfly.com

I'm sorry - I've had computer trouble

I know alot of you are wondering what is going on. We are fine - we made it into and out of Houston. I'll talk more about that later. If my computer will cooperate - I will attach photos very soon.

~Dana

Our little Tyke wants to come home Ike! Please don't mess with Texas...

For those of you wondering, Edison had a much better night last night. Paul and I have been trying to stay on Kentucky time and have done a pretty good job of getting Edison on our schedule. Of course that means we have been up since 4:30 this morning!

I also forgot to mention yesterday that Eddy loves the swimming pool. He was not scared at all and enjoyed splashing me. We floated around a little bit and he kept putting his face in the water until he took a big gulp and started coughing and gagging. Live and learn. He didn't try that again. We then sat in the hot tub and he was so relaxed. He layed back in my arms and was totally peaceful to the point of almost falling asleep. We took him to the room and he took a very good nap.

When he came to us he was drinking 8 bottles a day and had zero naps. Now he has learned to drink from a sippy cup, is down to 3 bottles a day and 2 naps!!!! He prefers the bottle when he is getting ready to sleep. I was the mother who took her kids bottles the day after their 1st birthday but I am not going to rush it with Edison. He has had so many changes and will have so many more, the least I can do is let him keep his bottle. Oh, by the way mom, if you are reading this, will you go to Wal-Mart and buy a couple of bottles so we will have them when we get home? He came to us with a Gerber that has Barney and Baby Bop on it and we hate it! We brought with us an Avent and he likes it - so 2 Gerbers or 2 Avents will be great!!!

This has been a pretty long day. Anna Maria came and picked us up at 12:45 and took us to see God Bless the Children's orphanage. When we were here in February it was their offices and it still is, but they have set it up in anticipation of accepting children. I hate it that Guatemala has changed the rules and will no longer allow children to be fostered. Cinthya and Anna Maria and the rest of the staff at God Bless the Children truly want their orphanage to be like a home and I think it will be. They still need some things to fully furnish the orphanage but the biggest thing they need right now are monthly sponsors.

When Anna Maria and Cinthya were in the USA the last time, I invited them to eat with my family. My mom prepared a fabulous meal for Father's Day and she and my dad hosted. Paul's parents were there as well as my sister and her family and my grandmother. Our Guatemalan guests loved my mom's cooking and my mom's house. Today, they returned the favor. Cinthya prepared a traditional Guatemalan meal for Paul, Edison and I and brought it to the office. It was delicious!! It was a nice time to spend with all of her staff who had worked on our case. They knew Edison and obviously loved him. He made himself quite at home and walked around like he owned the place. It was a time I will never forget.

Afterwards, Anna Maria drove our family to the US Embassy to pick up Eddy's visa. We only had to wait a few minutes for them to call our name. We checked that everything was correct and left the Embassy with Edison´s Guatemalan passport, his United States immigrant visa and a sealed package that can only be opened by the Immigration officers at the Houston airport...

The Houston airport -- as I type this, our flight in the morning from Guatemala to Houston is still a go. We will take the 4:10 am shuttle from the hotel to the airport. Our flight leaves at 6:40 a.m. (8:40 a.m. your time). We arrive in Houston a few hours later. Also as I type this, our flight to Louisville is the last Continental flight leaving from the Houston Airport tomorrow. All others after ours have been cancelled. Southwest Airlines have already shut down in order to get their planes and employees out of Houston. So far - so good. Please continue to pray that Ike will stay out to sea so that we can get out of Houston. Our girls want us to come home because they want to see their little brother. We want to get Edison home to meet his sisters, and his grandparents, and everyone else. We also want to introduce him to his home and his bedroom and his toys and his new life!

We do have a backup plan in place if the airport shuts down in Houston after we arrive there. There is a rental car held in our names with a car seat and we will just start driving home - I can't even think about riding in a car for 16 hours now so I am convinced this is not going to happen. We also have two seats reserved on a Delta flight from Guatemala to Atlanta that leaves around lunch time tomorrow. I know the girls want us home and we are going to do all we can to get there. I just pray we stay on schedule. Times up.

Hurricane Ike

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly doo DOO doo DOO doo

Yes, I'm a Clint Eastwood fan and this sums up our first night...
Oh - and there will be no pictures until I return home (Sorry)

THE GOOD
We had our embassy appointment today and everything went very smooth. We made it through the interview with no problems and go back to pick up Edison's visa tomorrow. When the guy at counter 8 told us "Congratulations, on the adoption of your new son" I knew that everything was finally final - Although he was officially ours when we got down here, we still needed permission to bring him to the United States as a citizen and now that has been approved. What a wonderful GOOD day!

THE BAD
When I returned to the room last night, Edison was screaming and Paul said he had been crying for the past 30 minutes. He wanted me and only me and would have nothing to do with Paul. When I took him, however, he didn't really even want me but I was better than the other option. When I laid him down to change his clothes he went ballistic! When we laid him in the bed, it was even worse. He hit me and smacked me and would "growl" at me. He arched his back and threw back his head. I was really proud of myself as I had the patience of Job which in fact is a blessing from God because it was something I prayed for. When I would try to talk to Edison to soothe him he would get so angry! I would rub his hair or his neck and he would either start shaking his head side to side or push my hand away. His head was soaking wet from crying. He didn't want down, he didn't want a snack, he didn't want a bottle, he didn't want anything except his "mamamamamamamamama" which I knew was NOT me! Finally, I took his pajama shirt off, laid him down in front of me, with his legs over my legs and I got the lotion and just started massaging his belly, his arms, his hands and his face. Paul got a warm wash cloth and I washed his face and tried to cool him off. He finally settled down and made great eye contact with me, although he did have somewhat of a vacant look in his eyes. After a 20 minute massage, he was worn out and ready for sleep. I tried to put his pajama top back on but he did not want it. I stayed in the same position all night with my arm around him, afraid if I moved, he would wake up. I tried to keep the blanket and sheet on him because I was afraid he would be cold without a shirt, but everytime I would put them on, he would begin kicking with both feet to get them off. He did wake up around 4:30 in the morning, whined a little, found his bottle, drank it and went right back to sleep. I was exhausted and my body ached, but we made it through the first night! Before I fell asleep, Paul and I talked about how scared and confused he must be. We prayed tomorrow would be better.

THE GOOD (again)
This morning, when Edison woke up, I had just gotten out of the shower. I walked in the room and he looked at me and said "Ma-ma?" and then he popped his lips together with a kiss. I walked over to him and he held his arms up to me and when I bent down, he gave me a kiss!! I looked at Paul and said, "Did you hear that? Did you see what he did?" I think I was in shock but Paul confirmed what I knew Edison had just done. He and I have had a pretty good day except for ...

THE UGLY
As I said before, he "growls" at us when he is unhappy and doesn't like what we are doing. He especially likes to growl when we tell him "No". I guess he is trying to figure out our boundaries. When he doesn't like what we have told him, he likes to smack us in the face and he can get to your face quicker than you can imagine and he smacks pretty hard. Coming back from the Embassy today, he smacked me in the face and I held his hands and said, "No!" so then he bent his head and tried to bite my arm. I knew exactly what he was getting ready to do and stopped him. I said no again and he looked at me like he was surrendering. I still was not too happy about him smacking and then trying to bite me, so I sent him to the back seat with his dad. He has smacked Paul several times today too. Paul at first thought it was cute, but tonight, right before I came down here, he got pretty firm with his "No" and Edison looked like he was taking him pretty serious.

ANOTHER GOOD
Paul and Edison are doing really well together. Paul has kissed all over him and Edison has kissed back. He likes to be held by Paul and he loves it that Paul always has snacks! I had forgotten how sweet Paul was with little babies and it has been fun to see him interact with his son. Edison likes to play ball and has a pretty good arm. He is also good at throwing books, bottles, Cheerios, keys, etc.

Now for THE BAD and THE UGLY (together)
This time I am referring to Hurricane Ike. We are very concerned about his path and the fact that Ike is headed for Houston at the same time we are. Our travel agent said she is concerned about it too. Pretty much every flight from Guatemala goes through Houston. We would love to leave tomorrow but our visa appointment is not until 3:30 in the afternoon and there are no flights leaving Guatemala to the USA that late. We asked Debbie to at least try to get us to the US so we don't get stranded in Guatemala. She said she would try. She is going to keep a close watch on Ike tomorrow and let us know what to do. Please pray that we can get to Houston before Ike makes landfall. We are so anxious to get home and I know the girls want us home as well as the rest of the family. We have the earliest flight out of Guatemala on Friday morning but it still may not be soon enough. We also have to take into consideration the almost 3 hour layover we have to get through Customs and Immigration with Edison. We are not scheduled to depart Houston until after lunchtime. We really don´t care which city we land to come through Immigration we just want to be on American soil - let me clarify - North American soil, instead of Central American soil.

I better go back upstairs to make sure Edison is calm. I may have to become a masseuse again tonight. I wish I could get a massage...

So there you have it, the good, the bad and the ugly. Luckily, as in the movie, the Good overshadows the Bad and the Ugly! Buenos Noches everyone. For you Spanglish speakers, that would mean, Good-o Night-o!

Will try to find a way to add pics tomorrow!!!

We are in Guatemala and have Edison!!!

So much happened on Monday that there is no way I can type everything. To make a long story short, our pink slip was e-mailed to the wrong person and we didn't find out about it until monday at 8:30 in the morning! We spent all day getting the crisp money we needed, making flight arrangements and hotel reservations. Thank goodness for our travel agent, Debbie Sebastian at Carlson-Wagonlit - she was truly a lifesaver. I am going to go ahead and thank some of the people who made it all possible for us not to have to reschedule. My Aunt Joyce (mom called her and asked her to stop by the house and calm me down - you would have thought I had gone into pre-term labor the way Paul and I panicked at first. Joyce calmed me down, worked on my laundry and we went to get a bite to eat. Paul's mom made a trip to wal-mart for things we needed, my sister (Lea Ann sent an umbrella stroller to us to use because I had never gotten around to buying one and I didn{t want to take eddy's good one.) Lea Ann also offered to come to the house after she got off work but I had things under control by that time. My mom first told me to calm down and not to worry about my house, she picked up a prescription I needed and took care of the girls. I am so grateful she offered to come to the house to stay with them - that saved a lot of packing!!!

Fast forward - we left the house at 3:00 a.m. this morning and went to Louisville. Paul made the trip in 1.5 hours (in the rain) - I wasn't scared until we hydroplaned but Paul said he had everything under control. Anyway we made it on time and in one piece. Our flights from Louisville to Houston and Houston to Guatemala City were all wonderful and on time!! As soon as we got through customs, the shuttle to our hotel was waiting so we climbed in with three other adopting couples. Three of us had empty strollers so we all knew we had something in common. One of the families is another A Helping Hand family so that was neat.

We got to our hotel before noon, got everything situated and had time to take a nap since we had only had 2 hours of sleep the night before. We woke up at 2:oo and we were both starving. We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant. It was really good. We went back to the hotel and waited. Around 4:00 the phone rang - Paul answered. It was Anna Maria telling us that Eddy was waiting for us in the lobby. As we were walking out the door - I had a slight panic attack and said, "Paul, when we go down there our lives will forever be changed" He gave me a hug and said, "come on, let's go!"

Edison was sitting in his foster mother's lap and when he saw me he just grinned. I don't even really remember all that happened. I know we chased him around the lobby and that he can run. He loved his Diego backpack - put it on and tromped around. He was so cute. He is such a beautiful child and I cannot believe he is ours! I am truly blessed. Fast forward again because I am paying for internet at 15 minutes at a time. I am 8 minutes into my second session ...

Edison cried when his foster mother left. Oh yeah, the foster mother he has had all along had to have her appendix removed three weeks ago and could not take care of him so he was with another foster mother. She was crying and said she couldn´t believe how attached they had become to each other in 3 weeks. She told me he was "muy intelligente" which means he is very smart. Obviously he belongs in my family! We carried him to the room and he cried non'stop for about 15 minutes. I told him in Spanish to not be afraid and he calmed down. I don{t know if he understood or if he was just worn out ' but he did calm down. We had a wonderful evening together - he laughed, smiled, would growl and say mmmmm when I tried to get him to say Mama. I knew the crying and grief would be good for him and I thought we were doing great. That was until 7:30 tonight. He was exhausted. He cried after we put his pajamas on him, he smacked the bottle out of my hand (oh yeah he still takes 8 - 8ounce bottles each day and one of those is at 1:00 a.m. That is the first thing on our agenda is to reduce the number of bottles and try to get rid of that middle of the night feeding. We will work on that in the next few weeks. Anyway, he smacked me and fought me and kept yelling for his mamamamama but he was not talking about me. He would look at me and just get mad. Paul offered to try and when I handed him over, he through an even bigger fit and reached for me. I finally got him to sleep and he was "snubbing" when I came down here. Times up ' will add more tomorrow.

Depression caused by Gestation Period ...

We received our DNA results early Tuesday morning (like - they were in the fax machine when I got to work). Late afternoon, we received 2nd DNA results for another family. Well - that family received their consulate appointment yesterday (Thursday) and will be in Guatemala on Wednesday to pick up their child. I just knew we would get our appointment and of course, checked my e-mail 1,000 times to make sure I had not missed the message. Just a few minutes ago, I learned that "Pink Slips" are not issued on Fridays because the Guatemalan Embassy closes on Fridays at 11:30 a.m!! So, I have checked my e-mail all day for no reason. My heart is broken because we just knew we would be traveling on Wednesday and have our appointment on Thursday and be home on Saturday! Now, the earliest we can get our pink slip will be Monday at 5:45 p.m. our time and 6 days from then will be Sunday, September 14th (Embassy closed on Sunday) which means appointment will be on Monday, Septembe 15th and that is IF they give us the soonest appointment! I have been so excited all day and now I feel like I have been punched in the stomach.

This paper pregnancy is going to pass the 1 year mark. Today, we are at 11 months, 3 weeks and 4 days or Day 359! Let's look at the gestation cycle of other mammals.

Human baby gestation is approximately 280 days or 9 months -

With my previous pregnancies, I waited longer than:
Black Bear (210 days)
Grizzly Bear (225 days)
Polar Bear (240 days)
Buffalo (270 days)
Deer (201 days)
Elk (240-250 days)
Gorilla (257 days)
Hippopotamus (225-250)
Moose (240-250 days)

This "pregnancy" has surpassed the following:
Otter (270-300 days)
Seal (330 days)
Sea Lion (350 days)
Cow (279-292 days)

Horse (330-342 days)

We are very close to overtaking the following:
Donkey and Zebra at 365 days gestation period

Maybe my new prayer should be:
"Lord, please don't make me wait as long as an elephant!"
How long does an elephant wait for a baby you ask? 645 days!!!

Now Waiting for PINK!

Edison's 2nd DNA results were in the fax tray this morning. The results indicate a positive match. Now - we wait for our PINK slip! As soon as we receive this from the US Embassy in Guatemala, we can buy plane tickets! It is possible we could be in Guatemala at the end of next week, if not, it will definitely the following week!

I'm getting kind of nervous!!!

We made it home on time...

For those of you wondering if we made it home - we did and on time!!! The Houston airport was almost completely empty when our plane landed. The tarmac had no planes sitting on it because most airlines had already flown theirs out to other places. McDonald's and a lot of other shops in the airport were closed because they had sent their employees home to prepare for evacuation. Our flight was the last Continental flight out of the Houston airport - we made it just in time!

From the time we got off the plane, went through Customs, took Edison through Immigration and got to our gate at Houston took 25 minutes!!!! Amazing! I know all of you fellow adoptive moms who have waited for a couple of hours will not believe me - but that is how "not" busy the Houston airport was. Paul estimated their may have been 400 people in the airport and Houston is normally very busy.

I'm still having trouble with my camera. I cannot find my USB cord and for some reason, my computer is not reading my SD card. I know you are all anxious to see pictures - as am I to show them to you!

No Time to Blog - out the door to Guatemala...

3:00 a.m. Tuesday morning

We will have Edison forever in 12 hours!!!

And we're off....

Your room is ready!!!

Well, my back is hurting from moving furniture and I owe my sister (Aunt Lea) many thanks for helping me get everything in order! Edison's room is adorable and I am so happy that Paul and I made the decision to move the washer and dryer back into its original spot (a closet in the bathroom), even though we had to give up our wonderful large laundry room.

To the left is a photo of his comforter. Thanks to Meme and Poppy (Paul's mom and dad) for buying the bedding. It is Kids Line brand, title "Country Side" and can be found at Babies R Us. I decided to use the comforter as a wall hanging because it is just so cute! It was also very handy to hide the closet system we had installed in the room several years ago to make our "laundry room" more functional. I kept most of the closet system/shelving units in place, this way, I can keep lots of Edison's toys up and out of the way.

Over to the right is Edison's crib. My friend, Dylan, is so excited that Edison is going to get to sleep in his baby bed! Thank you Shannon (Dylan's mom), for offering Dylan's crib to us for Edison's use. It is a beautiful crib. Now, if we can get him to sleep in it... Well, if he doesn't that will be okay. He can snuggle in between me and Paul, just like Kensley and Emily did so many times.

The blue afghan laying in the crib was made especially for Edison by his Nannie (my mom). It matches his room perfectly. You will also see he already has a small collection of stuffed toys.

I really hope that Edison is a snuggly little boy. He was when we saw him 6 months ago - wow! six months ago - that is a long time when you are talking about a baby because they change so much in the first 2 years of life. Anyway, the glider rocker and matching stool is in his room and ready to rock. I also have a small collection of CDs of children's songs, lullabies and Spanish lullabies.

The rocker may not look very comfortable because it doesn't have a cushion - but do not let that fool you. It is one of the most comfortable seats in our house. Even when not rocking babies, I enjoy sitting in it and so do others. You will see in the background how I have utilized the shelving system to hold some of his toys. I only need a few more things to comlete the room, electric plug covers for his safety and a changing pad to place on the changing table. I think once we have those things - we will completely be ready!

These two photos show another wall of his room. The first is a close-up of the top of his chest (his lamp, some jumbo farm animals and a farm puzzle). I really hope he likes a farm because this will always be a part of his life. The next photo is another use of the closet system. Some of his clothes, all of his blankets, bibs, sheets, etc. are so cute, I thought I should just keep them on display! There is a closet in his room but it is being used for other purposes - this will have to do for now. I am extremely pleased with how his little bedroom turned out. Now he has a place in our home to call his own! Now, we just need to get him here!

The Underwood Family

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

"Specimen Received" ...

No, Edison is not the Specimen! In the fax tray this morning was a form indicating that Edison's DNA specimen has been received by LabCorp. We now wait for LabCorp to confirm that Edison is the same child we began this process with. One step closer to bringing him home!

Now, once again - we wait...............................................

The Passport...

Here is a copy of the cover of Eddy's Guatemalan passport.

Everything will be submitted to the US Embassy tomorrow. From that point we will wait for DNA authorization, DNA draw, DNA results and finally, the "pink slip".

Oh, the joys of a Paper Pregnancy!!

Birth Certificate - see it for yourself!!!!!

After waiting 2 months for something that normally takes 2 weeks, I have a copy of Eddy Alejandro's birth certificate in my hand. We are so excited. I just pray that things will now speed up as we have gotten caught in every single delay possible up to this point. I still can't believe it.

I had no clue it would come today although today is a great day - my Sister's birthday. I was praying our attorney would have it by Friday because I knew I would be really upset if she didn't. This morning, when I came into the office, there was a big yellow DHL Box sitting in front of my office door. On it was hand-written: Attn: Dana Underwood - Extremely Urgent! I knew it was from someone in the office but had no clue until I opened it. Inside was one lonely piece of paper and the first words I saw were "Eddy Alejandro". I knew then what it was. I screamed and Maria asked, "What, is there a rat in that box?" I went in and thanked Philip over and over again. Everyone in the office is so excited for us. Did I mention that I still can't believe it?

I e-mailed it to Paul as a surprise - only to find out he is not in the office. He called just a few minutes after I sent it and I thought he was calling to talk about it. I quickly realized he had not seen it so I told him. His response - "Good Deal!" I know it doesn't sound like much but those are the words he uses when he is excited about something. He doesn't get too excited about anything. Calm under pressure - that's what makes him a good cop!

Anyway - we are both thrilled and cannot wait to travel! Love to all...

Photos - Edison at 15 months

Another letter to Edison...

Dear Edison,

While I do not have solid proof, I was told yesterday that there is a birth certificate in Guatemala City with your name listed as Eddy Alejandro Underwood. This is so exciting for us because it means Paul and I have a son!!!

In the midst of all my joy, I thought of what this means for you.

We are thrilled to have you as our son and to give you our last name - Underwood! The sad thing for you is that you have lost your original identity as a Godinez-Sazo. In Latin American culture, people are given two surnames (or last names). The first name is your father’s name followed by your mother’s name. Your last name, however, was a little different because your birthmother did not list your biological father when you were born. Instead, you were given the same surnames of your birthmother. Godinez was your grandfather’s last name and Sazo was your grandmother’s last name.

Also on your birth certificate, your biological mother’s name (Jemmy Sulema Godinez-Sazo) was replaced with my name (Dana Woods Underwood). While Jemmy will always be your birthmother – I will forever be your mommy! I know that your birthmother loved you very much. In Guatemala, most people are very poor and it is hard to make money and care for a family. Since your birthmother was not married, it would have been more difficult for her to raise you and impossible to give you all you needed to grow up healthy, happy and strong. She knew that by allowing you to be adopted by a couple in the United States that you would be given many opportunities that do not exist in your birth country.

You did gain something with this birth certificate – the blank where your father is listed is no longer empty. While we will probably never know who your birthfather is, you now have a Daddy! His name is Paul Kendall Underwood. He is a law enforcement officer who enjoys hunting and riding horses in his spare time. I know he is going to be a wonderful daddy because I have seen him in action. I hope you will enjoy the outdoors as much as he does and that you all will be very close. Of course, if you don’t like to hunt or ride horses, I am sure you will be able to find many things to enjoy doing together.

One other thing you gained is two big sisters! Emily is the oldest. She loves little kids and you and her are going to be best buddies. Emily is almost 14 years older than you. Even with the huge age difference, I still think you all will be very close. Emily’s favorite thing to do is text message her friends, talk on the phone and to surf the internet. If you hang around with her very much, you should be technologically savvy in no time. Kensley is about 10 years older than you. She loves to be outdoors. Her favorite things are soccer, horse riding, biking and hunting. When she is inside, she doesn’t like a lot of commotion. While I think you all will get along pretty good – she is going to need her space. There may be times when she doesn’t want you to bother her things or come into her room – but she won’t be mean about it. She will love you and can teach you a lot of things about soccer, riding horses and how to be quiet in the woods.
Having told you about your new sisters, I cannot leave out the fact that you also have a biological brother. He is one year older than you and you have the same birthmother in Guatemala. It is extremely hard to raise a child alone and knowing the economic conditions in Guatemala, it would have been hard to provide food, shelter and clothing for two children as an unmarried mom. As far as I know, your biological brother lives with your birthmother somewhere in Guatemala, possibly Escuintla. On the relinquishment papers your birthmother signed, she indicated that she had a one year old son at home and could not provide for two children. I know this is sad for you. My prayer is that you will one day be able to locate your brother and get to know him. I am grateful that your mother chose adoption as an option, instead of abortion, so that you could become a part of our family.

The last thing I want to talk about is your name. Your birthmother named you while you were still in the hospital. She chose the name Eddy Alejandro. The name Eddy is a shortened form of Edward or Eduardo (in Spanish). “Eddy” means “protector”. It can also be a shortened version of “Edward” meaning “wealthy guardian”. The name Alejandro is the Spanish form of Alexander, meaning “protector of men or of mankind.” I wanted you to have a strong name. Paul and I finally decided on the name Edison which means “son of Edward” which will have the same meaning as your original name. We decided to keep Alejandro as your middle name so you will always have a connection to your spanish-speaking homeland. By giving you this name, we are honoring the name your birthmother gave you. We have altered it so that you can have a "grown-up name" when you get older, if you so choose. Maybe someday you can find out why your birthmother chose the names she gave you as I am sure you will wonder about this in the future. I hope you will grow up to be a protector of mankind, as your name implies. Being a wealthy guardian wouldn't be so bad either!

After you arrive home in the USA, Paul and I will go to District Court and file a Petition for Name Change. We will indicate that we want your official name to be Edison Alejandro Underwood. “Eddy” is the name you have been called from birth and there are still many people who are going to call you “Eddy” after you move into our home. Your dad calls you Eddy. I always refer to you as Edison. When you get older, the choice will be yours.

Welcome to our family, Mr. Edison Alejandro Underwood!

With much love and many kisses,
Mama (Dana Renee’ Woods Underwood)

RENAP Update...

Okay - my caseworker came into my office today and said, "I have some news. I don't know if you will be happy or more p***ed off." I said, "Well, give it to me - any news is better than no news." He proceeded to tell me that Eddy's birth certificate has been registered with RENAP and he is officially an Underwood! "YAY!" I say, "Does this mean we can add him onto our insurance policy?" My caseworker smiles and says "BUT" and then I think - Oh, yeah, he did say I might get upset with this news. I brace myself for the worst and he states that they have it but they won't print it until it has been registered for 10 days - WHAT????

I read another person's blog who is in the same spot we are in. She likened the situation to the Seinfeld episode with the Soup Nazi. Each day, our attorney goes into RENAP to ask for the birth certificate. They go in and the Nazi says, "RENAP say no Birth Certificate for You TODAY". The same blog gave me hope because her attorney, like ours, continues to go every day to ask for it. Finally, her attorney went in today and they said, "RENAP say you can have birth certificate today!" She assumes her attorney did everything just right today - she had the right clothes, a good smell, the right facial expression and they finally allowed her to have the soup!

Once we finally receive the Birth Certificate we hope to travel in 3 to 4 weeks - with that said, I have placed a voting poll on this blog. You can help me determine when you think Mr. Edison may come home - your guess is as good as ours. I hope to write another letter to Edison this weekend, so be sure to check back. Otherwise, I probably will not add anything new until I hear that someone has his long-awaited birth certificate in their hands!

Until next time...

Dear Edison,

I had hoped you would be a part of our family by now, however, we continue to wait for your new birth certificate to be issued in Guatemala City. Your new birth certificate will have your new last name, Eddy Alejandro Underwood. Paul will be listed as your father and Dana will be listed as your mother. We really need this piece of paper so that we can apply for your passport and get our embassy appointment so you can finally join us in your new home!

Slowly but surely, we are making changes in our house to make room for you. Several years ago, thinking we would never need a 4th bedroom, we turned the extra bedroom into a wonderful, large laundry room. We pulled up the carpet and replaced it with tile, we moved the washer and dryer out of the tiny closet in the bathroom and re-installed them into the new and improved laundry room. We also installed adjustable shelving on all four walls to accommodate everyone’s clothes. You see, the closets in our house are not very big and we knew by doing this, we could have a lot more room. It has been really handy because when the clothes are dry we just place them on hangers and hang them in each person’s area. While I have thoroughly enjoyed this large laundry room, I am happily giving it up to make room for you!!

Your Meme (Paul’s mom), bought you a new bedding set. It is adorable! It has a big red barn, a tractor, a cow, a horse, a sheep, and some ducks on it. I think you will really like it. My friend, Shannon, let me borrow the crib her son, Dylan, slept in. It is a beautiful crib. Dylan is so excited that you are going to sleep in his bed! He cannot wait to meet you and asks about you all the time. Dylan is going to start 1st grade and he gave you some very nice toys that he no longer plays with – a Leap Frog Tad that speaks in English and Spanish and also a Diego backpack. You have many new things waiting on you because your Aunt Lea and Cousin Jamie gave me a shower. You got lots of toys and clothes. You also got diapers, bibs, and sippy cups.

Papa and Nannie bought you a cushy stroller that will be perfect when we go for walks. It even has a place where I can plug my iPod and we can listen to music as we stroll along. We may have to dance!! Nannie crocheted a beautiful blue afghan just for you and she has bought you some bi-lingual story books. I know you are not used to sitting in a car seat, but this will be something you must do when you come to the USA. All babies and little boys and girls must be strapped into a car seat when they ride in a car. Emily and Kensley both did this and it is something you will have to do as well, especially since your dad is a law enforcement officer! Well, the main reason is because it will keep you safe and we would make you ride in one even if he wasn’t associated with the police! Anyway, Meme and Poppy bought you a very comfortable car seat that I think you will like. It will be placed in the middle of the back seat. That way, when we travel as a family, you will be in between your big sisters. This will also place you right in front of the DVD screen!!! How fun.

I just wanted you to know that I think of you constantly and I am so anxious for you to come home. There are lots of people waiting to meet you. You will have your very own bedroom (although you can sleep with me and dad for awhile if you feel more safe). You have two big sisters who are thrilled that you are joining our family. You have lots of love, hugs and kisses waiting for you. We hope to shower it all on you VERY soon…

I love you, Mommy

Still no birth certificate...

Well, it's August 1st. I was just told that the birth certificate was not ready and that it will not be for 10 more business days. I told myself that I was not going to get my hopes up - but, I did. This is so discouraging! I haven't told the girls but they are here at work with me and you can tell I've been crying, so I will have to tell them soon. They are both in other offices on the computer right now. I called Paul and I just cried and cried.

There are so many more things coming into play right now with our schedules. The week that we may now possibly travel is Kensley's 5th grade trip to Washington, D.C. Paul and I both flew with Emily to D.C. and had always promised Kensley we would do the same. We knew we couldn't leave Edison with anyone so soon so it was decided that Paul would go with Kensley this time. They originally planned to fly but with us having to pay the final adoption costs and not being able to buy our plane tickets to Guatemala until the week before we have to be there as altered our budget so that Paul had decided he and Kensley would ride the bus.

We were also planning to go somewhere on Fall Break with ALL of our children. We can't bring him all the way from Guatemala, show him our house and his room, and then load up, strap him in a car seat (which he is not used to) for 14 hours to drive to some strange house in Florida!!!!

And then - we also have Emily's 15th birthday on October 2nd.

God, I know you can perform miracles and I would love to experience one!

The Latest News...

The latest news I have heard is that Edison's birth certificate will be ready to pick up on Friday, August 1st. I am not even getting my hopes up this time because it just makes things that much harder when nothing happens.

I can't believe we are taking Emily to High School orientation tomorrow night! High School - it seems just yesterday that she began pre-school. She'll be off to college before we know it.

Paul took the girls to Kentucky Kingdom yesterday. We didn't plan a vacation this summer because we thought we were going to get Edison. Wishful thinking! Luckily, Paul's parents took them to Tennessee for a few days where they had lots of fun. My mom took them to the movies today. I can't believe it is almost time to go back to school!

My plan now is to take them somewhere for Fall Break. By then, our whole family should be together!! Gotta get back to work. Until next time....

Please, let me smash something into a wall !*#+!*#@

I am so angry! Edison's new birth certificate with our names was supposed to be issued last Monday. When the office staff went to pick it up, they were told to come back on Friday because the printer wasn't working.

I find out this morning, the day everything was supposed to be submitted to the American Embassy, that the government entity that issues birth certificates in Guatemala told our attorney that they need a transcript of the birthmother's interview.... WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? There is absolutely NO reason they should need a transcript of her interview!

They were given a legal copy of the Adoption Decree which indicates Edison's file has been through all the proper channels governing adoption in the country of Guatemala. The adoption decree states that WE are now his parents and that his name shall be changed from Eddy Alejandro Godinez-Sazo to Eddy Alejandro Underwood with Paul Underwood listed as his father and Dana Underwood listed as his mother!

The vital stat office indicated that after all the documents were submitted, it would take THREE weeks to register his file and an additional TEN days to receive a copy of his new birth certificate. I am sorry - this is getting ridiculous.

We were planning to travel to bring him home the last week of July or the first week of August. Now, it appears that we will not travel until the middle of September. I don't know how much more of this I can take! I know God has a plan - I wish he would speak to me and tell me what it is because that is the only thing I can think of that will give me some peace. It seems that anything that can happen to delay our file and his homecoming has occurred. I'm tired of our lives being in limbo waiting for this adoption to be final.

Edison has a mother, a father, two sisters, two sets of grandparents and two great-grandmothers, not to mention, aunts, uncles, cousins, a church family and googles of friends waiting for him. Please-just let him come HOME!

If you are reading this, please don't panic -- I am okay - I just needed to vent my frustration :-)

Edison Shower!!

What an exciting day! My sister Lea Ann and my niece, Jamie, hosted a baby shower for Edison today. It was wonderful - the food was tasty, the presents were awesome - lots of family and friends were there! Thank you Lea and Jamie -- for everything!

Paul came to the shower and helped me open the presents. The girls asked if they could open the presents and I told them they could but that they had to change a dirty diaper for each gift they opened. I was just teasing, of course! They took me seriously and sat and watched. Paul and I even tried to get them to help and they wouldn't. I guess I know who does not want to change the dirty diapers!!

The menu consisted of: chicken salad croissants (the good homemade chicken salad with grapes and nuts); country ham on dolly buns; a vegetable tray; veggie pizza; two different dips with crackers and sweet tea to drink. For desert they served a fruit salad, cheesecake bits, and a chocolate chip cheese ball with Teddy Grahams and Ginger snaps.

After our delicious meal, my niece played a DVD she had made for us. It had all of the pictures we have received of Edison with some other photos of our dossier, our family and our trip to Guatemala when we got to see him. It was set to music and was so sweet. I loved it!

Next, it was present time! Have I mentioned that I love presents! We got some great things... a car seat, a stroller, a baby carrier, diaper bag, toys, books, diapers, wipes, clothes, a Rain Forest booster seat, mattress pad, sheets, towels, washcloths, lotion, baby wash, sippy cups, swim items, money and gift cards to name a few things.

Our friends and family have been so generous through this entire process for which we are extremely grateful. Right now, everything is piled high on the couch and I've already put the stroller together. I guess its time to convert our extra large laundry room back into the 4th bedroom we thought we would never need... I guess I've got things to do besides blogging...

I can't believe it ...

At 6:29 this evening, I was sweating in the blazing sun as my friend, Shannon and I sat watching our 10 year old daughters and her 6 year old son at soccer camp. My phone rang and I saw it was my co-worker, Philip Aldridge. I didn't think much about the call because Philip recently took over some of the China clients and has come to me with several questions. I said hello and he said, "Hey, Dana, it's Philip, I'm sorry to bother you." I told him that it was no problem and asked what he needed. He told me the three words I have waited 2 months, 2 weeks and 2 days to hear - You are out!!! "You're serious?" I asked. He said, "Yes, ma'am, Cinthya just called to tell me that your file is out of PGN."


I had cold chill bumps all over my arms - chicken skin as I like to call it. Philip and I talked a few more minutes and I asked him questions and took notes, but to be honest, I barely can understand what I wrote and I cannot for the life of me remember all that he told me. I did recall him saying that Cinthya had called him earlier in the week and said she thought our case was coming out this week but didn't want him to say anything until she knew for sure.


Of course, when something big happens, my family is spread all over the state of Kentucky. My husband is testifying in a trial in Middlesboro (will not be home until Friday), my oldest daughter is down on Frog Branch spending time with a friend and my youngest daughter was out on the soccer field. Of course the first person who found out was my friend, Shannon, who was sitting next to me when I got the call.


First, I yelled out on the field to Kensley and said, "Hey, Kensley" and when she turned around, I said, "We're out of PGN!" She jumped up and threw her fist into the air and had a huge smile on her face. Next, I called Paul and boy did I want to wrap my arms around him, give him a big kiss and just scream - He's ours! The best I got was to tell him we were out and to tell him how I wish he was there so I could give him a big hug and a kiss and he said, "I would take it!" He asked if Emily knew and said I could call her while he called his mom.


Okay, remember, Emily is down on Frog Branch where the cell phone reception is not the best. I called but she did not answer. I called my mom who was very excited. I think she cried and she just kept saying, "Hallelujah! - I was praying I would get this call from you this week." Next, I called my sister who was also excited and said she had a good feeling about us getting word this week. She also reminded me that I had 6 weeks to get ready and that I had a lot to do. We also discussed a shower date. After talking to her, I left a message for my pastor, and messages for my friends, Tawnya, Stephanie & Melissa. Nobody was home! Isn't that the way it always is?


At 6:53, another co-worker, Maria, called me and said, "Do you know?" "Know that I'm out of PGN? YES!!" She was thrilled as well. She said that Cinthya had called her a few minutes before and said, "Maria, this has been the worst day - everything that can go wrong has - except for one thing." Maria asked her what that one thing was and Cinthya replied, "Underwood is out!" While talking to Maria, Emily returned my call. I told her we were out of PGN and she asked about 3 or 4 times, "are you serious" and I kept repeating that yes I was serious. She then said, "Oh, my gosh, let me go jump around for a few minutes and I'll call you back later!" I heard tears of happiness in her voice.


A few minutes ago, I was looking at my blog and noticed that we have been in this process for exactly 9 months TODAY! How strange is that? Edison will be a little overdue but what a relief to know that we made it through PGN without any previos and he will be forever ours in 6 to 8 weeks! I'll say it again - Thank you God for the many blessings in my life!

Still Waiting - not so patiently anymore

We haven't received "the call". We are still in PGN - I guess that is better than getting word that our dossier was kicked out for a previo. I'm going to try to be a little more upbeat than I was for the last post.

So, our little man turned 13 months on Monday - so instead of being anxious about receiving news that we are out of PGN, I am going to be excited about any new pictures we might receive this week. I think I'm also going to ask some questions, like --- Is he walking????? What is his favorite toy??? Oh, yeah - I think I should probably send him a package -- with all the clothes that may not fit him when he finally comes home. I'm sure our attorney and his foster mom would be greatful for anything we would send - especially since they have had him for longer than they have most adoptees. I just hope that our attorney doesn't start asking for more money to cover her expenses for caring for him because a lot of attorneys are doing that now!!!

The process is really causing a hardship for everyone - for the attorneys who are paying to care for the children; the foster parents who are getting more and more attached, the birth moms who have to keep revisiting a hard decision, the children who get older and older; the adoptive parents who are continuing to wait, the adoption agencies who are stuck in the middle with ongoing cases that are not moving and the fact that the country is now closed to adoptions is not helping the agency any either.

So, I can't love on him, however, I am hopeful that we will get new photos and find out what is going on with his little life.

Okay, so I wasn't totally positive this time - but I'm trying!!

FRUSTRATION!!!!

I just read guatadopt.com and learned that 50 cases were released from PGN yesterday. 10 approvals and 40 with Previos!!! How frustrating! The PGN has not released ANY cases for over a month and when they do - they release TEN! Even though they say they are not going to be as "picky" as the last PGN, they issue previos in FORTY CASES!!!!! When will this ever stop?

My son is getting older and older. We are missing out on so much, watching him learn and grow and play, and he is missing out on a FAMILY who loves him so much, who thinks about him constantly and wants him to come home.

Right now, I have so many emotions and none of them are very positive! I probably need to quit typing and start praying and reading my bible. It's also a good thing tomorrow is Sunday...

Have I mentioned before that "I WANT MY BABY TO COME HOME!!!"

Please, please -- send word today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, I have patiently waited for two weeks since the interview. Today is Friday of the second week and I really, really want to get out of PGN!!!! I read on Guatadopt.com that cases may be released today. Well, actually it said they may be released yesterday or today. Since it wasn't yesterday, I am praying for today!! I know many other Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAPs) are praying the same prayer.

I am ready to bring Edison home and to get on with our lives. Even Emily, the other day, stated that she was ready for him to come home so we could be a normal family. She, like I, always feel like something or someONE is missing from everything we do.

Edison, the only thing I can do is PRAY! Pray that the officials in Guatemala feel for you as a child and for all of us as waiting parents and move forward with making us a family.

I've said it many times and will repeat - once we pass the 9 month point, I am going to be like an angry pregnant woman who is way overdue!

The Interview went very well...

Edison's mother was interviewed by PGN on Thursday. We heard from our attorney that the interviewers at PGN were not being very nice to the birthmothers and that Jemmy's experience was no different. We are so blessed that she was easily found and willing to come into the city for this very difficult interview. After she gave her DNA sample, she should have been finished. I am so thankful that she was located and that she came in so quickly.

Our attorney said that Jemmy is a very simple young lady. I know it was hard on her to come and do this. Again, I cannot imagine what she was feeling. After carrying Edison for 9 months and then, one year later, still not having his adoption finalized . . . .

This baby needs a forever family. While I know he is being well-taken care of, studies have shown that children in foster care are still considered to be in "less than optimal care situations". Even if a foster family does not intentionally hold back and even when the family loves him and takes good care of him, there is the underlying knowledge that he will never be completely theirs and this causes the foster family to hold back and prevents them from meeting the deeper, emotional needs that a child has.

We are so ready to parent Edison - to welcome him into our family and to love him unconditionally, just as if he was born to us. He needs us and we need him!

What happens next? Now we are praying that our case will exit PGN --- SOON (like this coming week ...) ! If that should happen, we could still possibly travel by the middle of July! This would be the optimal time for our family. The girls will be out of school and my mom will be on summer break. This will give all of us some time together and will give Eddy time to bond with his sisters and his "Nannie" for a few weeks before they go back to school.

Let's get out of PGN!!!

Interview is Tomorrow!!!!

I received word that our file is moving! Edison's birthmom, Jemmy, has an interview with PGN tomorrow morning at 11:00 (Guatemala time). At this point we do not know how quickly our file will come out of PGN after she is interviewed, but we hope our attorney can tell us something after the interview.

For all my prayer warriors, please pray for Jemmy and the PGN employees. I know this has got to be like a nightmare for Jemmy. Making the decision to place Edison for adoption, having to come in and give a DNA sample and have her photo taken with him was enough. I am sure she anticpated being able to move forward with her life at that point. Now she has been contacted for another interview, this time by government officials. I pray that the interviewers will be nice to her during the interview and that they will not make her feel guilty for the choice she made. I also pray that they will take into consideration that not all adoption attorneys in Guatemala work unethically or illegally and that those attorneys with those cases of waiting parents and waiting children will quickly move through this process.

Edison, tomorrow is a big day! I hate it that your birthmom is having to go through this. Making the choice to allow you to be adopted internationally was a selfless thing for her to do - especially for our family, who is so excited to make you a little Underwood. Hopefully, with tomorrow's interview, things will move quickly and we will soon get the call that "The Underwood's are out of PGN!"

I've got good news and some not so good news...

I've got some good news and some not so good news... I'll give the "not so good news first".

It is true that the PGN is going to re-review all of the adoption cases currently waiting. This means our case file will be reviewed again - under watchful eyes. We knew this already, so since that was the "not so good news" I knew the "good news" had to be pretty good. We learned that the PGN has a method to their madness and this led to our good news.

We have been told that our case was sitting on the PGN Director's desk ready to be signed when he was "let go". This means our file had been reviewed by three reviewers and had been passed on to the Director for final signature without receiving a PREVIO, also known as a kickout. The cases that have already been reviewed and ready to come out of PGN will be first on the list for re-review! YEAH! We consider this not just good news, but great news! I previously asked everyone to pray that we would not be on the bottom of the stack of 2,286 dossiers. What a wonderful answer to prayer! We were not on the bottom and we were not even in the middle, were were on TOP!!! Now, granted, I have no idea how many others were ready to be signed off and passed on. Just knowing mine was one of them - is awesome news!

We have also heard "through the grapevine" that the cases of those attorney's who the PGN suspects of fraud will be looked at more closely. I am very happy to report that our attorney, Cinthya, is very reputable. She has never been in any trouble or had any problems with the PGN. I also feel confident that since we made it through the first time with no previos, we can make it through again.

One thing the PGN is going to do to make sure all of the cases are legitimate is to personally interview each birth mother. They want to make absolutely sure that the birth mother gave the child up by her own free will and was not paid anything to place the baby for adoption. Edison's Guatemama has already been contacted and has her interview with the PGN next Thursday. While I do not anticipate anything going wrong, I would again like to ask for your prayers.

While Eddy's mom will never be able to forget him, I know she is probably ready to get this process behind her and move forward with her life. This should have been after she gave her DNA. Now, once again, she is reminded of the painful decision she made and has to complete another interview. After a 9 month pregnancy and now his first birthday having passed, this has gone on too long for everyone!

Dear PGN - I know you are making needed changes in the adoption process; however, please remember that there are 2,286 families who are waiting. We are each longing to hold our Guatemalan children. These children have mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who are waiting to welcome them into our country, our states, our communities, our homes and especially, our hearts. We will forever be greatful to the country of Guatemala for allowing their children to become ours - cherished members of our families!

Sincerely,
A Waiting Family
Anywhere, USA

Happy Birthday to You!

Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday, Dear Edison,
Happy Birthday to You!!!!

I hope your first birthday is wonderful! I know you are with people who love you very much and I am sure they will have a big celebration. We are celebrating too - missing you - but still celebrating. Emily is baking a cake and I think we will go shopping and buy you a birthday present. I promise we will have a huge celebration when you come home! Happy Birthday... we love you!
Mommy, Daddy, Emily & Kensley

Oh, Edison -- I want you to come home...

Edison,

I received some disturbing news today and for the first time, I am scared that this is going to take much longer than we have anticipated! I have never worried through this entire process because I knew you were meant to be. I have always assumed you would join us this summer. Today, The New York Times reported that Guatemalan prosecutors "will conduct a legal review of all of the country's pending adoptions." This will involve the re-examination of 2,286 cases that are pending. Pending cases are those in-process. This means those that are in PGN which also means our case to bring you home. The Attorney General's office states they are going to "study the case files deeply".

So, okay, they say the review process will not take long and they do not want to hold the children whose attorney's have followed all the rules any longer than needed. Good gracious! They have 2,286 files to "study deeply"! I understand why they are doing it. I would never want you to be adopted by us if you were wrongly taken from your birth mother! However, I have complete trust in our Guatemalan attorney and I know she has done nothing wrong - I just hate that things are being postponed. I was hoping you would come home in May! Then I started praying for June! Next I prayed for July (and I still am, but losing faith that it will happen).

You are going to be one year old tomorrow! I was prepared to miss the first 12-13 months - I don't want to miss any more! Please come home soon. I love you so much.....mommy

June is out - We are praying for July...

I found out a few weeks ago that we will not get Edison in June. I've been really upset about that because I was hoping he would be home all this summer while the girls are out of school. It is not to be.

The average time to be in PGN is 8 weeks (although I am still hopeful we can get out in 6). If the average 8 weeks applies to us (which will be much better than the alternative of 12 weeks in PGN), the soonest we will be out is May 21st. From the time we exit PGN until we actually travel, takes 6-8 weeks (normally 8). If we go with the 8 week travel date after getting out of PGN on May 21st, travel would not occur before July 16th.

Very disappointing! What I am praying for at this time is that we can exit PGN at 6 weeks which will be May 7th and travel 8 weeks after that which will place travel sometime the week of July 2nd. Our attorney is not allowing anyone to travel during that time because a mission team is coming to work on her new orphanage, so -- my goal is to travel the week of July 7th!

Please pray with our family that we can travel the week of July 7th!!!!!!!!!!! What a wonderful way to celebrate Independence Holiday - by having our Guatemalan child become an American citizen! Talk about a fireworks spectacular!

Until next time...

Great-Granddaddy Kenneth

Dear Edison,

A lot has happened in the past week. I guess I will start with the sad news. Your Great-Grandaddy Kenneth Crouch passed away on Wednesday, April 16th at 11:57 p.m. One of the first things I thought of was that he would never get to meet you and you would never get to meet him. He was a wonderful Christian man and an inspiration to everyone who knew him.

Kenneth was not my grandfather by blood; however, you would have never known that because he treated all of us equally - grandchildren and step-grandchildren. My Grandma Betty married Kenneth about 6 years before I was born. I never knew my biological grandfather on my mom's side of the family and Kenneth filled the role - complete with big bear hugs, kisses, smiles, laughs and chewing gum. He was a super great-grandfather to Emily and Kensley - coming to watch them perform in church programs and joining our family for cake and ice cream on our birthdays. He would have loved you, Edison, and treated you the same as everyone else!

I cried the other night for Kenneth and told your daddy, "You know, I have had three grandfathers - now they are all gone and I don't feel like I really knew any of them!" I would have loved to have had the opporunity to have met my biological grandfather on my mom's side. He died when I was 3 years old and I never knew him. My Grandpa Woods died when I was 16 years old and luckily I do have a few good memories with him. Now, Kenneth too, is gone and while I feel truly blessed to have had him as a grandfather and have many wonderful memories of him - I have thought a lot about how I could have been closer to him.

While writing this, I thought of something else. Someday, you are going to long for those you didn't have a chance to know. For you, there will be many - your entire biological family - mother, father, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. I hope you will feel truly blessed to have had me as your mom, Paul as your dad and the rest of us as your family!

How cute is he? I say he's the cutest you ever did see!

Horses

Sports Paige is the black and white horse. She is a Kentucky Mountain Spotted Saddle Horse. Other breeds would call her a black and white "paint". Not the Kentuckians - we call 'em "spotted".

Beach Boy is the miniature horse in the background. He is 8.5 hands tall and has a slight weight problem. He's a very personable little horse. Don't call him a pony --- he's not tall enough to be a pony --- but we don't let him know this, it would hurt his feelings. He thinks he is the boss and that all the mares want to be his.

To the right, you will meet the newest members of our herd. These beautiful buckskin mares are Sorpresso's Mia and Tulya. Both are Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horses. Tulya is Mia's baby and they have never been separated! That is going to change pretty soon. We are going to move Tulya to a different barn with other horses and teach her some ground manners. She is going to be a great ride; however, right now, she is young and very spoiled and has more power than she realizes. Mia is a lot of fun to ride and she is very smooth.

To the left is the gal who started it all. As-U-May, also known as "Asia" was given to our daughter as a gift from a family friend. Asia is a Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse. She has the best temperament and is spoiled rotten!

We're going to miss his 1st ...

I received in the mail yesterday, a brochure from Toys R Us, telling me it was time to begin planning my child's 1st birthday party. I read the brochure and wondered what we would have chosen as his theme had he been with us to celebrate this big event -- and that made me sad. I have missed so many things in his little life - his first smile, his first giggle, his first tooth, his first haircut ... I could go on. And then I thought about his Guatemama who has missed all those firsts as well. Of course that led me to think about his foster mom who was there for all his firsts and who will be sad to miss his future. Why do I do this to myself ? ? ? ? Okay - so back to the 1st birthday party. Do you know how excited I am to have a child who can celebrate his birthday in the Spring? This is a big deal in our family, especially considering that Emily celebrates her birthday in October, Paul in November, Kensley and I in December. Crazy! I'm looking forward to buying outdoor toys and spring clothes for his birthday. As for the theme - would we have chosen Diego? Farm animals? Horses? Dinosaurs? What would his favorite thing had been had he been here with us? I don't know. What I do know is that his 2nd birthday is going to be a BIG event because that will be his 1st birthday with his forever family!! I haven't brought this up to Paul because I'm waiting for the right time. I want to buy Edison a doll for his 1st birthday. I can't decide whether to send it to him or take it with us when we go get him. It is the cutest little doll. It is an anatomically correct hispanic boy soft bodied doll and it is adorable! I think Paul will be okay with it. I hope Paul will be okay with it! The other big thing we want to buy Edison for his birthday to have when he gets home is a new swing set. The swing set we currently have was bought for Emily's 1st birthday. She is now 14 years old! It is a Little Tykes with a playhouse and it's still in pretty good shape, however the roof is gone and the slide and swings have faded and I would just like to have something new for him. He doesn't need a bouncy seat, an infant seat, bottles, pacifiers, bed accessories (I could go on and on naming things you buy for infants) so this is just one thing I would like to do for him. Since Kensley was the recipient of many hand-me-downs, including the swing set, she is helping me choose the one we want to buy. I'm going to go to bed and dream about Edison. Last night I dreamed that he kept saying "besito" which is "kiss" in Spanish. Until next time...

FINALLY - We are going to PGN!

FINALLY - the social worker in Guatemala has completed her report! Our case will be in PGN tomorrow! It probably could have gone last week, however, Holy Week is a big celebration in Guatemala and all offices were closed on Thursday and Friday. Our attorney took the whole week off. That's okay - everyone needs a vacation - I just wish we could have gotten into PGN before now.

So . . . to all my prayer warriors, please pray that our case will NOT be kicked out of PGN. We do NOT want a previo as this will delay bringing Edison home. A previo is when the reveiwer of PGN finds something wrong with the paperwork, kicks it out and asks you to correct it. We will have to correct whatever they ask - sometimes it is very minor and/or picky - and then present the whole case to PGN again. Please, no Previos! The next prayer request is that our file will go through the PGN review process quickly. It can take from 2 to 12 weeks. Cases have been known to come out in 2 DAYS! I'm not asking for 2 days - I'm just praying for much less than 12 weeks.

My Old Kentucky Home is becoming more of a reality for you, Edison! It would be a wonderful blessing to bring you home before your 1st birthday. Wishful thinking on my part. We will celebrate big when you do come home.

Please No Previos, Please No Previos, Please No Previos, Please No Previos, Please No Previos, Please No Previos, Please No Previos, Please No Previos, Please No Previos, Please No Previos, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

We received Pre-Approval!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally - we received Pre-Approval from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala! This means we can now enter PGN! Another BIG step closer to bringing Edison home...

The official adoption office is the PGN in Guatemala. PGN stands for Procuradoria General de la Nacion. Procuradoria is a Spanish term that is used in Central America. The PGN in Guatemala is made up of lawyers, judges, counselors and administrators. The Procurador is the person who manage and administers laws on behalf of people adopting through the PGN in Guatemala.

The PGN receives all the paperwork we prepared months ago. Someone in PGN will review our paperwork and analyze it against Guatemala's adoption requirements. They issue referrals as quickly as 4 weeks and often stretch the waiting period to 12 weeks. Let's pray for a quick turnaround!!!

Once the PGN approves our documents, we will gain legal responsibility for Edison. A new birth certificate will be issued in Guatemala listing Paul and I as his adoptive parents. This will allow our attorney in Guatemala to obtain a Guatemalan passport for him.

Once all of this is complete, our paperwork will go back to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service and the Department for Homeland Security. They will be responsible for issuing Edison's immigrant visa to come to the U.S.

The next big thing we wait for is "Getting out of PGN". After that - you will probably hear me scream across this great Commonwealth when we receive our "pink slip". A "pink slip" in a Guatemalan adoption case is a good thing. That means everything is final and we can go bring Edison home!

I love horses...

I love horses and I have since I was a little girl. I like everything about them - especially the way they smell. Nothing else smells like a horse - I even like the smell of their food - getting a whiff of alfalfa hay and sweet feed when I climb into my truck makes me smile!

Some of my favorite childhood memories involve a horse - so does one of my scariest, one of my saddest and one of my most financially lucrative deals as a child. I was thinking about all of these things just the other day...

Our family was given two Kentucky Mountain Saddle horses a few days ago. We were so ecstatic - now, each one of us owns a KMSH to ride. We also have a miniature horse for Edison and we can all ride together as a family. The horses we inherited the other day were both beautiful buckskin mares.

The owners were very emotional about losing their horses; however, they were looking for someone who would take care of them and love them as much as they did. They also knew the horses would be happier to have people to ride them. When we went to pick up the horses, the gentleman who was so nice to give them to our family walked inside his house crying as we were securing the trailer and the horses for travel. His wife stayed in the house and would not even come out. I felt horrible because I knew how they felt.

When I was very, very young, my Uncle Larry gave me a shetland pony named Peanut for my birthday. The pony was useless really - I couldn't even ride him. I would tie him up to the fence and spend forever just sitting on him. Every now and then I was lucky enough to have my cousin, Brenda, come to the house and she would lead me around the field. My mom and dad knew practically nothing about caring for horses, so this little guy just stayed in the field. I'm sure his hooves were never trimmed and he probably foundered. One day, I looked out the window and saw a horse trailer backed up to the fence and then I saw some people loading Peanut. No one had told me - I remember I started to cry and I probably screamed and I was mad! I think I even recall my mom fussing at my dad saying that she couldn't believe he had loaded that horse to take away without even telling me - I don't know if that happened or not - that could have been wishful thinking on my part. Losing a horse is like losing part of your soul, especially when you love everything about one as I did. I don't recall where Peanut was taken. I'm not sure they told me and if they did, I'm not sure I was told the truth. Knowing what I know now, she was probably taken to the stockyards and then on to a glue factory somewhere. If you have ever watched the movie, Flicka, a similar situation occurred and I cried because I knew how the girl felt about her mean old dad (Tim McGraw). So that was one of my saddest memories - now I'll tell one of the best memories!

We lived on a big farm in a big farm house when I got a little older. The owner's brother kept two Tennessee Walking horses at the farm for awhile. Their names were Wendy and Star. Wendy was so gentle. Occasionally, I could talk someone into tacking her up for me and I would ride and ride. We had a very long driveway that made a circle at the side of the house. It was a big circle with the drive branching off to various other parts of the farm, the barn lot, the hog lot, the back of the farm and other buildings. The circle had a big grassy area in the middle so of course, being the horse lover that I was, it reminded me of a horse show ring. I remember riding Wendy around and around that circle - pretending that she was picking up those front feet as high as she could. Of course, I was always awarded the blue ribbon and silver platter!

My best memory with a horse involves the same horse that was part of my scariest memory. My cousin, Lisa, was a very experienced rider. She came to the house one day and helped me tack Star and Wendy. Star was a very spirited horse and I was not allowed to ride her but Lisa was. We were all tacked up and went riding on the farm. Wendy followed Star everywhere. When Star was acting bad and took Lisa under a tree with low branches and thorns, Wendy was right on her tail and I was taken under the sharp, thorny tree as well. We were bleeding but continued to ride. We got out into an open pasture and something spooked Star. She threw Lisa off and started running as fast as she could go. Of course, Wendy took off after her. Lisa told me to slide off or I was going to get thrown. I held on with all I had - white knuckles - thank goodness I had a western saddle with a horn. I have never rode so fast or been so scared in my life as I was that day. I just remember Lisa kept yelling at me to slide off!!!! I kept yelling back, "No, I can't" and I didn't! I held on for the ride! Lisa was finally able to catch Star. I'm not sure how long Wendy and I ran after Star, it probably wasn't as long as it seemed! I was shaking so hard and crying when Lisa finally caught both horses. She had to help me off and we walked the horses back to the barn. I don't recall riding Wendy after that. Thanks alot Star!!

Now for my financially lucrative deal. My Uncle June was at our house one day. We lived on the same farm. His daughter, Raye Ann, had a pony named Pepper. I loved Pepper. I don't recall how this all came about but I remember Uncle June telling me that he would sell me that horse for $5.00! Well, I ran in the house as fast as I could, pryed the rubber stopper out of the bottom of my penny bank and dug out five - $1.00 bills that I knew were in there. I ran back and gave them to Uncle June. I didn't know at the time, but later learned he didn't think I would have $5.00 and really had no intention of selling his daughter's horse, however, being raised as a good ole' country boy - his word was good. I don't think Raye was very happy to learn that her dad had sold her horse - but anyway, in a few days, Pepper was at our farm and he was MINE!!! I don't remember how long I had him but I was talked into selling him. Again, I watched a horse be loaded up and taken away. I cried again but I knew what was happening. My dad returned and gave me $40.00! My sister and brother sold calves and always had big savings accounts. Mine wasn't as big as theirs, but I did open my own savings account with that $40.00. As it turns out, Pepper was a good investment for me.


In the winter, when it's so cold outside, you can place your icy cold hands underneath a horses mane and it feels like a heater. It is one of the best feelings in the world. As spring arrives, I'm ready for the fresh green grass and the smell of leather as we are able to tack up and ride in the warm sunshine!