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.