2008 will be Great!

Dear Edison,

It's a little past midnight on January 1, 2008! Everyone is asleep and for some reason I am wide awake. Kensley has been so excited because I promised her we would watch old movies of her and Emily we had taken when they were babies. That is what we did the last few hours of 2007. I cried watching Emily on video. I knew she had grown up - but I had forgotten what a sweet, little girl she was. Her voice and the way she said, "Mama?" and her singing off-key is priceless - I even filmed her one afternoon "throwing a fit" for which she is famous in our family. So far we have only seen Kensley's ultrasound and that was pretty boring after a few minutes - especially since I can't remember what all the parts are but I promised her we would go out in the garage and find some of her when she was little. The girls have grown up so quickly and I will be saying the same about you several years from now. Emily is off tonight at a church lock-in with a bunch of her friends. Kensley is asleep and Cash is here, he's sleeping with Paul. I'm not sure where I will end up - either with Paul and Cash (too crowded) - or maybe with Kensley??

2008 is finally here! This is the year our family will finally meet YOU. 2007 was a wonderful year because it is the year you were born. 2008 is going to be great because you are going to officially become an Underwood! I'm counting the days until we meet you for the first time in February and already dreading the moment when they take you out of my arms and I have to leave you in Guatemala. The thing that will keep me going is knowing that Paul and I will return for you in only 4 short months and while that seems like a long time - it is shorter than the time we have been away from you! Just six more months and God willing, you will be able to come home with us. We can't wait.

I'm begining a project today that I hope to send to you in Guatemala this month (January). It will be a bilingual picture book, made by me (with the help of Shutterfly.com and my spanish speaking friends) that will introduce you to me, your daddy, your sisters, our dog, our house, the cars we drive, the horses and your grandparents. Hopefully it will be your favorite book and it will help you, when you see your daddy and I for the first time, recognize us and then it will make everything else familiar to you also so things here in Lancaster will not seem so scary.

I always knew that I someday wanted to adopt a child. I didn't know what year you would be born, when you would join our family - I knew nothing about you but then you happened in 2007 and that has been the greatest thing. There are years that come and go without much that sticks in your mind but there are other years that have some magical memory from which you can easily recall the year. 1970, I was born. I graduated from high school in 1988. In 1989 I married Paul, 1993 is when I held my first-born, Emily. Kensley came along in 1997.

2008 is going to be one of those memorable years - and your name will be attached!

Happy New Year, Eddy! Love, Mommy

I thought of you a lot yesterday...

I'm at work right now - I'm the only one here - it's my lunchtime. I thought about you a lot yesterday, Mr. Edison, you know with it being Christmas day and all. Paul, the girls and I, had a wonderful Christmas and we all talked about how fun it will be for you to be there next year!

I remember asking an adoptive parent several years ago - how differently do you feel toward your biological child and your adopted child? The answer was - there is no difference - I love them both very much and can't imagine my life without either of them. I'm starting to completely understand that. Even though I had Emily and Kensley with me on Christmas Day, I knew something was missing! I wondered if your foster family celebrated Christmas and if you received any gifts. We bought you a few things - you have a pillow that is shaped like Diego and he will be taller than you when you get here. I think you will like him alot! We got you a hat and mittens that are camoflauge. Kensley made something for you and wrapped it and I'm not sure it got opened yesterday. I also ordered you some books and they were delivered on Christmas Eve! I cannot wait to read them to you - for practice - Kensley and I read them :-)

We've made it our own family tradition to stay home on Christmas day. Everyone just rests and plays with their new toys. I read an entire book yesterday and started one that Emily wanted me to read! Kensley got a Nintendo DS for her birthday and Santa brought a "Learn to speak Spanish" game. I played it and my Spanish speaking ability is now at a "toddler" level! Maybe that will be a little better by the time we meet you! Emily spent most of the day playing Guitar Hero III on the PlayStation. Kensley is addicted to movies and spent most of the day watching DVDs - Harry Potter, Pirates of the Carribbean, Bring It On and Underdog! Paul and the girls went to ride the horses at one point in the day. I stayed home and took a nap!

So, here it is the day after Christmas and I sit here at work - all alone! It's almost time to get back to work. Meme has taken Kensley to the movies to see "Enchanted." Emily wanted to stay home so I'm sure if she is awake yet, she is either on MySpace or playing Guitar Hero. She said she doesn't like the movies????? Paul is hunting.

It will be so fun to introduce you to your new family. They are all going to fall so in love with you.
Merry Christmas Edison Alejandro (soon to be Underwood)! I love you. Mommy

Kensley's x-ray

Kensley had a little incident at the barn on Monday evening. She was climbing the fence and her feet slipped. She fell and her shirt got hung on the fence and jerked her arm up. She hung there until she could get her feet back on the rail. Paul said she was in a lot of pain and she continued to complain even at bedtime. The next morning she could barely move. We told her to take a warm shower to see how she felt. I decided to take her to the doctor because she told me she thought her shoulder was broken because she heard it pop two times. She was also very tender on her collarbone.

When the doctor looked, she thought it was broken too because there was an indention, bruising and tenderness on the collarbone. They took an x-ray and it was normal - thank goodness. Doctor's orders are to take it easy for a few days and take Ibuprofen. If she is still having pain next week, they will repeat the x-ray to make sure it is not broken. They told her she has a really bad sprain and what may have happened is that the shoulder was pulled out of joint and then popped back in itself.

She is bruised and sore but feeling much better. The soreness is more in the bicep and tricep area now. I have always heard that a sprain can be worse than a break but at least she is not in a brace right here at Christmastime, her birthday and winter break.

Paper is on its way!

What a wonderful day it has been! We received Edison's 7 month photos and medical update. He now weighs 17 pounds and 14 ounces - that is an excellent size for a Guatemalan baby. He has obviously had a haircut from the 5 month old pictures and he is already beginning to look like a little boy instead of a lump of baby. He actually has a neck now! Oh yeah, he is definitely meant to be ours because it still appears he is going to need glasses. That's okay! I just hope we can get him home soon to take him to the ophthalmologist who has treated Emily since she was 2 years old. The sooner we can get treatment, the better it will be for his vision.

The second great thing that happened today was that our I-797C left the office via Federal Express to travel to Guatemala overnight! How exciting is that? Soon, they will ask for our credit card information so we can pay for the DNA testing. I have never been so anxious to receive a bill!

I have purchased a few little gifts for Edison for Christmas. One I plan to take to him when we go visit in February. It is a little bitty blue blanket that is fleece on one side and silk on the other. It has a little brown toy horse head attached to it with a cute floppy mane. Two sides of the blanket have teething toys attached. The fleece side is monogrammed with the word "Neigh". Since we all love horses, we are introducing Edison early so hopefully he will enjoy them as much as the rest of us. If not, he is going to be pretty miserable because we spend a lot of time at the barn!

The other gift is a camoflauge hat and matching mittens trimmed with bright orange thread. They are adorable and should fit him next winter. I knew Paul would want him to have some camo as quickly as possible. Poor child - I hope he likes the outdoors because if he wants to spend time with his daddy, he is going to have to learn to hunt. Not really - Paul took a break from hunting while the girls were little. I am sure if need be, he will do the same for Eddy.

So these are my happy thoughts for the day - watch out - you never know what can happen from one day to the next when you are in the middle of an adoption!

We got approval from USA!!!

I am so excited! Paul just went to the mailbox and came back with a letter from the United States Citizenship & Immigration Service. We are approved for: "one healthy male child between the ages of birth to twelve(12) months at time of referral. Minor medically correctable problems, prematurely or low birth weight may be acceptable on a case-by-case basis." This is an answer to a prayer I have been praying for multiple times each day.

What does that mean, you ask? This means that the US government will request that a DNA match be done on both Edison and his biological mother to make sure she is his mother. This is a scary time for adoptive parents because this also means that his bio mom will see him for the first time since he was born. I know she loves him and I can't imagine how hard that will be for her. I know that the process is very "mechanical". They will bring the mom in, sit her in a chair, bring Eddy in and sit him in her lap, snap their picture, swab the insides of both of their mouths and then take the baby away. Of course, if she wants to visit with him, they will let her do so. Paul and I will receive a copy of this picture when we go to pick him up. This will be the only picture we (and he) will have of his biological mom. Pray for his mother (Jemmy). I know she needs them!

On a happy note - I was able to meet our Guatemala attorney, Cinthya, yesterday. I also met our Notary, Arabella. Notaries are more prominent in Guatemala than they are in the states. Their notaries are "higher up" than attorneys. You can't just pay $20.00, swear you have never fought in a dual and have someone post a bond in your name like we can do over here. You actually go to law school and then have additional training and are appointed as a notary. Anyway, Cinthya and Arabella came to our adoption agency to sign Power of Attorney's for families that want to have their POA filed before the end of the year. On December 11th, the Guatemalan congress passed a law with a grandfather clause indicating that all adoptions with POAs filed before 12/30/2007 can proceed as is and will not have to start the process again to meet Hague Standards concerning International Adoption! That is wonderful news for our family, as ours was filed sometime in September.

While talking to Cinthya yesterday, she told me that Edison is a very sweet boy and always happy - she said he is giggling and smiling everytime she sees him. She also told me that his foster mother is a very special lady. Her name is Teresa. She is divorced and is the sole provider for her family. She works as a foster mom but also works with Cinthya's sister in a shoe store. I don't know how many children Teresa has - I was so excited to talk to Cinthya I forgot to ask. Cinthya said that Teresa loves Eddy very much and that it will be very hard on her when he has to leave but she understands that he is being adopted and knows he will be leaving. Next prayer request -please pray for Teresa because she has cared for Edison since he came home from the hospital. I can't imagine what she will feel - and I know Edison loves her too because she is all he has known. Children are resilient and I have faith we will all adjust very well.

Cinthya is also very excited for Paul and I and the girls to come to Guatemala in February. She is going to try to bring him to the house where we are staying when we arrive because she knows we will be so anxious to see him. I told her we planned to stay in a hotel the last part of the week so we could have him all to ourselves! She will help us make arrangements to get from the mission house. She said we were very close to Guatemala City and that will be good!

Great things are happening for us! God is so good ...