We Met A Major Milestone

WOOHOO!! Angelica can pedal a tricycle!! Why is this so exciting? It is the one milestone that her neurologist kept asking us about and that she had been working really hard on with her OT. She had been trying really hard to pedal but would give up and just start pushing it with her feet (she gets frustrated VERY easy). However, on Tuesday at school she got started and rode her bike all the way around the bike path TWICE without stopping. Her teachers were all cheering for her and mami cried. I was so glad I had my digital camera with me that day!

The other reason this is so exciting...the doctors told us when she could pedal a tricycle that she could potty train. The muscles needed for potty training would be strong enough. Our next big goal....TO BE OUT OF DIAPERS BY HER 4th BIRTHDAY!!

Great News from Eye Doctor

Today Angelica returned to Dr. Blatt's office for her annual eye exam. The GREAT news is she will require no further surgery on her eyes!! YEAH!! He said her eyes are perfectly aligned. Also she needs new glasses, but her new prescription is not quite as strong her old ones. The bad news is we were hoping that all of her falling, walking off the slides, etc. was because of her vision. (That would have been the easiest to correct). We now are thinking it is just development related. All of Angelica's therapists say the same thing...she has "on" days and really "off" days. On her "off" days she falls a lot, needs reminders on how to do simple tasks (e.g. chewing her food, swallowing her milk). The main goal of her OT is to get her to be more consistent. We'll keep working on it.

What We've Been Up To

Wow, its been a long time since we last posted. Here are just a few things that has happened since our last post.

- Angelica started early childhood special ed program at our "home school". She is doing much better there. No tears. She even has a crush on a little boy in her class. (Her teacher said its mutual). Her teacher also says she plays with the "dark" skinned children who look like her.

- Brian started the 2nd Grade. (Hard to believe). We had our 1st conference last week. He is not doing so well. I am requesting an OT evaluation due to sensory concerns. They want to give him another quarter before considering ADD. We are going to try some things until then (removing red dyes from his diet, more fruits & veggies, more sleep).

- On August 8, 2008 we celebrated Angelica's 2nd Gotcha Day!! She continues to be such a blessing to us.

- We traveled to Kansas City to stay at the Great Wolf Lodge (always a favorite). We also got to meet Nate & Rena and their 4 kids. Their kids are adorable!!

- CHI Reunion. It was fun (still very disappointed that not many Guatemala families show up).

- We got to hang out with Jennifer B & Nataly at the Magic House. Brian & her had a blast chasing each other around. Nataly is also from Monteria. It was so cool to finally meet her. She is SO, SO, SO cute.

- Brian finished Wildcats baseball and is now playing fall soccer. We love soccer. Angelica will get to play in the Spring league when she turns 4. The little girls look so cute in their pink jerseys, and head bows. Although she is developmentally delays we figured she can't do much wrong on the soccer field. The little girls team last week were doing sommersaults!!

- Angelica is starting gymnastics. She looks ADORABLE in her leotard.

Well, that about sums up our summer. We look forward to the fall...Halloween, apple picking.

Our Little Princess

On Saturday Angelica attended a "my girls" birthday party for her friend, Allie. Allie is 4 and she's a doll. (Allie was adopted from Russia when she was 18 months old). The girls had fun getting their hair, nails and make up done and then having a fashion show. Angelica was a little young and didn't quite get it all but she enjoyed dancing to Hannah Montana and playing with the microphone. She's so darn cute and she really is our little princess.

"She's a Treasure"

These are the words from Angelica's special ed teacher, Ms. Kari. The 2nd and 3rd week of school were very rough on Angelica. She had a seizure on the bus, sent home one day with a fever and cried for 3 hours each day. Finally, her teacher made her a picture book for us to share with her about her new school and routine. Well it worked. She loves to look at the pictures. Last week her teacher said she was happy all week, no tears and was beginning to interact more with her new friends. On Friday, she said she was very animated and greeted all of her teachers when they came in the room. We knew she would do fine once she got used to the new routine and schedule. Also, the first few weeks she was scared to get on the bus. Thursday and Friday of this week she actually RAN to the bus. She looks so cute running to the bus with her big Dora backpack on. It is not a easy feat for her either. She is using more words and seems to be maturing right in front of our eyes. We do agree with her teacher in that she is definitely a treasure.

Angelica's First Week of ECSE

Well, Angelica (and mommy) survived her first week of early childhood special ed. Actually, it went much better than we anticipated. The first day we took her school and she immediately ran off to play in the tunnel and on the steps. There were no tears, no sad faces. Yesterday we received a note from her teacher that she has been attempting to bite during free choice and transition times but had not been successful. She loves to wear her Dora backpack. She looks so cute even though she does fall over when its actually on her pack. It really is about the same size as her. The bus ride has not been as successful. She is very hesitant to get on the bus. For one thing, 3 days a week she's on the bus for 45 minutes for only a 4 mile trip. It's crazy. However, we can't go to pick her up because her school gets out the same time Brian's bus drops him off. Also, we are hearing a lot more words. She is using "Gecca" (her nickname) as well as "my mama" and "my dada". We are so proud of our big girl this week. This week they just kind of let her get used to the routine and schedule. Next week she will start in on all of her OT, PT, ST and DT. She's a busy girl.

GO CARDINALS!!

Everyone at our house is excited for the start of the baseball season. We LOVE our St. Louis Cardinals. We were really bummed out when their home opener was postponed by rain yesterday but are hoping for a win tonight. Brian is a big Albert Pujols fan (of course) and Angelica is a Yadier Molina fan (just like her mommy). Molina just hit the first "official" home run of the season. GO Cards.

Mom, I Was Wondering....

if we could have a 3rd sister and maybe a brother, like 6, that I could play with. Brian asked me this Saturday night as I was laying with him while getting ready for bed. He is very specific, as he wants a little sister from Colombia again and a brother from Guatemala. He really is a great big brother and we would love to have two more children. Maybe someday.....

You Never Know Who You'll Meet At Walmart

Tonight I was at my weekly Walmart shopping trip. You could not help but notice the huge (and I mean huge) man in front of me. As I was busy putting all my stuff on the belt I noticed this big group of little boys gathering around and whispering. Finally, one of them said "Your a RAMS player". No wonder he was so big...it was Orlando Pace. We knew he lived near us because Dave has run into him at 24 hour Fitness. Anyway, he was signing autographs and talking and joking around with the kids. He seemed so nice and friendly. I called Brian to tell him he missed it because he wanted to stay home and watch TV.

Angelica & Brian

Here is a picture of Brian & Angelica from Christmas 2007. This is really just a test to see if I can get these posted correctly. Wish me luck.

CHI Egg Hunt

Today we attended the CHI Easter Egg Hunt. It was a lot of fun as the kids looked for eggs and see the Easter Bunny. Angelica was very brave...from a distance. She waved to him and blew him kisses but as soon as we got close enough to sit on his lap..she freaked!! It was so cute watching all the little kids hunt for eggs. Seeing all the children laughing and playing, it really hits you how truely amazing adoption is and how fortunate we are to have these precious children in our lives. Anyway, after the egg hunt we went with Bryan (that's with a Y) who was also adopted from Guatemala to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate his Gotcha Day!! I am so glad that my Brian and Bryan are becoming such close friends. They are like two peas in a pod. It's amazing to watch them interact. The long day really wore Angelica out..she feel asleep at 4:00 PM and is still asleep at 10:00 PM. Lets just hope she stays asleep all night.

Great Season for the Bulldogs

The Bulldogs ended their season with an 8-5 which put them in a tie for first place. They played their hearts out but were not able to overcome an early 3 goal lead. After the game Coach Kevin presented all the boys a medal for all their hard work this season. Their final record was 8 wins and 2 losses. Way to go Bulldogs. Brian had another great game scoring two more goals. We are so proud of how much he has improved this season. Soccer is over for the time being. The team is taking the Spring season off in order to play baseball. They will play soccer again in the Fall.

Bulldogs Win Again

Brian had 2 more goals tonight as the Bulldogs win again by a score of 7-3. We were sweating it out the first half but they came alive the 2nd half. They play their last indoor game next week. The first place team plays the second place team next Saturday at 7:00 AM. After soccer season ends we will move into baseball.

1st Grade Music Extravaganza

On Thursday the 1st graders at Brian's school put on a music extravaganza. They did amazing job singing, dancing and showing lots of school pride. It was obvious that they worked EXTREMELY hard putting the show together. Their hard work was rewarded with a standing ovation at the end and they all beamed with pride. Angelica also really enjoyed the program .... she was dancing and clapping along with them. It was a great day to be a Stingray.

He Shoots, He Scores

Brian's scored 3 goals today in his indoor soccer game! !! That puts his total at 8 goals through 7 games. The Bulldogs are having another great season...they are now 6-1. Their only loss was against the team they beat today 13-3. The Bulldogs will take the Spring season off (all about 2 of them will play on the same baseball team) and then go back to Fall and indoor soccer.

Saying Goodbye to Spooky

Last night we made the very difficult decision to put our youngest cat, Spooky, to sleep after xrays confirmed a massive tumor in his stomach. Spooky had been acting fine until about a week ago when he started to throw up and refused to eat or drink. We took him to the vet before and they gave him an IV of fluids and some medication to calm his stomach but he still refused to eat or drink. Our other two cats refused to go around him and he hid under the bed refusing to come out. We knew in our hearts, the end was near. The next day the vet called to say nothing abnormal showed up in his blood tests so we decided to bring him back in for xrays and an IV of fluids. Well, the xray showed a mass that was pressed against his liver and his intestines. She said we could try to do surgery but she felt he was to bad off to survive. We did not want him to suffer any longer. He was a great cat who purred up until his last breath. He did have enough strength on his last day to come out to be petted...we think he was saying goodbye. He brought so much happiness to our lives for the 7 years we had him...he will be missed not only by us but also by Missy, our 9 year old cat, as they were inseparable. Spooky, we loved you so and we will miss you dearly.

Angelica Turns 3!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Angelica!! She celebrated her 3rd birthday on Saturday with a party at The Little Gym. It was a lot of fun but very hectic as she celebrated it with 18 other little ones. She especially loved the parachute. They put her in the middle of the parachute and carried her around singing Happy Birthday. The party host said he had never seen such a big smile before. (Her smile does light up a room). She ended the party with a big piece of chocolate Elmo cake. Yum Yum!! Her birthday party also helped out some children in Colombia. In leiu of donations we asked for donations for the CHI Foundation. Her birthday was bittersweet. All day long I kept thinking about her birthparents and how the date affects them. I can't help but think that it is a very sad day for them. I wish I could magicially send them a message to let them know how happy and loved she is!!!

Brian's Guatemalan Adoption

In November 2000 we attended a CHI information meeting. We did not really have any idea what to expect but after we walked out of the meeting we knew, without a doubt, that this was how we were going to build our family. While in Costa Rica the year before we fell in love with Central America so we were naturally drawn to a family who had just arrived home with a 7 month old little boy from Guatemala. He was so beautiful and the parents were just beaming. We decided to wait until after the holidays to begin our adoption journey and in early February 2001 we mailed our application to CHI to start the process for Guatemala. When we started we were told the wait for a little girl was close to 18 months while there were immediate referrals for little boys so we requested a little boy. In May 2001 we submitted our dossier to Guatemala and just 3 days later we received a referral for a 6 week old little boy...Brian Saul Garcia Cruz. We couldn't believe it. He was so cute and so sweet. Against our SW advice (because the birth mother could still change her mind), we copied the photos and gave them to all our family members. We received updates on Brian every six weeks or so. He was getting so big but it was obvious that his foster family was taking great care of him. On January 8th, Elizabeth called and said "Does anyone want to go to Guatemala?". It was hectic since it was Tuesday and our Embassy appointment was that Monday. As luck would have it, our close friend Pam's Embassy appointment was also Monday. We arrived in Guatemala on January 10th (we went a few days early because we had booked a tour to Tikal but it was cancelled for some unknown reason). On January 12th at 5:05 PM, Letica (our lawyer), Sandra and Joel (foster parents) and their daughter arrived at the hotel with Brian. Wow!! He was so much bigger than we expected but he was adorable. He adjusted fine and fell asleep the very first night in his daddy's arms. We were in heaven. We couldn't believe that we were finally Mommy & Daddy. The next day we met Pam's new daughter, Angela. She was only 5 months old and oh so cute. We spent the next couple of days shopping and getting to know our new children. Brian has now been home 6 years and he has changed our lives in so many ways. We now spend our weekends cheering him on while playing soccer (his coach says its in his blood) and baseball. He is also a great big brother. We are so proud of him and everyday we are reminded how blessed we are.

Angelica's Colombian Adoption Story

In July 2003 we started the process to bring home a little girl from Colombia. We got all our documents gathered and our dossier was sent to Colombia in October 2003. We were told at that time the wait was 12-18 months for a toddler. (Our only request that she be younger than our son who was 2 at the time). In May 2005 we received word that our dossier had been sent to Manizales region. We were so excited as we thought this meant that we would receive a referral in a few months. This was not the case. In May 2006 we still had received no referral and Julie suggested we change regions. We were getting very frustrated and considered pulling out of the Colombia program. Then in mid-May, Julie mailed out the CHI Waiting Child list and there she was!! A 15 month old little girl with epilepsy. There was a picture but she could not see anything but we immediately requested her medical information. The next day we took it to the pediatrician who said he saw no reason not to move forward. So we emailed Julie back saying we wanted to be her parents. Julie asked us if we wanted to wait and get an updated medical and picture before making our final decision. We said NO. We KNEW she was our little girl. The little girl we had dreamed about for so long!! When we did receive her picture we were awed by how beautiful and happy she looked. We finally met Angelica on August 8, 2006. She was definitely the right little girl for us. She has been home now for 18 months and we can't begin to imagine our lives without her. She has brought so much joy and happiness into our lives! She was definitely worth the long, long wait.

This is our 1st post. We just loved reading everyone's blog so we thought it would be fun to create one for our children. David and I have adopted 2 children using CHI. Our son Brian, 6, came home from Guatemala in 2002 and Angelica from Colombia in 2006. Brian celebrated his 6 year Gotcha Day on January 12th and Angelica has been home 18 months. We are gearing up for Angelica's 3rd birthday on February 16th. It only seems like yesterday that she came home.