Guatemala or Bust!

Tomorrow morning I leave for Guatemala to hold my precious daughter for the very first time. Every time I look at her picture I think-I'm about to expereince the real thing! She is so beautiful and perfect! This morning Hubby asked me if I was going to cry when I met her! I told him I was going to cry like crazy! I told him men don't understand happy tears! I have day dreamed about the moment when she is placed in my arms for weeks!
I will be updating the blog to share my trip with you! Check back often for new pictures and stories.

Permission to grieve

You know, as I have gone through this adoption process, I have had the most difficult time figuring out how I could truly believe, have faith, have patience and courage but still be so sad! I started to doubt myself, thinking maybe I didn't have enough faith, maybe I didn't really believe. But then, today I read the post of a friend from our agency's forum. God used her to speak so clearly to me! She talked about how she had given herself permission to grieve. I realised then, that's what I'm doing! I'm grieving that this adoption is not going how I thought it would-how I want it to. I'm grieving the void in our hearts and home. I'm grieving the loss of time with my daughter. I'm grieving for her foster Mom as she grows more and more attached because she will have her for so long. I'm grieving missed Christmas and now Valentine's Day. I'm grieving on Saturdays as I think of us missing Mommy and Isabella Faye time. And grief is natural and okay! I grieve for her because I love her! I'm human, I'm a mom! The Bible makes more than one reference to Jesus grieving. Jesus-who knows it all! Who knows more than any of us because He is with God and through the Trinity, IS God knows that in the end, WE WIN! Jesus, knowing full well that He could raise Lazarus from the dead, grieved for Him-cried when His dear friend died. God, though He knew that Jesus would rise again, would stay at His right hand and bring all us believers home, turned away-grief stricken at the sight of His son the cross.
My grief is nothing to feel guilty about, nothing to make me doubt my faith. If fact, I'm finding it quite freeing as I have given myself permission to grieve!

PGN woes...

Today I am feeling a little tired. I would very much like to hear that we have been registered with the CA and are back in PGN. I am praying, praying that we will be back in PGN before I go to Guatemala... I am thankful for a week of great peace and even joy. The Lord took great care of me last week and really gaurded my heart against discouragement. But, this week I have started to let my own silliness creap in, and have tried to take back control. But, tonight I am reminding myself that God wants to take care of this adoption if I will let him! Please do pray that we are back in PGN very, very soon and that I don't try to take over! May I remember that God knows what he's doing! : )

New to the blog!

I've added some new fun elements to the blog! Enjoy!

God and Adoption...

Give praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. Those blessings come from the heavenly world. They belong to us because we belong to Christ. 4 God chose us to belong to Christ before the world was created. He chose us to be holy and without blame in his eyes. He loved us. 5 So he decided long ago to adopt us as his children. He did it because of what Jesus Christ has done. It pleased God to do it. 6 All those things bring praise to his glorious grace. God freely gave us his grace because of the One he loves. Ephesians 3:3-6

Mother's Intuition

Today I had a good feeling about the adoption! I'm sure you Mommies can understand this...Mother's Intuition. Everytime something big happens in our case, I just get a feeling! Anyway...tonight I found out why I'd been feeling so hopeful...

Tonight I found out that the new president of Guatemala has gotten rid of some of the people in leadership and appointed some that are more pro-adoption. I feel like this new President could really make a difference for our children. He seems to be for us, whereas the former president was very much against us. Pleae join me in praying for him.

16 days until my visit!!

How wide, how long, how high and how deep...is the love of Christ!

Every morning it seems, I wake up with a different emotion! Last night I couldn't fall asleep. Usually a night spent tossing and turning, not able to shut off my worried Mom brain, results in an emotional day. But, this morning I feel hopeful, refreshed dispite my lack of sleep. God is so good! He knows just what we need, right when we need it!

We know that the board was selected for the Central Authority (what Isabella Faye has to be regisitered with before she can go back into PGN) and we expect all cases to be registered with them by February 11. This gives me hope.

Many cases came out of PGN yesterday. Many of my friends through adoption found out yesterday that their precious children are coming home! This gives me hope.

But what gives me the most hope is that my Father God is still on the throne! He loves my beautiful baby girl more than I do! Amazing! He will take care of her and he will take care of me and her Daddy as we wait.

When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen Ephesians 3:14-21

Where it all started and where we are now...

We started our process way back in December of 2006, as we began to compile documents for our home study. Lots of ridiculous paper chase problems later, we were done! Our home study complete, we began to compile our dossier. Believe it or not, more paperwork dilemmas...none our fault, I might add! Finally, after 7ish months, we were ready to accept a referral.

Isabella Faye Embry was born on August 14, 2007 as Silvia Maria Sanchez. She weighed 7 pounds and 8 ounces and was 20 inches long. We chose her on August 17, 2007.

Isabella Faye is now 5 months old. We were in the last step on the Guatemalan side of our adoption (called PGN) up until January 9. Then we were "kicked out" (fancy adoption lingo) for a problem with our paperwork. It's crazy! It could be something as simple as a smudge! Now, with paperwork fixed, we are waiting to reenter PGN. Why are we waiting? Well, now we have to be registered with the newly created Central Authority in Guatemala. As soon as this takes place we will be back in PGN. Usually the time in PGN is 8 weeks but we hope to be "out" (as in, done) sooner. Guatemala seems anxious to finalize all cases that are under the old law. (The laws of Guatemalan adoption have drastically changed recently.)

Then, the last step will be tying up loose ends. A 2nd DNA test will be taken of Isabella Faye and her birth mother and a new birth certificate will be issued...and we will receive notice of an appointment at the US Embassy in Guatemala. We will fly down, get our baby, go to our appointment, get her passport and come home! I can't wait for that!

Finally I'm starting a blog!

Many, many people have asked if we have a blog to share about Isabella Faye so I have decided to finally start one! Everyone knows I love to talk about my baby! So, please enjoy!