Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Cupcake gets it now.

I think yesterday and today it started to sink in for Cupcake that Princess Eee is here to stay. She has started treating her like competition, like a sister she didn't ask for, and at beautiful yet all too rare moments throughout our day like a big sis to pal around with. Cupcake has gotten down right nasty with Princess Eee a few times in the last two days. She gave her a whopping bite mark on the belly today. Princess Eeee was babied and coddled and band-aided and sat upon the counter to help me finish the pumpkin muffins while Cupcake was banished to the big chair in the next room and forced to sign "sorry" and give hugs. It's tricky because Princess Eeee knows exactly how to taunt and tease and get Cupcake all riled up until Cupcake snaps and does something obvious like bites. It is easier to call someone out for biting (insert hitting or pinching) than for teasing and pushing another's buttons- especially with my limited grasp of the spanish language. And Cupcake is WAY tougher than Princess Eee so far. So for most of today I refereed and tried to keep them happily playing in separate spaces. It is a lot like when Zippy and The Spark were just getting to know each other. They are 11 months apart and neither could talk when The Spark joined us. These two are 13 months apart and neither one can talk to the other.

They do have brief encounters of a gentler kind. They spent a few happy minutes dumping out the toy basket (again), and I snapped this photo when they were pretending to talk to each other on plastic phones.

Princess Eee did not cry for her Mami Nana much at all today. Even when bitten. She did, however, at one point go over to sit alone on the stairs and said she was angry. When I asked her why she was angry, she ignored me for a minute. I asked again, and she told me she was angry with Mami Nana. My poor girl is trying very hard to figure all this out. She has been able the last couple of days to tell me things about her foster family without crying or whimpering while telling me. It is much more matter of fact stuff. It is nice to hear her talk about them without so much sadness. She told me who had cats and what their names were. She told us something about a song at one of her aunt's schools, but we didn't catch all of what she was trying to tell us. And when we were reading a book with drawings of people in cars, she told me one looked like Papi Jorge and one looked like Tio Carlos and one even looked like Papi Moco Loco- that's Jason.
The biggest break through today though was that she let Papi Moco Loco (Jason) do bathtime tonight! And she allowed him to help her brush her teeth last night too. Up until then, she would not let him be involved with any actual child care activities other than playing and food prep. Especially if I was not in the same room. Tonight he followed Cupcake and Princess Eeee who is always overjoyed when it is finally time for a bubble bath (we must have the cleanest kids in the north country right now because bathtime is one of her very favorite activities but she does not like to go it alone) upstairs after dinner. She called for me, and I told her it was my turn to clean the dishes tonight. A minute later she tried again and got the same response. That was all I heard until I heard giggling girls stampeeding in the upstairs hallway post bubble bath. And I got to hang with the three biggers doing chores and finishing dinner like a bunch of big kids.
Today was Music Together and unlike last week, we stayed for the whole class. I prepped Princess Eee ahead of time that we could go potty right before class started and again right after, but not during. And we talked about how fun it would be to stay for the whole class this time. She did great. She asked once to go potty, but I said we could go in just a few minutes when class was over. And she asked twice for "agua pura" and I told her it was in the car and we could get it as soon as class was over. It's only a 45 minute class, and she didn't even want to use the bathroom after class and made it til we'd been home for awhile, so I know she can hold it about 100 times longer than she thinks. Tomorrow is gymnastics which she loved last week. And Friday we are going to visit her potential new pre-school. I am considering starting her after her birthday rather than waiting all the way until next fall. She is (so far) such a dive right in kind of kid, and there is a first-language-spanish speaker as an aide in the classroom she'd be in which would be a nice bonus. If we like it when we visit, I think I'll sign her up for end of November and see how she's doing attachment-wise by then. I would also like to be sleeping back in my real bed by then. Princess Eee thinks my nest of blankets on the floor next to her bed is my real bed.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

What is it with dinner?

None of our girls have liked dinner at some phase of their development. What is it with these adopted kids and dinner? Cupcake will finally sit for most of a quick meal and sometimes she'll even eat something from her own plate. This is a recent development for her. Now there's Princess Eeee who realizes when I begin getting dinner paraphernalia out, that she is sad and wants nothing other then her Mama Nana. But then tonight after a bit of that, she started singing on eof her silly songs about boogers and sneezing and we all kind of know it now so everyone joined in and she wasn't exactly happy, but she was un-sad for long enough to even join us at the table for her new favorite "ice-cream" otherwise known as a frozen Stoneyfield's yogurt squeeze. And tonight the remainder of our evening was relatively happy for her which is a first.

The other fun thing about Princess Eeeee is that she loves to have her picture taken. This almost makes up for how much her little sister Cupcake hated having her picture taken. As uncooperative as Chloe was, Princess Eeee is the opposite extreme. When I mentioned taking a photo of her with her sisters, she was not only happy to comply with a cute, authentic smaile, but she gathered up her sisters for me. Same thing when I told her that I'd love to get a photo of her with all the siblings. She had them all lined up together for me within seconds. Too bad she can't make them all smile pretty and keep their eyes open for the shot. Better than nothing though...


We're pretty sure this was the first time Princess Eeee had ever climbed a tree.

This one was pre-Eeee, but a funny one that had yet to be posted.


Go, Spark, Go!

All CINCO together!



La doctora

Princess Eeee did great at the doctor's today! She is definitely our biggest kid. She's 80th %tile for weight and 75th%tile for height. And healthy as can be. She was so brave for the finger prick today too which is all we are doing for the next 1-2 months. And she loved clase de gymnastica today too. That'll be a good activity for her to gain strength and agility since she's a little behind in those areas- at least for our family!

She is doing pretty well all things considered. She gets sad for her Mama Nana a lot especially when we have to tell her no, but she recovers fast. I'll try to get some more photos up soon.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

just photos











Sunday, September 20, 2009

First weekend together





She is officially a NH girl and therefore it is time to start using her alias on the blog. Since Cupcake can't say Ali, she calls her "Eeeee" and she appears to think she is quite the princess,so her blog name will be Princess Eeee.

She is doing better than I expected her too. She did not tear up today until mid afternoon when she woke up from a stroller nap very sad. She talks about missing her "Mami Magda Nana" A LOT and yesterday she wimpered and got teary every time she thought of her and her Tia Chi Chi (one of Magda's daughters) or Papi Jorge (Magda's son) which happened often. But today she was mostly happy until the post nap sadness at which time I brought her the photo album full of pictures of her foster family and sat with her in the Adirondak chair in the yard (she much prefers to be outside so far and luckily the weather cooperated this weekend). She cried and showed me all the people and told me all their names and I asked questions about whose kids were whose, etc. We snuggled and talked about missing them and them missing her and how happy they are for her now. Then she handed me the album and ran to the playset to climb, slide, and swing some more.


She had a great time after that chasing #1 and Cupcake around in the yard. #1 was amazing with his two youngest sisters today. He let them chase him and catch him and drag him down into the grass and jump all over him all the while making sure they were being gentle with each other. Then she said she wanted frijoles for dinner so Papi Jason made some tasty bean & rice burritos with guacamole, and she ate everyone's helping of guacamole first.

She is stuck to me most of the time but will wander away when her siblings are doing something fun & interesting. She doesn't want much to do with Papi Jason yet. Especially if I start walking away from her. When we are all together though, she is silly and playful with Papi. Just how Cupcake was with us a year ago but in reverse. And she has nicknamed him Papi Moco Loco which for those of you who do not speak spanish = Daddy Crazy Booger. It cracks everyone up every time she says it.

Okay, okay, so here are some pictures. I won't have much time in the near future b/c I am used to having my nights to catch up on my adult life, but Princess Eeee insists that I sleep with her and she wraps herself all around my face and neck and legs, so it is challenging to sneak out for awhile. We'll have to see how her nightime routine evolves in the coming weeks.
















































Friday, September 18, 2009

Today's the Day!


Assuming they get in before midnight, TODAY is the day! Ali will be in NH tonight. We are all raw nerves today. The boys stayed home from school to "rest up" since they HAVE to stay up so late tonight. That, and #1 played a soccer gane last night on a full size field and they hike all day at their school on Fridays so he presented a legitimate case this morning. And if #1 is skipping, then no way was Zippy going solo. The girls, however, are at school, but I think we'll pick them both up at noon and head south. There's a pool at the airport hotel, so we might as well get our money's worth.


I think we're mostly ready. At least the house is. The humans in the house can probably never be ready for this next phase. But, we've vacuumed, cleaned the kitchen, straightened Ali & The Spark's room, folded most of the laundry, bought a few groceries, made Welcome Home signs, loaded the car with enough carseats for all, tracked their first of three flights, put out sheets for our beloved dog sitter, and printed out a few key phrases in spanish to refresh my memory.


Alita Bonita, here we come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Pockets of Happiness

As of last night Ali was starting to mix moments of silliness and playfulness into her emotional roller coaster of ups and downs. One minute she is outgoing and happy, the next withdrawn and distant, and the next inconsolable in tears. For her first full day without her foster family this is amazing. She even said "Hola Mami" to J's laptop last night when we were skyping. And I heard her giggling while she and B. were in bed playing video games. She fell asleep in her dress playing B.'s Nintendo DS.

They went to Antigua yesterday and Ali seemed better out of the hotel too. She told everyone she saw- security guards, shopkeepers, waiters, etc. that her name is Ali and she's three and a half years old and her Mami Magda left her. All very matter of fact. I guess she felt the need to explain to people why she was hanging out with two people who look like J and Shari.

Oh and she's huge. The size 9 shoes we packed and Shari took down there for her are too small. She's almost as big as B. who is six. Shannon if you're reading, maybe we should introduce her to Armand!
And, KJ if you're reading, you'll love this: she went to the potty no less than 30 times yesterday.

Hoping she'll have some fun today and start allowing J to do some parenting since yesterday it was all about Shari. And Shari said she's really heavy to carry around all day!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Visa Appointment Done

Yippie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One less thing the Embassy can screw up for us now. The visa interview went smoothly. j will go back at 3:30 tomorrow to pick up teh visa packet and then they are free to return to the USA together! I do not know how Ali is doing today or what she thought of the whole experience this morning. They are headed to Antigua today for some (safe) sightseeing and shopping, so I don't expect to hear more until after bedtime tonight.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Gotcha! NOW WITH PICS

The send off crew. This was last night at the hotel. It looks like Ali is wearing the Princess Belle costume that I sent down in a package sometime last year???? And man, does J look tall!







Ali and lots of members of her foster family were at the hotel last night when J, Shari, & B. arrived. All was well until Ali realized she had to say goodbye to everyone she knows. She cried for two hours straight and fell asleep next to B..

J thinks/hopes the foster family will come back today and hang out at the hotel pool, so they'll all get to do the goodbye scene again. Last night was kind of late, and J was so tired after all the travelling that a gradual goodbye today might be nicer. And then that's it. Tomorrow is Embassy day. Thursday is visa pick up day. Friday is FLY HOME DAY!!

I hate that our little girl is so very sad right now. It reminds me of all the anger we carried around with us at the Guatemalan gov't for taking three years and our own gov't for adding an unnecessary five months on top of all that. It shouldn't be this hard for her.

Pictures *should* come later if J has time to upload them.

UPDATE: still no pics. J has his hands full. Ali started to come around a bit this morning, and they even got her to smile. They got in touch with Magda and asked her to come to the hotel today rather than Thursday. Once Magda was there, Ali was playful again. She played in the pool with J for about an hour. Magda worked on her all day trying to convince her to be happy about leaving with Papi J, and that everything will be okay. I'm sure whenever she left/leaves, Ali will cry and cry again. Maybe til she falls asleep. But then hopefully we can start to move forward as slowly as need be. We are so grateful to Magda for giving up her Independence Day plans to be at the Westin all day instead. She said she too went to bed and cried and cried.

Tomorrow very early is the Embassy appointment, so we can only hope that Ali will be even just a tiny bit happier in the morning.

Monday, September 14, 2009

That $%^#**(# Embassy!

Well, so far the flights are going very smoothly, and Jason has no idea what a mess things are on the ground since he is in the air. I got an email today from the lovely US Embassy in Guate saying that they made a mistake and there will be no DHS officers available for visa interviews on Wednesday. WHAT!?!?!?!?! They want to reschedule our appointment for next Monday which would mean Jason and Ali cannot come home until next Wednesday. I called Wally Bird at International Operations and he is looking into what can be done. I am waiting for his return phone call now. And I emailed the Embassy back and told them that this is absolutely unacceptable and they need to fix their mistake without causing us any further money or time. Not that it'll do any good. Have I mentioned lately how much I despise the US Embassy in Guatemala City??!?!?!?!

UPDATE: Wally Bird is definitely the nicest, most efficient, kindest person at USCIS by a long shot. He is certainly the nicest, most efficient, kindest bureaucrat in our government and probably any other for that matter. Right now in my book, he is also the nicest, most efficient, kindest human being I know. He pulled some strings today for sure. Our visa appointment will remain as scheduled. But Ali is going to be the hotel TONIGHT probably by the time J and crew arrive!

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Packed & Ready

As ready as we'll ever be I guess. J's two carry-ons are packed. Our friend Davis is meeting him at 3:30 a.m. to drive him to the airport. (So nice to have an AMAZING friend who is willing to drive 2 hours to the airport in the middle of the night!! Thank you, Davis!!) In Dallas, J will meet up with our friend Shari and her daughter B. who is SO excited to visit Guatemala after two years home and play with Ali, her bio sister. Ali will arrive at the hotel sometime on Tuesday and from then on, she is OURS!!!!

And the kids here are getting ready for another sister too. The Spark mastered the art of riding a two-wheeler this weekend so she can give her little girl bike with training wheels to Ali next weekend. GO SPARK!! And little Miss Cupcake decided on Friday that she would rather wear big girl undies than diapers. She had a couple accidents, but overall is doing great on the potty. Lots of trips to the potty since she has always been like one of those dolls that you give a bottle of water and it runs right through the doll to make them wet. WAY TO GO CUPCAKE!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Drum Roll Please.........

WE HAVE A VISA APPOINTMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ali will be coming HOME by the end of next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our appointment at the Embassy is next Wednesday at 7:15 a.m.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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Sunday, September 6, 2009

pics from the fair

"Can we go there every day, Mommy?!?!"


















Choo-choo







Friday, September 4, 2009

So long special need!

We forget that Cupcake was a waiting child in China because they labeled her with a special need. Her head tipped to one side when she was a baby which was deemed torticollis with a bunch of other fancy words about the muscles in her neck. She saw the pediatric orthopedic doctor today for a neck X-ray and follow up to last year's appointment. She was wonderful for the X-ray technician which way surpassed our expectations since she is not a child who enjoys holding still- especially when someone says she must. She held perfectly still with her wrapped Tootsie Pop clutched in her fist. Then we saw the doctor and while Cupcake finally got to eat her lollipop, he showed us how completely straight all the bones in her neck are. The special need that allowed her to get home to our family from China in under a year start to finish is all gone. Zai Jian special need!

Off the fair tomorrow, so hopefully lovely photos of our fine family having a pleasant time with our four little angels amidst stinky farm animals, fatty fried food, way too much sugar, rickety carny rides, and rip-off games to win total crap souvenirs will be on the blog later this weekend.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Video from JCICS

It really should not be this hard to bring home a little girl who needs us. And she is just one of millions. Watch the video from the Joint Council of International Children's Services:

http://www.jcics.org/bta%20video%20only.htm

Our adoption troubles feel huge to us, but the real problem is immense.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

holding my breath

I must be turning blue by now. I am looking forward to being able to exhale later today. We have not heard yet whether or not our rebuttal was successfully submitted this morning in Guatemala City as planned. One would like to think that this is a very simple step and we could rest assured that it did indeed get submitted. But this is Guate, and as I just read on a Guatemalan-American blog that I follow, they have a saying in Guate that Guatemala is known as the land of bolos, balas, y bolas. That's drunks, bullets, and viscious rumors. She said it, not me! So, hopefully the attorney got to the Embassy and got to the window and handed the stack of paper through the slot in the window before anything terrible happened.

And we heard from another Guate adoptive parent who is thinking class action suit. Sounds intriguing.

UPDATED: Our rebuttal was submitted. We have a copy of the first page with the stamp from the Embassy saying it was received today, September 2, 2009. Phew. Now they can go ahead and approve us any ol' time!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

It's working!


First day of Kindergarden for The Spark and of pre-school for Cupcake:




















Last Friday at Fenway Park... Zippy's first Red Sox game.















Okay so it's not Hillary or Janet, but the deputy chief of something at USCIS in Washington just called me! He knew about the letters. He was very nice and apologetic for all we've been through, and he wanted us to have his phone number so that we can get quicker responses to any questions we have than we get from the Embassy. He said that his office will be working on this case with the Embassy to ensure that it is done right and as quickly as possible. He feels confident that although it is a very complicated case, we can overcome the issues.(!) We are trying to get a copy of our rebuttal complete with exhibits to his office asap, so they can see how all the issues have been addressed and not make us waste any more time. This could be GOOD!

UPDATE: So it wasn't the letters after all, but still someone big and important wants to help. Our agency has a contact that passed our info along so not the letters. But those all still might even get the attention of someone even higher up. We'll keep pushing til Ali is safe at home.

And the first day of school for the girls was great. I even left Cupcake there for about 40 minutes and she didn't cry the whole time. And she wanted to stay and play after I got back, so we stayed together through their little toddler lunchtime.

When They Were Babies

When They Were Babies