Noemi . . . Amazing

This post may be a rambling one with lots of typos, so bear with me. Let me update you on the past two weeks -- oh, wait, it's only been 48 hours since our last post! It feels like we've been with our little cacahuate (peanut) forever, and it already feels unthinkable to know we only have hours left together on this visit. Here are just a few snippets from our last two days:

* As cute as she is in the photos, she's a gazillion times cuter in person. I literally couldn't go to sleep last night because I was so excited about waking up and seeing her little face and hearing her coos. When she wakes up, she kind of coos and gurgles for a bit until we go to get her out of the crib, and when she sees us coming, she blinks and those huge eyes open even wider (they remind me of cartoon eyes they're so expressive) and a smile just explodes on her face. I'd gladly wake up at 5:30 am every morning to see that! (yes, Lia actually typed that)

* Can't remember if I wrote about the razz or not on the last post, so I'll write it again. Lia made razzing sounds to Noe the first day and Noe picked up on it immediately and now would spend the entire day trying to master the art if she could (her lips seem to go a bit numb after about 15 minutes and then she gets frustrated). It is so unbearably cute to see this little 10 1/2 pound bundle all squished up in concentration, squeezing my thumbs, finally making the big bubble/drool razz and then looking up into mommy's eyes with this huge excited smile. It just cracks me up. (series of pics down below illustrate this)

* The second night was tough for all of us. Noe was a bit constipated (she pooped a Lincoln log the next morning), and was just incosolable for a few hours in the middle of the night. Now I know what all of you meant by how hard it is to listen to your baby cry and not being able to do anything about it. By 3:30 am, I was bawling too and poor daddy had two of us to comfort.

* Because the second night was such a challenge, we wanted to start off on the right foot for the night yesterday, so we got the room all dark and quiet for her afternoon nap, nice and toasty warm. Then she bawled for nearly an hour and wouldn't give it up. We finally did, and popped her in the sling for a jaunt around our floor. She was asleep in seconds. So we took her down to the bar for a beer (us, not her) and she slept through an hour and a half medley of 80's music videos (Christopher and I were glued to the screen, absolutely no resolve at all to pry our attention away), wrapped up like a little peanut against my tummy in the sling. Go figure. Then, after Christopher and I worked out about 18 contingency plans to get through the night (including sleeping with her in the sling), she went down like clockwork and slept like an angel.

* We've learned that Noe is totally content in the sling . . . until she's not any more. She's perfectly happy entertaining herself propped up on the couch . . . until she's not any more. She loves watching people in the restaurant while mommy and daddy eat and talk . . . until she's not any more.

* I can't even write about leaving yet. It's just too painful. Making it worse is hearing more stories about what a wild card this PGN process is (the next and final hurdle to being able to bring her home). We met a lovely couple here picking up their son, Chester, and heard how painful it was for them to go through a 5 1/2 month ordeal with PGN. Ugh. So we'll just keep re-reading that excerpt I posted about waiting and try to remember that these next few months are still purposeful, even though they'll no doubt be more painful too. (my chest hurts as I type those words)

I'll leave you with some choice photos of our little girl. Thank you all so, so much for your enthusiasm and love and prayers and support and excitement and advice. I can't tell you all how great it is to feel like you're all here with us. We love you.

Hola From Guatemala!

Where to even begin? We've just spent our first 24 hours with Noe and the three of us are just having a ball. When Virginia and her daughter Suzy dropped Noe off yesterday morning, they made it clear that Noe would let us know what she wanted and when, and most definitely what she didn't want. And they were not kidding. Our little one is very tuned in to her needs -- now it's mommy and daddy who are working on learning what she's telling us.

One thing we've learned is that she picks things up very, very quickly. Lia was making a razzing sound with her lips at Noe and, low and behold, 30 seconds later Noe's face was all scrunched up and she had drool hanging from her lip as she tried to imitate. And still, 24 hours later, mastering the art of the razz is still her favorite activity -- so much so that she gets frustrated with herself when her lips start to get a little numb because she's been doing it for an hour and she can't do it as well as she wants to.

Noemi is all smiles for daddy. She loves to flirt with Christopher, giving him a big, wide-eyed smile and then turning away with a coy little nod of the head. Just adorable on both of their parts. Daddy's also been an amazing help to mommy. It's been real teamwork in discovering what Noe needs (do you think she's hungry?) and then what to do about it (oh crap, how are we going to sterilize the bottles?). Daddy has been the go-to man with all the troubleshooting (including sussing out a bottle sterilizer in Guatemala City and making bottles at 2 am).

The big activity we have planned for this afternoon is a walk around the hotel in a sling (she loved it last night, and so did Mommy). Right now, Noe's out cold after a fun video-conference session with Grandma and Grandpa -- what fun for everyone to be able to see each other!

Here are a few photos of our adventures the first 24 hours. Enjoy!

Guatemala . . . Here we Come!

Oh my goodness, so much to report. I've been a bad Mama-poster as of late! First of all, Christopher and I have tickets to Guatemala Feb 21st to visit Noe. I emphasize visit . . . C & I will unfortunately actually have to board a plane without our little peanut and come back home and wait some more. But . . . we do get four whole days with our little girl--just us three at the hotel.

We'll be spending Thursday in Antigua visiting with our God-son, Rene Antonio, and his family. We began sponsoring him seven years ago and have met him twice before -- can't believe he's a teenager now! And I've got some nursery shopping planned. Guatemalan textiles are just gorgeous, so I thought I'd pick up a few yards and have some of the soft nursery stuff made from it, bumpers and pillows and the like.

OK though, enough about shopping. Let's talk Noe! Kelly Jo, the director of the Guatemala program at our adoption agency, visited with Noe and her foster mother, Virginia, two weeks ago and came back with all kinds of photos and updates last week. She said that Noe was giggly and grinning and charming and loves to be held (can't wait to accommodate that request!). She also said that everyone commented on how strong her legs were already. So all very good news. And look at those eyes and those smiles! On the report, out of several descriptors to choose from, KJ chose 'cheerful' and 'content' to describe Noe. How lovely is that?

Timing-wise, we're still waiting for the 'pre-approval' notice from the US State Department. KJ said they seem to be taking a bit longer than normal as of late. Once we get that, our case will be entered into the Guatemalan State Department (PGN) and family court, unofficially dubbed "the black hole" by many adoptive families. We've heard of several cases where dossiers were tossed out because of a typo and had to be resubmitted from scratch. So we're just praying for a smooth ride through PGN once we get the 'pre-approval'; it literally comes down to how picky-ornery-etc. a particular person behind the desk is at any given moment. The process could take 5 weeks, it could take 5 months.

Another thing that has happened is that Noe's birthmother had her appointment with the social worker -- which means three out of four sign-offs have occurred. The last will be in family court.

Once we get through PGN, things really start to fly. The last few steps are getting Noe a passport and a new birth certificate (Noemi de Leon HUBER), and then we get the call with our court date. Christopher and I were a bit shocked to find out that we'll only get about 8-12 days notice before we need to be in Guatemala to bring Noe home. Sort of like, "honey, I think I'm in labor!" I guess, although with a week longer to plan. :-)