They are getting sooo big!!

it rained all day today.. so much for the sunny mornings and rain for just an hour or two in the afternoon. so, we hung out in jammies until 11:30 and just relaxed. fun for one day, but i'm really praying the sun shines tomorrow!






























my children are just not looking like babies anymore. they are both getting ready to walk, they both have a mouth full of teeth, their hair is growing so long, and they are both (by far) much smarter than babies!

one of my friends down here in Guatemala got OUT of PGN today, after being in (and kicked out) for over 8 mos. i couldn't be happier for their family!! we went to another friends for pizza tonight (finally able to get out of the house) and got to walk home in the rain! our babies stayed warm and dry as we got drenched! ahh, life in Guatemala!!















notice poor Melissa's soaked shirt!

Rainy Season

ok, so it's rainy season here in Antigua. I knew it was coming and it's finally here. the mornings will usually still be sunny and warm, but there are no guarantees as to how long it will stay that way. Since all the streets are cobblestone here, that makes it wonderful for tons and tons of huge puddles to form everywhere. the puddles make it virtually impossible to walk the streets without having the passing buses and cars spray all the dirty water back at you. Now, I love a good rainy day, every once in a while. I love to curl up in bed with my husband and watch a movie with popcorn. But when we start talking rain everyday.. well, i'm not sure how well this is going to work.
We were in Central Park today when it started to thunder and get cloudy. So, we started to head back to the apartment and only made it about half-way before it down poured. i pulled over at the McDonalds so the girls could use their brand new rain shield for the stroller. So, we finally made it home, they were warm and dry and I was soaked. Not to mention, do you know how terrible it is to then have to bring your stroller INTO your house, because there's no where else to put it? Makes it really hard to keep your apartment clean. I figure "oh well".. how long can "rainy season" be? My landlord informed me today it only lasts 'til OCTOBER!!! looks like i'll be dealing with the rain for a while longer :)

Edit : and i won't even mention what the rainy season does for my hair!

here are a few fun vids from a sunny day in Antigua.


The chickenbuses here must be responsible for over half the pollution we have in our world. they are horrible. you cannot pass one without practically being asphyxiated.




The way they promote candidates during election and voting.

Some more of Antigua...

Isn't this amazing? they carry eggs around in the back of a pick-up and still get to the destination in one piece!















Welcome to the Antigua Mercado!














You can find most anything here! CD/DVD galore!



















Even find movies that are yet to be released on dvd (for super cheap)!














Scissors, lighter or batteries, anyone?














Authentic Adidas or Abercrombie shirts, at half the price!














Any color belt you could ever want.














Name brand shoes too!




























I got a pair of sunglasses at the market for $3














lots of hats to choose from.














i guess this is the "Home Depot" section of the market.














...and we can't forget the "Ulta" section (man, do i miss that store!)














any color you'd like.














of course, if you want a flower pot... you can head to the market.














...or if you're running low on toothpaste!



















Lots of socks.




























a pair of flip flops? hopefully you can find your size!














Then -- there is the fruit...
























































and veggie sections!














You can find any type of flower you might want (lots of tropical flowers too)!




























Wish I could bring some home for the wedding (talk about half-price).














And we can't forget the helado (ice cream) man!














Lastly, the guards who you see just about everywhere, carrying their guns for protection!















It sure is a different world down here in Guatemala, but i am so grateful for this time that I get to experience our girls' birth country!

La Antigua, Guatemala

I've realized i need to start posting more pics of La Antigua. i know everyone loves seeing baby pictures, but i should try to also show off some of this beautiful city. These were taken at Hotel Antigua, where we went swimming the other day. It's one of the nicest hotels here in Antigua, and i think you'll be able to see why :

da dum dum dum, da dum dum dum

ok, it's official : a little over 2 weeks and i will be home in IL... WITHOUT my babies! You all know about my SIL's wedding and the desire i had to be there. My husband and I have been praying, praying and we decided that we would have the girls' Nana and Tio fly to Guat to "baby-sit" them, while I attend the wedding to celebrate with my family. Believe me when i say we absolutely stressed over this decision. I think it will be so awesome and really healing for my family to be together "one last time" ... and yet, i could almost cry knowing how much I'm going to miss my babies. Lord willing, I will be able to come back with Daddy and we are praying we will ALL be home less than a month later... but that's only a dream right now. hopefully this upcoming week we'll have a better idea if that's going to be possible or not.

The wedding is June 16, I will leave the day before and get back the day after... I know the girls will be in great care and will more than likely not even miss me... but you can guarantee I will be calling to check in every hour, hmmm, make that every half hour :D

Things to do in the next 2+ weeks:

~write out every possible thing about the girls and their schedule for Nana and Tio
~make a list of things i need/want to bring home and bring back
~write my Matron of Honor wedding toast
~make sure i haven't lost too much weight, so that my bridesmaid dress will still fit
~schedule hair appointment (needed badly, considering my hair has been permanently in a ponytail since I got to Guat)

And again, yay for MONDAY... every week my hope is renewed at the possibilities! GOD IS GOOD!! Oh, PS. my girls slept in with me 'til 8:30 today!! how awesome is that!!




















thought this was too cute. yesterday we were walking home and i looked down to see them touching toes :)

Holding hands and wisdom

I finally captured it on camera today... ok, how cute is that?? They totally do it on their own, and today were "fighting" for top position. One would have her hand on top and the other would pull her hand out from underneath to get on top, and so it went for a few times, i had to laugh! They are just so cute!!



















I got another good look into "Smiles" mouth today... looks like in a week or so my baby will have all FOUR of her top teeth in!

oh and wanted to throw this picture up, because this guy makes me laugh. He stands outside of a store (don't even know what kind, altho it might be a hardware store) and just waves to people. He always waves to the girls, but i think they might be scared of him (do you blame them?)















We have been given conflicting information this week. A lady who wks with our agency called PGN to ask for an update on our adoption file. The PGN person told her that our case was with our assigned adviser. My facilitator has been telling us that our file is just waiting on the desk of the Director (Sr. Barrios) for his final sign-off. Those are two TOTALLY different things. If our case is indeed only with the adviser at this point, we are in BIG, BIG trouble. That's pretty much the first step once you enter PGN. On the other hand if our case is really on Sr. Barrios' desk, we could be hoping for an OUT any day. Do you see why we need wisdom?? It's so hard to trust anyone and how do we know what the truth really is?? We really need prayers for wisdom to know if we should hire additional adoption help to really find out the truth and get some honest answers. Of course, this kind of help is never free (or cheap for that matter). Would you pray that GOD makes it clear to us this weekend, if we should just WAIT some more, or go ahead and hire additional help to try and get "the job done". This has been a long process and i'm really ready for it to be over, for the girls to be legally ours and for us to be a family.

The Pool and the Park

We went to the pool and park today.. had soo much fun! the girls were in the water for 2 hrs and would have stayed in longer if i had let them. i realized as we were walking down to the park the girls have never been in a swing before, or gone down a slide. I cannot wait to get home so I can take these two to the park every day, if they want. I'm telling you it's the little things you appreciate when you're in a foreign country, missing home.















look at those wrinkly hands!!





















We were also able to join some friends for dinner. It's such a blessing to hang out with other families, who can truly say "I understand". It's also such an encouragement to hear what GOD is doing in other families adoptions, as well! My husband and i have heard quite a bit of conflicting information regarding our case this week. Please pray for us. We want to get home and yet, it's so hard to know if it's worth spending more money on, or just waiting (and spending more money on rent), etc.

Gotta love Dora!

Spa Day!!

We had lots of fun this morning being pampered :)















The funny part is that having the girls toes painted only drew MORE attention to us on our walk today, but oh well :D

Ok, once you hear this, you tell me how you could NOT go over and pick her up!!!




(sorry, i know it's dark)

It's almost MONDAY!!

I am sooo excited for tomorrow!!! Why?? Because it's MONDAY!!! Since this adoption process started I have never looked fwd to Mondays as much as I do now! Crazy to think that instead of wishing the weekend would go soooo slow, I'm lovin' when it's over!! Of course, I cherish every day as a gift, but Mondays are extra special!

Here's to a week of soooo many PGN OUTS, i loose track of how many!! If anyone is able, it's OUR GOD!!!

Saturday Showers

Ok, Saturday is the only day that I take my shower at night, and i love it!!! it's the only shower of the week, that I get real water pressure and water that's better than luke-warm! All things considered my Saturday night showers should probably be about half the amount of time as my weekly morning showers, but in reality I'm pretty sure they end up being twice as long :)

It happened today! My baby girl "Smiles", my firstborn, said those words i've been longing to hear since we've been together! Yep, plain and clear she said "Mama". She didn't only say it once, but all day long!!! I have never been so excited! The only problem is that now, when I put her down for a nap and she doesn't want to sleep, she cries (in this sad and pathetic voice) "Mama, mama"... ok, how can I not go and pick her up. I think my husband put it best "she's got you wrapped around her finger"... but it's just such a cute little finger!!!





















If you think of it, can you pray for J? You don't know him and neither do i really, but he could use our prayers, and we're hoping that maybe he will be able to help us in our journey of getting home!














I am so blessed to be here, with our sweet girls. there is not one day that goes by that I don't long to be a family of 4, but likewise there is not one day that goes by that these sweet girls of mine don't put a smile on my face! They are soooo worth the wait!!!
















Remember me blogging about people carrying things using their head? I finally got a pic today (and believe me, this is nothing compared to some of the other things I've seen (ice blocks, furniture, etc)).















A flower "shop" on the road by my apartment, it's right outside the cemetery. Pretty smart thinkin' if you ask me.