Some pics from today.

Every day that it rains we like to sing "rain, rain go away, come again another day"... which kinda makes me laugh considering that it rains most days here and when we sing "come again another day" we're basically asking for it to come back tomorrow, well at least until October i'm pretty sure this is how it's going to work :)

having so much fun with daddy! i am so, so thankful he is here. the girls absolutely love their daddy, and of course, i appreciate his help so much. here are a few cute pics from today.
















All clean after bath-time















helping daddy on his computer















and, i totally LOVE this pic (never get any like these when i'm the only photographer :)

ok...

I'm sorry, i know it's been 3 days. I really haven't felt like blogging too much, but of course i want to be keeping everyone up to date. Long story short : we have not gotten our girls' new BC's and we don't know when we are going to be able to get them. We are so thankful that we have some great people working on trying to resolve this situation, but none-the-less I still feel like it's a joke. Not one person i have talked to has ever heard of this happening. It's hard not to question why this is happening to us.. but we have to keep trusting, knowing that GOD knows how much longer He wants us here, and He also knows how much more we can take. Please keep praying. Our deadline is still July 22. I am not allowed to leave the country if our fingerprints are expired, and even if I went to be re-fingerprinted tomorrow, the wait for processing is running over 2 months. God knows this and so we just continue to trust.

Now on to the good (great!) news : Daddy is here! we 3 girls decided to wait up for him on Wednesday night and meet him at the airport as a surprise! It was so fun to be waiting for him to come thru the crowd. When he finally spotted us, after calling his name twice his look was one of pure joy and shock! We had the best reunion right there at La Aurora Airport. He was expecting to see a sign with his name on it, so when he saw his three girls instead, he was so excited!! here are some pics from our late night :)















"mom, what time is it??"















"are you serious, are we really going to see Daddy tonight?"
















Watchin' a late night dvd
















"Daddy and I got to wk on the computer today, he even let me play with the mouse!"















"I'm a really good helper"















And lastly a few pics from today at the park, blowing bubbles!

Please pray...

not trying to panic yet (but i kinda am). when i answered the phone today my facilitator had nothing good to report... "i have very bad news, very bad news." if we ever needed your prayers, now would be a good time.

it's not the end of the world if we are delayed by a day or two. But there has been a problem with Civil Registry that would cause us great delays in getting home (if we cannot get it resolved). I have never, never heard of this happening and have many people helping in any way they can.

Until this problem is resolved the CR will not issue the girls' new BC's, which means we can't do anything but wait. I haven't mentioned this yet, but our fingerprints for our adoption expire on July 22. We have not done anything to renew them, thinking that we would definitely be home by then. The processing time to be re-fingerprinted right now is running approx. 3-5 wks, and you CANNOT leave if your fingerprints are expired. So, now we technically DO have a deadline.

Please, please pray we can resolve this. Sorry, to not go into more details but the important thing is that we're praying! thanks everyone, we know we can count on you!!

Birth Certificates

Ok, this is a warning that i will probably be blogging a lot about our last steps, these next few days/weeks as we complete this adoption!! tomorrow our facilitator is going to pick up the girls' new birth certificates. We are praying that all the submitted documents were fine and that we can get them without any problems.





























As I walked around Antigua today, I (re)realized how beautiful it is, and how blessed i've been to be in such an amazing place for the past 3 months. Waking up every morning to look out your window and see a volcano is pretty amazing! While I cannot wait to get back to Chicago, I know Antigua and Guatemala will always be close to my heart!
















And now on to the cuties! i know there are so many of you wanting to meet these girls finally, and i can't wait to get home and make you happy :)















"Mom, is it true? are we really going home soon?"














"... and is it also true that Daddy is going to be here in just 2 more days?"

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these girls -- they are so much fun!! Sometimes i wish I could just freeze time, as i realize how big they are getting and how quickly they are growing up. I am so grateful that on Wednesday Matt can be here and will finally get to be a Dad! This time he doesn't have to leave, no "good-byes" and there will not be an empty home waiting for him in Chicago! We are so incredibly blessed!

leprechauns in central park?

we were walking in central park today, when we noticed a wedding....
do you love how the horse even dressed up for the event?














and is it just me or does it totally look like a leprechaun is driving the horse drawn carriage??





























Totally made us laugh!

I have to mention how amazing my girls are. lately we've been sleeping in 'til between 8:15-9am. how spoiled am I? They are seriously just too cute for me, sometimes.. I am so, so blessed! Matt sent us a video today of our home all set up and ready for the girls. here are a few things that are waiting at home for these sweeties!













Their bedroom, with big girls beds (and yes, we are putting up the full size guard bars :)













can't wait to rock them in this glider!













How awesome, that they will be able to eat a meal in their OWN booster seats!!













The "play room", which i think they will have a TON of fun in (especially after playing with the same 30 toys for the past 3 months)













And had to post this vid of "Squeaks" talking to daddy on the phone today. They are growing up way TOOOO quickly!

Daddy's coming!!

Less than one week and our family of 4 will be united -- this time FOREVER!! Matt is flying to Guatemala Wed, June 27th. Between the two of us, this will be our 10th (and last for a long while) flight into Guatemala! How amazingly blessed we are that this is the 1st ticket we have actually had to purchase ourselves. We are so thankful for everyone's generosity!

Our facilitator submitted our paperwk to the GC civil registry today. They told her our new BC's will be ready to be picked up on June 26. If all goes as planned, we will get the girls' passports the next day (can you believe it only takes approx. 30 min to get a Guat passport??), and then we should be able to be submitted to the US Embassy the next morning. You can only submit for PINK, Mon-Thurs 9am-9:30am. So you can see if we miss out on being submitted on Thursday, we will have to wait until Monday :( Once you are submitted for PINK, the US Embassy issues your PINK slip (Embassy appointment) 48-72 hrs later. Right now the Embassy appointments are being scheduled about 1-2wks out, but we plan on contacting the Embassy and begging them to move it up as much as possible.

So, you can see we are well on our way!! As i walked the streets of Antigua today, I realized how much God has worked in my life these past few months. I will be sorry to leave, but without a doubt now that someday we'll be back again!















thought this was pretty fun!

What next??

Thanks for rejoicing with us, and wanting to know what to pray for next. So, in adoption language we are wanting a speedy PINK! Pink is the color of the slip of paper you receive from the US Embassy with your appointment on it. Once you are assigned a day for your Embassy Appointment you are able to travel home afterwards! So, ultimately we want to pray for a QUICK PINK!!!! There are a lot of little steps in between :

~We need to get new Birth Certificates with Knudsen as the last name
~We need to get visas and passports for the girls to travel to the US
~We need to see a US Embassy doctor to make sure the girls are ok to travel to the US
~We need to have many of our documents translated from Spanish back to English

That's mainly it. None of those steps should take more than a few days, but we need to pray that our facilitator would work hard and quickly for us. She is submitting the paperwk for the new BC's tomorrow.
If (and that's a BIG if) everything goes smoothly and we don't hit any bumps we could easily be traveling home the 1st week of July, but it could be as late as the middle/end of July.

I will be sure you keep you posted as each step is completed! Matt should be able to come down to Antigua next week, and stay with us girls until the end!!! I am so excited for the girls to be with their daddy, I know they need and miss him so much!

Today is still so surreal! After these children being "ours" (in our hearts) for over 13 mos, and having them in my care for 100 days...

FINALLY, LEGALLY they are OURS!! I am still just blinking to make sure I'm awake!













How cool would it be if we could come home the week of our US Independence Day?? Thanks for all the prayers!!

Day 100 in Antigua.... AND....

I just want to shOUT to the LORD!!
He is soooo good!!

I'm here, I'm here, I promise!

Sorry, for taking a bit to get back "up and running". Oh, wow... where to start? I am so glad that i was able to go home for the wedding, but it was probably one of the hardest wkends of my life. There were literally times back home when everything was so overwhelming, i could hardly breath. One thing would have been enough but combining them all was completely crazy. Seeing my husband for the 1st time in 5 wks, my SIL's wedding, seeing my sweet BIL for the first time since his accident, leaving my babies for the 1st time in 3 mos and being back in Chicago (home sweet home).

The wedding was great, and I was sooo glad I could be there to support my SIL and (now) BIL :) Everything went so well, the bride was so beautiful and we danced the night away!














Seeing Matt just made me long to be with him even more. I longed to be a family of four. I longed for my girls to have the daddy that they are longing for, and I longed to have my babies home in their bedroom, in their beds. I have never in my life been so grateful for everything I have. I cried when I saw my husband at the airport getting out of our car. I cried when i walked into my home for the first time, i cried when I got into my queen size bed with my soft sheets, I cried when I brushed my teeth and could rinse my toothbrush under the faucet. I did a TON of crying this weekend. I bawled when I had to leave the girls, but loved talking to them on the phone and even hearing "Squeaks" say "Mama" to me during our "conversation". The girls did really well with Tio and Nana, but they sure did tire them out!!

































Getting to see my BIL in real life hit me hard. I've been praying for him everyday and yet I knew it wouldn't be "real" to me until I could get home to see him. Matt and I were able to hang out with him at the rehab center one night too, so i could see his room, etc. He has the sweetest spirit and the kindest attitude I have ever in my life seen! He is so strong and brave and has been working so hard. He truly amazed me!













It was an absolute whirlwind and while I couldn't wait to get back to see my girls, coming back to Guatemala was very difficult for me. Please, please, please pray.... we are hoping for our OUT this week. We have been told that our file only needs the final signature and is already on Sr. Barrios' desk. He usually signs off anywhere from 1 day to 1 week. Everyone keeps telling me to keep them posted.. and you can be sure... if we get OUT everyone will know about it!

Fun with bubbles!

Well, despite the fact that yesterday's blog post was skipped, Nana & Tio think they may finally be gettin' the girl's routine down! We're so glad and privileged to be taking care of two wonderful, easy-going, cute little girls. We had lots of fun playing outside on the blanket in the "backyard" today, with lots of bubbles, books and a game we like to call "Get that skeeter!!!"

Here are just a few of the many pictures we snapped for Mama. :)


























































Pray for safe travels, without any complications tomorrow, so there can be a joyous reunion of Mama & her girls!

Super Mom!

Tio here with an update on the girls...sorry it's a bit later than usual. Nana & Tio were both pretty tired at the end of the day, yesterday...neither of us are quite accustomed to needing so much energy! :) Wow, just going through the daily routine with the girls, trying to picture how Mama does this all by herself every day - she's one amazing mom, that's for sure!!















The girls are doing really well, and while they definitely miss their Mama, they thankfully seem to be pretty happy putting up with the best that Tio & Nana can do for now. :) We took a walk through the market and they enjoyed reaching out for all the things that the vendors would so cleverly hold out right in front of them.















Both of them slept really well at nap time, and enjoyed a game of peek-a-boo under the table, seen below.






























I think she wants to start a new trend with her stylish hat...we'll see if it catches on! ;)

we hit a 6.8 today..

I'm sorry but once you go above 6, i'm not thinking it's not just a tremor anymore. we are all ok, but WOW! I felt like the whole world was swaying for a while :) the other day when i posted about my 1st "earthquake", i found out that it was a 5.8 on the scale. Today, we went all the way to 6.8!! Kinda scary, but thankfully it sounds like everyone is ok!

Nana and Tio spent all day with us, and the girls are really enjoying themselves! i leave tom morn, pretty early (grr, due to the GC construction traffic).. i have NO doubt that i will miss the girls so much more than they'll miss me!


















How adorable are these outfits from Nana?? They look so cute in the little shorts!
























So you can see the cute "shine" shirt
























do you love the mosquito netting over the pack 'n play? Just life down here in Guatemala!


















Reading before bedtime!


















Do you love how they stand listening to "Goodnight Moon"??

She likes ducks!!

Updates

well, it happened. today on my adoption forum i saw a case come OUT of PGN, and their re-submit date was April 24. we did receive confirmation today, that our case did indeed hit the reviewers desk on Friday, as expected. We are thinking 1-2 more weeks and we might be able to finally get our OUT! (our re-submit date was April 23, just fyi)

Nana and Tio arrive tomorrow evening and will spend a few days getting to re-know the girls before i head home for the wedding. I could cry just thinking about leaving them, but I know that the LORD will sustain me (and them)! As soon as we get our OUT my husband can come down and work from Antigua until we can ALL come home together. I feel like the end is so close and yet, still so far.

We hung out at the McDonalds Play Place tonight, after a long day of rain. The girls had lots of fun playing with their friends!









































"We may throw the dice, but the LORD determines how they fall" Prov. 16:33 NLT

Identical

So, what do you think? Do they look identical to you? i get the question all the time "they're identical, right?"... and while the only way to truly determine their zygosity to have a test done, i usually just answer with "well, they sure look alike". Now in all honesty to me, they don't seem to look alike at all. it must be a "mom thing" but it sometimes startles me when others can't tell them apart. Sometimes i might have a take a closer look just to make sure i'm calling the right name, but in general i feel like they look so different. BUT when i uploaded this pic to my computer tonight, it actually scared me how much they really DO look alike! how cool it is to have been blessed with twins!!

my 1st earthquake!

ok, so i was standing by the bed this morn, getting the girls dressed. it felt like the wind was blowing really hard, but as i stood up straight i was reminded of our cruise last year -- like the whole room was swaying! had it been any stronger i might have been scared, but it was actually kinda cool :) i was so excited i called my husband! I was hoping I wouldn't leave Guat without experiencing at least ONE earthquake tremor!















so, we did go to the doctor today, in GC and the girls did so well. they were too cute laying on the exam table. "Smiles" was so calm and interested in everything Dr. Valdez was doing. "Squeaks" was a wiggle worm, and tried her hardest to reach anything in site : the stethoscope, the Dr's belt, his cell phone :)















The official weigh in was 15lbs 2oz, and 14lbs 12oz. they also had both grown over 1.5 inches in less than two months :) no wonder those jammies are all getting tight and short on them :D What a blessing to be down here and not having to worry about my girls' health! The doctor said they are doing great, and we can wait for the MMR, up until 15 mos of age. So i'm praying that we'll be home before that, and i won't have to worry about the Guatemalan vaccines!

ok, so there has been this guy that i've run into more than once. the first time we "met" it was at my front door. he was going around the neighborhood giving some lengthy speech -- only problem is that the lengthy speech was in Spanish. I'm not kidding you this guy went on for about five mins, before I could tell him "no habla espanol".. to which he kept on talking, but slowed it down a bit for me :) So, last time he came to my door, i was able to pick up enough words to know he was asking for stuff. he showed me an xray of his ankle, that has a brace on it and was asking me for clothing. i was able to communicate that i only had women's clothing : lo siento! last time i asked him his name, to which he questioned "what's my name?" and then told me "Carlos"
So, today we're walking to the grocery store and we run into Carlos, only this time (just to test him) I say "I'm sorry, what's your name again?" to which he replies "what's my name?" "Pepe". Ok, that sent up RED flags.. why is he changing his name? So, i politely try to say "adios" and walk quickly in the other direction, but my sweet child decides she wants to stretch out her hand for him to hold. I kind of tried to distract her, to which he replied "oh, she wants to hold my hand".. so we're walking down the street with some strange guy holding my daughter's hand.. and I don't even know who this guy is! thankfully, he left a minute or two later, but I'm going to have to be extra careful to avoid this Carlos Pepe character.

PS driving home from the city today, i saw a man riding a bike with a lawnmower tied on to the back. it was a push mower.. but still!! wish i could have gotten my camera out quick but i had two sleeping babies in my arms :)

sooo close...

looks like the "big guy" is wking on signing files that were submitted mid April this week. we are an April 23rd resubmit. so far, the latest submit date that I've seen OUT is April 10th. so, we're getting there, we're getting there! i have to admit, it's pretty hard when you see others who you remember when they received their referral, already home and adjusting. i have friends online who encouraged me when we were both waiting for the same step to occur in the adoption process, and now they've been home for 2 mos with their baby. I feel like I'm ready for it to be our turn. LOTS of others have had their turns, and I am SOO excited for them, but i'm ready for it to finally be us!!

i leave to go home in one week, and while i'm so excited, i could cry 'cuz i know i'm going to miss my babies sooo much! i know they'll be fine, and they'll probably not even miss me.. but I KNOW i'm going to miss them!!!















proof of the hack-job! i can't believe that is how long her hair would be if they hadn't cut it! i know i should just trim that long strand myself, but i can't stand to do it :)

oh, and we go to the doc for our 12 mos ckup tom!! maybe i'll actually get to find out how much they weigh (my guess is between 15-18 lbs :)... guess we'll see!