Friday, October 15
Yesterday we were able to make it to the embassy for our visa appointment. I was surprised at how efficiently and quickly everything took place. We signed a few papers, spoke to the consulate for about 5 minutes and that was it! Today we went back to the embassy in the afternoon and picked up Lilyanna's visa along with the rest of her documents. So, we are finished!!!! A very long two year process that has finally come to an end. And I must write, God receives all the credit for the whole thing! If it wasn't for God working out every tiny detail this past two years then I wouldn't be holding my little girl today. We are happy :)
We have two weeks before we fly back to the States. Unfortunatly, we are all sick right now....again. Lilyanna is running a fever and has a cold. Henry and I think we are sick from food poisoning...or we picked up some kind of nasty stomach virus. Not fun at all!! Without fail, every time we come to Peru we have stomach issues. Right now we are really missing home. At the moment we are choosing to remain cheerful and we're trying to look on the bright side of things. Which is a challenging thing to do while getting so personally aquainted with the toilet...if you know what I mean ;) Atleast we are all suffering together. Ahhh, the family bonding :) Which brings me to my next thought. I am so blessed to have the husband that I have :)
So, we looked into coming home early but there are no flights available at all. We'll take the next 24 hours to rest and see how we feel after that. Thanks everyone for all of your prayers and support. We love you all so much!!! Oh, and if you have a spare moment then please pray that we can feel better....or that we can just remain happy thru it all :)
Hugs!
Busy Day!
Wednesday, October 13
We were able to accomplish many things today. Our lawyers picked us up at 9:00 a.m. and we went straight to pick up Lilyanna's birth certificate. It took a few hours but once we were done we went to the passport office. They gave us a bunch of hassle but we were finally able to get her passport. From there we went to the SNA office to sign our final papers. Yay! She's officially, legally ours :) Well, actually, we believe that God had a plan for her from before her birth so she was "ours" a long time before man decided to make it "legally" so ;) After the passport office we went to the Dr. again, this time for the U.S. Embassy. From the Dr. office we went to the translator and from there we went home.
We made it home at 6:00 p.m. and we're totally amazed because Lilyanna didn't take a nap all day. She is such a good, well tempered child. She didn't fuss or whine all day. We could tell that she was very tired but maintained her happiness. We realize that this may just be the "honeymoon" phase and that it might just wear off once we get home. We'll enjoy it while we can :)
The only thing we have left to do is to make a final appointment with the U.S. Embassy to pick up her visa. It could be tomorrow or Friday. It's looking like we will have plenty of time to rest, enjoy family and friends, and explore a little bit more of Lima.
Sorry, no pictures today. We were so busy that we didn't have time to even think about it. Perhaps tomorrow :)
Love and hugs to you all!
We were able to accomplish many things today. Our lawyers picked us up at 9:00 a.m. and we went straight to pick up Lilyanna's birth certificate. It took a few hours but once we were done we went to the passport office. They gave us a bunch of hassle but we were finally able to get her passport. From there we went to the SNA office to sign our final papers. Yay! She's officially, legally ours :) Well, actually, we believe that God had a plan for her from before her birth so she was "ours" a long time before man decided to make it "legally" so ;) After the passport office we went to the Dr. again, this time for the U.S. Embassy. From the Dr. office we went to the translator and from there we went home.
We made it home at 6:00 p.m. and we're totally amazed because Lilyanna didn't take a nap all day. She is such a good, well tempered child. She didn't fuss or whine all day. We could tell that she was very tired but maintained her happiness. We realize that this may just be the "honeymoon" phase and that it might just wear off once we get home. We'll enjoy it while we can :)
The only thing we have left to do is to make a final appointment with the U.S. Embassy to pick up her visa. It could be tomorrow or Friday. It's looking like we will have plenty of time to rest, enjoy family and friends, and explore a little bit more of Lima.
Sorry, no pictures today. We were so busy that we didn't have time to even think about it. Perhaps tomorrow :)
Love and hugs to you all!
Fun day!!!
Tuesday, October 12
Today was so much fun!! Probably the second best day that we have had in Peru since we've been here. I enjoyed being able to spend time with my husband and daughter without anything else competing for our attention. If everyday were like today then I wouldn't mind living in Peru (don't worry mom, we're still coming home :) We ate breakfast together and went straight to the beach. Today and yesterday were both sunny days so the weather was absolutely georgeous! The beach was beautiful...way too cold for us to jump in (there were lots of surfers though) but it was still a nice sight to see, atleast for mom and dad. Lilyanna didn't seem to care too much, she was more interested in exploring her new stroller :)
We went to "Kennedy park" which was very pretty. There is a reason why they call it Mira Flores (look at the flowers in english). Tons of flowers!! My favorite :)
Liilyanna went down her first slide at the Park. I really don't think it meant too much to her. She was more interested in picking the fuzz off her shirt....I know, right ;)
I have to constantly remind myself that all of this is so new to our daughter. I am amazed that she is not in sensory overload! She did not leave the orphanage except to go to the doctor once or twice. The orphanage mother almost never took her outside so sunshine, wind, people, smells, sounds are all so new to her. She is very happy though. When she was in the stroller we could hear her jabbering away. When we would stop to look at her we would find her just smiling away at everything she was seeing. Mommy and daddy are in love :)
I guess that I should tell you now that the plans changed. We were suppose to go to SNA today to sign the papers so that we would have custody on Thursday. But, as things always change around her, they squeezed us in at last moment yesterday which meant that today was a free day. Which means that we will have custody of her tomorrow morning...or technically at Midnight tonight. Which also means that I don't have to worry about being so private with her pictures. Just in case you were wondering why I didn't put them on the photo link.
Tomorrow we will be taking care of her birth certificate and also her passport if everything goes well. It will be an all day ordeal or most of the day anyway. We should be able to wrap up alot of things by the end of this week so we will have our final appointment with the embassy next week. So, it's looking like we will have a week of "vacation" time to spare before we head back to the States. Yay!
As always, I'll keep you posted. Hugs!
New toys!
Monday, October 11
I have an awesome husband. Yesterday, Henry went to the store and bought a stroller and a walker. Now, mommy doesn't have to deal with a fussy baby that wants to be held all the time. We put her in the walker and she LOVES it! She pretty much follows us everywhere we go around the house and is very happy with it. No fussing, no crying, it's good excersice for her, plus mommy can finally use both hands to get things done. Yay, for observant, thoughtful husbands! He bought a stroller mostly so that she can get use to us not carrying her everywhere we go. The good thing is that both the stroller and walker are "travel size" so we'll have no problem easily lugging them back to the States with us on the plane. We already have a very nice double stroller at home that we used for the foster children. We didn't have a "girly" single stroller so that kinda makes us feel better about splurging on another stroller ;)
Today is our last day of "relaxing". Tomorrow we go into SNA to sign the official adoption decree. The rest of the week we will have a pretty tight schedule of trying to squeeze a bunch of things into just a few days. Maybe Lilyanna will learn how to take naps in her new stroller so she doesn't get too fussy for missing bedtime....probably just wishful thinking :)
Hugs!
http://www.picturetrail.com/gid23517188
I have an awesome husband. Yesterday, Henry went to the store and bought a stroller and a walker. Now, mommy doesn't have to deal with a fussy baby that wants to be held all the time. We put her in the walker and she LOVES it! She pretty much follows us everywhere we go around the house and is very happy with it. No fussing, no crying, it's good excersice for her, plus mommy can finally use both hands to get things done. Yay, for observant, thoughtful husbands! He bought a stroller mostly so that she can get use to us not carrying her everywhere we go. The good thing is that both the stroller and walker are "travel size" so we'll have no problem easily lugging them back to the States with us on the plane. We already have a very nice double stroller at home that we used for the foster children. We didn't have a "girly" single stroller so that kinda makes us feel better about splurging on another stroller ;)
Today is our last day of "relaxing". Tomorrow we go into SNA to sign the official adoption decree. The rest of the week we will have a pretty tight schedule of trying to squeeze a bunch of things into just a few days. Maybe Lilyanna will learn how to take naps in her new stroller so she doesn't get too fussy for missing bedtime....probably just wishful thinking :)
Hugs!
http://www.picturetrail.com/gid23517188
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