A Long One

The rainy season is here and we are not excited about it. The rain brings more mosquitos and Samuel and I got attacked the other night. I bought a citrinella (sp?) candle and some lavendar scent to fend them off. Last night we didn't get any new bites, so I guess it was successful for the time being. Lee Anne and I got weather shields for our strollers. Our hubbies brought them down. Lee Anne tried hers out today and, wow, was bright yellow really necessary? As if we don't stick out enough with the babies and strollers- now we are really going to give the Guatemalans something to talk about!


Today we took Robincita, the housekeeper/manager's daughter, out for ice cream. She is adorable and the boys love her.

This is our housemate Milo at the ice cream shop- isn't he a cutie!?

Here's a couple of Mother's Day shots- this was one of my presents from Jimmy/Samuel. It says "My Mom Rules"... glad he's got that figured out already.

This is the brunch we went to at Hotel Antigua on Mother's Day. Can you see the sea of adoptive moms? It was packed with Guatemalans and gringos.
Honestly today was a tough day. It was finally my turn to have an upset stomach. I guess you can't expect to live in a third world-ish country and never get sick from something. Samuel was a bit out of sorts and didn't want to nap. The rain showers confine us to the house a bit more.

Then we got an email from our agency director who shared that she spoke with our Guatemalan lawyer today. Our file is still in the Family Court. Our case supposedly was going to be out of Family Court on May 5. The next step is PGN. Olga (the Guatemalan lawyer) said she will not submit any more cases to PGN until there is more certainty or guarantees of due process. She said that while the file is out of PGN it will not be subjected to the illegal actions that PGN is currently taking (adding a second birth mother interview).

Lymaris (our agency director) wrote "I cannot tell attorneys how to proceed, I can only make suggestions and respect their decisions based on what they feel is best in their own judgement. I have another attorney saying he will boycott the PGN. Olga said she is meeting with the ADA on Friday because they are still all trying to agree on the legal action or recourses to be taken. Olga is a very seaoned attorney. I don't know if you knew this but she worked for the PGN a long time ago. I have to rely on her decisions for her cases and she did ask me to let the parents know and please be patient as she has had to go to the PGN every day pretty much since this all started and she is doing all she can at the moment. Sorry I don't have better news yet, but hang in there. All I can say is at least you are there with Samuel."

I know all of this adoption stuff may have your head swimming if you aren't familiar with the adoption world. My initial reaction was to be sad and frustrated. Then the Lord was quick to remind me of a verse I read a couple of days ago that says "He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes." (Psalm 112:7-8) I am praying that I will not live in fear of what these delays mean. Lee Anne and I discussed it and know that we just need to wait with patience and confidence praying that things blow over in the next month.

I hope that by sharing how my faith has carried me through the challenges of this process, it doesn't sound like I'm overspiritualizing this or being trite. I just truly don't think I would be able to make it through the tough days down here without the Lord. The challenges have increased my need for God and affirmed my belief that He is in control!

This post is a long one- wow. On a lighter note, I did get to go to the gym again today. My runner/gym rat friends understand how relaxing that is! It is also a great place to people watch- quite a mix of foreigners and Guatemalans. I witnessed a couple of gym fashion violations- a man with bleach blonde hair, those really short runner's shorts (the kind my dad used to wear- sorry Dad!) and a cut off tank top exposing his abs. It was a bit scary.

OK- I think I'll call it a night. Abrazos de Guatemala :)