Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. This is Jacob's second Christmas and unfortunately he and I are both sick. We are getting better but not 100% yet. We are both coughing and have runny noses. He is on antibiotic which has helped him a lot. Wayne is doing a good job of taking care of both of us and hopefully avoiding getting sick. We are spending Christmas Eve doing some cleaning, making sugar cookies, and then tonight going to our candle light service at church. Tomorrow we will spend at home. Just the three of us early in the morning then later Jacob's Grandmamma and Papa will come over for a bit. They will come back over for dinner after Jacob's required nap.

As far as the adoption goes....... we think we had our court hearing on Dec. 7 but our so called attorney refuses to talk to anyone. We have no news as to if the hearing took place and if it did what the out come was. Our agency coordinator calls the attorney and he pretends he can't hear her when he answers his phone. He then hangs up and refuses to answer the phone again. She is trying to get the translator to find out any information but he has had no luck as well. I have also sent the attorney several emails that have gone unanswered. At this point we are at a loss as to what to do or think. We want Madison to come home but after all of our prayers (yours included) we are beginning to wonder if we are not meant to be a family of four. It is in God's hands and we will continue to wait to see what he has planned but our question is how long do we wait? It will be three years coming up on April 21, we don't know if we can keep going emotionally for much longer. A person's heart can only take so much and plus we have Jacob to think about and he is beginning to notice her pictures and will be asking questions soon. We don't want to have his heart breaking like our hearts are.

Please pray that we find out something soon and that we know if we should keep going or close this journey. We love Madison will all of our hearts but if it is not meant to be we can't make it happen.

Sorry it has been so long between posts.

It has been a busy few months and I kept telling myself that I would update the blog tomorrow. Tomorrow is FINALLY here.

First an update about our adoption.
We had a scare a few weeks ago when we received an email from the Homeland Security Immigration Office that stated our case had been abandonded with their office. They gave us the reason of not having an updated homestudy. Evidently when we filed for the extension in December we were required to have a new homestudy completed. We had no idea. After finally getting a hold of our agency and speaking with our coordinator and then also my calling the Immigration office we found out that they would reinstate our case as long as we got a new homestudy. We would have done this a long time ago if we had known it was needed. We are now in the process of hurrying up and getting all of the paperwork required for a homestudy completed and then getting the actual homestudy scheduled and completed. This ia an URGENT process since the Immigration office told me we needed to have it done ASAP. We also have to have our finger prints taken for the third time.
Our case is supposedly still set for a court date in Guatemala on December 7. We can't seem to get any more information other than that. We are assuming that Madison is still in the same orphanage and just pray that she is getting great care. We as a family need this to come to a close soon so that we can move on and start our future. Please pray that God's will be done and that no matter what happens it will be the best for everyone. Of course we are wanting that to mean that on Dec. 7, the judge says that Madison is ours.
We did find out that once againg PGN has had a huge turnover of employees and so they are once again reviewing every case. We also found out that there are about 400 outstanding cases still pending in Guatemala. That means 400 children waiting to be with their forever families.

Now the news about Jacob.
Jacob will be 18 months old on Oct. 30. At his last doctor appointment he was in the 75th percent for both height and weight. He is learning new things everyday and his vocabulary is getting bigger and bigger each day. He loves to talk on the phone and most days wakes up in the morning saying "I talk, I talk" . Some of his favorite things to do are play ball and slide. He loves to be outside and around other kids.

* I know there are mispelled words in here but I am too tired to try to get spell check to work.

Jacob loves chicken legs and in this video he can't seem to give his up even while falling asleep.

Jacob Playing Peek-A-Boo

Video of Jacob at a summer water party

Jacob over the past few weeks.

What a cutie!











Trying on his daddy's combat boots....do you think they fit?

Stll no light at the end of the tunnel...

We had our court hearing/meeting yesterday and unfortunately the judge decided that we needed ANOTHER "FINAL" hearing in DECEMBER. Yes you did just read December. We have no idea why we have to wait until December other than that is when the judge said so that is what we have to do. Evidently during this time another form has to be filled out by our attorney and submitted for the adoption but we can't get any answers as to what that means and why it would take 6 months. I can't even begin to describe how Wayne and I feel right now. We are sad, upset, angry, frustrated, and numb all at the same time. We continue to believe that God is in control of this adoption and even when we don't understad we have to trust. I will tell you that we are tested each day with patience, understanding, and trust. It is our faith that has gotten us this far and it is our faith that will keep us going to the end. Our hearts break for Madison because she is still in the orphanage with no end in sight.
Please continue to pray for us, Madison, and this process.
We could really use a Miracle at this time.

Court Hearing is Today!

Our court hearing for the adoption case is today in Guatemala It is going to be at 11am (est) time. We are not sure what this hearing means but feel that it is for the judge to agree that the adoption can continue since it was kicked out of PGN. As soon as we hear something about the outcome I will post.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers.

Jacob turns 1!

On Thursday, April 30, we celebrated Jacob's first bithday. He had a very long but good day. Here are some pictures from that day. (the pictures are in no certain order)

Final does NOT mean Final!

We received an email from our coordinator tonight about our case. Evidently she received two emails from Walter (our attorney's assistant) stating that he was going to try to get us some updated pictures of Madison. We are so happy to hear this and pray that he can follow through. We miss her so much and are wanting to see how she has changed over the past several months. The second part of the email was to say that our court date on June 24 is a final court hearing for our case in the court system BUT that our case will have to go back to PGN after that. We don't know why it has to go back to PGN because in the past if your case was in the court system you just bypassed PGN but now that is not the case. Nobody seems to know what to expect once our case goes back to PGN but Walter did say in his email that the courts have more power than PGN now and so what the Judge says should hold. All we know is that Final does NOT mean final in Guatemala.
We ask that you all keep praying for this adoption to be completed in the very near future and that once our case goes back to PGN it will be rushed through.
It has now officially been 2 years since we signed with the adoption agency and first fell in love with Madison through her referral picture.

News....

Jacob is officially WALKING!!! He has been "cruising" around things for months now and has taken a few steps but last week he started walking farther and farther without help.


Adoption news: The latest information is that our attorney will not tell anyone anything about our case except that everythng is good it's just that it is taking a long time. He told our coordinator that our case is still scheduled for court on June 24 and that it is a final hearing. We are praying that final in the Guatemala court system means the same as here in our court system. We are not allowed to go to this hearing, but instead get to wait and hope someone lets us know the outcome.

Happy Easter!

Jacob's firsts...

Here are some pictures of Jacob's first time swimming and his first Easter egg hunt.

Happy Birthday Madison!

Today is Madison's second birthday. We never thought we would not be spending this special day with her but are still trusting that someday soon we will all be a family. We hope and pray that she is having a special day today and is truly blessed by God.

WE LOVE YOU MADISON!

We have a court date but it is not until the end of June.

We received an email from our attorney and in the translation we found out that we have a court date on June 24. The email stated that it was a final hearing which we are praying that final means final. I have emailed our attorney asking for more clairfication but I have not received one back. We have also asked or adoption agency for more information but have not heard from them either. We also learned that Madison is for sure in an orphanage. We are praying that sometime in July we will officially be a family of four but after all of our ups and downs we are keeping our emotions in check. We do not want to get our hopes up and then have them shattered yet again.

The weather has been in the upper 80's the past few days so we decided to take advantage of it and enjoy some time outside. On Monday we took Jacob to the zoo for the first time. (We did go to Boo at the Zoo but in the dark you can't see any animals) He seemed to have a good time and really enjoyed the petting zoo.







Today we spent some time outside in the yard.

Not really any news.

First of all Wayne, Jacob, and I want to thank everyone for their prayers over the past few years as well as on Feb. 13. We believe in the power of prayer and trust that all of the prayers will be answered in time.
We have attempted several times to find out if the meeting took place or not and we have been unsuccessful. We did however receive a few emails about our case. The first was an email from our Coordinator that stated she had heard from Walter, the attorney's assistant. Basically it just stated that our case was being worked on and asking us to please have patience until it is completed. The second email was from our attorney. Through the translation we could best understand that the email stated that there was a mix up with the birthmother interviews and that the correct birthmother has been contacted and that she has agreed to allow the adoption to move forward. We had already heard this news but were still thankful that at least he took the time to email us something.
Madison's 2nd birthday is just around the corner and it is looking like she wont be home yet again for another milestone in her life. Our hearts are breaking with the thought of missing her birthday but we are still trusting that the adoption will be completed. I can't begin to really describe how hard this is for us but I will try. If you can imagine you (or your wife) having a baby and then the hospital coming to you and saying that you can now only see your child 2 times (a total of 14 days) over the next two years and that you might get some pictures over this time period but not guaranteed. Then they also tell you that they have no idea when you will be united as a family but please do not give up hope.
Yes we know that legally Madison has never been our child but I can tell you that she was born in our hearts as our daughter the moment we saw her picture when we accepted the referral. We accepted the referral when she was only a month old.
We ask that you please keep praying for us and the adoption. She will come home some day.

In better news, Jacob is doing wonderful. He is a very busy boy exploring anything he can. He has been crawling since Christmas day and has also been "cruising" around furniture and pushing his walk-behind toys across the floor. He jabbers a good part of the day and LOVES to be around other kids. He has also decided that the food Wayne and I eat is much better than any baby food. And now to the best news of all....He is sleeping all night long.
I can't believe that my baby will be a year old in a few months...he is getting so big.

Sorry for the lack of posts...

Sorry to all who read this blog. First of all there really has not been that much news with the adoption. Then everytime I sit down with the computer Jacob comes over and tries to type. Then lastly I have found myself spending most of my computer time on Facebook.
Now on to the news, first about the adoption. Our attorney is supposed to have a meeting with PGN about our case on Feb.13. We have no idea what time or what this meeting will be about but we do feel that it is very important to our case. We are asking for everyone to pray about the meeting at some point on the 13th. As we know more I will let everyone know.
Now news about Jacob. Well he is crawling already. He started crawling several weeks ago and is also "cruising" around things. He will pull up on the ottomon and walk all the way around it. He is so happy to be mobile. We have been baby proofing the house but still catch him getting into everything. He has been in the cat food and I did catch him eating a piece, at least it was just one piece. He also likes to try to climb on, over, under, and around all of his toys.
He will be 9 months old tomorrow. We go for his check-up on Monday.

The latest we have heard about the adoption.

Wayne received an email the other day from our adoption coordinator. In the email she stated that she had spoken with our attorney. He stated that he would send her an email with more information but we have yet to hear if he did or not. He did tell her that on Friday the birthmother did agree to proceed with the relinquishment of her rights as the parent and to allow the adoption to proceed. We did not know that this was an issue but if it was we are glad to hear this news. She was also told that our case file (dossier) is still in PGN which is great news because that might possibly mean that our case did not get kicked out after all. We can't be sure if the PGN news is true or not and if it is what it means but we are just going to trust that miracles can happen.

We also received a few emails from the foster family just stating that Madison received her Christmas package, she sends her little brother hugs and kisses, and that she misses us.

Please keep praying. We believe Madison will come home some day soon.

As promised, more pictures...

In no particular order...





Christmas and vacation in Arkansas...