Sorry you haven't heard from us in a while. I wanted to be able to post pictures when I finally updated and I just finished getting them sorted last night. So hold on tight, you're in for a long ride!
First, I wanted to share our home coming. We left Guatemala at 2:30pm on Monday the 17th. It was so surreal. I kept waiting for someone to come barging onto the plane to tell us a mistake was made and that we couldn't take her home! To lift off the ground in Guatemala was amazing, it was really happening, and in a few short hours Ana would be a U.S. citizen!! The flight was fine, everyone held up very well (despite Greg sharing with Michelle that morning that there had been tornadoes in North Carolina the day before. Michelle is terrified of flying, I could've kicked Greg for sharing that information!) Ian got the window seat, and played games with Greg and Shelle. I sat behind with a free seat in between myself and another woman (who coincidentally was also named Ana) and held Ana. She sucked down her bottle before lift off, so I was worried about her ears, but she seemed fine. She was a little fussy on and off, but did really well over all. The biggest excitement was trying to feed her a jar of carrots while holding her in my lap, that was very interesting, and messy I assure you. Ana became an American the moment the plane touched down in Charlotte, North Carolina at 8:06pm. I remember the eyes starting to well up as the plane made that bumpy landing, it was just so overwhelming, I felt like the last year had all culminated in that moment. We had ended that journey, and a whole new one was just beginning, the journey of our newly formed family! We had a mere hour and a half to get through customs and make it to our connection to Manchester, so it was very tight! We changed Ana in the first bathroom we found, she was soaking wet and was a mess (remember the carrots on the plane?). I put on her "Kiss me I'm American" St. Patrick's Day t-shirt and we hurried into the customs line. We should have had Greg get in line while we were changing her because another plane landed just after us and the line was enormous! We finally made it through the line, and handed the customs guy our mysterious sealed packet (all the adoption documents that were given us with Ana's visa, we were told if it was opened, they wouldn't allow us into the country!). He looked at our passports, asked a few questions and handed us a tag with a number 5 on it which we were instructed to give to the next customs guy (darn, I knew it couldn't be that easy!). They sent us to a little room to wait while they processed our paperwork, it seemed to take forever! Finally he called us back out to the desk and handed us Ana's passport and congratulated us, then we were allowed to continue on our way. It wasn't until that point, after leaving customs that we were allowed to take any pictures or video (we were warned before leaving the plane that any use of cameras would result in confiscation so we weren't risking that!). My camera was stowed away, and Michelle's battery was dead. Greg shot a little video, hopefully we'll get that uploaded soon, it was a sweet moment! We had to recheck in to get to our next flight and once again the line was tremendously long! I really didn't think we'd make it in time. We were all panicking, Greg and Michelle went to two separate desks to ask if they would hold the plane for us, but they told them there was nothing they could do! The thought of being stuck in Charlotte overnight was agonizing! Long story short (see I will skip some of the silly details!) we did make it through just in time to run to the gate. We literally made it just as they were preparing to close the gate, we were so relieved!! We all slept most of that 2 hour flight and were overjoyed when we landed in Manchester! My mum and dad, Greg's mum, Steve and Amy (my brother and his wife), and Michael (Michelle's husband) were all there waiting for us as we came out of the gate. It was so wonderful to see those familiar faces as we rounded the corner, thanks for coming everyone, and thanks for taking pictures of the event, it is so nice to have those! After spending a little time with the family, and getting our luggage, we were so happy to be on our way home. I think it was almost 2:00 before we made it home and we headed straight to bed, Ian was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Ana on the other hand was not ready to sleep. Who could blame the poor little thing, every time she woke up she was in a different place! We finally got her to sleep at around 3:00 which really wasn't bad. We all slept through to 9:00 the next morning, not nearly enough sleep, but we somehow felt rested. Day one home started with a trip to the doctor's office. Ana has had a cough (she even had one when we went to visit her in October) and she seemed to have been wheezing so I really wanted to doctor to take a listen to see if there was anything more going on. The doctor did the full work up on her, which we weren't planning on, but in hind sight, I'm glad it's all over with. I felt a tremendous amount of guilt that afternoon though. It had been suggested to us that our first visit to the doctor, we do not do any vaccinations, just a once over to make sure nothing immediate had to be dealt with. Well, our doctor felt it was very important that we get her started on her vaccinations as soon as possible. She made a good case, and we went for it she ended up getting four vaccinations that day, and having blood drawn to boot. I'm still a little tormented, but I am happy we got all the trauma out of the way with quickly, and she seems to be doing just fine. The doctor estimates that developmentally she is about 3 months behind, but expects her to catch up quickly. She suggested we call Early Intervention to get an assessment, and tips on how to help her catch up. We'll be calling next week some time. All of her blood work came back fine, so it's good to know we don't have anything medically at this time to worry about.
All in all, things are going quite well. Ian did return to school on Thursday, I was finally able to get up in time, and get him ready which was nice. He was really reluctant to go back, but he seems to have had a great couple days so we're happy for that! We are in the process of transitioning Ana to 3 meals a day and 3 bottles a day from 2 meals and 5 bottles a day and she seems to be taking that quite well. We also just today have started to try and get her into a two nap a day schedule versus her once in the afternoon nap. As I type, she is taking her second nap of the day. The first was about an hour this morning, I'm hoping for at least another hour this afternoon, we'll see! (Well, I'm editing to add that she only slept 45 minutes this afternoon. Even when you total the two naps today together it still doesn't equal the 2 hour one she was taking before, oh well, maybe tomorrow!) Night time sleep the past two nights have been rough. She is starting to have a real hard time settling down. I'm pretty sure she is teething, so I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. She just cries as soon as you leave the crib side. If you return, she gives you a big grin! On one hand, I'm glad she is testing us, I want her to figure out that she can trust us to be there, but I'll admit, I'm tired and it's been hard dealing with a baby who doesn't want to sleep at night! Add to that the fact that Ian is having trouble getting to sleep as well (he slept with us in Guatemala, we're trying to get him right back into falling to sleep in his own bed but it's not going great!), every one is still a little discombobulated I think! I'm hoping sorting out a daytime nap schedule might help Ana, and I hope that once she is situated, Ian will be able to settle down easier as well. It will all work out I'm sure! Anyways, I'll close for now with some pictures I'd been meaning to post from our trip. I haven't really taken a ton of pictures since we've been home, but I'll get on that soon!
From the coffee plantation:First, I wanted to share our home coming. We left Guatemala at 2:30pm on Monday the 17th. It was so surreal. I kept waiting for someone to come barging onto the plane to tell us a mistake was made and that we couldn't take her home! To lift off the ground in Guatemala was amazing, it was really happening, and in a few short hours Ana would be a U.S. citizen!! The flight was fine, everyone held up very well (despite Greg sharing with Michelle that morning that there had been tornadoes in North Carolina the day before. Michelle is terrified of flying, I could've kicked Greg for sharing that information!) Ian got the window seat, and played games with Greg and Shelle. I sat behind with a free seat in between myself and another woman (who coincidentally was also named Ana) and held Ana. She sucked down her bottle before lift off, so I was worried about her ears, but she seemed fine. She was a little fussy on and off, but did really well over all. The biggest excitement was trying to feed her a jar of carrots while holding her in my lap, that was very interesting, and messy I assure you. Ana became an American the moment the plane touched down in Charlotte, North Carolina at 8:06pm. I remember the eyes starting to well up as the plane made that bumpy landing, it was just so overwhelming, I felt like the last year had all culminated in that moment. We had ended that journey, and a whole new one was just beginning, the journey of our newly formed family! We had a mere hour and a half to get through customs and make it to our connection to Manchester, so it was very tight! We changed Ana in the first bathroom we found, she was soaking wet and was a mess (remember the carrots on the plane?). I put on her "Kiss me I'm American" St. Patrick's Day t-shirt and we hurried into the customs line. We should have had Greg get in line while we were changing her because another plane landed just after us and the line was enormous! We finally made it through the line, and handed the customs guy our mysterious sealed packet (all the adoption documents that were given us with Ana's visa, we were told if it was opened, they wouldn't allow us into the country!). He looked at our passports, asked a few questions and handed us a tag with a number 5 on it which we were instructed to give to the next customs guy (darn, I knew it couldn't be that easy!). They sent us to a little room to wait while they processed our paperwork, it seemed to take forever! Finally he called us back out to the desk and handed us Ana's passport and congratulated us, then we were allowed to continue on our way. It wasn't until that point, after leaving customs that we were allowed to take any pictures or video (we were warned before leaving the plane that any use of cameras would result in confiscation so we weren't risking that!). My camera was stowed away, and Michelle's battery was dead. Greg shot a little video, hopefully we'll get that uploaded soon, it was a sweet moment! We had to recheck in to get to our next flight and once again the line was tremendously long! I really didn't think we'd make it in time. We were all panicking, Greg and Michelle went to two separate desks to ask if they would hold the plane for us, but they told them there was nothing they could do! The thought of being stuck in Charlotte overnight was agonizing! Long story short (see I will skip some of the silly details!) we did make it through just in time to run to the gate. We literally made it just as they were preparing to close the gate, we were so relieved!! We all slept most of that 2 hour flight and were overjoyed when we landed in Manchester! My mum and dad, Greg's mum, Steve and Amy (my brother and his wife), and Michael (Michelle's husband) were all there waiting for us as we came out of the gate. It was so wonderful to see those familiar faces as we rounded the corner, thanks for coming everyone, and thanks for taking pictures of the event, it is so nice to have those! After spending a little time with the family, and getting our luggage, we were so happy to be on our way home. I think it was almost 2:00 before we made it home and we headed straight to bed, Ian was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Ana on the other hand was not ready to sleep. Who could blame the poor little thing, every time she woke up she was in a different place! We finally got her to sleep at around 3:00 which really wasn't bad. We all slept through to 9:00 the next morning, not nearly enough sleep, but we somehow felt rested. Day one home started with a trip to the doctor's office. Ana has had a cough (she even had one when we went to visit her in October) and she seemed to have been wheezing so I really wanted to doctor to take a listen to see if there was anything more going on. The doctor did the full work up on her, which we weren't planning on, but in hind sight, I'm glad it's all over with. I felt a tremendous amount of guilt that afternoon though. It had been suggested to us that our first visit to the doctor, we do not do any vaccinations, just a once over to make sure nothing immediate had to be dealt with. Well, our doctor felt it was very important that we get her started on her vaccinations as soon as possible. She made a good case, and we went for it she ended up getting four vaccinations that day, and having blood drawn to boot. I'm still a little tormented, but I am happy we got all the trauma out of the way with quickly, and she seems to be doing just fine. The doctor estimates that developmentally she is about 3 months behind, but expects her to catch up quickly. She suggested we call Early Intervention to get an assessment, and tips on how to help her catch up. We'll be calling next week some time. All of her blood work came back fine, so it's good to know we don't have anything medically at this time to worry about.
All in all, things are going quite well. Ian did return to school on Thursday, I was finally able to get up in time, and get him ready which was nice. He was really reluctant to go back, but he seems to have had a great couple days so we're happy for that! We are in the process of transitioning Ana to 3 meals a day and 3 bottles a day from 2 meals and 5 bottles a day and she seems to be taking that quite well. We also just today have started to try and get her into a two nap a day schedule versus her once in the afternoon nap. As I type, she is taking her second nap of the day. The first was about an hour this morning, I'm hoping for at least another hour this afternoon, we'll see! (Well, I'm editing to add that she only slept 45 minutes this afternoon. Even when you total the two naps today together it still doesn't equal the 2 hour one she was taking before, oh well, maybe tomorrow!) Night time sleep the past two nights have been rough. She is starting to have a real hard time settling down. I'm pretty sure she is teething, so I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. She just cries as soon as you leave the crib side. If you return, she gives you a big grin! On one hand, I'm glad she is testing us, I want her to figure out that she can trust us to be there, but I'll admit, I'm tired and it's been hard dealing with a baby who doesn't want to sleep at night! Add to that the fact that Ian is having trouble getting to sleep as well (he slept with us in Guatemala, we're trying to get him right back into falling to sleep in his own bed but it's not going great!), every one is still a little discombobulated I think! I'm hoping sorting out a daytime nap schedule might help Ana, and I hope that once she is situated, Ian will be able to settle down easier as well. It will all work out I'm sure! Anyways, I'll close for now with some pictures I'd been meaning to post from our trip. I haven't really taken a ton of pictures since we've been home, but I'll get on that soon!
A coffee plant:
Coffee beans drying in the sun. After this, they will go to be roasted:
Marimba players at the great restaurant we went to in Antigua:
Overlooking Antigua, it was a steep hike down to this point:
Ian racing Victor our tour guide back up the hill. Victor ran the whole way!
Ian racing Victor our tour guide back up the hill. Victor ran the whole way!
Ian didn't...He told Victor that was the first race he ever lost and chanted "Victor Fast..." for about 20 minutes into the car ride home:
A family picture at the outlook over Antigua:
Just some random Ana cuteness, the first one is on Embassy day:
At the Zoo:
Yes, they were very close, a little too close for comfort:
Love the giraffes, and big brother pushing the stroller:
The first picture taken at home. About 2:00am March 18th, 2008:
5 comments:
Cammie you make me feel like I was there every minute with you....you have an amazing talent for writing!
As I read about the plane touching down in NC I got teary eyed!
Mimi
Well, I am THRILLED to see an update! I've gotta admit that I've been checking frequently for new news and pics and finally my efforts have been rewarded! Am looking forward to seeing pics of her first Easter. Sounds like you are all settling in well enough-remember your family dynamic has changed (for the better, but changed nonetheless). And Ana must think she's gone to Oz, complete with Scarecrow (Ian) Tinman (mommy) and Cowardly Lion (daddy)...can you guess who gets to be Toto??? In any case, it is a relief to know she is well, and with all of your efforts she will catch up quickly I'm sure and pass all of her peers. As far as her sleep pattern, from my observations often the children in Latino families are allowed to stay up later and do seem to get longer siestas in the afternoon, I believe it is because of the heat. Businesses tend to close for very long lunches and dinner is often later than what we are used to. Point being, some of that could be cultural. Anyway, love to all, kisses to the kids.
Happy Easter!
Sharon
Thank you for sharing. To read about Ana's homecoming Mimi is right is was like I was there. Tears and smiles and all. Antiqua (sp) looks really cool. How special it will be for you to tell Ana and share pictues with her when she is older of the birth country. I am sure the kinks will work out with all of the changes. Think of all the things that were different when Ian was brought home. Then add in the differences with an adoption and it can be a lot. But I have know doubt that you and Greg will be able to make the KIDS(still love saying that) feel very comfortable. I am glad you are looking into early intervention having worked in that field and had them in my home for Ella I can tell you that it is a wonderful program to be involved in. I am sure they will have many suggestions for you to help Ana achieve her best. Thanks again for the update. I know you are busy. Kisses, Hugs, and Love to all.
What a wonderful story. I felt like I was with you the whole way and was in thought. So happy you are all home and ready to start the next phase of your lives.
Thank you for keeping us so updated throughout your journey.
Love you so much, Mum
I am so happy for you all! Liliana will soon be in tune with the rhythm of your family and daily routines. She will catch up to her age group in no time! In fact, I bet she will surpass as she will want to keep up with Ian :)
Talk soon!
Amanda
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