ONE YEAR AGO TODAY...

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY, I MET MY BABY BOY FOR THE FIRST TIME. WHAT A WEEKEND FILLED WITH EMOTIONS, STRESS, HEARTACHE AND SO MUCH LOVE. HERE ARE THE BLOGS I POSTED FROM OUR FIRST VISIT TRIP...IT'S AMAZING HOW YOU FORGET ALL THE BAD ONCE THEY COME HOME.

Thursday, July 20, 2006
5:30 AM GET UP

6:00 AM LEAVE FOR AIRPORT

9:35 AM PLANE TAKES OFF FOR GUATEMALA

12:15 PM PLANE LANDS IN GUATEMALA

1:30 PM ARRIVE AT THE MARROITT

2:00 PM LEAVE FOR LAYWERS OFFICE

2:25 PM ARRIVE AT THE LAWYERS OFFICE

2:25-2:59 PM SIGN POWER OF ATTORNEY AND WAIT....

3:00 PM OUR LIVES CHANGED FOREVER

WHAT A DAY. WHEN THE FOSTER MOTHER WALKED IN SHE WAS HOLDING MIA. SHE PLACED MIA INTO MY ARMS AND SAID "THIS IS ANTONIA". TEARS ROLLED DOWN MY FACE. SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL, MORE BEAUTIFUL IN PERSON THAN IN HER PICTURES. BEHIND THE FOSTER MOTHER IN WALKED, I GUESS, HER HELPER WITH CALEB. KEVIN WENT TO CALEB AND THEY PLACED CALEB INTO HIS ARMS. MY MOTHER STOOD BACK AND JUST WATCHED AT FIRST. I CALLED HER OVER TO ME AND HANDED HER MIA. I WENT TO KEVIN AND TOOK CALEB. IMMEDIETLY HE STARTED TO CRY. WE WERE UNFAMILIAR FACES TO HIM. CALEB HAD A HOOD OVER HIS HEAD SO I TOOK IT OFF AND NOTICED HIS HEAD WAS EXTREMLY FLAT. WHY DIDN'T ONE OF US SPEAK UP TO THE LAYWERS OR THE FOSTER MOTHER, I STILL DON'T GET. THOSE OF YOU THAT KNOW MY MOTHER AND I KNOW WE ALWAYS SPEAK OUR MINDS AND NEVER HAVE A PROBLEM HOLDING BACK. I GUESS WE WERE IN SUCH SHOCK. I HAD TO HAND CALEB BACK OVER TO THE FOSTER MOTHER TO CALM HIM DOWN. HE WAS HYSTERICAL. THEY TOLD ME CALEB HAD A COUGH AND GAVE ME SOME MEDICINE TO GIVE HIM THREE TIMES A DAY. WHEN WE GOT ALL THE REST OF THE INFORMATION FOR THE KIDS WE LEFT THE LAYWERS OFFICE AND HEADED BACK TO THE HOTEL. BACK AT THE HOTEL WE STARTED NOTICING WE HAD MORE TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT OTHER THAN THE FLATNESS OF CALEB'S HEAD. HE COULDN'T SIT UP, ROLL OVER, OR HOLD HIS OWN BOTLLE. AT TIMES IT SEEMED AS IF HE HAD A HARD TIME EVEN HOLDING HIS HEAD UP (REMEMBER HE IS 9 MO. OLD). SO WE CALLED THE ADOPTION AGENCY AND WERE REFERRED TO A DOCTOR IN GUATEMALA THAT IS SUPPOSE TO BE "TOP NOTCH". I CALLED HIS CELL PHONE AND HE HAPPENED TO BE AT THE HOTEL WE WERE STAYING AT IN A MEETING SO HE LEFT HIS CARD AT THE FRONT DESK FOR US AND ASKED US TO COME TO HIS OFFICE TOMORROW AT 10 AM. THE REST OF THE NIGHT DID NOT GO SO WELL. CALEB DID NOT STOP CRYING. HE HAD NO IDEA WHO I WAS, WHERE HE WAS OR WHAT WAS GOING ON. NIT BROKE MY HEART. I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. MIA WAS PRETTY GOOD. OTHER THAN CRYING WHEN SHE WAS HUNGRY, SHE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT. I WAS SO BUSY WITH CALEB KEVIN HAD TO TAKE ON THE PRIMARY CARE GIVER ROLE WITH MIA. HE WAS SO GOOD WITH HER (THANK YOU KEVIN).

Friday, July 21, 2006
WITH NO SLEEP UNDER OUR BELTS WE TOOK THE KIDS TO THE DOCTOR. WE HAD TO TAKE A TAXI EVERYWHERE WE WENT AND DID I MENTION THERE ARE NO SEAT BELTS IN THE CABS! OH - AND THAT THEY DON'T BELEIVE IN CAR SEATS!! IT WAS ABOUT AN HOUR WAIT TO GET IN AND SEE THE DOCTOR. I THINK IN GUATEMALA THERE ARE NO DOCTOR APPOINTMENTS, YOU JUST WALK IN AND FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE OR AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT IT FELT LIKE. DR. BELTETON DID A PHYSICAL ON CALEB AND WANTED TO RUN A HEAD AND CHEST X-RAY (REMEMBER WE WERE TOLD HE HAD A COUGH). WELL MY MOM HAD US BRING THE MEDICINE CALEB WAS TAKING TO THE DOCTOR AND THE MINUTE HE LOOKED AT THE MEDICATION HE SAID "DON'T GIVE HIM THAT IT'S TOO STRONG, THIS IS A STEROID". LATER WE FOUND OUT FROM OUR AGENCY THAT CALEB WAS ON THREE TIMES THE DOSE HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON. WE TOOK CALEB DOWN TO GET HIS X-RAYS. DO YOU KNOW FOR 4 X-RAYS IT WAS ONLY $70 - I WISH IT WAS LIKE THAT IN AMERICA. KEVIN HAD TO HOLD CALEB'S LOWER HALF OF HIS BODY AND I HAD THE TOP HALF. THIS WAS ONE OF THE HARDEST THINGS I HAVE EVER HAD TO DO. HE WAS CRYING SO HARD AND LOOKING INTO MY EYES. IT TOOK EVERYTHING I HAD TO HOLD BACK THE TEARS, I DID'T WANT TO SCARE HIM MORE THAN HE ALREADY WAS. ALL OF THIS TOOK AWHILE SO MY MOM WAITED OUTSIDE WITH MIA. AFTER THE X-RAYS WERE DONE I HELD CALEB AND TRIED TO COMFORT HIM BUT I COULDN'T I MYSELF WAS SO UPSET I JUST HANDED CALEB TO KEVIN AND I LOST IT. I JUST SAT THERE AND CRIED AND CRIED AND CRIED AND CRIED. I DIDN'T STOP TILL WE LEFT THE HOSPITAL. WE WENT BACK UP TO THE DOCTORS OFFICE AND WAITED FOR THE RESULTS. WHEN THE RESULTS CAME BACK THE DOCTOR HAD SOME CONCERNS ABOUT THE WAY CALEB'S HEAD WAS GROWING. SO HE ORDERED SOME CATSCANS ($400). HE ALSO GAVE CALEB A SHOT FOR HIS BRONCHITIS (JUST A COUGH, YEAH RIGHT). CALEB'S WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNT WAS 21,000. NORMAL IS BETWEEN 8,000-9,000. THEY HAD TO KNOCK CALEB OUT WITH AN ORAL SEDITIVE TO DO THE CATSCANS. SINCE THE CATSCANS WERE BEING DONE IN 3-D, THE DOCTOR ASKED US TO COME BACK TOMORROW AT 11 AM FOR THE RESULTS. WE TOOK THE KIDS BACK TO THE HOTEL, IT WAS ABOUT 7 PM. THEY BOTH SLEPT THROUGHT THE NIGHT EXCEPT FOR MIA'S FEEDINGS.

Saturday, July 22, 2006
BACK TO THE DOCTORS OFFICE WE GO...WE ONLY HAD TO WAIT ABOUT 30 MIN. THIS TIME TO SEE THE DOCTOR.HE HAD SOME GOOD NEWS. HE DIDN'T THINK IT WAS ANYTHING SERIOUS, JUST THAT CALEB HAS BEEN LEFT LYING ON HIS BACK FOR HIS LIFE. I SAY GOOD NEWS BECAUSE THAT MEANS NO SURGURY. HE DID REFER US TO A DOCTOR HERE AT TEXAS CHILDRENS FOR A SECOND OPINION AND SENT US WITH ALL OF THE X-RAYS AND CATSCANS BUT NOT BEFORE GIVING CALEB ANOTHER SHOT FOR HIS BRONCHITIS, PRESCRIBING HIM COUGH MEDICINE AND AN ANTIBIOTIC. WE DIDN'T GET BACK TO THE HOTEL TILL ABOUT 1 PM. THERE WENT 2 1/2 DAYS OF QUALITY TIME WITH OUR KIDS. CALEB WAS SO EXHAUSTED HE SLEPT THE REST OF THE DAY. WE WERE PRETTY BEAT TOO. THAT EVENING WE WENT OUT TO DINNER WITH GREG AND LANETTE. THEY ARE THE OTHER COUPLE THAT IS USING THE SAME AGENCY AND THEY ONLY LIVE ABOUT 15 MILES FROM US. THEY WERE THERE VISITING THEIR LITTLE BOY, JESSE, WHO IS 3 MONTHS OLD.

Sunday, July 23, 2006
MY MOM WOKE UP PRETTY SICK. SHE THINKS IT WAS SOMETHING SHE ATE. KEVIN THINKS IT WAS THE WATER. I THINK IT WAS THE WATER. SO SHE STAYED IN BED ALL DAY. THIS WAS OUR ONLY DAY ALONE WITH THE KIDS. IT WAS GREAT. JUST ME, KEVIN, CALEB AND MIA. WE MET GREG AND LANETTE DOWNSTAIRS FOR BREAKFAST. GREG IS A PHOTOGRAPHER, SO HE TOOK OUR FIRST OFFICIAL FAMILY PHOTOS. (THANK YOU GREG AND LANETTE). AFTER THAT WE WENT BACK TO OUR ROOM AND JUST HUNG OUT. IT WAS SO HARD KNOWING WE HAD TO LEAVE TOMORROW AND REALLY NOT HAVING ANYTIME WITH THE KIDS, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND WE ALREADY KNEW WE WOULD BE BACK IN A FEW WEEKS SO THAT HELPED.

Monday, July 24, 2006

OUR PLANE LEFT GUATEMALA AT 1:15 PM SO WE ASKED THE FOSTER MOTHER TO PICK THE KIDS UO AT 10 AM. WE WENT DOWN TO THE LOBBY EARLY TO GET SOME MORE PICTURES. THE FOSTER MOTHER SHOWED UP ABOUT 30 MINUTES EARLY WHICH REALLY IRKED ME. SHE SEEMED SO EAGER TO TAKE THE KIDS AWAY FROM ME. I DON'T KNOW IF SHE MISSED THEM OR IF SHE JUST DIDN'T WANT THEM WITH US. IT WAS DEFINETLY HARD HAVING TO SAY GOODBYE WITH EVERYTHING THAT HAD HAPPENED, OUR TIME WITH THEN WAS LONG ENOUGH.

HERE ARE A FEW PICTURES FROM THAT TRIP...