Wednesday, April 05, 2006
We are home! After an almost year long journey, and a really, REALLY hard year at that, Lotus Maria is finally with her forever family and Nate and I are truly the luckiest people in the world. Andrew, Julie, Ben and Audrey picked us up at the airport. It was so wonderful to be able to introduce Lotus to her family right away. She was so enamored with them. And the next day she got to meet her Grandma and Grandpa Stanton, Uncle Matt and her Grandpa Art. She has had several pretty big few days. And at the moment is sleeping soundly in her new room.
The next adventures await us as a family and we couldn't be happier.
Lotus Maria was a real trooper on both her very first flight ever from Guatemala to Dallas and was even better from Dallas to SF. A woman sitting near us asked if she was always that good when she flew, we said we hoped so, but we had no idea since this was her first day in the air.
Customs was a breeze. I was worried, because they give you an envelope in Guatemala and tell you NOT to open it before you arrive at Customs. You have to trust that the US Embassy has put together everything in there that they are supposed to. And as we started to land I realized that I had serious trust issues with the US Embassy. They of course did leave something out, but the Customs Agent said it happened all the time and was able to fix it.
On Saturday before we left we traveled about an hour outside Guatemala City to the former capital of Guatemala, Antigua. The cobblestone streets were a bit rough on the stroller, but we got to see four churches with in the 14 block city. Being that that it is almost Easter the city was packed, getting ready for Semana Santa. The churches make rugs (more like sand paintings really) out of flowers, seeds and sand. Eventually the streets will be lined with them. There is a procession everyday, and you'd better believe that sometime next week some one will be dragging a cross around town. It was really pretty amazing.
Lotus visited the Guatemalan Zoo. She basically could have cared less, but we were happy to be out and about.
Our final few days in Guatemala were filled with activites, so we didn't go stir crazy at the hotel. We spent many hours at the pool. Fed Lotus loads of carrots. Went to the zoo and the town of Antigua. Lotus got to ride in several cars with out a car seat, which was fun for her and petrifying for us.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Embassy Day! Our embassy appointment was Wednesday, March 29th and now little Miss Lotus Maria is all ours. The appointment itself was a ridiculous excercise. It took about 4 minutes and mostly the man asked about Tapatio´s restaurant in South City. But of course that 4 minutes took and 1 hour and a half to get to. We arrived at the US Embassy with our representative and another family at 7:30 in the morning. There were about 10 other families there already, as well along with about 50 Guatemalan applying for visa to the US. Our appt was for 8:45 and the other family we were with had an 8:15 appointment. our representative tried to get the Embassy to let us in at the same time, but they refused. So we waited outside for about a half hour, which was fine. We were told the process would take about 2 hours, so I was surprised when I saw the husband of the family we were with leaving the Embassy 10 minutes after they went in. Turns out they had left some of the paperwork back at the hotel and he had to rush back and get it.
When they let us in at 8 am the wife, Jackie was a mess thinking that they would have to give up there appointment time and the next available appointment wasn´t until Friday. Her husband walked in th door just as they were calling out their name. At least they now have a good story to tell their daughter.
After our representative turned in our paperwork she ran over and told Nate that they needed to see him. He was pretty nervous until a stack of paper and pens were shoved in his hand and he was asked to draw Nemo over and over.
So all is all 2 hours later we were able to leave with her and she stuck with us for good. Lotus was great during this whole event. She never fussed and was entranced by all the poeple. We are got her visa Thursday, there was a protest at the US Embassy so we sent the representative again and she was be able to get it.
Nate arrived and of course Lotus was dreamy. She really is amazing. She sleeps through the night, she sits up by herself and can even hold her own bottle. Okay so half the bottle ends up down her chin, but she is trying. I can't belive how in love with her I am. She has these huge dark eyes and just the softest hair. i really get how people can just spend there whole day staring at their kid.
I returned to Guatemala City on Thursday, March 23rd and I got the little one Friday morning. It was very difficult to take her from Miriam, the foster mother. She was upset and crying, but happy that Lotus was getting her forever family. Lotus could tell we were both upset and she was pretty uptight as well. The first day Lotus wouldn´t let me put her down at all, and she is a big girl, almost 18 pounds. My biceps were killing me, and I wasn´t sure what we would do if she needed to be carried the entire time I was on my own, but the next day she was in a much better mood. I even gotten many smiles and a few laughs.
There are far fewer families at this hotel, but I did have dinner last night with Bruce and Rebecca friends of my dad and their new daughter Tessa. It´s been a blessing to have at least one person I know around.
Lotus is just as perfect as we before. she is as cute as can be and eating a ton. She was not very excited about sleeping the first day, but the next day took a nap for about an hour and a half.
