Another day in Antigua

Today, we ventured out a bit more into Antigua. The boys and I dropped off laundry with Lily, who is just around the block. Then, we went to a small store to "reserve a chicken." Yes, that's what I said. They have a rotisserie-style oven and people go early in the morning to reserve their chicken. We are going in a bit to pick it up and will have it with rice and broccoli for dinner!

For lunch, we met a few other adopting families and their children at a local restaurant.

Mom--Mitchell took some more pictures of our courtyard especially for you.

Herndon/Bernekings--we miss you!! Hope you're having a great time in August at the golf weekend. Take care of Matt for me!

Mitchell has been an awesome helper...here he's making lunch for all of us--PB&J's.

This girl LOVES her toes!Here she is in the Moby wrap again. As you can see, I actually took a shower this morning. Future note: hairspray and make-up are not really necessary to pack, as I haven't used them at all.Typical stret in Antigua. I'm constantly reminding the boys to watch out so they don't get killed by a crazy driver and to make sure they don't twist their ankle on the cobblestone streets!

We are Pink!

To all of you out there who are unaware, being "Pink" means that we have our U.S. embassy appointment date!! Our appointment will be May 5 at 8am. We then have to pick up Miranda's Visa the following day, so we'll all fly home on the 7th! Matt is going to fly to join us in Antigua sometime next week and we'll all travel back to Guatemala City on the 4th. We're going to be coming home so soon!

Today we went to the local grocery store to stock up on supplies. I had Miranda in the baby carrier and we walked quite a ways...I really like my Moby baby carrier and Miranda seems to like it as well. It was super helpful as we walked home from the grocery store and I could have my hands free to carry groceries and also keep the boys from being hit by a car on the crazy streets of Antigua!

Even though I think I look like a total dork, I am going to let go of my pride to show you a picture of me with Miranda in the Moby baby wrap. She really likes it and seriously, almost every Guatemalan smiles at her as we walk by. And they say wonderful, heart-warming things like "Que linda! Que bonita! Que preciosa!" (How beautiful, How pretty, How precious!)

It is 10pm Antigua time and I'm off to bed. Apparently tonight is the weekly "mass for people with problems" (as our front-desk person described to me) and the local Catholic church rang it's bells for close to 30 minutes and people were setting off tons of fireworks. When the bells kept going off, I seriously thought it was like in the movies...an emergency cry...like maybe the volcano was erupting and we all needed to evacuate. Yes...I know I have a tendency to jump to conclusions. Good night.

In Antigua

We arrived in Antigua yesterday. Our little hotel is very quaint. We are in the back courtyard, right next to the kitchen. So far, the only other guests are an older gentleman and another adopting mom with her 17 month old daughter. She and I have bonded a bit---it is nice to have another grownup to talk to! The boys are having a great time playing outside in the courtyard. They did some homework this morning and after Miranda naps, I think Susan (the other mom) and I might venture out to the local grocery store. I bought cereal yesterday, but no milk! I also bought muffin mix that you just add water, but there aren't any muffin pans and the oven isn't marked with temperature degrees on it! Not sure what I'll be doing with those mixes...

Here are some more photos. Mom--I took a lot of these courtyard/flower shots for you. I thought you'd appreciate them. Their geraniums and salvia are CRAZY big.

Here is Mitchell in the hammock, showing off his Lego creation.

Here are the boys in our room, watching "The Empire Strikes Back" on the laptop.Here are the boys doing homework at the table right outside our room. Miranda is being entertained, just watching them.The courtyard is full of sun and flowers. It is very warm during the day when the sun is out, but gets cool at nighttime.We should hopefully be getting an e-mail from the U.S. embassy sometime today or tomorrow, which will let us know when our embassy appointment will be and when we can come home!

A great day!

Miranda's foster mother, grandmother, and the facilitator were right on time this morning. Miranda is doing great...rolling over both ways, almost sitting up on her own, weighs around 16.5 lbs. Just about perfect....except for the big, huge mosquito bite on her nose!! We had a nice morning at the pool. Miranda took a nap in the stroller and we had a little birthday party for Max poolside. The workers at the Westin were awesome...balloons, singing, the whole works!!

I'm now on hold with Bank of America trying to figure out why my ATM card won't work!!!! AAAHHHGG!! I just want to get some Quetzales so we can buy Pollo Campero!!

I could write a ton more, but I'm too tired...I'll just post another for you! I just got off the phone with Bank of America...hope it works now.

We are here!

We arrived without incident around 2pm today. Thanks so much to everyone who prayed for our safety. God totally provided for us by having our friends who are also adopting be on the same plane with us from Houston to Guatemala City!! We met Alex (and her daughter Rachel) here in February and this time she and her husband Sam are coming for their pick-up trip. Sam was totally awesome with helping with our bags at the airport. I was so grateful!! I think it helped Matt to know that they were going to be there with me. The airport was a breeze, hardly any lines.
We've already gone swimming. Now we're going to watch a movie and walk to a local restaurant. Miranda arrives tomorrow morning at 10am!! I'll post pictures by tomorrow night. We're going to have a little birthday party by the pool tomorrow afternoon for Max. The hotel is going to have a cake and I'm going to order the boys' favorite Guatemalan fast-food chicken---POLLO CAMPERO!!

The Big Thank-You Post

I've been composing this post in my head now for weeks. Over the past days, weeks, and months so many people have helped us out along our adoption journey. It really is humbling to see the love that has been poured out on us by our family and friends! I am so thankful for everyone and below is just a summary of things that Matt and I are grateful for.

• so many people praying for us
• helping us out with $ for the adoption
• giving us adorable gifts for Miranda
• giving us gently used girl clothes for Miranda that are sooo cute
• helping watch our boys
• calling and sending encouraging notes to us
• lending us stuff for our trip, like books and a laptop and a laundry hamper and DVD's and CD's
• buying us a new set of luggage
• buying the boys fun activities and toys for the trip
• driving us to the airport at the crack of dawn
• picking us up from the airport
• having a "Herndon family of 4-no more" party for us
• giving baby advice
• being so totally excited for us
• AND leaving us comments on our blog!! I love comments!!

DNA is at the lab!

I got an e-mail this morning from the nice lady at LabCorp. She said that the 2nd DNA sample arrived at the lab in the U.S. today. I have looked back at many of my online friends' timelines and it seems that for most of them, the time between the arrival of the 2nd DNA sample at the lab and their U.S. Embassy appointment is anywhere between 16 and 22 days!! YIKES!!! That's so soon! I may be staying in Antigua for a shorter period than I had imagined.

We've been busy here, working on Miranda's room. Below are some pics of the boys working on the crib and what her room looks like today...with all the suitcases spread out all over the floor!

We ended up using the crib bumper and ruffle that we used with the boys. It is a light colored denim. We bought cute flowered girly sheets to go with them and they look good together!
Here is a picture of the cute bag that my friend Melissa from work gave me last night for Miranda. It's the first thing we have with her name embroidered on it!! Thanks so much Melissa.
Finally, I have to give a shout-out to our friend Lisa from church. She has basically served as our private notary over the past 9 months, helping us with all of our documents. Thanks so, so much to her for saving us lots of money in notary fees and for being so excited for us in our adoption!