Guatemala

We brought a most precious gift home with us from Guatemala two years ago and a big piece of our heart remains in Guatemala. So I have a written record of what has been happening and to share with those who may not be aware, here is some information on Mother Nature's fury in Guatemala.

Many of you already know about the volcano eruption that occurred last week in Guatemala. I was in contact with Lili's foster family and while they had quite a mess to clean up, saying everything was black from the ash, everyone was okay.

Now this week Guatemala has been hit by Tropical Storm Agatha.

Mayan Families has been hard hit by the storm and you can read information here and see pictures here.

I've emailed Lili's foster family to make sure everyone is okay, but have no idea if they have power so I don't know when I'll hear back from them. Hopefully, they are okay.

**Update**

Just received word from Lili's foster family. They are all okay, but very scared. They had rains for 24 hours straight which caused significant flooding. The government is also warning people that due to the volcano eruption, the possibility of an earthquake within the next month is a possibility.

Moving Forward

Moving on can be a really hard thing to do when you lose someone that you love so deeply, but moving on is also very necessary for the health and well-being of all the loved ones left behind. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer to the length of grieving. For a matter-of-fact, I would venture to guess that we will have moments of grief over Ben for the rest of our lives. Right now the grief is intense, but we know with time the intensity will lessen and we will find that new normal in our lives. For now, we are taking steps to move forward because we deserve that and even more so, Lili and Naomi deserve to have us move forward.

So, what's normal in our house right now? Three year old melt-downs and the same three year old saying funny things. Like yesterday when she asked for something without saying please and I asked, "What's the magic word?" She responded, "Abracadabra." Toys all over the family room floor and taking pictures of our beautiful girls. Grocery shopping and laundry. Dave going back to work and yard work.

What's new in our house right now? Naomi learning to crawl and saying momma for the first time :-) Going in to get Lili's 3 year photos taken and getting Naomi's first professional photos taken. Planning Naomi's 1st birthday celebration. Planning some trips over the next few months.

Trips? We want to take trips, enjoy life, and have something to look forward to.

We are going to Dallas in July to meet our new great-nephew Tsegaw, who will be home with his new mommy and daddy in about 3 weeks. Exciting, exciting exciting!!!

In August we are heading out to Portland to attend the first ever Toukoul Adoptive Families Reunion (TAFRU). I've been working on this reunion for about a year now and am so excited to meet other Toukoul adoptive families and their children.

In October we'll head to Southern California to attend my niece's wedding and we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to turn it into a mini Disney vacation. Yes, we'll be visiting Disneyland!! Lili will be about 3 1/2 years old and who couldn't use a little magic kingdom in their lives, especially when you can experience it through the eyes of a 3 year old :-)

What else is new? Pictures!

Point a camera at Naomi and this is what you get.
More Smiles

And more smiles.
Point a camera and Lili and it's hard to say what you'll get.

This. Or this.
Or a girl on the move.
I love pictures! I love to capture moments!! They bring happiness, even in a time of sorrow.

So get out your camera and take pictures. You'll be glad you did!!

In Need of Good News and Smiles

I'm in search of good news and things to smile about. Not that my baby girls aren't enough to smile about, but for obvious reasons it's just a really hard thing to do right now.

That changed just a few minutes ago when I received an email from our niece telling us that they are leaving two weeks from today for Ethiopia. Yes, our great nephew, Tsegaw is coming home soon and that makes me smile. His daddy is really smiling since he'll have his son for Father's Day.

Lili and I had a brief conversation about baby Tsegaw this afternoon. It went something like this.

Mommy: Do you know who Tsegaw's mommy and daddy are?
Lili: Um
Mommy: Lauren and Dave
Lili: Tsegaw loves Lili. Tsegaw loves daddy. Tsegaw loves mommy. Tsegaw loves Lili.

Apparently, Tsegaw really loves Lili :-)

Naomi is trying very hard to crawl. She gets on her hands and knees, rocks back and forth, and has actually picked up her hands and moved them forward a few times. She does have the army crawl down pat though and is now going from room to room. She can also go from laying on the floor to sitting, which she now does with ease.

If you have good news to share or something that you think will make me smile, please leave a comment. I need it more than ever right now.

Quick Post of Thanks

I wanted to send out a quick post thanking everyone who has left comments and/or sent emails to me during the past week. While words certainly cannot remove the pain of losing Ben, they have given me comfort and for that I am forever grateful. Thank you!

In Loving Memory

R.I.P. my precious baby boy. I love you and will miss you terribly!!!!

Benjamin David Weeks

8/4/88 - 5/10/10

28 Years Ago

On this very day, Mother's Day, at 7:59 a.m. a baby boy was born. My baby boy was born. Now, 28 years later on this very day, Mother's Day, we celebrate the birth of Joshua. He has never believed in traveling the easy road and has learned many lessons the hard way. He is a handsome young man with an infectious smile, is a hard worker, a loving son and a great big brother to his little sisters.

Happy Birthday Josh!
Boy do I wish this picture would not have come out blurry. I think I need a new camera. Okay, okay, maybe my camera needs a new photographer :-)

FFF - More On the Birthday Girl

Yes, I realize Lili's birthday was a week ago, but I did want to share some birthday moments.

Opening her gift from mommy and daddy.

What could it possibly be?

Oh, the excitement!!!!
After about two weeks of talking about these two Toy Story characters, they came to life in our home. So to speak.
And there was cake with candles.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find a bakery that did Toy Story cakes in our area and I wasn't feeling up to the challenge, so we settled for an already made bakery cake. Lili didn't care. She just wanted cake and ice cream.

Lili was also very interested in a tricycle she saw at Toys R Us shortly before her birthday. She rode it around the store for several minutes and we were torn on whether or not we should include it as part of her gift. In the end we decided that she had been asking for Buzz Lightyear and Sheriff Woody longer than she had asked for a bike, but her grandparents came through and this was delivered by Grandpa and Aunt Becky a couple days after her birthday.
She can go backwards and forwards with ease, but steering is a challenge so far. It won't take long though and she'll be riding everywhere in the direction she really wants to go in no time.

It also appears that turning 3 brought on a serious growth spurt. Based on the way she had been eating lately, we knew she was growing. Little did I know that the size 3T clothes I bought her a few months ago would soon need to be replaced with 4T sizes. She literally went went from wearing 2T's to 4T's in a matter of about 4 months. Wow!!!! So much for spending all that money on size 3 summer clothes :-) Good thing we have Naomi to wear them some day. Maybe!

Petition

My friend Yesenia has been trying to bring her daughter home from Guatemala and will now spend her 3rd Mother's Day without her. There are hundreds of children in Guatemala who have been matched to families, but can't seem to get through all the red tape. I feel a great deal of sadness and anger that it has taken so long. It shouldn't take 3+ years to investigate a case or determine the true orphan status of a child.

There is a trip to Washington D.C. planned this week and a petition will be presented to our First Lady Michelle Obama and the First Lady of Guatemala Sandra Colom, in an effort to get further assistance in allowing these children to come home to their forever families.

These families need as many signatures of support as possible. For more information and to show your support, please visit Yesenia's blog and sign the petition. Thank you!

Growing Up

I took Lili in for her 3 year check up yesterday. She is really growing up. Not only does she weigh 35 lbs and is 37 inches tall, but she wanted to sit on the exam table for her check up. That is a huge change from last year. Other than some very mild allergies (and I do mean very mild), she is a healthy 3 year old. Yay!!!!

Observations by Lili

Three year olds are very observant and not afraid to share those observations. Lili happens to be extremely observant and it appears that the age of 3 has brought about the need to share those observations.

Naomi was in bed for the night so I decided it was a great time for a shower. I don't know about other mommies, but taking a shower by myself is a rare treat so I jumped all over the opportunity to get in the shower alone while Lili spent time with daddy. When I came back downstairs I was informed of a conversation that took place in my absence.

A couple weeks ago I noticed that when Lili drinks milk, her tummy seems to bloat. As a result, we've have started limiting the amount of milk she drinks. Believe me, the girl can down some milk. Anyway, the milk topic is a subject for another time, but important to the story.

While I was taking my shower Lili told daddy, "Milk makes my tummy big like mommy's." Not sure I like that observation, but the fact is, my six pack has disappeared and mommy needs to lose weight. Or maybe I just need to stop drinking milk :-)

Yesterday in the mail, I received a gift from Stayfree. Lili removed the contents from it's plastic wrapper and says, "Diaper." Okay, I suppose it is a diaper of sorts."

I'm sure this is just the beginning of many observations I'll be jotting down.