Ethan teaches Mia to swim

Mia & Mommy hanging out at the pool

Mia gets her feet wet for the first time

Ethan pulls Mia's Shrimp Boat

"You swim like this Mia," Ethan says



Mia blowing bubbles. We can't seem to get her to understand that you do that in the water☻

Grammy taking Mia out for a swim

I LOVE the water!!

Are you taking a picture of me???

Ethan, do you have enough toys in your hands???

Today we gave Daddy his Father's Day present a few days late. We sent him fishing. With Daddy gone, Ethan decided that he wanted to go to Grammy's house and swim. So we packed up the car and headed on over. When we got there the water aerobics class was still in session. Ethan hopped in the pool and joined all of the other "Grandmas" in their exercises. When it came time for Mia to get in the pool I was a little nervous because she doesn't like her bathes. We got on the first step and you would have thought that this little girl was a fish! She LOVED splashing in the water and riding in her shrimp boat. Ethan thought it was fun to pull her around the pool. Ethan called himself Mia's tugboat. The swim must have tired everyone out because right now my little fishes are sleeping so soundly. Hopefully we can make another splash later on!

More Pictures From Our Trip

I didn't want to post all of the pictures from out trip in one day, so here are the rest. Mia has started taking naps during the day. Most of the time they are only 1.5 hours - but we are making progress. Amy had to do some errands this morning and left Mia with Steve. She didn't seem to mind it at all! She does get fussy at around 7:00pm and only wants Amy. But from where we were a week ago we are doing much better!

At the airport in Guatemala ready to come home!

Steve at the airport trying to manage all of our luggage.

My first ride in a car seat.

Mia at home trying to crawl on the carpet & trying to get Ethan's cars.

Mia & Ethan play together for the first time together

Mia plays with the Dolly that Ethan gave her.

Our first picture as a family of four.

Mia's first day home.

The shirt says it all!

Ethan shows Mia how to make a snowman using balls.

Happy Father's Day

We love our Daddy so much!


Daddy and his Guatebabies


Daddy I've waited so long to tell you Happy Father's Day!


Daddy you're the best


Daddy don't I look pretty?


Hide and seek with Daddy


Daddy and Ethan playing cars

What a Father's Day! Steve had his girl home in time to celebrate it with him! Mia was so good with him today. She even let her Daddy feed her and give her a bottle! When she saw Mommy walking by she didn't cry for her. We are making progress, each day seems to get better. Tonight we are going to go to Amy's parents for a cookout. It will be the first time Meme will see Mia. We can't wait. Happy Father's Day to all!

Picture Parade!

The Arco de Santa Catalina in Antigua


Our last picture together before we got Mia. Overlooking Antigua.


Mia & her foster family. A bittersweet moment for us all.


Steve & Mia playing on the floor for the first time.


The PINK slip we waited so long to get.


Mommy & Mia ready for our Embassy Appointment.


Mia after her Embassy appointment. Her offical Gottcha Day!


Sweet Mia exhausted after spending almost 4 hours at the embassy.


Playing with her maraca by the pool.


Shake it Mia shake it! (We call this smile the old man smile)


Mia checks out Anne Pearce. She can't get over her hair!


Mia & Anne Pearce just chillin'


Amigas


Guatababies dancing.


Shake your stuff girls!


Let's hold hands


Lou and Anne Pearce.


What a Kodak Moment


Anne Pearce getting ready to take a siesta.


Mia pretty in pink


Mia after the earthquake.

We Made It Home!!!

Yes we finally made it home. Steve picked up Mia's VISA Wednesday afternoon (after the earthquake). He packed for us then we had dinner with Lou and Anne Pearce. It was so nice to meet them and visit with them. We had such a great time and only wished we lived closer to each other. Early Thursday morning (3:45am) we woke up and headed to the airport. We checked in and boarded the plane to bring Mia home. She was so good on the plane. She took a bottle on both flights and fell asleep for about an hour. Then she wanted to play. She really enjoyed looking through the Sky Mall magazine and ripping out pages. (We think she is starting her Christmas list already) We had no problems in Houston with immigration. We finally arrived back in Detroit at 4:30pm. It was a long day. When we got to the car Mia was a little hesitant about getting in her car seat. (They don't use them in Guatemala) Amy had to sit in the back seat with her. She must not have minded it too much because she fell asleep on the way home. We pulled into the driveway and Ethan came out to see us. Our hearts just burst with love because Ethan said "There's my Mia" and came running to her to give her a kiss. We all cried and cried then finally collected ourselves. We had dinner and then heard all about Ethan's adventures staying the week with Grammy and Pa. It seems that he has turned into quite a fish since we were gone. He also has joined the water aerobics class. Bath time came and the adventure of getting two little ones ready for bed began. Mia had her meltdown first, then Ethan began his. At one time both of them were on the bathroom floor screaming. Mia was so over tired and Ethan didn't want Mia to cry. We got everyone calmed down and into bed and everyone slept soundly. We love that our family is now a family of four. God has truly blessed us with two beautiful children. We can't wait to show off their pictures. But we will post those tomorrow. For our Canadian family, the certificate of citizenship (the document we need to travel across the boarder) is taking at least 8-10 weeks to be issued. So it will be awhile before we can visit. We can't visit on Mia's Guatemalan passport because Canada requires a VISA for Guatemalan citizens to enter the country. Until then we will try to post as many pictures for you as possible. Blessings to all!

Mia in action!!!!

This is Mia doing her blinking eyes trick. Lou and I tried over and over to get her to do it, but only Daddy would do! You can see that she did it for him!!!!

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Earthquake!!

Yes one last bit of excitement! Mia and Anne Pearce were playing in the room when it hit. Lou looked at me and said what is that? The hangers in the closet were banging together and when I looked at the pool water was splashing out. Lou called down to the front desk and asked if we had just had an earthquake. All this excitement happened as Steve was out in the pouring rain hunting down Mia another set of plastic keys . The first set fell down the elevator shaft. (Don't ask:)) Steve said he didn't feel anything and thought we were crazy when we told him that we just had an earthquake. Seconds later a report came across CNN that a 6.8 earthquake had just hit off the coast of Guatemala. We are happy to report that we are all fine (even Anne Pearce's hair!). Hopefully that's the last of the excitement for today!

Guatemala's next top models

The latest pictures of Mia & Anne Pearce are on Lou's blog at Lou's Blog.This morning we had a playdate by the pool. Both girls were so funny. They liked dancing and laughing together. Mia & Anne Pearce seem to like each other, but I think Mia's jealous of Anne Pearce's hair!

Last night was a bit rough with Mia. She is having a hard time being around Steve. But we expected that because she never has really been around men. Today she seems to be a little more accepting of him. Once we get home we know that it will all change and in no time at all her and Daddy will be best of friends.

Mia's Ours FOREVER!!!!

We just came back from our embassy appointment. We got there at 7:00am and stood outside in line. Our appointment wasn't until 8:00am. Once inside we went to our interview, then had our exit interview. We finally got done at 10:45am. Mia did pretty good, but by the end she had had enough. (I think we all were tired of waiting). While we waited for our interview, we could see the other windows that serviced Guatemalan citizens that want to obtain a VISA to travel to the US. The line stretched out of the embassy and around the block. Our facilitator told us that 90% of those people will be denied. What a sad sight, it makes me realize how blessed we are to live in America. We have to go back to the embassy tommorow at 3:30pm to pick up her VISA and get the paperwork we will need to travel through immigration in Houston. But for the rest of today we are going to celebrate Mia's Gotcha Day. (We plan on having a photo session with Anne Pearce later today so hopefully we will post pics on her blog)

The First Night!

Last night Mia was some what fussy. But we were preprared for that because she had been with her wonderful foster mom for almost one year. We did discover that she LOVES tv. So to help her calm down we watched plazo sesame and the Backyardigans in spanish. When I brought out the little Elmo we brought fro her she just giggled. She slept pretty good through the night and just had a great breakfast. She actually likes her baby food! What a difference from Ethan! We are having some problems with her formula though. She is on powdered milk (not quite sure what it is?) and the container didn´t come with a scooper. So we are having to guess at the measuring. But we can adjust that once we get home. She seems to be bonding well today and already has Daddy wrapped around her little finger! I think she might even be able to charm her big brother!! We are so blessed to finally be able to hold this little girl, God is so good!

We Have Mia!!!!!

YES it-s true!!!! We got Mia today at 4. I am typing this on a spanish keyboard so things a a little strange. We went to Antigua this morning then cam back to the hotel. Then one hour later Mia was placed into our arms FOREVER. I am still shaking!!! She likes to move and I give here a few weeks before she[s totally mobile. Right now shw is upstairs sleeping in her Daddy-s arms. What a KODAK moment!! We will post later but just wanted to let you know that we have MIA!!!!! Blessings and love to you all!

Guatemala here we come!!!

The bags are packed & Steve just left to get the last minute items. I can't believe that this day is finally here. It all seems surreal. Now you know this adoption had to have just one more bump in the road. Yesterday we got an email from Mia's Foster Mom's daughter. She said that Zoila has to have surgery on Monday. They wanted to know if we could get Mia on Sunday. We emailed her back and said sure but we didn't know how do we make this happen. Naturally I got this email at 4:30pm Friday afternoon- when all of the offices were closed. We called HATW and let them know. They are trying to contact Enrique in Guatemala, who is then trying to contact Zoila. The original plan was to get Mia on Monday. As of the time I am writing this we still haven't heard what to do. Our plane leaves in 4 hours. Who knows when we will get her & where we will get her. Only time will tell!!!

Packing, Packing, Packing

Well the reality of everything has set in. Today was our last day of work for awhile. That leaves tomorrow to get things packed, presents bought , and the house cleaned. It's funny that we aren't a little more prepared since we have been waiting for almost 12 months for this. I know we will get it done. We will be staying at the Marriott and I will finally get to meet our blogging buddy Lou and her little darling Anne Pearce. (Check out her blog at www.waitingforannepearce.blogspot.com look at that hair!) Wow in just 2 days we will be on our way to Guatemala! Better get packing☻

We have PINK!!!!

We got the call today that we finally have PINK!!! What does that mean??? That means that the US Embassy wants to see us on June 12, 2007 early in the morning to finalize everything and Mia will be ours forever!!!! Our prayers have finally been answered! God is so good! Amy got the news today at 10:00 in the morning and was on phone the rest of the day making reservations, spreading the news and getting arragements made for Ethan. We will leave Saturday in the afternoon and come home Thursday in the afternoon. Sunday we plan on going to Antigua to do some sightseeing. Monday Mia will be placed in our arms FOREVER! We will go over the paperwork for the embassy appointment. Tuesday we have our appointment, then Wednesday we will go back to pick up her VISA. Early Thursday morning we will board a plane and bring her home. What a journey this has been! At times we didn't know if we were going to make it through without being sent to the looney bin, but we are happy to say we made it. Thank you to everyone for your love and support. We definately couldn't have made it through the journey without you! Blessings & prayers to you all.