Behold the Beauty: Today Hope is 11 months old....

Friday, August 8, 2008

Today Hope is 11 months old....

What can I say...time does travel fast....My little baby girl is 11 months old already and we are feeling rushed to plan her 1 year old birthday celebration!!!

Hope is...AMAZING.... She is so funny and so happy. She loves to shake her head from side to side, real fast, when she is excited...which is many times thru out the day for many of her reasons that she gets excited. The best one is when we pick her up in the morning and she is so excited, that head goes 90...if we walk out of the room, when she sees us return..her head can almost pop off with all that shaking!!!! She does so many things that really surprise us how attentive she is about even the smallest of things. She catches on real quick. She loves for us to read to her...she sits still..very attentive to the books we read to her. Since we are going to homeschool Hope, we have been following the early preparation from the crib. One recommendation is reading "chunk books" as it is called. We have done that since Hope has been home. She displays an attentiveness that is surprising for 11 months old. Each month proves to be more and more exciting.

Happy 11 month Birthday Hope, "OUR SPECIAL LOVE", Mommy and Daddy!

Anyone who is interested in early homeschooling, please let me know and I will share with you what we are doing.

2 comments:

Pam and Greg said...: Hope is so precious.. just love coming onto your site and seeing all the beautiful pictures of her and hearing how she is growing!!! blessings!
pam; August 14, 2008 at 4:47 PM
Nikki said...: Happy 11 month birthday Hope :)

Rachael- just emailed you. I wasn't sure if you meant you wanted me to design your website or this blog. I would LOVE to do your blog, however, I do not work with websites, only blogspot blogs. Hopefully will talk to you soon!

Nikki; August 20, 2008 at 5:36 PM

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Outdoor Fun.....

Our Dear Sweet Hope! Life wouldn't be life without her...she is the highlight of our day all day long. She is so much fun! Her personality is really peaking now. She is a jokster. It doesn't help when I am trying to dress her or get her to stand still. She always used to work with me before, when I told her to help me.."what is mommy doing",..hold still,..help me. She always did great! Now everything is funny to her. On the flip side of that, I was warned about a possible "Latino" temper from another adoptive mom. I also get to see that side once in a while. THe little boy that I take care of during the day has brought out even more of that SIN nature in Hope...if she thinks that "Will" is violating her space...I have seen her make a face and then grab his arm for a pinch and squeeze. The first time I saw that, I was thinking, "who taught my angel that?!" At this point all kinds of new things are surfacing. We are having the time of lives, to say the least!!!!!!!

THese are just a few random photos. We have many more that we will put on the family blog link above. We got some great Zoo pictures this year....

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

March 14th UPDATE
We have arrived in Guatemala safely. We will be in the lobby at 8 AM to pick up our sweet baby Hope. I am not sure if I will get back to post tomorrow or not so I wanted to let you know that we arrived safely. It is a beautiful Hotel "Beautiful",
and very clean. Everyone is very very nice here. I was told that on the 9th floor there is free food and bottled water for those who are adopting...that is where we are right now. The guy who drove us from the airport to the Grand Tikal, our hotel, told us that it's owner is Jewish... oddly enough he has put the whole Torah..the first 5 books of the bible in hebrew and english up here in this adoption lounge. That is a very unexpected find needless to say.

We met a lady on our flight who lives here and gave us her phone number if we were to need anything at all. She owns a business here in Guatemala, only a few minutes from our Hotel. She gave us alot of information regarding things to see and places to shop.

Well stay tuned..it won't be long and you will find some pictures. Lots of love and good night... wish you were here MOM !!! XXXXOOOOO

November 2007 ..On An Old blog/ Hope was 46 days old here....

Today's Date: Jan. 25, 2009.....

I was checking my traffic widget below and saw that someone came onto my blog thru a site called: "Guatadoptbabyhope"

and for a minute I thought: who has highjacked my blog or something...I checked it and it was an old blog that I had used for our fundraiser information. At the time, I kept Hope's current picture on there while we were doing the fundraisers. After that I started a timeline blog and did not go back to delete that blog...so it caught me by surprise...

I HAD FORGOT ABOUT THAT BLOG!!!!

But it is so cute and brings back those memories...so I want to post the link HERE so I can go back and view it. It is really perfect timing though because:

Hope's first "GOTCHA DAY" celebration is just around the corner....MARCH 15th...We are so excited! I can't believe that she has already been home for almost a year! Time has flown and so many things have happened that continue to FILL US UP with JOY over flowing!

We love you our SWEET HOPE!

Where has the time gone?..So sudden, So quick, So fast, time does pass!

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We will post some pictures soon! We didn't really get any "SWEET" pictures of her because she decided to show her "TERRIBLE TWO MODE" at her birthday party. What a sight! Meltdown city! We will take a few more pictures, in her Birthday dress, since we do a yearly photo as well for the wall. Hopefully we will get to see the SWEET HOPE that I know in one of those. :)

What a Joy this Journey continues to be. I can't imagine life without my HOPE! She brings so much joy to my every day. She is so eager to love, laugh and learn. I can't say enough about this little sweet person and soul that God has given us to give back to him each day that we live life and walk this earth. She is a treasure full of God's daily reminders that he is the righteous!

All of our Love Hope and all of God's rich blessings upon you all the days of your life, Mommy and Daddy

On March 20th 2009 we will celebrate one of the Greatest Days of our lives, Hope's 1 year "Gotcha Day."

The picture directly above is the first picture we saw of our daughter. I am so drawn to look at it over and over again, as of recent days, after finding the 8x10 framed picture/the first seen, printed and framed picture of Hope, that had been tucked away to make room for more pictures when Hope came home.

I realize now that a year has gone by, long after the paper chase, the concerns with finalizing the adoption with Guatemala, the trip to Guatemala and all of that, along with the unbelief that we really had a baby and that we could bring her home....I think it has finally settled in or became real to me how much in that moment I had fallen in love with this baby from just seeing her on paper for the first time via email. I had finally became a Mom! Yet I realize now how much I had held my breath with fears thru the whole process. I have obviously relaxed enough now that the feelings I had in those, first moments, have begun to surface. She completely stole my heart away and It gets sweeter and sweeter everyday! This is one of my favorite photos of all! She is my Gift! How precious beyond words......

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Our Dear Sweet Hope....so much has happened this week that changed our plans to celebrate this special time the way we had planned. Daddy lost his Mother, your grandmother, and he had to travel out of the country to attend her funeral and be with his family there for a short while. However, he will be home tomorrow on the 21st, exactly the first full day that you were home for the first time. We took you to the doctor that day for your first well baby check up after getting in from Guatemala very late.. that A.M....we were so proud to be parents and hadn't fully believed yet that we really had a baby...we were really parents, but it did not sink in yet for a couple more days.

We have enjoyed you so much. We could never imagine life without you. I don't have the words to explain how much you mean to me. I just know that you are the most precious and perfect Gift of God. We are so thankful to be called Momma and Daddy. God Bless you Hope and Happy 1 year forever Home.....

With all our Love, Momma and Daddy

The Lord Bless you and keep you

the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you Shalom. Numbers 6: 24-26.

במדבר 6
יְבָרֶכְךָ֥ יְהוָ֖ה וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ׃

יָאֵ֨ר יְהוָ֧ה ׀ פָּנָ֛יו אֵלֶ֖יךָ וִֽיחֻנֶּֽךָּ׃

יִשָּׂ֨א יְהוָ֤ה ׀ פָּנָיו֙ אֵלֶ֔יךָ וְיָשֵׂ֥ם לְךָ֖ שָׁלֹֽום׃

This is how the Lord told Aaron to bless the people and their children.
Deuteronomy11:18-21a Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many

The heaven's declare him....take a hand and go outside for a walk and marvel at the greatness that surrounds you. His name is written in the stillness and the wonder and the beauty! Slow down... and take in the smells and the sounds.

Ideas to combat nature deficit disorder:

* Make worship walk dates with your family and other families

* See nature walks as an antidote against stress and depression.

* Collect little stones on your walks and display them in an old mason jar and set on a windowsill

* Play a game of "find ten glimpses of glory"..and walk through the woods looking for ten interesting leaves, or ten evidences of animals, or ten unusual plants, or ten flashes of color...

* Lay out in the backyard and look up. Watch clouds float by. What shapes are his hand forming? Do you know the different kind of clouds? Here is a cloud Tutorial

http://asd-www.larc.nasa.gov/SCOOL/tutorial/clouds/cloudtypes.html

"For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made"..for he is GOD Creator

Thinking about Mother's Day.....

"MY FIRST MOTHERS DAY with Baby Hope"...I decided to Google "Guatemalan Mother's Day". I found a blog dated 5/10/2007.... Just 4 months and 2 days before Hope was to be born to her Birth Mother. Birth Mom knowing all along that in only a few months after that mother's day, she would have to take a 4 hour trip to the City on a chicken truck risking her and her baby's life to give birth to her yet unborn child. Her story is the same, I am sure, as what was told in this blog article below.. But as I read this Blog I couldn't stop thinking about Hope's birth Mom and the Gift that she decided to give her then unborn child. She chose life for Hope at the risk of her own life. What greater love is there than that. We are forever grateful to Hope's Birth Mom. Our hats are off to her and her selfless bravery. We pray for her and her family.

Please pray for us as we have located Hope's biological Brother and we are hoping to soon meet him and his adopted family. We have yet to get needed responses...Please pray with us

Here is the blog dated 5/10/07... I can't seem to post the picture that is with this blog article, but the scene is women sitting on a huge porch, at some big local building. They are all sitting on the cemented porch floor, adorned in their normal beautiful colorful attire ...with chins resting upon their palms. Tearful to think what they may be pondering with regards to their situations of lose and wonder and the unknown... Here is what the blog had to say..

Today is Mother's Day in Guatemala ...5/10/07

"Mother's Day is celebrated on May 10th in Guatemala, and working mothers have the day off. In our family, all of the mothers join together at someone's home. We share time together, welcome the new mothers, and play games where we exchange small gifts. Next, the oldest mom shares her words of wisdom. Then we enjoy a meal together."Caroline Arevalo De Galindom mother of Rita Maria, 2 years, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala

As lovely as this sounds, it is probably not the way many of the birth mothers of adopted children celebrate Mother's Day. For those mothers there is probably little celebration going on in their hearts, even if they have other children at home. Burdened by poverty, malnutrition, and suffering from ongoing prejudice there is neither time nor resources to celebrate much of anything.

Not failing to mention, With tender regard, their wounded memories and the constant reminder of the ultimate unknown fate of their children after they had to let go of them.

Meet Our Guatepreciousbaby and what her Guatemama and Guatedaddy have to "brag" about her!

She is:
"The Song of Our Hearts"
This opportunity is such a miracle and very unexpected. It really was not by our hands. But God had a plan and we watched him as he revealed it very unexpectedly. He has been really gracious on our behalf to allow us such a great blessing. We find it to be one of the greatest gifts of our lives to get to be parents and to love this child. He has blessed us beyond measure! This baby is a true Gift from God alone!

Our Adoption Timeline

* God's revealed Baby Plan: Began in 2005- Attended Adoption event 5/2007

* Signed with agency: 6/09/2007

* Agency submitted Child Abuse checks: 6/14/2007- not completed until 8/08/2007

* Started Homestudy: 6/17/2007

* INS received our I-600A: 7/10/2007

* INS Fingerprinting: 7/24/2007

* Home study complete: 8/05/2007

* Dossier to agency: 9/10/2007

* I-171H received: 9/21/2007

* Got Referral: 10/01/2007

* Hope Ma'ayan Born: 9/08/2007

* Accepted Referral: 10/04/2007

* Documents to Guatemala: 10/05/2007

* DNA authorized: 10/17/2007

* DNA samples at Lab: 10/24/2007

* DNA MATCH: 10/25/2007

* DNA in Guatemala: 10/29/2007

* Entered Family Court: 11/22/2007

* We got PA: 12/10/2007

* OUT of Family Court: 12/22/2007

* Entered PGN: 12/26/2007

* EXIT PGN with no KO'S: 1/28/2008

* New birth Certificate: 1/09/2008

* Passport

* Orange

* 2nd DNA Authorized: 2/12/2008

* 2nd DNA Match: 2/27/2008

* 2nd DNA Emb. Signature 3/3/2008

* E-PINK: 3/6..but we got it on 3/10

* Embassy Appt. 3/18 @ 7:15

* Gotcha Day 3/15

* Bring Our Baby Home 3/20 !!!!