PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me and my Mommy!

This is one of my FAVORITE pics of my kiddos.... notice the look on Jake's face as he looks at her!

"We had a REALLY rough night.... you ought to see my Mommy's hair!!!! :)"

"Look at my bother's BIG muscles!"

Christmas pics to follow.....

Anyone still read this blog?

I am not sure if anyone still reads this blog, but if you do... HEY!!!!!

I have not been a very good blogger since Bella came home. I know that so many of you were so good to me during our horrific process. I was encouraged and loved by so many and I don't want anyone to think I took that for granted and bailed once I got my precious baby girl home. It's just that, well, life with Bella and Jake has been WILD!!!-- in a good way! :)

She is walking... wrong... RUNNING everywhere. My mom and I laugh at her as we watch her roam around the house like a little old lady, seeing what she can knock down, pick up and throw or just get into. She is VERY inquisitive, much more than Jake was at her age. Jake is WIDE open, but I could leave him alone in a room and come back to find it just as it was when I left. NOT WITH ISABELLA!!!!! She will change it's appearance FAST!!!!

She is saying a few words.... Momma, Dada, Hello (with a palm-up, sideways wave), Bye Bye (with a backwards wave), and brover (brother). Let me tell you... she LOVES her brother!! He is the first face she looks for every morning and the first one to whom she gives her "loves"! It makes me so incredibly happy to see them chasing each other around my house and hear them laughing belly laughs! He ADORES her and strives to make her world PERFECT! In his eyes, Isabella can do NO wrong and he lets me know it. He calls her "Sweet Thing"!

She is attached to me!!!! If she could attach her body to me permanently, she would! Hey... I am not complaining. She loves her Daddy, but Mommy is her first choice... as it should be! :) She does not like to sleep, unless it is on me! I sometimes, feel like I am a human mattress.

I must admit, I was not expecting things to go as well as they have with her coming home at such a late age. I do get sad that I missed that very first birthday, but know that it was all in His perfect timing and He had a reason for it. I know that her coming into our family has changed my life FOREVER and has sparked something in me that I was not expecting. I will be posting more about that this week. I am not able to post pics... darn Blogger, but I will try to do so tomorrow and will promise to post more faithfully. I was considering going private or just quitting all together, but have decided to leave things as they are and continue on....


check back soon... if I still have readers, that is...

God is good!!!

Well, I am happy to announce that Lucas was declared ADANDONED today and Jane can now start his adoption!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for your prayers and support! It will be a Merry Christmas for my friend Jane!!!!!!

They are here!!!! and a prayer request for Lucas

The little boy in the picture is Lucas. He is my friend Jane's son that she has been trying to bring home for 2 years now. The little girl is Karly and she came home in October. Jane has a big ole Momma's heart and she has given a home to 4 Guatemalan girls and is in process with a precious little boy that enters PGN this week. Here is the problem with Lucas. He needs a COA issued by Friday before the judge goes on vacation until the first of the year. They told our attorney that they would not issue a court date to give the COA until August of 2008. In lieu of the Ortega Law passing today, August is too late and Lucas will not come home. Now, this case has gone through the Appeals Court and they ruled in favor of an abandonment decree being issued. The problem is the judge... he is not cooperating and wants to make things difficult.

Lucas has watched 3 other children make it home to Jane before him and she started trying to bring him home before any of these. This is heartbreaking. I had the privilege of spending a week with him and Jane in July and he stole my heart. He carries around a photo album of his family here and his house and his room. He just sat and looked at those pictures for hours in July. He also has a shunt in his head and it will need to be changed out next year, as well as needing a hernia surgery.

I tell you all of this because he needs a MIRACLE!!! I know times in Guatemala are not good right now for adoptions and all families need a miracle. But... please storm Heaven's gates for this little boy and his Mommy, Jane. She is torn up and just a mess. Imagine having to go tell him that he will never come home to the only Mommy he has ever known. He was brought to the hogar at only a few days old wrapped up because of his hydrocephalus and no one wanted him. Jane and her family wants him SO badly and he NEEDS them.

Please pray that the judge has a change of heart and give him the COA in the next 3 days before he leaves for vacation!!! I will keep you posted.

AND.......

Our Christmas cards just came in. If you have not already sent me your address and want one, please e-mail it to me. asalemi@cox.net








I will be sending them out this weekend!

Please pray...

for these precious baby girls and their families.

This is Eloisa and her parents are Drew and Bekah. They really need to hear that she is OUT of PGN. It has been a long and hard journey and it is overdue. I am committing my weekend to praying for them. Bekah is such a mighty woman of God, with such a sweet spirit and precious heart. I am amazed by her strength and wisdom and faith in the Lord. Please join with me and pray specifically for her file to be signed out of PGN this week.




This is Corynn. Her Mommy is Jodie and she lives in my town. We have become really good friends. She got released from PGN on Oct. 30- the day Bella came home! She still does not have a Birth Certificate because it is coming from Mixco and the officials there have decided not to release any until they "approve" the cases. Now, mind you she made it through PGN in 8 weeks without a kick out and Barrios approved it with NO problem. It is not the Civil Registry's job to approve cases, but in Guatemala they do what they want to do, regardless of the law and others suffer for it. It will be 6 weeks this Tuesday since her approval and she is no closer to being home. She will be 1 year old on Jan. 4 and if that BC is not given, she will miss Christmas with her family (2 big brothers that are anxiously awaiting her arrival!) and her first birthday... all over some person that is doing something totally illegal and nothing is being done about it! Please pray specifically for her BC to be released this week. Enough is enough. You can imagine how her parents are hurting.

I know there are so many people waiting for their children to come home. I am praying for you daily. My heart breaks for the condition of Guatemalan adoptions right now. Please know that you are not forgotten and that my family prays for all of you each night. As I check the blogs that I read each day, I pray for each of you before going on to another blog. I am believing that the officials in Guatemala will do the right thing and that their hearts will be turned toward the children and not political agendas. If you are a reader of my blog and would like for another family to lift your adoption up in prayer, please leave me a comment and I promise you it will be done daily until your children are home.

LSU Christmas

LSU Christmas

Twenty four days before Christmas, in a state in the south,
Les Miles was ticked as he opened his mouth.
“Miles to Michigan,” was reported as fact.
To which Miles responded, “Herbie you don’t know jack!”

The Tigers had suffered a gut wrenching loss,
At the hands of McFadden and the rest of the hogs.
And Bo in his sweatshirt, and Miles in his Hat.
Were determined to prove they were better than that!

When the Tennessee Vols ran out on the field,
There were ruckus applause from the mentally ill.
Still in the locker room, Les told his team,
“This season ain’t over. We still have a dream.”

The hurt throwing arm of QB Matt Flynn
Meant Ryan was the man they put their faith in.
Then the fans all heard, what Les said in the Dome.
“I ain’t goin’ anywhere. I’m happy. I’m Home!”

The fans were still thinking “This might be a trick.”
‘til someone pointed out “Hey, this guy ain’t Nick!”
The Hat took the field for this championship game,
And he brought all his Tigers, and called them by name;

“Now, Hester! Now, Early! Now, Highsmith and Putt!
Let’s let ‘er rip and shut these guys up!
Take to the field! And give it your all!
Then later we’ll watch numbers 1 & 2 fall.”

The fans still weren’t sure as to what team would show,
The Virginia Tech game seemed like so long ago.
But there in the stands, the fans they did cheer,
As Perrilloux played his game of the year.

While out in Ar-Kansas, the hogs claimed the boot,
The tigers were focused on far better loot.
With the game knotted up, Ainge threw a quick out
But Zenon was ready and took six to the house.

He wore an LSU jacket, and a white turtle neck,
The same as he wore when his team beat La Tech.
With the hat on his head, and a childish grin,
Miles put his team in the title picture again.

His smile-how it widened! as Pitt won its game!
He cheered Oklahoma, when it did the same.
The stars were aligning, it couldn’t be true.
Turns out Miles WAS destined, to play O-S-U.

With a month to prepare and a month to heal up,
We’re all pretty sure which team will show up.
He ain’t going to Michigan, and we’re sure of that.
But Tressel and the Buckeyes should still Fear the Hat.

On December first, he called L-S-U home.
Then set up the Tigers, to play again in the Dome.
It soon will be legend, how Les started that day,
“Can’t talk now. . . . I’m busy. . . . [Y’all] have a GREAT day!”

Continuing Traditions...

For as long as I can remember, my parents would give me and my sister a Christmas ornament on my birthday. It was always an exciting time... more than my actual present... to see what ornament they would give us. Sometimes it would be something to remind us of something important from the year or just something unique. They always picked PERFECT ones! Then when I got married and left home, I had ornaments to decorate my own tree.

I have been doing it for Jake and was SO excited that Bella was home to share in our family tradition! This year, I found the PERFECT one! It is from the Hallmark Keepsake Collection. It is called "Forever Family." I tired to put it down here, but Blogger was not cooperating... um, imagine that?! :) It says: " 2007 Connected with a bond of belonging-- forever family."

It is our family ornament this year. So... do you think I did a good job carrying on my parents' tradition?

I spent the day shopping with my baby girl. We bought her some new Robeez and she was quite proud of them. She showed them to everyone that would look and clapped as they oohed and aahed over them. My daddy bought us steaks and Jeff grilled them. It was a GREAT birthday and I will never forget it. BELLA IS HOME!!!!! BEST PRESENT EVER!!!!!!!!

Sorry, no pictures of the night, we forgot. Santa came by on the fire truck through our neighborhood and through the kids candy. I remember thinking last year that Bella would be here for it this year and she was. It was the best!

Here they are....

First things first...

"Have you heard? LSU is going to play Ohio State for the National Championship!!! How 'bout them Tigers?!

Now... Bella update... she is walking- NO more crawling. She just cruises around the house seeing what kind of mess she kind make! In one month, she has begun walking, got her first haircut, gone to the park, done LOTS of shopping and eating out, starting saying some English words, helped Daddy and Jake put Christmas lights on the tree, started eating some table food, gained over 1 pound, and learned to drink out of a straw! She has been busy!!!!!

I get so overwhelmed and emotional each time I hold her and look at her. During our adoption, I did not give much thought to her birth mom, but while we were on pickup, I was able to read her social worker report and learn more of her situation. Something changed in me at that moment and I began to truly realize how much love this woman had for this precious baby girl. I mean, as a mom to Jake, I cannot imagine how I would live day to day not knowing who had my baby, where they lived, what kind of life he was living and yet, Bella's birthmom does this daily. I hope to be able to instill a love for her in Bella. She truly gave the ultimate sacrifice of a mother's love to my daughter and for that I will forever be grateful. Not a day goes by that I don't think about her and pray for her.

We are going to be getting Christmas pictures done this week for our Christmas cards. I did not do cards last year since my other child was not home. It just did not feel right. I found the cutest dress for the occasion and cannot wait for everyone to see them. If you want one, please e-mail me your address. My e-mail address is asalemi@cox.net

Now on to more pics of my precious children (I love the sound of that... "children"!)

Holding Daddy's hand while she sleeps!

My sleeping beauty.

My sleeping beauties! Notice her hand on her big brother's arm. She sleeps like that with him.

First haircut... not too sure.

Trying to get Daddy to save her.

This is the kind of mess she "finds" when she cruises the house. This child LOVES to unroll toilet paper. I got smart, after this one, and removed it and put it where she could not reach it! We found some in her mouth!

This is her newest thing... when she sees a camera, she gives this cheesy grin as her pose. We got to work on that or there will be no modeling career in her future! LOL

Playing with Daddy. She just started sticking her tongue out ALL of the time.

She loves to jump on Daddy's belly and hear him moan.

I admit, I have been really lazy with taking pictures. I will be more diligent this week and get some better shots. Today is my 35th birthday and I am so excited she is here to celebrate. Jeff took me out to the Melting Pot Friday night. We left both kids with my parents. It was the first time I left her with anyone except Jeff and I only did that the day after Thanksgiving for Christmas shopping. She did great! I had a harder time, though! LOL :) Anyway, normally, I would not be happy about turning 35 (30 hit me REALLY hard), but having Bella home has brought me a contentment that I have not had for a while. Jeff is cooking steaks and my dad is coming over to eat. I will post pics of the very special occasion.

Hope everyone has a GREAT Monday!

WOW!

Wow! I just realized that Bella has been with us for 1 month and on Saturday, it will be her 1 month anniversary HOME!!! I haven't blogged alot lately, due to the fact that she is keeping us quite busy!

Bella is doing great! She is now walking--- no more crawling! She is saying a few words... very important ones... like, Momma, Dada, Broer (Brother)... you know the ones that matter! LOL She doesn't like to sleep, she LOVES her bottle, is VERY affectionate, smiles OFTEN, not very fussy, oozes personality, blows kisses, waves to EVERYONE she sees... she is quite the little flirt! I have lots of things I want to blog about, but finding the time has been a challenge. I hope to be able to share some of them soon. I know it has been a while and I hope I still have some readers out there!

I still have bronchitis and now a severe sinus infection. I promise to post pics this weekend!

Until later...

Busy Bella

My Beautiful, Brown-eyed Girl! She is one BUSY girl... always on the move looking for something new to "explore". The other night, I found her popping out all of my safety plugs from the wall sockets!


Helping Momma load the dishwasher.

This is where she spent her time this morning while I was getting ready.

She automatically smiles when she sees a camera now.

Jeff and I had to go to the doctor last week (where we found out we had bronchitis!). This is what Bella did while we waited to see the doctor. We spent 3 hours in there and she never once fussed-- just explored CONSTANTLY!!!

"Hey, Daddy, how do you get that echo sound in your voice?"
She is a cabinet closing and opening little booger!

"Hey, Daddy, let me drive... oops, I almost ran off the road because I got sidetracked... I looked up and saw a sunroof!"

"Daddy, you are the BEST!!!"

Do you think she has him wrapped, yet?

Two days later, we were at the ENT with both kids (that still sounds weird!). We found out that they BOTH had bronchitis and Bella had a touch of croup, too. I cannot tell you how good it was to see my TWO children playing together in the doctor's office. I actually got teary-eyed watching my heart's desire right there!

Pray for my friends and their precious children...

I would like to ask all of my readers to pray HARD for some of my friends tonight. First of all, let me say, that I am NOT computer savvy and do not know how to copy pics off of other blogs and put them on mine. The times it was done for previous posts, my husband did it and he is not here tonight. So, with that being said, I will just list their names and what they need you to be in prayer about.

Jerry and Stacie-- They are currently waiting on PINK. Their daughter's name is Allie and this is their first child. They should have gotten an appointment last Thurs., but things did not happen like they should. Please pray for roadblocks to be removed and them to have favor with the embassy tomorrow!

Drew, Bekah and Benjamin-- They are waiting for sweet Isa to join their family FOREVER. She just turned a year old in Guatemala and I know the pain they felt that day. There has been problems with the attorney the agency assigned to their case and they need things to be resolved QUICKLY and the truth to be told about the status of their case. Please pray for the hand of God to guide their file through to the end and Isa into their arms forever!

Melissa and Jodie-- There are problems with the Civil Registry where they need a birth certificate issued. Please pray for these obstacles to stop and the bcs to be released. These precious girls need to be home for Christmas!

Chris and Lindsey-- This couple has endured more than their share of heartache. As they begin a new adoption, please lift this precious couple up before the Lord. Pray for things to happen quickly and for the hand of God to guide those involved in finishing this adoption. They just returned from meeting her and I know they pain they are feeling without her. Lift them up to him.

Bama Girl-- I don't know this woman, but my heart is burdened for her and her family. Precious Sydney is caught in a political web and suffering at the hands of evil people in authority. Pray for the necessary hearts of those involved to be soften and turned. Sydney needs to be home and this family needs to experience joy instead of heartache.

Ashley and Madeline-- This friend of mine has without a doubt endured more pain than any other person involved in adoption. She needs a miracle to bring precious Madeline home. I serve a God that does miracles and we need to pray He moves in this case in a MIGHTY way! Pray for her broken heart and for strength to continue to endure.

Jennifer and Sara Michele-- Sara is in the same orphanage that Bella lived in and she got caught up in a political web, as well. Please pray for the appeals court to release her certified copies so that this little girl can join her forever family!

Jane and Lucas-- Pray that an abandonment hearing is scheduled SOON so that the COA can be issued and his adoption can finally begin (after over a year!).



I don't know if I am forgetting anyone. If I am, please forgive me and e-mail me. I would LOVE to put your request out for others to surround in prayer!

A little glimpse...

Throughout our whole adoption process, I will admit, my faith waivered... I had my doubts and my rages... sometimes at God. I am not proud of it, but I will be honest. Two days before the civil registry released our birth certificate, I told God that I wanted to finish this off with my head held high, being able to praise Him... not hang it low, despite my unbelief, when He did it. I asked Him not to let that BC be released until I had whole heartedly found peace and dropped the unforgiveness I was holding. You may ask who I could have had unforgiveness towards. Well, for one, my attorney. I felt that she used our case to further her ADA work and we got tangled up in a political fight between her and the powers that be in Guatemala. I blamed her.

Then, I began to read a book called The Bait of Satan-- The Sin of Offense. I started reading this book on that Tuesday that I prayed the above prayer to the Lord. In it John Bevere, the author, sets the stage by telling you that if you are a child of God, NO man or NO thing can thwart the plans He has for your life. Yes, people have a free will, but He can stop anything He does not want happening in your life. He told how Joseph was sold into slavery and thrown into prison unjustly. Now, we went through a lot, but NOTHING compared to this. And, yet, he was able to realize that it was all part of God's divine plan for his life. It was at that moment that I realized that our adoption did not go the way we had anticipated it... it went the way He charted it.

He called us to adopt... of that I am MOST certain. He KNEW the day she would join our family and the age she would be when it happened. He NEVER promised me that she would come home as an infant. He just asked us to be obedient and our job was to do that and trust Him to fulfill the dream He had birthed in our hearts. MY plans were to bring home a little baby and move on with my life. HE HAD OTHER PLANS!!!! Yes, Susana, used our case to further a cause in Guatemalan adoptions and as far as I can see, it did NOT pave the way for anything positive. However, Bella came home at the perfect age and at the perfect time-- HIS TIME.

Today marks 2 weeks exactly since she joined our family FOREVER. I was listening to John Bevere's series A Heart Ablaze on my way to bring Jake to school this morning. He was talking about Moses bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt. He asked the congregation this question:"Why did God lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?" The people responded, "to bring them into the Promise Land." NOT TRUE! He led them out of Egypt to bring them out of bondage into freedom. In this past year, He brought me out of the bondage of dependence on myself and into the freedom of trusting Him with EVERY area of my life! The glory of the Lord was revealed to them IN the desert, as they wandered around. The desert is not a place of being forsaken by God or left alone until He decides you have spent enough time there. It is a place where you are not living in the abundance of life. You are only given the day's manna.. the provisions you NEED for THAT day. WOW!!!! That spoke to me. He went on to say that "it is in the desert that God quiets you heart and changes you for HIS glory". You see, if you had the abundance of everything working out in your life the way YOU planned, then you would not need to depend on Him.

That is where the glimpse I spoke of in my post title comes in to play... I know now that He allowed our desert time to happen so that He could quiet me and teach me TOTAL dependence on Him, despite the situations others placed us in. I can tell you that I changed in the last 16 months. Was it an easy change? NO, but as I wrestled with MY will and against HIS and as I kicked and screamed, He broke me and taught me that my life is in HIS hands... a place where I willingly placed it when I was 13 years old. And about that birth certificate... it was released 2 days later! :)

Things are going great with Bella and her attachment to us. She said "Momma" the other night when she woke up... needless to say when I heard that over the monitor, I nearly broke my neck getting to her! :) I can say that times are tough with me not working and getting paid and look bleak to our human eyes, but I have learned to look at my life through the eyes of faith. If I keep my eyes on Him, everything will be provided and I will fulfill my purpose.

I pray that if you are still waiting for your precious little one, that you surrender your will for His and that He wraps you in His arms every step of the way until He delivers your "promise" to you and your family. I am praying for all of my blogging friends still waiting... your time IS coming!!

First trip to the park and other misc. pics

Today was a beautiful day and we decided to take Jake and Bella to the park to enjoy it. This was the first time Ms. Bella was put in the grass. She wasn't too crazy about it at first, but when I sat down with her, she realized it must be okay and she began to attempt to eat it. Well, when she saw my reaction, she tried even harder. She is quite the clown and LOVES to make us laugh!

Enjoy the pics... some of them are from today, some are from my nephew's birthday party yesterday and some are just of Jeff and Bella enjoying an early morning snack. I was told tonight (by Steph) that I was not blogging enough with pictures... so here is what you wanted Steph!

Happy Birthday, Joel!! Nana loves you!!!

My daddy feeding Bella some icing... she LOVED it!

You may be wondering where the hairbows and pigtails went... well, she has decided that she doesNOT want them in her hair. She feels up there throughout the day to be sure I have not sneaked one in on her. She will pull at it until it is beyond fixable.... hoping this phase will pass!!

This girl LOVES her some bananas!!!!