One of those days...

Yesterday was just one of those days. Ya know, one of those days that felt completely off kilter and it seemed like everything was going wrong. It started out okay, but slowly got worse and worse. Eli had an appointment at Children's hospital almost 2 hours away. I timed the trip perfectly so that he slept most of the way there. No problem.

Things started to unravel in the parking garage when I made a wrong turn. After talking to the parking security officer, I had to somehow turn around in the PACKED parking garage, in our new car that feels ginormous. It's a miracle I didn't take off someone's mirror! Then we get to the doctor's office and waited 45 minutes. You know how that goes...not fun with a toddler who has been confined in the car for 2 hours! Finally, we get back to the doctor's office and, of course, wait probably another 20 minutes. By this time, I am getting cranky and impatient. The nurse practitioner comes in and asks all of those typical questions and takes a look at Eli. Total time: 5 minutes. Then we wait another 15 minutes for the doctor to come in and the first thing he says, "There really is no need for him to have this procedure now. You can wait another year. But, if you want to have it now, just schedule with the front desk." Then he leaves. Total time: 2 minutes. He didn't even look at Eli, didn't examine him, NOTHING! You've got to be freaking kidding me. I drove FOUR hours round trip for NOTHING?!?!?!? More evolved when I spoke with the scheduling person, but I won't go into that.

By this time, I am REALLY annoyed. We make our way back to the car, me grumbling the whole way. I get Eli settled with his drink and snack and an arsenol of toys to hopefully keep him entertained for the next 2 hours. I slowly approach the parking gararge exit and realize that the doctor's office never gave me a parking token. And, I have NO cash (no surprise to all who know me!). So, I have to explain this to the same security officer and he was not happy. He was so "generous" to let me out this time, but "not next time." Good grief.

So, as I am now creeping along in rush hour traffic, Jason calls to inform me that we changed our car insurance coverage 2 days too soon. WHAT?!?!?! Yep, he rear ended someone TWO DAYS after we removed comp & collision off of our older car. You have got to be kidding me. It was also about this time that Eli started screaming because he had managed to throw all of his toys out of reach. Sigh...it was a looooong ride home.

But, we made it and what a relief it was for both of us. Eli was so happy to be out of that car and so happy to see his daddy. He was in such a great mood the rest of the evening, which is what we all needed! A perfect ending to a not-so-perfect day!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Mr. Chatterbox

This boy can talk! Of course, we don't understand much of what he says, but he makes a grand effort! He just talks and talks and talks and it often involves lots of interesting and hilarious hand motions. I just know that one of these days he is going to start talking in full sentences and won't stop! At this point, Eli is saying well over 25-30 words and knows about 5 or 6 signs that he uses regularly. The other day I was trying to write down all of the words he says when I heard him come into the room saying "B, B, B, B." My first thought was "Awwww, he can say the letter 'B.'" Well, Eli walked up to where I was sitting and placed a dead bee on the end table! I couldn't believe it! We had only looked at bees in a book at that point. He was very proud of himself! So, "bee" was the next word I added to the list.

Here is a little video of our "B" experience. Unfortunately, I discovered after filming that the videotape was bad so the sound is messy. But, you get the point!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Independence Day

Monday was Independence Day in Guatemala and many other Central American countries. Guatemala obtained indepedence from Spain in 1821. We celebrated Sunday night with a small Guatemalan feast of Chapin style chicken and rice and Guatemala corn cake. Yummy!

While we were celebrating inside, the winds were wreaking havoc outside. We had wind gusts of 60mph. Unfortunately, one of our trees just could not withstand the winds. This is right behind our house. This tree branch fell right on top of our fence in, what I call, the "poop pit." This is Porter's designated, fenced-in area and no one goes in there except Porter and Jason. :) Even though we will have to replace part of our fence, I am so relieved the tree did not fall the other way onto our deck, garage, and house.

View from our deck.

Side view from the yard.
Of course, I have to include a Little Pea shot. He is ready for the cold weather!

Lots of energy

Have I mentioned that Eli is a very busy little guy?!?! He literally does not stop moving all day (except naptime, of course). He certainly keeps us on our toes and provides lots of entertainment! One of his latest tricks is he decided it is much more fun to go down the slide on his belly, head first. Though, I don't think some of the other parents at the park appreciated the new tricks Eli was teaching their children! I think he may be a bit on the wild side! ;) I love it! Here is a little clip of him dancing to his favorite tune. His foster family made us a copy of this music because he loved it so much. What you aren't seeing are the clips of him climbing on the table to dance. Yikes!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Are you ready for some football?

It's that time of year...the air is crisp, it's getting dark earlier, the leaves are starting to change, and the level of testosterone at our house is increasing. Yep, it's time for football. It's a strange phenomenon in our house. On Sundays, my quiet, introspective, sweet husband transforms into this crazy person who yells, jumps up and down, and even grunts from time to time. I generally try to plan other activities during this transformation because, heck, even the poor dog gets scared! What is it about football? I have always hated football. HATED it. But, I have slowly developed a tolerance for it over the past couple of years and have started to develop a slight interest. And, as you can see from the pics, I think I will be in the minority at my house. So, I might as well join em, eh?

My boys watching the game!
Already cheering?
Eli has quite a throwing arm, though he usually throws with his left.
Yep, Ben Roethlisberger is from our town. Though, Jason is very quick to remind people that he was raised in Pennsylvania and has ALWAYS been a Steelers fan. ;)
Football may have started, but it's still baseball season!

New Friends

So, here are some pics from our visit last weekend with our blogger friends Nicole & Dominic and Tracy, Jens, Alex, & Anika. It was so much fun to finally meet them all in person after sharing our adoption journeys over the past year and a half. Even though it was the first time we met in person, we all felt like we have been friends for a long time! I suppose sharing such an incredible and unique experience bonds us all in a special way. So, we spent the afternoon and evening hanging out and playing with the kids. It was a great day and we look forward to many more visits! Hopefully, some of our other blogger friends can join us next time! We were all pretty exhausted by the end of the day, but Eli seemed to think the party was an all nighter! He decided he was having too much fun to sleep and kept us up for about 3 hours in the middle of the night at Nicole's house. This is sooo unusual for him! At least he slept the entire car ride home the next day.

The 3 Guattots playing with all of Dominic's awesome outdoor toys!
All four kiddos in the pool. I think Alex taught ELi some new swimming skills. By the end of the day, Eli was swimming around the pool on his belly like Alex.
Eli LOVED Dominic's tractor!
Eli and Anika ready for a ride! Actually, they were more interested in opening and closing the door.
Dominic and Anika. Anika had lots of hugs for the boys!

End of the day crash! Or, in Eli's case, just the beginning of a long night! ;)

I think Eli pulled off every single book on Dominic's shelf. There was quite a mountain of books on the floor.

The gang minus Jason and Jens. They were in charge of picture taking!

Together Again

This past weekend we went to visit Eli's foster sister, baby F! They are 11 days apart and shared a crib for 8 months. We met Baby F's parents and her 2 big brothers through our agency and we spent our first visit trip together in August 2007. Baby F's family was with us when we met Our Little Pea for the first time, we all ate dinner together with our foster mom and her family, and we spent several afternoons loving on our babies by the pool. Pure joy! They are a beautiful family and it has been a blessing getting to know them. It was sooo fun and exciting to see them again and see how much our two kiddos have grown over the past year. We are so lucky that we live within driving distance from one another and we can't wait to get these two together again very soon!


Baby F & Little Pea around 3 or 4 months old

Here they are today! Aren't they adorable?!?!

We also spent the weekend hanging out with a couple of our blogger friends, Nicole and Tracy! Are you jealous?!?! Heehee! I will post those pics later this week.