The Kids' Room

Toby's Bed and Lili's Crib right next to each other. I'm hoping this will help Lili to adjust since she's in a baby home and used to sleeping near other children.

On the back wall: Mayan Calendar, Toby's name in Guatemalan carved letters, my curtains embellished with worry dolls, a Quetzel (the national bird), and a Worry doll wreath

Hanging on the mirror are guatemalan bibs for each child and on the wall is the hand made quilt from Guatemala. And the bear in the corner is wearing Toby's Guatemalan Hat.

Above the dresser is the Guatamalan painting Greg bought me for my birthday in 06 and on the dresser is a hand carved rainstick. Next to the dresser on the floor is a pillow hand made in Guatemala.

That is the room so far. I plan on picking up a few more things in Guatemala this time to complete the room. And if the pictures weren't enough, I did my best 360 tour of the room. Ignore the fact that I am in pajamas as I walk past the mirror. :)

Make the Jackhammering STOP!!

Edited to add in Liliana's new measurements: Height 25.6 inches Weight 16.5 pounds

Bet you're wondering why I'm talking about jackhammers. Well, I'll tell you....

Yesterday was the first day of waterproofing our basement. The crew spent the day jackhammering a 6 inch deep trough around the perimeter of my basement. And the jackhammering isn't finished yet. Now while all this was going on we had another person on our roof knocking off our slightly skewed and troubled chimney. Talk about NOISE!! Jackhammers, regular hammers, saws, pounding, digging, banging, pounding...Can someone say Excederin! I'm amazed Toby even got the half hour nap he got. On the plus side the jackhammering should be short lived today and then it's on to installing some system in the trench that will collect any water that does happen to get in. Thank goodness because because our basement stinks!!! And when it's really bad we can smell it upstairs. This treatment should also considerably help our allergies. Here are some pics of the basement and two of my silly boys.

The worst wall in the basement.

The Trench

The unfinished trench

Oh No! Greg has Sticker Pox!

And it's Contageous!

Come back later when I plan on posting video of Toby and Lili's completed room. Here's a sneak peak:

A close up of my curtain embellishments. They are Guatemalan Worry Dolls.

The whole curtain. They are the kind you tie to the length you want.

Happy Birthday MiMi

We Love you! Have a very blessed and happy day along with many more to come.

Travel Plans

I am traveling alone for this pick up trip so that Greg and my Mom can stay with Toby. I'm fine with it cause Greg had to leave last year before Toby's Embassy Appointment and I did that and the trip home by myself, so I'm a pro at it. Here's the plan so far....

Wednesday Feb 6th: I depart Pittsburgh at the ass crack of dawn and arrive in Guatemala at lunch time.

Friday Feb 8th: Embassy Appointment @ 7:15am

Saturday-Sunday: Enjoy Guatemala and SHOP!

Monday Feb 11th: Visa Pick-up @ 3:30pm

Tueday Feb 12th: I depart Guatemala at 8:05 and arrive in Pittsburgh at 4:39pm. See you at the airport!

I will be staying at La Casa Grande a phenominal Guatemalan Hotel. Here's the link if you want to check it out http://www.casagrande-gua.com/web/en/index.html

The Background and Liliana are....

PINK!!!

My appointment is on Feb. 8th @ 7:15am and I get to pick up her visa on the 11th @ 3:30pm. This means I will be there over the weekend. I have yet to dteremine when I will leave but Liliana and myself will arrive home on the 12th. Stay tuned for more travel details. I am BEYOND excited!

No News Yet! and a Joke

Nothing from the Embassy today. i had rather hoped that we would hear something quickly, but alas no. The Embassy according to their parameters for timeframes have until Thursday before I'm allowed to contact them and get huffy with their asses. I will try and exercise some patience. This has not been my strong point for the last few weeks. So everyone think and pray for pink. And now for a joke to lighten my mood, courtesy of my PapPap. Thanks for the laugh today PapPap. All the jokes were funny but this one was the best!

The Italian Tomato Garden

An old Italian lived alone in New Jersey. He wanted to dig his tomato garden, but it was very hard work as the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison.

The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament...

Dear Vincent, I am feeling pretty badly because it looks like I won't be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. I know if you were here my troubles would be over. I know you would be happy to dig the plot for me. Love, Papa

A few days later he received a letter from his son...

Dear Pop, Don't dig up that garden. That's where the bodies are buried. Love, Vinnie


At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left.

That same day the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Pop, Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That's the best I could do under the circumstances. Love you, Vinnie


Too funny!!

Our Homecoming Anniversary

Here are the pictures from Toby's homecoming anniversary the other day complete with video. We had a blast. Toby and me went out to eat with NaNa and PapPap at Applebee's and then Toby, NaNa, and I had cake and then when Uncle Dav Dav came home he celebrated with us. Poor Daddy missed it all becauses of Graduate Class. We really missed him.

Toby playing Spiderman on the wall.

Toby's escape plan being foiled by PapPap.

This is the "I don't want to be held...Let me go!" pose.

Diving right in

Testing the icing with his finger

Enjoying even more frosting

Showing Mommy the cupcakes

Mommy and her Boy

Can you say MESSY?

Here Uncle Dave...have some!

And some video of him enjoying the cupcakes. Be aware this was him winding down. it was much more animated then this. I wish I videoed the whole thing.


Cupcakes, Yum!

Time Flys When You're Raising Kids

Well it's official. One year ago today Toby and I packed up the apartment, loaded in a car, and headed to the airport for our long day home. Our flight left Guatemala at 12:50 pm and touched down (after a layover in Charlotte and a meeting with his Godmother) at 10:50 pm. It was an incredibly long day and after a month in "The Land of the Eternal Spring" I was happy to be home. Toby has grown so much in a year and he is constantly learning new things and amazing his Mama. So in honor of Toby being an American Citizen for a year, here is the year in pictures.

January 2007...In Guatemala "Hola USA, here I come"

January 2007...Landing in Pittsburgh

Febuary 2007...All smiles after being home one month

March 2007... Disco Dancin on St Patty's Day

April 2007... Easter Morning "Silly Kitty Cat"

May 2007...Proud to be an American at the Memorial Day Parade

June 2007... Toby is baptized into the Catholic Church

July 2007... Readoption Day

August 2007...Eating on the run at North Park

September 2007...Visiting his sister in Guatemala

October 2007... Pittsburgh's Zoo Boo

November 2007...Jammin at his birthday party. Happy 2nd Birthday Toby!

December 2007...All smiles while hanging out in Missouri with his buddy Skyler (even with his war wound)

January 2008... Getting all "big boy" on his Mommy. Where did my baby go? Oh well I like this little boy just as much and love him even more!

What a blest Mommy I am to have Toby Home for a year! Happy Anniversary Toby! We love you all the way to God and back!

WooHoo!

Liliana's DNA is being shipped to the US Embassy today. It should be there by Friday at the latest. It takes 48 hours not included Fridays and weekends to issue Pink. So we should have pink on Thursday (due to MLK day). I should travel about 2 weeks later. Sooo Close Now!


And now for some pics of Toby!

okay, this one is not of Toby. This is Shivers my oldest cat, who was born slightly lame. I never get this good of a picture and I just had to post it.

Ignoring me while playing with Play-Doh. Please excuse the mess he was "cooking" while I was making chili.

Oh, he turned around and smiled!

This is Toby's Potty Chart. The top is all the times he peed and the bottom is for poop. We didn't have a chart the first week but he pooped 3 times on the potty last week. He is doing really good for me not pushing him. This week though he really dpesn't like pooping on the potty and I'm not about to make an issue over it. he will do it when he's ready, but I am PROUD of how he is progressing so far.

Enjoying breakfast while watching Pat Pat Blast Off (Little Einsteins). It was a very messy morning if you look at the floor and Toby for that matter.

Oh my goodness I almost forgot this.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPPAP!!!! I am so happy that you are feeling better after that surgery. You'll be back to your ole fishing self soon. We LOVE you!!!

New Clothes and Some Pictures

Edited to add: I received this email from my contact at Labcorp today...

Christina just so you know...case reveiw sheet has printed ...this means it willnow go to our PHD for review and calculations...if no further testing is needed it could possibly be released tomorrow,I will keep you posted...hang in there

We are sooo close. I expect PINK next week. Then it will probably be about 2 weeks to travel.


This is Liliana's bouncer, but I think Moke Moke has other ideas. :) He glared at me after I took the photo, I was disturbing his peaceful slumber. Hahaha

Toby and Daddy playing at I wish I would have gotten this on video cause Toby was giggling up a storm. It was hysterical.

Two new outfits I got for Liliana over the weekend. They were half off the already reduced price at Toys R Us. I got the pink dress (for her embassy appt) for $5.20 and the four piece navy outfit for $3.45. I couldn't pass those steals up. I also got Toby two new sweatsuits for $10. I was like a kid in a candy store.

I got these adorable shoes for 70% off to go with the pink dress.

Just a pic of Toby trying his best to avoid my picture taking. He was pretending to watch a show he wasn't at all interested in.