Chronicles of the Cross Family: It has been ONE year!!! (April 12th, 2007) Trip to Foster Mateo

A YEAR AGO...I have such bittersweet memories of my time in Guatemala last year! For those of you who don't know, I (mommy) went to Guatemala to foster Mateo, because our case had hit so many snags and delays that our hearts were breaking knowing that we were missing such precious time with our son. We were expecting to bring him home somewhere between 6-8 months...and at this point he was 9.5 months and still there was no guaranteed end in sight. Making the decision to go down there was very tough...I had to commit to stay down there until the very end of the adoption (for Mateo's sake) which could have been a month or it could have been a year or more! How was I going to go to another country (no matter how wonderful), where I don't speak the language, where I would be away from my husband and best friend, and be a first time mom (alone) to a baby who is going to be very confused about who I am, all at the same time? For who knows how long? Not to mention all the little details like affording two households, finding a place to stay, staying safe. But...

God worked it all out!! He was very faithful! We had a few people help us financially while we were apart (Thank you!!), we had people praying for us, we had a few friends here that checked in on Josh while he was alone. God set me up with the most special adoptive moms in Guatemala (from all over the US) that were wonderful support and companionship!! They also were very supportive through Mateo and I's transition to each other!! (Not easy) (I hope we will always be friends, we all shared such a special time in each others lives!) Though it was a VERY hard time for me (us) while I was down there, I always knew that after some time had passed I would be happy I went and had that time with Mateo experiencing his rich birth country's heritage! I love Guatemala! And I am glad I went, and sometimes I miss it so much...I crave to go back and enjoy the people, food, beautiful landscapes, slower pace of life, and sometimes even the warmth! (I will not miss the 2 stomach bugs that I had for about half of the two months I was there! Thank God for Sharon's wise suggestion of a certain prescription drug that helped clear up each 2 week bout of yuckyness! When you are alone in a different country with a baby and a stomach problem...you learn to get really creative with your bonding and entertainment skills while you are on the throne :) I know, I know probably too much information!! :)) (But these are also memories we will never forget...Mateo's first word "up" originated from one of these "games" we played a lot!) I think though that the worst part was the uncertainty or the open-endedness of our situation! Once we heard we were OUT of PGN (a little over a month into it), my perspective changed! I felt hope, excitement that we were finally going to be bringing Mateo home and that I was going to see Josh again, and a kind of urgency to start enjoying Antigua as much as I could because this was it for a while! Also, I started shopping for little keepsakes and making lists of places I wanted to share with Josh when he came down and joined us! I couldn't wait for him to see firsthand the little life and routine Mateo and I had been living! Also, I couldn't wait for my friends/house mates to meet the love of my life and vise versa !! His trip to pick us up was a kind of whirlwind! Bonding with his son, sightseeing, packing, moving to the city for our last appointments...traveling home (I think it was a 19 hour ordeal...but we were thankful for the miles--makes travel harder but cheaper!!)

OK ...enough reminiscing... I know you are all here for the pictures!! :) I again feel bittersweet looking at these pictures! I am soo glad I have them! Look how cute our little munchkin was! He was sooo small and sooo cute!! ( I had such a fun time dressing him--- who am I kidding...I still do!) Josh and I still are in awe about how perfectly Mateo was chosen for us by God! You can tell God knew what He was doing...by how perfectly he fits right into us and our family and us into him!! (Sorry for the grammatical errors..I am having a hard time putting our feelings into words) We can't wait to experience the rest of our lives together...OUR FOREVER FAMILY!

Here he is one the first day with Aunt Melissa and I...This is about an hour after we got back to the hotel...right about the time he wondering why he was still with us...and nap time!

This is not the first day even though it is the same shirt...teething, teething, teething! Here is a quote from my blog entries while I was down there describing our first two weeks:

"You are all probably wondering about Mateo...we are finally getting used to each other. It has been a very long and hard first two weeks!! With in the first week his two top teeth broke through, and he got sick and continued to be sick up to around 5 days ago. ( I have been here three weeks today) Also, my parenting style and what he was used to is very different, so we are both making progress with adjusting.

He is 10 months old and he fits perfectly in 9 month clothes. He is not as large as he looked in the pictures we had....but he is solid or dense and most likely over 20lbs. He loves music and absolutely loves water and swimming. Just like his Mommy :) And he is now enjoying the other babies here at this house. (Though he shared his cold with them all) Also, the babies here have had the chicken pox in the last month so there is a chance that Mateo might get them...we should know in a week or so. I had to give Josh a hard time about this....that he might get out of parenting a child with chicken-pox :) He is crawling very well...and can pull himself up. I think it will be a little while before he walks, but that is ok with me. "

A picture we took to show Daddy his two new top teeth.

Our precious little boy!! I really enjoyed when he would sleep! (some of my only breaks for 2 months)

This is us going to Mateo's first church service with Me... Doesn't he look so handsome?

At church...after the service.

Crawling around in our room!

Here is our stroller. What a lifesaver with the cobblestone...we never left home without it!!

Time to get dressed up...Daddy is coming and we are going to the city to pick him up at the airport!!

Mateo's daddy is the coolest!! Here we are at a nearby coffee plantation...I am sure one of the highlights to Josh's trip ;) (hehehe)

This is one of the surrounding active volcanoes!

Here are two more from our roof top! The taller of them actually erupted while we were there!! It was amazing...just no pictures turned out to prove it!