We are Blessed!

A year ago today, we were so lucky to have been Blessed with Anna Maria.

The other day it dawned on me, just how blessed we were to have Anna Maria in our family. If I listened to my husband and went with the same agency we used to adopt our son, Peter wouldn't have a baby sister to play with today. If we went with the agency, they wouldn't of put our name on the "waiting list for a baby girl" until they got our 171H form, we didn't get that until August 29, 2007. At that time the Agency had a 16-18 week wait for a baby girl. Well, remember last year, adoptions were put on hold and new ones couldn't be started. If we went with an agency, our name would have remained on that "waiting list" forever, until who knows when.

On August 29, 2007 when we received our 171H form, we already knew about Anna Maria and already visited her in Guatemala - Because I (mommy) being determined to complete our adoption before the Hague mess, talked daddy into doing the adoption independently with a lawyer in Guatemala. We are very blessed in having to talk to Bob T., who told us about this wonderful man, that he called his friend - who was a lawyer in Guatemala - that was trying to find homes for babies - so they can have forever families, before the Hague put a hold on adoptions. I always said there was a reason how I found Bob T. I came across Bob T. by doing a google search for independent adoptions in Guatemala and a yahoo group came up - so me being the "queen of adoption yahoo groups" checked it out and signed up for it. Bob T. emailed me and asked how I found the yahoo group, because he was quite surprised, because he just formed the yahoo group for Independent Adoptions in Guatemala. After talking to Bob T. the first time, I knew this was the way I wanted to go, but it took some (okay maybe A LOT) to convince my husband to go independently, instead of through an agency. I already knew the paper work, so I didn't need anyone to hold my hands. Bob T. and I spoke a couple of more times, and I was honest and told him that my husband isn't jumping on the boat with this one, because he doesn't want to take a chance with someone he doesn't know. So Bob T. suggested to go to Guatemala, and meet Edwin (the lawyer) and see our baby (she was due to be born in a couple of days), and then decide if we wanted to do it or not. That sounded like a great idea, so mommy suggested it to daddy and he thought that was a good idea too. Then a couple of days later we got an email from Bob T. telling us about this baby girl that was available for adoption and once he got the info he would forward it to us. Well, 2 days later Bob T. sent us an email and he even had pics attached. Well, the pics had me hook, line, and sinker. I called daddy who was working, and told him about the baby girl - and he was like "well, what do you want to do". LOL, he already knew what I wanted to do! We planned a trip to Guatemala the next week to see Edwin our lawyer and our daughter. Edwin had daddy at the airport! Daddy was so impressed with Edwin being at the airport to pick us up - with his family, and the foster mother and our daughter. The moment brought tears to my eyes, because I knew this was our path to take to get our daughter home. Wow, it's even bringing tears to my eyes now, because I remember this day, like it was yesterday!

If we had to do it all over again, I would definitely go independently with Edwin and his family. They are truly special people who have a heart and really do care about the children in Guatemala. We were lucky enough to adopt Edwin and his family into our family, they will always be a part of our family, and hopefully someday - they'll be able to make a trip to New York to meet the rest of their family.

Special Thanks! to Bob T. & his family, for everything they did. Not just with our family, but for all the children in Guatemala looking for families to call their own - Bob T. did his best to find as many families as he can to adopt them.

We are so truly Blessed! I am blessed, to have such a wonderful husband, who wanted to have a family with me, and be part of my family - even though it is unusually large (remember 16 brothers and sisters, 36 nieces and nephews, and 12 grand nieces and nephews).