More "Red Rug Party"

Red Rug Party

That's what Maya called our Red Carpet party :)

More pics to come - I bought a 8GB high-something-or-other memory card that won't work on my old (only two years!) computer without a separate reader (I'm headed to best buy later). These are from Wayne's camera.

Maya's First Sleepover

Grandma and Grandpa helped us out by staying overnight last night so Wayne and I could enroll Maya in a preschool, Field Station. I can't remember who told me about this one, it was at least a year ago, I was talking to someone about preschools in the area. It's a nature-based program, run by a cooperative of parents. It's located in an old barn in the National Lakeshore. If you're interested, check out www.fieldstationkids.org. They have more kids than the limited number of openings so they hold a first-come basis registration starting at 8:00 am. We heard that the first person in line last year got there at 3:30 am! Sooooo, to make sure Maya was enrolled and partly for the adventure/challenge :) , there we were, in the middle of the night. We got in line a little before 3:30, and we were second in line.

Maya had a blast, with her "BEST SLEEPOVER EVER, GRANDMA". She started out the night in her new princess sleeping bag.

My Little "Posh Lady"

My little "posh lady"!

Dinner at Cafe Elite again.... I tried the baked brie - awesome! - and grilled vegetable salad. We used a restaurant.com gift certificate. If you haven't tried them yet, they're huge bargains. Right now they have a $25 gift certificate for $10 AND then 80% off - so you pay $2 !! You have to watch the restrictions, ie dinner only, or with minimum purchase, etc. but the savings are huge.

The Grandpa and Maya Show. They regularly give us reports that "I AM BEHAVING
and I CAN HAVE DESSERT". Although Maya likes to snitch on Grandpa, "NO, Ed" and "Look, Grandma, look!"

Instructions for Snow Angels

This is how you do it.....

Admire and....

repeat.......

365 Days of Gratitude - Day One

I saw someone doing this on Facebook. Maya and I try to name our favorite thing that happened during the day and / or in our "God Bless" es, we thank God for a specific thing from our day. I'm getting out of the habit of posting on this blog since my camera broke so I thought I'd combine all this into an effort to write my "gratitude" daily.

WARNING! WARNING! More sappy gushing about Maya......

Day One: (has to be the biggest thing!) I am grateful for the precious gift of my daughter. She was building with blocks tonight while I was watching American Idol. She walked up and put her hand on the side of my face, gently pushed it away from facing the tv to facing her block tower and said, "Mama, watch ME!". It was SO sweet. She's started calling me Mama and it sounds so tender. Although sometimes she will say Momma or Mommy fifty times in sixty seconds and it can be a bit, just a teeny bit irritating, I don't think I will ever tire of hearing the words.

One more, just have to add..... I'm grateful for the company and friendliness of women. I went to a Friends and Newcomers meeting this morning where one woman took the time and effort to show us how to make a scrapbook for greeting cards. Everyone was so nice - just a really pleasant morning spent laughing and creating.

Playgroup and Islamorada

We're trying a new playgroup, sponsored by the Friends and Newcomer's club in Valpo. After this week's (our second time), Maya and I went for lunch at Islamorada in the Bass Pro Shop. Moose-riding is fun, but can be a little scary!

Kid's Night At Fazoli's

Fazoli's has become a favorite hang-out. Tuesday's are kid's nights with crafts for the kids and specially priced kids meals.

Valentine's Day!

The week before Valentine's Day, Maya starting asking, "Is company coming over?" and "Are we having a party?". I thought it was a "great idea" (we say that alot) to celebrate Valentine's Day as a day of love instead of limiting it to romantic love. Okay, okay, I was in the mood for a party :) Even though the official day was Saturday, we chose Sunday so that we could combine it with Wayne's lunch with Linda and Dave. On Saturday, Wayne did the traditional Valentine's giving me roses (I LOVE flowers) and a beautiful card. I gave him a card with the song, "Love will keep us together" - the oldie by Captain and Tenille. Aren't those song cards fun?

Maya has been wanting a sleeping bag since before Christmas, so I thought Valentine's Day would be a good time. I found a cute one (on clearance, of course) at Kohl's with the Disney princesses in a nicely made matching tote bag. Partial to the bags, ya know! Cousin Pat sent Maya a package and Aunt Elaine sent a gift bag, so Maya had a mini-Christmas :) It was fun!

Aunt Linda, Uncle Dave, Cousins Jaime, Greg, Jacob and Baby Katherine, Cousins Kim and Alex, Grandma and Grandpa came over to celebrate with us!

Daddy cooking his famous waffles.


The "grumpy-guys"!

Alex opening his belated Christmas present.

Scavenger hunt.

Awwwww, Grandma holding a sleeping Baby Katherine.

Maya and Baby Katherine.

Our trip to Australia

......or not!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Odds and ends that are memories

....hiding the jelly from Grandpa.....

Cafe Elite in Michigan City

Need a laugh? This is TOO cute :)

Watch this little girl do the Smarty Pants Dance!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSDqXcxZpsE

Adoptions from Guatemala....Today

As many of you know, adoptions in Guatemala halted soon after we brought our precious Maya home. Ostensibly, there was to be a reorganization and adoptions were to be overseen by a government agency instead of private attorneys. In addition to the children born since then, and available for adoption, who could have been placed in loving homes, there were 5,000 "in process" adoptions. Many, many, many of those children are still waiting.

I am continually thankful for the precious, beautiful gift of my daughter. Words will never adequately express my gratitude. My heart aches for other children and other families who are not as fortunate.

The Joint Council on Children's Services wrote a position paper about the state of adoptions in Guatemala today, I'll show it below. A friend has also created a video about the "in process" famililes. Please help us.


"Sometimes I'd like to ask God why he allows poverty, famine, and injustice in the world when He could do something about it . . . but I'm afraid God might ask me the same question."


Please take a moment to write your legislators and ask them whenever and wherever possible to think of the children of this world, specifically at this time, those in Guatemala. Here's a link to find the email addresses of your representatives, http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml



This is my letter:



Dear Representative,



Please read the position letter from the Joint Council on International Children's Services regarding the state of adoptions in Guatemala, at http://www.jcics.org/Guatemala.pdf. I would appreciate any assistance you can provide to help the children of the world to find safe, healthy, and happy homes where they will be loved.

Many families have "in process" adoptions and have been waiting for over a year for completion of their adoptions - even though they have been matched with children all this time. Please help them bring the children home.

THE POSITION PAPER

117 South St Asaph St ● Alexandria, VA 22314 USA ● Tel: +1 703-535-8045 ● www.jointcouncil.org ● jcics@jcics.org February 4, 2009

Joint Council Position Paper
Guatemala: One Year Later

On January 1, 2008, under significant scrutiny and amidst allegations of corruption, child trafficking and unethical practices, Guatemala implemented the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. Guatemala’s participation in the Convention was applauded by the many governments and NGOs who had insisted on changes to the practices in Guatemala and vigorously supported Guatemala’s participation in the Hague Convention. The implementation was seen by many as the answer to corruption and unethical practices.

Now, 12 months since its implementation, has the Convention truly been the answer? It appears that one year later there are more questions than answers, more needs than funds, and for the children in need of a family, more despair than hope.

Since the implementation of the Convention, Guatemala has in fact seen an end to allegations of ongoing corruption in inter-country adoption. Children now have strong protections against child trafficking. Birth families are free from the unethical practices of unscrupulous practitioners. And a Central Authority governing all adoptions has been established in Guatemala.

Over this past year, in addition to these protections, has the Convention’s implementation in Guatemala also served children? Has it enabled children living in institutions to find a family? Unfortunately the manner in which Guatemala implemented the Convention has not resulted in an ethical intercountry adoption system; it has resulted in no intercountry adoption system. The implementation of the Convention has indeed succeeded in adding protections. But it has also failed in its role to serve children. Despite an estimated 6,000 institutionalized children and few domestic adoptions, not one child has found a permanent family through the Convention.
When the Convention was implemented the law stated that the estimated 3,000 adoptions that had been initiated would be completed. One year and countless investigations by the PGN, MP, CNA and Guatemalan courts later, over 1,000 children have yet to have their adoptions completed. Joint Council supports efforts to ensure that each and every adoption is done in the best interest of the children, and recognizes that investigations are a part of that protection. But the cost should not be born by innocent children. Joint Council calls on the Guatemalan government to swiftly bring each pending adoption case to a final resolution and thereby end the deprivations of institutionalization.

Protecting children and families from harm is one of the primary roles of the Guatemalan government and their efforts must be recognized and supported. However, much like the scrutiny and attention by the international community exposed the corruption of the prior system, this same community must now refocus their attention to bring to light Guatemala’s ineffective implementation of the Convention and its subsequent impact on institutionalized children and Guatemalan families.

As recently published by Nuestro Diario, a leading Guatemalan newspaper, children are being abandoned to the streets at an alarming rate. With few government institutions to provide care and the closure of many private institutions, some birthmothers are simply leaving their newly born children in trash dumps. Nuestro Diario reports that in Guatemala City alone, 91 children were found abandoned with 70 being new born infants. Twenty abandoned children in Guatemala City were found after they had already perished. What is being done to build a social service system which not only protects children from corruption but also from a tragic death?
The lack of services to children as a result of the poor implementation of the Convention has yet to be addressed by those who supported its premature implementation. With prior knowledge that Guatemala lacked the capacity to properly implement the Convention, why were alternative reforms not considered? Who will assist the Guatemalans in replacing what was the only effective means of finding families for children? Who will help preserve families? Who is building an effective and safe domestic adoption program? Again, one year later there are more questions than answers.

The reform of the previous adoption system and the implementation of the Convention required the collective efforts of many governments and NGOs, including the U.S. and European governments. Building an effective child protection system in Guatemala will necessitate another, similar effort. Given the many challenges the Guatemalan government and its children are facing, no one entity can accomplish this task alone. Joint Council calls on the U.S. and European governments along with UNICEF, the NGO community, and The Hague Permanent Bureau to provide the necessary technical and financial assistance needed to appropriately serve the children of Guatemala. After 12 months and little progress it is apparent that only a collaborative effort can create the full range of desired services.

The formation of a spectrum of services including Family Preservation, Kinship Care, Domestic Adoption and Intercountry Adoption is desperately needed to ensure that children retain their right to a family and are protected from the detrimental effects of institutionalization, or even an unnecessary death. Joint Council calls on all stakeholders who previously asked for reforms to move with speed in order to provide these much needed services.

Some efforts have already begun. UNICEF and the governments of Chile and Brazil have provided limited technical assistance, and USAID is planning two pilot programs focused on family services. These efforts represent a start to services but are clearly not enough. In the past 12 months less than 60 domestic adoptions have been completed. Zero intercountry adoptions have been initiated. And significant family preservation is only in the development stage. When a child protection system results in more children being abandoned and less children finding families, is it not obvious that more needs to be done?

It has been one year since the implementation of the Convention; the children of Guatemala await our answer.

THE VIDEO FROM AN ADOPTING FAMILY

oops link didn't work, will add later......gotta run now....

No Camera - I'm Lost!

I'm lost without my camera! Maya and I broke it :( Equal responsibility, we both reached for it and dropped it on the ceramic tile - ouch! I sent it in to Canon, hopefully they will be able to fix it. In the meantime, I'm lost!

Saturday - picture George and Claudia, me Wayne and Maya, at a colorful Mexican restaurant smiling..... IF I had my camera, the picture would be right here. We had lunch at El Salto, it almost felt like being in sunny Mexico for a couple hours. Then back out in the cold :) It was so nice to see G and C again, it had been too long. Now I know who to call if I get a speeding ticket in Hammond, their son, Dan, is a Hammond police officer. It seems like just last summer, we were watching him play baseball in the park.......

With my typical calendar-itis, I mixed up the date of when we were supposed to see Jeff Allen perform and we showed up early - a WEEK early. Jeez! So, we went to a movie instead since we had a babysitter (Grandma and Grandpa). We saw "Revolutionary Road". I can't really recommend it. It wasn't poorly made, the acting was good, but it was just depressing. It reminded me of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf - lots of marital dischord, drinking, sadness.... I did get the bug to see movies though and today I went back and saw "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Taken". I do recommend those two. "Slumdog" is excellent. One review I read called it redemptive, a pretty good description. "Taken" is more formula, predictable, forgettable but good if your in the mood for a Charlie Bronson/Die Hard type movie with lots of chase scenes.

We had a Superbowl party (just the usual suspects) and loved watching the commercials. Mom and Maya won the squares. Lots of laughs, Maya is into running an obstacle course - it's funny just to hear a three year old SAY obstacle course, let alone do it. If I had a camera, I would post a video :( Okay, I'm whining. Time to go!