New blog
I am pretty much just posting on Cruz's progress on his blog, walking by faith. May still put a few pictures on here from time to time, but that is about it. Using Facebook to share pictures as well.
Easter was a lot of fun this year! My oldest nephew, Alan, his wife, Rachel, and their son, Kaleb were in town for a few days. All the kids loved hunting eggs. Cruz, Kaleb, and Marina really seemed to get the hang of it quick! Cruz clapped for himself every time he picked up an egg. Next, he would hurl the egg across the yard like it was a baseball! Marina hoarded all the candy. I cannot tell you how many times I found her sitting in the corner eating out of one of the other kids' baskets!
Fall 2007
We had a great fall!
We went to the mountains with my sister, Kelli, her husband Don, and their son, Devin. The kids mined for gems, played mini golf, and rode horses.
We also went to Arkansas to show Cruz off to some of Top's family. Cruz loved meeting his cousinsLeigh, Abbey, and Cole. Cruz enjoyed his first American soccer event as we watched Cole dominate the game! We also caught one of TJ's football games.
Cruz was initiated into the UAB fan club!
Bringing home Marina (November 2007)
We were able to travel quite a bit on our pick up trip for Marina. We hired a guide to take us to Lake Atitlan. “Atitlan" is a Mayan word that translates as "the place where the rainbow gets its colors". It was formed by a collapsed volcano cone. Lake Atitlan or Lago de Atitlán is 320 meters deep, making it the deepest lake in Central America. Approximately fifteen towns or villages lie on the perimeter, mainly inhabited by traditional Mayan people. The three volcanoes seen in the backdrop are Tolimán, Atitlán and San Pedro. We stopped at lots of small cities on the way to and from the lake. In each area or town the Mayan people have their own “colors”. In some groups the men wear the colors as well. We had to return a different route than we came due to “banditos”. The alternate route took us about 3 hours longer because of a chicken bus crash!
Marina and I visited the zoo in Guatemala City. It was very nice. This was our first time without Papa and it didn’t take Marina long to notice he was not there!
Griffin and Savannah Meet Cruz
Griffin and Savannah have been so excited about meeting their new brother who they have been praying for over the last year. They waited up as long as they could, but finally fell asleep just before we got home. Cruz loves playing with them and they are great "babysitters". Griffin puts on Pokemon plays for him and Cruz loves it when Savannah plays Pee Pie with him. Griffin says that he understands what Cruz is saying--that it is a brother thing. Cruz calls Savannah "Nana" and she always refers to him as "Baby Kwooze".
Bringing Cruz Home July 18, 2007
After almost a year of waiting to bring Cruz home, we received the call that Cruz was out of PGN on May 28th. Our U. S. Embassy appointment was on July 16th. Cruz received a Guatemalan Passport with a U. S. IR-3 Visa. He became a U.S. citizen on July 18th when we entered U. S. airspace! Ms. Brenda, Cruz’s wonderful foster mom, said her last “good bye” to him on July 13th when she met us at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. She was too emotional to stay long or say much, but it was obvious that she loved him very much.
4th Trip to Guatemala
When Cruz arrived at the hotel he was dressed so cute! He even had a gold bracelet on! We could not believe how big he had gotten. He is six months old now.
Marina came to Papa immediately and acted like she remembered us. We brought her a stuffed tiger this time and she really liked it. She is walking a little better this trip, but still likes to hold your hand.
3rd Visit Trip
Cruz just turned 3 months old and he looked even better! He was so happy and lovable. Still very spoiled--wanted to eat every 2 hours and sleep cuddled up with mom! This trip was from Thursday, November 2nd to Sunday the 5th. This time we stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and were able to walk around the corner to a supermarket. What an experience! We met our sweet Marina on this trip and she spent a few days with us as well. Cruz and Marina did very well together.
2nd trip to Guatemala
We wanted to make another trip as soon as possible since we didn't get to spend much time with Cruz on the first trip. We were also concerned about his health and wanted to see for ourselves how he was healing. We flew out from Atlanta on September 24, 2006. We were so excited about being able to keep Cruz in the hotel with us! Cruz's foster mom brought him to the Marriott Hotel with his bottle and formula. Luckily, I had packed several of Griffin's outfits to take pictures of him in, so he just looked well dressed all the time! We were so shocked to see how big he had grown. Now he had cheeks and chubby thighs!
Lesli Shoemaker
wrote:
We are here in Guatemala. It has been amazing!
Last night we went to the hospital to see our baby boy. He was
brought to the ER because he had flu like symptoms. In the ER he started
having trouble breathing. They intubated him and got that under
control. His heart rate went up 220 or so. They did some stuff including
put him on a dopamine drip. That is under control. Chest xray shows
apical pnuemonia--being treated with antibiotics and chest xray is
looking much better. WBC count was 20,000 (infection). Better now. Sodium
levels high--probably went into metabolic acidosis. All better now.
They have done ultrasounds, xrays, lab work, etc. The only problem he
has now is durring all of this he developed a blood clot in his leg.
He was treated with streptokinase. Leg is looking better now. Bad news
is he will most likely have a below knee amputation tomorrow. I know
some of you may freak out about this. Please don´t. We are prepared
for this better than anyone. 2 nurses. dr and pt brother, pediatric
PA sister-in-law, occupational therapist friends, and lots of family
and friends that love us and this baby. We will be fine. God has
chosen us for this. the agency has not put any pressure on us. In fact
just the opposite. The keep telling us it is ok not to take him. The
attorney here is saying the same thing. He also said he will cut his
cost down to $9000 from the $20,000 and he will do the same for a healthy
child for us. The agency is going to refund the $5000 fee and do this
for free. They also said if we adopt again it will be free! So, now
we are faced with a new opportunity. We are going to meet an 18 month
old girl this weekend to see about adopting her as well! Savannah will
be thrilled, she will get the sister she has always wanted.
Our luggage did not make it here! We look aweful, but God is good! I am
more excited than ever about this! Please don´t worry. We are ok.
Love, Lesli
The update: Cruz had surgery today. They had to go above the
knee, but at least this way we know we can avoid sepsis. I'm not going to
lie to you, I really hoped for a BKA, but we will be fine. The
prosthetics are still great and he will be able to lead a normal life. Don
(my brother in law) hit the nail on the head when he said that if Cruz
were left here he may have to spend a life as a begger. i saw 2 adults
in his condition today on the streets doing just that. His lungs sounded good today. He took a bottle while we were there. I got some photos and video. He is
absolutely beautiful!
We also met 2 girls today. The one we are going ahead with is 2
years old. Full of energy and personality. Beautiful! We had an
experience today that I doubt many other people will ever have. We met her
birth mom. You could tell that she loved this child, but she is so
poor. She wants her to have a better life and we are going to give her
that. I showed her pictures of our family and she really enjoyed looking
at them, especially Griffin and Savannah! Here is another cool thing!
Another couple here visiting has just started the process. He is an
optometrist. When we heard about our girl, the attorney said she had a
6 year old cousin who also needed a home. We have really enjoyed the
eye doc and his wife (Big Georgia fans who live in Panama City) so we
told them about the cousin. They wanted to adopt a child verses an
infant, so we suggested meeting the cousin so we could keep them close!
Here is God working again: When we meet the 6 year old, she has an
eye problem! She may need muscle surgery, but will do fine. She
too is beautiful and full of life! The couple fell in love with her
and I really think this may work out!
I'm not real sure what I am doing creating a blog. Like I have the time! Really, I need to be sleeping! I am also techno illiterate when it comes to this sort of thing. This being said, I really think we have a story to tell.
Our adoption journey began in January of 2006. We had talked about adopting before, but I never thought Top was serious. Top prompted me to look into adopting from another country. Guatemala seemed perfect because of my history with the country. I was to leave for a medical mission trip Guatemala one day before I found out I was pregnant with Griffin. I prayed for wisdom and peace about bringing another child into my already crazy life. I awoke one morning with the most amazing peace about adopting. And so the journey began...
International adoption is a very difficult journey to say the least. The paperwork is unbelievable, but we finally got it all done in June of 2006. Our first "referral" came in July. I received a call about twins. We were so excited! We learned a few days later that one of the twins died and we were heartbroken. The next several days we had so many emotions and many things led us to believe that the twins were given to another couple. It was because of this that we decided to go ahead with the adoption of another baby--Bryan Josue, who you all know as Cruz. God really had his hand in this decision. In the weeks to come it was so obvious that he was chosen for us. Cruz became gravely ill at the age of 3 weeks and arrived at the hospital in Guatemala nearly dead. He was not breathing. He was given lots of drugs and interventions and in the end, he developed a blood clot in his left leg. We met him in the hospital 2 days before they amputated his leg above the knee. It was love at first sight! And leaving him there was the hardest thing I have ever done.
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