All About Katie

Katie is doing GREAT!! I think she is adjusting very well. She LOVES everyone in her family. I would say she is still Daddy’s girl, but since Daddy has had to go to work she is finding that Mom is ok too. She has gone from being totally shy and subdued when she meets new people to sticking her arm out in a friendly greeting or using her hand to go “wah, wah, wah” on her mouth.

She loves to explore and is crawling all over the house just like a 13 month old does. She is cruising and likes to “walk” when you hold her hands. Her favorite toys are definitely her brothers! She knows a good thing when she sees it! They all are so good to her! Besides playing with them she likes to fill containers with “stuff” and dump it out, and fill… but it always ends with dump!!

With the exception of last night she has been sleeping all night and taking 2 short naps a day. She is so easy to put to bed (just give her a blanket and put her down. She may occasionally protest with crying for a few minutes, but Mom and Dad are trying to teach her good sleep habits!) and of course she can sleep through any noise!

She loves the baby bjorn which she is really almost too big for. We went hiking at the park and she had her first time in the swing and loved it. She’s even been shopping with Mom already!

The thing she likes very best is eating! She hasn’t met a food she doesn’t like! She’s on table food now and has already let Mom switch her to a sippy cup. She sits in her high chair and just eats, eats, eats. I have to cut her off, since she’s never once stopped herself! She has already learned how to sign “more”! Tonight during dinner she was eating meatloaf, carrots and potatoes when the phone rang. She put her hand to her ear to “answer the phone” and made a mess of her hair! (We call that food mousse!)

Monday she learned how to say mama, but doesn’t know what it means yet! It was the first time she’d said that sound though, and she and Mom have been practicing!!

We are really enjoying her. It still seems surreal that she’s here, sleeping in her crib and sitting in her high chair and playing on the floor and riding in the van. I just love it!! It was a long wait, but worth it!!

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We arrived home after a safe and smooth day of travel Friday! Our translator was at the Embassy presenting papers for another family and asked if Katie’s visa was ready a little early on Friday morning, so we were able to fly out on Friday instead of Saturday! Katie was a great traveler. God was gracious: we arrived in Atlanta on time, got out luggage (well, most of it, we left one bag!) and headed to immigration. We were told it would take 10-20 min. Instead the man said, “I’ll just take care of this for you” and in 2 minutes we were on our way through customs and security. We thought our flight left in just 20 minutes, so we raced to the train, then ran down the concourse. Our gate was second from the end, of course! We got there to find out that our flight wasn’t boarding for about 20 minutes, so we sat and caught our breath! Then for the first time all week, Katie decided that she wanted to “walk” holding onto our fingers, so we walked her up and down the tile floor in her socks, since the shoes I took her turned out to be way to big! It was a great time! We grabbed a sandwich and water, and then we were on the plane home!

Thanks to everyone who came out to meet us! Sorry to the others who didn’t know we’d changed plans! Please feel free to give us a call and stop by! Her homecoming was so sweet! We all thought she’d be overwhelmed by all the new faces, but she was delightful! She smiled and checked out all the people, especially the brothers and cousins that were in her face! She posed for pictures and played with balloons and after about an hour of celebration, we piled into the big white van and drove home! Matt carried her in and everyone gathered around as we showed her her room. We got her jammies on and she cuddled with Daddy until she fell asleep. He put her in her crib and she slept all night! (Thank you, God! Shawn and Deb really needed a good night’s sleep in their own bed!)

It has been a week of transition for her as she’s left everything and everyone she’s known and lived in a totally different environment with new people. I think it is getting easier for her each day, realizing that we aren’t going to leave her! She is already a Daddy’s girl, but finds that Mommy is ok if Daddy’s not around! (Lucky for Mommy, Daddy has to go to work on Monday!)

She is enjoying playing with Josh, Jake and Zack right now. I really think she’s going to make the most of being the little sister to these 5 awesome big brothers!

I’ll post some more later! Thank you for all your prayers and support!

Deb for all the Everlys!

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Well, this is the last of the international part of it. They got boarding passes and are coming home tonight at 8:59 Bloomington time. They will be arriving at Bloomington airport. Come if you can make it.

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Shawn, Deb and Katie are in Atlanta!!!!!! Yay for the States.

More news to follow, keep checking here

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Greetings to all. We had our embassy appointment today and except for a small hiccup we got through great! We will pick up Katie’s visa on Friday and then home on Saturday. Here are some pictures:

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Shawn and Deb are in Guatemala!!! They have Katie and have taken her to the doctor for her physical and are at the hotel waiting for Wednesday’s embassy appointment.

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FINALLY….WE HAVE PINK!!! I called the Embassy this afternoon and we have our pink slip!! We will be leaving next week to bring our little girl home!! As you can see we made a pink treat tonight to celebrate.

It has been a long wait, but we are finally here. Praise God for His faithfulness throughout this process.

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Thank God for friends! Thanks for all the love and support you’ve shown us, particularly these past weeks! You’ve encouraged me through email, called to check on me, prayed with me and even brightened my day with sending my best canine friend, Binker!! You guys are the best!

Please keep praying. I was thrilled to find out that a friend of mine got her pink slip yesterday, but just made this whole DNA thing harder to understand. Katie had her DNA done and sent on October 3 and my friend’s daughter’s was sent just last Wednesday. They got pink and we still don’t have it. Once again, I don’t understand. I know that God is working in me and right now I feel like I’m being refined by fire. Pray that I am strong enough to make it through to the gold!!

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Well, I was told to try calling again today, so I did. The man today tells me that sometimes it takes 3 days to get DNA results from the office where it is sent to the office to be recorded. I think it’s emailed, hello, I could save us a step here, just give them a different email address. (I don’t understand!) When I told him our DNA was sent to them LAST TUESDAY, (it’s been a week already) he said that we’ve been waiting longer than it usually takes…. The pink slip will get issued the day after the DNA is recorded. He said that DNA “comes in” at 3:00 in the afternoon. (I called at 2:00) I sure hope ours comes in today, and we can get our pink tomorrow! I will not stop hoping!!

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Here is the latest: We are at least getting information. That helps me, even if it isn’t the good news that I want. I at least expect that everything we (us/our agency/the attorney) can do is being done. We emailed the Embassy today and got a response that they are waiting for the second DNA results. I was told that they were sent last week. Apparently the DNA results are between offices in the Embassy and have not been recorded yet. And so our pink slip remains just out of our reach! And our precious little girl, too. Someday…. God, we acknowledge that you are in control and we put our trust in You. I pray that the DNA gets recorded and our pink slip gets issued very soon. Help us be patient and keep our eyes fixed on You.

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