Portrait of my Bug

I found an amazing portrait artist a few weeks ago, amazingly on Craigslist. This artist does pencil drawings from a photograph that she comes out to take. I had portraits like these done for Morgan and Grant when they were 4 and 2 and wanted to have one of Sophie~Bug too. I could not locate the artist who did theirs again, but when I stumbled across this artist's ad on the website, her style looked much like my other portraits hanging in the living room.

So, a couple weeks ago, she came out to take pictures of Sophie. We had both fallen asleep for a little nap when she came to the door. Luckily, it was at the tail end of Sophie's nap, so I just pulled her out of her crib and had Grant try to get her to smile. Her eyes were a little squinty from just waking up and being placed in the sun. And, of course, I did not have time to re-do her hair... but the portrait came out great. This is a photograph of the portrait that she sent to me before she delivered it.



I love that she is laughing at her brother in this picture... and I am amazed at the talent it takes to draw so well.

Guatoberfest 2007

Oh, what fun we had in Georgia at the first ever Guatoberfest! Special thank yous to Julia and Kerry for organizing this awesome event! Old friends were finally able to meet in person and many new friends were made! And the children are even more gorgeous in person if that is even possible! It was so awesome to meet all the mommies and hear the voices behind all the posts. The weather was perfect, the hotel was awesome, the itinerary was just enough to pull everybody together to mingle, yet allowed everybody a chance to do other things (especially SHOP!).

Enough about the details... I know you want to see the pictures!



Sophie~Bug had a great time together with her friend, Bryce, who she calls "Mice". She is the daughter of Marcy and we connected back when we were in process to bring our girls home in 2005. These girls looked so much alike as infants and are just 6 weeks apart in age. It was fun watching them play together as if they have been friends forever!

My great fried Alma made the trip with me. Please keep her in your prayers as she is waiting the referral of her daughter (to be named Natalia) from Guatemala. With all that is going on in Guatemala as far as adoptions are concerned, she is in for a bumpy ride, but just know that Natalia will be worth the wait.

Also noticed that my Blogmeter reached 20,000 visits today... wow, I am amazed at the connections and friendships that this blog has created. Thank you for continuing to stop by to check in on my family.

Love and FROG,

Sarah

Favorite Foto Friday #8 & Happy Two Year Forever Family Anniversary!

This week, I am again posting multiple photos for my Favorite Foto Friday as October 5th marks the 2nd year anniversary of my precious Sophia Lane Elisabeth being placed in my arms for forever in the Marriott lobby in Guatemala City. Wow, how those two years have flown by and my love for my little bug has grown exponentially!!

Here is my precious little ladybug in the garden this week...







And here she was two years ago today being placed in my arms after what seemed like an eternal wait (and of course, I now feel so lucky to have brought her home so soon).



There are no words to describe just exactly what I felt when I held her that day... but I can tell you that it was so surreal and every bit as miraculous as the moment my newborns were placed in my arms after their births. This child grew not in my womb, but in my heart and the labor pains were every bit as painful each time and the joy every bit as momentous!

Today, I think so much of her birthmother and wonder if she is thinking of her tiny baby and wondering if she is loved and cherished and cared for. I know somewhere in the back of my mind that she absolutely knows that our daughter is greatly loved and is someone special to so many. A thread will always connect us all... and I pray that Sophie will grow up knowing that her birthmother gave her the gift of life and her mommy received the gift of watching her grow up and helping her become all that her mothers dreamed of.

I LOVE YOU, MY BABY SOPHIE~BUG!!! I am so happy that we are together for FOREVER!!

We are spending this special anniversary traveling to Atlanta for Guatoberfest. I will not be able to link your FFF pictures here until my return Sunday night. I promise to take tons of pictures and share them when I get back.

Corey, Luke, Sarah, Gabe & Lily
Holly, Gia & Nino
The Cash Crew
Tricia & Sofia (shout out to Guatoberfest)
Katie, Arianna & Brayden
Lisa, Katelyn & Frankie
Becky, Juliana, Isabella & Dylan
Kerri & Ruby
Amy & Jonathan
Robyn & Gabriella

See You Soon!!

This is what I got when I asked Sophie~Bug to smile for me tonight...


Ha Ha, Mommy... Now can you see me?


Peek A Boo!


There she is... my sweet little pumpkin!


I am so excited about Guatoberfest this weekend in Atlanta! Looking forward to seeing all my blog pals!

Sarah

JOY & Happy 13th Birthday Grant!!

Don't you wish you could be so full of joy just running down the hallway to your mommy? I just love my little bug and could not resist sharing this picture of her tonight in her jammies. Please press play on the music to the right... this is the picture to go along with the song "In My Daughter's Eyes".



Today, my little boy became a teenager... so hard to believe that 13 years have passed since the moment he was placed in my arms. After 23 hours of labor, he was quite the unexpected "big boy" at 8 lbs. 11 oz. at 10 days early. He has given me my share of snips and snails and puppy dog tails and I love my little buddy. Here we are tonight at his favorite Hibachi restaurant... this is a picture of the polaroid that the waitress took after the big birthday drum pounding Happy Birthday melody was sung (he is the one in the middle).



Love and FROG!

Sarah

Favorite Foto Friday #7

PEEK-A-BOO!!! My silly girl at the zoo playground.


And, because I can't choose just one this week, it's CRAZY HAIR/HAT DAY!! Her head got stuck in her shirt while taking it off and she thought she was hysterical! Don't you love the pigtails coming out the armholes?


Please keep the future of Guatemalan adoptions in your prayers.

Can't wait to see everybody's FFF this week! If you would like to be linked here, please leave me a comment and I will link 'ya!! Happy Friday!!
Tricia, Victoria & Sofia
Kerri & Ruby
Amy & Jonathan
Krystal & Parker
Robyn & Gabriella
Becky & Amaya
The Cash Crew
Tracy & Brenda
Sarah, Zech & Aidan
Shannon & Analise
Rachel & Aya
Katie, Angelika & Arianna
Corey & Sarah (Daddy too)
Heather & Allie
Amy, Benjamin & Hannah
Ellie & Angelena
Stephanie & Maya

New Pila for Dayli's Family!!

I was so excited to get an e-mail this morning from Sharon at Mayan Families. In the e-mail were pictures of my sponsored child and her family in Guatemala receiving the gifts that I sent money down for! It is amazing how inexpensive some things cost that can make such a huge difference to a family. One of those life changing items is a Pila (or a sink) that can be installed in a family's home and would allow them to wash their clothes and dishes in their home, rather than walking to a nearby water source or lake to do this work. Here is the Pila being unloaded off the truck:



Can you imagine if we were not able to just walk over to our modern washing machine and dryer and throw our clothes in and voila... clean clothes? Or putting our dishes in a dishwasher and coming back to clean dishes? I truly cannot imagine how families get by with as little means as they have. Dayli's family is lucky to have electricity ($11.20 US per month) and running water ($4 US per year) in their home. Look at this beautiful family! Fristy is 5, Dayli is 6 and their mother, Regina (who is expecting a baby in December).



Beautiful girls... Fristy and Dayli


Along with the Pila, I was able to send money down for Dayli to receive a new traditional outfit, called a huipil (pronounced "wee-peel") and corte. These outfits are beautiful and intricate and they can be worn for up to five years. Here is a picture of Dayli receiving her new outfit.



What a beautiful child!


I am so lucky to be traveling to Guatemala in November and meet this beautiful family! I am taking donations down with me for Mayan Families and can't wait to take Dayli shopping for some new shoes to go with her beautiful new outfit. Seeing this beautiful face just makes me feel so incredibly lucky to be able to make a difference in her life. I wish so much that I could do more.

If you would like to see some more wonderful pictures of the work Mayan Families does to help the families who live in Panajachel, please visit here... I promise you that these images will stay with you... Mayan Families Donations Being Received.

Some of the items I am collecting to take with me to Guatemala include hair items, such as brushes, combs, ribbons, barrettes, elastics, etc as well as baby blankets, underwear, socks, toothbrushes and toothpaste. If you are interested in donating anything for Mayan Families and would like to send with me in November, please contact me through the comments section. There are hundreds of children in Panajachel and there are so many items needed. These are just a few of the items that are light enough and easily compacted that I am hoping to take down with me in airline checked luggage.

Wow, how one e-mail can brighten my day!! For those in the adoption world, it reminded me of the thrill I got each time I got a medical update or pictures of Sophie~Bug during the adoption process.

Love and FROG!

Sarah