Hello and goodnight! Another day another adventure. We did go on a trolley tour of GC- went to the presidential palace, big church, central market, drove through city, got info about the history, etc. of Guatemala. It was nice- there was only us on the trolley and one other guy- a professor from Georgetown. Gabriella did great- she napped in my arms on the trolley- Antonio did great too. We got home and had dinner and poor Gabriella was dying of fatigue during dinner. She didn't nap much this afternoon, so she was beat. She has been showing more attachment with me and not too interested in other adults, including Barry. She has done some crying when he goes near her.

So, for the real and true honest thoughts and feelings going on with the Linberger's, read on. If you just want to know the fun and fluff, end here. I want to be honest in case someone is reading this that doesn't always have a perfect thought and life and for them to know they aren't alone.

1) Antonio seems to adore Gabriella, but he does seem to be showing signs of competing for attention, etc. Thankfully, he is loving with his sister and not aggressive or anything. But he does seem to be a little wound- but who can tell what is really going on- he is in a strange land, in a strange home, with a new family member.

2) I was crying tonight - yes, me. I didn't realize that I would miss Antonio. But I do. I have to share myself with another little being. I miss my little guy and all the attention we give each t0 each other. Shoot, I am crying again. I am certainly trying hard to include him, give him attention, etc. However, it will never be the same again. Antonio is so special to me and I have lived and breathed him soley, as everyone does with their first children- I didn't realize it would be hard to open up to include others. The fullness of my love for my son is hitting me tonight. Hm, I guess call it post adoption hormones.

3) We love Gabriella, of course. We have all year. However, it is strange to have a child given to you that you don't know. Here is this mature baby and we have to start from the beginning in getting to know her, loving her, etc. I look at her, and its like "she's my daughter?"

4) Barry is stressed to the max with the out of control life we have at the moment and the danger of being in a third world city and having a family to worry about, etc.

5) Worries of what is to be- how will Gabriella be- how will she respond, what is she like, what does she need, will she scream tonight, will she be contented; guess this goes along with #3 and not knowing her.

Ok, well I guess that is enough. Like I have said, overall things are going FABULOUSLY, for real. Our daughter is sweet and darling, our son is so precious and accepting and the country is fascinating. But, to open up on this "blog" and be real- thought I would do it. Things are well, but not perfect. I guess, when is life perfect. I keep trying-

Tomorrow we are off to celebrate All Saints Day in Santiago Sacatapequez. We leave at 9am with our tour guide. Should be quite interesting!

Will keep you posted!!!
Love you all and thanks to those that are "addicted". I love it!!!

Ps- I am having trouble posting pics this afternoon. Will try again tomorrow. Sorry :( And you should see how she looked with little piggy tails sticking straight up. TOO CUTE!!!

Day 4 of the Linberger adventure

Hello everyone! Ok, so last night wasn't the greatest. Well, you can't have it all- overall Gabriella is doing very, very well- (what a trooper!) but she woke up SCREAMING last night- I was able to calm her down with the fave DVD that her foster mom gave us. We ended up sleeping on the sofa bed together- she woke up again sometime through the night- drank a bottle and went back to sleep. Meanwhile I was pretending not to be skeeved sleeping on the sheetless-sofa bed that I covered with her blanket for her and a pad and towel for my side. I ended later on using the towel for a makeshift blanket because I was freezing. Meanwhile in the bedroom, Antonio was hacking up a lung and fitful; ending up sleeping in bed with Barry- being fitful every hour. He is a bit out of sorts these last two days- he has a lot going on in his world right now. Overall, he is being quite a trooper, too. He seems to adore his sister.

I ended up having to wake up Gabriella to get ready for our embassy appt (and if you know me, you know I HATE doing that!!) Not Antonio though- he was up and at em at 6:30. We rushed off a bit before 8am for our embassy appt. It was swamped with adoptive families in the waiting room and I met a few forum friends, too! We were home by 9:30 from the apt. It was really really simple- no problems whatsoever, except that it was hot and crowded. I snapped a bit too, because Antonio kicked over the purple jar of baby food TWICE spilling it on the floor, my skirt, etc. Oops, I'm really not a horrible mom!

We came back and Gabriella and I went to the breakfast buffet, as Antonio and Barry had already eaten. Now we are back in the room, with both kids sleeping.

These photos are from last night- and the one with Gabriella in the purple dress is from today- that was her embassy dress. My first day to dress a girl with a ton of hair and I had to get her ready in literally five minutes. Well, she's adorable regardless!!! What a sweet little thing! She has done quite well this morning, but you can definitely tell she is still taking everything in. She doesn't quite know what to make of it all.

Don't know what is on tap for this afternoon yet. Might do a trolley tour of GC. We do get to meet our Compassion child on Thursday- they are bringing him to the zoo for us to meet him! How cool!

Some pics!!

Here are some pics of when we met Gabriella and throughout the rest of the day. There are some with she and her foster mother, Antonio and his foster mother, us, etc.

Update: She did wonderfully this afternoon. We went for a walk- much to Barry's chagrin. He's not too "into" the guards with machine guns on the corners. :( We ate dinner at a restaurant. She kept eating and eating and eating. :) She was also sucking on a lime the whole time. :)
Then we bathed the kiddos together (see pics) and then we put them to bed. I began to wonder if I was in the twilight zone. I fed her her bottle, pulled it out of her mouth, she turned her head and was asleep. Just like that. HOLY COW!! What world am I in??? We'll see how she does for the night. Foster mom says she wakes up twice for bottles. I told Gabriella tonight that it was time to get on a "normal schedule". Hahaha! We won't go hard core for a bit. But she didn't get two naps this afternoon, so she probably went to bed earlier than usual. Look out Gabriella. You have entered Schedule Nazi territory!! Hahahah!! She has been a doll. We had her laughing tonight- she is enjoying Antonio and she went to Barry without any problems, too! I think that made Daddy happy :) I am sure she won't be without any transition problems, but oh my word what a difference between the two. Poor Antonio and his foster care experience. What a precious boy and what a precious girl! We couldn't be any more blessed!! :)

Tomorrow a.m. we leave around 7:45-8am for our embassy appt. Wednesday we are going to be visiting Santiago Sacatapequez for some All Saints Day Celebrations. We are going to have our previous tour guide Jacobo. Yipee!

More tomorrow! A happy and muy contento Jen

We are a family of four!!!!!!!!!

Hello everyone!!! Gabriella is sleeping at the moment, so I thought I would take a minute to tell you how things went with meeting our baby girl! We call this day "Dia de Milagro, Numero Dos". Day of the Miracle, Numer 2.

Barry and I were just staring out the window, waiting to see if we could see anyone coming at noon. I was SOOO excited/nervous. Barry had butterflies as well. I had told the social worker that we would come down at noon, but Antonio was sleeping, so I figured they would just call us if we weren't down there. She finally called, but they had been waiting for us. Oops!

So, we went downstairs to the lobby. We immediately saw them- Gabriella was so beautiful and petite in her features. Barry was videotaping and we went to her and said hello and gave the foster mother a warm hello. I started crying, it was just so beautiful. I didn't take Gabriella right away- I didn't want to upset her. We just talked to her, etc. I held her for a moment after a little while. I had the foster mother carry her upstairs to our room. Antonio's previous foster mother also came along, so she came over and said hello to us as well! I noticed later that she was wearing the locket that we gave her, with his pic inside!

Anyway, we all came upstairs to our room- Gabriella was definitely tentative towards me, and not particularly happy to be touched or held by me. Antonio was just like a dream with Gabriella. It was so sweet and darling. He was showing her pictures of the animal flashcards that Gammy gave him for the trip. He seemed very tender with her, just like a wonderful big brother. We all visited for a while- Gabriella was on the ground- she crawls! We got a ton off information about her schedule, eating, likes, dislikes, etc. We got a ton of information about their birth mother- as some of the ladies with us had met her.

Antonio's previous foster mother was very emotional. She was crying a number of times. Antonio didn't remember her and didn't really want much to do with her, so that was sad for her. But she seemed happy to see him. We had brought along a framed photo of Antonio for her as a gift.

We gave all the ladies our gifts (they do not open them in our presence- not something they do down here). I bestowed a bunch of stuff on our foster family- foster mother has three adult daughters and just had a grandchild born. She gave us a photo album she had put together- it was very sweet.

Gabriella apparently loves music and dancing, eats well, likes other kids, has a little bit of a temper, loves to "go", sleeps in a bed and in a crib, has a bit of a crazy schedule (uh oh, unleash the nazi in me again! hahah! Look out Gabriella!) She loves to look at books like her big brother, too!

When they all left, we put on a DVD that the foster mother left with us. Apparently Gabriella loves this DVD. So, we watched it while I held her. Antonio asked to hold her, too! He helped feed her her bottle and fed her some snacks. His reaction to her has been like a dream come true. She did pretty well- I was worried when the foster mother left, but she handled it like a champ. She was a little nervous- and I am sure we have lots more to come. But overall, the initial responses are not nearly as difficult as with Antonio. BUT, stay tuned on that..... we haven't been alone too long yet, as she has been sleeping for an hour.

I look in the bedroom and I think- I have another child???!!! It's a bit surreal. But wonderful. I have two beautiful children. The Lord has blessed Barry and I a thousand times over.

hey mom- her socks have butterflies on them!!!!

Still waiting.....!! :) :)

Just got a call that our baby is coming at noon (that is 1pm Pennsylvania time). Hour and a half....!!!! I am nervous/excited, etc. I was up at 6am- I have the same feeling I do before I perform on stage- a very nervous/excited internal feeling. Barry was eating and eating and eating for breakfast and I was stuffed to the gills because of nerves (though I did eat, don't get me wrong!)
Antonio seems a little tired and cranky this morning- hopefuly he is chipper and happy to meet his sister! We met another family getting their babe this morning, too. She was quite nervous- I guess they have met her by now.
The volcanoes were gorgeous this morning. Have to post a pic- I am enamored by these volcanoes. Steam coming out of them, peeking out of the clouds. Awesome.
In the meantime, I am attempting to make arrangements with our tour guide from last year and attempting to meet our Compassion sponsored child, Anderson!
SOOOOO EXCITED TO MEET OUR GIRL SOON!!!!

Day 1 Adventures

Buenos Noches from GC! We had a great day today. The morning was just relaxed- we slept in- went to breakfast, Antonio napped, etc. Then we took a taxi to the Handicraft market where we did some shopping. Barry said "you spent that much already?" Come on Bar' as if its hard for a woman to spend money quickly.... PLEASE! hahah. We had a nice time shopping- we did minor bargaining, but not hardcore. I am attaching some pics of the handicraft market. When we got home, the view out our window was just gorgeous of the volcanoes- so I'm posting some of them, too.

Antonio was hysterically funny today- we aren't sure if he is finally relaxed because we are all relaxed, or if he's hyper from excitement or what. But he was making me laugh so hard all day. And everyone here loves him- people from his own nationality think he is adorable. And, an interesting note: they think he is big for his age, too!! Another interesting note: he is beginning to ask to go potty a lot. He isn't necessarily going, but he is asking and seems to be "getting it" all of a sudden- how strange!

We don't know what time we meet Gabriella tomorrow but it will be morning sometime! OH MY WORD!!! How exciting!

I've met a couple of families in this hotel that are adopting, too. It's not a busy hotel, but there seems to be a fair amount of adoptive families.

We had dinner at the hotel- it was SCRUMPTIOUS! Yum- and we have some tasty looking chocolate cake here in the room, waiting for us. Thankfully Antonio forgot about it. I think he would have eaten it all. We got him a frozen chocolate covered banana at the market. Didn't he just eat the chocolate off. Weasel!

Well, tomorrow is a BIG lifechanging day. We are thrilled, blessed, and eager!

Oh, BTW, sorry about the double post from yesterday- seems as though the post I thought didn't happen-did. So, you read about our trip down twice. Sorry!

Love you all- peace out-
Linberger gang

Some pics from our trip down yesterday....

Some photos of trip to the airport (thanks for the ride mom!! :), in the airport and outside our hotel window.

We're here!!!!!!

Hello from Guatemala City!
I posted last night that we made it here safely, but it seems as though it didn't post properly. Sorry! Anyway, our trip down was virtually flawless- no problems except a very minor delay in Philly; Antonio was a DREAM (only one 5 minute crying bout in the plane the whole travel time). He took a small nap and fell asleep at night in my arms on the plane too. He was perfect. Our hotel shuttle was waiting for us with a sign and our names on it. We were very, very tired and I am sure Antonio was dead- he was basically up until 12:30am (according to how his body felt - that was 10:30 down here). Our suite is large- size of two hotel rooms. We had a small problem with amenities included in our price, but that is all resolved now. We had a yummy buffet breakfast- Antonio hogged down fruit- including some prunes...gack! We aren't sure yet what we are going to do today- perhaps hit a small market and do some shopping after Antonio's nap.
We are now only 1 hour behind you all- since you turned your clocks back.
Keep ya posted- later gaters!!

We're here!!!

Hi Everyone! We made it! Our trip was flawless- though long. Thanks mom for driving us to the airport! Everything was mainly on time- Antonio was a DREAM- only one 5 minute crying spell on the plane the whole time we were flying (total of about 6 hours or so). Thank you God! He's such a good boy. We brought a nice Houston lady to tears when we told her in the airport we were picking up our daughter. Nice to see even strangers blessed, so you can imagine how blessed we feel! Here are some pics from the day- we are quite tired now, as to our bodies, its almost 1am but down here, the music is hopping and its not even 11pm. That's it for now! Thanks for your prayers, for "tuning in" and for your excitement and joy for our family. Later gaters.

A loving shout out...

to all of you and your kind and joyful comments. Your emails have meant so much to me. Thanks also for your prayers. WOW!!! On to a totally new chapter of life.
Keep ya posted! And thanks to Heather for showing up on a whim with a hug last night and thanks to Bon-Bon for bringing lunch today!!!

WE GOT OUR DATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yahooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!! We are getting our baby girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We got our final, last call around 8:15pm tonight- and we pick up our baby girl on Monday and have our visa appt. on Tuesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are very happy- and it was good timing. I was quite emotionally spent by the time she called.
So, I am still obsessing on air fare- and getting our final details planned. Looking like we are leaving Sunday and returning Friday- but will post for sure!

I'm done laughing.

WHAT??!!!

You will NOT BELIEVE this:we are CONTINUING to have pink issues!!!!
We got our pink slip- HEY GREAT! But NO, the embassy DID NOT HAVE THE DATE OF OUR VISA APPT. STAMPED ON IT! SO, great, we have Pink. But we still don't know when to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is this for real? Am I being punk'd?? It's so ridiculous that at this point, I am laughing!

help!

Someone please, get me away from the computer! Just how many times can I look up airfare for a trip in which I don't know the exact dates ????!!!! Just step away Linberger, step away. Ok, maybe I'll go pack some more....

Update:

So, yesterday our agency told us that we should be getting our pink slip. That would be Monday, the 23rd. Tuesday morning came- well, lunch time came and our social worker called and said that the embassy emailed and in fact our pink slip wasn't going to be issued until today- and could be picked up this afternoon.

Tonight around 8pm our very upset social worker called and said that they couldn't get a hold of their staff member in Guat to pick up our pink slip, despite trying to email and call her all day- so it was NEVER PICKED UP. So, our pink slip is issued- sitting in the embassy still and another day has gone by without us knowing when our visa appointment is. I mean really, would you like to pull out my finger nails now?

Earlier, I told my social worker I was going to freak out if I had to hear "we should know tonight or tomorrow morning". Well, guess what, I have to hear it again.

So now, we have our date scheduled, but we are wasting a full at least 24 hours not being able to schedule our flight, etc.

So, that's the latest. So, I'll know tomorrow night, or you know- by the next morning. Oh, wait, they promised that we would know by tomorrow night.

BTW- I adore our social worker. The poor thing- she has horrible, uncomfortable news to deliver sometimes. She has had to have some really hard conversations with us between these two adoptions. We are bonded for life with Christyn.

still no word yet....

and I am about the lose my freakin' mind!

NO PINK SLIP

So my social worker called tonight- close to 8pm- to tell us that we were REJECTED for our pink slip/visa appointment date request. This means we STILL DO NOT have a date. Apparently the US Embassy in Guatemala does not have our "Cable 37" Immigration approval form. Come on now. What the heck. So- of course, OF COURSE, tomorrow is a holiday in Guatemala, but that doesn't matter anyway because they don't issue pink slips on Friday's. Of course. So, we are looking at minimally Monday before we might get our pink slip. Might. But I'm not bitter.
Keep ya posted. If anyone is actually reading this. Oh wait- you are? Thank you!

my call in life

is waiting, and I'm still doing it! I thought we would hear our date yesterday, but around 9:30 last night I gave up knowing. So, here I am, still waiting....and waiting....

Still here waiting....!

We got delayed a few days because Gabriella's new birth certificate had a mis-spelling of our last name. Der! Anyway, we are being submitted to the embassy for our "pink" slip hopefully tomorrow (Monday the 16th). We should then get pink on the Wednesday- which means we get our travel date! We are HOPING to be traveling around Friday 10/20. Keep praying!!!

No date yet...!

We are still waiting for our travel date! We are supposed to be submitted to the US Embassy in Guatemala for approval for pick up either today or tomorrow. They have 48 hours to issue our "pink slip" which is the date for our visa appointment in Guatemala. We should have our travel date Monday or Tuesday and we could be traveling as early as the end of next week (like 19th or 20th), or we could be traveling the following week. It's so SOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!! Eek!
I am rushing about getting stuff done, preparing, buying gifts for Guatemalan folks, etc. Tick tock, tick tock. Ok, and I'm a little scared to add another child to the flock....

Oh, Shout out to Barry- my love- HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!

Keep you posted!

more pics

What??? New pictures, too!!!!

We got these new pics on Monday, 10/2. The good news keeps on coming!!!