We are home!

Yes, and we are so thankful to be home! All is finally well, and we are starting to settle in! When we traveled on Friday, Sofia was VERY sick! We recongized that she had an ear infection, and were able to get her to the pediatrician Saturday morning! After the doctor put her on a second antibiotic this past week, she has started to smile again! We were beginning to think we had brought home the wrong child-as her little smile was missing! Now, it is back, and in full force!!
Now, if only we could get her sleep schedule worked out! She wakes up at 12 am, 2 am and 4 am! We are giving her a bit of time to adjust before we ferberize her!! Oh, how we miss our sleep!! Ha ha!

Going back a bit, we did go to Antigua on Thursday. We had a wonderful time, and enjoyed hanging out with Jacobo, our wonderful tour guide! We went to a market-but didn't stay long, it was very busy, and overwhelming! We also toured a coffee plantation! It was interesting, but a bit boring! ZZZZzzzzz.... Anyway, we then went to lunch at a great little restraunt that we actually went to the last time we were in Antigua! They serve great sandwiches, and desserts! We had the greatest Tres Leches cake! I have to find a great recipe for this-it was so yummy! My sandwich was quite interesting, and I am wondering if it is what "food poisened" me in the end! It was homemade bread with garlic/basil spreadable cheese, and a tomato/basil relish. There was a cucumber salad on the side! Sounds great-just wondering if it was the culprit that took me down on Saturday! Both Bus and I were deathly sick on Saturday and Sunday, and really didn't start to feel better till we started antibiotics! Now, we are on the go again!

When we returned to the hotel on Thurday, after our trip to Antigua-everyone was waiting for us! Sonia, from our agency, was waiting with our visa to bring Miss Sofia into the US, and Lidia-our foster mom had arrived an hour earlier, to pick up Maya! So, everything was crazy there for awhile, but we worked it all out, and now we are snuggled back in our own home with one more Guatemalan Maslin!!

Sofia has already had her second doctor visit, and she is a healthy 18 pound 10 ounce 6 month old! this is pretty big for a Guatemalan baby! She has the chubbiest little thighs I have ever seen! Ha ha!

Everybody is asking how Caleb is handling the new baby. Well, he is doing amazingly well! He loves her! He has been so sweet to her, and has only bonked her in the head once with a toy-so far. Don't get me wrong-he still likes to be first, and he wants to be held by his mommy and daddy.

We are doing great, and are looking forward to having Maya home with us, as well! Please keep her case in your prayers, as we are ready to have our family complete!

Here are a some more pictures-Enjoy!

Today was Embassy day!

First off, I am sorry we have not pounded away at the keyboard very much, but all is going very well! It is a little more difficult to get things done on the computer when we are entertaining two little ones-Sofia is pretty easy, and Maya is very active-which of course I don't blame her! A hotel room is quite boring for an active 2 1/2 year old! So, we will tell all of our stories when we get home, and post them too!

Today, we had to be up and ready to go to the embassy by 7:30-believe it or not, we were not late! We were actually able to eat breakfast, and make it to meet our driver by 7:30!!(O.k., so I won't tell you that the time is two hours behind Ky time!) Ha ha! We were there till about 10:45, and was all done! We came back to the hotel, and Bus and Maya went for a little swim! I changed Sofia, and we went to sit by them! The weather is very warm here, right now-a lot like back home-upper 70's, 80's! It is the start of rainy season, but we have not seen any, yet!(Thank goodness!)

After their swim, we decided to go to the Artistan's Market by the zoo.(No, Hannah, we did not go to the zoo!) We went with a couple from our agency, and guess where they live?! Versailles, KY!! They are Angie and Denver Ockerman, for those CCI people reading the blog! They are wonderful, and we have really had a great time getting to know them! They have a beautiful daughter, Ana, that they are adopting, and bringing home, as well! She has the sweetest eyes, and sweetest smile!! Now, everyone is taking a little nap-except me-I really wanted to blog-and it has, as I said before, been a little harder for me to get to the computer!

Tomorrow we are planning a trip to Antigua! We are excited to go, and are using the same tour guide we used the last time we went to Antigua! His name is Jacobo, and we loved him! If you are ever headed to Antigua, Guatemala, let us know, and we will give you his info!

Also, Miss Maya will be headed back to her foster family tomorrow! Pray for her! We have been able to grow so much closer! She even loves her Mamma! During our visit trip in January, she was not the fondest of me, but now, she sees that I am willing to share her Papa(Bus)! We just love her so much-wait till you meet her! She is a definate spitfire!! When they dropped her off, she came running, screaming Papa!!!! Boy, did our hearts do a flip flop!!!

Anyway, I said I wasn't going to talk, but it was nice to be able to chat a bit! I wish you all could be with us, and see how beautiful, and wonderful Guatemala is!! The people, the countryside...all so very beautiful! We are so blessed that the Lord took us down this journey, and to Guatemala to find our beautiful children! Here is a few pictures we took over the last couple of days! Enjoy!

We love and miss you all!
Sabra, Bus, Maya, and Sofia

Since I don't want to take the time to edit and add subtitles-I will just share why i picked some of these pictures-outside of the obvious!

-Look at Sofia's hair! It is crazy curly, and I am gonna have to work hard to figure it out! Ha ha!

-Sofia LOVED her bath!(No crying-Hannah!!) She giggled, even when the water was flowing over her face!!

-The pictures of Maya, in her red heart shirt, were taken in a beautiful courtyard, where we got tons of video clips of her running! It was beautiful! She was so happy to be outside and able to run freely! Sofia was sleeping! Ha ha!

-The one of the two together in the chair-Both trying to be the star of the picture! Boy are we gonna have one active and "pay attention to me" household when all our girls are home!

-Our beautiful bathing beauty queen, who was so tired, but thrilled to go swimming with daddy!

-Sofia-who is going to be like her big sister was as a baby-a thumb sucker!(Can you believe that Hannah?!)

-Do you like the smile on Sofia's face? Well, you better, cause it is there all day long! She is an absolute Happy baby!!

More pics...

Hello everyone,
Today is going really well. Everyone is calmed down (especially me - Bus ;-)

I wanted to post a few pics for everyone to enjoy. So, enough with the small talk, and on with the pictures....


Love,

Bus, Sabra, Maya and Sofia

Pictures and update!

The girls finally made it, and their interpretors were a bit late! It was crazy, as they both showed up at close to the same time. Maya came first, and she was very happy to see us, and recognized us both! Sofia came next, and she was all giggles and smiles! We are doing great-just exhausted! We will write tomorrow, going to bed now, as it is 12:04am our time!

Sleep well!

We miss you all!

Love,

Sabra, Bus, Maya & Sofia

We're here!!!!

Hello everyone,
Just a quick post to let you know that we are here!!

We are supposed to get the girls tonite between 4:30 and 5:00 pm (6:30 and 7:00 pm back home). But, be aware that they may be late. We will make a quick post again tonite to let everyone know that the girls are here safely - but it may be late.

Love,
Bus and Sabra

Thought I would update the blog a bit....

It has been awhile since I updated the blog! Things are going great around here, and we have had many praises to report! We also found out today that my brother, Eddie, had some recent medical test results come back clear!! Praise the Lord!!



It has been so long since I posted a few pictures! Our little ones continue to grow into not so little ones anymore! Caleb is finally growing out of his 12 month clothing, and trudging through the 18 month clothing and beyond! He has such a strong little personality, but I have seen signs of it easing up a bit! He has learned to pick on Hannah, and now he tries to tickle her-of course she plays along, and he giggles and giggles!! He has really learned to communicate with me-and I am starting to understand more of his words! His latest word is "backpack"!! This of course has to do with Dora the Explorer, he adores her!!! He gets a BIG giggle and smile on his face when she comes on the tv!! I think it is because she reminds him of his big sister Hannah! He also has started to say the word thank you, and I was quite astonished that after the Walmart cashier put our bags in the cart, he said thank you to her! She smiled and said Your welcome!! Mommy just stood there and gushed!!! As many of you know, Caleb has been a trying individual at times, but every day we get more and more of this adorable little guy's real personality-and it is going to be a doozy! He is gonna be a real charmer, with lots of giggles and laughter too!















Hannah has less than 6 weeks of school left before summer break, and we are blown away how quickly this year has gone! She will soon be our little fourth grader! YIKES!! This school year has gone by way too fast!! She is also growing by leaps and bounds, and is almost as tall as me!! Her favorite things to do right now, is talk on the phone, and sing! And sometimes, I even catch her singing on the phone!! :o) She has proven to be quite the big sister, and helps Bus and I out a lot, by playing with Caleb so we can get things done around the house! Caleb adores her, and at any given time of the day, you can here him yelling for "Nannah", which is his name for Hannah! It doesn't even matter if she is not home, he looks around and hollers for her! Ha ha! We are hoping that Hannah can be an even better sister to her littlest sister, Sofia, as we have travel dates to pick her up!

Sofia is now Sofia Grace Maslin, and Bus and I will be leaving to pick her upon Monday, April 30Th! She received her PINK slip/her embassy appointment. Her embassy appointment is on May 2!! We will arrive back home with her on Friday, May 4. We are sad that we are not picking up Maya, too, but know that it won't be too long before we return to Guatemala to pick her up!! We are planning to spend some time with her while we are in Guatemala. Please continue to pray for her, and her process!
Keep checking the blog-we are hoping to have more good news soon!!
Love,
Sabra, Bus, Hannah, Caleb, Sofia and Maya

Final praise report on my mom!!

We got the final doctors report today that my mom is officially cancer free. Praise the Lord!! It's always tough to hear that someone you love has cancer. We just know that we were extremely fortunate and blessed that hers was treatable and is now gone.

She is continuing to recover well and gets stronger every day.