FINALLY some photos...and she's 8 months old!

This is for you, Deb & Erica! The only ones who have held out hope that I might someday get my act together!

Don't let Mazzi fool you...she usually doesn't look quite this lovingly at her sister!

Mazzi with her Rufus!



Miley West

Miley after a nice long bath!

First shot of Miley at birth...she's a whopper!

Although it seemed strange...

Although it seemed strange to do it, I decided it was time to update the title of our blog. Bringing Mazzi Home no longer seemed appropriate since, well, she's here and since we now have another daughter to share the blog with!

As most of you know by now on September 2, 2008 at 1:17pm, Miley West Roberts, entered the world at St. Francis Hospital in Peoria. She was a big one at 9 lbs, 2oz and 20.75 inches. She also has this head of dark hair that is a mystery to us since we were certainly expecting a bald, blonde headed baby!

Thinking about that hospital and labor experience sure makes me wonder about the place Mazzi was born and the experience her birthmother had. Just one of those things that we may never have a chance to know more about and thinking about the stories that Mazzi will never hear puts such a pit in my stomach. Although I know that some people feel we should leave the past in the past, I hope that someday we will be able to "fill-in the blanks" for Mazzi by having an opportunity to talk to her birthmother. It may never be possible but if given the chance I hope that I can be strong enough to take Mazzi back to Guatemala and help her to find the answers she needs.

I must be feeling sentimental today because I also got to thinking about the fact that my feelings for Mazzi and Miley are no different. They are both our daughters - both special, both sweet, both the most important thing in the world to their dad and I. I just can't express enough to anyone out there who is trying to have a child without success...please adopt! You will never regret it and once you see your baby's face you will never look back and never doubt your decision!

I will attempt to post some pics in the next few days because I know many of you are waiting for them. I know our posts are few and far between but we hope you will keep reading and watching our girlS grown!

Again, it's long overdue, I know!!!

Over the last few months I have gained a whole new respect for many of the mothers I know...the ones who have children and keep their blogspots up-to-date! Ladies, you know who you are, how do you do it?!?!

Well, I just have a quick minute to update you all on Mazzi's progress in the USA. She is doing so wonderfully! She is growing like a weed, almost 24 pounds and 31.5" inches which puts her in the 95% percentile for height! She is walking all over the place...anywhere she wants to go really and lately she's been trying to run, walk backwards and does this little sidestepping thing...it's too cute!

A few of her favorite tricks:

- She shakes her head "no" when told "no" and sometimes "yes" although it's not as much fun.

- She will blink her eyes if you tell her to blick and repeat, repeat if you laugh at her!

- She can show you where her belly is.

- If her dad says, "It's up, it's good, touchdown" she will raise her arms up in the air.

- Screaming just for fun is really hilarious, at least to her.

She really has become quite a little show-off who will mock anything her dad does lately and she is really into giving big kisses when you ask for them! And, she loves to be outside...doing just about anything, bringing her inside is getting harder and harder. All in all, she is a super sweet, funny yet quite demanding (she might be a little spoiled) little girl!

As for Baby #2, all is well with the pregnancy. It's been quite uneventful and easy to this point. I'm about 22-23 weeks along and you can definetely tell it! We had a sonogram a couple of weeks ago but have decided not to find out the sex...Jit thinks it's the last exciting thing that will ever happen to us! I think he's a little dramatic but I'm happy we've decided to wait.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pics...

I know, I know...it's LONG overdue!!

First things first, I'm sorry! I know this post is SO long overdue and I so appreciate that many of you have checked our blog faithfully for updates. I'll I can say is that keeping up a blog during motherhood is harder than I expected, but I promise to try to do better!

Second, I am going to post many pictures of Mazzi today if time allows. It takes awhile for them to load and she isn't very patient while I'm working. She's napping now so if she stays asleep you might see many new pics!!

Third, for those of you who don't know him - the cute blonde in the previous photos with Mazzi is our nephew, Vance. He is my brother and sister-in-law, Aaron and Heather's son. He is the cutest and sweetest boy. He squeezes Mazzi's cheeks and says, "you're just a little sweetie."

Fourth, Mazzi update - she is doing so well. She had surgery on her extra toes on January 15th and was a super tropper! She never really cried at all, not when the nurses took her away or when she woke up. She's just one tough little cookie! She has never really acted like she's been in pain at all. The surgery went very well. Dr. Elwood removed her sixth toe from one foot because it was very undeveloped and removed the fifth toe from the other foot. He placed a wire in that foot to pull the sixth toe closer. The wire will be removed next week during her follow-up visit. It's just pulled out. Makes me cringe too but I just keep thinking she won't know it's going to happen. Mazzi is doing new things everyday it seems. Her latest trick is "SO BIG." And, she loves to wave - hi and bye. And, she's very smart she knows to only do it when seeing you for the first time or when you are leaving. It's adorable. Oh, and she's crawling non-stop! She gets faster and faster everyday and now will just follow us around the house. And, she pulls herself up to anything and everything. She can also walk behind and push her new riding toy that she got from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas.

And last but not least, I'm pregnant. Yes, I'm pregnant. I know it came as quite a shock to us as well! I was really struggling with the idea at first to be honest. Just totally overwhelmed with the idea of another baby in the house. And, scared that Mazzi would be forced to grow up way too fast. But we are really coming around now and are getting very excited. I had my first sonogram on Thursday and everything looks really good. We saw the little peanut and could even see it's heartbeating. I'm 7 weeks and 6 days along today, due September 6th. Also, I'm back to work now. I returned this Monday. It was very hard but I'm surviving. And, the best part is I'm only working Monday, Wednesday and Friday which is perfect! Well, that's all for now. I promise to post again soon!

We're home and it's never felt so good!

Well, as you probably know by now...we are home sweet home!!! And, trust me, it has never felt better! Mazzi is doing so wonderfully it's just hard to believe. She is having no issues what so ever. She loves her new home and her forever parents. She is a mama's girl already. There is one problem though. She wants to be held constantly! If her and I are sitting on the floor, she would much rather be sitting in my lap than on the floor right next to me. She's my little cuddle bug. She still thinks her dad is the funniest person too, no change there!

She went to the doctor today and it went very well. She got a flu shot and a TB skin test. We have to go back on Wednesday for blood work because the good lab tech was not in today. She is already famous at the doctor's office. They had all been waiting to meet Lola and Brady's cousin, Mazzi. She is going in December for her consult with a plastic surgeon regarding her extra little toes. The doctor seems to think it will be fairly easy to correct, but I'm still very nervous about the whole idea of surgery!!!

Well, I guess I must have scared all of our visitors away with my post from last week. Sorry about that!!! I didn't expect Mazzi to adjust quite so quickly and now we are just dying to show her off and have had very few visitors beyond our immediate family. So, if you have been waiting to give us our space...thank you and PLEASE come see us!!!! Mazzi is just so anxious to meet everyone! You may want to call first in case we are out and about or just stop by! We can't wait!!!

It's ALL over!!!

Well, I left the computer suddenly yesterday because Adriana walked by the computer room with Ms. Mazzi! Her doctor's appointment went perfectly, but she, of course, was woke by the doctor and NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT!! I think he must have startled her half to death. She cried and cried, but fortunately Adriana stayed and settled her while we worked on some last minute paperwork with Kenneth. We had some major computer issues so it took awhile and then she was rushed to leave. She had brought us another Guatemala bag full of brand-new supplies for Mazzi, some hair scrunchies, a little wallet and her daughter had gotten us a little candle holder type thing. All very nice indeed! We quickly gave her our gifts which she seemed to appreciate and she quickly left. Mazzi was sleeping by then so she didn't really have a good-bye. I hope she is okay, she seemed really very fine. She just kept saying she will have a wonderful life and please send pictures. It was obvious she was in a hurry!

Then, this morning I woke at 5:20am, 10 minutes before the alarm which worked out perfectly because I got up and showered and got ready before Mazzi and her dad woke! We all finished getting ready and then went to the lobby to meet Kenneth at 7:45am. We walked to the embassy and first stopped in a back alley to have Mazzi's picture taken for her Visa. It was interesting to say the least. By the way, wait until you she her passport photo. I know I'm a little bias but it truly is the cutest thing ever!! It should be in a magazine!!!

Then we waited in line outside the embassy to get through the security. It is chilly in Guatemala today so we were actually a little cold. Warmer than those in Illinois though, of course! Security was really pretty easy, similar to the airport and then we headed into the embassy. Talk about babies!!!! Lots of them!!! Right off the bat, we see Shannon and her husband they were sitting in a different area than us though. So, we wait. It's about an hour later and they call several family names - one being Roberts, so we proceed to another line and wait some more. Then it's our turn, we walk into a TINY room with 2 stools and a man behind a piece of glass asks for our passports. We presented them and he indicated that our paperwork looked good and he was approving our I-600. Short and sweet. Then he told us to wait again for our next step.

So, we headed back to the waiting area and sit for about another hour. Finally, they call, "adopting family Roberts to Window 8." This time we head to a little window and a very nice woman asks us to raise our right hand and swear to tell the truth. Then she asks for a few pieces of info - our agency's name, our attorney's name, if this is our 1st adoption, 1st child? Then through the glass she hands Jit a paper to sign. He signs twice. Then she asks if we have met Mazzi before now. We said yes, but in the heat of the moment I couldn't remember the date. So she checked our passport and saw our June 3 stamp and indicated that since we had met her before this trip she would qualify for an IR-3 VISA which means that once our little feet land in the USA, she will be a US citizen. Then she handed us a form and indicated our Visa could be picked up Wednesday at 3:30pm. Then she said, "congratulations, all done!" She then gave us an email address and asked for our honest comments about the process from start to finish. She indicated it would help the US prepare for the Hague implementation. Yes, all these folks at the embassy were American.

That was all - we walked back to the hotel and arrived there by about 10:30am. No big deal at all! So, it's official - she is ours forever!!!!!!! Nobody can take her away now! Kenneth will pick up our Visa tomorrow and he said that the real attorney Walter would like to come by and meet us. We agreed that would be nice so we are planning to see them both tomorrow about 4pm. Then, Kenneth will be back to take us to the airport on Thursday. Kenneth keeps asking if we are wanting to get a little boy now. He says once things are squared away with adoptions here he'll see us again! I hope he is right! By the way, he said that the major change with the Hague will be that all of the child's family will have to sign off rights to the baby before adoption can occur. That will mean that many families will probably keep babies that they can't really take care of well and that this will drag out the process because they will have to gather many signatures before the adoption can occur - not just the birthmother. He is worried about it but says there are many attorneys working to stop this new rule.

Well, that's it for now...guess there is nothing left to say!!! Love you all! Jit, Kik and our daughter - Mazzi Herlinda Roberts. By the way, that is not really her name yet, it's still Herlinda Floricelda Roberts but we'll pretend until we get home and get that fixed!