EMBASSY DAY...FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DOES ANYONE SEE HER TWO TEETH???


LASTNIGHT WE WERE REALLY TIRED SO I WILL WRITE A LITTLE TONIGHT.

Yesterday we were told to meet our agency rep, and Maya with her foster mother at 3pm. Debbie(Maya's foster mom) for what ever reasons did not bring us Maya until 4:30pm or so. But, while we waited, we got to over a lot of paperwork with our agency rep. Our driver, Hugo, also showed up.
Hugo should run an agency, really...he knows everything. A ton of stuff that we brought we did not need. This includes various notarized documents that we were told that we "needed"...most of which were notarized while Bryan ran around the UPS store. All we can do is say better safe than sorry, because what is done is done and Maya is ours now!!!
Anyhow, last time we saw Maya we were tired but we were just so happy that we kept going...this time it was strange because we were taking Maya away from Debbie and her family forever. I know that this is her "JOB", but she was and I am sure will continue to be an EXCELLENT mother. She let us know that she will love her forever and that Maya will always be part of their family. We let her know that we believe that she saved Maya's life. For those who have not been following our adoption closely, Maya suffered from malnutrition from her first foster mom . At 2 months she was just over 6 pounds , her cheeks were sunken it, we were afraid for her life. We could not just leave Bryan to come see her or foster her ouselves. Maya was given to Debbie at that time and as you can see, Debbie took excellent care of Maya.
So, we let Debbie know that. We told her that Maya will ALWAYS know of her and we will continue to stay in touch via email. Long story short, it was very emotional.




Today, on the other hand was AWESOME in every sense. Maya slept pretty much through the night. We got up early, and Hugo picked us up for our Embassy appointment. Our appt. was at 7:15am. We arrived on time and it took about two hours. It hit us today ...this is it...we took our oath, we were given many congrats...we shared joy with so many other adoptive parents who went through all the bologna that we went through. Maya was an angel.

After our appointment, Hugo took us to Antigua. It was a wonderful day. A day we will never forget! We really saw how people here live. There is a lot of poverty, but they are simple people and we were very thankful to meet and see so many people today. We had a great time seeing jade being made and shopping...of course.
We saw the cobblestone roads of the old city. We saw how women carry food and supplies on their heads. We saw people washing their clothes at a free ouside laundromat. The driving is crazy, the people are kind, the scenery is unique and breathtaking.
We now know that we were indeed supposed to come here and adopt this child.
People think she is lucky to come to America and have a future...I think we are even luckier to have her.

Anyhow, we did a lot of touristy things...and ended by shopping at the market. What an awesome place to shop. Hugo knew exactly what shop to take us for whatever we wanted to buy. We had a great time. Maya is a better shopper than big brother, for now anyhow!

I am only telling a small portion of what we did, because now we are tired again and I know you all want pictures...so here we go!!!!!

MAYA LEAR WITH HER PROUD PARENTS AT THE JADE FACTORY IN ANTIGUA

MAYA LOVED HUGO. WE TOLD HIM THAT HE SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN OUR ADOPTION PACKAGE!