a few pictures until we get home

This is just a few pictures from yesterday. I am having alot of trouble with my card reader. So I have to take the ones it will let me have. This will be the last of the pictures until we get home.

She is so precious when she is sleeping.

She loves the Ohio State bear, She holds on to it all the time.

This is not the best picture but the only one it will give me. But this is her in her Guatemala hat.

Post for Grandma Amy and Papaw Kies!

Well we have had another Great day with Jaz. She is simply amazing! So content. We video taped her waking up this morning and she woke herself up laughing. She is way smaller than we has thought she would be. Well anyways. Here are some more pics we took today. We also took paint foot prints and hand Prints today. They came out pretty good.
I know this picture has my foot in it. But I don't have the software here to cut it out. But isn't it an awesome picture.

Be sure to leave comments and tell Mommie which one you like best. 1 or 2. Don't mind the foot it can be cut out. But we can't decide between the two.

Here is the pictures we took for Grandma and Papaw. Can you say "GO OSU"!

Now getting her hands down is quite the challenge. She loves to stare at them.

Aren't I precious? She is so easy to photograph. She also is in love with her Ohio State shoes. she can stare at them forever. Must be the colors.

And this picture is just beyond precious. But this is really a normal look for her. She loves to laugh.

What did you say? LSU is gonna beat OSU. How funny is that?

EDITED TO ADD" for parents: click on the pictures and they will get full size so you can see them better. also you can leave comments for me by clicking on comments at the bottom of the post. Be sure to sign your name so I know it is you. Love and Miss you all

We are here!!!

We are here. and to say Jazlynn is perfect is an absolute understatement. She smiles constantly.
When she woke up this morning she was almost laughing. She stayed on her schedule that Adriana said she had to a T. She slept up until 4:30 and then took a bottle and slept again until 8.
She definitely has taken to her Daddy. She laughs everytime she sees him. He of course thinks this means she will be a Daddy's Girl, I, on the other hand, know it is because he is so funny looking...Ha,ha.. We will post more pics tonight. right now we are off to bathe her and then to breakfast. I can be reached by email at vlong31@hotmail.com.. That because I forgot to tell everyone I can't get to my regular email from here.

Jazlynn when we first got back to room... She was soooo tired. she fell asleep within 10 mins.

Jazlynn and Daddy watching television last evening in the room.. She loves to sit up and watch everything.

After her bath. in her ducky towel from Randi Jo..She is always so cold. Her feet and legs always feel cold to me.

This is our "wonderful" foster family. They all came to drop-off except for Erick. They are all so nice. And it is more than obvious that Jazlynn is well taken care off. She is so so happy and content.

On My Way!!

We spent the weekend in Indiana at my brothers house. Came home yesterday to an email box full of pictures.. What a great welcome home present. She just keeps getting prettier and prettier. I have "WONDERFUL" foster parents to keep me so informed of her progress. I will be there on the 27th to see her for the first time. I can not wait.. So until I can get you pics I have taken myself, here is some to hold you over.


This is my absolute favorite so far. She looks like a doll sitting there.

Daddy's little reindeer! Daddy likes this one.

Her eyes still amaze me.. I have a terrible feeling I am in trouble with her.. I am "NEVER" going to be able to tell her no. She has me wrapped up all ready.

I will be in Guatemala until the 1st. I will try to post pics from there,if I can get my laptop working. If not I will post as soon as I get back in the states. Hope everyone had a great Christmas. See you from Guatemala soon.....

Entered Family Court

We received word today that we have finally entered Family Court.. This means we are now in a postion to see some forward movement. I doubt we will see DNA test or Birth mother interview before the first of the year,but we are on our way now.

Visit to Aunt!

Well I finally got around to taking the kids over to see my Grandma. She is doing quite well considering she is 101. As always she was so happy to see children. They can always put her in a good mood.
The one thing my brother and I always remember about visiting her house was our Aunt Eileen. She always took us for a day or two also and always had to give us things. Well the other day while there(Grandma lives with her now) she gave me some things for Jazlynn. Boy did they bring back memories. These are some of the things she always gave to us.


In fact, I had the Raggedy Ann one at one time..So I am going to hang these in her room.. Aren't they cute?


Well in adoption new!! There is none. In two days we will be at 3 months and have had absolutely NO MOVEMENT. none,nothing.. Yes we have all our authorizations, but are still no closer to getting her home. It is getting very frustrating. I really did not want to visit without DNA results. So we are left with the choice of go or not? I can not cancel now. With Joe's work this is our only chance to go together. So we will go and just hope it all works out. Soooo in 9 days I will be holding my beautiful baby girl. I can't wait.

POA is Registered...

Ellie emailed me today that our POA has been registered. YES!! That means that the two things they figure must be done to be grandfathered in were done. We should have no problems after the first of the year. Lets hope that is the case. Now if we can just start moving along in the process.. So come on Family Court,GET US IN!

Santa Came Early This Year!

I know it has been a long time since I posted last. I have been soooo busy. I had decided to put some of my doll clothes I make on ebay to maybe earn some extra money for Jazlynn. Well I can not keep up. Which is a good thing,but I have time for nothing. On Sunday we had another fund raiser party. (Thanks Stephanie). It went very well..
Last evening I called down to talk with the foster family. I was surprised with about 20 pictures in my email later. So enjoy these.. She is so precious. I can not wait til the 27th to see her. She looks so happy in these.. ENJOY!


This is the Christmas outfit we sent down to her. Randi Jo picked it out.

I love the look on her face here. I can not wait to get ahold of that hair.

She looks so happy in this picture.I think it was taken the same day as our monthly pictures. She is wearing the same outfit.

This is my absolute favorite. Of any I have gotten so far. She is priceless. This one makes me cry. I so badly want to see her. two and a half weeks and I am there.

NEW PICTURES!

These are our November picture updates.. The pictures were all ,except one, very very blurry. It is still very obvious that she is absolutely gorgeous! I can not wait to hold her and I will do that before the next pictures are due. Today is also her three month birthday.. Happy Birthday Jazlynn. We Love You!

Here she is saying "Get me out of this thing!" precious.

Here she is just simply beautiful. Our sleeping angel!

DNA Authorization!

Yes.... We finally,after 10 LONG weeks, have dna authorization today...So this means we have been submitted to the embassy and things are finally started on the US side. We will know tomorrow if we were submitted to family court as well. But at least we are started.. YES!! Great day

We Are Home!!!

Well Randi Jo and I are home..We had a great time,met some wonderful people,and did some shopping... I am certain this was an experience Randi Jo will always remember. She met some lifelong friends I think also.So here are the pictures.
This is Randi Jo at rehearsal the 2ND day. But the first day on the famous stairs from the Rocky movies. And yes.. She was in the front row. The girl beside her turned into a great friend for her for the week.

This is Randi Jo and I at the Rocky Statue.(I so HATE having my pic taken..)

Pluto decided to drop into rehearsal on Wednesday. The girls were so excited to get pictures with him.

We went on a dinner cruise Wednesday night,... This is Randi and the girls doing the train dance.This was probably the highlight of her week.

And this is Randi Jo on performance day. She had a great smile and said she wasn't nervous at all... She has always loved being front and center.This is the last of the philly pics.

We were getting ready for Thanksgiving with Joe family today. I came in the living room.. and here are my children. Bandar was in one chair and Justin and Randi Jo in the other... I have a sofa. But they choose to share.. They are goofy.

And here are all three of them outside after we got home... Most days they really do LOVE each other.

We spoke with Stanley tonight. Jazlynn went to the Dr and she now weighs 11lbs 14 ounces and is 22 inches long. I can not wait to get new pictures of her on Friday. He said she has such big eyes... Just like Randi always had... I know she is gorgeous! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving,..

Philly Trip

For the family that has been waiting... This is the outfit Randi jo will be wearing in the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade...The Parade is 9-12 and airs on ABC.
For those I haven't told... Randi Jo and I are now in Philadelphia.. She starts rehersals tonight at 8:30. She won this opportunity at camp this summer by being nominated by her coach to try out for the UCA all stars. Well she made it.. She was the only one from her area.But she is already making plenty of friends. We will be home sometime on Friday.
On another note.please keep Justin in your thoughts this week. On Monday afternoon,before I left,we had to put his 12 year old dog to sleep.. He is finding it hard to find things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. It is a hard thing for all of us. Dogs very quickly become a part of your family. I will post pictures when I get home.. HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone.

Fav Foto Friday

These pictures were taken at my Grandma Anna's 100th Birthday Party.. Well she has just recently turned 101.. So Fav Friday is for her this week... Happy Birthday Grandma. We Love You!

Soccer and Cheerleading pictures

This is Randi Jo's Freshman Soccer picture. She made first string Varsity as a freshman.. She is definitely my sporty girl.

This is Justin's Sophmore soccer picture. and probably his last. It was not his favorite thing. He played as a favor to the coach this year,But he prefers a good book....

This is Randi Jo's Freshman Football Cheerleading Picture. She didn't cheer Freshman though she cheered Junior Varsity.. She made Junior Varsity for Basketball also,but asked to go back down to Freshman with her friends because there was only three of them and she was the only freshman Junior Varsity.. Good for her..Stick with your friends...

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On the adoption front... WE HAVE THE GREATEST FOSTER FAMILY EVER!!!! On Monday night Randi Jo and her friend talked to them on MSN for 6 hours..Now Stanley deserves a pat on the back,... To sit and talk with a 14 year old girl that long..lol Jazlynn is doing great.. He said she loves his Mom and Dad equally well... I told him to make sure she is a mamma's girl..lol His mom is excited to be able to know so much about a family and we are just as excited to be kept informed...

I spoke with him tonight and he said they are missing a package I sent... the others came today but not the one.. So I will try to track it down tomorrow.At least her Christmas dress arrived. So many things were talked about I wouldn't know where to start on here. I know he is out of college and works as a Chef. and he loves it.. We will have to eat at his restaurant while we are there.

Anyways I think that is all for now.. Still no word at all on any progress.. We'll see what Friday brings....

My Mr. Smartypants!!

This can work as my fav foto Friday a couple days late also.. I found this picture on Randi Jo's camera when I was empting her card for her.. I always get the best pics of the kids from their cameras.. They will be silly with each other..And they really are very close...This picture shows that..

And then there is Justin.. He started Driver training this past week.. On Thursday they had a surprise mid test.. She said in 5 years no one has ever passed it.. Well not only did Justin pass it.. He got a 100 on it.. He is such a nerd....lol And believe me we have heard of nothing else since.

On the adoption front.. still nothing.. Our case has not been submitted to the embassy yet. But our attorney said it will be this week. So let hope.. We need to get started here... I will call her tonight so maybe the FM has heard something I haven't. Let's just keep praying it will be this week..

DNA authorization

Well the adoption news today for us is NOTHING again... another girl in our agency received dna authorization today after only 4 weeks... And she has the same attorney.. I just don't get this process... I am left not knowing weather to be extremely mad or scared that something is wrong with my case. I know it hasn't been done without me being told though because I talk to the FM regularly... Oh well hopefully Ellie will find something out on Friday.. Keep praying I think Jazlynn needs it..

News from Guatemala

edited to add: http://www.adaguatemala.org/English/news/ This is another post well worth reading...This process will never be easy.

http://www.guatadopt.com/archives/000747.html#000747


In this article it says that the congress met yesterday and talked about moving the implementation of the Hague to April... Which would mean that Jazlynn would be safe until then.. And she SHOULD be home by then... So this is great.. better even than grandfathering in old cases because it should mean no new hoops to jump through to get her home... So we can all breathe a little bit better today...

http://www.adaguatemala.org/English/news/

Then there is this article on ADA which I am not sure I agree totally with.. But I do agree that NOT all adoptions from Guatemala are rigged.. In fact I think very few are but those are the only ones Americans seem to be able to focus on...

Visit Trip

Well it is final.. We have booked our visit trip for December...We will fly out of Detroit on the 27th and home the 31st.. We will be staying at the Marriott in Guatemala City...We are lucky in that other members of FTIA will be there at the same time... Can't wait to hold Jazlynn...Here's hoping all goes well with the amendment clauses..

Fav Foto Friday

Okay I decided I am going to try this also.. but It will not always be pics of Jazlynn because I haven't seen her yet and I have posted all the pics I have...But I love these pics here.. Our dog truely loves two things in life... snow and big piles of leaves.. well the other day she was barking her head off at the door running through the house carrying on.. I looked outside.. and sure enough Justin was raking leaves for the kids to jump in.. so I let her out and here are the results...
If only life were this simple... remember when this is all it took to make our day...

This is truely as close to heaven as it gets for Bailey..... Hope you all enjoyed...

New pictures

We received updated pictures of Jazlynn today. She looks like she has a rash on her face,but I am guessing it is just from the peeling of her newborn skin... If it is still there in the next pictures then I will ask them to question it. But she is still gorgeous... and looks sleepy

I love her eyes

Jazlynn is 2 months old today...

Sending lots of hugs and kisses out to her... We Love you baby girl!

This is three of the pumpkins the kids carved,This is the picture I wanted to put on yesterday and the blog wouldn't let me,,,They did such a great job...

Well the other big news at the Long household is: Justin now has a permit..Yes I know.. It is scary.. But... He is legal now.. He is actually a very good driver. I made him drive home from the store this evening and he was sooo nervous to drive after dark,,, He kept saying"I hate you" all the way home...lol But he did great!

I am off to bed praying for DNA authorization tomorrow....

Happy Halloween

Well today was trick or treat here in town. Bandar came home to help pass out candy and be with the kids.Randi Jo dressed up like a scarecrow and Justin just went walking around with friends.They all dressed up but he did not. They all had a blast.. I am going to try and post some pics here if I can figure out how ....



This is Justin and Bandar.



This is Randi Jo and Saud(Bandar's friend) He has a lighter after her straw...Too funny.



Well that is all of the kids. I guess I should say Katie is in Spain so you will not see new pictures of her unless she sends some home.. She won a scholarship to study there for 8 months. She will be home in May. So anyways,, I wanted to add the kids pumkins but it won't let me.. So maybe another day.. Maybe new pics of Jazlynn will come in and I can post them tomorrow,....Let's hope.....

Call to Foster Mom

Well we have had a good weekend.. Joe and I went out to dinner yesterday in Findlay.We then went and got the paint for the nursery. It was so nice to pick it out without input from the other children. They have picked out everything else so this part is strictly Mom and Dad so lets hope it works.
We called down to the foster mom today. We talk to her son Stanley when we call as he speaks English. They said Jazlynn went to the Dr this week and she now weighs 10lbs and is 20.5 inches long..WOW.. she was 7lbs 8 ounces last month.. She is definitely being very well taken care of. I can't wait to see her again. Stanley said when their Internet is working properly again he will email me and we can web cam with her again... I can not wait..
We also booked a flight to Guatemala for Dec 27Th so we can go down and see her. Have to work on the hotel now. But it will all work out in time.

No updates again!

Well yesterday was our day to receive updates from the atorney. We received nothing again. So it has now been 5 weeks with no movement at all... I had really believed that these attorneies would try to rush us through,but maybe not ours.. It is going to be another long week of waiting... hopefully the phone call to the FM will go better on Sunday.. There is also pictures next week to look forward to...

The Introduction!!!

Hello there
Welcome to our blog...We are the longs,we live in Ohio..We have been married for 15 years and have 4 children...(5 now). A 21 yr old daughter who was adopted when she was 15, a 15 year old son, and a 14 year old girl..Then there is Bandar, Our son from Saudi Arabia..He thinks someday he will graduate from college and go home..but...That is another story..
On Sept 20th 2007 we received our referral of a beautiful girl from Guatemala..She was born Sept 1st and weighed 6lbs and 14 ounces and was 17 inches long..She is now 6 weeks old and absolutely gorgeous...So please join us as we follow this road to expand our family..