Greetings from Guatemala!

Hola! As you can see, we arrived safely in Guatemala. We are having a fabulous time. Nathaniel is such a happy baby and we enjoy every second with him. As I expected, Rich is a natural in the 'daddy' role! Yesterday we had lunch with our foster mom, Maria. We couldn't ask for a better foster mom- Nate truly adores her. We had a lovely lunch and talked about her family and about Nathan. We spent time in our room in the afternoon bonding with Nathan and taking LOTS of pics and video. Last night we went to a great restaurant in the City- Hacienda Real- highly recommend it- very baby friendly, too. Today we went to the old city of Antigua! Wow- was I impressed with the old architecture. We went with Alfredo and Claudia who give tours regularly and they really know what they are doing. We have some great pics to post when we return. We went with another family who is adopting a little girl with our agency-- we all had a really great time. We went to Casa Santo Domingo for lunch which is an incredibly old hotel in Antigua and the food was amazing.

Tonight we are eating in and spending time in our room with Nathan. All in all, he is doing really well. He is a TRUE peanut- just under 12lbs but has nearly tripled his birth weight. He is growing really well and eats beautifully. He has lost most of his hair and he has lenghthened quite a bit. He's long and very lean. We agree he needs more "tummy time" but recognize this is definetely a cultural piece we're going to have to accept. He holds his head up but only for short periods unassisted. We know this will come in time. Maria holds him all the time-- and boy- did we learn that last night. :-) He did pretty well for his first night with us since I visited in July. He was up until 1am (only wanting to be held!) but then went to sleep until 8am. He was just a happy baby today in Antigua and we are elated that he got to see Antigua at such a young age. Although he won't remember it, we will forever have that memory to share with him. More to post about Antigua when we return. Also, I think it's worth mentioning that despite the upcoming Guatemalan elections, we have felt very safe leaving the hotel with a safe driver.


Oh, I almost forgot- we got to meet our attorney last night. He was very nice. He gave us some insight into his process and where he sees our case progressing time wise. Very interesting and we were glad to have had the opportunity. It came completely unexpected as another family with this attorney was meeting him and invited us to speak with him as well.

Not sure what is on the agenda for tomorrow but spending quality time with the little guy is first and foremost, of course. :-) The weather here has been around 70's with some sun and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Really comfortable...

Will definetely post more when we return home on Wednesday! Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend!