Our Last Night Here

Tonight is our last night in Guyana. It's heartbreaking to think that we will have to say goodbye to Aria tomorrow. I can't believe how quickly these last two weeks have gone by. We've had one heart break after another, first with Aria needing emergency brain surgery and then with the U.S. visa issues. But we are so thankful that Aria's surgery was a success and that we are starting to see just how sweet our little pea is. She has the most adorable giggle. And every so often she lets out a laugh without us even trying to be silly.



Please continue to pray for her health. The Hydrocephalus negatively impacted her development in a major way. She still has a long way to go to get back to where she used to be. But we are hopeful that with time, she will be back to her old self.

This morning we called the U.S. Embassy to confirm what needs to happen before applying for Aria's medical visa. First we must be given legal guardianship, then we need to get her a passport and finally, we can make an appointment for the visa. Once the appointment date arrives, we will go in person to the Embassy and it is the sole discretion of the person working the window that day as to whether or not Aria gets approved for a visa. This entire process could easily take another 4 weeks and several more trips to Guyana, and there is no guarantee that she will be approved.

While working on the guardianship, our lawyer will simultaneously be working towards our adoption of Aria. Our lawyer had hoped to apply for our "First Order" (the first legal step in the adoption process) this Friday, but she didn't realize the Child Protection Agency still needed to complete our case report. While she waits for that, she scheduled our guardianship court date for June 21st. Either Shane or I will likely need to return to Guyana to apply in person for guardianship.

After talking to our lawyer this afternoon, we realized we had quite a bit to do before our departure. Quincy picked us up and we drove over to Mercy Hospital in the hopes of picking up the medical letter that we need from Dr. Dukhi, paying off any outstanding hospital balance, and getting an electronic version of Aria's MRI scans. Unfortunately we weren't able to check any of those items off the list and will need to try again tomorrow. Our next stop was to get Aria's passport and visa photos taken. We showed up too late to get them printed, so we'll need to swing by tomorrow to pick up the images. After that, we ran to the grocery store to load up on baby formula to leave with Aria's foster mom. Then back to the hotel for dinner and lots of cuddles with Aria.

The president of Ghana is in town meeting with Guyana's president. Ghana's president is staying here at the Marriott so there is a ton of security throughout the hotel and scattered all over Georgetown, even in the grocery store. It's made for an interesting, albeit a bit uneasy day with all the extra security guards and road closures.

Tomorrow we have a full day packing, getting Aria to her neuro follow-up appointment, meeting with our lawyer, dropping off Aria's things at her foster moms and saying goodbye (for now) to our sweet baby girl. We will be taking the red eye home tomorrow night. We are excited to see our other kids but heartbroken to have to leave Aria behind. Please pray that Aria's health continues to improve, that she is safe and loved in our absence and that the guardianship/US Visa process is quick and successful.