The Snowman

Hello All,

Mason is still going a millon miles per hour. It is amazing how much he learns every day! Although we had a great time in Guatemala last Thanksgiving, we enjoyed spending Thanksgiving with Mason here in the States. We have been so looking forward to this Christmas with him home! Happy Holidays.

Love, Casa Ramirez

Adventures with Mason

Mason is getting crazier by the month. We will share some fun moments with you to give you an idea of what he has been up to. School is going well for both of us and time is flying by. Mason amazes us each day and is thriving at day care with the big kids. His communication is really growing and his personality :). We look forward to our first Thanksgiving together in the US-- last year we had Taco Bell in a hotel room and we can't wait our first Christmas as a family. Mason is going to be a green dinosaur for Halloween.

Mason flipped over a laundry basket, climbed up on it, and danced on top of it, laughing.

When asked what a cow says-- he responds with a Moo.

He's doing lots of "reading" in the car on his own.

He's answering questions with "Yep" or shaking his head no.

He loves fetch with any size ball (and plays by himself).

He loves to help sweep the floor and do laundry.

Mason the Walker!

Since the last update, Mason continues to grow and become more of a toddler. He now has different speeds of walking and a lot of the time seems to be running! He is also getting at least 5 teeth right now.

This week is going to be tough. We are headed back to work for the beginning of the school year and will be dropping Mason off at day care for the first time. We are excited because we have a great day care, but it is still going to be difficult.

We hope all is well.

Love Casa Ramirez

Happy Fourth of July!

Mason took his first steps! He decided to make it a 4th we wouldn't forget. Since then he has been practicing around the house a little, but his choice of transportation is still a crawl.

We had a great 4th as a family. Mason also had his first camping experience. He did really well. He was able to sleep in a tent while fireworks were going off and he played well with everyone. We appreciated the Hagen family allowing us to join them for their yearly campout. We look forward to taking Mason camping more.

This past week Mason shared another interest and talent with us. First, he reached into the crisper and grabbed a raw baby red potato and started eating it. He ate the whole thing! As you see in the video he has eaten a couple. His new found talent is being a magician. After eating his first potato, he was standing next to the dishwasher holding something up like he was really proud of himself. Mom and Dad realized that it was his diaper that he had somehow taken off while his onesie was still buttoned?? At the same time he decided it would be a good time to go to the bathroom. Needless to say there was an impromptu bath in the sink!

Hope this finds you well!

Love, Casa Ramirez

Inside, Outside, Upside down

Mason is keeping us on our toes each day. He's walking with just the help of one hand so any day we expect his first steps. It is great to have the summer together to be a family and play. He seems to have never ending energy and he loves to eat, babble, bite and play patty cake. Soooo big is also a favorite and he has a new walker that he scoots around the house with. He cracks us up each day. He's saying dad, mom, up and baby. We have no idea what we did without our little man. We can't believe he will turn 1 year old on August 10th!

Juan was excited to find out that he will be the new guidance counselor at River
Heights this coming year. Although he's sad to leave the classroom he's really looking forward to his new position and preparing for the upcoming year.

Our summer so far has included time with friends on the gazebo and grilling out, Juan's races, walks, thrift sales, the farmers' market, and the Jack Johnson concert. We plan to spend time with family for the 4th as well as brave camping with Mason at beloved Chicken Town with the Hagen Clan.

Love,
Casa Ramirez

It Has Been Amazing!

It has been awhile since we updated the blog. It is unbelievable how time flies by. Mason has been making it pretty easy on us. He is still laid back and has a great demeanor.
Alisha has been enjoying her time home with Mason and can't believe that it is already time for her to go back to work in two weeks. Her days are busy and filled with trying to keep Mason from climbing dressers and pulling things down on himself.
Alisha going back to work means that I will be done in two weeks. Although I am sure that I will not be able to do as good of job as Alisha, I am really looking forward to being home with Mason all day. I have been finishing my practicum and thesis because graduation is right around the corner.

Between all that we find some time to do things like these... Enjoy the pictures

Love Casa Ramirez

Home Sweet Home

Hi everyone! What an unbelievable journey! We had an amazing time in Guatemala and smooth travels home. We had a great reception at the airport and nice welcome home weekend with family and friends. Mason is doing really well. He has tried to make the transition as seamless as possible! He really does make it easy on us! We are currently passing a bug around the house. We think Mason is on the mend now and Alisha woke with a wonderful present this morning. A 101 temp. She is resting and feeling ok though. We are still in disbelief of our gift, Mason. We really couldn't be happier!

Here are some pictures we took over the weekend. I know we don't have pictures of everyone and for the people who stopped by, if you have some we would love if you shared them with us. Again thanks for all of the support and we are excited for everyone to meet Mason once he is well enough!

Love,

Casa Ramirez

Una Familia Muy Feliz

We are here and all is great! We tried to Skype, but it is not working for some reason. We got in a little late so we only had about 30 minutes before everyone came. We were ok with that. We were able to see the whole family! It was great! We have a plan to do a little travel with them on Sunday!

Just wanted to let everyone know we are here safely and all is well. Mason is still unbelievable!

Love, Casa Ramirez

The Time Has COME!!!

This is unbelievable! We leave for the airport at 3:00AM. We are on cloud nine. We aren't sure if we are completely sane right now, but we are so excited. We will be reunited with our son at 5:00 PM tomorrow. We will be spending the next week in Guatemala being a family and enjoying time with his foster family of the past 6.5 months. This is a very happy time for us, but a sad one for them. We hope to try and make this as easy as possible for them. They are a huge part of his life and we hope they will continue to be. I should probably get to work and get ready to leave, considering we leave in 7 hours! Thanks for all of your support. We can't wait to introduce you to Mason Pablo Enrique Ramirez!

Homecoming Coming Soon!!!

Hola,

We booked our flight today for our trip to bring Mason home. We will be leaving next Friday for Guatemala City. We hope to spend some quality time with his foster family before our embassy appointment. We can't wait to be reunited with our son and to be a forever family. No goodbyes required this trip...

Love, Casa Ramirez

Look at me!

We received this picture from Guatemala last week with an update from the family. We also got some news that he has his first tooth and is starting to be able to sit up with help. We are just amazed at how big he looks. We also hear that he is still a happy baby and isn't really too bothered by getting his first tooth.

We are awaiting news anxiously about when we can purchase our tickets and make reservations for our trip to Guatemala. It appears that because of a back log of many embassy appointments, our wait will be on the long side of 4-6 weeks. This is disappointing news, but we are so happy that we were able to get through PGN when we did. It seems that the families that are awaiting PGN approval will be waiting for the government to straighten out how the process will work. As we hope and pray for Mason's quick homecoming, we are also hoping and praying for the children of Guatemala and the waiting families.

Love Casa Ramirez

Mason Here We Come!

Yesterday at the end of school we received the best news. Our case made it through PGN and our case was approved! We are officially approved to be the parents of Mason Pablo Enrique Ramirez! It is a miracle that our case was approved and we made it to this point while there are so many changes going on in the process.

The next step is to wait for our embassy appointment. Our agency told us that the average wait is 4-6 weeks. During this time his paperwork to leave the country is being created.

We are both in shock and trying not to explode with happiness. We are both truly happy for the first time in a while. Thank you for the support and we will update you as soon as we know when we will be traveling to bring our son home!

Love Casa Ramirez