Naperville couple says latest adoption their last ... maybe

It should be an easy question.

"Is this it?"

But, it's almost like they've never thought about the answer before, or even consulted one another.

Kris Hull answers almost immediately, but it kind of comes out like a question, "Yes?"

She quickly turns to her husband Bill for reassurance that she said the right thing, but he returns the quizzical gaze before affirming that after adopting four children from Guatemala, their six-member Naperville family is now the whole Hull family.

Then Kris adds a hasty caveat, "If a biological sibling came along we'd adopt again, but as far as seeking the children out, I think we've got a nice big family."

Bill nods in agreement as he feeds the latest addition to their brood another Wendy's chicken nugget and pecks the 13-month-old on the forehead. Annika giggles and flings the snack into the corner of the dining room where it joins a previously flung French fry.

Since the Daily Herald began documenting the Hull's Guatemalan adoption travails in 2006, the only thing that's changed is the household head count. It's still a complicated ordeal that takes months to sort through. It's still costly. And at times it's still heartbreaking.

The couple has just returned with their fourth child - their first daughter.

"We were devoted to having a girl," Bill says. "She's definitely more calm than the three boys."

That devotion began when they were still going through the rigmarole of bringing their two younger boys to the United States. They were approached about adopting an orphaned three-month-old girl. They had discussed adopting a girl before, but most adoption decisions are made when the child is still in utero and there's no way of knowing the gender of the child before it's born.

"They can say it's going to be a girl, but they don't run those tests there," Kris says. "So, I'm thinking they're going by some old wives tale that she sneezed on the third day so it's going to be a girl."

They met Annika in Guatemala shortly after she was born and then went back home to wait for all the paperwork issues to be resolved between the two governments. In the cases of their three boys, it took several months. With Annika, it took more than a year.

"It's gotten so much worse," Kris laments. "Ever since Homeland Security got involved, it's been bad."

When the family traveled back to Guatemala in late May to bring Annika home, the five-day trip was stretched to eight days because of problems with the two younger boys' passports. It was American customs officials who wouldn't let the family board their return flight.

"We had an emergency contact at the U.S. embassy there, but they couldn't do anything," Kris says, still stewing from the saga. "What's the point of having an emergency contact if no one can do anything?"

The extra time allowed the family to visit the foster parents of the three boys. The women who had cared for Myles, Clayton and Abel while the Hulls waited on papers to be signed and stamped giving them custody of the youngsters.

"I don't think any of them believed we'd keep in touch," Kris says. "One of them has been doing this for 20-some years and we're the only ones contacting her."

Meanwhile, Kris and Bill were waiting for word they could return to the United States.

After several false starts - including once being pulled out of the boarding line at the Guatemala airport - the entire Hull family arrived back in Chicago May 28th.

"Actually, it was May 29th because we didn't arrive home until after midnight," Bill says.

The couple says it's not much of an adjustment from three children to four. Five-year-old Myles and 3-year-old Abel are enrolled in summer Spanish camp. Two-year-old Clayton and baby sister Annika go with mom and dad to their Spanish camp.

The boys are also signed up for swim lessons this summer, which Myles contends he's looking forward to despite his mother's doubts.

Annika is recovering from her first major boo-boo as a little sister to three rambunctious boys. The tip of her right pinkie got nipped when one of the boys closed the back door a little too soon the previous night.

Kris rolls her eyes and sighs when she recounts the drama that has left the girl with a protective cast over her hand and the whole family with little sleep.

She says the boys have adjusted well to having a baby sister, and are most surprised by Abel's gentleness with her.

"Abel is really into having a sister," Kris says. "He's the one who will push one of the other boys for no reason, but with her he's really soft."

The parents say they are adjusting as well, but it's not exactly effortless.

"You have to shop for different things and you're really cognizant of that," Kris explains. "We're still conscientiously thinking of strategies for handling the four of them, like piling them in and out of the car. I suspect in about two months it will feel more natural."

And with all the foreign travel under their belts over the past five years, Kris and Bill are looking forward to not having to go anywhere distant for awhile.

"We decided we're only going places where we can drive for a long time," she says.