Surprise!

I received surprise visit pics on Sunday night. It was a surprise to me, too, because I didn't expect them for another week or two.

Two weeks to go until the visit trip!

There's nothing new to report regarding my case status. Still waiting for PA and to hear more about FC....

More than I expected!

I truly thought I'd never need the BIG suitcase that I have. I thought the carry-on and maybe the small suitcase would be plenty. Then. Today I went to start packing Kevin's stuff. I cannot believe that his stuff alone has all but filled the big suitcase. Are you kidding me? To be fair, though, the bottle system and the bottle warmer take up quite a bit of space by itself. I haven't yet pulled out the space saver bags, either, but I was still surprised. It looks like I'll need both suitcases and the carry-on, not to mention the laptop. Oh! And I forgot that I need to fit the video camera in there. Wow....OK...getting a little overwhelmed now.

Indulge me, please...

It was getting pretty late last night when I started posting the monthly pics. As I said, he's crying in most of them. Just 2 1/2 weeks until I hold him! I'm just going to post a few more...

Awww...he's sad

So, yes! I got my March pics, too! My poor boy is crying in almost all of them...

Got my update!

I just received word that we entered FC on 3/09! That was pretty quick! I'm so happy I can remove my aforementioned boo boo face! Now, if I'd just get my monthly photos....OH! And PA would be great, too.

Please help if you can...

This has nothing to do with me, but there's potentially many adoptions being affected by what is written below. There is something you can do to help if you so wish. If you are ADOPTING FROM GUATEMALA and you are with an agency or facilitator that is not HAPS or For This Child, PLEASE EMAIL THE FOLLOWING LETTER TO YOUR AGENCY. If you are NOT ADOPTING but you have a blog, please POST THIS REQUEST ON YOUR BLOG.

Dear [agency-name],If your agency has a case in process that contains a Guatemala City cedula or birth-certificate that is missing the Civil Registry signature (usually the mayor’s signature), we have important information to share.
According to PGN, if your case has not yet received a previo for the missing signature, it will. The letter from the Civil Registry and/or the Mayor of Guatemala City is no longer sufficient to satisfy the previo. The four PGN assessors have made a joint decision that these unsigned documents MUST be signed. However, at this time there is NO ONE in Guatemala City with the authority to sign these documents!
We are Cheri xxxxxx and Erin xxxxxx, in the process of adopting Guatemalan babies through For This Child and HAPS, respectively. After many months working on this issue separately, our agencies are now collaborating to find a solution. They have discussed this with the PGN reviewers, Barrios, and the Mayor of GC directly. The conclusion is that the mayor does NOT have the authority to sign a document issued under another mayor’s tenure. Therefore, we must file an acta with a different branch of PGN that will require the Civil Registry of GC to 1) designate and authorize a person to sign these documents, and 2) order that person to do so.
The PGN reviewer on Erin’s case currently has 12 cases that have been kicked out for this reason. If all 8 reviewers have a similar number of cases, that means 80-100 cases are in this same predicament! We have been advised to find as many of these other cases as possible so that we can ALL file the acta together. We have strength in numbers.
If you have, or know of, a case that contains a Guatemala City cedula or birth-certificate that is missing the Civil Registry signature, please contact:
Karla Ordonez, with HAPS: cell 5555-3610, office 2332-9040Traci Orr, with For This Child: US #214-370-8436, traci@forthischild.org
Thank you for your time,Cheri and Erin

Drat!

No update from my agency. I guess we're not in FC yet (insert boo boo face here). I'm a bit bummed because I, for some reason, thought that I'd hear that we were. So, another 10 day wait for an update. Who knows? Maybe we entered today and, by the time I get my update, we'll be ready for the SWI...

Holy crap, it's getting close!

Deep breath. Innnn. Ouuuut. I'm starting to feel a weee bit frantic...The visit trip is in T minus 22 days and there's very little accomplished here. Yes, I have the tickets and the reservations and have actually had them since before Kevin was ever referred to me. Yes, most of the items for baby are bought that I need to take. I have even managed to get two carry on pieces for the flight (well, actually my friend Roni, who is going with me, scored those). I don't have any idea what I'm packing for myself and I worry about flying with my syringes/insulin/etc. I have to get this house cleaned before my mother comes to stay with Cassie (my Pug) and Katie (Roni's 13 y/o daughter), but I guess I need to step. away. from. the. computer first. I've written detailed instructions to my mom on how to take care of Cassie. I never realized how high maintenance my little girl is until I typed it up. Thankfully, my mom is an animal lover and understands my freak-like worry about my "baby". The instructions for Katie boils down to "keep her alive and don't let her con you into anything".

I've never flown before and never been out of the country. To be doing both simultaneously, is freaking me out a bit, also. I'm not afraid to fly per se, I'm worried I'll embarrass myself and get motion sick. I never worried about motion sickness before until I went on a deep sea fishing trip many years ago. I really never even considered that I'd feel sick, but I started with a seizure on the deck and was so violently ill (I'll just leave it at that) for the whole trip that the captain was seriously considering taking everyone back to shore. He didn't, but it was the worst 8 hours of my life and has completely ruled out that I'll ever go on a cruise. At least I wasn't the only one that was sick (the water was really rough, they said), but I did have the dubious distinction of being the only one who seized. Anyway, that's my fear...I pray to everything that is Holy that I don't get motion sickness on the plane. I think I'll get some Dramamine before we go, just to be safe....

Blah, blah, blah...

I have absolutely nothing to report. Still in a lag between any reports that are due. Coming up soon should be the monthly photos and the 10 day update that arrives if there's anything to actually report. I'd love to find out we're in FC! The update is due Sunday or Monday.

We're in the middle of a major snowstorm, yet again, tonight. I'm truly worried that I won't be able to get out of the driveway for work tomorrow. As long as I'm not plowed in I should be OK, but, during the last storm, I never could have gotten out without my neighbor's help and that's with my 4x4. It's odd worrying about this because I've never had to worry about it since owning a 4 wheel drive. That last storm was a doozy, though, and now I worry. Wish me luck!

Waiting sucks...

I've been spoiled the past month. Since accepting my referral, besides getting DNA authorization, having DNA collected and receiving the results, I've gotten 5, count them, 5 batches of pics of Kevin. The timing just happened to fall that way. The 10 day update (if there's news to report), has come and gone, I believe, and there wasn't anything to tell me. I have, at least, ten days to wait until I receive anything else. Yuck. I'm not good at waiting. Taking on an IA is an exercise in learning patience for me. Sigh. I'm hoping when the next update is due, I'll find out I'm in FC. About that time I should also receive the monthly photos. In the meantime, I must just wait patiently. Did I mention I'm not good at waiting?

Totally OT

Not long ago, the first casino in PA opened up in my neck of the woods. I've been thinking about going and tonight I decided to do it. I used to go..."used to" meaning about 7 years ago...to AC quite often and loved it so I was itching to be able to drive 15 minutes to have some fun. Lucky for me (or intelligent forethought), I only took a small amount of cash with me 'cause I lost. Every penny. Visions of hitting the progressive jackpot, dancing in my head, are over for now. I had fun, but I'll be able to stay away for quite awhile now. I guess that's good. Had I won, I'd probably be there way too much...way, way too much.

I'm so in love...

This is one of the doctor's visit pics I received this morning. Kevin's gained almost 2 lbs this month and is up to 6lbs 9ozs. He's just beautiful, I think. I also received surprise visit photos, but they're actually dated 2/17, so he's actually younger in them. If you can stand another pic, here's one of them. Do I see a touch of a smile, maybe?Ahhhhh!!! I can't wait to hold him in just under 5 weeks!!

Midstream....

I apologize for starting this blog midstream...I've been blogging on a private site up until this point and I know if I wait until I have time to catch this blog up, I'll never get it done (er..started).

I am adopting a baby boy from Guatemala and after, what seemed like forever in the paperchase and an unusual length of time waiting for a boy referral (my typical luck), I finally received the call on February 5th at 10PM asking if I was ready for a referral. Technicalities. I'm sure my case manager had trouble keeping a straight face when she asked me that question since I had sent her a deluge of emails with nary a word, but only images such as a pacing smiley.

I fell in love instantly which, to be honest, surprised me. DNA authorization came quick on 2/15 and it was collected on 2/16. Here he is getting his fingerprint done...I think he looks like he's saying, "Can ya believe this?"The results came in the mail on 3/5 with a 99.95% match. Now I must wait to enter FC (probably in about 2 weeks) and to get PA (running about 6 weeks these days-up from the 30 days it was previously). Typical. Rolling eyes...