The greatest experience, the one which shakes a soul with hopes and fears, the results of which are never ending, and incidentally, the one which pays the biggest dividends, is to be found in the adoption of children.
--Anonymous

Lilypie Waiting to Adopt tickers

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Picture Day!

Well we have made it through to another "picture day". It's been a rough couple of weeks worrying about the new CNA and PGN, but seeing new pictures of our baby doll is a good anti-anxiety boost. I can't wait to kiss those sweet little cheeks!

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Kicked Out But Not Released!

We received notice today that even though our file has received a previo, it hasn't been released for our lawyer to pick up yet. Hopefully it will be released soon. Kind of a bummer, but until we receive our certificate from the CNA we can't really move ahead anyway. I'm praying for (and expecting) good things to happen.

Friday, January 25, 2008

The Long Awaited Previo

After my fifth call to PGN, I finally got through to the infamous Laura. She seems to be the only one in the office who can speak English. She gave me our case number and told me our file is out with a previo on January 22. I'm not sure if the previo is for anything more than the lack of PA, but at least we're out. We probably won't find out any further information until Monday at the earliest when our agency gives us our attorney's weekly report. Hopefully we need nothing more than PA and our registration with the CNA to be resubmitted to PGN. I'm looking for at least a couple of weeks down time before the CNA registration forms are moving. Our agency told us that when the attorney submits the four page form (complete with fingerprints and footprints) to the CNA office, it will take 8 business days for the CNA to issue it's certificate of registration. I'm praying that our attorney has already begun the process of completing this form and will be submitting it soon. So for now, I'm sure you know, we will be waiting and praying for good things to happen.


**********Additional News**********
We received conformation today that our attorney has registered
all of his cases with the CNA.
Hopefully we will be resubmitted to PGN
by the end of next week or the first of the
following week.
We also received updated measurements for Nola.
She weighs 14# and is 23 1/2" long.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Long Awaited Good News

Well, it's Saturday morning and we've finally gotten the news that we have been waiting for. At 10:57 this morning we received our E-mail stating we have Embassy Pre-Approval. Woo Hoo!!! What a happy day!!! Now according to our agency, we have to wait for a previo from PGN to have the PA document added to our file. Of course.....you know.....that just can't come soon enough.


Last night was Kelsey's High School Homecoming game. She is a member of the dance team and has been practicing the half-time dance over and over. So much so that Maria had learned parts of the dance and really thought that she should be performing at half-time too. I was afraid we would have a fit on our hands at the game when Maria realized that the dance was going to be performed without her. To my surprise, Maria sat and enjoyed the dance from the bleachers while her big sister did a fantastic job out on the floor! Below is a picture of Maria giving Kelsey a big hug before game time.

Then, of course, no photo session is complete without some silly faces!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

One Step Forward and Two Steps Back

That seems to be the way of the adoption world lately. Last week we heard that all three representatives had been appointed to the new Central Authority. This week however we just learned that two of the organizations are suspending their choices of representatives pending review of their appointment. Not quite back to square one, but almost. We'll just have to wait and see how long it takes to appoint new reps.
We also learned yesterday that our adoption coordinator has taken a new position at our agency. We will be assigned a new coordinator probably by the end of the week. We'll miss Ellie. She is so kind and I felt very comfortable with her overseeing our case. This will be our third coordinator for this adoption. Building trust in someone who has such an important role to play in our lives is difficult, but I pray our new coordinator will fit right in and make us feel at ease with the change.
Hopefully my next post will be a happy one. I'm ready for some happy news!
********News Flash*********
Wow! while I was posting, I received an E-mail which stated that both of the representatives have been appointed! That is fantastic news! The Central Authority will be known as the Consejo Nacional de Adopciones or CNA and will hopefully be meeting soon to iron out the details of registering in process adoptions. Just the bit of happy news I needed!

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Latest News

We have had updates from our agency, but there's just not a lot of info to share. There have been rumors that the new Central Authority has at least a temporary office and some if not all of the officials in place. Our agency has stated that they believe the office will be up and running "soon". My problem is; whose idea of soon are we talking about? We also learned in an update yesterday that cases in PGN will have to receive a previo (or a kick out) before any additional documents can be added to the case file. That means that our case will have to receive a previo before PA (Embassy Pre-Approval) can be added. I'm still praying that we receive PA before we receive a previo. Also praying that the new Central Authority, which our case will have to be registered with to be resubmitted t0 PGN, is up and running at that point. I'm not expecting us to receive PA until the end of this coming week at the earliest. For now we're just going to hang around and wait........just love that waiting. I think it's time to do some Banjo pickin'. I need a little pick me up!

Thursday, January 3, 2008

And The Year Just Keeps Getting Better




Today was picture day! I don't know about anyone else, but I just live for picture day. It's amazing how new pictures can lift your spirits. What a chubby little cutie pie she is! We sent down some clothes about a month ago and she is in one of those outfits, and filling it out quite nicely. I think it may be time for some new "bigger" clothes. Well for some reason my computer won't upload the images to the blog (or maybe the blogger doesn't know what she's doing). I'll try again later.......finally....SUCCESS!!!! Isn't she a doll?

Great Way To Start the New Year

I got on line yesterday to check and see if we had received updated pictures of our baby girl and found no pictures but some very good news! Our case exited Family Court on Dec. 27th and was submitted to PGN on the 27th also. We haven't received Pre-Approval from the Embassy yet, but due to the uncertainties in Guatemala right now, out attorney felt it was important to get cases into PGN so they would have a case number before the end of the year. This probably means we will receive a Kick Out for lack of PA, but we'll take that. We have some great progress to celebrate this new year.

Gordon Mote - Don't Miss the Glory