It's Picture Day!

Yes Already! I wasn't even expecting new pictures, but isn't she just beautiful? She looks so well cared for. I have tried so many times to call her foster mother, but have never gotten her to answer the phone. I guess we'll just have to wait until we meet her in person to give her a proper thank you.

Oh Happy Day!

Well Update Monday came and went with no update, but much to my surprise, our good news came on "Update Tuesday"! Our file was finally able to be picked up from PGN by our lawyer. He only needed to add our PA and our CNA registration number. As of Feb, 22nd we have been resubmitted to PGN. Wow, I feel like a ton has been lifted off my shoulders.
Praise the Lord! What wonderful news! I'll be celebrating all day (and maybe several days beyond). Keep the prayers coming!

My Budding Artist's Mural Is A Thing Of The Past

After almost 8 months of gracing the wall that leads to my downstairs lab, Mark has decided that Maria's art work has to go. Shortly after our last summer vacation, spent on Florida's Gulf shore, Maria came to me full of excitement and said "Momma, come see what I make.......wook, it's ocean and dolphins!" She was so thrilled with herself and to be honest, I was too. Except for the fact that her beautiful artwork was not on paper as it should have been, but on a 15 foot wall. All the way from one end to the other. Lots of waves and lots of dolphins! Of course, I gave her the "we can't write on the walls" talk but I really loved the picture she created. I decided since nobody really went downstairs except family, I would leave the creation for as long as I could. Today was the end of the line as far as Mark was concerned. He gave the basement walls a coat of fresh paint, much to my dismay. My baby's artistic expression is now hiding under a coat of antique white latex paint. Of course I had to take a picture first so I could remember it forever.

What do you think? Is she the next Monet?

I guess I should add.............there is no adoption news. Still praying, hope you continue to do the same.

What a Bummer!

Well once again our attorney updates didn't include any news for us. According to our attorney, the PGN has still not released our file for him to pick up. It is anyone's guess as to when that will happen. There have been people with our agency who have posted that the information they received from Laura at PGN was incorrect. One poor family was told, by Laura, that their case was approved only to find out from their attorney that they had actually received another previo. This is rough, but I've decided I've spoken to PGN's Laura for the last time. It doesn't do me any good to hear news about our case from anyone other than our lawyer. If we really did receive a previo on Jan 22nd, it sure is taking someone a heck of a long time to sign off on our file so it can be picked up. So from here on out, I'll be in the dark about our file in PGN until I hear from our attorney.
I'm praying to hear something very soon!

Our Sunday

Our typical Sunday starts out with rushing around for showers, ironing clothes, chokin' down some breakfast and getting ready for church. I leave about one hour earlier than Mark and the girls so I can run through the morning music set with our praise team and make sure we are all set to lead the congregation in praise and worship. After the music, Mark and I get to sit together and enjoy studing and listening to our pastor's message. Pretty much the same routine every Sunday, including our after church ritual. We haven't left church before Maria announces that we need to go get some "icing cookies". We can't go home without stopping by our local IGA and getting some Lofthouse Frosted Sugar Cookies (not the best in my opinion, but I have accepted the fact that my opinion doesn't count). If you aren't familiar with these cookies, each one has enough icing for about four cookies, and they are so soft that they are easily crumbled into a thousand pieces (I believe that's where Maria's joy comes from). We usually go for the pink icing but today we ventured off from the ordinary and chose the blue icing! At least today I talked her into waiting until we got home to open them. She quickly stripped down, sat down to the table and enjoyed!

What a little stinker!!

We hope to hear from our attorney either Monday or Tuesday. Hopefully we will find out that we have been resubmitted to PGN. (That is providing our case has been released from PGN so we can be resubmitted)

That's all for now.................I'm going to go clean up blue icing!

More Good News!

Not for our specific case, but good news for everone waiting to be submitted or resubmitted to PGN. We received word today that the registration number from the CNA is all that PGN is requiring as proof of registration. That means we don't have to wait for a certificate to be resubmitted to the dreaded PGN. For us personally, we just have to pray that someone has finally signed off on our file to release it from PGN so we can get back in. By now we all know the drill.........we just have to "WAIT" and see.

Prayin' for good things to happen...............and I know they will!!!!!

Registration Conformation!

What a nerve racking few days it has been! We received conformation today from our agency that our lawyer has all of his cases registered with the new CNA. In fact they have confirmed that all of their lawyers have all of their cases registered. It will still be some time before individual case conformation will be sent out, but I am resting much easier now. Our agency isn't sure yet if the registration number is all that is needed to be accepted into PGN or if we will still have to wait the 8 days or so for a new certificate. Whatever the case may be, I know that we are just that much closer to Nola. I hope every perspective parent will be experiencing this relief by tomorrow's deadline. I would be sick to find out that there was even one case with our agency or any agency that wasn't registered. This journey is difficult at best .......and lately.........these days have not been best.

This is the closest thing we've gotten to a smile lately as far as pictures go. My heart's smiling today. I hope everyone elses is too!

Guat. Program Update

We reveived an update from our agency's Guatemalan Program Director. The news sounds very positive. The new CNA will be working through the weekend to register cases. The attorneys must bring a copy of the previous registration to the CNA office to receive a new registration number. It's not clear to me if the registration number is all that will be needed to enter PGN and our agency didn't specify that. I'm just happy to see that there are hours of operation posted and procedures for the lawyers to follow. Surely we will know more by the end of next week. All cases need to be registered or reregistered by the close of business on Tues Feb. 12th. Our lawyer has committed to sending copies of the new registrations for all of his cases as soon as he has completed them all. We still have no news regarding our case being released from PGN. With everything else going on, I'm not going to press for an answer on that question. I have to have faith in our lawyer (actually the faith is in a much higher place) that our case will move along as it should. If we haven't heard any news of PGN after the CNA registration fiasco has subsided, I will check into the statis of our file.

What a test of strength this is!

I'm afraid I'm showing what a weenie I am!

On a much lighter note. Thursday was the biannual Father /Daughter dance during the varsity half-time of our High School basketball game. This was the first time that Kelsey and Mark got to take part. What a fun evening! Our poor basketball team is pathetic, but what a half-time show! Kelsey had a great time with her daddy and Mark is now the King of "Pop, Lock and Drop It". The picture quality is not so hot, but after snapping that one shot, my batteries went dead (typical for me lately) so it's the best picture we've got.

Update Monday Came and Went

In some instances, no news is good news, but in the case of Guatemalan adoptions right now, no news is...............no news. Our update Monday came and went with no update. I wasn't really surprised. I had hoped for but didn't expect any good news. Guatadopt is posting that the courts have upheld the appointments of the new CNA representatives by the current president. That should be good news. Now if the CNA can finally get moving and start issuing certificates of registration that would be wonderful. The question now is if the forms used to register the in process cases will be valid since they were developed by members of the CNA who have been replaced.
What remains to be seen is if any of us will retain any measure of sanity when this whole mess is over.

TAG....I'm it!!

I've been officially tagged by Victoria. You can visit her blog at http://longbabygirl.blogspot.com/ and check out her sweet little Jazlynn and the rest of her adorable family. I've also been tagged by Jen. Visit her blog at http://journeytoavagrace.blogspot.com/. Forget all of the other news boards. You can find out everything you want to know about the situation in Guatemala from Jen. And also see her beautiful family.



There are five rules to being tagged:
1. You are to link the person who sent this and leave a comment on their blog so their readers can visit yours.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share seven strange or wierd facts about yourself.
4. Tag seven people.
5. Leave a comment on their blog to let them know they've been tagged.

So here goes....... my seven wierd facts.

1. I love being by myself! Although I have a big family, and am almost never by myself, I enjoy and have always enjoyed solitude.
2. I am a faucet face. So is my sister and so was my mother. I cry at the drop of hat. If it's funny I cry, if it's sad I cry, if I'm mad I cry, you get the picture.......a faucet face.
3. I am a creative person and if I don't do something creative on a regular basis I have withdrawls.
4. I have terrible stage fright. I have sang with our praise team at church for years but every Sunday morning, I have stomach cramps and lips that stick to my teeth because my mouth is so dry.
5. I married my Highschool Senior Sweetheart, and after 28+ years of marriage, we're still going strong.
6. I graduated from college with a degree in construction technology; the only female in the program.
7. I wish I was a good housekeeper, but I'm not. I always have good intentions, but I can also always find something better to do than clean house.

Now that that's done, I'm supposed to tag 7 people. The problem is that most blogs that I read have already been tagged, so I'll tag one and just list others that I read.

I'm tagging:

Melissa http://www.garlandadoption.blogspot.com/

Blogs that I read who have already been tagged:

Jen http://journeytoavagrace.blogspot.com/

Sandy http://www.jsburnett.blogspot.com/

Brittney http://babygirlreyher.blogspot.com/

Gretchen http://gfivefam.blogspot.com/

Victoria http://longbabygirl.blogspot.com/