Another Step Forward

Last Wednesday night I got a little impatient with the US Embassy as I still had not received pre-approval of my case through the Embassy. This is supposed to take place within 30 days of the DNA results being submitted. Through reading on the Adoption.com Guatemalan Family Forum, I knew that if you hadn't received your pre-approval after 30 days that you could email the Embassy for a status on your case. So Wednesday night I sent an email to the Embassy requesting status on my case. On Thursday morning I received an auto-generated message stating that they would try to respond as soon as they could. I checked my email several times during the day and still received nothing. When I got home I checked again and received a second auto-generated messages (same as the first one). Well, I figured it was now after hours so I wouldn't receive anything until Friday. I had Peggy & Erica over for quilt night and we quilted until about 9:30. Before I went to bed I decided to hit the send/receive button on my email one last time and to my amazement I had received an actual email response from the Embassy. It was sent at 6:39 pm so I guess they were putting in a little overtime.

The email said that the pre-approval notice had been issued on August 25 (2 weeks previous) and that the paperwork was just waiting for my attorney to pick it up. I forwarded the email to my social worker at the agency who then forwarded it to the director of the agency. The director then sent a rather candid email to the Embassy stating that "my client received this email from your office. She stated that the attorney, nor the agency and obviously not the family had received this notification previously. In addition, the attorney was at the Embassy three days prior and had asked specifically about this case and was told that the paperwork was not ready for pickup." She requested an immediate response back with the official notice to pickup the paperwork so that the attorney could go pickup the paperwork on Monday. I received an email from my social worker on Saturday stating that the Embassy had responded late on Friday with the official notice and that the paperwork would be picked up on Monday.

This is great news since this pre-approval is required in order to enter PGN (the final court). We are still waiting to exit the Family court but as soon as we exit Family Court we are ready to go into PGN. Oh yeah, I forgot.... The Power of Attorney that I redid a couple of weeks ago (to have the accent marks added) was received back from the Guatemalan Consulate and forwarded to the agency director so it should be in Guatemala on Monday or Tuesday also. This is also important to have before we go into PGN because if the old Power of Attorney was submitted we had a high likelihood of being kicked out to have it corrected.

We are still at the mercy of the courts in Guatemala but if things keep moving along and there are no errors in any of the paperwork, things should be completed by the end of the year. My biggest fear right now is that it move too fast and that I don't get to visit before we get out of PGN. That is highly unlikely but who knows. It is so hard to predict how things will move.

I am learning to keep the step by step perspective. I just have a checklist and each time something gets completed, I check it off. So now I can checkoff pre-approval by the US Embassy.

This weekend I went shopping for rocking chairs. I am looking for a rocker/recliner to put in the living room. I want something comfortable to cuddle with my little one. I have fond memories of being rocked by my mom when I was little. I especially remember being sicked and cuddling in the rocker with mom and her humming a lullaby to me. I don't know how comfortable that old wood rocker was but I think I am spoiled and want something a little softer. I think I found one that I like. It is a leather recliner/glider rocker with a swivel base. It is the best price I have found for a leather. I want the leather because of the durability and it will hopefully resist the cat hair. I fight to keep the couches free of cat hair.

There just seems to be so much that I still need to get done but I am sure it will all come togehter.

I also received notice from my agency on Friday that the DVDs that the director took on her last trip would be available to pickup on Tuesday. I am excited to see a moving picture of little Evvy. Hopefully they got her to wake up :) I don't even care if she is crying, I just want to see her moving around with her eyes open.

I will write again after I get more news or view the DVD.

Susan