Getting Close....Maybe today???

I am on pins and needles in anticipation of the all important phone call that the Embassy has issued my PINK SLIP.

The Embassy approval process is a two part process. First all of the paperwork goes to DHS (Department of Homeland Security). They review the file and verify that everything is beyond reproach. This part of the process used to take 1 day and lately since the DOS (Dept of State) has issued some precautionary statements, they have been taking upwards of a week. After DHS approves the file, they send it to the Consular section of the Embassy who actually issues the appointment and prints the PINK SLIP which is in fact a pink piece of paper. The Consular section used to print the pink slips the same day that they received the file from DHS. This is now a next day process.

Anyway, I emailed the Embassy (both DHS and Consular sections) to see if they had my files and which department had it at the moment. The auto-reply message I received from DHS said to allow 7 days for them to reply because they are very backlogged right now. Imagine my surprise to come back from lunch (1 1/2 hours after sending the email) and having a response back from them. The great news is that they sent my file to the Consular Section on Monday 3/19. Today being 3/21 gives me great hope that I will get my PINK SLIP tonight or tomorrow at the latest.

Several people on the Guatemala Adoption Forum received their Pink appointments today. The dates they received were 4/3, 4/13 and 4/16. I think the Embassy is just tossing names in a hat and drawing for the different dates. They used to be very predictable in their appointments. It makes no sense to me why they are jumping around like this. If they still have slots available on 4/3 then they should keep issuing appointments for that day. Maybe they are saving a slot for me :)

In addition to this great turn of events, I also received a copy of Evvy's new birth certificate showing me as her mother. I got teary-eyed when I received it. This is the first official document that says I am a mother. It still has Evvy's given name (Maria Fernanda) on it but I am her mom! The birth certificate was issued on 3/6/07 so it looks like the attorney took his sweet time getting her passport and getting everything submitted to the Embassy. Not that this surprises me but it is frustrating.

THINK PINK!
PLEASE LET ME GET THE CALL TONIGHT!

Here is a picture of my sweet girl taken a couple of days ago. Look at that tooth! J tells me that she is cutting her second tooth and chewing food like she has a full mouth of teeth. She weighs 18 1/2 pounds now and the doctor pronounced her VERY healthy.



Susan