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

Planning a visit

I am so excited. My friend Peggy got her passport a couple of weeks ago so we can now go visit little Evvy. She and her husband sat down and went over their family calendar to figure out when a good time would be for us to go to Guatemala. Peggy's husband works as a nursing supervisor on an overnight shift several nights a week so we have to really look at his schedule so that he can be on a day schedule to stay home with their 3 children. So we found a long weekend in October that will work.

We are tentatively planning to leave on October 19 (Thursday) and return on October 24 (Tuesday). We just looked at the flights that are available and we can leave at 4pm (to allow Tom time to sleep before the kids come home from school) and get to Guate at 9pm. We then would take Friday to sightsee. Then either Friday evening or Saturday morning we would have Evvy brought to the hotel where we would keep her until Monday afternoon/evening. We would then leave on Tuesday 12:30 which would allow a little time to shop some more if we needed to and then be home that night by 8pm.

I think the times are going to work out really well as I will only have to take 1/2 day off work on Thursday and then take Friday, Monday and Tuesday off. With any luck they will only charge me 3 days comp/vacation time at work. I have almost earned 2 comp days so I would only have to use 1 vacation day.

I am really excited. Of course the pessimistic side of my brain says, "with your luck your case will really move fast and she will be out of PGN before you travel." If this were to happen, we would lose the benefit of getting the IR-3 visa which saves readoption and additional paperwork when she comes home. If she comes home on an IR3 she is an automatic citizen instead of a "permanent resident."

Anyway, I will keep the blog updaed as we get our travel plans solidified.

SO EXCITED!
Susan

Sad news

I just received a call from my SIL. She just had a doctor's appointment and the doctor couldn't find her baby's heartbeat. She was 22 weeks pregnant and they had just had an ultrasound a couple of weeks ago and found out they were having a little girl. She was due the end of December. She will have to go into the hospital to be induced. I can't imagine the sadness that she and my brother and nephew are feeling. I am so sad for them. My nephew just started kindergarten and they have been trying to have another baby for a while so we were all very excited for them. I was really looking forward to Evvy having a girl cousin close to her age.

My thoughts and prayers are with Rob, Aimee and Ethan during this sad time.

Love you guys!
Susan

Small shopping trip

I decided to stop in at this close out/damaged good store last night on my home from the gym and eating dinner. It is pretty hit and miss finding something that you are actually looking for when you go in but if you go in without any expectation of finding something specific, you can usually find somethings that you need. So I went in specifically to see if they had a recliner or rocker. I need one before Miss Evelyn comes home so that we can sit and cuddle and rock together. No luck finding one there but I did take a trip down the baby isles and found some miscellaneous baby supplies. I felt like a real mom buying just the few things that I bought. I have only bought a few clothes up until now. I didn't even buy anything big but it felt good. I bought some disposable bibs (good for eating out and traveling); baby bottle liners (I plan on using the Playtex bottles); medicine dispenser syringe thing (hopefully won't need it much); travel size baby powder; 4 child size toothbrushes (they were only 4/$1); and then some bubbles for when we go to visit.

Then I went across the street to the library to pickup two big bags of books, videos and CDs that I had found on the online catalogue. They are all about Guatemala (mostly children's books) and a couple on talking to children about their adoption stories in very basic stories in kid language. Kind of like how to answer the question, where do babies come from. Most parents talk about how their child came out of mommy's tummy. I can't exactly use that line. I am looking forward to reading these books. Kids books are so much funner and faster than adult books!

Slowly but surely I am figuring out what I need to get done before Evvy comes home. I am working on distinguishing between what is necessary (formula, diapers, clothes, car seat) and all the extra bells and whistles.

Susan

Short Update

Recently it seems that a lot of people that have been submitted to PGN (the big court in Guatemala) and then kicked out for missing accent marks on their paperwork. So last night I pulled out the Power of Attorney that I signed and sent to Guatemala with my case and compared it to Evvy's birth certificate. Well, there were two accent marks missing on the Power of Attorney. So I emailed my Social Worker last night and asked her if she thought we should redo the Power of Attorney. I also asked her if she could get me an update about our progress through Family Court.

She emailed me this morning and said that the agency director said that we should go ahead and redo the POA with the correct accent marks so that we could get it down to Guatemala before the case gets to PGN. So I went over and signed it this afternoon and my Social Worker notarized it. Now it has to be sent to the Missouri Secretary of State to be "certified" and then off to the Guatemalan Consulate to be "authenticated" and then down to the attorney in Guatemala. I am grateful we are getting this taken care of before we get into the final court as the reviewers are very picky and this could cause several weeks of delay.

My social worker also was able to find out that Evvy's birth mother has been interviewed by the Guatemalan social worker and we are just waiting for the report to be written up. Also still waiting on the pre-approval from the US Embassy to move forward with the case. After these two things are completed (and my new POA arrives in Guatemala) we are ready to go to PGN. There were over 80 cases released from PGN for the month of August (as of Monday 8/28) from one of the adoption forums that I participate in online. This is the biggest month this year which is great since the last several months have been extremely slow. It looks like the average stay in PGN is around 6-8 weeks if there are no problems with the paperwork.

Also, my friend Peggy received her passport in the mail so we can go down and visit little Evvy. I am still waiting until our case enters PGN so that the wait after coming home won't seem so long.

Just a short update tonight.
Susan

How I am staying busy while waiting

No new news this week on the adoption front. Just can't stop staring at the pictures of my beautiful daughter. I am currently waiting on two key events on the adoption. First, the US Embassy needs to issue what they call "Pre-approval" based on the intial case file and the DNA results. The second step that should be happening right now is the Guatemalan Family Court process. This includes social worker interviews and having the case approved through the family court of Guatemala.
After these two steps are accomplished our case will move into PGN which is the final court (Procurderia General). Things are moving pretty well in PGN right now and it seems that the new cases are averaging about 6 weeks.

So, besides checking my email for an approval from the Embassy and reading the adoption family forums what am I doing to keep busy? Well, I started a new quilt project for Evvy's foster mother. I met someone else on the family forum who's daughter had the same foster mother (she just picked up her daughter last week) and she said that she is wonderful. I have the quilt cut out (there are about a bazillion small pieces to be sewed together). I started sewing this week and really need to stay focused on it to have it done before I go pickup my little girl.

I am also trying to do maintanence work around the house. I bought 10 tubes of concrete caulk to fill in cracks in my sidewalk (between the house and sidewalk/porch) and the basement walls. I feel like I am just gluing my house back together. My only consolation is that the previous owners had done patching before and the house is still standing. I still have some work to do. I have used 5 tubes so far. I also need to scrape, sand and paint the window frames in Evvy's room. This shouldn't take too much if I just get on it. I also need to hang pictures in Evvy's room. Also a friend gave me some big paper mache' butterflies that I am going to hang from the ceiling I think. They are just the right colors.

My friend Peggy is working on hand quilting a quilt for Evvy. It is BEAUTIFUL!! She is such a skilled quilter. She takes the tiniest, straightest stitches I have ever seen. Did I tell you how BEAUTIFUL the quilt is. Evvy is a very lucky girl to have so many pretty quilts. We will have to have a different quilt in each room, car, diaper bag so that they all get equal love. I know I love them all and all the people that have made or are making them.

I am really anxious to get this process moving. I want to hold my little girl and snuggle her. I see the pictures and how much she is changing already. I still can't even imagine how much my life is going to change. I try to imagine driving around with a little one in the backseat and waking up in the morning and trying to get both of us ready to go.

One thing that I am relieved about is that I think I have found my childcare provider. A friend from Church is watching Peggy's little girl part time and I asked her last week if she would be interested in another one to watch and she agreed. That takes a big weight off as I didn't really want to put her in a day care center. She has three little girls (9, 5, 3) and they are very sweet and adore Erica. Jeanne is a great lady. She actually has 3 older teenage boys also.

Here is a picture of a square of the quilt Peggy is making. Well I can't get blogger to upload the picture so here is the link to her blog http://quiltclogmom.blogspot.com/.

I'll try to update more later in the week or if I hear anything else.

Susan

New Pictures!

This morning I received an email with pictures from my agency that were taken this weekend. I haven't received the official 2 month medical update but according to the report I received Evvy is around 11#. That seems incredible to me that a baby could go from 4#12oz at birth to 6#1oz at one month to 11# at 2 months. I guess it is good that she is eating and growing. Her cheeks are so cute. It also looks like her Foster Mother (Julietta) has pierced her ears. I was a little shocked to see that. I was hoping to not have to deal with pierced ears until she was old enough to take care of them herself. Oh well, it is kind of cute.

My friend Peggy has been taunting me that she is making Evvy a quilt but she wasn't going to show it to me until Evvy came home. Well she slipped up a little yesterday by leaving it out in the living room. I probably wouldn't have noticed it had she not said something. So the surprise is out. It is very pretty! It is made of batik fabrics (pinks & purples) and will go perfect with her room. The quilting is absolutely going to be gorgeous. Peggy makes very tiny stitches (9 per inch). Mine are much bigger. She has her work cut out for her to get it done before Evvy comes home. She is a little relieved because she can now work on it when I am around instead of just in secret. Evvy is going to have a room full of quilts! That should help us save on the heating bill in the winter (just kidding).

I also received a CD of bedtime music from my mom today. I think I will have to give it a test drive tonight.

Well, without further adieu, here are the pictures of my little angel.

Grandma's comment was does she wake up or cry? We only have a couple pictures with her eyes open! What a life, eat, drink, sleep and no worries!



















Help! I'm blinded by my cheeks!

DNA Results Received!

I received the results from the DNA test in the mail today. They of course showed that the mother that relinquished Evvy is indeed her biological mother. I received a picture of the birthmother holding Evvy. It really breaks my heart to look at it. She looks so sad. Evvy looks like a little angel.

I also received the quilt that my mom made for Evvy. It is even more beautiful than the pictures. I know it will be well loved by Evvy and me. Thanks mom/grandma!

Susan

Oh yeah...

I also forgot to mention that the director of our agency is travelling to Guatemala tomorrow (8/11) and will be in Guatemala until 8/16. She will take lots of pictures and videos of all the children that the agency has placed who are waiting to come home. So next week we should have new pictures of the now 2 month old Evelyn May. I can't wait!

Update

Still waiting on DNA results which typically take about 2 weeks. The two week mark is tomorrow. I did leave a message for LabCorp this evening to make sure they received the sample and to find out if they had sent the results yet.

Status of PGN court: Very good news regarding this court. It has been VERY slow since April. Well yesterday and today the floodgates have opened up and tons of people have posted that they have finally been released. Apparently, the court hired a new "helper" to review and do the final signoff on the cases. On the webforum that I am a member of there were 20+ cases released today. The most that has been released in any given month since April has been 18. So it looks like things are speeding up. This gives me renewed hope that Evvy might be home by Christmas time. That would be so wonderful!

So, what have I been doing to keep busy waiting for Evvy to come home? Well, I have done a little shopping since everyone seems to be having their summer clearance sales. I went to a department store last week (one that I don't ever shop at because they are too expensive) and they had all of their clearance baby clothes 75% off and then another 40% off of the 75%. I got quite a few outfits (mostly for next summer) and paid about $2.00 for each outfit. Many of the outfits were 3 piece outfits (bib, onesie and sleeper). I did pay $5.00 for one outfit was just beyond cute. It is a little pink jacket and skirt to be worn over a pink flowered onsie. It is a 6 month size so I am hoping that she will be able to wear it when I go pick her up and take her to the Embassy for her visa. Little girls are definitely fun to shop for especially when everything is on sale.

I have also almost completed a quilt top. It has pinwheels on it in pinks, blues and purples. I just have to finish one side of the border and then it will be ready to quilt. Quilting just makes me so happy. It is a great release for me when I am stressed out. It is customary to give a gift to the foster mom when you pickup your child from Guatemala. A lot of people really go overboard and take electronics down or buy all sorts of expensive gifts. I think I have decided to try to make a lap size quilt for my foster mom. I have a pattern that I made for myself that I want to try to make again. Hopefully I can get it done in time. When I made the one for me, it took about 5 years :) However, I was just starting out in quilting and it was really too hard for me then. Once I picked it up again and sewed on it, I was able to get it pieced pretty quickly. It has a lot of small pieces. I thought this would make a nice gift and show Evvy's foster mother that I really appreciate all she is doing for my little girl.

Hopefully I will have an update about the DNA testing soon. I am also hoping that the Family Court process has begun. Many cases seem to start Family Court simaltaneously with the DNA process since one of the processes is a US requirement and one is Guatemalan so they are not dependent on each other.

After the DNA results are received by the US Embassy, they will review the case file again and hopefully issue "pre-approval" to proceed. After Family Court and pre-approval are completed, it is into PGN which with any luck will now be a shorter stay than originally thought.

I will update again when I receive DNA results.

Susan