YIPPEE!!!

Well, right after I had decided that I wasn't going to worry about the Immigration approval and that I was going to wait until my application had been in for a full 8 weeks before calling again....Mr Immigration man signed my I-171-H this week. I guess it is true that a watched mailbox doesn't deliver :) I received the approval today and it was signed on Monday 6/26/06. I was so excited when I opened it and read that they had approved me. Of course this all happens on a Friday afternoon when the adoption agency is closed and no one else seems to be at home to tell. So I am putting it all on my blog who is always here to listen to me. I did scan and email the form to the adoption agency since that was the last piece of paper they were waiting for before sending my dossier to Guatemala.

So, what is next? My dossier (all the documents that have been certified and authenticated) will be sent to the lawyer in Guatemala. They will review the file and then when a little girl is available, they will email pictures and whatever family and medical history is available. I will then have a couple of days to decide whether or not to accept the referral. I then sign documents to accept the referral and sign a power of attorney authorizing the attorney in Guatemala to act on my behalf.

I am attaching a beautiful embroidery that I got back last night from the frame shop. I purchased this piece on a trip to Guatemala in 1990 with my parents, sister and youngest brother. It was purchased in a town called Solala which is located on the banks of Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. It is a beautiful town and a beautiful piece of artwork made with silk floss. I have had it in my trunk of Guatemalan treasures for the last 16 years and thought it was time to get it framed. It will go up in the babies room. It matches the room perfectly.

I am sooo happy!! I know that there will probably be other hurdles to overcome but at least I have one behind me now. I should be really good at waiting by the end of this process.

Simple Pleasures

• Well, I started this post earlier this week and thought I had saved it but there was an error.
  
  I have just really reflecting on happiness and how the more simple I keep my life, the happier I am.
  
  Here are a few simple pleasures that I have:
  Listening to the rain
• Watching the clouds float by
• Watching the kitties play together, cuddle up together
  
• Cuddling with my kitten.
  
• Walking through my neighborhood talking with my neighbors.
  
• Listening to the birds
  
• Watching the squirrels & rabbits
  
• Unloading the dishwasher! I really appreciate this after not having a dishwasher for 5 years. My life is calmer now that I don't have to look at a messy kitchen anymore.
  
• Looking at picture books
  
• Talking to my mom
  
• Talking to friends
• Quilting
  
• Taking pictures
  
• Chasing Erica around the waterpark or just watching her explore the world
  
  There truly is so much more to life than work. I used to be so focused on work and now, well not so much. This is not to say that I don't work very hard and do a very good job, I just don't do it for as many hours. I honestly thinks this helps me work better when I am at work. I have learned to set limits on how much I work.
  
  I spent a lot of time this weekend reading some Guatemala adoption forums on the internet (adoption.com has a lot of different communities). I feel sorry for many of these families that have been waiting for their adoptions to be finalized for so long. They are so frustrated and with good cause but you can tell that they spend many hours a day on these forumns. They all seem to just feed off of each other's frustrations. I got depressed reading a lot of them. But I was able to find a lot of good posts and good information about people's positive experiences.
  
  Still waiting on my USCIS paperwork to be approved. They are running about 8 weeks right now. Mine has been in for 5 weeks so I will just continue to be patient. I really just feel calm about everything and things will happen when the time is right. It does no good to stress.
  
  I am grateful for all of my supportive friends and family who ask me about the adoption and are happy for me.
  
  Susan

Life goes on...

Well, still no letter in the mail from USCIS (Immigration). I did getg bold last week after waiting a month and no word. I found a local phone number for the USCIS office her in Kansas City. I finally figured out how to work around the phone system to actually speak to a real person. I ended up talking to the actual person who has my case file on his desk. He said that he has everything in the file and that it would be processed. When I ask for an indication of a time frame, his answer was "give or take 90 days." I think that is just a standard non-commital answer instead of saying, "I'll get to it when I get to it." The average time for approval has been 2-6 weeks in the past. My adoption coordinator said it has been running more like 8 weeks for families recently. So, I will give it another couple of weeks before trying to call again. At least I know the name of the person handling my file and can use the dial by name directory on the automated phone system.

I walked in the American Heart Association annual heartwalk 2 Saturday's ago. I was proud of myself. It was only a 2.5 mile walk but actually ended up walking about 6.5 miles through the course of the day between walking around the park before & after; walking to and from parking area and then walking around Independence town square for another event for Breast Cancer Research fund raiser. I have been trying to walk around the neighborhood every night with my neighbors. My neighbor had a major bypass last year and has walked every day since being released from the hospital. He has lost over 100 pounds by walking and eating right. I usually walk 1-2 laps around the neighborhood which is 1.2 miles per lap. I sure sleep better at night when I exercise. I am trying to get back to consistent vigorous exercise and eating better. I want to be a healthy mom so I can set a good example for my daughter and have a long, active life together.

I took a Guatemalan embroidered wall hanging to be framed this past weekend. I think it is going to be beautiful in the nursery and will be a nice reminder of where she came from. Hopefully she will treasure it for her lifetime. It is really pretty in soft pastel colors. I still have some work to do in the nursery (scrubbing floors, repainting one wall and some other general organization/cleaning out the closet.

I feel like I am stuck in limbo right now....Just waiting on USCIS beauracrat to approve me so that I can meet my daughter (at least through pictures and maybe a video). Then it will be a different sort of waiting as things move through the Guatemalan beauracracy which is probably much worse than the US side. So far, there is still no new updates on the Guatemalan PGN court moving any faster. If things continue to be delayed, it is possible that this process could stretch through the new year. I think that if it does stretch past Christmas, that I may plan a trip to Guatemala for Christmas so I can spend time with my girl. Just have to wait and play things by ear.

Mom & Dad are about 10 months into their Church service mission at the Family History World Wide Support Center in SLC, UT. They will finish in January and move back to TX. Dad will then supposedly work in earnest on finishing the airplane that he has started building. After it is done, they are planning to move "somewhere." They haven't come to an agreement on where to move yet. I have put my vote in to have them move here to be close to their granddaughter and daughter. It would be nice for her to grow up knowing her grandparents. I would enjoy having family around also.

Well, I am going to move the sprinkler, throw a turkey filet on the grill and then go walk (if it has cooled down some).

I am really enjoying using this blog as a way to keep track of my progress (or lack thereof) but also just what is happening in my life.

Susan

No Mail Yet

Still no mail from Immigration Dept. I am getting antsy. I come home, check the mail and then watch Adoption Stories on TV and cry so anxious to bring my girl home.

Work has been challenging this past couple of weeks. We had a big install on Sunday and had a lot of testing to do last week. They really didn't give us enough time to test everything. Unfortunately, we found a pretty bad problem yesterday that affected the amounts that we were quoting to our customers. We were underquoting many of our shipments. We had to go to a manual quote mode to prevent the system from auto-quoting. So last night they put in a patch to fix the problem. That went in at 9:00 so I was logged on from home to test things out and ensure that all was well. While I was logged on, I started getting instant messages from various people with problems. Then my cell phone started ringing with problems. I ended up working from 9:00 to 11:45. I am very tired today.

OK. Well, gonna read a bit and then go to bed hopefully.
Hopefully will have some news soon :)

Still Waiting

Well, I got an email from my adoption coordinator last Thursday saying that she had all of my paperwork for my dossier back from the Guatemalan consulates. Now all we are waiting for is my USCIS (immigration) approval. It has been 4 weeks tomorrow so hopefully within the next week or so I should have the approval back. The waiting is difficult. I find myself coming home every day checking the mailbox and feeling disappointed and frustrated that there is nothing there but junk mail.

My mom is working on a quilt for daughter. It is a pattern that I bought at Christmas time with the intent of making it. However, mom wanted to make a "raggedy quilt" and I told her I had a pattern that I was going to make and if she wanted to that she could use it. I think she is having fun with it and even commented that my dad had been helping with the layout--making sure the fabrics and patterns matched up.

I need to start working on the nursery again. I need to really scrub the floor (bought a scrub brush on Friday). It has a lot of wallpaper/glue stuck to the hardwood that I just need to get down on my hands and knees and scrub. I am looking for a butterfly area rug to put down in the middle of the room.

Yesterday I walked in the American Heart Association heart walk. It was a 2.5 mile walk and there were hundreds of people walking. Our company won the award for the largest contribution. We have a lot of fundraisers for several months leading up to the walk. By the end of yesterday I had walked about 6 miles just from walking around the park, to and from the parking area, the official walk and then I went to our town square yesterday and walked around. My feet were really killing me by the end of the day. I don't know if I have ever had such bad cramps in the feet before. I felt really good about completing the walk. I never really enjoyed walking in the past but now that my neighbors invite me to walk with them every evening, I am enjoying it more. I think it is just funner to walk with people.

Well, just wnated to put a short update out here. Nothing new to report with the adoption other than "still waiting......."

Susan

Short Update

I received a call from my adoption coordinator today. She has been out of the office for the past two weeks for graduation. She just completed her Masters of Social Work degree. She is very competent and consciensious (SP?). She was just calling to let me know the status of my paperwork. Most of my paperwork has come back from the Guatemalan consulates. While she was gone the agency director sent off the last three documents to the consulate in Denver. Those should be coming back soon.

Now I am just waiting (not very patiently I might add) for my Immigration (USCIS) clearance to come back. It will be 3 weeks this next Monday and the typical turnaround is 2-6 weeks. I am right in the middle of the waiting time. I am hoping it comes soon. I did check my bank account and they have cashed my check which I have found through my other experiences dealing with government agencies during this process that they are working on the file. In all of the other cases (passport, ordering birth certificates, getting state background checks) within about a week of the check being cashed, I received the documents. I hope this holds true.

After my Immigration clearance comes back, my paperwork (dossier) goes to Guatemala and I will receive my "referral" which is when the attorney in Guatemala matches me with a child.

I am starting to feel a lot of anticipation to see what my daughter will look like.

The bad news I received today from the adoption coordinator is that the final court in the Guatemalan process (PGN court) is very backlogged. Apparently the chief of the court is looking at EVERY case. I guess he is investigating because so many cases are being thrown out of the court for insufficent information. When this happens, the lawyers have to get the new requirements of the court and then "reenter" the PGN. According the my coordinator, there are currently 500 cases pending in the PGN. They don't know how long he is going to continue looking at each case but they are currently expecting delays. Hopefully they can get these issues smoothed out and get things running again. I guess the bright side is that just because you are #500, doesn't mean you will be the last to be processed. It isn't a first in, first out system.

I guess time will tell. My friend Peggy told me that I am starting to "nest." I have finished one quilt and I am now settling into hand quilting a queen size quilt that I have been working on for the past 2 years. It is very satisfying and relaxing.

Well, I need to go to sleep. TGIF tomorrow! It has been a long week at work with lots of computer issues.

Susan

More Names

I love having a laptop and wireless network! I got a laptop for work since I have to be on-call for problems with our computer system. Now I can sit on the couch and type on my blog.

Anyway, here are a few more names that I am considering:

Sophia/Sofia=wise
Alicia=truthful/nobel
Priya=beloved/sweet natured
Rayna, Raina, Reyna=mighty, pure, clean, peaceful, queen
Roxanna=sunrise
Marisol=sunny sea (I really like this one)
Safiya=pure, serene, best friend
Sadie
Natasha=resurrection
Tatiana=fairy queen
Tavia
Viviana=full of life
Victoria=victorious

I still like Elizabeth and Evelyn too.
I think I have settled on May for a middle name. It seems to go with most names that I like.

I think I will probably not make a decision until I see the pictures and see what her given name is.

Baby's First Quilt

About 6 or 7 years ago, I took a road trip to a quaint little Amish village here in Missouri. I explored the town and found a quilting goods store. I found some nice flannel fabric that I decided that I would like to have. I would make a baby quilt for one of my future children. Well, I cut out the fabric and just decided on a very simple pattern of squares arranged on the diaganol. I cut it out and sewed the top together pretty quickly. I decided that I would hand quilt it since I was not in a hurry. I had still yet to meet the man of my dreams after all. I set the quilt aside and worked on it every once in a while. But in the meantime, I started (and actually finished a few) other quilts. My sister had 3 children and a brother had a child during this time span so I made 4 other baby quilts for my niece and nephews as well as many other baby quilts for friends.

Well, here it is 7 years later and I have finally finished the baby quilt. It feels so nice to have a baby room to put it in to wait for my girl to come home. My mom is making me another flannel quilt and my friend Peggy has told me she has a quilt top done and jus thas to quilt it (she won't let me see it until the baby comes home). I am so glad that I was able to get my quilt done before everyone else. I am very appreciative of the quilts that are being made but it feels nice to say that I made my daughter's first quilt. I hope she can grow up loving quilts. I know that Peggy and I plan to raise our daughters with a love of quilting and hope to start them young!

This quilt was made with much love and anticipation of my little girl cuddling up with me on a cold winter night.

Susan

Friends

Well, the water park opened today. I went and had a very relaxing day. However, the whole time I was there I kept thinking that it would be so different next year when my daughter is with me. It will be a totally differnt. I can't wait. My friend Peggy has a 21 month year old. Last year was OK with her but this year will be a lot funner since she is really walking and talking. Then next year our girls will be playing together. I was really struck by an email that Peggy sent me yesterday talking about our girls growing up together and being friends. Hopefully they can have the same long lasting friendship that Peggy & I have.

I never had a lot of friends but the friends that I have mean everything to me. I hope that my daughter can have quality friendships also.

What is in a name?

Not much happening lately other than work and normal daily routine. I finally got cleared by the doctor to go back to working out. I had a stress fracture in my foot and bad tendonitis. I was in a boot air cast for 2 months and then physical therapy for a month. I gained some weight and am glad to be back working out. It motivates me to eat better too. My neighbors are very good about walking and have recruited me to walk with them. The loop around the neighborhood is about 1.2 miles. After two weeks I can do 2-3 loops a walk. It feels really good and is especially nice to have people to walk with. I have really become good friends with my neighbors (Chris & Leila). They wrote a very nice letter of recommendation for my adoption and are very supportive and excited about the adoption. They don't have any kids and have already told me they will spoil her rotten.

So I checked out a bunch of baby name books from the library a week or so ago. There are too many. It seems that names are so important. I would hate to curse my daughter with a bad name. I always thought my own name was pretty plain "Susan Marie." Maybe that is why I have always felt like a plain person. Or maybe that is why I am so down to earth and practical. Anyway, I had a few ideas of names before I checked out the books.

Evelyn was my grandmother's name. One book says it means "hazelnut" another says it means "optimistic." I know it sounds old fashioned but it is also not a terribly common name anymore and I would probably call her Evvy. That has been the name that has stuck with me for quite a while.

Elizabeth is also a nice name that I like. One book says it means "consecrated of God." I had a sister named Stacy Elizabeth. She died on the same day she was born due to a birth defect. I thought it would be a nice tribute to her short life. One of my favorite movies is Pride & Prejudice (have the A&E version as well as the newest version). I love the character Elizabeth in that movie. She is strong willed, thinks for herself and doesn't care what anyone else thinks about her. If I name my daughter Elizabeth, I would probably call her Lizzy which the book says means "devout.". There are a ton of variations/nicknames that come from Elizabeth and it is a nice name when she gets older.

Middle names that I am thinking of are May, Mae and Marie. May is my mother's middle name and I would really like to honor her because she has always been so supportive of me. In one of the name books it says it means "bright flower." Another book says it means "great", "discerning" or "flower." Mae is a variation of May and is part of my dad's stepmom's name (Flora Mae). Another one is Marie. That is my middle name and was my grandmother's (mom's mom) middle name. I also thought it would have some latin connection to Maria.

I guess I am more a traditionalist as far as names are concerned. I may look at the books some more. One of the books is quite interesting. It doesn't so much give meanings of names but it rates them as far as popularity through history. It shows trends and also shows names that would be good sibling names for both brothers and sisters. Not that I am thinking that far ahead of having a brother or sister for my girl.

Well, if anyone has any advise on naming, I would welcome feedback. No guarantees on whether or not I will take the advise but I would be interested in how other poeple chose their children's names.

I am in a waiting mode right now as far as the adoption goes. I am still waiting for my USCIS (INS/Immigration) approval to come through. It has been almost two weeks which is the short end of the average wait time of 2-6 weeks. I did notice they cashed my check so maybe that is a good sign that the paperwork is being processed.

I did apply for a couple of grants this past week to see if I can get any help financing the adoption. I need to write another proposal to give to my employer who offers no paid time off or any other adoption benefits. I gave a proposal that I received from the Dave Thomas foundation to one of my HR reps who said he would forward it to the appropriate corporate HR person. I have my doubts that he got it to the right person. Anyway, I have decided that I would do the proprosal over again and send it electronically the the VP of Human Resources at our company and maybe she can channel it to the right person at the main corporate office who handles the benefits for all the subsidiaries. That is one of the things that I plan on working on this holiday weekend. I really would like them to pay me for part of the time off that I am taking when I bring my daughter home. They should at least give me 6 weeks paid time off like they do when mothers give birth at the company. Those mothers are covered under short term disability insurance so it isn't officially "maternity leave."

Well, I am going to sign off for now. I will hopefully write some more this weekend. I just got a laptop at work to bring home for when I am "on call." So now I have wireless networking at home and can sit on the couch with my laptop and type on this blog. Much better than sitting back in the office.

Hoping for a sunny weekend and some time at the waterpark.

Later,
Susan