Our Family Journey

Monday, September 24, 2007

We Received PA Today!!

We received our Pre-Approval from the US Embassy in Guatemala today. We waited 54 days for them to issue our Pre-Approval. Getting Pre-Approval basically means that barring any unforseen circumstances the US Embassy plans to issue an immigrant visa to our baby once the Guatemalan governement releases our case.

Where are we now??

Well we are still waiting for word that Family Court has been completed. Family Court is similar to the completion of the homestudy process in the US. A social worker interviews the birth mother, the foster mother, meets the child and writes a report either recommending that the case proceed or God forbid, stating that she does not think the case should proceed. I know that the social worker has conducted the interviews but I have not been told that the report has been completed and that the judge has signed off on it. That will be the next thing we should hear about. Keep your fingers crossed that we hear soon, so we can continue on to the next phase.

Here's our Pre-Approval letter from the US Embassy

Name of child / Nombre del menor: XXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX

A pre-approval was issued for the above-listed adoption case. You may pick up this pre-approval at Window #10 at your earliest convenience. You must bring a copy of this notification.

Reminder: Adopting parents should not travel to Guatemala prior to issuance of the pink slip by the Consular Section, in order to avoid unnecessary expenses. Travel before pink slip issuance will not be considered an emergency and final documents will be processed as usual.

This office will not be giving priority to other cases over those who have complied with this requirement.

The Consular Section has implemented an Appointment System for the Immigrant Visa.

Please do not travel until you have received your appointment date and time.

La pre-aprobación correspondiente al caso de adopción que esta mencionado arriba

fue emitida. Puede recoger esta pre-aprobación en la Ventanilla #10. Deberá presentar una copia de esta notificación.

Recordatorio: Los Padres Adoptivos no deberán viajar a Guatemala antes de que la Sección

Consular expida la hoja rosada, para evitar gastos innecesarios. El hecho de viajar antes de que se haya expedido la hoja rosada no se considerará una emergencia y los documentos finales se tramitarán de manera regular.

Esta oficina no le dará prioridad a otros casos sobre los que sí hayan cumplido con este requisito.

La Sección Consular ha implementado un Sistema de Citas para la Visa de Inmigrante. Por favor, no viaje hasta que haya recibido la fecha y hora de su cita.

Sincerely, / Atentamente,

Adoptions Unit

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

American Embassy - Guatemala

Monday, September 17, 2007

Welcome To The World Kolte!

Kolte Patrick was born to my sister Amber and her husband Pat and to big sister Taryn on Saturday, September 15th. He weighed a little over 6 pounds and was 19 inches long. Both Mommy, Daddy, Sister and Baby are all doing well...except a little sleep deprived!!

Isn't he just a miracle!!

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Today we received updated photo's of Flora. Although it has been only 18 days since we've seen her, it seems like forever!! The medical update we received was from the middle of August, but it said she weighed 11.5 pounds.

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Dave's Uncle Stan and his Friend Barbara joined us at our house Saturday evening for dinner. It was so nice to hime. We only see him about once per year and he is always good for a few laughs! Saturday night was no exception!!

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Trish, Maria, Lexi, Kelly, Marlys, Jayden, Gary, Stan, Stephanie and David

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Marlys, Gary, Stan and Barbara

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Praying for PA!!

If you look at our ticker on the right we still have quite a few days to go before we officially get to the day that the US Embassy says to expect to receive Pre-Approval from their office.

The thing is that more than several people on the online forums that I participate in have received their Pre-Approvals within the last couple of weeks at exactly the timeframe we are at right now. I so so so hope that we are able to follow their trend and receive Pre-Approval from the US Embassy within the next week. That would be awesome.

By the way, Pre-Approval means that the US Embassy (the ones that ultimately decide whether your child will be allowed to become a US citizen) has looked over your paperwork and unless something really unforseen comes to light they intend to rule favorably for your child to become a US citizen after the Guatemalan government has OK'd the adoption.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Happy Birthday Ethan!!

We went to Chuck E Cheese last night to celebrate Ethan's birthday! We had pizza and cupcakes and Ethan got lots of great presents. Can you believe that even Gabe the dog got Ethan a gift?? He's an awfully thoughtful dog!!

Chuck E Cheese, Ethan and Maria

Maria and Grandma

Maria riding the carousel

Monday, September 03, 2007

Lidia from Guatemala sent us some pictures today. The first two were taken when we dropped Flora off on Friday night, before we had to leave on Saturday. The last two were taken after we left Lidia's house. She is so sweet to think of us and send us these pictures.

All of us at Lidia's home

Maria and Miyea (Lidia's Granddaughter)

Lidia and Flora

Flora in her crib

Sunday, September 02, 2007

We're Home!!

We arrived home last night, Saturday, around midnight. Considering we got up at 4:30 am in Guatemala City and were at the airport at 5:30am Maria Rene did exceptionally well. There was only one flight (out of the four), that I am glad I will never see the other people on that plane ever again!! The last half hour of that particular flight was a rough one, but all said and done, she did great. She was tired all day today and we didn't get much accomplished, but the laundry from the trip. In my opinion, that was more than enough!! Here are some more pictures and video's from our trip. Thanks for following our journey!!

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Daddy and Ria swimming

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Give Baby A Kiss?? Not interested at all! Notice the yawn at the end!!

Daddy and Flora

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Flora, Mommy and Maria

The four of us swimming!

Flora lounging at the pool

Friday, August 31, 2007

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Dave with Maria, Stephanie with Flora Luisa, Lidia (Maria's Foster Mother), Flora (Flora Luisa's Foster Mother) with Myea (her daughter)

We had dinner with our friends in Guatemala last night. It was a lot of fun. We went to the sports bar in the Marriott. It was nice to see them again. We hadn't seen most of them since May when we accepted the referral of Flora Luisa.

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Lidia with Maria, Karla (she works with the foster mothers), Bonnie (she works with our attorney), The McNair's (a couple that came to Guatemala to officially accept the referrals of their child), Dave, Stephanie with Flora Luisa, Flora with Myea, Myriam (our attorney).

Thursday, August 30, 2007

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There's nothing more precious than a sleeping baby

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I told you guys girls should only wear pink! We must have had a dozen inquiries of "how sweet, how old is he?" when wearing this outfit!

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I may look sweet, but mischievous ain't my middle name for nothin'!

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Hurry up and take the stupid picture, my arm is getting tired! Oh and by the way, if you think I'm going to do this on a regular basis, you're crazy!!

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A short explanation is probably warranted with this one. Maria was playing with her napkin for most of our dinner last night. She thought it was so much fun. Of course, as soon as Dave stood up to take a picture, she threw a fit. It was a good thing that when being seated we asked the hostess to please sit us as far away from any other diners as possible.