State Department News

Many of you have probably seen the recent news that the US State Department is no longer recommending Americans adopt from Guatemala. They cite many issues with corruption in the process. Below is a link to an article that explains the US State Department's point of view.

I do not know what this means for my case and others in process, other then the bit of information in the article about things taking longer. Thankfully, the State Department has not put a ban on cases in progress. I am in the final stages, I just have the one big hurdle to get the approval from Guatemala. Once that happens, Elizabeth is mine in the eyes of Guatemala. I hope to hear this week that the approval on my case has been signed.

Please continue to pray for my case and for others in Guatemala. It is a sad situation with no easy answers.

Article link: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/ADOPTIONS_GUATEMALA?SITE=KHOU&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

The Big Question

And the answer is...I am still waiting to hear if the PGN approves my case. It looks like most approvals are taking 7 weeks. My case re-entered on February 2, so 7 weeks from that date is March 23. That is the new target date to hear from the PGN.

If the approval comes on or close the the 23rd, I'll probably head down to Guatemala after Easter.
So exciting!!

still waiting...

Yes, I am still waiting to hear if my case is approved by the PGN in Guatemala. It has been a long and tough wait and it looks like it will be another couple of weeks. I spoke with the agency today and she said she will keep me posted when the cases that went in just before mine come out so I will have a better idea on timing.

Sigh...

Another Video

Here is another video from my visit in November to see Elizabeth in Guatemala. Aunt Carrie is the videographer. Elizabeth is being a good sport and being patient while Mommy and Aunt Carrie have fun with those big cheeks!

February Pics!

The pediatrician sent new pictures and an update from Elizabeth's visit to his office on February 23rd. Here is his report: Estrella came today to my office, she is 7 months old, weights 18.4 pounds, length 71.5 cms, head circumference 42 cms. She has 4 teeth visible, drinks 8 ounces of formula and 3 solid meals during the day, sits down without help, babbles a lot, goes to bed at 9pm, she received a booster vaccine.

By the way, she is not in the outfit I sent down. My guess is the foster mom has not received it yet (boo!).

It has now been 3 weeks since in PGN and no word, but that is typical. The good thing is now we are in the time period where we should hear from PGN soon! Pray for an approval!!

Sent Gifts To Guat

I am so happy to be able to send gifts down to Elizabeth and her foster family and know that they get them! Monday I bought an outfit, toy, disposable camera, and jelly beans (for the foster family - apparently they like them) dropped it all off at the adoption agency office and then someone will be hand delivering to my foster family in Guatemala. The foster mother was wonderful about taking pictures with the other cameras I sent to her. It was great to see Elizabeth in her foster home environment being loved and cared for by the foster family! I can't wait to see these pictures!

Elizabeth typically goes to see the pediatrician at the end of each month. The doctor sends me 2 pictures from each visit. I hope to see Elizabeth in the outfit I sent down in the next set of pics!

No news yet on the progress at the PGN - but that is typical as my case has only been in a little over 1 week.

Back in PGN!

Good news, my case re-entered the PGN (Guatemala Attorney General's office) on Friday, February 2!! The standard process is that we wait to hear and the wait could be 3-6 weeks. We want the outcome to be approved, so keep praying! This is the final hurdle, once the PGN approves the adoption, it is official.

Process Update

Finally, some news on the birth certificate error that got my case kicked out! Since the error was noted 12/19/06, my attorney in Guatemala hired a couple of people to fix the error with the town's registrar only to come back each time with the error not appropriately fixed. So, finally, my attorney sends someone from her office to go the the town's registrar and fix the error. I got word Thursday evening that it has been fixed, and they have a lot of documentation to back it up! This is great news!
The next step is to get my case back into PGN (the attorney general's office). I am hoping it goes into today, if everything looks good. It takes about 4-5 weeks to hear anything from the PGN. When my case is re-submitted it goes in a stack and in order with all the other cases (it does not go to the top of the list because it is a re-submission). A couple of things can happen at this point - the person assigned to review could see that the error is fixed and send off as approved for the attorney general to sign, or the reviewer could again look at all the documents. If that is the case, please pray they don't find any more errors!

By the way, we have had over 400 hits to this website since the end of October. Thanks for visiting and following the story of bringing Elizabeth home!

Sleeping Beauty...

Look at these latest pictures of our precious Elizabeth! The foster mother takes her to the doctor once a month and the peditrician takes pictures and e-mails them to Chrissie's adoption agency.

This one is the little princess crashed out at the doctor's office (this must be before the shot!).. it's so funny the way she falls asleep with her arms out to her sides, like she doesn't have a care in the world!

It says "Estrella" on her dress because that is the name on her birth certificate.. it means "star", and of course she's a star to us, but we'll be calling her Elizabeth (or Princess Elizabeth!!) :)

Along with the pictures Chrissie got this e-mail from the pediatrician:

[Elizabeth] came today to my office, she is 6 months old, weighs 18 pounds, length 70 cms, head circumference 41.5 cms. She is receiving 6 ounces of Similac 6 times during the day and 2 solid foods, but now she starts with Step 2 of Gerber Products which includes mixed cereals, chicken and more vegetables. Foster informed that she sits down with help, rolls over her body, grabs objects, goes to bed at 9 and awakes at 2 am asking for milk. She received third dose of B hepatitis. Looks healthy.

Isn't she beautiful!?!?!

Chrissie hopes to get confirmation that the case has been resubmitted to PGN this week, so that we can start adjusting our expectations on her arrival in March.. of course we want her here with us already, but we're focusing now on March.. the good thing is that Grammy & Papi will move into their new home less than 10 miles from Chrissie's by then, so they'll be nice and close! :)

PGN Update - Still Fixing

PGN approval is the major final hurdle in the adoption process, and for my case, seems to be the most challenging. The errors were discovered December 19, and the last error is still not fixed. This means that my case has not re-entered PGN for the Guatemalan attorney general's review. It seems my attorneys need to hire a second person to fix the error they discovered on the birth mother's birth certificate. The attorney they hired to fix by 1/12/07 was unable to do so.

This is frustrating. I hope they are able to fix this week, so I can re-enter PGN next week. Once I receive the approval from PGN, it takes 3 weeks to finalize the paperwork and I can bring Elizabeth home for good.