Good news today

Today we found out that our attorney applied for Zachary's new birth certificate today. YIPPEE!! It's about time. We have been out of PGN for 10 days. She just got the certified adoption decree back today. The birth certificate could take anywhere from 3-10 days. Of course, I am praying for the 3 days! Once the birth certificate is issued, it will go to the Embassy along with some other paperwork so that they can process the Visa. That will take a couple of days and then we'll get a PINK slip and the Embassy will give us a date and time for our Embassy appt. I am getting really excited now...especially since it will be March in just a couple of hours. Then I can say that my baby is coming home THIS month!!! ZIPPIDEEDOOODAAAA

Right now I'm hoping that we hear something next week. I think I'll leave Philip alone for the rest of this week. He has alot on his mind right now. The Protocolo of Good Practices that President Berger's wife is pushing in Guatemala right now is causing a lot of controversy. The last announcement from Guatemala said that if prospective adoptive parents don't have their Power of Attorney filed by next Monday, they will not be allowed to adopt. This has people going nutz as you can imagine. Hopefully this will blow over and go away like it has previously. I feel so bad for people just starting the process. I am SO thankful that we are in the clear now.

ALSO, more good news today. My friend Bethany found out that they are on the Director's Desk!!! This is great news!! It appears that they didn't get any kickouts and now they are just waiting on Director Barrios to sign the final decree. YIPPEE!!! I am SO excited for her. Her little angel will be home soon!!! Congrats Bethany!!!

I will post again tomorrow!!!

Feeling anxious today.....

I talked to Philip today and he said that he is still optimistic that we will be travelling mid March. I am REALLY hoping that he is right!!! There are several things going on in Guatemala in the next few weeks. There is a convention March 18-21 but according to Philip, the Embassy will be taking appts. on the 22nd. Also, the week leading up to Christmas, the Embassy will be closed for Holy Week. I am just praying that we will get our birth certificate back from the registry and get PINK and our embassy appt. before the 16th. Philip has told me over and over that he believes we'll make the cutoff and if by chance we don't, we will have our appt. either the 22nd or the last week of March. Well, tomorrow is March but and the end of the month feels like an eternity away! I am really going to try to stay calm...but it's so hard. If I had the money, I would go down there the second week of March and just stay there until we have our Embassy appt. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

This wait is also very nerve-racking. I feel like we are racing the clock. I am SO SO SO very grateful to be out of PGN but I am still so anxious to get Zachary home. I am praying for miracles!

Until later.....

Monday

I hope everyone had a good weekend. Ours was good. We went home to see my parents. My family is so excited about Zachary coming home. Like me, they just can't wait! My mom and stepdad gave Zachary a mattress for his crib for Christmas so we brought it home yesterday. It was so much fun last night to make up his bed. ;-)) His room is all ready. All we need now is Zachary!

I spoke to Philip today and he said that he and Cinthya (our attorney in Guatemala) are still optimistic that we may still be able to beat the cutoff. The birth certificate was supposed to be ordered last Friday but he told me that Cinthya was waiting on the certified adoption decree. He said that she should have it today. So I asked when the birth certificate would be ordered and he said today or tomorrow. So now we need to pray that they generate the birth certificate very quickly so that we will have enough time to get that, submit it to the Embassy for them to process the visa and paperwork and then issue a PINK slip. Then they will make our Embassy appt. That is really a lot to get done. I also found out today the embassy will not be giving appts out during the week of March 12-16 but you can have a previously scheduled appt. for that week. More than likely it would be scheduled the week before. There has been a lot of conflicting information about the shutdown dates so I went to the Dept. of State website to find out what the real deal is.

I am really trying to stay calm. I have been doing a pretty good job of it since we got out of PGN (after the initial jumping up and down and screaming session I had). Now I'm a little more anxious. I went to Wal-Mart tonight and felt the urge to buy a few things for Zachary...diapers, sippy cups, and a pair of precious little shoes. ;-)) I am just praying that we get an appt. by the week of March 12. I also found out today that the Embassy shuts down for Holy Week, which is the week prior to Easter. I talked to Philip about this today and he said that he thinks we'll definitely have Zachary home before then. YEAH!!!!!!

OK, I'm going to spend a little time in his room now. The adoption.com website is down so I'm lost. I'm dying to get on there and see if there were any OUTs today!!!! I'm praying for lots this week!!

Have a great night.

WOW...WHAT A GREAT WEEK SO FAR

This has been such a WONDERFUL week!!!!! First I get out of PGN on Monday and then today my friend Veronica got out with NO previos!!! WHOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!! I am SO happy for her and her husband Todd!!! We are hoping to travel at the same time to pick our babies up!!!!!! I am so excited for them!!!!! The pain is over for both of us now but we won't be satisfied until our other friends get their babies out of PGN too!!!!! THANK YOU Senior Barrios!!!!!! You have made two families VERY happy this week!!!!!!! We hate to be selfish but we would LOVE to see a few more outs!!!!!!

AGAIN CONGRATULATIONS TO VERONICA AND TODD!!!!! If you would like to visit their blog, I have a link to their website on my blog.

HUGS,
Rebecca

ZACHARY IS COMING HOME--WE ARE OUT OF PGN

PRAISE GOD!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!! I GOT THE CALL AT 4:38 PM TODAY!!! I HAD JUST GOTTEN BACK TO CHARLOTTE AFTER SPENDING THE WEEKEND IN ST. LOUIS WITH MY GIRLFRIENDS. I WAS ALMOST HOME WHEN MY CELL PHONE RANG AND THERE WAS A STRANGE NUMBER ON MY CALLER I.D. I PICKED THE PHONE UP AND IT WAS PHILIP. HE SOUNDED LIKE HIS USUAL SELF....AND SAID "HEY REBECCA. IT'S PHILIP." I KNEW WHY HE WAS CALLING IN MY HEART...AND ALL I COULD SAY WAS "HEY DUDE! WHAT'S UP." LOL HE SAID, GUESS WHAT? YOU ARE OUT OF PGN!!! OH MY GOSH!!! I STARTED SCREAMING SHOUTS OF JOY...PULLED OVER ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD...JUMPED OUT OF MY CAR AND STARTED DOING THE PGN DANCE RIGHT THERE ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. LUCKILY, I WAS IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD....VERY NEAR MY HOUSE! I CAN'T EVEN DESCRIBE THE FEELING I HAD AT THAT MOMENT. MY BABY IS COMING HOME!!! IT FEELS SO SURREAL. I'VE HAD TO PINCH MYSELF A FEW TIMES ALREADY. I CALLED MIKE FIRST, THEN MY MOM, THEN MY DAD AND EVERYONE ELSE FOLLOWED AFTER THAT. WE ARE ALL SO EXCITED! THE AGENCY THINKS THAT IT WILL BE 3-4 WEEKS BEFORE WE TRAVEL TO BRING OUR LITTLE ANGEL HOME. I HAVE SO MUCH TO DO IN THE MEANTIME. I PLAN TO TAKE AS MANY NAPS AS I CAN....BECAUSE AS EVERYONE KEEPS REMINDING ME....THOSE NAPS WILL DISAPPEAR! I'M FINE WITH THAT THOUGH. I'D RATHER BE UP WITH ZACHARY THAN SLEEPING ANYWAY!!! ;-))))) NOW, FOR ALL OF YOU HONEYS THAT TOLD ME HOW YOU WILL BABYSIT FOR ME "ANYTIME I NEED YOU", I WILL BE CALLING ON YOU SO GET READY!

I AM JUST BESIDE MYSELF RIGHT NOW!!! WOW WEE!!! YIPPEE YAHOO!! BABY ZACHARY IS COMING HOME!!!!!

TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY!

HUGS,
REBECCA

Almost the Weekend...YIPPEE

I hope all of you had a wonderful Valentine's Day! We had a great one. We went out to dinner and then had a quiet evening. Mike and I were thinking along the same lines as far as gifts. We are both in to angels...and I bought him an angel for Valentine's Day and he bought me one. It was a surprise for both of us. Luckily, we didn't buy the same one. ;-)) I tried to post a picture of the one he gave me, but it won't upload for some reason. I'll try again later.

For now, I'm hitting the bed. I am still praying that tomorrow is our day!!! One of the moderators on the Yahoo forum told me that she always sees lots of OUTs on Friday!!!! I hope I will be posting tomorrow that we are OUT!!!!

HUGS,
Rebecca

Here's a picture of the one he bought me....

Wednesday

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!! I HOPE EVERYONE HAD A WONDERFUL VALENTINE'S.

LOVE,
REBECCA

Made it through another day.....

This was a rough day in the office. We finally had our big closing today. I was running around like a wild woman all day WITH my cell phone in hand every minute! I kept waiting on the phone to ring. Poor Mike called one time and I said "Don't call me on my cell unless it's an emergency. You know I'm waiting on Philip to call." It's like I want that line open for Philip every minute from now until we get out!! I noticed that I was moody all day long. I felt good but I was SO anxious...still on pins and needles praying for Philip to call with good news. Ok, well it didn't happen today but tomorrow could be our day!! It's Valentine's Day and it would be the most perfect time for us to get OUT!!!! That would be so special!

Mike and I have a nice evening planned for tomorrow. We are going to dinner and then I have a few surprises up my sleeve. I got a surprise for him (can't post on here what it is because he may look) and I made a card for him from Zachary and me, with a picture of us...that says "WE LOVE YOU"!!! He will so love that!!!! I have a strong feeling that he and I may have bought each other the same thing.... Tune in tomorrow night (or Thursday night if I'm too busy tomorrow night) and I'll tell you what I got. ;-)))

Oh and if we get out of PGN tomorrow...I will DEFINITELY be posting here tomorrow!!!! ;-))))))

HAPPY VALENTINE'S EVE EVERYONE!!!!

Hugs,
Rebecca

The week has started off on a good note.....

Today I found out that my friend Pam got out of PGN. Her daughter Nora and my son Zachary have the same foster mom. She first entered PGN on November 20, got kicked out and re-entered on December 21...and got OUT today. Congratuations Pam and Nora! Our agency also had 2 other OUTs today. This was very exciting news!!! Hopefully this will be my week. Philip had said that he thought I would be next....then these three got out. He said that he was shocked....but that he knows I'm next. So here's praying for good news tomorrow or Wednesday! I know out time is coming soon! For now, we will celebrate with Pam and Nora! Congratulations!

I will post more tomorrow. I have a big closing in the morning so I'm going to go to bed so that I can get up early, go to the gym and make it to work by 8:30 am.

Hopefully next time I post, I will be announcing our OUT!

HUGS.....
Rebecca

It's been a few days since I posted.....

and I have been in such a "funk". The inconsistencies of this process caught up with me last week. If you remember, my agency had told me that they felt like we would be OUT of PGN the week of February 5. Well, then on Wednesday they said it would probably be the week of February 26. They added three weeks to my waiting time and acted like it wasn't a big deal at all. They made comments like "your case is progressing at a normal pace" and "you just have to be patient". Well I told Philip that he had better NEVER make those two comments to me again! I'm over this misinformation that they have been giving me. Zachary will be 9 months old next week and I want him home. It's ridiculous!! It's torture!! I fell in to this depression lull on Thursday and it hit me hard for two days. It was even hard to go to work. I couldn't concentrate and I was very quiet all day. ANYONE that knows me knows that I am NEVER quiet. Last night, I was SO sad and down that I went to the grocery store after work and bought a pints of ice cream. One was Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Ice Cream and the other was Cherry Jubilee (at least this one was low fat). Ok, so they are both GONE now!!! I do feel better emotionally but kind of miserable physically. I need to work out but that didn't happen today either. I will definitely be doing that tomorrow.

Today I did manage to get a lot accomplished. I got up early and went to WalMart to get my oil changed and tires rotated. Would you believe they said that it would take THREE hours?!?! I was lucky enough to have a friend pick me up and take me home while they were doing this work. She even took me back to pick my car up. Thank you Pat!! After I picked my car up I ran some errands and then came home and took a really long nap!

Tonight I plan to work on scrapbooks and Valentine's cards. I also need to clean house. Let's hope I will get off of this couch!!

I will post more later.

Wednesday

Well, I was in a seminar all day today so I was checking my phone every 2 minutes to make sure that I had a signal, that it was working, that I had no messages, etc. I spoke to Philip one time this morning and then I spoke to him this afternoon. During our last conversation, he said that Cinthya (our attorney in Guatemala) believes that we will get out of PGN sometime around the 26th of February. She is basing this on the fact that the worker at the window at PGN where Cinthya goes to submit files and get updates told her that on average it is taking about 2 months for files to get out after they are resubmitted. Ok, normally I would go through the roof over yet another inconsistency, etc. This time I remained calm and determined that I actually know more than my agency does. I have been watching the forums online and I have seen lots of OUTs for December. It appears that the Director is signing off on files around December 15 right now. I was resubmitted on December 26 so he is very close to my file. Also, there were some holidays in there which will be to my benefit because it means that no files were submitted on those days because PGN was closed. Also, remember that I spoke to Adoption Supervisors last week and they also said that they believe I will be out this week or possibly the first of next week.

So whereas Philip and Cinthya may be thinking about February 26, Rebecca is still thinking that the magical call with come either later this week or next week. I mean, I've said all along that it could take 8 weeks after resubmission but based on the statistics that I'm seeing right now, that is not the case. So we will remain optimistic, keep praying and remember that God is in control and he is overseeing everything!!!

Update Day

Has come and gone! I received an email from Philip at our agency this morning and he said that we are still on the director's desk awaiting his approval. He said that they are still optimistic and praying that we will get out of PGN this week! Well, they aren't alone. ;-)) So basically what I'm saying is that I do not have any additional information yet but hopefully will know more tomorrow. I am on pins and needles waiting on the "magical" call!!! Every time my cell phone rings, my heart hits the floor with anticipation.

I worked out 12 hours today so I am getting ready to crash. I will post again tomorrow and hopefully I will have some great news to share with everyone!!!

Hugs, Rebecca

KERSTIN IS HAVING A BOY

I am SO excited!! I just got an email from my close friend in Germany, Kerstin (pronounced Kestin). She and I are sisters (not by blood but in our hearts). She found out four months ago that she was pregnant. I was beyond ecstatic!!! Today I got an email from her and she told me that "IT'S A BOY"!! Oh my gosh!!! Yippee!!! She is due the first of July. I SO wish I could go visit her right now. She is already beautiful but I know that she is just adorable pregnant. I have begged her to send me some pictures. She is in good hands because she has a wonderful fiance' (Jochem) (the J is pronounced as a Y) and a very loving family to support her.
Now I want to share the story behind our friendship and how we met. In high school, Kerstin was an exchange student and she played the xylophone in the band, and so did I. We immediately became really good friends and the next time that she came back to the U.S., she lived with my dad and me. That's the part where we became like sisters. We lost touch for a few years and got wrapped up in our own lives and then we reconnected again several years later. (By the way, that will NEVER happen again!!) We have seen each other several times since then. She came to the U.S. and we took a 2 week trip to Destin, Florida, New Orleans and Birmingham, AL. We had a wild and crazy time! We were both single and carefree! Then the next year I went to Germany to visit her. We traveled all around Europe. We went to Brugge, Belgium, Amsterdam, Holland, Milan, Italy and all over Germany. We had a wonderful time and I got to see a lot of the beautiful country in Europe!!! Then this past July, Kerstin came to visit again and we went on a cruise to the Bahamas and Key West. We often referred to this trip as "our last trip as singles and my last trip without babies." We both had boyfriends at the time but neither of us was "hitched" so to speak. THEN we get back from our cruise and a couple of months go by and Kerstin calls and tells me that she is pregnant!! YIPPEE..I'm going to have a nephew!! ;-)) We have been friends now for almost 20 years. We are very excited that our boys will be close in age. One day we plan to let them experience the world of exchange students. I'll host her son and she'll host mine! How exciting will that be??!? I am just so excited about the future!!!

Saturday

Today has been a good day even though I did work for 5 1/2 hours. That's ok....O/T Baby!! ;-)) I need that extra money too because as soon as Zachary gets out of PGN, I will be paying my last foreign fee. YEAH!!! It's money well spent...without a doubt. It's about 11:30pm right now and amazingly, I'm not sleepy at all. I spent most of the evening downloading pictures on my blog and posting pictures on the forum. Everyone was going on and on about how cute Zachary is. In the latest pictures that I got of him (the ones that are posted on here) you can really see his little personality coming out.

Even though this process is difficult, I would do it again in a heartbeat. I believe that God picked Zachary out for me. It wasn't just by chance it was meant to be. So not only do I now have a beautiful son but I have made some really good friends during this journey. Some that I know will be lifelong friends. One thing is for sure, we all have a special bond.

Ok, enough for tonight. I guess I'll go read so I can get sleepy. Until next time...... Hugs, Rebecca

Not a Peep from the agency today

Well, today has come and gone and I didn't hear anything from my agency. Philip was suppose to let me know yesterday exactly when we landed on the Director's desk but I never heard from him. I called him today and found out that he was out of the office. You know, he deserves to take days off too but I do think that he should follow up with his clients when he says he will. That really gets old after a while.

I am hoping and praying that we will get the magical call next week!!! I actually saw on the forum today that someone has been sitting on the director's desk (supposedly) waiting for his signature since mid-December. I don't think that happens very often but it definitely doesn't give you the warm and fuzzies to see things like that. I just keep holding on to the fact that my agency and Adoption Supervisors both said that they think we will be out of PGN next week. This weekend I am going to try to stay busy (and get some rest too). I will spend hours working on Zachary's scrapbook. I am also going to clean house and then go to the office for a few hours tomorrow. I have been putting in long hours for the last couple of months. The money is good but I stay tired a lot. I guess the upside is that I can get some bills paid off before Zachary gets here. That will be one less thing that I have to worry about. ;-)) Also, I was so excited today when my accountant called and said that I am getting a refund....and a pretty good one at that!!!! I was so worried that I would have to pay. Thank God for yet another blessing!!!!

WE ARE ON THE DIRECTOR'S DESK

FOUND OUT THIS WEEK THAT WE ARE FINALLY ON THE DIRECTOR'S DESK?!?! So what does this mean you ask? Well, we are now OUT of the woods but not OUT of PGN yet. We are well on our way though. Our agency believes that we will get the magical call next week!! I am hoping and praying that they are right!! Even better, I would love to get the call tomorrow!!! After we get the call that we are OUT, it will probably be about 3-4 weeks before we travel. PLEASE KEEP PRAYING FOR THE CALL. HUGS....

Information Received from Adoption Supervisors this week...

Earlier this week I spoke to an attorney with Adoption Supervisors. I'm sure that most of you have heard of them but just in case, let me tell you who they are. They are a group of attorneys in Guatemala who have been contracted by this company called "Adoption Supervisors" (AS) and their job is to connect with parents in the process of adoption and assist them with their cases. Sounds great huh? Well, there is a hefty fee involved if you want to hire them. The first report is approximately $1500 and for that amount of money you can find out exactly where your case is in PGN and what the status is. For another $2000 you can get a second report and not only find out where your case is in the process but they will help push it along. Now, this is only my opinion, but I believe that more than likely "AS" pays a portion of their fee to the workers at PGN....possibly under the table..in exchange for additional info. on cases and to have the cases pushed through the system and OUT. I don't know about you guys, but I don't have that kind of money to throw around...especially after I've already given the Guatemalan government and my attorney and agency LOADS of money.

Ok, so here's what they told me. They said that most adoptive parents don't understand how things work inside PGN. (and I don't know how we could since it seems to change constantly). Anyway, he said that once your file is submitted, it is assigned to a reviewer. This usually only takes a couple of days....sometimes longer, especially around holidays. Once the reviewer has looked at the file, he/she will either issue a previo (also called a preview or previewing a file) and he/she will kick the file out for whatever reason. Once the attorney gets the problem corrected (or in my case if there was no problem to correct but simply an oversight on the reviewers part), the attorney has to write a "resolution" to the problem and have it authenticated through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is then resubmitted to the same PGN reviewer and unfortunately goes on the bottom of the stack. This is so unfair...I know, believe me! Basically your process in PGN starts over. Once he/she gets to your file again, they can either kick it out again for something else or they can sign off on it. If they kick it out again, I goes through the same process that I just described above once again. If it is signed off on by the reviewer, it is then sent to the AGO (which I believe stands for Attorney General's office). Once there, IF YOUR FILE HAS BEEN KICKED OUT, it goes straight to the director's desk where he reviews the resolution to the problem and then signs off on the file. IF YOUR FILE WAS NEVER KICKED OUT, it is assigned to an Officer (who also has a stack of other files on his/her desk like the reviewers) and he/she reviews the file and checks after the original reviewer. Once the file is reviewed and if it is approved by the Officer (and it is 95% of the time) it then moves to the director's desk (the infamou Senior Barrios). He then reviews the file and signs off on it supposedly within a few days. I specifically asked if there are piles of files on his desk and I was told that there are NOT. The piles are on the officer's desks according to "AS". He also said that lots of times attorney/agencies will tell people that they are on the director's desk when really they have just hit the Officer's desk. He said that this is where some of the confusion comes in. I don't know if all of this information is true but this is what I was told. I can tell you that I have seen lots of inconsistencies in this process during the last year. I have a friend who was kicked out after 4 weeks for the same reason I was (no guardian letter in the file (which only affects single supposedly) when the entire time it was right there in the file.) She was in almost 6 weeks after being resubmitted and then she was OUT. She is supposed to be arriving back in the US today with her baby. Her roller coaster ride is finally over. CONGRATS Mary and Dane!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know about you guys, but I've been on this ride long enough. I WANT OFF!!!!!! Here's praying for lots of good news, OUTs and PINK slips, for the rest of this week.

Does any of this PGN stuff makes sense to anyone?? It doesn't make ANY sense to me. I'm a paralegal and I can tell you, if I did the kind of work that these people do, I would be OUT of a job!!!!!

Good luck to all of you on your journey to bring your baby home!!!

Blessings,
Rebecca