2007 At A Glance

Wow! What a year this has been for us. The big news is of course our adoption of Liliana Maria. Our precious baby girl is still in Guatemala waiting for us, and Dave and I are thrilled to know we are going to be parents again to this beautiful baby girl. So, here is a recap of everything we've completed this year on our journey to Liliana.

1. Paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork. First we had paperwork for our home study agency and for the State of Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). In Illinois, potential adoptive parents are required to be approved by DCFS. At the same time we began collecting and completing paperwork for our dossier. In total, we had to collect 26 documents. All documents had to be notarized and/or certified, then authenticated by the Guatemalan Consulate General's office in Chicago.

2. Then we had our fingerprints taken 4 times. We travelled to St. Louis to have our fingerprints taken at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). This is a requirement of all families adopting Internationally. We also had our fingerprints taken locally for the required background check for DCFS. Then we hit our local police department for two more sets of prints. One set was sent to the FBI and the other for our IL State background check. Our fingerprints are on file everywhere now.

3. We had 5 interviews with our home study agency and completed the required on-line and in class training sessions. The first interview was on January 2nd and at the end of March all our interviews were completed, the home study report was done, and we received approval from DCFS.

4. In May we had our 171H, which is approval from USCIS giving us authorization to adopt from Guatemala, and our dossier was on it's way to Guatemala.

5. All the paperwork, signatures, fingerprints, interviews, classes, training and trips to the post office finally paid off on June 8th when we received a call from our agency telling us they had a baby girl for us. They emailed us pictures, her birth certificate, and health information. We immediately accepted and were again on the go getting the acceptance paperwork completed and notarized. With everything in the mail, the hard part really began. The Wait!!!!

6. On October 4th we boarded a plane in Chicago for a trip to Guatemala where we would finally meet Liliana. We had 5 wonderful days and nights with her, spent some time bonding with her foster family, and then on October 9th, I had to hand her back to her foster mom and return home. While it was certainly one of the most difficult things I've ever done in my life, the love I witnessed between Lili and her foster family gave me great comfort at the same time.

7. On October 10th, we visited the old capital of Guatemala, Antigua. It is a beautiful city, rich in history. We walked along the original cobblestone streets, saw the remnants of many of the original churches and buildings, and saw fountains galore that were brought to Antigua by the French.

8. On October 16th our agency informed us that we had finally reached a major milestone in our adoption when our attorney submitted our case to PGN (Procuradoria General de la Nacion). PGN is the equivalent of our Attorney General's office here in the U.S. We had high hopes of our case being completed before the end of the year, however, after a previo (kick out) on December 11th and a resubmit on December 18th, our case is still being processed.

So, 2007 comes to an end without Liliana legally being our daughter. However, in our hearts she has been our daughter before we ever knew her. We now anxiously await the new year with hope and anticipation that we will travel back to Guatemala together to bring our baby girl home to her "forever family."

Our adoption journey came with another unexpected, but wonderful surprise, new friends!!!!! Not only have we made new friends locally, but we now have new friends across the U.S. So, to all our new friends, our old friends, our family, and our new friends to come, we wish you a safe and wonderful New Year and hope that great things come your way in 2008.

Now Featuring

Our friends, Josh and Nicole.

Yes, that's Lili Nicole is holding. They are adopting a little boy from Guatemala and we are with the same agency. We received our referrals on the same day and began chatting via email several months ago. We met for the first time on our visit trips to Guatemala and there is a chance we may met up again in Guatemala next month. However, while I will be there visiting, Josh and Nicole may be there picking up. I'm so happy for them!!!!!

Josh and Nicole, I hope you enjoy your own personal blog post :-)

PGN Update

First things first. I called PGN this morning to check on the status of our case and was told that it had not yet been resubmitted. We received a previo (kick out) on December 11th and our agency told us that our case was resubmitted on December 18th. I called last Friday and was told it had not yet been resubmitted and my agency assured me that PGN was wrong and our case had in fact been resubmitted. So, when I got the same information from PGN today, I started asking more questions. The good and bad news is that our case has very likely been resubmitted, but the computer department in PGN sometimes gets behind in entering the resubmitted cases. Therefore, if it's not in the system, they really can't give us any information on our case. However, our file doesn't just sit on someone's desk waiting to be re-entered into the computer, it does move on through the process and the computer department enters the information off a copy of the PGN receipt that is given to the attorney when the case is resubmitted. Since the Holidays can certainly cause delays, I'm going to wait until next Friday and will check again. Hopefully they'll be able to give me some different (positive) information at that time and if not, I know our attorney should have a receipt of our resubmit and I can request that from our agency.

One more update . . . . . . .

Only 16 more days until I see Lili again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's Update Time!!!!!

Each month, Lili's foster mother takes her to the pediatrician for a monthly checkup. Like usual, she's doing well and here is what the doctor had to say when she saw her in November.

At her physical exam she was found to be normal. Her weight is 15 lbs 4 ozs and her length is 26.8 inches.

She looks at objects; she switches objects from one hand to the other; she sits with help; she pushes with her legs in the walker and is pleasant. She is presently enjoying complete health.

This medical update couldn't have come at a better time. I really wanted to hit the "after Christmas" sales, so knowing her most current weight and length made shopping for her a bit easier. She continues her trend of needing a smaller size in weight, but a larger size in height, so I'm now buying her 9 month clothes. I found some very good deals today and I think I have everyting I need for my visit trip, which is taking place in exactly 2 weeks and 4 days.

Reflection During This Holiday Season

It is pretty easy for me to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the Holiday Season. I had my shopping list, checked it twice, went out shopping several times, and had Santa's workshop set up and running smoothly so the gifts could be wrapped as purchased instead of all at once on Christmas Eve. Then a few days ago, while wrapping the last of the gifts I had purchased, I began to reflect on the different things that have been happening in our lives over the last year. There have been some really good things and some not so good things that have occurred, but I suddenly found myself stuck on the "not so good things" that have happened over this past year. As I sat there feeling sorry for myself I had, as Oprah would call it, an "ah ha" moment and came to the realization that no matter how bad things may seem, I have it pretty good. I married a wonderful man, who happens to also be my best friend and we're going to one day be bringing home a beautiful baby girl, our first daughter. We have 3 boys, that we love very much, a roof over our head, food on the table, and clothes on our backs.

So, as I sat there wrapping gifts for everyone and looking at all the gifts I had already wrapped, it made me happy just knowing that we’re able to have a wonderful Christmas year after year. At the same time I also felt sad that many children and families won't have the same experience this Christmas. The sadness I felt wasn't so much about the gifts under the tree, but it was knowing that many won't experience that feeling of belonging to a family and spending time with that family. There are children sitting in orphanages and foster homes wondering if they'll ever have the family that they can only seem to dream about. Others will wonder if they will have anything to eat that day. It was another moment in my life that made me appreciate everything we have and another moment that made me realize how very much I want to provide love, family and a home full of not only wonderful Christmas memories, but those simple everyday memories to other children.

I hope each of you will take just a minute to reflect on the good things in your life, while remembering those in the world who are less fortunate.

Have a very Merry Christmas and may you make wonderful Holiday memories this year!!!!

Want to Know What Kind of Christmas Tree I Am?

You Are a Cranberry and Popcorn Strung Tree

Christmas is all about showcasing your creative talents. From cookies to nicely wrapped presents, your unique creations impress everyone.

What Christmas Tree Are You?

Okay, my biggest talent is shopping. I'm able to find all kinds of fun things to put on the tree and around the house at Christmas. I would be interested to find out what kind of Christmas Tree you are though?

Christmas Surprise

My wonderful husband has been doing some undercover work this year in an attempt to get me the best gift possible. However, he realized a couple days ago that he wasn't going to be able to go any further with his plans without filling me in, so before he left for work Tuesday morning he told me he had decided that my gift this year was going to be a trip to Guatemala to see Lili. I was shocked! He had actually been sneaking to my computer looking for email addresses so he could contact our agency program coordinator to find out if this was even a possibility. He knew he wouldn't be able to take the time off work to go with me, so he contacted one of my friends asking for her help in trying to find out if I would even be willing to go without him. As things began to come together, he realized he wasn't going to be able to follow through with the entire plan without my involvement, so he told me. Needless-to-say, this has to be the best Christmas gift he could possibly give me this year.

So, next month, I'll be flying down to Guatemala to spend 4 1/2 days with Lili. It's been almost 3 months ago we were there to see her for the first time and when we left I was sure that would be the last time I saw her until we went back to pick her up and bring her home. I guess Christmas miracles really do happen!!!!! Thanks Santa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's True

We are back in PGN as of yesterday, December 18th. YEAH!!!!!!

Because PGN is closed down next week and won't start reviewing cases again until January 2nd or 3rd, I'm not holding out hope of a final approval from PGN in the very near future. However, I am hoping that we don't have to wait another 8 weeks and hoping even more that this was our 1 and only previo.

Also, Guatemala passed their Adoption Law within the last couple of weeks and it goes into effect on December 31st. Therefore, we aren't completely sure how or if this will have an effect on our case. I'll post updates as I get them though, but in the meantime, I ask that you all keep praying, sending positive vibes, or crossing fingers and toes that we are approved very soon and able to bring Lili home within a short period of time.

Finally Some Possible Exciting News

Here's a copy of the email I received today from our Guatemala program coordinator.

Hi Debbie,

Your case may have re-entered PGN yesterday but I will work to get that confirmation before Christmas.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!!!!

Word from Our Attorney, Via Agency

I finally received an email from our agency last night confirming we did in fact get a previo on our case. Obviously, I was hoping that PGN had made a mistake, but in this case, they were right on the money. Bummer! Anyway, our attorney did pick up the previo and the reason we were kicked out was due to an "error" on Lili's birth certificate. There is a section on the birth certificate where the registrar types in the place and address of her birth. On Lili's birth certificate the address is listed, but not the name of the facility. The bottom of the birth certificate states she was delivered by mid-wife at a health clinic. However, since the name of the health clinic is not stated, PGN decided to issue a previo. According to our attorney, this has not caused a problem before, but in true PGN fashion, this time it's a problem.

Our attorney has already submitted the birth certificate to the registrar's office and hopes to have it back next week and our case resubmitted to PGN. From the time we are resubmitted, we should anticipate another 8 week wait for them to process our case. UGH!!!!!! The other thing we need to keep in mind is that PGN is essentially shut down from December 24th thru January 2nd, so this could delay us another week.

While Dave and I are still disappointed about the delay, we know that a high percentage of cases do have previos issued and once those are fixed, the process continues and children do eventually come home. No, Lili won't be as young as we had hoped when she comes home, but we have no reason to believe that she won't eventually be placed in our arms forever. We can also continue to hope that PGN will actually move a little faster after the holidays and our time in PGN won't last another 8 weeks.

After a Bad Week, Here is Something to Smile About

We received an update along with updates pictures of Lili this afternoon. After getting the news of our previo this week, I'm glad to see our baby girl is doing so well.

The report we received stated at that during their visit (which was within the last couple of weeks), Lili weighs 15 lbs 4 ozs and is 26 inches long.

She sits by herself, has 2 teeth on the bottom and stands against the couch on her own.

And of course there is the obvious, she's beautiful!!!!!!

Have You Ever Had One of Those Days?

Mine hit today, big time!

As some of you know, our oldest son, Ryan, has Autism. Ryan is 27 years old and lives in a residential home about 20 miles away. In addition to Autism, he also has a seizure disorder which rears it's ugly head from time to time. Well, it's been rearing it's ugly head since Friday and needless-to-say this is only part of the story. Monday night, Dave and I drove to his house to pick him up and bring him home. We were getting reports of his seizures from the staff at his house, but it's sometimes difficult to figure out exactly what's going on. Therefore, I decided it would be best to have him here where I could monitor him. He had some good improvement in his seizure activity after we brought him here, so after an appointment with his neurologist this morning, I took him back to his house. By 2:15 this afternoon I was again getting reports of more seizure activity, so after the 2nd call I once again decided he needed to be here where I could again monitor what was happening. Although he has had some seizure activity since being home, he is doing okay and at least now I can really see what's going on to better determine what we need to do.

Of course Ryan's seizures are only part of the story today.

After my call to PGN last Friday, I had decided I was going to take a break from calling them and if I didn't hear anything from our agency by end of business today I would call Thursday or Friday. Well, a good friend of mine (you know who you are) couldn't stand the wait and decided she needed to call on my behalf. About 20 minutes before I had to leave for Ryan's appointment with the neurologist, my friend calls to tell me she was able to get through to PGN and we have a previo. Yes, our case has been kicked out of PGN after 8 weeks. For those who may not know, it has been taking PGN about 8 weeks to approve cases after submit or resubmit. Therefore, we were at the very end of that 8 weeks processing time and now we've found out that we're kicked out. As of 2:30 this afternoon, our agency still had not confirmed anything with our attorney, so we have no idea what the problem is or what needs to be done to correct the problem. Hopefully, it will be an easy fix and we'll be resubmitted to PGN within a couple days, but this of course means we begin the 8 week process all over again once we're resubmitted.

So, this has been a highly emotional day for me and I hope to have much better news to report in the next couple of days.

In the meantime, I just have to remember that tomorrow is another day and this too shall pass. Let's just hope that tomorrow is not worse than today and that all of this bad stuff passes quickly.

Politically Correct Adoption Language

Being a faithful reader of adoption forums can be both good and bad. For example, I was very bummed on Friday when I found out we were still on the 2nd reviewer's desk and over the weekend I read a post from a family that got out of PGN after 3 weeks. While I was very happy that this family didn't have to suffer a longer wait in PGN, I found myself very jealous of them. As a result, I was in a funk all weekend.

However, the nice thing about reading the forums is that many times it brings up good, thought-provoking discussion and that happened today. As a result, I decided I needed to write a blog post on the topic of politically correct adoption language in an attempt to educate others in the same way I've been educated over the last year.

Granted, this is a huge topic and I'm certainly not going to claim to be an expert, nor am I going to try to cover every possible term. Instead I'm going to discuss the topic of "real parent" as I have some recent first hand experience.

About a month ago I had one of our nieces and my friend's daughter here. The girls had met a few months earlier when my friend and I took them out shopping and to lunch with us and the girls very quickly became good friends. Because my friend and her husband were in Guatemala picking up their son during this time and because their daughter is also an adoptee, adoption was on everyone's mind at this moment. Since most children are naturally curious about things, our niece asks her friend, "where are your real parents?" Okay, I certainly couldn't allow this moment to pass and I'm not quite sure how this question was being taken, so the dialogue began. I immediately explained that my friends are her real parents and what started out as an uncomfortable moment turned into a great learning experience for all of us.

However, as I think back over my many years of life, I realize that this very question has probably come out of my mouth on more than one occasion. Not because I was trying to be mean or hurtful, but because I didn't understand there was more appropriate terminology that should be used.

So, here are my thoughts on the topic of real parents.

Biological parents are those who physically gave us life, but our real parents are those that chose to take our lives and provide us with love, nurturing, discipline, education, etc., etc. It really doesn't matter if someone becomes a real parent through biological means or through adoption, when we are given the opportunity to become a real parent, we are given the ultimate gift in life.

I feel very blessed that I'm being given another chance to become a real parent and the icing on the cake is that I'm being given the opportunity to become Liliana's real parent.

No Word from Our Agency Today

Tomorrow will mark 8 weeks in PGN!!!! We didn't receive a phone call from our agency today, but I really wasn't expecting one and quite honestly, I will be shocked if we received one tomorrow.

Why, you ask?

First of all, Señor Barrios was out of the office most of last week. Because he is the final signature on PGN documents he will probably have some catching up to do over the next few days. As of Friday he was signing off on cases from October 9th and 10th. However, as of today there was one case submitted October 12th and another October 15th that both got out of PGN today, so there is some hope.

The other news from today is that there has been some positive movement with Mixco birth certificates. Several people got word from their agencies that their birth certificates were picked up on Friday and at least one picked up today. Some were long overdue in getting theirs, but I know of one who got theirs within 2 weeks and another within 3 weeks. Maybe we'll be lucky and have a quick turn around time too.

One of my favorite Christmas songs is "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas," however, at the rate things are going here in Central IL, maybe it should be "I'm Dreaming of an Ice Christmas." We've had ice storms the last two weekend and there is more expected later tonight and throughout the day tomorrow. It doesn't sound like I'll be going anywhere tomorrow, which means I'll be home to jump every time the phone rings.

I wish I could have reported some exciting news today, but alas, this is all I have. Stay tuned!

Fav Photo Friday

Once again, there is a story behind this photo. Dave has been playing guitar since he was a teenager and I personally think he plays very well. Like most musicians, he can spot a guitar from a mile away and always seems to be on the look out for Martin guitars. So, while touring Antigua, he spots a music shop and before I know it he's inside and seated with a Martin guitar in his hands. Of course I couldn't resist this photo op.



For those who would like to hear some of the music he's written go to http://www.garageband.com/artist/daveweeks.

The Black Hole, Also Known as PGN

She anxiously dialed the phone this morning with certainty that PGN would tell her, "You're waiting for the final signature." Instead she heard, "You're with the 2nd reviewer." Still? Really?

Yes, that's right folks, our case has not moved on for final signature. I was at least able to find out that we haven't had a previo and we're obviously still in PGN, but it's now been 7 1/2 weeks and after seeing so many people get out in 8 weeks, I was so hopeful that our case would also be out in 8 weeks. The chances of that happening now have become slim, but I'm still going to hold onto hope that our case will be officially signed off sometime next week.

Now, even though getting through PGN is certainly a major milestone in this process, it appears our wait might not be nearing the end just yet.

Once we exit PGN, our attorney will get Lili's birth mother's final signature and then we will be submitted to the civil registry office for a new birth certificate listing Dave and I as her parents. This is where we might hit some snags. Lili was born in the city of Mixco, which is near Guatemala City. Mixco is also the city in which her birth certificate is registered, therefore, the Mixco civil registry office will have to issue the new birth certificate. For the last 3 months, give or take a few weeks, Mixco birth certificates have been difficult to obtain. Although I'm still awaiting word from our agency, others have reported information given to them from their agencies and it appears that Mixco is now completing their own investigation before issuing the new birth certificates. It has been reported by one agency that the Mixco civil registry office states some attorneys were forging PGN approvals and as a result Mixco is now requiring verification from PGN on each case. Another agency reported there are at least 30 families currently waiting on their Mixco birth certificates and the number is growing daily.

How long will we wait for our birth certificate once we exit PGN? That is a good question. Someone recently received their Mixco birth certificate in just over 2 weeks, while others have been waiting 6+ weeks. Again, we will just have to wait and see what happens. We hope that this problem is resolved very soon, not just for our sake, but for the sake of all the other families who have been waiting and even more for the children waiting to go to their forever families.

PGN Update Time

Since today marks 7 weeks in PGN I had intended to wait until tomorrow to call. However, after careful consideration (actually lack of patience) I called this afternoon.

The good news is that we are still in PGN with no previo.

The bad news is that we are still in PGN and on the 2nd reviewer's desk.

I'll really try hard to have more patience this week and wait until Friday to call.

I Forgot Again! Surprise, Surprise

I was really hoping to get into the favorite photo Friday thing, but as usual I forgot. So, better late than never I say.

This is a picture of our niece Maya with our dogs Jada and Lexie. One of the reasons this is a favorite photo requires a bit of a story.

We brought Jada home when she was 9 weeks old and a week after bringing her home, Maya got to see her for the first time. What we didn't anticipate was that Maya would be petrified of this little puppy, but she was. Like most puppies, Jada was excited by anybody that walked through the door and would run to great our guest with great enthusiasm and meeting Maya for the first time was no exception. Jada is full grown in this picture, so as you can imagine, she was not a big puppy, but when that tiny puppy jumped up to greet Maya, panic set in. Over the next few months, Maya continued to come over always excited about seeing Jada, but would spend her time on the opposite side of the gates in our house. (We have certain rooms gated off to keep little paws off the floors and from making their way up stairs. These same gates are going to come in handy for Liliana.) Finally, I took Maya with me to a couple of Jada's puppy classes and as she participated in Jada's training she slowly but surely realized she didn't need to be so frightened. Seven months after bringing Jada home, we added Lexie to our pack and as you can see from this picture, Maya was over her fear of Jada and now loves both of her four-legged cousins.