More Signs??

I have really been feeling like we will be getting the birth certificate soon. A few months ago I found a precious moments doll for Corynn on an online adoption centric store that I loved..you can see why

well, the other day I was in the mall doing some Christmas shopping & came across the cutest ladybug outfit..of course I had to get it...it's adorable!! I put it in Corynn's closet then looked around her room and looked at the doll...this is the outfit I bought
The outfit is the same as the doll has on & I didn't even realize it!!
Then today I went to Cameron's school to bring his teachers their Christmas gifts & above one of the teachers on his halls door was ladybugs!! Okay, pretty neat you say, well then I get home & scan my DVR to see what was on "Adoption Story" today & it's a Guatemalan episode (!!) & the family stayed at the same hotel David & I did for our visit trip (!!) The San Carlos. I pray I pray I pray that we hear good news soon!!!

Bc

our attorney went back to the Mixco CR yesterday & still no birth certificate or any idea about when we'll get it. I promise to let everyone know when we finally get the bc..trust me I'll be shouting it from the rooftops! We're at the point now that we've almost been waiting longer for the bc then to get out of PGN! Trying to be patient & have strength through all of this. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.
I was also trying to post a new slideshow, but couldn't get it to work. I'll try again later.

Shower

Family & friends threw me a wonderful baby shower Sunday after noon & then my work fam threw me one too! Corynn's room now looks like a tissue paper factory exploded :)
she'll be ready for the LSU championship game!



This is the cake from my work shower...I didn't want to cut it!!


& another sign. This may only look like a picture of me holding a bottle, but if you look closely there is a ladybug in the bottle (well vented.) A nurse I work with found it right before the shower! & saved it for me. The weird thing was it had what looked like an extra set of wings & someone said that means Corynn will be flying home soon! :)


Corynn's room after...and this is with more than half of the presents put away!!

more new pictures!

How stinkin cute is this baby?! I can't wait to see her again in person & not just pictures. No news yet on operation birth certificate. Also, Corynn is 11 months old today. Happy 11 months sweet baby!

no christmas homecoming for us

Our agency mistaked our case with someone elses & our attorney will not be going until Monday or Tuesday to see if our bc is ready instead of tomorrow. I emailed them back to ask if there is any hope that Corynn will be home for Christmas & was told probably not.

Come back Friday...

That is what my attorney was told by the Mixco Civil Registry. Very Frustrated right now...why won't they just give us the birth certificate?!

New pictures!!!

Well, we haven't heard if we have Corynn's birth certificate yet, but we did receive some new pictures. Look how big she is getting!! & look at all those teeth!

thoughts & prayers please

special request for extra thoughts & prayers today :) Our attorney went to the civil registry last week to get Corynn's new birth certificate & was told that it would be ready on the 21st. Please pray that when he goes back today it is ready for pick up & they do not tell him to come back next week (which sometimes happens.) I probably will not find out any news of the bc until next week b/c of the holidays. We are leaving to go camping today & I will not be bringing my computer so I can focus on spending time with the boys the whole time. I hope everyone has a great and Happy Thanksgiving & eats lots of good food! :)

and, we wait.

Well, I just thought being released from PGN would take us off the roller coaster ride that is adoption...but it seems we're getting an extra loop. After getting out of PGN we are supposed to get Corynn's new birth certificate that will now have our last name on it...well, her birth certificate is coming from a city called Mixco. Mixco seems to be having some trouble issuing birth certificates...we've read many different reasons as to why. It seems that people are waiting 6+ weeks just to get the bc!! It should not take this long! Getting Corynn home can not move forward without this very important step. Please please please continue to keep us in your prayers & all of the other families waiting to bring their children home.

GEAUX TIGERS!!!

LSU beat BAMA 41 to 34..what a nail biter!! Take that Saban!!

sorry AP, Allie, & Bamagirl :( Bama did play a really good game.

The call...

Today was another test in patience. After clicking the "refresh" button over & over to see if there were any "outs" posted on the net & talking to David who was no help with me being patient! (love ya hon) David told me to call PGN...atleast we'll know something, even if it is bad. So, I go tearing through the livingroom again searching for the paper with PGNs # on it, when my cell phone rings. Me: "hello" Caller: "Jodie, this is Sandy with DeC (adoption agency)." Me: "Hi." DeC: "How are you today?" Me: Okay. DeC: Well, your day just got even better, because your daughter is coming home!! Me: "LOL!! Are you SERIOUS?!" Could not stop laughing & crying!! I'm so glad that I got this call. I've been on cloud nine ever since & I don't think I'll be coming down for awhile. I also just got back from the airport where I got to see my friend Amanda & her husband Jeff walk through the terminal entrance holding their daughter Bella. What a great moment. & I got to know that it will soon be me & David walking through those doors with Corynn in our arms!!!

We are OUT of PGN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are out!! We are out!!!We are out!!!! We are out!!! We are out!!! We are out!! We are out!!!We are out!!!! We are out!!! We are out!!! We are out!! We are out!!!We are out!!!! We are out!!! We are out!!! We are out!! We are out!!!We are out!!!! We are out!!! We are out!!! We are out!! We are out!!!We are out!!!! We are out!!! We are out!!! We are out!! We are out!!!We are out!!!! We are out!!! We are out!!! We are out!! We are out!!!We are out!!!! We are out!!! We are out!!! We are out!! We are out!!!We are out!!!! We are out!!! We are out!!!
My agency just called me!!!!! I'll post the whole story tonight!!!!

Do you believe in signs?

I do. When I was praying about starting this adoption I asked God for a sign. He gave me one in the form of a ladybug. You see if I ever had a daughter I wanted to do her room in ladybugs, & when I was praying for this sign & researching adoption on the net I found a book called "Little Miss Ladybug", about a ladybug that gets an orphaned baby girl from a foreign country & brings her to her forever family. After finding that book I saw ladybugs everywhere...real & not real. That was my sign.
Today has been a difficult day in patience for me. Something or Someone has been telling me not to call PGN...to be patient. So reading about all of the PGN outs, kickouts, & being on Barrios desk that are on the adoption boards has been difficult..at one point I was tearing through my livingroom trying to find the paper that I wrote PGN's phone # & our case # on...didn't find it. I finally sat down, took a deep breath & told myself this is part of my test in patience. So I went to the kitchen to finish cooking dinner when my younger son Cam walked up & said, "mom, there's a ladybug on your shoulder." There was a real ladybug sitting on my shoulder. I believe in signs :) Please continue to pray that we hear good news soon, & that Corynn will be home with us very soon.

Good news good news good news!!!

Looks like I may need to donate more blood! (see previous post)

from guatadopt.com)

Guatemala Adoption Information and News

October 17, 2007
Grandfathering in cases....the intent is "official"
President Berger publicly confirmed the intent to grandfather
current cases (I assume this means the 3700 cases that are
REGISTERED). The Guatemalan press reported this with a statement by
Berger:

"I have never said that I want to stop adoptions. What my government
wants is full respect for the legislation that is about to be
approved and full compliance with the Hague (Convention)" . The
Guatemalan Press also reported the following:

Congressman Rolando Morales, one of the proponents of the new
legislation, said that the intention with the pending adoptions is a
full review to verify the identity of the woman that is
relinquishing the rights on the child, that she is the natural
mother, and that the child is given for adoption without coercion,
and verify that the child was not abducted (stolen babies). Morales
also mentioned that the final version of the new Adoption Law which
will be published in the following weeks will not affect the almost
3,700 processes in the pipeline.

These changes (even if they delay the process a few days) are in the
best interest of everyone in the process, specifically our main
concern, the children.

From Guatadopt:
As we have said before, we believe that the instability of the
situation and the new law (where the ammendments are still unclear),
prompted the Department of State (US) to issue strong warnings.

From our discussions with Guatemalan officials, we are reassured
that they are supporting the good faith agreements made with
adoptive families.

While legally this is good news, we hold fast that starting the
process at this time is risky. In our opinion, there is an increase
in unethical practices in order to get an adoption started
and "grandfathered". Obviously, these are limited to the
unscrupulous providers that have soured adoptions worldwide. We do
not know to what extent that further investigations will impact the
timelines. While we support the need for these investigations, we
hope that the implementation will be appropriate and reasonable.

As a side note: The Guatemalan Embassy has been bombarded with calls
and emails. Guatadopt.com would like to request that you ease up a
bit. They need to do their jobs as well.

We will update as we know more.

Still in...

So I called PGN today..6 weeks down & still in....praying that the next time I call in 2 weeks they will say we're done with PGN.
In other news, Joint Council amended their post from Monday to add this statement from President Berger
http://www.jcics.org/Berger%20Statement.pdf
some okay, some bad I guess.
Now I'm off to donate blood...yes, I did bargain that if there was good news today I would do a good deed.

Edited to add:
Roseann tagged me...thanks Roseann ;)-

JOBS I HAVE HAD
Pet Shop
Retail
Secretary
Nurse Tech
Nurse

PLACES I'VE LIVED
Louisiana

FOODS I LOVE
Chinese, Sushi, Greek, Chinese :)

PLACES THAT I WOULD RATHER BE:
On a flight back to the US with my daughter

TV SHOWS I WATCH
Grey's Anatomy
Biggest Loser
Ugly Betty

BOOKS I LOVE
"Something Borrowed" "Something Blue"

I AM TAGGING
Courtney

Joint Council update

Joint Council has posted a new update http://www.jcics.org/Guatemala_5000_Update.pdf
& it looks like the president of Guatemala is still against allowing in process adoptions to continue. The amendment to the Ortega law, which was supposed to be read last Tuesday was postponed, we thought until November, but it looks like it may happen as early as this Friday. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts & prayers, & I will continue to update my blog as we get information. I still believe she will be home soon.

The good with the bad...

Corynn is 9 months old today :) Happy 9 months!
My bit of good news is that I called PGN yesterday; we have been in for 4 weeks & we are still in & are still with the 2nd reviewer...praying we continue on with no kick outs. (For those of you just joining us :) A kick out would put my paperwork right back at the beginning of the whole PGN 8 to 12 week process...not good!)
and the bad..

The Ortego Law was approved yesterday in Guatemala and that is NOT a good thing. On Tuesday, October 9th, there will be the 4th and final reading. At this time, they will decide what amendments are going to be allowed for current adoptions. Here is an explanation that I found on my friend Amanda's blog who found it on her friend Krystal's blog:

"The Guatemalan Congress has passed the Ortega Law. Birthmothers currently have the right to relinquish their child for adoption, to know who will care for the child during the process, and to know that the child is going to America. This law takes those rights away. Also, unless an amendment is passed, this law says that our adoption is now null and void. This law also says that the home in which Corynn is currently receiving care, will no longer receive any funding from adoptions --it is currently 100% funded by adoption fees. The law provides no place for them or the thousands of children in this situation to go. The implementation date has not been set, but it could be as soon as 30 days. There is still hope for the amendment, that the Children's Committee is working on, to allow our adoption to be processed under the law in which it was initiated, but this is a huge knock against us and other in-process families."

Right now I'm trying very hard to stay positive...most of the time it's difficult to do. I just can not fathom not having Corynn home with us ever. I'm okay not having her home by Christmas like I originally hoped...I'm even okay not having her home until the middle of next year!! I'm not okay with the possibility that we may never see her again.
To all my readers, please please keep every family that is waiting to bring their child home from Guatemala in your thoughts & prayers. This is a very scary time for all of us. We may not have given physical birth to these children, but I assure you, we have been in labor for a long time. We have held these precious children, fed them, taken care of them... fallen head-over-heels in love with them, and then had to leave them to continue on with our daily lives here, with our only comfort being that they would be with us again soon. They are our children, and it is just too hard to go down without a fight.

Please take time to read & sign

I've been waiting to post this until David & I were able to talk our parents about what is going on in Guatemala right now. Please take the time to read the info that the US Department of State has posted & then take a minute to sign the petition. There is a very real possibility that our adoption will not be completed by the end of the year & this will effect us & the thousands of other children/parents waiting. Thank you so much for your thoughts & prayers



Department of State Warning:
http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/intercountry/intercountry_3825.html

Petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/foafoa1/petition.html

**bangs head on wall** I can't get them to link...please type the address in :) thanks

Design Challenge

Some of you know that I've recently been working on Corynn's room. Almost got it done, but there is one large wall that I couldn't figure out what to do with...until now. I need pictures of Guatemala to get it rolling..so, any of you that have pictures taken from trips of scenes in Guatemala and you don't mind sharing, please email them to me at larnstudent@yahoo.com
I'd really really appreciate it!!! & I will show the finished product when I'm done!

We are in PGN!!

Yes!!! As of yesterday! Now hopefully in 8 weeks I will be making a post titled "We are OUT of PGN!!" Keep the prayers coming!!

slideshow :)

Happy 8 months Corynn!

Hurricane Felix

Please pray for all of the families in Guatemala & in surrounding areas. Please pray that they are kept safe. Hopefully this hurricane will die down before coming through their area.

No PGN...maybe next week.

I just got an email from my agency that our attorney apparently just found a mistake on the social worker paper work (from Family court.) They had to correct it before putting the case into PGN. They are hoping to have the case in on Monday. sigh. David's sitting here calmly watching some auto show on TLC & I want to pull my hair out! Well, I'm going to try & enjoy the weekend...we have some projects to get done around the house that we've been putting off. It'll be okay...it's just that Christmas is getting closer & closer & it's starting to feel like we won't have her home by then.

What it all means...

I've had a few family members & friends ask what all the adoption lingo means, here is a little bit of an outline of what we have left to go through in the process, and a few definitions :) (I borrowed much of this explination from my agency's yahoo group)

The attorney submits the adoption case file and a petition for approval (PA) of the adoption to a notarial officer of the Procuraduria General de la Nacion (PGN.) A PGN notary reviews all documents in the case file and, at his/her discretion, may independently investigate one or more aspects of the case. PGN may reject the file (issue a previo/kick out) any number of times for a wide variety of reasons that range from serious (e.g., irregularities in the birth mother’s or child’s identity documents) to minor (e.g., minor spelling errors, expired notary seals). The attorney for the birth mother and adoptive family corrects the problem and resubmits the case to PGN. Ultimately, the PGN typically concurs with the Family Court’s recommendation and issues its approval for the adoption to proceed. WITHOUT any previos/kickout PGN should take about 8 weeks.
ADOPTION DECREE. The attorney then prepares the final adoption Protocolo or deed, and meets with the birth mother for her to sign her final consent to the child’s adoption. The executed Protocolo is filed with the Archivo de Protocolo. At this point, the child is legally the child of the adoptive parent(s) under Guatemalan law.
CIVIL REGISTRY AND PASSPORT. The attorney presents the required documents to record the adoption at the Civil Registry where the child’s birth was recorded, and requests that a new birth certificate be issued to reflect the adoption, and to change the child’s surname to that of the adoptive family. The attorney then takes all documents including the new birth certificate and applies for the child’s Guatemalan passport. The child is again fingerprinted to affirm his/her identity. There has also been a 2nd DNA test added
US EMBASSY – FINAL APPROVAL AND VISA. The attorney presents the case file with the child’s passport and new birth certificate to the US Embassy. The Embassy again evaluates the file and, if all documentation is in order, issues a “Final Document Approval” or pink slip. After the attorney receives this approval, the adoptive parents and child appear at the US Embassy for final verification, and an embassy official then issues a visa for the child’s entry into the US.

Soooo...seems like alot. But we are still praying to have Corynn home by Christmas..though at times it seems impossible to me. Hopefully we will go into to PGN & have a reviewer who has a kind heart & won't pick through our file for ridiculous reasons to give us a previo/kick out.

PGN? Maybe...maybe not.

I emailed our agency yesterday to find out if we've been submitted to PGN yet & received a response today that our attorney is saying either today or tomorrow & our agency asked them to let us know for sure when it happens. Please let it be soon..then the real wait can begin.

Dr. Visit, New pics, & Prayers needed!

You know I hate when other blogging momma's don't post for awhile :) pot..kettle. Anywhoo...Corynn was brought to the doctor yesterday so they could have an updated medical report in her file for PGN...turns out she has a respiratory infection & fever & will need some medicine :( I really wish she was here with me right now so I could hold her & wipe her nose & rock her to sleep. I wish I was the one giving her her medicine & checking her temperature. I just have to keep telling myself that I will have many years of taking care of her & doing all these things. We're still waiting to go into PGN, I'm praying we'll be entered by the end of the week...we'll see. I got two new pictures of Corynn at the doctors office, one with her foster mom holding her. We are so blessed & lucky to have such a nice foster family who love her so much...that is the only part of bringing Corynn home that I'm not looking forward too is breaking their hearts. The little onesie & jeans she has on are clothes we left from our trip...Dave loves that she is wearing this onesie!


Thanks so much to everyone for continually praying for us, I'd like to ask that you also keep these two special families in your prayers as well: my friend Amanda & her daughter Bella, & Amanda's friend Jane & her son Lucas . Amanda has had an unimaginable amount of set backs in bringing her beautiful daughter home...please pray that whatever forces are blocking the completion of her adoption & bringing Bella home are broken & that Bella will be home with her family VERY soon.

I do not know Jane, but she is a friend of Amanda's who also needs prayers in bringing her son Lucas home. The picture below is of her daughter and son. Karly just got released from the judge and will be coming home soon. The little boy in the picture is named Lucas and he had an abandonment hearing today. The judge does not want to issue a COA and wants him moved to another hogar (orphanage). This would mean that Jane would lose her son. Please pray specifically for God to move on the judge's heart and have him reconsider his decision.

Hooray Hooray!!! We have PA!!!!

We have pre-approval!!! Next stop PGN!! My agency said it would probably be about a week or two until we are submitted because they need to bring Corynn to the doctor so she will have an updated medical report in her file.

Some good news!!!

Well I emailed the Embassy yesterday & received a response back today that they have received our case & it is being reviewed now & I should be receiving an email soon! I also found out today that we ARE out of family court!! YES!! I needed some good news!! Thanks to everyone who has emailed me or left comments...your thoughts, prayers, & support are greatly appreciated!

Business or Calender??

I called the lab today & found out that the DNA was received by the embassy on June 5th, which would put us at day 63 of waiting. So I called my agency to find out if they knew what the hold up is & I was told that it's 60 business days (???!!!!) That can't be right b/c there are other blogging familys that I know that were a week or two ahead of me getting DNA & already have PA. I feel like I just hit a wall. I've been sitting here crying b/c I don't know what to do...I don't know how to get in touch with the Embassy to find out for myself, if anyone here knows please email me, I'd really appreciate it.

Jodie
larnstudent@yahoo.com

more trip pictures

Today was a hard day...for multiple reasons. My purse & wallet were stolen (I didn't think it was possible to love a purse so much, but I did :( (my husband gave them to me for my birthday a few weeks ago...he went shopping & picked them out all by himself & completely surprised me with them, so they had a little bit of sentamental value...multiple items of value (to me) were in it, luckily with a minor headache most of it can be replaced...I hope.) so I thought I'd post some more pictures of Corynn for me to stare at, & our family & friends can enjoy too! ;)

Happy 7 months Corynn!

Today Corynn is 7 months old. I have a magazine that I found at work that goes through the first 12 months of baby's life & tells what they should be doing...having a hard time looking at it now b/c we're missing alot of first...but I know that she'll be with us for a lot of other first. Still no word on preapproval, I think I may call the lab on Monday b/c I don't know exactly what date the DNA results were entered with the Embassy...I'm just guesstimating that it was around June 11th b/c we got the results in the mail on June 9th (weekend), so we would be on day 54. I still have no idea if we are out of family court...I really hope so b/c I would hate to have preapproval & find out we can't get into PGN yet b/c we're still not done with family court!!

We'll have a herd of 7/8 year olds decending on us this evening for Cam's birthday sleep over & then Laser tag party tomorrow...pray. LOL!

A movie with a message

Today is my younger son Cameron's b-day...he turned 8 years old. We went to Barnes & Noble (it's like crack to a book worm like me) & brought Cameron's friend Jake...also known as Amanda's son :) with us. On a whim we decided to meet up with Amanda & go to the movies to see Evan Almighty. I loved it. I recommend it highly...especially to family's that are or have been in the long frustrating rollercoster that is adoption. It had a great message (with perfect timing) that we may not always agree with, like, or understand God's plan in our life, but He knows what He's doing.

Happy Birthday to my wild & crazy kid:

Almost back to school time....

Haven't posted in a while, been alittle busy since we got back from Guat. I was finally able to unpack Corynn's suitcase yesterday, it was hard, but I keep praying that it won't be too long until we are able to be with her again...hopefully for good. The boys start back to school in a few weeks! Hard to believe how fast the summer has flown by! Collin will start Jr. High! I tell my friends that I don't feel old b/c of my age, I feel old b/c of my KIDS age!


For those of you that have ask about the monogrammed clothes & bibs Corynn is wearing in some of the pictures, I bought them at a little boutique close to my home called KidAdorable. I don't think they have a website, but I'm going by there today to show them our trip pictures & I'll find out. Thank you everyone for all of your kind comments here & prayers. I'm sorry I'm not good at replying back, but I just wanted to let you all know how much they are appreciated! Keep up the praying!

Jodie

I left a piece of my heart in Guatemala

I expected giving Corynn back to the foster mother yesterday was going to be painful, but I never could have prepared myself for how painful it was. To make it worse, our facilitator had told us that they would be there at 5:30 to get her & they didn't show up until 7:30...not that I didn't want to spend more time with Corynn, but I had prepared myself for 5:30, & it's the kind of thing you really want to get over with so you can go back to your hotel room & have a mini breakdown. David & I made sure that when we came down to bring her, the hotel staff was in our room getting the crib, baby tub, & stroller out of there so we wouldn't have to see them when we came back without her. Corynn's foster family was great, & told me that they would be sobbing like me when it's time for us to bring her home (they said it would be very soon...which even though they have no say so, it comforted me.)
I would do this experience all over again if I had the chance, even knowing how much I am hurting right now.

On a brighter note, we met some other familys visiting & picking up while we were there! (Hey Jim!! & Tyonia & John!!) Jim, that 4th piece of pizza did me in!

And also the best news of all!!! ISABELLA CLAIRE IS COMING HOME!!!
Amanda, I'm so happy for you & your family!!
http://bellaboonews-jajbs.blogspot.com/
it's been a long time coming!! Perfect timing too Amanda, b/c I really need some retail therapy right now!!

Worth the wait...

Well tonight is our last night with Corynn, we have to give her back to her foster mom tomorrow at 5:30. Although I'm sitting here tearing up while looking at her sleeping, & I know I will lose a big piece of my heart tomorrow, I wouldn't trade this time we've been able to have with her. I also have faith that she will be back with us soon, this time forever. I'm comforted in the fact that she seems to have a very nice foster family who love her & who will take good care of her & keep her safe until that time comes.




This is what I think about you having to wait a long time for me momma!

Fun at the San Carlos

thanks for letting me borrow your Bumbo Bella!