Update and Lots of Holiday Pics

Hi everyone! No new news from Guatemala. We are still waiting for pre-approval from the U.S. embassy. Our DNA results arrived at the embassy on Dec. 12, so we are on day 18 of our pre-approval wait. In the past few days I have seen some families on internet Guatemalan adoption forums receive pre-approval around day 40-45, so maybe the typical 60 day wait might be shortened a bit. Let's pray that it is waaaayyy shorter than 60 days so that we can get our case into PGN as soon as possible! Once we are in PGN, we have at least an 8 week wait and possibly more if we are kicked out of PGN for any reason.

We did book our flights and our hotel rooms for our trip to Guatmala in February. The boys are very excited! We are staying at a very nice hotel with a heated pool, so we'll probably just hang out poolside for most of the time. We hope to have Miranda with us at the hotel for most of our stay.

We have had a lot of holiday fun over the past week. Below are some pictures from a party Matt and I went to, from my birthday, and various Christmas pics!

My friends Gwen and Liza. I was just thinking... I have known them both for 13 years! And I still see them at least once a week!

My friend Rachel, the hostess for the party. Haven't known her that long, but wish I had. (The cake says Happy Birthday Jesus (and Michele).

Celebrating my birthday. Matt bought me tickets to go see Blast! at the Fox Theater next month. I'm super-excited! The boys waiting at the bottom of the basement stairs on Christmas morning! I worked and didn't get home until 6:45am. I was actually surprised because everyone was still sleeping! The boy cousins all got matching T-shirts from Uncle Brad and Aunt Allison.Max holding 4-month old cousin Lucy.

more pictures and updates

I met with Anne, our adoption coordinator, today. She told me more about her visit with Miranda and her foster family. She said that the foster grandmother has a big role in caring for Miranda and Anne could tell that both the foster mother and grandmother really deeply cared for her. Anne also told us that we are OUT of family court! That means that the social work interview and report is complete and we are just waiting for pre-approval from the U.S. Embassy, which has been taking up to 60 days for many families. So, now we wait some more! We are planning a visit to Guatemala City in February, so that gives us something to look forward to.

When Anne first met the foster mother back in November, she gave her two disposable cameras from us. The foster mother gave her one back this past week and I just had it developed today. In these pictures, Miranda is anywhere from 4-7 weeks old.

We sent her that striped outfit she is wearing! We sent her that outfit too!

New pictures!

Look at that smile! These new photos were taken last week, so she is around 7 weeks old. Our adoption coordinator said that Miranda is incredibly responsive and smiling a lot. Her foster mother said that she is going to see the pediatrician this month and we will get new measurements after that appointment. She is drinking 4 oz. every 3 hours. She goes to sleep at 9pm, wakes up for a bottle at midnight and then sleeps until 6am! Her foster mother said that when she wakes up, she smiles immediately. The foster mom has asked our permission to have her ears pierced, which is a very common thing in Guatemala for baby girls. When Miranda grows up she'll probably think it is pretty funny that I didn't get my ears pierced until I was 18!

I am meeting up with our adoption coordinator in a few days. She says she has a letter for me from the foster mother and one of the disposable cameras that I sent down for the foster mother to take pictures of Miranda. So, hopefully I will have more photos to show you soon!

Grandfathering Rumors-Pray!

Hi everyone. There are rumors circulating that the U.S. Department of State and the Guatemalan government are meeting to determine what the actual definition of "in process" means for cases that will continue under the old system. The new adoption law passed in Guatemala and goes into effect 1/1/08. In the past, "in process" has meant having a registered Power of Attorney for a specific child in Guatemala, which we have. Now, though, there is talk that "in process" is going to mean being in PGN, or the Guatemalan attorney general's office. We will not be ready to go into PGN until at least February, so we are praying that this will NOT be how they define "in process." Please pray with us over the next few days that our case will fit within the new definition of "in process." If our case does not meet the definition of "in process" then our case may be delayed for months or worst-case scenario not ever completed-something I just refuse to think about.
No update from our coordinator in Guatemala yet. She returns to St. Louis on Sunday and usually e-mails us on Monday or Tuesday with the update and pictures.

More cute girl things

Hello everyone. Our adoption coordinator left for Guatemala today and we sent down a big bag of clothes and gifts for Miranda and a bag of gifts for the foster mother and her family. We should have pictures and a medical update in about a week, which we will post for you all to see, of course! There is supposed to be a vote in the Guatemalan Congress tomorrow about the adoptions law. While everyone anticipates there will be a grandfather clause, tomorrow we will hopefully know more about the details of the grandfather clause. Will keep you posted!

All He Wants for Christmas...

Are his two front teeth!
Yesterday Mitchell lost his 2nd top tooth! He's pretty excited about it. This was the first tooth he lost at home--1st was at church, 2nd was at the water park in Florida, and his 3rd lost tooth was at school!

DNA test done! (and no more Black Monday!)

We found out today that the DNA test was done yesterday, December 3. The DNA has to be shipped to a lab in the U.S. and we will hopefully find out the results by next week. Then the results are sent to the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala and we begin the wait for pre-approval from the Embassy. The social work interview is scheduled for Thursday! Things are moving along!

For those of you who don't know, Matt and I have unfortunately come to call the 1st Monday in December "Black Monday." This is because for the past two years, we have received bad news on the first Monday in December---2 years ago, we received confirmation that we had miscarried our 7 week old baby. 1 year ago, we had an ultrasound and found out that our 16 week old baby's heart had stopped beating in the previous two weeks. So, "Black Monday" hasn't brought good news for us in 2 years. Thanks to God for the good news today.