Yeah for others!

Congrats to Amy for Emma's PGN OUT! Congrats to Beth for Carlo's PINK. Beth and hubby are a fellow FTC couple and are bringing their son home in early December! We started around the same time so its great to hear of a baby coming home forever! Makes me remember it really can happen.

PGN In date change

Actually is November 13th. Hoping my grandma is Nora's PGN guardian angel and we get thru without any real problems.
We set up the Christmas tree. The boys put Nora's ornaments on first. We also set up Nora's crib and her room. It looks so cute. Jim did a great job!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone! We are thankful for our families. Thankful for our sons who have taught us so much and given us so much joy. Thankful for Nora to have been brought into our lives. We are thankful for those who have been supportive during this process. And we are very thankful for the amazing friends we have met on this journey. Thank you for being that open ear and understanding heart.

Have a great week!

Wishing everyone safe travels for the holiday.
Although I love "Nora's Song", I will be switching the music up a bit for the holidays.
Congrats to Jaimee!! Isabela got OUT of PGN today. Yeah, hope she gets pink soon and is able to come home for Christmas!

Heres a picture I keep forgetting to put on here. Chris took this on our visit trip and its so sweet.

The story aired

Overall I was happy with the news story. It was definately more positive than most Guatemalan adoption pieces out there in the news lately. It was interesting to see what they put on the air because we talked about quite a bit and of course they only choose a few seconds and a sentence or two. There were points we brought up that we thought were important but didnt get aired. Politically speaking it was not 100% technically correct. I just hope the general lay public who dont know about adoption were able to learn a little bit and have a more positive view.
The only thing I was upset about was the Guatemalan news crew videoed in the hotel lobby somehow when we specifically told them not to. At least the other families faces and babies are hidden and they do not say the hotel name or even our agency name. I was so scared they were going to make us look foolish but they really did a good job.

Nora's on TV

The promos are running on Channel 12 for a story they interviewed us for on Guatemalan adoptions. Theres been a lot of negative press out there and we hope this is a more positive story. Its always interesting to see how they use what we said during the interviews. The big story runs during 10pm news on Wednesay.
There are alot of changes threatened to happen to Guatemalan adoptions. Some may be good changes but most dont seem to have the babies and families at heart at all.
The other couple who was interviewed started contacting news stations and Channel 12 wanted the exclusive as they wanted to also follow up on a story they did a few years ago. So we couldnt really say much until they got the story together and starting playing the promos.
Before we visited Guatemala they interviewed me and the other other couple at their home (Jim had to work). Channel 12 then asked if their contacts in Guatemala could interview and video us again with the babies IN Guatemala. That was the tricky part.
We talked to our agency and they said we could talk to the news, however, it had to be very VERY discreet. Again, alot of negative press and many negative views of adoption in Guatemala right now. We were at a hotel where lots of people are there visiting their babies. We didnt want anyone to feel threatened.
So we talked with the reporter in Guat and picked a time when the chance of any families being in the lobby was low. I met him in the lobby without Nora, actually physically held the elevator and whisked him and his camera man inside up to our room. Part of the reason why we chose our room was because it was private and not on whats known as the family floor (again, less chance for them to see any other families). When the interview/video was over, Jim escorted them out of the hotel (again without Nora). We were in contact via phone with the Milwaukee news crew at this time also. There were quite a few conventions going on so we are hoping they went mostly unnoticed.
So thats the long story of how Nora got on tv.

Heading into PGN

On Monday 11/12. What is PGN? It stands for Procuradoria General del Nacion. See, isnt PGN much easier to say?
Basically its the final review of ours and Nora's file. When we exit PGN Nora is finally officially ours forever. Right now PGN is taking 8-10 weeks. However if one of the reviewers finds an error or just something they want more info about, you get whats called a kickout (KO) or previo. You then start over at the beginning of the PGN wait. Right now about 50% of files are getting previos. So you hope you get one early on in the PGN process if you are to get one. Unless we get a KO we will not hear anything from our agency until we are out.
After we are out of PGN, we then to wait for new birth certificiate and passport from Guatemala, while then gets sent to the US Embassy. There is also a second DNA test done on Nora only to compare to the first DNA to make sure she is for sure the same baby. After US Embassy has all that info (which takes 4-6 weeks), you then get your "pink" slip. Being "pink" means you have a date you will arrive at the embassy and bring your baby home forever.

Just a little retail therapy

I want to try to get down some holiday outfits for Nora. And found some other cute things on the clearance rack.
The creme colored outfit has a long sleeve onesie with it. It says My First Christmas. The red and green onesie says Youre All I want for Christmas. And the red jammie has snowflakes on it (hard to see).

Guatadopt.com

Has been a source of good information about what is really going on with Guatemalan adoptions. Recently, one of their lead writers and spokesperson (who happens to live in the Milwaukee area) did an interview with onmilwaukee.com

http://www.onmilwaukee.com/family/articles/guatemalanadoptions.html

Out of Family Court

We exited FC on 10/30. Our Guatemalan office team however noted a typo so the social worker has to retype and get to them prior to them allowing the paperwork to enter PGN. Because if while in PGN the typo was noted it could have set us back a month or two. So heres hoping to a quick fix and perfect paperwork.

3 month medical

Nora had her 3 month checkup yesterday. Shes up to 10lbs 12 oz and 54 cm long. Her hearing test was normal. From Dr. M's report....
She shows interest in what goes on around her continues to enjoy being
talked to and shows a beautiful social smile as well as makes many
different cooing noises of her own both in response and also to call
attention to herself, now shows voluntary control of her arms and legs and
will alternate opening and shutting her hands as well as kicking and pushing
with her feet. When on her stomach she will now lift her face from the bed.

We left the outfit but not the headband. The second pic is very typical Nora. Smiling and sucking on her right hand. Our sweet baby girl!