Birthday Bash!

September 30, 2007. Once again the birthday celebration was a great success as we celebrated not only Nic turning 2 months old but Anthony turning 9! Once again Nicco was here in spirit and we look forward to being able to see him hopefully for Christmas. Some pics to enjoy from the boys....

Have You Signed?

September 28, 2007. Just a brief post this Friday night before I am off to celebrate both my boy's birthdays. Today Nic is 2 months old, and Tony will be 9! It is cake for us tonight!!
You may or may not be aware of all the current issues with adoptions in Guatemala. There is a chance that adoptions in this country may cease January 1, 2008. I am confident this will not happen and if it does it will be very short term. There is a online petition regarding this and I would like to ask you to take the time to sign. It is an important issue, not just for us, but for all the children who will be left in limbo without a family. The link is below:
http://www.petitiononline.com/foafoa1/petition.html

Thank you!

Tic, Toc

September 27, 2007. Well here we are waiting again. This seems to be a reoccurring theme. At this date we still have no DNA test started. I am frustrated for the process to get moving, (Lisa, please hear my pleas!) Nic will be 2 months old tomorrow. We are both ready to return to Guatemala as soon as possible for the next visit! Once we have our DNA results we may return and keep Nic with us while we are there visiting. This is a very brief explanation of the process:

Prepare the Dossier: These are all the documents pertaining to the adoption, basically your whole life in a neat little package. This includes the 171H approval by the INS for adoption.

Referral of baby: You receive a picture and brief information and medical on a baby ready for adoption. (scroll archives for ours)

Ministry of External Relations: This is where your documents are checked to make sure they have the appropriate seals. Then they are translated.

Then I'm not really sure what happens because we seem to be doing this process differently.

But these steps all need to happen regardless of what order they come in.

Family Court Investigation: A social worker is assigned and a home study of the birth mother/foster mother are conducted. Then the birth mother signs her second consent for adoption. Time frame 2-4 months.

First Court Action: The court reviews the social worker report and in most cases makes a recommendation for the approval of adoption.

DNA: The US embassy mandates a DNA test be done on the birth mother & baby. Results are taking around 6 weeks.

PGN: This office is equivalent to our Attorney General's office. Everything is reviewed here and inspected to make sure it is legal. Once PGN feels everything is perfect you can move on. (time frame: they work at there own pace)

Final Court Approval: The adoption decree is drawn up and the birth mother is notified the adoption in now complete. See then signs her final consent.

Registrario Civil: The adoption is inscribed in the civil registry where the baby's birth was recorded. A request for a new birth certificate with our last name is made.

Guatemalan Immigration/Passport Office: All documents are presented for the passport. Baby is fingerprinted.

US Embassy: The attorney presents the adoption file & Passport at the consulate for the exit visa.

VISA Appointment: The baby is taken for a health clearance, photo is taken for visa. Wait for Visa, GO HOME!!!

As you can see it is quite the process, one that will not happen overnight. Nic will likely be almost a year old before he finally comes home for good. Everything depends on how smoothly we flow through the system. Wish us luck...

Welcome Family & Friends!!

September 24, 2007. Welcome to all our family & friends who are now joining us on our journey. Can you believe we have managed to keep this a secret? I am posting a new poll tonight, look on the right column, please vote! Were you shocked or what when you opened the announcement? I hope everyone can understand we needed to keep this to ourselves for awhile before announcing our adoption plans. So now that you have gotten over that initial shock, Is he cute or what??? We hope that you will continue to pop in now and then, and to pray that our process goes smoothly. We hope to have him home and in our arms as soon as possible, but we may be looking as far as June next year. My next post will explain the process for those who are interested. Please be sure to go to the bottom of the page and read the archives. That is where our journey begins and there are alot of pictures. Also be sure to click on the arrow on our picture at the bottom to watch our video. Again, we are very pleased to be able to share with you, our family & friends, our amazing journey.

More Weird Events..

September 21,2007. Well, here I am one week later trying to regroup and ready to schedule my next visit trip. Can you get over how adorable he is? I laugh out loud everytime I see his little face, the personality will just kill ya. So I have more weird events to consider on my trip to fate. Nicky had this cute little outfit with Duckies when he came to visit Saturday. I recognized this outfit, it was the first I purchased from Once Upon a Child, the second hand store. I assumed at the time Chris had given this to the foster mom the previous night when we sent her home loaded with stuff. When I returned this week I went into his closest to see what I had remaining and if I thought it would fit. I couldn't believe, there was that outfit hanging there! The foster mom had the same exact outfit on him that I had purchased! Above is Nicky sleeping in his ducky outfit with his Mayan hat mommy bought him. So fashionable!

How Cute am I?

I am not happy today..

September 16, 2007. 7:00a.m. here in Guatemala City, and I am not happy today. I know the next time we see our nicco he will have grown and changed in so many ways. I can leave in peace though knowing how loved and cared for he is by his foster mom. We sat and cried together yesterday and spoke of how happy we are to be doing this all together. She will miss him so when he is able to come home, but she was happy he would come home to both of us. She wished us a speedy homecoming, one so our hearts could be complete with him at home, and two, so her heart would not break so much. She is an incredible lady, fostering not just Nic but another 2 month old boy as well. She cried as she told me of just losing her last 2, one also a boy named Wilson. Nic has his sleep pattern mixed up and sleeps all day and is up all night. I told her to wake him up! She laughed at me like I was kidding, she wouldn't possibly think of it, she is to sweet. He has really gained the weight at almost 10lbs. and she says he loves to eat. He also loved it when I rubbed his head after a bottle. We have to get this on camera, he rolls his eyes backward and smirks like he is in heaven. If I stop he opens one eye to see what I'm doing (with attitude I might add). Today we will play dress-up with all the outfits I bought him for our upcoming adoption notices. I am sure he will not be happy about it!lOl More hats!! Did you check out that handmade mayan hat I got him?? Tony, I have not found your size yet. Well, time to wake Chris for breakfast and get on with our day. He was so lonesome last night and sad he could not bring Tony. He is really hoping for his mom to join us on a trip. Pack your bags Pat!

Sleeping Beauty..

Mom click on pic to enlarge

Good Morning Everyone!

September 15, 2007. It is 7:00 a.m. here in Guatemala City and I have finally had a good nights sleep. I woke this morning with the excitement of seeing Nic again today. I keep looking at all our pictures. Our flights went easy (after we finally made it) and Chris was such a sport about running to catch the plane. He wanted to say something to me, but bit his tongue. lol When we arrived in Guatemala we were interviewed on camera regarding the new improvements to the airport, unless you have been here you can't imagine what it is like coming out of the airport. I believe it was the closest either of us will get to the red carpet experience. As you walk out there are people lined on both sides with signs for loved ones, adoptions, business, and everyone is shouting. Then there is the camera and microphone. We thought we were Brad Pitt & Angelina for a minute. lol Chris laughed I didn't miss a beat from my old days on the microphone and answered the questions like they were interviewing Vanna White. lol We were nervous for a few minutes because our scheduled pick up was not there. The traffic is like New York, and when she finally arrived she was wonderful. She helped us check-in (the Marriott is gorgeous) and gave us some time to explore before bringing Nicco over. HAVE WE TOLD YOU HOW WONDERFUL HE IS? (better get used to it) While he is no where near as hairy(head) as the other babies, I do believe he was cuter. And he had them all beat on the personality factor. A delightful mix of Chris & Tony attitude and will hold his own with them just fine. Tony he may even boss YOU around! Chris said, like with Tony "I was instantly in love" he was such the excited father and even said he can't wait to help (HUH??). I love him. I think we really need another girl in the mix to even things out though. lol Maybe we are becoming Brad & Angie. lol I will close this morning with this thought. May everyone who reads this be allowed to experience the love and joy in our hearts today for themselves at least once in their lifetimes.

The Best Feeling in the World!

September 14, 2007. I am having difficulties posting tonight but will try again in the morning. What a day! Is he something or what? I do not think I have seen a more alert and expressive baby. He has so much character! We cannot get over how you instantly know he belongs to you. He gave us attitude like "what took you so long to get here?" The foster mom say's he is very demanding and he loves to eat. He is getting so big. Chris & I described his personality like fire, you can see it burning in his eyes. Stronged will, Like a true Borsa. Tony, he is going to keep you on your toes, I hope you are ready! Goodnight from Guatemala...

The Stork is Coming..

September 14, 2007. Hola! We have made it to the Marriott and are currently waiting to see Nicky for the first time. He will be here any minute!! We almost missed our flight ( Kelly had to have perfect picture hair) They were paging us as we made it through security! We feel very safe and have our new friend Waleska to help us out. We will try to post pictures as soon as possible, be patient I am new at this. We are both so excited right now, I think we might be restling to hold him first! Tony and Joelle' you are here with us in spirit and we will call home as soon as possible. Here we go!!!!!!!

Ask and you shall receive :)

September 5, 2007. We have a birth certificate! We will be traveling next week and I can hardly wait to get my hands on this little guy!!! I received an email around 7:00 tonight that the attorney has the amended birth certificate and we are a go for POA. Tony is so excited to see more pics of Nicco soon. One more week and away we go!!!!!!!!

And We're Waitin'

September 4, 2007. We are scheduled for our first visit September 14th-17th. I am so excited I can hardly stand it! Of course there had to be an issue...I received a call from the agency that the attorney had to apply for an ammended birth certificate. He expected to have that back by last week. It still is not back. No one is sure what is wrong, I have been told a typo, however, POA cannot be signed until we have it. We are all hoping this certificate makes it back before we are scheduled to leave, otherwise, we have to change everything. I am getting nervouse because things are moving slow, much slower than I had hoped. I know if we are not to a certain process in the adoption we could get shut out. I hear DNA is taking 2 months. Pray for a speedy birth certificate :)