We have a Passport!

Last night I asked Auri if Marta took her for her Passport yesterday and she said, Noo, noo.

I received an email today that she did in fact get it done yesterday and the BC and Passport are off being translated. After they are translated they will be submitting them to the Embassy so we can then get the DNA done (ORANGE). However the Embassy is not issuing ORANGE again until Monday the 5th. Jeez more waiting!

So Auri will not be making her Snowman party and I have just opted to cancel the welcome home party/toddler shower altogether. We are running out of available weekends and basically the stuff we need we will need the first week she is home so I will just go out and pick it all up myself. I realized with this adoption nothing can be planned anymore and when my plans get spoiled I end up cranky!

Unfortunately I do not feel like looking at our Christmas tree for another month so I believe it will be coming down tonight and in its place will be Auri's Christmas presents that Santa left her as this will also be here little play area - okay very little play area on our first floor.

ORSON MOZES CAPTURED

AMW CAPTURE DATA FILE FOR

Orson Mozes
Captured , Dec 29, 2008
Orson Mozes Captured In Fla.

Cops say fugitive baby broker Orson Mozes was caught December 29, 2008 by Miami-Dade police. Mozes’ capture follows an anonymous tip from someone who saw his picture on AMW.com.

The AMW tipster gave Miami-Dade police several different possible addresses for Mozes. Cops checked out each one and found Mozes in an apartment off the beaten trail in Miami Beach, Fla.
Lieut. Luis Almaguer of Miami-Dade PD said Mozes admitted his identity when confronted by police and Mozes did not resist arrest.

According to cops, in the few weeks beforehand, Mozes had been arrested for petty larceny and shoplifting. Police say Mozes was able to regain his freedom by giving a phony name and address.

Mozes is being held in the Miami-Dade County Jail where he awaits an extradition hearing.

****************************************

To think my friend Leigh Ann who lives in Florida could have been passing him daily in the street or I could have been sitting in the Olive Garden with him back in July. Thank goodness someone recognized him and turned him in. I got so sad thinking about Roma and how we will never met each other...but yet I bless the broken road that led us to Auri. However I would have loved to be walking hand in hand with both Auri and Roma on a daily basis!

Merry Christmas!

Santa left presents for Auri....

Update on corrected birth certificate

Just received an update that the runner got to Colotenango yesterday but the Registrar was not there. Our agency is waiting to hear if they were able to get the new documents today, if not the person will need to stay there until Friday.

I hate to hear that this person may be missing Christmas with their family but I am very thankful everyone is working so hard to get this issue corrected as quickly as possible.

Well we are about to get ready and head out to Church for the Christmas Eve service..then we will be headed home to call Auri to see if she is ready for Santa Claus to come tonight!

UPDATE: Our agency just emailed that the person was unable to get the documents today and unfortunately will be staying there until Friday to get the new documents. Our attorney explained that the person who issues the birth certificates has a hearing impairment and often does not understand what one is telling him. He tried to issue the first birth certificates incorrectly for RENAP. So I guess this pushes the timeline for Auri to come home back even further. Hopefully they will get her Passport done Monday then DNA Tuesday and then the DNA results will be back to the USE by the first full week in January so we can get Auri sometime that second week. Doesn't look like she will be making her party so it may need to be postponed til the next week.

Being silly and taking pictures in the hotel mirror and a recap of Mama's last visit!

2007 and 2008

Here is Auri last year in Guatemala with the Cockrum kiddos.

This picture was at the beginning of December when I was visiting. I have some really good pics but blogger won't let me rotate them right now!

Auri's not home?????

Brent and I just called Marta's cell but Auri is not there...hmmm....this is interesting. Marta's cell phone is at her house but my daughter is not there. Does not sound good. I am sure it is nothing but where the heck is she? Another strike to a bad day!

I cannot believe all of this has happened to us. It's like it never ends. Now we don't know when to book tickets for. We found awesome deals for the week of the 11th but we still really want her home the week before! I guess we will old out till weeks end to see if our attorney can pull a miracle for us. We offered to pay him to take a translator to translate the documents on the spot in order to get Auri's passport done Wednesday and also obtain ORANGE...but this needs to be done before noon! Slim chance but so worth the chance.

ONE STEP FORWARD...THEN TWO STEPS BACK!

Yes you read that correct! Auri was getting her Passport made today when they realized Brent's middle name was misspelled.

Well these are our options:

A. Brent flies to Guatemala tomorrow to fix the issue with a new name affidavit

B. Brent completes a new name affidavit here in the US with the misspelling and we travel to Harrisburg tomorrow to have it authenticated then overnight to Guatemala

C. We let our attorney handle it.

Well they say if you don't know what answer to chose...pick C! I know you are all cringing...but our attorney believes he can get the municipality to issue the new BC tomorrow and then be back into the City on Wednesday with it. He plans to work through Christmas to get the passport done and ORANGE issued for the final DNA.

My concern is it is CHRISTMAS. He is taking this time away from Marta and her family and Auri's last Christmas celebration in Guatemala. Secondly does he really think the Passport office will be open on Christmas Eve or Christmas day? We know the Embassy is closed so there will be no ORANGE until at least Monday. Then the DNA will likely get to the US on Wed...then back out to Guatemala the following Monday. So the more I think about this it is a Freaking NIGHTMARE and there is no way she will be home the first week in January.

I think to make myself feel better I am just going to book myself a trip for the week after and go to the Embassy every day with Auri until they decide to let us go home!!!

One year ago today...

This is an outfit we sent to Auri in October that Marta brought her to us in.

Dora was a gift from her Abbie and Pappy Heinrich.

New daddy...so proud!!!

Auri...not quite sure what is going on yet.




First bath.

One year ago Brent and I were off to a foreign country for the very first time in our lives. We were off to meet the little girl that was born in our hearts a few months earlier. Really we did not know what to expect - I can't even tell you what we were feeling...I guess we were really pretty numb to the whole situation. We had so much luggage with us to take gifts to the other babies from their new mommy and daddy's back in the US waiting...and such a short amount of time to spend with our new daughter.

It's so funny how we had only seen a few pictures...but when I walked down from our hotel room to the lobby just to check the place out (since we had another hour or so before we were expecting anyone)...there she was...our Auri...we knew exactly who she was and she knew exactly who we were.

I am not sure if it feels like an eternity or just a few short weeks ago that we finally got to hold our sweet little baby girl..but we do know that we love her very very much and we are having a hard time waiting for the next weeks to pass by until we are together again although this time there will be no more goodbye's!

No ORANGE yet!

I really don't even feel like posting. I am so disappointed that Auri's case has not been submitted to the Embassy yet in order to receive "ORANGE" which gives the go ahead to complete the final DNA. I just want to cry. Our attorney did not get our file translated...hello...you knew the birth certificate was coming back into your office on Tuesday or Wednesday...what do you mean you didn't have time to have it translated?!?!!

Seriously...Brent and I pushed Auri's case through PGN and RENAP ourselves! We spend numerous hours on the phone with PGN and then a dozen of emails to RENAP to get us in and out in 8 business days. Now that we cannot be the driving force behind her case..guess what ...its not going anywhere! I am so sorry to sound so negative all the time but to have your child so far away for so long is very very hard ---and this blog is my outlet!

So please please please pray that the Embassy has it in their hearts to work Monday and Tuesday and we can get ORANGE and somehow manage to get the DNA to and from the US amidst the closing in both countries for the holidays.

January 17th there is going to be a big CELEBRATION for AURI so she needs to be HOME!!!

AURI IS OFFICIALLY A HEINRICH!

A runner for our attorney is on his way back to the city with Auri's new birth certificate! She is officially a HEINRICH! We decided to still expedite our DNA in hopes of getting the Jan 5th visa appointment to pick up Auri and bring her home! I figure $300 is so worth getting her home a week or two early!

Pray they can get DNA done tomorrow or Thursday!

No appointments being scheduled until Jan 5th... :-(

So I just checked Guatadopt and someone got a response from the USE:

Unfortunately, due to the absence of any DHS personnel during the holidays we are unable to schedule any appointments from Dec. 18 to Jan. 5. I’m very sorry.

I haven't gotten a response to my email yet but I am NOT happy. This means pick up may be the week of Jan 5th or Jan 12th.

Signing Auri up for a class...so surreal!

I signed Auri up for Kindermusik...I am so excited! Class starts the last Monday in January. I think she is going to love it and I am going to love watching her and daddy interact in class! Yes, that's right I have decided to let Brent take the class with her so I can just sit back and take it all in! Since I am sure Auri and I will be overly busy with dance class and ice skating lessons in the fall I thought this could be their "special" thing! Of course Abbie and Pappy are fighting for their chance to take her too so in the Fall we will sign her up for a morning class so they can take her when they have her. Boy this little girl sure is going to be busy! We still need to fit in swimming lessons, soccer and violin lessons! I think I am going to love life with Auri!

As for DNA - no word yet...I am praying that it is done tomorrow if it wasn't done today!
UPDATED: Just received an email that the municipality was issuing constancies for residents today to get some money from the Government so tomorrow they will issue the new Birth Certificate! So there is a very slim chance they could make it back into town to get DNA late in the day but if not looks like Wednesday.

Oh ya...Mama and Papa put a little Skating Yasmin under the tree (okay its a bratz doll - I caved in and bought her a bratz doll but she is pretty much fully clothed for a roller skater!) and Chloe thinks its hers...I let her skate around the house and Chloe had a blast playing with her however I had to step in when she picked her up by a pig tail! Then you have Peppy who pounced on some wrapped gifts for the God children...I am sure I will not have the best wrapped gifts this year!

Snowsuit!

I thought when Auri came home we would be having an ICE CREAM party...I guess I sort of got that right since it will be COLD ICY and SNOWY here!!! Don't worry though her new snowsuit will keep her warm!!! Of course I wanted white...had it in my hands and saw it had lip gloss on it already...so we are opting for jelly bean pink...I guess if Brent doesn't allow Mama to have a white coat why would he let his Daughter?!?!

Adios RENAP!

That's right! I got the email late this afternoon that we are out of RENAP!!! WOOHOO!!! So excited! Now the RUSH is on to get Auri home this year! Please pray we can get this new BC tomorrow or Monday so we can get DNA Tuesday!

On other news...God was watching over me as my brakes on my Jeep gave out tonight as I was leaving working and sitting stopped at a light. Thank goodness I was not driving down the highway at 55 miles per hour as I had no idea the purpose of an EMERGENCY BRAKE!!!

Who doesn't love Fridays?!?!

Here is the latest email from renap:

Hi Deanna.... I spoke with the attorney in charge of your file and he said he probably would give it to me till this Friday...Mail me on Thursday morning to confirm. Greetings.

Please please let our birth certificate be approved FRIDAY! Then it will be emails - phone calls and more emails to get this little girl home for some part of the Holidays!

Auri's new friend Katie

They played so well together! They even share the same birthday, although Auri was born one year earlier!

Email from RENAP

-----Original Message-----
From: María Gabriela Marckwordt González <>
Sent: 12/5/2008 2:44:00 PM
To: Deanna Brestensky <>
Subject: RE: Elvia Leticia Garcia Hernandez #298

Hello Deanna... well I check your case file and It's still on review.
We got it three days ago and it's taking like 15 labor days to be signed off.
You can write me next week to ask for a status update.

Yours truly,
Gabriela Marckwordt
RENAP, Guatemala, City

RENAP... please be nice to us!

Today we got our file number with RENAP. We were submitted on December 2nd. We are praying so hard that we can get out next week - if not this week! There really is no chance Auri will make it home for Christmas but if we can celebrate the New Year in Guatemala with our daughter...we will be more than excited!

I was searching everywhere for an email address for RENAP and tonight on the Guatadopt forum someone posted the contact for Gabriella who gives out the status updates. No need to ask if I plan on emailing her...because I already did! Hopefully I will have some sort of news tomorrow.

Tonight we also talked to Auri. She was very talkative! I think it helped calling now rather than next week because she didn't seem to miss a beat! She understood everything we said in English and of course now I forgot but she said a few things in English that I was shocked at! Of course I had to ask her to call out Katie's name (the other little girl that roomed with us - who by the way got OUT of PGN today --YEAH!!!) like she did when we would be walking back to our hotel room to find her...it was soooo cute! Hopefully I can figure out how to post video so you can see and hear this sweet little girl in action!

Shoes

On our trip I wanted to get Auri a pair of more sporty shoes. So we walk into Payless in the mall. Of course Auri keeps grabbing for the black dress shoes. I point to one pair of shoes and she nods her head yes...I try them on her and she says no, no! So I pull out the next pair, once again a nod yes as well as speaks her version of yes, and again I get the no, no! Out we go...without a new pair of shoes!

Don't worry I took lots of shoes for her but for some odd reason they wear everything big and I took one pair of dress shoes in a size too big and she loved them! Did I mention they were black shiny dress shoes?!?!

This little girl is so sassy! It's her way or the highway! I remember being able to dress her in anything...now I have to give her a choice! And she has to carry her Bebe and her purse everywhere!!! I made the mistake of taking her lip gloss...she thought it looked good all over her face, not just on the lips!

I took so many outfits to get pictures in for our Christmas cards but we only got pics in one! I managed to get her in part of another outfit but she wanted nothing to do with pictures that night! The mall was decorated so nice but I could not get her off my hip to sit next to a tree or giant lollipop! Oh well there is always next year!

More of my time with Auri!

These pj's were to be worn for Thanksgiving...they say Everyone is Thankful for Me....but Auri didn't make it home in time.

and this was her Thanksgiving dress we bought her. Sorry for some reason the picture will not rotate. Let me tell you...she hated these boots!