Tonight she cried...

We just talked with Auri and she was not happy. We called earlier than normal so we may have been disrupting dinner or playtime. She cried into the phone at least...boy we miss her! Well Emily and Lee Ann the girls that our with our agency and live in the same community we did are going to either take Auri her package or have Auri come to them sometime soon...so one way or another we will get some new pics of her! I can't wait!

Hoping some money falls from the sky soon so I can afford to go and visit Auri...isn't that wishful thinking?!?!?!

Rumor has it, PGNs Database is DOWN!

And of course they know me by name there! I called today and they can't log the info in. Another girl on one of the boards said her facilitator said they couldn't submit cases b/c of the system being down....just lovely!

That poor chicken costume is going to be cooped up another year without seeing Halloween...and by that time Auri will be voicing her opinion that she wants to dress up like a princess or something...ugh...diva maybe...princess...no...(sorry my niece Sidney wore me out with all of her years of being a beautiful Disney princess!).

And big congrats to the Whitworth's (Erick) and the Embrey's (Caterin) as their cases have been approved by PGN. They are both with our agency. The Embrey's are adopting sisters and were on their pick up trip for Cindy. PGN issued Caterin's case a previo when Cindy's case made it through with the same info ...so after a little pleading with PGN the other day...they are out! As for us ... I just got an email that our file is still with the review and next week it may be at the window for pick up...please let that be true!!!

How Guatemala changes you...

I now barricade myself around the mac or ATM as you Southern gals call it so no one can see what I am doing or getting.

I hold onto my purse for dear life so no one steals it even when no one is around.

I was to be at a birthday party at noon and it is 12:15 and I just got out of the shower.

Last night it rained at our family reunion which was a wiener roast and normally I would have been grumpy or not even have went...last night a few of us mostly the men (dad brother husband cousins and I) sat around the fire in our chairs holding an umbrella!

I cried for the man at the end of town with his hungry and homeless sign at the end of town...I just stared at his sad face while I sat at the stop light and then it just hit me and I cried. So as soon as we have some extra cash I am going to by him a Giant Eagle card to get some food.

Its amazing how only 2 months...really not even 2 months can impact you so much!

Okay PGN....please let Auri, Erick, Otoniel, Flor, Katie and Caterin OUT of PGN this week...fingers crossed everyone. A lot of us are waiting on a "SIGNATURE" good or bad we do not know!

PS- if I missed anyone let me know!

No news.

Well we were hoping for a miracle to get OUT of PGN but of course it didn't happen this week. It is a bit soon after our re-submit and our file is with a reviewer so hopefully in the next week or two we will hear something. I will be emailing PGN on Tuesday to get another update. I am sure they are quite sick of me! It doesn't seem like PGN is releasing many files right now...I guess since they may all be out of jobs once our adoptions finish up they are trying to hold onto them as long as possible! Bummer!

We are back in PGN!

Just received an email we are back in PGN as of Monday...please please be kind to us PGN and let us OUT!!! We can't take another holiday without our sweet Auri!

ello ELLO!!!

Tonight Auri kept saying hello to us really loud! No giggles tonight except when she talked with Abbie and she asked her where her belly was...interesting little game they played over skype! We stayed on the phone with her for quite a while...every time we were about to say goodbye she would start talking again.

Since my old housemate Lindsey thinks I am a paranoid Mama...I have to tell her tonight I bought her this Little Tikes Nursery Rhyme toy meant to look like an MP3 player...well as we were driving home I was like Brent I can't give her that she will strangle herself with the cord for the headphones and the cord that you put around your neck that holds the mp3 player...so I cut the one cord off and will not be sending the headphones down in her package (in case you all are wondering what that annoying thing is in the package ---but hey the batteries might die by then I can't figure out how to get it to STOP)!

Heavy rains and the gift of life...

I just found this info on Guatadopt.com:

GT WEATHER ALERT
Heavy rains causing flooding, building collapses and displaces families due to a series of tropical rains hitting the country until the weekend.Affected areas:La 16 calle 15-52 zona 1Rio Los Esclavos, la aldea Las Pozas en ChiquimulillaLa aldea MatamorosLandslides on the road km 314.5 ruta Interamericana, from Huehuetenango a la Mesilla, along the border with Mexico;The rivers, Rios Motagua en Gualan Zacapa; Polochic en Panzos, Alta Verapaz; La Paz en ciudad Pedro de Alvarado en Jutiapa, y la Pasion en la Libertad, Peten.

Please pray for the people of Guatemala and especially Auri's birth family as they are from one of the areas being hit hard. I don't think I have mentioned much about Auri's birthmom but we are so grateful for the gift of life she has given Auri as well as Brent and I. She made a very hard decision after trying to care for this sweet girl for a year. I know Auri will have questions for us in the future and it will be difficult because there are no pictures of Auri for the first 12 months of her life, no stories, no memories. We hope to be able to meet with her birth mother sometime whether it be on our pick up trip, next year or 5 years down the road to kind of fill in the missing pieces of the timeline. I had the opportunity while in Guatemala to go and meet her but I think she needed that closure without me present since this was the first time in over a year and maybe the last time she would see Auri. We will be placing the photograph of Auri and her Birthmother from their first DNA in her bedroom - I know some of you think this is very weird but she is very much a part of Auri's life and we will forever thank her for the gift she has given us.

Legacy of Two Mothers

Once there were two women who never knew each other.

One, my darling, is your birthmom and the other is your mother.

Two different lives, shaped to make yours one.

One became your guiding star; the other became your sun.

The first gave you life, and the second taught you to live it

The first gave you a need for love, and the second was there to give it.

One gave you a nationality; the other gave you a name.

One gave you the seed of talent, the other gave you aim.

One gave you emotions; the other calmed your fears.

One saw your first sweet smile; the other dried your tears.

One chose adoption. It was all that she could do.

The other prayed for a child, and God led her straight to you.

And now you ask me through your tears,

The age-old question through the years.

Heredity or environment, which are you the product of?

Neither, my darling, neither.

Just two different kinds of love

-Unknown author

Modeling: It may not be Gap but it's a start!

I am catching up on blogs, on our sweet roomie Kelsey made Auri a star...check out her blog and the other sweet babies...http://esperandoenguatemala.blogspot.com/

(I had to add Kelsey's wording too as my title...just too perfect!!! --miss you Kelsey!)

Finally a mattress for Auri's bed!

We wait till the last minute to do everything! Well since the holidays are just around the corner and that is likely the time Auri will be coming home we thought we should step it up a bit! Today my mom and I set out to get a Baptism gown for Auri but didn't end up finding anything we liked. It's really hard to find gowns for 2 year olds that don't look like a flower girls dress. Strausburg Children is having a 50% off sale online but we wanted to head out to a store to check out some of our favorites before buying one...of course they didn't have any of the ones we were looking for in the store! So we managed to spend our money adding to her fall wardrobe (as well as a few summer items) and my parents bought Auri's crib mattress. My mom was having a good time testing them out! Really how do you tell what is good for a crib? Brent and I had picked out a more expensive one online after reading buyer reviews but after my mom (and then myself) tried them out...we opted for a slightly cheaper Simmons Slumber Time.

Today Brent also finished up his Masters (in something to do with teaching!) at Gannon University by presenting his portfolio to some professor (in case you thought it was a group of people). So I am glad he will have all that behind him and soon he will no longer need to work that extra job so he can spends Sundays in church with the rest of the family.

NO PA = KO

It's official. We were kicked out of PGN for no PA. We have PA now but the attorney is still working on getting it in our file. So hopefully Monday we will be back in PGN for round 2.

Such a bummer I was hoping I was going to have reason to celebrate this weekend. It will be almost a year since we started this journey. We never expected it to last this long. We thought it would have been completed between March - June.

Long weekends...

Wow I just realized that with my new work schedule I will have long weekends...maybe I can fit a quick trip to Guatemala in...even if its 24 hours with my sweet Auri it would so be worth it!

No news yet from our agency. I hate this waiting. I just wish I knew where we were at. I don't want to become the annoying PGN emailer but if thats the only way to get answers it may have to do.

Crackers, Corn Flakes, Bananas and Apples

We have been calling Auri once a week. We talked to her last night and of course she just listened and giggled. I guess when we call her she recognizes who we are and asks for the treats I normally give her...so sweet! So we are trying to get a little care package together so my friends in Guatemala can deliver it to her!

Little bits of news...

Brent called PGN and was told the reviewer on our case was at lunch, call later. So guess that means we aren't kicked out yet! No need for us to call back :-(

In regards to our failed adoption, we just received an email about our lawsuit with AIP and yes his wife Christen Brown is on the hook and has to continue with the case! Whoo Hoo!!!

Update:

I emailed PGN this afternoon and they mailed me back stating we are missing some info and check with our attorney. They also provided the screen printout and it appears we were kicked on September 10th...so we will see. I forwarded the email onto my agency! Pray this was the kickout and has already been addressed and ready to be dropped off at PGN again!

GAP Casting Call

Oh I was just checking out the status of my purchase and noticed the casting call! You know I am itching to enter Auri but I am not her legal guardian yet! I have till October 22nd to become her momma officially so that means I will be calling PGN tomorrow to let them know!!!

You all may want to check it out and submit all those pics of the Gorgeous Guatemala Babies, Tots, Kids and Tweens! I know my GAP (Guatemalan American Princess) Girl will be entered every year!

Next steps...

I know for those of you that are not adopting you are completely lost by this adoption process. Well since we were put into PGN before we had PA (pre-approval) we have to now get kicked out in order to add the PA to our file. We were put into PGN before we were ready because PGN created an August 31 deadline for have the final birth mother interviews complete...so that is how we got in this step. It has been 3 weeks since our BMI and we are hoping we get kicked out Tuesday ( Monday is their Independence Day). So pray pray pray for that kick out (or previo) so we can add the PA and be submitted again and hope the next out we get is FOREVER!!!

Of course since there is hope Auri could be home for Thanksgiving...I had to go out and add to her wardrobe!!! She always needs the perfect outfit!

We have PA!!!

Watch out PGN...Auri is in a hurry to get home!!!

Getting closer...

I just received an update that they have the last document that is needed for PA. It just needs translated and submitted. We are still in PGN and have not had a kick out which could be a good thing. We hope they find all the errors so after we get kicked out we can just add the PA and then we can be re-submitted and get OUT OUT OUT!!!

My agency mentioned being in RENAP but I didn't think our town was in there yet. So hopefully we will stay out of RENAP and Auri will be home soon!

Brent picked out Auri's car seat for his car and I just picked mine up tonight...so we are getting ready. Well still need some odds and ends like a mattress, sippy cups, night light, etc etc but we are getting there.

Yesterday we also picked up a Little Tykes Log Cabin for the back yard...of course it was off Craigslist...there is no way we can afford one of those new! But it looks great and I am sure Auri will love it!

I may be going to a 4 day work week at the end of the month. This will be nice because it will save Auri from going to the sitter (my mom and Brent's mom) on either Friday or Mondays. We were actually going to send Auri to another person on Fridays to give the families a break so this will save us from having to pay another person plus I am sure I will enjoy my day hanging out with my little girl!

Guess who we talked to tonight???

Auri!!! And she just giggled! I think Abner and Marcos may have been tickling her to get her to say anything but it was so nice to hear her! Hopefully we can get some skype time in soon so we can see her!

Sweet Sweet Auri...more candy for your eyes!!!

In PGN with FC socioeconomic report...BUT...

NO PA YET!!! The attorney said they attempted to locate the midwife once to get the missing documentation but she was not there! For those of you that don't know...the midwife really isn't a midwife so the US Embassy will not grant us Pre-Approval without a copy of her Cedula (and I think something else). So hopefully this week they will get it!

We need to get this into PGN so they can let us OUT and we can get AURI home! Have a told you she has a chicken costume to wear for Halloween?!?!? HAHA...we know there is very little chance she will make it home before then but we can still be hopeful right?

I checked the RENAP site tonight and we are still not in it...but they added 4 new cities in the last two weeks so I am scared we will be in RENAP before we get out...please pray this DOES NOT HAPPEN!