Cute Update on Caleb

We were able to send down two 2-gallon ziploc bags of clothes, toys, shoes, etc. with another family recently. We received an e-mail from our agency today, with a message from Caleb's foster mom, saying that Caleb really enjoyed the teddy bear and the shoes. In fact, he apparently likes the shoes so much that he won't take them off! :)

Have a Happy New Year. We are hopeful that 2008 will be the best year yet!

Keith and Kris

A Synopsis of Our Situation

This post is really more for those who are new to our situation. A special thanks to those of you who have been following our adoption over the months.

We received PGN approval on September 14th. That means that our adoption was approved, and at that time, we were told to expect to pick Caleb up in 4-6 weeks. All we needed was a new birth certificate identifying us as the parents, his passport, DNA testing, and a visa appointment. This part traditionally goes very, very smoothly, so we weren't worried at all. We started getting suspicious that something was going on when we didn't hear anything from our agency...and our suspicions were confirmed October 23rd, when we learned that the city where our son was born, Sayaxché, passed a law closing their Book of Adoptions, which made it impossible for our attorney to register our adoption or get a new birth certificate. And unless this happened, we could not complete the adoption.

Since October 23rd, we have been working with our agency and attorney to get this rectified. Our agency & attorney have been outstanding, but in spite of their efforts, we still are waiting for progress in our case. Our attorney has tried several court actions, some which have failed, and others which are still in the courts, waiting to be decided. Additionally, we have contacted everyone possible, including the US Embassy, our Senators, our Representative, JCICS, The Office of Children's Issues, Ethica, and more, but again, with no success.

While we wait, Caleb remains in foster care, which we are very thankful for. Caleb's foster family is outstanding, and we know that he is receiving wonderful care, and most importantly, lots of love during the wait. But obviously, we want him with us. This waiting is absolutely pointless, unfair, and unbelievable, but for some reason we're being put through it.

On a brighter note, we have built up a huge support system. The number of total strangers who have visited our blog and left us encouraging messages has been very humbling and appreciated. We have been able to connect with families in the same situation as us, which has been very helpful as we try to weave our way through this difficult situation.

A huge thank-you to everyone for your support and encouragement. We are looking forward to the day when we get "the call" that we can finally travel to Guatemala to bring Caleb home with us forever.

Rollercoasters and Random Thoughts...

Tomorrow marks 3 months since Caleb was approved by PGN. That has given me 3 months to deal with the "ups and downs" of waiting for the issues to be resolved. When we first started the adoption process, we were told that it is a "rollercoaster of emotions." No kidding. It's so much worse than that, I can't even explain it. There are days, when we receive hopeful news, that I am convinced that everything is absolutely perfect, and that nothing can go wrong again. Then, when the hopeful news doesn't pan out (and believe me, that has happened so much over the past 3 months especially) I cannot describe the agony, misery, and sadness. So it's official, I HATE ROLLERCOASTERS! I'M NEVER GOING TO SIX FLAGS, DISNEY WORLD, ETC. FOR ANYTHING EXCEPT TAKING PICTURES! ROLLERCOASTERS STINK!!!

Now for the random thoughts...
I'm assuming that everyone who is reading this has had situations at work or at home where you are required to do something that you don't really want to do. A situation that is really frustrating or involves a lot of work, one that makes you think "oh, if this would just go away it would be so much easier." Or, "if I didn't have to do this, my life/job would be so much less stressful." I know I run into this attitude a lot at work, and yes, I'm guilty of it myself. However, the next time you run into it, please think of Caleb. I now refer to this as the Sayaxché Attitude. The city government there didn't want to deal with all of the politics involved with the adoptions, so they passed their law forbidding the Civil Registrar to register adoptions or release documents related to adoption. How nice for them, they don't have to "deal with adoptions anymore." However, innocent children like Caleb are STUCK because of this. So please, the next time you run up against, try to look beyond the immediate situation that is frustrating you, and try to see the long-term reasons for why you have to do what you do. I know I am, for Caleb's sake. Please do not be guilty of possessing the Sayaxché Attitude!

I'm sorry for the lecture...this waiting obviously gives me too much time to think!

Kris

No Help from the Embassy, No Luck in the Courts

On Wednesday, we received the following e-mail from the US Embassy in Guatemala:

Dear _____ thank you for your email.

At this time, your case is being processed by the USCIS office at Embassy Guatemala. Please contact the office for more information. You can send them an email at: Guatemala.Adoptions@dhs.gov

After the USCIS office has completed processing your case, they will pass it to us in the Immigrant Visa Unit. We will be able to assist you with your case after the file is in our possession.

We hope that you find this information helpful.

Sincerely,

The Immigrant Visa Unit
U.S. Embassy Guatemala

We thought this was highly unusual, even impossible, so we contacted our agency. Sure enough, this is a form e-mail. The Embassy Immigrant Visa Unit didn't even read our e-mail, or didn't read it very well. We've been e-mailing them for over 6 weeks with no reply, and then get a reply with inaccurate information.

To add insult to injury, we learned this morning that the appeal that our attorney filed in court (appealing the judge's decision not to grant the Amparo, which would get us our BC from Sayaxché) was DENIED. So currently, our *ONLY* hope is the pending Constitutional Appeal (trying to get the Sayaxché law that closed the Book of Adoptions overturned on the basis that it is unconstitutional). This Constitutional Appeal will take months. We don't know what will happen if the Constitutional Appeal doesn't work...

Today marks 12 weeks since we were approved by PGN. Caleb should be home with us, and instead, he's thousands of miles away, with the possibility of never making it home. It just does not seem right that this is happening.

A Cute Story

Our eldest is in 1st grade, and every year, the PTO has a "Santa Shop" where the kids can go shopping (with their parents' money!) to buy and wrap Christmas presents for family members. DS had his turn yesterday and came home with presents for everyone on his list - including HIMSELF. Um...that wasn't on the list! Additionally, he bought himself the most expensive gift possible. :) (Wait a second, I think that means he got me a cheaper present ha ha ha)

I think he was proudest of the gift he got for Caleb, though. He told me all about it, it is a white teddy bear. He wants to keep it under the tree until Caleb can come home and unwrap it. Our eldest adores Caleb. Our whole family does. DS wrote about him in school, and his story was all about how he is going to teach Caleb how to play tag AND even let him win (once!). THIS is the part that I wish the stupid politicians could see - how this pointless waiting is not benefitting anyone, anywhere.

We of course do not have any new news. The latest we heard was that our attorney was still waiting for results of the legal appeals he filed. We know this is going to take a lot of time, but it is still torture to have to wait.

Have a great day, everyone!

Good things come to those who wait...

...and it sounds like we are in for a very long wait indeed. Here is "the scoop" as we understand it.

1. We are the legal parents of Caleb. However, our attorney is unable to register the adoption and get an updated birth certificate listing us as the parents because the city where Caleb was born, Sayaxché, Petén, has passed a law that has CLOSED their registration of adoptions. We have received notification from the US Department of Homeland Security that unless the adoption is officially registered in the Sayaxché Book of Adoptions, there is no way to get Caleb a visa back to the United States.
2. Our attorney is doing everything in his power to get this rectified. He is taking the Sayaxché law to constitutional court in hopes of getting it overturned, on the grounds that it is unconstitutional. He is also filing some kind of legal appeal, which is appealing the judges ruling that the adoption cannot be registered (and new BC issued) because it is the law in Sayaxché. We have been warned - THIS COULD TAKE MONTHS AND MONTHS to be rectified.
3. While fighting this in the courts, Caleb remains in foster care. This is a HUGE reassurance to us. His foster family is wonderful, and it is very obvious to us that he is receiving as much love and care as possible.
4. The delays that are happening with our adoption are NOT typical. Sayaxché, Petén (think of Sayaxché as the city, Petén as the state, such as Chicago, Illinois) is the only city, to our knowledge, in the entire country of Guatemala that has passed a law that has "closed" the Book of Adoptions. This is really unheard of, something no one has ever experienced before, and certainly not on anyone's radar when we began this adoption. We are aware of 4 other families who are caught up in this exact same mess, and there are at least 2,000-3,000 Guatemalan adoptions in process right now. Lucky us, huh?

As soon as anything changes, we will let you know. Unfortunately, we don't anticipate anything changing quickly. Guatemala is a country with a very strong religious base, and many of the courts and government agencies there shut down for weeks during the Christmas season. In the meantime, please keep your thoughts, prayers, and positive vibes coming. We will never give up until Caleb is safe in the US with us (or until we win the lottery and all move down to Guatemala to care for him ourselves ha ha ha).

Have a GREAT Monday.

Finally - Some Responses to all of our E-mails

Today we received a response from DHS (Department of Homeland Security). It's a bunch of legal garble that doesn't make a lot of sense. It sounds like we will have to have many things met in Guatemalan court in order to satisfy the US laws so that we can bring Caleb home. We're still trying to get this clarified, but it sounds complicated and time-consuming. Just what we need, more delays. On the bright side, at least we have a clear outline of what exactly must be done, so hopefully our attorney can help us accomplish this as fast as the courts will allow.

Also - we need to mention that we received a call from Senator Feingold's office yesterday. They gave us a couple of suggestions of who else to contact about our case, which we did. We don't know yet if it will help, but we do certainly appreciate the fact that we got a response.

So, in a nutshell, we have no clear answers, we only have more questions. And, no solutions to our dilemma. WE JUST WANT CALEB HOME!

The Latest

We received another update on late Friday afternoon, from our wonderful agency. We really are lucky that they are so on top of what is happening. In a nutshell, here is what we learned:

1. The Amparo (legal appeal against the Sayaxché law that forbids releasing adoption-related paperwork) was ruled against in court. So, our attorney is appealing the decision of the judge.

2. Our attorney is taking the entire Sayaxché law to court, on grounds that it is unconstitutional. This sounds like it is a very long, complicated process, and it will involve our attorney and at least 2 other attorneys in Guatemala. We're thankful that he is willing to work so hard on Caleb's behalf, to get this Sayaxché law overturned.

We (Keith and I) are still contacting legislators, asking for their help, especially now that we know the information that is in our last post. We just HAVE to be able to complete this adoption with Caleb's original birth certificate. This waiting is so pointless!!!

Thank you, everyone, for your support. It means the world to us as we live through this stressful period. We're confident that it will all work out, but wish it didn't have to be so difficult in the meantime!

Have a GREAT Monday!

The Law Might Be On Our Side - New Hope!!!

We just e-mailed this to the U.S. Embassy. Another adoptive family who is stuck in the exact same mess as we are may have made the discovery of the year:

We have become aware that there may be a solution to this dilemma. We are asking the US Government to allow us to forego getting a new BC, and to allow us to use the original bc, and we could get a guatemalan passoport in baby's birth name, and the US Visa in baby's birth name, and then we would re-adopt in the US and change baby's name in the US. There is a provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. Section 1202(b)) that permits us to use "other satisfactory evidence" when a document is unobtainable. Documents constitute "other satisfactory evidence" if they establish the fact that the unobtainable document would prove if the unobtainable document were obtainable. So the unobtainable document is the new BC -- the new BC would prove the baby's birth data, and that we are his parents. Thus, the "other satisfactory evidence" would include the original BC, which proves the baby's birth data, the PGN decree, and the Protocolo. These two documents prove we are baby's parents. So these 3 documents constitute "other satisfactory evidence" that prove the baby's birth data and that we are the baby's parents.
We look forward to a quick response from you. After waiting 9 weeks since exiting PGN, we are understandably impatient. Thank you again for your time.

Keep your fingers crossed!!!!!!

Our agency is definitely trying to help

We received an e-mail from our agency today. They wanted us to know that they have asked our attorney to try to set up a meeting with someone in PGN about our birth certificate issues. Additionally, they have contacted the regional CIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services) office in Mexico, to see if they have ever had to resolve similar issues. Isn't that great? Our agency has been wonderful - and it's great to know that they are trying everything possible as well to help us bring Caleb home.

Additionally, we have now contacted our Representative and both Senators. We are hoping that our elected officials can either offer some assistance, or at a minimum, get ideas from the US Embassy in Guatemala. We will be contacting the US Embassy for the 5th time tomorrow morning, too...and are hoping to at least get a response this time.

Otherwise, we have no news. Our attorney did file the Amparo last week, but we have reason to believe that it won't really help, because the Mayor has stated that he would rather go to jail than release any more adoption-related documents because he fears for his life. So we are very excited and hopeful that some of these other options will work.

Have a great day!
Kris and Keith

Amazing Website for you to Look At

The wonders of the Internet. Here is a website that is run by an American family who live in Sayaxché, Petén, where Caleb is from. http://www.guatemalaoasis.com/index.htm Please take time to look at a couple of links that we're highlighting:

1. Pictures of Sayaxché: http://www.guatemalaoasis.com/sayaxche.htm
2. Pictures of the school: http://www.guatemalaoasis.com/schools.htm
3. First-hand insight about what happened in July. We now understand completely why the Sayaxché leaders are refusing to release any documents related to adoption...they are in fear for their lives after what happened. WARNING - some of the pictures are graphic. http://www.guatemalaoasis.com/july_2007.htm

Please keep the families of Sayaxché, Petén in your prayers. The poverty, the fear for the children, and the lack of resources is truly unbelievable.

Oh MAN What a Bummer!

Late last week, we received word from another family who was waiting for a Sayaxché BC that their attorney had filed an amparo (appeal), and that it worked - their attorney got the new BC. We learned today this this is not true. Somehow, there was some type of mix-up or miscommunication (by the agency, not by the other family), and this other family does NOT have the BC, after all. Filing the Amparo did not work.

Talk about a kick in the teeth! Obviously, we're devastated by this news, as is this other family.

We don't know what will happen next. We're starting to accept the reality that Caleb won't be home by Christmas, and that's a hard thing to swallow.

Take care,
Kris

New Pictures!

Just a couple of new pictures for you to enjoy!

Some good news???

As far as we know, there are 3 other families that are stuck in the same Birth Certificate mess that we are. One of the other families' attorney did go up to Sayaxché to file an Amparo (appeal of the mayor's decision to withold the birth certificate), and today the family learned that their attorney has the new birth certificate! So the filing of the Amparo worked - and worked very quickly.

So now we just need our attorney to get up to Sayaxché and do the same thing. And, hopefully we will have the same result. Hang on Caleb, we're coming!!!!!!

We're going nowhere fast

Today is a very special day in Guatemala, called Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Because it is such an important day, all government buildings are closed. Additionally, November 2nd and November 5th are also government holidays, so we believe that all goverment buildings will be closed these days as well.

What this may mean for us (our assumption) is that our attorney STILL won't be able to go up to Sayaxché, Petén to file the Amparo until sometime next week. This is the Amparo that was supposed to be filed last week. Two more weeks wasted...and really, nothing has been done to move the adoption forward since we exited PGN on September 14th.

Here is your ironic Spanish lesson for the day: As you may have read, we've been warned by our agency and attorney that this legal Amparo process that is needed to get the updated Birth Certificate could take months. The Spanish word for months is "meses". How ironic that "meses" and the English word MESS are so similar?

Have a great day. Please keep Caleb in your thoughts. He is always in ours!

Caleb is 15 months today!

We just wanted to point out that Caleb is 15 months old today. Who would have thought that he'd be spending this much time in Guatemala. We certainly thought he'd be with us by now.

Our agency is getting us new pictures of beautiful Caleb. As soon as we get them, we'll post them for the world to see.

Otherwise, no update yet on our case. We know we're probably in for a long wait, and it is absolute torture.

Take care,
Keith and Kris

Follow up to bad news post from yesterday...

In checking with a couple of reliable sources, we've been told that the route that our attorney is taking (filing the recurso de ampuro) is the best route to take. We're obviously not at all happy about this setback, but it is nice to know that our attorney is handling it, and handling it well.

We'll give you an update as we find out something. Have a great day!

Bad, bad news

I just spoke with my agency. Our attorney has received some official notice from Petén that they will not release birth certificates (which we already knew, but now our attorney has it in writing). So, he is flying up to Petén sometime this week to file a "recurso de amparo", which is some kind of legal appeal with the court system. What the mayor/official is doing in Petén is illegal, but it will have to go through the court system to be rectified.

This could take months. I suppose it's even possible that we will never be able to complete the adoption, but our attorney seems confident that this will be rectified in the courts. Obviously this is the worst possible news. Thankfully, our attorney in Guatemala is also a trial lawyer, who knows the ins and outs of the complicated Guatemalan legal process. But courts take time in Guatemala as they do in the U.S. Not to sound selfish, but we'd appreciate your thoughts and prayers right now.

The area of Guatemala where we need the birth certificate from is very rural, very poor, and has a very low literacy rate. There are many people in this region who believe that Americans adopt babies so that they can sell the organs when they return to the U.S. Here is an example of what I am talking about from the US Embassy website. http://guatemala.usembassy.gov/wardene20070718.html So I personally imagine that the mayor's decision not to release documents related to adoption is very popular amongst his constituents...although not at all popular with us!!!!

So, this is our update. If you have any questions, please ask! Maybe you'll think of something that we haven't thought of. We're obviously desperate to bring Caleb home.

Love,
Keith and Kris

There's something strange going on...

We learned late last week from our agency that our attorney has been having problems getting Caleb's new birth certificate. It seems that an official in Petén will not process any requests for new birth certificates. Upon learning this, we've "found" two other families who are in the same boat as us...out of PGN for over a month and still no birth certificate. We guess that misery loves company!

The glimmer of hope in this is that our attorney said that he was informed late Thursday that the BC request for Caleb was finally processed and ready to go. WE HOPE SO!!!!

Most people get their BC a week or two after exiting PGN. We've been waiting over 5 weeks, so you can see why we're getting impatient.

If our attorney does indeed have the BC, then our guess would be one month until travel. Yup, right before the Thanksgiving holidays. So we're expecting jam-packed airports AND superduper expensive airline tickets. But it will all be worth it, absolutely! Heck, we'd drive to Guatemala if we had to!

Have a great week. We'll post more as we learn more.

Update - Or Not

This will be short. We haven't heard anything since getting out of PGN 3 weeks ago.

As soon as we hear something, we will definitely let you know.

Trust us - we're tired of waiting, we want to travel to Guatemala ASAP and bring Caleb home!

Love,
Kris and Keith

WE ARE OUT!!! Caleb is coming home!!!!!!

Our case has been approved by PGN! In other words, we've been given the OK by the Guatemalan goverment. Caleb will be coming home soon!

There is still more to be done, including the following:

1. Birthmother has to relinquish her rights for the fourth and final time.
2. A new birth certificate and passport has to be issued.
3. DNA testing has to be done (which takes about 2 weeks) to ensure that there wasn't a baby swap done after the 1st DNA test was done. We're not too worried about this!!!!
4. We have to have an appointment scheduled with the US Embassy.

THEN WE FLY DOWN TO GUATEMALA, PICK UP CALEB, AND BRING HIM HOME FOREVER!!!!!!!

GOOD NEWS! We're moving through PGN!

We just heard from our agency. We are "on the desk" of the Director of PGN. He is the person who looks at our adoption file and gives in the final approval. This means that we made it through the other reviewers (two, we think) and that there are no other errors in our file.

Granted - Sr. Barrios (PGN director) is known to take up to a month to approve a file, and there is still the possibility that he could find something wrong with the file (a spelling error, a missing accent mark, etc.) - but this is still VERY good news.

We'll keep you updated!

Kris and Keith

Update on our KO from PGN

We learned today why our adoption file was "kicked out" of PGN a few weeks ago. It turns out that the US Embassy listed an incorrect ID number for the birthmother on a document called Pre-Approval. In other words, the U.S. Embassy made a mistake, which caused us to be KO'd.

The good news, as always, is that our attorney in Guatemala got a corrected form from the US Embassy, and we were resubmitted to PGN on August 13th. AND, now we can honestly say "it's the government's fault" that our adoption is taking so long. :)

Have a great day, everyone!

Latest update, but not the news we wanted to hear

We learned today that our case was "kicked out" of PGN. PGN is basically the Guatemalan Attorney General's Office, that gives the final approval for all Guatemalan adoptions. When an adoption case is "kicked out", it means that something is wrong with one of the documents. So, our attorney has to fix the problem, and then we are resubmitted. Although we don't know what the problem was, we were resubmitted on August 13th.

As a general rule of thumb, it takes about 8 weeks to be approved by PGN (if we're not KO'd again). Then, it can take another 4-8 weeks after that until we are able to travel to Guatemala and bring Caleb home with us forever.

So now we are realistically looking at December. If we are KO'd again, we might not even have him home by Christmas. It's not the news we wanted to hear, to say the least.

Finally, here's a new photo of Caleb that we received. Love, Keith and Kris

No news, no update, just still hoping

The question seems to be coming up a lot lately, "when is Caleb coming home?" Our answer is not any different than before - we simply do not know. Approval of adoption cases in Guatemala seem to be slowing down even more, unfortunately. All we can do is wait, and hope that this adoption is approved soon.

We are still hoping to bring him home sometime in October, but honestly, we just don't know.

If you look at this picture, you'll see that even Caleb is wondering when he'll be coming home with us forever. Trust us, we want him home NOW!!!

Have a good week, everyone!

Feliz cumpleaños, Caleb!!!

On Monday, July 30th, Caleb will be one year old! It's so bittersweet that he's already one and not here with us to celebrate it. We cannot wait for the day for him to be ours forever.

We received our monthly update. As usual, his foster mom did a wonderful job picking out what clothes to have him wear. GO PACK GO! It's so cool that he's wearing the same Packers jersey that both his older brother and sister wore when they were younger.

We also learned that we entered PGN on July 6th. If everything goes perfect, then we should be out of PGN in September, and able to pick up Caleb sometime in October. If you're the praying type, please pray that we have no more delays in our case. We'll also take all of the fingercrossings, horseshoes, and whatever else works to get Caleb home SOON!

Have a great week,

Kris and Keith

OUTTA Family Court, into PGN next week!

FINALLY!!! We have the word that we are out of Family Court and are entering PGN. In simple terms, PGN is like an Attorney General's office, which has to go over all of the documents to approve of the adoption. We have been told that we should be submitted to PGN next week (the first week of July). PGN, on average, takes 8 weeks to approve of an adoption. If there are any problems with the paperwork, then it will take much, much longer.

For those of you who are asking the obvious question, when are we bringing him home, we are hoping and praying for October. If there are problems with the paperwork, it could realistically be Christmas or even later until we bring him home.

Although we're thrilled to be one step closer to having Caleb with us forever, we're very frustrated on how long this process is taking. Family Court, on average, lasts 6-8 weeks. It took 3 months for us. GGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

There probably will not be any more updates for a couple of weeks. We're just waiting, waiting, waiting!!!

Kris and Keith

That's our Caleb!

We received some new pictures, and it's easy to see which is our favorite. We can't wait until he is back at home with us, so that everyone can enjoy Mr. Personality!

Thanks for checking

We just wanted to say "thanks for checking" our blog. Unfortunately, we have no news to report. We have learned that our attorney in Guatemala is on vacation for the next couple of weeks. His assistant is still working, but we are not anticipating any new news until July. All we can do is hope that we get some movement in our case soon.

Keith and Kris

Just waiting and waiting

Nothing new to report from this past week. We're just waiting for something to happen - any news, really. We'll have to wait a couple more weeks until we get our update from the agency. UGH this waiting is awful! For those of you who are wondering "how much longer", please look at the very bottom of the blog. We have an outline that illustrates what we've done and what we're still waiting to have happen. Depressing, isn't it?

Here is a picture of Caleb to keep everyone satisfied until we can get some new ones. They are from the latest case update, which we received right after we returned from Guatemala.

Cool story for everyone. Our son, Jared (who just turned 6), was working on answering some questions in his yearbook. One of the questions was "place I would most like to visit?" We were expecting an answer like Disneyworld or a Brewers game. Instead, he answered immediately "to Caleb." Isn't that the best answer? I wish that all of the people who are holding his paperwork hostage could see how much we want him home!

Have a great week, everyone!

Kris

Our Visit Trip to Guatemala

I first need to apologize that it's taken so long to get this posted. We've been back from Guatemala for the last 1 1/2 weeks, but we've been pretty busy with Jared's birthday, unpacking, and getting caught up at work.

Our trip to Guatemala was incredible, and we truly have the most perfect child in Central America! We met Caleb in the lobby of the Marriott hotel at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 16th. He was understandably very shy at first, or actually, scared to death! He didn't cry much, though. We had to hold on to him for the first day, and keep him moving, but he really did well. He started getting used to Keith by the end of the first day, and even started showing us his beautiful smile and laugh. Unlike some of the pictures we'd received from the attorney through our agency, he is a very smiley and giggly little boy!

The first night was very rough, and none of us really got any sleep. Poor Caleb - strange bed, strange room, strange people...it's amazing that he slept at all. On Thursday, we did venture out of the hotel a bit, just around the block of the hotel. It was a bit too real to see some of the differences of Guatemala and the US, especially small-town Wisconsin! There were guards armed with machine guns outside the hotel. As the busses drove by, they were packed and there were people standing in the doorways of the busses even. There were kids on the street begging for money as we went past. On the other hand, it was funny to see some all-too-familiar US things as well...such as the McDonalds right next to the hotel, the Shell gas station, and a Dominos pizza. Go figure! At any rate...we stopped at a grocery store to buy some extra baby food, diapers, water, and diet Pepsi (the most important staple!!!). We also went souvenier shopping at some local stores. That was an experience, too. The people working in the stores do NOT give you space to look...they were all over us, saying "I make you good deal" on the prices. I got better at bargaining prices at the end, and think we did get "some good deals" at the end. Everything in the stores were so beautiful - colorful like you wouldn't believe.

Really, most of the time we had Caleb was spend either playing in the hotel room (we had brought along a bunch of toys for him), walking around the hotel or the neighborhood, or hanging out in the Baby Lounge. The Marriott has a lounge specifically for adoptive parents (nothing like catering to your clients, huh?). This lounge had free Internet access, baby toys, microwave, bottle sterilizer, baby swings, and more. There were usually other adoptive parents there, with their babies, so it was fun to enjoy our children interacting, as well as get an idea of how long our process will be.

On Thursday evening, we had the foster family come back to the hotel to have dinner with us. The hotel set us up with an interpreter named Juan, who is a college student who works at the hotel. It was an evening we will never forget. Our foster mom has 3 daughters, aged 16, 13, and 11. They all ADORE Caleb. We basically describe it as Caleb having 4 moms, they all take such good care of him. The family is all very, very nice, and even with the language barrier (which was solved with our awesome interpreter) the dinner went better than we had ever hoped. We (and more importantly, Caleb) is so fortunate to have such great care. It makes this wait much easier, knowing that he is getting such great care and love.

Thursday night went much better than the night before. We managed 6 hours of sleep! And on Friday, Caleb seemed very adjusted to us. We had a lot of fun just playing, walking, and "hanging out." Caleb played so hard during most of the day, that he took a big nap right before his foster mom came back. We have pictures of him crashed on the bed - and it's such a beautiful sight to watch him sleep.

Finally, the dreaded time came, when we had to meet Caleb's foster mom and give him back. It's honestly been one of the hardest things I've ever had to experience...watching Caleb drive off in a taxi, looking at us as he left. The only good thing is that we know he is getting excellent care and love, enough at least until he can come home with us and we can love him more!

Everyone wants to know when we will be bringing Caleb home, and our answer is still the same - we don't know. We're looking at another 4 months at the earliest. It's a slow, slow, slow process!

Kris

We made it to Guatemala!

We had no problems making it to Guatemala, our flights were on time, and we didn't lose any luggage. YIPPEE! Caleb is beautiful. He looks great! He has all of his front teeth in already, and has the cutest little laugh.

This morning and early afternoon, Caleb was pretty nervous. He's been with us since this morning and we haven't been able to put him down once. He's very content just to be held, which is okay by us. He is also definitely a big fan of Keith...much more than me. Honestly, we think it's my blonde hair and blue eyes. Keith, of course, has been eating this up, but at least Caleb will let me hold him (as long as he can still look at Keith). I have to learn how to say "chopped liver" in Spanish, because that pretty much describes me in Caleb eyes! There are many, many other Americans here...the Marriott has a floor exclusively for adopting parents, with a baby lounge that includes a microwave, bottle sterilizer, toys, walkers, high chairs...etc. The gift shop even sells baby food and diapers!

This afternoon, he's been warming up to us, especially to Keith. I say that it's my turn tomorrow!!!

Otherwise, it truly is a beautiful place, I wish we had more time to go and see more of the city. That will wait until our visit trip.

Okay, I have to keep on working. Have a great rest of the week, and I'll be in on Monday with TONS of pictures!

Guatemala Here We Come!

Early Tuesday morning, Keith and I will be on our way to Guatemala for our "visit trip." There really are two main purposes in this trip. The first, which is the no-brainer, is that we will get to meet Caleb and his foster family for the first time. So exciting! We have a full suitcase full of clothes, toys, and gifts to leave in Guatemala for Caleb and his foster family. Hopefully our luggage won't weigh too much!

The second reason is that by visiting Caleb before the adoption is complete, it will allow him to come home to the US (at a later date...he will NOT be coming home with us this time) and be a U.S. citizen as soon as he sets foot in the USA. If we did not do this "visit trip", we would still have to legally adopt him in the U.S. after bringing him home with us. This trip now will save us lots of time in court in the future - always a good thing to stay out of court, you know!

Many of our friends and family don't realize that we will be with Caleb 24/7 when we are in Guatemala. He will stay with us in the hotel, where we will spoil him silly! :) It's one of the many advantages of Guatemalan adoptions...that we can spend all our time with him.

We will be returning home late Saturday night, so stay tuned for multiple stories and pictures next week!

Love,
Kris and Keith

Pre-Approval Came Today!!!

We received Pre-Approval from the US Embassy today! This means that we have the preliminary OK from the US Government to adopt Caleb. We've been waiting for this since early March.

We still have a long ways to go. However, this is a huge step, and a big relief that our case is again moving forward.

Keith and Kris
5-9-07

No news this week

Hello all -

We just wanted to let everyone know that we have no new news to report. Unless something big happens, we probably won't have anything new to report until after we return from our visit trip on May 15 - 19. It's so hard, but there's not a thing we can do about it.

Have a great week,
Keith and Kris

UPDATE! Weight gain and more

Earlier this week, we received the results of Caleb's latest doctor's appointment. One (of many) nice things about Guatemalan adoptions is that he is taken to the doctor monthly to monitor weight gain, growth, overall health, and developmental steps. He is looking great, and now weighs 20 lbs! As you can see in the pictures, he is doing very well and looks fantastic.

We also received an update on how our case is going. Quite frankly, we are in for a long, long wait until we can bring Caleb home. When we first began this adoption, we were hoping for summer, or at least by his first birthday on July 30th. Unless something changes majorly, that simply won't happen. Here is a simplified breakdown of what still has to happen, followed by estimated timelines (based off of other parents who are currently adopting - trust me, we keep track of each other's timelines to know where we're at).

1. Family Court, including interview with birthmother: I estimate this to take at least another month, especially since the interview with the birthmother hasn't even been scheduled yet. (This done on the Guatemala side)
2. Pre-Approval: This is done by the US Government, and takes place at the same time as the Family Court process. Pre-Approval currently has been varying anywhere from 6 to 8+ weeks. Some families have been waiting for Pre-Approval since January and still don't have it. We have been waiting for P.A. for about 4 weeks already, so between exiting Family Court and getting Pre-Approval, we'll be waiting a minimum of another month to move on to step #3.
3. PGN (Procuraduría General de la Nación): We've been told that this basically is like the attorney general's office, who oversees adoptions, all of the paperwork, to make sure that everything is complete, legitimate, ethical, and legal. Currently, this process is taking a minimum of 8 weeks. Additionally, if there is something "wrong" with our paperwork (a missing form, a spelling error, the reviewer doesn't like the color of ink that was used, for example) then our file is "kicked out." Our attorney then has to correct what is "wrong" and re-submit it, starting the 8 week review process over again completely.
4. "Pink" slip/US Embassy appointment: After approval from the PGN, the US Embassy again can review the files. A new birth certificate is also issued for Caleb, with our last name on it (because, after all, he's going to be a Wondra!!!). Finally, an appointment is scheduled at the US Embassy where we can complete the paperwork and finalize the adoption in Guatemala. This currently is taking about 6-7 weeks after exiting PGN.
5. BRING CALEB HOME!

If you add up the timeline, you'll see quickly that we're looking at September or later. So if you're wondering "when will they be bringing him home", you know it isn't for a very long time. It's so difficult that paperwork and government bureaucracy is keeping our family from being together, but that is how it apparently has to be.

As always, we'll keep you posted as we learn more.

Kris and Keith

We're Going to Guatemala!!!

Thanks to an amazing travel deal that we learned about, we have booked airline tickets and hotel room to go to Guatemala and visit Caleb. Keith and Kris will be flying out on May 15th, and returning late on May 19th. We are so excited!!!

During our visit trip, Caleb should be able to stay with us the entire time. We also hope to have some time to meet his incredible foster family that is currently taking care of him. We'll be able to shower him with love and attention, plus take tons of pictures and movies! Also, we'll get our first taste of Guatemalan culture, and Kris will get a chance to see how much she's learned in her Spanish classes.

WE ARE SO EXCITED and will let you know more as the date gets closer.

Doctor's appointment update

Like you, we were anxiously awaiting an answer on how Caleb is doing. We received an e-mail today that said that the new doctor felt that Caleb is doing quite well, actually, and that his current weight is definitely in the normal range. So frankly, we're a little confused! It's always good news to hear that he is doing well, but if he's doing so well, why does he look so miserable in his pictures? And his weight - although definitely a good weight for an 8 month old baby - really has not gone up much in the past 3 1/2 months, and that still concerns us, even if it doesn't seem to concern the doctors. Just another reason to hope that this adoption can get completed quickly, so we can have him home with us and be able to take care of him ourselves.

In the meantime, there have been some Guatemalan adoption-friendly articles coming out as of late. Such a refreshing change from all of the negative press that Guatemalan adoptions have been getting lately. If you're interested, please go to these links: http://www.focusonadoption.com/images/FAQ__DOS_Rebuttal%20final.pdf .

Another great link is http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=344588&Category=7 .

Finally, we ran across this interesting article about a heart surgeon from Houston, TX, who is running for Vice President of Guatemala. He sounds like an amazing man. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4660635.html .

Last note - Caleb is 8 months old on Friday. Happy 8 month birthday, Caleb!

Distressing news from our agency

We received a phone call from our agency today, followed up with an e-mail. The e-mail, forwarded from the attorney, stated this: "EL NIÑO EN LAS fotos se ve muy bien, sin embargo en su peso, solo aumento en dos onzas, LO CUAL PARA MI ES INAUDITO....Esta foster creo que finitivamente sera cambiada." For you non-Spanish speakers, it can roughly be translated as saying that although Caleb looks good in the pictures, he's only gained 2 ounces in the past month, which is unacceptable, and that they are going to change his foster mother. Caleb actually looks very, very sad and his eyes have dark circles under them. Since December, his weight has dropped from the 95th percentile to roughly the 45th percentile. Please keep Caleb in your thoughts. We cannot get him back with us soon enough! He obviously needs his mommy and daddy, brother and sister NOW!!!

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