Six weeks in PGN

Time for the weekly update. Today marks our sixth week in PGN. As far as we know, we have not been kicked out yet. Timelines vary from adoption to adoption; however, the general consensus is that files are in PGN for 6-8 weeks (if there are no kick outs). Obviously some are in PGN for much longer and I think that as time goes on the wait will increase.

I'm sad to say that I had to flip over my calendar today to start marking our seventh, eighth, ninth, etc. week in PGN. When Jim and I first started this process (paperwork started in July 2006), I think that we had a goal set in our mind. That goal is to have Miranda home in time for our annual family trip to Myrtle Beach in July. The time between getting out of PGN and the Embassy appointment is running about two weeks right now. It would be great to get out of PGN and have our Embassy appointment all completed by the end of June. Please send your thoughts and prayers our way.

I promise to update the blog as soon as we get some type of new information.

Five Weeks in PGN

Today marks our fifth week in PGN. Last night we received an update from our case worker. She confirmed that our file is still in PGN. At this point we have not been approved or kicked out (previos). Yeah :). Our friends, Kristin & Josh, have now been in PGN for six weeks. Kristin and I were emailing each other last night and both agree that it seems like a good sign that we are this far into PGN and haven't been kicked out. Knock on wood. Senor Barrios can kick you out too so it's too early to think that we have sailed through this process.

Patrick and Luke are getting anxious for their new sister to come home. They were hoping that she would be home by the end of the school year so they could take her in for show and tell. They are going to be such awesome big brothers!

There are so many people waiting for her to come home. I can't wait to finally be able to introduce her to everyone.

May Update

Today we received about 15 new pictures of Miranda. She looks so happy and well taken care of by her foster mother. I just hate that we are missing out on all of these months with her as an infant. The monthly report states that she is now sixteen pounds, she is still getting up in the middle of the night for a bottle, she eats almost a whole jar of baby food, and she has finally learned how to roll over. I am most sad that we have missed this milestone because it is something that she has been working on since we first met her in February.

We are ready to go and get her at a moments notice. My parents are leaving on a two week cruise this week and I would love to introduce them to their new granddaughter when they get back home. Please pray that we will get some good news soon!

Four weeks in PGN

We have made it to the four week mark in PGN! I spoke with Carrie, our contact at Gladney, on Tuesday, and as of then we had not been kicked out of PGN. We have heard through various adoption forums that Senor Barrios is on a 20 day vacation. He is the head honcho at PGN down in Guatemala. I have been watching for people posting their "OUTS" on the adoption forums and there has been a slow trickle of people exiting PGN. It appears that someone else is signing off on files during Senor Barrios' absence.

Our friends, Josh and Kristin, have now been in PGN for five weeks. Kristin is preparing to make a visit trip to Guatemala at the end of May. I wish I could tag along to visit Miranda.

That's it for now. Keep your fingers crossed that this positive trend will continue!

Three weeks in PGN

Our case has now been in PGN for three weeks. I'm not sure if that is a good sign or a bad sign. As far as we know our file has not been kicked out of the process yet. The statistics say that 90% of cases get kicked out of PGN at least one time. It's kind of like waiting for the other shoe to drop--I'd rather have a kick-out now so we can get the problem fixed.

We met some friends on our first visit trip, Kristin & Josh, and they are a week ahead of us in PGN. So far they haven't heard anything about their case either. They are waiting to bring home their little girl Reagan. We also have some acquaintances through our friends Andrea & Darrell Guynn, that are waiting to bring their little girl Lily home from Guatemala. They are having a very difficult experience with their case. We wish them a speedy completion of their adoption.

This stage of the process will definitely test our patience. The information that comes from PGN is very minimal; typically, you are in or out of PGN. I would like a status report every day but that isn't how the system works. I guess I really am a control freak! No comments from the peanut gallery please.

We are back from our visit trip!

It's hard to believe that it has been one week since we arrived back home from our second visit trip. The five days that we spent with Miranda went by so fast! She is such a happy baby. She had no problems coming to us when we had placement on Thursday, April 26th. We thoroughly enjoyed playing with her, cuddling with her, and taking her swimming. She is a champion eater (just look at the pictures) and loves her milk, and fruit. She didn't care for the rice cereal that we brought for her, but the foster mother told us to put the rice in her last evening bottle.

Several days before we left for our trip my Bunco friends had a baby shower for us. Boy did we get some loot!! We received lots of cute clothes, a white wicker laundry basket, shoes, socks, diapers/wipes, baby medicine, bibs, hooded bath towels, and the list goes on and on. I was able to wash everything up before we left and I took several of the outfits down with us. Miranda is such a chunky monkey that I was afraid that the clothes wouldn't fit her once she arrived home.