My Family

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Baby Information


So I stuck the pictures up there for everyone to review but then I didn't provide a lot of information! Here's what we know: Mario Fernando Cacao Sub was born on March 9. He weights 6 pounds. He is 49 centimeters long. And he is healthy!

We have signed the power of attorney and didn't have to travel to Guatemala to do it. It would have been great to go and meet the baby but one of the reasons I choose Guatemala was because you only have to make one trip. While I am really sad that we will miss so much time with him the thought of going and meeting him and then turning around to come home without him was just too much to bear. This way when we do travel we will be traveling him to bring him home.

We had a medical review of everything done at Columbus Children's Hospital's International Adoption Clinic and I am really glad we did. They will work with us the entire process, tracking his growth and medical updates and even speaking to the Guatemalan peditrician if necessary. We both feel much better after having his medical reports in and having the doctor walk us through everything.

When we went to sign the power of attorney we were able to get some information on the birth mother. She is young, 23, and she is unable to read or write. She works as a maid. We will keep all this information for Jimmy should he want to see it one day.

Our friends and family - and coworkers - have been great. Everyone has been calling to see if we have learned any new information and when I went in to work on Tuesday my cubicle was decorated. Today we received a package addressed to Jimmy that contained to photo mugs with his picture and a tag line reading, "I love my Uncle Jason." We love them and they are too funny. Bruce at work bought us a book for Jimmy about a chinese adoption that we have already added to the collection. Judy has already made two blankets and purchased books and some toys and bibs and such. His room is already getting full and I know Missy and Chris have kept everything from Julian to pass on to us. It has gotten very real, very quick.

Now to just figure out how to be patient and trust that this is all going to work out! Things are getting dicy in Guatemala but the agency has broken up all the payments to try to help protect adoptive parents working with Guatemala and we have heard from more than one source that should things fall apart the U.S. government has promised to see any pending adoptions through. We just have to keep moving forward and look towards the light at the end of the tunnel.

Everyone keeps asking when we will be bringing him home. I've been telling them that we are at the 50% mark. Our government has said go ahead and adopt but things don't really start moving in Guatemala until you accept a referral and sign the power of attorney (both of which we have done). Now we have to wait on them to receive and review all the information. We are thinking that we are still on track to bring Jimmy home sometime this fall - maybe as early as September. We will receive monthly updates and I will make sure to post new pictures as they come in.

Friday, March 23, 2007

Baby pictures. It has been a long week but look how Friday ended up!






Monday, March 19, 2007

Embassy sends us the goods!

We received the dossier back from the Chicago embassy! One down and one to go. We still need Brian's birth certificate to come back from Florida but we are getting closer. It is funny how a couple of days can change so much.

We worked really hard to get all the copies of the dossier made, print the rest of the pictures and all I have left to do is print the labels and tape them on. Brian is going to send all the copies and everything we have done to date in to the agency tomorrow morning. Once his birth certificate comes back we will copy it and ship it off as quickly as humanly possible. At that point all our documents are turned in and we should be eligible for referral.

Keep your fingers crossed that Florida hits the gas and gets us Brian's birth certificate lickity-split!

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Spring Break craziness!

COSI is always hoppin' during spring break season and the madness has begun. I worked a half day yesterday to get us through a big group morning. Today I have off and then back to work for another half day on Sunday.

Unfortunately with only having one full day off I am running behind on everything. The Thomas Team is in town but with everything that I need to accomplish today I am missing them. Luckily Traci and I are both going to make it to Tiffin to see Shayla's First Communion. I can spend the day so we're going to have to make it count since I have been missing them the last couple of times they were here!

As far as the adoption is concerned. We got Brian's Birth Certificate figured out and it has been through the Florida Sec. of State. All documents are now at the Guatemalan Embassy. Once they are all back I will make copies and get them to the agency and we are eligible for referral. Things are getting a little dicey so we want to speed things up, but unfortunately it is totally out of our hands.

Just need to be patient.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

I-171H received!

INS sent us our "permission" form! I cannot believe how fast it came in. Unfortunately I got a little busy this week and didn't get our forms sent to the embassy until Saturday. It doesn't really matter because we haven't gotten Brian's birth certificate back from the Florida Sec. of State yet. Once that gets back to us I send it back to the Florida embassy. Once all are received on to the adoption agency they go. All things told we are doing pretty well. I am still a little disappointed that the time frame is skewed, but I thought it would take a lot longer for the INS form to get back. The highs and lows of the process, I know, but if things keep up this way we might not have been too far off in our estimates. We'll just have to patient and see.




The Thomas, angel Christi's Mom and Dad, sent me an email today reminding me about being in Philly with Christi and Angela one year ago. I cannot believe it has been that long. It seems like only yesterday Traci and I made the journey to be there and visit during her treatment. I miss her. Traci and I were talking the other day about her, how much we miss her. I cannot imagine the pain Angela, Shayne and Shayla must be feeling. She was such a special, bright, beautiful girl taken way too soon. I sit here hoping for my own family and sometimes it is good to be reminded that my situation is going to be fine. I have nothing to whine or complain about...



Absolutely nothing.