Today's adventures

We explored Antigua more today and spent some time lounging at our parents' hotel. Our paths also crossed with one of our blogger pals, Frances, so she joined us for dinner tonight. We are having a great time, but we are certainly tired by the end of the day! No PINK today. Hopefully by Friday. Here are some pics from today's adventures.

Family pic on the rooftop of Don Rodrigo Hotel

Eli exploring the rooftop of La Merced
Ahhhhh...snuggling with daddy
Mommy & Eli time
On the go...constantly!!!!

Together at last!!

Greetings from Guatemala!! We just got our internet set-up today so I have not been able to post until now.

Wow. What a whirlwind adventure this has been so far and it's only been 3 days!! We were reunited with Eli on Sunday around 4pm. It was very emotional. We were finally holding Eli forever while his foster family was saying goodbye. They are such a loving, kind, and wonderful family and they clearly love Eli very much. His foster mother returned most of the toys we brought down for Eli and she also included other toys from her family. Eli was dressed in a three piece suit that he recently wore in his first wedding! His foster mother's oldest daughter was married a week ago and Eli was in her wedding. We all agreed that this was not goodbye forever. We intend to stay in touch with them and hope to see them again in the future. We definitely plan to come back to Guatemala as a family in the future. We plan to meet with the foster family one more time before we leave as they have more items they want to give us for Eli like a CD of his favorite music and some photos. We are so lucky to have them in our lives and for the amazing love and care they provided Eli.

Eli is doing amazingly well!! He definitely remembers us and I think it made such a big difference that we were here just a month ago. He is the same sweet, funny boy, but now he is walking!! He can take quite a few steps by himself, but still likes the security of a hand to hold or furniture to hold onto. So far, he seems to be adjusting very well, but we realize that this is just the beginning and that attachment takes time.

Now, I realize what you really want is pictures!! Well...unfortunately, my mom has been in charge of taking most of the pictures so I will have to get them off her camera. But, here are a couple to tide you over!!

One last update....DNA arrived at the embassy yesterday so we hope to be getting our PINK slip any day now.

DNA has left the building

and is on the way to the US Embassy in Guatemala City!!!! Expected arrival is Monday afternoon!!! That means we should definitely be seeing PINK by the end of next week. My prediction is a May 12th embassy date. What do you think??? Unbelievable!!

Last night, Jason and I had our last date night that won't require planning and a babysitter! We had such a great time talking, watching our favorite baseball team beat the Yankees, and just being together, amazed, that after 6 years of starting our journey to parenthood we will finally be with our son within a matter of hours. We reflected on what this journey has meant to us, how it has transformed us, and how we feel so incredibly blessed. We had no idea what was in store for us when we decided to start a family six years ago. We had no idea how much our faith would be tested, how much our hearts would ache, and how much it would change us in ways we never could have imagined. We also had no idea we would find a source of strength we never knew existed, that we would experience love that has no boundaries, and that we would be wrapped in so much support by our families, friends, and complete strangers.

So, we toasted to us...to our sweet son...to his loving foster family...to his birth mother...to the next chapter of our lives as a family...to safe travels...to healthy travels...to finding strength...to honoring and respecting one another...to an amazing summer...and, too ALL OF YOU.

There is no way we could have made it through this process with strength, perseverance, and grace without all of you. There are no words to fully express our gratitude for the amazing gift of love, support, encouragement, shared tears, patience, cheers, hugs, that ALL of you have provided to us. You have all touched us soooo deeply and we have learned so much from you. And, I am talking to EVERY one of you: my blogger pals, our amazing families, our friends, coworkers, my carpool friends, and to everyone we have met along way. There were days I was simply unbearable to be around, there were days it was very difficult to even muster up a smile, there were days it was all I could do to get through the hour without breaking down. And, there were days of pure joy and celebration!! Through it all, you stood beside us, cried with us, jumped for joy with us, plotted with us, and held up that hope for us. So, just know that you are in our hearts and we are so lucky to have you in our lives.

So, we hold up a toast to all of you.....(ya gotta love the "Pig Out" above Jason's head!!!)

With that said...we have some bags to finish packing, some housecleaning to do, and some other last minute details to take care of before we leave at 3:30am to be reunited with our SON forever!!! Our next post will be from Guatemala as a family of three!!!

DNA has landed...

I e-mailed PTC lab today and found out that Eli's DNA sample arrived at the lab today for processing!!! Rosalie from the lab said the results should be shipped to the embassy on Friday or Monday, at the latest. Yipppeeee!!! Once the results are at the embassy, we will receive notice of our final embassy appointment to get Eli's visa. This is the PINK slip. Hopefully we will be seeing PINK by the end of next week!!!

3 more days until we are kissing this silly face again!!!!

Favorite color of the day

ORANGE!!

Our file was submitted to the US Embassy on 4/17 and we received DNA authorization for the 2nd DNA test that same day!! The 2nd DNA authorization used to be issued on an orange piece of paper so that is why everyone refers to it as "orange." I was a little perplexed because I thought his BC was issued on 4/18 and we could not be submitted to the embassy without the new BC. Well, I looked at it little closer and discovered that it was actually issued on 4/16. So, we don't know if Eli has had his 2nd DNA test done, but it should be any day. Hopefully, it has already been done and is on it's way to the lab!! We LOVE getting a daily dose of good news!!! WOW!!! We are just cruisin' all the way home!!

It's official!!

We received a wonderful surprise in our inbox today...a copy of Eli's new birth certificate that lists us as his parents!! I was shocked because I didn't really expect to get it until next week!! We are legally and officially a FAMILY!! Of course, we have been a family since the moment little pea came into our lives, but now it is official in the eyes of the government. What an amazing start to the weekend! After waiting and waiting and waiting for so long in the PGN slow lane, it feels like we have suddenly moved over to the FAST lane. It's AWESOME!!!!

Now we are waiting for Eli's passport and that should be done in the next couple of days.

Fav Fotos Friday

Eli's favorite sleeping position! What an angel. I can't wait to see him sleeping in his bed at home!

Sleeping pea at 4 months old

Sleeping pea at 8.5 months old
Sleeping pea at 11.5 months old

This past week has been a whirlwind of excitement, anticipation, planning, scheduling, making lists, and full of pure joy. Between getting things ready at home, preparing for our trip, and tying up loose ends at work, I feel like I have hardly had a moment to really reflect so that will have to wait for another post. In the meantime, not only will we be reunited with Eli on 4/27, but he will also be meeting his grandparents for the first time!!! Both my parents and Jason's parents are traveling with us for the first week of our stay. We anticipate we will be in Guatemala for about 4 weeks. Oh, I can't wait!!!!

Greatest gift of all

We celebrated Eli's birthday today by calling him and his foster mother and then spending the evening with family. We got home and found out that the final adoption decree was signed by Eli's birth mother on 4/8/08. Our hearts are so full of gratitude for this amazing gift. This means that we are legally Eli's parents!!!!! IT IS OFFICIAL!!!!!! OMG!!!!!

So, what happens next?

Birth Certificate: The adoption is registered at the Civil Registry. Since we are legally Eli's parents, our attorney requests a new birth certificate that will list us as parents and Eli will officially be a SHANK!! Eli's birth certificate is coming from Guatemala City so it may take anywhere from 1-4 weeks.

Passport: Once the birth certificate is issued, Eli gets a passport so he can come home. This is typically completed within a day.

DNA Authorization: Our attorney then submits our file to the US Embassy and requests authorization to complete the 2nd DNA test. This test simply verifies that Eli is the same baby we fell in love with 11 months ago today. This is typically issued within a couple of days.

DNA test: Eli gets swabbed for the DNA test and also undergoes a final medical exam by the embassy approved doctor. The DNA sample gets shipped to a lab in the US for processing. Once the DNA sample is processed, the results are shipped back to the US embassy in Guatemala. This step can take anywhere from 5-10 days on average.

PINK: Once the embassy receives the DNA results, they notify us of our final embassy appointment for Eli's visa. The embassy typically issues the pink slip within 3-5 days of receiving the DNA test. The pink slip will tell us when we need to be at the embassy and it may be scheduled within 1-2 weeks.

Embassy appointment: We will receive Eli's visa the day after our embassy appointment. Once we have his visa, we are free to come HOME!!!!!!

We are ready to go!!! We leave on 4/27 and are staying in an apartment in Antigua until it is time for our embassy appointment. We are deliriously happy!!!!

THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING!!!!!

Happy 1st Birthday, Eli!!!!!!!!

Happy birthday, sweet boy!! Mommy & daddy send you lots of hugs and kisses on your special day!! Remember what we wished for when we blew your candle out??? Well, our wish CAME TRUE!!!!!! We will all be together very soon and we have lots of fun stuff planned for the summer! We love you, Eli!!

Love,
Mommy & Daddy

Here are some pics from Eli's birthday party in Antigua!

Playing with his buddies
Dora cake and Elmo candle...it doesn't get any better than that!! (okay, the other b-day cake option was Garfield!)

Notice the foot? Yes, he stuck it right in the cake!!!

yummy birthday cake

Any birthday wishes for Eli?

Do you believe in miracles?

WE DO!!!!!!!!

After 195 days in PGN, we are finally APPROVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ADIOS PGN!!! WE ARE OUTTA OF THERE!!! We can't believe it!! It is FINALLY our turn!!! Oh my gosh. We are still in disbelief. Shock. And, most importantly, unbelievably happy and overjoyed!!

OUR LITTLE PEA IS COMING HOME!!!!

So, now we have so much to do!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!!! At this point, it will be approximately 5-7 weeks before we can bring Eli home. I will outline those steps in another post. We are planning on heading to Guatemala in about 2 weeks and waiting for our embassy appointment while bonding as a family of three in Antigua. I can't believe that we never have to say goodbye again! The next time I hold my sweet boy...it will be FOREVER!! Oh wow. We will be having a HUGE birthday and OUT celebration on Friday!!!!!!!!!

So, what does Eli think of this news??????

Mommy and daddy are coming, sweet boy.