Process update and potential timeline.

We found out that while we were in Guatemala our case was submitted to PGN, the organization in Guatemala that has to approve all adoptions. When we first put in our application PGN was taking about a month for folks to get processed (unless there was a paperwork problem or 'previo' in which case it would get bounced out for corrections then put back in line again.) Of late however, PGN is tending to take 8-10 weeks on average- with some cases, due to previos or simply unknown reasons, taking much much longer. This is where it starts to get tough for a 'ducks-in-a-row' type of person (hmmm......)

Once we are approved by PGN, the whole case goes back to the American Embassy for final approval. This last step will take about a month. We will be waiting for a 'pink slip', the final notice that he will be ours.

So the upshot is that we have no idea when Julian will come home. Best case scenario probably beginning of April. Beyond that it could be anything.

That said, we have had some folks ask if we are 100% assured that Julian will come home with us, and the answer unfortunately, is no. It would be very unlikely that something would interrupt the process at this time, but it can happen. We are thinking positively though as the closer we get to bringing him home, the better off we are.

We are planning on another visit the first week in March, and if we hear any news before then we'll post, otherwise we'll be posting when we see the babe again.

-Sam and Jon

One more day.

It is almost impossible to believe that we will be leaving tomorrow. The week has just flown. The baby is doing great. There are now 4 or 5 other families visiting with their babies at the hotel which makes all of this a bit easier.


Julian's happy place, on Daddy's shoulder.


Kathryn got these Osh Kosh jammies for Julian. He's already almost too big for them.



At breakfast today Julian sat facing forward without fussing for the first time (with us, anyway.)



Happy baby.


There may be time for one more post, but we're not sure. If not, we'll keep updating intermittantly from home.

Thanks for checking in. We can feel everyone's support all the way from here.

Love,
Sam, Jon, and Julian

Ixpanpajul- the last of the travel posts.

The last day before we came to see the baby (Tuesday the 9th) we travelled in the morning to a park called Ixpanpajul. It is a newly created tourist oriented nature preserve halfway between Lake Peten and Flores. There are horseback rides, sky bridges, a zip line over the jungle, and other activities. We had another great guide, Melvin (he tells us this is a relatively common name in Guatemala...) who is an expert on local birds, and, as it turns out, knows quite a bit about the medicinal uses of many of the jungle plants and trees.
We spent 3 hours hiking in the jungle, traversing the sky bridges, and learning a great deal about the plants and trees. Unfortunately the animals weren't out as it was midday, and it so happened we didn't see any birds at all. This is the first sky bridge. It was pretty high up there, but felt more sturdy than I anticipated. No problem.

Termite nests are all over the place. We hear that they are high in protein.



















www.ixpanpajul.com

Tikal

We visited Tikal last Monday with the most remarkable guide. Set up by the hotel, we were with a guide that actually grew up in a village that used to be in the Park. About 30 years ago they relocated the residents to an area nearby. We asked if he thought that was a good thing and he said yes, because it was necessary to preserve the site. He has been a guide for 15 years, and he considers it mandatory that he read all available information about Mayan culture. There is way too much to go into here, but if anyone is interested, please feel free to ask us about it when we get home. I´ll post a few photos here.


Arriving with Jesus Antonio


Into the jungle


Our guide kept taking us through thick jungle so we would come out to set eyes on the most amazing framed shots of the ruins. He knows the land like the back of his hand.


These guys are a cross between a racoon and a marmot...not literally, but that's what they look like. They were everywhere.



Temples in the distance


Jon wanted SO much to see the monkeys, we could hear them from our room at night, the sound was amazing. This one is a spider monkey. Unfortunately we didn't get a very good shot.




FYI, Wikipedia is a good site for basic info on Tikal if you're interested at all.

Love,
Sam and Jon

New Photos

All is well.

Julian Update

A few shots of dinner last night. I went grocery shopping yesterday and we were able to piece together a reasonable dinner that we heated in the microwave. Beans from a ziploc sac we got here, rice from a ziploc sac we got from Trader Joes and brought with us, and a fresh avocado. That said, it was a great deal better than the food at the hotel we visited our first trip, and all in the comfort of our room.


Before bed in his jammies. If you think he looks cute, let Pam and Shay know, they picked out this outfit for him before our first visit and he now officially fits into it. Gracias, Alexanders!



He woke up in a good mood, and we woke rested. Julian slept much better last night. He still woke every few hours but we were able to feed him then get him (and ourselves) right back to sleep.




Much to our surprise, a couple that we met on our last trip arrived for a visit with their little one. We are looking forward to some company, actually.



Jon is the baby whisperer.




The end.

La Lancha

OK now things have settled down a bit and there is time to write about the trip up North we took on the 7th (seems so long ago.) We arrived our first night and were picked up and brought to the hotel. A brief sleep, then up to go back to the airport for the 50 min flight to Flores. The plane was small, and I was brave and we arrived to the hotel driver right on time. The drive was beautiful. The area is called Peten and it is a large region that includes the large lake that our hotel was on. Our Spanish was passable enough for us to get by without a problem.


The drive toward the end was bumpy and slow, partly because of the road condition, and partly because every 50 yards we had to stop for some family of animals to cross the road...pigs, dogs, wild turkeys, ducks, chickens...there were horses tethered to the side of the road, and all the other animals just roamed free. We finally arrived...an hour drive.





The hotel was lovely, and laid back.











The first thing in our room we were shown was the "shell phone" an intercom to contact the front desk. Cute.



We had a casita with a little patio with a hammock, which Jon was in within a few minutes. The view of the lake was amazing.



We were in our room for all of an hour before we took off to canoe in the lake. We were the only people on the water and it was sunny and amazing. We heard a funny noise that seemed to be coming closer and then Jon realized that a rain cloud was about to move over us. Within a minute or two it was raining, but the rest of the sky was completely clear- so the raindrops, when you looked up, were like little falling pieces of light. There was a beautiful rainbow and I have to say that it was one of the most peaceful and joyous moments I have experienced. Magical.



That night in the pool was a spider the size of a silver dollar using a leaf as his boat. He paddled around the pool with his leg. At one point a little bug hopped on, the spider paddled to the other side of the pool, and the bug hopped off. For real. A spider taxi...who knew?!

The next day was Tikal. I´ll come back to post on that during Julian´s next nap. Oh, and today´s update too...

xo
Sam Jon and Julian

Presenting...Sir Julian Luis

Our trip to Tikal was amazing, and we´ll post about that later. We wanted to get some photos of Julian up right away. He´s doing great, being a baby, and we were up all night, big shocker. Eats like a champ and LOVES his daddy. It´s hit or miss for me to console him, but Jon´s a sure bet every time. The hotel is lovely, although we may move after a few days to be somewhere with other adopting families. My concern regarding bothering other guests means we´re in the room 24/7.


The greatest part is that in a good moment he´s laughing up a storm.












Adoring gazes for Daddy.


And finally...clean as a whistle.

The connection is slow here so I´m going to sign off for now. Will try to post more tomorrow or later if the boys go down for a nap.


Love to all.

Samantha, Jon, and Julian

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JON!

For Jon's birthday this year he gets yummy plane food and maybe some leftover brownies from the freezer if they're not too nasty. :) We'll get to celebrate properly next week though. Pam and Shay are taking us to the airport, which is great because Miss Shay will keep me from being too stressed out (taking some pressure off of my sweet husband.) Nothing like a 3 year old to make you smile even when you don't feel like it.

We're packed and ready to go. We'll update once we get back to Guatemala City from Tikal on Wednesday.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikal

Getting ready to go...

We've just confirmed our travel plans. We'll be staying at the San Carlos in Guatemala City (http://www.hsancarlos.com/hsancarlos_en.html), and the Coppola resort (http://www.lalancha.com/) for our 2 day trip to Tikal. The guest room is piled with stuff we'll be taking for our trip, and we have the delusion that we'll be packed early and can relax the morning we leave. Seriously. No, seriously.

We look forward to posting from Guatemala pics of travel as well as the little one.