PINK!

Jon called me yesterday to let me know we have our final embassy appt scheduled for the 9th of May!! Also Jon's brother Doug's birthday- BTW. We pick up Julian's visa (to get out of guatemala) on the 10th and we fly home on the 12th. It is such a relief to have this appointment set, to know when we will be home, and to finally breathe.

Julian is doing great. Word is that he is a little confused, looking around, etc, but that he is in good spirits, and connecting to Jon very well. I'll post more about all that when I'm down there.

I'm getting ready to go on Saturday- oh, tomorrow. OH!
Better get going. :)
More later.


view from the apartment bedroom!

The apartment in Antigua.

Here is the url for the apartment for inquiring minds.

http://www.antiguaelsolar.com/


eating area


to be julian's room- overlooks the living room


one wall of living room, top right is bedroom pictured above.


the jungle stairs :)


daunting


kitch...

stay tuned for baby pics in the next few days.
oh, and i decided to take the leap of faith that we'll have pink sooner rather than later. i'm booking my ticket to head out this weekend. woo hoo!

And he's off....

I dropped Jon at the airport last night for his midnight flight.
He should be getting into Guatemala City about 11:30 this morning, then a quick stop to load up on groceries and off to Antigua. The plan is for him to get some rest tonight (a quick between flights phone call Jon told me it was a very bumpy flight and he slept about 2 hours...) then meet with Lilian (Julian's foster mom) and the lawyer's assistant to make the hand off.
We have our fingers crossed that Julian makes a smooth transition. We know there will be some grieving and that is normal. This is a critical time for Julian to transfer his primary attachment and every baby handles this differently. I am hoping he settles in easily.

More later, I'm off to work.

PS For those looking for photos and not our play by play, hit the button "older posts" at the bottom of the page. :)

Submitted for PINK!

NOTE THE INFO BELOW WAS WRONG, WE ARE TO BE SUBMITTED TODAY...THAT WILL PUT US OUT ANOTHER FEW DAYS, IF NOT A FULL WEEK...truthfully it is no big deal as we will still be getting the baby this Monday...just means a little longer stay in Guatemala- no big hardship. :)

We got word today that we were submitted to the US Embassy yesterday for our pink slip (aka final approval and pick up date.)

The embassy does not issue pink slips on Friday, and Monday is a holiday in Guate so we are hoping to get word next Tuesday. Timelines are currently running about 3 weeks from pink to pick up. Even 2 months ago they were as short as a week but with Bush's visit, and Easter things are still a little draggy.

Think PINK for us!

S, J & J

Getting ready to head out...

We booked our apartment in Antigua. http://www.antiguaelsolar.com/english/index_who_are_we.htm

Here are a few photos. We hope that the scene from the bedroom window is actually a view and not photoshopped. :)



Jon's last day at work is Thursday and he'll be home with Julian for 6 months. We are grateful to his employers for allowing this length of leave. Jon loves his job and this way we can make sure Julian transitions smoothly and is able to trust his new surroundings, and Jon can pick up with work when Julian is about one.

Our lawyers were supposed to pick up Julian's new birth certificate on Friday (they went on wed and were sent away because they were 'behind' from the holiday.) Ostensibly his BC will then be submitted for a new passport, which should take just a few days. Then it all gets translated and submitted to the US embassy. The paperwork is meant to protect the interests of the baby, so we are all good about it- but sometimes I think there must be a more efficient way...

In any case, no matter how the timing works for the rest of the process, in about a week Julian will be with his daddy for good.

Wow.

Updates. Sorry it's been so long...

We're still waiting to be submitted for our pink slip, and as far as we know we don't have the new BC or passport for Julian yet. Everything in Guatemala pretty much comes to a grinding halt for Easter week, as it is a predominantly Catholic country.

We are hoping to have word that we are submitted by next week because at this point Jon is planning on going down there on April 22nd, I plan to join him on may 2nd, and we will wait it out for the 3-5 weeks from Jon's arrival that it takes to get our final appointment at the US embassy.

We are looking at apartments in Antigua, and will get custody of the baby as soon as we arrive!! This plan lands him in our arms just before he is 7 months old.

Soooo much to do and arrange before we go. Trying to stay calm. HA! :)

Here are new photos from our lawyer in Guate. We think they were taken this weekend.

I know I may be biased but seriously, isn't he gorgeous?









Love,
Us.

Good News!!

We got the call today that we have been approved by PGN!

The next steps are as follows:
1. final sign off from the baby's birth mother
2. new birth certificate and passport issued with our last name
3. all of this, along with pgn approval is submitted to the american embassy
4. we receive a "pink slip" from the embassy with notice of our final appointment
5. we show up on the day of the appointment, after a final visit with the baby's doctor
6. the next business day we pick up the baby's visa
7. HOME FOREVER!

We expect all of this to take 6-8 weeks if all goes smoothly.

Thanks everyone for all of your support...we can't tell you how much it means to us.