Oh yeah...would you like to meet my son?

I'm sorry I made you wait so long...but I had this thing about not posting pictures until I knew everything was legal. Well, since Guatemala says we are legally his parents now, please say hello to my son Cameron!

These are two of my favorite pictures from our visit trip in April. He's 5 months old here and oh so adorable! I love the first picture because he has the biggest, cutest, toothless smile! (The day after this his first tooth busted through and now he has at least 2) Then the second picture just cracks me up because of the goofy look on his face! Oh my goodness, I just love this little guy and I can't wait to hold him again!

Almost there!

We finally got an update from our agency today and were told that our attorney was going to submit our paperwork to the Embassy today for pink! I was so surprised to hear this as the last update we got was a week ago, and at that time she was just going to apply for a new birth certificate. So things have moved along fast over the past week! If she was able to submit the papers today (apparently she was waiting in line when our consultant spoke to her) then we should know when our embassy appointment is by Friday! That means we could be traveling as early as late next week or most likely the following week. Holy crap, our baby is FINALLY coming home! I can't believe it!

Yes, I'm going to start packing now!

Oh and by the way, thanks for all the gift ideas, that was really helpful! And I have to say, I have heard from so many people about the explosive poop on the plane ride, I'll make sure to have extra clothes for the baby, myself, my husband, and maybe for people in the rows in front and behind us just in case! ;)

Stressed

I thought once we got out of PGN I would feel a little less anxiety and just be excited that our boy is coming home soon. But to be honest, I am feeling more stressed out right now than I can remember being since we were working on our dossier paperwork, and probably even more so than that! Don't get me wrong, I am totally psyched that we're so close now, but at the same time I have so many new things to worry about! The big one is of course WHEN will he be coming home. I know it's soon, but will it be 2 weeks from now or 4 or more?? Then I have to sort through the piles of clothes I have accumulated and figure out if I there is something more I need. We have to decide to pack, what we need for the trip home, what we'll need once he IS home, etc. What will he be eating, what toys should I have on hand, how will he adjust to us and our pets? I'm driving myself crazy here! I know we'll just have to muddle through once we have him but I'm a planner and I can't stand not being able to prepare better!

Then I have been really stressing over what gifts to bring for the foster mother and her family. She has a 6yr old son who I think I'll get a backpack for and fill with some clothes and probably some markers or colored pencils and drawing paper and things like that. Then I want to get a box of chocolates from a local place for the family. But for his foster mother specifically, who I owe so much, I am kind of stumped. I did get her a pretty photo album that I've put copies of most of the pictures the agency has sent of Cameron, some of our visit trip, and also I put the doubles from the disposable camera she gave us back when we visited. I plan to keep sending more pictures periodically for her and I hope she will keep on filling those empty pages! But I want to get her a few other things, any ideas? I was thinking of maybe a fun handbag and put in some scented lotions or purfumes or something. There's always jewelry, but we gave her a pretty watch when we were there for our visit so I wasn't sure if I wanted to go that route again. Anyone have good suggestions or what do you think of my bag idea? I need some honest opinions! Thanks in advance!

We are OUT!!!!!

So my week has gone from bad (thinking we were stuck in PGN until the end of time)...to better (thinking maybe there was a ray of hope)...to Holy Shit we are OUT, OUT, OUT of PGN!!!

It's so funny because I was super busy at work all morning, then out of the office all afternoon, so I wasn't checking my e-mail every 5 minutes like normal. I came home to find the video the agency sent in the mail which was exciting in itself. I watched it, cried a little, smiled a lot, THEN checked my e-mail. Checked my home e-mail...junk. I decided to check my work e-mail because it's hit or miss which address my agency uses to contact us (I have access from home thankfully) and sure as shit here is THE e-mail saying we have been approved by PGN! OMG!! Of course my husband is not home (he's on a horseshoe league on Wednesday night...this is Wisconsin they have those things) so I called his cell phone and I'm screaming and crying and he's like "what is wrong?" So I took a deep breath and explained that we are out of PGN. He said, "that's a good thing, right?". Men.

At any rate I am so (freaking out) excited right now! I can't believe in just a few short weeks our baby boy is going to be home! (Barring any unforeseen circumstances, but I can't think about that.) Holy crap, we still have a lot to do! I have to go do...something!

Thanks again for all the support! Oh happy day!!!

Today was a better day

First of all, to all of my blog friends, thank you so much for the words of encouragement because it really does help! I know many of you have been in my shoes before, or are playing the waiting game right now, and it's great to know we have each other for support.

Second, our agency sent us more pictures today and several of them were good ones and really cute so that made my day! I guess they were still sorting through everything they collected from the trip and found some more. It's sad to see our little boy growing up but I have to keep the faith and believe that he'll be home with us very soon!

Then, I read on Guatadopt.com today that the ADA is putting pressure on the PGN director to sign off on cases that have been sitting around, so hopefully that is good news. It's hard to know exactly how this is going to play out but it's encouraging to see that something is happening. I did see at least 3 outs today on the adoption.com Guatemala message board...so could things possibly be moving again? I dare not get my hopes up too high, but it's a little ray of hope anyway.

And finally, I got this in an e-mail today and thought I would share. It's pretty corny but it's cute and it made me smile! I hope this link works...enjoy!

Greaser Babies

Depressing

I'm sorry to be a whiner but I need to vent a little bit again. PGN sucks. I was SO happy when I heard that our case had entered PGN, because getting into PGN means you are ALMOST THERE! But of course, as is our luck with anything lately, about the time we get into PGN it slows down to almost a standstill with no end in sight. And the more I read about this whole PGN mess the more upset I get. I have been scouring the internet lately looking for some signs of hope that things are moving again and all I see is more bad news. It's so depressing. I read today (don't know if it's true or not) that there is something like 700 cases currently in PGN and I have not heard of any getting out recently. It appears that PGN has become this black hole where hundreds of cases go in but only a select few ever get out. It's so incredibly frustrating to say the least. I don't know what the cause of it is, but I'm just praying that my little boy gets out soon (as well as all the other children waiting to go home to their forever families)! I miss him so much!

Two people from our agency were in Guatemala this past week visiting so I was hoping for an update on our case today and maybe some news regarding the status of PGN. All we got was "Your case was still in PGN as of Wednesday." Gee, thanks. They did see our little guy however, and we got a nice update of our boy's progress! His foster mom said he is a happy, calm baby and he's now eating some fruits and vegetables. She said he is sitting up with some assistance and likes to "walk" in his walker (I wish I could see that...too cute). She also said he "likes to throw things", I'm so proud! Hehehehe! They also sent a few pictures but none of them are very good which stinks. I LIVE for those pictures and these I opened and was like "Is that our kid?" because they were all of the side of his face, or blurry. There is one out of 4 that's somewhat decent but it's dissappointing. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the fact that they took the pics and sent them for us, but I think they need a little training in how to photograph squirmy children or something! They supposedly took some video of him too though which they'll mail out once they get it all sorted out and burned to dvd. I can't wait for that, and I'm so thankful to have these little "treasures" to document the time that we are missing from our little boy's life. Now come on Mr. PGN, start signing off on some of those cases! Maybe I should send him a copy of the video to remind him of why he is there?

What a crappy day

We had this major re-structure at my work today and several people got let go. There has been a lot of this going on over the past year since our company was bought out, but this time it hit a little too close for comfort. Granted, one of the girls whose job was eliminated was really dead weight and I had been hoping she would quit or get fired or something...but when it actually happens it's really upsetting and I feel so horrible about it now. I have spent so much time bitching and moaning about her and her incompetence that I sort of forgot that she's a human being with feelings and this situation totally sucks for her. I'm such an ass. I do hope she is able to go out and find a better job, one that she actually likes and maybe is even good at. I'm trying to keep believing that everything happens for a reason, even when that reason isn't clear at the time.

As a result of this re-org, I was moved into a completely different product category for some reason. (I work in product develpment for a children's clothing company and have worked in Girl's since I started there 5 1/2 years ago...now have been moved to Boys.) The big boss lady says it's so her employees get cross-trained in other areas which sort of makes sense. In some ways I do welcome to the challenge because I've been in kind of a rut with what I've been doing lately, but on the other hand it seems like such stupid timing because they know I'm going to be gone soon for 8 weeks. So we'll see how this plays out. I can't worry too much over it, I have enough worries clogging my brain already.

And still no word on PGN yet or anything in regards to our case. The agency staff is in Guatemala this week so I don't know how much commucation is really getting through from them back to the agency and on to the adoptive families. I'm just hanging out, trying to be patient. Good things come to those who wait, right? Right? *sigh*

Nursery Pictures

At last, I am finally getting around to posting some pictures from Cameron's room. The room is VERY small so it's hard to get good pictures but you can see the main points of interest. The wall color is very bright but I really like it, it's grown on me a lot since we first painted!

The room is pretty much complete except for the lack of wall decoration, but that's in the works. I am making a wall hanging to match the quilt I made (that isn't quite done but almost...), and my wonderful mother is brushing the dust off of her art supplies (she used to paint a lot, beautiful watercolors) and is painting some pictures that match back to the print fabric I used in the room. I haven't seen all of the paintings yet, but the two I did see were super cute and I love them! I'm so proud of her for picking up her old hobby again, and it means so much to me that she's doing this for her very first grandchild!

Anyway, here's what we have so far!