Update...

The latest report is that we're still on reviewer #2's desk. This puts us at about 3 weeks on #2's desk. Just 2-3 more weeks on that desk and another one on the big man's desk. We hope this means that we aren't going to get kicked out again. For now, we'll rest in the fact that it hasn't happened yet.

We're starting to get excited about our trip. It's just 2 weeks until I leave for Boston. Between now and then, I have a lot to keep me busy. So does Ed. And then we're off to Guatemala to see our baby girl!!! Woohooo!!!

Gabi is 7 months old!

Today, Gabi is 7 months old. It is also her GG's birthday. Happy Birthday, GG and Happy 7 months, Gabriella!

Finito Benito!!!

I am officially finished with all of the requirements for my license. I finished my internship at the hospital and I must say that it was one of the most rewarding, educational, unbelievable experiences of my professional life. I wasn't prepared to love it the way that I did. It seemed to me that throughout grad school, each new population/disorder that I worked with was more fascinating than the last. I thought that the medical side would be the one thing that I didn't love as much as everything else. How could I possibly love every aspect of this incredibly broad field? I don't know. But I do!!!

I'm very grateful to the people I worked with over the last 10 weeks. They really supported me with encouragement, opportunities and independence. You really can't ask for a better group of people than those on this team.

In the last week, I witnessed a man having a stroke while in therapy with me. I finished my internship. Ed had yet another round of interviews with another company that is very interested in him. And I received my temporary license to begin working. Almost all is well. Now, if we could just get the Gabinator home, we would be on Cloud Nine!

Still with #2

I spoke to PGN today and we are still on the second reviewer's desk. This is good news. At this point last time, we had been kicked out. We're hoping this bodes well for our case, but there are, of course, no guarantees.

We'll continue to play the game until someone tells us to stop. In other news, it appears that most cases in process will be 'grandfathered' in. This is yet to be officially determined, but the President came out with a statement saying that it was all a big mistake. He was misunderstood. Yeah, right. But all's well that ends well. Stick with us.

Big Girl Reagan is Home Sweet Home!

Reagan is home!!! She arrived in the U.S. as a citizen yesterday. We haven't spoken to them yet, but we know that they are on Cloud Nine. Welcome home forever, Reagan. Aunt Amanda and Uncle Ed love you and your brother so much. Thank you, Lord, for bringing this sweet angel home.

New Pictures and Medical

This is my favorite one of the set!!! You can see she's a feisty one.

Gabriella Sol is 6 months, 3 weeks! She had her doctor's appointment this week and is still growing like a weed. She now weighs 15 lbs., is 25 inches long and doesn't just babble, but says "disilabos." I'm not sure what that translates to, but I'm working on it.

I hope you enjoy the hairdo as much as I do. I'm sorry Aunt Paige!

Tonight is the last night...

...that Kristin will be separated from her daughter. As of tomorrow, Reagan will be in her arms FOREVER! By Friday, Ryker will be a real-life, in-the-same-house, big brother. And Josh will be a Daddy all over again! The anticipation of Reagan's reunion with her mother and the meeting of her grandmother (Miss Pam) is a huge event in her young life. I hope one day she will know how much we anticipated this day and how often we prayed for her.

Have a wonderful trip, Kristin and Pam!! We can't wait to hear what a big girl she is and how relieved you are to have her with you FINALLY!

Verification

I spoke to PGN today (makes it sound like it's some big voice in the sky) and they verified that we were re-submitted to PGN on October 5th. They also said that we are on the second reviewer's desk. We could be on the 2nd reviewer's desk for as long as 7 weeks, if we don't get kicked out again. I just keep praying that doesn't happen. Please pray with us that Gabi is out of PGN in 8 weeks or less.

It looks like the Marriott is doing construction during the time that we'll be visiting. So we're trying to decide where to stay for our Christmas trip. We're going to brave it for Thanksgiving and see if it is the best choice for Christmas. We're so comfortable there, but we also had the baby lounge to fall back on if it rains or Gabi needs a change of scenery. It sounds like we won't have that option while they're renovating. We'll see.

#2

We found out today that we're sitting on the second reviewer's desk in PGN. This means that we've been signed off by the first reviewer and we're awaiting approval by the 2nd and 3rd reviewers.

This is how PGN works-- to the best of my knowledge. Your file, or dossier, is submitted to PGN. Your file is assigned to a reviewer who is an attorney. This reviewer identifies any problems that you may have with your paperwork. Or s/he may not find any problems and then approve it. This approval is really a recommendation to the next level. If a problem is found in the paperwork, a "previo" is issued. We refer to this as a kickout in English. The director of PGN, also known as the 3rd reviewer, must sign off on all previos before it is released back to our personal attorney. Our attorney then picks it up, corrects the paperwork, and re-submits it to PGN-- where it is returned to the first reviewer and starts all over again.

If the file has no problems, it is signed by the 1st reviewer and proceeds onto the 2nd reviewer's desk. It goes through the same process as above. Finally, it arrives on the 3rd reviewer's desk, or Director's desk for final approval. When Director Barrios approves the case, it is sent back to the first reviewer where an adoption decree is issued. This piece of paper is picked up by our attorney and Gabriella becomes legally ours.

But this doesn't mean that she can come home at this point. The next step is to submit this decree and other paperwork to her birth department civil registry. Guatemalan departments are like counties or states to us. Gabi's paperwork will be submitted to the Escuintla civil registry which will issue a birth certificate with her given name and our last name. In accordance with Latino custom, my maiden name will be on her birth certificate as well. Children in Latin cultures carry the surnames of their mother and father. This paperwork will not include the name that Edward and I have chosen for her daughter. Rather, it will show the name given to her by her birth mother.

Once this step is completed, the new birth certificate and file will be submitted to the U.S. Embassy for an appointment to acquire Gabi's visa for the U.S. and the authorization to complete a 2nd DNA test. The test is administered, sent to the lab in the U.S., while visa paperwork is scrutinized concurrently. Once the DNA test results are completed and received at the U.S. Embassy, a visa appointment is issued. This appointment is issued on a pink piece of paper and is widely known as getting "pink." Visa appointments usually occur 1-2 weeks after pink is issued. Only after this appointment and the pickup of the visa the next day, will Gabriella be allowed to come home. This usually occurs 3-6 weeks after the file is OUT of PGN.

I hope this helps clarify the process a little. It's very messy and cumbersome. But there is supposed to be a definitive end. Let's pray it happens sooner rather than later. In the meantime, please celebrate the travel home of our newest family addition, Reagan McKenna W., next week.

We're Back In...

PGN! Yippee-yi-yea. We don't know when we went back in, but we found out yesterday that we were re-submitted. I guess that's all that matters. I'd still like to know what the kickout was and who did it.

Tickets have been purchased for Thanksgiving week. We will spend the week with our girl in Guatemala. We're very excited that we now at least have a date to look forward to. Thank goodness.

Kickout Info

We've yet to find out the specific reason for our kickout. Apparently it is "no problem." Famous last words. I personally think that it is a problem, since it has delayed us yet again. I bet if you asked Gabriella, she'd say it's a problem. And I know Edward thinks it's a problem. So the Austins are 3 for 3.

Anyway, what that most likely means is that the reason for the kickout is on the Guatemalan side and it isn't something that has to do with mine and Edward's paperwork. I hope to hear very quickly this week that it is corrected and we're back in PGN.

In light of events surrounding Reagan's adoption and more recently, Gabi's foster sister's case, I'm not in a very trusting mood. As a matter of fact, I believe I did a whole post on how my trust has been pretty severely damaged. Despite that, I'm going to try to do everything I can to ensure that the information I receive is correct and TRUST that God knows what he's doing. Everyone else is up for debate. Hang in there with us. We're going to get her home. If it kills me. Which it might.

Praise the Lord!

AKA the Prankster! Reagan W. is coming home. Her appointment is on October 17th!!! We've been waiting for this information and we really thought that the appointment wouldn't be issued until next Tuesday. But she is scheduled to be completely finished on the 18th. They'll be traveling home on October 19th. The 19th must be a lucky number for them because I think May 19th is Ryker's Gotcha Day! I might be wrong, but who cares!!!

I'm so excited for them. This couldn't have come at a better time-- which is why I referred to God as The Prankster. We've had a rough week with our adoption and he just let it pour with good news on a Friday afternoon. He's a tricky one with His timing. Thank you!!!

In Light of Recent Events...

... we'll be traveling to Guatemala for Thanksgiving. I will return from Boston on the night of the 18th and I believe I'm gonna pull a "Papa." We're probably going to leave from Chicago early, early on the morning of the 19th. If so, I'll stop my flight in Chicago and wait for Edward to meet me there with my bags for Guatemala. It isn't the best plan, but it will ensure that we max out our time with Gabriella. That may be the only cure for our blues right now.

Gabriella will be just about to turn 8 months at that point. We hope, hope, hope that our friends, Rob and Amy, are going to be down there at the same time with their two boys and Emma. And some more of their family. That will make everything more fun. Emma and Gabi are 4 days apart and both of them are such happy, happy babies.

Just making this decision has made me feel better already. I'm so overwhelmed by this stinkin' process and not knowing when I'm gonna see my sassy girl again. This makes the not knowing so much easier.

Please continue to pray for Gabriella and Ella, Emma, and all of the children who are struggling to get out of the process so that they can come home to their families. Also, please pray that the implementation of the Hague will involve grandfathering of in-process cases. This is the difference between these children coming home and living lives of poverty in Guatemalan orphanages. Thank you everyone for your neverending support. It really does lift Ed and me up.

This is what it means for the rest of our process

We don't know exactly how it will play out. But first we have to find out why we were kicked out. Then we have to fix it. Then we get re-submitted to PGN. But we have to go all the way back to the beginning of the line. We start back with the 1st of 3 reviewers who sign off on our case. If it goes how it typically does, it will take about 8 weeks to get back out, if not longer. On the other hand, nothing is written in stone down there, so it could be less. But there's no way to know that. Oh-- and the bonus is that it could get kicked out again and we'd be right back where we started.

After it is released from PGN, an adoption decree is issued. This is taken back to Escuintla, where Gabriella was born, to have them issue a new birth certificate with our names as her parents. This is taken to the U.S. Embassy with our other paperwork and we are submitted for our embassy appointment. At the same time, we receive authorization from the embassy for the second DNA test that is required. The DNA test is then completed, the results are FedExed to the embassy and our appointment is issued on a pink piece of paper. This is known as "getting pink." The approximate time from getting out of PGN to the pick up trip is 4-7 weeks. We then return to Guatemala to pick Gabi up and attend this appointment. We go to the embassy, answer questions, present requested documents and leave the embassy. We return the following day to pick up her passport with the visa stamped in it and we are allowed to go home with our daughter at any point after this. The pickup trip is about 4 days long.

Kicked out

I just talked to PGN and we've been kicked out AGAIN!!! I thought I was ok for a minute. But I think I might hurt someone. Honestly, I don't know how much more of this I can take. I thought deployments were hard. I'd take 12 of those over this uncertainty and fear of not bringing Gabriella home.

Please pray for all of our cases. Please pray that God will move the hands of everyone involved in Gabriella's case. And that she will come home and not get caught in this horrible Hague problem that is looming over everyone's adoptions. Please pray that I don't assault some poor soul who crosses me at the wrong time. Thanks.

CNN Story and our beloved Reagan

Reagan's second DNA test was a match today! It is being FedExed to the U.S. Embassy tonight. The embassy doesn't issue pink slips (appointment for visa issuance) on Fridays and Monday is a holiday, so we're hoping it gets there tomorrow. If not, we'll expect to hear something next week. The appointments are about 2 weeks after the pink slip is issued. Kristin and I were talking today about how surreal it is to think that they'll be bringing her home in less than a month.

In the meantime, Gabriella is still in PGN. No news at this point. We hope to hear something in the next couple of weeks.

Finally, tonight CNN's Anderson Cooper is doing a story on the recent raids on an American-run orphanage and the current state of affairs in Guatemalan adoptions. Tune in at 9 p.m. CST on CNN. I hope it's accurate.

Adorable Gifts

Today we received some very special gifts from Aunt Hilary, Uncle Stephen, Spencer and Griffin. First, Gabi was given a wooden block with her initial "G" on one side, her name, her parents, her birthdate and weight, her birthplace (Escuintla, Guatemala) as well as her aunt, uncle and cousins' names on the others. It's such a special thing that we know those things about Gabriella. In so many international adoptions, parents don't ever know these tidbits about their children. Thank you B.'s for capturing that information in such a special way.

Aunt Hilary also picked out a gorgeous handmade sweater dress that will be for next winter. I can't wait to put her in her little tights, peter pan collared shirt and mary janes. And then the piece de resistance was the most unbelievable bunting you have ever seen. This bunting is amazing soft fleece on the inside and sweater-knitted on the outside. And then there is an adorable fleece sherpa hat and mittens. It's all so cute, I couldn't stop laughing. Thank you so much, Hil!!! You're right. She will be cozy and pretty all at the same time. And I know you love shopping for a girl... lol.

Then we received some beautiful hairbows from Kristin, which she made herself. Reagan has matching ones. The joke about Kristin is that if you put her in a room with a pocketful of lint and a sewing machine, she'd fashion a beautiful curtain in less than half an hour. Thanks, Aunt Kristin! I can't wait to have our girls home with Reagan's big brother, Ryker!

And finally, Edward received a birthday gift from his lovely wife. I picked out matching Gap shirts from the Red Campaign (which benefits women and children living with AIDS in Africa) for him and Gabi. Then I realized that it would probably be better if we all had them. This is the way I put it together. Edward is "inspired" by Gabriella. Gabriella is "adored" by Edward (and me). And I'm the most "cultured" of the crew. If you buy that, I've got some waterfront property in Arizona for sale.

One last thought... at the end of the day, I went back into the speech office at the hospital I'm working in right now and discovered that my beautiful baby girl was grinning back at me on the computer. My supervisor, Kyra, put her on the desktop when I wasn't looking and it was such a nice surprise at the end of the day. Thanks Kyra!