Rebecca Christine

That is the name we have chosen for our little sweetie! It was quite a process deciding! We chose her middle name because her birthday is two days after her daddy's!

What a whirlwind of a week it has been! We returned from Florida late Saturday night. It was so fun to share her picutres and share the news at church on Sunday morning! Sunday afternoon we went over to Troy & Susan's house for a celebration dinner with Chris' mom and Aunt Susan & Uncle Peter! Monday and Tuesday were spent getting some forms together for the referral paperwork. Not to mention laundry, grocery shopping and all those other things you have to do after vacation.
I talked to the agency yesterday and found out that Rebecca has been with her foster family since birth. They are compiling all our paperwork in Guatemala and we should be submitted to Family Court by mid-February. They are also setting up the appointment for the DNA test. It is great to have things moving along!

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We received the wonderful news yesterday! She was born on December 28th, weighed 5 lbs. 2 oz and was 19 inches long! We are waiting on an overnight package to receive more informaion, but we were able to get some pictures via email! Of course ,we are a bit biased, but we think she is adorable! We probably won't be able to get the pictures up on the website until we return from Florida. If you want to see them sooner, send us an email and we can send them to you! We are still working on a name for her and will make that announcement sometime soon! Signing off from Cloud Nine!

REFERRAL EXPECTED NEXT WEEK!

Yes, our day is close at hand!!!!!!! The agency posted yesterday that they have "many" referrals to give out next week. Of course, I was thinking how many is many! This morning they called to say that we would get OURS next week! We are leaving for Florida on Sunday (the 15th) so I needed to give her all of our contact information. We will be staying with my (Laura's) dad first and then Thursday morning heading over to Orlando to stay with Chris' dad at their timeshare condo and we fly back Saturday evening. We will have much more accessibility to computer, faxes, etc at my dad's and she made it sound like we would be getting the call early in the week! Monday works for me! Monday is also Aidan's first birthday so that would be really neat. We will post on here with any updates! We will be able to get our email at my dad's, but we won't have all our email addresses with us! If you email us, we can reply. After we get "the call" they will overnight us a package with pictures, medical info and lots more forms to fill out! Many of you have asked what happens next. It will be around 4-8 months until we can bring her home. Right now, the cases are going through in closer to 4 months, but that could change on a whim. I have added a link to the side that gives a brief overview of the process if anyone is interested in reading it. Our case will be a relinquishment. She will not be legally ours til the end of the process. Someone compared the process to a high-risk pregnancy. Plan and be excited, but know that there is risk involved, there are no guarentees! The birthmother will have 4 different times she has to sign, up until then she does have the right to change her mind. It is pretty rare for this to happen. Once the final "protocolo" is signed it is done. Unlike the US - at no point after can anything be changed.
Well, we can't wait to be able to make the big announcement. We can't wait to "meet" our new little one! More soon!!!