REBECCA IS 4 MONTHS OLD - small update

Here is a brief update on what is happening in Guatemala and with our case. On April 1st a new person took over as the director of PGN - which is the Guatemalan equivalent of the Attorney General's Office (see last post). This is the place where our case is currently awaiting approval. Since the change in leadership (and the Easter holiday), there has not been much progress happening with any cases. From the best I can understand, the reviewers are still processing the cases. Before they can be approved, the director has to "sign-off" on them. I have this image of this man's desk having a pile of files on it that just need his signature. It's crazy to think that families are waiting to be united with their babies and just this man's signature is holding up the show.
We did receive word today from our agency that our case was actually "kicked-out" of PGN in mid-April as they needed an additional piece of info from the Guatemalan attorney. It was resubmitted on April 20th. I am glad I found out after the fact. At least we know someone has been looking at our file. Monday is a holiday in Guatemala, so no more news until at least mid-week next week!
I am mostly doing well with it all, but some days are hard! I long to see new pictures of her, but I know it will be hard to see her changing and growing and to not have her with us!
The boys (all three of them) have much more patience than me! David likes to show everyone "Rebecca's room". We went to a petting farm yesterday and I told him the pig was expecting a baby. Later in the evening when he was telling Chris about his time at the farm, he said he saw pig that was "adopting a baby"! It was pretty cute!
Hopefully I'll have good news to report next week! Where would we be without HOPE!

NOT SO BUMPY AFTER ALL!

In our last case update on 3/23 we were told that our file had not yet been released from Family Court. Well we just got an update yesterday and it turns out is was released the next day and we entered PGN on 3/28! Once again, here is the description of what PGN is:
PGN (Procuraduria General de la Nacion – the Guatemalan Attorney General’s office)
PGN REVIEW AND APPROVAL The attorney submits the adoption case file and a petition for approval of the adoption to a notarial** officer of the PGN. A PGN notary reviews all documents in the case file and, at his/her discretion, may independently investigate one or more aspects of the case. PGN may reject the file (issue a previo) any number of times for a wide variety of reasons that range from serious (e.g., irregularities in the birth mother’s or child’s identity documents) to minor (e.g., minor spelling errors, expired notary seals). The attorney for the birth mother and adoptive family corrects the problem and resubmits the case to PGN. Ultimately, the PGN typically concurs with the Family Court’s recommendation and issues its approval for the adoption to proceed.
The crazy part is that we could we out in two weeks or two months! A lot depends on if our case has corrections required! Our attorney is known for getting cases through quickly, so we'll see what happens. Since Guatemala is a largely Catholic country, many of the offices are closed most of next week in observance of Holy Week. It is likely we won't hear anything until the last week of April! Once we are told we are out of PGN - we will likely travel to pick her up in 2-3 weeks! May is looking quite realistic! Hopefully more news soon!

NEW PICTURES!

I opened my email on Wednesday morning to find new pictures of Rebecca! (you can see them by clicking the Garvey family link to the right - click on Rebecca and then scroll down the page) The tears started to flow when I realized she was wearing one of the outfits we sent down to her! I can't even describe how much seeing her pictures has helped me! I had just been telling a friend the day before, that she was beginning to not feel "real" again, because I didn't know what she looked like anymore. The fact that she is wearing an outfit we sent feels like such a connection to her. David oohed and aahed over her pictures and thinks she is very cute (he's not alone!) The other day while we were in the upstairs bathroom, he asked me out-of-the-blue, "where are we going to put Rebecca's toothbrush?" (as we have only 4 spots in our holder)!!!! Steven looked at one picture and was done after that. I'm not sure he is ready to give up his "baby of the family" position. We are not due for another case update until the week of the 10th. I think I can make it now!