One Step Closer

So, I'm logging onto my e-mail after my morning classes at the spanish school and I see an e-mail from "DONOTREPLY, Guatenotices" with the subject: "Pre-Approval Notice, Petitioner: MILLER Case #17756" And it starts off:

"Name of child / Nombre del menor: William Aquino Castro. A pre-approval was issued for the above-listed adoption case. You may pick
up this pre-approval at Window #8 at your earliest convenience. You must bring a
copy of this notification. Reminder: Adopting parents should not travel to Guatemala prior to issuance of the pink slip by the Consular Section, in order to..." I freak. "What? Approval? finished? pink slip ....Pink Slip!"

The pink slip is part of the vocabulary of Guatadoption. It's the notice that the US consulate in Guatemala City issues when everything is wrapped up. It gives the date for your visa appoinment, the last thing you do before getting on the plane with your child.

"Okay Matt, calm down. The things that still need to be done can not possibly have happened yet - and they´re only talking about the pink slip, not giving it."

Nope, but it does mean we're one step closer, and it was a step we thought could have held us up a while. The notice was meant mostly for our adoption agency and our lawyer down here in Guatemala, who will be the one to go to "window #8". It means that the embassy has finished processing our specific application for Mateo along with the evidence of the positive DNA test.

The lawyer here can now submit it to the Guatemalan government along with our translated dossier and the Guatemalan social worker's report. Once they finish with it, the lawyer will procure a Guatemalan passport for him, and a new birth certificate with our names on it. Then it goes to the embassy here, and when they're ready, they give us our "pink slip" which means we scramble for plane tickets to get to the appointment for us and Mateo 7 to 10 days later to get a visa on his passport and head on home.

From now to the pink slip is, if everything goes about as fast as it can, 6 weeks, though the average is longer, and it could of course take much longer. The big uncertainty is how long the Guatemalan govt. takes. They could conceivably ask for more, or revised, paperwork - or the paperwork gets "lost" and we have to provide replacements (contingeny copies are already waiting in our files!)

Once we know that the PGN (the Guatemalan Govt. agency that deals with adoptions, among other things) is finished with it, then we can be more confident that 2 – 3 weeks later the US embassy will issue our pink slip for an appointment 7 – 10 days later. I´m still guessing Mateo will first smell the air of Oregon sometime in July.

Of course, we weren't anywhere near as hopeful about this step, which explains my leaving a dent in the ceiling of the school's internet room. The consulate had been taking quite a bit longer lately to process things once there is a positive DNA test. We were told 2-3 weeks is remarkable, but once it goes to the consulate, it enters a black hole which will not respond to inquiries before 6 - 8 weeks if the approval has not yet emerged.

We got the DNA confirmation just before we left for Guatemala, and our adoption case worker was about to FedEx it through the various certifications on it´s way to the consulate. It was there 2 weeks, max. Wow!! Needless to say, I crossed my name off the afternoon trip to a mayan village in order to run to the internet cafe to phone the agency, phone Sarah, e-mail my Mom, and of course publish this entry.

The picture above is of me trying out a "manta para los bebe's" that I was in the process of buying at a market. It's a woven cloth used by the maya for a bunch of purposes, but in this case as a baby sling. I'm already an expert. We can't wait until we're using it in Silverton.

-Matt

Picture of the day #5

Again with a sideways picture, but if you can see, he is so much more active. He used his hands to grab things...and they tell me he must be preparing to start teething because everything went in his mouth (except the tons of drool that came out of his mouth).

He is resting in the stroller we bought for the foster mom...not in the Baby Book of Safety, but solid enough that he should be safe while with her. And I must admit not blaming her for wanting a stroller...as you can tell by the other pictures, he weighs more than most sacks of potatos!

Talked with Matt on Monday...he's having a blast and learning a ton.

Hope all is well for you, Sarah & Matt & Mateo

Picture of the day, # 4

I´m sitting at an internet cafe in Quezaltenengo (Xela, for short..it´s mayan name) and there´s a thunderstorm raging outside. Xela is 8000 feet up a mountain and while this is the first reeal rain we´ve had, it´s a doozie. So I have no idea if the power´s going to last long enough to get this posted, or if I´ll successfully be able to find the picture upload tabs on the web page which this computer has translated into spanish....my first test.

Having a great time here and learning a lot about the language, culture and people of this country that will now be a part of our lives, our family. we study one on one for 5 hours every day, and have optional trips, films and conferences on history, culture, and social issues in guatemala. I asked my teacher for this week to teach me a couple of Guatemalan songs for little kids, and also got a kid´s prayer (of the ´now i lay me down to sleep´ variety). I´m living with a guatemalan family and getting some good recipes for them. I´ll be cooking them my mom´s stuffed mushrtooms this week, and will try and find everything I need to make her red sauce and lasagne. I like cutural exchange that you can eat.
The picture is of various members of my homestay family, in their house.
Better try to post this before s power surge blasts it into free electrons....

Matt

Picture of the Day #3

Ok, so I haven't yet figured out how to change the orientation of pictures on the blog...but I am running out the door to go to work and I wanted to get one posted.

This trip, we had so much fun leaning Mateo against a stack of pillows where we could then play with him, or sing to him, or read him books. He loves being nestled in to the pillows, and we love being both able to gaze at him.

For those of you who have been wondering, Matt is doing well. I spoke with him last night and they are going to a regional market this weekend where they sell everything from crafts to food to cows and pigs. Guess it gives new meaning to "farmer's market".

Thanks to everyone who has been sending me notes to let me know you are thinking of us.

I very much feel loved.

Love from Oregon, Sarah (Love from Guatemala, Matt & Mateo)

Picture of the Day #2

Napping is so wonderful, particularly when you have a beautiful baby boy curled up against you. And it took exactly one hour to figure out that when the baby sleeps, the parents should sleep too. We took full advantage of that every chance we got while we were visiting.

Here's to many more naps with Mateo in the future...peaceful dreams to each of you in the meantime!!

Love, Sarah

Picture of the Day #1

So this is one of my favorite pictures which show Mateo's development. He can do tummy time now, and his eyes always feel like he is looking directly into your soul. The stuffed dog, named Trevor, is a gift from a dear friend at work, Barb Jensen. Matt slept with Trevor for about 3 weeks prior to our departure so Mateo would have something that smelled like him. It's amazing how much we feel like Mateo recognizes us, something for which we are very grateful. And by the way, for those of you who are tracking the process, we got our results from the DNA test and it was a match, so we are proceeding to the next step (getting the US Embassy to say the adoption can proceed). Here's hoping this picture makes you smile as much as it does me!

Love, Sarah

It's a small world...

Hi friends & family,

I am back safely from our most recent visit to see our son, Mateo. He is so precious and we had the most incredible time getting to bond with him. It was an interesting trip where we got to spend a lot more time with Mateo, and we were constantly amazed at how small the world is.

Small world example #1: One of the flight attendants on our plane from Atalanta to Guatemala City was one of the flight attendants on the last trip home from Guatemala City.

Small world example #2: The taxi driver who picked us up from the airport, Ernesto, is the taxi driver who took us to the airport the last time and watched over our bags so that we could shop at the artisan's market before we left.

Small world example #3: We met a couple at La Casa Grande (the hotel where we always stay) who were there to pick up their 8 month old son, whom they have named Terrence. Turns out that Jessica & Kevin (the adoptive parents) live in Milwaukie Oregon...a mere 20 minutes up the road from us. We took a picture of the two boys on their first meeting, hoping they will get to know each other as they grow.

Small world example #4: The taxi driver who took us to the Marriott on Saturday evening so we could get the photos from the digital camera onto CD for me to bring home was the same cab driver who picked us up from the airport the last time.

Small world example #5: I met a woman in the Atlanta airport whom I was sure I had seen in the Guatemalan airport on my departure. Turns out, sure enough, she sat behind me on the plane from Guatemala to Atlanta and then flew with me all the way to Portland. She was there visiting her daughter who is married to a native Guatemalan.

As you can see, we are always so amazed by the connections that exist in the world. Our time with Mateo was magnificent. As usual, he was happy, and healthy, and even a bit chubby! We were with him on his four month birthday (Saturday, April 15) and we were very pleased to see how much he had developed.

Matt will be the first to tell you that he is visually tracking past the mid-line, that he is actively using his hands to grab things, and he kicks better than any infant I have ever seen (of course, the scientific objectivity may be lacking here, but that doesn't really matter!!)

Best of all, Mateo really seems to know us, and to enjoy spending time with us. We were able to observe other parents who were there this past weekend to pick up their children, some meeting them for the first time. It's very clear to us that these children are bewildered at best, scared at worst, about who these people are. I believe in my heart, it is absolutely the best decision for us to visit him often until we can bring him home.

Guess that's all for now. I'll keep you updated on Matt's progress at language school, and any news from the process prior to my next trip down (on May 11). In the meantime, I will try to post a picture a day for your viewing pleasure (we have a couple hundred to choose from!!)

Hope all is well and that you enjoyed a blessed Easter!! Much love from Oregon, Sarah (Matt & Mateo send their love from Guatemala)

The next steps...

So, as most of you know we are in the midst of preparing for another trip to Guatemala. We have been working like crazy on house projects to finish prior to leaving. Most recently, we have painted Mateo's nursery and we are going crib shopping on Saturday. Thanks to our friends Greg & Angela Murphy, Megan Sprauer, and Frank Petrik for helping us get this accomplished. We will post pictures as soon as it is complete.

We leave in less than a week on the red-eye next Tuesday night, for the marathon journey. We expect that Filomena will bring Mateo to the hotel about 4PM on Wednesday so we can begin our time with him. We should get to have him until Saturday evening--so there will be many opportunities for pictures and video!

Matt will put me on a plane on Easter Sunday to head back home to work, and then he will board a bus to Quetzaltenango to go to language immersion school. It's a great deal with basically 5 hours of one-on-one instruction, plus planned cultural and social activities. He even plans to spend one week in a village for school where no one speaks English. He should learn alot (and of course, I will miss him immensely!!).

We also heard from our agency that the paperwork to request the DNA test has been processed. This means the DNA test can be scheduled now, and that is the next step in getting our adoption petition through both governments.

Check back soon as I will post pictures upon my return. As always love from all of us, Sarah, Matt & Mateo