Well, Fed Ex guaranteed us that our pkg (Dossier) will be delivered to our Lawyer's office before 6pm on Tuesday July 31, 2007 - and it wasn't! Margaret checked the tracking number on line and our Dossier is in Guatemala, just not at our Lawyer's office. Margaret then called up Fed Ex to complain and request a refund of the priority shipping cost that we paid, since the package guarantee was not met. The reprsentative gave us an email address to write to request a refund. So our Dossier will be delivered to our Lawyer on Wed. August 1st. Keep your fingers crossed that it does get there.
As for planning a visit trip, it turns out that we are a few miles short to use our AA frequent flyer miles, so we will have to save up more miles and use them in the future. The disadvantage with frequent flyer miles is the fact that you have to book so far in advance to actually use them. So Margaret is checking into different airlines to see what is available and the best travel times to get there and back. I don't think there is such a thing as "off peak" travel with Guatemala. I'll keep ya posted.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Planning a Visit Trip!
We have decided to visit Guatemala to see our daughter and our lawyer. We heard so many good things about our lawyer, that we just have to go and meet him. Margaret is going to check out American Airlines, to see if we have enough frequent flyer miles to go to Guatemala. Luckily, Peter is still under two, so there will be no charge for him, if any it will be minimal. There is a lot going on, so we will have to see where it can fit in. We are looking at hopefully August, if not - definitely September. :)
The Dossier was Mailed to Guatemala!
Hey - Great Great News!!! Our Dossier was Fed Ex to Guatemala today, and our lawyer will get it on Tues. July 31, before 6pm. YIPPPIE!!!!!!
We had a lot to do before mailing it to Guatemala. We went to staples to make copies of the entire Dossier, and 150+++ copies later, it is done. Peter did a great job just hanging out in the stroller sharing his M & M's with the kids also in the copy area. On the way home we stopped to get lunch. Once home we worked on the scrapbook of the photos needed for the Dossier. Peter was cute trying to help and luckily I had extra pics, so he was able to walk around the house with a few calling out the People in the pictures names. It was amazing that in Margaret's family picture, Peter was able to pick out "JJJay!" (Peter's uncle) and "Joel" (another uncle), and of course his pals (cousins) "D, D, D" short for DJ & Dillon, and Tommy (these three brothers are all called "D"). Margaret didn't get much done, but knew she wouldn't until Peter took his nap. Marie came over to visit, because she had soo much fun on Friday in NYC,,,,,,,LOL. No, all kidding aside, Marie came over to see what it intailed, because she is also adopting and will have to do this soon too. So instead of Marie being bored, Margaret put her to work and she helped cut paper. Peter finally went for a nap, so Margaret started working on the scrapbook of photos. Marie left, while Margaret finished it up. Luckily Kerry (Margaret's husband) came home from work, so he was put on Peter details since he was waking up from his nap. Margaret wanted to finish with the photos and run to Fed Ex to mail out the Dossier, before 7pm. (when Margaret called Fed Ex, they said if the pkg got there before 7pm, it would be in Guatemala Tues). At 5:45pm, everything was done, including a cover letter for the lawyer informing him of everything that was in the pkg. Margaret went by staples real quick to make color copies of the scrapbook of photos and then went to Fed Ex. It was a little nerve racking trusting these strangers to get my Dossier to Guatemala in one piece. Well, after packaging the documents good, Margaret handed the Fed Ex box to the woman to mail it out. As for 6:30pm, our Dossier was on its way to Guatemala. It is such a great feeling!
Now it is time to plan for a visit trip.
We had a lot to do before mailing it to Guatemala. We went to staples to make copies of the entire Dossier, and 150+++ copies later, it is done. Peter did a great job just hanging out in the stroller sharing his M & M's with the kids also in the copy area. On the way home we stopped to get lunch. Once home we worked on the scrapbook of the photos needed for the Dossier. Peter was cute trying to help and luckily I had extra pics, so he was able to walk around the house with a few calling out the People in the pictures names. It was amazing that in Margaret's family picture, Peter was able to pick out "JJJay!" (Peter's uncle) and "Joel" (another uncle), and of course his pals (cousins) "D, D, D" short for DJ & Dillon, and Tommy (these three brothers are all called "D"). Margaret didn't get much done, but knew she wouldn't until Peter took his nap. Marie came over to visit, because she had soo much fun on Friday in NYC,,,,,,,LOL. No, all kidding aside, Marie came over to see what it intailed, because she is also adopting and will have to do this soon too. So instead of Marie being bored, Margaret put her to work and she helped cut paper. Peter finally went for a nap, so Margaret started working on the scrapbook of photos. Marie left, while Margaret finished it up. Luckily Kerry (Margaret's husband) came home from work, so he was put on Peter details since he was waking up from his nap. Margaret wanted to finish with the photos and run to Fed Ex to mail out the Dossier, before 7pm. (when Margaret called Fed Ex, they said if the pkg got there before 7pm, it would be in Guatemala Tues). At 5:45pm, everything was done, including a cover letter for the lawyer informing him of everything that was in the pkg. Margaret went by staples real quick to make color copies of the scrapbook of photos and then went to Fed Ex. It was a little nerve racking trusting these strangers to get my Dossier to Guatemala in one piece. Well, after packaging the documents good, Margaret handed the Fed Ex box to the woman to mail it out. As for 6:30pm, our Dossier was on its way to Guatemala. It is such a great feeling!
Now it is time to plan for a visit trip.
Sunday July 29, 2007 - We get all our Documents! in the Mail.
WOW, who would of thought that on a Sunday I would get a call from our local post office telling us that we had an express pkg there and can pick it up before 2pm. Needless to say, Peter and I hopped in the truck and went to go get it.
It is so exciting knowing that we are this much closer in sending our Dossier to our Lawyer, so he can start on getting Anna Maria home.
Monday's project is going to be the photos for our Dossier. Margaret always likes to do a presentation with the photos, so a photo album will be made. Hey, it never hurts to make it look good.
All we have to do is the photo part of the dossier and it will be on its way to Guatemala on Monday........YIPPIE!!!
Okay, time to catch up here..........
Hi Everyone,
Sorry we missed ya, but google put our blog on hold, while they checked it for spam. So now it is up and running and we got a lot to tell ya.......
So I am going to start from where we left off........
Friday July 26, 2007
Well, I thought today was going to be smooth sailing, but there were a few bumps right from the start. On the way to the bank, Margaret stopped at the post office to mail out our I600A form. The I600A form will approve us to adopt a child internationally. But just like everything else, it is also a process. They send us a letter giving us an appointment to go to Hempstead to get fingerprinted AGAIN, once are fingerprints clear, they send us another form approving us to adopt a child. This is the only thing that the lawyer will have to wait for, once our Dossier is mailed to him. But this we can just scan and email him it, we don't have to Fed Ex it to him.
So here is our first, but not last Bump! We had to go to the bank first and wire a payment to our lawyer. Last week, when I checked with the bank in town (not our bank, figured I would go right around the corner), the woman said it only takes 5 minutes to do. So we got to the bank at 9:05am, just to make sure we would have plenty of time to make the 10:06am train to NYC. Well, long story short, we didn't get done with this transaction until 10:10am, so we missed the train. We headed to the train station to see what train we get catch next to NYC, it turned out that we got the 11:06am. Peter enjoyed the train so much, he was just so amazed with everything he saw outside the window. Across from us was a group of boys listening to their music, so Peter had to show them his moves, it was cute. We got into Penn station and met up with my cousin. Needless to say, nobody knew where the elevator was for Margaret to take Peter up to the streets in the stroller. So Margaret lugged the stroller with Peter in it, up many many steps......wow, the boy is getting heavy. I couldn't believe that a "stud muffin" didn't offer to help - seeing Peter going bounce, bounce, bounce all the way up to the streets. We made it up to the streets, and started to head to our first destination. We headed off to the Dept. of State, to get the papers apostiled. A few blocks away from Penn Station, my cousin and I decided to take the taxi. So we waved down a taxi and packed the "kitchen sink" (stroller, diaper bag, etc. - and the most important pkg was all my documents for our dossier) into the trunk of the car. It took the taxi an hour to get there - I bet we could of walked there quicker. We managed to beat the mad rush into the place, because no sooner did I hand in all our documents there is about 2 dozen people on line, we were just like "wow!" Lunch time is rush time. We left there to head to the Guatemalan Consilate to get all the paperwork Authenticated. This time we walked a couple of blocks before waving down a taxi, just to make sure we got the taxi heading in the right direction. We told the driver were we needed to go (57 Park avenue, NOT 157), while driving there my cousin Marie questioned the driver to make sure he was going the right way. It was almost like he wasn't quite sure on the # we said but he did know it was Park Avenue. Marie then asked what language he spoke and Marie was so happy to know that he spoke Spanish..........so she began to flirt with him..........LOL. Just kidding, she spoke Spanish to him to make sure he knew where he was going. I told my cousin, all we had to do was to look for the Guatemalan flags up on the building, that is how I always found it. Sure enough, there were the flags, so I told the driver just to pull over. We got to the Guatemalan Consulate to get all our docuemtns authenticated. Pedro ( the man with that magic stamp) was talking to Peter and was very happy to see Peter. I thought for sure this was a sign that he would put that magic stamp on all the documents while we waited, but he wouldn't do it. Shoot, I even asked if he would at least Authenticate the Power of Attorny documents, and he wasn't giving in one ounce. I bet you if Peter gave him the high 5 he would of........LOL. So we were all done running all over NYC, now it was time to get lunch and head home. We decied (okay, I decided to walk back to Penn Station, because I knew it was only a couple of blocks away - and it would be a lot faster than the Taxis) - it turned out that Penn Station just wasn't one block over, it was a few. So here we go again, trying to get down the stairs with the stroller and Peter, luckily this time a "Stud Muffin" (okay, not really but he was a stud muffin to me, since he helped us out) came along and helped carry the stroller down the steps, and he said that the elevators never work in Penn Station. But we made it there and had lunch. Penn Station is not the place to be on a Friday Afternoon duirng the summer especially. Margaret decided to take the next train available just to get out of Penn Station and to make sure there wouldn't be any problems with the stroller on the train. So sure enough, while we were standing there looking at the train schedule - right at that gate was my next train........YIPPIE, but more stairs to deal with to catch the train that was leaving in a few minutes.......but "stud muffin" to the rescue.......he helped get the stroller down the stairs. Margaret's cousin Marie went to catch her train back home. Peter was so great in the City, he had such a great time and he was so well behaved, his mom was very proud of him. It was nice having Marie along for the walk, okay - the cab drives.....lol. We got back home, Peter was sound asleep so he was put into bed. As for Margaret.......I was exhausted, today must of been the hottest day in NYC, I got myself a tall glass of lemonade, and then took Peter's advice and took a nap myself.
We got a lot accomplished today, we left on the 11:06am train, and returned home on the 3:26pm train, and Pedro promised Margaret that her documents would be mailed to her Friday evening so she will have them first thing Monday Morning.
To my cousin Maria, thanks for coming, hope you had fun!
Sorry we missed ya, but google put our blog on hold, while they checked it for spam. So now it is up and running and we got a lot to tell ya.......
So I am going to start from where we left off........
Friday July 26, 2007
Well, I thought today was going to be smooth sailing, but there were a few bumps right from the start. On the way to the bank, Margaret stopped at the post office to mail out our I600A form. The I600A form will approve us to adopt a child internationally. But just like everything else, it is also a process. They send us a letter giving us an appointment to go to Hempstead to get fingerprinted AGAIN, once are fingerprints clear, they send us another form approving us to adopt a child. This is the only thing that the lawyer will have to wait for, once our Dossier is mailed to him. But this we can just scan and email him it, we don't have to Fed Ex it to him.
So here is our first, but not last Bump! We had to go to the bank first and wire a payment to our lawyer. Last week, when I checked with the bank in town (not our bank, figured I would go right around the corner), the woman said it only takes 5 minutes to do. So we got to the bank at 9:05am, just to make sure we would have plenty of time to make the 10:06am train to NYC. Well, long story short, we didn't get done with this transaction until 10:10am, so we missed the train. We headed to the train station to see what train we get catch next to NYC, it turned out that we got the 11:06am. Peter enjoyed the train so much, he was just so amazed with everything he saw outside the window. Across from us was a group of boys listening to their music, so Peter had to show them his moves, it was cute. We got into Penn station and met up with my cousin. Needless to say, nobody knew where the elevator was for Margaret to take Peter up to the streets in the stroller. So Margaret lugged the stroller with Peter in it, up many many steps......wow, the boy is getting heavy. I couldn't believe that a "stud muffin" didn't offer to help - seeing Peter going bounce, bounce, bounce all the way up to the streets. We made it up to the streets, and started to head to our first destination. We headed off to the Dept. of State, to get the papers apostiled. A few blocks away from Penn Station, my cousin and I decided to take the taxi. So we waved down a taxi and packed the "kitchen sink" (stroller, diaper bag, etc. - and the most important pkg was all my documents for our dossier) into the trunk of the car. It took the taxi an hour to get there - I bet we could of walked there quicker. We managed to beat the mad rush into the place, because no sooner did I hand in all our documents there is about 2 dozen people on line, we were just like "wow!" Lunch time is rush time. We left there to head to the Guatemalan Consilate to get all the paperwork Authenticated. This time we walked a couple of blocks before waving down a taxi, just to make sure we got the taxi heading in the right direction. We told the driver were we needed to go (57 Park avenue, NOT 157), while driving there my cousin Marie questioned the driver to make sure he was going the right way. It was almost like he wasn't quite sure on the # we said but he did know it was Park Avenue. Marie then asked what language he spoke and Marie was so happy to know that he spoke Spanish..........so she began to flirt with him..........LOL. Just kidding, she spoke Spanish to him to make sure he knew where he was going. I told my cousin, all we had to do was to look for the Guatemalan flags up on the building, that is how I always found it. Sure enough, there were the flags, so I told the driver just to pull over. We got to the Guatemalan Consulate to get all our docuemtns authenticated. Pedro ( the man with that magic stamp) was talking to Peter and was very happy to see Peter. I thought for sure this was a sign that he would put that magic stamp on all the documents while we waited, but he wouldn't do it. Shoot, I even asked if he would at least Authenticate the Power of Attorny documents, and he wasn't giving in one ounce. I bet you if Peter gave him the high 5 he would of........LOL. So we were all done running all over NYC, now it was time to get lunch and head home. We decied (okay, I decided to walk back to Penn Station, because I knew it was only a couple of blocks away - and it would be a lot faster than the Taxis) - it turned out that Penn Station just wasn't one block over, it was a few. So here we go again, trying to get down the stairs with the stroller and Peter, luckily this time a "Stud Muffin" (okay, not really but he was a stud muffin to me, since he helped us out) came along and helped carry the stroller down the steps, and he said that the elevators never work in Penn Station. But we made it there and had lunch. Penn Station is not the place to be on a Friday Afternoon duirng the summer especially. Margaret decided to take the next train available just to get out of Penn Station and to make sure there wouldn't be any problems with the stroller on the train. So sure enough, while we were standing there looking at the train schedule - right at that gate was my next train........YIPPIE, but more stairs to deal with to catch the train that was leaving in a few minutes.......but "stud muffin" to the rescue.......he helped get the stroller down the stairs. Margaret's cousin Marie went to catch her train back home. Peter was so great in the City, he had such a great time and he was so well behaved, his mom was very proud of him. It was nice having Marie along for the walk, okay - the cab drives.....lol. We got back home, Peter was sound asleep so he was put into bed. As for Margaret.......I was exhausted, today must of been the hottest day in NYC, I got myself a tall glass of lemonade, and then took Peter's advice and took a nap myself.
We got a lot accomplished today, we left on the 11:06am train, and returned home on the 3:26pm train, and Pedro promised Margaret that her documents would be mailed to her Friday evening so she will have them first thing Monday Morning.
To my cousin Maria, thanks for coming, hope you had fun!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
WE DECIDED ON A NAME!!!
Anna Maria.
We decided to go with the grandma's name in the U.S. and the Birthmom's name in Guatemala for our daughter's name. So there you have it!
Today Peter and his mom traveled all over Long Island to get all the paperwork certified, before their big trip into NYC tomorrow to get the Dossier documents authenticated. We had to go to Wading River to see our Social Worker to get other documents notarized and to get our homestudy that she completed for us. Then we traveled to Riverhead to get all the notaries certified. And then on the way back, we stopped by the Police Headquarters to drop off a form to get a certified "Letter of Good Conduct". Then we were all done working on our Dossier for our adoption. Margaret took Peter to Byron Lake Pool, to go swimming after spending most of the day traveling in his car seat.
Well, tomorrow we are heading to the city to get the paperwork all completed. Margaret's cousin Marie is going along, so she can check out where she has to go when she has to get all of her paperwork done for her adoption from Russia.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
No Name Yet, BUT we did apply for Peter's Passport :)
Okay, so we are still deciding on a name. Our lawyer wrote us back and told us that the grandmother's name is in the documents he emailed us, but we have no idea what is a person's name or a town's name - because it's all written in Spanish. So Margaret emailed the Lawyer back to find out the correct answer. Don't worry, she'll have a name before the weekend.......
So today, we applied for Peter's passport, and that was an adventure all by itself. Since Peter is a minor both parents have to be present with him. Kerry called earlier today to tell me he would be getting off of work at 3 and would be able to go with us to apply for the passport. So I then called the 1-800 post office number to see what Post Office in the area does Passports after 3pm. Believe it or not, out of 45 Post Offices in our area, only ONE did passport until 4pm. So at 3pm I called Kerry to see where he was and he was still at work and told me he would call me back. So I packed up the "kitchen sink" (all the paperwork we might be needing to get this passport), and Peter and I drove to Massapequa. On the way, Kerry callled me about 3:20, I asked him if he was on his way - he said no he was still at work. So I told him that he had less than 1/2 hour to get to Massapequa. Peter and I went into the Post Office, it was about 3:40 and I explained to the woman that my husband was on his way. She then informed me that the Passport office closes at 4pm no exceptions - and there was no sense for her to start the paperwork since he wasn't present. So then I asked if they took Pictures ( I already knew the answer - I was just trying to take up time), so we took pictures of Peter. The woman almost didn't take the pics, because she expected a 22 month old to stand still against the wall for her to take the pic.......yeah right! So then I suggested maybe having him sit on the chair and that worked out better. Kerry called about ten minutes before 4 telling me that he just past the mall. When I hung up the phone the woman asked if my husband was here as she looked at the clock and it said 3:55pm. I told her that he was just a block away...........so at 3:59 guess who walks into the Post Office.................as Peter would say............DAD!!! walked in. So after handing over the "kitchen sink" and the fee.......it was all done. Since we paid for expedited service, hopefully Peter will have his passport in 2-3 weeks, and then we can make plans to go and visit.
So today, we applied for Peter's passport, and that was an adventure all by itself. Since Peter is a minor both parents have to be present with him. Kerry called earlier today to tell me he would be getting off of work at 3 and would be able to go with us to apply for the passport. So I then called the 1-800 post office number to see what Post Office in the area does Passports after 3pm. Believe it or not, out of 45 Post Offices in our area, only ONE did passport until 4pm. So at 3pm I called Kerry to see where he was and he was still at work and told me he would call me back. So I packed up the "kitchen sink" (all the paperwork we might be needing to get this passport), and Peter and I drove to Massapequa. On the way, Kerry callled me about 3:20, I asked him if he was on his way - he said no he was still at work. So I told him that he had less than 1/2 hour to get to Massapequa. Peter and I went into the Post Office, it was about 3:40 and I explained to the woman that my husband was on his way. She then informed me that the Passport office closes at 4pm no exceptions - and there was no sense for her to start the paperwork since he wasn't present. So then I asked if they took Pictures ( I already knew the answer - I was just trying to take up time), so we took pictures of Peter. The woman almost didn't take the pics, because she expected a 22 month old to stand still against the wall for her to take the pic.......yeah right! So then I suggested maybe having him sit on the chair and that worked out better. Kerry called about ten minutes before 4 telling me that he just past the mall. When I hung up the phone the woman asked if my husband was here as she looked at the clock and it said 3:55pm. I told her that he was just a block away...........so at 3:59 guess who walks into the Post Office.................as Peter would say............DAD!!! walked in. So after handing over the "kitchen sink" and the fee.......it was all done. Since we paid for expedited service, hopefully Peter will have his passport in 2-3 weeks, and then we can make plans to go and visit.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Still deciding on a Name
All day today, while watching T.V. Margaret would get a few ideas of names for our daughter, but no luck. This evening Margaret went on line to get some ideas and to see what a few names meant? Have you ever been on the http://www.babynamesworld.com website, there are tons and tons of names to pick from. Well, Margaret managed to come up with about a dozen suggestions, so in the morning when Kerry wakes up - she'll run the names by him. So hopefully tomorrow we will have a name for our daughter. It's pretty tricky coming up with a name that hasn't been used yet with so many in Margaret's family - but we will find one.......just wait!
Monday, July 23, 2007
Where do we begin?
Hi All,
First, we want to thank you all for coming by and checking on our progress with our second adoption. If you would like to get an email when we update our blog, just send me an email - and I'll put you on the list.
As for this wonderful surprise, I don't even know where to begin. Over a month ago we discussed adopting again - so Peter would have a sibling to grow up with. Then there was a chance of us adopting Peter's birth sibling - but that didn't work out, because Peter's birthmom decided to have an abortion. So we just went ahead with our original plans of adopting again from Guatemala. It wasn't an easy decision, we checked into adopting from other Countries, because of the Hague Treaty in Guatemala, but after looking at our choices, Kerry just said......."lets go with Guatemala since we've been there and Peter and his sibling will be from the same Country".......Margaret was fine with this choice.
Just about two weeks ago - we were planning on using FTIA (the agency we used to bring our son Peter home) for our second adoption, then after talking to a couple of people and Margaret and her yahoo groups on Adopting from Guatemala.............here we are - doing an adoption Independently. We weren't even sure yet what our game plan was, because Kerry still liked the idea of a security blanket (Ie. FTIA), and Margaret knew the paperwork and really didn't need an agency to walk her through it, and much rather spend the money saved on visiting our daughter. We discussed the pros and cons, and either way the lawyers have the power to do what they wanted, regardless if they were with an agency or not. So we decided to go independently and hopefully by going this route it will be a quicker process. It is so amazing, how everything just falls into place. So here we are with a referral of a cute little girl, and Margaret just emailed the Lawyer in Guatemala telling him that we were interested in this little girl, and asked more questions to find out more info on the baby and her family.
Margaret called her mom this evening to tell her the wonderful news. Mom is all excited on picking out a name for our daughter. We are still deciding on a name. We emailed the lawyer to see what the grandparents names were, and to see if her given name was after anyone.
As for the paperwork, Margaret started that in the beginning of July and had all the paperwork collected for our Dossier, within 7 days. The fingerprints was the only thing that slowed up everything, because we had to wait for the clearances to come back. As for our Dossier - we just got word today that our fingerprints and child abuse clearance all came through so our homestudy is DONE! So Thurs. Margaret is going to pick that up and head to Riverhead to get all the documents certified, and then first thing Friday morning we are heading into NYC to get it all authenticated!!! Yippie!!!! Anyone want to go for a train ride? Peter will be participating in this fun adventure to get his sister home. Wow, it'll be Peter's first time on the train.........chooo chooo!
So lets think positive that this little angel will be home real soon. Right now this lawyer is only working with about 5 families, so its not like we will have to wait on a pile to be submitted to any part of the process.
Here is the information on this little angel that we received from our Lawyer;
Her name is Nancy España Martinez, she born in the Hospital de Zacapa on July 18 2007, today I took her to the first medical check up and she weight 5.2 pounds Length 45 cms head circumference 32 cms. Her lab test was taken. The Doctor said she looks normal and healthy, with no obvious physical abnormalities. Her pregnancy was normal; she has medical control, and was on time.
Her mother name is Maria Cristina España Martinez, she is from Chiquimula, she is 21 years old, she is single. She lives with her mother in Aldea La Catocha this is a very poor place, she help her mother with doing housekeeping activities.
She declares no sickness history in her family. She declares she is healthy.
Now the fun adventure of coming up with a name? There is already a Nancy in the family, so we have to come up with another name. Hopefully the grandparents name will be helpful. We'll let you know what we decide on.
Have a great week!
First, we want to thank you all for coming by and checking on our progress with our second adoption. If you would like to get an email when we update our blog, just send me an email - and I'll put you on the list.
As for this wonderful surprise, I don't even know where to begin. Over a month ago we discussed adopting again - so Peter would have a sibling to grow up with. Then there was a chance of us adopting Peter's birth sibling - but that didn't work out, because Peter's birthmom decided to have an abortion. So we just went ahead with our original plans of adopting again from Guatemala. It wasn't an easy decision, we checked into adopting from other Countries, because of the Hague Treaty in Guatemala, but after looking at our choices, Kerry just said......."lets go with Guatemala since we've been there and Peter and his sibling will be from the same Country".......Margaret was fine with this choice.
Just about two weeks ago - we were planning on using FTIA (the agency we used to bring our son Peter home) for our second adoption, then after talking to a couple of people and Margaret and her yahoo groups on Adopting from Guatemala.............here we are - doing an adoption Independently. We weren't even sure yet what our game plan was, because Kerry still liked the idea of a security blanket (Ie. FTIA), and Margaret knew the paperwork and really didn't need an agency to walk her through it, and much rather spend the money saved on visiting our daughter. We discussed the pros and cons, and either way the lawyers have the power to do what they wanted, regardless if they were with an agency or not. So we decided to go independently and hopefully by going this route it will be a quicker process. It is so amazing, how everything just falls into place. So here we are with a referral of a cute little girl, and Margaret just emailed the Lawyer in Guatemala telling him that we were interested in this little girl, and asked more questions to find out more info on the baby and her family.
Margaret called her mom this evening to tell her the wonderful news. Mom is all excited on picking out a name for our daughter. We are still deciding on a name. We emailed the lawyer to see what the grandparents names were, and to see if her given name was after anyone.
As for the paperwork, Margaret started that in the beginning of July and had all the paperwork collected for our Dossier, within 7 days. The fingerprints was the only thing that slowed up everything, because we had to wait for the clearances to come back. As for our Dossier - we just got word today that our fingerprints and child abuse clearance all came through so our homestudy is DONE! So Thurs. Margaret is going to pick that up and head to Riverhead to get all the documents certified, and then first thing Friday morning we are heading into NYC to get it all authenticated!!! Yippie!!!! Anyone want to go for a train ride? Peter will be participating in this fun adventure to get his sister home. Wow, it'll be Peter's first time on the train.........chooo chooo!
So lets think positive that this little angel will be home real soon. Right now this lawyer is only working with about 5 families, so its not like we will have to wait on a pile to be submitted to any part of the process.
Here is the information on this little angel that we received from our Lawyer;
Her name is Nancy España Martinez, she born in the Hospital de Zacapa on July 18 2007, today I took her to the first medical check up and she weight 5.2 pounds Length 45 cms head circumference 32 cms. Her lab test was taken. The Doctor said she looks normal and healthy, with no obvious physical abnormalities. Her pregnancy was normal; she has medical control, and was on time.
Her mother name is Maria Cristina España Martinez, she is from Chiquimula, she is 21 years old, she is single. She lives with her mother in Aldea La Catocha this is a very poor place, she help her mother with doing housekeeping activities.
She declares no sickness history in her family. She declares she is healthy.
Now the fun adventure of coming up with a name? There is already a Nancy in the family, so we have to come up with another name. Hopefully the grandparents name will be helpful. We'll let you know what we decide on.
Have a great week!
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Pictures from our Visit Trip to see Anna Maria 01/02 - 01/08/08
