Annie is One!!!

May 9th is Annie's first birthday. When we first got her referral we were hopeful she could be home by now, but as life tends to go, it was not to be.

The kids and I got up in the morning and made her cupcakes. We used little rubber ducky cupcake liners. I made some frosting and the kids helped me make little signs for each cupcake that said "happy 1st birthday Annie." We passed them out off and on all day. I got pictures of everyone we gave one too so that Annie can have that in her baby book and know how much we all missed her on her birthday.

And, I did miss her. Sometimes it feels like getting our kids home is just a pipe dream that has no intention of coming true. I have hope, so I don't mean to sound too down, I just so badly would have loved to have her home (both of them).

I will post some pictures as soon as I get them loaded.

As for an update, well, I don't have much of one. Our agency coordinator just got back from Guatemala and sent us all an e-mail letting us know she will be handing out updates and sending out videos this week. So, that will be great. I am excited to see exactly where are cases are at. Both kids should be in PGN.

I have been seeing a decent amount of "Outs" from PGN lately. That is encouraging. Most timelines are running 5 to 10 weeks. Although I have see a rare 4 weeker. I know that Sr Barriors (the dude that does the final sign off of all cases) is on vacation, so I guess he has someone signing off in his stead. Let's hope the new guy or gal has plenty of pens!!

Another noteworthy mention is that the ADA (the adoption defense agency in Guat.) has filed a constitutional challenge against the Manual of Good Practices that everyone is so concerned about. Here's the link:

http://www.adaguatemala.org/English/news/2007/04/constitutional_challenge_again.html

Also, I have heard that the ADA is filing charges against PGN for not processing cases within their legal timeframe. I don't know if this is true or not, but they filed charges in 2003 for the same thing and did speed up PGN for a time.

Well, that is all I have. Please, please continue to keep us and our babies in your prayers. My heart is aching for this to be over with and for my family to be complete.

Julie