Our Upcoming Visit to Meet Kat

Well, we don't know anything new, but we probably know some things about the process that our friends and families might be wondering about. As you can see I have posted some more pics. They are not new, I'm hoping to get some new photos soon.

We booked our flights to Guatemala City for 2/28 (through Houston Ugh) and the agency told us that we should try to arrive during daylight hours....hmmmm. They will have people meet us and I have been led to believe that they always have two vehicles transporting the adoptive parents....I wonder what is in the second one?

We arrive Thursday night (after dark- yikes) and on Friday morning, the foster mother will bring her to the hotel to drop her off. She will return on Monday AM to take Kat back. So we will have her for three days and nights and then will hand her back over to her foster mom (whose name I hope to learn before we go). I suspect that will suck. But hopefully it won't be too long before we make another trip, our final trip.

The adoption agency has their own well-equipped suite in the hotel and they encourage us to hang out in there with the baby. They strongly discourage us hanging out in the lobby and are adamant that we don't leave the hotel- definitely not with the baby. I'm not sure that all Guatemalans are big fans of the influx of Americans showing up and adopting their babies. I think they have a valid point....there is minor internal conflict on this issue.

So we'll be sequestered in the hotel with poor little Kat, but I guess it will be good for all of us to get to know each other. And from what I've read, and the fact that Guatemala City is on the top ten list of the world's most dangerous cities, I'm not too keen on exploring. It will, however, be great to meet other families who are adopting and share the experience with other folks.

I have been spending too much money on Amazon and eBay. Today I received bilingual versions of "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Conceited Little Rat". Actually, I was supposed to have 3 different books, but once I looked at them to tell you what I had, I realized that I had 2 copies of "The Ugly Duckling"..... DOUGH!!! I guess I'll leave one with the foster mom? Or another family down there.

Introduction

Hi all,

This is our new blog to introduce you to our new baby, Katerine. Unfortunately she is not yet living with us, she is still in her home country in Central America (which borders Mexico, Belize, San Salvadore and Honduras).

We will be visiting her in late February and will finally get to meet her. I will post plenty of pictures, don't worry.

She was born this past August (at 5lbs, 7oz, 18.35"- pretty much the norm for her home country) and has been with a foster mother while the legalities are settled.

We are hopeful that we can bring her home in May or June, but have no real idea. I'm sure it's at least three months from now, we don't know if it will be more. Her/our case is just beginning in the court system (and one of the first grandfathered under new laws), so.... we just don't know.

We are very excited about this new chapter in our lives and have no real idea what to expect. But she's new to this stuff too, so she probably doesn't have high expectations. That's good.

We're hopeful that she'll be here by June, so one of us can enjoy the summer off on family leave while getting to know Kat.

That is the scoop from here. I will keep you posted and post lots of pictures.

I'm not trying to be evasive in this post, but I'm pretty sure that we're not supposed to be posting her info all over online until she comes home, but how else are you going to meet her?