What the.......

Well, no Katerine news to report, but the pics show what our yard looked like this morning In Bellevue. In LATE March. I don't think anyone is getting an early spring this year.

We left Bellevue at 5 last night to go to the Springsteen concert DT Seattle (which was awesome, BTW) and came back at midnight to 3-4 inches of snow on the gound. None falling. There was absolutely no snow in Seattle, and it wasn't till we crossed the bridge back to Bellevue that we started to see snow.

Waiting.....

More happy baby pics. I hope she laughs like this all the way home on the plane.

From 8/21/07- the early days
From 10/21/07- getting bigger

No updates. I'm posting some pics of Kat that you haven't seen yet. We should be down to 4-6 weeks now. Or less? I've been updating the baby registry on amazon.com, shopping at Target (we have to take stuff with us for any eventuality- all sorts of baby drugs, all feeding implements (is that what they're called?)). The only things we don't need to take with us are diapers and formula, as they will take us shopping there for those items. I think we will only be there 5 days or so. Sunday- Thursday, I think.

Once we get there, they will take us out on three (extremely well guarded) trips: the store for diapers/formula, the American Embassy for our appointment with the Embassy folks (I think that Kat also will see a Dr. on that trip) and to the Guatemalan craft market, which will be a great place to stock up on all things Mayan for Kat for the future.

Our progress: the crib is set up, I ordered & received a high tech/high end jogging stroller from REI. I really plan to run with her and we're signing up for a July half-marathon, so Kat may do her first half soon. I started buying diapers, finally, now that I have some idea what size she'll be when we get her. Can't buy formula yet- have to see what the Dr. says about what to put her on (and what she's on already). I've bought clothes in lots on eBay, so we have a vast array of baby clothes (and sizes). I researched car seats, but haven't yet bought them. I suppose it's time, especially since we want to take them to a car seat check to make sure they're correctly installed, since we are clueless.

We have just two more full weekends left, we assume. John flies in on Friday 4/11, we're checking out Seattle and maybe going to listen to the Dalai Lama on Saturday, on Sunday at some ungodly hour, we will head to Whidbey Island (about 2 hrs away) I'm running the 1/2 marathon and John's running the whole (has been training hard in the snow in BUF-CRAZY). Dan will be doing the 1/2 if he's not working that day. A few days of recovery/work then on the 15th, we all head to Whistler to ski for four days and return on 4/20. I'm hopeful that we'll then head to GC that night, but who knows (though if we're going, we will know before we leave for Whistler).

Though we could head to GC sooner. Who knows? I'll post any info here once I get it.

Very Happy Baby Pics

Be sure to read the previous post for the scoop on Kat's planned emigration in early May.

BIG NEWS

Well the agency called today and said that we're out of PGN (the court system). So much for the average of 10-12 weeks, we cleared it in 4!! They said that since we were among the first to hit the courts after the law changes, there was no one ahead of us.

So, the current projected timeframe to travel to pick her up is about the first or second week of May!!! Holy crap!!! I was beyond any expectation that she'd come home in May, so this is indeed amazing news. It's all very rough timeframe-wise and subject to change, in either direction.

The next steps if, you're curious, as I understand them are:
The attorney will get her birth mom's fourth and final sign off on the adoption, then will get a new birth certificate with her new last name (Cassidy....for now). These events could take a few days, or a few weeks. Then they will get her a Guatemalan passport, which takes a few days. Documents will have to be translated and returned to the Embassy, that's about 3 weeks, then the Embassy will issue the order for the 2nd DNA test (to make sure she is the same baby who was tested along with her mom back when all of this started) and once the hard copy of the DNA test gets back to the Embassy, they issue a pink slip, which means that we have an appointment with them 10-14 days in the future and then we'll practically be on our way! Holy crap!!!

We have to do some shopping (can you say Amazon.com and Target.com?) !! At this rate, we may practically go from Whistler to Guatemala City. Cool!

When I hear more, I will post it so y'all will know what's happening and how soon we expect to wrench Kat from the nearly tropical climate that she's used to and bring her to the Pacific NorthWest. At least she'll see summer first.

No actual news, more Pictures

2/29/08

2/29/08

From 12-28-08

Well, the agency called today and said that we actually entered PGN (the court system) on 2/14. Traditionally this has taken 8-12 weeks. But of course, there may be new roadblocks due to the new system. Or maybe there will be fewer cases and it'll be sooner. We don't know. Then they have to get a new birth certificate, a Guatemalan passport, translate our file, do embassy stuff, and that is estimated to take 4-8 weeks after getting out of PGN. SO...as usual, we don't really know anything definitive. It's looking like late June? But could be sooner or later. Stay tuned.