Stay tuned this week for new monthly pictures!

We should be getting new pictures from our attorney this week! They will also include info from her doctor's visit in December. We know that she weighed just a bit over 11 pounds at that visit, but will be interested to see her lenght and head circumference growth too. In the mean time while we wait, here are a few more pics from our visit trip!

Finally some news from Guatemala!

One of the Guatemalan newspapers printed an article today stating that the new board of directors for the Central Authority were sworn in last night!!!!!!!!!! This is big news for us. Even bigger news is that the article also indicates that getting in-process cases like ours registered is top priority and could begin as early as this coming week. I am so happy just to hear that something is happening there. Please continue to pray that we, and the hundreds of other families waiting, are able to register next week and that those of us who are waiting for this registration will be able to re-enter PGN very soon.

No news

We had hoped to hear more about the new Central Authority in Guatemala today, but so far there has been nothing. I guess we now pray for something on Monday. Since Monday is the swearing-in for the new president, maybe he is waiting to make the announcement then. Please continue to keep all of the families waiting to register with this new Central Authority in your thoughts and prayers. We can't finish our process until we are able to register.

Maybe some good news????

It looks like at least a little something is happening in Guatemala right now. There was an announcement of the actual physical location of the new Central Authority that we all have to register with in order for our cases to continue. Still no news about how we actual register, but it's a step in the right direction! Please keep those prayers coming that we get more news soon!

I'm going back to see my girl!

As you can see from the ticker at the top of our page, I booked another visit trip to go visit Ariana! I know we haven't even been home a whole week yet, but the tickets were cheap and with this new unknown about PGN timelines, it seemed like the right choice for us. Will, unfortunately, will not be able to go with me, so my oldest nephew will be going instead. It should be a great experience for him-especially since he is in Spanish II at school. He is possibly even more excited than I am, if you can imagine. If anyone else is traveling then, we hope to see you there!

Bad news about PGN

Well, it looks like it is true that PGN is not accepting any files that are not currently in its posession, including ones like ours that have been given a kickout for whatever reason. It sounds like this is a temporary situation waiting for a new "Central Authority" dictated in the new adoption law to be set us so that we can register with said authority before entering PGN again. (See www.adaguatemala.org for more info about this if you'd like) Basically, it sounds like we wait and pray that this new Central Authority is up and running soon so that we can be registered and get back into PGN very soon. I ask that everyone pray for all of us stuck in this mess that a quick and easy solution that follows the law and allows us to bring our babies home soon can be found.

Home tonight...

and definitely missing my sweet baby girl. Having said that, though, I really am at peace with giving her back to her foster family until we can return to bring her home. We had dinner with them last night before they took Ariana back with them. It was apparent from all of their interactions that they are a loving family and they are truly crazy about our daughter. Our foster mom has three sons who all rushed to give Ariana hugs and kisses as soon as they walked in the door. Ariana was full of smiles and laughs for all of them. It made handing her over so much easier for me. (But I will say I was secretly thrilled when she immediately began leaning toward me and fussing as soon as her foster aunt and grandma tried to hold her!) Of course, I still feel like my heart will never be complete until I hold her in my arms again.

While we were in Guatemala, I found out that we have received the inevitable kick out of PGN for not having our pre-approval when we were submitted. Believe it or not, this is, I hope, a good thing since we now have PA. We are hoping to be resubmitted soon, although there seems to be some confusion about when/if PGN will be accepting resubmits now. Please pray that we will get back into PGN soon since we have to be IN before we can be approved and get OUT!

For anyone considering a visit trip, it is 100% worth the pain of giving the baby back to make all of those memories. I wouldn't trade one single moment of the visit. I feel closer to my daughter than I ever thought possible in such a short time. I won't lie and say it was easy to hand her over and walk away, but I will say that the time I spent dreading that moment was actually far worse than the actual moment of giving her back. Thanks to everyone who was following our journey and sending us your prayers.