Week 8 has started...

Today we start week 8 of waiting to hear from PGN (Guatemalan Attorney General's office). The good news is that we have not been kicked out....although that could still happen. We received word earlier this week that we are "still in PGN"...so that's good, I think. :)

In other news, Mike's garden has been growing well. And considering that we live on the third floor of a condominium and have no yard, that's quite a feat! We have already enjoyed a good bit of salad and saw that our first bean came up this week! I also saw our first little tomato this morning (planted a little late). We're excited to enjoy some fresh veggies before too long!


This picture was taken a few weeks ago, before Mike's haircut. (If you think he looks cute here, you should see him now! )


The second picture was taken a few days ago. Is this an engineering marvel or what?? :)














I do have some good news. I am seeing a good number of people get out of PGN, so that encourages us that *maybe* we'll get out soon too. Once out of PGN, then they say it can take another 4-8 weeks before you can pick your child up. The past few weeks have been tough, but we are very thankful that we are finally looking at that light at the end of the tunnel. And as I mentioned in a previous email, we will praise God on the good days and on the bad. We know He is in control and He is mighty and faithful. :)

The nursery is getting closer and closer to being ready every day as is Mike's thesis. He's made great progress in the past few weeks and is hoping to have his rough draft done by end of August.

As always, please pray for our son Kaden, his paperwork to make it through and out soon, and for Mike's thesis to get finished. We can almost taste it!!

Blessings and best wishes to all of you.
Love,
Mike and Susan

Zee black hole de PGN

Sorry it's been a while since our last update....but my excuses are:

1. My mom fell and broke her hip (not recommended by the way....VERY painful!)


2. We got into PGN but haven't really had any updates.

But alas, my public beckons and I comply... as it happens, I do have a few quick updates:

1. PGN - the latest


2. More cute pictures of the sweetest, cutest little enchilada you've ever seen


3. Paris Hilton is finally out!

PGN - the latest
We received an update yesterday that said "Still in PGN...since 05/31/07" If you don't remember what PGN is, its the Guatemalan attorney general's office and our last big step of the process. It's known as the "black hole" however because some people get in and out in a couple months, for others it can take 6 months or more. :( And there ain't a dad-blamed thang you can do about it...just pray and wait and pray and wait.

We have some other friends who were submitted to PGN around the same date we were. Some have already had a "KO"--kick out. That means some PGN reviewer found something they didn't like in the docs and so kicked the docs out. Now the adoptive parents' attorney has to address any issues or mistakes that need to be corrected. So it's a good thing that we haven't been kicked out yet....but it can get a little nerve racking to ponder that we might get kicked out at 8 weeks or 12 weeks and then have to wait an additional 8 -10 weeks where as others have gotten kicked out much sooner, and have been resubmitted much sooner. Anyway, it doesn't help to fret over this....we have control...may not get any kick outs, who knows?

Cute pictures of our enchilada
Here are more pictures for those of you who just couldn't stand not seeing Kaden for another month. They sent us a few more pictures recently along with a very short video. But before I show you that, I wanted to share the bible verse I have been praying for Kaden.

"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He wil quiet you with his love. He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17 (KJV)

At the last update our sweet little boy was a whopping 16.5 lbs! I'm trying to do more arm curls in preparation but I'm only up to 10 lbs thus far...not sure I can keep up!

Also some dear friends had a shower for me last weekend (my first ever!) Kaden is getting some great loot. Now we just need to get him home so he can start using it !

On the top left are Lisa, Me, Penny and Lesley. :) On the right are diapers that have uh, encouragements? and advice written on them. :)

Paris Hilton is finally out!
If you zoomed down to this section for an update, you really need to get a life! Kaden is SOOOOOO much more important than this! :) And so are all of you!

Mom didn't want her picture on my blog this time, but I am thankful to report she is doing well. It's been a tough month but she is a fighter and has worked hard at her physical therapy. Please pray for her continued healing and strength.

Have a great week.
Susan

One more to get you through the weekend

I had to share one more post...you've gotta see ME with my son! I'm not having a good hair day in this video, but hey, all you care about is seeing the cute baby, right? This was taken our last day with Kaden. He loves doing the "bouncey bouncey" as you'll see here.


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I've been hearing some good news on the Guatemala side this week. Pre-approvals seems to be coming a bit faster, although we're still waiting for ours. I have dreamt twice this week that we got ours. Would you pray that we will get "PA" this weekend or early next week? It sure would be great to know we're finally headed towards our last big step to bring this little one home.

And finally, about the charcoal...we took some Acidophilus pills with us to Guatemala. We were told to take some with every meal to fight off any food illnesses. They have the "good" bacteria...that sounds funny, anyway, the "good" bacteria that you need to fight off any "bad" bacteria you may be eating. However, once we returned home we found out that charcoal also does a good job of neutralizing any "bad" bacteria. So, since I was not doing well the first part of this week, Mike went to GNC to buy more acidophilus pills but came home with charcoal pills as well! I've been taking them this week and I must say...they're strange. It's a weird experience to swallow solid black pills and people give you strange looks as well. I have found, however, that this natural remedy is not unfamiliar to some other people. A Russian friend at work said that charcoal is what they all use for any stomach troubles. "What Pepto Bismal is to you in the U.S., charcoal is to us in Russia." Go figure!! Well, I'm not sure if it helped me or not but I'm definitely feeling better. If anyone needs some charcoal let us know, I think we have extra left over!

Pray for PA and Pray our boy home!

--Susan

Mike made me eat charcoal!

Yep folks, you read it right...my husband made me eat charcoal! But more on that later. :) First lets take a look at the sweetest, happiest, cutest little Guatemalan you've ever seen! The light is a bit dim here, its first thing in the morning and our little one is doing his morning coos and goos.

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We had a fantastic week in Guatemala City. Kaden is a sweet, wonderful baby and it was great to finally meet his foster family. I chuckle every time I look at this picture of us and Kaden's foster mom.

The Marriott we stayed at was very nice but a bit pricey for our taste (I think we're used to Motel 6 or something!). We stayed healthy for the most part except for one day when Mike started turning a greenish-yellow color. It didn't take me long to decide that it would be worthwhile to have an english speaking doctor pay him a visit! He got some medicine and was fine the next day.

But back to Kaden....he kept us up a good bit the first night, but he's just a darling little boy. He was a bit whiny...probably due to anxiety, but he wasn't a big cryer. He has a wonderful smile that lights up his whole face and is quite the cuddler.

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We spent most of our time in our room or in the baby lounge. This Marriott has a very nice baby lounge on the 3rd floor stocked with toys, a changing table, comfy furniture and a PC that anyone can use to download pictures and connect to the internet. It was nice to meet other folks like us while down there. We got to meet a very nice couple from Boston and another one that flew in from Ireland. We also got to meet up with a couple from Atlanta that is adopting through our same agency.

I'm not sure what else to say unless you want to hear about the poopy diapers or me kissing his feet or Mike reading his deep theological books to Kaden. It was just a wonderful, amazing week. We are so thankful for this little one and can't wait to make the trip back to bring him home! Speaking of which, we still don't really know when we'll be able to bring him home, but we're hoping to hear good news in the next few months. So, please keep praying our boy home! And thanks so much for everyone's continued prayers and support. This has been an awfully long journey, but oh, what a precious little boy he is. We can't wait to introduce him to you all!

This picture was taken on our last day together. Mike wasn't feeling well so he was lying down and rubbing Kaden's tummy. I got him to smile at me while I held the camera at an indirect angle.
I'll post more details and video in my next few blogs. :) Oh and I guess I'm outta room so you'll have to wait until my next blog to hear about the charcoal!