We have Pre-Approval!

Big news! We received pre-approval from the US Embassy yesterday! Hooray! This means that our DNA was approved and our next step is our last step - PGN! On Monday, Lourdes, our facilitator here in Guatemala will pick up the pre-approval and then submit it along with our file to PGN. She told me should would do this on Tuesday or Wednesday. We are so happy to finally be moving on once again. What a relief. We will hope for a quick time in PGN. What is new here? Well, let's see. Blake's bottom two teeth are really beginning to show now and he is not as fussy as he was when they were popping through. Poor little guy. At one point I actually found a small chunk of his gums hanging in front of his little tooth. I felt so bad for him. We went to see Dr. Montiel yesterday (see the picture) for my first time - Blake's 5th! Blake weighs 15 1/2 pounds now which is only 1/2 lb. more than last time so I think we'll up the rice cereal a bit! He was smiling and talking to Dr. Montiel until he had to get a Polio shot which sent him over the edge! It is SO awful to watch your baby cry like that. Thankfully, he happied right up. Rocio, Blake's foster mom has been missing him terribly so I invited her to come meet us along with her daughter for the appointment. She couldn't take her hands off him and was a great help at the doctor's office. We are so fortunate to have her. We hope Blake will always stay in contact with her throughout his life. Let's see. Oh, mom has had Montezuma's Revenge after eating at McDonald's (which I'll never do again) last Wednesday. Fortunately I loaded up on the "D" medication before leaving so this has helped. This is the second time now so hopefully it will be the last! On another note, Antigua has been celebrating a certain saint day (July 25th) all month and so there have been much festivities in the central park along with fireworks at night! Thankfully all the babies here are used to this noise and they sleep right through it. Blake has been attempting rice cereal in the last week or so. He's not too sure about it, but a little bit is going down at least! These pictures say it all! I am trying really hard to stay occupied and distracted day by day because the minute I don't, I begin thinking of home and Chris and my dogs that I've left behind. It is hard, believe me. I am trying to keep my head up though for Blake's sake though to be the best mommy I can be. The daily emails from Kaylie and phone calls from Chris continue to keep me smiling as well as Blake's adorable face.

On another subject, Blake's birth mom wants to meet me. This has been a really sensitive subject lately and Chris and I have been really torn about whether to meet with her or not. We received a phone call last week from Lourdes who said that she wanted to meet me to make sure Blake was happy and safe and that I was a good person. Apparently, as awful as this sounds, there are newspaper articles in Guatemala that are stating that Americans are adopting babies to donate their organs for money. This makes me sick, but to some Guatemalans, this is very true and they believe every word especially when their towns are pressuring them. This is what has been happening to Blake's birth mom. We had planned on meeting her (along with Lourdes and her business partner) last Wednesday, but I got a call at the last minute saying that the birth mom's brother had died the night before in a car accident and that she wanted to reschedule. So, as of now, we sit waiting for the phone call to meet again. Perhaps that phone call will not come (which might be a relief), but if it does, I think it will be best if I meet. If not, our agent has said it will cause more anxiety and who knows what could happen at that point. The thing that has been stressing me out to the max is that a friend of mine, Jen from Arizona who was fostering her 3 month old baby in a house nearby was in the same step of the adoption process as us. 5 days ago, she received a phone call from her agency saying that her baby's birth mom had changed her mind and they were coming to get her baby in three hours. She was devastated of course and came to talk to me about it. I was speechless. She assured me though (after me telling her that I was meeting with Blake's birth mom the next day) that this was a rare occurrence and I shouldn't worry. Still, I cannot stop thinking about the phone call I might get in the next few weeks. At this point in the adoption, she can still change her mind. Please send positive thoughts our way so that this won't be the case. I have spoken with Lourdes several times about how we feel and she continues to tell us that the birth mom is 100% positive about her decision to put Blake up for adoption and all she wants to see is that Blake is in loving arms. Hopefully this will be obvious to her when we do end up meeting. I have begun writing her a letter in the hopes that she can take it back with her. Chris has sent me pictures of us, our house, our dogs, and Blake's nursery in the hopes that they will put her at peace with this adoption. Auntie Melaine will be here in 3 weeks! She is still waiting on an expedited passport that is supposed to arrive in the next 2 1/2 weeks. It will be cutting it short so if it doesn't arrive in time, she will reschedule her flight for a few days later! We are thinking of you all and wishing you well. There are so many fun things I keep thinking about that I want us to do when we return home I can hardly stand the wait! Please pray for no kick outs and a smooth PGN process! Please also pray for the speedy return of all of the moms living here with us at Casa Bella. Love you all.