Outrageous!!!

Ire over boy's removal from foster By Benjamin Y. Lowe and Kathleen Brady Shea Inquirer Staff Writers Two days ahead of schedule, Chester County officials removed a tearful, 3-year-old child yesterday from his Downingtown-area foster home so he could be placed with a family who is adopting him in central Pennsylvania. The county's original plan was for the child to meet his new family yesterday and then leave his current Uwchlan Township home for good tomorrow, said his foster parents, Randall and Susan Borelly. They cared for the child for nearly two years but were prevented from adopting him. Instead, according to the family, two caseworkers from the Department of Children, Youth and Families arrived at 10 a.m. yesterday - an hour ahead of schedule - and said that "plans have changed" and that they were removing the child then. Randall Borelly was at work and Susan Borelly and her sister, who was visiting, asked for more time. After being told the sister wanted to take the child, named Kevin, on a quick errand, the two caseworkers returned to their car and called police. Two officers arrived 30 minutes later. Susan Borelly let one of the officers into the house as she and her husband, who had since returned, packed Kevin's things. Susan Borelly said later that she told Kevin that the county "wanted him to meet his new mom and dad. He said, 'I'll be scared. Mommy and Daddy are here'." They said they bid their final good-byes to Kevin as Susan Borelly fastened him into a carseat in a county vehicle. He was gone by 11 a.m. Randall Borelly said that Kevin's foster siblings did not get a chance to say good-bye. "They expected to see him when they came home [from school]," he said. James L. Forsythe, director of the county's Department of Children, Youth and Families, said confidentiality requirements prevented him from explaining why the child was removed ahead of schedule. He did say, however, that children to be adopted almost always meet with their new families prior to moving in with them. In addition, Forsythe would not say why the two caseworkers called police. Uwchlan Township Police Chief J. Patrick Davis said his department was contacted because the two social workers said they were "meeting resistance." The Borellys denied that. The sister, Beth Sweeney of Wisconsin, said she told the case workers that they were early and to come back at 11 o'clock. In addition, she said she wanted to take Kevin to the store before returning at that time. Davis said two officers were dispatched to ensure that the handoff went smoothly, which it did. Last year, the Borellys sought to adopt a niece, Danielle. But the county told the department that they could adopt only one because the county restricts families from adopting more than one child per year, unless the children are related. The Borellys adopted the girl, with the hope of reapplying to adopt Kevin in a year. But last week, the Borellys were told that Kevin was being adopted by a family in Central Pennsylvania and that the new family would visit yesterday before returning to collect him tomorrow. Adoption experts deplored the decision to remove Kevin from his home two days before promised. Transitions from foster to permanent care are already traumatic, they said, let alone trying to accomplish it in one day. "The child needs to be prepared because, psychologically, he has bonded with the family," said Gloria Hochman, a spokeswoman for the National Adoption Center in Philadelphia. "To him, those are his parents. A child that age doesn't know the difference between foster and adopt." A spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare said it reviewed the Borelly family's case but is powerless to intervene. Adoption policies are set at the county level. "We understand from the county this was a difficult decision to make," said Stacey Ward, the spokeswoman. "After reviewing their policies and procedures, we were able to determine that they followed everything correctly. There is no action we at this level can take to overturn their decision." A psychologist who examined Kevin and the Borelly family in December at the family's request said it was unnecessary to move Kevin, who is black, from the white family because he had become acclimated. Not only had Kevin bonded to the parents, Bruce E. Mapes, of Exton, said in a written report, but he bonded to Danielle, 11, and the father's stepchildren, David, 15 and Emily, 12. But the Borellys said that they believe the county preferred to put Kevin, who is black, with a black family. It is illegal to guide adoptions according to race. Michael Churchill, chief counsel for the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, said the county's "outrageous" actions at removing the child yesterday suggested that race was a factor. "It is certainly hard to understand what else would lead them to do what is so harmful to the child," said Churchill, who represented a Downingtown couple in a similar case. In 1995, B. William and Debra Fell sued unsuccessfully to retain custody of a 4-year-old girl who had lived with them since she was 3-months-old. In a civil rights filing, the Fells, who are white, charged that the county used "racial matching" when it sent the child, who was black, to live with a Maryland social worker, who was also black. Churchill said he doubted that any child-welfare expert would recommend uprooting a young child from a longtime, loving environment. "Once again, it appears that adult concerns are preventing them from seeing what this child really needs: staying with a loving, caring family." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Which one of you lovelies

Which one of you lovely bloggers posted about the controversy on adoption.com pulling the GBLT board?

Update

The Tylenol seems to be working. He hasn't been banging his head, hitting his head, pulling his hair, etc. He's still fighting me on making eye contact w/me - but I think he's just being a brat because he makes eye contact w/Marc. He's definately Daddy's little boy.

Finally!

I heard back from the mutherfucker, I mean doctor. Actually, he was very nice and apologized for not getting back to me. He said he never got the message so I politely told him that the processes in place in that office are horrible and that he really needs to work on it. He agreed and said he would. We have him a bit confused - he's not quite sure why Dylan is doing this. He said that babies will bang their heads when they are in pain. I'm wondering if this could be from teething. He asked me to give him tylenol for the next 24 hours to see if that makes a difference. I ran down to the day care and gave him some tylenol and got me some baby lovin. I feel a little better but I'm still on edge.

You are fucking with the wrong bitch my friend.

Over the weekend, Dylan started acting a little strange. He was banging his head against my chest and pulling his hair. Then, yesterday, he was slamming his head on the side of the crib. Of course, with his medical history, I called his neurologist. The message I left was "my son, who has a history of seizures, is behaving strangely". Now, if you were a physician and got that message would you not call back? I left the message at 9:00 a.m. By 4:00 p.m. I was pissed! I called the office and was told that my physician was out this week and that his back up was in clinic all day and would call me back. Did any of you hear my phone ring??? Yeah, neither did I. I had a meeting first thing this morning. I came out to find a message from the day care center. I had told them about his behavior and asked them to keep an eye on him. Well, he was crawling on the floor and began to slam his head against the rocking chair. He didn't draw blood but it definitely left a mark. I again called the neurologist but now I'm hot. I left a scathing message. That was at 10:00. Oh, wait, it's 11:00 - time to call again. Be right back... It's 11:13 and I just left another message. Oh, they will be getting calls every hour on the hour - then every half hour and then every 15 minutes. I'm so upset and I'm trying very hard not to start crying at work. I feel like I've done something wrong. I want to quit my job and be a stay at home Mom. Of course, I can't do that. Do these people know who they are fucking with??? Don't they realize that if they don't call back today my next step will be a message for the president of the hospital and tomorrow morning I will be in their waiting room with my child. I hate when doctor's do this shit. They have nurses - they can call me back.

Ack!

I took Dylan to the doctor's yesterday for a follow up. He's off the inhaler and just has to finish up the antibiotic. While we were waiting I put him up on the examining table to play with the crinkly paper (he loves that sound). All of a sudden he starts crawling on his hands and knees (instead of the army crawl). I almost passed out! I figured, maybe it's because of the paper that he's doing it, that it's helping him along. So, when we got home I put him on the hardwood floor and he started to crawl! It's kinda funny, he moves his hands and just drags his legs behind him. I called Marc and asked him when he'd be home, he was on his way so I told him I was glad he was on his way cause his son was crawling! When Marc got home, we took Dylan into the family room (all hard wood - no rugs) and he had a blast! We put him in the walker toy and his toes are just now touching the floor so he was able to get some motion. Then we put him on the floor and not only did he crawl but he surprised us both by pulling himself up on the exersaucer! Our boy is growing up!

What I Accomplished Today.

Jack Shit. That's what. Dylan awoke this morning wheezing up a storm. His coughing had gotten worse and now he was wheezing. I called the doctor's office and spoke with the after hours nurse. She said she wanted Dylan seen so we had a 10:45 appointment. We left after 2:00! Dylan is now on a nebulizer and antibiotics. Poor kid has an ear infection and it's irritating his bronchial passages (thus the nebulizer). I have to say - this nebulizer thing is the devil to Dylan. I don't think he's cried as much in the three months we've been with him than he did today. For each of the 10 minute treatments he just wailed. Tears and all. We tried giving him a treatment while he slept on my nap. That didn't go over well. I'm sure he's scarred for life and will tell his therapist that I traumatized him by doing that. Why do I feel so guilty? I know I did everything I was supposed to do up to this point but I just feel like if I had brought him in sooner, he may not have needed all of this shit (meds). He's on amoxicilon which I am allergic to. Because I had such a bad reaction to it, I'm very paranoid. I think I may have to glue the baby monitor to my head tonight. I do have to say that the doctor was impressed with Dylan. She wasn't Dylan's regular doctor. She was one of her partners. She couldn't believe that this baby, with 101 fever, infected ear and coughing up a storm was, when not coughing, smiling and charming everyone. We weren't surprised. That's Dylan.

The Pro-Life Movement

Is really scraping the bottom of the barrel when they use Her Supreme Tartlette as their role-model. Please don't misunderstand, I think the form of a pregnant woman is beautiful. I do, however, feel this particular sculpture with it's press release is hysterical.

Infertile LOST Fans (possible spoiler)

Ok, how many of you were flipping out when the doctor told Sun & Jin that they could never have children due to endo. Marc was laughing at me because I was so angry that they would say that just because she had endometriosis, that she could never get pregnant and there was nothing they could do about it (which we all know is not true). Of course, later, when the doctor stops Sun on the street to say that he lied because he didn't want her husband to lose face, I felt a smidge better. I was cruising the channels one day last week and saw one of my guilty pleasures was on. I flipped over to watch Beetle Juice. I love this movie but as I watched it part of me was sad. Buried in the plot of the movie is the infertility of Barbara. The real estate agent tells her that the house is too big for just the two of them and then looks horrorstruck and apologizes. A little later, as Barbara and her husband, Adam, are going out, he teases her that they can use this vacation to try again. I never noticed it before I had the fertility issues. It never struck me. Now, having gone through it I definately feel for that character. What other movies have struck you differently since going through IF?

What do you get when you have a baby in day care?

The flu. UGH! I've been sick since last Thursday. Coughing up a lung, sneezing and generally feeling like shit. Dylan's been hacking and was coughing quite a bit in his sleep last night. Hopefully, we are on the tail end of being sick. Other than that things have been good. Marc's Dad came in to meet Dylan (he lives in CO) and to see one of his other son's perform at Carnegie Hall with his choir. Marc and his brother went up w/his Dad to see the concert and reported back that it was wonderful. Dylan and I stayed home and got a visit from Bubbie who came bearing a few new books, a onsie that says "that's it, I'm going to Bubbie's" and fresh. home made homentashen. I'm just wanting to get through this week. From being sick I'm just exhausted. I have to stop at the market on the way home and then I'm in for the night! Thank Gd the cleaning woman comes tomorrow so I don't have to worry about cleaning up this weekend... just laundry.

Just a quick hello

Sorry I've been MIA lately. I've been so crazy with Dylan, with work and with family lately that I just don't seem to have the time to blog. I've gotten the hang of the wrap and I have to say, I love it! The only time I use the stroller is when I have a lot to carry, otherwise, he's tied to me. This morning, it was very cold so I faced him into me and put a blanket over him to protect him from the wind. I had my jacket open. It may have been 30 degrees out but I was quite comfortable and Dylan just laid his head on my chest and went to sleep. For some strange reason, he was up all night. I don't think it was his food so it must have been the teething. He has one on the bottom full through and one coming up from the bottom. He has one full through on the top side (think fang) and another coming up on the other side (other fang - we've been calling him Count lately). I'll try some Motrin tonight and hopefully we'll all get some sleep. Marc is such an incredible Dad. He's so good with Dylan. I just love to see them play together. I've decided to try to get my act together and try to get to my weight watchers goal. I have been playing with the same 5lbs for over a year now. I decided to do the core program and so far so good. I'm really hoping for a nice loss this week. Time will tell. The family stuff is my Mom's job. She works with Satan. Due to some issues - I really can't discuss it here but trust me, when all is said and done, I will totally out her company and tell you about the horrible treatment my Mom has received. I just worry about her and the stress she's under. Sorry to post and run but....

Guess what tomorrow is....

Yep, it's Steak and BJ Day!

Warning to my fellow infertiles in Palm Beach, Florida

Please please please spread the warning. Don't let this sick fucker pray on any more people! Surrogacy center's chief is chargedThe Cherry Hill center stole thousands from clients and from the surrogate mothers themselves, they say.By Sam WoodInquirer Staff WriterFor a fee, the MidAtlantic Center for Surrogacy in Cherry Hill promised to make dreams of parenthood come true. Tauheedah Jones, of Sicklerville, turned to the center because doctors said a pregnancy could kill her; Kenny Rohan of Long Island because his wife had lost her ovaries to cancer; Steven Cerqua of New York City because he wanted his partner, Ernesto, to experience the joys of fatherhood. Each looked to MidAtlantic to provide a surrogate mother who would carry a child until birth and then turn the infant over to the fee-paying parents. But as Jones and others would later relate, they had ventured into an unregulated netherworld where promises, they said, are not always as good as the money they put up. "I thought if I could give birth and not die, that would be great," said Jones, who has systemic lupus. "But it turned into a disaster." On Jan. 27, a Burlington County grand jury indicted MidAtlantic's program director, Len Brooks, on theft charges. Brooks, who has denied the charges, will have his first appearance in court Monday. Following the indictment, the prosecutor's office was inundated with calls. At least 17 people telephoned to register complaints about Brooks. A Marlton fertility clinic and seven individuals, including two in France, also contacted The Inquirer to say that they had lost thousands of dollars. Jones' story is typical of those of former clients. In 2001, Jones, then 23, wanted to have a child. But systemic lupus, an immune-system disorder, had begun to attack her kidneys. Her doctor had advised her against carrying her own child - but that did not mean she could not have another woman carry for her. So Jones scoured the Internet for information and an agency. She chose the MidAtlantic Center for Surrogacy and Egg Donation because it was the closest to her home. Surrogacy as we know it is relatively new. In 1980, a mother of three, known as "Elizabeth Kane," carried a boy for an Illinois couple. Advocates cite the Bible, Genesis 16:1-15, as the first recorded surrogate birth: when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael for Abraham and Sarah. There have been about 25,000 births through surrogacy since 1980, said Shirley Zager, director of the nonprofit Organization of Parents Through Surrogacy. Celebrities have flocked to it. During the last year alone, actress Angela Bassett, singer Art Garfunkel, and model Cindy Margolis became surro-parents, joining Joan Lunden, Kelsey Grammer, Peri Gilpin, soap opera star Deidre Hall, Cheryl Tiegs, actress Laurie Metcalf, author Jacquelyn Mitchard, and Michael Jackson. Jones had her first consultation with Brooks in 2001 and gave him a down payment of $7,000. He showed her pictures of his family - his partner, Brian, and the daughter they themselves had had through surrogacy. "He told me he was affiliated with the Cooper Center for In-Vitro Fertilization," said Jones, who was going to supply her own eggs. "They have a really good reputation." Over the next two years, Jones paid a total of $35,000 to MidAtlantic. The money was supposed to be held in trust and used for doctors, the surrogate mother in San Diego, and miscellaneous fees. From the start, there were problems. Brooks, in his role as coordinator of the pregnancy, gave the surrogate the wrong dates and times for doctors' appointments, Jones said. That was forgivable. She really began to worry when the fertility clinic, the Cooper Center for In-Vitro Fertilization in Marlton, sent her a letter saying they were no longer willing to work with Brooks' clients. "He wasn't paying the bills," said Jerome H. Check, the medical director of the Cooper Center. "He also told several patients he was affiliated with our office, which he wasn't. He used our credibility to have patients pay him, and suddenly nobody could get ahold of him." Jones asked Brooks for her account balance. Even though not even a single surrogacy procedure had been completed, her $35,000 escrow account was down to $14,800. Jones demanded receipts. She called the surrogate mother in California and asked how much of a stipend she was receiving from MidAtlantic. Brooks told Jones the surrogate would get $16,000. The surrogate told her she was getting $14,000. Jones threatened Brooks with a lawsuit if she did not get the balance of her money back. He sent her a check. It bounced, she said. He sent her another check, and she took it to the bank on which it was drawn. "I took it there three times," she said. "Each time, it wouldn't clear." Jacklen Billings, 24, volunteered to become an egg donor for MidAtlantic in 2004 after giving birth to her own child. A professional model in Blanco, Texas, Billings had enjoyed pregnancy so much that she decided to become a surrogate mother. "Everything was OK, until the first time I was owed money from Len. Then, he was suddenly unreachable," Billings said. MidAtlantic owes her more than $4,500, she said - and the paperwork she has demanded to end her contract. So far, only one criminal complaint has been filed against Brooks and MidAtlantic. The Burlington County indictment says Brooks took $24,500 from a single man from Evesham Township and promised to find a woman who would bear a child for him. Soon after cashing the man's check, Brooks told him the surrogate had backed out. Brooks promised to provide another surrogate or make a refund. Months went by. After nine months, the man filed charges, and Evesham police issued a warrant for Brooks' arrest. Brooks sent an $18,000 check directly to the police. He said he kept the remaining $6,500 to cover fees. Brooks denied the charges when he was reached last month in Florida, where he is now operating the International Surrogacy Consultants in Palm Beach. "It is apparent that the accuser is using the criminal justice system as a collections department," he said. He has declined later requests for interviews, at the advice his lawyer. MidAtlantic still maintains a Web site touting its presence in South Jersey. But Brooks has pulled out of his Cherry Hill "office" - a post-office box at a Mailbox Etc. - and set up the Florida agency, the prosecutor's office said. It's a box drop in the rear of a Palm Beach souvenir shop.

Just bop bop bopping along!

I am so tired of using the stroller on the train I can't begin to tell you. It's big, cumbersome and gets in everyone's way. Before we had left for Guatemala, I had picked up the Ultimate Baby Wrap. Well, I couldn't figure it out and it ended up stuffed back in our suitcase. I have a friend who uses a wrap and she came by the office to teach me how to use it (even let me use her daughter as a test subject. Well, this morning off we went to the train but instead of dumping Dylan into his stroller, he got strapped to my chest! I had him facing out and he absolutely loved it (as did I). I was able to get through the turnstile so much easier, I didn't have to deal with the elevator, it was wonderful! Plus, because we didn't have the stroller, we could sit down. We managed to score a seat in the very front of the train - so Dylan could look out of the front window. He was fascinated by the world flying by him. We then spent Saturday Morning walking around a lovely park. We watched the dogs and babies and just enjoyed the warm sun. It was heavenly! On Saturday afternoon I threw together a lasagne. I'm taking it over to Liana & Mason's later today (Sunday). I saw them on Friday afternoon before Liana's D&E procedure. They were in the park by my office and had called me to stop by. I am just amazed at their strength. They are amazing people and I'm just so sorry for their loss. All of their losses. I promise when I see them I will hung them for all of you. This afternoon, we are also going to see Double Bubbie (Dylan's Great Grandmother). It's her birthday this week and we are all getting together for a group visit. It's so hard to see her. She has no idea who she is, where she is, etc. She was such an amazing woman in her youth. I think my sister nailed it on the head when she said that Gd forgot Grandmom. After visiting, we are headed to my boss' house for brunch. Dylan will get to play with his girlfriend (whose Mom taught me how to do the wrap) and we will have some grownup time too.

This has been a shitty week

for my friends. First my friend Lisa and now my friend Liana has lost her baby at about 16 weeks. I spoke with her yesterday and the pain and anguish in her voice... I could feel it in my soul. My heart is breaking for her and her husband. Please go give her some love and support. She hasn't updated her blog yet and I wasn't going to post anything but there are some other bloggers pointing people her way so I figured I'd do the same.

I don't know if she still reads my blog but in case she does

I just got an email over the weekend. My friend, Lisa, lost her baby to SIDS about a week and a half ago. To say that my heart is breaking for her and her family is to put it mildly. I wish I lived closer, that I could be a true friend to her and be there for her and her husband and son. Instead, I will ask my friends here to say a prayer, send good vibes, healing energy, etc. to them.

Grab Your Hazmet Suits....

We've got a toxic ass on our hands! This morning, Dylan slept in a bit. When I finally woke him, he had blown through this diaper. Ok, I figured that it was because he had slept in. We took the train into work (as usual) but Dylan usually falls asleep when we go underground, near the end of our trip. Today, he conked out almost immediately. Still, we went in and I dropped him off at day care. I was in my office for maybe an hour when the phone rang. It was day care, the boy had turned toxic, please come and get my stinky ass son from day care (ok, they didn't say that but whew, they had every right to!). I called Marc because there was no way in hell that I was going to risk a diaper blow out on the train. We finally got home and the first thing we did was get him some pedialite then off for a 2 hour nap. He got up, played a little then another huge nap. In between, I changed some hideous diapers. I finally found the themometer and he had a 100.6 temp (under his arm). He's sleeping now. I just checked on him and I swear, stinky butt and all, he is the most beautiful boy in the whole wide world.

Prayers for a Friend

Tomorrow is a very sad day for my friend Cecily. One year ago she lost her boys. If you are the praying type, please say a prayer for Cecily, Charlie and their boys, Nicholas and Zachary.

Instant Karma

Just add good deed and Presto! Last night Marc, Dylan and I went grocery shopping. Pre-Dylan, we'd maybe fill our cart up. Now, post-Dylan our cart was literally overflowing (including using the rack on the bottom). We get into line and there is an elderly gentleman in front of us. His face is just torn up. I overheard him telling the cashier that he had fallen on Friday. They say goodbye and it's our turn. I push the cart up and noticed that the gentleman had left his wallet. I throw it to Marc and he runs into the parking lot. Realizing he had no idea who this man was, he wasn't about to start yelling "sir sir" so he checked the wallet - found the driver's license and yelled the man's name. The man luckily hadn't left and was very grateful to have his wallet back. Marc comes back in and helps me bag up our $200 grocery order. Now... Marc went through all of the coupons and, I am proud to say, almost everything we bought had a coupon or was on sale (or both!). The cashier has about 5 more coupons to register and hits a wrong button. The assistant manager comes over and tells her that she has to recheck the entire order. I whisper to Marc that I'm not sticking around while they unpack everything and re-ring it. Then, the manager comes over. She apologizes and tells us "today's your lucky day!" She tells the cashier to ring in $150 and that's it. We saved $50! Instant Karma :)

Ok, that was really gross.

Please stop reading if you get queasy easily (yes, that means all of my pregnant friends truly do not want to read this post). It has to do w/my cat and it's really gross. I mean it! This is your last warning! Ok, but I told you so... (I know Cecily is still ready cause nothing grosses her out when it comes to animals). On Friday night, I noticed that my old girl, Saffron, had her eye partially shut. Now, she's a Persian and her eyes get goopy from time to time so I took a cloth and cleaned up her eye. It didn't really seem better but I figured I'd keep a close watch on her. Saturday morning I'm getting ready to go to meet Marc at th gym so that we can go to Weight Watchers when I decide to check on Saffron. Now her eye is completely closed and I can't seem to get it open. I call the vet - he's not in till late next week, call the old (read super expensive) vet and he gets us right in. I had the option of waiting and I'm soooo glad I didn't. Luckily Dylan was in one of his super awesome moods which made life a lot easier. The vet came in and said that it looked like it was some sort of infection and took a sterile cloth and pressed under her eye. Blood & puss flew out of her eye! I was not expecting this (actually, neither was the vet!) and almost freaked out. They took her into the back, shaved her little eye and flushed her. Turns out she had a major sinus infection. After 24 hours on antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, pain killers and triple antibiotic ointment - she looks so much better! Here eye is still bleeding from time to time but the doctor told me to expect that. My poor baby has been through much in her 15 years. She's had fatty liver disease twice (unusual), discovered she had a heart mummor, had various other normal kitty ailments and now this.

Awww - poor Mommy

This morning as I entered my office building, another woman was bringing her baby in a stroller. Now, I know everyone in Dylan's room and this was not a regular but before I could say anything she asked me if I was heading to the day care. I told her we were and she explained that it was her first day and she had no idea what to do (there is a main stair case to the center but if you have a stroller, you have to take the elevators down). I brought her in and showed her where to go as her son was in Dylan's room. I had set Dylan up, put his bottles away, gave him a million and one kisses, gave him and his friends toys to play with and headed out. This poor woman was putting her son's things away and bawling. I felt so bad that I offered to hang out and help her if she needed. I told her that we all got upset leaving our babies for the first time and it's ok to cry. That she should call or stop by - the center is ok w/it and that her son was in a safe place and was going to have a blast. She sobbed her thanks and said she was ok so I continued on to work. Poor girl. I'm sure she'll be a pro by the end of the week though.

Tag... I'm it!

My dear friend tagged me so.... Four jobs I've had in my life: Well, I've had a lot more than four but my top four would be 1. Kereoke hostess 2. Bartender 3. Shiatsu Massage Therapist and 4. Queen of Clubs (people who know me in real life get this one) Four movies I can watch over and over: 1. Princess Bride 2. Overboard 3. Matilda 4. Drop Dead Fred Four places I have lived: 1. Philadelphia 2. Israel 3. Philadelphia 4. New Jersey Four TV shows I love to watch: 1. Lost 2. Gilmore Girls 3. Veronica Mars 4. Buffy & Angel Reruns Four places I have been on vacation (in order of favorites): 1. Boston (to see our Andy and Lori) 2. St. Martin 3. Jamaica 4. Dominican Republic Four websites I visit daily: Four - are you kidding!! Look at my fucking bloglines list! You want me to pick four? 1. www.weightwatchers.com 2. http://galica.typepad.com/blog/ 3. www.woot.com 4. http://zia.blogs.com/wastedbirthcontrol Now, don't get offended - I read you all daily! Four of my favorite foods: 1. Mar'c Chicken Parm 2. Wings 3. Sushi 4. Angel Mints Four places I'd rather be right now: 1. Home w/Dylan and Marc 2. Someplace Warm with Dylan and Marc 3. Spa getting a massage & facial 4. At the gym Four other bloggers to tag... Barb Lisa Jawdy and Manuela

Are You Ready For Some Football????

We had a great weekend. We took Dylan to his first football game. Ok, it was arena football so don't yell at me about having him out in the cold :) He was fascinated by all of the people, the music, the lights, the cheerleaders (just like his daddy!). He just looked around and, even though he was exhausted by the end, just sat and smiled and charmed everyone around us. We won which made the game all the better.

Following the cool kids...

So, Cubbie pointed me to this site and it looked pretty cool. Please take my Johari please.

Love that Man of Mine!

The day before Valentine's Day, Marc brought home flowers from him and Dylan. A most beautiful arrangement of roses and other flowers. Then, for Valentine's day, Marc bought me the most amazing pair of diamond hoop earings. Of course I spent the next 24 hours obsessing about how much he spent. When he got home last night I told him I was worried he spent too much. He told me how much he thought I deserved them (which made me cry) and that he didn't break the bank (they sure look like he did!). He also gave me a card from Dylan which also made me cry (someone see a pattern here?). I had gotten him a card as well (he got a bit misty) and tickets to a Wings game. Oh, he also got me my favorite comic. I'm so lucky to have such an amazing husband and son. I'm truly blessed!

Would any type of adoption reform

Been able to help this man? David Archuletta thought his child was stillborn. Turns out his ex-girlfriend placed the child with an adoptive family telling the family and the agency she didn't know who the father was. Flash forward several months after the baby has been born (and is with the adoptive family) they receive an extortion letter from the child's other mother. Give me money or I'm telling the father. They did what they were supposed to do - they turned the letter over to the agency. The agency sat on the letter and the baby's father was never notified. After a year she tells him and he's been trying to get custody ever since. He lacks funds for legal representation. I see so many culpable parties in this story. First and foremost the first mother for lying and then for committing extortion (yes, she should go to jail). The agency for not attempting to contact the father before the adoption was final, the adoptive parents for not following up on the letter with the agency. Who suffers? The father, most definitely. The adoptive parents? Yes, they suffer because they've been parenting this child for several years (even though I feel that they didn't do enough - based on the news reports - to follow up on that letter) and, the biggest victim of all... the baby. What reforms can be made to ensure this doesn't happen? Can we not allow adoptions to go through without the benefit of both parents? Can we require that even if you are not sure who the father is, that a list of potentials be given and tested? What can we do?

Asshat remarks from within

We've all heard them. Relax and you'll get pregnant, just adopt, once you adopt you'll get pregnant. Usually they are said by well meaning friends, family & acquaintances of the infertile. On a rare occasion, it will come from the mouth of an infertile or the spouse of an infertile (sometimes they are one and the same). Last night Marc and I were channel surfing. True Lies was on. It was toward the end and we were watching it, well, because Faith plays the daughter and this is before she was uber hot in Buffy. Watching the show got us talking about Jamie Lee Curtis. Marc mentions she's a heraphrodite. I tell him that I think it's an urban legend. That's when it happened.... He said "that's why she adopted, she can't have kids cause she's got girl & boy parts". Oh the fun I had with that! Yep, told him it must be true because that's why I couldn't have kids too. Yes, he knew it was an asshat remark but let me just say I had a blast busting on him for it.

Important Website Alert

Much love and thanks to my friend Lisa who sent this to me... Go to this link and enter your street address...it will show a "house" in the middle of the map, that's your house... all the little colored boxes are registered Sex Offenders... click on them and you get a name, address & picture of the person along with his crime... it shows you where they live in proximity to your home and the local schools. Very important site to keep you and your children safe. Just go to www.familywatchdog.us Share this with your friends and family - be safe.

Baby Lovin'

When I dropped Dylan off at day care this morning one of his teachers mentioned that he threw up yesterday. Just once (they only notify after 3x) and she said she'd keep a close watch on him today. He was acting normally so I'm not concerned. I guess that's been in the back of my head all morning because when I went down to get my lunch from the place in the lobby I ended up running down to the day care to get me a little baby loving! He was just waking up from his nap and he looked so happy to see me. I just snuggled and kissed him for about 10 minutes and then gave him over to his teacher for a diaper change and his lunch. If you can find day care close to your place of business... do it! It's wonderful to be able to just pop in whenever you want.

Where do you live?

In order to save money and gas Dylan and I are now taking the train into work. It's taken some getting used to (on my part - Dylan loves it) but we've definately got a nice routine now. One of the many benefits to taking the train is people watching. I've noticed that many people live inside of their heads. Now, I know that some people like to talk on the phone or listen to the radio/mp3 or read a book. That's not what I'm talking about. You can see that they are not looking around them, they don't take any notice of their fellow travelers. It's quite sad. Today it was particularly cold so we stood inside of the heated enclosure waiting for the train. Some people chose to wait on the platform. Most people just barreled out of the door without seeing if anyone was behind them or next to them - just rushing outside to stand and wait. Others would exit to the platform but pause for a brief moment to check to see if anyone was behind them so as not to slam the door in their face. I watched peoples faces. Some people smiled or made eye contact with the other passengers while others were totally blank. The blank faces are what fascinated me. What was going on in their world that had them so deep inside of their heads? Did they have a sick family member? Trouble at their job? Trouble with a significant other or child? Dreaming of warmer days or snow? Struggling with infertility? Wishing for something or someone? For some reason I find these people a challenge. Every now and then I'll catch their eye and smile. Now, it's a scientific fact that if someone smiles at you - you will automatically smile back (if you don't believe me - try it - it's fun) - so I smile and watch them leave their head for a moment. So... where are you living right now? In your heart or in your head?

Beware The Hair Tourniquet!

Yep, you read that right. My darling friend, Jawdy discovered this nasty little thing. Read his post but the short version is this.... His daughter had a meltdown, was crying and they were not able to console her and they couldn't figure out why she was so upset. Turns out a hair got into her sock and twisted itself around two of her toes. The hair cut into the poor baby's skin but luckily Jawdy & his lovely wife (~waving at Deb~) were able to remove it. A coworker of Jawdy's wasn't so lucky and ended up in the ER having it professionally removed from his little one's toe. So glad I chopped all of my hair off! Now... time to get the cats groomed! ~here kitty kitty kitty~

And I'm the one that's infertile

It just pisses me off to no end that fuckwads like this have no problem reproducing. What the fuck was she thinking??? Unless her child was in mortal danger (which it wasn't), there is no excuse for her behavior.

That was just too cool!

Barb & Jeff brought Carlton over for a visit. It was so cool to have the boys together again. They haven't seen each other in about 2 months. Dylan kept wacking Carlton in the head and Carlton just looked at him like "Oh, it's you again". Carlton is absolutely beautiful and has a fantastic personality. I was showing off how to cut Carlton's fingernails and ended up cutting his little thumb. I felt horrible! It was so wonderful to see them with Carlton. You can tell they are amazing parents. Barb has to demand that Jeff gives him up so she can get some baby kisses. They also brought us coffee from Guatemala (super yum) and a letter from Dylan's foster Mom. I won't go into details but I will say that we were very touched at how much his foster family loves Dylan. I'm so glad that Dylan and Carlton will grow up together. The vice-principal of Dylan's school has a brother who was adopted from Colombia. Her mother and her friend went to Columbia and they each adopted a little boy (who were in the same orphanage together). They are still friends today and are about to be best man in each other's wedding. How cool is that?

Attention Whoring for a Friend

My friend Deanna (blogger gone password protected) entered her uber cute puppy into a Photowow Contest. Just enter contestant # 34904 and give her baby a 10.

Get Edjumicated

over at Karen's blog (Naked Overy). All I can say is... wow. She never ceases to knock my socks off!

Ok pregnant friends (both on paper & physical)

I don't give a rats ass what's on your registry. I'm now buying this lovely contraption for all people I love. Ok, the audio part is annoying as a motherfucker but there is nothing funnier than watching your baby bouncing and laughing. Dylan is just loving this crazy thing! Crazy weekend in store - going to get my hair did which mean I get some "me" time which I am so looking forward to. Saturday evening my cousin, her husband and two lovely children are coming over for dinner and to meet Dylan. Sunday our friends from Boston are going to be in the area and will be stopping by for some Dylan kisses. Oh, and Marc may try to teach me to drive a stick shift this weekend. YIKES! Much love to you all - I'm going back to watching Dylan jump around.

Stupid Human Tricks

I don't' have any tattoos. Neither does Marc. It's against the Jewish religion to have tattoos. I know some Jews have them but we don't. We both, however, do have friends who have them and I do enjoy seeing nice tattoos on people. But every now and then you see something that makes you say.... WHAT THE FUCK???? *Edited to remove apostrophes - thanks grammar police :)

A special post for NOTTHEREALME and other Angel Fans

Do I have the greatest husband or what??

Thank You!

Dylan Won!!!!! Check out Photowow

Wow, did I just hang out with a bunch of hotties!!!

Tonight I met some friends at a local favorite bar for drinks and Dylan snuggles. He was loving the ladies and even as I put him to bed he said... Mommy, when I grow up will there still be smoking hot babes for me? I told him not to worry, there would be incredibles ladies for him. Can I tell you how awesome my internet friends are (who are now... since we met F2F are IRL friends)... I figured we would be hanging out, relaxing, playing a bit w/the Dylan (cause he's so into the hot babes). Well, it turned into a baby shower. They all brought presents for the little man. I was so touched! I had met Meeshers* (and her lovely tata's) many times before. Classic Queen*, Lionesse* & PsychoPants* were all new to me. I walked in w/Dylan and yelled.... "Where's my Bitches??" They all loved that hahahaha. My Gd these are some amazing women! All very beautiful both inside and out. I felt very guilty we had to leave early cause asshole Mom (that would be me) forgot to bring Dylan's meds and had to get him home. They were so understanding (ok PP gave me a little shit but I so deserve it). Oh, and get this Cheeseheadpackerfan* sent Meeshers* a present for Dylan from like 2 or 3 states away. I've never met her in person but she sent a gift. These are all my weight watchers friends. They have put up with more of my shit than you will ever know (without the curses because we can't say things like shit, fuck and cunt on weight watchers boards but I can say it here so... neener neener neener). Just another reason that the internet is a beautiful place. GIRLS - I LOVE YOU!!!! ~SMOOCHES~ *internet names only since I didn't get the ok to do otherwise.

Time to do a little cleaning

Clean out those cookies and vote for Dylan again! We are in a very close second place. Tell your friends, tell your family, tell the guy walking down the street!!! Voting closes tomorrow so get your votes in today! Just go to photowow and put in entrant # 34750

AACCCKKK

We're in second place! Come on people - tell your friends!!! Vote For Dylan! Just go to photowow and put in entrant # 34750.

Vote for Dylan

Yes, I'm a total dork and a half. I entered Dylan into one of those online, cute baby contests. I know I pulled his photos so in exchange for allowing the world to see my boy's adorableness... please give him a big ole 10. Oh, and please don't give the other kids 1's - they eliminate those anyway (people do it to drive down the competition's numbers). Just go to photowow and put in entrant # 34750. THANKS!

I just got the saddest email

Oh Happy Day!

1. My best friend Jennifer is getting married today to a wonderful man who (if he knows what is good for him) will make all of her dreams come true. 2. Barb is a Mom. 3. Dylan slept from 8:00 p.m. all the way through (barely a whimper) till 6:45 a.m. (he usually gets up around 4:00 a.m. for a bottle). Life is good.

Neato!

I'm #3 on THIS site. How cool is that? Thanks to Manuela for pointing out that site and this adoption magazine that also references my site. I'm very flattered to be in the same company as Manuela and the other bloggers listed as they are my heros! So... what shall our next debate be? How about.... I'm pissed off because on of the local news reporters announced that Angelina Jolie was finally going to have a baby. Um, last time I listened to someone drone on and one about Angelina Jolie it was about her and her two children - she does have two you know you asshat. Yes, I'm aware she is pregnant for the first time but that doesn't mean that her two other children should be forgotten. Sorry - that's a pretty lame subject isn't it? I promise to come up with something more interesting. How about..... Duct tape as a parenting tool.

Must... Not.... Go..... Downstairs......

I am using every ounce of restraint not to go see Dylan right now. While it's wonderful to have him in my building... it's way to easy to just hop on the elevator to go see him. Have I mentioned how much I love being a Mom? When I look into his beautiful face and he smiles at me (or blows raspberries, or cries or whatever) I just melt. I'm not sure what he's doing in daycare but it's working wonders for his sleeping! He's asleep by 8:00 p.m. and sleeps through till 6:00 a.m. (he'll take a bottle at 6 and go back to sleep if I let him). He's starting to scoot a bit and I think he'll be crawling before we know it. He's sitting up better and better every day. He has absolutely no problem with tummy time (thank Gd) and is rolling over like a champ. One day Marc put him on the living room floor and walked away for a moment. We heard a bang and walked back into the living room. He had rolled across the rug onto the hardwood. He was just laying there smiling. No more leaving him unattended on the floor :) His pediatrician told us to make sure we don't leave anything on the floor (like pennies and other interesting things that baby may want to put into his mouth). Healthwise, he's doing great (again, thank Gd). No idea what caused the seizures and hopefully, they will never happen again. He got through his immunization with just a little crankiness and a 100 degree fever (~waiting for the flames for immunizing my kids). Hey, this reminds me of a story. I may have blogged about it and if I did, tough shit, it's my blog. I was getting my hair done and my former hair dresser and I were chatting and I told her about the adoption. First off... she pregnanted me (oh, you're adopting???? you'll get pregnant). Then, she tells me in a very hushed tone... "Don't vaccinate your child". HUH??? She then proceeded to tell me how she has done all of this research and that she even lied to her school district to get a religious exemption. I asked her about her research and she responded with... "I've read three books". I told her that I thought she was an irresponsible parent, that I would never let my child anywhere near her kids and that my sister-in-law is a pediatrician and when I asked her if she would immunize her kids she said yes this woman explained that my sister-in-law was under the influence of the drug companies. WTF???? Now, I work with a lovely gentleman who I consider uber granola crunchy. I asked him about what he and his wife did about immunization with their new daughter. I fully expected to get the lecture from him. He told me that they researched it, spoke with their daughter's pediatrician and decided that they would not give their daughter all of the immunization at once but space them out. He gave me a number of intelligent reasons to do this and, if I had any choice in the matter (Dylan was pretty much up to date on all of his immunization when we brought him home), we may have decided to do something similar. I just don't get the people who refuse to immunize their children at all. They have studied the effects of immunization and there is absolutely no proof that they cause autism (or any of the other problems people claim to have). Diseases that were virtually wiped out are making a come back because people are not vaccinating their kids. Not good. Not good at all. ~putting soap box away~

GO GET HIM!!!

Barb called last night... Carlton's coming home!!! They got their pink slip and leave Sunday to get their beautiful baby boy. Please go over and wish them a safe journey. Dylan is very excited that his foster brother is coming home and can't wait to visit with him (after he's settled in of course). Barb, if you read this... have a safe journey, enjoy your boy, have fun and be safe in Guatemala, we'll be waiting for you.

Shameless Plug

Please vote for my boss HERE. He's a super cool guy and uber hot (sorry boys, he's taken) and I would love to see him win Man of the Year!

dfakerafppaiwradka

Yep - that's about all I can manage today. Dylan started day care (half day) Mommy returned to work (half day) Dylan and Mommy spent rest of days going to doctors (2 and everything is good). Tomorrow a.m. - ped appt and then on to work/day care. This shit is for the birds. Can someone please pass me a winning lottery ticket????

She got me!

Marisa Tagged me so here it goes.. 1. What were you doing 10 years ago? I was miserably single - going to single dances (a/k/a Jew Hops) complaining that I had dated every Jewish man in the tri-state area. Working at MicroWarehouse making mad money. 2. What were you doing 1 year ago? Completing my first injectible cycle. Yep that's it - my entire world at that time was fertility treatments. 3. Five snacks I enjoy: 1. Guacamole (especially Marc's - it's super tasty) 2. Hummus 3. Chips & Onion Dip 4. Laughing Cow Cheese on crackers or celery 5. Nuts - any kind - as long as they're salty (insert joke here) 4. Five songs to which I know all the lyrics 1. I will Survive 2. Our Lips are Sealed 3. Unchained Melody 4. You are my sunshine 5. Inky Dinky Spider 5. Five things I would do if I were a millionaire: 1. Set up a fund to help people who don't have insurance coverage for infertility treatments. 2. Go back to school 3. Weekly Massages 4. Pay off all of our bills & my parents bills 5. Be a SAHM with maids (so I can focus on Dylan and not worry about cleaning the house) 6. Five bad habits: 1. Letting the laundry stack up till I have no choice but to do it. 2. Easily distracted by the computer 3. Putting myself last 4. Holding my emotions in too long 5. Not writing things down and then forgetting things I really need to do. 7. Five things I like doing: 1. Playing w/Marc & DYlan 2. Working out 3. Cooking 4. Dancing 5. Having dinner w/friends 8. Five things I would never wear, buy or get new again: 1. A new car - not worth it. 2. Tube top 3. Anything at Walmart 4. Birkenstocks - I don't care how comfy they are - they are gross 5. Fuggs boots - they are fucking ugly man! 9. Five favorite toys: 1. MP3 player 2. Baby sling - very colorful and lots of fun 3. My furbabies Shadow & Saffie 4. My new purse that goes from a little tiny thing to a huuuugggeee bag 5. Digital Camera So here's the deal: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot cityslicker mom a la carter afrindiemum An Elephant's Gestation Tales From The Stirrups Then select five people to tag: 1. Boy Makes Three 2 Barb - You don't have to do it if you are leaving for Guatemala :) 3. Wessel - sounds like you could use the distraction. 4. Twirl - come on girl - you haven't posted in a while. 5. Amanda

Thought on birth mothers

I've seen some interesting posts in blogsphere about birth mothers. I think my brain has run the gamut of thoughts on birth mothers. When I first started the process I discovered the anti-adoption sites. I was heartbroken. I even second guessed our decision to adopt. I wondered if I was doing this for the right reasons. Could I be a good mother to an adoptive child? I feared birth mothers. I read their sites, their blogs, their anger, their hatred, their pain and I was terrified. I wanted nothing to do with a child's birth mother. Open adoption?? Never! Then I was talking to a client on the phone. He's an adoptive father. Not only does he have an open adoption but it's waaaayyyy open. He's been on vacation with both of his children's birth families! The birth parents are amazing people. Wow. Maybe I was wrong. Then I researched pro-adoption sites by birth parents. There aren't many but they are out there. At this point we have chosen to adopt from Guatemala. I learned that there are some families that have open adoptions from Guatemala. I was fascinated. When you adopt from Guatemala, one of the steps the birth mother must take is an interview in Family Court. Her "story" is recorded and that is one of the documents you receive... Your birth mother's story. Why she chose to make an adoption plan. Marc and I discussed this document at length and decided that the first person to learn Dylan's birth mother's story after us should be Dylan. Please respect this and don't ask - we are not sharing her story. The only thing I will say is that I respect this woman more than words can say. She is an amazing woman. One day, after we received Dylan's DNA results (which we also receive a photograph of Dylan's birth mother holding him) I was mentioning to an idiot coworker how beautiful she is. He said something along the lines of.. Hey - you could hire her as a housekeeper (or something like that). I completely wigged out on this asshat. I basically told him that he's so low he's not worthy to wipe her ass. I told him that if he ever said anything like that again, he'd be hanging out the nearest window by his toenails (much to the delight of his staff). After this happened I was struck by the fierce feelings of protectiveness of this woman who I've never met. I do understand the feelings of fear and intimidating adoptive moms feel of birth mothers. I think it's a process we, as adoptive mothers go through. We are trying to find our place in the world. Are we mothers? Are we real? Are we imagined? Is it us against them? Is it a big happy world where everyone gets along? I pray, in the end, that we (adoptive Moms) realize that we all have our strengths & weaknesses and that all we want.. all of us, is to make the right decisions for our children so that they can grow into happy, well adjusted people. Yes, there are birth mothers out there who have major issue with adoption (many are justified). There are adoptee's who are anti-adoption - they too are justified. I think as adoptive parents we have a resposibility to educate ourselves to the issues these people have. Maybe through this education and undertanding, we can prevent these issues in the future.

Happy New Year!

Wishing all my friends and readers a Happy & Healthy New Year. May all of your dreams come through in 2006. I hope you all get pregnant (that want to), bring home your babies from abroad, stay single, get married, get laid on a regular basis, make enough money to be comfortable and to share some with those less fortunate, bring home our boys and girls from Iraq safe and sound, lose the weight you've wanted to lose, gain the weight you've wanted to gain, get to the gym, be a little kinder to yourself, your famiy & friends, hit the lottery, save the world.... whatever it takes - make it a great year! Love, Julie :)

The Festival of Lights

I love Chanukah. It was my Grandfather's favorite holiday. He passed away on erev (the night before) Chanukah. While we were sitting shiva the lights went out during minyan. We took this as a sign that Grandpop was ready to light the Chanukah candles :) For those of you who don't know... Chanukah is the Festival of Lights. You can read the whole story Here. Last night I went spaving with my Mom. Spaving is spending + saving = spaving. At our local grocery store, if you spend a certain amount of money you get certain percentages off one entire grocery order. She got the maximum 50% off so we bought every bottle of formula (35 bottles) and 3 cases of diapers, 2 grosses of wipes and a ton of other stuff for under $200! Woo hoo! One of the other things Mom got was a Chanukia. The Chanukia is the candelabra that you use to light the Chanukah candles. She bought if for Dylan so last night we lit the candles on Dylan's own Chanukia. It was wonderful. Ok, Dylan's yelling for my attention. Catch you all later!

Sorry

After learning of someone else's experience publishing photos of their adoption child, I have decided to pull the pictures. If you are a regular and would like, I'd be happy to email you the photos. I'm sorry but I need to protect our son.

Our Journey to Dylan

December 5, 2005 - We awoke early and headed out the airport. This was it, we were going to get our son. We knew that later that day - we would finally hold him in our arms. You could tell we were excited because we actually left the house a little earlier than we had planned. We got to the airport early and it was mobbed! The lines moved swiftly and before we knew it, we were standing in front of our new best friend, Robert. Apparently the idiot at US Air who originally took our miles reservation only held the reservation - she didn't book the ticket. After a little work from our friend, we were headed to security.We got through security with enough time to grab some breakfast to bring onto the plane with us. We were held up a bit due to weather in North Carolina. By the time we reached Guatemala, we were already about an hour later than expected. We went through customs (it was a breeze) we headed over to get our luggage. The conveyer belt was broken so they started unloading by hand. These guys were incredible - lifting the bags like they din't weight a thing. After about 40 minutes, we learned that they had put out all of the luggage from our flight. Turns out our bags were still in North Carolina. Luckily we packed a bag with an extra set of clothes for me, Marc and Dylan so we weren't too concerned.While in line we met a lovely Guatemalan couple. They were horrified that belt was broken and our bags were lost and felt like it was an embarassment to them personally as Guatemalans. They were so kind and offered us a ride to the hotel. We declined only because we saw the shuttle to our hotel. NOTE TO PARENTS GOING TO PICK UP THEIR CHILD: Always pack a change of clothes for yourself, your SO & your child in your carry on luggage. Also pack some extra diapers for the baby, PJ's, etc. This way if your bags get lost, you are covered. The Westin in Guatmala is fantastic! The have a floor just for families with a little family room with a sofa, toys for the kids, a microwave, a sink and a bottle purifier. When parents have left overs (food, formula, diapers, etc.) it is left in the cabinets. I thought it was pretty funny that there wre a few bottles of wine too!We had gotten to the hotel too late for the attorney's office to bring Dylan to us so we had to wait till 11:00 a.m. the next day. We went out to eat outside the hotel at Taco Inn (very tasty for those of you going), had a few beers and went to bed. December 6, 2005 - Marc and I are normally early risers so we decided to explore the area around the hotel and went for a long walk. We had breakfast and waited for 11:00 a.m. to roll around. And we waited and we waited and finally emailed the agency at 11:30 that we were getting worried. Apparently our attorney was behind schedule and would be by at 2:00 p.m. with Dylan and his foster Mom. AAACCCKK So we waited and waited and at 2:00 p.m. our phone rang. It was RM (the attorney) and she was in the lobby with our boy. We ran down to the lobby and we knew him on sight. He was even more beautiful than his photos. He smiled when he saw us and we just melted! Neither of us cried - I think we were in shock that this day was finally here. We met his wonderful foster mom. Unfortunately, his foster dad couldn't join us. They gave us a small photo album and you could really tell how much they loved him. She even called us in the hotel the next day to check on him. The rest of the day we just got to know our boy. How he likes to be held, how he likes us to hold his bottle, etc. He showed us how he makes rasberries and how much he likes it when we make them on his belly and neck and toes. We were told that the Westin had strollers that you could borrow (leave a $5 deposit that you would get back when you return the stroller). What we hadn't counted on is them running out of them. We ended up carrying him everywhere and he sat on our laps when we ate. I actually learned to eat right handed! December 7, 2005 - Embassy time! Our appointment was at 7:45 a.m. so M & her son (M works for our attorney) picked us up at 7:00 a.m. along with another family and took us to the Embassy. After going through security we were brought into a room. M told us that we would hear our names called and that we were number 10 in line. Just go to room 8 and she would wait for us there. After about 40 minutes our name was called. We went into room 8 which was really tiny. Like a brook closet with 2 chairs and a big window. We were sworn in and asked a bunch of basic questions. The lady behind the glass stamped our paperwork and told us we would be called to window 5 in a little while. We went back into the room and waited. About 30 minutes later we were called to the window and told to sign a few documents and we were done. We could pick up the visa on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Actually, the attorney's office picks it up so we were pretty much done w/the Embassy. We were not able to leave the hotel because we had no identification for Dylan as the Embassy keeps his passport and they don't want us to leave the hotel w/out his identification. We just hung out and relaxed and got to know each other, had dinner in the Italian Restaurant in the hotel. The chef came out and introduced himself and wished us well. Then a couple sat down across from us and we chatted about Guatemala and the adoption. It was lovely. After dinner we just went back to the room and went to bed. Dylan gets up once or twice during the night for his bottle but then goes right back to sleep. December 8, 2005 - After breakfast, M's son, C picked us and another couple up and took us to a craft market near the airport. I guess with C with us, there was no concerns about being stopped with the babies and being asked for ID. We shopped for some things to take home for Dylan. We got a little puppet, some material to be made into a Tallis for him and a hand woven sling to carry him in (that we couldn't use because the dye was rubbing off on both of us). He brought us back to the hotel and told us that either he or his mom would be back w/our Visa's. We just hung out in our room until 4:00 when they called us with the Visas. We were done. All we needed to do now was wait till Saturday for our flight. We had dinner at the buffet restaurant in the hotel and... you guessed it... went to bed. Deceber 9, 2005 - We had the whole day to ourselves with nothing to do but enjoy ourselves. At this point we still didn't have a stroller and our backs were sore from carrying him so we went to the mall 3 blocks from the hotel, went to the department store and bought a stroller. It's a Graco and it was perfect! We walked around the area surrounding the hotel. When we got back to the hotel, it was sunny and warm so we headed off to the pool. Dylan enjoyed it but as soon as we got into the pool, the sun went behind the clouds so we had to bring him out. He feel asleep in his stroller so we were able to just relax by the pool for a while. That night we went out again to the Tacotento (sp?) restaurant down the street from the hotel for dinner. It was wonderful because Dylan was able to hang out in his stroller while we ate. Then it was back to the hotel to rest up for our trip the next day.December 10, 2005 - up early with Dylan. We packed up, ate breakfast and then called to the bellman to get our bags. We ran into the woman we had met in the Italian Restaurant again and she was telling us how wonderful Dylan is (um, duh!). Anyway, she went on to tell us that she had met a gay couple who had adopted and wasn't that horrible! We explained that we knew several gay couples who have adopted and feel it is a wonderful thing. Man, she took off like a bat out of hell! On to the airport we went and, after a slight delay in checking in (when we arranged for Dylan to come home - we gave the name "Dylan" instead of his birth name which is on the passport), we went to our terminal. The stroller proved to be invaluable - we were able to put some of our luggage in the basket under the seat. While waiting we met a couple who had just visited with their son. The wife was very teary while looking at Dylan. She explained that she had gotten her referral when her son was 2 days old. They hadn't wanted to do a visit trip but since it was his first birthday (yes, you read that right) they felt it was the right thing to do. The poor woman was in tears and my heart was breaking for her. It's all about her agency - they refuse to answer her questions as to what is going on and when her or her husband push things she is told that if they don't keep their mouth shut they will lose their referral and will never be able to adopt from Guatemala again. So very sad. We were very fortunate in that the woman checking us in at the airport decided to book us so that we had an isle and a window seat and the seat in between us was empty. This was wonderful because Dylan managed to fall asleep just after take off. We were able to lay him down across the seat which made for a very comfortable trip for the tree of us. Of course Dylan decided, after he woke up, to have the most toxic diaper known to man. When I was getting out of my seat in order to change him he tipped over in the seat and scratched his face. I was so upset with myself. He didn't even wimper. I have to say that the changing table in the bathroom was perfect. Just wide enough and long enough that I didn't have to worry about him falling over (he likes to grab his toes and roll onto his side when I change his diaper). As we were landing in Charlotte, the pilot came over the loudspeaker and reminded the passengers that cameras and recording devices were not allowed in customs and, if anyone was caught using them, they would be confiscated. He then said (dryly) "Welcome to America". All of the Americans on the flight got a good laugh out of that. We were very unsure of what happens next. We knew that we had to give this package to customs but we weren't sure where. Basically, when you go through regular customs, there are two lines, one for Americans and the other for "others". We were told to go to the "others" line. We were called up to the customs agent and a supervisor was walking by and mentioned that she hadn't seen any adoption kids come through. I laughed and said that we have one here. She wished us many blessings. The customs agent processed us and took our paperwork and told us to go through to the next area. The security guard in the next spot was a real asshole. He wanted some blue card that the customs agent took from us. We explained that we didn't have it - that she had taken it with the rest of our documents. He kept insisting that we had it till finally he just waved us through and told us we needed to go over to immigration (most people just passed straight through - we had to go to the area to the left). We met with a lovely guard there who asked us to leave our luggage and wait in a room - he said they'd come and get us. Another family (who was in line behind us at customs with 4 kids) joined us in the room. They were Guatemalan but there was a problem with one of their son's visas. We chatted, I changed Dylan into his pj's and, after about 10 minutes a guard came in and handed us Dylan's passport and welcomed us all to America. Then came the dash.. we had to recheck our luggage and run through the airport (thank Gd for the stroller) to make our flight. Turns out we had the time wrong and we had enough time to grab a bite to eat and call a few family members to let them know we were in.We jumped on the next flight and he fussed a bit (bitch in th neat seat was giving us dirty looks - I told Marc I was tempted to let him cry for the entire flight). He fell asleep right before takeoff and then woke up right before landing. We were home. We got our luggage, hopped on the shuttle, got our car (Marc played Tetris with the luggage - and did an amazing job) and came home. It was an incredible experience. I definately want to go back to Guatemala and travel around the country. The people were so very kind to us. We really didn't experience any of the anti-adoption sentiment that we hear so much about. There was one woman at the hotel who was giving us very dirty looks but that could also be because we didn't have him all bundled up (he hates being hot). Now we are home, safe and sound, Dylan is rolling around on the living room floor making rasberries at the cats as they walk by. I don't think I've ever been so happy!

Home

We are home. The doctor came in this afternoon and told us that all tests were negative and, after taking an infant CPR course, we could go home. It consisted of watching a video w/the nurse and practicing on the baby dummy (not very pc I know). We are home. I stink to high heaven but that's ok cause Dylan is sitting next to me. He'll be on anti-seizure drugs for a while but it's ok. As long as he's safe and healthy. I can't thank you enough for all of your kind words and prayers and good thoughts. They really helped Marc and I thought this.

Thank you!

Thank you all for your kind words. We had a completely uneventful night. Dylan got up at 4:15 a.m. w/Marc and ate a whole bunch of formula. Then he ate again with me at 6:30 a.m. and again at 9:00 a.m. and he's been sleeping since (it's 11:00 a.m.) We are leaving the PICU today to the neuro floor. We may be home as soon as tomorrow. Big prayers going out to Soud and her new baby and family. They are going through a similar situation. We hope you are all ok. We love you all!

Needing some prayers/good thoughts/vibes, etc.

Yesterday morning, Marc went to the gym and I got up to feed Dylan his first bottle of the morning. All of a sudden he went very stiff and was staring at me definantly. I laughed and told him to cut it out. Then he started to shake. I realized he wasn't be stubborn, he was having a seizure. I called 911 and then I called the gym and told them to have Marc call home. The police arrived shortly thereafter and so did the ambulance. Very long story short, he had a seizure in the hospital near our home, then in the ambulance that transferred him to the Children's Hospital in the next city over, then he had two seizures in the ER at the children's hospital. He's stable - they think it's a virus. He's had a CT scan, spinal tap, tons of bloodwork and is currently undergoing an MRI. I know Dylan will be okay but your prayers, good thoughts, healthy vibes would be most appreciated.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

I guess the proper color for a 4th wedding anniversary is pink! We have are scheduled to meet with Embassy on Wed. We fly out Monday and, depending on how we do with the airlines - expect to be back no later than Saturday (hoping for Friday). Everyone is freaking out - trying to book our flight - book the hotel - buy a carseat - buy a gift for the foster mom - AAAACCCKKKKKK!!!!!

To the love of my life

It's 4:30 p.m. This time four years ago I was about to walk down the isle to meet you. Four years ago today, we became husband and wife. You have been my life, my love, my heart and my soul and now we will add "father of my son" to that list. We have been through so much over the past four years. Lots of good, some bad, always together and always laughing.

We've traveled the world together. We've had adventures here at home. Always together.

I love you more than anything baby! Happy Anniversary!

Can't do anything the easy way can I???

Just got back from the doctor's office. I have viral bronchitis and a touch of walking pneumonia. She gave me an inhaler which I can fill and a script for antibiotics that she asked me to wait a week to fill (in case I heal on my own without them). I've been coughing so much today my chest is killing me. Ok, I'm done feeling sorry for myself - need a happy post.

Here we go again!

What is it with the Netherlands and anonymous posting? I appreciate that there are people who feel that circumcise is wrong. I'd love to hear your point of view. However, no posting and running. Please either leave me a valid email address or blog so that we can have an intelligent discussion. Anyone? Bueller?

While it sucks

and I do appreciate your support, I'd like to let it drop now.

Don't worry

I'm not locking down. I was angry because someone I allowed to read my blog decided to use it against me and turn things out of context. I'm not going away and I'm not locking down. I won't be forced to go into hiding.

Private Blogging

I'm considering creating a private blog that is password protected. Please don't ask why. I know that blogspot doesn't offer that - can someone tell me who does? Yep - it's my turn to ask questions.

Reader Questions

From Marisa - I do! I do! At the risk of setting off a firestorm... we've been discussing the circumcision question for months. There's (obviously) strong religions tradition at play (which my partner and I share with you), and there there are also the people who say it's an unnecessary risk, done for cosmetic reasons and tradition. We're feeling really torn about it. Julie, do you mind sharing what was behind your decision to do it? Religious tradition? Health reasons? Something else altogether? Our decision wasn't that difficult. All of the men in both of our families have been circumcised. We spoke with my sister-in-law who is a pediatrician about the medical risks, we discussed the issues he may have psychologically (most children are still circumcised - do we want him to stand out in that respect?). We decided that for both religious and psychological reasons - we wanted to have this done. From Amy - Ha ha Chrissi is cracking me up! And I can kind of relate to that, being married to a man from England, where they also don't typically circ (and who is also adamantly against it - but I personally believe that whatever anyone wants to do is just fine and most certainly not up to me). Although in this forum I didn't mean to set off a circ debate. I assumed that you two would circ for religious reasons and wanted to know what you two were planning on doing. I think it's very interesting. Can you explain to us what a Mikvah is? Thanks! Don't worry about Amy - I had a feeling this may touch off a bit of a discussion. A Mikvah is a ritual bath. It is used at various times in a Jewish person's life. In Dylan's case, we will use the Mikvah as part of the conversion process. As more questions are asked, I will either post them here or start a new one :)

A Little Q&A

My dear friend, Amy asked me a few questions that I thought (actually - she mentioned) it would be good to answer here. 1. Was Dylan circumcised in Guatemala? No. Guatemala is a Catholic country and they, typically, do not circumcise their boys. 2. In the event he was not circumcised - how is it handled here (from the religious standpoint as well as medical). When Dylan is a little older - we will have the procedure done in a hospital. We will also have a bris for him. Instead of the Moyl doing the actual procedure, Dylan will have his finger pricked to symbolize the bloodletting. These will take place several months from now for two reasons. First of all, doctors prefer to wait till a child is at least, I believe, 8 months old to do an older baby circumcision. Second, we don't want to overwhelm him with the procedure and the bris celebration. We want him to adjust to being home first. We will also take him through a conversion which will include bringing him to the Mikvah. So.... who has questions?

Wholly Shit! a/k/a You Learn Something New Every Day

Got into the office bright and early. Went through my emails. Was just catching up on a few blogs when that little box popped up on my screen... "You Have Mail". I opened the email and it was from the social worker - a new photo of Dylan! But, what's this? At the bottom of the email I see a note from the liason that says... "Passport Baby Foxx". HUH????? I opened the photo and there it was, a copy of our son's passport. Now, I did a little thinking (and researching)... in order to get the passport, you must have the birth certificate right? Yep - we have a birth certificate (turns out he wasn't born in Guatemala City like we thought). I'm thinking we should have pink in the next 24-48 hours. We WILL have our boy home by Chanukah!

You've heard of drunk dialing???

How about drunk blogging (snicker). Yep - after a few beers at the local bar where Marc and I had dinner and watched a little football and then, after coming home (I only had a few beers so I drove and then proceeded to have a few glasses of wine), I decided to post. ADOPTION PEOPLE - come here a second (told you I was drunk). Ok, you need to go to Target. No, not later, now! It's not too bad yet with the holiday shopping. Why is it at the end of the month and no one told me that Target was celebrating National Adoption Month??? Why did I discover this last night and not earlier?? Can I just say that Target (Tarje' as my Mom calls it) is my new favorite place in the whole wide world? Marc and I decided to stop and pick up a few things for Dylan and as we approached the check out counter there was a little corner thingie with adoption books. There were only two left. One was geared toward adoptions from China and the other was generic. It was wonderful. It wasn't geared toward domestic or international. It wasn't geared toward single, hetero couple or gay couple. EVERYONE was included. I stood in the middle of the isle in Target, reading this book with Marc and got very very emotional. Very excited. I'm too lazy to remember the name of the book right now (ok - too drunk) but it was based on an adoption song and if you really want to know, tell me and I'll post the name. So... after our little dinner thing at the bar, we came home and Marc built me a pretty awesome fire in the fireplace where I proceeded to roast a half a bag of marshmellows. You know how people say that if you deny your kids things that they will overindulge as adults? That's me... roasted marshmellows. Of course, my denial in the roasted marshmellow world is my parents would yell at me for roasting marshmellows over the flame of our gas stove. One of the millions of reasons I love my darling husband... he did the same thing when he was kid. Where's my Wessel??? I am thinking of you my friend. I hope you are well and know that you are in my thoughts and prayers. My Dearest JanuaryOne (knitting readers - check out her uber awesome blog www.januaryone.com). I'm so sorry I missed you. I heard my brother and your sister surprised everyone. I figured the little germ monkeys would be enough without me adding to the mix. I hope you will come down to meet Dylan. Time to see if my team won. Marc was cheering quite loudly a little while ago and since we were ahead, I hope it means we clinched it :)

AAAAHHHHCCCHHHOOOOOO!!!!

Yeah, that's been my Thanksgiving. Coughing up a lung and sneezing all over everything. I missed Thanksgiving dinner at my brother's house (which I heard was amazing) but, on the flip side, my wonderful husband made us our own little dinner. I have so much to be thankful for this year... here's a little list (just the tip of the iceberg)... My wonderful husband, Marc who is my rock, my life, my love My beautiful son-to-be, Dylan My beautiful son-to-be's birth mother My family who puts the fun back into dysfunctional My sister the Princess because she reminds me of what it is like to be young My dear friends Joelle & Jenn because they just get it My soul sister, Barb, because it was all meant to be My blog friends - because you've all been there, done that and have a few too many tee shirts to show for it My job because they are the greatest group of people I've ever had the honor of working with and for My cats, Saffron & Shadow, because no mater what I shit I am, they love me I'm thankful that this outlet of blogging exists. It has helped keep me sane during some pretty insane times. Oh, and I'm thankful 91x in San Diego is doing a webcast of their Sunday show today so I can enjoy some good 80's music while I write this :)

I think this is my favorite quiz!

Dawn Summers 81% amorality, 81% passion, 63% spirituality, 63% selflessness

Dawn is a person driven by her love for her friends and her desire to make a difference. Perhaps you are, too. You're willing to do whatever is necessary to do what is right for those you care about, and sometimes this can get you in a little bit of trouble. Most of all, however, you have a heart of gold. Congratulations! If you enjoyed this test, I would love the feedback! Also, you might want to check out some of my other tests if you're interested in the following: Nerds, Geeks & Dorks Professional Wrestling Love & Sexuality America/Politics Thanks Again! -- THE 4-VARIABLE BUFFY PERSONALITY TEST

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 94% on morality You scored higher than 88% on repose You scored higher than 50% on spirituality You scored higher than 80% on selflessness

Link: The 4-Variable Buffy Personality Test written by donathos on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test -------------------------------------------------------------

Much thanks to Shelli for the link!

WWWHHHHEEEEE!!!!!

We got Dylan's furniture! Here's the crib... And here is the dresser... We also got the glider but I didn't have time to take the plastic off and photograph it so I'll do that later :)

Why are people so stupid??

Last night, to celebrate our good fortune, Marc and I went to the movies. Actually, we were given a free pass to see "Walk The Line" by a friend and it was hosted by a local radio station. They had a Johnny Cash cover band which played two songs and then stopped. Then they announced.... "Is anyone a doctor or nurse, we have a medical emergency down here". A man sitting in the front section was basically dying. Years ago I had taken CPR and even had to use it once. Since no one appeared to be helping I ran down to the front. When I got there a woman asked me if I was medically trained and I told her just basic CPR. Turns out... she was a nurse. I immediately backed off and told her to just let me know if she needed me to do anything. She asked me to try to find the pulse which I did but it was very very faint. During this time there were two women who were screaming directions at the nurse. I finally asked them if either of them were medical personnel - they said no so I told them to shut the fuck up and one of them sat down. Another woman came over - she was a cardiac care nurse. Meanwhile, the staff at Loews was just standing around. They opened the emergency door and just fucking stood there. The cardiac nurse was screaming for a mouth piece to do CPR. I ran over to one person who said "I'm just security - I don't actually work here", another person said there was a mouth piece in the first aid kit so I told her to go get it. She then proceeded to tell her little whipping boy to get it. She knew where it was but sent him instead - I don't believe he came back. The poor cardiac nurse was crying her eyes out because she was doing mouth to mouth on a strange man with a history of medical issues (which were unknown specifically what they were by his companion - a neighbor) and she had no idea if this man has hepatitis or another communicable disease! The ambulance arrived (very quickly but it felt like forever) and I realize that the bands speakers are plugged into the wall and the cables are across the path of where the gurney had to go - I just looked at the staff, they didn't move so I told them to get out of the fucking way, pulled the cable and made sure they had a clear path. All this time, the stupid crackwhore is trying to tell the nurses (and then the medical staff) what to do. This person wasn't a health care professional, she didn't know the man... just was just a busy body. If you are ever in this situation and you are not trained, either be on hand to help out those that are medical personnel or shut the fuck up and sit down and mind your own business. If that had been my friend or family member - that woman would have been drop kicked across the theater!

Appropriate No?

You're a punk rock mommy! DIY is probably your
motto, because you're a punk mama at heart.
Your kids are getting your independent spirit
and guts, and learning to solve problems
themselves. You love it when they show their
independence, even when it's breaking your
heart.

What kind of a freaky mother are you?
brought to you by Quizilla Much love and thanks to Shelli for this very appropriate quiz!

WE'RE IN LABOR FOLKS!

Quick! Boil Water, Get Some Clean Towels, Some Newspapers!!!! WE ARE OUT OF PGN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Guatemala has approved the adoption. We are waiting on his birth certificate and then we travel and bring our son home! AAAACCCKKKKK!!!!!!!

This one is for my darling husband!

Fun at the Titty Twister. Which B-Movie Badass Are You? brought to you by

If you are related to Marc or I.....

You really should skip this post (unless you want to know more about our sex lives - in that case - please don't admit to having read this post). While we are waiting for our family members to run screaming from my blog... Check out my new guest map! It's really nice and can handle many more names so please sign in (even if you signed in before because I wasn't able to transfer them over). Thanks! ~looking around~ Ok, no relatives? Ok good...... I still feel like we are on the fertility roller coaster. Our sex life hasn't returned to normal yet and that has me worried. This isn't to say that I don't find Marc attractive or that he doesn't turn me on. Nothing can be further from the truth. I find him super hot and super sexy... it's me. I have to get my head away from feeling like I'm broken. Ah yes, something else to add to my "what to talk about in therapy" list. Marc and I have gotten ourselves into the habit of sex belongs in the bedroom. Except this one time, when we were first married, very overweight in a very small shower. Let's just say we were laughing too hard to have sex. Anyway, yesterday afternoon we finally got out of our rut and discovered that a roaring fire (yes, I know it was 65 degrees outside - who cares!) is a definite aphrodisiac. I love being close to him. I love making love to him. It's getting past my brain that is the tough part (once I'm past it I'm fine - it's just getting past it that is the hard part). So, fellow infertiles, how do you get past this? How do you get past the feelings of being broken or defective or whatever? How to you find your sexual self?

Me? A Monster????

Your Monster Profile

Infamous Professor You Feast On: Bananas You Lurk Around In: Candy Factories You Especially Like to Torment: Republicans

What's Your Monster Name?

Ramblings

I'm sad for my friend Liana. She lost her Mom yesterday morning. I can't even imagine what she must be feeling or what she is going through right now. It's such a big fear of mine... losing my parents. I know that it's part of life but it scares me. I also just found out that one of my friends got her period after her 3rd IVF. My heart aches for her and her husband. I don't know if she reads my blog but T, you are in my thoughts and in my prayers. ------------------------------------- I'm in so much pain today. I hired a trainer yesterday to create a new workout for me (I was bored with the old one). Of course I asked my girl crush, H, do train me. Oh, have I mentioned I have a crush on one of the trainers in my gym? She's so freaking hot it's not funny (as Marc said, you could bounce a half dollar off this woman's ass). Now, she's not hot in the pornstar kinda way, she's hot in the fitness kinda way (does that make sense?). On top of that, she is super cool and very sweet. Well, she kicked my ass so I'm not sure if I still have a crush on her or not. I'll let you know when my poor muscles heal.

Doing the Update Dance!

We are out of family court and have pre-approval! We should be in PGN today. What this all means is we are one step closer to bringing our boy home. Our social worker is thinking that we will be traveling in January to get him. I hope it's December and she said it's possible. Unlikely, but possible.

Sorry

Sorry I haven't been around. I've been playing with the twins all week and, when they weren't around, doing shit around the house and running crazy errands. OMG - my friends made themselves some beautiful babies! They are so well behaved and so sweet. Last night I was feeding the little boy and he was breaking my heart. Just grabbed my finger and held it against his little face as he drank his bottle. My friends are very cool and let Marc and I do things that other friends have never thought to let us do like put them into their carseat. Hey - we need all of the practice we can get! Speaking of Dylan... we got a new photo and he's laughing his beautiful little butt off. He's up to 14.2lbs and is just growing like a weed. I miss him so much it hurts. Imagine that... missing someone you've never met. Bonding with someone you've never spoken to or even touched. This boy has touched me - he's touched my heart and my soul. We are out of family court and just waiting on pre-approval from the US Embassy so that we can move forward into PGN (Guatemalan version of the Attorney General's Office) for approval. Then it's birth certificate, pink and then we travel. I'll blog more over the weekend :)