Thanksgiving Day, 2007

The home study has been completed, all the documents have been signed, notarized, certified by the county clerk, certified by the Kentucky Secretary of State, certified by the U.S. Department of State and authenticated by the Guatemalan consulate - whew!!! Our completed Dossier was hand-delivered to Guatemala a few weeks ago and should be filed in Guatemalan Family Court by now. We are still waiting on the wonderful United States of America to issue our I-171H. This is the approval from our government giving us permission to bring an orphaned child from another country into our country as a U.S. as a citizen. Paul drove to Louisville to check the status of the form the other day and they told him it had been approved and was sent to "outgoing" a few days before. We were hoping to receive it Tuesday, but it was not in the mailbox. I prayed it would be there on Wednesday, but alas, it was not. Today is Thanksgiving so there is no chance for today. I would be very pleased to see it arrive on Friday or Saturday. As soon as we receive it, we will overnight it to our attorney in Guatemala.

The reason we are so anxious to receive the I-171H is because it triggers DNA testing for Edison and his mother. Our U.S. government requires that all children be DNA tested twice. The first time is to make sure the child that was given up belongs to the woman who claims to be his biological mother. The second DNA is to make sure the child we were referred in the beginning is the same child at the end of the adoption process. The U.S. does this because their has been some corruption in the adoption process in Guatemala with people stealing babies from their mothers to make money by selling them. I do not have a problem with this in the world - I'm just ready for the good ole' US of A to get their paperwork done so we can get this rolling!!

Happy Thanksgiving Edison! I know it's not a holiday in Guatemala; however, if you were here, you would just be enjoying your usual meals of formula and rice cereal (you're probably eating some veggies and fruits by now). Your soon to be mom (me) is not eating Thanksgiving dinner this year! I've come too far losing 30 pounds to let one day of turkey, dressing, dumplings and mashed potatoes undo what I've worked so hard toward. That is what I keep telling myself anyway! My health educator tells me I cannot eat "out of the box" this year - so I'm going to do what she says.

That's okay buddy, because you and I will put away a Thanksgiving feast next year - together!!