4 mos checkup!!!

Devin had his 4month check up on 12-21-07. He weighed in at 13 lbs 15 oz and was 23.3 inches long. Based on the report he is doing very well. When he is held up in the sitting position he holds his head up pretty well. He also lifts his head up when he is on his stomach. He loves music, just like his mama!

We can't wait to bring him home!!!

8 weeks in PGN

Things are starting to get back to normal around the Buster household after a very busy holiday season. Not any new adoption news to report. We are still in PGN (8 weeks today). We are hoping to hear something soon. However, there may be a little hold up. Guatemala slows down for about a month from approximately 12-20 to 1-20 for the holidays. They don't officially close but there is not a lot going on. So, even though the average stay in PGN is 8-10 weeks it may be a little longer for us. It is very possible we won't hear anything until the end of January or beginning of February. The good news is that we have not received a Kick Out. We are praying that we will not get kicked out and that our case is approved very soon.

Please keep us in your prayers!!!

Surprise Again....

We have been so fortunate to receive photos and videos of our son. We get a monthly medical report with photos. In addition to that we have received photos and/or video on 3 separate occasions. Since Devin was born our adoption agency has made 3 trips to Guatemala. They are great about meeting with the children and taking photos and video. We didn't expect them to visit Devin this time because they just saw him back in November. This was a nice surprise. Thanks to Sue at Celebrate Children!

This process can be very emotional when you have a child that is waiting for you. However, as soon as we start to get anxious we get some type of update which lifts our spirits.

Tomorrow is officially 6 weeks in PGN. We are hoping and praying to get the call that we are out of PGN soon! It would be a great Christmas present.

Here are some of the latest pictures of our little reindeer. Happy Holidays!

4 weeks in PGN

Well, we have officially been in PGN for 4 weeks as of today. We are hoping and praying this is good news and that we don't get kicked out after being in for several weeks. It seems like the average stay in PGN is 8-10 weeks (if you do not receive a kick out). If you get kicked out then it will probably take longer. This has been a difficult part of the process because of the uncertainty. Some families are out in a matter of weeks and some in several months.

We had to go get our fingerprints renewed at Immigration today. We originally had them done last year when we applied to adopt from China.

In addition to Christmas shopping, I have also done some shopping for baby gear over the past few weeks and found some great deals. Devin now has a stroller, highchair, carseat, and a pack & play. Thanks to Nanny for buying Devin the highchair and to Holly for the pack and play!! It is nice to have some of the big items done with.

We will keep you posted once we have more information to share! Hopefully soon :)

3 month checkup!!!

The doctor saw Devin yesterday. He is now 12lbs 13 oz. and 22 inches long. He gained a little over 2 pounds since his last checkup. Devin has officially doubled his birth weight. He received his polio vaccine yesterday. Based on the report he seems to be doing really well. I was really excited to see him in an outfit we sent to him. At least I know he received the package we sent to him. His Aunt Kim bought him this outfit. Thank You, Aunt Kim!!! Here are a some of the photos!

Surprise Video & Photos

We were surprised last week when we received a DVD with video and photos from our adoption agency. The agency visited Guatemala in October and visited Devin on 10-22-07. They took a 5-10 minute video of him and they took a bunch of photos. In the video, Devin looked like he was doing good. They put him on his stomach and he was kicking his leg trying to roll over. It was so cute. The foster mother stated he drinks 8-9 bottles a day. He's a hungry boy!!. He sleeps from 10pm-5am and takes a 2-3 hour nap during the day.

These are just a few of the photos.

PGN here we come!

We got great news today. We entered PGN today. Just another step closer to bringing Devin home. PGN is where every document will be reviewed and scrutinized. It is common for cases to get kicked out for mispellings, notary issues, cross-outs, etc. We hope and pray we will not be the norm and that we will not get kicked out. If you do get kicked out you have to correct the documents that have errors and then your case is re-submitted to PGN. Pray for a speedy PGN process with no KO's!!!!!

New to blogs?

We decided to create this blog to keep our family and friends updated on our adoption. I am new at this so I am still working on the layout of the page and some other formatting details. Bare with me! For any of you who are not familiar with blogs. There is a comments button below each blog that I post that you can read or make comments on, if you would like. Thank you to Cheri & Nanny for those nice comments. I am sure Devin will have fun reading this when he get's old enough. This is his online baby book :)

But I thought I was your baby?

Bailey is not going to know what to do when little man arrives. She is used to being the only child. This is Devin's room. We are almost done. We just need to do some final decorating and we want to get a glider. Philip picked out the dinosaur bedding and border. He did a pretty good job!!

2 month checkup!!!

Devin's check up was on 10-18-07 and he is growing like a weed. He is now 10 weeks old. He weighs 10lbs 9 oz and is 21 inches. He was very alert in all the new photos we got. He is ready for Christmas early in his Santa outfit!!!

1 month checkup!!!

These are pictures from Devin's one month check up on 9-18-07. He was 6 weeks old. He weighed in at 8lbs 1 oz and was 19.5 inches long. I love those poutty lips!!! He did not want to wake up for the camera. His eyes were closed in all the photos.

Guatemala Adoption Process

For those of you who have been following our China adoption journey you probably are realizing how different the process in Guatemala is. This is a brief summary of how the process works in Guatemala and where we are in the process:

1/ Complete a homestudy and dossier. A homestudy is a report, prepared by a social worker, about your family. This report is basically your life story. A dossier is a group of documents that you have to complete that get into medical history, financial history, etc..

2/ I71H approval - This is approval from U.S. immigration for you to bring a child into the U.S. This approval can take several months. However, we already had approval for China. We just had to switch the country to Guatemala.

3/ Accept a referal of a child

4/ Embassy Pre-Approval and DNA test - The U.S. embassy authorizes a DNA test. The baby and the birthmother have to have DNA tests to confirm the birth mother is indeed the actual mother of the child. After the embassy receives the results from the DNA test and reviews your dossier they send you an email confirming you have pre-approval.

5/ Family Court - a social worker in Guatemala reviews the case, interviews the birthmother and the foster mother, and then writes a long report on why the birthmother can not care for the child and approves the adoption.

6/ PGN (Procuraduria General De La Nacion) - After family court approves the adoption the case is sent to PGN. In PGN, all the families and the child's documents are reviewed and they issue there approval. This is where they really scrutinize all the documents and often kick back forms for minor spelling errors and notary issues.

7/ Pink Slip - After PGN approves the case it goes back to the U.S. embassy for them to authorize the child's visa. This is called your pink slip. This pink slip will outline the time and date you will pick up your child.

As of now we have completed steps 1-4. We are currently in Family Court and the birthmother and foster mother are being interviewed on Thursday, 10-11-07. We will keep you posted!!

Introducing Devin Buster!!!

On 8-16-07 we accepted a referal for a little boy. His given name was Alfonso Jacobo Mendez. We will name him Devin Buster. We have not decided on a middle name yet. We are considering Jacobo to keep his family name. We may drop the O and make it Jacob. Will keep you posted on that.

He was born on 8-9-07. He weighed 6lbs 4 oz. and he was 18 inches long. Here are some pictures when he was just a few days old

China to Guatemala....

After realizing that our China adoption was going to take much longer than anticipated we decided to pursue another option to expand our family. We have accepted a referal of a little boy from Guatemala. We expect this process to take at least 8 mos-12 mos. We started the process in August.

I am sure you are all questioning whether we will continue our China adoption. We have not cancelled it and will wait until we have Devin home and it gets closer to the time we would receive a referal from China to make that decision. We do not expect to hear anything about the China adoption until 2 years from now. When we first decided to adopt from China the wait time was approximately 12-14 mos. We are now looking at about 3 years from our log in date of 11-13-06.