We received an update on Josh's height and weight today. He weighs 11 pounds even and
is almost 21 inches long. His head circumference is 15 inches.
Ed, Jake and I returned from a 10 day visit with Josh yesterday. It was an amazing time
that we really enjoyed and also heartbreaking to leave him in Guatemala. Josh is a very talkative happy baby.
He loves the bathtub and the pool. He rolled over from his belly to his back while we were visiting. He loves
to fall asleep while daddy is holding him facing out with his head on Daddy chest. Jake was a very caring
big brother, and taught Jake about all the important things in life (baseball, glove, bat, Thomas, Percy and milk).
Josh was very interested in watching Jake. Josh's hair is really long and curly. We hope to hear news about preapproval
and family court in the next couple weeks.
We received updated pictures and measurements while we were in Guatemala.
According to the measurements Josh was exactly 12 pounds, 22 1/2 inches long and his head circumfrence is 15 /2 inches
at 3 months. We aren't confident that these measurements are accurate because baby's rarely weigh exact pounds 2 months
in a row. We measured Josh with Jake's toy tape measure and he was about 24 intches.
We received word on Sunday (9/9) that we have embassy preapproval. Our coordinator
emailed us today saying that our family court papers were being picked up today (9/11) and we would be submitted to PGN
tomorrow (9/12)!!!!
We were updated that we entered PGN on 9/17. We haven't received any news since then.
We have been told "no news is good news". We were notified in September that we won't get any updated measurements this
month. Apparently we were visiting Josh when he normally goes to the doctor and nobody rescheduled the appointment or
told us about the appointment. We won't receive updated measurements until mid to late October. We did receive
updated pictures yesterday. Josh is wearing one of the outfits we left for him, so we know it was taken in September.
We finally received updated measurements and they were taken either
on 9/30 or 10/9. Josh currently weighs 14 pounds and is 24.4 inches long. We are sending an email to our agency
tomorrow with our concerns about the accuracy of the measurements. Josh has gained exactly 1 pound each month since
he was 2 months old. We will keep you posted on what we learn about the measurements.
We found out that Josh has been moved to a new foster home. He moved on 10/5, Wendy
told us he was moved because she took a new job. His new foster mom is Maria. He saw the doctor on 10/19 because
of our concerns, and has gained 1 pound 12 oz in 3 weeks. He now weighs 15 pounds 12 ounces. He is also 24.8 inches
long now. Which means he grew .4 inches in 3 weeks also. So far I really like Maria. I contacted PGN to find out the status of our case (not suppose to, but I was losing confidence in our atty) and found
out that we received a kickout on 10/8. Our agency is checking into the reason behind the kickout and how long until
we are resubmitted.
We finally received word why we were kicked out.
Apparently the foster mom's address was written differently on 2 documents. The attorney told the agency that
we will be resubmitted tomorrow (9/7).
We received an email from our coordinator telling us that we won't receive any updated
measurements for the month of November. She said because we received 2 in October we won't receive any this
month......don't get me started on this!!!!! I called PGN to check on the status of our case and we are with the
2nd reviewer. What this means is that the 1st reviewer has thoroughly looked through our file and found no problems,
and has signed off on it. The 2nd reviewer will also look through the file, and hopefully sign off soon. Then the
file goes to the head of PGN (Barrios) and he will look through and sign off. Usually the 2nd reviewer and Barrios are
quicker than the 1st reviewer. Sadly, we will not have Josh home for Christmas this year.
We just got the phone call!!!!! We are out of PGN. This means that Josh will legally
be a Mullenschlader tomorrow or the day after:) We will be travelling in 5-7 weeks according to FTIA. Birth mom
will sign off tomorrow or day after, then we will get new birth certificate (around 10 days for that), we enter the embassy,
have 2nd DNA test and then get travel date. Usually around 2 weeks after DNA we find out our travel dates!!!!!
Josh is legally a Mullenschlader!!!!!! The final adoption decree was signed on 12/4.
We have been submitted for the new birth certificate.
It was a busy week for Raphael, our attorney!!!!!! We received our Guatemala City birth
certificate, new passport and have been submitted to the embassy. The authorization for Josh's 2nd DNA has been issued
today also. The DNA test will compare his DNA with the DNA test that was taken in July. The test is to verify
the baby hasn't been switched.
We received Josh's updated measurements today!!! Josh weighed exactly 17 pounds.
His length is 25.2 inches and head circum. is 17.1 inches. His weight is now in the 22nd percentile. His length
is below the 5th percentile. Either he is going to be very short or he is being mismeasured. We are very ready
to have him home so we don't have to worry about the accuracy of the measurements anymore.
We finally got the email we've been waiting for, we are going to get Josh!!!!!!
Our embassy appointment is on January 16 at 8 am. We are flying down on Sunday the 13th, and coming home as a family
of 4 on January 18th. Our plane will land in St. Louis at 3 pm.
We will continue to update this information on the page as soon as we get it.
