Our Dossier is Going to Guatemala

Our dossier is on its way to Guatemala! The Guatemalan Embassy legalized all of our documents and returned it to us this afternoon. We over-nighted it to Love Basket and they will be sending it to our attorney tomorrow. We have spent so much time getting these documents together that I just had to take a picture before I could send it.

How old is Cohen?

Happy Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for this year! We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and know how grateful we are to have you in our lives.

Knowing that months from now we will be on our way to Guatemala to bring Cohen home is such an incredible feeling! Love Basket told us that we can send him a small package. We are going to send books and tapes with us reading the stories. That way he will recognize our voices when we first meet him. We are also going to send blankets and a small stuffed animal that we will sleep with for a few nights so that he will know what "home" smells like.

Quick update on where we are in the adoption process: We over-nighted the dossier to the Guatemalan Embassy in D.C. on Tuesday. They must have been closed on Wed. because our tracking information said that they attempted to deliver it, but it was not received. Once the Guatemalan Embassy in D.C. receives it, they will legalize it and send it back to us. That should take about a week. We will then send it to our attorney in Guatemala and our dossier can officially begin moving through the courts.

It's a Boy!

Our baby boy was born! Let us introduce you to Cohen Isaac Wheeler. He was born on October 30, 2006 and weighs six pounds. We still have many months of waiting until the adoption will be finalized and we can travel to Guatemala, but he will definitely be worth the wait! He is out of the hospital and in foster care. We will post more information as we receive it. Please pray for his birthmother who has given us the most amazing gift and pray that he will be loved and cared for by his foster mom until we can bring him home!

Our Baby Names!

Last week we received an email from Laurie at Love Basket telling us that there is a possibility that we may be able to give our baby his or her original name that would go on the first birth certificate. This makes us hopeful that there is a possible birthmother who is getting ready to deliver! Laurie explained that if we had already agreed on baby names, to give her a boy and a girl name so that she could pass the names on to the attorney in Guatemala just in case the timing worked out. So, our baby names are: Cohen Isaac for a boy and Sadie Elise for a girl. You may post positive comments only about these names! :)

We also received our final paperwork packet explaining how to prepare the dossier. This is the paperwork that needs to be notarized, certified, authenticated, and legalized! It is extremely overwhelming, so we are trying to just break it up into manageable pieces. We are also waiting on our I-171 from Immigration. When we receive this, we will be able to accept a referral for a baby! Robby has a friend of a friend who works in the Immigration Office downtown, so we are hoping he can help pull some strings.

We are also checking our mail daily in hopes of hearing from one of the many grants we have applied for. Continue to check our sight -- we may have a picture soon!