Lots of updates...some good & some not so much

Well, lets get all the YUCKY news out of the way first.

JCICS announced yesterday that PGN has shut down operations until the new Central Authority (formed under their new adoption law) is functional. Well, the Central Authority does not exist yet. Their new law states that the Central Authority must be formed by 1/15 because in process cases need to be registered there by 2/12 (30 business days after the effective date of the law, which was 12/31/07). Now, does this mean PGN will start processing cases again on 1/15 or will they wait until everyone is registered and reopen on 2/13?? No one has the answers right now. It looks like our case will either be delayed 2 weeks or 6. Either way, it doesn't look like an April pickup trip for us. More likely May or June at the earliest.

EDITED TO ADD: JCICS added a "p.s." to their post from Friday. It says "Please note: Joint Council staff, particularly Tom DiFilipo, President & CEO, remain in frequent conversation with officials from both the U.S. government and the Guatemalan government. Joint Council will issue a more detailed analysis in the coming days, which will include important updates received at Joint Council's Board of Directors meeting with the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Monday, January 7th." Also, some people who have spoken w/their Guatemalan attornies this weekend were told that PGN was making an announcement this Monday and that there would be clarification to this mess. Most think that there will be a temporary Central Authority set up on the 14th so that all of us can register and PGN can get moving again. So hopefully by the end of the week we will know more. But it sounds like this will only delay us 2 or 3 weeks at best.

In other news, I spoke with Ava's foster mother, Maria, last night w/my translator. Ava is doing well. She had a stomach virus earlier in December which lasted about a week and during that time she wasn't eating very well. But after it passed she started eating well again. She's now up to 5 ounces every 3-4 hours. She saw the doctor for her well check right after Xmas and everything was normal. She said she weighed in at about 13 1/2 pounds (up 1 lb. from Nov). Maria said she is really strong and almost rolling over. She holds her head up very well, is curious about everything and wants to get into everything. She said she's grabbing toys and holding them and using all her fingers. She said her hands are usually open and she grabs everything in a normal fashion. She said she makes lots of noise and is trying to "talk" and says "mamamamama". And here's the not so good news...

Ava was transferred into Maria's care on Dec. 7th...but her belongings were not. Everything I left for her on my visit trip in November is still with her other foster mother. She was given to Maria w/only the clothes on her back. Now, I left about $600 worth of stuff and I was hoping that would last her until 6 months. I left clothing, shoes, a bumbo seat, an activity mat, a photo album w/our pictures, bottles, toys, hairbows, a tape recorder w/my voice on it, etc. etc. Obviously I'm not happy about this, but there's not much I can do. I told my agency to call my lawyer in Guatemala and have everything retrieved. Hopefully, this will happen. Either way I found someone who is going down next week to take some stuff for me. So it looks like I'll be shopping this weekend (which is always fun, but *GRRRRRR* I already bought this stuff!!)

The important thing is that she's w/a wonderful experienced foster family now and there should be no more moves for her until she moves home with US.

Jen