More Possible Delays- Please Pray!!

I tried to write yesterday, but just could not get it done. Really rough couple of weeks since I posted last. Monday night I cried myself to sleep and then Tuesday night I could not sleep much at all. Tuesday I was just in a funk all day long! I have this thing that when I get stressed I have nervous energy BAD! I start frantically cleaning out stuff like closets, drawers anything to keep me from being still. So Tuesday night I cleaned out kitchen cabinets and the TV stand. Last week I cleaned out Chloe's closet and the bathroom drawers. I had read on another adoptive mom's blog that I have been reading that she said she might be there 8-10 more weeks. Well knowing that they are already out of PGN I freaked out, because even though they said we would get out any day now, we have yet to hear anything about it. So I knew that 8-10 more weeks would then put us in Sept or Oct. We were really thinking the end of Aug or beginning of Sept. It seems every time I sort of get a time line in my head something else changes and it is delayed. I so wish we could visit her. We still have no pictures or updates on her at all. Our agency told our lawyer that we would not send our second half of money after PGN until we got some updated pictures. They will not even tell us if they got the birthday package that we sent her. So frustrating!!!! The other mom had mentioned something about RENAP which we had never heard of. Karen my new adoptive mom friend from TX sent me an email telling me what RENAP is all about. RENAP is an acronym of Registro Nacional de las Personas or National Registry of People and is a new centralized system for creating birth certificates and such in Guatemala. In theory, it sounds good and should make things easy--it's like Vital Statistics for us here in the US where we can order a birth certificate from any State with great ease. It's been a transition process to have all of the departments/states in Guatemala convert to this system and it hasn't been smooth, so that is causing some delays in getting their birth certificates. I have met some of the best adoptive moms in the past few weeks. They have really reached out to me and understand exactly what I am going through. Thank you so much for your words of encouragement both in emails and on the phone too. I do not know what I would do without you guys and your encouragement. I cannot believe I did not find you guys before now!

Please keep the benefit in your prayers. It is August 15, 16 at our church fellowship hall. Word of Life Church, 1041 Center Point Road, Hendersonville, TN. If you have things you would like to donate for the yard sale or bake sale, give us a call at 615.479.0954.

We love you so much and thanks for the prayers. A big thank you to our church family for covering us in prayer, especially Shawn, Michelle and Cheryl. I love you guys!

Love you all!
April, Greg and Chloe
PS
*** We just got this from our lawyer Carla.
"Sorry I didn't write you.... I got the package on Friday and we gave it to her this Tuesday... I ask the foster mom to change her and send me some pictures today.. so we can send those to the family... I will be calling her again to ask for them. I am also going to request today a certification from the doctor to Scan it to you so you can have all of it. We will be out of PGN very, very soon. If the family could send the payment that would be very helpful. Thanks Carla"

The Day Before

As most of you already know, tomorrow will be Chloe's 1st Birthday. Oh how we wish we could be with her on her big day! I mailed her a package today but it will be next week before it gets there. I sent her most of the 12 months clothes and smaller shoes we had bought her. We thought for sure she would be here by now, so I hate for her to not get any good use out of them. I also sent her several hair bows that I made her! I swashed as much as I could possible put in that flat rate box! Even the man at the post office said "Looks like you have a lot in this box." The sides were slightly poking out! haha I wrote Happy Birthday in Spanish on the box. We took down Chloe's twin bed this past weekend and put up her baby bed given to us by friends at church. We are still working on her little room, but it looks adorable so far. We did get some good news Monday afternoon. Our lawyer said that we should be out of PGN any day now! Which is awesome! They said bout 4-6 weeks after you come out of PGN is when you travel! We are so excited! We really need you to be praying because they will ask for the 2nd half of the foreign fees which is $10,000 as soon as she comes out of PGN. We still need about $4200.00. Our case worker said to make sure and have the money ready when they ask for it so we will not have any more delays. We are believing for a miracle and that God is working behind the scenes to somehow help us get the rest of the money this week. If you would like to make a donation, visit the home page on her website, www.chloesjourney.com and you can make a donation through PayPal. Love you all so much! April, Greg and Chloe too!

Keep Believing With Us!

I don't really have any news on the adoption. I just wanted to let you know how grateful we are for each of you. Without all of you, this whole process would not possible! Thanks for your prayers, guidance, support, love and encouragement. We are so close now to bringing her home! Keep believing with us!

I have made some new friends from other adoptive moms. Most of them are adopting or have adopted from Guatemala! These families have really reached out to us and I am looking forward to meeting more of them. A friend suggested that I read a blog from a couple in Franklin, TN that is almost in the same time frame that we are in. The mom is actually spending the rest of the time down in Guatemala with their child. I did not even realize we could do this. I kind of wish we had planned better and I could go and be with Chloe until we bring her home. They said it is really not too expensive since you divide the expenses with other moms that want to be down there and are able too. God has just opened up doors for me to ask a lot of questions and compare time frames with these other families which has really been a comfort to us. We changed the website to honor Miss Chloe Bug for her 1st Birthday which is this month - July 17th. Check it out www.chloesjourney.com

Hugs and Love,

The Hollemans

Our Very First Blog

Hey everyone. . . . We are very new to this whole blog thing. A friend told us of other adoptive parents that were adopting from Guatemala that have a blog, so we wanted to start a blog in hopes of making some friends with other adoptive parents. We feel alone and scared going through the whole adoption process right now in Guatemala since we do not know anyone else currently adopting. We have only received 3 pictures (with one set being the birth picture) from our child in the past year and no pictures since Christmas! We were supposed to already have her but with the new birth mothers interviews, we have been delayed. They are now guesstimating around the end of September. We just found out yesterday that we did get through the birth mothers interview ok. Our little girl's name is Hannah Chloe Holleman. We call this adoption journey.. Chloe's Journey! Check out her website at www.chloesjourney.com.

Thanks for your prayers and we look forward to hearing from many of you and developing long lasting friendships!