What's next?

i still can't believe we are OUT of PGN. i honestly think i was starting to believe it would never happen. so utter shock is what i felt initially. then i cried. when i told michael his eyes lit up and we just hugged and said over and over how we can't believe it is really going to happen. on friday we were just really REALLY excited. then saturday my parents were in town, so they helped me get ALL of stella's clothes washed and organized. i can CHECK that off my list! and by sunday we were back to feeling the wait. don't get me wrong, we are still on a high . . . but we still have some waiting to do. this is what we are waiting on :

* birth certificate issued : this will list Stella's birth first and middle names and change her last name to OUR last name!!!!! at this point Stella is legally OURS!!!!!

* passport issued : once she has a birth certificate with OUR last name, she can then get her Guatemalan passport

*submit to US Embassy : we must then request the orphan visa to enter the US

* DNA authorization : this is also referred to as having orange (the color of the paper it is issued on) : stella has already had 1 dna test to verify that she was given up for adoption by her actual birth mother : THIS dna test is simply to verify that she is the same baby that we started the process with (to verify no swap has been illegally made) - once we have the authorization the test can be completed (at a lad in the US) and then must be sent back to the US Embassy in Guatemala

*final medical : stella must have 1 more appointment with an embassy approved doctor

* PINK : this is the paper that our US Embassy appointment date is issued on (it happens to be on pink paper) : this will tell us WHEN we must be in Guatemala and we start PACKING and making our travel arrangements

i have been told by our agency to expect the above steps to take approximately 6-8 weeks. while in Guatemala we will go to the embassy appointment and then we get to come HOME. i am nervous and excited and scared. i just can't believe this is REALLY going to happen. i think i'm STILL in shock! i'm not sure any of this will feel real until we get HOME with her.