June 30th

The Comcast change-over has occurred. All appeared to have gone smoothly, and this is the sites new address. Everything is going extremely well. Jonathan is actually saying (well mumbling, we think) his name! He can't say "please" when asking for something so instead his word for please is "Daahhh". Don't ask us where it came from, but it definitely is when he is asking for something nicely. He has finally settled into Daycare, so that when Jeff drops him off he waves goodbye and is happy. No more unhappy mornings!! Jonathan is also giving & blowing kisses. He's just so darn cute!! We do have new pictures and will get them up shortly, but not tonight. So check back soon for more updates!!

June 4th

So we actually made a new update in less than a month, and it's well worth it! Even in the past two weeks Jonathan has been adding more words, or at least partial words to his vocabulary, like "oofffff" (Woof) when we as him "what does a doggie say?" and "mmmm" (Moo) for "What does a cow say?" Additionally, he has really been trying to feed himself, with utensils lately, specifically a spoon. We took a video of him tonight, and he is starting to get the hang of it. Check out the Video page for a clip! Still no word from Comcast what the new site address is going to be, but when we find out we will post it as soon as possible so that you can all get the new link ready. That's all for now!

May 24th

Wow!! Where does the time go?? Jonathan really keeps us moving at a break-neck pace! Jonathan has a new word! It is his favorite fruit, banana!!!  Now it comes out as just "nana" but it definitely is for the fruit (Sorry Nana, it's for that, and not you) He says it proudly every time he sees one for real, or in one of his picture books. It only took us 5 months, but we finally took him swimming in the pool in our building. Jonathan had a blast splashing and being spun around in the water. We WILL be going back soon! Additionally, we are happy to announce the arrival of ANOTHER new cousin for Jonathan, Ryan Oliver, born on May 6th to, Eric & Melissa Oliver (Jeff's brother & sister in-law). We have more recent pictures online, including one of both new cousins, Ryan and Seth on our Current Photos Page. Go see them now!

April 20th

Well it has been a busy month! Looks like the site will be getting updated on more of a monthly basis at this rate. Jonathan has new teeth! He finally added his third tooth to the two on the bottom, and he now also has a total of four teeth, on top, front-center. If you look closely at the close-up picture of him in the swing you can see them all!  Jonathan is doing very well in daycare, still trying to do what the older kids are doing! He comes home with all kids of arts & crafts that he has created... We don't know what to do with it all!! His sense of imagination is a wonderful thing as well. Deb was playing with him, while he was in his crib, and after quite methodically picking up his three stuffed animals, and blanket, one at a time & dropping them outside the crib, he proceeded to continue, picking up imaginary stuffed animals, and dropping them over as well. All the while, having a grand old time! We've been out to the park a few times and boy does he like the swings & being able to run about! The daycare has a playground area as well, and they take the kids out to it, every ( decent ) day. We have really enjoyed a recent change in bedtime with Jon. Not that we have any  trouble getting him to bed for some time now. But lately, after some milk, he has been putting his bottle down, turning over & curling up in our laps, still awake. Then after a moment or two like this, we can put him into his crib, again still awake, and we hear him play in his crib with his stuffed animals for a good 15-20 minutes over the monitor until he falls asleep. He has some great conversations with Winnie the Pooh I'll bet! The only rough spot that we are going to have to deal with for a while, is that He tested positive for exposure to Tuberculosis. Now thankfully, he has no symptoms, nor is he contagious. What has been tough, over the past three weeks, and most likely will be for the next 8 months, is the side effect of the medication (called: Isoniazid, or INH ) He basically get hit with fairly bad diarrhea for 1/2 of the day, after he takes it. Obviously he is a bit .. um "irritated" by the constant bouts of it. Additionally we have to send him to daycare with 1-2 changes of clothes each day, which certainly wreaks havoc with any normal laundry schedule. This medicine regimen runs for nine months!! We are going to love getting him off this stuff as a Christmas "present"!  We are working with his pediatrician finding ways to counteract this side effect. We are trying things like making sure that he is on a B.R.A.T. (Bananas, Rice, Apples, Toast) diet, he also gets a daily multivitamin with Iron, and we have just started giving him a food supplement called lacto-bacillus which is the good digestive tract bacteria, that is being stripped away by the INH (which then causes the diarrhea ). It will be a bit on the rough side for the next nine months for him (and us) with this side effect, but compared to what he could go through if TB were to ever crop up...yeesh! Other than that, things really are going incredibly well and we are as always continually amazed by him everyday!

March 17th

Well we finally have been able to update the site, and hopefully it is worth the wait! We have new pictures!! Everything is going great! Jonathan moved up to the toddler room and is having a wonderful time. There's been WAY too much snow this winter but  It's FINALLY starting to get warmer here. We can't wait to start bringing him out to the nearby parks and other outdoor activities.  He hasn't started talking yet beyond "dadada" and "mamama" but we know that it will come along shortly. Although we have had a few wonderfully funny babbling debates with him. We think that he has really settled in here with us. Additionally, we keep on getting glowing reports from the daycare about how much he has improved over the past few weeks, interacting with the other children, and having fun. We are just so happy that he is doing so well.  Enjoy the new Pictures!!

February 27th

Jonathan is in daycare and we are back at work. The adjustment for all of us hasn't been too bad.  In fact, Jonathan will be moving from the infant rooms to the toddler room after only two weeks!! Well ahead of schedule. Originally, the daycare wanted to keep him in the infant room for 1-2 months to ease his transition into his new environment, but he is having MUCH more fun in the toddler rooms so it was decided that he will be in the toddler rooms full time as of this coming Monday. He will get more interaction with older children & lots of talking interaction, so we are hoping that he picks up speaking more quickly now. He's already making friends, and doing arts & crafts, and music everyday! We are missing the full days with him, now only having 2-3 hours a night (with the exception of the weekends of course), but we are also happy to be back to work as well.  In what must be record time of less than a week at daycare, Jonathan picked up his first bout of conjunctivitis, an ear infection, and a head cold, all at once. It was not a fun Monday & Tuesday of this week. Ah well such is being a child right? One additional happy note (family wise), Jonathan has a new cousin!!  Deb's sister Lisa, gave birth to her son Seth Joseph Bradley early morning, Feb 20th! All are doing well and are home getting to know one another.

February 5th

What a difference 2-3 weeks makes!! Jonathan is walking up a storm! Yep we have a new video clip. This one is a fairly large download for all you dialup folks at 1.2 MB, so it's time to get a high speed connection!! Not a lot else going on right now so we will try to get some new pictures online shortly!!

January 24th

JONATHAN IS WALKING!We are just SO excited! Over the past week he has been striking out on his own without help. We have a short video clip of some of his first steps (Sorry we didn't get his ACTUAL first steps, so these will have to do!) It's been amazing watching him get more bold with each step. He is now walking across the living room (with an occasional nose-dive at the end) but is still proud as a peacock every time he does it! The past few weeks have been a wild, exciting, frustrating, happy & wonderful time from going to get him through spending all this time at home with him. In the end, we really couldn't have asked for a better way to start of our family with him. Jeff goes back to work on Monday for two weeks, While Deb is still staying home taking care of Jonathan during the day with Grand-mom Marge the first week & friends coming in the next. During the second week in February, We are taking one more week off together so that we can take Jonathan a few times to the daycare center to get used to it.  Jeff will be taking him to daycare once we both get back to work full time. We do also have more pictures but Jeff just hasn't had the time to get them scanned in, but we will get them online soon!!

January 7th

Yep we've changed the page navigation again. Please bear with us as we tweak the pages to hopefully make things easier to get to. We now have changed the Media Pages to the Media Archives, and all older media will be located there. Speaking of pictures and other stuff, we know that you've been asking for it since we got back and FINALLY here they are, PICTURES!! Additionally, as an added bonus we were even able to get a couple quick videos from Jeff's web cam on the new Video page as well! Jonathan has been mostly cute as a button & happy as a clam. Every 1 year old has their meltdowns, but for the most part he is really connecting with us! Christmas and his birthday were just a whirlwind of family & friends which he totally enjoyed! He's a real people watcher, so he loves going to restaurants & the malls when we go out! Well that's all for now but this has been a big update so it should keep you busy for a little while at least. Enjoy!

January 1st

Well A new year, brings new changes to the website. We've practically run out of space on this original site, so Jeff is in the process of creating additional pages on a connected site. Watch for changes already in process (For Example, the older pictures have been moved to the Media Archives)  and some coming soon (For Example, VIDEO!! )

December 26th

Happy Holidays to everyone! We know that you are all waiting for new updates and pictures, and they ARE coming! We have been swamped with Holiday shopping and still getting settled into some sort of routine with Jonathan. He has really begun to relax and be friendly, & playful most of the time! It's amazing watching him explore his new surroundings. We promise more pictures online REAL soon, but for now, here is a graphic of our Arrival Announcement that we are sending out.

(click for larger version)

December 14th

Our first (decent) digital pictures of Jonathan at home!!! Take a look! More to come soon!!

December 13th

We are HOME!! A family at last!! Jonathan is beautiful and quite the bruiser! Everything pertaining to "the process" went smooth as silk, from working with the attorney, to the hotel, to the Embassy (getting his passport & visa)! What wasn't so easy was the fact that Jonathan had some MAJOR attachment/separation issues pertaining to his foster family, that made the three days that we were down there quite heart rending. There was a lot of crying & because he is SO smart, he associated our room in the hotel with the separation from his foster mother (this is where the meeting occurred) and he would just cry & cry whenever he was in the room. We have to thank Grand-dad Jim and Grand-mom Marge without whom we could have never managed this trip, and to the new friends we made from Tennessee, the Hayman family, who gave us incredibly helpful advice (& baby benadryl/Advil !)  So we are home now and this evening, it was like a switch "flipped"!! Jonathan was happy, and babbling & laughing & exploring his toys... he even went to sleep on his own in his crib!!  Well we are yet again, exhausted... more updates to come!!

December 3rd

Well it's official! The "pink slip" was received by the attorney this morning from family court! Our travel and hotel plans are now setup for us (and of course Jonathan's trip home) and also for Jonathan's Grand-dad Jim and Grand-mom Marge who are coming along to help out with physical stuff where needed, and also to keep us from going crazy while we are down there! We are definitely leaving this Sunday (12/8) and staying through Thursday (12/12) There is a "business center" where there may be internet access, Jeff will of course try to get internet access & try to send updates from Guatemala, but no promises.  FIVE Days to go!!

November 29th

Mary let us know on Tuesday, That the lawyer down in Guatemala is expecting to get the paperwork (what is called the "pink slip") from family court on or about Tuesday, December 3rd.  So we have madly started making our travel plans.  It looks like we are heading down from Dec 8th-12th.  This allows for 3 business days in Guatemala (Monday-Wednesday) and 2 days for travel (Sunday & Thursday).  We've been making mad dashes all over the place to get the last minute stuff.  Additionally we are getting help to child proof the apartment tomorrow (Thanks Karen & Rich).  Diapers, & humidifiers & changing pads... OH MY! (our apologies to the Wizard of Oz  fans out there).  We don't know if this is going to be the longest/most anxious, or quickest/most harried week of our lives!  We'll get back to you all on that later!  TEN DAYS AND COUNTING!!

November 23rd

MORE PICTURES!! We also got his latest measurements that were taken on 11/7/02. He is 21Lbs, 28^3/4 inches tall & his Head Circumference is 17^3/4 in. These are all well into the normal ranges for a child of 10^1/2 months. That's all for now!

November 19th

We have hit the Home stretch folks! On Thursday (11/14) we got a call from the agency to tell us that the Adoption has been FINALIZED at the AG's office in Guatemala!!! Here's what's left to be done down there: 1) Creation of the Adoption Decree, 2) Creation of an amended Birth Certificate for Jonathan, and 3) Creation of his VISA for the United States. Deb got her immunizations done end of last week, and Jeff's are coming Thursday. The paperwork is mounting again, but it's mostly organizational stuff, that we will need to bring with us. The latest time estimate, before we can travel is now just 2-2.5 weeks!! It really looks like he will be here right when we hoped!
Additionally, we have FINALLY cleared out all of the "old-stuff" from the second bedroom. So changing it over to Jonathan's room is well under way. Some of you remember what the room used to look like, well this is what it looks like now, at least so far!

It is two pictures put together as closely as Jeff could get, so that's the reason for the slight variation at the overlap.  Keep checking back folks, updates are coming in lately, on average of approximately once a week, and there aren't that many weeks left!!

November 12th

A few new things to talk about this week, guess the info may start coming in faster now! First, some exciting news! Thursday we got word from the agency that Jonathan's "case" has reached the Guatemalan Attorney General's office. The process in the AG's office takes approximately ten days. Then there is approximately 2 1/2 weeks before we can travel!   Yep we are talking just about a month from now, and pretty much right on track for when we were hoping; Mid-December! That being said, we have scheduled immunization appointments for the both of us over the next 2 weeks. 
Now for some fun news! The baby shower happened this Saturday! Deb was REALLY surprised. Between Deb's sister, Karen supposedly being "out of town" and Jeff's Dad, and Marge, supposedly not coming up to visit us until the weekend of the 16th, the stage was set for a grand surprise for Deb. When everyone who could come rushed into the apartment, Deb practically jumped out of her chair! It was a great time had by all. Thank you Karen, Lisa, Maureen, everyone who helped out, and of course to everyone who could make it. We had a wonderful time!

November 3rd

Well what do you know... we got More Pictures on October 25th!! We would have put them online sooner but things are starting to get a bit crazy around here! The crib came in and so the next big project is having Jeff put it together!!!  In the end, we have decided not to paint the room, but to put up letter block & stuffed animal decals for the walls. This looks like it will be a MUCH easier thing to do than paint anyway. Additionally, we won't have to worry if the paint color we had selected turned out to be too dark for the building management's taste. The latest info from Guatemala is that everything is running smoothly & still on track for the end of the year. The VISA process for children being adopted out of Guatemala has actually sped up (dropping from approx 2-3 weeks to 2-3 DAYS!) What this means is that we are most likely looking at going sometime Mid-December! Just like we were hoping! On the home front, we need to get a couple immunizations taken care of so that we don't have to worry about things like Hepatitis and other nasty bugs while we are down there. Finally, we have still MORE paperwork to take care of, before everything falls into place. At least it's no where near the amount of paperwork that we've done already. So why are you still on this page? :-)  Go check out the new pictures!!

October 4th

We received  the latest Well Baby report on Wednesday, and FINALLY something that I know everyone has been waiting for, especially us, New Pictures! His latest measurements taken on September 9th, for Height (69.6 CM), Weight (18Lbs, 12 Oz)  AND Head Circumference (43CM) are all ok for a healthy boy of 8 1/2 months! Additionally they have also been giving him vaccinations for Polio, Diphtheria , Meningitis, and Hepatitis. The planning still goes on.... His room is almost empty, just need to get the bed out of there, and we are going this weekend to hopefully pickup, or at least order his crib from Babies-R-Us. That's all for now.. enjoy the new pictures!!

September 14th

Yep been a while since our last update, It looks like at least when it comes to the "process" it is slow going for the moment. We did receive the DNA test results, and it did confirm that Jonathan's birth mother was, well....his birth mother (with a 99.73% accuracy), and had the legal right to put him up for adoption.  We have his room about half-way emptied. Once all that stuff is gone, we will be painting it a light blue (at least that is our plan, so far), and moving new stuff in for him!! We got the latest Height/weight/head circumference measurements about two weeks ago.  His height & weight are pretty much "spot on", and his head circumference is just a bit on the low side, but so far (and we have checked with a couple Pediatricians), not something to be concerned much about. We will be keeping an eye on this as things progress of course just to be sure.

August 15th

Just some minor site updates; A few extra graphics here & there, Realized that the Early 2001-Feb 2002 Page would have to be constantly changed as new info came in & older info "aged'. So Just renamed it the Archive Page.

August 7th

We went to another Waiting Parents meeting and were barely able to contain ourselves as WE were making our announcement that we had received our referral! At least one similar announcement (either parents about to travel, or parents getting their referral.) tends to occur each month. Everyone there was of course, excited for us and our good news!

August 1st

We made our decision! Not that it was a hard one, of course, and accepted the referral! We had actually decided a few days earlier, but today we submitted all the acceptance paperwork. The only thing that we haven't done yet, is bring the medical information that we have (what little there is) to a pediatrician to check it over, but we have this scheduled for Monday. Additionally, there really aren't any concerns about the fact that he is a happy & healthy child!!
We are now deciding on what to send in the "care" package. It's amazing how LITTLE will fit into a 1 gallon Ziploc-type baggie Grrr!! But, we have few things that will do for now. Our plans are starting to fall into place, in preparation for his arrival. Jeff has already started clearing out the second bedroom, and wants to paint it light blue. Here's hoping our building management doesn't mind!! We've decided that the theme for his bedroom is going to be Winnie the Pooh characters & other animals!! He already has a quite a collection of stuffed animals between the two of us, so it seemed only natural to continue the "trend".

July 26th

THE OFFICIAL REFERRAL MEETING DAY!!  We spent the better part of 2 hours going over all the documentation, and yes... MORE PICTURES! First off, his birth name is Carlos Josué, but we are going to change his name to Jonathan Carlos.
We found out as much as is known about his birth mother and her reasons for giving him up. She already was raising four children, and while pregnant with Jonathan, her husband left her. She then felt that she was unable to raise five children on her own, and hoped to give Jonathan a better life with a family that could provide for him.  There wasn't much medical history other than that a doctor examined him on July 4th, and certified that Jonathan was in good health.  What medical information and pictures we do have, we will be taking to a doctor at Children's Hospital who will verify, as best s/he can, that Jonathan is in good health.  Additionally, We have a bunch of new documentation to read & fill out, and we have one week to make our final decision. Barring the doctor finding something totally unexpected, we are planning on accepting this referral!!
After this, we then have approximately 4-6 months, to prepare for his arrival. During this time, Jonathan's Visa will be created, and DNA testing will occur to verify parentage (essentially that his Birth mother, really IS his birth mother and can legally give him up for adoption). This is just a legal/medical requirement in Guatemala, as part of the adoption process.
This has been one of the most exciting, anxious and happy weeks of our lives, and we would both like to thank everyone for their messages and well wishes!

July 23rd

WE RECEIVED OUR REFERRAL CALL AND IT'S A BOY!!! 7 months old, born on December 28th! and yes, we have Pictures!  We are going to be meeting with Guatemala program director (Mary) and our social worker (Erin) to look over all the official paperwork and medical records, and of course MORE pictures!! Stay tuned for more information by this weekend!!

June 29th

All out paperwork is back from the Guatemalan Consulates! Jeff made copies last night and we are sending them into the Agency today. From here we wait for the referral. This should come in anytime in the next month. It's hard to believe that we will know about our child is such a short time!! Stay tuned !!

June 8th

Jeff spoke with Mary again (we are supposed to check in monthly) and we are at the top of the list!! The last thing (for now) that we needed to do was to send all our paperwork to the Guatemalan Consulate in New York (with the exception of Jeff's Birth Certificate that needs to be sent to the Consulate in Washington DC) to be authenticated and then returned to us. So we sent them out this morning! Once we get these documents back, and give them (plus a full set of copies) to our Adoption agency we are essentially just waiting for the referral to come in!!! We can't be more excited.

May 25th

Jeff spoke with Mary from Wide Horizons for Children the other day, and we are "on track" for a referral in July/August, and Travel time is now averaging approximately 4-6 months. So we are looking at a date range of approximately  November-February for bringing our child home!!

May 8th

Went to a reception that was being held for the two people that are the legal team & contacts in Guatemala. They were visiting Wide Horizons for Children to speak about what to expect on one's trip to Guatemala.

• There are airlines that offer significantly discounted tickets for adoption travel.

• There is the possibility of actually meeting the birth mother while there. (BUT no worries of any legal issues as this has already been taken care of in the previous months before the trip down)

• Upon referral we can send a small "care" package ( has to fit into a 1 gallon Ziploc-type bag) of personal things to our waiting child that they will later bring home with them. This is to start establishing a familiarity with what the child may experience when he/she comes home. The reason for the limited size, is that it will actually be going down to Guatemala with other parents that are going to pick up their waiting child, so it can't add much to what they have to pack. Additionally, anything larger may have to go through customs in Guatemala, and that can be extremely difficult. Ideas for personal things to send are welcomed! Please email us if you have any suggestions!

• THE MOST EXCITING BIT OF INFO IS: Upon arrival at the Hotel, the foster parents could very well be waiting WITH OUR CHILD!!

 April 9th

Updated the Photo Album Page with some of the pictures that we sent to Guatemala with our application for adoption. Check them out!

April 6th

Trying something different. We realized that the more updates that occur, the further down everyone would have to scroll to get there. So the order of the entries has been reversed. New updates now go right at the beginning of the page. Please let us know what you think!

April 3rd

Went to a Waiting Parents monthly meeting. Most of the people there were in the China program. Most have waited at least a year just for their referrals!!  These parents have my respect and admiration for their patience, having to wait so long.

March 13th

We went to our first "Waiting Parents" meeting. People in this group, are either (like us) waiting to get their referral, or have their referral and are waiting to travel to go pick up their child.  It was very exciting to see a few of these parents who had just received their referral  and already had pictures of the baby that they were going to bring into their own family soon. That will hopefully be us this summer!!

November 2001-February 2002

We spend all sorts of time getting paperwork done (IN SPANISH!!), and then notarized and certified! (Thanks for the Certification assist, George & Sharon!!)

February 15th: Jeff submits paperwork to get us officially on the waiting list for a referral of a child. At this point we were fully expecting approximately 6-8 months before receiving the referral. To our surprise we were informed that referrals were coming in MUCH faster than expected, some as short as  2 1/2 MONTHS!!  WHOA NELLIE!!  We told them we would love to have the referral that quickly, BUT we wouldn't have enough saved to pay the program fees at that time.  

We talked this through with Mary, the Guatemala program director, and we arranged to be put on hold just long enough, so that our referral comes in somewhere around July/August. Our plan is to have enough money saved to pay the fees AND also to allow Jeff to stay home longer, after his paid vacation time runs out. For those who don't know, Wide Horizons for Children requires that at least one parent to be home, for at least two months after the child comes home, before being placed in any sort of day care. Which we both completely agree with because this helps the child get accustomed to it's new parents. Deb will be able to do this with her vacation time without any restrictions, while Jeff is initially working within his available vacation time of three weeks. Waiting approximately six months for the referral allows us the extra savings time to get us safely into a position where both of us can stay home for most/all of that two month period together. 

November 2001

We met with Wide Horizons for Children (our adoption agency) with the intention of finding out which programs we would be eligible for that had no problems with disability, descent, or any other major reason. This gave us two choices, China or Guatemala. After discussing both programs in great detail, we chose the Guatemala program.

Here are the main reasons that "won us over"  to the Guatemala program were:

Early-mid 2001

Initially we worked with Jeff's Employee Assistance program at Bose, which helped us by supplying us with a reasonably decent list of Adoption agencies in Massachusetts, which included a brief description about the services available from each one. We looked through them all and decided to go with the Wide Horizons for Children agency based out of Waltham, MA. We started this process first looking at the Korea program but were turned down  because they would not adopt to a disabled person. We then chose the India program. At the time we chose this, we fit all of the requirements for this program except that we needed to be married for at least three years before we could apply. So we decided to wait for a few months until our three year anniversary to start the  process. Just before we reached our anniversary we were informed that we were no longer eligible for this program due to a change in policy that only allowed adoption of children from this country, to parents of Indian descent.