It's official Mazzi Herlinda Roberts has entered the world!

Well, I know most of you know this already, but here goes the official blog...

On March 19, 2007 at 11:00am, Herlinda Floricelda (aka Mazzi Herlinda) entered the world in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala! She was born to Olga, the bravest, most generous woman in the world - to her we will be forever grateful! Olga is a 26 year old unmarried woman with no other children. Herlinda's birthfather is 27 year old, Francisco - to whom we will also be forever grateful!

The only measurements that we have obtained indicate that on March 23, 2007, Mazzi weighed 7.1lbs and measured 51cm (20 inches) long. The pediatrician who examined her on the 23rd concluded that she has adequate weight and height for her age, takes formula (Similac Advance - funny, huh?!?) without a problem, does not show any visible marks. Her neurological response was normal and her organic systems were found normal. She is a healthy baby girl, found normal for her age!

Mazzi is currently living with a foster family consisting of a mother (42), father (46), son (24) and daughter (19).

We are flying out on Tuesday at 12:55pm heading to Guatemala City. We will arrive there about 7:30pm. We will be staying in an adoption friendly hotel there. We hope to meet Mazzi early on Wednesday...better be early or my heart might beat right out of my chest! We will get to spend a few hours with her and have the ability (with a translator) to ask the foster mother any questions we wish. This will probably be our one and only visit with her but we will take LOTS of pictures and video...all of which we will share immediately!! Then on Thursday we plan to do some sight seeing and learning about Guatemalan culture. Then we head back to the US on Friday - it will probably be the hardest thing we've ever had to do but we have no choice!

From here it's anyone's guess how long we'll have to wait to bring her home. Our agency says best case - 5 months, worst case - up to 1 year. This is where we totally lose control of the process and have no choice but to go with the flow and try to remain sane. There is just no telling how quickly things will or won't progress. I know this seems strange that we have to wait so long and it is extremely unfortunate but it's just the way it works so we just must be patient. Our agency says we are working with their most favorite attorney in Guatemala and that things should progress smoothly but there's no telling what the government might do to slow things down.

We are SO excited about our trip and promise to report as soon as we return (maybe while we're there if we have Internet access). Please be prayerful for our safe travels and thanks for reading! Love, Jit & Kik