What's in a Name?

So, Andy and I decided last week that we will name our little guy Henry Morales Pratt. Henry was an easy call. We wanted a traditional sounding name that wasn't overly popular and we've been thinking Henry for a long time. We also knew that we wanted a Hispanic middle name, and were actually leaning towards Miguel before we got the referral. When we received our referral, we both felt it was important to keep part of the name his birthmother gave him. I was leaning towards Morales because I thought it would be nice for Henry to have his birth last name. Andy liked Moises (I think in part because of Moises Alou, the baseball player). We actually decided his name by flipping a coin.

Now, I'm having second thoughts. Moises is Spanish for Moses. In the Bible, Moses' mom put him in a basket and sent him down the Nile. The Pharoh had decreed that Jewish baby boys should be killed. She didn't abandon Moses; Moses's sister stayed in the reeds and watched until he was found. He was found by Pharoh's daughter who adopted Moses as her son. Of course, there's a lot more, but that's the basic story of his birth.

Andy and I know from the information that Henry's birthmother provided when she brought Henry in that she attends church. We have very little information about the birthmother and the fact that she told our attorney that she attends church leads me to think that being a Christian (Catholic, most likely) is important to her and that she wants us to know that she is a Christian. That makes me wonder whether she chose the name Moises because Moses was given up by his mother to be raised by another woman. She must know the story.

Did she choose Moises because she was giving her son up for adoption? If so, that is a very powerful name choice and I would want to keep Moises. But, like so many other parts of this situation, we just don't know and will probably never know.

So right now, its back to Moises or Morales. Definately, Henry M. Pratt, in some form.

Josue, meet Henry

We have had quite a week after we got our referral of little Josue Moises Morales. We have re-named him Henry Morales Pratt. After we got our referral, there was a whirlwind of activity: calling family and friends, emailing pictures of our little guy, filling out referral acceptance forms, going to Target to buy clothes and toys to put into a care package, etc. We have pictures of Henry up all over our house, which makes me wonder, is it possible to fall in love with a picture? I answer with a resounding "YES". I just wish we had more photos of Henry M. Pratt.

This weekend we traveled to the Twin Cities to attend a meeting at our adoption agency with the two attorneys in Guatemala who will be handling our adoption. It was great to meet these wonderful people (they are a husband and wife team) and see their enthusiasm and love for what they do. After attending a tough Twins loss last night, today we went to a Latin American adoption picnic. There must have been dozens of adoptive families in the park, and what struck me was how happy these children were. They were all laughing, running and jumping in the extreme heat. I could have sat and watched these happy kids all day, and I quickly got a feeling of great hope, that soon I will be in the same position that the adoptive parents are. I really have no doubt that adopting from Guatemala is the right thing to do.

What happens next? Well, we submitted another batch of paperwork to our adoption agency yesterday, and that will go down to Guatemala next week. Then, the 3-8 month clock begins! The first thing to happen is for the birth mother and Henry to get DNA tests. Once that happens, the case can be submitted to a family court. The court will interview the birth mother to ensure that she wants to give the child up and is not being coerced. We will be waiting up here (hopefully being patient, but I doubt it) and will receive monthly updates on Henry's growth and medical condition. And we'll get more pictures!

By the way, the first article of clothing we bought for Henry was a Twins "onesie". That item was non-negotiable. We will send some more pictures later when we are at our own computer! Adios!

Andy

Josue Moises Morales

We are the proud parents of a baby boy! His name is Josue Moises Morales. He was born on July 12, 2006, at 11:00 pm, in Santa Catarina Pinula, Guatemala. He was 8 lbs., 14 oz., and 46 centimeters in length. He is a very big boy for Guatemala. Obviously, we are thrilled.

We were hoping to get a referral sometime in August and were very surprised to get a call from our social worker on Monday, July 24 at 3 pm. Our social worker called Erin's cell phone (they have a policy of calling the moms first). Surprisingly, Erin restrained herself, declined the immediate information, drove to Andy's office and we heard the great news together. Then we raced home to look at his pictures online. We have decided his first name will be Henry and his middle name will be either Moises or Morales.

We were shocked that we received the referral of little Josue/Henry so quickly. We had completed all of our documents and were officially "in line" for a referral last Monday, July 17, so we only waited one week! Guatemala right now has many more boys than girls available for referrals, so those who specifically want boys or don't have a preference get a shorter wait. But we didn't know it was that short! We both felt like proud parents today sharing pictures of our new son.

The first question everyone has for us is when will he come home. We wish we knew!!! It could be anywhere from 3 to 8 months. Before Henry can move to the Northland, we have to have a DNA match from him and his birth mother, approval by a Guatemalan family court, and final approval by the Guatemalan PGN (the equivalent of our Attorney General). We are praying he will be home for Christmas.

Its been a hectic week and we're a little drained, so we will be signing off for now. We will both be writing a lot more and posting more pictures in the coming days. Thank you everyone for your support and keep the three of us in your thoughts and prayers!

We are the Pratts

Being that this blog will mostly be seen only by our friends and family, we won't bore you with long introductions. You probably already know that we are Erin & Andy Pratt, and we live in Duluth, Minnesota. We were married in June 2003 and met two years before that. We want to have children and we have felt called to adopt a child for some time now. We were drawn to adopt a child from Guatemala for some practical reasons--like the fact that most adopted children are quite young--and also for some emotional and spiritual reasons (but probably not financial reasons!).

We began the process with an adoption agency in the Twin Cities around October 2005. We had to attend an introductory meeting, complete an application, attend adoptive parents classes, fill out information for multiple background checks, complete a long homework assignment for our agency, attend two interviews with our social worker, get fingerprinted twice, fill out mountains of documents to be sent to the Guatemalan government, get every document notarized/certified/authenticated, and wait! Right now we are officially "in line" to receive a referral of a child from Guatemala.

Obviously, this is a very exciting time for us, and we decided to share it with you through this blog. We will be posting various comments throughout the coming months, along with a lot of pictures of the newest addition to our family! Please feel free to comment on the information here; we can always use your support. I think writing about what is happening is somewhat therapeutic, so I'll be excited to add to this blog once we get more information.

Now I have to learn some Spanish...

Welcome to our Blog!

Greetings. Soon this blog will tell the story of the Pratt family's journey to adopt a child from Guatemala. Stay tuned.