Happy New Year! (Part 2)

The kids have been enjoying staying home and playing with their new toys, games, and movies this past week with Dad (I worked Weds-Fri). Tonight they were having a lot of fun playing with play-dough. Elijah got a building set that makes I-beams, wrecking balls, bricks, etc., with play-dough the colors of wood, bricks and concrete. But the girls played too, and some older pink play-dough came out. They were all being so silly and having so much fun!

Tomorrow Jock goes back to work and the kids go back to a full day at daycare - it's pajama day, so Elijah was very excited. Less excitement about PJ-day from the girls. Tuesday we have another day at home. I plan to make Haitian Pumpkin soup - a traditional dish prepared on New Year's Day - also Haiti's Independence Day (more on that later). Today I made the spices that will be used to marinate the meat, and we used some of it for supper tonight - mmmmmmmm!!!

Wednesday will be another full daycare day for the kids, followed by two school days to finish out the week. The younger two were a little confused by this week's schedule, but it's going to get a little more confusing soon, because...

Jock and I are going to Haiti; James is coming home!!! James' final exit paper was either ready on Friday or will be ready tomorrow. It seems we should have gotten that news on Friday, but somehow it didn't come until today -- all that worrying and grumpiness for nothing! (Actually, I've found that towards the end of this adoption process, that on the days when I was absolutely at my wit's end, were days that we received good news, or something good happened that we heard about later. God is good!)

Tomorrow we will be working on travel plans - contacting our travel agency for flight options, contacting GLA for approval, and then booking flights! We are very excited! Packing is under way (actually has been for a few days, as we anticipated things moving very quickly when we got the news. More details on that when we know more.

Happy New Year! (Part 1)

Each month, since we got our referral, approximately the last day of the month we get an update from GLA. It usually includes 4-5 photos and a little write-up about what's been going on at the orphanage, any milestones that have occurred, and height/weight measurements.

As the month came to a close, a couple friends excitedly mentioned getting updates soon. I honestly wasn't very excited to get another update - I was a grump! The closer we get to the end of this process, the harder it is to wait. James' visa is printed and in the hands of GLA. We are waiting for one last piece of paper from IBESR that will allow us to exit the country with James, but the holidays have delayed this slightly. I avoided the conversation. I didn't want another update - I just want my son in my arms.

Yesterday was especially difficult. I thought and hoped we'd hear yesterday that James' IBESR exit paper was ready and that we could make travel arrangements. But when 4:00 rolled around and we still had not received word that James' final paper is done and travel approval dates, I was seriously bummed. Soon after, I got our update in my email inbox. I read the text of the email, but reading that it was a video, I saved it for after supper, so we could all watch it together as a family.

Boy, was I wrong about this month's update! Month after month, Susie has blessed us with wonderful photos and words about our son. I can't tell you how much of a blessing these are, and this month's update takes the cake!

Susie must have spend the entire month putting these together for 80+ children! This month, she put together a wonderful gift for each adoptive family - a musical slide-show in chronoligical order from the time our child(ren) entered the orphanage until now. It is set to the song "Kings and Queens" by Audio Adrenaline. And just a couple warnings: I may or may not have watched this video at least 10 times by now. I may or may not have been able to watch the entire video without the last slide bringing me to tears. I may or may not have cried through the entire thing at least once. Have your Puffs handy just in case!

We love you too buddy!  We'll see you very soon!

 

If you haven't see the original "Kings and Queens" video done by AA for that song, go watch it here. Audio Adrenaline supports an orphanage in Haiti called Hands and Feet. The song is about answering the call to care for orphans. The images in his original video are all of Haitian children.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

2012 has been quite an eventful year for our household! Some highlights:

• We received and accepted James' referral in January.
• Kaylen turned 9 in January.
• Elijah & Josephine played basketball in the winter.
• Kaylen played spring soccer.
• Josephine turned 5 in May.
• Jock and I traveled to Haiti in May.
• Kaylen & Josephine had their first dance recital in June.
• Elijah turned 6 in August.
• Kaylen started 4th grade, and Elijah & Josephine started kindergarten in August.
• James turned 2 in August.
• Kaylen started tumbling lessons this fall.
• Elijah & Josephine played soccer this fall.
• James' Haitian adoption decree was finalized this fall.

In 2013, we look forward to another eventful year, including bringing James home very soon!

We wish you all a blessed Christmas, celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ with your family and friends, and many blessings in 2013.

And we leave you with our two favorite Christmas photos of the kids, along with a song that has special meaning for us this Christmas.

James' Visa Appointment

Thursday morning (12/20), we slept in. We were in the midst of a blizzard here in Iowa, and we knew before we went to bed Wednesday night that the kids didn't have school and we'd be staying home. Watching the news of the blizzard and road conditions when we did get up, I had my laptop handy to check emails. I saw I had a message on the web portal from our adoption agency, with the subject, "Scan of your exit stamps". As usual when we get a new message, I logged in right away to read the following text:

The US Embassy has scheduled James's appointment for TODAY, although GLA never received notification of his appointment (they received a phone call yesterday informing them of today's appointment). Can you please scan in a copy of your exit stamps on your passports for xxx to take to the Embassy today? She has your entry stamps and photos of you with James on file that she will use. If you could do this as soon as possible, that would be great. Thanks!

(This proof that we had visited James before his adoption was finalized, will allow him to come home on an IR-3 visa, which means he will become a U.S. Citizen when he lands on U.S. soil.)

One of my sisters, 2 neices and a nephew were snowed in at our house as well, and got to experience our excitement at hearing that James' visa interview was that day! We had been wondering when our visa appointment would be, and why we hadn't heard yet, because we knew of a handful of families who'd gotten I-600 approval the same day or the day before us, who'd been notified of visa appointments on Wednesday 12/19.

We'd just heard on the news that several areas of our city were without power, so I quickly ran to the scanner, plugged in my laptop and got it going while Jock dug out our passports. I got them scanned in within the next few minutes, and sent off. And then, almost as soon as I'd sent them, our electricity started flickering. We never lost power for an extended period of time, but it did go off several times over the next few hours.

Our adoption agency worker noted that this was just another sign of God's hand over our adoption. James was at his appointment righ then, and someone at the orphanage was going to forward the papers on to the embassy as soon as she received them.

...

We haven't heard any more about how James' visa appointment went, or when his visa will be ready. Generally it is two days after the appointment, but we understand that the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince will be closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, resuming operations on December 26th.

After James' visa is ready, it will need to be delivered to IBESR to obtain an exit approval letter, which takes 1-2 days. This is something new in the adoption process since the earthquake. IBESR (Haiti's Social Services) has someone stationed at the airport to collect this letter for Haitian children exiting the country with U.S. Citizens, as a safeguard against child trafficking. It is unknown what IBESR's schedule will be over the holidays. Generally the orphanage allows families to make travel plans when the visa is printed, because the travel time and the couple days we will stay for some early bonding with a child before departing Haiti, will allow them plenty of time to get the IBESR letter. However, with the holidays, our agency has told us to plan to travel sometime after the first of the year.

At any rate, we are fortunate that we are so close to the end of this adoption process, and looking forward to traveling to bring James home in early January. I imagine that as soon as our Christmas celebrations are over, our focus will shift to planning and packing for our trip to Haiti -- SO EXCITING!!!

Adoption Update 12/15/2012

We received the following notification from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service Wednesday morning:

USCIS in Port au Prince, Haiti is pleased to inform you that the I-600 petition, which you filed at this office on May 8, 2012 on behalf of James, seeking to qualify him as your immediate relative has been approved. Your case has been transferred to the Adoption Unit of the Consular Section for the visa process. This completes all action by USCIS on the referenced petition. The Consular Section will soon contact you to follow-up on your case.

We know of several other families that received the same approval either Tuesday or Wednesday. And a few of them already have visa appointments for next week. YIKES!!! My thoughts, due to another family ahead of us, is that it'd be a couple weeks before we receive our visa appointment date for a couple weeks out. Maybe not???

We're waiting to hear when our visa appointment will be. We're praying it is no later than the week of January 7th, so we can travel no later than the week of January 14th. We'd like to travel the first half of January. The timing would work out well with family coming to stay with the other kids, and also for us to be back home for Kaylen's birthday on the 21st.

The unknown timing and not being able to plan are just about making me crazy, since I like to have things well-planned-out. I want to know what to expect. I want to have my lists and agenda set. And that's just not possible. So I'm praying for myself to trust in God's timing. Someone suggested on a Facebook group of adoptive moms, to make a list of things you'd like to accomplish, and work on the list when this last step of the process gets to you. I've done that, and I feel like I'm getting a lot done, but still have a lot more to do! Many have also said that this last part of the wait is the hardest. It's definitely true. We didn't make it this far in our previous adoption before the earthquake struck, so I had no idea!

'For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' (Jeremiah 29:11)

Adoption Update, 12/3/12

James' completed adoption file was submitted to the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince Haiti on 11/26/2012. We're waiting to hear from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) that we have I-600 approval.

We're still expecting that we'll be traveling to bring James home the first half of January. We're praying for the timing to work out perfectly for the grandparents to come stay with Kaylen, Elijah & Josephine, for us to be home for Kaylen's birthday, and for all the other preparations we have to make.

And for some fun - here are a few photos we have received of James the last few months. September's photos were school-themed.

October's photos were fall-themed. Apparently the kids enjoyed tasting the candy corn that was part of the set. :)

We had also sent James a little package for his birthday, with another adoptive mom who was traveling to visit her son. The description we got with these photos were that James loved pushing the buttons to make sounds for the book we sent. He also studied all the photos in the photo album we sent, and carefully touched the faces in the photos. Oh my tears! Please Lord, help him come home soon!

November's update photos were Christmas-themed, so you'll have to wait to see him on our Christmas card. :)

I just love how Susie does the monthly themes. She and the other staff and volunteers must spend a tremendous amount of time working to get these beautiful photos of each child each month. I so appreciate all the work they do there!