Interview with the Birth Mother went well

We got an update today that the interview with his birth mother at the Embassy went well. Here is what the orphanage had to say.

"His birthmother had her interview at the Embassy this week and all went well."

And we got our November update on him complete with pictures.

Little Mister Christmas Style

Praise be to God!

Radical Gratitude

Our senior pastor talked about Radical Gratitude in his sermon this past Sunday. Here is a summary of what makes up Radical Gratitude.

1. Thank God in advance. Make your requests known to God.
2. Trust that God is doing more than you can see.
3. Count your Blessings No Matter What

Here is how that message of Radical Gratitude resonates with me this Thanksgiving.

1. Thanking God in advance. Joracin is not yet home and we still have some work to do to make that happen. However, the opportunities and education already bestowed on my family and me through this process is priceless. I am thankful, knowing that those opportunities and education will continue even after Joracin is home.
2. Trust that God is doing more than you can see. For me this applies both literally and figuratively. We can’t see the daily care, love and attention that Joracin receives, but we know that it happens and that gives us peace. I also know that God is great and he is doing things that are truly humbling all around the world. I am so thankful to be part of His grand plan.
3. Count your blessing no matter what. I had lunch with a friend today and he was telling me about a caregiver working for members of his family. This caregiver is from a foreign country and is in the US legally. However, his wife and child are still back in his home country. Every night he Skypes with his wife and son. It is a young son that he has never held in his arms. He is working hard to bring his family to the US, but it will be at least two more years. Two more years until you can hold your child for the first time. That puts our adoption journey into perspective and makes me thankful for our blessings.

I hope that you can experience some Radical Gratitude this Thanksgiving.

Continuing to make progress

Lots and lots of people have been asking if we have any updates in the weeks following our trip to Haiti. The answer to that is "Yes and No". Yes, we took another step in that our application was submitted to Parquet (District Attorney) last week. No, in the sense that we can't give folks a definitive answer on when we get to go back and bring him home.

I've included the chart below in previous blog posts. I wanted to update it and post it again.

Looking at this chart and the conservative side of the time frame is overwhelming at times. However, we consistently get encouragement from various sources that keeps us going. All of your inquiries and well wishes keep us going. We also continue to see good progress and the right things happening with adoptions in Haiti. Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers.

I do want to point out an upcoming milestone that could use your prayers. Part of the process requires the US Embassy to meet with his birth mother. On November 27th, that interview will take place. Please join us in praying that the orphanage can get her to the Embassy and that the interview goes as God intends. We know that God is leading us on this journey and that the outcome is up to him. But, we still have moments of nervousness and concern and the interview with the birth mother is one of those moments.

Sweet and Sour

Sweet and Sour is a good summary of our feelings upon getting home Thursday night. It was sweet to be back in Indiana and know that we would sleep in our own beds and be able to hug and squeeze Katie and Eli in the morning. At the same time it was terribly sour having to leave Joracin and know that it could be 4, maybe 8 months until we get to see him again.

Along with getting a chance to meet, hug, tickle and love him in person, it also helped reinforce the comforting notion that he is well loved and well cared for. GLA is an amazing orphanage and organization. We truly thank God for leading us to this orphanage and to Joracin. We have an email address of the folks running the Toddler house where Joracin is living so we can send him emails and let him know what we are up too.

Here are some photos of our last day with him.

Here is my room and bed.

Not American football, but a start

Time to boogie.

Day Three

Wednesday in Haiti was very low key. We got to spend the morning (8-12) with Joracin with a little trip to see a local judge in the middle. Later today we are going to spend another couple of hours with him. Today was very different than yesterday. We got a running hug across the playground when we walked in today. We also dumped out all the toys and played with everything we could. Yesterday he was more contained and kept everything in it's place.Today he was more like a 5 year old boy. We've had tickle fights and a pillow fight where he kicked Papa's butt. His laugh is just as infectious as he smile. It is hard to believe we leave to head home tomorrow. Saying goodbye is going to be very very difficult. This will be a true test of patience.

Thanks (Mesi Anpil) to all of you for encouragement, good thoughts and prayers. We truly can feel you with us.

The view from the balcony at the guest house

Adventure - Adrenaline - AMAZING

Kind of a cheesy title, but what do you expect from a guy who makes up the four thumbs riddle?

We set off for Haiti Sunday night on our adventure with a stop over in Miami.We got to our hotel about 10 PM and had a 4 AM wake up call. I am fairly certain that I didn't get any sleep at all. Our flight into Port Au Prince was effortless and it didn't take much work to find our ride after we cleared customs. I was running on adrenaline

We had about an hour ride from the airport up to the Orphanage. It was a ride like I remember from the last trip, windy, bumpy, narrow and dusty. Port Au Prince was much cleaner and in much better shape compared to my last trip in Sept of 2010.

Once we got settled at the guest house, we had a chance to head to the Toddler house and meet Joracin. He was there waiting for us. It was a warm greeting with very little trepidation on his part. It also didn't take long for him to flash us that smile. We were able to be with him in a room by ourselves. We played blocks. We colored. We gave him his goody bag and we showed him photos of Katie and Eli, the house and other things around town.

On Tuesday we left early for a trip back to Port Au Prince for an appointment at the Embassy and then one at Civil court. It was my first trip to an Embassy and we lost power while at the Civil Court. Quite the eventful day filled with a lot of hurry up and wait. Everything has gone smoothly and we have one more appointment with a local judge. Tomorrow will be a lot of time with Joracin.

Our time with him on Tuesday was great as well. More coloring, more blocks and more toys. He has been very quiet, but started to talk a little more as our time on Tues day went on. We can't wait for Wednesday.

We fly out on Thursday mid-day, so we will have some time with him then as well. Every minute is precious.

A riddle

What has four thumbs and is taking a trip to Haiti?
.
.
.

Yep, that's right. IT'S US.

We found out Wednesday mid-day that our appointment with the US Embassy is set for Tuesday October 9th. So ... we are in full scramble mode to get everything ready for our trip, because it is coming up FAST.

We are flying to Miami late Sunday and then have a very early flight into Port Au Prince on Monday morning. We will have three full days to be in country. Our flight home leaves mid day on Thursday.

We have three "legal" appointments next week. One with the Embassy, one with a local judge, and one with the civil court. We will also get to spend lots and lots of time with our son.

Katie and Eli are super excited. We got hugs and hi fives from them when we told them the news after school yesterday. Katie did think the riddle and photo of us with our thumbs out was "cheesy". I said, "Sweetheart, get used to it cause your Dad is really cheesy". Eli on the other hand loved it.

One theme of this whole journey has been hurry up and wait. We are certainly in the "hurry up" stage right now.

Lot's of people have also asked what the timing is after this step. We have two trips to Haiti. The first trip is the one we are taking next week. The second trip is of similar length, but that is the trip where we get to bring him home. They estimate that the wait time between the two trips is 6-8 months. So, we a hoping and praying that he is home around the start of next summer.

I am hopeful that we can blog and update everyone via this format how things are going next week. If we can't do it "live". We will have lots of photos when we get back.

What an exciting step in our adventure.

Getting ready to start school

Big Step Forward

We got the news we have been waiting the past few months for today. We found out that our adoption application has been APPROVED by Haitian Social Services (IBESR). Here is what the orphanage sent to us.

"Your adoption has just been approved by IBESR. We are so happy that you have reached this important milestone in the Haitian adoption process. At this time, we will require you to make your first trip to Haiti to see the judges, file your I-600, and of course, meet your son!"

This means that our next step is to travel to Haiti and complete some legal work in country and meet Little Mister. We need to get an appointment with the US Embassy in Haiti to file our I-600 paperwork. The date of that appointment to determine when we travel. We hope to know travel dates in the next few weeks and perhaps even travel in October.

Super Exciting News!

Happy Birthday Little Mister

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday, Little Mister

Happy Birthday to you

Today (Aug 11th) is his birthday. He turns 5 today. We are going to have a birthday celebration tonight at dinner with cake. We sure wish he was home and could celebrate with us, but that will come soon enough.

There are no real updates on his adoption. It has been a very quiet summer. I have to admit that the patient nature I've been able to hold onto in this process is really getting tested. It seems that enough time has passed that we should have received our dispensation from the office of the Haitian President and that we could have our case move forward. The next big step for us is to travel to Haiti to meet him and start our legal steps there. It will happen soon, but this waiting is getting very challenging.

Our monthly update from the orphanage focused on the women in His life. We received photos of him with the three primary nannies that care for him.

We also learned that they are getting ready to start their summer break. Little Mister likes school so much that he is nervous for summer break and no school. Here is what they said about his anticipation for summer break.

For the past few weeks he is waiting each morning to ask if there would still be school. With the response of “yes school today” he jumps and cheers yelling to his fellow classmates that school is on.

He continues to be a joy to have in class and is working very hard. We also get reports that he loves to help out with chores around the orphanage. He seems to live his life with a tremendous amount of joy and excitement. We can't wait to meet him and get a infusion of that joy for ourselves.

Thank you all for your continued thoughts, prayers and questions about the process. Knowing that we have such a beautiful support network is quite calming. 

June Adoption Update

Lots and lots has happened at the orphanage and in Haiti since the last update to the blog. The thing that is somewhat frustrating for us is that we are still in a holding pattern with our adoption. We have no new news on our process and application with Little Mister.

There still is a lot to be thankful and joyful for. We did get updated photos and those are included at the end of the post.

News at the orphanage

At the beginning of June, the orphanage took in 23 new children from a different orphanage in the region. The kids they took in were severely under nourished and in bad physical shape. The fact that Haiti feels comfortable dropping 23 kids at Little Mister's home, speaks volumes for the kind of place it is. They are well funded, have a good relationship with Haitian social services and are equipped to take in a big influx of new kids. For this we are very thankful. If you are the praying sorts, please pray for the orphanage and the kids. They need funding and patience as they work these new kids into the daily routine.


The orphanage accepts sponsorship for specific kids. They try to get 3 sponsors for each child that is not referred to a family in the adoption process. Sponsoring a child is not too expensive. If the idea of sponsoring a child at the orphanage has some interest for you, let us know and we can supply more details.

News from Haiti

On June 11th, Haiti ratified the Hague convention on international adoption. The Hague is a set of rules and procedures designed to eliminate fraud and child trafficking in international adoptions. Both countries involved in an international adoption need to follow the Hague rules and when they do, it is good for the children and adoptive parents. Here are some of the procedures that need to be followed with the Hague. The agencies and orphanages involved must be accredited. All fees for adoption must be disclosed  up front. These are all good things.

The big unknown for us and our adoption is what effect the Hague will have on us. Haiti needs to pass a new law and implement the new procedures outlined in the Hague. In addition our agency and orphanage need to get accredited. All of this needs to happen in 3-4 months at which time the US State Dept will evaluate Haiti in terms of how they are following the Hague procedures. If they feel Haiti is not following the Hague, they can shut down adoptions.

There are multiple questions and no answers at this point about how this will affect us and Little Mister. Our adoption could proceed as it has been with not changes, or it could get suspended (temporarily or permanently). Or it could be something in between. Neither us nor the orphanage nor the agency we work with have answers.

Is it frustrating having so many unknowns? At times, it is frustrating beyond words. There are other times when we reflect on this path that God has put us on and know that all of these twists and turns are part of His plan. Whatever "the end" looks like, we know that it is God's path we are following. It is much easier to type those words than to live them each day. So continued prayers for patience for us are always appreciated.

Double Dog Dare You

The update on Little Mister this month had the them of "Imagination". For their photos the kids got to pick their own dress up clothes. He picked the shoes and hat and lei. And he had a huge smile on his face as he walked in to get his photo taken.

So, as I told a few people who got a sneak peak of the photos, we Double Dog Dare you not to smile when you see these photos.

May Adoption Update

Well, we are still in a waiting pattern. No specific news out of Haiti concerning our adoption. We continue to hear that the temporary suspension of new applications for adoption in Haiti is a good thing. Good for us and good for other families like us in that it will speed things along. And also good for all the kids in Haiti waiting to be adopted. The government of Haiti is moving to only work with accredited orphanages or creches. The orphanage we are working with is in this category and continues to be top notch.

Our May update on Little Mister was extra special. They celebrate Flag Day and Mother's Day in the month of May. Our contact at the orphanage wrote the update as if Little Mister was writing to us. Here it is, plus some photos with the beautiful Haitian countryside in the background.

Hi Mom and Dad!

I have had a fun month here at GLA.

We had a parade on Haitian Flag Day.  It was so much fun.  We knew that it was flag day when we saw Molly getting all the red and blue flags and t-shirts out.  I got to choose if I wanted to wear a red or a blue shirt and then waited to be called to the yard. I chose to wear a blue shirt. Once we were called to the yard we lined up in two lines and got a flag to hang onto. Next we started singing and making music as we marched down the street we live on. We walked all the way down to the end of the street before we turned around.  It sure was fun to wave my flag and sing along to “Mon Drapo” as we walked around.  After we returned to our big blue gate and made our way back into the yard where there was a balloon drop!  The visitors had blown up balloons and dropped them from the balcony above us.  I watched as the balloons fell down and then ran as fast as I could to get one to play with before all the bigger kids got to them first. It was so much fun to have so many colorful balloons drop down from the sky! It was a very busy day and I slept really well all night.

I really like living at the Toddler House with all the bigger kids.  They teach me so much and I like to play in the yard with the slide, swings, and plastic playplace. I can’t wait for you to see how big I am and how many things I can do now.

I am so excited to meet you some day soon but I hope you know that I am doing well here at GLA.  I get lots of love from my nannies, my teachers, and Molly and Joyce.  I am enjoying my life here while dreaming of what it will be like to come and live with you.  

I love you.
Your little boy

Update on Adoptions in Haiti

We got word today that IBESR (Haitian Social Services) has suspended new applications for adoption. This will not affect our application and in fact, we believe it will help speed things along

Here is the text from the press release.

Haiti's adoption authority, l'Institut du Bien Être Social et de Recherches (IBESR), informed U.S. Embassy Port-au-Prince that it will suspend processing of new adoption cases effective May 7, 2012. IBESR indicated that the suspension will enable it to expedite processing on its backlog of pending cases and begin internal restructuring to bring it closer to international standards. The U.S. Embassy has been assured the suspension is temporary and that IBESR will continue to process all cases that are filed before May 7.

If you have questions about the status of your adoption case, please work closely with your adoption agency or facilitator. Please refer to our website at adoption.state.gov for updates on the temporary suspension.

Leslie and I view this as a very positive development. Anything that "expedites the backlog of pending cases", is something that we are in favor of.

Now let's all pray that the timing of expediting the application is on U.S. time and not Haiti time.

April Update - Adoption

Greetings.

I'm pretty sure that I've mentioned how impressed Leslie and I are with the orphanage where Little Mister is. They take great care of the kids and we know all the kids are well loved. And the thing that we love the most is we get monthly updates on him including pictures.

Happy Easter indeed!

This month's updated shared how all the kids got to color eggs for Easter. Here is a transcript from the orphanage on his experience with the dying Easter eggs.

"He was very curious about the whole egg dying process.  He chose blue for his color and sat wide-eyed and patiently for instructions and for his egg to soak in the dye. He was very careful with his egg, afraid he would crack it if he was to rough with it.  He carefully covered his egg with stickers and then beamed with pride as he held it up for everyone to see what he had done.

Easter morning brought much excitement as well. He got to eat the egg he decorated for Easter breakfast. He joined in a special Easter service with his nannies.  He enjoyed hearing the Easter story!  For lunch all the children gathered around for one of their favorite meals, which included fried chicken, and rice and beans with red sauce.  On Monday all of the kids received a package of Easter candy.  Each of them was thrilled to see what was inside. He enjoyed each bite of his candy with a giant smile on his face!"

 

We can see and know that he is healthy and happy.

He weighs - 42 lbs and is 42 1/2 inches tall.

Remodeled Mackey Arena

14,123

If you are a Purdue fan, I'm guessing that when I say this number you know what I am referring to.

I had a chance to go to the Purdue-Nebraska game this past Wed. I went with a friend from St. Lukes, Dwayne Lewis. He has a co-worker who used to be a manager for the Men's Basketball team. So, after the game he was able to hook us up with a tour of the re-modeled Mickey.

We got to see the Basketball offices, the film room, the locker room, the training facility and the practice court. Super cool and I am thankful for the opportunity provided by Dwayne.

BOILER UP!

Vantage from our seats before the game.

Championship titles (Men's and Women's) on display in the concourse.

Entrance to the BBall office

Practice Court donated by Brian Cardinal and his wife.

Film Room

Me at the end of the tunnel looking out on Keady Court

View down the tunnel

Training Facility

Play Hard Board

Oh, and it's no longer 14,123. It is now, 14,240.

February Update

We continue to be impressed with the orphanage that we are working with in Haiti. We will get monthly updates (including photos) on Little Mister and they seem to be very detailed.

Here is a great example, his daily schedule.

Daily Routine:
6am – wake up
6:30am – bath time
7:00am – getting dressed
7:30am  - breakfast
8am- English Class
9am – play time in the yard 
9:45am - peanut butter bread and juice
10:00am play time outside – singing, dancing, swings, balls, jump rope, etc
11am – Short walk to guesthouse for pre-school with Mademoiselle Kiki
12:30pm – walk back to Toddler House for lunch
1pm – Back up to guesthouse for another hour of school
2pm – Schools out, walk home, head to bed for a nap
3:30 - wake-up
3:45pm – juice and cookies
4pm – play outside or take a walk
5:30pm – suppertime
6:30pm – bathes and pjs
7pm - in bed for the night

This gives us great comfort in seeing how well he is cared for and the kind of education he is getting.

Referral

We have FANTASTIC news on Wednesday the 7th we got information from the adoption agency that we had been matched with a little boy. I was at work and Leslie was home. After the initial information from the adoption specialist, we started getting info on him through their online portal. We had the opportunity to look through the photos and videos as they came pouring in.

He is 4 1/2 years old, and was placed in the Orphanage in March of 2010. We have information on his birth Mother, but his birth Father is unknown.

December 2011

We know he was somewhat malnourished when he first arrived at the orphanage, but quickly rebounded with medication and proper nutrition. One thing to keep in mind is March of 2010, was 2 months after the earthquake. I have to imagine things were still very chaotic in Haiti in March.

July 2011

We know he was a full term baby and was breast fed. He has a fairly clean medical report. The only item they have cautioned us on is anemia. We also know that slight anemia is common for Haitian children in the community.

He is described as a quiet, easy going and a happy natured children. The report also talks about him as an observer, but he is willing to jump in and play with others. They say he is liked by all the other kids and known as the boy who won't fight or argue. They also say he is affectionate and he has bonded well with his primary caregiver and teacher. His smile melts my heart every time I see it.

May 2011

We also know that he has been evaluated at 4 1/2 years in social development (a match with his physical age). It appears that he has some slight delays with verbal communication. But, his other communication skills are very good. He is attending Creole and English pre-school classes each day and knows about half of his alphabet at this time. He also knows colors and number both in Creole and English.

February 2011

As you can imagine, we are beyond excited and walking on air. We've got a ton of question about what is next and when we can travel to meet him, but it will take a while to determine next steps.