Adoption Completed!!!

It took me a bit to get this up, but wanted to let everyone know that our domestic adoption was completed as of August 24th. The hearing was not what I anticipated, but I don't know what I did expect. The outcome is really all that matters. He's a Taylor! So proud of all we've been thru. I wish the citizenship would come just as soon, but it's all in His time and I feel so blessed with this. Thanks for all of your prayers

God is good. All the time.

Adoption Update... Court and Paperwork

Good news! We have a court date set for August 24th! PRAYERS PLEASE. We are going in hopes to complete our domestic adoption.

We have very little paperwork from Haiti in support of Isaac's situation and because of that we are going in with a second order to ask for temporary custody granted in MO. Technically I was given custody/sponsorship of him on January 26th in Florida by DHS, but if the judge does not find that or our supporting documents sufficient we will ask for our second choice of temporary custody and then have to wait another 6 months for an adoption hearing. This is certainly not ideal because we will have to find a social worker in AZ to report back to our agency here and then ultimately have to renew our home study again, fingerprints probably, and fly back home for any court proceedings. All of this just means more time and money.

So within the last 2 weeks I've got a copy of his birth certificate from Washington (working on getting it translated hopefully). As of today I have a copy of the affidavit that Chris (the orphanage director) wrote in support of his story with details of how he came to HIS Home for Children and that he was placed there for the purpose of adoption. Hopefully the notarized original arrives in time for court. Of course, this still may not be enough to satisfy the judge, but I think that this in addition to my dossier, post placement home study, and paperwork from DHS in Florida will be a good case in a difficult situation.

Once we get the domestic adoption completed we will hopefully start the process of citizenship for him. Pray that this will go smoothly. Our family services lawyer recommended that we then hire an immigration lawyer, but one thing at a time right now :)

Thanks for all your support! Mwen renmen ou tout

Help Haiti Act PASSED

According to Joint Council on International Children's Services last nite in the U.S. House of Representatives: Fortenberry's Help Haiti Act passed, along with Lofgren's International Adoption Harmonization Act!

As I understand it, this will lead to a speedier path for our children to citizenship once they have completed domestic adoptions. SO.... good news. We are still waiting to hear from our lawyers about moving forward with our adoption in MO. Keep the prayers coming.

We Got Our Papers!

Just wanted to let everyone know. It hasn't been easy, but His House (so ironic right?) took AMAZING care of our children. Spent today at the doctor with Isaac and 3 other children who were sick or injured. Then got our Rx at Publix and headed back. They were waiting to take his photo and within 15 minutes I had my papers to take him with me!!! Of course we waited for rides and of course, I still have to ADOPT him. But I have 2 years to complete it. I've signed away my right to leave the country, even alone (OMG), without contacting DHS and will have so much red tape to go thru. But the amazing thing is he's here WITH me while i do it. Miracle after Miracle. He's absolutely the most precious child ever and i get to be his mama... :-)

Paperwork Update

I may have been approved in MOFA in September, but the files are not yet in IBESR. (Steps here) Kervenson's paperwork is not ready yet. Sad day. He should be going to the doctor today.

butterflies and tummy turns

     
that's my nice way of saying being sick... i hate to post sad things on here. but there are lots of worries and prayer concerns out there. too many to name and number. i'm usually a glass half full kind of a girl, but have decided that adoption is TOUGH! yes, i already knew this... and so is caring about so many people, and children, and projects to help those in need.


so i've always had a propensity to do daring, exciting things. and then later been reminded that my body, more specifically my stomach, doesn't like it! some examples of things i have been nauseous during and/or after:
glass bottom boat ride in Jamaica
desert safari in Dubai
a whole slew of medications
driving up mountains anywhere
flying in B52 fighter jets
spinning rides, those dang teacups are the worst!
bus rides thru africa (or anywhere with questionable roads)
skydiving over the Swiss Alps
but now you can add worrying about Isaac to the list. i guess my feelings are all tied up in my tummy.

NEWS!

this morning i got this email from my lawyer. praise god. soon i'll be moving into 2nd legal (refer to the post about all the steps to go thru and timeline). so this is big also because i don't meet the minimum age requirement. please continue to pray for us. 

Hi Amanda, This is to confirm that all the documents received from you have been legalized by MOFA. The clerck of Justice of Peace will bring me the PVA signed by the judge before the end of this week. Sincerly Ketlie T. Woolley

Divorced Single Parent

...No never been married... But sometimes i feel like a divorced parent. I think about Isaac so much and when I go places like Disneyland, a baseball, soccer, football game, or walk by (or thru) a toy store, or ride in a helicopter i think about him. Then naturally i want to buy something for him. I really don't want to spoil him. I want his demeanor to be more like the children he lives with now in Haiti who are content with simple things. I'm torn. I understand the divorced parent who wants to buy material things for their kid to make up for lost time. What a strange feeling. Nothing can substitute for time. Quality is NOT always better than quantity.
The single parent thought is that i can see how hard it is for single mamas and daddys out there. You have to be the parent and the friend. The good guy and the bad guy. Life is about balance and i want to provide the best for my baby♡

Adoption Steps

This can be very confusing and I don't understand it all myself, but this is to clarify some of your questions :)

It certainly doesn't help that Haiti is constantly changing how adoptions will be handled and ways of locating children and different orphanages may vary just a bit. However, maybe this can be a general guideline as to what the process currently is:

Step 1: Gathering your dossier and sending it off to Haiti
Step 2: Orphanage puts together dossier for your child or children
Step 3: Your dossiers go to Minister of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), 1st legal - This is where my papers are authenticated in Haiti (2-4 weeks)Step 4: Your dossier is submitted to IBESR, Haiti's Social Services Department - This is four stages of approval (3-6 months)
Step 5: Once your dossier is approved by IBESR you enter Parquet (1-3 months)
Step 6: Enter Civil Court Legalization, 2nd Legal- This is where your child or children legally become yours in Haiti! (1-2 months)
Step 7: Application for the child's Haitian Passport which starts at Ministry Of Interior (MOI) and then to Passports for printing (1-3 months)
Step 8: While the passport application is in the works your I-600 (your I-600A should have already been done during your wait) should be completed and approved.
Step 9: Visa application is filed and adoptive parents appointment in Haiti to receive the visa is scheduled. (1 week lead time)

Congratulations, It's time to bring home your child!!!

Very rough and oversimplified, but it always helps me to have a list :) I believe I'm in Step 3. Also, my I600 was processed and approved. I receive the form I-171H. This form means I am pre-approved by the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) to adopt from Haiti!

Orphan: The Film

The new movie Orphan, as many of you may have seen the previews for, is now out in theaters. A movie is just that... a story, but it is sad when Hollywood portrays the villain as none other than a 9-year old orphaned girl. I'm not a fan of horror flicks anyway, but this endorsed stereotype of orphans being anything other than children who no longer have families to care for them is sad and at the very least unsettling, especially if you saw the preview.

July 24th marks the release of Orphan, or as the Washington Post referred to it, a:

"depraved, worthless piece of filth...a high-gloss horror show about a well-meaning couple who bring home a 9-year-old girl to join their family, only to discover, way too late, that she's a homicidal psychopath."

Tom Davis, defends the cause for orphans and talks about it here.

And many other articles have been published: example

If you want horror stories about orphans there are many stories concerning the circumstances of the 150 million orphans in this world that will tear your heart out.

Warner Bros. new horror movie Orphan proclaims that it must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own. Let me tell you about how an orphan changed my life...

I have quite a few moving experiences with orphans. The situation first made itself known to me as a teenager when I traveled to Mexico for mission trips. But in the last 5 years I have seen and heard so much more.

The first orphan who changed my life was a precious little girl named Mirloudes Massenat. I always knew I wanted to have boys, maybe 2... but my first trip to Haiti changed all that. There were only 7 children at Cabaret Children's Home when we arrived in '04. By the end of our stay this little tomboy and I were inseparable. She is the first child to really hold a special place in my heart. In subsequent trips there were a few times she was jealous of other children who had my attention. But as she grows older I know she understands she was the first and I will always love her :) Now I can't wait to have girls too and likely much more than 2 kiddos.

One of the orphans that lil miss Mirloudes was jealous of at first was Davidson Darisme. He was the number one reason for my deciding to adopt. I can't explain what happened to me after my trip to Cabaret/Bercy in January '08, but it was life-altering. Davidson has me wrapped around his little fingers. It's a good thing he doesn't realize to what extent. He came to the Orphanage very skinny and sickly. His older brother Wilguens is a very handsome little boy too. Davi has bad allergies and always runs around with scraped up knees and no shorts if he can get away with it. I will never forget his first trip to the beach when Rusty said he was big enough to go. He sat in my lap, facing me, in the tap tap and happily say Jesus Loves Me all by himself. I have a video of him singing to me again on my last trip in May and confess I watch it over and over sometimes. Cheryl... if you read this and you think there is any way to add him to my paperwork along with Kervenson's I still have that one wish to make it happen.

There are so so many other orphans that have touched and changed my life. A boy at the Children of Love Foundation in La Paz, Honduras. A beautiful, yellow-eyed girl at Bukedea in Uganda. And in the last year I have learned of so many people in my life that were once orphans and adopted at some point: from my neighbor, to a regular at Mosaic, to a friend who invited me on one of these volunteer trips. Last but not least, is the one most of you know about. My baby Isaac is the most precious thing that has ever happened to me. This blog is filled with updates and photos about him...

IMAGINE

Adoption... baby Isaac update :)

DOSSIER - completed and sent to haiti monday, april 10. ummm, fedex says it's there. still waiting to get an email from my lawyer. trying to be patient.

also, going to haiti to visit my lil babyboo may 18-25th. i'm staying the whole week this time. just can't help myself!

his 1 yr birthday is April 29th

Isaac Mérant Taylor

...or so that will be his name. inshalla. i finally decided so those of you who were tired of referring to him as my lil man have an official name... unofficially. i won't change it legally till his placement, but in the meantime he can get used to it and they will still call him Kervenson at the "O" so not to complicate paperwork, and confuse the birth family and the nannies.

i'm absolutely 110% in LOVE with this lil baby. he was such a joy to have with me. he laughs and giggles and screams and squeals. it's so precious and i miss the sound of his baby babble so much already. Isaac means "laughter" and was so fitting. just look at him.

anyway, we all had a great time at Villa Therese. i stayed in my first haitian hotel and really enjoyed the company of those from HIS Home and others adopting. the coffee and food were great and it had a nice little pool. who from KC doesn't love 80 degree weather in february?!? Chris and Hal did a wonderful job planning and keeping up with a million things at once. God bless them =) i'll post more pictures soon.

In Haiti

For those of you that don't have facebook and haven't seen.... my Ma and i are safely in haiti. Spent today lounging around the pool with the kids and got to meet my lawyer for the first time. We found out that the new laws aren't officially in effect yet, but as of january this year they are cracking down on min and max age of adoptive parents. The word in the mtg was that it was 35 for single parents and at least one of the parents (in a couple married at least 5 yrs) must be 35. Please pray i don't have to wait 6 years just to start. That is not even an option in my mind. 30 years old may be fine. I've never minded getting older, but i've never in my life wanted my next birthday to come so badly (i turn 30 november this year).

We also had a very nice lunch with Dorothy, Casey, and Mickenson and his mother. For those of you who do not know, Dorothy runs an infant rescue in PAP and i have had the pleasure of staying with her the last couple trips. Casey is part of the Brooks clan in GA that my sister, Natasha, is going to stay with this week and will be there for a few months helping with Much Ministries. Mickenson is a precious little boy waiting to have a surgery that was funded by my Ma and folks at KC Life Ins in KCMO.

We have a couple great photographer types on this trip so i'm sure to have a bunch of fotos in about a week

Tomorrow we are headed to the playa.... =)

Also... i'd like to thank everyone back home for the support, baby gifts, donations, prayers and most of all LOVE.

@

dossier updates

today i got my baby bag for him... so excited to fill it :)

i am headed back to the bank in a few to get that reference done. turns out they need a free form and i had to call customer solutions last night and although it took a while, was really helpful. they lady in FLA i spoke with is hoping to go to volunteer in the Congo and said after our conversation she really wanted to pursue it.

also, finally heard from my lawyer... she'd been on vacation. so even though i wasn't worried, it's nice to touch base.

having a very difficult time finding a psychologist who is willing to take new patients and/or do just a one page report for me. i did find one, but it is much much more costly than i had expected. i have an appt to take the MMPI test on friday and THEN i'll be able to meet with her and she will complete my psyc evaluation report.

as for the translation, i did contact one of my references and she isn't taking any new dossiers until after the 20th this month. i may not be ready till then so we will see. there is another woman in FLA who is supposed to be good and have a quick turn around, but again pricey...

Registry

for those that have asked i have a few items on Amazon at www.amazon.com/babyregistry. open to suggestions too :)

Baby Things

soooooo.... since i get to keep him with me during my stay in feb i just started looking for baby supplies. firsts are so much fun. looking for a diaper bag and all the goodies to fill it. he already has 2 Chiefs onesies thanks to my lovely parents. he'll be almost 10 months when we go out there and yes, i'll try to take more photos.

oh, p.s. i have decided to change his first name and keep Mérant as his middle name (it is special to me that he has his father's last name bc it is pretty rare). i've narrowed it down to two names and hope to choose when i spend more time with him :) the name change won't technically happen till i bring him home and do paperwork in the states.

that's all for now. HAVE A BLESSED 2009!

COuNt DOwn to FeBruArY....

I am going and bringing my mama. First time meeting her grandbaby so i think she is excited too. We are leaving Sun, Feb 8th, staying overnight in MIA and then headed to Petionville where we will be staying at the Villa Therese Hotel until Thurs, Feb 12th.

I can't wait! 1 month, 2 weeks, and 3 days!!!!!!!!

1st Quarterly Visit

HIS Home is setting up quarterly visits for families to visit and stay in PAP to spend time with their children and with other adoptive families. The first trip is Feb 9th and if i can go i will likely stay thru thurs so i can come back and work. Pray for me that it'll work out because, as you can imagine, i'd like to spend as much time with him as i can :) The hotel is small and fills fast so pray i can get a flight and a room that works.

Besos... baisers xxx

how friends & family can help an adoptive family

by Darrillyn Starr

..."motherly" advice, which i hope will reach the eyes and ears of people who have someone close to them adopting.

Many people, mistakenly believe that, since the adoptive mother has not given birth, she has been through no ordeal and needs no extra consideration. As anyone familiar with adoption knows, adopting a baby is generally an extremely stressful event. There have often been years of attempts at parenthood prior to the adoption.

In some cases, most often with international adoption, the potential adoptive mother has known about a baby who was already born and has been given a time frame in which to expect to be able to bring the baby home, only to have the time extended over and over again.

The adoptive mother may also be feeling badly for the birth mother, and even feel guilty about being happy, knowing that another woman is grieving. This is much like the "survivor guilt" that often occurs in people who have survived accidents or other catastrophies where others have been killed.

Worry, long distance travel (in many cases) and concerns about how to finance the adoption (which can run as high as $30,000 or more), can leave a new adoptive mother feeling like she has been through a battle. She is exhausted, physically and emotionally, and she may have stress induced illness, or worsening of any recurring illness that she may already have had.

It may sound like i'm dramatizing, but i am not! People close to a new adoptive family can be of tremendous service, by volunteering to have meals brought in, helping with housework or the care of any other children in the family, offering to pick up necessities at the store, etc.. Because of the financial burden that adoption usually bring with it, others can often help by choosing gifts of necessities, like diapers, strollers, carseats, etc..

...... the article continues...