Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Well, they got to the gate of Immigration and the guards said they were sorry but the offices were closed and we would have to call on Monday for another appointment. Oh well. We wait some more. We know how to do that. And at least she was there.

Thanks all! I'll let you know when the next appointment comes up.

~Zaz

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

YEA! One of our obstacles is covered. Our birth mom is IN Port-au-Prince. I know this because we had the opportunity to call her again today. We didn't have a long conversation since there was a lot of "I don't understand. I'm sorry." comments between the three of us. Then we had our Haitian processor call and talk to her. He said she will be at the appointment and seems genuinely happy with us. She just wanted to be sure we would continue to be in contact with her. I don't blame her a bit for that.


Turns out that the Immigration offices were closed on Monday and Tuesday because of flooding in Port-au-Prince. The offices will be closed again on Thursday and Friday for holidays. This is the only day. Seems interesting to me. And we pray that Immigration opens it's doors tomorrow morning. I'll be sitting by the phone. I'll try to report in as soon as I can.


Thanks for checking in! Now go pray! ;)


~Zaz

Monday, October 29, 2007

And the drama continues...


In case you haven't heard, Tropical Storm Noel wandered across Haiti these past two days. He left in his wake a lot of water. In Haiti that means flooding and mud. Our birth mom is in the countryside last we heard. She needs to get to Port-au-Prince. Transportation will be awful for a while.


Also, we were unable to call her for the past two days like we told her we were planning on doing. I REALLY hope she isn't mad that we didn't reach her. We are calling her again at 3 pm Central on Tuesday to make sure she is okay.


So, please pray for our birth mom to make it to P-a-P tomorrow and that she is still happy to be working with us (that's a weird way to put it, but it's all my brain can come up with at 11 pm).


~Zaz, the hopeful

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Another hurdle may be covered! A friend of mine called Haiti with me on the line today and she talked to our birth mom. Okay, so we initially got cut off because our birth mom's phone discharged, but after numerous attempts, we managed to reach her. When we figured out that she didn't have a translator and my friend's Kreyol abilities were taxed, we went hunting for a translator in Haiti. This took another hour. We eventually had a weird situation. I was on the phone with my friend who was online in a chat with her friend in Haiti who was on the phone with our birth mom. She was sooooo happy that we called her. I could hear it in her voice, too. She said she WILL go to the appointment on Wednesday. YEA! I had two plane tickets on hold to leave on Monday, but now we can wait to go. I am SO thankful for that. We are going to call again tomorrow just to say "hi". We are sending photos Fed Ex to her as well. She won't receive them until Friday, but we told her they would be coming and she was really happy about that. At least from this side of things, we seem to be heading in a good direction.


Now we just have to pray that Wednesday goes well and that the U.S. Government will see fit to finish our paperwork and NOT require DNA testing (to prove that the birth mom is Janae's biological mother). It doesn't usually take them long to approve a file so we'll be waiting to see what happens after the situation with the last interview. We still haven't received the letter that they sent us (most likely denying our application). It would be great if we already had approval when the letter arrives. A girl can dream.


So now we pray for Wednesday. And now I can unpack and go to bed at a decent time. smile.gif


God bless you all!
~Zaz

Friday, October 26, 2007

Trying not to panic. It's hard.


I called U.S. Immigration in Haiti again today to try to set up another appointment for our birthmom. The woman on the phone said that there was a problem with our case and that we should be receiving a letter. I said that I knew that there was a problem. Our birth mom was afraid we wouldn't send her photos. I said that we would like her to be interviewed again. The woman said she didn't know what impact that would have on our case, but she set up an appointment on October 31st at 11 am.


I hung up the phone and it hit me like a ton of bricks. My own government may deny my adoption, because of things THEY said to our birthmom. Two years. Two years and then some of loving a little girl far, far away. For two years my son has been practicing being a big brother. For two years I've been thinking of my life with two kids. For two years, a woman in Haiti has gone to all her Haitian government interviews and signed all the paperwork to send her daughter to another family. Two years.


I'm calling out all my prayer warrior friends. We need you. Please pray. This would be a simple thing for Almighty God. We need Janae to be home with us.


Our birthmom has been out of town for a while, but will hopefully be returning to Port-au-Prince tomorrow. The orphanage is planning to bring her in and talk to her and show her the photo page I set up for her and the letter I sent. Please pray that she trusts us and believes what we tell her. It's all true and the letter came from my own heart. We'll hopefully hear something by Monday. I'll try to blog it here.


Thank you for your continued support!

Love,
~Zaz

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Sorry, I thought I updated this, and now I see that I did not. Argh.


Well, in order to try to avoid making two trips to Haiti, we sent the birth mom an email with a link to a photo page on the web of lots of Janae photos. It seems the birth mom was told by the U.S. people that she would never see her daughter again, never receive another photo and never have contact with her again. While she had been warned they would say such things, it seems it really made her want to talk to me again. Supposedly, they are going to bring her to the orphanage today to help her read what I have sent to her and hopefully let her ask her questions of me. I'll be checking my email a lot this evening. If we have to make two trips, we'll do that. I'd rather spend my money on my daughter, not on airfare. I'll try to let you all know what happens today (or whenever).


Thanks for checking in on us!
~Zaz

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Well, I know that someone out there is checking this blog all day to see if there is news so I'll tell you what I have so far. I did hear some news, but I don't know how accurate it is. The phone connection was evidently bad with the U.S. director and she couldn't make out everything our Haitian processor was trying to tell her. I should hear more this evening. One thing I do know is that she did NOT sign. She wants to meet with me again. That's either two trips to Haiti or staying there for a week. And I would certainly hope that if I go down there that she wouldn't change her mind. Legally, I can walk into the orphanage and pick up my daughter and take her anywhere but the U.S. She has a passport. But the wording of the Haitian documents makes it so that she really can still change her mind. It's been two years. My heart is racing a bit and I have to figure out my options at this point.


I'll post more when I have a more accurate picture of what is going on. Argh.


~Zaz
Just in case anyone is around, I thought I'd remind you to pray! Our birthmom may actually be at the Consulate (or wherever they're going these days) right now! I probably won't know anything for a while, but I will post as soon as I can.

Thanks for being here for us!

~Zaz

Monday, October 08, 2007

Woo hoo!!! Yippee!!! We got some GOOD news!!! Janae has a passport!!! Can you tell how I feel about that??? We weren't expecting it so soon, but that's okay. :)


Now we are just praying for a good day Wednesday. Our birthmom has her appointment at 11:30 am. As far as we know, that is our LAST BIG HURDLE. Who knows what the U.S. government might throw at us, but we're hoping they will be merciful. Janae could be here VERY SOON!!!


You'd think after two years, we'd be ready. NOT! In fact, we are so UNready, it's silly. I have a few clothes for her (I had to put away all the summer stuff) and I know we have food that she'll eat. I believe the diapers I had in June will still fit, too (unless she's gained a good 10 lbs.). So maybe we're okay. We had planned to get the bedroom painted and re-carpeted, but that's been slow going. It will have to get done soon, but maybe it can wait until she's home (like we'll have ANY time then). Isaiah is SOOOOO ready to have his sister home (he thinks). I can't wait to see if his fantasy comes close to reality. We've talked about all the different possibilities of siblingness as we could think of, but I'm sure the two of them will throw us a curve ball or two. Can't wait.


So, if you think of us on Wednesday, there might be a reason. Just pray. And then pray a little bit more. I'll let everyone know as soon as I know. Really, I will.


Love you all,

~Zaz

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Okay, so I'm not really good at keeping a blog updated. I think we can all agree on that now. :D Let's just say I didn't really feel very "chatty". I know that is so hard for some of you to believe, but it's true.


I finally have some news regarding our adoption. Our processor got us an extension (it seems they weren't doing those in June, but they are now) on our U.S. paperwork so we're still okay there. We just heard that we have Ministry of Interior approval, so all we have left is to have Janae's passport printed on the Haitian side of things. This is HUGE! Then one of our last major hurdles is Janae's birthmom's interview with the U.S. Consulate. It's scheduled for October 10th at 11:30 am. Please pray that she shows up. She missed several opportunities in June (see blog entries below), but it sounds like she's planning to go this time. We will waiting by the phone next Wednesday evening (even though we may not hear anything for days). I will do my best to post, so please don't call asking about it. :)


In other news, our beloved dog, Jake, died of anaplasmosis (a tick-borne illness) on August 15th. When you've had a friend for over 10 years, it's really hard to say goodbye. We miss him terribly. Since we couldn't stand the house being a wag-free and fur-free zone for long, we adopted a mostly Australian Shepard named Zinzy on September 11th. She was sick when we first got her home so we thought she was a quiet little thing. Apparently we were wrong. ;) She has found her voice once more and like to direct it in my direction on a regular basis. She's a goofy looking thing (one blue eye, one brown eye, one ear that stands up, one that's bent over, etc.) but she's a lot of fun. She's about 9 months old and is full of bounce. Her favorite hobby is catching grasshoppers and playing with them.


So stayed tuned. It could get exciting around here very quickly. Bryan is telling everyone three weeks to two months (you never know where the next road block could come from), but right now it's looking like Janae will be home for Christmas. YEA!!!


We really cherish your prayers right now! Thank you!!!


~Zaz