Three short weeks ago I found myself in this courtroom with these people. Friends and family that were able to witness our adoptions. They were sure we broke a record for number of people to witness and adoption (if they only knew about those there in spirit!). For those who haven't heard how it went. The judge asked Kenny to tell her every one's name and relation to him. Then she asked each person if they supported the adoption and if they wanted to add anything else. I hope I am able to get a recording of it, I was a nervous wreck and can't remember much, but a lot of heartfelt things were said. Last the judge gave Kenny "the final say". This was so great for him. He often asked me, "They are ours right mom?" "No one is going to take them are they?" The judge told him this is forever, exactly what he needed to hear.

When we came home from the adoption we were surprised by a diaper shower. Hopefully we are set until they are potty trained!

The day after the adoption we had an adoption/thank you pizza party. It was so much fun to have our friends and family able to come and celebrate with us.

 

                                                           

                                    A huge thank you to my Mom & Dad, Tiff and Kevin who kept the pizza's stocked and the pop flowing. And thank you to my  Aunt Nan, Sy and Mother-in-law who baked the delicious cupcakes.

Last week Sunday we had baptism.  I. love. baptisms. I've been waiting forever for this day. Make no mistake, we promised God we would do the best we can on the drive back home November 10 but I wanted it official!

photo credit: Faith Herrema

Photo credit: Tiffanie Snip

Elijah giggled through his turn :)

photo credit: MSB Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Their outfits were made out of my wedding dress. My aunt Deb did a beautiful job on them.

MSB Photography

MSB Photography

Photo Credit: Faith Herrema

Lizzy has finally warmed up to Opoo (great grandma Kamps)

Photo credit:Faith Herrema

 So now what? Well, we take it one day at a time. God knows what our future holds, we don't have to worry:)

 

The call

The call has come.
 July 12 at 3:30pm we will met Judge Mable Mayfield as she signs the papers stating baby boy and baby girl are ours forever!

Brandon said is best when asked if he was excited. "In my mind and heart November 10 is the day we became a family" He is right, the finalization will not come close to the excitement of that day but it will still be exciting. I will finally be able to breath. No more worrying about every bump and scrape they get. No more waiting for a caseworker to call or come over. No more nightmares of them being taken because something happened. I/we will be stepping out of the glass box I feel we have been living in for the last 71/2 months.

On a different note, last week Thursday was the day that we have had the twins exactly half of their lives. It was also the day our 3months of adoptive care were up. I love how God has put all of these little details together. I had counted out the day we would have them half of their life shortly after Christmas, months before they were moved into adoptive care. It is not a coincidence that these two dates fall on the same day. God has made me special with dates so I can see his workings in our life. Who else would think of counting days? Brandon thought I was off my rocker when I told him the half way mark. Who's laughing now? :)

I want to thank everyone for the support you have given us. The prayers have gotten us through some tough times. The love you have shown by just by accepting us as a family is overwhelming to me. It was scary stepping out in faith. I had so many fears the fact that you are reading this shows that you care, you want to know, and you're right beside us. Stepping out in faith isn't as hard when you have a great support system like we do.

Blessings
Amanda

Just a minor thing.

While we can't wait for this process to be over. It is really just a piece of paper (or many papers). When you give birth to a child, the birth certificate doesn't come for a couple of weeks, during those weeks is that child not yours because you don't have that paper? No. God gave us these two back in November. We became a family the moment they were in our arms.  No piece of paper is going to make us love them more or less. Even if the adoption fell through they still would have been a part of our family.

We think court went well today. We asked the court to allow the kids be in adoptive care for 3 months vs the 6 month requirement. He said "ok" but we were in front of the referee not the judge. The judge could overturn it his decision if she wanted to. Our adoption worker seems to be pretty positive about this but honestly I have learned not to trust their feelings (or thoughts). Maybe if she has been doing this for 5 years but 10 months? No way.


So we didn't get a date but the three months of adoptive care are up June 21. Our caseworker said she would send in the paperwork and hopefully get a finalized date end of June.
 No date today but it is looking like it will be at the beginning of summer vs the end! Still good news for us. :)

Honeymoon over

It finally happened. I am sure it is a combination of them teething (lots of crying), and visiting w/ a family friend (who Kenny adores) that pick up the babies before rough housing with him. "Mom, I wish we could go back to the way things were but I don't want them to leave"  He loves them. Just not when they get what is supposed to be "his" attention. He is trying to work it out. This weekend he is going camping w/cadets. The timing couldn't be better, a little break will do him good.

One is working on 6 teeth the other 5 teeth! It makes for some long days and nights. Hopefully once the molars come through things will calm down.

One week from today is the court date. Prayers that Judge Mabel makes the best choice for the kids. Brandon and I will both go to the hearing. I am very excited. Even if she says we have to wait another 4 months we walk away with a date when it will be finalized. At least this is what the caseworker said. From there we can; plan an adoption party, their baptism, a vacation (we plan on going to Canada). All things we can't do until the adoptions are final.

I can't wait to give an update.

A new name for a new year

One year ago today we signed up for Foster Care Orientation. At that orientation (April 4) we had been told there was no need for foster parents for anyone under the age 9. Boy were they wrong! Little did they (or us) know two little ones had entered the world and would change the way they (Bethany) did things. Not only have they changed our family but they have helped other children. It stinks they had to endure so much (at least I think it is a lot) but good has come from it. Every room on every floor is now checked. It may seem a little invasive but if you have nothing to hide there should be no reason to worry. They aren't looking for cobwebs!

Today is their first birthday. Honestly, it feels like we have had them a whole year not 4 short months. Judge Mabel has given all of us a special present.  She signed papers stating they are 1. now in adoptive care 2. to be called by their new legal names _____ Jon Kamps and _____ Louise Kamps (still not able to post full names). What a great way to start the second year of their life. 

Now we wait again. May 4 a case worker will go before Judge Mabel and give an update on the kids. She will ask for a date to finalize the adoption. This is when we will know if we are waiting 1 more month or 4 more months. Kenny is already coming up with party plans. I hope it will only be three months vs 6 months of waiting, the longer he has to plan the more trouble we are in! 

Because they are now in adoptive care we will be "loosing" a case worker :) No complaints here! 2 down 2 more to go!

Love being outside with big brother

Check off another step!

Today our adoption worker called. MCI has signed off! We are filing for adoption Tuesday :) I have been able to get word to Brandon (in Haiti). I haven't heard his response yet but I know he is extremely happy.

 My understanding is now we wait another 3-6months (depending on the judge) until the adoption is finalized. I could be wrong. There may be a million other steps that someone forgot to tell us. We will know more details Tuesday night. I am very excited that we are here. It hasn't even been a year that we have been on this journey. A journey that honestly neither of us wanted to take. We were happy where we were but God had big plans for us! I am glad we stepped out of our comfort zone!

Baby boy's surgery went well. He had an issue with the anesthesia but is doing good now. Today he played catch up on sleep which gave B. girl and I some alone time. She was very happy to have mom to herself!

Brandon is doing well in Haiti. He is in Leogane rebuilding a school. From the pictures I saw he looked like he was having a good time. The earthquake that happened last night didn't affect him at all. Some of the team felt it but all are safe. I can't wait until Sunday when he comes home.

Amanda

Updates

We have some good things to report!

Baby boy didn't need a swallow test. One night he decided the spaghetti we were eating looked good. Since then he has been able to eat most everything.

He will be getting tubes put in and his adenoids taken out Wednesday. Hopefully this will take care of his apnea, snoring, gagging, and infections.

We have our old licensing worker back! She did our home study with us and while it may change again it shouldn't effect us. We will be closing our license after the adoption is finalized. At least for now :) Brandon is ready to adopt another, I need some convincing!

Our case will be in Berrien county not Van buren county...so I am told...

Things are going well with the kids. The twins are walking, climbing, dancing and teething. Kenny is still loving on them. At times he thinks we are being too harsh with them and rushes to their aid (crying to be picked up, put behind a gate).  I am waiting for the "honeymoon" phase to end but he shows no signs of it. I know it isn't always going to be like this.

Brandon left for Haiti tonight. His flight lands in Port-au-Prince Saturday late afternoon. He was very excited to go. It will be a great experience for him.

 We haven't heard from MCI yet. It has only been 5 weeks...not that I am counting, or have the date circled on the calendar....It could be another month! God is really teaching me patience. Most days I am ok with waiting but whenever we go to a doctor or I have to fill out paperwork I am reminded they aren't mine, I am just their guardian. But they are mine. They are a part of me I can't live with out!

 I have three amazing children that all came from the same place, GOD.

Thank you for your continued prayers 

What is next?

Our case is off to Lansing! I was misinformed (which is happening a lot lately :( ). Our adoption home study has to be signed by the Michigan Children's Institute (MCI) superintendent before it can go before a judge who then signs them into adoptive care. MCI is their legal guardian, while we do have guardianship of them there are certain things we cannot do.

They are going to try and expedite our case so it may only take 2-4weeks for the approval vs 6-8weeks. Then it goes to a judge who just needs to sign it. I am praying we get a good judge. Our adoption worker told us we have to file in VanBuren county which is not a good thing. She said the judges go more by the book so the twins would have to be in our care for another 6 months before we can ask to finalize the adoption. We can't wait until they are ours for good. 

We are being very patient (for those who know me this is not my strong point) but I am feeling very frustrated by the misinformation I am receiving weekly now. Our licensing worker has been changed (again) and this one, I have concluded, has no clue what she is talking about. Right now Brandon and I have a temporary foster license. It expires March 30. So we have to renew it before Feb. 28. She gave a  list of things that needed to be done before they would come out and conduct a home study (yup that would be our 5th study). I started to work on this list only to be told I didn't need to do half of it. Great news, I was really stressing out about it. Then I am told I don't need to to any of it!  I fear she is going to change her mind and we do need to do all of it and time will be running out. One worker tells me the next steps in the adoption only to have another worker tell me no that is not how it works. We have no clue who is right so I guess we will just wait and see? Most of the problem is we don't have anyone who is seasoned, they have all been doing their job for less than 6 months.  It is hard for us to learn from someone who is learning themselves.  (step off soap box)

Both babies and the rest of the family is doing well. Everyone is sleeping through most nights now. Baby boy is into everything. His favorite place is the bathroom, he can make a huge mess in seconds! He loves Kenny to pieces. The boys like to roll around in blankets on the floor and just climb on each other.

Baby girl is walking all over. She thinks it is big stuff to carry things in her hands as she walks. She is not a fan of baby food but loves whatever you are eating. Kenny is doing an awesome job helping out. His favorite is to carry them into church :) 

Things are going so well that Brandon will be going on a serve project to  Haiti with a group from church the first week of March. He didn't want to leave me by myself for a week but we have it worked out that my sister and her kids will come stay here for the week (her husband is going too). I am sure it will be a crazy week but we will make it through! I can't wait to see how God will use him there. 

A few prayer requests

Baby boy has to have a swallow test in the near future. Right now he doesn't eat anything from the table or baby food with texture. He gags and chokes a lot. 

He also has had an ear infection since we got them. We go for a recheck Feb 10 if they aren't cleared up we will be seeing an ENT to probably get tubes. Right now I can tell they aren't cleared up. If we have to get tubes then I hope we do soon so he isn't in pain anymore.

Baby girl has to see an optomologist for her eyes. While this isn't a big deal that we are going I am just thinking it isn't going to be fun with a 10month old!

Pray for Brandon and the team while in Haiti. Let their eyes and hearts be opened and their safety.

Blessings

More answered prayers

Tonight we met with our adoption worker, Whitney. I think things went well. The one question I really wanted answered was answered the way I wanted :) They will not be re asking any relatives if they are interested in adopting the twins. This means we have no competition!!! 

Every three months the caseworker needs to go in front of a judge and give a report on how their cases are doing. So given this timeline the first part of February they can be "moved" into adoptive care. Then depending on which judge we get we can ask in May to have an adoption date in June. Some judges want the children in adoptive care for six months. Judges do this to make sure the children and parents are a good fit. We are 100% sure they are a good fit for us but we will wait patiently, if needed, for others to realize it too!

Things are going good. They are almost sleeping through the night. Usually one of them will sleep 10 hours and the other will wake up 3 or 4 times. The next night they will flip flop. Naps are better, they will sleep together for 2-3 hours usually two times. I have learned to do lots during these two hours! Baby boy has eight teeth and no signs of more coming. He loves being rough housed with.  Baby girl loves to climb and has discovered screaming is fun. I went back to watching kids last week. So far things are going good with that. Kenny has improved a little with his behavior, he still loves being a big brother. He gave Whitney 2 thumbs up when she asked how he like having them in the house, getting into his stuff. Brandon is being an awesome supportive husband.  He is always in the house to help with bedtime. He even did bath time by himself so I could have a girls night out! 

While we are looking forward to next summer to finalize the adoption we are enjoying every moment with them now.

Day 19

I can't believe we have had these babies for 19 days! They are starting to sleep through the night (YAY). Not every night, but we are getting there. Baby boy (who came w/no teeth) now has 8 teeth! Last night baby girl held her arms out to Brandon while she was in my arms! This made one happy dad! They are adapting so well! Their case worker came last week Monday and said she hadn't seen baby girl smile so much or move so much (she is a wiggler!).  Thanksgiving went really well. They both handled all their new family members as well as can be! Thank you to all of our family for understanding why we rushed to their side at the slightest cry. They are still learning to trust us and that was a big test. Baby girl is more willing to go to other people now even if it is for a few minutes. She seems like a totally different baby.

We still do not have a worker assigned to our case. I am starting to push a little more this week thinking we need to get this ball rolling. New information has come into play assuring us that the 7month foster family will never ever get them back. They can/are still contesting the adoption but the babies are safe from them. There are some others that might suddenly want to contest too. Pray that these people will do what is best for the babies over their own needs. We are not overly concerned but a little prayer goes a long way!

All in all we are doing great. Kenny still loves his new little siblings. He does really well and loves to help out. He is starting to get a little jealous when people come over to the house but that is to be expected. He has had all the attention on him for 8 1/2 years and needs time to adjust as the newness (of the babies)wears off :) I am sure I was a peach when I was 5 and a new sister came along! 

Thank you for your continued prayers as we move along in our journey. I can't wait until next June/July when they are officially ours. Plan on a big party that you are all invited too!

One week!

It has been a week since God handed two babies to us. It has been a long, hard, rewarding week! They don't sleep through the night. Not sure why, I mean if I was ripped from my parents tossed around for 24hrs then landing in a place for a week I am sure I could sleep...NOT! We love these little ones and missing a little sleep to rock and soothe them is the least I can do. It will get better. Each day they smile a little more. Monday Baby girls stated giving me kisses. Today Baby boy started. They are some of the best kissers around :)  We have a great support system, we couldn't do it with out you guys. The meals that where brought have been great. I am going to need to get some recipes. The clothing they have is adorable. They came with nothing and now have everything. Every one has been so supportive. When Brandon and I first talked about adoption we weren't sure how others were going to handle it. We knew we would be ok but how would our family and friends? Let me tell you any concerns we have have gone out the window. These babies are loved by so many. We are so excited to show them off to each everyone. 

This isn't easy, we knew that going into it. Right now both kids have colds and are teething. Add to that not enough sleep (for them and me) and it equals a bucket of fun! But when we get a couple of hours of smiles and laughs suddenly lost sleep is forgotten and being covered in mucus goes unnoticed. Funny how the little things go away.

Now we start the adoption process. They think they have an adoption worker scheduled for us but they aren't sure. That is ok. We have the babies and the rest will fall in place. I do have a prayer request. The previous foster family is going to contest the adoption.When I found out my heart sank. One of our case workers said not to worry. No judge in their right mind will give them back. I have faith in God that he has placed them in our arms forever. I have too. Look at what has happened a week ago. It is almost unheard of to get 2 healthy babies with parental rights already terminated. Our God does those unheard of things! So please pray that we keep our faith as this too will be a trying time.

3:30 emotions

It is 3:30am. I have feed and rocked baby boy back to sleep about a half an hour ago. I have been up since 2 just waiting for someone to cry :) Then  the last half an hour I am laying in bed sobbing.Tears just keep flowing as I count our blessings. These first 24hrs have been amazing. From every poopy diaper to baby girls first smile.  I am just so blessed to have all of you. From my best friend calling  just to check in, to the cousin who calls sobbing with joy for us ( I am still crying from you!) and the cousin who happens to be going to college near Ikea willing to pick up a crib for us. The sisters, who uncluttered the house and held babies so I could vacuum, the cousin willing to give formula and coupons even though she herself is due in a few weeks, the moms who have been shopping, and many others. Thank you, every single one of you we can't do this without you.

Baby Girl has now gotten up and as I am feeding her it hits me (start the tears again). We were so angry we had to get a new well. It was such a roadblock for us. Every stinking step was another hassle with this well. Why did we need a well? High nitrate levels were only a concern to nursing mothers and babies. We weren't getting a baby, no baby + no bottles= no need for a new well. Baby girl is drinking bottle number 11. It has taken me eleven bottles to connect our angry, frustrating road block to God's awesome timing. I am sure this is the first of many "God moments" we will recognize. I know he is always with us just sometimes we aren't looking hard enough to see him.

From 3 to 5!

God is great! At 4:15pm today Brandon, Kenny, and I started a new chapter in life. This is the time that we met our new children. That's right, children! We have, right now, in our house twin 8 month olds!!! We are still in shock that God has given us these amazing children. Honestly it couldn't have come at a worst time but you know the saying...Everything in Gods time not ours. Because we knew about them for 4 hours before we got them we didn't have time to prepare. Once again God has blessed us with an awesome family. Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Moms and Dads went shopping for us and our home is now if full baby swing. Bottles, clothes, diapers blankets and much more. THANK YOU to all of you! Thank you to the rest of you for your prayers and support. We are still going to need those prayers. This is a huge, HUGE adjustment. Here are a few pictures of them. Right now we can't give out too much info over the internet.

Amanda

Today we received a child's profile. This means they think we would be a good fit. We have some reading and a lot of praying to do. Pray that we make the correct decision.

Yesterday we inquired about a child. All this means is that we let that child's caseworker know we are interested. If we hear more we will share more :)

Now what...

"It's critically important to consider the adoption journey much like the many miles of a circuitous mountainous marathon. The journey is long. It'll take your breath away. It can be unpredictable or maybe even frustration and fascination all at the same time. Eager as you are to finish, you can run only one mile at a time You've already covered a lot of ground and exerted a significant amount of energy. Don't lose sight of your commendable progress thus far, but don't rest comfortable on your laurels either."

                                                                                                                            David & Renee Sanford

.                                                                                                               Thriving as an Adoptive Family

"You're licensed so now what?" 

Now we wait. Wait and pray. Sounds like fun huh? 

We have met with our recruiter, discussed what we think we are able to handle, and now she looks for us. Once she finds a child that she thinks fits she will send our home study to that child's caseworker. It is that caseworker who has to choose us. Once we are chosen we are given more information on the child. After reading and praying over the given information we have a meeting with our recruiter, the child's caseworker and any other important person to that child (therapist, foster parents, teachers). After that meeting we finally get to meet the child. A number of visits take place then the child moves in with us. They gave us a time frame of 3 months from first meeting [of the child] to when they move in. Once the child has moved in we will start the adoption process (step 3!) We have been told that the adoption will take about nine months. A journey was the correct title for this!

After our meeting, Sara (recruiter lady) asked how are you feeling? I answered scared, excited, and sad. Scared. What are we getting into? They give you worse case scenario for everything. This isn't going to be easy, we are going to need a lot of support (I know we have it!). Excited. I didn't plan this. God did. It is exciting to see God work. We see him in every big and small step accomplished. An example: even though we didn't have enough saved up according to the estimate for the well we went ahead, trusting God would provide. The final bill was the exact dollar amount we had saved! The well was further out than quoted and 30 feet deeper yet it was almost $400 less!

The last emotion I was ashamed to admit. Even though we are willing ourselves to God. I felt that life as we knew it was ending. This quote changed my outlook.
"Now this is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." ~Winston Churchill

Keep praying for us, pray for patience for me :) wisdom for our recruiter, and peace for our waiting child.

Amanda

Yay!!!! Wait, what????

Friday we were told our license is open! Praise GOD! We are very happy to be done with step one. Yes you read right, step one!
Next we met with Sara, our recruiter.  Her job is to match kids with families. She goes through kids profiles and families profiles. If she thinks we are a good fit we then read the childs profile and decide yes or no. That is about as much as I know about this step. I hope to learn more after next week. After Sara we meet Whitney, our adoption worker. That would be step three!

The title is exactly what ran though my mind after hearing the news. The excitement lasted for about 10 seconds before all the fear and worry set in. The past three weeks I have heard nothing but horror stories of foster kids being adopted. While I would love to think this is not going to happen to us I tend to be more of a pessimist...
While we are excited, we have lots of worries. Suddenly this is very real. Who will this child be? How will we "pick" them? When you adopt a baby, the birth mother picks you. Or if it is out of county your name is next on the list. You get a phone call saying hey your baby is born or this mother picked you. Are we able to go though pages of notes and see the child for us?
I compare it to picking a puppy (dont get me wrong this is a lot more serious). They are all cute and need someone to cuddle and love them but you can't take them all home.

I am asking for prayers
~ to calm our worries and fears.
~ God will set the right childs profile in front of Sara
~ we will know who the right child is for us
~ pray for our waiting child

WATER!!!!

Yesterday (finally) the well was dug. Six hours and 150 feet down! Tears weren't far from my eyes as I saw the beautiful sight of water spouting 20ft in the air.
Today they are hooking it up to the house. Pray that this goes smoothly, nothing since my last post has! Getting to yesterday was a struggle, digging didn't go as planned, so lets pray we don't find any forgotten wires or other buried treasures!
After today we can't do anything for a week. The inspector has to come back out, test the water and check the well. From then I am not sure what is going on. Our caseworker is now on maternity leave until November, I am praying we make a little progress before then!
I can't help but think, New water = New life. A new life added to our family, a new lifestyle for us, and hopefully renewed life for some child.

                                 Notice all the orange flags...that will give you a hint what one problem was

The were only 130ft @ this point

Driller pulling bit out

After he was done drilling and things were almost packed away Jeff (driller), informed me that he and his wife have done foster care for many years. They take a lot of the medically challenged and severe special needs (downs, austisic, etc.) kids. He has never adopted any of the kids but stays in touch with a lot of them.I pray that "our child" is in a Christian home like Jeffs.

 It is amazing to see God is work in this process. Not all the time can I see him, trust me the last three weeks have been a struggle, but He has opened so many doors for us to talk about him, most of the time to complete strangers.

 He really does work in strange ways!

New Water?

Yesterday I applied for a permit to dig a well. Today, I have the permit.
 The well man said he will be out here the first part of next week. Not sure if that means he can drill it next week or if he is just going to scope things out. Either way it is progress!

Good news with complications

I think we will always be an exception...
  Our case worker called this morning. She has received notice that the state will approve our license. This is great news, but, we have to have the well in before it is official. That's a problem. We have funding for the well only if we have a license. Gotta love the government.
Our caseworker is sending a request for the grant today. Because we have been approved by the state she said the committee should give the money. We will find out in a week
 So, today, I am buying a well permit!

Keep praying that we will get pass these little glitches!
Amanda