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.