Our lives are drastically different than they were a mere two and a half weeks ago...before we left to get Joshua. We have had him for two weeks and two days now. Every day brings new blessings and new challenges. His English speaking and comprehension gets better with each day. He gets more comfortable with Reese each day (this is HUGE). We get used to his creole a little more each day. I am figuring out his little personality a little more each day. We literally take it day by day, not knowing what will happen from one minute to the next. We are trying to get into a routine - both day and night.
Each and every day, we praise our Father in Heaven for the wonderful blessing of having Joshua here with us now. Whatever challenges we may face ahead, he is here. For that we are so very happy!
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On Saturday, January 23, 2010, we received an e-mail that contained a list of names...and on that list was Joshuawood. That list of names were the names of the children who would be on a 10am flight from Port-au-Prince to Miami on Monday, January 25, 2010. Parents needed to be in Miami that day to receive their children.
We frantically changed flight plans, made flight plans, found a hotel, made arrangements for Princess N and Quarterback, all in anticipation of going to Miami to get our son.
We arrived in Miami on Sunday, January 24, 2010, in the evening and made our way to our hotel - home for the next couple of days. It was on the beach, so not too shabby a place to be waiting. We met up with some other adoptive parents, got to know them, and just waited.
At around midnight, we hear this loud banging on our door. It was D and A coming with news and a plea for prayer. H had called his wife B from the tarmac at the airport in PAP. Chris, who had been at the embassy processing more children, called Hal and told him to get all of the children that had been processed on the truck and to th airport immediately - it was just after he had gotten all the kids to bed. Reminder....they are sleeping in tents in the church yard at this point.
Chris had learned from an Embassy official that they had to get all of the children who had received paroles and their paperwork out of Haiti that night because come dawn on Monday morning, the Haitian Prime Minister would require his personal signature on all children leaving the country. They told her to get the children to the airport, they would arrange for a plane to take the children to Sanford, near Orlando, where they would then be processed by immigrations and then bused to Miami to meet up with their parents.
Hence the late night phone call to Hal.
So H, R, C, and 57 children headed to the airport and were standing on the tarmac. A millionaire's jet was ready to head back to the states empty, saw this group of kids standing there, and someone asked one of the adults what was going on. "We need to get these kids stateside now," was the response. "Load 'em up" was their response. So they did and at 2:15 am, we got word that our children had safely landed in the US. Chris followed soon thereafter on a military plane with 10 additional children and all the paperwork.
In all, 67 kids made it out of Haiti and to Orlando just before dawn on Monday morning...a day that could have meant an even longer wait to get our children.
Monday ended up being another day of waiting on our end. The kids all had to be processed in Orlanda before they could begin their 3 1/2 hour trek by bus to Orlando. But wait!!! The pilot of a 757 heard about these kids and declared they had been through enough...they were not going on a bus. I will fly them to Miami. And, so he did.
They arrived in Miami a 11:30pm. We (adoptive parents) were at the airport waiting in charter buses for the kids who would be in vans just ahead of us. We caught a glimpse of him sleeping in the arms of one of the many red cross volunteers who helped out with the children.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Health, and the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) had arranged for the children to be taken to a remote site away from the airport where the children and parents would then be reunited. There was still paperwork to do, but we would be with our kids. So, off we went to this remote site, which I will not disclose...this site is still being used by the gov't to bring in Haitian refugees for processing.
It was late - or early - when Chris and the lady from the ORR spoke with us parents. The children had been bathed and were tucked snuggly into beds...for the first time in two weeks. The paperwork would wait until morning, when security checks could be run on the parents who had outdated fingerprints. Chris' plea - let the children sleep.
So, we went back to our hotel...without our son. We slept - not real well, but we slept. We took a cab back to the remote site the next day and at 11:30ish, we were reunited with Joshua, who greeted me with a big smile and then screams as his lunch walked away from him...screams that were quickly remedied once we figured out why he was crying!
At around 4pm, he was called to have his picture taken and at around 4:30, he was released by DHS and ORR into our custody. We got him!!!!
January 26, 2010 will forever be known in our house as GOTCHA day.
We still have a ways to go...we now have to adopt him here in the states and we don't quite know what that will look like. He will need to be naturalized...again not sure what this will look like. But, then neither does the US gov't...they haven't done this before either. We are still waiting on all of his papers from the ORR so we have what we need for him. We are hopeful that will be coming soon.
We have begun working with a lawyer on the adoption part of it. Excited to get that started now as well. Hopeful that we won't have too much trouble with the limited amount of information we have for him at the moment.
Unfortunately, there are still hundreds of children, children who were orphaned BEFORE the earthquake, that still don't have their parole. Little Lydia is one of them, being adopted by my friend D. Because of UNICEF's stance on international adoption, they are the ones who convinced the Haitian government to slow down the children leaving the country. Er should I say put a stop to it. My previous post has a video that must be watched and shared.
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Princess N raised exactly $2000 in her coin wars at school. We are so very proud of her!!! She is a wonderful big sister to him and a huge help to me! She loves her new little brother. And he loves her back. He squeals with delight every time he sees Princess N and Quarterback get off the bus from school.
Quarterback is doing well - adapting to his new roles as middle child and big brother. He is anxious for Joshua to be in his bedroom, sleeping on the bottom bunk. He loves to share his stuff with Joshua and is always ready to let everyone now who Joshua is.
We are so proud of both Princess N and Quarterback and they way they are adapting to having their little brother here. I think they were ready for him to be here. I think God had prepared them in ways that we couldn't have for the arrivial of Joshua into our family. They are adjusting so well and are so helpful with him. We are so very blessed to have them. They are amazing with Joshua - and have been so patient with me as I adjust to having Joshua here as well!
Thank you for all of the prayers, support, well wishes, gifts, donations to HIS Home, etc. They have meant so much to all of us - and were what kept us going through the difficult days of just not knowing. Although we still don't know what the future holds, we do know that we have an awesome community of friends and family who are sharing this with us. And that, my friends, is what God's love is all about!
My blog title will remain "Adopting Joshua", partly because we are still adopting him, but also because adoption is a journey that doesn't end with an adoption decree. We have all been adopted by God into his family...we still walk a journey with our heavenly Father each and every day. Our journey with Joshua has only just begun, and this blog will continue to be about the life lessons I learn each and every day along this journey that started three years ago and is no where near over yet!
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