0-3 in 13 months...how that happens...

Our journey to family definitely had a lot of twists and turns. It is also a hard story to explain to people unless they have about 4 hours of free time (which I know I DON'T). Anyhow, my brother sent out the following email as a plea to people in his computer group and I thought he did a better job explaining our journey than I could. Thanks Chris for letting me post your words!
"I apologize for taking this platform off-topic, but I have a personal story and plea that I want to share... Several years ago, my sister and her husband found out that they couldn't have biological children of their own. After searching their hearts, they decided that international adoption was the best choice for them. In 2006, they found an agency and they began to pursue the adoption of a Haitian infant, a young boy named Jean Delson. Unfortunately the Haitian adoption process is slow moving and the rules were quite volatile. For every one step forward it seemed they took two steps backward. Throughout the long process, they kept in contact with the orphanage in Haiti. They sent clothes, toys, birthday gifts... they even visited Haiti in April of 2007. Soon 2007 became 2008, and the process ground to a halt. Haiti had put a new rule in place, they wanted all adoptive families to be married for 10 years, and it would be years before my sister and her husband could meet that requirement. After much praying and soul searching, in July of 2008 they made the hardest choice of their lives, they chose to terminate their contract with the adoption agency, opening up the possibility that some other family could adopt Jean Delson. Without that chance, Jean Delson would definitely be stuck in an orphanage for years and years, but now he had a chance at another family taking him in. Shortly after, through a different agency my sister and her husband were matched with an Ethiopian infant named Micah, and in December of 2008 they already had Micah home. In 2009, they decided their family wasn't yet complete and they decided to adopt an Ethiopian girl named Sitota. They arrived back in the US with her on January 3, 2010. Then the earthquake hit Haiti. My sister, her husband, and our whole family scrambled for information on what happened to Jean Delson and the other children and staff at the orphanage. Eventually news trickled out that they all survived, but Haiti was in bad shape. Then on Thursday January 21, not even three weeks after getting Sitota home, the original adoption agency called my sister and her husband. You see, nobody else had ever been matched with Jean Delson. The Haitian government had cleared the way, allowing the children with in progress adoptions out of Haiti. All the red tape had been cut. Technically my sister and her husband were still matched with Jean Delson, just waiting for their marriage to hit the 10 year mark. The catch was, they were Jean Delson's only hope, and the agency only had hours to wait for an answer. Would they like to adopt Jean Delson and bring him out of Haiti? Now, my sister and her husband were not prepared for this at all. They hadn't heard anything on their case in over a year and a half, and they had just brought home Sitota weeks ago. They didn't have a bed, clothes, toys, or even a vehicle big enough for three children and two adults. They were strained financially from the adoption of Sitota and getting the things she needed. Yet, how could they say no? For years they've held Jean Delson in their hearts, loving him. They had made a huge sacrifice in 2008 by giving him a chance with another family, hopefully not having to wait for years and years until the Haitian government would approve their adoption. But he hadn't been, and now they faced this decision. It was a crazy situation - going from the parents of one child to the parents of three in the course of 3 weeks, but what else could they do? They said yes. Yesterday, Jean Delson arrived in the US. Late last night, the US government released him to my brother-in-law Scott. He's now on his way back to Oshkosh, and should be here this afternoon. However, and this is why I'm sending this email, not all of the kids in Haiti are this lucky. I think it was nineteen of the kids in the orphanage that made it out of Haiti. Five had to be left behind because they hadn't been matched with an adoptive family prior to the earthquake or otherwise didn't meet the requirements. My sister and her husband had been, and also had photographic proof of having visited Jean Delson prior to the earthquake (a requirement being imposed under this new emergency adoption process). There are other parents in the US who had been working on international adoptions, who have been approved by social workers in the US to adopt a child, yet they don't meet the requirements of this emergency process. These five children are all that are left at this orphanage. The orphanage is closing because they don't have enough children to justify staying open, and the infrastructure in Haiti is gone, they couldn't stay open if they wanted to. They don't know what they are going to do with these children. And these children aren't alone. The same story is being repeated through many other US adoption agencies and many other Haitian orphanages. There are families here approved to adopt, yet they can't adopt *these* children. And there are tens of thousands of orphans in Haiti, many of whom aren't even in orphanages, much less reputable orphanages that have a long-standing relationships with US adoption agencies. I understand why the international community is hesitant to just hand these kids out. I'm sure there are people that have less than good intent in their desire to adopt a Haitian child. However, I think the US government has the power and resources to investigate any of these other families and determine that they aren't a danger now to these children. I'm sure they also have the resources to follow-up on these placements and make sure that the children are being treated well. I urge you to contact your representatives in Congress to let them know that we need to do more for these children. I'm not advocating giving out children to anyone who asks, but I am advocating giving out children to families who have been approved to adopt a child and who want to provide a safe and loving home to the Haitian orphans. I'm advocating using the power and resources of our government to make sure that these placements meet those requirements. I'm advocating that this happen now, before more of these children die from disease, hunger, or one of the countless other dangers facing them in the post-earthquake devastated Haiti. I'll step off my soapbox now. If you want to read a happy story, check out my sister's blog of this process going back all the way to 2007: http://itbringsmegreatjoy.blogspot.com/ However, we all need to act, take a few minutes to fire off an email or give a call to our representatives in Congress. The news media likes to cover these happy homecoming stories, but they aren't telling you about the children being left behind due to bureaucratic technicalities. Thanks for reading. Chris Meyer"

In Daddy's Arms

Jean Delson is in Scott's arms after a long day in FL....They should fly home tomorrow!!!! Praise God!!!

Editing

Due to the fragile state of our adoption cases, I am going to hold off posting anything further until our family is home and complete. If you would like to follow our journey you can follow us on facebook. Leave me a comment if I need to friend you on there :) see you all soon. Melissa

How old are you??

One big question we have gotten is how old is Sitota....Good question! Since there were no actual records of when she was born, it is mostly a guessing game. Her Ethiopia birth certificate lists her birth date as July 12, 2002...that would make her 5.5 years old, Way off!! Her brother told us she was born in 1996 (that is according to the calendar used in Ethiopia), so that would be 2003, here..making her 6, Still off! The doctor thinks her birth date would be more accurate at July 12, 2002..making her 7.5 years old, Getting Closer! The dentist said that looking at her teeth, those that are in, loose, and coming in he would say she is 8.5-9 years old...most accurate. So what will we do????? We are going with the doctors estimate of July 12, 2002. This makes her 7.5 years old and puts her in 2nd grade. We realize that we may be off by a year or two, but this is what makes the most sense. So there you have it...the long answer to a short question!! Melissa

This pet can swim

The title of this post is a sentence that Sitota read to me today after school. Her ELL teacher had sent home a book that they have been working on reading and Sitota was so excited to read the sentence to me. She amazes me every day! I love my kids!!!! Melissa

School Days

Today was Sitota's first day at school. She is going to be in 2nd grade, but will spend much of her time with her ELL teacher for the first few months. I got a chance to talk with her class today and let me tell you, these are a Great group of kids! They were all so sweet to her and so excited to have her in class. I talked with them a little about Ethiopia and answered a few questions they had. Her teacher is also great and was so well prepared for her to come. Her entire class had learned how to say hello and goodbye in Amharic...CUTE! Her ELL teacher said that she had a really good day, she did have one episode of crying while they were going through a number chart but the teacher thought it was because they had been doing so much. She took a break and walked with her around the school and she was back to her smiling self in a matter of minutes. Sitota told me she had new friends (though she could not remember their names, except for Katie!) and she was so proud of how her teacher said "Very Good Sitota" when they were playing ball. Her teacher asked me if she had played any basketball in Ethiopia because she was making a lot of baskets during PhyEd. Over all a Great day for her and she is looking forward to school tomorrow. On another note, Micah asked to go on the potty today and he went pee-pee!!! He then got a special piece of candy and was so excited to call daddy to tell him! What a super day!!! Here are some pics of Sitota in her first day of school outfit she picked out :) Melissa

Tooth Fairy

Yesterday our little girl lost her first tooth...well, not really her first one but the first one since being home. She has had 3 loose teeth since we were in Ethiopia, but this was the first one to fall out. It was so much fun to finally have a chance to "play" tooth fairy and she was SOOOO happy with the dollar that was in her little tooth holder in place of her tooth!

Tomorrow will be another BIG event, First day of school! She is pretty excited and keeps telling us she is going to high school...we just agree (whatever it takes)! I think it is because of her High School Musical shirt :) Don't worry, pictures will be taken and posted!!! Melissa