I know that stuff has happened between the July posting and this one, but here is the latest and greatest information. This is as of October 11, 2011.
Hello everyone, this is a long blog so if you don't have time to read it, do it later. There is a lot of information in it.
Ok, we have been in court for the last two days and we really appreciate your prayers. Court yesterday consisted of CPS changing their goal for what to do with Jody. Their goal for the past 16 months has been for an unrelated adoption (or secondarily reunification with dad). Then yesterday in court they announced that they were going for only for reunification with dad. This sent everyone for a tailspin, including the judge, who was mad to say the least. He then promptly postponed the case until today.
So, when the judge left court yesterday, we (being the grandparents, the aunt who has had custody of Jody for 16 months, Jonathan and myself) all stayed back and talked to the ad-litem attorneys (court-appointed to represent the child). The ad-litems then informed us that at this point CPS could come back today and drop the case and we would have no standing. Jody would go back to his father. This was not an option for any of us. So the ad-litems then went into action and told the aunt that she needed to get her own attorney and file a petition for intervention. So, I spent from the end of court (5:30) to about 9pm coordinating the meeting that we were going to have this morning with the new attorney for the Aunt.
This morning, the aunt and I went downtown and met with the new attorney. We loved her. She told us what to expect today and she gave us hope that we could win this battle. The aunt and grandparents are paying for the new attorney, which gives an indication of how motivated they are for Jody to go to a good home. Up to this point, all court costs have been covered by the state. So, the new attorney filed the petition for intervention as well as a petition for continuance. When we got to court at 1:30 today, she handed the paperwork to the other attorneys involved and you could see the surprise on their faces. When it was our turn before the judge, all of the attorneys spoke and the judge made some "recommendations" that we all think are great, because it will hopefully hold the birth father a little more accountable. Then the judge granted both of the petitions that our lawyer put before him. He also granted a new mediation, which is what our attorney recommended, and a new trial date.
So, here is what comes next. We do NOT go to trial next week. The dad has to fill out another financial form, because the judge stated that his belief is that the dad was not indigent and that dad would have to make payments back to his lawyer (!). This thrilled us, because he is no longer indigent and would be responsible for covering his own costs. Then the judge spoke to the lawyers and recommended to the father's attorney that he should try and make his client take a deal at mediation because if he doesn't he could be going before a "firing squad" at trial. So this is also good news for us. So before the end of the year, we will be heading to mediation again. This time with an attorney speaking for us. Our attorney will also be investigating the father and all allegations so that she can be best prepared for mediation and for potential trial. The outcome that we would like at mediation would be for both mom and dad to terminate their own rights. This would be the best case scenario and unlikely given all that has occurred so far. The other compromise they could make would be them granting the aunt, primary managing conservatorship (PMC). Once that is granted the aunt has custody of the child, but she can then designate if she wants someone else to be guardian. She can have him placed with us and CPS would be off the case, which is the plan if PMC occurs. The parents would still have parental rights and would have to pay child support and do visitations. The next step would be that we would keep Jody in our home full time. If, as expected, the parents don't fulfill their responsibilities with child support and/or visitations during the next year from the time of pmc, then we could file for termination and be able to adopt. So, it could go on for another year without final adoption, but we could get Jody in our home by the new year.
Keep praying for us
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Adoption Update #3
Ok, so June has come and gone and we did not have either mediation or a hearing like we were supposed to. We were informed that the mediation would be held on July 11th, so we wait again. We have been told that we are to be at the mediation hearing so Jonathan will go as has been the norm for us. He goes, while I watch the baby. We don't have high hopes for this mediation. Let me explain why I don't have high hopes for mediation. Mediation is supposed to show the birth parents what all they have going against them, so that they will then terminate their own rights without having to wait on the judge to terminate their rights. The birth parents actually can ask for visitation, or for cards, pictures, and other things from the time the parents terminate their rights and final adoption by the adoptive parents. Then the adoptive parents can terminate all contact with the birth parents.
I don't have high hopes for this due to the fact that the birth parents in our case would rather blame the judge for terminating their rights then terminating them on their own, because then they would have to admit that they are bad parents (at this time). Since, this has been the case in the past with at least the birth mom, we have a little bit of reason to assume this will be the same this time around.
We know that God is still in control of this situation and believe it or not, we have more people on our side than even I can believe. I will tell you more about that at another time. We are still hoping and praying that everything that is currently going on with the birth parents will come to light with both the judge, the lawyers, and the child advocates. We have had some good news, but as any of you know with CPS that can change very quickly and without warning. Keep us in your prayers as we continue this journey.
I don't have high hopes for this due to the fact that the birth parents in our case would rather blame the judge for terminating their rights then terminating them on their own, because then they would have to admit that they are bad parents (at this time). Since, this has been the case in the past with at least the birth mom, we have a little bit of reason to assume this will be the same this time around.
We know that God is still in control of this situation and believe it or not, we have more people on our side than even I can believe. I will tell you more about that at another time. We are still hoping and praying that everything that is currently going on with the birth parents will come to light with both the judge, the lawyers, and the child advocates. We have had some good news, but as any of you know with CPS that can change very quickly and without warning. Keep us in your prayers as we continue this journey.
Cody's Summer Trip
Well, as we usually do, we had my nephew Cody out for a week at the beginning of the summer. Actually, he was out here even before school was out for us in Houston. This was fantastic, because we were able to go to all the fun events before the crazy summer trips began. We hit some fun and unusual museums, such as the art car museum and we tried to get to the telephone museum, but they were closed the day that we wanted to go.
We of course hit the beach in Galveston, which for us was fantastic this time, because we were able to get to the beach with very few people around us. We tried a new beach this year again. I don't think we have gone to the same beach twice in the five years that Cody has come out. If we would have had the right tools, Cody was going to dig a hole as tall as he was, but unfortunately he only got to about waist height, which is about three feet before it started flooding with sea water. He couldn't figure it out, because as he stated that didn't happen in San Diego, CA, when he was there. We didn't have an answer for him, so if you read this and you know the answer let me know.
Cody was also able to meet the baby boy that we are hoping to adopt and he thought he was cool. (Most popular word for a 13yr old). I think he just liked that he slept through the night, as the last time he was here we had a four month old and a fourteen month old and neither of them slept through the night, or they were up very early.
Another annual tradition is the berry picking which just happens to fall at the same time as his trip out here. We decided to pick not only blueberries but we also picked blackberries. Overall, we had a really good time. I think the only thing that would have made it better would have been if we could have found a scooter park or skate park that allows scooters for him to show off some of his skills.
Cody was also able to meet the baby boy that we are hoping to adopt and he thought he was cool. (Most popular word for a 13yr old). I think he just liked that he slept through the night, as the last time he was here we had a four month old and a fourteen month old and neither of them slept through the night, or they were up very early.
Wendy's Birthday
We kept my birthday this year a little more low key than Jonathan's. Of course I wasn't turning 40 like he was either, so it was good to be low key. We decided to take a little trip up to Fredericksburg, TX. We had a blast at a little B&B off of the main road by two blocks. Just enough to allow us to have quiet at night, but close enough to allow us to walk everywhere.
We enjoyed a good time, wine tasting, eating out, sight seeing, such as the Texas White House, including the plane and runway that are there. It was a good time to get away. On the last morning we were there, we decided to try this little coffee house a block from our B&B and found the local coffee house cat helping himself to a little water from the fishbowl on the table. Just some of the local flavor.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Adoption #2
Ok, so as many of you know, we went to court yesterday. This proceeding was to see if the birth parents had done what they were supposed to do, and then to see what the judges ruling was going to be. Well, lets just say, it didn't go as we had planned. We figured on there being an extension for another month, but we didn't figure on the next part of the case.
The next part of the case...
The judge ordered Child Advocates onto the case, so we now have one Child Advocate and two volunteers to work with in regards to this case and we have been informed that at some point they will be coming to our house to talk to us and inspect our home. We aren't worried about that at all. The Child Advocates will also be talking to the Grandparents, the Aunts/Uncles, the babies sister, birth parents, and everyone else in the family who knows what is going on in the family dynamics. Then on or before June 16th we will all head to mediation with a retired Judge. This judge will talk to all of us and see if we can come to a understanding as to what is best for the baby. My assumption is that the Judge and the Child Advocates will return all of the information to the presiding Judge and from there he will make his ruling on June 22nd.
If he does not make a ruling on June 22nd, we head to a Jury Trial. What that entails, I have no idea and I hope and pray that we don't get that far, for my own sanity. The judge has extended the one year deadline by one week, so instead of the end of this case being July 27, it is now August 1st. This was requested by CPS, although we don't really know why.
So, there is still a lot up in the air right now and we ask that you continue to pray for us as we go through this process. We truly believe that God is in control and we have the reassurance that the Grandparents want us to have this child as they have said as much to the judge yesterday. God has everything in his hands and the Grandparents and us truly believe that.
The next part of the case...
The judge ordered Child Advocates onto the case, so we now have one Child Advocate and two volunteers to work with in regards to this case and we have been informed that at some point they will be coming to our house to talk to us and inspect our home. We aren't worried about that at all. The Child Advocates will also be talking to the Grandparents, the Aunts/Uncles, the babies sister, birth parents, and everyone else in the family who knows what is going on in the family dynamics. Then on or before June 16th we will all head to mediation with a retired Judge. This judge will talk to all of us and see if we can come to a understanding as to what is best for the baby. My assumption is that the Judge and the Child Advocates will return all of the information to the presiding Judge and from there he will make his ruling on June 22nd.
If he does not make a ruling on June 22nd, we head to a Jury Trial. What that entails, I have no idea and I hope and pray that we don't get that far, for my own sanity. The judge has extended the one year deadline by one week, so instead of the end of this case being July 27, it is now August 1st. This was requested by CPS, although we don't really know why.
So, there is still a lot up in the air right now and we ask that you continue to pray for us as we go through this process. We truly believe that God is in control and we have the reassurance that the Grandparents want us to have this child as they have said as much to the judge yesterday. God has everything in his hands and the Grandparents and us truly believe that.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Adoption
Well, this post will be long and unfortunately not full of pictures as we are not allowed to post anything yet. The end of February we got a call from the music minister at our church asking us if we would be interested in adopting a nine month old baby boy. I told him that we would need more information but were willing to at least listen to what might be going on with this situation. So with that, he said that he would let the person know that we were at least interested.
Let me go back. The grandparents of this baby boy had decided after having him from the time that he was 2 1/2 half months old that they were not going to be able to raise this baby and that he needed a family that could keep up with him. They wanted to be grandparents, not parents. So, when CPS told them that they were going to broadcast the baby, the grandparents asked if they could find a suitable home for him that was a good Christian home. CPS (to my astonishment) said that they could, but that the family would have to be certified by the state first. So the grandparents, started calling churches to ask if they knew of anyone that was willing to adopt a baby boy. Well, when they got to our church, the notice went out confidentially and before we knew it, three people from our church had recommended us to this family.
So, we got the call from the music minister and then waited, and waited, and waited. Until finally we decided that the grandparents must have found another family for their grandson. So we decided that we would just continue to wait on our agency to find us a family. Well, the middle of March comes and we get another call from our church saying that the grandparents would like to talk to us. So, we prayed about what to do. Because if you know us, you know that for us, we really wanted siblings, so that we could be done with the adoption process in one fell swoop. I knew that I would be ok with one child, but I knew that my husband who was raised in a house as an only child really wanted two. So, as we continued to pray about this situation, he told me one night that he would be okay with having one kid at a time, or possible just one kid total. Depending on what the Lord decided. This completely blew me apart.
So we met with the grandparents on a Saturday in March. We immediately fell in love with them and the fact that they love this little guy as if he were their own. We were also a little surprised to find out that parental rights had not been terminated, but we knew that God had started this so He would see it through. So, again after praying about this baby for a week, we decided to meet him. Well, lets just say, we hit it off with him too. He is a very precious little boy and so much fun to be around. So with that, CPS said that we should start visitation with the baby as well.
You would think that all would be done now and we would have the baby in our home, but God has other plans. We went to court on April 13th with everyone hoping that parental rights would be terminated at this hearing, since we are nine months into this case now. Unfortunately, that is not what happened. Due to elections, we had a new judge who was not familiar with the case and gave a thirty day extension on the case. So we go back to court on May 18th, with the hopes that parental rights will be terminated at this time. We completely trust in God that He has brought all of us together for a reason and that if this is what His will is for us that this baby, who will be one by the time the court hearing takes place be placed in our home shortly after this court hearing.
We ask that you continue to pray for us as we go through this journey for this little guy. We have also recently found out that the birth parents are now fighting to get custody back. After showing no interest in him for the past nine months, so we pray that the judge will see through this little display.
Let me go back. The grandparents of this baby boy had decided after having him from the time that he was 2 1/2 half months old that they were not going to be able to raise this baby and that he needed a family that could keep up with him. They wanted to be grandparents, not parents. So, when CPS told them that they were going to broadcast the baby, the grandparents asked if they could find a suitable home for him that was a good Christian home. CPS (to my astonishment) said that they could, but that the family would have to be certified by the state first. So the grandparents, started calling churches to ask if they knew of anyone that was willing to adopt a baby boy. Well, when they got to our church, the notice went out confidentially and before we knew it, three people from our church had recommended us to this family.
So, we got the call from the music minister and then waited, and waited, and waited. Until finally we decided that the grandparents must have found another family for their grandson. So we decided that we would just continue to wait on our agency to find us a family. Well, the middle of March comes and we get another call from our church saying that the grandparents would like to talk to us. So, we prayed about what to do. Because if you know us, you know that for us, we really wanted siblings, so that we could be done with the adoption process in one fell swoop. I knew that I would be ok with one child, but I knew that my husband who was raised in a house as an only child really wanted two. So, as we continued to pray about this situation, he told me one night that he would be okay with having one kid at a time, or possible just one kid total. Depending on what the Lord decided. This completely blew me apart.
So we met with the grandparents on a Saturday in March. We immediately fell in love with them and the fact that they love this little guy as if he were their own. We were also a little surprised to find out that parental rights had not been terminated, but we knew that God had started this so He would see it through. So, again after praying about this baby for a week, we decided to meet him. Well, lets just say, we hit it off with him too. He is a very precious little boy and so much fun to be around. So with that, CPS said that we should start visitation with the baby as well.
You would think that all would be done now and we would have the baby in our home, but God has other plans. We went to court on April 13th with everyone hoping that parental rights would be terminated at this hearing, since we are nine months into this case now. Unfortunately, that is not what happened. Due to elections, we had a new judge who was not familiar with the case and gave a thirty day extension on the case. So we go back to court on May 18th, with the hopes that parental rights will be terminated at this time. We completely trust in God that He has brought all of us together for a reason and that if this is what His will is for us that this baby, who will be one by the time the court hearing takes place be placed in our home shortly after this court hearing.
We ask that you continue to pray for us as we go through this journey for this little guy. We have also recently found out that the birth parents are now fighting to get custody back. After showing no interest in him for the past nine months, so we pray that the judge will see through this little display.
Jonathan's Birthday!
This April, we decided to celebrate Jonathan's 40th birthday with a BBQ party in our back yard with family, friends, and neighbors. We set up a croquet set, a ring toss set for the little kids and we were able to have some special friends over, which we will talk about in a adoption post coming soon. Thank you to all of the friends who came to celebrate with us.
The kids also had fun as one of the neighbors brought over confetti eggs and we told the kids that they could attach Jonathan with them once he sat down. Well, the man was so busy, playing, BBQing and having fun that it took him a long time to sit down. Once he did though, it was on and I have to say that the kids got him good. He might have come away a little bruised, but I think he enjoyed it.
The kids also had fun as one of the neighbors brought over confetti eggs and we told the kids that they could attach Jonathan with them once he sat down. Well, the man was so busy, playing, BBQing and having fun that it took him a long time to sit down. Once he did though, it was on and I have to say that the kids got him good. He might have come away a little bruised, but I think he enjoyed it.
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