June Update

After checking our email obsessively for the last week or so, our June update has finally arrived! Here's what Dixie (the orphanage director) has to say about Trey Amos this month:

weight: 15 lbs 15 oz
height: 25.5 inches

Amos is a sweet little boy. He smiles a lot and gives awesome snuggles. He really enjoys the volunteers reading to him and he will just stare at the photos.

He sits up pretty good but you will need to stay close because he will topple over occasionally if he tries to reach for something and it's out of his reach. He can sit for 10 minutes easily.

Amos is very verbal. He will coo and ahh and get our attention with all of the sounds that he makes. He also recognizes his care givers very well. When his volunteer walks into the nursery, he starts squirming and making noise to get her attention hoping that she will pick him up and take him upstairs with her!

Amos reaches for toys and plays with them. He likes to put things in his mouth. He seldom makes it through a whole hour with his volunteer without him falling asleep. He works hard when he is on the balcony!

He has huge eyes and he will look you right in the eyes. He also watches things going on around him a lot. He wants to know what is going on and if he's supposed to be involved! He hates us putting him back into the nursery after he has been upstairs on the balcony playing. He will do great once he gets into your home and has his own family!

Blessings, Dixie





I'm not sure how much the little guy enjoyed this photo shoot!!! We're not seeing too many smiles here!

Web Cam Visit Number Three

It's so hard to believe Trey Amos is SIX MONTHS OLD!!! And guess what, he is sitting independently! What a GENIUS! (ha ha!) Wow, not only is he the cutest baby in the world, he's also the smartest! (Ok, am I being a bit biased here or what!)

Anyways, he is doing really well--seems to be getting a bit chubbier and has grown some of his hair back! He did look at us on the computer screen a lot and seemed to be responding to our voices. The volunteers had to move the computer keyboard so that he wouldn't just spend all of his time playing with that!

"Hello world!":



"I'm so serious sometimes...":

"...But not all the time":

"Here I am sitting all by myself!":

"Oh yeah, I know I'm super adorable!":

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This won't mean much to too many people, but we found out Trey Amos' IBESR file number yesterday. We were a bit concerned because although we had been told his file entered IBESR, we hadn't received the actual file number until just now. The staff at GLA explained that it takes a little while to get the number once the file has entered IBESR.

We are looking forward to our next webcam session on June 27, and really hoping that the volunteers at GLA are able to continue this fundraiser! We don't mind donating extra money to the orphanage if it means seeing Trey Amos once a month!

Oh, and for those of you who don't know, Grandpa and Grandma S (that sounds so funny to say!) have confirmed their flights, etc, and are headed down to volunteer at GLA for the last two weeks of August. They will be volunteering in the Toddler House, but will likely spend every spare moment in the Baby House with their Number One Grandson!!

Going Crazy!

Yeah, sure, they make it look all wonderful and welcoming. But in reality, filling out those sponsorship forms for Immigration Canada, so that Trey Amos can become a permanant resident, is making us want to pull all our hair out!!!

You would not believe the time and effort it takes to fill out this application package so that our own son can live in our country. Honestly, it is making us crazy. We are not quite done the forms. We need to send away for some special info from Revenue Canada to mail in with the package. Immigration also wants copies of our birth certificates, marriage certificate, employment letters, etc, etc, etc. We should have started this a long time ago, but I guess I just wasn't on the ball. Oh, and of course, as always...they want money!

The Process

GLA has just added a section to their website where adoptive parents can log in every week and check the process of their adoption. This is handy because then we don't have to wait until every monthly update to find out if our file has been moved along. Anyway...they have a clear description of all the steps...clearer than what I had previously described at any rate. So for those who are interested here are the steps:

Steps of an adoption in the order they happen:

Pre-IBESR = We are preparing your dossier to go into Haitian Social Services. There are some legal documents that must be made after you accept your proposal and some of them must be legalized at the Ministry of Justice. If we have problems getting a document, this can delay this step.

IBESR = Haitian Social Services

Parquet = Pre-Courts, they interview the birth parents and give permission for the dossier to go through the Haitian court system.

Courts = The dossier is in the Haitian Courts having the actual adoption declared and legalized.

Attest or Attestation= After court papers are finished, the Act of Adoption must be sent to the National Archives and they declare that the signature on the Act of Adoption is legal.

Legal or Legalization = All court papers must be sent to the Ministry of Justice to be legalized. They declare that the signature on all of the paperwork actually is the signature of the Judge who signed it.

MAE = Ministry of Foreign Affairs must legalize the signature of the person in the Ministry of Justice who signed your paperwork in the step above.

MOI = All Adoption passports must go through the Ministry of the Interior for approval before Immigration will print the passport.

Printing= Your dossier is in Immigration waiting for the passport to be printed.

Visa=Your dossier is in your country's Embassy waiting for a visa to be issued!


And yes...we are on Step number 2...IBESR, and expect to be there for a few months at least! There were riots in Port-Au-Prince last week so of course all the government offices closed. Things like that never help the adoptions. We are hoping for a miracle!!!