Saturday, November 15, 2008

Adoption Day!

Today was Leo's "big day" when he was readopted in the state of Arizona. Really, we think it's just a scam for more money - but it was fun, nonetheless. It was National Adoption Day, so the courthouse in our county has a big celebration and over 240 kids were adopted today. They had clowns, ice cream, snacks, bubbles, etc for kids to play with (Leo heaven).
When we got to the courthouse, we were given a guide who took us to our courtroom and showed us where to get our paperwork taken care of, etc.
Leo had been sick, but he was in full form this morning. All of his grandparents came, which was very exciting to Leo. When they arrived at our house Leo was wearing an outfit ready for court - a diaper and his new dress shoes, without socks. Then, he just kept saying "two maw maws (grandmas) and two Grandpas!"
He continued to be nuts at the courthouse! We luckily were one of the first families, so Leo didn't have too much time to build up steam.....
When we got into the courtroom, Leo let loose! When the judge opened his mouth to speak, Leo would scream some non-identifiable word. The judge just kinda laughed. So we got through the formailities and the judge announced that we could take pictures with him if we wanted. So Leo got up, ran behind the judge's bench and ran to sit on his lap! It was cute, but way embarrassing! The judge went with it, until Leo started trying to grab things off of his desk and then trying to go into his chambers.......... Oh Leo! Here are some pictures. As you can see, baby Wil, is making his appearance too.














3 comments:

Debberoo said...

What a fun experience and how wonderful that TWO grandmas and TWO grandpas were right there with you, what a great family you have.

Congratulations on Leo's Adoption Day!

Chris said...

Oh Hon,
You are so lovely all pregnant and all-and it hardly shows!!!
Leo is just a doll, as usual
Maybe you have inspired me to do a blog update sometime soon
Blessings
Chris

Unknown said...

I can't believe that you are pregnant. You look so skinny. I love the pictures of the Turkey Trott too. I used to do those with my dad when I was a kid. It is fun.

Learn Chinese!

Timeline


January 8, 2007 Attend Adoption 101 Information Session in Mesa, AZ
January 22, 2006 - Apply for preapproval from our agencyand Taiwan
January 23, 2007 - Application for USCIS (I-600A) form submitted
January 28, 2007 - 1st Homestudy meeting
January 28, 2007 - Sign adoption contract with our agency
January 29, 2007 - Approved to adopt from Taiwan
February 1, 2007 - Clearance from state of Arizona
February 6, 2007- Maricopa application to adopt is filed
February 13, 2007 - Clearance from state of Michigan, Medical clearances, and Fingerprint invitation arrive from USCIS
February 24, 2007 - Fingerprinted for USCIS
March 11, 2007- Homestudy Complete and Court Certification from Maricopa County received
April 28, 2007 - Homestudy is translated into Mandarin
July 1, 2007 - Finally receive 171-H in the mail
July 6, 2007 - Get new case manager
July 22, 2007 - Sign adendum to contract
August 8, 2007 - Our lucky day! Referral for Lin Kai-Yi, born 6-3-06
August 8, 2007 - accept referral
August 13, 2007 - Sign Child Referral Agreement
August 23, 2007 - Paperwork arrives in Tucson
August 24, 2007 - Paperwork arrives to us
August 26, 2007 - Documents notorized (How many adults does it take to use a stamp?)
August 28, 2007 - Documents certified by AZ Sec. of State
August 29, 2007 Documents sent to TECO to be authenticated
September 4, 2007 - Documents arrive in Tucson from TECO
September 6, 2007 - Documents sent to Taiwan! YEAH!
September 10, 2007 - Update day! We receive 4 pics and a video!
October 2, 2007 - Receive word from TWCA that our hearing date is October 9, 2007 (this happened extreamly fast!)
October 9, 2007 - Keep your fingers crossed for a quick 1st ruling (even better yet, keep your fingers crossed for a final ruling!)
October 11, 2007 - October updates are here!
October 19, 2007 - Receive more pictures and videos from Ray's visit to Taiwan!
November 5, 2007 - November updates are here!
December 2, 2007 - December updates are here! Can't believe there has been no news all month!
December 13, 2007 - FINALLY! Word of our First Ruling! Yippeee! It happened on Dec. 13th in Taiwan (yesterday here)
January 4, 2008 - January updates
February 4, 2008 - February updates
February 28, 2008 - Leaving for Taipei!!!
February 29, 2008 - Arrive in Taipei!
March 4, 2008 - Gotcha Day! Can you even believe it!?!?!?
March 5, 2008 - FINAL RULING FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY! (by the way, our paperwork says the final ruling was issued December 24th!)
March 6, 2008 - First AIT appointment
March 7, 2008 - VISA DAY!
March 10, 2008 - Leave for home!
March 10, 2008 - Arrive home with our boy!!!!!!!!!!!
July 5, 2008 - Find out about Wil's arrival!
March 10, 2009 - Wil Shan-Yi Shaffer is born at 3:38 am 8 lbs. 4 oz. 20 inches long