One down one to go!

Court today was short and sweet!  I was told before we even went in that Bio-Mom had once again gone MIA and wasn't expected.  The GAL supervisor had never seen her before so she asked me if I saw her and I told her no. :)

Technically she isn't officially TPR'd....she's 'defaulted."  Basically she didn't show so they terminated, but it can't be filed until Dad is TPR'd as well.  They must be filed together.  The diligent search for Dad has not been completed so the next court hearing is May  29th to see the status of that.  If that is done then they can file publication.  So....we are looking at a minimum of 10...yes TEN weeks before we will be able to TPR Dad.  That takes us well into JULY!!!!  OYE!  After that of course we move on to WHERE Choo Choo will live permanently.

The good news of all of this is of course 1) Mom is DONE!  2) Choo Choo gets to come on our family vacation and my sister will finally get to meet him (my mom and other sister met him when they came here).

Besides all this my family could really use your prayers.  My Dad is having major back surgery tomorrow and will be out of commission for awhile.  There is also another "unspoken" request that needs MUCH prayer :)  I am the only one who lives out of state, so this is really tough for me being far away.  I hope to make a visit in the next couple of weeks.

Here we go...

Tomorrow is Pre-trial/Bio-Dad's advisory.  Pre-trial isn't much of anything to speak of and I highly doubt that dad will show for his advisory.  I think I need a flow chart for this, but I think I'll just do bullets :)

IF Dad shows....

1. They will serve him to appear in court next week for trial
2. Trial will continue as planned for both parents next Thur.

IF Dad doesn't show....

1. Not much of anything will be accomplished tomorrow
2. They will do publication for the next 6 WEEKS to see if Dad responds to an ad in the paper (ha!). 
3. Trial will continue as scheduled next week for bio-MOM ONLY.  Trial for Dad will happen after the 6 week waiting period is up.  

So....as it sits (and how I believe it will go down) we will have trial for Mom's TPR next week, wait 6 weeks, get trial for Dad scheduled, have trial, then MBI and the ugliness that will happen to determine where Choo Choo will be forever.  

I asked uncle today at drop off if he knew where bio-dad was or if he had heard from him and he said "no."  I don't know if that's true or not, but .....It is my prayer (and we covet all your prayers as well!!!!!!!!!) that bio-dad shows up tomorrow and we can get this show on the road!!!!!!!!!!   

Court results

Today was the JR for Choo Choo.  I was not expecting much and hubby often wonders why I go, but today it ended up being worth it :)

They of course reviewed the case...what Mom is not doing...what Dad is not doing and their histories in this case.

Then the GAL atty wanted to know about bio-Dad's visits.  The CM was not in court, but her supervisor was there.  She was not aware of the visits with bio-dad (or lack of) and I am glad that I attended and had the opportunity to speak.  It was nice for the judge during her ruling to look at me and personally ask me if I have everything I need for the child :)  Yes ma'am!

There was a brief mention of the bonding assessment and how a motion will be filed in regards to it.  WHAT????  I asked the GAL later and apparently it's a whole new mess :(  Since the GAL office funded the bonding assessment they had their person set up.  Well...the agency being the agency they are, did not want someone they were familiar with doing it.  So.....the agency decided to set up their own person who the supervisor formally used in another county.  Hhhhmmmm.....so...the way it's being seen is that both parties will have their assessments done by "their" person and then we will battle it out in court.  NICE!!!!!!!!!!  Can we get any more stinkin' absurd in this case????????  Maybe I shouldn't say that huh?!

THEN.....I heard that this will be coming to a close LATER rather than sooner :(  The GAL atty (she is so awesome!!) is only available for like 3 court dates in May and then the judge will be taking personal time off and a "stand in" judge will be taking her place, so the preference will be to WAIT because we do not want a judge who has no clue what's going on in this case making the final ruling!!!!

Trial is still in two weeks and everyone will be there for that ....it's after that where it will be uncertain.  We are all relatively confident in getting TPR, but after that the GAL was told to "prepare your foster mother" (by the atty) because these things OFTEN go in the favor of siblings.  I'm aware of reality....I know that bonding doesn't always win....BUT I KNOW that I serve an AWESOME GOD and what HE wants goes...no matter what.  Of course that could still be that he goes to his aunt/uncle's but then I will rest in knowing that it's God's will.  Easy? NOPE!  Will all the Glory go to God either way? YES!!!!!!!

Legoland!

Yesterday we had the blessing of going to Legoland with all the kids!  We got the tickets for free, so that made it even better.  It was a challenge coming off of a visit weekend, but we survived with only a few minor meltdowns and one major one-lol!

Lego technic was the "big boys" favorite ride!

                                     

Pretending they were on the ride...it sometimes stinks to be so little.

 I was getting pelted with balls just to get a few cute pictures :)

 Mom!  Take my picture!

 Mighty Max!

Make your craziest face! Choo Choo is just looking at them like "what in the world are you doing?"  :)

 Next up will be Universal Studios!  I think we will leave Choo Choo (maybe Michael too) with a sitter for that one!  Not as much for him to do at that one and he really needs a nap...he refuses to sleep in the stroller!  9 hours is a long time for a little man!  He crashed in the car after he stopped hitting me in the head with his new lego sword-lol!

Blog Hop

There are SO MANY wonderful blogs out there to bless you with information and understanding.  Check some of them out and go hopping!

http://foster2forever.com/foster-care-blog-hop

More delays?

Bio-Dad was supposed to have a visit this weekend where the GAL was going to serve him to appear in court.  Grrrr...of course this visit didn't happen.  So now what?  I asked the Guardian and her response was that the CM said he was going to appear in court on the 26th and he will be served then.  

Ok....and he has said he'd be at court all along and hasn't been to the last 3 or 4 hearings. 

 So then what?

Then they have to reschedule the advisory for 6 weeks out and do the publication.

WHAT?  ANOTHER stinkin' delay when SOMEONE has to know where this dude is!  I am sure the uncle or at least bio-mom COULD tell but won't.  

I will be so annoyed if bio-Dad does not show to court.  That would mean everything gets pushed back and that would put us well into June and probably July for a trial date.  

What I keep thinking about is "why does this surprise me?" LOL!!!!

The Staffing

From what my FDS said, it was rather uneventful!  It made me feel ok that I wasn't there.  Apparently Uncle didn't show either.  I figured out that this week is Spring Break and he probably couldn't get a sitter either.  

It was explained to me that the feeling of the staffing was "cold" and that is pretty much how it typically goes. The supervisor draws/doodles on her folder (of insignificance) and the CM is asked questions for which she has no answer (status quo once again).  

The things that did actually happen.....

Dad will hopefully get "served" this weekend at his visit with Uncle/Aunt.  If he doesn't show to court after being served we can officially take him off the board.  As for Mom...she has decided to do her task and that will take a MINIMUM of six months.  This is where I am praying (and asking you to as well) for WISDOM for the judge.  This mom has been MIA for nearly 2 years and NOW she decides to get help.  Uuuummmm....I am praying the judge sees through this and decides that Mom can get the help she needs but Choo Choo does not have a shot at living with her and termination continues.  Apparently Mom and Dad (up until recently) were living together in a hotel.  I do not believe their story of how they got "reacquainted."  

So......that's pretty much it.  We have known all along that this agency wants Choo Choo to be with his bio-relatives and have made that very clear, but it wasn't until today that I saw it in writing.  I don't see how they can totally dismiss his complete attachment to us.  Oh and on that note...the bonding assessment has been approved so hopefully that happens soon and we "prove" that Choo Choo is more attached to us than to his aunt/uncle.  

I just have to say how much I adore our FDS and how much she goes to bat for us and is REAL with us :-)  This has not been an easy road with this case...AT ALL...but with our FDS and our GAL God has blessed us with it has been do-able!