wow

It's been three years since I've touched this blog.

I am not sure where to even begin. I read my friends blogs and enjoy reading their thoughts and their general day to day happenings, but when it comes to my blog, well. I'm not very good at it.

So, what's happened in three years? Brayden has adapted well into our family, there were some trying times and a lot of confusion. He had to adjust as did Shauna and I and the girls. This isn't a blog about adoption or the psychology behind what happens but I feel the biggest change occured in Shauna and I. We had to learn how to manage all the events in our lives. I won't say we are experts, but we have come a long way, baby.

We lived in Odessa, TX for 17 years (17 for me and nearly all of Shauna's life) and in July 2007 we moved to Oklahoma City. I had moved several times before, but I found this move particularly more difficult than any previous move before. While we enjoy all that Oklahoma City has to offer from the outdoor activities, the Zoo, the art, science and history museums, we missed our friends dearly (and still do).

Taylor is now 9, doing well in school and is becoming a beautiful young lady both inside and out. She L O V E S to read and cook. She has said that she wants to work at Krispy Kreme, but later changed that to almost any resturant to learn to cook. She has cooked a delicious dinner for us several times. She is a huge help around the house and especially the kitchen.

Lauren, 6, is an adventerous, beautiful and always smiling, bright young lady as well. Most creepy crawling critters do not bother her. She loves to get dirty by digging holes in the garden. She's a real rock hound. Loves to explore!

Brayden, 4, is 100% boy and is non-stop from sunrise to sunset. Brayden is an intellegent boy who loves to explore with Lauren and dirt is just another layer to protect his skin. He loves to swim with his sisters in the grandparents pool. By summer's end, he will have dark brown skin. Brayden loves baseball. Can't wait to get big and play t-ball then play for the Texas Rangers. I have huge hopes and dreams for him because Brayden is a natural lefty and MLB (especially the Rangers) needs good left-handed pitching. But let's not get ahead of ourselves..let's finish our first year of t-ball then think about pre-k.

Final Adoption Update 6/13/2006

It's Finally Over. We have been granted adoption of Brayden.....

Shauna and I thank you for your encouraging words and posts. This blog won't go away, but will be focused on other things that make us tick....

Check our site http://thepolings.us

Thanks Again to all of you!

Adoption Update 5/3/2006

We finally have a court date set for June 13, 2006. We assume this will be to finalize the adoption. Meanwhile, we'll keep taking pictures and posting them on thing they call the blog.

Adoption Update 4/21/06

It has been a long time since I've posted an update. Frankly, I wasn't sure anyone was reading this, but I was quickly corrected. Thanks for checking the site.

We have had visitation granted to us on February 13, since then we have enjoyed getting to know Brayden even more. He is a content happy little guy. Hardly fusses about anything even when he was sick. He has a healthy appetite and is very mobile.

Yesterday was his first birthday (April 20). We are looking forward to celebrating it with him on Saturday.

We have had our follow-up visit from the court appointed child advocate lawyer and he has met with the other family. We are currently waiting for opposing counsel's schedule to clear up so we can go back to court to finalize these preceding. I think it will be the middle of May before this happens...

This has been a long year. We are so very thankful that you have an interest in this and we know you have been praying for this process and for us as a family. Keep it up, we believe in prayer.

ENJOY

Adoption Update 2/27/06

1st Visitation:

The judge awarded us visitation rights on February 13th. There was some "mix up" and the lawyer did not complete the paperwork before leaving town. So we had our first visitation on February 25th.

We are not sure when our next court date will be. I'll keep you posted. Meanwhile, here are a couple of pictures of what we've been fighting for.

How does this work? | Put this on your site!

Adoption Update 2/13/2006

The adoption is NOT final.

The couple who have had Brayden (Marshall's parents) since June '05, filed for adoption last week. They now have an attorney and we will have yet another court date in the next couple of weeks. They are seeking to gain full custody of Brayden, and remove Marshall all together. I believe they know that Marshall is NOT the biological father. Their only claim to Brayden is that they have had him in their home since June '05.

We were able to able to establish visitation, 4 hours every Saturday. We will try to have the paperwork signed by Judge Gibson this week.

The court has established an advocate for Brayden to determine the best interest for him. Both sides will need to visit with this advocate. Also, a home study has been ordered by the court for both sides. Since we have already had one, we will not have to do this again.

We read their claims against us and Bryttanie, which were not completely true and made for difficult reading.

Thank you so very much for your continued prayers and calls yesterday.

Keep watching this blog for more updates. I feel we are getting close to the end.

Adoption Update 2/12/06

Tomorrow (Monday) is our court date.

Many senario's can play out.
1. they show up and contest our adoption. What the judge decides is unknown.
2. they do not show up at all. we presume this will be favorable for our case.
3. they show up with Brayden and if the judge rules in our favor, they hand him to us.

Our appointment is @ 1:30pm.

We appreciate your concerns and prayers.

Adoption Update 2/5/06

Good News! We received the results of the DNA testing. We know that Timothy is 99.9994% the father.

We have a FINAL court date of February 13, 2006. What we think this means is the court will finalize the adoption. When we receive Brayden is still not clear, we assume that day.

We will update you as we get closer.

Thanks for your continued support and prayers.

We love you all.

Adoption Update 1/26/06

Not much has happened for about a month, but the last 7 days have been exciting. Since my last post, we have discovered Marshall has been on the run. He has at least one warrant for his arrest. His parents have said they do not know where he is. SO, we contacted Timothy and had his DNA collected on Tuesday January 24th. That was sent to a lab in Arizona. We anticipate hearing the results today (Thursday 1/26) or Friday the 27th.

If Timothy IS the proven to be the father, this will open some doors for us.

Adoption Update 1/2/06

For 2 weeks, I have had a feeling I would have some good news to post. I kept thinking it would be tomorrow....

Since the last update, we have determined that Marshall is not on an oil rig. (Thanks Gayle for the awesome work!!) He has been spotted in Odessa within the past week. There is a warrant for his arrest, because of this, he is keeping a low profile and we have reason to believe he is not staying with his parents at this time.

We are hopeful that he will slip up and the police will catch him soon. Once he is in jail, we can serve him there, the judge should allow him to be taken to the lab for DNA testing. then it will be less than a week before we have the lab results to resolve this adoption.

We thank you for your continued support and prayers.

I was asked on Christmas eve "how much longer..."
We don't know when, but I know we are 1 day closer than we were yesterday.

We had a wonderful Christmas and hope you did too.

Adoption Update 12/19/2005

We had our court appearence today @ 1:30pm, well, sort of.

The processing service served the wrong guy! Apparently the processor served the dad, instead of Marshall. Marshall is on an oil rig near Waco. We have been told that he will not be back in town for a couple of weeks.

If you know Marshall Gillen, who he works for or where his rig is located. Please email me. I can have him served there in Waco.

Thanks,
Bill and Shauna

Adoption Update 12/19/2005

Our court date is today at 1:30pm....more updates to come this afternoon.

Bill & Shauna

Poling Adoption Update 12/17/2005

12/17/2005
We have a court date to determine why Marshall did not appear at the lab as ordered by the court. Marshall was to be served yesterday Dec 16th, to appear on Monday, December 19th.

I'll update the blog Monday evening or Tuesday.

Thanks
Bill

Thanks!

Thanks for the really nice and encouraging emails/comments regarding our adoption. some have mentioned how it's really great what we are doing and how they could never embark on such a task. We have been blessed! We have great jobs, terrific friends and a church family that loves us no matter what! How cool is that. This isn't about us, it's something we prayed about for sometime. Yeah, our niece made a mistake (2x actually, but she's a great kid!) it isn't her kids' fault. So, we are trying to make a difference in 1 person's life. I am sure we'll get more out him living with us than we will ever imagine.

Humor: It's certainly enjoyable to try and have a boy/girl the traditional way, but this really puts the odds in your favor when you adopt.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by yesterday. Feel free to read the rest of my rants. I can get on a roll.

BTW, I am not sure who "Mom2TwoAngels" but thanks for the kind words.

Adoption Update 12/12/05

I seem to have difficulty finding something worthwhile to write about on my blog.

Then it hit me, besides the normal stuff going on in my life, we are trying to adopt a 7 month-old boy.

I just found something worth writing about.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Many of you have asked about our adoption and where are in the process. Shauna and I appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

I am not sure what I have said to whom, so let me fill you in from the beginning. Most dates and times are left off for a couple of reasons. 1) Not important 2) I don’t remember. #2 is actually the real reason. If you've been in the loop from the beginning, skip down to the next set of ++++.

Characters involved:

Braydon, or Braeden or Braedon: 7 ½ month boy (I’m not sure how it’s spelled)
Bryttanie: our niece
Marshall: birth certificate dad (per our niece)
Timothy: biological dad (per our niece)

In July 2005, Shauna and I found out Bryttanie had taken Braedon to stay with Marshall who is currently living with his parents with the understanding she could have him back when she got back on her feet.

Shauna and I approached Bryttanie about us adopting Braedon and she agreed. We contacted a lawyer and started the necessary paperwork. Shauna and Bryttanie went to Marshall’s house to get Braedon and with the intention of Braedon staying at our house during the proceedings. Bryttanie introduced Shauna and said we were going to adopt Braedon. When Marshall’s parents heard this, they refused to let Bryttanie have Braedon. The police were called in, but they were not able to remove Braedon from the house without cause and since Marshall was on the birth certificate and the baby was being cared for. (Frustrating….)

So we had letters sent out to both dads’ with little or no response. On a Friday, I drove to Big Spring and found Timothy. I asked if he would sign the paperwork releasing his rights and responsibilities of being the biological dad. He agreed. We found a notary pubic (funny story, her office is also a Laundromat; we didn’t have trouble finding witnesses. Only in Big Spring, TX) I didn’t go to Big Spring on my own, I asked the lawyer first. I certainly didn’t want to do something that would set us back or delay this process further. Our lawyer was surprised when I returned before noon with the signed papers. OK, so Timothy has signed over his parental rights to Braedon. 1 down, 2 to go. The following Monday, I took Bryttanie to the laywers office and she signed over her rights. 2 down in 2 days, I was feeling good about our progress. We had Marshall served with our adoption petition. He had somewhere between 21-27 days to respond. So on October 31st, the last day to respond, Marshall's lawyer submitted a response to contest our adoption. Working through his lawyer, we setup a date with the court to request DNA testing, Marshall did not contest this request so a date was set for the following Thursday (just 3 days after this court hearing) Marshall's dad took Braedon and Bryttanie showed up, but Marshall did not.

The week of Thanksgiving (Monday) our lawyer received a copy of a motion submitted by Marshall's lawyer requesting permission to drop him as a client (presumably for failure to show up at the lab and/or contact his lawyer). That motion was granted the next week. Our lawyer sent a letter directly to Marshall requesting he contact our lawyer's office or go to the lab by Dec. 5th. He did neither.

+++++++

The week of Dec. 5th, our lawyer was preparing paperwork to be served to Marshall personally. As it was explained to us, the judge would give the benefit of the doubt that Marshall's lawyer did not inform him of his responsibility to be at the lab at a certain time.

We are serving Marshall this week to appear before the court on Monday, Dec. 19th to explain to the judge why he did not go to the lab as directed. (He has 3 days to appear after he is sucessfully served) IF, Marshall does not appear on Dec. 19th, we will request the judge to offer a default judgement and grant us our petition.

Again, thanks for your prayers. Keep checking back here for updates.

Finals Week

Not much worth writting about since last time. Watched an obscene amount of football during Thanksgiving break. I watched all or part of every game offered that weekend. I am sure there are those who are able to do it every week, frankly, I'd get bored with it.

The Colts may be for real.

Been studying for finals. I realize my diploma will not show the grades I made, but I really just want to do as good as I can. I'm not doing it by myself. I get help when and where I can.

I should have stayed with it when I got out of high school.

FINALS UPDATE;

Grades are in.
Algebra--------A
Management-----A
Active Directory Services ------B ( I didn't study)

Motivation Quote

If A Pretty Poster And A Cute Saying Are All It Takes To Motivate You, You Probably Have A Very Easy Job. The Kind Robots Will Be Doing Soon

Latest Gadget

I love gadgets, but with gadgets come multiple remotes....

I hate finding all the remotes, especially with small chitlins (kids) around the house.

I suggest the line of Harmony remote controls from Logitech. I recently aquired the Harmony 688. It took about 30 minutes to setup, including time to gather all the model numbers of my electronic devices.

My Sony 57" big screen has multiple tuners inputs. The Harmony line of remote controls will switch the tuner, turn on the desired device (dvd, TiVo, cd player, vcr etc.) and turn off any device it doesn't need. Again, this is configured during setup process. 1 button does all the switching. It even controls my 12-year-old Sony stereo.

Welcome

Who knows who will visit this place. Some may but probably not. What's the point of this anyway? Maybe someone brighter than me will participate and enlighten me.