Now I understand!!!!

I've always wondered why the adoption blogs I've read always come to a grinding halt once the adoption is finalised and the children home. NOW I understand!!!!
How can you blog on upside down and inside out? I challenge anyone to go to the nearest roller coaster, and try to blog. You might get a few thoughts down on the gentle ride up but after that first drop..forget about it :0)

You will notice that my last post was.. a month ago!!! So I'll try to recap:

June 5th we arrived in Haiti, stopped by the office to say thank-you for all the hard work the workers there have put into our adoption. I actually wrote out the cards and the little "thank-you" speech in Creole and folks were very kind and didn't laugh adn fall on the floor in hilarity as I read it. I have made particular friends with Smith and to my amazement was able to understand a lot of what he said..I was also able to ruin his native tongue by trying to answer back..creole in an English accent..not nearly as rich and beautiful as when natively spoken :0)

Next we were on our way to the Guest house and for our final reunion with our sons. No more leaving without them, no more tearful returns to the cresche! It felt sureal and it didn't real hit me how real it was until I was tucking them in to bed about two weeks later!!..at home.

The rest of the day was spent settling in, eating the excellent meals at the guest house and generally starting our life with our boys calmly and well cared for.

We have come to know several of the folks at Bethel well over the past couple of years we've visited. Spendig time with our sons and re-connecting with friends perfected the end of this long journey to home coming!!!

Home in Haiti

We are here at last, woke up this morning for the first day of normal for the rest of our lives. So far Wadley isn't totally buying into the whole "we are not leaving" routine..but he is loving the attention and we are working on the rest. we picked up passprts and visas yesterday.. WOW.. really have them here i our hands and our babies in our arms!! I've pinched myself many times and it ooks like this might be truly real. ANother sureal moment as we got through the airport yesterday with zero problems!!!! Even managed to avoid paying half way down the walkway and got our bags taken all the way to the car with NO fussing!!!! Surreal moment number 3,00004 :0) Had a great visit with new life staff and even managed to speak some creole (well I think that is what I was speaking! ) I do know I understood mush more than I could speak. Breakfast this morning.. Leah's oatmeal... a sign of Haiti for me, I know the children will be jealous when they read ths! A visit to the cresche this morning to get as many photos as video as I can to bring home with me for the parents waiting. I'll be back later because the babies were sleeping when I went down. Talking of sleep, we all slept well last night despite having a few midnight diappers to deal with..and 2 a.m. and 6 a,m..... my new normal. I don't have the ability to up load pictures here so those will have to wait.. I'll hurry home as fat as I can! Wendy

Dallas Airport

Well despite the fog I was in this morning.. we made it! Made it to take off day :0) So here we are in the Dallas Airport, I'm drinking a smoothie and people watching and Steve is finding missions to conquer. So far he has procurred support pillos for my back, a smoothie to make up for the lettuce contaminated sandwich I got at the last airport. (I am allergic to lettuce.. I know.. crazy, but I digress.) He has just returned from having hunted down and captured dual headphones so we can watch a movie as we wait :0) I think he might be ready to sit a while! We have executed this first section of the journey like a military unit on the march... a forced march! Thankfully Steve firmly endorses the "No wife left behind" moto and relieved me of my pack... pull along.. so I could pick up the pace. we have agreed that I can be lead scout on the way home. It seems sureal.. each take off is one huge step closer to our destination. I am exhausted from a very late night trying to tie up the many loose ends. Steve is back from his final mission.. skin the packaging off the headphones .. having got to the meat.. the actual ear phones we are now ready to wtch a movie.. just minutes before boarding!'

Today Miami..tomorrow Haiti..Saturday the Rest of our lives..

The bags are packed, the house cleaned, the meals for this week made and in the fridge and freezer.
The medical power of attorney is signed "just in case" my mother in law and sister in law have to use them. The prayers are said asking the Lord to watch over them so they won't have to use them!

I've packed my bag more times than I can count, the last time because I had forgotten to put in MY clothes :0)

The photo albums to leave with those left behind are all made and the conversation I think I'm going to have all practiced in Creole.

The list of children to take photos and video of is printed and put safely in my bag.

The... I could go on and on.. it seems that now we are down to the wire there are 101 things I didn't think of that need to be done.

But it is all going to fade away in 24 hours when I'm sitting on the swing holding my sons in my arms!!
They getting used to their new normal and me to mine. I have to learn how to not live in the intensity of the adoption journey... I have to learn how to rest in this green pasture,,, and I am ready.

Friends surrounded us today and showered us with baby clothes and books and more importantly with great love. I am so blessed to be right here, right now with people who are as excited about the end of the drama and the start of loving and life as we are!

In two and half hours I have to be up to start my day.. I can not sleep :0) It's like all my Christmas Eve's from childhood pasts have collided in one event and sleep seems beyond elusive.

I have wondered for so long now how this would feel.. and when I get to grips with how it feels I will be sure to let you know :0) Right now I am just too excited, nervous, tired to process it :0)

Love Wendy

A week today!

One week today (Saturday) and my sons will be home, the air condioning will have been turned way down if not off and we will all be sweating through our first tropically simulated night with the boys!!!!

My Mother in Law and Sister in Law are going to be staying with the children and a frantic house clean/organise has been ..is being done.

Tomorrow I re-pack my bags for the last time so I'm ready to go to the airport on MONDAY!!!!!

My brain is scrmbled with all the thoughtsw and emotions rusing through it so I'll try to put them in order adn share tomorrow.. but for tonight.. LESS THAN ONE WEEK!!!!!

Sunday May 27th

Today was B's Birthday!!
Tomorrow we celebrate memorial day with our military family.
Friday my Mother in law arrives.
Sunday my Sister in law arrives.
Monday week Steve adn I fly to Miami.
Tuesday week we arrive in Haiti!
Friday week we fly back to Miami.
Saturday week we fly back to OK.

SO in other words TWO Weeks TODAY my sons will have gone to bed in their own bed for the second night running!


13 days!!!

Re-visiting "Coming Home"

TAKE ME HOME COUNTRY ROAD (well bus, plane, van...)

arriving at an airport near you.. a new family!! Saturday 9th June and 12.10 pm.
.. Now that we are weeks away from this reality I wanted to revisit my "after the Airport" thoughts.
I have been thinking of and dreaming about this moment since "conception". Since the start of our international adoption journey I have been thinking about how it will be on the trip home.

The children here at home have been planning their welcome home "party" for months!

We have all become fans of any "airport reunion" you tube videos and joyfully bawl our eyes out as we see new families born in front of our eyes.

I have also been reading internationally adoptive books, blogs and information booklets in my "spare" time. I have been asked several times recently "What can we do to help you once the boys come home?" I am blessed beyond measure by these questions.. here are my thoughts on what help would look like.

 

1) There has to be a Party!!! Please come to the Party!!!

There has to be a party....at the bottom of the stairs or in the luggage area..or in the arrivals area.. there has to be a party, a welcoming home, a symbol of having "Made IT!!"

We will be celebrating the arrival of two new American Citizens as well as the completion of our family! This is a huge deal to us and we would LOVE as many people as can make it to join with us.
This will no doubt be a bit loud and a bit overwhelming but it is what our children here in the US have been longing for. It is what we want in the boys "memory box" for later on. While they may be a little overwhelmed now it will be good for them to know people rejoiced at their arrival later.
Please bring cameras and videos!!! We want to be able to remember this later on, we would love to have those memories for the boys and we are certain that we will not have many hands free to be able to this for ourselves!

We have had people tell us that they won't come to the airport because of how overwhelming that will be for the boys. While we are thankful for their tender thoughtfulness we are also aware that the boys will be in total overwhelm already, we want you to come, we want to "show off our family" as all new parents do :0) We want you to ohh and ahh and agree with us that this was well worth the heart ache and waiting we have been through. And we want to then be able to come home and close the doors and take time to breath and be a family. The airport is a good venue to touch base with you all and say thank-you to you all for the love and support you have given us. Also our older children are positively bursting at the seams anticipating this event and would welcome your support too.

WE HAVE AN ARRIVAL DATE: JUNE 9TH AT 12.10 PM.

WE PLAN TO HAVE A MOMENT WITH THE CHILDREN BEFORE HEADING DOWN TO THE BAGGAGE AREA. IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO MEET US THERE WE WOULD TO SEE YOU.

2) Then there has to be recovery!!! Please help us recover!!

As you are all aware we have been through three years of straining towards this point. As I write this blog post I am physically and mentally and emotionally drained already.

But all we have been through is nothing compared to the experiences my baby sons have had to endure as they waited for us to come and get them.They have learned to self sooth because there are not enough arms to hold them, they have learned to gulp food because there is not enough time to feed them, they have learned to shut down because there is no one to hear them. They have been loved by their Nannies and we are so blessed to have had these amazing women in their lives BUT they have spent the first tender part of their lives apart from a significant other person loving and caring for and nurturing them.

Add to that the experience of traveling from Haiti to Oklahoma, three plane rides..three take offs and landings and these children have never even traveled in a stroller before! The excitement of the "Party" and then the reality of bringing them home. To our home!! To be part of our family. Our family, our base family, our church family, our community family! That's a lot of family and we will need to take it slow and steady.

We will need to take care of all their medical issues, skin and intestinal. We will need to build their immune systems up and probably ours too after the travel and stress. We will be having multiple doctor visits and specialist referrals to deal with existing conditions.

This is going to be a very busy, exhausting and intense time for our sons and our whole family. We would love to know you are praying for us and we will gladly receive all offers of food :0)

Please understand that had I birthed these boys I'd love to hand them over for a cuddle and have you stay and visit a bit until the next nursing.. but it's a little different this time round. We may or may not be available for visits and for the first two weeks especially we ask that folks not stop and visit..even if it looks like life is going great. We need to get their medical issues dealt with and their emotional connections rooted. (See next paragraph).  Thank-you for understanding this and still wanting to help.

3) There has to be connection!! Please help us connect!!

Our children have come from an excellent orphanage. The Nannies sing and pray and love on our children. The mission teams hold and play with them. We have had a chance to go and care for them for a week at a time, several times over the past year. Peter was cared for by his mother for the first few months of his life but has been part of the cresche for several months now. Wadley had Jesley for the first few months but has been on his own for over a year now. They have had to learn at a tender age that they are not always going to get their needs met, they have had to learn to sooth them selves and they have had to learn that multiple caregivers give basic sustenance. When they come home they will need to learn WHO Mummy and Daddy are, WHAT a Mummy and Daddy is and WHY a Mummy and Daddy are good to have around.

Here is the hard part.. I know so many of my friends and family will want to hold and play with and care for these new family members. But I have to ask that you  help them identify us as safe people by not picking them up, by directing them to us for all needs to be met and even if they are crying and reaching out for you (which they will do because it is how they get the missionaries attention when they come to the cresche) that you just tell them verbally you love them but direct them physically back to us to hold and nurture.

There is going to come a day when this will no longer be an issue and we can not wait for that healthy milestone to be reached. Again bear with us please and remind yourself and others who may not have read this blog WHY we need it to be this way for the while.

We will be carrying and caring for our children as if they are newborns for several months. This might look odd to those of you who have toddlers who are already self feeding and not needing carrying. We are not trying to smother our children :0) or baby them, we are following guidelines for creating secure attachment and eye contact.. teaching them how to bond. Please feel free to ask us why and what we are doing, how it is going. We would love to share if you have genuine questions. You can help us with this process by not picking up the children, not reaching our for them, not encouraging them to go to you. They have had multiple caregivers and they have to re-learn what safe and secure is. Thank-you for respecting these boundaries.

4) There has to be "Those days" Please help us weather them!!

In my dream life the boys come home, the house is spotless, the meals are all ready, the children are all healthy. The boys enter the home and start to play nicely with the toys and each other. The siblings are not crowding them, the five year old is not trying to pick them up every two seconds. In my dream every one is wearing flowing clothes, the sunlight is cascading over us all and I think I hear harps playing :)

IN real life however.. there will be overwhelm, and squabbles, the stress of the wait will be out in all of us, the sleepless nights and the 2 hour diapers will be taking their toll. The  natural "do I know what I am doing?" new parent thought process will be kicking in.

There may be days when the smile is a little strained and the "We are doing great" might not sound quite honest.

There might be a day when I'm watching Wadley and Peter and I am missing Jesley.
There might be days when the intestinal stuff isn't clearing and I am up to my eyebrows in poop! There will be days where I can't see straight for lack of sleep...

I want you to know I know this :0) Because when I am having one of these days I'd love it if you could just give me a hug and tell me you are proud of me or that it's OK. KNow that if I mention these things it is because it is my reality, not because I resent the inconveniences and the changes..or the boys.


Please feel free to restrain the "this is what you chose" and "you did this to yourself," and the " you have no one else to blame" comments. And you might wonder who would say such a thing after all we have been through..but let me tell you.. it's been said :0) and I'd love for it not to be said again, not even in jest please..thank-you!

5) In the end there has to be family! Please know we count you as part ofthat group!

I can not wait for you all to meet my sons. I can't wait for them to be out in the neighborhood playing, in church worshiping, in base activities as part of our family (hopefully behaving) and in our community living life as Americans to the full.

I am so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing people. I have the best people who speak wisdom and truth to me daily!!! DAILY!! The best support and the I couldn't be happier to be bringing my sons home to this lifestyle. I wish my friends in VA and SC could all be at the airport :0) My friends and family in England, Virgina, Idaho, Texas.. all of you who have walked this walk with us.

I wish all my adoptive friends could be there..and that I could be at the bottom of the stairs when they bring their children home too. Thankfully we have the Internet :0) and I can share those moments with you all.

This will be the start of the rest of the journey..thank-you for reading through this with me. I truly appreciate the many offers of help we have been given. THANK-YOU!!!!!

Love Wendy

Wednesday: Fresh blessing

I was contacted today by a fellow adoptive Mom who is close to the end of her adoption process. As we chatted about life in the "fast, slow, stop, warp speed" lane it became increasingly clear that this was one of those "God ordained" moments. We have so MUCH in common it was amazing.

I came away from the conversation once again reminded that God in His heaven does not leave us ophaned but Fathers us with a gentle hand..and sends family along to support us when we need it.. or they do.

Today I watched as a family from our orphanage brought their daughters home!! What a miracle!!!

Today in spoke to a friend in Haiti and connected with another family here, again providing a real person intimately involved in our children's lives, health and relationship.. awe inspiring!!

I am so glad to be near the end of this journey.. 19 days!!! but so thankful in so many ways to have been through it!

Wendy

Tuesday: 20 days!!!!!

20 days until we leave for Haiti:
1: Purchase tickets *
2: Contact travel agent to purchase children's tickets
3: Reschedule fingerprint appointment
4: Re write "After the Airport" thoughts*
5: Buy travel items for boys bag. *
6: Get mattress for second crib *
7: Cook contents of the freezer to free up space for meals
8: Arrange changing table *
9: Write out cleaning schedule
10: Organise Master Bedroom and baby area

11: Read a chapter of a non adoption related book
12: Read a chapter of a useful book (Raising Your Internationally Adopted Child)
13: Play a game with littlest one
14: Talk to husband
15: Call a friend
16: Clean a room
17: Check facebook
18: Get to bed on time
19: Drink water
20: Do stretches

And today...

I slept! I mean I really slept.. like I fell asleep on the couch, fell asleep in my chair and am now yearning for bedtime!!
In fact today I nominate as "National look at the inside of your eyeballs day". The right honourable Wendy Presiding.

And when I wasn't sleeping I was trying to work out what I have to do before the boys come home.. you know because it was SO SUDDEN LOL.. I'll blog on the mental emotional roller coaster effect after..well after my next nap probably!

The mental strain has hit me full force and I'm sleeping it off. The children however are diligently preparing welcome home posters! Because IN THREE WEEKS we leave to go and pick up the boys.. in four weeks we will be winding down on our third day home!

Wendy

Well we have tickets..

Yes we have tickets to fly and get our sons! What a great feeling.
Four weeks today I will have put my boys down in their own beds for the second night in a row.

Our amazing neighbors have made plans to have the older children over for game night and pizza once the little ones get home, we are so blessed by them!

Our amazing church has asked us to write down ways they can bless us and help us in the first few weeks.

Our amazing community have rejoiced with us and asked how they can help.

Just a few days ago I was feeling so despondent and today I'm nervously excited about the new changes coming our way in the package of two very loved little ones.

Three weeks tomorrow we fly out!

Humble pie...

After yesterdays blog post I have to come with fork in hand and start to gobble my humble pie :0)

With HUGE JOY and MASSIVE EXCITEMENT....

WE HAVE A VISA APPOINTMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

May 31st and we will travel one week later to BRING THEM HOME!!!!!!

Wendy

Fail..epic fail..hope

It is just too hard to keep posting every day not knowing how many days are ahead.

That is the reality of this part of the journey. You are told "we are processing your paperwork" but we aren't given a date.. and with no date there tends to be no hope. And the sameness of every day of no news weighs heavier and heavier each day.

Others have been here and for longer, my heart goes out to them and my admiration!

Well today we got a blip on the heart hope monitor. We should know by the 24th of May WHEN our visa appointment is. It isn't the full shot of adrenalin that has our heart back to beating with a full beat of hope... but after yesterdays hope flatline, I'll take this blip.

Thanks to the staff of a congressman in Florida we are back on the hope track!

Three weeks

Three long long weeks and still no news.

We fully expected to know a travel date by now because we have already completed the orphan investigation portion of our adoption. However it appears that the swift response we had expected is not to be and so.. I have to try to re-wire my expectations.

The proverb that tells us "do not compare yourselves to others lest you become vain and conceited or discouraged" keeps coming to mind. This is one of the areas that is hard to balance in the adoption process. We are always looking to other's experiences to help us navigate the current place we are in. We scan the blogs, the yahoo sites and the faceboooks hopeful that the next wave of progress will contain news that we too can share. We imagine how we will feel once the email come through saying that WE have finally exited IBESR or MOI or have passports or....We can only begin to guess how it will feel packing to head to our children to bring them finally home!

Personally I find this last step almost imposable to imagine. I can "see" the boys in their cribs here at home.. I can see them in the orphanage.. but getting them from their to here... not one clue. I imagine it will involve a lot of screaming and the thought of having to deal with the explosive digestive system issues (theirs not ours :0) ) is a little over whelming. But I really can't imagine coming home no matter how much I prepare for it. I think there are some aspects of this adoption journey that defy my vivid brain process.

Getting news is always a double edged sword. We recently experienced this is full Technicolor. Peter exited the Ministry of Interior with a group of other children but Wadley didn't. Every day we waited hopeful that it was a mistake and that Wadley had indeed got through but no.. no mistake. We were joined in MOI with another family we have been praying for. When we heard that Wadley was out of MOI our heart leapt, only to fall again as Vensley remained.

We don't  feel pride at having made progress, we are not vain and conceited..we rejoice because it is right to rejoice but we ache with an ache that can't be put into words that children we have come to know and love are not one step closer to their loving families. We ache because we have come to know many of these families. We ache because, as we pray through each family name, our hearts expand with a family love for them.

This adoption journey has been so much more than simply offering our home and loving our children, it has been a glimpse of heaven. A glimpse of families joining together to pray each in their own way, their own tongue, their own style. A glimpse of heaven as we yearn each child homeward to their father's or mother's arms. A glimpse of heaven as we grieve for children still not yet called by a family name..waiting for that adoption to be announced.

And for one more weekend we will pray, yearn, wait and hope that maybe..maybe next week we will hear! not just of our own visa process but of other families joy as they move one step forward to homecoming.

Tenth day

No news

Sixth day

Saturday!!
The girls and I ahve spent the day cleaning, organising and watching movies.. PERFECT!!!
The boys are camping with their boy scout troop (storms tonight so I hope they stay safe)

Fifth day

I have some catching up to do :0)

It has been a month now since we were told our paper work had been accepted at the Embassy and we have still not heard anything about a Visa appointment date.

I re-read the email I got a week ago and noticed that it said the Embassy had to verify that the children were eligible for adoption. We submitted to a process called "The Adjudicate Orphan Status First" program at the start of this process.. (in 2010). The investigation was completed and sent to Immigration and then to the National Visa Center and from there to the Consulate back in November 2011. we had to chase down and resend that paper work after our passport for Wadley arrived. I am concerned that all the paper work did not arrive on the right desks.
SO, I sent an email asking for verification that the Embassy has our AOF report, other than that I can do nothing but sit and wait.. you'd think I would be good at this but it is getting harder and harder as the days pass.

Looking forward to a relaxing weekend and then fun with our 72ns Wing spouses on Monday.. day by day.. day by day..

fourth day

Well today is Saturday and fourth day was Thursday :0)
I have a good reason for not blogging the past two days though..
Thursday is the day we pray name by name, family by family through our adoption lists. It is s a day I look forward to every week! This week again the Lord was grascious to answer prayers.
The biggest joy was the news that peter's Aunt, and two Uncles are on their way to a forever family here in the States. Their parents will be going to get them in May.

Third Post

"The physical strain of waiting can be harder, some days, than the emotional strain."

I have been living this statement's truth the past few days. The hour by hour strain of expectation is taking it's toll. I am exhausted, find it hard to focus, have difficulty rising to simple tasks. The strain can be felt throughout my back and I've been having headaches. My allergies are off the chart and I almost feel like I have the flu.

I had to fill in a medical form the other day, I listed all these new symptoms and fully expected to be called on them. true to the full care I've come to expect.. not a single thing was mentioned. C'est la vie. Good job I have a sympathetic listening ear in Haiti. When I told him how I wanted to just throw a tantrum he laughingly told me not to be a crybaby .. I laughed SO HARD!!! I mean seriously where can I go around here to get some sympathy LOL

While I managed to laugh at myself yesterday, the effects of long term stress are not to be taken lightly. And when you sign up for an international adoption you are signing up for long term stress and lots of it!!

I'm hopeful that today I can start a new and try to build in stress busters in to my day.

I'll let you know how that goes..

Second post:

Today's wait for visas was a little easier as cox cable went out in our general area. No phone, no Internet so no point hitting send and receive like a demented wood pecker.

However when I did finally manage to get on I had updated photos waiting for me. Hopefully our LAST sent to us from Haiti. I am looking forward to sending monthly updates the other way round :0) Our boys standing in our front yard, or sitting on the couches, or playing with their toys in our house. At least then I will know who they are looking at LOL

Once again Peter is busting his britches LOL and those sweet faces make me want to jump on a plane and head to Haiti.. come on embassy give me the thumbs up chocks away sign!!
Our friend and adoption worker Smith sent this note with our photos..

"As you are getting close to the end of this adoption process, we feel happy to update you on your boys. Wadley's weight is 28, and his height is 34. As for Peter, his weight is 22, and his height is 28 1/2.

They're happy and are doing good."

I have to remember that every day we are one step closer!

First post: Preparations

Well another week has started and as of today we still have no Visa appointment date. A friend suggested I blog once a day until we get our Visa's.. GREAT IDEA!!!

We have been preparing for years for the arrival of our children from Haiti. I have bought more sets of clothes and then left them in Haiti than I care to think about. My babies have grown from infants to toddlers and I am praying they will still fit the 18 month and 2T  clothing I have for them when they get home!

Today the second crib arrived and I will be nagging.. I mean highly encouraging.... Steve to put it up before bed tonight.

I've been nesting the past few days, trying to do all my cleaning for the next six months ahead of time.. if only we could do that :0)

But I've mainly be preparing my heart and mind for parenting my new sons. Preparing my mind for the dream and the reality of actually having them home. Reading up on internationally adopted children and the challenge of teaching unconditional love and home to them.  Learning how to embrace their uniqueness and beauty and not be "color blind", learning about skin and hair issues as well as racial prejudices and how to handle intentional and unintentional rudeness.

The one thing I could not have prepared myself for though was how physically, emotionally and mentally exhausting this final wait is. I have friends who have been waiting for the "any day" email since December!! That is not typical but it is mind boggling!!!

My mind is fried. Simple tasks take a lot more concentration than they should, I am extremely forgetful and my multi tasking abilities have gone out of the window! My response to this is to reorganise, stream line and accept it as part of "adoption pregnancy". I am looking forward to just having sleep deprived fogginess :0)

So if this blog post makes sense then "yeah!!", if not then.. "See what I mean!!"

Until tomorrow.. or prayerfully not!!

Wendy

Update: One down :0)

Step one: Deliver documents CHECK..completed..Smith got them to the Embassy Friday!!
Step two: Take children for medical checks with approved Doctor
Step three: receive email with Visa interview date
Step four: buy tickets to travel
Step five: complete Visa interview (orphanage will take children)
Step six: Recieve IBESR exit letter
Step seven: get on plane to bring children home!!!!

O the personal goal front.. I finished War and Peace!

And then one day there it is.. contact..

We recieved the email this morning letting us know that we do exist at the Embassy :0)

All our paper work from immigration was resent earlier this week, I sent an email following up and confirming that we had completed all the investiagtion portion of the adption.
Our orphanage now has to deliver the original documents to the Embassy so we can be issued visas.

SO:
Step one: Deliver documents
Step two: Take children for medical checks with approved Doctor
Step three: receive email with Visa interview date
Step four: buy tickets to travel
Step five: complete Visa interview (orphanage will take children)
Step six: Recieve IBESR exit letter
Step seven: get on plane to bring children home!!!!

I'm not even going to guess on a time frame.. but I can hope :0) end of month? Early May?

Closer and still closer..

What a roller coaster of a week it has been!

Thursday we heard that our dossier had been submitted to the Embassy, we all rejoiced. The kids and I went to the thrift store and started to buy up 18 month to 3 T clothing :0)
Steve was in Ohio at a conference and celebrated with the senior leadership of our base there :0)

Friday we got another message saying that the dossier had been taken to the wrong office..to the consulate instead of immigration. While we wold have been fine with our dossier being at the consulate because they are the folks who issue visa's..we had to back track and go through the final immigration step. A bit of a deflation.. but a short delay.

Then later Friday we heard that or adoption worker in Haiti had managed to talk to the USCIS office. They confirmed that all our investigative process is finished. That we are approved to move to consulate BUT that the person who can sign off on our dossier wouldn't be there until Monday. So our dossier will be going for a USCIS and consulate tour on Monday. Back up on a high :0)

We hope that we will then hear that we have a VISA appointment date and three days after that date we will plan on traveling out to bring our boys home.

So Monday we are praying that our friend in Haiti is able to have fair travel and safe passage and favour with authorities so he can get our dossier where it needs to be. He works with 40- 50 families and each step of each dossier is grueling. He has to physically go to each government office, wait to be seen, be redirected to the person who can help him, ask the right questions in the right way to get an answer or to collect a dossier and move it on. Often times things get lost in the process and he and the office team have to work on finding or replacing those items. I have been with him on one of these trips and seen first hand how hard it is to get an answer. The offices are hot and the wait seems so long.

Sooooooo closer and still closer.....

and so worth it!

NEWS!

Wadley has a passport!!!!

Both boys will now have their dossiers sent to the US embassy in Port Au Prince for Visa processing!

Once we have VISA's then we will get our thumbs up to travel date :0)

SOOO close!

Draw my other Mommy

"Help me draw my other Mommy, Mommy. "

My little five year old has a lot of mature questions and as the adoption of Wadley and Peter draw nearer the questions grow more difficult.

Today we sat and drew her first Mommy several times. She asked last night if her Mommy had blue eyes, or brown. I brought out some photos I have of her so we could look and see. I am now on my fifth picture, tracing over the features of this "other Mommy" and talking about her with my daughter.

You'd think it would be hard, or painful or awkward. It doesn't seem so for her because I'm not making it a big deal. It's part of who we are. It's a conversation I will have with four of my children for the rest of their lives. The "other Mommy" talk.

"What are you thinking about when you color in this picture?" I ask my little strawberry blonde delight.
"I'm thinking of her holding me when I was a baby and feeding me."
"Oh, do you remember that?"
"No I's just thinking it in my head."
"You have a good head for thinking"

"I thinking you hold me and feed me"
"Yes I did hold you and feed you when you were a baby."
"Why?"
"Because you needed someone to take good care of you and the other Mommy wasn't able to do that."
"Oh...."

Long silence...

"You were a good Mummy!"
"You were a good baby and have grown into a very nice little girl! I love you very much. And this Mummy (I point to her picture) she loved you as well, she just couldn't look after you."
"OK"

"Can you draw my baby hair?"

I will have this conversation over and over with my sweet daughter. It breaks my heart to see her trying to make sense of something that doesn't really make sense to a 40 plus year old let alone a five year old. She is happy and confident and these conversations come as naturally as "What is for dinner" to her. We work hard at trying not to make it dramatic or give off a sense of shock or nervousness around the topic, I strive to honor the "first Mommy" while answering gently some of the tougher questions. But the truth is it tears up my heart, because I remember all the pain and I want to shield her from that part of her history. I look at the photos and I remember the terrified screaming as I dropped her off, the jittery child I picked up, the painful visits where eventually her mother asked me to stay just so she wouldn't cry for the hour. I remember the struggles and the hopes and the disappointments as I saw this young girl make choice after choice that took her further and further from being able to parent a child, this child, the child that was slowly becoming my child with each defiant gesture.

My five year old on the other hand is not concerned or worried or grappling with life complexities. She is simply exploring more who she is and how she got here. And she is definitely looking forward to teaching her new brothers all about their "new sister" and sharing her "bestest Mommy" with her littlest siblings! She will look at me and say " I love you up to the moon and back and again and again.. up, down, up, down like a M for Mummy!" She is a gift and a treasure and.. sharp as a tack!! I am blessed to be chosen as the second Mommy and honored to give it all I've got!

The first Mommy asked me to always let C know that she loved her first. That I can honor as I continue to thank God for the choice this mother made for life for her child.. my child, sweet little, bright child of ours.

Our Prayer

Out of MOI!!!!

Good bye last stage of verification on the Haitian side of the house. We are through Ministry of INterior and approved for passports. Peter already has his and we are praying Wadley's will be in our agents hands within two weeks!

Then it will be VISA's and fly to get them!!!

For when the boys come home..

I have been reading several blogs and talking on line to several families who have brought their children home in the last year. Several things have become increasingly obvious to me and so I wanted to write them down, to open up dialog and get feedback before our sons come home.

I will be re-posting this with any added sugestions to help us navigate the first few weeks closer to our "due date".

1) There has to be a party!!!
There has to be a party....at the bottom of the stairs or in the luggage area..or in the arrivals area.. there has to be a party, a welcoming home, a symbol of having "Made IT!!" There has to be lots of photos and hopefully some video and it has to be posted to facebook as soon as possible so that those  who can't be there but really want to be can rejoice and cry and rejoice.. with the family. After all you all had to suffer with me thought blog after blog, after status update that said ..well not much really.. you deserve the party..I can't wait for the party and the children are positively busting at the seams when they think about it!! So PLEASE..come to the party :0)

UPDATED: Please be aware that this bombardment of the senses is going to be terrifying for the babies :0) They may shut down and not be their usual smiling, happy selves.. it's OK.. I want them to know in the years to come that they were celebrated when they came home. And my big kids need this, they need the release of years of waiting to be a joyful supportive gathering..so please..when you know when we are coming.. feel free to come join in the fun!


2) Then there has to be recovery!!!
As you are all aware we have been through three years of straining towards this point. As I write this blog post I am physically and mentally and emotionally drained already. But all we have been through is nothing compared to the things my sons have had to endure as they waited for us to come and get them. Add to that the experience of traveling with two babies from Haiti to Oklahoma, three plane rides..three take offs and landings and these children have never even traveled in a stroller before! The excitement of the "Party" and then the reality of bringing the baby home. To our home!! To be part of our family. Our family, our base family, our church family, our community family! That's a lot of family and we will need to take it slow and steady.
First of all we will need to take care of all their medical issues, skin and intestinal. We will need to build their immune systems up and probably ours too after the travel and stress. We will be having multiple doctor visits and specialist referrals to deal with existing conditions. This would be a great time to surround us with your doorstep love. Please don't feel offended if you come by and we don't invite you in to stay a spell, but  please don't feel like you can't pop by. I might just need a moment to sit on the step and chat..or I might not.. just know that we are looking forward to the day you can come and sit a spell with us and watch the family play.


3) There has to be connection!!
Our children have come from an excellent orphanage. The Nannies sing and pray and love on our children. The mission teams hold and play with them and we have had a chance to go and care for them for a week  at a time. Peter was cared for by his mother for the first few months of his life but has been part of the cresche for several months now. Wadley had Jesley for the first few months but has been on his own for over a year now. They have had to learn at a tender age that they are not always going to get their needs met, they have had to learn to sooth them selves and they have had to learn that multiple caregivers give basic sustenance. When they come home they will need to learn WHO Mummy and Daddy are, WHAT  a Mummy and Daddy are and WHY a Mummy and Daddy are good to have around.
Here is the hard part.. I know so many of my friends and family will want to hold and play with and care for these new family members. But I have to ask that until they don't want to go to anyone else but us, that you help us help them identify us as safe people by not picking them up, by directing them to us for all needs to be met and even if they are crying and reaching out for you (which they will do because it is how they get the missionaries attention when they come to the cresche) that you just tell them verbally you love them but direct them physically back to us to hold and nurture.
There is going to come a day when this will no longer be an issue and we can not wait for that healthy milestone to be reached. again bear with us please and remind yourself and others who may not have read this blog WHY we need it to be this way for the while.

4) There has to be "Those days"
After all in my dream life the boys come home, the house is spotless, the meals are all ready, the children are all healthy. The boys enter the home and start to play nicely with the toys and each other and the siblings. No one is crowding them, the five year old is not trying to pick them up every two seconds, the sisters aren't vying for their attention and the brothers aren't trying to do the boy bond thing.. nope.. in my dream every one is wearing flowing clothes, the sunlight is cascading over us all and I think I hear harps playing :)
IN real life however.. there will be overwhelm, and squabbles, the stress of the wait will be out in all of us, the sleepless nights and the 2 hour diapers will be taking their toll. The looks in public and the natural "do I know what I am doing?" new parent thought process will be kicking in.
There may be days when the smile is a little strained and the "We are doing great" might not sound quite honest. There might be a day when I'm watching Wadley and Peter and I am missing Jesley. There might be days when the intestinal stuff isn't clearing and I am up to my eyebrows in poop! There might be days where i can't see straight for lack of sleep...
I want you to know I know this :0) Because when I am having one of these days I'd love it if you could just say.. "squirrel" or better yet give me a hug and tell me you are proud of me or that it's OK. Please feel free to restrain the "this is what you chose" and "you did this to yourself," and the " you have no one else to blame" comments. And you might wonder who would say such a thing after all we have been through..but let me tell you.. it's been said :0) and I'd love for it not to be said again, not even in jest please..thank-you.

5) In the end there has to be family!
I can not wait for you all to meet my sons. I can't wait for them to be out in the neighborhood playing, in church worshiping, in base activities as part of our family (hopefully behaving) and in our community living life as Americans to the full. I am so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing people. I have the best people who speak wisdom and truth to me daily!!! DAILY!! The best support and the I couldn't be happier to be bringing my sons home to this lifestyle. I wish my friends in VA and SC could all be at the airport :0) My friends and family in England, Virgina, Idaho, Texas.. all of you who have walked this walk with us. I wish all my adoptive friends could be there..and that I could be at the bottom of the stairs when they bring their children home too. Thankfully we have the Internet :0) and I can share those moments with you all.

This will be the start of the rest of the journey..thank-you for reading through this with me. I truly would love your feedback and thoughts on what I have written.

Love Wendy

New photos and a little new news..

We got our updated photos today, Wadley clearly not enjoying the "stand for a photo" routine despite a bit of bread in his hand.. I am going to be in BIG TIME trouble when those eyes and that little face is pleading in my direction :0)

Peter is wondering if big brothers tears are worth worrying about..and if he's going to get a bit of that bread too.

And yes, we are all wondering what happened to Peter's poppers :0)

The other news that came with out photos was that our office hopes to have our dossier from MOI next week. They will then be able to prepare it for passports and we will wait to hear that Wadley has caught up Peter and they are both ready to go to the VISA stage.

The question always asked is..WHEN are they coming home?

The answer as always is.. "squirrel"

BUT if I was going to take a chance at another guess... so far my predictions have been as reliable as the Doomsday prophets!..but..

1 week for final out of MOI

2 weeks for passports

4 weeks for visas

total 7 weeks end of April start of May

or not...

Wendy

Monday 5 March

No news.

A little glimmer of hope..

We have been in this holding pattern waiting for Wadley's passport. The office that is able to give him the thumbs up for moving on was closed last month.. but is open for business again this month! And while that might not seem like much..we don't need much to keep on hoping :0) So we will take it..and I'll be back hitting send and recive like a demented wood pecker until I have more news to share.
Wendy

Here we are in March.. and I survived.

You may want to skip this blog post..but I need to write it.

Today's date reads march 4th 2012 but in my head it reads one year and two days since we heard Jesley died. For the past month I have been reading dates in that way.. lead up dates.. to this first heart breaking anniversary.
We spent it in Alabama at a course for Commanders and their spouses, learning how to be better servants of the people God has graciously allowed us to lead. I spent my hardest day (Wednesday) hearing an exceptional young man describe his tangle with an explosive on foreign soil. I then listened as a mother explained how she lost her adult son. It was sombering and challenging. I don't want everyone elses experiences of loss to be obliterated by my own sense of grief. I have to learn how to be open to hearing the hard stuff from others and allowing them to express their hurt, I believe that was part of my learning journey this last week... but it was hard.
It was tough starting the day in such an emotionally raw way, knowing that it was a Wednesday that I heard the news. It was not by a knock on the door and a team of people sent to tell us that we heard our news. No, I heard by a screaming of grief rushing down our double hallways and my daughter screaming that Jesley was dead! An email that Steve in his grief read out loud to the children standing there.. a bomb blast that sent shrapnel of raw pain into the hearts of each of us. Killing our dream of raising twins and watching their unique relationship grow. Leaving one of our sons bereft of his crib buddy, on soil a country away... Starting the learning process of having to live with out and still live with the child your heart was so wrapped around it will never learn how to let go.
But listening to these families speak confirmed in my heart that we do find a way to live differently. There will always be the before and the after date.. until we reach eternity and then it will only be now!
So I spent the day learning how to be there in case it should happen again on our watch. Learning and being reassured that, the things we have done in the past when this loss has hit our families and our teams have had to walk that tough pathway to the door of a family member, were the right things. Knowing I could do it again if called to, and knowing how hard I pray that we will never have to.
I had been praying that God would redeem this day for us. I had hoped it would be with a trip to Haiti to bring home our sons, but God knew I had to redeem it in the only way that counts... not with something for me..but learning to serve and be. I am grateful that He chose this week for us. ....... and now it's over I'm ready for Him to chose the day we are to bring home Wadley and Peter so we can start that part of living "after".
I'm right you know..there is no word that can take away the pain of loss. No word that can express the sorrow of losing a child or learning that a friend or anyone had lost someone they love so passionately. But while words don't "make it better" they do take the lid off the pressure pot and allow you to look in, it does help to use the words to express the thoughts. If you read these words..thank-you.. if not.. it's OK I needed to just talk and a safe space to do it in.
Love Wendy

Update

Well this month has been an all up..then all down month so far and we are on the 11th.

The great news is that we have Peter's passport and he is ready to be submitted for his visa.

The bad news is that somehow the boys were seperated in the final phase and Wadley is still waiting to exit the final stage of checks and balances.

We have been expecting his passport to be ready any day but got the news today that no more dossiers will be moved this month. The Ministry of Interior is moving offices and we need to wait until they are resettled.

That is a hard pill to swallow with one child out and our little Wadley still stuck.
Instead of thinking it will be next month that we will have our children home it is now looking more like April.

Wendy

While in the holding pattern..

We are getting closer.. so much closer.. we are in the holding pattern waiting for air tower control to give us the thumbs up to approach the runway.
While circling the airport for hours is fun if you are ...ummmm.. if you are... nope, can't think of a single instance where circling the airport for hours might be fun! And it's not much fun waiting for those final landing directions either. You would think being near the end of the journey the traveling would be easier but it's just not. We are all fatigued from the journey, anxious to be on firm ground, back in routine, heading towards life instead of "traveling".

SO.. to keep my spirits up I've been shopping. I have avoided outfits, diapers and other purchases that show signs of imminent arrival. BUT I have landed on an item that says.. babies are coming home!!!
They have a two year expiration date, they can't be grown out of and they will always used for a LONG time!!

Yes.. BABY WIPES!!!!!! I'm allowing myself one box a week..or whenever I go past a baby aisle :0)

I've also started to seek out a funny quote or thought on facebook. My favourite so far has been..

"Sometimes I  think I worry too much! Wait, I probably shouldn't have said that. Wait.. should I have said that?"

And of course prayer has become much more intense for all our "travelers" whether they are in the airport waiting to board the adoption plane, in the air heading to the first destination, or seasoned round trip, multi destination globe trotters like ourselves.

Soon and very soon we will be heading to our final destination with permission to approach the runway and then the gates!

"Sometimes I think I worry too much! Wait, I probably shouldn't have said that. Wait.. should I have said that?"

Makes me laugh every time!

Wendy

1 down 1 to go!!

We heard today that Peter exited MOI (Minister of Interior) and can now head towards passports.
Wadley is still waiting to exit but hopefully soon, very soon he too will be sent for passports!!

We also got our latest photo :0)

SO SOON SWEET SONS SO SOON!

Preparing..

I have been preparing to have my children in my home now for over three years, their names and bodies have changed in those three years but the preparation has remained constant. Even the hours of reading and preparing for girl hair when we thought Whitney was going to be coming home will stand me in good stead for Grandbaby girls later.. or fun hair styles on my boys now.

One thing that we were glad we knew, ahead of going out to see the twins that first time, was skin care needs. Their beautiful brown skin was so dry in places and red in others but I was ready! Armed with Aveeno wash and coca butter galore I set to. Within a few days their skin was soft and supple again and the angry red was gone and I was hooked on cocoa butter! Nasty diaper rash vanished with a good dose of "butt cream" ... don't freak out Mum, it is a name of a nappy rash cream they sell here in America :0)


My little men have hair that seems to grow in a line on the top of their heads.

Wadley left as a little one and Peter above sporting a twist :0)

So in preparation for their home coming I have been researching hair styles and hair care. The cresche keeps them pretty closely cropped..

I like this look on them but I think we will let them have a little more hair once they get home. So I have been stocking up on ideas for hair styles. I've been checking out hair and, at ,can barely stop myself from going up to a gentleman whose hair I have admired to ask him for care tips!
Infrequent washing, tangle free combing from the tips up and moisturising hair products are in my future. Right now I am watching tutorials on waves and can hardly wait for the boys hair to grow in so we can get started :0)

I keep wanting to pick up diapers and creams, clothes and shoes but have learnt from experience to hold off on such purchases, I'm not ready to have to donate another set of clothes because they grew out of them before we could get them home. Plus it is hard to guess what sizes they are in now! But the excitement is still there..actually honestly it can go both ways in the baby department, I can either be excitedly anticipating their arrival and visualising them in their various play outfits.. or I can be choking back the heart wrenching sobs, that seem to come from no where, because my boys aren't home..or because I just caught a glimpse of twin outfits. I basically try to avoid that department if I can.

The pack and plays that seemed like they wold suffice are no longer floating my boat. But do I get two cribs or try to put Wadley in a toddler bed? Should their cribs resemble the ones they had in Haiti or should I try to go for something far from that? How traumatising is a bed going to be? These things I don't have a handle on yet. The children at the cresche sleep in their cribs until they are at least 8 or 9 years old. Will we be able to fit two cribs in our room? These wonderful thoughts, these very real practical thoughts are what I dwell on now. My boys are SO CLOSE to being home!!!!
Tomorrow is Thursday, the day we pray fervently for the children at NLL and for all our friends who are adopting. God is gracious to allow us to pray and to be part of the joy and miracle of answered prayer. Each week we are one week closer!

Off to listen to my Creole tape one more time!!! Bwen nuit!

HUGE LEAP FORWARD!!!!

We have been waiting for our paper work to clear through the US stateside side of the house.. it is winging it's way to Haiti!!! We had been waiting for a report we had opted in for, then chose to opt out.. and the day after we completed paper requirements for the USCIS the report came back. We still have no idea what it said BUT..it's done and we are approved and with the investigation being completed it should make visas go faster. We have been waiting to enter into the Ministry of Interior in Haiti. We went in on Monday and they will check all our paper work and approve us for passports. SO.. we have taken huge steps forward!!! We are SOOOOO close!!! Will you pray with us that the final strings can be tied up and we will get the call to come and bring the boys home. We are hoping that we can go March 3rd. that would be one year since Jesley died. It would be so healing to be in Haiti bringing Wadley home on the day his twin went home for eternity. But in the end we will trust in God's good timing and pray for the details to follow His plan. SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wendy

I didn't post on Thursday

I didn't post on Thusrsday.. the day many of us stopped and reflected on the earthquake that hit Haiti. I didn't post but I spent all day thinking and trying to process those thoughts. And at the end of the day I realised there was nothing I could write that would acurately be able to portray the emotions of remembering. If the people who endured the event, the loss, the grief, the death and the continued struggles from that day two years ago can't put it into words that hold meaning how could I. I can write words that have emotion but, watching people I have come to know and care about struggle so intimately with the loss... words seem to come out hollow. I feel the same way now when I go and visit Haiti. It's hard to look at the destruction that is still evident like huge gaping wounds. I feel weary and wonder how it must feel to have people drive by taking photo after photo of your struggle? I know it is important to share that aspect of Haiti. It is after all where we can do the most visable work. Clearing the rubble would be huge.. rebuilding is huge.. feeding, educating, clothing and giving clean water.. all essential to life and hope. But there is so much MORE to Haiti and to the Haitian people. Such an incredible, intense beauty. A rich history, a beautiful country scarred by the impositions made upon it as it is. So I didn't post on Thursday so I could stop and listen to the words of the people who are the most affected. And so I could pray, and ask God to take my prayers, inefficent in words as they are, and make them into a prayer of healing and beauty fragrant for the throne room and for the people I have come to love.

Hope

Hope

Praying for hope.

Hope for the people of Haiti.

Hope for our family to be reunited.

Hope.

The Math of Adoption

Counting the cost of adoption goes way past the "How much will this take from our bank account?" question.I was reflecting this morning on how much time I spend in Adoption math, calculating the least and most time it could possibly take.. that exercise is about as accurate as asking "How long is a piece of string?"

You start to throw in algebraic reasoning; If the adoption decree is here by x date and the I 600 by y date and I multiple by the number of weeks in MOI what is the date I can expect my visa call?

You estimate, Julies adoption took 24 months, Dave and Laurie's 18 months and Jim and Sues 9 months therefore my adoption should take add months, divide by families, multiply by the odds of being sooner rather than later.. and yep.. I should have my boys home by the year 3010!

You multiply, the days you thought you could endure separation from your child by the days you are separated from your child to end with the product of.. more patience and the bye product or remainder of peace and hope or hurt and dismay.

You subtract, each day that goes by is one negative and will necessitate the addition of multiple positives to eradicate the negative once your child is home.

You increase by the power of one your sphere of friends with every new adoptive family you connect with. You rely wholly on THE ONE to bring the parallel lines of your separate lines together..that is imposable BTW but we know that all things are possible in Him!

Yes along with the many times we sit down and just count the emotional and mental, physical and spiritual cost of adoption we still come to the same sum..it adds up, it balances, it is worth it. But I was never any good at math at school and I wonder what my grade would be in this class now?

New Week New Hope New Life Link

This is it! This is the week that the offices are all back up and running at full speed. I was amazed at the incredible amount that our agency was able to do for different families while the Haitian government was on a minimal manning holiday. I am consistently reminded to be thankful for these office workers, lawyers and cresche workers who care for our little ones.

That being said I am eagerly seeking news that our passports will be ready soon! Trying to be patient, Which is so hard when we are so close and yet still so far!

Five of our New Life Link families will be in Haiti this week. One of them will be bringing their two children home at the end of the week!! How exciting!!

Meanwhile, Nona is here!! Teaching the children how to play jacks and various other games.. such great fun.. especially when I win!! :0)

And this is the week we should hear that our I 600 has been approved and we are being recommended for visa approval! So a lot to look forward to :0)

And last but not least.. I am joining another group to try and shed the last of these pounds! I want to be fit and ready for when the boys do get home :0)

Wendy

Please hold while I connect you!

After yesterdays post about not being heard today produced many crackles, pops and clear lines!

Several families who have been on hold were connected to their next stage.

One family booked tickets and will be home with their children within two weeks!

And we found out that we can move to the next stage.. I600 .. and not have to wait for the AOF investigation to be completed. We can do this because a) we asked and b) we have completed adoption decrees.

We are hopeful, because we know of the through work already done by the Haitian courts, that we will get our approval letter next week!

Now.. one more week and the Haitian side of the house gets back up to full speed. I wonder where we are in the passport process?

See.. it never ends.. today I feel like I have contact AND call waiting!

Wendy

Can you hear me now?

That advert never made much sense to me until recently. A lone man wanders around the globe asking, "Can you hear me now?" all to show us how efficient his phone is at communicating where other phones fail.

I'm now seeing all kinds of similarities between his journey and my own adoption journey. Several of us are now at the stage of needing pieces of paper authorised to be able to continue and bring our children home.

We are all walking around calling various agencies asking

"Do you hear us now?"

Collectively we have put our voices out into the network that is international adoption and asked..

"How about now?"

We have cancelled "policies" that were set up to expedite our call and clarify our adoption conversation, but have done nothing but add static to an already remote call.

We have stood on one leg, with hands outstretched and our ear straining for the ping of an email saying,

"Come.. we have heard you and are connecting you!" only to find the call has been dropped.

And so.. here we sit on hold.. wondering..

 "Do you hear us now?"

  "Do you hear me now?"

    Do you hear them now?

Day three..waiting to be connected....

Entering the New Year..where are we now?

Confirmed that we need to remove ourselves from the AOF program and proceed with a normal I 600 investigation.

AOF Haiti adoption

 I 600 Haiti adoption

Praying this can go quickly.

Praying that our dossier continues to find it's way to passports in Haiti. We THINK we are in MOI now (Ministry of Interior) and this stage can take up to 16 weeks to produce passports.

Praying that once we get momentum going again on the US side we will hit no other road bumps.

According to what I have been reading once the embassy gets our I600 forms they complete the parent interviews.. we have already been informed that these interviews have been completed so we aren't too sure what they were for. Hopefully that will be a process already completed, not one that has to be repeated.

From hearing to receiving an approved I 600 takes about a month.

From the end of all investigations to visa interviews takes about a month.

Then we will receive a call to come for the visa appointment.. and then we can bring the boys home!


for those of you who..like me.. want to know time lines.. as early as March? hopefully no later than end of May

and talking of time lines....




September  2010 two precious boys enter our lives and changed it forever..

September 2010

November 2010

March 2nd 2011

In March we receive this updated photo and marvel at how our boys have grown since we saw them a few weeks prior. By the end of this day our little Jesley, seen sucking his thumb here, has gone home for eternity. We grieve for our son lost and our surving son and worry about him.

 .

And yet the lord knew that Wadley needed a brother, we needed a little one and Peter needed a family! By staying open to the miracle of adoption throughout the pain of loss we have been blessed with the chance to love and nurture this little guy as well!

Peter March 2011 3 months old

It's not always easy being the big brother but Wadley will learn and Peter is really looking up to him in this, our first shot of them together!

March 29th 2011

April 2011 asleep in Daddy's arms

Loved on by all his siblings April 2011

May 2011

September 2011

October 2011

November 2011 with Mummy and Big Sis

December 2011

It's not easy watching your babies grow up through photos, and I can't wait to not have the time to blog because they are running around causing havoc at home! But I am so thankful that they are in an excellent Crisco, with fabulous caregivers and loving people around them.

Praying for their safety and protection while we are far from them, and for a swift entry into life here with us this year.