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.