Finally Home!

ALL TOGETHER AT LAST!!

After 2 years of waiting, yesterday Sammy and Gino came home to be with us forever.I can't begin to explain how it feels to have them home!

I don't have time to write of all the funny and wonderful moments we have shared in the first 24 hours. BUT i did want to tell everyone who has stood by us,listened to my frustrations with the process, dried my tears of sadness, loved us, prayed for us, supported us, and now REJOICES with us!


THANK YOU!
WE LOVE YOU!!
WE COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITH YOU!!!
WE THANK GOD FOR YOU!!!

Jen

Merry Christmas Adoptive Families!

To all the families that we have bonded with through adoption!

Merry Christmas from our heart to yours!

Looking Back...

I was doing what I do after every visit with the boys...thinking what in God's name can speed this thing up?!?! And wondering if we need to request an extension for any of our paperwork. (This is a good thing to keep on top of b/c once your paperwork expires you have to re-file which means paying the fees again. Something we are trying to avoid.) This ended up in a mad goose chase. I was searching through 100's of copies of documents looking for one lil piece of paper. No luck! So, next i turned to my old "sent" email. I vaguely remember scanning the document b/c we had a problem with it. As i began looking through my email i came across this...

This was the first picture we received of the boys. To my surprise we received it on May 2, 2008. We had spent the next week in prayer before the Lord trying to "figure out" if these were our sons. You see we had referrals from two different orphanages and it was "up to us" b/c we had been approved by both.

On May 4, 2008 I made this and sent it in an email to Tim at the Fire station...

In an email sent on May 7, 2008 I had this to say...

"To be quite honest, we feel confident that Gino and Sammy are the children God intended for our family."

By May 11, 2008 we had given our official "YES" to Marantha Children's Home and we were "matched" with our sons.

It never occurred to me that our last visit coincided with that very special day that we saw our sons for the first time. We bought our tickets based on the dates offered for one of Spirit airlines ridiculously low ticket rates. But there is something sweet about the fact that looking back we spent these days with our sons. May 2nd a year ago we saw them and loved them. May 2nd this year we held them and loved them! What a difference a year has made!

We are more confident then ever "that Sammy and Gino are the children God intended for our family." We are so grateful to God for bringing them into our lives and hopeful that He will bring the boys home to us soon. I'm trying not to be be angry or complain about how long this process is taking but rather I'm trying to see the journey God has had us on this last year. A year ago i celebrated Mother's Day as a mother of two. This year i celebrate it as a mother of four!!! I am a blessed women indeed!

So, what started as a mad goose chase turned into a stroll down memory lane! I can't wait for next Mother's Day...hopefully I will be celebrating with us all together for good!

Oh, If you are wondering if I found the document...not a chance! I think it's safe in Haiti with John. I did end up calling USCIS office to double check the expiration date. It only makes sense to avoid any unnecessary reprocessing fee, right!?!?

To all who have joined us on this crazy wonderful journey, I am eternally grateful.


-J

The days are going by much to quickly. The first two seem a blur to me (Jen). We arrived to find Sammy Gino sick and not quite thrilled to see us. Gino saw Tim and promptly found a nanny to hide behind. Gino waited until Tim was a safe distant away and made a break for me. He was happy to see me but even happier to sleep. For the next 24 hours he was content to sleep in my arms every chance he got but not playful or cheery at all. Sammy was running the same fever but acting much like himself. Always ready for play and daddy's lil man. He has such an affection for Tim and i love it! Gino's fever finally broke. And this morning he was all smiles and giggles. It was so good to see him feeling well again. He was quite talkative and even wanted to play with Papi (that is what the boys call Tim...which i suppose is less confusing than having a "daddy" when you have a sister named Addie).

Zoe and Addie have found their rolls as big sisters to the boys very fulfilling and make the most of the morning activities at the boys house. Zoe had this sweet moment with Gino during playdough station this morning.

Addie loves to try and engage Sammy in everything she is doing. She must have said "Sammy" 100 times today. She succeeded in getting him to swing with her.

We are trying our best to live in the moment while realizing the need to capture some to share and some for posterity's sake. But this is a difficult task. Truly being in the moment requires all of you and no camera in my opinion. Even more difficult is the task of putting words to those experiences. So, here are some fun things that didn't get denied our full attention and i haven't any words to describe... jumping on the trampoline, introducing woffle ball to the boys (and the nannies) at the boys house, glow sticks in the pitch black night of Haiti, Zoe and Addie lovin on their brothers, holding your son while he sleeps, listening to their laughter, and hearing them call you Manmi and Papi and seeing the tears in their eyes when it's time to say goodnight.

I'm at a loss for what to share next, the ants are biting me, and we meet our Compassion child tomorrow so i should try to get some sleep. Good night form Haiti! Love to you all! -J

So Happy Together...

Just 2 more day!!!!

I can't sleep. I can't think. I'm so excited!!! I can't wait to be together with our boys!!!

Final Day

Day 7 Pictures Here

Family Portrait

We tried. We had the matching outfits, jeans with white shirts, the kids were clean(ish), the camera was ready...and we couldn't pull it off. 20-some pictures later, and we had nada. They were blurry, someone's eyes were closed, looking away, pulling hair, falling down, bonking heads, mid sentence mouths, droopy eyes, you name it...we had it in every picture. The funny thing is that Jen and I were the worst, constantly looking at a kid, making a face, or talking. Oh well...our perfect picture is imperfect (a metaphor for life?). I do have to say that we did capture 'us'. Maybe it isn't the one that you would find in a doctor's office, but it is the one you may find in our house some day. We are relieved to admit that we don't have it all together, and ready to accept life's curveballs. Like leaving your kids in Haiti.

I did it to you, brought you down with us. We're heading home tomorrow and it's tough. A bond is formed, then broken, all in one short week. It's been broken before, and repaired instantly when we returned, but we can't help but worry about what it does to a 2 year old psychy. We tell ourselves that their brains won't remember it when they are 20, but we still don't like it. We can go nuts lamenting the arduous, ambiguous, ridiculous process that is adoption, but it won't do us any good. We can move to Haiti, leave the secure for the unknown. Or we can go home, love them from afar, return as soon as we can afford it and get time off, and do it all over again. These seem to be our options. Is it better to stay away until paperwork is done and then meet them and take them home at the same time? I don't think so, but it would be less painful. Hurting for love feels good though, it's not heartbreak, just heartache. Time passes quickly in hindsight, but slow in uncertain foresight. We've heard stories of some adoptions taking 2 or 3 years, stories of old laws being enforced more strictly, and as of recently we have not heard much encouraging news that they are showing any interest in making it any faster...perhaps it is even becoming slower.

Regardless, tomorrow we return, already looking forward to our next visit. Thanks for journeying with us. We look forward to seeing you all soon.

Trip to Mirebelais...

This morning I was awoken by Junior, John McHoul's right hand man on the adoption process...he was 30 minutes early to pick me up so I could go with him on 'an adventure'. Our mission was to go to Mirebelais (sp?) in order to confirm that a death certificate would in fact be on it's way to the central record keeping in Port au Prince. From what I understand, each town has someone in charge of issuing death, marriage, and birth certificates, and when they are completed, they are supposed to make their way to PaP for storage. Part of Junior's job is to make sure that all documents that may be needed in the future are in fact there. I have learned from Junior that you cannot take anything for granted in this process. That every seemingly simple step can in fact be a major stumbling block for adoptions. Apparently, the powers that be are jaded towards adoption, all the way from the UN down. I'll have to look into this more when I get home. Anyway, we go to what would be our clerk of the court, a building next to a UN building, and arrived at 8:00...they don't open until 9:00 (thanks for getting me up early Junior ;), so we ran a different errand first, to find the birth mother of another kid to make sure she can still be located. Junior says, "all I know is that she said she lives near the soccer field". So off we go, asking where the soccer field is, then if anyone knows this lady. To Junior's credit, we found her house fairly quickly, and learned that her father died and she was at his funeral. No problem, we know she is here. In the meantime, Junior looks up and sees someone that he knows from a long time ago who lives nearby...I learned that Junior knows everyone from a long time ago, since he is constantly "planting seeds" and meeting anyone and everyone. He has a photographic memory and remembers faces and situations extremely well...or so it seemed to me.

Then we went back to the clerk, he wasn't there and there was a line of people waiting. Junior calls him, he shows up, we go straight into the office and caught some looks of disapproval from those who were waiting. We go back to this 'Official' office. it consists of a white, 6'x8' room, a wooden desk and two chairs. Nothing else. In the end the man says that he will need to make a book' to send down to PaP, with a fee involved. Junior doesn't need this to happen for a few more months and says he will go tell John. Mission accomplished, the document is on the radar of the clerk, he knows it's important, Junior continues to have a rapport with him, and the price of doing business will be agreed on later. We take so much for granted in the states. Just to get someone to do what they are supposed to be doing in the first place requires a personal visit, and hounding to make sure it gets done.

I gained a greater appreciation for what Junior does. He is good at it, and seems to enjoy it.

My bed and my wife are calling me...good night.

Sunday...

It's 10:10, which means it feels like it's midnight since Haiti virtually shuts down and restarts with the setting and rising of the sun, so I'll make this one quick. Today we went to the Haitian/American church called Port au Prince Fellowship. It's an experience in itself, and if anyone were to tell me about a plan for this type of church I would have been a nay sayer, laughed and told them it would never work. I say this because the service is in english, and yet 95% of the attendees are Haitians. It is a beautiful mix of foreign and local, joyful worship, and servant hearts. It's organic and wonderful. The singing is not polished, but it's awesome...like a rusty old pickup truck that has it's own intrigue, style, and character. You wouldn't take it to a car show, but you'd be proud to drive it. Afterwards we had a nice lunch and watched a gentleman crush a can of beans on his head (more on that another day...maybe, I'm still trying to process what happened). We overheard a conversation in which Carlos Whittaker was mentioned (my sister's husband's brother who is big in the blogosphere), which was funny to us...we'll have to let him know that he's being spoken of in the Haitian missionary circles. Zoe has made a new friend, Katie Grace, who is 9 years old and looks and acts eerily like Zoe. They had an amazing tea party, I was envious. I took the girls swimming for a little daddy/daughter time while Jen let the boys have a raucous time in the bath. We had leftovers for dinner, and had some amazing milkshake/coffee/choclate type dessert/drink that Byron our neighbor and host made for us. And now all the kids are sacked out on the futon, and Jen has abandoned me once again as I burn the Haitian midnight oil to keep you updated. Good night mom, my faithful commentor (and you too Lani)....and to all of you that do read, and leave no feedback, g'night.

;)

Day #2 pictures, blog to come tomorrow...

Pictures from Day #2 HERE


Sorry to make you wait, but it's 10:30 and we're pooped...I'll try to get to blogging in the morning. Great day.

One Big Happy Family...

In hind sight, it would have been a really good idea to take a picture of all of us together for the first time, on the first day...but behold, the day is done, the girls and boys are asleep on a futon mattress laid on the floor, and Jen and I are pooped after getting up at 4am for our flight this morning.

Our first encounter with the boys as a family was a huge success. The boys reattached quickly, as soon as they had determined that we in fact were the same people that loved on them a few months prior. Zoe and Addie slid into their big sister roles with ease, and adjusted instantly to Haiti (I don't think that is normal).

Even thought it was freezing in Florida when we left, it is still 90 degrees + here...it feels like Haiti, and we are readjusting to sweating non-stop...in fact, I am two feet from a cold shower since the bathroom is the only place we can pick up the WiFi signal from next door, and I can't wait to jump in it.

We don't have any official news on the progress of beaurocracy, but apparently they still haven't passed the updated guidlines that will permit couples who already have biological children to adopt. So currently we are in a pile of applications that are awaiting 'special' approval. We haven't heard from Junior, the point man on the paperwork, so this is only what we have heard through the vine.

The shower is calling me (and Jen has already directed me to where the toothbrush and toothpaste are...her subtle way of telling me that I have funky breath), so I'm going to take care of some personal hygeine and write again tomorrow.

Thanks for your love, prayers, and support. We appreciate you all.

Blog again, blog again, jiggety jig...

Sorry for our blogging absence, it's been a busy month or two, with little news on the adoption front, other than we are leaving today and arriving in Port au Prince tomorrow. We're excited as this is the first time our entire family will be together!! We intend to blog during our trip and keep you updated with stories and pictures. Thanks for being on this journey with us, your support, prayers and friendship are appreciated deeply. Let the adventure continue.

When Words Fail...MAKE A MOVIE!

I (Jen) haven't blogged since our return from Haiti. It's impossible for me to try to express my thoughts and emotions on meeting the boys and then having to leave them. I hope this video helps convey what my heart is feeling!

Day Six, final day...

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICTURES

Today was our last day, and before we knew it, we were saying 'see you later' to the boys. We started off by going to an English speaking church that is begrudgingly led by John McHoul (he is praying for a replacement so he can focus on his multiple ministries). It is fun to see him in his pastoral role, the same as he is every day, no pretense, no show, genuine as can be, he is who he is. The message was about listening to God, he used a quote that said if you are going to pray for two hours, the first hour and 55 minutes should be spent listening, and the last 5 minutes can be used for talking. Often we go to God in prayer with either our script in hand, or our wants at the forefront. We want to check prayer off of our list of things to do, or things we think we should do, and get on with our day and our lives. God often speaks in quiet whispers, and the clamour of our days drowns it out. I'd like to make time to listen, that's what I got out of it (thanks John). The worship was led by an Austrailian, many Haitians and a couple of Americans. The congregation was mostly Haitians, many who come to practice their english while also going to church. It was neat to see Missionaries coming together to worship and fellowship, I guess I think of how a lot of ministries and churches form thier clique and avoid eachother for a multitude of foolish reasons. The boys came with us, wide eyed during the entire car ride there and back (thankfully they didn't get car sick like the other boy yesterday). They both slept through the service and were well behaved for the part they were awake for. Then we came back to the McHoul's for a celebration lunch of ham, mashed potatoes, beans, rice/beans, and fruit. They hosted close to 40 people, a feat in itself. We were able to meet a few of the missionaries, their families, and others. We celebrated one girl who will get her visa on Monday to be home with her family on Tuesday in Orlando, and two birthdays. About half way through, Gino zonked out again, and I (Tim) took advantage of an opportunity to nap. It was sweet. After our nap, we went to the boys house, played for a little while, let them eat dinner, then broke out the glow sticks again. We sang the ABC's, Old McDonald, and whatever other song I knew half of the words to, and enjoyed ourselves. Unexpectedly our ride back to our house arrived, and we knew it was time to say 'see you later'. We kept the fanfare to a minimum, kissed them goodnight, and gave them over to a nanny. It is hard to be loving them and knowing that this process is out of our hands and out of the hands of the home, and in the hands of God and the government. We have been encouraged to hear that the process has picked up speed from where it was at the beginning of the year, but our hopes are for much sooner than the projected time of 12 months or more. We are sad to leave the boys, but are itching to be back with our girls, we miss them deeply, and can't wait to snuggle with them tomorrow night. For now we say bon nuit, we look forward to seeing you all soon.

Day Six...

Sorry for the delayed update, last night the internet wasn't working for a while, and we were busy entertiaining two little V.I.P. guests. I'll start from the beginning of the day...if I can remember it. In the AM we went to the boys' house and played with them until lunch/nap time when we drove into the hills of PaP to a tourist trap type market to look for trinkets and play the bargaining game (which Jen didn't like this time). We got a pencil holder for the homeschool room (don't tell Zoe ;) The twin boys who are being adopted came with us on the trip (our boys were sleeping), it was one of their first long car trips, and we learned that one of them gets car sick...so we showed up to market with a naked kid and clean up in progress. On the way back we had a bucket just in case, but made it home without incident. We returned in time to wake the boys from their nap, then brought them home to the McHoul's for dinner and toys. As with every new experience for them, it took a while to adjust and relax, but it didn't take long before they were playing with their firefighter helmets, cars, and a spoon...making car soup. Gino fell asleep with Jen first while Sammy and I stayed up. We layed Sammy in bed and he just stayed there awake, not moving a whole lot (something we aren't used to). At some point he fell asleep, there wasn't much change from when he was awake. Something that we are used to is not having any room in a bed for us to sleep in. The boys were between us, kicking eachother and us all night. They slept well, except for when we were awoken by Sammy crying. In the pitch black night we were feeling around for him and only found his lower half at the top of the bed! Somehow he had made his way between the wall and the headboard! Tim moved the bed away from the wall and we were able to extricate him, he went back to sleep within thirty seconds. This morning they were disoriented at first, but quickly were comforted to see us. They have been happy, playing and eating. It's fun to have them alone to spoil them and watch them become comfortable and act natural around us...but now we are encroaching on Day 7 business, so we'll keep that for tonight. Today is church...do we bring them?

Day Four...

Today we took the boys to a pool for the first time in their life...and boy could we tell. Not only have they never been to a pool, we don't think they have ever had a full bathtub! When you have 10 little bodies to bathe in Haiti, it is an assembly line proceedure of using a bucket of water to wet them, then soap, then a bucket of water to rinse, then off to drying, then to clothing. I attempted to put a cloth diaper on Sammy...it wasn't pretty (Jen's was a little better, but not professional), I passed mine off to a nanny. So needless to say, the pool was a little overwhelming at first, and cold to them (extra refreshing for us!). Gino clinged to us for most of the time, Sammy was the first to let go and stand on the step, but at the end (as you can see in the video) they relaxed a little and had some fun. In the afternoon, we watched the women sew bags (Jen bought two more for a total of 5, yeeeesh), and also saw a woman use some fabric we brought to make the sling design she came up with. We also saw their child birth education class. In the evening we went to a Haitian Bible study of about 20 people, it was interesting as they did it all in English, not for our sake, but for them to be able to practice what they learn in school. The study was on the book of James, 'rejoice in suffering', it was strange to see that what we see as their suffering is the only life they know. Keep Haiti in your prayers. Love to you all...good night!

Day Three...

Okay, Day Three has come to a close, another busy day in the bag. We woke up at 6 this morning, got ourselves together and headed over to Sheila's house (where the womens and sewing programs take place) to help set up for a medical clinic by HALOS. There were about 200 patients that were seen by a family practitioner, a OB/Gyn, and a pediatrician (depending on need)...also on site was a pharmacy and a lab to test for malaria, HIV/AIDS, worms, fungus, HbG, etc. Unfortunately they had to inform a family of five that they are indeed infected with HIV...they will follow up with them to help them get into a program. I got to play doctor, interviewing patients then turning to the real doctor for confirmation/correction to my diagnosis. Jen got to play nurse while the boys were napping, taking in patients and getting vital signs. Jen worked her usual mojo with the boys, had them laughing and giggling, and she made an amazing discovery...she figured out why Sammy is always making this face:

She got him laughing and discovered that he is part chipmunk, storing food away for later times...he still had bread and beans balled up in his mouth from 2 hours prior! The first day I had given him peanuts, and we found those an hour or two later as well...we just hadn't put two and two together. Maybe it's the old orphanage story of putting children to bed with bread in their pocket, or maybe he just really likes super soggy bread in his mouth...who knows...it's cute. Jen will be responsible for any broken arms that are suffered on the trampoline in the coming weeks...she gave a gymnastics demonstration to the little ones, teaching them that it is really easy to do massive flips with twists (at least she made it look easy). Later we had a nice dinner at Byron and Shelly's (who have 7 kids, 5 adopted), along with another adoptive mother who is visiting, and another couple who were missionaries here, now back to visit (she is actually the one who brought Sammy to Heartline from Desalines, and is the one who named him!). Aye, we also met Junior who is the main man running paperwork all over the island to make adoptions happen...he has an office on wheels, lending staplers, pens, and glue to the government agencies so they can complete paperwork (he has some amazing stories, we told him he should write a book about why adoptions take so long in Haiti). Junior told us that our paperwork is out of first legalization and is now in IBESR as of Tuesday (one step closer, many more to go, keep praying/fasting!). Also we have sold 7 bags that will support the women's program (maybe 8, I just got another email). Now it's bedtime, we're thinking we may take the boys swimming tomorrow in Shelly's pool. Love you all, especially Zoe and Addie...we hope they aren't having too much fun without us.

More photos of Day Three RIGHT HERE

Day One...

What a busy day...after we 'slept' in the airport we made it to Port au Prince, breezed through customs and were on our way to meet the boys (after a few errands on the way). We walked from the 'girls house' to the 'boys house' where we found SnG playing with all the other kids in the yard. I (Tim) confess that it took me a while to find them as I was searching faces rather than looking for the "Big Brother" and "Little Brother" shirts that we had sent them! Jen on the other hand saw Gino make a break for one of the nannies. We were prepped that Sammy would cling to anybody, but that Gino may run away/hide/cry. To our delight and suprise, Gino took to Jen extremely quickly and was glued to her for the day. Jen held him during nap time (and got some needed Z's herself), while I went back to the house we are staying in to get some things. Gino would tense up when I came to try and hold him, and cried when Jen put him down (a miracle in our book). Beth (Momma Beth as she is better known) said that he sees Jen as someone special because it wasn't normal for him to cry like that, and that he is usually content being on his own. Gino warmed up to me when I introduced fruit snacks into the picture, and we were cool from then on...especially when the lollipop and toy cars came out (yes, I resorted to bribery, the last arrow in my quiver). Sammy was content in all situations and loved to be held. Neither one is very talkative, except in defending their toys from some of the bigger kids...we'll see how that progresses. Thanks to all of you bathing us in prayer, so far, so good...much better than we had expected in many ways. Oh, and we're impressed with the McHoul's multi-faceted ministry here, but that will have to be second fiddle to these adoption updates.

Packing trials...

SUPRISE!! Your flight to Haiti only allows for 1 checked bag per person, because like in so many things, the rules are different for Haiti. So, we scrambled, and think we have it figured out. We will be using UPS to ship two boxes to a shipping company in Ft. Lauderdale that will then put them on a boat to Port-au-Prince and deliver them to the orphanage in 14 days. HA! So we're going on faith and a prayer that they will in fact make their way to the destination intact. We're stuffing each of our suitcases with donated goods, and packing our carry ons with our clothes in minimalist fashion. What an adventure! Lovin' it.

Good Samaritans, or drug smugglers?

I always get nervous about customs whenever we take trips...I've heard horror stories of customs agents requesting 75% of items be left behind (not only in Haiti, but the DR and other places as well), and even a $10,000,000 shipment of medicines being 'lost' in customs only a couple of weeks ago (rumor or true, I don't know, news is a funny thing there...and here, but I digress). Please pray for favor in customs, we don't have anything illicit, but we do have new items, medicines (some prescription), pre-natal vitamins that look like medicines, and things that a customs agent could want. We can only carry so much, so I'd hate for any of it to be 'lost'.