Pictures

Here's a link to pictures from this trip. Enjoy!

Day 6 - Travel Day

And we're back in Illinois. Today was a long travel day - although not as long as originally anticipated. We were able to fly stand-by out of Miami, so rather than having a 6 hour layover, we only had about 1 1/2 hours. It was pretty smooth traveling. I got carsick on the drive down to Port-au-Prince, but only throwing up once was much better than the last time we traveled home from Haiti and I was sick the whole day. Customs through Miami was the quickest I've ever seen it and we even had time for a quick bite to eat before our plane took off.

We were on Haitian time this morning (meaning everything is slower and takes longer than planned), so we didn't get to see David today before having to leave for the airport. Luckily, we had a great time with him yesterday so I felt like we got to say our goodbyes then. Hopefully (keep praying!!!), it won't be long until we see him again and actually bring him home with us. Rachel talked to her attorney this morning and our papers are on their way to parquet this week. We were told that its possible to get our papers out of parquet in less than a week, which would be amazing! Of course, delays are typical so we'll see what happens.

I spent some time on the plane sorting through pictures, so once I'm done captioning them I'll post a link to picassa. Since, I still need to make the 3 hour drive home tomorrow it may take a few days for me to finish. I'll warn you now, there's a lot :-)

A side note - I brought our laptop and video along this time so that Jay & I could attempt to video chat. I wasn't sure how the upload speed would be at the guesthouse, but it ended up working great! Josh and David even played peek-a-boo together over the video - how cool is that?! I really feel like seeing David and I together in real time (rather than just in photos) is going to make David so much more comprehendable to Josh now. Plus, it was nice to get to see Jay & Josh while I was gone.

Day 5

Well, the Ra Ra parade didn't wake me up this morning, but David did at 5:45 am :-P Looks like we'll need to work to get this boy on Josh-time of waking up at 8 at the earliest! However, he does share the Josh trait of being extremely happy when he wakes up. I absolutely loved watching him 'talk' and play while we were still in our pjs.

We spent the morning at the guest house and then the afternoon at the orphanage. I really feel like I've gotten to know David better on this trip than any of the prior ones. Between spending a good deal of one-on-one time as well as being at the orphanage surrounded by his peers, so much of his personality came out.

Anyway, no specific stories or pictures to share from today. I'm trying to sort through the many pictures we took and will hopefully have them posted in the next few days.

Day 4

This morning we woke up early to the 'Ra Ra' parade that was walking the streets at 4:30am. Well, it kept Mom & Dad up. I was so tired from the day before, that I heard it, rolled back over, and went back to sleep till 7:00.

We went to church up at the Missions church. I missed part of the service due to David's leaking diaper (luckily, I had on a fast drying skirt and had packed some extra clothes for David!). The service is entirely in Creole, so I can't understand any of it, but the energy in the room is contagious. They sure know how to praise God! Willem called Dad up front toward the end of the service along with a missionary from the states to have a Dance Off.The missionary won as the best white man dancer :-P but Dad did awfully well to earn a second place finish.

At the end of service we headed back down the mountain. (Mom & I took the 4-wheeler down). And then we went out for lunch at a nice restaurant. Dad got to try goat, which was a hit.

David basically sat on my lap throughout this entire time (roughly 5 hours) and so he was getting awfully antsy by the time we made it back to the guesthouse for the afternoon. Mix that with a lack of nap and he was a crazy ball of energy that never stopped until he fell fast asleep early evening.
We got an unexpected surprise of a sleep over, because Rachel ended up getting stuck at a family event for the night. No complaints here :-) As I type this, David is sleeping beside me, curled up tight, with his bottom stuck straight up in the air. I’m going to miss this little boy so much when we leave!

Day 3

Wow! These Haitian days always manage to exhaust me. I'm ready again to go curl up into bed and fall fast asleep (before the roosters and dogs awaken me at 6am on the dot). It must be something about the sun mixed with the relatively laid back days and then cool weather nights that lull me to sleep.

We spent the morning at the guesthouse with David and attempted to set-up our own photo studio with a white bedsheet and a clothesline. Nothing too spectacular came out of it, so we'll give it another go tomorrow and see if we can get some more smiles and less wiggles :-)

Then this afternoon, we did a little sight-seeing and then spent several hours at the orphanage. Dad worked on a few odds and ends type jobs (such as installing a baby gate & some outlet covers), Mom read books with the older kids and then enjoyed holding and rocking some of the littlest ones, and I sort of roamed around playing, holding, feeding, etc whoever was the nearest. The kids were about the most well-behaved that I've ever seen them and it was a pretty enjoyable time. David showed some more 'true 2 yr oldness' by taking toys from other kids and pushing them. Nothing unusual for his age, but its a side of him that I don't see when one-on-one. The reality of soon having 2 bickering boys at home became more real while watching him :-P
Jay & I are going to attempt to video-phone tomorrow so that Josh and David can 'meet.' Cross your fingers that the connection is fast enough!

Day 2

We had a good, lazy day today around the guesthouse.

Here's a few pictures:

His grin was addicting!

Exploring with a flashlight.

Doing some coloring. We also played with stickers, which was a big hit.

He wasn't a huge fan of reading, but definitely enjoyed playing peek-a-boo with the books!

Dad took a walk up the mountain. There's a bunch of good stories that came from that. My favorite is of it starting to rain and him having to seek shelter under an overhang with 2 women and their 15 goats :-P

Tomorrow, we're planning to spend the day at the orphanage. I'll try to post again if the internet cooperates.

Day 1

I'm ready for bed (traveling can definitely do that to me!), but I wanted to post a quick update. No real excitement from traveling to report. We made it here fine and uneventfully.

From the airport, we were able to stop by the orphanage for a quick visit before heading to the guest house for the night. I am so totally in love with my little boy! David has grown taller, but his sweet personality remains the same :-) At this age, I wasn't sure how he would react to me or my mom and dad. Its been a few months since I have last seen him, and I didn't expect for him to remember me. Well, I don't know how it works, but I really do feel like he knows that I'm his mom (I'll definitely call that a God-thing). We only stayed for about 20 minutes, but when we went to leave he whimpered when I put him down and tried to climb back into my arms. My heart was/is totally melted!

The orphanage looks fantastic! A mission team was here a few weeks back and built some doorways, gates, and shelves. The place feels much more spacious now and feels very organized and clean. (Nice job Tracey!). The kids all looked great as well. Some of the little ones who were barely moving around back in October were walking around, smiling, playing, etc. It was a good feeling to see.

Anyway, off to bed I go. Tomorrow is a day at the guesthouse with David since Rachel has a bunch of important errands to run (a visa and passport to hopefully pick-up for 2 of the girls!). I'm really looking forward to the day with him.

I'll post more when I get a chance.

Heading out

I'm getting ready to head out soon for Haiti to visit David. I'm hoping to get to post pictures and stories while I'm there (internet speed dependent). If not, I'll definitely post when I'm back next week. So get ready for some cute 1 1/2 yr old photos coming this way soon!

We're Out of IBESR!!!

I left out an important detail in my last post that I hadn't realized until I heard back from my orphanage director this morning...

The presidential approval, for us, means that we are out of IBESR! Finally!!!!

So what's next? Well, more waiting, but at least there's one less thing to wait for now!

Here's a more detailed description of the remaining steps (taken from this website):

Parquet (2-12 weeks)
This step involves one person(?) releasing the child(ren)'s file(s). Parquet is the head commissioner. He is intertwined with court. He asks all of the birth parents to come for interviews to make sure that they understand that there children are being adopted. Apparently there was some fraudulent activity going on and he wants to protect the birth parents interests. i.e. make sure they are in agreement.

Civil Court Legalization (2-8 weeks)
The adoption is finalized. After this point, the children are legally yours. (2nd Legal)

Minister of Interior Affairs (MOI)/Haitian Immigration (2-14 weeks)
The file is submitted into the passport process. The passports are printed in the adopting parents last name.

DHS Processing (U.S. Parents) (1-3 weeks)
I-600 is filed by adopting parents. File is reviewed and approved by DHS.

DNA Testing (0-6 weeks)
May or may not be necessary. Depends on DHS' opinion.

Consulate/Visa Appointment (1 week lead time)
Child receives visa in preparation for travel to their new home

----------------------------
Total (Hopeful) Time Left: 8 weeks - 44 weeks (~2- 11 months)

Presidential Approval Given!

I just got an e-mail letting me know that we have received approval from the president of Haiti to adopt David!

Basically, that means that we received presidential dispensation due to having a biological child and our ages (that we had hoped we'd receive back in January), which means we are now very likely to be signed out of IBESR any day now (which we had hoped would have happened months ago).

We're slowly crossing stepping stones to bringing David home and that makes us very happy!

MP3 messages on orphans and adoption

I've been meaning for a while to try to upload some mp3s that have been meaningful/moving/inspirational/challenging/etc for us on the topic of orphans and adoption. Kind of as a way for me to go back and listen as well as a way for others who have an interest to listen. My initial thought was to include a link on the side of my blog, but I realized that the list would be huge and take up most of the page! So instead, I'm just going to link to them in this post. Listening to all of them would take a while (they're each between 20-45 min long), but I thought some of you might be interested in listening to some of them every once in a while. Prepare to be moved! They have truly challenged Jay & I in our worldview.

• Defending the Fatherless Through the Call of Adoption
• The Christian's Response to the Fatherless (Part 1 of 2)
• The Christian's Response to the Fatherless (Part 2 of 2)
• Dorie: The Girl Nobody Loved (Part 1 of 2)
• Dorie: The Girl Nobody Loved (Part 2 of 2)
• Cry of the Orphan - Hope for Orphans Goals (Part 1 of 5)
• Cry of the Orphan - Aiding the Orphan: Transforming a Culture (Part 2 of 5)
• Cry of the Orphan - Meeting the Needs of the Orphan (Part 3 of 5)
• Cry of the Orphan - Responding to the Cry of the Orphan (Part 4 of 5)
• Cry of the Orphan - In Defense of the Orphan (Part 5 of 5)
• A Biblical Mandate - Standing in the Gap for the Orphan (Part 1 of 2)
• A Biblical Mandate - Practical Care for the Orphan (Part 2 of 2)
  
• Discovering Adoption - Facing Infertility (Part 1 of 2)
• Discovering Adoption - Counting the Cost of Adoption (Part 2 of 2)
• Adoption Stories (Part 1 of 3)
• Adoption Stories (Part 2 of 3)
• Adoption Stories (Part 3 of 3)
• Adoption: Answers to Some of Your Questions (Part 1 of 2)
• Adoption: Answers to Some of Your Questions (Part 2 of 2)