Friday- Our FInal Day

Day 5- Last Day
Today we woke up without water! So after working out I tooke a "shower" by cups of cold water! That will wake you up!!! So we're all cleanISH here! :)
After getting ourselves up, packed up, cleanISH, breakfast... We headed to the creche. B was upstairs getting her hair done! So, I got to watch how to do another hair style! Very good lessons for me. As I sat there wishing I could just take over... even though I have NO idea what I would be doing... I was thinking about how someone else gets to do my daughter's hair, wash her, dress her, provide for her... and how badly I wish it was me. Being our last day made all these thoughts come to the fore front of my mind. How I long for the days that it is ME doing all these things for my sweet girl. I would have cried right there in the baby chair if I could have... but I think the nannies already think we are crazy, and I wasn't looking to make them feel like I'm any MORE crazy! :)
ANYWAY.... After her hair was done it was breakfast, medicine, and then we went up and played in the grass. She feels the most comfortable having me let her down while we are up there. So she got down and played with her friends and it was awesome to see! I love watching how she interacts with the other kids. After a bit of too much sass we went downstairs and hung out. She wanted to chase The Bash a little bit... but mostly just ran around and then back to me. Ran around.. Then back to me.

The Bash and he best friends! He sure misses them!

B and her Friend E

Playing with a random metal bar is not out of the ordinary for them. Anything and everything is a toy....

The Grassy area is up on top of their land. It's a fun place for the kids to play!

The kids got a special treat! Sugar Cane. They let The Bash have some... he thought it was GOOD!

We had a fun surprise for us today as well. We got to meet Benito (who B is named after!) That was an awesome opportunity, and it helped us get just one more piece to B's past. It was a blessing for us for sure (and hopefully for B when she gets older).
About her normal time she snuggled in for a little nap. We sat there snuggled up for a long time. Right up until it was time to go. I tried to memorize her little face, hands... whatever I could as we sat there. Tried to imprint her smell into my head. Tried to just soak up every second I could for as long as I could.
Then... Clock striked 12:30 and it was time for us to head back to eat and finish packing up. The Bash was in tears... He was NOT ready to leave all his buddies. He was not ready to leave B. He just hates saying good-bye... I do too... but him crying helped me not to... I had to be strong for him, and so I will do my crying at another time! The Man took B up to her room to finish her nap. She clung to him for the first time this week and didn't want to let go. It was a precious moment for those two that I had been praying for.

Daddy and his Girl

The Bash not crying because he didn't want to go home. These two boys put their arms around him to console him. Such a sweet moment.

We finished our lunch and headed to the airport. The trip to the airport is quite a trip! I love the ride. The driving is mad, and the sites are amazing. It's just a great drive. This time getting to the airport was not as frightening as last time.
RIght now I sit in the plane headed to KC and my heart is torn. I'm SOOOOOO excited to be home and sleep in MY bed and have life be a little more back to 'normal.' But I long for our family to be together for forever. I dream of the days where our home is HOME to all of us. I cannot wait for our home to be filled with one sassy loud little lady. I'm excited to watch The Bash be the big brother he already is without any practice.... I just cannot wait... I'm tired of waiting... and I HATE thinking about what B is thinking right now. I pray the Lord fills her heart with His love, and that she realizes how much we truly love her.
I know a lot of you feel it too. Your encouragement and prayers continue to push us through the good days and the hard days. I got a text from my mama and it said: "I read your last blog and I cried and then couldn't sleep so I prayed all night." I said: "Ma, don't cry. We know that God is good, and we put our hope in that." As I sit and want to cry about this... I know that God is good... and that His faithfulness, love, and strength will get us through this moment and the next. May we all continue to rely on Him in each moment.... because how else would we get by?
LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Visit/ Bonding Trip- Day.... what day is it? OH! Day 4

The Man and I were just talking about the fact that we are 3 short days away until Christmas... but it does NOT feel like it. It's kinda funny how Haiti can do that to you. We are in a world of our own.

Today was another morning like the others.

Today when we got to the crèche B was about to get her hair done. SO I sat next to the nanny and watched her do B's hair. I'm going to need all the help I can get in that department... I can barely do my own hair (right Ashley)... let alone another person's hair! :) She sat there so patiently for a good 30-45 minutes while the nanny did her hair. I thought... if that was a kid in the US they would need an ipad or some sort of entertainment for that long of an activity. She just sat there quietly. It was a great opportunity to watch the experts go to work. While B was getting her hair done The Man was getting his hair done by a bunch of the younger kids! It looked.... SO.... good... :)

After B was ready it was food time and then medicine time. B loves for me to hold her... all.... day.... The girl is not light.. My arms are getting a GREAT workout! :) We played with B for a bit and then took her to the crèche. She, again, didn't really want to do anything. She was really shy again and wouldn't leave my side. We tried play doh and puzzles and she wanted nothing to do with it. So we played chutes and ladders. B and I were on a team (she was the spinner for our team). Then... I just sat back with her in my arms and she fell asleep and took a nice long nap. I enjoy each moment of it. I listen to her breathing and look at her cute little cheeks as they press against me. Once she woke up we colored and had some food. But B really didn't want to stay long at the guesthouse today. She wanted to head back early. So we did.

The rest of the evening we spent trying to get B to go to The Man or The Bash on her own. She wanted Mama... all.... the... time... and my arms were getting tired! :) We spent time up in the grass. There she did get outta my arms and sass around. When I say sass... I mean SASSSSSSSS! She even has a sassy walk. :) It's great. The Bash has a now declared "best friend" from the crèche. The Bash and D get along really well... and The Bash spent a lot of his time playing with D while we were there.

Time was creeping along and we were all exhausted... but it was the last 45 minutes of our time as a family that was the best. The Bash got B involved in a chase game and then The Man also joined in and we all laughed SOOOOO hard. We all played and enjoyed each other. It was a long day... but I would do it all over again for those last 45 minutes of sweet family giggles.

As we said good-bye and see you tomorrow... B ran and hid in the corner. I hate that she has to deal with these emotions... not knowing how to sort through these feelings of complete love and joy... to us leaving brings such hurt to me. I cannot wait until we no longer have to do this to her. I pray it is soon.

Not a lot of pictures from today. We just really enjoyed time together and that was that.

Tomorrow we leave back to the States. We are thrilled to be coming home to our family friends.... We are saddened that we will not be coming home as a COMPLETE family.... One day this hope will be our reality.

Continue prayers for our paperwork to go fast. Safe travels tomorrow. Strength to leave tomorrow. Comfort in leaving.

Love you all!

Visit/Bonding Trip- Day 3

Picture from yesterday:

Time with her baby!

Brotherly love for his sister!

Cuddles with BOTH kids... :)

Organizing....

Tongues out!

Our First lunch!

TODAY:

Today was a good day. I got up and got my workout in this morning... Yes... I always work out. Getting it done in the morning (instead of the evening like yesterday) was better... but I still felt like I had never worked out before in my life. If you know me... you know I'm training for a marathon... and you know I HATE missing my runs.... GOOD THING I HAVE A GOOD DISTRACTION!! :)

The Bash woke up and "worked out" with me... He kinda just ran around me and asked me what I was doing. After 'our' workout we got ready for the day. The Man is now reading "Harry Potter" to The Bash, so they spent part of the morning reading. Then we headed over to the crèche.

B was there and came to me. She did well while we were at the crèche. We played. She actually went up to The Bash all on her own. Now, at the crèche they have a suitcase that they use to pull each other around. The Bash would say that is one of his highlights of the day yesterday... SO this picture is of B seeing what The Bash is doing... :)

After B ate her mid day breakfast/lunch we saw the nurse and then decided to head to the guest house. When we got to the guest house this time B was not really sure what she wanted to do... She didn't want to be off of my lap... she wasn't really herself... She was actually tired. So B and I sat and I sang her to sleep. She took a nice little nap this morning, and woke up in time for our second family lunch. She wasn't quite sure about any of the food today (even though it was the same as yesterday)... Once she kinda woke up we painted her nails... AND THEN she decided she would eat something. She had some food and LOVED the grapes (as she should!) Once she had some food in her belly she was AWAKE and we got going. WE did some art, played with play-doh, stacked blocks, read books, did puzzles, and just ran around. We had her at the guesthouse most of the day.

We decided it was time to walk back to the crèche so we headed back. At that time she wanted her mama to carry her everywhere. We walked back, she ate her lunch/dinner, then we looked out over the wall, and then I sat down... well that was an experience... the kids are OBSESSED with my hair. They want to know why I dyed it pink. They want to know why I cut it. They want to braid it! :) So I had about 4 boys and B all doing my hair for a good 30 minutes and The Man played soccer up on the grass with the older boys. It was a good evening. When it was time to leave B did what she had done the last time we were there. Pushed me away and acted real aloof about it all. I know it doesn't make since and it breaks my heart to leave. It breaks my heart that I can't explain it to her better. I can only imagine the hurt her heart feels as her family walks away without her. It stinks every time.

Isn't Haiti beautiful.. those are Mountains.

We came home and we are all exhausted. We had some dinner. Had some good family debrief. Watched a little movie. The Bash got ready for bed and then more Harry Potter reading.... Then we will all pass out! :)

Please continue to pray hard for our paper work.

Pray hard for B's heart and ours

Pray that tomorrow will be an awesome day (our last full day with her) where we can all feel like we got good bonding time.

Pray and Pray and Pray.

As for you all... Thank you again. I may say it every time... but I cannot stress it enough... All your love and encouragement brings us great joy as well. I pray that as you all get closer to the Christmas season that our focus can continue to look to HIM. Jesus, our Savior, born... not just born to be an amazing example and man... but born to save us all!

Visit/Bonding Trip- Day 2

Tuesday morning we woke up like any other morning... The Bash was awake!!! He hopped into our bed with us and talked away for a good hour (this is all normal for us). We finally got our bodies out of bed and got ready for the day. We had breakfast, I took a coldish shower, coffee, and some books. We started off our day like most other days.

We then made our way to the crèche. As soon as we got there B ran over and I got to hold her. The kids were all outside (the weather here is VERY pretty... not so much hot... more chilly) and playing. A couple of the boys have really taken to The Bash. They enjoy how funny and easy going he is (we do too). I have to take a moment to tell you that The Bash has been AMAZING through this trip so far. He has been patient, accepting, calm, sweet, hilarious..... just been a blessing to us all.

Anyway... we all played around (B in my arms). B gets heavy so I decided to sit down for a bit on a ledge. B and I started singing and I was bouncing her around on my knees and she warmed up fast (VERY different than last time... when she never wanted to come to us on her own... it took her half of the day to really warm up to us). She even went off my lap to "get" The Bash at one point. It got to the point where we felt comfortable to take her to the guest house with her. We spent MOST of the day at the guest house just us 4. It was such an awesome time...

We:
- Opened some presents (B did...)
-puzzles
-coloring
-ate lunch as a family (our VERY FIRST family meal)
-took a nap (B did... and The Man did...)
-ate Tic Tacs
-ran around the place a lot
-play doh
-blocks
-and stickers

It was an awesome day! Couple of fun things we learned: B LOVES organizing things in pairs. Everything has to be color coded and in a pair. She loves to be scared. She is smart. She is SOOOO shy at first... but once she warms up she is amazingly loud and LOVES to sing (sound like anyone else you know?!?!) B is potty trained :)

Some sweet breakthroughs: B wanted and called for ALL of us to come with her by the end of the day. She always looked for one of us if we were not all in the room together. When B was sleeping The Bash had to sit by us and snuggled next to her... I wish I could have captured the look he gave her. The Bash said many times "We're B's family" to anyone and everyone. B was sad when we had to leave (last time when we had to go... she did NOT care... so as sad as it is for her to be sad... I feel like it is good that she doesn't WANT us to go...).

No update on the case. Not sure if/when we will get anything before we leave. So keep on praying.

Can I just say how blessed we feel to have such amazing friends/family like you???? Ya'll are so encouraging to us. Your comments and investment in our family makes us feel so very loved. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! We love you all.

Pray for paperwork, another good bonding day tomorrow, patience and energy (we are literally playing with 2 kids from 8-7.... it's exhausting... good... but exhausting), and pray that we continue to show those around us God's love.

Hope this finds you well. :)

Oh?!?! Pictures??? Yes.. here you go!

Our Visit/ 2nd Bonding: Day 1

Well today has been quite a whirlwind of a day.

We woke up at 4:00am to get to the airport. We RUSHED to get ourselves checked in and onto the plane. We had a nice flight to Miami. The Bash was scared at first, but enjoyed looking out of the window and asking "Is that the Ocean?!?" (it was never the ocean... but he asked the whole way... )

What are the odds that the same gate we came out of from our KC trip would be the same gate we would take off from Miami to Haiti?!?! In our case very very good. It was an awesome surprise to not have to run around an airport with a 6-year-old. It also gave us a few minutes to send some last texts and fill up our water bottles... Then we loaded a VERY full plane to Haiti. It was another enjoyable flight. We landed in Haiti right around 2:00 and went through customs.

It's funny how different our visit was this time from our last time. This time we knew what we were doing... We knew what to expect.... and didn't feel uncomfortable at all. Even with a crazy fight going on behind us in the airport.

WE were picked up from the airport. We stopped to pick up some fruits and veggies from the grocery store.... Now... we had been up since 4:00 am... Each plane trip I told The Bash that he should get some rest because there was a lot left of this day. He did not.... SO on the bumpiest part of our trip... The Bash... fell.... asleep!!!! Go figure. He missed the entire trip from Port Au Prince to Kenscoff. It is a beautiful drive. The ride was very enjoyable, and even though it has been over a year... it seemed so familiar and good.

We got to our guesthouse (the new guesthouse...which is actually the old crèche) around 5:00. We dropped everything off and walked over to the now new crèche to see B. We walked in and she was coming down the stairs. I think she recognized me the most because I've been able to see her and talk to her a few times on facetime. She put her hands up for me to hold her and I did not object. I drank her in! She is SOOOOOOO shy at first (kinda the opposite of The Bash). It took her a bit to warm up to The Man and The Bash... but by the time it was time for us to go, she was running around playing with us.

Starving... we left around 6:15 and headed back to the guesthouse to eat some much needed dinner. The Bash mentioned missing his home... which totally makes sense.. Haiti is a lot different... but he is enjoying himself. He has already messed around with a couple of the boy kids at the crèche and made good friends.

We look forward to another day with her. We are planning on taking her back to the guest house to spend time as a family. She is very apprehensive about new places and things... So, I hope that it is a good experience... and helps get ready to come home with us for good.

Today, we also got to talk to the C4C worker that is working on our case. He said HOPEFULLY he can work something out for our case by this FRIDAY!!! We really MAY have a back to back trip to Haiti to bring her home.

PLEASE pray that this trip is a blessing to us all. Pray for good bonding. Built up trust in us. Blessing to this country, this crèche, and these amazing kids.

Pictures are coming... Just having a hard time loading them... :)

Family Time

We have some GREAT news... but first I want to preface this by tell you all that the reason why I haven't written much the last 3-4 months is because there has been NO MOVEMENT since then. We have not gotten any news on movement on our Birth Certificate Extract... We continue to wait. This has been a hard 6 months of waiting. We thought for sure we would be together by now.

That being said....

Our church choir decided to do a fundraiser advent dinner and dessert auction... which pushed us into making the decision to just go for it and head out there.

We are going to go to Haiti.... Monday!!!! All three of us are traveling to see our girl for the holidays... and because it's been too long since we last saw her. If she can't be here with us, like we wanted, then we are supposed to be out there!!! It will be The Bash and B's first time meeting!!! What an awesome blessing!

So, please pray that travel goes well. That this visit is a blessed one with lots of family time. That we are able to all bond and grow together. That The Bash and B get along really well.

I promise pictures and stories along the way.


ALSO, please don't stop praying for movement of the Birth Certificate. We are on our very last steps of this adoption. As soon as those papers get moved we will be able to bring her home. We're OK with going out there... then having to turn around and go get her! :)

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Well a couple things we need to share!

First, a lot of you were asking how I got to skype (facetime) with B this past week so I wanted to share a bit about that. On facebook I am a part of a group of people adopting from Haiti as well. It's an amazing group where we can ask questions, lay down prayer requests, and build a community. Through this I have met and become friends with other who have their child at Chance for Children like B. One of the mom's was at the creche this past week and was able to take pictures of our girl, send us videos of her, give her videos of us, and then we set up a facetime to chat. It is a HUGE blessing!!!

Second, we got an email yesterday letting us know that the birth certificate we had been waiting to be legalized.... was actually misprinted and now must go BACK to the archives and have it reprinted correctly... We have been waiting for this BC for over 2 months.... So it's starting to sound like it may be ANOTHER 2 months before we get the BC printed correctly, legalized, and submitted to USCIS. Oh to feel completely shattered... To get the wind that was finally passed our way through pictures and phone calls to be knocked right back out of us a day later.... It's so unfathomable.

Anyway, God is good... and is providing... We would love for you to join us in prayer this Monday from 6-7 at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church(we will sing, pray, and sing and pray). If you are far away from us or cannot make it, if you can stop and pray during that time we would greatly appreciate it. If you have your shirt or your bracelet wear it Monday and pray, pray, pray... We want our girl home so bad.. We believe in the power of prayer and the power of the Lord. Pray that this paper work gets done SOON. Prepare her heart and ours for this new transition. And pray for strength and courage during this time.

What Are We Waiting For??

Hello all our sweet friends! We cannot appreciate how much love and support you have given us as we march past our year anniversary of meeting our daughter. As some of you know we were praying and hoping (kinda expecting) to have our dear girl home maybe June or July.... We are sitting here early August and still waiting! So let me give you a little insight about our hold up:

We got an email (early July) from the Embassy requesting B's birth certificate. The one that was submitted was a handwritten one. The crèche ground worker is on this task, but it is taking a long time for them to get their hands on it. We were told a couple weeks ago that it would be 'any day now.'

One of our good friends has been in contact with the Embassy and it SOUNDS like once this document is in we can get our paper work to be pushed on to the next and final stage!

So you can direct your prayers in the direction of getting the birth certificate and  to get our paperwork pushed through as fast as possible. We are a week away from school to begin for myself and The Bash!!! Tensions and emotions are on high alert here! :) Lots of new things happening and lots of big transitions are underway in our lives in so many ways! So you can also pray for us all to take everything one step/ one day at a time.

Some common questions:
Could it be any day? Yes

When will you go? After we get word it will be about 2 weeks and then we'll head to Haiti

How long will we be there? Only 2-4 days. The Bash will be coming with us

How long will you be home with her? As long as she needs! It will all depend on her and what she needs. It may take her a long time to adjust and see us as her family... It may take her a week! We have no idea so our life is up in the air (as always).

What do we need? prayers... tons! girl stuff (clothes, hair stuff, toys, blankets, towels, underwear, hair oil, skin care...) ... probably meals.... Maybe come by and give loves to The Bash once we bring her home... did I mention prayers? :)

We love you all and could never thank you for how amazing all of you have been through this long process...  These past few months have been so hard... Our family is so ready and our hearts ache for her!

Benithy Turns 4

We made the cake and are ready to celebrate.... just wish we had the girl to celebrate WITH.... Tomorrow (June 23rd) is our baby girl's birthday. We were hoping so much to get to celebrate with her at HOME.... but as luck will have it... we'll be celebrating in a different way tomorrow...

SO we invite you all to help celebrate our girl's birthday by praying... really praying hard all day tomorrow that we can bring her home SOON. Please put these on your list and PLEASE pray with us tomorrow all day as much as you can possibly muster. I believe that God will hear our plea! You can come by and pray with us tomorrow and help us celebrate if you are around, or wherever you are, or text us prayers, email prayers, facebook prayers, write prayers, say a long prayer or many short prayers... any and all will be amazing!
 
Here is where you can direct your prayers:
- Bring our daughter home SOON
- B's heart prepared to come home
- Bash's heart prepared for a sister
-Our heart ready
- Smooth transition

Thanks in advance for all your love and support I don't think we could have done any of this without your love and support. May this find you well...

Moving on in the Process!

Hey friends we are so thankful for your continued prayers and thoughts for us! They are effective as we are happy to announce that we have moved through yet another step of our long process! 

So we have officially exited MOI (ministry of interior = immigration phase of the process for the child) 

The process is not over yet! Our file (along with the child’s passport) is now being submitted to the Embassy in Port-au-Prince. (4-6 weeks)
 If approved, schedule visa appointment , Complete child’s medical appointment for visa. Once the visa appointment is scheduled, the child can come home in about 2 weeks. 

SO we are thinking it will be another 2-3 months before we are traveling to bring our baby girl home! Keep praying because it can always longer and it COULD be shorter... your prayers work wonders! 

Pray for:
- Benithy to come home soon!
- Prepare Benithy's heart to be ready to come home
- Prepare our hearts
- That the transition goes well.

 


 

She is OURS!!!

Yesterday was my first day of spring break! So our family decided to use the time to update The Bash's passport so he will be ready to travel with us to go see/get our girl. We also drifted into our home Lifeline office to chat about what another adoption would look like, what we would need to do, where do we go from this one... Just a chat session to get a feel for what our next steps will be. We had a GREAT talk and a little more clarity on what our next years may look like. Anyway, we were driving home when all of a sudden I see I got an email from our country rep, Morgan. My heart starts racing every time we get something from her.... it could be anything... it could be nothing... it could be everything... you just never know.

I opened the email and she told us that we have her adoption decree! She is officially ours and takes our name! If we moved to Haiti today we could have her. We have about 6 more steps to go that will all have to deal with getting her legally to the US as a citizen.

Here are the steps we have left:
- The file gets translated and legalized and has to go through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
 - MOI (ministry of interior = immigration phase of the process for the child)
- The file (along with the child’s passport) is submitted to the Embassy in Port-au-Prince
-  If approved, schedule visa appointment
- Complete child’s medical appointment for visa
- Once the visa appointment is scheduled, the child can come home in about 2 weeks


We still have no idea when she is coming home. We are still praying for May/June. I hope you join us in doing that too! :) The coolest thing is we are able to share pictures of her with you all! We have been so very excited to share her with you all for so long! 

We love you all!!!

On other news:

B's bedroom now has a bed, dresser, and new bedding! We're gonna have her room ready to go when she gets here!! So excited!

We got a bed!

This weekend we were able to go and buy a bed for our little B's room. Her room is painted, got a bed, and a dresser now! The room isn't ready. We still have a lot to do/get to be ready for our little girl to come home, but it's a step in the right direction. I walk by her room now and feel this happiness... and sadness... As the days click along... the more it feels like we aren't going to get to have her home before her birthday.
Keep praying!

Thank you to all of our friends who came and supported our V-day dessert fundraiser and Lenten dinner. We continue to feel so blessed to have your love, support, and prayers!

Have you gotten a date?

Have you gotten a date? When is your girl coming home? Why don't they want to get kids outta there as soon as possible? What is taking so long?....

Those are some of the most asked questions the past few months... and if you have gotten the blank stare from The Man or I you must understand... we aren't trying to be rude, but we don't have great answers for any of these... and we have answered them 500 times! :) We LOVE that you all care so much about our girl and about our family. We LOVE that you are interested in this LOOOONNNNGGG process and are sticking with us to the very end of it. So we want to thank you SO very much for all your patience with us. So here are the best answers to those questions I can come up with (The Man's may be more positive and cheery hahaha):


Have you gotten a date? Never... They don't give dates because they don't know... It could be in a few months... it could be in a year... We really have no idea... I don't think anyone does. We fly by the seat of the Haitian government

When is your girl coming home? We don't know. We hope that you continue to join us in prayer that we can bring her home this summer. But we really have no idea (see answer above).

Why don't they want to get kids outta there as soon as possible? Haiti is an amazing country. They raise some amazing kids! They are working in 3rd world country conditions. Our government moves SLOW... imagine working with less workers, less technology, less know how... that is why it takes so long. They want homes for these kids, but they also have pride in their country and their background/roots ... they want their kids to grow up in good families, but still know and love where they came from. You can't fault them at that! So it takes a long time. It would be a lie to say we didn't know that this was going to be a long time...

Since the new year has rung in the waiting has become almost unbearable. It's so hard to wait... So please know that we may act super cool and calm and breezy (by we I mean The Man... I never act calm or cool... or breezy.. I'm always a mess...) but no matter how we are acting... we are fighting hard on the inside to be patient and wait as the final laps come to this adoption. Some days I wonder if it's EVER going to happen. Some days I worry that B's room will not be ready in time. Some days I just cry in frustration. Not saying this to make anyone feel sorry for me or us... just real emotions of where we are in this process. The wait is the hardest... right?

Anyway... Keep praying and keep encouraging! I read this today.... and it sums up a LOT in my life right now

Trusting this journey and knowing that God is walking it with us every step! May HE bless you in your journey as well!


Too complainy??? I hate leaving things so serious.... So I'll leave it with this... The joy that I feel when The Bash tells someone that B is his sister... the pride he has in his heart.. the love he has for her already... the excitement he contains is beyond amazing... Our boy is an amazing boy already and he is going to be an AMAZING big brother. I cannot wait to get those two together... watch out friends.. the White family is about to get even CRAZIER! She is the most perfect fit... and we are ALL excited to get to share her with you! May we keep our eyes focused on all the joy and love she will bring to our family because this wait is long and hard.. but SOOOOOOOOOOO worth it...

And that is how I like to leave things! Amen! 

Anyone Home?!?!

Hey friends! Long time no see!!! The main reason for this... is there is not a WHOLE lot to report... and I hate to really take your time if I don't need to! :) So here are a couple touch points for you:

1. We are in the step of the adoption process called parquet. It is a swift (and by swift I'm being completely sarcastic) 8 step process... :) Here are the steps that our paper work is going through:
        1.       The file is picked up from IBESR and taken to Parquet (court) à you guys are here
        2.       Adoption decree – when the adoption decree is issued, the child is legally yours in Haiti, and they are officially given your last name
        3.       The file gets translated and legalized and has to go through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
        4.       MOI (ministry of interior = immigration phase of the process for the child)
        5.       The file (along with the child’s passport) is submitted to the Embassy in Port-au-Prince
        6.       If approved, schedule visa appointment
        7.       Complete child’s medical appointment for visa
        8.       Once the visa appointment is scheduled, the child can come home in about 2 weeks

 

The timelines for each of these steps can be difficult to estimate since it can look different for each family’s case. However, I would say that typically steps 1 through 4 are the most lengthy, and steps 5 through 8 tend to move more quickly than the previous steps. Obviously that could change as we continue moving forward, but we will keep you guys in the loop on everything as we go.

 

As we move through we will let you know as soon as we know! :)

 

 

2. Our crèche had to get a new power of attorney. So I believe that will delay us moving through any steps until all our new paper work is filed with them (The Man worked on that last week). So once we get all our new paper work moved through that process we can hopefully get through those other steps from above.

 

 

3. Our daughter is doing awesome! The latest update we got on her is that she loves to eat, loves to dance, and sometimes loves to dance while she eats.... Sound like anyone else in our family?!? (only all of us). Our crèche's facebook page posts a LOT of pictures of the kids and B is in there quite often. So if you are on facebook follow them and you can catch some glimpses of her often. You can also see the awesome things the crèche is doing for all the kids. ALL our kids got to celebrate Christmas this year. They had presents and they had an awesome dinner for everyone. What a blessings it is to see our daughter smiling and getting to celebrate.

 

 

4. Thanks again to all our prayer warriors... I know that your prayers are working miracles for our family and our child. Please continue to pray that we move through these steps as quickly as possible, that our daughter is doing well and staying healthy, that he would prepare all of our hearts as we get closer to transitioning to our full family, and last please pray for safety and guidance in Haiti as they still work to elect people into office there!