Happy Birthday Ronese

Oh precious little one, how we miss you today. Your first birthday was tragic for you and the beginning of a year of waiting. 365 days later you are still waiting and have no way to know it is getting closer. We are celebrating your growth, your survival and your strides. We wish so much that you could be with us. We would hold you and sing to you. We would even let you have icecream! Know that you are loved beyond measure. We are praying for Joy and Contentment in your heart. Jer. 29:11

Good bye MOI

Our papers were signed out of MOI on the 21st! We are now applying for passports and preparing for the American side of things. This quick turnaround in MOI has once again given us hope that we could have the kids home in time for a 4 year old birthday party for our little boy!!! Wouldn't that be fun to have a birthday party without pink frosting. Now it is time to face the car shopping reality and find a minivan for our 4 Little Monkeys and their carseats.

Purse Party

Check this out! Haitiancreations.com We had a purse party last night and you can too. The Purses are beautiful! They are made in Haiti by Haitian women enrolled in a sewing school. They sell their purses and by the end of their schooling have the opportunity to buy a sewing machine to start their own business. It was so fun to look at all the bags and try them on. Everyone chose something different than I thought they would. It was so fun to see the bags, know a little about the ladies who made each one and the Banana Flambe was good too. If you are interested in ordering a purse or having a party, just click on the website and go for it!

MOI

Yea! Our way-too-long-in-Second-Legal is over. I emailed our agency rep and happened to ask if she knew if we were in MOI yet. Yes! came the answer, March 19. Crazy that we celebrate starting another wait, but Second legal is where the adoption papers are signed and I am so happy to be out of that and into MOI!!! After MOI is passports, USCIS and Visas (approximately 12 weeks after MOI... I think). Also, this step comes with a whole ream of paper work for USCIS. I love adoption paper work.

Waiting Better

Today I will share my heart and a part of my journey. You may not understand. That's ok. It is where I am, who I am, and what is on my mind.

In this life there is a delicate balance between "Let go and let God" and "pray without ceasing." I do not claim to have found that balance, but I know it is there and some days I get close. Having previously adopted we know about "the wait." What I knew about this wait before we began was that it would be humanly impossible for me. I knew there would be no way I could meet our kids, tell them good bye, and wait for the process to come to a slow and unpredictable culmination. I knew, after enduring the hardest waits ever, that once the kids are here and the family is together and doing life the wait would be a distant memory. But like child birth, the joy of the children never totally erases the recollection of the agony experienced getting them here. Also like child birth, the children do not come without the wait. Knowing this I agreed to this unimaginable wait clinging to the knowledge that God alone would help us through. I also enrolled in a Bible study on the book of Esther. I figured she not only survived, but honored God and saved her people from annihilation; there must surly be something I could learn from her.

I must say that in the beginning I was doing ok. That is, I had a good perspective and was pacing myself and bracing for he long haul. That is until we met the kids, left them in Haiti, and had a miracously short stay in Parquet. That is when the waiting got very diffucult. Someone once said: "A mother is only as happy as her saddest child." When we left Haiti we left our saddest child there without a mother to cling to. After 3 1/2 months of praying for very fast paper work so she could be home and I could take care of her, I changed my focus. I am asking Jesus to hold her close and give her joy and contentment. "Yet will I praise Him." I know that it is all in the fullness of His time; that he knows and loves our children more than we could know; that "They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength" and if we wait on government offices and monthly updates our strength will be depleted. Still we wait and at night I now sleep.

The latest report says our children are doing well. In fact, Ronese was seen smiling at the other babies and is alowing the nannies to comfort and care for her. Oh, we are now 4 months in Second Legal (and counting), but I am sure MOI is just around the corner. We are so full of anticipation for "the Day!" But for today I wil enjoy this new picture. Hope you do too.

News

Our monthly reports state that the kids are doing great. Ronese has been seen smiling at other babies playing near her and Wiguerson is helping and sharing. Yea! Good job. We are all working on smiling more and sharing better. The report sates that their files are "in preparation for MOI." We think that means they are still in Second Legal, but are hoping that "in preparation" means someone is working on it.

'Stand by for news'

Haiti's Carnival vacation is over and every one should be back to work for a normal month of March (before the big Easter break early in April). So, we will "stand by for news."

"The rest of the story". Paul Harvey, the news commentator and talk-radio pioneer whose staccato style made him one of the nation's most familiar voices, died Saturday in Arizona, according to ABC Radio Networks. He was 90.
I grew up listening to Paul Harvey's Noon News and Comment. Still try to catch it if I am in the car. I think I will miss that familiar voice.

Nine months since referral

Today marks 9 months since our referral. We went into this knowing that it would be "longer than the normal gestation period". But today seems significant anyway.

This weekend we celebrated adoption by attending 2 different fund raising chili dinners. They were so fun! (For all of Kristi's friends who want to know: Yes, cinnamon rolls were served with the chili.) One of the fund raisers was for a local lady who is adopting a little girl from Haiti! We were so excited to meet her and introduce ourselves. Her little girl is the same age as Wiguerson and hopes to be home this spring. We are already looking forward to playing together.

I know adoption is not for every one, but supporting adoption is and it was very encouraging to see both places packed with people who love and support adoptive families.

January Update Photos

Don't worry Mom and Dad. We are very happy here.