Aug09 Photo Update

We got new photos of our two far-away kiddos. I LOVE Elijah's smile here, and Josephine has her standard confused/perplexed look, but both look well. Josephine's hair is really getting long - can't wait to put some pretty bows or beads or barrettes into it. :)

Red Cross Level 1 Conquered

Kaylen took Level 1 of the Red Cross swimming lessons again this summer. Last summer it was too late at night for her at that age, and she had a hard time paying attention, and was requested to take it again. I think she could have done all the stuff, if they'd really worked with her, but with 10 kids in the class, and 3 teen teachers who were barely in the knee deep (to an adult) water with the kids, it just wasn't happening.

We went to a different pool this summer, and she did awesome! I was happy to see that the pool was deeper water (about 3 1/2 feet deep - so no cheating), there were only 6 students in her class with one (more mature) teacher who actually got in the water and showed them how to do things, and sang songs and played games that made it fun. I think it was more her maturity level, and her having more experience in the water. She's been going to the water weekly with daycare, and since she's in a daycare class with all the school-age kids (entering 1st grade up to 6th), she's of course being motivated by the bigger kids.

So, things went very well. I actually didn't know she could do as well as she could! Level one is supposed to be able to:
1) Blow bubbles (3 seconds)
2) Front and back float (supported)
3) Bounce up and down in chest-deep water 5 times
4) Supported kicking on front and back
5) Safety rules

The teacher, a couple days in, let Kaylen do the floats and kicking unsupported, because she can! In fact, by the end of the 2nd week, she barely watched Kaylen do it. She didn't however suggest that she move Kaylen up to the next level - that's probably a sales tactic - they'll hold them back but not let them move up. Oh well - it did give her some confidence. She was so proud of herself. On the 4th of 8 days, it was a parent-watch night, and she was so excited to show me a surprise - that she could do it without the teacher supporting her like she had to with the other kids in the class.

Level 2 will add the following to Level 1: holding breath under water for 5 seconds, unsupported floats for 5 seconds and recovery, submerge and retrieve objects in shallow water, front and back gliding 2 body lengths. I'm not sure if she could do the 2 body lengths gliding (maybe though - see video below), but I'm certain she can do the rest - she was doing it in lessons this year. We talked about doing lessons this fall or winter again, so she doesn't lose what she learned. The pool we took her to for lessons is an indoor pool, but it will depend on whether it conflicts with fall soccer.

A few pix of her new techniques:
The back float:

...and the front float (that's the teacher standing at left, nowhere near Kaylen):

Some (very short) video clips (note - the last one is the funnest - turn off my music and turn on your volume and listen to the song that goes with it):

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Happy 3rd Birthday, Elijah Ralph!

Today is Elijah's third birthday.

This is the earliest photo we have of Elijah, taken in May, 2007, by another adoptive mom, who was visiting the orphanage the day his mom brought him in:

A more recent photo of him (bottom right), from just a couple weeks ago, with some of his friends:

We love this little guy so much, and can't wait until he can come home! Praying he's home soon, and that he has a wonderful day with all his friends in the toddler room.

July'09 Adoption Update

Well, we got our update on Wednesday, a few days early this month. Our files still have not been submitted to MOI. They are waiting for the abstracts to be ready. I was so bummed to hear this news this week. But I had a good cry, and I'm back at waiting on God to make this happen. This waiting is harder and longer than we ever could have imagined, before we started this process!

We did hear a tiny bit of news on the birth parent updates. Josephine's father is ready for his (they have to make sure they have a proper photo ID, and time available to go. So, we're praying that he'll have that completed soon. We're also praying for Elijah's mother, although there was no update on her. I assume that the staff is working on getting her back in the city long enough to make sher she has her proper identification, and stays in PAP long enough to set up and go to an appointment. Please pray with us on these, and that there are no DNA requests that would cause more issues getting them into yet another appointment.

We know several families, from our orphanage and others, that have just gotten out of MOI (office that approves Haitian passport), have just had passports printed, are waiting on the US to approve or print their children's visa before they can come home. These are the steps we have left, and we're excited to see these children united with their forever families.

Elijah & Josephine Pix, July2009

Thanks so much to a few other adoptive moms that just recently returned from Haiti, for taking these photos of our two little ones!!! They know all too well how much extra photos are a blessing to us moms waiting at home. Bless you for your ministering to my heart through your camera!

Miss Josephine in her crib at the orphanage:

Close-up:
Just got up:
Hmmmmm... What should I do now?
OK - I'll go see what my friends are doing:


Our big boy, Elijah, playing with his friends:





...and having lunch (he's a fast eater - look at him standing in the back with his plate that looks like it was licked clean!)
Hey wait - where's everybody going with all this food still left over? Can't waste it!

Kaylen's Riding Her Bike!!!

Yep - you read that correctly - she's doing it without training wheels.


We tried it a few different times over a few weeks, at home, just on the sidewalk, and weren't sure if it was just that she couldn't get going, or couldn't steer or what. So today we finally decided to take her to a big wide-open parking lot with a slight incline, so she could get the speed going downhill and not have to steer too much. I think she even got it on the first try! Then she worked on stopping - not just by dragging her feet (and ruining her shoes :) - first coasting and then braking. She can do both well now, and can also turn around OK by making a big loop.

Then we went to Walmart and got her a big-girl helmet - as promised when she could ride her bike herself without training wheels. I also got a helmet, because I needed one (never had one, actually), and I told her when she got better at steering and stopping on demand, we'd go on bike rides together. She's working on steering - in a couple of movie clips in the parking lot you can hear "stay between/on the cracks" - that's to try to go a certain direction or straight.

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Well, after she learned, all she wanted to do was continue practicing. She's very proud of herself, and I'm so proud of her too! So, when we got home, she practiced on the sidewalk again. She has a little bit of a hard time getting started, because that's when she has the hardest time steering. The sidewalk being narrower, she'd end up in the grass and get stuck. But she could do it, and went several times from one neighbor's driveway past ours and to the other neighbor's driveway, then stop and turn around.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Kaylen was bummed when it was time to come in and have dinner and go through our regular nightly routine. She's got her 2nd & final week of swimming lessons evenings this week, then VBS evenings next week, but she'll have more time to practice the next couple weekends.

P.S. Sorry Karen, it's looking like you might not be able to borrow my bike after all.

Garden Update

Last weekend:









- tiny zucchini & yellow (summer) squash:









- Roma & Big-Boy tomatoes:









- my hydrangea, and the potted marigolds Jock and Kaylen planted:










This weekend:
I'm really surprised at how well my lettuce is STILL doing - one variety is on its way out, but the cool wet weather we've had has really prolonged it. Awesome, because I'm loving the almost daily salads!





We're gonna have a bumper crop of zucchini & yellow squash. There are a couple more zucchini and a yellow squash that should be ready to pick in a day or two. The radishes are about done - they're getting woody and splitting, so I think Jock will be picking the rest soon - those (and the beets) are Jock's job - I don't eat them.

Our beans should be coming soon too. I'm not sure about the green peppers and the cucumbers - neither are looking too good.

June '09 Adoption Process Update

I'm a little bummed by our update we received today. We found out that we are not yet in MOI (the passport approval step). Apparently we're still waiting on abstracts before we can be submitted. We'd hoped we'd been in MOI for a couple weeks already, because our April update said that they'd already obtained the abstracts of our adoption decree, but we're not. I don't know if they had an error and had to be redone, or if they were waiting on abstracts of other documents. Our coordinator is also waiting for an update on our children's birth parents' interviews. Praying we'll hear very soon that these have already been successfully completed.

Even with no news of forward movement in our adoption this month, I'm feeling at peace with this process right now. God's given me an extra measure of comfort these last few months. This adoption process definitely has its highs and lows, and has been VERY frustrating at times, but we're enduring it well right now, I think. I'm told that as we get closer to the end, that the wait gets harder - YIKES! Scary thought! But for now, I'm trusting in God's perfect timing.

In other Haiti adoption news, two families that live in our area are getting VERY close to having their children home - they're talking days or weeks, not months like us still. Some families have received IBESR approval and/or presidential dispensations the last couple months - very good considering that it seemed as there were several months with NO IBESR approvals, so it's great that things are moving again. Also, several families are traveling to Haiti later this week to visit their kids at the same O where our kids are. Praying for more awesome news, for safe trips, and for more glimpses of my happy kiddos in photos to come. :)

Please Support the FACE Act

I've been reading a little bit about the FACE Act this week, and believe it is a very good piece of legislation that needs to be passed through. Please, if you would, contact your representative and senators, and ask them to support this legislation. I believe that all senators and representatives have websites where you can contact them - you just put in your name, address, and email, and then type up your message. I was new to this, so in case you are too, you can find your representative's contact information here and your senators' contact information here. And, ask all your friends and family to do the same. :)

Below is a copy of what I wrote to my US Representative and both US Senators. I added the last two paragraphs to personalize it, so that part would need to be modified, but feel free to copy and past what I used here for your message. Also, I did look up the name and status of the bills here. It is S.1359.IS in the U.S. Senate, and H.R.3110.IH in the U.S. House of Representatives, if you want to include that. Both were introduced in late June, and were referred on to committees.

I'm writing you to ask for your support of the FACE act. For some further information about the FACE act, the following is from McLane Layton, of Equality for Adopted Children (EACH):

"The intercountry adoption process is a long, tedious process for American citizens seeking to adopt a foreign born child. Paperwork includes home studies, finger printing and criminal checks. The process can take up to three years to complete.

At the completion of the adoption, the child must be approved for a U.S. immigrant visa in order to enter the U.S. and gain citizenship. The immigrant visa is required despite the fact that the "immigrant" is the child of a U.S. citizen.

The U.S. is one of the few developed countries in the world that requires internationally adopted children of citizens to immigrate in order to join their new families.Most countries recognize internationally adopted children as citizens upon the finalization of their adoption. The Foreign Adopted Children Equality Act (FACE Act) would recognize that internationally adopted children deserve to be treated as children of American citizens and accorded the same citizenship process as children born aboard to American citizens.

Under the FACE Act, Adoptive parents would apply for a U.S. passport and Consular Report of Birth instead of a visa. These documents provide adoptive parents with immediate proof of citizenship for their adopted child and provide immediate proof of U.S. citizenship."

Why am I interested in this legislation? My husband, Jock, and I are in the process of adopting from Haiti. We are currently now applying for Haitian passports for my two children - who in Haiti's eyes are legally our children and now share our last name. As it is now, after having already waited two years for the completion of the Haitian adoption process, then now wait another 6-12 months for a Haitian passport, and a United States Visa before they can come home.

These added steps not only cost the children lost time in an orphanage, without the loving specialized care of their mom and dad and big sister, it also requires extra costs on our part, which are added to an already costly adoption process. What great changes this law whould bring about, for the good of adoptive families, and ultimately, children around the world! Please support the FACE act.

There was also a petition started. Go here to sign, and also ask your friends and family to sign as well. Thanks!

Caught a glimpse

We're still waiting for our monthly update (apparently the internet in Haiti has not been working well lately), to hopefully find out officially that we are in MOI. We're also hoping for some progress again on getting the birth parents back in for their interview at the embassy.

I received these photos today of our little guy from someone who just returned from visiting the Orphanage. He's in the front in the blue shirt. Doesn't he look older?!? I missed him in all three of these photos until I went back a second time. He's not usually been a kid that's right in the action - he liked to hang back and watch the other kids, so I was looking for him in the background, not right up front! Silly me... Maybe he's starting to come into his personality a little bit more and getting more comfortable in the toddler room now though, so that's nice to see.(You can click on the photos to enlarge them.)
I didn't see any photos of Josephine. :( There were a couple that may have been her in the background, but all I could see was legs, so really I have no idea. I miss them so much, and want them home so badly! Please pray with us that we're in the MOI/passports step now and that it goes quickly and smoothly, and that we hear very soon that the birth-parent interviews have happened successfully with no further requests for DNA!