New Pix of E & J, & Process update

We found out last week that we are, indeed, in MOI. Praise God! We'd been waiting nearly 4 months to enter MOI for an unknown reason, but found out earlier this month that it was because of errors on our adoption decree(s). I have asked for an estimated timeline before we get out of MOI. Last I heard (a few monts ago) was that MOI takes 3-6 months. I'm praying it's shorter than that. But I caveat all that with the fact that our children's birth parents interviews have not yet been completed. So even if we get out of MOI and have E & J's Haitian passports printed, if the interviews haven't been completed, they won't be able to get a visa to enter the US. Please pray with us that Josephine's father's interview will be scheduled and completed, and that Elijah's mother will resurface for her interview to be completed successfully.

I was so please today to see some pictures that another adoptive mom took of my two little ones. We adoptive moms all LOVE to see any glimpse of our children, so it means so much when another family traveling is able to walk through and snap as many photos as they can - thank you Mabel!!! Here's our two precious little ones:
Also, there is lots going on at the orphanage this week:
* Several adoptive families have traveled to Haiti last week and this week, to appear before a judge to "prove" that they want to adopt their children. Most of these families will be saying goodbye to their children at the orphanage tonight or tomorrow morning.
* Some families are still being notified of the need to travel, with little to no notice - or still waiting to hear if they will need to travel.
* There is also a medical team at the orphanage this week, doing health assessments on all of the children. I look forward to hearing how the children are doing - they certainly look healthy to me - Josephine's eyes even look clear! Both are growing up WAY TOO FAST!!!
* A family from Ohio will be bringing their twin boys home on Friday!
* And of course many families are still enduring LONG waits and encountering challenges in one step or another.

Please pray with us over these things. Our LORD is stronger and mightier than these mountains standing in the way of our children coming home!

Gotta Love Haiti!

I enjoy reading the blogs of two missionary families who live in Haiti. It gives me a lot of perspective into the ways of life in Haiti. My favorites are the Livesay family and the Mangine family. Tara Livesay recently wrote about names, and Gwenn Mangine wrote today about the language barrier, having just moved to Haiti in the spring. There are many more examples on their blogs, but I just read these two today. Enjoy!

Yucky Head Lice!

Yep, we've been battling head lice. It pains me to even talk about it – I’m itching my head as I type, just thinking about it! With me never having even seen it before, I probably let it go unchecked for a week or so. When we found it, the week after Labor day, it was a huge infestation. I spent a couple hours picking eggs out of her hair, sent her to bed with clean sheets, and then spend the next day attempting to rid it from my house. We continued to change/wash sheets and clothing in hot water, wash hair brushes/combs and pony tail holders in the shampoo and hot water - then spray them, spray down/vacuum the furniture and her backpack, etc.

I thought we’d been rid of it since mid-September, but two weeks ago they were back! I then was checking her head every couple of days, and would find one or two of those little buggers each time, but no eggs - so I knew she was still getting them from somewhere/someone. Ugh!!! I’d also been careful to have Kaylen’s hair pulled back tightly each day, which takes time, but we just get up a few minutes earlier, or I do it when it’s wet on shower nights and it stays well overnight if done when wet. She used to have her hair down all the time because I didn’t want to fight the complaining, but it’s not worth the risk anymore and she’s getting better at not complaining. Problem is, you can’t stand over a 6-year-old nonstop and tell them not to lean their head on something, don’t let someone/something touch their head, don’t hang your coat next to that kid’s coat, etc.

We notified school and daycare twice – Sept 11th, and again two weeks ago. The school nurse’s reaction, on September 11th, was, “Uh-oh… We’ve sent notes home to the kindergarteners, but if we get too many more in first grade, we’ll have to send home letters to them too.” Too many more?!? WHY didn’t they send notes home the first time they heard of it!!! We received a note home Tuesday of LAST week – almost 5 weeks after we first found it. Sheesh! I just wanted go in that classroom, armed with several cans of permethrin spray, and douse all the surfaces and her locker & contents - and also throw out those reading pillows - that Kaylen had been instructed by me not to use any longer! I didn't though.

However, after a VERY LONG 6 weeks, I think we've finally conquered the lice. I've checked twice this week - Monday and today - and I haven't found a thing, other than dry flaky skin - typical for the colder weather we've been having. I can't tell you how tired I am of spraying, vacuuming, laundering, and picking every other day! Luckily Jock and I, and any houseguests we’ve had, were spared. We're hoping those nasty creatures are gone for good, and that they NEVER return!

Church Activities

Our church activities are keeping us busy as well. Our small group Bible study meets one evening each week. Every other week, we meet at our house, so that keeps us on top of our house-cleaning activities, which is a good thing. Jock and I also help once per month, teaching/being helper for the preschool Sunday school classes. That doesn’t take much prep time, only one Sunday morning per month of being at both services (attending one and teaching for the other). The preschoolers definitely keep us busy though. I teach the craft portion of the lesson to three different groups (ages 3, 4, and 4/5), and Jock rotates with the 4/5 group to the story/music, and game/snack areas. It’s really a lot of fun, but those preschoolers (usually 8-12in each group, but varies) definitely keep you on your toes!

Jock and I are singing in the worship choir, which sings for both services once a month. We sang last month for our church's anniversary celebration, but will miss this month. Hopefully we can make most months after this, because we really enjoy it. Our church has wonderful music program, and it's such a joy and a blessing to sing with the choir!

In addition to Sunday school, Kaylen has activities on Wednesday nights, which include learning Bible verses, Bible stories, and an activity that goes along with the weekly lesson. This fall’s series is focused on Paul’s journeys. Kaylen chose her activity (they have several classes to choose from) for this fall’s series to be the creative cooking class. They don’t really cook, but they assemble snacks. The teacher is superbly creative with the snacks and tying them into the lesson! The first week, they decorated cupcakes to look like lawn mowers (green frosting, chocolate bar mini for the body, M&Ms for wheels, a licorice string for the handle), and tied it in with "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever" (1 Peter 1:24). Then during the week, we have to practice the Bible verse, and Kaylen gets points for doing other pages in her weekly packet, which include coloring pages, word puzzles, community actions (e.g. praying for neighbors, sharing about what God means to you, etc), and a prayer. At the end of the semester, they use their points to "buy" treats and trinkets. It’s really an awesome program, and she’s REALLY enjoyed it last year and this year. She’s learning so much – she’s such a little sponge!

This Wednesday, Jock and I had a little dinner date while Kaylen was at Kid Central. She doesn’t even know we did that, or she might’ve been mad that she didn’t get to go out to eat – one of her favorite things! We did make the mistake of heading to Applebee's though - Wednesdays is their 99c kids night, so it was packed. Luckily the bar was empty, so we just sat up there - and got great service from a bartender who was not busy at all! It was really nice to have that time together where we could just talk amongst ourselves – no little ears present, no manners reminders, no requests for condiments or seconds, etc – something we don’t get to do very often.

Other Bloggers

I wanted to do another update on the Wyatt's. Last I heard from Christina was that they were nearing the amount needed to start the DNA testing. They are still in need of funding to complete their adoption. Thank you to those of you who've checked out their blog and prayed for them, donated, or bid on their auction items. The auction is still going on, so head on over here to check it out.

Last week, I was reading some of the online articles of my hometown newspaper. I came across an awesome article about a family that is starting an adoption from Ethiopia. I've since connected with them a bit, and found that they are also doing an auction to help with their adoption expenses. Check out their auction blog, or their adoption blog.

Finally, while reading Journey4Hope's adoption blog, I came across a link to the Sullivan family's blog. I'd heard bits and pieces about this family from a couple other sources, but never put it together until I read their blog. The first I heard of them was from our social worker who'd said that another of her families was at the airport the day we celebrated our friends' arrival home with their three children they adopted from the same orphanage in Haiti where our children are living. Our social worker mentioned that they were at the airport by chance, picking someone else up from that same flight when they got to witness the celebration. Then, when we got together with our friends about a month ago, she mentioned their son is playing basketball in Jake Sullivan's Kingdom Hoops program. When I found their blog last week, I put it all together. They are now starting a program in Ghana and are also planning to adopt from Ghana. They've just started posting more details of their program planning on their blog - what an AWESOME story. I love reading adoption stories - but this is much, much more. What a heart they have for orphans, and for giving the gift of opportunities to children in third world countries. I can't wait to continue to follow where the Lord leads this family! Head on over to their blog, but to get the full effect, start with their Tuesday, October 13th post, titled "Before I start", and work backwards from there.

Happy blog-reading!

Photos

I realized today also that the photos on my sidebar are very out of date. I hope to get those updated soon also. But first, a couple updates...

Blogger's Block

Wow! Looking back at the last year or two, I used to post to my blog about every other day, or even more. The last several months, I was luck to get to it once a week! I bet you’ve been wondering what’s been going on. Well, nothing in particular. It's not really blogger's block, I’ve just been caught up in the busy-ness of life. The summer, it was just, well, regular summer stuff like swimming lessons, t-ball games, VBS, picnics, and the like. This month (and last), it’s been soccer practices and games that take up most of my spare time, along with trying to keep the house clean and rid of head lice, and attending church activities that have started up again after summer breaks.

After running all over town, by the time I'd done for the evening, I'm just ready to veg out on the couch with my laptop. It's been a good friend! :) So what have I been doing online? I really enjoying connecting with all of you. I haven't been commenting much, but I have been reading your blogs. I've been on facebook - a few games, but mostly enjoy connecting with lots of people, including many who I haven't seen or talked to in a long time! I've been trying to keep up with adoption news, and a couple TV shows that I like to watch - lately Dancing with the Stars. Then, when I can no longer hold my eyes open to read one more blog, I make lunches for the next day, and head off to sleep - which usually is too little sleep!

Also, this summer I got into a good exercise routine, but since it's gotten colder and there's less daylight, I'm not doing that as much either. I hope to remedy that now, as I just purchased a used treadmill from a friend of mine, and hope to get back to my running routine that I was doing this summer. Hopefully that will also help my energy level! More on that and much more soon - I promise!

Follow-up on the Wyatt's

The Wyatt family is the family whose girls are near ready to come home to their forever family from Haiti, but are facing a financial hardship that could delay their homecoming. Christina has had some awesome items donated for an online, silent auction. Many of these items would make wonderful gifts, and there's even a time-share package that will be on the auction block soon.

The first item is up for bid right now. Check it out here, and place your bid. Go back and visit regularly, as there will be more items forthcoming. Share this with your friends and family if you would as well.

Update 10/7: The second item is now up for bid, as well as a raffle! Other new items to be added daily!

Follow-Up on Tony

If you go back to some of my posts from January (from the blog archive on my sidebar), I requested prayers for Tony for his eye surgery to restore his sight...

Here's an awesome article on the answered prayers! Praise God!!!

From our friends...

We are in need of your support!
We are at the end of our adoption. We are currently waiting on passports and visa's. Also they are now asking for DNA for one of our girls. This can cost between $500.00 and $700.00. We cannot get their passports and visa's until this is done and we cannot go and get them until we have paid off our adoption fees. On top of that we have traveling expenses to go and get them. I know times are tough right for everyone so no gift is to small and is greatly appreciated. Please pass this along to everyone that you know. I am not asking for me but for these precious girls of God. They desperately need to come home to be with family and for medical attention. Please pray and see what the Lord would have you to do. Thank you in advance for your obediance to God in whatever it is that He calls you to do.
The Wyatt's

Contact me if you are able to help in any way, or contact them at their blog