J's Hair: Double-stranded Twists

I re-did Josephine's hair yesterday. It'd been three weeks and a day, so it was time. I forgot to take another photo of her box braids before I took them out, but her parts and hairline were getting pretty fuzzy, and even some of the braids were a little fuzzy. It took me about an hour to remove the beads and box-braids. There were 20 braids, but 7 of these were two-tier piggy-back braids, so it was 20 beads/rubberbands, but then more like 27 braids. I did that right after lunch, then the kids had a later-than-usual nap.

After nap, I got to work washing and parting. Josephine still does not like to have her hair washed. I do it in my laundry sink because it has a sprayer - and she is afraid of the sprayer. She is getting better though. She didn't bite me this time! :) I think maybe having her shower with me sometimes is helping that. She and Elijah also get to play with the water and the sprayer for a bit before I start, so that probably helps too.

Once washed and towel-dried a bit, it looked like this:
Then I started parting and twisting - which took me about two hours to completion. I popped in a movie, and put the booster on the living room floor. This made it a little more difficult, because all my supplies were not contained to the table to help keep Elijah from running off with them. The parting takes me the longest I would guess maybe about 1 1/4 to 1 1/3 hours - it's sometimes difficult with a wiggly 2-year-old - and I wasn't sure exactly where I wanted the parts, so I had to redo a little bit as I went. I have decided that I like to do the parting first and clip off the sections (I need more clips!) before I start braiding or twisting. This way, I won't have problems with the sizes when I get to the end - which happened the first time I did box-braids.

Below are a few photos of the finished product. There are 6 sections. I did an "X" across the top of her head, then parted the back into three section. After holding with the terry pony-holders, I split into two pieces, twisted each individual piece to the right, and then put right over left. Then I finished them off with a rubberband and a couple beads. I can't get more than a couple beads on twists because they're thicker than the tiny box braids I've done. They will hold without beads and bands, but I like the look of the beads on the ends. I'm told this kind of twist will hold as long as a braid. I'm not sure I believe it yet, but we'll see. I do know, though, that since the parts are bigger, I'll probably be touching them up a few times, as the parts get fuzzier faster.

Sorry there are none of her looking at me - she was being a stinker and wouldn't look at me - thought she was being cute (well, OK, she was!). Kaylen and Daddy were even trying to help, but she got this mischievous grin on her face and just wouldn't. :)

Adoption Update Mar2010

We got an email last night from FHG's director, containing our Haitian Adoption Decrees. We are praising God for this EXCELLENT news! We knew we had legal and final adoption decrees from spring 2009, but we didn't know if our processor had a copy of them, or if he would be able to get the originals from the rubble of the MOI building in Port-au-Prince. I'm so happy we now have a copy of them. This means that we have proof that we are the legal parents of our Haitian babes and they have our last name This also means that, for their Humanitarian Parole status, their immigration/citizinship will be finalized under "Category 1", which is much less involved than "Category 2" which is for families without adoption decrees.

So, what are our next steps?

• I'm going to have to get the adoption decrees, along with E&J's Haitian birth certificates translated from French into English. I've created my own (very rough) translations just from Google Translate, but it's not all quite right, and they require certified translations anyway.
  
• We need to have our I-600s approved by USCIS. We originally filed these in July 2008 when I traveled to Haiti, so I'm going to email to find out how we do this without having to refile and repay the filing fees. Our fingerprints are valid, and we had renewed our deadline every three months as requested, so I'm hoping we don't have any issues with this.
  
• We will need to file the I-485. I still have several questions about how to go about this. These forms generally require a hefty filing fee, but it's unclear even how we go about filing this, so I'm holding off on this part for a little bit anyway, until we have more clear direction from USCIS. We had heard that USCIS was working on some updated information, so hopefully we hear about that soon as well.

This also means good news for our taxes. We should be able to include Elijah & Josephine as our dependents for 2009, and also receive the adoption tax credit. This is great news, however, we likely don't have time to apply for tax ID numbers for them before the filing deadline. So we'll probably be completing our taxes without them included, and then go back and amend the return later. It will kind of be a pain, but we'll make it work.

Potty Training Update

Fri 3/26 - Josephine wants to go potty regularly - as often as I have E go - so about every hour - maybe a little more. J goes #2 before lunch (this is the second time in as many days) - Yeah! Still no #1 from her on the potty though. E continues to stay dry and goes #1 anytime I set him on the toilet and #2 as needed. In the afternoon, J tells me when she's gone #1 in her diaper - awareness is increasing!!! Then when I change her she wants to sit on the toilet, but no results. E then tells me he has to go (I didn't ask him), and does so - it'd been over an hour since I'd had him go, so his awareness is increasing - or maybe it was just the power of J's suggestion - but I choose to believe the former. :)

Open Letter

Dear Neighborhoood Bunnies,
Yes, all million of you that left your pellets all around our backyard and patio throughout the winter. Please do not eat my crocus flowers this spring. These are the first three of the group, and I'd like to enjoy them and the others that are on their way out, instead of seeing them broken off at the bases like you did last year. I might eventually get some daffodils planted amongst the crocus to scare you away, but until then, it'd be nice if you cooperated on your own.
Thank you,
Lisa

Potty Training

So, now I'm refreshing my skills with my 2- and 3-year-olds -- or really learning anew since Kaylen was partly/mostly potty trained when she came to live with us at age 3.

Since Elijah was in the toddler room at the orphanage, he was already partially potty-trained - and had been the last time we visited him in Haiti in March of 2009. He will go #1 every time we sit him on the toilet, and #2 if he needs to. He won't tell us when he has to go, so I'm now keeping him in a pull-up. I didn't worry too much about it for several weeks and actually kept him in a diaper most of the time then. Jock would sometimes put him on the potty after supper, but during the day I had other things I wanted to work with him on - normal adjustment & bonding stuff, language learning, etc. Then I'd planned to do it one week but came down with a nasty cold, so it was all I could do to keep up with their normal playing, fighting, eating, etc.

A week or two ago, I started in on it again. He did OK, but then we got thrown off during the busy-ness of spring break. So now this week I've re-started, with having him go every hour. At first it wasn't enough, so it moved it back to every half-hour - although sometimes we'd get busy, I'd forget, or if we have to go somewhere, he doesn't always have a chance to go, and he wets his pull-up, which is OK with me for now. However, I noticed because of those, that he is holding it longer, so I'm having him go about every hour again. I do still sometimes forget, and it seems he is holding it even longer. I've noticed at naptime that he sometimes wakes up dry, so I take him in right away when he gets up. We're having more and more dry times, so that's very nice. He's also going #2 very rarely in his pull-up anymore, which is very nice as well. I can usually spot quite easily when he needs to do that though, and take him in immediately and avoid a dirty pull-up. However, most of the time now, he's already had a chance and done it on his #1 trips to the bathroom.

To try to get Elijah to tell me he has to go potty, I started announcing really loudly when I have to go, or when it's time for him to go, I make him repeat back to me, "Potty Mommy." (I've tried, "I have to go potty, Mommy", but he can't string that many words together and have them come out with any clarity, so I've abbreviated it.) Then I say, "OK, I'll take you to go Potty" and we go on into the bathroom. We'll see how it works - no success so far. I'd like to get that down before he starts daycare full-time, but we'll see. I'm working pretty hard on it now.

Josephine is quite another story. I don't think they had even started potty-training her at the orphanage, as she was still in the older baby room. Many days, her diaper stays dry from in the morning when I get her dressed until naptime. Then she wets it during her nap (sometimes), and then is dry most of the afternoon, until dinnertime or even sometimes until bedtime. Then when she gets up in the morning, she's completely soaked - even sometimes thru her overnight diaper and her PJs. (Makes for lots of laundry when I have to wash her sheet, mattress pad and blanket too!) That is becoming less common now, but she must have an enormous bladder! With her holding it that long, I thought maybe she was ready to potty train, so I started sitting her on the toilet.

She was very afraid the first few times I sat her on the toilet, but has gotten more used to it now. Elijah will sit on a regular toilet just fine, without assistance, but her tiny bottom falls right in, and she's so tense holding herself up, that I don't think she would be able to go anyway. So I got out our little seat that sits on top of the regular toilet. She was perfectly happy sitting up there, but didn't have a clue what she was supposed to be doing. I still would have her come in once in a while to try, but no luck. I would even sit in there with her for longer to see if it was just the timing. No luck.

Yesterday I pulled out our little training potty, so she can sit there for longer, without me sitting next to her the whole time. She sat there for a long time, as long as she could see where I was. I also started a reward system. I sat her down at the same time as Elijah. He went, and I gave him a piece of Smarties candy after he was finished going and had wiped, flushed, and washed his hands. She REALLY wanted one, but I told her she needed to go pee-pee, and asked her if she would. She nodded her head and continued sitting there, but still no luck. Elijah even came in and went again, just for the piece of candy. This time I sat him on her potty, so she could see what she was supposed to "put in there", but it didn't help. After an hour, I stopped her, put her diaper on and took them up to nap -- without that tiny piece of candy. She cried hard, poor girl.

After nap, she wanted to try again, but we needed to go pick up Kaylen, so I only sat her there for a few minutes. Elijah again got a piece of candy for going and she didn't, but she knew the drill this time, and didn't complain too hard. After we got home with Kaylen, she wanted to try again. Elijah went and got his piece of candy. She sat for a LONG time, until I had supper ready. Then after supper she wanted to try again, but we didn't have time - we had to get Kaylen to church. When we got home from dropping Kaylen off, she had a wet diaper. :( Oh, how I wish I could've had her sit for a while to see if she would've gone in the potty, but Daddy wasn't home yet, so we all had to go to take Kaylen. I'm not sure at this point if she will go if I catch her at the right time, or if it's just that she doesn't know how to work those muscles yet.

This morning, about an hour after I'd gotten them dressed, I had them both go in and try to go. Elijah went right away, as usual. Josephine sat there, and while I'm washing Elijah's hands, I could hear her grunting. She went #2! So she got a piece of candy for that, but still no success with #1. Elijah's still dry - he's went once again after snack. Josephine sat down at the same time, but no success. She didn't want to sit there any longer, so I got her up, no pee-pee = no candy. I'll keep trying. She'll eventually figure it out. I hope. :) I'm at least happy that if I catch her at the right time (or at least have her keep trying), maybe she'll keep her diapers #2-free. Hey, a girl can hope, right?!

Teaching Kids to Pray

This morning, as I was checking my email and facebook and emailing my husband about Easter plans quickly before I headed to Target...

Elijah & Josephine were playing with the dishes, at my feet, on the coffee table. They had nearly all the cups set out, and Elijah was "filling" them with the drill from the tool set. Then all of a sudden, Josephine is folding her hands and starts telling Elijah, "Priye! Priye!" ("Priye" is Creole for "Pray".)

So when he was done filling, he puts the drill down and folds his hands, and starts mumbling. I have no idea what he was saying - it wasn't English or Creole - just mumbling, but he was definitely praying - he even bowed his head! Then I hear Josephine say, "Dear God," and then also started mumbling. So I chimed in, "Thank you for Jesus." Josephine and Elijah then also included, "Thank you for Jesus," multiple times in the middle of their their mumbling. Once or twice they also both stopped and said, "Shhhh!", but finally they both stop and Josephine says, "Amen." And it gets repeated a few times as they continue playing with the dishes on the table.

Then Josephine starts putting the dishes back in the tub where we store them, and says, "All done, Mommy!" And this is repeated a few times by both Elijah and Josephine as they finish putting the dishes back in the tub. About then I was done with what I needed to do online, so I asked them if they were all done, they say, "Wi", and we go get our shoes on and head out to Target. Soooo cute!!!

They're learning so fast! At lunch, I usually say a slow prayer and have them repeat it phrase-by-phrase, and it usually consists of something like, "Dear God... Thank you for this food... Thank you for my family... Thank you for _____ (depends on the day - sometimes it's 'Please help me to share')... but most of all... Thank you for Jesus... Amen." At dinner, sometimes we do this with all five of us, or Jock, Kaylen, or I will say a prayer so they also learn what a normal from-the-heart prayer is like too. They usually are the first to sit down at the table, so as soon as I sit down, even before I'm ready to pray, they're folding their hands and asking, "Priye?" Sometimes they do this at naptime and bedtime too. I hope it sticks!

**Update 3/25: This morning they have the tractors & cars all lined up on the coffee table instead of the play dishes, and they're praying over them too. They also asked to pray at breakfast this morning, which we usually don't do (but should!) because we're in a rush to get Kaylen out the door and I'm also usually still half asleep. My kids are awesome!

Quilt Raffle

This is a link to an awesome quilt raffle that is going on for my friend Tamara and her family. They are adopting a little boy from Ethiopia, and hope to travel in the next month or so to bring him home. If you'd like a chance to win a beautiful quilt, and have the proceeds go to a great cause, check it out!

God Was Working Even In The Earthquake

Please take some time to read these accounts of how God working through the earthquake in Haiti. These are from Pierre, a pastor and director at the orphanage where Elijah and Josephine lived for 2 1/2 years. I'm so blessed that my children had such a Godly man leading the orphanage, and so blessed to worship my God who is bigger than all the evil and pain in this world!

To clarify a few things... The women he talks about praying in the church are likely from the church where he is a pastor. Marie France is Pierre's wife, and they have a new baby (maybe 6 months old??) and I think two or three older daughters. Clenide is another woman that works at the orphanage. Kiki and Franckis are Pierre's brothers - Kiki is a lawyer and our adoption processor. Franckis manages the adminstrative things at the orphanage.

Elijah Singing with Muppets

This was too funny not to video and share with you. I'm still laughing at it every time I watch it! It's Elijah singing part of Bohemian Rhapsody to a Muppets YouTube video. :)

(Remember to turn off my playlist at right before watching the video.)



The YouTube video he's singing to is located here, and the part he's singing is about 55 seconds into it. So funny watching how his facial expressions matched Animal's. We laughed so hard watching him do this. Josephine was doing it too, but she wasn't quite as into it as Elijah was.

Side note: We also like the Muppets Banana Boat Song, and the Muppets Manamana song that can be found on YouTube. These have kind of become a fun after-dinner routine.

Elijah's Hair

I'd bought a pair of clippers to use on Elijah's hair, so we FINALLY tried them out. It was long overdue, but it was kind of cute to see what Elijah's hair would look like if grown out a bit longer. We're a fan of the more conservative short look though.

We first brushed out his cute little curls with our boar's hair brush, so they weren't quite so balled-up. We do this regularly anyway, but before cutting we thought was important because then we'd get a more even cut - and that held true. With all those curls, it was hard enough getting it even...

We had him sitting on a step-stool, but he was very squirmy because he was scared of the clippers. So I held him on my lap and held his hands. Jock held his head still against my chest as he clipped. By the time we were almost finished, he was a little more calm. But then Jock took the guard off (we used a 1 guard) and used just the clippers to shape around his neck, ears, and forehead. He didn't like that too much either, but did OK until Jock was finished. By that time we were both covered in tiny, itchy, curly hairs, so we headed for the bathtub. Josephine was also close-by so got some on her too - her socks were covered! Fun times! Good thing it was Saturday evening and time for a bath anyway! :)

I'm not sure why he was quite so scared of the clippers. My sister, the professional hair-cutter, says almost all 3-year-old boys are scared of the clippers. I can understand that. Other friends from our orphanage said their boys were not scared, but I do remember seeing boys getting their hair shaved at the orphanage, who were crying. I'm sure they didn't use a guard, and I wondered if the clippers got hot and maybe were dull and pulled, since they probably did so many boys at once. Who knows... I'm thinking we might want to clip his hair a little more often so he can get used to them though. We'll see.

So here are the before and after photos...
Before brushing:
After brushing, but before clipping:(Note: Yes, the same length - it's very cute and looks shorter, but it doesn't take long for the balls to form again even at this length - we could brush it all day long!)

After: