Wordless Wednesday ~ Adoption

A Mothers Love 

Guest Blogger ~ My Trip To Haiti

Tonight's post is coming from my son Kaden he is 11 and he recently went with us to Haiti to meet his brother and sisters for the first time. This was Kaden's first time flying , first time out of the country and first time visiting the 3rd world..... This is what he wrote for his writers circle at school.......The video at the end is what we put together so he could show his class some pictures from our trip.... 


My Trip to Haiti 


Recently my parents and I went to Port au Prince Haiti to visit my brother Juvens and sisters Derline and Sophia. Our trip to Haiti took two flights the first was from the Chicago Ohare Airport to Miami and then from Miami to Port Au Prince Haiti. 


When we got there it was really hot first we had to find our bags. Then we got in the car with Patrick our taxi driver and he took us to the hotel where we checked into our room. When I looked over to the corner I thought I saw a fake parrot but guess what ...... it was real and really loud! Then we got to go up to our room but my brother and sisters weren't there so we had to keep an eye out for them. 


When they got there we went downstairs to go get them. They were all sitting on a couch all together and were all so happy to see us. Then we went back upstairs to our room. The first thing Juvens did was go straight for the toys. He got some for Derline and Sophia but Sophia didn't really want to play but Derline did. After they got done playing and Derline and Sophia had went down for a nap we got to go swimming. Juvens didn't get in though because he doesn't know how to swim. After a little time playing in the pool we were done and went upstairs to get ready to go for dinner. Food in Haiti is prepared differently than in the US. My brother and sisters have plenty of food at the orphanage however other children in Haiti are not that lucky and only get one meal a day if that. but they do get some food from the left over food at the hotel the workers give to people outside of the hotel.


Everyday that we were there was just about the same. except for the last day was Monday and that was Juvens Birthday we had cupcakes Juvens was happy about the cupcakes. 


How Haiti Made Me Feel....... 
If you have ever been to Haiti and seen the houses and the people then you would feel sad because they don't have much. It would make you feel like we have way more than we need.  


Some Haitian Creole Words I learned 
Eat ~ Manje 
Dance ~ Danse
Thank You ~ Merci 
Kisses ~ Baisers 
No ~ Pagen 
Happy Birthday ~ Bon Fete 

Hope you enjoyed reading about Kaden's first trip to Haiti! I know I did... We have talked a lot about how much we have here in the US and how much waster there is. We have also asked Kaden so would you want to live in Haiti.... His response was yeah sure... He said what would we do there.... Our 4 year old Wesley said we would help the kids at the orphanage Kaden..... No were not moving to Haiti but its great to open our kids minds and let them think about what really is out there and who really needs our help! 

May 6th..... Its Been a Year

May 6th its been just over a yearsince we found out we were going to get to adopt this beautiful baby girl! She was 9 months old and she needed a mommy and daddy to love her. Its hard to believe that its really been a year since I got the email telling us we could adopt her! This is one of our first pics of Derline!! It was mothers day weekend 2011

It's been a long journey so far. One that has been full of all kinds of emotions and twists and turns in the road… We knew it would be hard but this hard I would have never guessed! There is something that just isn’t right about leaving your babies in a 3^rd world country and us getting on a plane heading back to our world to all of our luxuries… Its just not right.  And yes I said babies as in more than 1….. You see back on May 6 2011 we were told we could adopt Derline we always wanted to adopt 2 but we didn’t know who that 2^nd child would be then we met Juvens when we were in Haiti in August and felt god telling us he was our son. So we decided to also adopt Juvens…. Then we added on to our house to make room for Juvens (Indiana requires 50 Square Feet per child and the room we were going to use had 145… That’s right we missed it by 5 square feet) But god had a plan….In converting our garage into 3 bedrooms and a play room we gained more room then we had imagined and we felt like we might as well finish our family with a 5^th child and that’s when we learnedabout Sophia!

Here are some first pics we have of Juvens and Sophia

I know in my heart adoption has always been something I had felt pulled towards… I remember being little and wanting my parents to adopt from some far away country and give me and my sister another sibling… I always wanted a brother not really for sure why but I did… Well that didn’t happen my parents didn’t adopt and it was just my sister and I.  Zach he was a little further behind me… We had talked about adopting but I can honestly say I don’t think it had entered his mind until I brought it up. That is fine with me… Plant a seed water it watch it grow!! Before I knew it Zach was on board… We looked at several different countries.. we looked at adopting domestically but when it all came down to it we feel in love with the Country of Haiti…  Just recently some people said to me they didn’t know how anyone would want to go to Haiti or even live there… I was very quick to say we would live there we thinks it’s a beautiful place.. The people are beautiful and we truly love Haiti!

Adoption is Forever just as god promised us forever. By following the words of god we are adopting a child forever just as he has adopted us forever! It truly is a beautiful thing! I don’t think adoption is for everyone and I am ok with that … But for us adoption was it. We have got to experience the birth of both our biological sons Kaden and Wesley, I have got to experience what its like to be pregnant. It was truly beautiful… but to finish out our family we choose adoption! Meeting our adoptive children for the first time was bliss it was like being in labor and finally having that baby! Touching them holding them kissing them!! I have loved our “birth” of our 3 adoptive children!

We really started this process “alone” yes we had family and friends who supported this adoption but really they had no clue what they were supporting.. They hadn’t walked this walk…. We quickly feel in love with the whole process all the things that come along with it. There are days of darkness there are days when we don’t have much fight left in us but we keep moving on. Every 3 months traveling to Haiti is hard but seeing our children and spending what little time we have with them is priceless my friends.. We long for the day we get to come to the airport here at home with our kids and have that huge airport party with all our friends and family… All the people that have been praying for us!! We long for that day my friends!! We have quickly been blessed with a “second” family our huge adoption family. We love love love these people like crazy!! We have been so blessed by the huge role we all play in each other’s life. These people truly get us they get what we are going through and we are so so thankful of that! Their hearts are like our opening them to orphans.. Seeing all of there stories unfold us a beautiful thing and we are so thankful god had put these people in our life! 

 
Patience ….. Adoption takes a lot of this….. my motto Be Patient ~ Prepare To Wait ~ Prepare To Be Flexible is sure to ring true with adoption… We have now switched our home study agency because the first agency had a policy of only placing 2 children at a time and we have now switched our international adoption agency because our first only places children with families where the mom is a stay at home mom! Something that should have taken not much time has taken forever…. IBESR is now closed trying to get caught up and we are now praying to be one of the first families in when they do get caught up and reopen! Some days it truly feels like you can’t go any further and it takes everything inside of you to just keep on going! All these dark things stink and then you remember that you are in love with adoption you are in love with your kids you are in love with the country they live in and you remember that God has called you to do this and he will get you through it!!

Its hard to think its been a year…. So many things have happen in that year…..Zach and I were non-flyers never flown and we know have 16 International flights under our belts!! My mom and Kaden got to go and visit our children ~ Kaden has his passport my 11 year old has his passport ~ My 4 year old wants a passport and he talks of this often~ We have made life long friends ~ We have completely feel in love with the country of Haiti~ We have feel in love with god again~ Adoption brought us back to god in more ways than we could imagine ~ We have found a wonderful church… (just this past Sunday I noticed our row and then the 3 rows in front of us were all families that were living out adoption) James 1:27 my friends that’s some powerful stuff!! “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

My prayer is that by next May 6 2013 my babies are all home with us.. We know that god has a plan and we are trusting in him and his plan. His plan 

is greater than anything we could ever imagine! 

Today another adoptive mom posted this on her facebook and it inspired me to write this blog... 

"Every adoption is a miracle. After all, it is God working things out so that a hurting orphan finds his or her way into a family with open arms. It is the building of families in a way that alows God's plans to play out in a very real way." Karen Kingsburry

Triple Trouble

Sophia + Derline + Juvens = Triple Trouble 

Well not exactly but doesn't this picture look like these kids could get into some trouble!! (please don't mind the bag of trash hanging on the door... I actually think this was my only chance to get them all 3 looking at me!) 


Ahhh what love!! These 3 kids complete our family!! We didn't come home this time saying we meet another child and we are praying about this to see if god wants this child to join our family! For now we are going to be Price party of 7 and we are all VERY happy about this!! 

We really had a wonderful trip! There was lots of families and kids at the hotel this week! It was so great to see everyone... see these kids all getting loved on by there families! We were very blessed and got to bring Kaden and my mom with us on this trip! Kaden told us after we got home that he thinks we all have to much stuff here in America.... Isn't that something great to take away from visiting your brother and sisters in a 3rd world country. Wesley is has been talking about getting his passport so who knows maybe in the future Wesley will also get to go! I think he is one of the only 4 year old I know that knows about passports!! He will tell you when Kaden got his passport we had to go and check our mail every single day for it! 

It's really hard to believe this was our 4th family visit! Everyone always ask after we get home for a family visit if we know anymore do we know when they will be home are we getting any closer..... Well let me tell you the answer to all of those questions is no! I wish we knew more I wish there was a good timeline we could go by as to when things will happen but really there isn't! For now we just trust in god's timing. We will continue to visit as much as possible and we will bring them home when god is ready for them to come home to Indiana!! 

This was our first real visit with Sophia... Yes we did have our hands full and we were very glad to have my mom and Kaden with us.... ( if you would like to go with us in August please let me know!! I am being serious!!) Derline remembers us she is always very quick to warm right back up to us and Juvens now also remembers us so that makes things "easy" Sophia however did not know us yet. She immediately grew very attached to me which I loved.... Neither of my boys were ever very attached to me so I will take it!! She wanted me to hold her and love her and cuddle with her!! She makes my heart melt! 

Visiting the kids in Haiti is nothing like being at home or how our days will go when we get to come home.. The days start very early and they are hot and long. There isn't a lot of things to do and our kids often do things in Haiti that we for sure will not be doing at home. But its Haiti and we only have a few days with them and we are trying to make the best out of the 48 hour days!! So when I say we had our hands full it is more of the situation and circumstances we are in and not the fact that we are adopting 3 children!

The girls were so funny you could tell they loved each other and they would call out each others name! Part of the time they would talk nice and other times they weren't being very nice... This was all done in Haitian Creole so we had no clue what they were saying. The only thing we can go by is the tone of there voice!! Juvens is starting to speak more English which we love he still says yes to everything. But you can tell him to do something i am pretty sure he somewhat understands because he does it! I think his time in Preschool with Miss Betsy is really starting to make a difference!! 

Saying Good Bye is hard to do! Usually I am alright yes I cry but this time I really cried... I don't mind showing my emotions but for so long I have had to be strong for everyone else. Well Sophia broke me of that. She screamed and ugly cried when I handed her back to Chris... This broke my heart into a million pieces. Its ok to cry so many people have said to me they don't know how I can go and visit and then leave the kids... Well honestly I don't know how I do it either.... With gods help is all I can really say... Have I not commanded you?? Be strong and courageous...

Our next chance to visit again is August and the girls will both be 2 by then! We are praying that IBESR opens back up and starts excepting new Dossiers again. We are praying that we are in IBESR by August. 

Friends and Family will you pray with us?? 

Pray for our children 

Pray for the orphanage 

Pray for the Haitian Government 

Pray that IBESR gets this back log of dossiers finished up 

Pray that they will reopen and we will be in IBESR by August of 2012

Pray that some of these children in our orphanage get to come home this year. 

I leave you now with some images of our last trip..... 

Follow Me There

                           "Where love, like a river, flows

                           Peace like you've never known

                               And joy never ending lives

                              A place where faith can find

                                  Hope that will never die

Follow me there, come on, follow me there"

This has to be what heaven feels like.......

These song lyrics by Third Day make me think of Haiti. For some reason this is exactly how I feel being in Haiti. I especially felt this on our last trip. Peace like I've never known.... Its kind of hard to explain some would say how could you feel at peace in this poverty stricken 3rd world country... I just did I don't even feel this much peace when I am vacationing in Florida with my family or in the smoky mountains for Thanksgiving! 


Before it was time to go to Haiti I had such reservations about going I didn't want to leave Wesley at home. I couldn't stand the thought of something happening to us and Wesley being left to go on with out all of us. Yes he would still have my sister and my dad and Zach's family but there was just something really unsettling about all of that. I waited till last minute to book our tickets... I had played the hold them for 24 hours game with american airlines at least 4 days in a row... I would release the tickets from the hold and then put them right back on hold again!! Finally we bought them and I still felt a little sick to my stomach! I think part of that feeling was not wanting to have another cock roach that is the size of a mouse in our room again!! But that's nothing a few xanax can't handle!! So finally after giving this all to god... 


Philippians 4:6-7 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus

I started to feel peace by the time we were boarding the plane Friday night I was at peace with the trip and I was ready to see my babies.. I was ready for my mom and Kaden to see the kids!!

We arrived in Miami pretty late and headed to the hotel for about 5 hours of sleep before boarding our next plane to Haiti at 6:45 am ( that means we had to be back at the airport by 5:00 am) Zach and I neither one slept much there was someone lets just say something in our room keeping us awake!! We boarded our plane and we were off to Haiti!! We had a good flight. This time at the airport I really felt at home... for any of you that have been to the airport in Haiti you would probably understand why this statement is kind of funny!! We tried to call Patrick our drive and didn't get an answer so as we approached the doorway to go outside the airport I spotted Big!! I waved and him and he waved back and I instantly felt safe! We walked outside to Big and he then got Patrick. We then made the long walk with Patrick and Big to the car and weren't bothered once!! Praise the lord!! Where love, like a river, flows... We love Big and we love Patrick and you can tell they love us and want to take care of us keep us safe!! I will take it!! 

Arriving at the hotel, checking in , seeing all the familiar faces at the hotel, seeing all the families we love and look forward to seeing!! This is truly where joy never ending lives,

Its for sure A place where faith can find and we all have Hope that will never die... Some of the families already had there beautiful kiddos with them and like us some were waiting for them to arrive! We got there on Saturday and several other families arrived on Saturday as well. In all there was 22 families at the hotel during this visit spending time with there amazing children!! 


In Haiti I feel at Peace I still think its really kind of weird but  this 3rd world country feels more right then the one we live in every day! I feel closer to god when I am in Haiti. Maybe that's because I see the spirit of the people of this beautiful country and they are doing the best they can with what they have got. Folks they don't have fancy cars or houses they don't have high tech phones , air conditioning, closets full of clothing, computers, i pods, nooks all of those things we are so accustomed to in America. If something doesn't get done today they have tomorrow (on a side note I think this is why it takes so long for adaptions) and if they don't have tomorrow they know they will be dancing with Jesus in heaven! People that are truly just living day by day... My son Kaden told me he thought the people looked sad as we drove to the hotel.... I can understand that one might think they look sad and some of them really do. But most of the time I see happy souls....

                           
                          "Where love, like a river, flows

                           Peace like you've never known

                               And joy never ending lives

                              A place where faith can find

                                  Hope that will never die

Follow me there, come on, follow me there"

Happy 5th Birthday my Sweet Sweet Haitian Boy!!

We got to celebrate Juvens Birthday May 7th while we were in Haiti on his actual Birthday!! I honestly don't think he had ever got to celebrate his Birthday. My dear friend and Juvens preschool teacher made some cupcakes for us to all celebrate. We all love Miss Betsy!! Thank you so much for helping me with this!! We brought Juvens some gifts and we celebrated with party hats and party blowers with a bunch of his friends and there families!! It was truly wonderful to see the delight in his face! I believe he fully understood that we were celebrating him and him turning 5! What a wonderful memory we made with him! We are so so thankful to be able to share this 1st Birthday with his as his new forever family! 

Juvens birthday also left me thinking..... thinking about his birth mother ..... wondering if she remembered today was her sweet boys 5th birthday... did she celebrate in his honor.... did she even remember?? As a biological mother of 2 children I would have to say I bet she remembered giving birth to this sweet sweet boy on May 7th... 5 years ago.... I wonder if she thinks of him I can honestly say if she were to see these pictures of him and how happy he is I am sure it would bring a smile to her face. Something so hard that she did giving her son to the orphanage because she could not take care of him. Something most of us could not even fathom. So today I say thank you to Juvens birth mom... Thank You for having this sweet sweet boy.... thank you for trusting the orphanage to find him a loving forever family when this had to be one of the hardest things you did leaving him there. So many children are simply just abandoned but by taking him to the orphanage that tells me how much you truly cared and loved for your sweet sweet boy.