6 months home!

Wow!  Half a year!  The biggest thing I have noticed lately is his manners and his imagination!  He will be in the car and call to me, "Look mommy, he's sleeping!"  He points to his water bottle that is rocking inside of his hat.  Today we got back in the car from shopping and his doggie was on the floor of the car.  He was mortified!  "OH doggie!  Oh no!  Oh baby!"  He picks the doggie up and proceeds to hold him, pat his back and kiss him.  This kid is a comforter and he definitely has empathy locked in!  Just now he needed his stuffed kitty to go poopy and then he was trying to teach him to stand up.  Yesterday he was playing with two refrigerator magnets only the magnets represented two friends and they were talking to each other and such. :-)

This morning in church he was sitting on my lap and clapping his hands during worship.  He got a little carried away with it and hit me in the face.  Instantly he looks at me and says, "Sorry mommy." He also says, "Mesi Mommy," right away.  He will not say THANK YOU.  He knows how to and he prefers the Creole, "Mesi." :-)

One of his daily passtimes is to name off EVERYONE he knows!  He does this by going, "Avery! um, um, JoJo, um, um, Amourah, um, um, Ms. Willie, um, um...." until he has named literally everyone :-)

I dread the day he truly gets a phone, lol, but this is one of the many things he "needs" these days!  He has great conversations on the phone (with no one on the other end).  He also needs candy, a doggie and Daniel Tiger quite often.

He has been taking gymnastics for about a month and loves it.  He also continues to love basketball, soccer and baseball.

He can zip his coat and anything else on his own.  He puts his own shoes on.  Anytime he does one of these things he exclaims, "I did it!  Good job!"  Yesterday he chose his own clothes which consisted of navy sweat pant shorts, socks, gray Jordan's, a bright green shirt with head phones on it along with a down red winter coat.....like this we went on a car ride....no pants...just shorts...he was a sight.

He desperately wants to ride a bike but has not gotten the hang of the pedals.  He loves riding his scooter.  We are both excited about spring BUT I should stop stopping at every park he NEEDS to go to.  That is another thing he often needs, "Mommy, I need slide."  He loves to go on slides.

His eating has picked up quite a bit.  Tonight besides the macaroni and hotdogs, he also ate carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, peas and salmon!  I am so proud of him for this!  A healthy boy he shall be!

At 6 months home sleeping in his own room and bed is not an option and I have come to terms with that.  He sleeps in the toddler bed next to my bed.  He sleeps all night with the exception of sometimes calling my name a few time and when I say, "I'm here," or something like that there is not another peep.

He can point out colors when I say the names of them...he does not offer the color name on his own.  But I ask, "Where is purple?" and he gets it right most of the time.  He also clearly knows how to count forward and backwards from 10, but he does not do it on his own.  If I say a number he says the next number.  He does not seem to have a grasp of the alphabet but we are working on it.  He loves puzzles and books!  His favorite book is, "Good night, moon."

At bedtime most recently he needs a long hug, a kiss and then we need to touch thumbs that are in the good-job, thumbs up position.  He then says, "Good job!  Good boy!"  Not sure if this is coming from his preschool?  Maybe the give him thumbs up and say those phrases once he finally lays down and resolves to sleep/rest?!?  Sleep or rest at his school are still not the strong parts of his day.

For Spring Break we took a trip to Florida and he was in his element.  He loved the warmth.  He came alive in the pool and at the beach!  I saw faces and smiles that I had never seen him make before! It was a wonderful get away!  He was able to speak with some Haitian women while we are there and come to find out he understands Creole and was responding verbally.

Pray for us for this summer and next year.  We lose our spot in our child care if he does not go full time this summer and that just does not seem like a good plan to me.  I have nothing against the 4-5 year old room at his school.  It would be just fine.  He is on the roster to go to High 5 at my school next year which I would really love for him to do!  I would need 1/2 day childcare so this is the piece I need prayer for.  I am okay with 5 different people a week caring for him if necessary!  Each day would be a special day for him!  It would be short, just a few hours, until I can come for him.  I would love to arrive at school in the morning and have him go to his classroom.  It is a wonderful pre-kindergarten program!

I almost forgot, he can point out 7 states on the US map!  He knows Florida, Alaska, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Texas, Illinois and Minnesota.  He's got a great start on the 4th grade standard :-)

I am sure there is much more to tell but as he drifts off to sleep I shall look for some pictures to add and then get ready for the new week of school and Holy Week!  He is ALIVE!  I will not post this until tomorrow as it was 6 months ago on the 14th and a Monday at that, that he came home forever!

FIVE MONTHS HOME

Wow, hard to believe in just 30 days he will have been home 1/2 a year! I believe I missed the 4 month post...but 5 months here we are!  He now talks up a storm!  Too many words for me to write here....but he knows how to say what he does and doesn't want.  He has said things like, "I want to go outside!" and "Mommy, eat your eggs!"  He can name colors and often points to the right color while naming it.  He loves the word PURPLE.

 At five months home he has a hefty appetite.  He is quick to tell me when he needs to eat!  Tonight he asked for more and more carrots at supper!  He loves french toast sticks and today he discovered that he likes tomatoes!

He is doing well in his preschool class although he naps very little so evening are often a challenge!  He is usually in bed between 6:30 and 7!  

At school he looks forward to seeing his teachers and friends every day. I know this mainly because he talks himself to sleep at night by going over their names over and over again.  Often I think he says phrases that that teacher must say a lot like, "Be nice! Miss Willie."  And "Excuse me.  Ms. Crystal.":-)

In school he has a FULL day of play and learning.  At this point in time I have been teaching after school so I pick him up an hour later to his dismay because they are always in the gym at this point and he hates to leave.  He has gotten very good at dribbling a full size basketball and he insists on practicing all by himself and will not share that ball, so this we need to work on!

We have begun the potty training path but not rigorously.  He uses the toilet regularly but I am not pushing it!  He loves to brush his teeth and hates to have his hair brushed/combed.  He has received MANY haircuts from his uncle Jermaine and now can sit in the chair for his haircut with me across the barber shop from him.

He talks about Grandma, Grandpa, Avery, JoJo and Jahlia EVERY DAY, always hoping to see them. He attended his first Timberwolves game and currently we are on the countdown to his second airplane ride to spend Spring Break in Florida!  He has almost survived the most brutal winter I believe he will ever have to endure.  He will be happy to be done with mittens and hats!  More great times to come!  We await news on who Mack's brother or sister will be!  Stay tuned!  Happy almost spring!

Some News

Two years ago this week I was told about a little boy.  This little boy is a boy I had been called to pray for 5 months earlier.  It wasn't until 4 months into praying for him that it occurred to me, "What if?  What if I am to be his mother???"  I was told about this boy but I was not yet matched with this boy.  His paperwork was not complete.  They were working on it and they have continued to work on it for two year.

I pushed and pushed and pushed for this little guy!  I saw him twice.  I loved him as my own.  I enlisted LOTS and LOTS of people to pray for him. (I should add that he had no idea I wished to adopt him).

As a result of all that prayer and work something quite amazing happened!  I did not ultimately get matched with him to adopt him.  Even in the midst of all of this uncertainty, Haitian law also changed and it was not a guarantee that I would actually get matched with him.  If God willed it to be then I knew it would happen.  I received word last week that I needed to have a conference call with my adoption agency and the orphanage.

This little boy was going home!  Yes, my heart ached, briefly.  But more than an ache God gave me the most AMAZING peace I think I have ever known!  He told me, "You prayed and prayed and prayed!  You loved him with a mother's love!  You committed to him!  You were on your knees daily crying for him!  And your prayers have been answered.  He has a family.  His birth family!"  I thank God for allowing me to be a part of this process for him.  I will NEVER stop praying for him.  I pray even now that he and his family bond and attach and their love for each other grows.  I pray he is safe. I pray he is nourished and warm and happy!  More than anything I pray he knows and feels the LOVE of his HEAVENLY FATHER and that he knows HE is taking care of him.

I wondered about sharing a picture or two but feel it is best that I don't.

My paperwork has been in Haiti for nine months now and it is waiting to be matched with a child's paperwork.  Please continue to pray!  God news is yet to come!

One Year Ago Today

One year ago today I got on a plane and landed in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  I experienced that marvelous ride in the back of an open truck up the mountain and I arrived with my mom at GLA where I met Mackenley.  I have loved him for months, but today we met face to face.

I went to check on him after lunch and when he saw me his legs and whole body flew over the side of his crib and to me he ran!  Ready to keep playing!  

The first picture I posted on FB of Mack and me <3

Oh to know what he is thinking!

Grandma or Mama as he affectionally calls her and Mack on our first day with him.

It was a terribly difficult wait! Each step along the way was painstaking.  Yet it was just one year ago, 365 days ago that we met and now he has been home for 3 months and one week!  It doesn't seem that long now and I can't remember not knowing him, loving him, caring for him and being "mommy."

Thank you Lord for this beautiful, painful, redemptive journey that you have set me on!

Anyone from Minnesota?

I don't think I have it in me to write a book right now, even though have that amount to write....I have been doing a lot of thinking about the people I have met along this adoption journey.  Two years ago on a huge facebook page called Adopting From Haiti, someone posted, "Anyone on here from Minnesota?"  I took the risk to respond.

She wrote, "Is there anyone on this page adopting from GLA who lives in Minnesota?"

Today the daughter of this person is one of Mack's favorite people in the world.

I have met 100s of people on Facebook who are adopting from Haiti.  I have had teens I mentor talk to me about internet safety.  :-)

Before Mack came home these people provided the best support and encouragement.  We are going through the same process.  They get it when no one else does.  For a time, I felt God put people these people in my life for me.

Did He?  Yes I think so.  I am beginning to see though that two years ago he already knew that my little boy was going to need the comfort and friendship of this little girl he dearly loves.  So I responded to a facebook post and now a little boy and a little girl who lived in Haiti at the same orphanage live twenty minutes away from each other in Minnesota.

There are several families here in MN.  Then there are families from all over the US and Canada with kids Mack loves. Sometimes we FaceTime.  Most of the time we look at pictures and his face lights up as recounts each child's name.

I look forward to what these relationships will mean to him as he grows into the man God has created him to be.

This weekend we spent time with five other families.  So fun and also something that could just make me cry cause I'm like, WOW God, you care SO very much!  It's amazing!

Adoption #2

I received news today that my 2nd dossier was submitted into IBESR on November 26.  The process is different now.  There is a new law in Haiti concerning adoptions.  Last time, my dossier and Mackenley's went into IBESR (the FIRST and one of the BIGGEST steps in this process) together.  This time, my dossier is in and at some point it will be matched with a child and then I will be given that referral.  I will then go to Haiti for 2 weeks.  This is ANOTHER BIG change.   I do not know the time frame for all of this.  I am thrilled to have my dossier into IBESR and of course will be WAITING to get out next!  My next news will be the referral of a child...Mack's sibling!  Please keep all of this in prayer, especially as to the timing of everything.  Thanks!!!!

2 months home

****twice I have tried to add pics and twice safari has shut down....so for now, not pics :-(

By date on the calendar, today is the two month anniversary of Mack setting foot in the USA!  It's pretty hard to even think back to how things were in those first days and weeks.

Currently he is sound asleep in his own bed with his monkey and Snoopy.  Bed time is sooooooo sweet now.  We read Good Night Moon and the Runaway Bunny in my bed (although tonight we read The Story of Christmas), then we pray (how he folds his hands the ENTIRE time I pray, which is often a long time, and how he has his own things to pray too) and then we sing Jesus Loves Me (to which he sings along now) Jesus loves the little children and Jesus Name Above All Names, before setting him into bed.  Tonight he didn't get out.  Most nights he gets up once or twice and I no longer need to put him back, I simple say "THREE, TWO..." and his little feet run him back and under the covers he goes :-)

He repeats EVERYTHING and talks away in Creole.  On the way home from school each day I go through the colors and names of people we love.  He repeats everything fairly clearly.  Yesterday I got to my aunt Jackie and he says, "Jackie."  I say, "Grandma," and he says, "Jackie," I say, "Grandpa," and he says, "Jackie."  I look back like, WHAT?!?!?  He is tugging at his jacket saying, "Jackie! Jackie!"  LOL.

He has completed two weeks in his classroom at school.  He truly enjoys it.  He cries every morning as I leave him.  He gives me the BEST smile and hug in the world when I come to pick him up.

He expects to watch "Elmo's Christmas Countdown" every morning before school (tough to do, but I need some time to get ready, so he watches it from 5:30-6:00).

He and the cats are best buds.  He disciplines them regularly as well, pointing his finger and telling them, "NO!" and "Stop!"

He has received two haircuts from his Uncle Jermaine and is just the cutest!

He loves to have company, although his behavior can be quite unpredictable when we do have guests over.  Grandma and Grandpa are his favorites to see along with his cousins and his buddies from GLA.

When he wakes in the night and comes to my room he goes right to his bed that is beside my bed.  I am just amazed at his adjustment sleeping wise.  He is comfortable and secure.

He LOVES his bath time.  I think the laying in the tub up to his eye balls started from being so tired from his day at school but now this is a nightly tradition.  He lays flat down and is unaffected by the water creeping close to his eyes, nose and mouth!  He picks bath toys up with his feet and listens to the sound under the water as well as above.

As far as English on his own, he is saying "Eat," "Please, Mommy," "I love you," "Kitties," "I want...." "Banana," "Elmo," "Jesus," "Amen," "Bunny," "Stop," "What," "All done," "Wait," "Baby," "Water," "Monkey," Bye-Bye," "Hi," "Hello," "Ball," "Hot," "Snow," "Yummy," "Icky,"......can't wait to see what the next month holds!  I am sure there are more words than this, but this is a good list for now!"

Today we went to the Santa Brunch at his school.  I showed him a picture of Santa before we went.  He said, "JESUS!" Ha, ha.  We sat in the lunchroom and it was so fun to see how his table behavior has changed in two months!  At his school the kids sit at tables for meals with open top cups and plates of food.  He sat there today and ate his breakfast with no issues!  Tonight we went out to eat and for the first time I did not put him in a high chair and no bib.  He has GROWN so much!!!!

This child of mine cleans up after himself.  He shovels with and for me (SO cute, he really shovels!) He helps me load the washer and dryer.  He can get in and out of the car and carseat by himself.  When he is done with the bath he tells me so, opens the drain and cleans up all of the toys. :-)  He tolerates getting his hair brushed now.  He told me, "I love you," without me saying it first!  He is STRONGER than any little child I have ever known and I just can't wait to see what he will do athletically with this body of his!  When I lotion him up at night and get to his hands he squeezes my hands SO hard that I know I will be able to teach him how to massage and he will someday rub his mommy's hands, feet and back! (here's hoping!)

He loves play doh, cars, Elmo, books, balls, shoes, balloons, and the list goes on. He does NOT like hats or mittens! He also STOPS dead in his tracks every time we get ready to leave the house now and this is due to the cold he feels.  Today he stopped, looked at me and said, "Bye bye" and turned around as if he was staying home alone! His laughter is contagious and he is known to mimic the laughter of others...in particular the laughter of someone an aisle over in Target....it has happened many times.  He also mimics coughs and sneezes.

There is so much more to be told.  I will stop here for tonight.  One more week of school for us both before we get two solid weeks together!  I look forward to Christmas with him.  I thank you for your continued prayers.  It seems he has been mine forever.  I cannot believe it has been just two months!  Have a blessed end of 2013!