Orphan Sunday

Today is Orphan Sunday. God calls us all to help.  There are so many ways to help.  You know me, you know Mack.  You wanna help?  There is a button to the left.  This paypal link will let you contribute in a tax deductible way.  Adoption is very costly.  We need help.  Thank you for considering! You donation will directly help a little one find a family!

Only God Knew....

 I just have to really give GOD a big shout out for what HE was doing as he matched kiddos with forever families who did not know each other at all, but who have come to know each other through these kiddos!  We all literally live miles from each other.  We were all on this journey alone...being called to adopt a child from Haiti.  Then, through the wonderful world of FB, we begin to connect.  Even way back when as we were walking through each ever so slow step of this process, I don't think we could have foreseen get togethers like this!  As our kids were all together month after month and as we as parents chatted over FB, God was establishing relationships that would last a life time.

We got together this time because Melissa (who runs the Guest House in Haiti) happened to be coming to MN.  Such a joy to see her with each of the kids! Susie, who took all of the amazing pictures of our kids month after month, sending us such wonderful updates is with us in MN for the year so it also is a HUGE blessing for all of us to stay connected with her!

 Thank you LORD for the gift of these children and their families!

Adoption #2

Would you look at that....to the right....1 year, 8 months, 1 week and 2 days since I began the second adoption and still I have nothing to tell you.  The sad part for my heart is that there is a child who is 1 year, 8 months, 1 week and 2 days older who is simply "stuck" where they are.  Why does this all take so long!?!?!  Truly only God knows why and He has all the answers.

I did NOT want to begin any fundraising push before I had a picture or a name....perhaps I will have that soon.  I wanted to ask you all to consider buying a Haitian made Christmas ornament or bracelet. I have ordered 100 of each.  Each ornament or bracelet will be $8.  You probably remember the drill. $4 will go to help cover adoption expenses for #2 and $4 will go to the Haitian who created the product, providing income.

These items will not arrive until the end of October.  Right in time for the gifts you need/want for Thanksgiving and Christmas :-) If you are in MN then it's a great excuse to also see Mack!  We are just days away from him being home for 1 year!  Can hardly believe it!

Thanks for considering!

Update on life

It's been A LONG time since I blogged.  Over 3 months!  What a great 3 months it was!  We had a simply WONDERFUL summer together!  And then it came to an end.  The plan for the school year was that Mack would continue at the same child development center as last year, attending pre-kindergarten in the morning, and then he would ride a bus to my school to attend pre-kindergarten in the afternoon.  There are MANY, MANY reasons why I thought this was the best plan for him.  I prayed and prayed over this.  After 16 days of doing this, we are scaling back!  I am a teacher.  Nearly EVERY year, nearly EVERY 5th grader enters my 5th grade class at age 10.  MANY, MANY, MANY people felt I should think about not entering Mack into kindergarten until he is 6, since he is a boy and he has a late summer birthday, etc, etc....but I'm like, NO one enters my class already being 11....seriously this has happened two times.

If I could stay at home with him, I would wait.  If I had an option for him that would not cost me an arm and a leg and did not include 18 children in a class, I would wait.  My thinking was that he is gonna be in full time care anyways, so lets get him learning and growing and such!

Well, he definitely is learning.  He is also growing, in EVERY way.  BUT, developmentally he is really more like a 3 year old right now....3 going on 4.  By next fall he will definitely be more like a 4 year old and maybe even a 5 year old.  By the time he turns 6, he will start kindergarten and within a month of school starting, some of his classmates will also turn 6, and instead of being the youngest in his class with his history, he will be one of the oldest and this should be a great asset to him.

Mack has grown 5 inches in height in the past 11 months!  He has gained 10 pounds!  He has learned loads of English!  He knows his colors, can count to 10 and sometimes beyond and can identify many letters.  He has come from Haiti to Minnesota.  He has learned to really trust people.  He sleeps through the night.  I won't list the million and one ways he has grown this year, but he has grown and is growing.  Beginning tomorrow he will stay all day at his preschool.  Instead of getting on a bus and coming to more instruction and learning at my school, he will go play outside on the playground, eat lunch and have a 1-2 hour rest time.  It will still be an adjustment for him.  As much as he was struggling with his no nap, listen and learn ALL day routine, it was becoming his routine.  Pray for him as he stays put all day tomorrow.  He loves his teacher and the feeling is mutual.  Pray for him as he continues to grow in all kinds of ways.  Pray that he can relax, rest and even sleep at nap time (this has been a challenge for him, sleeping away from mommy).  Pray for his teachers.  Pray for the others kids he calls friends.  :-)  Thank you so much for your continued prayers!

Stay tuned for Mack's ONE YEAR HOME!  Just 23 days away!  Also stay tuned for that day when I may have some kind of news to share about adoption #2!

Language

The learning of a new language is a tricky thing.  Often around others it does not appear he knows ANY English, as in the case of pre-kindergarten screening this week.  He has a long ways to go and this is just 10 minutes of me listing words he says while he is napping and I know there are MANY more.....but I have not updated in a LONG time as to words he can say.....so here goes!  I remember MONTHS ago wishing for just a word!  One word!  A few words!  Anything!

Airplane

All

Alone

Apple

Apple sauce

Arm

Baby

Back

Backpack

Ball

Banana

Basketball

Bath

Be nice

Bear

Bible

Big

Bike

Birdie

Black

Blanket

Blue

Book

Bottle

Bounce

Boy

Broken

Brush

Bunny

Bus

Butt

Bye

Candy

Car

Chair

Cheek

Chew

Chin

Clap

cold

Comb

Coming 

Couch

Count

Cup 

Daddy

Diaper

Doggy

Dolphin

Don’t

Down

Ears

Eight

Elbow

Eyes

Feet

Fish

Five

Flip flops

Floor

Fork

Four

Friend

Go

Gone

Good

Grass

Grass

Green

Gross

Hair

Haircut

Hands

Happy

Hat

He

Head

Hello

Helmet

Help

Hold

Home

Hop

Hot

House

Hug

Hurt

I’m

Icky

It

Jacket

Jesus

Job

Juice

Jump 

June

Keys

Kick

Kiss

Kitty

Knee

Leave 

Legs

Lips

Locked

Look

Loud

Love

Mango

Me

Milk

Mine

Minute

Mitten

Moon

Mommy

Monkey

More

Morning

Mouth

Move

Night

Nine

No

Nose

Num

Numbers

One

Oops

Open

Otter

Ouch

Outside

Over

Owie

Pants

Paper

Peanut butter

Pen

Phone

Picture

Pillow

Pizza

Please

Please

Poop

Pull up

Puzzle

Rain

Raisins

Read

Red

Right

Run

Sad 

School

Scissors

Seven 

Share

She

Shirt

Shoes

Shoot

Sink

Six

Skip

Sleep

Small

Snack

Snow

Soap

Socks 

Sorry

Spoon

Stop

Teacher

Teeth

Ten

That

There

Thirteen 

This

Three

Throw

Tired

Tissue

Toilet

Tongue

Too sunny

Towel

Trampoline

Tree

Tummy

Turn

Tv

Two

Umbrella

Under

Up

Wait

Wake

Walk

Want

Wash

Watch

Water

Water

Way

Wednesday

Week

What

Where

Window

Yellow

Yep

You

Yummy

Zip

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!