Funny Laundry

One recent laundry day, I was tossing whites into the washer and discovered the capital letter "E" in a sock. Hmm...that seemed strange! It was a magnet, snached from the fridge and shoved in a sock by a sneaky, giggling two year old or a silly, giggling five year old. Either way, I know there was giggling involved. Maybe it was a combined effort. The next load, jeans, yielded a piece of candy left over from a birthday party (smarties, my favorite). My first thought, after my own bit of giggling, was of the stories Mom used to tell of the contents of my sister's pockets, worms. I doubt my Mom had such a fun time with that one. Worms, candy or magnets - anything beats the diaper laundry!

Gymnastics

Marie started gymnastics yesterday. There are about 5 other kids in her class and her instructor is super. She gave Marie special attention and took time to show and explain the moves to her. Mackenson and I had to stay in the waiting area so the class wouldn't be disrupted by a giggling "me too" toddler. After class the instructor told me that Marie had tears on her cheeks a few times but a good hug made her feel better. Poor thing, she must get so frustrated when she doesn't know what is happening around her. Joe and I know how that feels, and I've wanted to cry at those times too. She was very happy after class and acting quite silly so she had a good time.

Mackenson and I spent the hour playing with books, a foam puzzle and sit down (Mack stands on the chair, I pull him to sit...he giggles like crazy). One little girl came over and shyly tried to make friends with Mack. He said hello to her, she sat next to him then followed him to the hallway and put her shoes on when he did. It was pretty cute. Mackenson still doesn't interact with other kids too much. I just heard about a play group for him on Wednesday morning so hopefully that will help him open up.

Papa was out of town for the day and the kids asked about him all afternoon. Mackenson usually asks about Papa and Marie Dakar during the day. I told them that Papa would be home tomorrow and they understood, accepted but kept asking. They missed him! Their papa came home late last night so was home when they woke up. After all that excitement of wanting to see him last night, Marie greeted him by laying groggily in bed and Mackenson pouted for breakfast. But this evening when he came home from work they screeched with delight and jumped up and down. Now that's sweet!

Two Weeks and Counting

Marie and Mack have been home over two weeks now. We are all settling in a little more each day. Our days are very routine and Marie loves to recite the steps to the day. At supper she says, "eat, bath, brush teeth, story, sleep!" Some of it is in English and some is in Creole so it goes like this but don't count the spelling, "manje, dusch, brush teeth, story, domi! ". They each have a special towel, Mackenson's is a duck and Marie's is a bunny.One morning I was in the kitchen making breakfast and in totters this cute little giggling ducky! Bath time is something that has changed dramatically. The first bath they each had was a scream fest. After only two or three baths they were sitting and splashing in the water.

Some favorite foods so far for both are peanut butter, Tang, hot dogs, chicken, potatoes, cheerios, ketchup, green beans from the garden and melon. They both get a kick out of an ice cube in their water glass and hooded jackets. Simon and Ferris are getting some much awaited loves from both kids; Mackenson especially likes to hug and kiss Ferris. Dylan has gotten a few pets as well and is becoming more at ease with the increased chaos in the house, though remains slightly allusive.

First Day of School

Marie Dakar had her first day of Kindergarten yesterday (Thursday the 14th). School started very early here and she missed about a week and a half. She was very excited the day before and repeatedly asked, "demen lekol?" tomorrow school? She got to pick out her outfit, but as luck would have it the pants she chose had a broken snap. I made her change which made her a little sad. Papa cooked a special breakfast of eggs but she didn't want them. Maybe she was too excited to eat. Papa, Mackenson and I dropped her off at school just after the start of the day to miss the crowd. We worried how she was doing all day. When we picked her up at the end of the day she was very quiet until we got home and then she was very lively and a bit sassy. It must have been a good day. While she was gone I sewed Velcro over the snap of her broken pants so she could wear them tomorrow, she was excited when I showed them to her. Last night she went right to sleep after (or maybe during) her story with Papa.

KIDS ARE HOME!

Yesterday we brought Marie Dakar and Mackenson home at long last and with much joy. We left Thursday, July 31st, for what was supposed to be a three day trip to Haiti. Three days turned into eight days (Gilligan's Island, anyone?) as the US Embassy was not able to print the visas. The printer was finally fixed and visa were printed on Tuesday and we sighed with relief. Since we missed our Saturday flight, we caught the Thursday flight to Miami, thanks to the wonderful help we received in Haiti and in the US.

Spending the entire week at the creche (orphanage) was a great experience for all four of us. Joe and I were able to bond with Marie Dakar and Mackenson in an environment that they felt comfortable in. They began testing our limits immediately...where was that "honeymoon period" we heard about? The creche took great care of us; I was so happy to have peanut butter every morning! The kids were too. Joe and I had breakfast before the kids so Marie and Macky would eat most of our peanut butter and bread then go out to eat their normal breakfast with their friends. Lunch was similar. That is the largest meal of the day in Haiti, or at least at the creche. The kids ate first, then came in when we had lunch and ate a whole bunch again. They wanted to eat until they didn't see any more food on the table. In the evening, the kids ate first and went to bed before we ate so they didn't get seconds on supper! The supper was very interesting; it was kind of like porridge in appearance and most nights flavored of cinnamon. I am not sure what it was made of but we got used to eating it for supper!

Nap times are another interesting time. Mackenson cries and rocks himself to sleep. He seems to need motion and noise to fall asleep. He is not too interested in stories before bed, he just lays down and starts to cry with his eyes closed. Marie Dakar is a dawdler when it comes to going to sleep. She is a little more insecure about us leaving so doesn't want us to be too far away as she falls asleep. She calls out for us if she can't see us. She asks us for water, bathroom, and kisses. They are not used to pillows or blankets but Marie Dakar likes the pillow and wanted a little blanket for the first time tonight.

While at the creche Joe and I did spend some time with all of the kids, but not so much to make the Aunties lives too difficult and the kids jealous; our kids jealous for attention and the others for toys and treats. It has been 9 months since we saw all of the kids and they have all changed so much. One little boy, Sandro, was Macky's bunk mate in the baby room (they both had graduated to the toddler room) and we didn't recognize him. Another, Mackenly, was very sick when last we saw him and now he is happy, healthy and is constantly pushing something around be it a chair in his room or plastic playground ladder on the playground. Loudence, whose aunt sent supplies with us, went down the slide and growled all the way down each time. Joe and I nicknamed Roseberline a Klingon because of her run up and cling act. Both of us were lucky enough to be spat on by her when not paying her all of our attention. Shawana is also a feisty little girl who likes to get into trouble. Both her and Roseberlin are in the toddler room and their auntie has her hands full! Another funny moment at the creche was jello time. After lunch one day they had jello for desert, and it was finger food. Each kid got a fist full of jello and walked back to the area by their rooms to eat it. One little girl dropped hers and stood crying while the kids around her licked it off the floor and played in it. Poor thing!

On the way home, we spent the night in a hotel in Miami attached to the Miami Mart shopping mall. Joe and I could only speculate that our kids thought we lived in a shopping mall and had lots of stuff but a really small room! Who knows what thoughts were racing through their minds. Thankfully, our time in Haiti allowed us to learn some basic Kreole words so we could communicate a little bit better. Tann is wait and chita is sit, we use those a lot. While in the hotel, we ate supper in the hotel restaurant. Joe had calamari, I had tomato/mozzarella salad and we ordered macaroni and cheese for the kids to share. We got a bowl of bread before our meals so Marie Dakar ate three rather big buns and Mackenson ate one. Marie asked for some butter because she thought it was cheese. Joe took his knife to the butter (which was sitting on a little plate right in front of her) and the tip of the butter triangle flew off the plate right at her! That was a little traumatic for her so she squealed. Neither kid was at all interested in the mac & cheese but Marie wanted to try Papa's food. Wow, that was a shock! She made a horrible face whined and shook her head and hands at that. After some water and ketchup she was okay. Both kids like to eat ketchup plain. Weird. Then Papa noticed that she was sitting really far away from the table so pushed her chair in which caused her to squeal again. There was a bar on the table that her feet smashed into. Poor thing was having a bad time at supper. When she was done eating she got a slightly panicked look on her face reached for her hind end and told me she had to poo. So off we went to the bathroom. There were two ladies sitting right by us and when Marie and I returned they were talking to Joe. We told them we were very clumsy parents and they laughed with us. The two ladies then asked the waiter for some bananas for the kids (they worked for the catering in the hotel). So we had breakfast in the bag, that was so nice of them.

More to come later on being home! Here are photos of us in Miami!

Where We Are Now

So, it's been a long time since we've posted anything new on here. Joe and I have been busy in the garden; Joe has planted a very nice garden this year. He planted sweet corn, summer squash, peas, green and black beans, ornamental corn, lettuce, peppers, beets, radish, Swiss chard, spinach, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and garlic. So far we have harvested lettuce, radish, Swiss chard, some spinach (it isn't doing very well), green beans, peas, and a few new potatoes. I am so excited for the tomatoes. I can't wait to make chili with homegrown tomatoes and peppers. It will be a while for the onions but that will be great too.

We are still waiting for Marie and Macky's visas. It is taking so sooo long, the wait keeps getting harder.

A Labrador puppy is finding shelter in our home. We are fostering her; she came to us with two broken hips at about 5 or 6 months of age. That was in mid-May. She has healed well, is able to walk, run, go up stairs and of course get into everything and chew it up. Since we couldn't think of a name for her (and she will likely get a new one from her new family) I just called her Baby since she was such a poor baby when she first arrived and I call all our pets "baby". She is such a sweet puppy when she is not chewing stuff up. She is a true Labradork and will be a great dog.

OUT OF M.O.I.!!!

Our adoption paperwork is now out of M.O.I. (Ministry of the Interior). So that means we are done with the Haitian side of the adoption! It's a really big step for us. To give an idea of the scope of what what we all have gone through so far, here is our adoption timeline:

-September 2002: Marie is born

-March 2006: Macky is born

-January 2007: Marie and Macky arrive at the orphanage

-March 2007: We are matched with Marie and Macky as their adoptive parents

-April 2007: Dossier (paperwork) sent to Haiti

-June 2007: Enter IBESR (1st step in adoption process with Haitian government, it's like social services)

-September 2007: Exit IBESR

-October 2007: Joe and I visit Marie and Macky in Haiti

-October 2007: Enter Parquet (2nd step in Haitian process, it's the legal potion)

-December 2007: Exit Parquet, Marie and Macky are now officially our children

-December or January 2007/08: Enter M.O.I. (3rd step of Haitain process, results in Haitian passports issued for Marie and Macky)

-May 2008: Exit M.O.I

The paperwork now goes on to the US side of processing, which takes place in Haiti as well. In this step, the adoption paperwork is reviewed & processed, possibly birthparent interviews and or DNA testing is done and hopfully at the end, visas are issued for the children. Just like the rest of the process, the timeline is unknown until it happens. But we are hopful that we travel soon to pick up Marie and Macky! Cross your fingers.