The Low After a Trip to Haiti

It has been 5 days since I returned home from Haiti. My back is doing much better, each day I am able to move more and more. It is hard to come home from a trip, there is all the unpacking and laundry, but the really hard part is washing all of the girls clothes and putting them away. As I fold each item of clothing I remember what we were doing, each outfit that the girls wore brings back memories of the time we spent together. The bags of their clothes still sits in my bedroom a silent reminder that they are not home, that for now I have to put them away until the next time I get to see them. There is a pair of Destina's shoes kicking around by our laundry room that I have not put away yet, it is like all the other kids in the house they leave their shoes around for me to pick up, somehow I want to leave Destina's shoes kicking around as a reminder that she should be here and that her shoes should be strewn about the house and I should be getting mad at her for leaving her shoes around like I do my other kids.
I have had a really hard time coming home this trip my every thought is in Haiti. We had such a great week I did not want it to end. I am weary of this process after 2 1/2 years we are still so far away from the end that it is hard to believe that they will ever come home.

While in Haiti we found out that when they went to add Avrie to the file already in IBESR they had to pull our file out and start all over again. So after being in IBESR for 6 months we basically had to start from square one again. We had to get Presidential Approval again, even though we already had it. It is pretty discouraging to know that after 2 1/2 years we are still not making progress, we are still stuck. At least we know that our file is just not sitting on a desk being forgotten that they are working on it so I am hopeful that we will have some movement soon. However, my girls are still in Haiti I am 5,000 miles away and I miss them terribly....maybe I will leave Destina's shoes kicking around the house, maybe that will make it feel like they are closer to home.

Guest Bloggger Kelsie

Guest Blogger Kelsie...

When we first got off the airplane it was hot, not just hot, but humid. Then we had our wonderful ride in the very cramped van to the hotel. At the hotel we found the kids and the older ones ran to their parents. Destina found Mom really soon and after they said hi she saw me. I asked her if she knew who I was, she said Katie, but I don't think she really thought it was Katie. I told her I was Kelsie, she gave me a hug. Then we found Avrie, she didn't really know what was going on but she knew her mom, she went right to her. We went up to the hotel room and unpacked a bit, gave the kids some peanut butter, and then went swimming. Destina really warmed up to me fast and I knew she was my sister. Avrie on the other hand didn't really like me too much at first, but that all changed as long as she was in a good mood.

I got to go to the orphanage, and it was a great experience. The kids were so happy to see us and to get some dum-dums. The orphanage was ok, I wouldn't want to live there but it was a nice place.

Over all I am really glad I got to spend time with my sisters and to go to Haiti.

Back Home!

I am home, it was a great trip! The kids were a dream! Destina was so good and our bond just keeps growing.


I just could not be more happy with Avrie she looked great, she was so darn cute I just wanted to eat her up. She was a tease and has a cute personality. She is getting the care that she needs to thrive and to stay healthy until we can bring her home.


Darlene came out of her shell and really bonded with Sheree, she is such a beautiful girl and very photogenic I don't think I have one bad picture of her.




JT was really fun to get to know he was pretty quiet, but he was sharing a room with 6 girls. He was happy as long as he had the remote control and he got to be in charge of the TV. He was also happy to be able to sneak away and have some guy time with Fabrice. He was an amazing boy he was very smart and sweet.

As for me I had a great week until Friday at about 12:30. We were waiting to go to an appointment to sign our names in a green spiral notebook at the tribunal office saying that yes we have been in Haiti and yes we want to adopt. This should help speed up the process if and when we get out of IBESR. Anyway, I was walking down wet cement stairs with Avrie and I hit a slick spot and my feet came out from under me and I landed right on my back on the cement stairs. I couldn't move, Destina had this panicked look on her face and I told her to go get Mama Sheree, who was sitting in the restraunt. When Sheree didn't respond to her she ran to our favorite waiter Jean Claude and told him what happened and he came running to my rescue. He took Avrie from me and helped me get up and walked me to the restraunt. I had him get some ice and the kids all took turns icing my back. Destina was very scared she has lost so much in her short life and I think she was worried that something really bad had happened to me. After about 20 minutes I decided to walk over to the pool and sit at a chair there while we were waiting to go to our appointment. The pain was so bad walking from the restraunt to the pool I almost passed out, and I had Kelsie run get a "barf bag" as soon as she got back I used that barf bag! One of the sweet moms on the trip took the bag and brought me a cool wash cloth for my face! (Thanks again Candice you were my life saver) Destina got really scared and by this time I had a crowed around me she started crying and we had to have someone tell her that I would be ok. I iced my back for about 2 hours then someone gave me a muscle relaxer (thanks Brent's mom) and that really helped except it made me a little loopy for the rest of the night.
I could not carry Avrie around nor could I lift anything such as all the suitcases I needed to get home the next day. Everyone chipped in and carried my bags Kelsie took the heavy backpack with the laptop and lugged that home.
I was able to sleep on all the flights home thanks the the muscle relaxers so sitting on the plane was not too bad. When I fell I was really worried that I broke something or did major damage, but I think it is just muscle damage and it will be sore for a while.
Other than that it was a perfect week!

Destina and Darlene

It is taking forever to load pictures the kids are keeping me busy so I will post more when I get home. Destina and Darlene are getting along great the week has been a lot of fun Avrie is such a sweetheart and JT is a great kid!

Avrie!!

Hello Papa!!

She loves talking on the phone!

All dressed up in her fancy earrings, necklace and bracelets!!

She loves suckers and it shows, just have a look at her teeth can you say dental bill???

Sheree is teasing her off to the side and Avrie is teasing her right back!

She has been a lot of fun but still likes to be held! She is walking a little more and playing with toys quite a bit. She loves looking at books. She has a silly personality and likes to tease. The week is going good but it is going by too fast!! I love spending time with the girls! Kelsie is still awesome she went to the orphanage today and it was a great experience for her. The older kids love hanging out together it is like we are living in an apartment complex with all their best friends and they meet at the pool and meet in the hallway and bring their toys to play. They all get along great it is fun to see how they interact with each other and look after each other and once in a while they get mad at each other but that is pretty rare, unless it is one of the younger kids teasing the older ones and the olders ones usually will put that child right in its place! They are really cute kids!

(For my new friend in France...we leave on the 24th but I think I saw a group of people from France and was wondering if that is your group?)

Staying Busy Chasing a 2 year old!

Avrie is doing great she is a little eater has been eating all day. She loves listening to music and playing with her toys. We went to church today and I actually had to entertain a 2 year old before they were always too sick to be wiggly. She sat on my lap good but I had to have toys and snacks ready to go when she demanded them. She was walking around quite a bit today, Kelsie was "chasing" her it was really cute, but she still would rather be carried everywhere! She has quite the personality, she will tap my cheek when she wants my attention and that seems to happen about every 30 seconds then she will point to what it is she is trying to show me. She can say Mama and Papa when I show her pictures. She likes to look at the photo book I brought. Her favorite snack of the day was Cheetos! It has been so great seeing her healthy and happy!



Destina is having a great time too! She loves having Darlene and JT in the same room. They are bonding as cousins quite well. Destina and Darlene are the trouble makers and JT is the sweetest boy he is always doing what he is told and never tries to cause trouble like the other two! Destina and Kelsie made these play dough sunglasses she was so excited to come in and show them to me.
I havn't had a lot of time to take pictures I am still holding Avrie a good deal of the time then when the camera is out Destina wont smile most of the time and Avrie won't let me put her down to take pictures very often, maybe as the week goes on I will have more luck.
Kelsie is awesome she is having fun playing with the kids and she has been a great help. She really doesn't like all the bugs but they are loving her! It is also too hot for her she really likes the NW weather. It has been really hot like clothing soaked if we are outside for very long! I am very happy for AC right now!

Hot in Haiti

It is hot, hotter than when we were here in June! Good news is all our flights went well, the luggage was at the airport, and best of all Avrie looked great! What a different child we have this trip than we did in June. She is smiling talking and laughing. She still likes to be held and doesn't like to walk but hopefully that will change during the week!

Ya know it is hot if I am in a swimsuit!

I'm leaving for the airport but real quick before I go I wanted to post about a fund raiser that my friend is doing for our orphanage! Please read the flier and if you are needing any skin care or hair care etc items go to Nichole's web site listed on the flier and order some great products! 50% of the proceeds will go directly to our orphanage! That is pretty great! The products are amazing as well!
Or you can go directly to the site by clicking HERE

For the Lack of Anything to Post....

This picture fit quite nicely, I feel like my whole world is in the hands of someone in Haiti!

I packed 4 of the 6 bags that are going to Haiti tonight, they are stuffed! I started having dreams about getting to Haiti with only the 1 bag that I had packed so I thought in the interest of my sleep I would get the other bags packed so that I can dream about the other stressful things going on in my life!
We are hitting the 11 month mark of being in IBESR last I heard our file was getting Presidential Approval, which is odd since we were told that we had to get Presidential Approval BEFORE our file could go into IBESR so I guess we are one of those special families that need the approval twice! Nothing about this adoption makes sense people ask me what is going on, I tell them, then they look at me funny like I should be able to give them a reasonable explanation as to why what I just told them really doesn't make much sense! So I have given up trying to understand what is going on I only know that I am here and they are there and that is not how it is suppose to be.
So there you have it....my bags are almost all packed, we will be in Haiti in 5 days, and I know nothing about what is going on with our file!

In a Blink of an Eye!

We moved to Washington just over 4 years ago and this picture was taken about a month before we moved. Katie and Kelsie had just turned 9 and 12, I know Katie does not look 12 I had to go double check the date to make sure I was right! Time has flown by the last 4 years with good times and hard times but I am amazed at how fast the kids grow up. Look at Katie and Kelsie today...



Now they are 16 and 13, again I know Katie really doesn't look 16 and Kelsie doesn't look 13. Kelsie has about 2 inches on Katie! Kids grow up so fast and before you can blink an eye they are off to college. I remember the toddler days with 5 kids under 9 and I how I thought I would go crazy, only to find out I really miss those days.

Only 11 more days and I will have little kids climbing all over me again. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Avrie will be healthy enough to have fun and that we will have some good news on our file, because in a blink of an eye Destina and Avrie will be all grown up and I don't want to miss any more of their life than I have to!