Sunday, December 31, 2006

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Just a quick not to everyone out there......

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Curt, the kids and I enjoyed a family movie night watching the Incredibles and eating popcorn....yum!

First family movie night and popcorn for Kai and Nikaya...they seemed to really like it.

Tried to call Dr. B tonight to wish him Happy Birthday, but the lines were not working.....gotta call tomorrow and wish him a belated one.

Tomorrow is the day for taking down the Christmas tree and decorations and putting the house back to normal....whatever normal is...




Friday, December 29, 2006

Some Haiti Pictures

Curtis, Me, Kai, Nikaya with Grace. Grace is a sweety we recently placed with her new family, she is a DOLL!!












Here is us with Dr. Bernard and his wonderful wife Claudette in Haiti.






















Same as above, but we added Amy.
Amy is my wonderful friend, loyal Assistant at Heritage and mom to Kerline (Haiti), Eva and Jolie (home).





















Here is Kai and his buddy Kerline. Kerline is Amy's 15 year old daughter she is currently adopting....watch out modeling and sports world...girl wears women's size 9 and is drop dead gorgeous...and she is only a teen!











Kai the muscle man and Kerline watching tv at the guest house!





































































Were Great!!

We are all doing well here. The kids have settled in pretty well and it is starting to feel more like they have been here for a while. Nikaya is saying please, thank you and you're welcome in English.....at least, that is what she is TRYING to say...it is a little muffled with 2 year old speech! hehe

Kai is doing really well with English. He still talks 100 miles an hour in Creole, I know that will change and it makes me sad...I never want them to lose that...

I took the kids to Carl's Jr. last night. Oh my gosh, it was the best time ever!!! Kai finally got up the nerve to go down the slide. Here comes family friend Annie and then Demi Roo with Kai in front of her screaming the whole way like he was going to fall off the edge of the world. Once they hit the end of the slide Kai had a BIG smile on his face and told Demi Roo...AGAIN!!!

I am so glad they are home, and continue to pray for the families that are still waiting. In my job/calling, there will always be families waiting, but it is hard...I know it for a fact!

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Good Christmas

Christmas was good for us this year. Not because there was an abundance of gifts under the tree or money was flowing freely, but because we had our children home. To show these little people a Christmas that they have never had was truely amazing.

Both kids are doing well and attaching wonderfully. They sleep thru the night and eat pretty much what you give them....except Kai Ceus, he is a little picky at times...he will learn! ;-)

Today we got to call Robinson, a Lawyer friend of ours from Haiti who I used to work with on adoptions. He is now in Atlanta and married to a wonderful woman....we are so happy for him. Kai was glad to hear his voice, he had made friends with Robinson and had not spoken to him since September....they talked for quite a while.

I also called Dr. Bernard in Haiti and wished him and Claudette a Merry Christmas. He talked to Kai for while and asked him about his new family and what he thought......we got the thumbs up from Kai and he told Dr. B he loved us and we were nice and he was happy to be home.
After talking to Kai Dr. B asked me again if I was ready for 4 more kids??? I told him he would be the 3rd to know if I was...1st Curtis, 2nd would be my Therapist...hehe :-)
All in good fun, but I think 4 may be my limit. It has not been as hard as I had thought, but it is a stretch to make 4 little people happy when there is only 1 of you. Like I told Curtis though, at least the fights are different....Hunter isn't ALWAYS fighting with Demi Roo, now he has options. hehe

I hope Christmas was good for everyone out there. We pray for the people of Haiti and the Birth families of the children that have been given up and been adopted. We also pray for the adoptive families that still wait for their children to come home as well.

Friday, December 22, 2006

Success...

Well, last night was the first night all kids slept in their own beds since being home! Kai and Nikaya went to their beds well, we had talked them up ALL day long and made it fun to sleep there. Hunter and Demi Roo slept in their beds as well. They were glad to finally have their siblings in their rooms with them, but sad that they could not cuddle with them as they had on the floor. I like that they all had their own space and I think they all liked that they had their own space since they all slept until 8:30am!!! ;-)
Hunter said he awoke to Kai singing in Creole...how cute. Demi Roo woke to Nikaya saying "me, me, me" something she does when she wants something.
A good night for all!

Monday, December 18, 2006

Lots of STUFF

I have so many thoughts going thru my head it makes it hard to sleep...I will pour them out here in no certain order so maybe I can sleep. hehe

Our kids are adjusting well. They are still sleeping in our room...well, they are ALL sleeping in our room...one big happy family of 6 in one bedroom. It is nice to know that when we are broke we only need a one bedroom apartment. :-P

While we were gone our beloved bird Animal passed away. I am not sure of the cause other than he was getting up in years and may have been stressed by different people being in the house for so long.
I will miss the little guy; not cleaning up after him, but his chirp and his following his mirror bird buddy from one end of the cage to the other. I love you Animal...I will miss you!

Having 4 kids is not as hard as I thought, at least not yet. I don't want to say much to jinx myself. I am wondering if it is going well, or if I have lost my mind.

I do find it harder to find time to clean the house to my mind warped ability. Being Obsessive Compulsive in a house with 4 kids is quite difficult. I am to tired to clean and frankly wonder if I even care anymore....is lived in an ok clean?? ;-P

When will my laundry fold itself and out itself away? Probably about the same time the dishes do right?

It looks like we may end up with Christmas Eve at our house again this year. I don't mind, it allows us to invite Curt's Aunt and her hubby Don over for the evening. We don't get to see family enough...and it isn't like we live so far away.

My cousin Travis wont be home for Christmas. He has not been scheduled to leave Cottonwood Detention Center until maybe January. This is sad, he completed all of his required classes and more and is still doomed to sit there and think about how to be bad again. I wish they would let him come back home and live what he has tried to learn. I pray that he keeps his eyes ahead and the same old bad people will stay away from him and he has the ability to pass them by of he sees them on the street. I am praying for you and love you Travis.

I cannot believe that my two are finally home from Haiti....I still look at them at night and cannot believe that I have FOUR (4) kids.....when did that happen??!!

My bio. dad was supposedly sentenced to one year in Blackfoot Mental Institute. I was very happy and sad to hear it. He needs so much help in his Bi Polar brain, and a short stay will not do it for him.

I found out earlier this week that my Bio. Dad may be getting out after only a month at the most....hey, thanks for the help..

Well, tomorrow is my 35th birthday....YEAH! I got what I wanted the most...my kids home!

Love to all...
Me

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Our Homecoming Photos




When we first arrived








Mama and Nikaya



Kai is all smiles, even at 11:30pm



HOME!!!!

Hello to all, we are finally home from Haiti with our two newest Haitian Sensations! ;-P

We ended up spending 5 extra days in Haiti than we planned. INS/Dept. of Homeland Security took longer to complete our papers than anticipated and previosuly promised. We had scehduled to meet them Monday Dec. 4th and interview at the US Embassy Wed. to get the kids Visa's. WELL, INS decided to not sign our papers until FRIDAY...so, we had to wait over the weekend and meet the Embassy Monday. Now, they were wonderful and squeezed us in and got stuff done quick for our meeting....it took them forever to get the Visa to us (we waited from 7:30am to 3:30pm) but we left with it in hand.

I will write more in the next couple of days. We just arrived home last night at 11:30pm and I am still dragging hiney!

Saturday, December 02, 2006

It is Almost Time!!!

Yes, the time stamp is right...it is 1:20am Mountain time and I am still up. My parents will be here to pick Curtis and I up at 4:45am and I have had no sleep. All I can do is dream about the moment I see my kids faces again, and how much I will miss the ones here at home. I know they will be ok...they are in loving capable hands of Aunt Heather and Uncle Kevin.....but still....they are mine.

I am anxious to see how Curtis reacts to Haiti, to introduce him to our children, to meet birth parents and hug them and thank them for their selflessness.....it will only be a pitance for what they have done, the gift they have given us and their children....a life in America and us 2 more blessings.

I will write more when I am back from Haiti...until then..Bon Nuit...Good Night!