HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

A few more of O life!

Looks like Avery (bright pink dress) might be a shoe girl...takes after her Aunt Robyn!

Pure Sweetness

Suzanne, a fellow adoptive mom, just got back from Haiti to visit her girls and sign before the judge (oops, I mean sign the random notebook.) Anyway, she took this photo of our little one smiling!! We just love it!

She also emailed this update:

"What a sweet little girl Avery is. She gave me the biggest smile when I called her name Monday. We were only at the O a few min, but I did get her smiling. After my meeting with C's bio mom Tuesday I hung out in the toddler room for a while. Avery was sleeping as the nannies prepared lunch. I woke her up as the nannies started to serve children. She gave me the biggest smile and hug. then she went patiently to wait for her meal. Avery does have the mollescum virus (sp?) most of the toddlers have. It is not painful but can be irritating as the sores heal causing sctatching adn scabs. It will heal itself in about 1 years time without meds. Other than that she seemed very healthy and content."

Avery must have known...

Well, if that smile didn't brighten our day! So excited to finally get a glimpse of Avery when she doesn't look sad or sleepy! She must have known that her daddy got offered a new job yesterday! We are so proud of him and relieved! Looks like Avery is too!

I thought once the job was secured, we would venture into an adoption from Rwanda. And, although that likely may take place in the future, we have agreed to wait for Avery to get home first. My patience on the Haitian process has all but disappeared, so adopting another little girl now (sister for Avery) sound great since honestly, it may be years before Avery gets here. But, the longer Avery stays in Haiti and lives at the orphanage, the more issues/obstacles there may be once she finally arrives home. We want her to adapt in our home and bond with us and then we'll re-evaluate Rwanda. Honestly, flying from here to Rwanda, to Kenya, back home does make me a little nervous. But, I am still following other families in process to get a feel for their trip and experience.

Heard today from some of the families who are in Haiti right now taking care of the "extra step" that has been thrown into our Haiti process. Standing before the judge....or as what it has been more accurately described as standing outside a gate and signing your name on a blank piece of paper in a notebook.

Can't believe we'll have to spend money for 2 tickets to Haiti and leave a diabetic child at home, to go sign a random notebook. Funny enough, it's not surprising at this point! Nothing is.

Anyway, before we qualify for this interesting adventure, we have to....GET OUT OF IBESR. So, at the rate things are going, mabye the judge will have changed his mind by then. I guess that's one way of looking at being stuck in a positive light. More time for changes...hopefully for the better that is! Please, NO MORE STEPS already added to a VERY LONG process.

Update

Finally! Some updated photos. We received about 20 photos and they all look about the same, but it is still great to see Avery's face since it's been so long. Receiving photos is always a mix of emotions. First, excitment, but that quickly fades when you realize how fast she is growing up and how much we are missing out on. This time she has a skin infection, poor little thing. I hope it's not painful!

Our agency director and new coordinator went to Haiti this past week so it would be wonderful (and LONG OVERDUE) if they had news for those of us who are stuck (what file isn't stuck at this point?) But, so far I haven't heard any rumors of any file updates as of yet.

So we just keep holding on to hope that tomorrow is the Tuesday we'll FINALLY get out of the black hole (IBESR.)

Brrrrr...fall has arrived!

It has been chilly here in sunny NC!! I think it's been years since we had to wear some winter clothing this early in the season. We spent 4 hours freezing outside Saturday for a few soccer games, and then Sunday froze again to go Pumpkin Picking!

No matter what the temperature was (50's and windy) the boys LOVE to go to Patterson Farms and pick out pumpkins. Patterson has so many fun activities the boys have been asking about going for weeks now. They painted pumpkins, got their faces painted, fed the animals, rode on tractor tricycles, used the tomato sling shot and got buried in corn kernals. What a fun place! They also thoroughly enjoyed pumpkin butter, pumpkin fudge and pumpkin ice cream and Caden got to taste cotton candy for the first time. Figured....he loved it. Probably not the best option for a diabetic but it was just a taste!

"Soon" is so annoying.

I am going to vent just a little...last night was Haiti Chat for my adoption agency. We were already told for the most part, no news is expected today. Today, being Tuesday, is the day of the week we would get an update, that is if there was one to give.

So, this Tuesday is not "THE" day either.

Also, it's just so frustrating, all the questions we have the answers are so vague. This is not the fault of our coordinator, but just the way Haiti adoptions work (or at least that's what I understand to be true.) It's so disheartening after starting this process almost 2 years ago, we still get no specific information on how much longer we'll have to wait, etc. We get no specific reasons as to why the hold up, when will there be a speed up, and what can we do to help our file move? We are only told, hopefully it will be soon. Soon...it's probably my least favorite word in the English language right now. If I read or here that word one more time regarding our adoption, I am going to lose it! :) I honestly feel my blood pressure rise and heart rate speed up every time I here that same, vague update. I think I must be losing years of life from this stress I am afraid.

So, here's to ANOTHER unexciting Tuesday of nothingness. Let's hope a real update will be coming very SOON...ughhhhh.

Mr. and Mrs. S

Here's a great photo of my sister and her new hubby on their honeymoon! We had a whirlwind of bad luck the week or so leading up to the wedding, including Mere losing her passport. So they had to cancel their honeymoon to Sandals St. Lucia the day before. Luckily, they were able to re-book to a US Virgin island that doesn't require a passport! Looks like they had a great time after all!

A couple other random wedding photos...

ADOPTION NEWS....

There is none...duh! Bet you could have guessed that one! Tuesdays are the day we would hear news if we were going to get any. Considering it is now 11:45 pm, it's not looking to promising for any news to come in before the day is over. So, here's to next Tuesday! Enjoy the rest of the week!

18 years ago...

I was asked on a date to a high school football game! We wore our frosted jeans, folded over and rolled, our varisty letter jackets, and the rest is history!

Eighteen years later:

-We have two beautiful boys

-One precious daughter...who is stuck in Haiti. Yes, I used the word "stuck" because that is exactly what it feels like right now.

-One yellow lab

-One ragdoll cat

-Two frogs

-One hermit crab

-One fish

We are in a time of change right now. Mike is job hunting, thanks to this wonderful economy. So that is a bit nerve wracking but we know we'll get through it. We are starting the leg work for one more adoption but obviously can't proceed until we get things settled with Mike's job first. We had a very diffcult month of September, for numerous reasons, other than the job loss but we are moving on and looking forward to hopefully an exciting 2010.

Where we will adopt from is still up in the air, but we are leaning towards a country I didn't even realize had an international adoption program. There is a HUGE need and it is EXTREMELY affordable....and a LONG 26 hour flight!

All I know is with all these ups and downs there is NO ONE else is this world I would rather experience all these adventures with!

Can't wait to see what the next 18 years holds for us!