Home Again, Home Again

… and all things have become new!

I can only blog for as long as Beverly and David nap. So, we will see if I finish before they wake up.

Day 1: Beverly and David meet Ron.

We landed in Port-au-Prince and Samuel drove us immediately to Dr. Bernard’s office. Our children were peering through the glass door waiting for us. They looked so cute. Ron was quite impressed when they called him, “Hey Papa!” right from the beginning. But then, he went to the orphanage. Every child there called him Papa. In fact, they called every adult male Papa. So, his ego was a little deflated, but the kids really do adore him. After meeting our kids, we went to the orphanage so that the kids could say goodbye to their nannies and their friends.

Day 2: We relaxed at the Guest House. What a great day.

David and Dad watched a soccer game. 

Beverly played with a $0.99 fan that I brought for the kids.

A blue one for David and a pink one for Beverly. They liked those better than any of the other toys or books I brought. Sadly, they weren’t meant to be thrown, turned on and off a thousand time or have the batteries removed and “gently” replaced many, many times a day. By the next morning neither fan worked. But, they were fun while they lasted.

Day 3: The most important day of our trip!

Beverly and her mom.

David and his mom.

Many people choose international adoption because they don’t think that they can handle having to deal with the birth families. I chose New Life Link because of their policy allowing adoptive and biological families to meet. I am a Christian and it is my intent to line up my thinking with God’s revealed word. A mother in the Bible is the most revered of all women. The word mother is first used in Genesis 2:24. The Hebrew word that is underneath the English word translated mother is ‘em. In Hebrew it is spelled ALEPH MEM-SOFIT. Mem is the thirteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The Hebrew letter mem symbolizes water and is associated with a womb. Just like the waters of baptism symbolize spiritual birth, so too the waters in the word translated mother symbolize the womb and physical birth. The womb is the fountain of life in which a baby develops enveloped by life-giving water. The numerical value of mem is 40. Rabbinic Judaism teaches that there are 40 days from conception to formation of the fetus. Interestingly, 40-days is the earliest day that brain waves can be recorded in the fetus. And, of course, there are 40 weeks of gestation until birth. My children only have one mother, the woman whose body nurtured theirs for 40-weeks. I am their parent. My behavior and attitude toward my children’s mothers must always reflect their honored position in my children’s life. It was an honor to meet with them and allow them to share their dreams for their children with us. I was thrilled when both women said that what they wanted most was for their children to love and serve the Lord.

Day 4: We flew out of Port-au-Prince and landed in Miami. We stayed the night in Miami and headed home the next day. While we were in Miami we learned that our children’s restaurant behavior needs major work. We will be eating at home for a LONG time!!!

Leaving Baggage Claims at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport

David is thrilled that his friend, Stanley, lives close by!

Stanley was in the toddler boys room too and came home just one week before Beverly and David. His mom, dad and two sisters were among the group meeting us at the airport. It took the boys a few minutes, but soon there was a loud squeal, running, kicking, hitting, karate chopping and, finally, a great big hug. I am really, really glad that those of us adopting from Haiti have formed a close knit group on-line. Since our adoptions took so long to complete, our children are all very close. It will be nice to be able to stay in touch.

Their personalities:

Our home is now very, very, very loud. The kids are excited about light switches, running water, hand lotion, soap… you name it, even brushing their teeth. Any new discovery brings a squeal of delight that is echoed at twice the decibels by the other one. I hope I am saying it right; does anndann voi mean inside voice in Creole? If it does, I don’t think the kids understand the concept at all. David was walking through Walmart yelling, “Anndann voi, anndann voi,” at the top of his lungs. It made it quite easy to find my family when I got separated. The only trouble we have had is feeding the kids. All they really want to eat is bread and butter (in fact Beverly’s first English word is bread). They don’t really care a thing about the bread, but they love the butter! They lick it off before they even think about eating the bread. I am not sure they would eat it at all except I refuse to re-butter. Both kids have loose stools. David’s chest rattles and he has quite a bad cough. Except for David’s bedtime, we haven’t had any real problem… oh, except he didn’t want to wear his seatbelt when we were landing in Miami. He let everyone on the plane know that he was being forced to do something against his will. He is a bit stubborn and I think maybe he ran the toddler’s boys room. And, today, Beverly “helped” me by moving their plastic dishes onto the stove so I could dish up lunch. Sadly, she put them on a burner that was hot and they melted, ruining the dishes and the heating element.

Even with the excitement and no real naps on Saturday, getting to bed late after driving home from my husband’s parent’s home where we had picked up Marissa, Beverly and David were both up with the sunshine on Sunday morning which was way earlier than I was ready to be up. But, I got up. I did a horrible job keeping them quiet and soon Marissa was out to give me that look. Her alarm clock wasn’t set to go off until 6AM. But joy of joys, she didn’t need it! That look wasn’t a “I am thrilled to be awake enjoying the happy chatter of playing children” look though. It was more a crabby teenager who was telling me I was failing at mothering and I better come up with a better plan. This morning they slept until 6:30; we are making progress. But, Mama is very, very tired! And, Marissa has been a very, very good big sister!

I washed, conditioned, combed and braided Beverly’s hair today. It was much harder to do Beverly’s hair than I remember Marissa’s being. Marissa sat still. But, it turned out cute. I do need to get a bit faster though. It took almost 3 hours from taking down the old braids, bathing, to finished braids. Beverly asked me several times, “Finis?” Uh, no I am not… 

Edited to add: Beverly just woke up and I had to edit this with photos of her new doo! Thank you Snapaholics for the great how-to videos!

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