our haitian babies?

So, I guess I should have entitled this blog our haitian babies, because we have been matched... with 2. Aaaahhhh! I got news on Tuesday that Gina had matched us with a sibling group, 2 little brothers, the older one is 3 (named Mickenson) and the little one just turned 1 (named Ashley). Of course I naturally assumed Gina had become a raging alcoholic and must have been horribly inebriated when she concluded on this match for me. But, after my initial shock, I took some time to think about it.

Gina did not give me any information on the boys at first. She said she wanted me to think about it for a while because she knew that I was only looking for one child and I should give it some serious thought and decide if it was something I thought I would want to do and something I could handle. After an intense 24 hour deliberation with much thought and prayers from me and my family (and I will admit, initial absolute denial on my part, there was no way I could do this financially or logistically), I knew it was right. I am so excited! I have no idea how I am going to do this, but I am so excited! After I let them know that I was ready to move forward, they told me that the information on the boys, their pictures etc. would probably take at least a week before they would be able to send it to me. About 15 minutes later, they sent me all the info. They are soooooooo freaking cute!!!

As thrilled as I am, I think London is even more. She cannot believe she is going to have 2 brothers (clearly she does not know the full ramifications of such an addition), but she is stoked out of her mind!

The most amazing thing to me is that the very first picture I saw at the beginning of all of this, while looking through my friend Ty's orphanage pictures, was of Mickenson praying over a bowl of soup and peeking his eyes open during the prayer. :) I vividly remember looking at the little boy in the picture and deciding that it was finally time for me to adopt and get down there. I just cannot believe it. On my first trip, I played with him and even have several pictures I took of him!

These first two pictures are the ones sent to me from the orphanage with all of the boys' information. The last 3 are pictures I actually took on my first trip out there!

Mickenson

Mickenson and Ashley (I am dying for more photos of Ashley)

Mickenson in the yellow woody woodpecker shirt!

how cute is he???


Mickenson again in the yellow, look at those lips.

I just know that this match would not have taken place so soon if I had not been able to meet with Gina last weekend during my whirlwind trip. And the fact that I was able to meet up with her at all was nothing short of miraculous. But I will fill you in on all of that next time!

I have two little boys!!!

how much longer will this take

Ok, before I launch into my description of this last trip (which was, if I had to describe it in one word, horrifying) I want to give a little run-down of the adoption process down in Haiti. Several people have asked me where I am at, how much longer will it take, etc. So, here is a little insight. It can basically be broken down into 5 steps...


1. Get oriented with your agency and orphanage (if you are adopting from an orphanage of course)

2. Home study (done, months ago)

3. Get matched

Maybe the trickiest step with Haiti's unique circumstances right now. Usually a match is made after your home study is complete. Gina evaluates you and your home study and feels out which child might be the best match for you. But, right now, and as I have described in past posts, many of the children cannot legally be matched because they do not have legal orphan status yet. Waiting to be matched is proving to be more a question of gathering all the child’s legal documents at this point (I did get some updates from Gina this time though on me being matched, which I will write more on later).

4. Dossier/child’s dossier (long and tedious albeit necessary process; more fully described back in my “documents” post)

My dossier is almost complete at this point. Even if I am still waiting on being matched, I can get my dossier ready in the meantime to hopefully speed things up once I am matched. The child also has a dossier completed and this is happening while they are finding documents regarding their orphan status as well. So steps 3 and 4 are kind of simultaneous.

5. IBESR (the “black hole”)

The last step, IBESR, is where the adoption applications go once they are completed and submitted to the Haitian government. The wait time here ranges anywhere from a few months to a few years. Kind of like a UPS delivery estimate (um, can you just plan on staying home all day?).

going back!

Aaahh! I'm going back to Haiti. Tonight. At midnight. Last minute relief trip where I was able to tag along so I am taking it. I found out about it around, oh I'd say, 11:00 this morning. And thought there was no way I would be able to get on that plane by tonight. But somehow, within 45 minutes, everything had fallen together with remarkable ease. Clearly had some help from above. Most importantly, of course, Little Miss London is all squared away and will be in good hands with my wonderful fam and Micah, I am sooooo grateful for them. I have pretty much heard nothing since my last post on which exact children are available or which child they might have in mind for me. So, I have felt like I really needed to get back down there, as each person in charge of this particular relief trip can attest. I have pestered them incessantly for weeks now (sorry relief trip dudes, I salute you and your kindness towards me). I am hopeful to be able to spend some time with Gina and the children. And I want to help out down there as much as I can, Haiti has become a little part of me now. Wish me luck and keep my in your prayers!