Kevin is growing up

Here is a picture of Kevin trying out his new exersaucer. He is 3 months old today and this pic was taken yesterday.

Christmas Fun

Here are some pictures of my kids and their cousins playing together at Grandma's house on Christmas day.

A Penny in my Pocket

Our yahoogroup for our orphanage was filled with fundraising ideas yesterday for our orphanage. Orphanages in Haiti are not supported by the Haitian government, so they must come up with their own funds. And as I'm sure most of us can understand, when you are caring for 100 children you can always use some extra money. If anyone has any fundraising ideas or would like to make a year end gift please let me know and I can direct you to the right person. But after reading through the posts last night, I saw this song posted on my regridgerator and thought that I would share it with everyone.

A Penny In My Pocket
A Dollar In My Shoe

When I Give Them Up To Jesus, There’s Nothing He Can’t Do

To Feed a Hungry Neighbor,

Give Shelter From The Cold,

Or Take A Wounded Heart And Make It Whole

Aahh, We One Family

Aahh, In The Son Of God, You See

Yes, He’s Calling Us To Be

His Arms Of Love (2X)

His Arms Of Love (2X)

We Are His Arms Of Love

His Arms Of Love (2X)

We Are His Arms Of Love

His Arms Of Love (2X)

A Penny In My Pocket
A Dollar In My Shoe

When I Give Them Up To Jesus, There’s Nothing He Can’t Do

To Feed a Hungry Neighbor,

Give Shelter From The Cold,

Or Take A Wounded Heart And Make It Whole

Aahh, We One Family

Aahh, In The Son Of God, You See

Yes, He’s Calling Us To Be

His Arms Of Love (2X)

His Arms Of Love (2X)

We Are His Arms Of Love

His Arms Of Love (2X)

We Are His Arms Of Love

His Arms Of Love (2X)

Aahh, We One Family

Aahh, In The Son Of God, You See

Yes, He’s Calling Us To Be

His Arms Of Love (2X)

His Arms Of Love (2X)

We Are His Arms Of Love

And yet another glitch in the process...

I spoke with the orphanage director today. She informed me that when the adoption worker went to MOI yesterday they gave him our file back along with several others because they are missing "a stamp" from the court clerk. She seemed to think that if the court clerk was in, then it would be a quick fix and MOI has promised (?) to sign out our file as soon as it has that stamp. (Then again they promised to sign it out as soon as the orphanage filled out that form two weeks ago?) So I told the orphanage director that since we had missed Christmas we had hoped for a January homecoming, but now that didn't look possible. But she didn't seem to think that a January homecoming was out of reach. I know in my head that "All things are possible with God." And I truly believe it. But it is hard to live it when you have been let down so many times. I honestly believed that my son would celebrate Christmas with his family and not at the orphanage again. It hurts to hope for something to happen, because it never does (at least not yet), but it hurts not to hope because then I feel like I am giving up on Michael. I am to the point where it hurts emotionally and physically and all I can do is pray (and cry). Please remember us in your prayers and ask God to move some bureaucratic mountains for our son to come home.

Please Pray with us Today

I am asking once again that all of our friends and family join with us and our orphanage email group in prayer today. There are a number of families from our orphanage that have been waiting as long or longer than us to get their children home. The holidays have been very difficult for many of us as we wait for our children. Please pray earnestly today that our children would come home to be with us soon.

Christmas Eve Service

Well, I want to wish you all a very merry Christmas. I thought I would share a funny store with you all. Last night, we went to our Christmas Eve service at church. Pastor Bob always calls all the kids up to sit on the steps with him and he reads them a story. Aaron was in vocal team so I was sitting in service alone with the three kids. So I told Matthew to go up by Pastor Bob for a story. I was hoping that Alisha would stay with me. But she announced that she wanted to go see Pastor Bob too, so off she went with her brother. When they got to the front, I lost sight of Alisha in the crowd. Just as I spotted her, Pastor Bob pulled out his book. Alisha was sitting right next to him. The book he had chosen was "The Crippled Lamb" by Max Lucado. (That is my favorite Christmas story and little did he know that we had just read that story the night before and that morning.) Alisha spotted the book and quickly flew into action. She announced that the book was about Joshua and his nose. (Joshua is the lamb in the story and it talks about a tear rolling off his nose at one point.) Pastor Bob didn't seem to understand what she was saying and tried to quickly acknowledge her and move on. But as he began the story, Alisha continued as the commentator of the story. She had the entire room laughing. And not only is Alisha loud, but she was right next to Pastor Bob, so his microphone was amplifying everything she said. He commented at one point that it was like choir practice, "everyone has an opinion of how things should be done." Alisha also noticed the advent candles on the platform right behind them. So she asked Pastor Bob about the fire. She wanted to know if she could touch it or if it would hurt her. He told her not to touch it. Then she announces, "Oh, you don't want me to touch it." So he told her that well, there are these people called fire marshalls and she would learn about them someday. Later at one point, Alisha noticed her friend Jared in the audience and stood up and waved to him and said "Hi Jared". But mostly she just added to the story and asked questions. After service, we got lots of comments on our little "star". They asked how much Pastor Bob payed us to have her ready for her "part" in the program. She then sat pretty good through the message. She just didn't understand why she couldn't eat the "food" during communion. I quickly found some gum for her and told her we would talk about it later. Aaron missed part of Alisha's performance, because he was coming around from the choir room to join me in service when it started. When he walked up next to me, he looked at me with this "look" and said "is that ours?". And as proud as could be, I said, "Yes, that's ours." Alisha definitely made that a Christmas Eve service that people will not soon forget. I'll have to see if they recorded it and try to post the audio. She was so involved that it was like she was the only kid he was talking to. She didn't mind the fact that she had several hundred people laughing at her.
Merry Christmas to All! I hope that this story made you laugh. I laughed so hard that I had tears coming down my cheeks. I hope I told it in such a way that you laughed also.

Merry Christmas

Kevin watching the train under the tree.
Matthew's snow angel
Matthew's first school concert
Kevin dressed in swaddling clothes when he played the part of Baby Jesus for the church Christmas concert.
"The Holy Family" Kevin did a wonderful job as baby Jesus.


Merry CHRISTmas to all! I find myself filled with very mixed emotions this Christmas. I am thrilled beyond belief to be the mother of four beautiful children. I am overwhelmed with the miracle of Kevin's birth. I honestly had given up hope of having another biological child. God granted my request after I finally told Him that I was okay trusting Him that I was only supposed to have three children. Now I have a five year old son that is the top of his kindergarten class. He loves school and is always writing out his numbers or writing stories. I have a beautiful 3 year old girl that can talk nonstop for about 12 hours straight without taking a break (lol). She loves her family and makes us laugh all the time. She also keeps us going as she is nonstop action. And I have a very good almost 3 month old baby boy. He is starting to "talk" and laugh at us. Then I also have a beautiful 2 year old boy that I hear is very active. He seems to be very smart and loveable. However, as most of you know and understand, that is where the mixed emotions come in. When we started Michael's adoption over 22 months ago, we never imagined that he would not be home yet. I am very heartbroken at the thought of celebrating Christmas without him. But I keep reminding myself that Christmas is about CHRIST, not me. Michael is healthy, happy and well cared for. I have three other children that need me to be happy and celebrate with them. And I need to focus on the greatest Christmas gift of all: Jesus Christ. SO as each of us celebrate Christmas over the next few days, please remember to thank God for His wonderful gift. Thank God for the people that are caring for Michael. And pray for each of the families who are waiting for our adoptions to be done and for our children to be home. And pray for the children that have come home over the past year and are celebrating their first Christmas at home.

December Pictures of Michael

New Pictures

Some adoptive parents visited the orphanage a week or so ago along with a short term missions team from their church. They posted some pictures of their trip so I thought I would share some of the pictures of Michael.

Snow! (and a piece of my heart)

Well, we got quite a bit of snow today. Probably about 8 inches of snow fell between last night and this afternoon. It is absolutely beautiful. I have my first snow day of the year tomorrow and I can't wait to stay home and clean house with my kids. Matthew is excited about cleaning house. This is officially his very first snow day. Hopefully, we will have a fabulous day together.
I am trying not to get my hopes up, but I am really hoping for some good news about Michael this week. My heart aches to have him home. I am hoping that within the next month I will be able to have all four of my kids together. It will be interesting to see how they all react to each other. Matthew and Alisha have been waiting so long for their "baby brother" who is now their two-year old brother. Michael has only known life in an orphanage. We have heard that Michael has learned how to latch the orphanage director's door after he goes in her office so that the other kids cannot come in and he has her to himself. She says that he seems to understand everything that she says to him in English. So we are hoping and praying for a smooth transition. However, we understand that there may be some challenging days and we will need the support of our family and friends. I know this is early, but we will also need our family and friends to be understanding as we may need a little time and space to get adjusted to Michael and he will need time and space to get adjusted to us before we have too many social engagements. So please don't be offended if we can't come over or if we ask you not to come over. We will do what we feel is the best for our children. It will depend alot on how Michael adjusts to our family. We do not want to push him to much and scare him. I have been thinking about this alot as I have been dreaming of the day that he arrives home. I can't imagine what it will be like for him as a two-year old to leave everything and everyone(home, country, language, friends, nannies, etc.) he has ever known. He will then move in with parents that he doesn't remember meeting and brothers and a sister that he has only seen in pictures and on skype. What a scary thing for a little guy. Please pray for him even now that the Lord would prepare him for his new life and family. And most importantly pray that all of our children will learn to love the Lord and serve Him with their whole hearts.

Update

The orphanage met with MOI yesterday. MOI requested a form with government issued ID numbers for Aaron and I. So the orphanage director called last night and got our driver's license numbers. MOI has said that they will have our file signed out by next week. Then they will take the file to Haitian immigration to have the actual passport printed. Once the passport is in hand, Michael will have to have a physical for his visa appointment and then the visa appointment. Christmas will most likely be celebrated without Michael being here. But we serve a God of miracles and I pleading with Him continuously for a Christmas miracle.

Please Pray with us Tomorrow

Please be in prayer with us tomorrow in regard to Michael's file. Our orphanage director called us during dinner to get tell us that they have a meeting with the government officials tomorrow in regard to expediting their files out of the department they are in and getting the passports printed. So please pray that this meeting might get our file signed out along with our friends files and that we may soon have a passport. All I want for Christmas is my son to be home, but it will take a miracle from GOd for that to happen. Even if it does not happen, I will trust that HE is in control and knows what is best. But at least Michael having a passport in hand would be awesome. Thanks for all of your support and prayers.

He really talks!

We really got to hear Michael talk today. He sang part of his ABC's to us. He told each of us that he loves us. We also heard him talking to the girls around him. He has the sweetest little voice. I also talked to the orphanage director while she was holding him. I asked her if there was any news from MOI. She said that our lawyer is currently working with a "high-powered" lawyer and they are hoping to hear something this week. Please pray that these lawyers can get the government offices to do their job and sign out our file.
In other news, Kevin is baby Jesus in our Christmas concert at church tonight (and Friday night and the next Sunday night). He made through dress rehearsal Wednesday but they were running behind and he didn't go on till late, so he was tired and hungry by that time and he wasn't the happiest when he got on stage. He especially did not like being laid in the manger. Made me stop and think about how Mary must have felt laying her baby in a manger.
I also had a profound thought in church this morning as we were celebrating the Angel Sunday of advent. Pastor was talking about the angels and we sang Christmas carols about angels. And I thought about how I have been feeling lately. I have not wanted to decorate for Christmas again this year. At least I was excited about finding a special gift for each of my kids. But I thought this morning about how selfish I am being to not want to celebrate Christmas. Christmas isn't about me. It is about Jesus! And he gave us the greatest gift of all. Plus he has given us many other great gifts. We have Matthew, Alisha, and Kevin here to celebrate with us. We are all healthy. Michael is safe and healthy and well cared for. We have an awesome church that encourages us and challenges us to grow to be more like Christ. I never though I would like a church because the preaching makes me feel uncomfortable at times. But I would never learn to be more like Christ if I always felt comfortable with where I am. So I have decided to celebrate Christmas with all of my heart and I will rejoice at the gifts God has given and will give. I will continue to pray for Michael to come home soon, but I will not allow the fact that he is not here to hinder my worship of Jesus Christ this Christmas season.