happy holidays!

send me your address and i'll send you this:

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

december in haiti...

all four kids together = awesome! take a peek!

this year's christmas card...be on the look out in your mailboxes! ;-)

                        crafting, painting, drawing...love it!!!

we learned this time that daril is quite the problem solver! he is also a little prankster...ha ha...love it!

there may be a language barrier, but the kids jumped right into what they're good at...being kids and having fun together!

djedly loves puzzles! he did this one at least 3 times a day!

daril is a pleaser! he makes artwork for me and is very proud to give me his gifts. and it works! i'm head over heels for him.

djedly and leo both speak ds. 

i'm lobbying for a pool in the backyard. i'm losing.

i made the stockings and everyone helped me stuff them with amazing gifts gathered for every child at the orphanage. we're all very excited about the little surprises they'll all have on christmas morning.

the boys in action...

oui mama. yes.

so my boys are absolutely crazy town!!! i have been told that several boys, including mine run up a wall and flip backward off of it at the orphanage. we didn't get all crouching tiger and hidden dragon at the hotel but we did have some fun.

the next trip to haiti is 22 days away. today marks two weeks since i said goodbye to them when i visited in october. two weeks. two of the longest weeks of my life. 14 days. and i'm a mess. how will i make the stretch from january to april? will i be able to see them in april? we just learned that there is now a 10 family cap being enforced for the bonding trips. this heartbreaking news comes as a blow. we're all trying to understand that the cap has been put in place due to the lack of resources available such as vehicles, translators, and food.

i say we, because we are a part of something we call team haiti. team haiti is facilitated on a private facebook page dedicated to the parents of several agencies adopting from our orphanage. team haiti is an amazing and beautiful group of people sharing the process of adopting from haiti. we are all working to bring our children home! we were recently given the opportunity to share some photos of our family and our boys in haiti for a video. we declined as we've been asked by our agency not to post the boys on facebook and other public sites. we can post them here on our private blogs. i deeply regret that we are not in this video.  it seems that we're the only family that was asked not to.  so much for that, if there's another opportunity i'm taking it because it's an opportunity to tell our story. it's posted on my wall, but it's a private link so i can post it here.

when i left the boys this last time we were asked to walk them to the end of a hall down the center of the main building. we stopped about 3/4 of the way down and daril slumped against the wall with his head down. he responded with a sad, "oui mama. yes." he's such a good boy. i told him to take care of djedly and i told djedly to take care of daril. i told them that i was happy that they're together and that i was devastated to be leaving them. i asked daril to count down with me. i told him i would return in 35 days. "oui, mama. yes." it was perhaps the most horrible conversation i've ever had to participate in. my son looked up at me with cheeks soaked in fresh tears, falling fast and catching up with one another. i cupped his head on my arm and cried with him. how do i tell him that i don't know when i'll be back?

Our boys!

We're enjoying ourselves! It's hot but we're keeping cool in our room watching toy story and cars! They will fit right in at home!

souls for souls

this band visited on the anniversary of the earthquake. this video was shot with the kids at maison playing in the background. daril wasn't there yet, but djedly was. i haven't seen him but i've seen several of his friends.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoK0xqi02kY&feature=share

i'm headed to haiti again this coming sunday. i am hoping for a good connection through skype and facebook while i'm there. i've downloaded an app for posting to this blog, and hope that it works. If all fails i will post when i return.

i'm really excited to see them. i just wish time could stand still for just a few minutes and i could bottle it and keep it for them and for me when i have to come back. coming back is the hardest part.

new photos of the boys!!!

djedly lost a tooth and daril may be taller than me!!!

it's official!

we have been trying to be patient in anticipation of our news. we're are adopting daril etienne as well. he is djedly's older brother and he is 11 years old. he is a sweet guy with an amazing patience...he will have much to teach britt and leo!

as our hearts swell with happiness, i only wish i could comfort, hug and hold ephetta and dry her tears with happiness in knowing that her boys will be given the chances in life that she wants them to have.

amazing, sweet, beautiful ephetta - thank you for being who you are. thank you for giving us yet another unbelievably amazing gift. please know that you will always be with us. we wouldn't be who we all are without you. thank you from the bottom of our hearts and souls for trusting us with your beautiful boys.

meeting ephetta and darrel

with darrel in tow, ephetta set out that morning to meet us. who knows what her expectations were. i don't even know what mine were. but an amazing thing took place in the simple surroundings of maison. her smile immediately confirmed my excited question..."yes, i am his mother" was what her eyes said. she is nothing shy of amazing. she is beautiful, and strong. she is brave and giving. she and i spoke words with our eyes and a kindred feeling flowed between our two rocking chairs on the porch of the orphanage. i have an intense respect and admirable love for her. what an amazing gift this little boy is to us. and this quiet and polite young man that darrel has grown to be confirms for me that she wants only what is best for her children. she wants them to be safe, and loved and educated. when she placed darrel's birth certificate in my hands my heart sank. we didn't know about darrel until that day. and we knew what she was asking. we want darrel to be safe, loved and educated and though we can't tell her now, we will do everything we can once we can to ensure that the etienne family is given a chance to succeed in life. petit, petit.

hearts for haiti!

the campaign is back under way! after a short absence from studio space i am back in full swing! 100% of the profit from any heart purchased from me, wild root ;-), will go directly to the beautiful people of haiti!

i am donating to the following, please feel free to independently research them and learn about the amazing things they are doing:

project haiti
http://www.projecthaiti.info/Project_Haiti/Welcome.html

haiti foundation against poverty
http://haitipoverty.org/

below are a few examples of the work available. all purchases will be made custom.

it's that time again!

we've been moving, unpacking, summer camping, traveling and adopting! now it's time to party. be there or be square.

kenny is coming home!

this amazing little boy has been battling illness in haiti and his family has been dealing with the devastation of having to leave him behind when returning to the states. we just found out that president martelli has signed his dispensation (a very important stage in the visa process, which allows kenny to leave haiti and come home to the states for treatment) as well as 80 others, perhaps all of the children currently referred (crossed fingers that we and all the people we know are in that 80)!

congratulations to the amazing gorman family for all of their hard work has paid off and they will have their beautiful little boy at home with them soon!

back...but not really.

back in pitts this am. it's weird to get back into things. i started packing things to take to haiti already. one of djedly's favorite toys was what he ganked from the shatto family. of all things, he loved a wind up walking easter egg. i dug through our toys here at home until i found one. it will accompany a blinking light up frog which should also produce a resounding approval. he also loves play dough...gonna get some of that!i may be back to cleaning my house, but my head is still in haiti. a piece of my heart too.

More Pictures of Djedly

Meeting Djedly- He's very small and very sweet!

He's really sweet! He's got a little mischievous streak that's fun too! We are having a really good time!More later!