The Bettin Buzz

6 months ago

2010-07-12T19:18:00.001-07:00

It's been six months since the earthquake in Haiti. My heart is heavy for the many people still there struggling just to survive day by day.

I was thinking back and remembering the roughly 2 hours we waited to hear whether our kids were ok, the email from our agency telling us that our wait could now be much longer than the 18-24 months we were expecting so we were free to back out if that was too long for our family to wait and us knowing that Saraphina and Olivier were the children God had chosen for our family - how crazy that we would end up getting our kids just 11 days later!

We are so thankful for the blessing of Saraphina and Olivier joining our family early that we received out of this tragedy. We also continue to be touched by the amazing stories of people and organizations making a difference in Haiti. Please continue to remember Haiti in your prayers.

Here is a picture of the kids today.

Celebration for Saraphina and Olivier!

2010-06-30T19:53:00.000-07:00

Please join us as we celebrate the addition of Saraphina and Olivier to our family!

On July 25 we will be dedicating the kids at Grace Church in Eden Prairie at the 10:30am service then heading down the street to Starring Lake Park from noon - 3:30pm. We will have an open house with food and drinks for everyone.

Please consider joining us to celebrate and pass this along to anyone that may be interested! Please no gifts.

Blessings,

John, Jennifer, Jacob, Saraphina and Olivier Bettin

Grace Church Starring Lake Park
9301 Eden Prairie Road 14800 Pioneer Trail
Eden Prairie, MN 55347 Eden Prairie, MN 55347
www.atgrace.com

surgery and leaving the kids

2010-04-15T05:36:00.000-07:00

Jacob is being put under for some dental surgery today at 12:15pm - the other two kids are officially being left with someone else for the first time today - big day for our family so any prayers would be so appreciated.

too cute

2010-02-27T10:59:00.001-08:00

I just went upstairs to see what was taking John so long putting Olivier down for a nap (it was his first time rocking him and putting him down) and they are both sound asleep in the rocking chair. I would take a picture but would wake them up. It really is so cute.

One month!

2010-02-23T20:01:00.000-08:00

It's been one month since we got Saraphina and Olivier - what a month it's been. I was hoping to have time to write a great blog entry but I have limited computer access still and spent most of the evening folding numerous loads of clothes. I will try to post a bit more in the coming days and download the pictures we have been taking so I can share some with you. Thanks to everyone who has been keeping us in your prayers - we are so grateful!

a weekend of firsts

2010-02-17T04:49:00.000-08:00

we had a pretty fun weekend with a few first time activities for us as a family of 5:
we went to McD's playland and ate lunch with friends on Friday - all in all it went well although I now know that a just turned 3 year old should not drink the chocolate milk there with an open top and straw, my more experienced mom of 3 friend Kim got a cup and cover and assured me it happened to her too
we went out to Jason's Deli to celebrate Saraphina's birthday with some friends and the kids all did pretty well - I did feel a little bad that we left pretty quickly after we finished, I think I was just happy it went as well as it did and wanted to leave while we were ahead
we took the kids to the MN Zoo on Saturday morning - we only stayed for about an hour and a half but everyone seemed to like it, except for the MN trail which was just a little too cold that morning
we went to church again on Sunday (our 2nd time) - this time we told Jacob he needed to go to Sunday School, he was upset and we had a hard time getting him into his room since we wanted to stay with everyone else and go to "big" church (we tried that last week and it didn't work too well) although Saraphina ran right into his room and started playing, she was not too amused about sitting through "big" church - I am not sure who is more excited about her being able to go to Sunday School, her or me - only a couple more months until they can be in Sunday School
All in all not too bad of a weekend :-)

a month ago today & Happy Birthday

2010-02-12T06:20:00.001-08:00

It's hard to believe that a month ago today was the earthquake in Haiti which certainly changed our lives forever and brought us our kids 18 months sooner than expected.

Also, just over a month ago I was sitting here thinking about how we were going to celebrate Saraphina's birthday without even having met her yet. Today we get to celebrate her 3 year birthday with her - what an unexpected blessing!

Happy Birthday Saraphina!

two weeks (and a couple of days)

2010-02-08T04:15:00.000-08:00

Well I had grand plans of a blog entry summarizing our first week together, then one when we hit two weeks, somehow we are on day 17 today. We have basically been in survival mode the last couple of weeks trying to figure out how to do the very basics of life and adjust to each other all in the midst of sickness and serious sleep deprivation. There has been a lot of steps forward with a few steps backwards(which is to be expected). Health wise we seem to be getting on track - Saraphina and Olivier had gotten over their congestion although Olivier's cough seems to have come back a little and his nose is still pretty yucky although he is teething all of his 1-year molars - Jacob got strep throat last Monday and then his illness induced asthma kicked in but we seem to be over all of that now. I (Jen) have finally gotten 3 nights of decent sleep and feel much better, it's amazing how much some sleep can help. All that being said we still have a lot of adjustment and bonding ahead but feel a bit more ready to tackle it.

I will try to write more as I get a chance but want to thank everyone for their prayers. We have really been carried through on those prayers the last couple of weeks and are more thankful for them than we can put into words!

one week - family pictures

2010-01-31T16:28:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of pictures we took on Saturday - one week from when we picked up the kids

meals

2010-01-30T18:18:00.000-08:00

a few people have asked about providing meals for us so I am attaching the link and info for the care calendar that was set up for us:
http://www.carecalendar.org/
CareCalendar ID# 31381
Security Code# 1412

family pictures

2010-01-27T19:54:00.001-08:00

Here is a picture of us just after picking up the kids and another of our family on our first night home.

We are still ear deep in adjusting to our new family but figuring it out as we go and covering it in prayer.

Kids are still coughing but hopeful for a better nights sleep tonight.

We are really behind on returning calls and email so please be patient and one of these days we will find a couple of free moments to catch up :-)

we are home

2010-01-26T05:01:00.000-08:00

we are so happy to be back home - thank you all for covering us in prayer and we hope you will continue to as we all adjust and bond

the kids got along well last night and saraphina even said Jacob's name which is great since she doesn't choose to talk too much

our house is a complete disaster after only a few hours yesterday evening but hopefully that will get better as time goes on - we have realized we need to be a lot more organized with three kids

we took the kids into the doctor's this morning for their congestion and cough and overall they look pretty good - hopefully a little medicine and we can get healthy and sleep

we are going to try to get baths and showers for all of us and clean clothes - I am sure we will all feel better after that

well my time is up as there is a child crying for me - will post more later

Update from Florida on Saraphina and Olivier!

2010-01-24T16:45:00.000-08:00

Greetings,

(My name is Kim and I'm friends with the Bettin family -- I just talked to Jennifer and she asked that I post on her blog and Facebook.)

John and Jen's flight got into Florida on Saturday morning and at about 12:30 Florida time, they were waiting for the Red Cross van to pick them up to take them to another airport in Orlando where Saraphina and Olivier were!! Jennifer said she knows a lot of people were praying for them as she was very calm when they first met the kids! (Thanks for praying!!)

Both Saraphina and Olivier (as well as all the kids from the orphanage) are quite congested as the air quality they had been breathing since the earthquake has not been the best. Saraphina and Olivier coughed a lot during the night, so no one really go much sleep. Olivier is taking a prescription to help his congestion.

Jennifer and John are REALLY looking forward to coming home and being united with Jacob (and being in their own home, not a hotel). Please pray that their flight back to MN would go well -- they plan to arrive back to MN on Monday sometime after 3:00pm.

Please also be in prayer for one of the boys from the orphanage that has been hospitalized with pneumonia (because of all the congestion) .... and for his adoptive parents.

I'm sure Jen will post again here just as soon as she can; at this time, she doesn't have access to be able to.

Thanks for caring for the Bettin Crew of FIVE!

Praise Him,
Kim

they are coming

2010-01-22T14:44:00.001-08:00

we just got word that they have all the travel papers and will be traveling soon - we are going to try to catch the last direct flight out in a couple of hours otherwise will leave early in the morning - please cover our family and the other families in your prayers - will try to post if possible

how you can help

2010-01-22T13:56:00.000-08:00

We have been so touched with all the offers for help and supplies - many people have asked how they can help and asked us to post something so very humbly here goes:

The thing we are most in need of right now would be girl toys - we only have a couple of things here, we are pretty much all boy around here. Saraphina will be 3 in February.

Once we can verify what size the kids are we will have a better idea of what we need for clothes, shoes, coats, etc...

A care calendar will be set up once we are back where people can sign up to bring us a meal and any other needs we will have at that point.

Most of all we need continued prayer for Saraphina and Olivier to get over here, our travels to get them, for Jacob while we are away and for the transition he has ahead, for all of our adjustment, attachment and bonding.

Thank you all for the many gracious offers over the past week and a half.

still waiting but hopefully yet today

2010-01-22T10:56:00.000-08:00

Our people are still at the Embassy in Port-au-Prince waiting for the rest of the papers. They did find out last night that there are flights leaving every hour so they are still hopefully that they will be on one of those today.

The plan - please pray

2010-01-21T19:43:00.000-08:00

As most of you have realized things in Haiti are in a constant state of flux right now so although this is the plan things may change. They currently have the travel documents needed for most of the kids at Maranatha. They have an appointment at 9am tomorrow morning and hope to have the remaining papers by noon to have the kids on a 3pm flight to arrive in the US (most likely Orlando) by 6pm. They are still waiting to find out if they will be able to get on a flight tomorrow. The people down in Haiti working on this have been at the Embassy every day and feel they have the "bumps" worked out so are hopeful for all to go well tomorrow.

Please join us in covering this situation in prayer.
We are trusting in God's perfect plan and perfect timing.

We will post something one we know more.

good news

2010-01-18T20:27:00.000-08:00

The US will be granting Humanitarian Parole wavers to everyone that is in process with an adoption in Haiti. So it will definitely happen we are just waiting to find out when our kids get their papers and when they will be able to get here. It could happen very quickly so we are working feverishly to prepare as best we can. Would love to type more but have a lot to do! Please be in continued prayer that our kids get their papers quickly and for their continued safety. Thank you!

update on our kids

2010-01-18T06:14:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's been a while since an update - it's been quite a crazy few days with a number of developments and set backs. I am going to try not to be too detailed here (very difficult for an extremely detail-oriented person).
The parents of our orphanage (Maranatha Orphanage run by Heartline Ministries) have been working as a group with another orphange to obtain Humanitarian Parole wavers to get the kids over here. To clear up a misconception some of you know about, we are not connected with the BRESMA orphanage that has been on the news, there is another orphanage in PAP (Port-au-Prince) with 150 orphans and this is the group we are working with together.
Yesterday we had been told that we had the Humanitarian wavers and they were working on the logistics of flying the kids out. That now seems a bit more uncertain as the government is trying to figure out a "policy" to deal with this situation and that seems to change hour by hour. Ultimately, it still sounds like they are committed to getting any kids out that have a referral to a family even if there paperwork wasn't in Haiti yet (which is us since our paperwork is all pulled together and at the translator) but priority may be given to those further in the process.
We know that God has a perfect plan and his timing is perfect as well. Please join us in praying for:
The people of Haiti in general - there is so much loss and suffering but also hope and help.
For Saraphina, Olivier, the rest of the Maranatha children and all the other orphans - for safety/security and provision or food/water until they can come home.
For the process of getting them here safely and hopefully soon.
For Heartline Ministries as they open their women's center as a medical clinic and reach out to those around them in great need.
Thank you all for your prayers and offers of assistance - we are so grateful!

our adoption agency needs help

2010-01-15T05:51:00.000-08:00

Dearest Friends:

We write this with a heavy heart. As most of you know, we are in the process of adopting two children from Haiti through an organization called Heartline Haiti http://heartlineministries.org/default.aspx . The devastation in Haiti is beyond anything we can comprehend and they are in enormous need for prayer and support. Many of you have contacted us to see how you can help and we are humbled that our two little Haitians have touched your hearts to bring about such compassion.

If you are interested in knowing more about the need and how you can help, please follow the developments via the Heartline web-site or the blog http://jmchoul.spaces.live.com/blog/. The greatest way to help right now is through financing. There are so many needs: food, water, diesel and gasoline to run the generators, rebuilding of the walls (we need to have the orphanage under 24/7 armed protection and now since the walls protecting the houses are destroyed we are greatly concerned for their safety) especially with the danger of theft. Many of the families of the nannies have been severely impacted, losing loved ones, homes, jobs, etc. Heartline believes it is their call to help and support them in any way possible, so the ripple effect of those impacted in our ministry reaches more than 100 people not including the kids.

If you feel so compelled, we have included the direct link to the ministry for this support www.haiti-relief.com . The wonderful thing is every dollar given goes immediately to supporting the needs from this devastation (Heartline has been serving Haiti for over 20 years and is a 501C Non-profit with a Board that is made up of adoptive parents serving as lay ministry so all monies will go directly to Haiti. Also know that all of your contributions are recognized as a tax-deductible contribution).

We all covet your prayers for God’s mercy, protection, provision, grace, strength, wisdom and peace. Please forward this to as many people as you can.

Banding together for the cause,
John, Jennifer and Jacob Bettin
http://thebettinbuzz.blogspot.com/

Heartline MinistriesEarthquake Update

Below are updates John and others have provided via their blogs. Communication is difficult and they do not cell phone usage and the internet is only working occasionally. The number one need is money. Not only do we need to rebuild walls, but many of our employees (we employee approximately 100 people in various capacities) are now homeless and will need massive help rebuilding. Please donate at www.haiti-relief.com or www.heartlineministries.org. Materials are very difficult to find and everything that is needed is going to take money that we simply did not have yesterday. If you have specific questions please realize that John is not able to respond. You can contact tom.white@heartlineministries.org if you need specific information.

We have had lots of inquiries about traveling to Haiti to help. This is the only comment we have received on visitors: If you don't speak Creole/Kreyol and don't have the ability to work with injured people - you should NOT come. We cannot feed you and we don't have a place to house you.

See http://jmchoul.spaces.live.com/blog/ for John's blog. Most recent entries are below.

John's Updates

January 14th, 2010
I have just returned from seeing the man who was trapped inside his house when it collapsed. Please pray that they are able to get out of here through the Dominican Republic as his wife's foot and leg is in serious condition.
Bodies are starting to be placed on the street and at times covered with sheet.
Almost all the store are still closed and we are now facing the issue of a lack of diesel and gasoline to be able to use the vehicles and generators.I am starting to get reports from our workers of how some have lost their houses and are living on the streets. We, I believe, must help them.We, last night, had 12 people at my house and as they didn't feel safe to be at their homes or on the streets.One of our nannies just told me that her brother has been seriously injured and that other people in the same house have died. She asked for a couple of days off, and I said, "Of course, take as much as you need." She replied, "The children need me here at the home, I won't be gone long."This is the quality of nannies that we have at Maranatha Children's Home.
Today's struggle is to provide water and food for the kids and to keep ourselves strong and not allow fear of discouragement to creep in.
Wednesday January 13, 2010
8:30 PM
It has been several hours since we have had internet access and our cell phones still are not working. The last time I posted I said that I was going to hop on the motorcycle and try to find the father of one of our daughter Morgan's friends.
I drove to what was once his house and saw nothing but a pile of rubble with a roof on it. The house had fallen and he was still in it. By the time I arrived he had been trapped for almost 18 hours and several men with a hammer and chisel had made a hole in the cement roof and so when I arrived I could see Patrick still trapped as he could not remove his arm as it was trapped by the cement and steel holding it in place. But the men continued to work on it and after 18 hours he was freed. His arm was quite swollen and now looks as if it has been severely burned.
He spent several hours at my house where the medical people with us cared for him and we fed him as he hadn't eaten since being trapped in the rubble of his house.

His wife had as well been injured and it seems had seen a doctor at a clinic. I just returned from bringing Patrick to see his wife where she is staying at a mission about 30 minutes from us. It was a joyous reunion. She it appears has seriously injured her foot and they are talking about how to get to the States in face of the airport here being closed. They may have someone take them to the Dominican Republic and try to fly out of Santo Domingo.
Getting to the mission was a bit of a challenge as the bridge is out and we had to take what may be loosely called a road, which also took us across a river. We along the way on the so called road were stopped by several men who demanded money to let us pass. I choose to run their roadblock and did so with the men chasing after me on foot and waving their sticks.
Please pray for Patrick and his wife Barb. As I was driving him to see his wife, I couldn't help but consider how much he had lost and gone through and how little we have been impacted by the loss of several walls. See pictures of Patricks rescue at
http://jmchoul.spaces.live.com/blog/

PLEASE PRAY:
We have several people in our church that work at the UN Headquarters, which is in an old hotel which was partially destroyed. It has been reported that perhaps several dozen people may have lost their lives as part of the hotel collapsed. One of those that work there came by my house today to let me know that he was okay. He said that he was in a meeting with others and some did not get out in time and were killed. I asked him about the others that I know that work there but he didn't have any information.
Now I have never been in an earthquake before and I am taken back by the enormous amount of damage in the areas that I have traveled. It is stunning to see what was just yesterday a large functional building and now to see it in ruins.
So many lives lost, so much suffering, so much devastation, so much that is hard to understand.
Yet in my 20 years in Haiti, I have learned that the Haitian people are resilient and although they have not seen this kind of destruction before they will rise above it.
UPDATE
We today started cleanup at the crèches and the women's center. Our problem is that things aren't functioning yet and we are not able to have the rubbles hauled away and can not get the blocks, sand, rocks, cement, and steel on site to rebuild our fallen walls. And we simply do not have money on hand and do not know when we can get money as the stores and places where we change money have not reopened. The store where we often change money has in fact been leveled.
The kids and nannies are again sleeping in the yard of the Buxmans' house as they are afraid of aftershocks of which we just had one as I sit here typing.
The Heartline people are pulling together to do whatever we have to do to see our way through this difficult time.
I do not know when I can post this as I have not been able to find a working internet connection.
Today's struggle is to provide water and food for the kids and to keep ourselves strong and not allow fear of discouragement to creep in.

Earthquake update

2010-01-14T06:45:00.000-08:00

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed trying to put this together so bear with me.

Our kids are at Maranatha Orphanage which is run by Heartline Ministries. They are in the Port-au-Prince area and were significantly effected by the earthquake. The homes and buildings on their property sustained damage and the walls around their property are laying in pieces. Thankfully all the children and staff are accounted for and ok.

The children and workers are currently sleeping in a neighbor's yard. Today's struggle is to provide water and food for the kids and to keep themselves strong and not allow fear of discouragement to creep in. Almost all the store are still closed and they are now facing the issue of a lack of diesel and gasoline to be able to use the vehicles and generators. Since the stores are closed they are also not able to change money - the store they typically changed money at was leveled.

Going forward they will be focusing on getting one of their buildings safe enough for everyone to stay in and rebuild the security wall which is very important (even before this they have had an armed security guard that patrols their property at night).

It sounds as if things are getting more desperate and dangerous but they believe that they are there to reach out to those around them and have been providing a place for some to stay and providing medical assistance through the medical staff they have at the women's center.

This is a real brief synopsis so if you are interested in more information, pictures of the damage, the story and pictures of a friend they pulled from the rubble of his house please see their blog:
http://heartlineministries.org/Blog20.aspx

Please be covering Saraphina, Olivier, the rest of the children and staff in your prayers.

If you would be willing to help please make a donation through their website - even $5 will help!
http://heartlineministries.org/default.aspx

Merry Christmas from Haiti

2009-12-27T06:04:00.001-08:00

We received a bunch of pictures of the kids celebrating Christmas - what a wonderful present for us!

Paperwork progress: We have gathered all our paperwork together, taken two trips over to St. Paul to get everything authenticated and state seals on all of it, and sent it all over to the translator. We are just waiting to get it back so it can be sent off to the Haitian consulate in Chicago next. Hopefully we are on the homestretch with the paperwork now.

Any day we should be getting access to a website that will be updated (approximately monthly) with pictures and info on the kids so we can keep up with what is going on with them and share it with you.

a sister and brother

2009-11-21T18:22:00.001-08:00

We are excited to introduce you to Saraphina and Olivier - the children we are adopting from Haiti. Saraphina will be 3 in February and Olivier turned 1 in August - they are biological siblings.

The adoption process moves very sloooooow in Haiti and it will most likely be 18 months until we will be able to bring them home. Two trips are required but we are welcome to visit as often as we would like or are able.

We have a long road ahead of us but know that our God provides everything we need and will sustain all 5 of us until we can be together.

it's been 4 years...

2009-11-21T17:56:00.000-08:00

...no, not since our last post. It's been 4 years since Jacob joined our family, rocked our world and stole our hearts. What an amazing little boy and what an adventure it has been. We celebrated Jacob's birthday earlier this month with John taking the day off and spending time as a family - Jacob's favorite thing. Happy Birthday Jacob!

Evolution vs Creation according to a 3 year old

2009-03-23T14:33:00.000-07:00

There is a particular show on PBS that we don't allow Jacob to watch because there is a lot of evolution talk in it. This typically isn't even an issue since the show is on at nap time. One day I was letting Jacob watch a little TV before nap and lost track of time. I heard the theme song come on for this show and came in to turn it off. It's a very catchy little song and Jacob was quite upset I shut it off. I told him that we don't watch that show and he asked why. I wasn't really thinking and told him that there was too much evolution talk so of course he asked what evolution was - I really should have seen that one coming. I had no idea what to say and remember saying a quick prayer asking God to give me something that my 3 year old could understand. Quite honestly I have no idea what I told him but a couple of weeks later I was on the phone trying to take care of some adoption stuff and didn't notice the show come on again. Jacob ran in and said "Mom, mom, we don't watch this show, remember, remember" He then stretched his arms open as wide as they go and clapped a big loud clap and yelled "BOOM" and said "a big accident and they don't believe God made the world." Yep - that will work for a while. It was so funny that typing this story doesn't do it justice so I got it on video. He is pretty animated in the video and adds that "but we know that God did make the world". Hope you enjoy!

A quick update

2009-03-23T04:30:00.000-07:00

We have finished our homestudy visits and walk-through of our house! Our social worker now has to write up the homestudy and then we review it, as well as, her supervisor and the director of the agency. We are still waiting on two reference letters but there is only so much prompting we can do there - hopefully they will come in this week so we can complete the homestudy.
We are also nearing the end of the paperwork with only a few more things that I should be able to get sent off in the next couple of days. The last thing we need to do is our profile book which seems like a daunting task looming but I know that I am procrastinating because this will be quite a struggle to keep my perfectionism under control. We have started gathering pictures so hopefully we can start to make some headway on this - as soon as this is complete they can actually start showing us to birthparents.
After that we wait and pray knowing that God's plan and timing are perfect - and almost never look the same as mine :-)

The Pledge of Allegiance

2009-03-12T05:39:00.000-07:00

One day while we were in the car Jacob suddenly said the entire pledge of allegiance - we were stunned. This isn't something we have worked on, we just say it once a week in AWANAS. We think it is so cute so we thought we would share:

a long overdue update

2009-03-07T18:09:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that I have been avoiding posting this update. It isn't that we aren't excited with the new direction God is taking our adoption journey but I think that I am still trying to wrap my head around a lot of the changes and some new decisions we need to make. I was also surprised by how "upset" I was when Liberia closed - it's not that we always had our hearts set on that particular country but I hadn't realized that I had really created a picture (fuzzy at it may have been since we didn't know ages or genders) in my head of what our family was going to look like and needed to let go of that and even "morn" that loss.
Anyway, after a lot of prayer we have decided not to wait for Liberia to re-open but instead we will be pursuing a domestic adoption. We are open to any racial/ethnic background so we will most likely be adopting an African American child since this is where the greatest need is. Our agency actually works with an agency out of North Carolina to place African American children so it is also very likely we will adopt from there. Most likely we will be adopting a newborn but occasionally they do have twins, older infants or siblings available. We have been told that this process could move very quickly since the agency in North Carolina currently does not have any families available to take African American children. We have also been told to anticipate one match falling through which means that the birthmother changes her mind and decides to parent. Some families have no referral fall through and occasionally there will be a family that has 2 referrals fall through so they feel it is best to prepare everyone for that possibility.
There are a lot of things we need to figure out now that we didn't have to with an international adoption - what type of relationship we are open to with the birth mother and family, what medical and psychological conditions of the birthparents we are willing to consider and putting together a picture book of our family for the birthparents to look through to pick us. If you know me well you know that I am far more comfortable gathering mounds of official paperwork together to send to another country for an adoption verses putting together a cute picture book about us.
We are really excited about the new path we are on with the domestic adoption and the need that is out there. We are very excited that most likely this means that Jacob will be able to come with us to get his new sibling(s). We are also excited that hopefully the wait will be short.
Well this post seems like it is getting pretty long so I will stop now but we appreciate all the support and prayers being sent our way!

Waffle Art

2009-02-20T06:22:00.000-08:00

Jacob was eating his waffle this morning and suddenly yelled "Mom, mom, look at my waffle, it looks just like Noah's ark." Sure enough it did look like Noah's ark - too funny. He is now asking for a 2nd waffle and I am wondering if he is going to try to chew/shape it into an animal for the the ark :-) I love his creativity!

The five senses

2009-02-16T16:55:00.000-08:00

Here is a story that has nothing to do with adoption but gives you a peek into the type of conversations that go on at our house...

Jacob and I were reading a book about the body (he has been very interested in bones, skin, muscles, etc... lately) and there was a page on the five senses. Here is how the conversation went:
Me "What is that?" (pointing to an eye)
Jacob "an eye"
Me "What do you do with your eyes?"
Jacob "see"
Me "what is that?" (pointing to an ear)
Jacob "an ear"
Me "What do you do with your ears?"
Jacob "listen" (can you tell what we have been working on a lot lately??)
Me "What is that?" (pointing to a nose)
Jacob "a nose"
Me "What do you do with your nose?"
Jacob "pick it" (can you tell what we have been unsuccessfully working on lately??)

I do have to admit, it was hard not to laugh!

No sisters!

2009-02-12T11:45:00.000-08:00

We have been having another ongoing discussion around here that always starts with Jacob informing me that he doesn't like girls. He is very adamant about this and absolutely sure he wants a brother and definitely not a sister. When I tell him that God made everyone, even girls, and we like everyone he is not at all convinced and tells me they are yucky. I point out that I am a girl and he says he likes me, then I point out the other girls he likes (grandmas, aunts, cousins) he always proceeds to change the topic at that point.

Last night we were rocking for a few minutes before bed and out of the blue he folded his hands (we had already prayed for the night) and closed his eyes and said "Jesus, please give me a brother and not a girl, please a brother and I will take really good care of him, Amen."

It should be interesting to see how this ends up turning out...

Siblings vs. Pets

2009-02-10T05:03:00.000-08:00

I have decided to take a little break from focusing on our current situation and thought I would share a funny discussion that has been going on with Jacob regarding the adoption.

A month or so ago we were on our way to the post office to mail some paperwork for the adoption. We started to talk about "brothers and sisters" and I asked him if he thought we were going to get 2 brothers or 2 sisters or 1 brother and 1 sister. He thought for a few seconds and said "how about 2 pandas?". I told him "no, we are not getting 2 pandas". He replied "well how about 2 monkeys?". I informed him that we were not getting two monkeys and that he was enough monkey for us :-)

Just last week we were returning from a play-date at a friend's house and when I asked him how it went he told me about how he and his friend were building something and his friend's little brother kept taking the pieces. I told him that the little brother was just starting to learn how to play with other kids and he needed to help him learn and that when he was a big brother he was going to have to help his "brothers and sisters" learn how to play. In all his three year old seriousness he said "Mom, I'm not going to get brothers and sisters, I am going to get a dog." I told him we were not getting a dog and we were getting brothers and sisters. In all the drama he could muster up he says "I don't want brothers and sisters - I reeeeeeeaaaaaallllly want a dog - Mom can I Pleeeeeaaaaasssssseeeee have a dog?" We then had a discussion about how siblings and pets are not an either or option. He thought about it and said "I know, let's get both!"

to adopt from Liberia or not to adopt from Liberia - that is the question

2009-02-05T19:48:00.000-08:00

We received a call from our social worker late this afternoon to let us know that Liberia has closed international adoptions. They are hoping to reopen the adoption process in 2-3 months but who knows - I wonder if that is what Guatemala said back when they closed. Anyway, we need to make a choice whether we are going to wait for Liberia to open, choose another country or pursue a domestic adoption. The good and bad thing at this point is that we have a lot of options.

Please pray that we would continue to seek God's plan for this journey he has our family on and that he would clearly reveal the path he would like us to take.

home study, fingerprinting and paperwork

2009-01-15T11:56:00.000-08:00

I am not sure how much detail people are interested in but since a few of you want to know everything I will try to be somewhat detailed for them and for the rest of you feel free to skim or skip the less "exciting" stuff.

We were contacted by the social worker assigned to us for our home study. We will have three visits over a six week period so we should be done at the end of February or 1st week of March.

We are getting fingerprinted tomorrow for the background checks and I was relieved to hear that the E.P. police do it in their lobby although for some reason it still makes me feel a little like a criminal!

We also need to have a health form filled out by a doctor on each of us. The good news is that since Jacob recently had his 3 yr check up they will just fill out the form for us without him having to go in again which means not having to pay another co-pay - you have to like that! Too bad we can't schedule a joint appointment for the two of us and only pay one co-pay. I guess I am really frugal!

Besides that just need to gather up some certified birth certificates and a wedding certificate. So far it really hasn't been too bad which make me a bit worried that the worst of the paperwork is to come - hopefully not though.

God Provides!

2009-01-09T11:41:00.000-08:00

As our first large payment came due we received a call from someone (who wishes to remain anonymous) who had some money to donate and after praying felt led to donate to our adoption fund (and they didn't even know it was tax deductible for them at the time). The amount they had to donate covered all but $23 of our first payment! I love that God often provides in unexpected ways!

Now to wait and see what he has in store for a vehicle that holds three car seats!!

A quick update

2008-12-26T18:39:00.000-08:00

Wow, the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas really flew by this year! Since I sent out blog address to everyone on our Christmas cards I figured I should at least put a quick update out here while we recover from the great holiday festivities.

We received an invoice for our first substantial payment that is due before we can start our home study - I guess that means that our application was accepted :-)

It is exciting to think that by Christmas next year we may have more little monkeys running around here. Jacob is thrilled and very ready for some "brothers and sisters".

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

It's Official!

2008-12-08T22:26:00.000-08:00

After years of praying, months of research and days of paperwork we mailed off our formal adoption application today! We are so excited to finally get this process underway.

For those of you we have not talked to or those we haven't talked to in a while here is the scoop - we are pursuing an adoption of up to two children (younger than Jacob) from Liberia. Yep, sounds a little crazy I know but you just have to follow God's calling and trust him to provide. We are going to have a front row seat to see some God size things happening in our family this next year.

Well I have so much more to share but it's time to go to bed and I really wanted to get this first post done. Hey, my first blog post - cool!