Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Adkisson Boys
When we went to go file our I600 at the embassy, we discovered that our boys have the last name Adkisson. As I was the one that filled out all the paperwork as the petitioner, they have my last name. I don't think I would have chosen that, but I was really excited none the less! John said, "If I have to change my name to Adkisson, I will. Those boys aren't staying in Haiti any longer than they have to." So, we've got a Lovekender Pierre-Louis Adkisson and an Erickson Pierre-Louis Adkisson. Whew! What names. We are adamant about keeping their names as that is all they have. All I have to say is that we elected a president named Barak Hussein Obama. Now, I guarantee that if we adopted a little boy from Haiti named Barak Hussein Obama, people would say, "Oh, what a name, he's going to get beat up in middle school." Well look at Obama now! His name didn't stop him. Lovekender and Erickson will be just fine with the names their birth parents gave them! And maybe they'll get in a few fights....and that's OK. They live in an orphanage with 80 other kids, I think they can handle it!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Our 2nd Trip to Haiti
12-12-08 Even though Haiti is only an hour an a half flight to Miami, there is just no good way to get down there. It's a long haul broken up into two days. Once we got to Port-au-Prince, we waited about 2 and a half hours for a van to pick us up. We made a pit stop at Marie's to pick up two babies meeting their families for the first time. At 3:00, we started the long trek to Les Cayes. This is not a fun trip. It's windy, bumpy, dusty roads. We were cramped in with suitcases and luggage and Violet was in my lap. About 4 hours later, we finally reached the orphanage! Violet did an awesome job in the van and on the flights. The kids were in their pajamas and greeting us with a song. Erickson recognized us, but didn't know what to do. We held his hand and he tried not to smile. Finally, John put him on a bike and started doing pop-a-wheelies. THEN we got a smile and some giggles! John held Lovekender. He did just fine this time! No crying! We loaded the boys back up in the van with everyone else's kids too. We headed for the hotel. I gave Erickson and Lovekender a car each. They couldn't have been happier! John slept with Violet and Erickson and I slept with Love.
12-13-08
We went downstairs for breakfast. Lovekender will eat anything in sight. (except avacado and tomato). He eats adult size portions and then wants more. Lovekender has to have 2 pieces of food in his hands at all times. He won't eat it, he just needs it there for safekeeping. Heaven forbid I give myself a bite! Lovekender wants it all! We hung out at the hotel and went swimming with Lisa, Morelson, Julie, Tom, Lise and Evans. Erickson and Lovekender love swimming. Lovekender LOVES his sunglasses. The kids played with their toys by the pool for awhile and wore their matching Obama shirts! Then we loaded up and went to the orphanage. Erickson had a minor meltdown before this. I think he was mad that Morelson was playing with his truck. At the orphange, we just hung out until the Christmas party. Violet tried to stay away from all the girls that wanted to play with her hair. Erickson tried to protect his car from the other kids. Lovekender just wanted to be held. The orphanage at Cayes is SO MUCH better than the one in Port-au-Prince. It was so nice to see the kids run and play and breathe fresh air. Later that evening, it was time for the party. Some of the older kids sang songs and did dances. One of the dances was hilarious. They did some very provocative moves. I have that on video tape. Way to go Lyse and Evans! We had some food...goat was served. I passed on that. Then, we passed out Christmas gifts for the kids. We were swarmed and a lot of kids ended up crying, so I'm not so sure how well that went.
When it was all over, we loaded back up and went to the hotel. That night, we were up until about 2 am with Violet. She had an earache. I felt so sorry for her I cried. I just kept trying to comfort her, but she was in so much pain. She finally went to sleep. Then, Love was up at 6:15 ready to go.
12-14-08
I took Love and Erickson downstairs and let John and Violet sleep until 10:15. We had breakfast. Again, feeding Lovekender everything in sight. I let E and L open their remote control cars. The loved them. Later, Erickson threw himself another good-ol' fashioned fit because Morelson was playing with his car. We've got to work on the sharing concept. Johna nd Violet came down and had breakfast. Then we headed to the beach. (I should mention that anytime we go from one place to another, there is at LEAST an hour of waiting, wondering what is going on. I don't want to give the impression that everything runs very smoothly....it doesn't!) On the way to the beach, we had to stop twice because birthparents of kids in the van were standing on the side of the road. Lisa met Morelson's Mom, Grandmother/godmother and brother. Julie and Tom met Lise's relatives and Mom. It was VERY weird that these folks were dressed in their Sunday best waiting for us on the side of the road.
We finally made it to the beach. I'm assuming this is the first time for all of my kids. By the way, Erickson LOVES riding in a car. He talks and chants the whole time. At first, Erickson was scared of the waves. Thank goodness for my Creyole lessons. I was able to talk to him about this. Later, I took Violet and Lovekender out in the ocean with me. They both loved it. Lovekender didn't like to get his hands and feet dirty in the sand! Love started playing in the sand. Then, he just stood up and walked straight towards the ocean and kind of dove, face first towards some waves. Keep in mind, he is two, but looks one. He's just this little squirt of a guy. He didn't cry of anything. John took him out and he LOVED the ocean. Then, Erickson started thinking that he knew how to swim. When I held him, he just kind of dove toward John. He's going to be quite the swimmer once we get him home and explain about the whole holding your breath thing. Violet loved the ocean too. All three kids started working on a sand pile. That's the first time I've seen them all play together. It was very sweet!
After out swim, I put them in their matching Hawaiian outfits that mom got them. We waited some more and then drove to a restaurant on the beach. Marie was there too. Marie always wants to talk to Violet, and Violet gets all shy. Marie says, "Don't shy, Vio (Vee-0h)." Stephanie pulled me aside and told me that the boys are out of parquet. This was huge news. Our file is moving very fast. She said the boys could be home as early as March. Keep in mind, they could also hit a stumbling block and be held up for months. However, the way that it is going now, they are on track to be home in a few months. Very exciting and overwhelming news!
The dinner choices at the restaurant were conch or fish. Lovekender and Erickson dug in. John got the conch. I just had some fried plantains. It was good. We had a few beers and good conversation with the other waiting couples. It was so good to make friendships with the other adopting parents! We headed back to the hotel. Lovekender and Erickson go a quick shower to get the sand off. Lovekender's scabies were really itching him. I got him to sleep by combing his skin and hair with a little baby comb. Tonight, I was up with Lovekender. He had a bad cough. If I held him upright, he didn't cough. So, finally, I arranged some pillows so I could sleep at an angle with Lovekender on top of me. Sweet thing!
12-15-08
Lovekender was up around 6:15 again. I always awaken to a large poopie diaper! I guess I'm going to have to learn how to potty train a boy. We thought we were suppose to check out at 9:00AM, but plans changed. So, we ended up hanging out in the lobby for hours. I took the boys over to some trees and we looked for lizards. Lovekender was very good at spotting them. He'd stick out his little bitty finger and point and coo. He is so sweet you want to eat him up! Erickson meanwhile, was throwing another daily fit that I'm sure was related to his car! We loaded the van and took a quick scenic look at the beach that was right outside the wall of our hotel. We had no idea! That whole time we were a few yards from a beach. Oh, well.
At the orphanage, we played with the kids for about an hour and 20 minutes and then said good-bye. Lovekender went back into the baby room. All the mom's of babies were in there crying. Even the nannies were teared up. Lovekender was crying as I waved good-bye. Then, out in the gravel, Erickson realized we were going and started screaming crying. We hugged him and got in the van. As we left, I saw him spread-eagle on the pavement crying.
The good-bye wasn't very hard for me. I think it's because I try to control everything in my life and this is one thing that I have ABSOLUTELY no control over. There is nothing I can do to make it better or move faster. The orphanage is clean and nice. The boys are taken care of. They have food. And, they'll be home soon. I'm at peace with that. I'm sure Erickson was sad for awhile (a couple of hours), and then he started playing again. His cars are probably broken now, but at least he had fun with them for awhile. Lovekender is fine as long as he has food.
We pulled out of the orphanage with all the crying parents, John included. We went to a restaurant and had some good eats. Then we hit the road for PAP. It took another 4 hours. We sang LOTS of Christmas songs. Violet was NOT a fan of the 12 days of Christmas! "IT's too long." We went to Marie's for some dinner and she had Christmas gifts for us. Then, we went to the Visa Lodge. It was a cute little room. Violet put on a couple of shows for us, which we also have on tape.
12-16-08
I woke up at about 6:15. I guess out of habit now. I grabbed my notes and went to study by the pool. Later, I woke up John and Violet. We all had egg and cheese (and HAM) omletes. It's pretty much impossible to be vegetarian. Ham comes on everything....even spaghetti. At this point, we remembered that it was our eighth anniversary! We packed up, checked out and headed to Marie's. We were there for quite some time. Not really sure why. There were lots of families there dropping off kids at the orphanage. Then, we headed to the embassy. We signed our 1-600's. The boys are leagally ours, whatever that means. We had to take an oath that we would take care of them. Also, the boys' last name is ADKISSON. Because I was the one that filled out the paperwork and listed John as the spouce, they have my last name. That was pretty funny. John said, "If I have to change my name to Adkisson, I will. Those boys aren't staying in Haiti any longer than they have to."
We left the embassy and had lunch at a nice outdoor restaurant. Then, we headed to the airport. We flew into Miami and then to Chicago. The Chicago flight was delayed. We got to our hotel around2:30. We slept for about 4 hours and then woke up to catch our flight to Louisville.
12-17-08
Mom and Cyrus picked us up in Louisville. Violet ran to them. It was so cute. Mom had all kinds of good eats for us in the car. She is so wonderfully fabulous. We were exhausted. When we got home, I called my study group and they came over. Final exam the next day. No pressure! That was our trip!
12-13-08
We went downstairs for breakfast. Lovekender will eat anything in sight. (except avacado and tomato). He eats adult size portions and then wants more. Lovekender has to have 2 pieces of food in his hands at all times. He won't eat it, he just needs it there for safekeeping. Heaven forbid I give myself a bite! Lovekender wants it all! We hung out at the hotel and went swimming with Lisa, Morelson, Julie, Tom, Lise and Evans. Erickson and Lovekender love swimming. Lovekender LOVES his sunglasses. The kids played with their toys by the pool for awhile and wore their matching Obama shirts! Then we loaded up and went to the orphanage. Erickson had a minor meltdown before this. I think he was mad that Morelson was playing with his truck. At the orphange, we just hung out until the Christmas party. Violet tried to stay away from all the girls that wanted to play with her hair. Erickson tried to protect his car from the other kids. Lovekender just wanted to be held. The orphanage at Cayes is SO MUCH better than the one in Port-au-Prince. It was so nice to see the kids run and play and breathe fresh air. Later that evening, it was time for the party. Some of the older kids sang songs and did dances. One of the dances was hilarious. They did some very provocative moves. I have that on video tape. Way to go Lyse and Evans! We had some food...goat was served. I passed on that. Then, we passed out Christmas gifts for the kids. We were swarmed and a lot of kids ended up crying, so I'm not so sure how well that went.
When it was all over, we loaded back up and went to the hotel. That night, we were up until about 2 am with Violet. She had an earache. I felt so sorry for her I cried. I just kept trying to comfort her, but she was in so much pain. She finally went to sleep. Then, Love was up at 6:15 ready to go.
12-14-08
I took Love and Erickson downstairs and let John and Violet sleep until 10:15. We had breakfast. Again, feeding Lovekender everything in sight. I let E and L open their remote control cars. The loved them. Later, Erickson threw himself another good-ol' fashioned fit because Morelson was playing with his car. We've got to work on the sharing concept. Johna nd Violet came down and had breakfast. Then we headed to the beach. (I should mention that anytime we go from one place to another, there is at LEAST an hour of waiting, wondering what is going on. I don't want to give the impression that everything runs very smoothly....it doesn't!) On the way to the beach, we had to stop twice because birthparents of kids in the van were standing on the side of the road. Lisa met Morelson's Mom, Grandmother/godmother and brother. Julie and Tom met Lise's relatives and Mom. It was VERY weird that these folks were dressed in their Sunday best waiting for us on the side of the road.
We finally made it to the beach. I'm assuming this is the first time for all of my kids. By the way, Erickson LOVES riding in a car. He talks and chants the whole time. At first, Erickson was scared of the waves. Thank goodness for my Creyole lessons. I was able to talk to him about this. Later, I took Violet and Lovekender out in the ocean with me. They both loved it. Lovekender didn't like to get his hands and feet dirty in the sand! Love started playing in the sand. Then, he just stood up and walked straight towards the ocean and kind of dove, face first towards some waves. Keep in mind, he is two, but looks one. He's just this little squirt of a guy. He didn't cry of anything. John took him out and he LOVED the ocean. Then, Erickson started thinking that he knew how to swim. When I held him, he just kind of dove toward John. He's going to be quite the swimmer once we get him home and explain about the whole holding your breath thing. Violet loved the ocean too. All three kids started working on a sand pile. That's the first time I've seen them all play together. It was very sweet!
After out swim, I put them in their matching Hawaiian outfits that mom got them. We waited some more and then drove to a restaurant on the beach. Marie was there too. Marie always wants to talk to Violet, and Violet gets all shy. Marie says, "Don't shy, Vio (Vee-0h)." Stephanie pulled me aside and told me that the boys are out of parquet. This was huge news. Our file is moving very fast. She said the boys could be home as early as March. Keep in mind, they could also hit a stumbling block and be held up for months. However, the way that it is going now, they are on track to be home in a few months. Very exciting and overwhelming news!
The dinner choices at the restaurant were conch or fish. Lovekender and Erickson dug in. John got the conch. I just had some fried plantains. It was good. We had a few beers and good conversation with the other waiting couples. It was so good to make friendships with the other adopting parents! We headed back to the hotel. Lovekender and Erickson go a quick shower to get the sand off. Lovekender's scabies were really itching him. I got him to sleep by combing his skin and hair with a little baby comb. Tonight, I was up with Lovekender. He had a bad cough. If I held him upright, he didn't cough. So, finally, I arranged some pillows so I could sleep at an angle with Lovekender on top of me. Sweet thing!
12-15-08
Lovekender was up around 6:15 again. I always awaken to a large poopie diaper! I guess I'm going to have to learn how to potty train a boy. We thought we were suppose to check out at 9:00AM, but plans changed. So, we ended up hanging out in the lobby for hours. I took the boys over to some trees and we looked for lizards. Lovekender was very good at spotting them. He'd stick out his little bitty finger and point and coo. He is so sweet you want to eat him up! Erickson meanwhile, was throwing another daily fit that I'm sure was related to his car! We loaded the van and took a quick scenic look at the beach that was right outside the wall of our hotel. We had no idea! That whole time we were a few yards from a beach. Oh, well.
At the orphanage, we played with the kids for about an hour and 20 minutes and then said good-bye. Lovekender went back into the baby room. All the mom's of babies were in there crying. Even the nannies were teared up. Lovekender was crying as I waved good-bye. Then, out in the gravel, Erickson realized we were going and started screaming crying. We hugged him and got in the van. As we left, I saw him spread-eagle on the pavement crying.
The good-bye wasn't very hard for me. I think it's because I try to control everything in my life and this is one thing that I have ABSOLUTELY no control over. There is nothing I can do to make it better or move faster. The orphanage is clean and nice. The boys are taken care of. They have food. And, they'll be home soon. I'm at peace with that. I'm sure Erickson was sad for awhile (a couple of hours), and then he started playing again. His cars are probably broken now, but at least he had fun with them for awhile. Lovekender is fine as long as he has food.
We pulled out of the orphanage with all the crying parents, John included. We went to a restaurant and had some good eats. Then we hit the road for PAP. It took another 4 hours. We sang LOTS of Christmas songs. Violet was NOT a fan of the 12 days of Christmas! "IT's too long." We went to Marie's for some dinner and she had Christmas gifts for us. Then, we went to the Visa Lodge. It was a cute little room. Violet put on a couple of shows for us, which we also have on tape.
12-16-08
I woke up at about 6:15. I guess out of habit now. I grabbed my notes and went to study by the pool. Later, I woke up John and Violet. We all had egg and cheese (and HAM) omletes. It's pretty much impossible to be vegetarian. Ham comes on everything....even spaghetti. At this point, we remembered that it was our eighth anniversary! We packed up, checked out and headed to Marie's. We were there for quite some time. Not really sure why. There were lots of families there dropping off kids at the orphanage. Then, we headed to the embassy. We signed our 1-600's. The boys are leagally ours, whatever that means. We had to take an oath that we would take care of them. Also, the boys' last name is ADKISSON. Because I was the one that filled out the paperwork and listed John as the spouce, they have my last name. That was pretty funny. John said, "If I have to change my name to Adkisson, I will. Those boys aren't staying in Haiti any longer than they have to."
We left the embassy and had lunch at a nice outdoor restaurant. Then, we headed to the airport. We flew into Miami and then to Chicago. The Chicago flight was delayed. We got to our hotel around2:30. We slept for about 4 hours and then woke up to catch our flight to Louisville.
12-17-08
Mom and Cyrus picked us up in Louisville. Violet ran to them. It was so cute. Mom had all kinds of good eats for us in the car. She is so wonderfully fabulous. We were exhausted. When we got home, I called my study group and they came over. Final exam the next day. No pressure! That was our trip!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
8 days!
I'll see my boys in 8 days!!! I can hardly stand it! Last night, we had our last Creyole lesson before we leave. I'm doing all right. I made a little booklet to help me. I can't wait to carry on a conversation with Erickson. I wonder if it will make a big difference? I can't wait to play Simon Di and to pretann to be Ton Ton Noel and ouvri kado! Yeah. Oh my gosh! I'm so caught up in nursing school and finals, etc. , I hardly take a moment and get totally excited. Well, I am right now!!!! I'm pretty much ready. One last Target run should do me. This time, I'm packing gifts for Violet. I forgot to last time. Ooops.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
4 1/2!!
Erickson is 4 and 1/2 years old today!!! I can't believe six months have gone by since we saw him! I wonder if he's grown. I wonder if he'll remember us. I wonder if he'll run right to us or be shy for awhile. I've finished my toy shopping for Haiti Dec. trip. I got the boys some remote control cars. I think they'll love them! I can't wait to give them to them. We leave in 2 weeks. Dang, I've got a lot of studying to do between now and then!
Friday, November 14, 2008
Baldy
Less than a month until I see my boys! We have some new pictures of Erickson. I hardly recognized him because he got a hair cut/shave! I had to have John come in and confirm that that was really Erickson. No pictures of Lovekender. He must be hiding somewhere in that orphanage.
I've been working on my Creyole. Tomorrow night, we go to a fundraiser for Ten Kids, a new non-profit organization to help kids in Haiti.
I bought the boys a few small things for Christmas. I'm so excited to see them again and to interact more this time. I want to talk to Erickson and see if I can have a little tiny conversation with him.
I can't wait to get them home! Nursing school is keeping me busy and distracted. I'll really miss them this Christmas. It'd be so much more fun with them!
I've been working on my Creyole. Tomorrow night, we go to a fundraiser for Ten Kids, a new non-profit organization to help kids in Haiti.
I bought the boys a few small things for Christmas. I'm so excited to see them again and to interact more this time. I want to talk to Erickson and see if I can have a little tiny conversation with him.
I can't wait to get them home! Nursing school is keeping me busy and distracted. I'll really miss them this Christmas. It'd be so much more fun with them!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
President Obama!!!
Boys, I am so excited for you! You are coming home to President Barak Obama. You are coming to a country where the people can make a difference. Your new home will be full of love and hope for a brighter future. The first few years of your lives have been incredibly hard. For two young kidos, you have been through more emotionally than some ever experience in a life time. I hope that you love it here and that your days are full of happiness and new opportunities. I hope that you always love your native Haiti and work to make Haiti a better place for her people to live. Most of all, I want you to be able to do whatever you want, to follow your dreams. I'm going to do the best I can to ensure your success and happiness.
I love you and miss you so much. As this process drags on, I keep in mind that you will come home at just the right time and that everything will work out smoothly. As of today, I'm not sure if you will get an IR3 Visa. This would ensure that you are US citizens when our plane lands in Florida. Right now, it's looking like you all could end up with IR4 visas. That would mean we would have to file more paperwork when you got home in order to make you citizens. Anyway, it is out of my control....Let's just hope your dossier gets out of IBESR within the next 30 days!!!! That is so important! Your file has been in IBESR 4 months as of today!
I can't wait to tuck you in your beds at night!
Love you,
Mommie
I love you and miss you so much. As this process drags on, I keep in mind that you will come home at just the right time and that everything will work out smoothly. As of today, I'm not sure if you will get an IR3 Visa. This would ensure that you are US citizens when our plane lands in Florida. Right now, it's looking like you all could end up with IR4 visas. That would mean we would have to file more paperwork when you got home in order to make you citizens. Anyway, it is out of my control....Let's just hope your dossier gets out of IBESR within the next 30 days!!!! That is so important! Your file has been in IBESR 4 months as of today!
I can't wait to tuck you in your beds at night!
Love you,
Mommie
Thursday, October 30, 2008
email from Stephanie
Hi Kendra,
I think Erickson more then Lovekender is suffering from a bit of a broken heart. He reminds me of my son, who was diagnosed “failure to thrive”. Once home he did fine, although I still see where he is very sensitive, and he gets overwhelmed in large groups (not that anyone would notice or consider a “disorder”) Josh had a brother who was 4 at the orphanage and every picture I have of Jon he seems to be crying. He had moments of fun interaction, but he was definitely a sad little boy. He sorely missed his poppee. Once home he also did very well. They were both boys that needed a relationship with a parent. I hope and predict that Erickson will be a very different little boy once he is home. I’m glad that by the time we go in December you’ll be so much further into the adoption process (lets hope you’re out of IBESR and on your way!) I think Lovekender is also sensitive, but he doesn’t seem as sad and withdrawn as Erickson. He just seems to be a toddler unsure of strange white people. J I would read up on attachment and bonding to make sure you are taking deliberate steps with them both when they come home. Better to assume there is loss and grief to overcome then to not and miss something—however small it may seem.
I talked with Marie today and she said they are both doing better. You were right, she was under the impression you paid up through September because you wanted care through that time. I asked her if she thinks they need their own nanny and she said no, that they are doing better. We’ll want to ask the staff in December if what we see when we’re there is what they see when we’re not there.
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