A reminder verse, from Christian friends...

Psalm 20 ~ May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May He send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. May He remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests. Now I know the Lord saves His annointed; He answers them from His holy heaven with the saving power of His right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. O Lord, save the king! Answer us when we call!

Returning from a weekend trip to Minneapolis as a family of 6, this verse holds special meaning! :) We hope that we are painting a fair picture of this journey of adoption. We have chosen to focus on the positive and to never forget the blessing in it all. But, we also don't want to deny the challenges and exhaustion in the day-to-day adjustments. As a mom, it is a constant process of teaching, correcting, and praising. Each sentence needs to be spoken or interpreted carefully. Each new experience needs to be explained and walked through. Every lesson we teach our children between the ages of 2 and 5 are ones that we are faced with each day: pans are hot, outlets are dangerous, look both ways before crossing the street, use an indoor voice, don't push, say excuse me, buckle up, only sit on furniture, flush, use your fork, ask before taking, etc, etc. You get the idea. By the end of each day, I am hoping that my love for them and joy in having them here as part of our family is not overshadowed by all the other things I am having to teach. Each morning, I pray for the patience and strength that I know God can provide.

The way that Bruce and I have chosen to parent is a tougher route than many choose. We believe in giving each child all the love and attention and teaching that we can. We don't believe that we can buy that or hand that over to others to do for us. We make sure our rules and expectations line up with what God teaches, and that they are surrounded with enough positive and one-on-one time from us. Most of all, we try to model the behavior we expect in how we prioritize our time, money, and energy. We fall short every day, but we wake up and try again the next day. :) Anyway, when you parent in that way and live in that way...adding two additional children mid-way is taking about all that is in us. We are taking our time and being careful to do this "right" because we know it will pay off.

Sometimes the photos speak for themselves!

Pierre came walking into the house carrying a miniature snowman one day. He and Ange-Laurette decided to make a snowman family on the bench on our front porch, with socks for hats and crayons (that only they would have thought of) for eyes. Cute as can be!

We had a fun weekend with family over the weekend. We had our first sleepover at grandparents and taught Grandpa the hand-slapping-race game, that I never think looks too nice. They are good at it, and their friends keep offering to play it with them. It was fun to watch them interact so naturally with their new cousins. Kids just find games to play that don't take much language. Both kids even warmed up to my parents' dog, which was a very friendly and calm choice.



Every time I hear that song for Haiti on my Christian radio station, I can hardly contain myself. It stops me in my tracks and reminds me of the reality of what actually happened in the past 6 weeks. 230,000 Haitians surrounding our children's orphanage died. Millions are still just wandering without a home and with family members missing forever. Our kids were airlifted out, after days of aftershocks sleeping outside on a driveway. So much is being done to help their homeland, but the need is unimaginable! Its surreal actually. I see the images of Port-au-Prince in ruins on the television, but our kids are tucked in here in South Dakota sound asleep tonight. Please don't forget to pray tonight for everyone in Haiti, and all those affected by the tragedy of January 12th. And then, don't forget to pray thanks and praise for the safety, comfort, and privileges we have here.

Turning new leaves~

The kids ran in all excited the other day, yelling, "There IS grass under the snow!" After the winter we have had, I don't think they believed us that our pool would thaw and that there would be "green" on the trees one day. Hopefully, it will rain even harder the next few days to wash off the dirt and melt away more of the snow.

With the change of the season will be so many changes with Pierre and Ange-Laurette as well. One of the hardest things for them to understand is that there may not be total equity between children. For example, Nate's bowl of ice cream may look a little bigger...Bailey may get to buy new clothes with her own money...Ange-Laurette might get to join Mom for a trip to the grocery store. Each of these situations, Pierre has gotten very upset and has firmly said, "That's not fair." I think, this stems from the fact that they had so little with so many children at the orphanage. Each child appeared to receive the very same amount of everything. Any special treat or excess was shared among them. We have tried to explain that we love them all equally and will always give them what they need...but that they will be treated as individuals and will have very different life experiences here.

Yesterday, Ange-Laurette tried on a new swimsuit (since her other two did not fit) and Nate noted that he had 3 swimwuits but that only one fit that he liked. Pierre brought out his one pair of swimtrunks and said, "I love my swimsuit!" Then he added, "She has 3 swimsuits. He has 3 swimsuits. Me have one swimsuit. This is fair. This is good." We all applauded! HUGE progress (sarcasm intended by him or not!)

The other big change is the amount of affection Ange-Laurette is expressing (and tolerating). She is such a strong little girl. This protected her from the sights and sounds in her early years in a very rough area of Port-au-Prince. She has a tough exterior and a great sense of humor that have served her well. However, she has also kept friends and adults at a safe distance, over the years. In the past two weeks, she is offering hugs and holding hands and sitting closer during stories. She puts her arm around us to lead us to a game she wants to play. She replies to my "I love yous" with "I love you too" ...and recently says that to Bruce, too. It shows that she is trusting us and believes what we keep telling her: She will always be our daughter, and she will never have to go back to the orphanage...although we will visit Haiti when we can.

Getting into a routine

This experience will make me a better school psychologist. First of all, I can appreciate how difficult it is to simply juggle 4 children's home-school communication, lunches, and homework. Secondly, I now know first-hand what it is like to spend one hour on a simple science concept learned in school...or another hour on a worksheet that might take other students 10 minutes. The amount of patience and encouragement it requires to avoid shut down and to get optimal work out of them is HUGE. We are trying to remember how exhausted they must be. The language and new routines themselves are tiring. We want to focus on the basics and the most important things. The fact that they love school so much is such a plus. We are so proud of their efforts and progress!

Last night Pierre was able to contact his older brother by phone in Haiti. It is the only number we have that is going through at this time. He was able to talk with all 4 older siblings as they sat together somewhere in Port-au-Prince and asked Pierre questions (about the cold, food, and friends) and gave him instruction (to obey parents, eat what he is given, and not ever quit school). His brother was able to tell me in English that they are so happy for Pierre, and then he thanked me repeatedly. I asked Pierre to tell his family that WE are the ones who are so happy, and that we love Pierre so much. It was great to hear Pierre talk so fluently in Creole still...and to laugh as he explained that he is not cold...that he has lots of jackets! We're grateful for technology and that he has the ability to stay in touch with his birthfamily.

No Cavities!

We are amazed but both kids checked out with no cavities at their first dental appointment this morning! Considering their rice and beans diet and lack of vitamins in their early years, we were very pleasantly surprised. Pierre has a great set of teeth with only the one chipped tooth needing repair. He is losing the teeth one would expect of a child about his age, so this reinforced that he is just big for his age. Ange-Laurette, on the other hand, has not lost her bottom baby teeth yet and is just on the slower end tooth-wise. But she has strong, healthy teeth also! The dentist got a kick out of our story when Pierre lost a molar here a couple weeks ago. Pierre just came up to me with the large tooth in his hand and said, "Mom. Finished." and went to throw it in the trash. I told him that he could leave it out on the table overnight, and a tooth fairy would bring him money for the tooth. You should have seen his face...as if I had truly lost my mind! We Americans do have some doozies for traditions. He agreed to go along with the craziness and was happy to find cash there in the morning. :)

Hidden Talents

Ange-Laurette tried out her first night of dance class on Tuesday. She has two friends in the class, and we are friends with the teacher. She was adament that she was only going to "look" this first week, not dance. Knowing her better than that :) I talked her into wearing her sweats and tennis shoes, just in case. Sure enough, as soon as the Cha Cha Slide started playing, she took off her fleece jacket and joined the girls on the dance floor. She participated the rest of the hour, following each move a split second behind the leaders. The only difference was...Ange-Laurette had REAL rhythm. We South Dakotans only THINK we can dance!


Bruce had taken the boys along for an oil change. Nate always likes it there since he can get a slush and popcorn while they wait. This day, there was a man making animals out of long balloons. Pierre was intrigued. He came home, took their balloons apart, and put them together again and again into dog shapes. The next day we bought him a package of long, skinny balloons and a hand pump. He proceeded to form mice, elephants, and all sorts of dogs! I told him he could make a mint at birthday parties and carnivals if he kept this up. Ange-Laurette and Nate got into the action and learned to make their own flowers and long dogs. Who'd have thought!

Long-awaited first day of school ~

Today, to me, is almost as big as the day Pierre and Ange-Laurette arrived to South Dakota. The chance to receive an education was such a big part of why their birthparents chose adoption in the first place. I so wish there was a way to tell those mothers where their children are today! Pierre and Ange-Laurette seem to understand the importance of today. They were giddy all morning and wanted to dress up so nice. In the past two days, they have been working so hard on their reading skills. Just last night, Ange-Laurette read every word of Green Eggs and Ham. I about cried! Pierre is practicing on that story each day too. They both packed our two copies of that book in their backpacks, hoping to get to share them with the ESL teacher.


Tigi is the wonderful lady from here in Watertown who has been helping us as an interpreter for the kids. She was born in Haiti and speaks Creyole. She joined the kids today as they walked into their new school, and she will be shadowing them throughout the first 3 days. That way, we can be more certain that the kids understand directions/expectations/routines from the get-go. Tigi will also be able to reassure Pierre and Ange-Laurette and interpret any questions/concerns they have. What a blessing. As their mom, it was harder than leaving a kindergartener their first day! I am confident, though, that both kids will do well. Their teacher and classmates are so very excited and supportive. The entire elementary school has been so interested and encouraging. These are two very lucky kids! We cannot wait to watch them blossom.