This is now going to be a Mommy blog!

As I read so many blogs for ideas and inspirations, there are many times that I'd like to link to those and show what we are doing as a family, but I really didn't have a blog. This was started to share with our family and friends about our journey bringing Reese home from Haiti. I guess I could start another blog under a different name, but I kinda like the name of this one, so I'm going to stick here.

This probably won't be a terribly interesting blog! :-) It is going to be more like an on-line journal of my crazy, multi-tasking brain. Right now I am very interested in minimalism. I'm super tired of cleaning all the time. Yesterday the light bulb went off and I realized that if we didn't have so much stuff, I wouldn't have to be picking it up all the time. I am ready to get rid of just about everything. The first thing to go is a ton of stuff in my kitchen. I love to entertain, so I keep lots of stuff around for that. The truth of the matter is, with five kids, my days of entertaining are very far and few between. I am getting rid of all my dishes except for one set for each member of the family which will be color-coded. My nieces and nephews are here a lot, so I'm going to keep a color-coded set for them in their bins in my mudroom. I will keep paper plates and cups on hand for guests.

I also hope to post preschool ideas, link to my other site about adoption, share recipes, birthday party ideas, and if I get brave enough: my weight loss journey.

New website

Hello!

My life has led me to start my own adoption and consulting business. You can learn more about it here. I'd love to see you there!

Two months and a day...

Since I last blogged. Not sure that I have any readers left, but just in case, here you go:

I am bad. I don't think I am cut out for this blogging thing! I actually like to write and I LOVE to read other people's blogs, but the time factor and the lack of brain cells certainly limit my blogging.

Since this blog is pretty much all about Reese, I will stay on the topic of him.

He is delightful. A pure joy and gift. Spoiled in love. Everyone in this house dotes on him. He is attaching very well. Look at those shiny eyes! I really haven't left him more than to do a few errands. We stay home most of the time except for going to church.

I think he likes going to Target now. At first, that was totally sensory-overload for him. He wore sunglasses a few times and that seemed to help. It helped dim all the craziness of a store and I think he also felt a little
incognito to all his fans. When we first returned, we couldn't go anywhere without being stopped. Our first trip to Target lasted 2.5 hours. Oops. He seems to have turned a corner now, because when the kids get home from school, he runs to the van and tries to open the door because he wants to go somewhere. His wish will come true, as soon as summer starts.

He loves being outside at all times. We met with a friend, Rhyan, who has spent lots of time in Haiti. She spoke Kreyol to him and the last time he saw her was at Children of the Promise. He seemed pretty freaked out by it and refused to talk in Kreyol back to her. He clearly understood what she was saying.

He just seems to come more alive each and every day. He loves giving hugs and kisses. He adores his siblings. He looks forward to his daddy coming home each day and screams, "Daddy" at the top of his lungs when Dave walks in the door. He doesn't babble in Kreyol anymore, which makes me sad. I should probably make him some rice and beans. I did that a few times when he was first home. Now he eats anything we put in front of him, so I haven't made as much of an effort.

He participates in everything wholeheartedly. I forgot what dyeing Easter eggs with a two year old is like~ wanting to do everything by themselves. He poured out two cup-fulls of dye. The advantage to being the youngest of five is that your mom is too tired to care anymore! I just got out paper towels.

Even though the world has revolved around Reese the last three months, there are other members of our family and I will give a brief update on them.

Dyson just got back from a two week camping trip to Washington DC and Boston with my parents~ lucky boy. He had a fabulous time! He is really looking forward to baseball starting. He is very excited that Dave is going to be his coach.

The Irish twins, Sydney, 9, and Josh, 8, are busy! Busy arguing and fighting over the TV...

Sydney is such a fun girl and is growing up so fast! She is looking forward to being on the swim team this summer.

Josh continues to be a hard worker and a great helper around the house. He still quacks at the crack of dawn.

Landon, is growing up too fast. He lost his first two teeth on back to back days. I just want to cuddle him but he's not so into that anymore. He likes to keep up with Dyson and copy everything he does.

My life is back to being "boring"~ not sure that I have much to blog about anymore...we'll see...

There is No Place Like Home

I'm not going to have as much computer time now that I am home with my FIVE children, but I really want to give you the happy ending to our story. Within the next few days, I'll share our pictures of when we were detained and some of the other crazy details.

We are so happy to have Reese home. I'm going to have adjust to having a "boring" life again. He slept all night last night. He has been having fun playing with his brothers and sister. His favorite toy is a little car to ride in. He drives from room to room in it. He has pointed outside and is very curious about snow, but since he doesn't want to wear jacket, we won't be going out there anytime soon. He has been eating well, but we are struggling with drinking. Right now he has three sippy cups out with different things I tried: water, toddler formula, and cow's milk.

I want you to know how much God protected these boys and their families. When we were at immigration in Miami we saw a US official that was at the scene on Saturday when we were detained. He came over and told us it was nice to see us on "the other side". He told us that he had a few things he wanted to tell us. One of the things he said was that when he arrived on the scene, the Haitian police were planning on taking all six children and splitting them up and hiding them and feeding them back into the Haitian Social Services and if we wanted them we could start the process all over again. Even though this a crazy and horrible ordeal, God saw everything and was there through it all. Thank you Jesus for protecting our boys!

Here are the links to our homecoming in Minneapolis: http://kstp.com/news/stories/S1436608.shtml?cat=1 and http://wcco.com/national/haiti.orphan.minnesota.2.1520903.html

Traveling

Sleeping Baby Feet
Look at those lips!
Our first picture back together1
Dear Friends and Family,'

Thank you so much for you love and undying support and prayers! We stormed the gates of heaven with our prayers! I have lots of pictures to put on here, including pictures from when we were detained. We had a friend with who made the situation much more funny. He gave the cops nicknames, etc. But, for today, we are traveling. We will be taking a US Embassy Escort to the airport this morning. We will travel all day and then go through US immigration, and then US Social Services, so you won't hear from me until tonight. We hope to be in Minnesota by late morning on Thursday.

Reese is doing fantastic! I wasn't sure how well he would receive me back since I left him in the tent. I did not go and visit because I didn't want him to think that I was someone who comes and goes in his life. Well, he hasn't let me go since I got him back. I held him until 11:00 when he fell asleep in my arms. Eventually I had to put him down because I was afraid that he would roll off the couch. He is a little dehydrated and has a small temp, but it doesn't seem to affect him.

Your love and support and Jesus got me through this terrible ordeal. THANK YOU for helping and partnering with me to bring Reese home and give him LIFE!

Would like to write more...

BUT I HAVE A TWO YEAR OLD IN MY LAP!!! I was reunited with Reese about two hours ago! Praise God! Our reunion will be on CNN tonight 9-10 Central Time. I will update more after he is asleep, right now I want to just enjoy my little boy. I have a picture too!

So Close...

The embassy has been granted custody! They are going to get the kids now! Yeah! I will be 99% relieved when they are actually in Embassy custody and then the remaining 1% when we are on US soil. I'll keep you posted.

Steps in the Right Direction

From the embassy: "Ambassador Merten raised this case with Prime Minister Bellerive and the Minister of Social Affairs this morning. Both pledged to resolve the impasse. The Minister of Social Affairs said he would contact IBESR and others ASAP to resolve the situation and said he would call us back as soon as it is done."

It sounds like an improvement...is it going to be done on Haitian time? I'm really tired of Haitian time.

Urgent Prayer

The US Ambassador and the Haitian Prime Minister are meeting right now. Please pray that this situation ends NOW!

CNN news and a small update

We are told that the right people are meeting tomorrow to get this cleared up. Unfortunately, we thought this would be cleared up when we were still standing on the airport street corner, so I really won't believe anything until it happens.

We'll be on CNN on Anderson Cooper 360 tonight. Here is the promo for the piece: http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/02/22/orphans-seized-mom-is-detained/ That is Reese in the top photo on the right.

Where our kids are staying...

The founder of Children of the Promise Orphanage wrote on her blog about the situation and there are fantastic pictures on there to show where the kids are staying in the Unicef camp. It shows...all older kids, mats on the ground, dirt to play in, older kids taking care of our babies, no bottles, and while they were there they had all run out of food. And...all of our children could be in their parents arms right now. This is truly unbelievable. www.childrenofthepromise.blogspot.com

This morning

So, right now the kids are in the custody of Haitian social services. This morning the head of adoptions at the US Embassy is going over personally to the office of the director of Haitian social services to see if they will release the kids to the US embassy. Please pray that this happens immediately.

Some picture love for now

This is one of the buildings we drove by

Reese and I on the way to the airport

Reese at the house we stayed at on Friday night

We were playing on Saturday morning before everything went crazy.

This was our first picture taken together. I love how he is holding my finger!

One more thing

I am choosing a spirit of hope, which comes from God, and I know that this will turn out well. I am hoping and praying this is resolved tomorrow. Please join me in that prayer.

This could get long...

I wasn't going to post this story until we got home, because I don't want my children, family, and friends to worry, but yours truly had a long interview with CNN tonight, so I guess, it's getting out there!

Here is what is going on:

On Friday, we waited all day at the US Embassy for the last military flight out of here. (It was so wonderful to be with Reese) All of the children were cleared to leave, signed off by the Prime Minister, etc. The flight was canceled. We were told we could make our own private arrangements b/c there would be no more military flights out. We arranged to have Agape flights fly us out on noon on Saturday. We stayed with the children in a guest house on Friday night.

On Saturday morning, we packed up the kids in a taxi and headed to the airport. Minutes after the taxi dropped us off, we were attacked by an angry mob of men saying that we were trying to steal the children. They tried to take the kids from us.

The Haitian police came and detained all of us. It was horrible until the US Embassy got there. We sat on the street with the children outside of the airport for six hours while the Haitian police, border patrol, immigration, and the US embassy had a huge pissing match. It was unbelievable. Then they took us down to a police station for three hours while they continued to sort things out. They let us go, but they took the children from us and they are sitting in a Unicef tent camp. I am praying for the memory of being separated to be erased from mine and Reese's mind. It was horrible. I'm writing this out and I can't even believe that this has happened. The US Embassy is working on it. It escalated quickly. I know for sure that my senator, Amy Klobuchar, from MN is heavily involved. Dave is in Florida right now waiting for us to get out of Haiti. He was going to meet the plane on Saturday afternoon!

I am a strong believer and Jesus' supernatural peace is comforting me right now, but my mind seems so muddled that I can barely from coherent words to pray. Will you please pray on behalf of Reese and the other children?

A delay

Things aren't going as planned in Haiti. :( Please pray that things will change soon and we'll both be home very soon.

We're together!

Hello! Reese and I are together! I met him right away this morning when I got off the plane in Haiti. He is absolutely adorable. Sweet, shy, fun, LAID BACK...a real honey. We spent the entire day at the US Embassy (6 hours) waiting to fly on a military plane to go back to the US, which was cancelled at 6pm. Then we waitied for two hours for a ride to a guest house in Port au Prince. We are here at the guest house and the accomodations are great. The other escort is a pilot and she is volunteering her time down here right now, so she arranged for a private flight out for us tomorrow. We should be in Miami by late afternoon. We'll see. It's been very fun playing with Reese and watching him interact with his buddies. He's starting to realize that he's special to me and he's giving me those beautiful brown eyes of his. He understands some English and speaks a little. If you know my nephew Joey, he's pretty much a Haitian version of him! Sorry, no pics tonight, too slow a connection.

“Leaving on a jet plane…

Don't know when I'll be back again." C'mon, everyone sing along. I am leaving for Florida today (Thursday) and hopping on a plane to Haiti tomorrow (Friday). The hope is that I can escort Reese and four or five of his little buddies to Florida very soon. Obviously I don't know what communication I'll have, but I'll keep you posted as I am able. Please pray for safety for all of us and that we all stay well. I appreciate it so much!

Encouraging news

After a discouraging Friday, Saturday was much brighter. On Friday I was wondering if Haiti was going to shut all adoptions down and if Reese would ever come home.

There are five remaining Minnesota families waiting for their adopted children from Haiti. Senator Amy Klobuchar has taken a great interest in our cases and adoption in general. We had a conference call with her on Saturday. She was awesome! She wasn't in a hurry, and wanted each of us to tell her our stories. She had been in Haiti on Friday. She was one of the few members of Congress that was chosen to go to Haiti. She asked the Prime Minister in a room packed with people if he had any of intention of stopping the adoptions that are in process. He told her no. She also specifically asked him about the Minnesota cases and asked about our children by name. The Prime Minister assured her that he would look at their cases as soon as he could. Senator Klobuchar also spoke of wanting to help Haiti establish their future adoption practices, which is fantastic. I am confident that she will see this through to the end. She spoke of wanting to meet the children when they are home. Tonight I am thanking God for Amy Klobuchar and using her to bring our kids home! Praying that this is the week...

Not sure what to title this…

I updated on facebook, but I figure that some of you might be following that don't have facebook. The situation is this:

The Prime Minister declared three days of mourning and fasting. He also is not signing any adoption papers until next Thursday.

This was very disappointing. We were hoping to have Reese by the weekend or the very latest early next week. The good news is that he is on the Prime Minister's List for Thursday. The last group of kids that were on the Prime Minister's List left for the US the next day. I don't really want to get my hopes up because it's happened too many times. It is conceivable that we'll be able to hold Reese in our arms next weekend, but at this point I don't believe anything until it happens.

A Little Movement

Right now I am being distracted by my favorite show, Survivor. I better not watch it another week without my boy. He cleared the embassy (wonderful news) and now just needs to see the Prime Minister. Unfortunately, things have gotten even slower there. I guess the winter storm in Washington DC is slowing things down. Dumb. It would be fantastic if he got clearance tomorrow, then we could go get him over the weekend. Whatever happens, it shouldn't be long!

Soon "ish"

Things are moving along! Reese was flown into Port au Prince yesterday which is fantastic news. He has a paperwork appointment at the Embassy today and then we are praying that he can get on the Prime Minister's List for tomorrow and then he is OUT OF THERE! Please pray for safety for him. His orphanage was a wonderful and safe place. The streets of Port au Prince are not and the conditions outside the US Embassy continue to be horrible. I'll keep you posted...

A sweetheart

We heard tonight from friends that are down in Florida who are with someone that knows Reese well, that he is a "quiet, good-natured, lovable little boy. A real sweetheart." Fun to hear about our new son!

Sydney's Room

Being the only girl definitely has it's advantages. Sydney is enjoying her new room. Now if she could just keep her brothers out of it, she would be completely happy. The last picture: whatever, as if this would ever happen!

Ask

Dear Friends and Family,

By now you have heard of our new son, Reese, who will be coming home from Haiti within the next few weeks. We are so excited for him to join our family.

When we decided to add Reese to our family, we had a very short time to make that decision. We decided that we had enough love in our hearts and room in our home for him. What we did not/do not have is a large bank account. We trusted that if God wanted Reese in our family, He would work out the financial details. I wasn't planning on specifically asking you to give to our adoption fund. I just put the word out there that we were accepting donations!

Then yesterday, I heard a great sermon on Matthew 7:7, which is "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." I don't really want to ask you for money and sometimes I don't like asking God for things either. I want to do things by myself, be an independent American! BUT…when it's flipped around, don't we want friends to ask us for things when they are in need? Doesn't it make us happy to give to people who need it? Ultimately when we ask and receive, it connects us to one another. When I ask God for things, it connects me to Him. When I ask you for things, it connects me to you. We become a team. We form a partnership.

I am asking you if you are financially able or feel so led, to contribute to Reese's adoption fund. Help us bring him home from Haiti. Partner with us to give him life. It would bless us tremendously.

Thanks from the whole Thacker Pack,

Sarah

Tax deductable donations can be sent to: Affinity Plus Credit Union, Adoption Fund/Thackers, 410 W. Lincoln, Fergus Falls, MN 56537

You could also give to our adoption agency, which is a 501c3: In His Arms Adoption Ministry, 23592 Ridgewood Circle, Fergus Falls, MN 56537

Soon

Soon seems to be our theme. Soon. "Soon" has relative meaning. BUT...it still should be soon! Maybe this week...He is one of the four kids left at his orphanage. It is a safe place for him to be, so I am thankful for that.


May 2009, taking his first steps

News from the orphanage

Reese is coming from Children of the Promise. I'm not sure what group Reese is in, I'm assuming the group they'd like to get out on Tuesday. This is what their blog said this morning: Out of the 24 children at Children of the Promise that have adoptive families waiting for them, 12 were approved by the State Department in the last 24 hours. 5 of those children will be flying on Agape Flights (we thank them profusely for their help through all of this!) from Cap Haitien to Port-au-Prince today. Maria O'Donovan, who we are so grateful to have back in Haiti, will be flying with them and has found a place for them to stay in PAP while they wait to get to the US Embassy. Many children are sleeping on the streets outside the Embassy as they wait. Once they get the paperwork from the Embassy it will go to the Haitian Prime Minister. Please pray that this goes as smoothly as possible and they are in the states and with their families by the end of the week. Tomorrow we are hoping to get another 5 - 6 children from CAP to PAP. Things are starting to roll and we really need your prayers for safety for our children, for supplying us with escorts to bring those children home, and for everyone in both the US government and the Haitian government to work quickly to make this happen. We have escorts flying from WA & MN into FL today to fly in with Agape tomorrow to help in PAP. There is a 10 passenger plane that can help us next Tues. with any others that get approved. Please also pray that ALL the rest of our adopted children receive their approval. Pleas also a prayer of thanksgiving for all the many, many people who have helped in so many ways!
Thank you so much for your prayers!

Donations

Hello,

I'm never really good about talking about money...but here is an update in that department. We are currently at 20% of our goal of $10,000. THANK YOU SO MUCH! We weren't planning on adopting again so soon and it feels so encouraging to be supported in this way.

THANK YOU!

This little guy thanks you too:

Should be sooner than later

Things seem to be moving a long...paperwork and bureaucracy at it's finest. Prayers would be appreciated for his safety as he is moved into Port au Prince and that all of the children at his orphanage would be approved to leave.

Is he not the cutest thing????????????

Because I can't help myself....

I'd like to eat him up.

The No News Post

Nothing new around here. Basically what has happened is this: they were getting kids out fast last week. Our orphanage was having a hard time finding transportation for the kids at that point. Then stories started hitting the news about child trafficking and other horrible things. The Haitian prime minister got scared and put a halt to all adoptions for a few days. On Friday, things opened up again, but with a lot more processes to go through. The prime minister wants to see each child personally before they will be allowed to leave the country. Reese isn't on the priority list because he isn't in Port au Prince and isn't in grave danger. Still could be soon or could be awhile...so, we will wait because there isn't anything else to do! And, I'll probably go to a few hockey games while I wait.

Waiting

***UPDATED*** Really, I was somewhat nervous to start listing blessings, because I would forget someone. Can you believe that I missed and remembered without them reminding me that my WONDERFUL in-laws cleaned out my van, my van that is so messy that Dave thinks possums live in there. THANK YOU MIKE AND JO!

Hardly anything to report on, which is always boring. I've been trying to think of enough interesting things to warrant a blog post. I've never been good at waiting in these kinds of situations. I've been doing really good, basically keeping busy and my mind off of it. He will come home all in God's perfect timing.

I've been incredibly blessed by friends and family this week:

• A mom who organizes and organizes, and then organizes some more
• A mother-in-law who runs lots of errands and takes care of kids
• A sister who organized a painting party, made a fun trip to Target, and is always my go-to-gal. Reese is very blessed to have her for an auntie. She takes care of kids too
  
• A wonderful friend who got our Affinity Plus Credit fund going and who got Affinity Plus to donate all of our travel expenses to go and get Reese. She takes care of kids too (I have a lot of kids)
• A wonderful hockey family that pitches in and gets Dyson where he needs to go and houses him for the weekend
• Wonderful friends who find me furniture
  
• A father-in-law who picks up and delivers furniture
• Wonderful friends and strangers who donate furniture
  
• A wonderful friend who loaned me her beautiful crib
• Very generous friends who donated to our adoption fund
• Very generous friends who donated to Reese's orphanage
• Very wonderful friends who painted at my house and brought diapers
• Wonderful daycare parents who were so flexible with our new exciting news
• A wonderful husband who reminded me that Reese is God's child first
• Lots of friends who have blessed us with phone calls and texts
• Wonderful children who have put up with a skatter-brained mom this week
  
• Wonderful friends who put us up for the weekend and listened to my jittery heart
  
• Wonderful friends who listen
• A wonderful friend who makes silky blankets and puts herself in Reese's place and thinks of everything he might need
• A wonderful friend who helped me get the blog up and running
• A wonderful Bible Study group who share my joy and agree that God cares about the details of our lives
• A wonderful community full of people and friends who cheer us on
  

Who says it doesn't take a village to raise a child? It takes a village to get a child home!!!

I'm probably forgetting something, but THANK YOU! for all you do!

Reese's crib...I'm trying not to focus on that it is empty.

This used to be the computer room. It will be Sydney's room as soon as I get these cute boys and the computer out of her room. It has a fresh coat of paint on the walls and trim, doesn't it look nice?

"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." Psalm 27-13-14

The Twists and Turns of Adoption

Well, if my last adoption taught me anything, it's that absolutely nothing is within the realm of my control. That continues to be true!

Things continue to change with our adoption of Reese by the hour. The Haitian government has no rhyme or reason to any of their decisions. At one point, we were told it was just the matter of arranging transportation, then it was he needed a paper visa, and now it's that the Haitian government doesn't know what it wants to do with the children.

Bottom line is this, Reese is our child. He is our child if we get the call to go get him tomorrow or in several months. We pray that it is sooner and not later.

We decided to come back to Fergus and wait here. We aren't sure of the timeline, so I'm opening my daycare and Dave is going back to work. We are going to enjoy our children, our life, and pray that our little boy comes home soon. It is comforting to remember that God loves Reese more than even we do.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

"God defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing." Deuteronomy 10:18

Surprise!

We got a call on Monday that our son, Reese, age 2, was ready to join our family from Haiti. We couldn't be more thrilled. Reese's birth mom gave him his name. We have given him the middle name, “Samuel”, which means, “I asked the Lord for him.” It has been a whirlwind since we have gotten the call. We weren't expecting everything to happen so quickly. Fabulous friends and family have jumped to pray for us, arrange transportation, and start an adoption fund-raising account for us.

Within 72 hours, we had just about everything we needed to bring him home. Wonderful friends and family have given us the things we've needed to help us get ready.

Right now we are down in the Cities waiting to hop on a plane to go get him. We've had a great weekend in the Cities enjoying good friends and good food. It was fun to relax as a couple as we wait to add our fifth child. Davey and I still laugh that we are the parents of five children. Wow, that is a lot of children!

We really don't know when everything is going to happen or how, but we are along for the ride!