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.