Sebastian, "talking"

our little guy, entertaining himself....:)))

How sweet it is.....

Sebastian and his Daddy

Cuddling....
Eric and Helayna, watching S "read" his book
An Arizona Diamondbacks fan already!
Reading the book that his sister, Mia sent for him
Reading together
Too cute in his hat!

Fell asleep in Helayna's arms...precious!
Sleepy boy
Awwwww...how cute...
Adorable!
Fell asleep while talking to me on Skype...hmmm...am I boring him?
Sister and brother
Helayna, holding S in the new blankie she picked for him
Sweet boy
He's definitely teething!
Daddy,making S laugh!
Dad and son...at last!
I love this one!
Just don't throw him too high!!!!!!
Helayna and Sebastian having fun!

There is nothing cuter.....

....I am so blessed.....

My family together...(part of us, at least...)

My sweet family....
my babies... :)))





I just talked to Eric and Helayna on "Skype" and Helayna was holding Sebastian! It was a pretty bad connection, so it was very jumpy and I didn't really get to see live video, it was more like snapshots...but it was of all 3 of them together, and it was so adorable!
He is such a cutie and they say he's so happy and has a great disposition...which probably means trouble when he's older...!!! (haha)
While they were talking to me, he fell asleep on Helayna, which was so sweet...one second he was up, the next asleep! So funny!
Makes me want to grab Mia, get on a plane and go down there so we can all be together...
The internet is terrible there, so they haven't been able to send many pictures at all or any videos, which is a bummer...I was so looking forward to that. But I guess I'll just have to wait another week til they get home...
They are both doing really well over there and really enjoying it. Mia and I are also doing well at home. It's funny, I was so nervous to send Helayna to Haiti and now that she's there, it just seems "right". (coincidence? I think not!) I do miss them very much, though. It's strange, though. Rather than wanting them to come home, I feel like maybe we should go there?!?! Weird...I have no idea what that's about! But, I still can't wait til they come home on Friday...although they'll be without little S :(
Once I get pics, I will for sure post them on here....
Missing my family:(
xoxoxo

Eric and Helayna, in Haiti!

Eric and Helayna left this week to visit Three Angels on a mission trip with our church.
Helayna met Sebastian for the first time!!!!
Here is a picture of them...It just melts my heart to see them together.....

Fingerprints etc...

Well, since Friday, we've had our first visit from our social worker (which is the only one we'll need, we found out, since we've already done a home study with them) , gotten fingerprinted and sent in our prints to the Clerk of the Court.
Which, in itself, isn't a HUGE deal, but let me explain...
Since this whole adoption "started", I've been kind of in the clouds about it. It was not "planned" and kind of just came about as a big surprise. So, when people have asked me about it for the past month or so, I don't even feel like I'm talking about myself. I feel like I'm talking about someone else. I guess I just really haven't gotten used to the idea that we're doing this again yet.
So, to be totally honest, I haven't really been that motivated with all the paperwork that goes with adopting.
With Mia, I was 100% ON IT and did everything that I could to speed it up. I almost felt desperate to bring her home...
But this time, I don't feel that same sense of urgency for some reason and it's confused me a bit. I've had moments where I've wondered if this child is really for us? Is this actually supposed to happen and is he actually supposed to be our son? Was I wrong when I saw his picture for the first time and had that "feeling"? Or, is it just going to take some time to get used to it all?
It was hard trying to sort it all out and I still feel like I'm continuing to do that.
BUT, with all of my lack of motivation and being slow about getting everything done, this adoption has continued to move forward and it's starting to show me that maybe this IS meant to happen.
Before I even sent in our application to Three Angels or Oasis (our home study agency), our social worker called us to set up an appointment. THEN, she called to reschedule it for a week sooner. This, without any effort on my part. I didn't even have the paperwork ready for her! But, she said just to send it in when I do.
So, we had our first visit with her and I really had NOTHING to do with it! It went really well and was really just a formality, since we've had many visits with them for Mia in the past.
I did call a fingerprinting person to set up a time for her to come out and do our prints and we had an appt. scheduled for tomorrow at 2pm.
Well, she called me this morning to confirm because she hadn't written down our appt. day or time so I told her Tuesday at 2pm.
Well, at 2:30pm TODAY, our doorbell rings and it's HER! She got it wrong and thought it was today...and if she had arrived 15 minutes later, we wouldn't have been home, we would've been picking up Mia from school. AND, she told us she had forgotten her cell phone at home, so she wouldn't have been able to call us!
So, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..............perfect timing/coincidence?????? I think not.....
So, I have a feeling that God is trying to reassure me that indeed, this is meant to be and that I should start to get motivated and get my butt in gear with all this paperwork so we can get our boy home! He knows my innermost feelings and thoughts, even when I can't quite express them or even understand them myself and I feel like He knows what I need right now and is supplying that for me. Which, is what He's good at, right?
So, here we go! I'll keep going if He does....(and we all know that He never gives up or stops helping us....) So, we're in for a ride...and I think, slowly, I'm getting more prepared for it.
Eric and Helayna are going to Haiti to Three Angels orphanage in November with our church , so we get to go shopping and send some stuff with for Sebastian! I'm excited and think that this will help me to feel more connected to him....(shopping has that effect on me!!!)


That's what's going on with us....
We would appreciate your continued prayers....for us, our paperwork and also, for Sebastian.
Love,
Michele

Update

Well,I thought I should probably write, since it's been a month since we "announced" our plans (or better, God's plans) to adopt our little baby boy.
Here's what we've accomplished so far:
-mailed our "app for certification to adopt" to County Court
-gotten all our reference letters and finished our application for Three Angels, we just need to send it in.
-mailed in our CPS form
-gotten our medical forms done
-have our first "home visit" scheduled with our homestudy agency

And that's about it...we still have ALOT to do and we need to get started on it all....
There's just been a lot going on here at our house and now sickness has hit! So, next week will be the week to get some of it done!
It's funny, because we've been through this once before and you would think I would know what to do, but for some reason, I'm overwhelmed this time.
Maybe it's because it wasn't my "plan" so I really had no time to get used to the idea or wrap my brain around all I needed to do.
Or maybe it's because last time, I went through an agency that had a wonderful adoption coordinator who basically held my hand through it all and told me, step by step, what I needed to do and HOW I needed to do it. (not that 3A isn't wonderful, it's just not an agency)
Now, I just have all these lists....and if you know me, I actually like lists....but these are LONG lists and they are all different and I don't know where to start.
I guess I don't know who to ask, either.
So, I'm just trying not to freak out about it, and stay calm and do it one step at a time. I just hope I'm doing the steps in the right order....
I know that we need certain things done by the time Eric goes to Haiti in November, so he can schedule certain appointments while he's there, but I don't know which things these are!
I'm just confused....can you tell?????
Other than that, we're all doing great here! (haha)
I have gotten more pics of SP (that's my nickname for him lately) and they are SO cute!!! (thanks, Colleen!!!) If anyone has anymore, could you please send them to me? I'm making an album...
Well, I better go...I have a sick little munchkin with a temp of 105 that I need to take care of. Gosh, how am I going to do it with 3 kids??? Crazy, to think of....but I know we can do it.
Please pray for us (me, especially..while I'm doing the paperwork)....
and for little Sebastian....I can't believe that Eric and Helayna get to see/meet him in a month!!! I am very jealous!!!! But I've gotten many promises that video will be taken the first time they meet, so I can't wait to see that. And Eric's told me that he'll "Skype" me so I can see the 3 of them together....gosh, that almost brings me to tears just thinking about it....
And then, maybe next time, it'll be me that goes to meet my little boy for the first time....

That's it for now....hopefully next time I write in, I'll have it all done!!! (yeah, right!!haha)

xoxoxoxo
Michele

New info on our baby

I got an email today from Megan, who does the finances for Three Angels Orphange and she has given me SO much info on Sebastian! It's kind of a strange feeling to actually know all of this (since we hardly have any info about Mia), but it's also quite amazing. So, here it is:

Hey Michele, I'm so happy you and Eric are adopting Dieufort!! He is such a sweet baby.

Here is some info on him--

Dieufort Pierre
DOB: march 20, 2009
he was born in Jacquet, Haiti
mom's name: Vergelie Noel
dad's name: Oge Pierre
his parents were both born in Jacmel

his mother had come to us when she was pregnant, asking if we would take her baby when she gave birth. she then brought us Dieufort when he was 4 days old, on the 24th. the father was not with her at the time and was not involved at the very beginning. at first, we had his birth certificate made with her last name. the father is now involved and we had to get a new birth certificate made with "Pierre" on it.

both parents seem very corporative so far with the adoption paperwork. they've always come in when we ask them to and show up to appointments.

his name means "God Strong" in French. some of the nannies thought it was a funny name, so they started calling him Sebastian.

i'm in the states visiting right now, when i get back to haiti, i will look at his file to see if there is any other info you might want! or if i left anything important out, just ask!

Video of our sweet boy :)

this is a video that Eric took while at the orphange, the first time he met Sebastian:)

It's official!!!!!! (as of Wed, Sept 9)

Well, we have some good news that may come as a shock to you, or maybe not...................

We have decided to adopt a little boy from Haiti!!!!!

His name is Sebastian and he is 5 months old. I'm still not quite sure how it all happened but I will try and tell you what I know...

I spoke to Eric on Friday while he was in Haiti, and I asked him if there were any new babies in the orphanage. (Why I asked this, I have NO idea) He told me yes, there were 3 new babies.

So I told him to take some pictures of them and send them to me. Still, not sure why I asked him to do that.....I had no intention of EVER adopting from Haiti, even though it was something Eric always made clear he would love to do.

So, he went in the "baby room", which he hadn't really done up until this point since he's not really a "baby person" and he held all 3 of them. When he held Sebastian, he said he felt like he really responded to him. But even before he told me that, I saw the pictures of the babies and didn't feel much of anything with the 2(other than they were cute...), but when I saw him, I couldn't stop staring. He is so adorable and his eyes just drew me in. It wasn't exactly like when I first saw Mia's picture, but I have to say, it was pretty close. The more I looked at him, the more I started to feel like maybe this could be our son...

So, I told Eric to take a ton of pictures and video...

When he came home, he showed me the pictures and when I watched the video, I started to cry!!!! I think, that was the moment I knew...

But, I didn't want to rush into things because of emotion, so I told him I didn't want to officially decide til tomorrow. So we put him on "prayer hold", which is what you do when you think you may want to adopt a child.

So, since then, I've been looking at his pictures and video, praying about it, talking about it and I have not had one moment that tells me NO. I even wake up thinking about him and feeling happy....I feel like it's the right time (since it takes like 2 years!), he's the right age (he'll come home around the same age Mia was,which is 2 1/2), we aren't getting any younger (40!!!) and since Eric's on the board at the orphanage, we can pretty much go visit any time we want. The $$$ of course, is an issue, but we never worried about it with Mia and if this is meant to be, we know it'll be fine. God will provide what we need to bring him home.

I think I've been fearful for a long time, due to a lot of things, but mostly the way I've been feeling, physically. And in turn, emotionally. I wake up pretty much every morning and feel very tired and not very well and the doctors haven't really been able to figure it out yet. I've taken lots of tests, done a sleep test, tried different medications but nothing seems to work yet. But, I figure if I keep waiting and waiting, what if I never feel "perfect"? Then, I will have missed out on a chance to bring a little boy into our family, which is what we both really want. So, I will continue to try and figure out how to feel better and in the meantime, pray that I have the energy and strength to do what I need to do with the adoption. And where I leave off, that's where God comes in and gives me what I need to get through.

We may have blindsided some of you with this. Although, I'm pretty sure you knew this was something that was coming eventually, although we thought it was going to be from Vietnam, but as in Mia's adoption, what we originally thought wasn't what ended up happening...God seems to work that way. Once we think we know something, He throws us a curveball and changes everything! I've learned to love it!

I'm still reeling from all this, but in a good way. When I look at his picture, I just smile and feel love....

I hope you will too, once you meet him.

We've talked to Helayna and Mia about this, and they both are excited about their little brother. Which is quite amazing, since Helayna didn't want us to adopt again anytime soon. But, with this little boy, we're all on the same page. She just smiles when we mention his name. It's so cute!

And she's going to get to meet him in November, when she goes to Haiti on a mission trip with Eric. I thought of going with them, but she really wants it to be a daddy/daughter bonding trip, so I want to honor that. So, I figure I'll go and meet him sometime in early 2010, which is something I never thought I would do...go to Haiti!!! Wow! How a life can change overnight!

I figure that Helayna's the next best thing to me...she can give him lots of love, hugs and kisses and take pics and video for me...that should hold me over til I can go meet him in person.

So.........The wonderful craziness of adoption begins again.....

Please pray for us.:)