Stephanie, me, and baby vilner- 13 months old (pictures don't do him justice-he's one of the cutest babies I've ever seen!)
My dear friend Kez and my Son Jacques. Kez is a missionary and RN who works at the orphanage and a hospital in Haiti. While at the orphanage she teaches English classes to the kids and teaches them at every opportunity of God's love. She is amazing and such a blessing to all these kids, they all love her and so do I. She is the one that introduce me to Jacques (by email and photo) and was the one to tell Jacques that we wanted to adopt him! We both adore him!!!
Two Mom's (Me and their birth Mom), two babies(Lovenie 2, Vilner 1), and lots of love!
My adorable son Jude and one of the Nannies. Jude always has on a beautiful smile or is giggling. He is very quiet and shy and will snuggle up close in my arms while letting me hug and kiss on him as much as I want. He would tell me "I love you" in English. He is such a good, sweet, and easy going boy!
Kez, Birth Mom, Me, and Lovenie
In this picture is a "sweet" memory. Lovenie was being fussy and I gave her a sucker to suck on and she fell asleep with the sucker still in her hand and stuck to her chin. I tried to take the sucker out of her hand and she started to wake up. Not wanting to be the "bad guy" I got my friend Amy to take it away and she was able to get it without waking Lovenie up. It was much like a game of Operation!
Stephanie in the dress I brought her for Easter. She's so beautiful that I'm glad that I have 6 sons to keep an eye on their sister!!! She is going to bring so much life to our home as she is always smiling, laughing, and teasing. She's adorable and unfortunatly is aware of it so expects to be totally spoiled...I have a feeling she will get her wish. She's just too cute and sweet to say no to! I've already started calling her Princess Stephanie and she just giggles loving it.
One of the most priceless times in Haiti were the times I would get to hold Lovenie in my arms and rock and sing her to sleep. It was such precious moments. Then as soon as I would lay her down she would open her eyes and scream. She expected to be held and since I've waited two years to hold her I was happy to do so!
My Darling girls asleep in my bed for our last night together. I wish they were here in my bed at home right now! How am I going to be able to wait to hold them again? I just don't know!!!
Lovenie taking a nap in my bed with her arms up over her head. What's sweet about this is that this is how her brothers (our bio sons) would sleep when they were her age. We called it Super Baby. :)
Gorgeous Lovenie surrounded by a bunch of boys. I guess I better get used to that. :) Big brother Jacques is sitting close to her with a protective arm around her. The boys would have to go through him to get to her. :) Our room was always packed with kids. It was never quiet or peaceful, always swarmed with kids and loving every minute of it. They are some of the sweetest boys and girls that I've ever met and it breaks my heart that people overlook adopting teenagers and older children. Anyone would be so blessed to have any one of these boys or girls in their family. They are all just SO wonderful!!!!!
Jacques and Lovenie have the sweetest bond. He is so kind to her and spends lots of time with her. I let Jacques listen to a walkman and a couple cd's I brought and he just loved it so I ended up giving them to him. He took it everywhere with him and shared it with anyone that asked. He's going to be a great big brother to all of our children.
Lovenie went from not wanting anything to do with me to not wanting me to ever put her down. It was so great! A couple times I would put her down and she would cry so I would put out my arms to her and she would reach for me (this is a big deal with her disabilities). When I got to meet her little brother Vilner and held him for a little while she got really mad and started yelling. I finally had to give Vilner back and reached out my arms and made her walk to me and into my arms (again, big deal with her disablities). One time I took her to the babies room so I could clean myself up a bit and she left the room and come to the other side of the orphange and found me! Lovenie is almost 3 and because of her stroke does not speak, smile, or laugh. Stephanie has told us that she has shown pictures of us to Lovenie and got her to say Mama and Papa. Jacques and I were in the baby room together and I was paying attention to another baby when Jacques called to me that Lovenie just said "Mama". I couldn't believe I missed it!!! At around 4 AM on our last morning together Lovenie woke up and I was walking up and down the orphanage hallways trying to get her to go back to sleep. She opened her eyes and looked at me and said "Ma". I just melted!!!!
How do I even begin to describe Jacques??? I am so in love with him. When we started praying about adopting him and feeling like God was leading us to adopt him I prayed again and again "God are you sure"? I felt so insecure about suddenly raising a teenager. I'm so very thankful that God clearly called us to adopt him. He is so smart and kind! We had an instant bond from the moment we first hugged each other and stayed close to each other as much as possible. We may never know who his birth Mom and Dad are since he was found by the orphanage in a hospital... but I can tell you this much...God gave him a Dad and that Dad is my husband and it is just unbelievable how much the two of them are alike! God's so very good and knows what he is doing and I'm so greatful He takes me past my fears to give me a life filled with such joy!!!!
My precious girls! The current count in our house is 7 guys and 3 girls. I'm going to need these girls to help our home to not be totally overtaken by the guys! I've always wanted a very "girly" daughter and was afraid that I would end up with a "tomboy" but, oh no, Stephanie is SUCH a girly girl. She loves to fix my hair, get dressed up and just might be even more "girly" then me. I LOVE IT!!!!
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