Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

I can not believe that my baby is 2 already! It seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home and he was a little baby...now he is already like a little man. He has learned So much this year and amazes me everyday. He says over 150 words clearly and also uses 5-6 word sentences regularly. He loves singing and his favorite songs are: ABCs, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Old McDonald. He is just amazing. This year has brought about a lot of changes for Micah and he has taken everything with ease. He could have regressed and been jealous of his new siblings coming home, but he was more than happy to share the spotlight that had shone only on him. He chose to instead love them, play with them and even learn a few words in Amharic and Kreyol (which he uses correctly and can tell you what they mean in English as well!). He learned to crawl this year :) that is funny because he walked before he was 1, but never crawled until 18 months. He has a LOVE for Jesus and says his own prayers to Baby Jesus every day(Baby Jesus because Christmas is when his true Love began!). I am so proud of Micah and could not Love him more. God has truly blessed me and I am Lucky to be able to call him my son. Happy 2nd Birthday Micah. I look forward to what this year will hold! Melissa

Crawling in the Right Direction

I have not talked a lot about all the feelings I have had over the past few weeks with the changes that have come into our lives. I have had a lot of trouble adjusting to our new life's and what has all come about. Things have been so different with Jean Delson's arrival home than with the other kids. When I met Jean Delson in 2007, he was 22 months old and I fell in Love with his smile and loving, caring way about him. Then when we chose to put his adoption on hold I chose to totally remove myself from the Haiti adoptions all together, for me it had to be a clean break. It was so heartbreaking to have to walk away, but it was what was best for everyone at the time.

When we met Micah it was instant love for all of us. He instantly became attached and wanted no one but me or Scott to hold him and care for him. My love for him has only grown stronger with everyday that passes.

The first time I saw Sitota's picture and the video of her crawling from a tube telling us her name and waving it was Love at first sight. Meeting her just made my heart filled with joy and it was like I had found the missing link for our family.

We were just starting to adjust being a family of 4 and we were happy in thinking our family was complete....then we got the news that Jean Delson could come home. All the feelings from our meeting him years ago started to take over...problem was Jean Delson was no longer that 22 month old little lover, he had turned into a 4.5 year old little man who had lived the past four years in an orphanage where he basically ran free. He knew no boundaries, was not used to structure and we had no real way to communicate. There was No instant Love for this child and I began to doubt my ability to parent him. I just did not know how to get through the wall and it was sucking every ounce of my energy and I found myself hating getting up everyday to go through all the struggle. I also found I could not bond with him at all because it felt like I was just taking care of the problem someone else had created. I talked with a lot of people and tried searching for new techniques and answers. I needed to be able to find a way to get through to him for both of our sakes.

This week I have FINALLY made some progress. I found a way of doing time outs to correct bad behaviors that actually works and today we had the first time out free day since he has been home. We had him evaluated for Head Start (preschool) and he should be able to start 4 half days a week soon. I have been able to find several things that he likes to do that actually give me a few minutes of free time during the day. And most importantly...tonight while I was praising him for the great day we had he gave he a hug and I actually started to feel something for the little boy I had fallen in love with years ago. I know that we still have a LONG way to go and there will be steps back along the way, but today was the first day I started to fall back in LOVE and it felt good!!! Melissa

Poopy in the Potty

Not to get gross on you all, but Micah went poopy in the potty for the first time tonight! He is not even 2!!! He looked a little scared at first, but then we all praised him and he got a special piece of candy. Now he will proudly announce, "Micah go poop on the potty!". Gotta Love that boy!
In other news, Jean Delson was evaluated for Head Start today and they should be accepting him into their 4 year old program soon. He will go Mon-Thurs from 8-12. It will be good for him to get into a real learning environment that can prepare him for school next year. It will also be nice to have a little one on one time with Micah. - Melissa

Snowed In

It has become increasingly harder to think of things to keep the boys occupied during the day especially with the cold weather. I was talking with my good friend Kara who had some Great ideas that I have been trying. One idea was that since it was too cold to play outside, why not bring the snow inside. What could it hurt, it is only water after all!?!?!?! I went outside and gathered 2 huge bowls of snow and got out plates, spoons, bowls, and lots of other misc utensils. Let's just say that they LOVED it and I got to have 20 minutes to get the dishes done and go through the mail. Here are some pics of the FUN. - Melissa

Going Private

We got an email from our placing agency for Jean Delson today that was Very disturbing. Someone, we do not know, had apparently read our blog and misinterpreted several things and is trying to cause problems. Fortunately, there was a lot of mis-truth in her email and other things mentioned were already handled by our agency and cleared with USCIS before Jean Delson was issued his humanitarian visa. So that is the short version of why this is private, if you know of someone who would like permission to view this blog, please leave me a comment or shoot me an email! Thanks all - Melissa

First week as Five

If I had to sum up our first week as a family of five the word would be CHALLENGING! Don't get me wrong, there were some good times too but a lot of the week was spent crying, questioning, and praying. Thankfully we have had the support of a lot of our family and friends, even people at church that we did not know prior to this journey. Jean Delson (we will be calling him Delson as that is what he likes) came home with a few health problems such as a sinus infection and Giardia (which is a parasite). He is on meds now and they seem to be helping. He also has a lot of behavior issues that we are trying to work on. He is literally jumping off the walls all day, pushing over the furniture, running into the doors, throwing everything from toys to chairs and also has decided that he does not want to sleep. We have tried sitting with him by his bed, holding him, singing with him....last night finally after he screamed for 30 minutes with everything we tried we had to rock him and then was able to sneak him in his bed only for him to wake 4 hours later..... Needless to say it has been a struggle.

Sitota continues to do wonderful. She is doing great in school and just seems to do so well to the change. She trys to be very helpful with the boys, although I make sure to let her know that I can/will do the things for them so she does not feel like she has to "mother" them. I want her to have her childhood. She is doing great at learning to read and is speaking a LOT of English now. There are very few things she will not eat, which is nice and she now enjoys taking hot lunch with the other girls. It is fun to hear her talk about her friends :)

Micah is going to be 2 at the end of the month and it shows! He is in to everything! We have resorted to putting locks on the fridge and stove to keep him from going in them constantly. He is testing his boundaries, which is normal. He remains very active and talkative...boy does he talk a lot.

Scott and I are trying to remain strong and support each other. He was recently ill, which proved to be difficult for both of us but lucky it only lasted 2 days. I have a cold and am very tired, but I know that this will pass and things will work out. We are going through a very challenging time, but with the grace of God and the help of family and friends we will make it through and grow stronger! Better run the popcorn is almost gone and I will need to start running around again...I really enjoyed this 10 minutes of rest :)Melissa