Baby Breininger Blog

Recent Quotes from Maya

2010-08-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

In the dressing room at Target with me: " Can't you just put on the dress so I can tell you that you look pretty and we can go home?" (to which Sean later agreed with a resounding, "AMEN!"

After Sean lectured Maya about leaving the house without one of us with her: "Dear God, thank you for giving me daddy to keep me safe. Amen."

Maya: Mommy, I love you bigger than the whole wide world! (pause) What's the world?
Me: Well, it's the whole big place where everyone lives, far away and really close by. (inadequate response, I realize)
Maya: okay...what's "wide"?
Me: Really big.
Maya: Like the Poky Little Puppy going for a walk in the wide wide world?
Me: Yes.
Maya: Ok. I do love you bigger than the whole wide world.

Maya: Mommy, you know why I love you so much?
Me: Why?
Maya: Because your arms are so squishy!
Me: (no response)

2010-08-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

This free slideshow personalized with Smilebox

Homecoming Day!

2010-07-16T05:32:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, July 15, was our one year anniversary of bringing Maya home to Minnesota! This was the end of not only our 2+ year wait for our girl but also to the excruciatingly long four weeks spent in Port-au-Prince.

We're celebrating together in Vail, CO, where two of Sean's very generous board members have given their condo to us for a few days. Maya is loving the mountains especially from the view of the gondola, which we took up and down and up and down and up and down. Another big highlight for her here is the bedroom with not one, but two sets of bunk beds! Each night she's tried out a different bed. :) And then there's the rental car. To keep her from breaking down in the airport while waiting for the rental car shuttle we started guessing what color it might be. We told the rental car attendant this and he gave Maya a choice of colors. We are now driving around Vail in the brightest yellow car you've ever seen (pink wasn't an option or I'm sure that's what we'd be sporting).

Speaking of the airport...when we were landing in Chicago, Maya said she had to use the bathroom. Well, we all know you can't get up during landing. Then as soon as we landed everyone stood up, trapping us in our seats. We ran off the plane and into the airport and as we stood searching for the closest restroom, Maya stood peeing on the carpet of O'Hare. We did our best to use the hand driers, but they were not going to do the trick. Maya walked around with her little blanket tied around her waist like a towel for quite a while, of course dropping it here and there to show her business to the world. There were no kids' clothing stores to be found and so our girl ended up wearing an adult sized Chicago t-shirt for the rest of the day. I don't think I've ever said, "Keep your arms down!" so many times in one day.

Another recent first for Maya was her first long road trip. Her 92.5-year-old great-grandfather passed away on July 8 in Indiana. We are so grateful that she got to meet him twice and vice versa! And so it was that we packed up our car and drove the ten hours from MN to IN. She handled it very well, only yelling, "I. WANT. TO. GET. OUT. OF. THE. CAR!" once or twice, many times fewer than I thought it!

Did I mention that she sleeps now??? Two weeks ago I was talking to some Early Childhood Special Ed friends and explaining the sleeping struggles we've had for the last year. They said that they think we've gone beyond attachment issues and have moved into a bad pattern. They suggested a no-nonsense method, one that we'd been discouraged from in the beginning, assuring us that she's attached enough to us now to try it. So we did. And now she sleeps. Not only sleeps, but puts herself to sleep, sleeps alone, and sleeps through the night. I cannot explain how much my life has changed. I have HOURS more time each day and am sleeping so well now that I'm in my room and in my bed. Hallelujah!

We continue to be amazed at what a wonderful child Maya is and have been loving these days of vacation together. Just now at breakfast Maya was asking what "believe" means (prompted by me saying, "I love you more than you can even believe!"). She didn't like my explanation and said, "No, it's like when I give you a present and you say, 'I can't believe it!'. You say that every time, mom." What a girl.

Summer with Maya

2010-07-06T11:04:00.000-07:00

Sorry blog followers for the six week lapse in posts! Don't think for a second that it's because nothing has been going on with our girl, because believe me-she never stops moving.

Maya has been growing faster than the weeds in our overgrown yard. She is daily mistaken for a 4- or 5-year-old and weighs so much that I can hardly carry her anymore. Her recent favorite pasttimes all involve the outdoors: riding her red trike 'round and 'round the neighborhood, swimming in the blow-up pool in the backyard, playing "pink ball", digging in the sand, visiting every park in the area, swimming at any pool that invites us, etc. "Wild Water Wednesday" was a huge hit at child care last week, where she got to try out a slip and slide! She is happiest when active and lately we've been outside so much that she's deliriously chipper.

She went to her first parade on the 4th and continued to be amazed at each new piece of the procession, saying, "More parade? Really?!?" Very surreal to see her waving an American flag in each hand, remembering that one year ago we were still stranded in Port-au-Prince.

Remembering where we were one year ago has been interesting these past weeks. It was June 16, 2009 that we left here with a one week plane ticket and hopes to inch the progress along by showing our faces at the Embassy. Four weeks later, on July 15 we arrived home with our girl in tow. I have been struck many times in the past weeks with the stark contrast of her life then and now. A week ago we had a major storm and the three of us sat on the porch with the door open a crack, watching the rain come down sideways, giggling and laughing. A year ago Maya and her birth family had to endure many hurricanes in a structure that was not stable enough to do so and the roof there collapsed. The things we take for granted...

I know that people enjoyed the Maya quotes in May, so here are a few more:

Me: I think we need a new rug in our kitchen.
Maya: Uh, mom, IKEA!

Maya: Today at naptime I couldn't get to sleep so I asked God to help me.
Me: Then what happened?
Maya: I fell asleep. God's my favorite.

We went to a restaurant where kids got a bowl of ice cream and then got to go with the waitress up to a sundae bar, where they loaded the ice cream up with goodies. After taking one bite of her sundae, Maya sighed and said, "This restaurant is BEAUTIFUL!"

Happy Summer!

Artichokes

2010-05-14T12:30:00.000-07:00

At only her first attempt at steamed artichokes, Maya realizes the real reason we eat them...for the butter.

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T12:29:00.001-07:00

After all these years of dreading this holiday, avoiding church with its inevitable mention of mothers and restaurants with their banners and such, I AM A MOTHER on Mother's Day!

Last year I was legally a mother. Maya had the last name "Breininger" and the adoption was finalized, but it still stung to be wished "Happy Mother's Day!" as being a mom on paper doesn't count.

The last eleven months of motherhood have been everything but boring. We've slept very little, laughed more than ever, softened in so many ways, become multi-tasking attempters, lost a bunch of battles to a three-year-old, spent countless hours rocking, both to sleep and to any kind of music that's on, frequented family-friendly chain restaurants that were previously at the bottom of our list, lapped our block following a little red trike dozens of times and much much much more.

One of the things that has consumed most of our time, conversations and reading has been trying to get our girl to sleep. As if on cue, she slept in her own room all through the night for the very first time last night. Happy Mother's Day to me!!! We can only hope that this is the start of a long-lasting pattern.

To show the joy and humor that our girl has brought into our lives, here are a few of her recent quotes. Enjoy and Happy Mother's Day!

Me: What would you like for breakfast today?
Maya: Ice cream.
Me: We don't eat ice cream for breakfast.
Maya: Then I'd like lunch, please.

Maya: I'm trying to see what you're thinking.
Me: You can't see what I'm thinking, just like I can't see what you're thinking.
Maya: Yeah, my forehead's in the way.

Maya to a man whose name I won't mention: You have a beard in your nose!

Me: Maya, look at the clock and tell me what time it is please.
Maya: Seven oh-ty three. (7:03)

5k Success

2010-05-02T13:18:00.000-07:00

Maya has been counting down the days to "Running Day" and woke up this morning talking about how today is the day that the police officers will say, "Sorry cars. You don't get to go on the streets today. Only friends."

She was right. The streets were blocked off and the morning began with a 1/4 mile kid run, which she whole heartedly participated in (photos at left). Then she hopped into the jogging stroller and we strolled the 5k. The weather was perfect, the turnout was great and thanks to a last minute donor I ended up in third place for fundraising, winning me a prize!

The exact total isn't in yet, but it's estimated that more than $15,000 was raised for Friends of the Orphans. Thanks for your support!

Countdown to 5k

2010-04-29T19:15:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,

In just 3 days Maya and I will be participating in the Friends of the Orphans 5k, Maya in the Kid Run and me pushing her in the stroller for the walk/run. I'm currently 48% of the way towards my fundraising goal of $1,000 and need your help.

Friends of the Orphans is the organization that Sean works for that supports orphan homes in Latin America and the Carribbean, including Haiti. Sean has visited four of the homes and we both went to the Haiti home last summer. We have seen firsthand the powerful and life-changing work that they do, believe strongly in the mission, and try to support them in every way that we can.

The picture below is of our visit to the Haiti home, where we got to meet Herby and Deristin, the boys that we and Sean's brother sponsor.

If you live nearby, I'd love for you to join Maya and me as we walk through beautiful Highland Park this Sunday. If you're interested in supporting Friends of the Orphans by walking or running, please click on the link below for more info:

http://www.friendsoftheorphans.org/s/769/inner.aspx?sid=769&pgid=880&gid=1&cid=1890&ecid=1890

If you're able to donate to the work of Friends of the Orphans, please use the link below to do so online quickly & securely. I thank you in advance for your support, and really appreciate your generosity!!

http://www.active.com/donate/FOTO5K2010/abreininger

Thanks very much and watch for pictures from the event in the next few days!

Add another "sport" to the list...

2010-04-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

In our week of illness, which continues on, we've watched the four episodes of the Backyardigans countless times. One features pom pons, which, of course, prompted Maya to wish for a pair of her very own. When her life-saver of an aunt, Amanda, came to babysit for a few hours pom pons were created out of mere paper towels, tape, and glitter glue. Which led to this...

Egg Hunt

2010-04-12T15:31:00.000-07:00

Who knew finding plastic eggs could bring this kind of joy?

A bug?

2010-04-12T15:12:00.000-07:00

After a call to the ENT office this morning to report the happenings of the weekend, we were told to head in to the Pediatrician or ER today to make sure Maya wasn't dehydrated. We went in to our Doctor and they took chest x-rays to see if she has pneumonia, which she does not. They think that she just happens to have a bug that coincided with surgery. We're making plans to have her stay home again tomorrow just to give her one more day before being around even more germs.

We're not over-protective...we just wanted to make sure she was warm enough!

2010-04-12T15:09:00.000-07:00

Recovery

2010-04-12T15:05:00.000-07:00

We were told to bring cameras to document this experience for Maya but were there for such a short amount of time that this is pretty much all we got. I will say that lying in a cozy bed, being asked if I, uh, I mean Maya, needed more pillows or a heated blanket and being brought endless popsicles was quite delightful.

Pre-Surgery Play

2010-04-12T15:02:00.000-07:00

We were grateful that Maya's surgery was at a Children's hospital for many reasons. This video shows just one.

Day Four

2010-04-12T05:54:00.001-07:00

Well, things here didn't quite continue on in the pleasant way that they began post-surgery. Day 2 and 3 started off well. She even rode her bike around the block yesterday morning! But both days found her with a high fever by mid-day that left her lethargic and clingy and she's been coughing/throwing up crud off and on for the last two days.

She slept a good 14.5 hours last night, with only one bought of coughing and one spell of waking up to declare, "I DON'T LIKE SLEEPING!" (Apparently that dislike hasn't been cured yet.)

Sean's back to work today but I'm home for another day. I'm praying that today will bring a big turnaround. We had been warned that days 3-5 could be worse than 1-2, but that was in regard to pain, which she hasn't had any of. Time will tell.

In the meantime, we've watched our new Backyardigans video about a thousand times. We were charmed the first 624 times, but it's getting a little old at this point.

Can you tell I'm getting stircrazy?

Successful Surgery

2010-04-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

First of all, thanks for all of the prayers and support that you gave us yesterday! The day went faster and more smoothly than I had anticipated.

For those of you who want a general update. It went great and she's fine. I know others of you are into the details, so here they are.

We arrived at the hospital at 10 am, where the nurse who had led our surgery class told the staff that whoever got to work with Maya was in for a treat. The nurses did enjoy working with our nugget. She spends so much time playing doctor at home that when they were listening to her heart with the stethescope she was taking deep breaths so they could check her lungs too. Each new doctor or nurse we would see would say, "We heard she's cute and they weren't kidding!"

They gave her a pair of pjs, which are probably "typical" 3-year-old size. We put them on and they looked like capris and a belly shirt! We upgraded to the next size.

She went in at 12:24 and was finished by 1. The Doctor said that the cyst turned out to be two inches long and that the adenoid was bigger than it had been when x-rayed five weeks ago, so she was very glad that both were removed.

She waasn't too happy coming out of anesthesia so I got to go into the recovery room and do some soothing. I even got to ride in the bed with her down to her short-stay room! By the time we got down there she was talking and alert and very excited about the popsicles. We snuggled, watched a movie, and ate three popsicles before we went home an hour later.

Once we got home the eating frenzy continued. Two Jell-O cups, two bowls of oatmeal, a yogurt cup, scrambled eggs and a bunch of juice later we cut her off and sent her to bed.

She was up in the night, happy as a clam, saying things like, "Remember that time we went on that bus and there were "buckle seats" all over?" She woke up at her normal time but after two hours went back to bed for a good long nap.

She's up now with a fever that regular Tylenol seems to be taking care of and is eating more Jell-O and juice but doesn't seem to be in any pain. We're planning on a low key weekend of cartoons, snuggling and juice drinking and I took Monday off just in case.

Another new parent hurdle jumped!

Surgery Tomorrow

2010-04-08T08:42:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow at 11:30 am Maya will have her adenoids (thanks mom for pointing out the correct spelling!) and a cyst removed. We feel very fortunate to be able to have this done at a Children's Hospital, which has so far been a wonderful experience.

We went to "Surgery Class" last week, where the kids got to watch a puppet show about what was going to happen. Then the kids got to go into one room where they tried on the anesthesia masks and even choose a flavor of chapstick to color the inside with so that it would smell good! During this time a nurse talked to the parents and told us about every detail of the day. At the end we all went on a tour of the hospital and got to see where we'll check in, where we'll wait, the room she'll recover in, etc. She and I also went on a shopping trip to get special post-surgery treats this week. We've got a fridge stocked with juices, popsicles, Jell-O, ice cream and even a special cup. They say she'll need to drink a ton of liquids but won't want to, so we're hoping these items will help.

I'll do my best to post tomorrow or Saturday to let you know how things went. In the meantime, keep us in your prayers!

Bubbles!

2010-03-28T17:44:00.000-07:00

Giggles

2010-03-28T17:32:00.000-07:00

Recently at dinner Sean blew a crumb off of Maya's cheek. This is what happened next.

(Please note the distraction techniques used, such as saying, "Did you toot?" and making goggles with her hands.)

Opera: Take Two

2010-03-28T16:40:00.000-07:00

You may remember our first introduction of Opera to Maya last summer with this video post, in which she went through the many emotions often associated with the medium:

http://babybreiningerblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/another-musical-experience-with-maya.html

Since then we received an "Opera for Kids" cd from Grandma with all the big hits sung in English and Maya has changed her tune.

Maya Updates

2010-03-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long since our last post! In the world of Facebook and Flipvideos, I've been finding myself updating people on our girl using those, which are so fast and easy. But today I found myself with a rare few moments and thought I'd actually write something about the nugget who lives with us.

Maya continues to grow at an alarming rate, no longer holding on to the belly or chubbiness of her 'youth', she seems to get taller by the day and is often mistaken for a five-year-old.

Her English vocabulary is phenomenal, blowing us away with sentences such as, "The sleeves of my long-sleeved shirt are inside out right now." "Would you like some help?" "Absolutely I would!"

We're taking West African dance classes, which I thought she would love, as dancing is her favorite pasttime, but she hasn't quite gotten into it yet. I, on the other hand, am loving it, which is as much a shock for me as I'm sure it is for you! (if you're a reader who has met me, you know that coordination is NOT my strong suit)

She's also tried out roller skating and bowling recently, both which she loved and wants to do more of asap.

Musically she blows us away daily as she can match pitch with the piano, makes up her own songs and can play tunes like "Twinkle" on the piano.

Really, there's not much she's not good at....except sleeping.

Since day one sleeping has been an issue. Something she despises more than anything. We've tried every arrangement of every bed in every room, tried bedtime yoga, peppermint tea, infant massage, low lighting, avoiding sugar, a wave sound machine, and have even consulted a sleep expert. I've determined we're dealing with the perfect storm: she has huge adnoids which cause her to wake up frequently, she's afraid of the dark, and she's deathly afraid of us leaving her. Not a good combination for a restful night. Her adnoids will be removed, along with a cyst on her neck on April 9 and we hear from everyone that this should make a huge difference for the good. We hope and pray that they're right!

Overall she is a joy and still, after nine months together, we pinch ourselves that she is actually HERE with us! We are so grateful for the fun that she brings to our lives.

Haiti Earthquake update

2010-01-17T19:51:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

This is the first post I have ever written on our blog about our wonderful girl Maya. Most of you who know me, know that for me to put something out in the blogosphere takes a lot. I feel compelled and obligated to share with you updates from my organization, Friends of the Orphans and the organization we support in Haiti, Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos/Nos Petit Freres et Soeurs (NPH/NPFS, Spanish and French for “Our Little Brothers and Sisters”). I have 2 requests for those of you that read this: continue your prayers for all those suffering in Haiti, including our friends we still wait to hear from and for those involved with the relief efforts. My other request is that you financially support and/or share information about organizations you know to be providing swift and effective aid to the country.

I know as I post this it will most likely be out of date, so please check our website for the most up to date information: http://www.friendsoftheorphans.org/s/769/start.aspx

Update from our operations (NPH/NPFS) on the ground
We have confirmed that we have lost at least 11 workers/family members/volunteers, including 2 US citizens, international volunteer Molly Hightower and Ryan Kloos, the brother of another international volunteer Erin Kloos. Both were killed when our administrative and volunteer office (Father Wasson Center) collapsed.

Friends of the Orphans and NPH are currently at the forefront of relief efforts. Our hospital, St. Damien had to be evacuated and the courtyard of the hospital has now become a triage center with an estimated 700 people, including 200 children needing medical attention and at least 25 in need of amputations. Fr. Rick Frechette, medical director of our hospital, has been coordinating efforts at the hospital while also providing pastoral care and hope for for the people. Please read his first communication to us after arriving in Haiti: http://www.friendsoftheorphans.org/s/769/inner.aspx?sid=769&gid=1&pgid=896

Fr. Rick and St. Damien's Hosptial has been featured on most major networks, 2 interviews can be found here: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=9570839
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/34863508#34868097

NPH has sent at least $700,000 to Fr. Rick and much more will be needed to assist in these efforts.

Again, please go to http://www.friendsoftheorphans.org/s/769/start.aspx for the most up to date information.

We continue to be grateful for your concern and prayers for our family and for your awareness and advocacy on behalf of the people of Haiti.

Sean

Earthquake

2010-01-13T11:48:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all of you who have been contacting us with questions, concerns and prayers. We don't know much more than the news is telling us. But in answer to the most frequently asked question, Maya's birth mother does not live in or near Port-au-Prince and so we are assuming and praying that she is safe.

Updates from Sean's organization, which has an orphan home, a hospital and an administrative office in Haiti are:

•St. Damien hospital in Tabarre, 15 miles northeast of the epicenter, is not the hospital that has reportedly collapsed but the perimeter walls of the hospital, neighboring Kay Germaine complex and St. Francisville center, have all collapsed. Also all of the walls in the hospital are cracked resulting in major structural damage and minor injuries.

•The Fr. Wasson Center, the former hospital facility, in Petionville has collapsed.

•Our family at St. Helene orphanage in Kenscoff, which is located 11 miles east of the epicenter, is reportedly safe.

•Several people are on their way to assess the situation at the various locations. Among them is Fr. Rick Frechette, Regional Director of NPH Caribbean, who was in the U.S. at the time of the earthquake.

Port-au-Prince is where we spent our four weeks this summer and we so I can picture clearly what buildings such as the Presidential Palace used to look like. The road that we spent most of our time on is one that is reported to have more collapsed buildings than not. One of the hotels that we stopped at to decide if we should stay there has collapsed.

Other than Sean's Haiti co-workers, one who was at the orphan home a safe distance away at the time of the quake, and one who was in the US, we don't know the status of our other friends there. Our closest friend there we just heard had been bedridden with a back injury and unable to walk a few days before the earthquake and living right in that area. As I write this, I just got an update that another friend has made contact and is alright. It seems to be that some houses are fine and others right next door collapsed, killing everyone inside.

I fear that the worst is not over and that as these people who are already starving and desperate move through these next days and weeks without food, water and shelter and trying to deal with the chaos and devastation that surrounds them that things will turn desperate and ugly. Please send prayers.

Many of you have asked how you can help. If you feel so inclined, follow this link:
http://www.friendsoftheorphans.org/s/769/inner.aspx?sid=769&gid=1&pgid=252&cid=1903&ecid=1903&crid=0&calpgid=61&calcid=719#latest

Meanwhile we are grateful that our girl is safe and sound here with us and will squeeze her extra tight today.

Our other blog...

2010-01-09T12:11:00.000-08:00

If you're looking for a winter (or any other season!) getaway check out our other blog, which features details and pictures of our rentable cottage on Lake Superior as well as a new video of Maya enjoying a weekend there.

Lakesuperiorgetaway.blogspot.com

A big day for Maya

2010-01-07T06:59:00.001-08:00

Yesterday Maya received in the mail her new birth certificate, this one stating that we are the parents and that her name is now officially Maya Bedeline Breininger. Holding this piece of paper felt very surreal and wonderful. Partly because to us we've been her parents and she's been "Maya" for almost seven months now. And partly because it made me realize that technically she's been Bedeline this whole time. In the same way, we fluctuate between feeling like she's been here forever and feeling disbelief that she's actually here.

The other big event in Maya's life yesterday was that when I picked her up from child care, the provider told me that she finally let her bossy friend "have it". Assuming this meant Maya verbally sticking up for herself against this older child who likes to teach her bad habits, my first reaction was, "yes!"...until I heard that there was blood involved. After a long fight over a ball Maya swung and knocked her friend in the nose, causing it to bleed. At this I was mortified. Apparently it didn't even bruise, but still! When we approached Maya about it later, she felt terrible and after telling the story turned and said, "I don't want you guys to look at me right now." A conversation about using our words followed.

I can't wait to see what happens on the day when her Social Security card arrives!

Ho Ho Ho!

2010-01-01T15:35:00.000-08:00

There was no Santa sighting this Christmas, but Uncle Matthew made up for that!

Let it Snow!

2010-01-01T15:24:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T13:30:00.000-08:00

I hope the new year is treating you well. Maya brought in the New Year by....sleeping! She woke up at 11:45 and I spent 13 of the last 15 minutes of 2009 rocking her back to sleep, thinking it would be only fitting for me to close out the year doing what I've spent so much of the last six months doing. Fortunately she was asleep by midnight and I made it back downstairs in time to see the ball drop - a good sign for the new year, perhaps?

We spent both Thanksgiving and Christmas in Indiana with our families. She loved the airplanes and spent the flights reading SkyMall magazine and discovering her new favorite beverage: Ginger Ale. In Indiana she had a blast with all of the relatives we spend so much time missing. It was especially fun to watch her interact with her cousin Owen who is just five months younger than she is. She was, of course, showered with gifts, but our favorite moment from present opening was when she saw the bubble wrap surrounding one of her gifts and couldn't believe her luck!

She continues to amaze and amuse us each day. Her English impeccable and she recently learned how to rhyme, spending most of her day saying things like, "body/potty-those rhyme!"

Recent favorite quotes include:

Pediatrician: How are you feeling today Maya?
Maya: I don't think I need a shot. Nope. Don't think so.

In response to reading about dogs in "Go Dog, Go!" riding a rollercoaster:
"I'd like to try that someday...when I'm a dog."

We are excited about beginning our first full year with our sweet girl and wish you all the best for 2010.

Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-16T18:39:00.001-08:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

More from LegoLand

2009-11-08T17:38:00.000-08:00

I realized that most of these videos are action shots and that you can't hear her cute little voice, so in this clip you can hear Maya and Sean talking about the Maiasaurus mommy and babies at LegoLand.

It's Called A....

2009-11-08T17:35:00.000-08:00

One of the many things she experienced on her first trip to the Mall Of America last weekend. This was at LegoLand.

Birthday Dance Party

2009-11-08T17:27:00.000-08:00

Now that you've seen her Turbo moves I think you're ready to see her freestyle. This was at her birthday a few weeks ago when Adam and Amanda set up a toddler style dance club. Maya'a dream come true.

TurboBaby

2009-11-06T14:38:00.000-08:00

After 4 months without officially exercising (I did a whole lot of carrying a 40 lb cutie around though!) I decided to get back in the saddle again and pulled out my TurboJam videos this morning. Knowing Maya loves dancing more than anything I thought this could be a good family activity and was really disappointed when she was not into it at all. I finished it up, turned the tv off, and five minutes later she was requesting "the dancing movie". I turned it back on and this is what happened next.

Happy Birthday Maya!

2009-10-21T12:26:00.000-07:00

For the last two years, October 18 was a day I dreaded, knowing that it would mark another significant milestone in Maya's life that we were missing. For her first birthday Sean and I made a little cake and I bought her the little elephant that you saw her carry around in the Haiti pictures. The second year I think we pretended it wasn't actually that day. So you can only imagine how wonderful it was to have her HERE WITH US on her third birthday last Sunday! It brought back all of the initial feelings of disbelief that she is actually here, actually ours.

We celebrated by going to her Uncle Adam and Aunt Amanda's house. They had created a dance party in their spare room, complete with streamers, twinkling lights, and rhythm instruments. She had a blast dancing the night away.

And, of course, we had cake.
at

SNOW!

2009-10-16T12:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my mom came to town and the four of us went up north to our cottage on Lake Superior (want to rent it? check out lakesuperiorgetaway.blogspot.com!). We were thrilled to wake up Saturday morning to the first snow of the season. We bunded Maya up the best we could and sent her out. She has quite the vocabulary these days, but could only say, "Cold, Cold, Cold". After she came in, she had hot chocolate for the first time and clutched that mug like her little frozen hands depended on it.

Maya Updates

2009-09-24T07:56:00.000-07:00

Maya is finishing up her third week in child care and is loving it there! She's in a family child care setting and she loves that there are little babies as well as kids her age to play with. It's been tough to be away from her for so many hours each week but I've adjusted my work schedule to be home every Friday, so we still get some great Mommy/Maya time. She's also getting more quality Daddy time since he's the morning guy who gets her out the door and drives her to child care each morning. It's pretty adorable watching her walk out the door with her backpack on, holding her Daddy's hand. Yesterday I caught her blowing a kiss to our cat, Izzy, who was on the porch watching them leave.

She's getting more grown up every day and this week has made us very happy by dressing herself each morning! She's totally obsessed with the piano and plays it at least once each day (not always with the sunglasses seen in the latest video). She's trying to figure out to how to navigate a scooter that a very generous neighbor at the park gave her and still loves cruising around the block on her tricycle. She actually loves any kind of transportation and spends most of our car rides explaining to us that she doesn't like the car anymore, she wants to ride in a bus or a truck. We're trying to work a bus or Lightrail ride into her upcoming birthday plans!

We continue to be so grateful that she's actually here with us AND that she's such a delightful little buddy. Life is good! :)

And another instrument

2009-09-24T07:18:00.000-07:00

Musical Exploration Continues...

2009-09-24T07:06:00.000-07:00

Before, After, and Way After

2009-09-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

At the top of our blog we've had our Before and After pictures from our backyard transformation, thanks to HGTV's "Landscape Smart". Thanks to the arrival of a certain adorable and very active child, our backyard has been transformed once again. Not sure how the HGTV designers would feel, but Maya thinks it's great!

Our very own "Ace of Cakes"!

2009-09-13T12:26:00.000-07:00

There's a cable show called "Ace of Cakes" where people can request cakes in interesting shapes for special occasions. Well, now on Marshall Street in St. Paul is a shop called "The Little Cake Studio" and Sean's board president enlisted their help for a special cake in honor of Sean, which was enjoyed at their last board meeting. The image just about sums it up: Sean loves to sleep almost as much as Maya avoids it!

Thanks, Sue, for the fantastic cake! If any of you are local, give this new local business a call.

Another musical experience with Maya

2009-09-06T12:05:00.000-07:00

In this clip you'll see Maya go through the stages with opera that many of us have experienced: first attempt, sadness and feigned disinterest when it becomes obvious that it's not as easy as it sounds, second attempt, more disinterest and then outright whining. I apologize that I'm not savvy enough to edit the video so please ignore/forgive the blonde in the video!

The Budding Musician

2009-08-20T11:35:00.000-07:00

You saw Maya playing the organ in the Baptism pictures, but did you know she can also play the beaters?

Homecoming Video

2009-08-09T09:51:00.001-07:00

I'm just now starting to be able to sort through pictures and videos to post things, so to your left you'll see a few Baptism shots (more to come) and here's the Homecoming video from the airport. We were thrilled to have Sean's brother and sister-in-law pick us up AND videotape our arrival. Enjoy!

Life With Maya

2009-08-04T19:28:00.000-07:00

Hi friends!

We're on week three of life in Minnesota with Maya and things are going well! We just had her Baptism last Sunday and had 14 relatives and friends travel from all over to be here. It was a really wonderful weekend full of loving Maya. She had a beautiful white and pink dress for Sunday, which she kept showing off to the cat, and matching beads in her hair. The Baptism was beautiful with Sean's brother and sister-in-law singing, and my dad both at the organ and doing the Baptism. The Pastor from our church said something like, "Aside from waiting for our Lord, no other wait has been so anticipated or so long as the wait for this little girl!"

Aside from the Baptism my favorite moments of the weekend were when all of the adults ranging in age from 25-94 joined in singing "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Twinkle Twinkle" because those are Maya and her cousin Owen's favorite songs. It was also so fun to watch Maya and Owen interact. Once she got over the not wanting to share all of her new toys with him, they were good buddies.

Maya continues to adjust well and we're more convinced each day that she's smarter than the average tot (not that we're biased!). Her English is remarkable and she blows us away each day with new phrases that she's picked up like, "big muscles!" She's got all of the body parts, animals, and colors down as well as many kinds of transportation and food. She's even putting sentences together like, "This is a yellow book." She seems to crave new words and spends lots of time asking what things are. My favorite was the night when she sat with the answering machine pushing buttons over and over again and repeating in a very American sounding voice, "Answer On. Answer off."

She's handling the crowds pretty well. Our house has been full of visitors from the moment we arrived home and on the few occasions that it's just us, she often looks at the door and says, "Friends?"

The one struggle we've had has been sleeping as we've been slowly moving to our own bedroom and having her sleep in her bedroom by herself. We're trying to channel SuperNanny as we put her to bed each night and get up with her multiple times. You never realize how important sleep is to your daily functioning until you don't have it! Things in this area are improving though and she's learning to put herself to sleep slowly but surely.

Aside from adjusting well and being oh so smart, Maya also has a personality that's larger than life. She has a wonderful sense of humor and loves to play tricks, sneak up on people, and make crazy faces.

I've had requests for more pictures and am working on it. Our laptop is in the shop so I haven't been able to download pics or videos since we got home. Billions of pics were taken this weekend and when I get some from the fam I'll post some new ones.

We continue to be in shock about this adorable little blessing that has joined our lives. She is more than we could have ever asked for and we are so grateful for each moment with her. We are also grateful for the enormous outpouring of love from all of you. Thank you!

WE'RE HOME!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-07-17T12:40:00.000-07:00

"Hello!" from Minnesota!

We arrived home late Wednesday night and Maya is now a US citizen! I apologize for the delay in posting-we're sleep deprived and overwhelmed and struggling to compose sentences, but oh-so-happy!

Getting out of Haiti was difficult (shocker). We got the visa easily that day, rushed to the airport to be there 2 hours before our 455 flight. At around 6 they told us to head out to the tarmac. Thrilled, we got the bottom of the steps of the plane and were then told to go back to the gate. At 8 they cancelled the flight all together. We were put up in a hotel and tried not to cry. Fortunately we got pushed to the front of many lines due to the cute 37 lbs we were lugging with us.

On Wednesday we went back to the airport for our 10 am rescheduled flight. At 930 they announced that the crew had just left the hotel and we'd board in 1 hour. We boarded at around 11 I think (there are no clocks or screens in the unairconditioned airport). We were then told that we had no fuel. There was also no AC on the plane. When the fuel truck finally arrived it ran out of gas. We dripped with sweat as we waited for a new truck. I think we took off at around 1. Maya, used to the crazy heat, handled things very well, enjoying the view of airplanes out the window. When we finally took off, she clapped her hands and said, "bon travay!" (good work!) unprompted by us.

We went through immigration very quickly in Miami, at which point she became a citizen, and flew home on the 745 pm flight. At that point shock and delight set in and I could hardly contain my glee as we flew towards MN.

Sean's bro and sis in law, Adam and Amanda, were waiting to pick us up (photos and videos from them to come) and Maya woke up and was excited to see the people we'd been showing her pics of for the last month. She loved riding in her own car and was even more excited when we arrived home. Our house was bursting with love from so many friends I can't even comprehend it. Our sidewalk and steps were chalked with decorations and welcomes, there were flowers in a pot outside, a cooler of food on the steps. In the house the fridge was fully stocked, there were presents galore, all of our laundry had been washed and folded, a closet bar had been added to Maya's closet full of new outfits, artwork with her name hung on her wall, and my favorite thing: the bathtub had been recaulked! A team of friends and family, led by my wonderful friend Jenna, had made our home a wonderful place to return to. We don't even know who to thank because so much was done, so if you did something-THANK YOU!

Her first days here have been good. She's adjusting well and her favorite thing is that she has her own car that we can go in anytime. She also loves her little red trike and has made numerous laps around the block. We've gotten so many adorable outfits and everytime she sees a new one she takes off her current clothes and puts on new ones.

Poor Sean had to return to work today. I'm not sure how he's able to complete sentences as I know I'm not making much sense. Glad tomorrow's Saturday! I'm off for 8 more weeks. :)

We're having Maya baptized on August 2 and are thrilled about the family that will be descending upon us at that point.

I'll add pictures as time and energy allow. Thanks to all of you for your support through this process. We could NOT have done it without you!!!!! :)

Not Today, But Tomorrow...we think

2009-07-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

Hey friends,
We had high hopes of leaving Haiti tonight, but no amount of begging and tears convinced the Embassy to give us the visa today instead of tomorrow. (They typically say next business day, but our consulate buddy had said at one point that she could get it for us in one day). So, we'll get it tomorrow at 230 and then be on the 455 flight to Miami. If all goes well, we will be in St Paul by Wed afternoon.

It was a little sad that this moment that we've been waiting for was hampered by the disappointment of it being tomorrow instead of today, but after having some pancakes at the hotel, we're reminding ourselves that this is it! Tomorrow we'll have the visa and that's the final step!

Maya has been a trooper and gets more hilarious each day. Last night she was wearing Sean's t-shirt and baseball hat, giggling at herself in the mirror. While she was sleeping the other night she said, "you're welcome!" in her sleep (one of her favorite English phrases).

Although this has been a long, frustrating, and mosquito and sweat ridden experience, we can't help but see how blessed we have been. At every moment there's been a handful of people here in Haiti who are watching out for us, taking us to the store, ordering pizza for us (a special treat!), taking us to church, leaving us with their extra snacks and toiletries, and just letting us know that we're supported. We are so grateful for how well she's handling everything and that she has transitioned SO well.

When we went to church last week, we understood very little, but at one point I could recognize that they were all reading from the Bible together. I asked our friend who had an English Bible with him if I could read along with him and when he handed the Bible to me the verse they were on was from Psalm 113 and was something close to "the Lord blesses the childless woman by bringing children to her home". Yes He does!

Speaking of children, I should help poor Sean who is sitting in the restaurant, trying to get Maya to put her pants back on after a trip to the bathroom. :)

See you soon!

Finally Some Good News!

2009-07-11T06:14:00.001-07:00

At the last minute on Friday we got an email from the Embassy saying we can come in on Monday with our Visa payment! We're planning on being there bright and early Monday and are praying that they'll issue it during the magical designated time of 230-3pm that very day. We're checking out flight options (with the wonderful help of my parents who are doing the research so we don't have to search the web with the mosquitos) and if we get the visa on Monday we hope to fly to Miami Monday evening and be home in Minnesota by Tuesday. This bit of news has given us the strength and optimism we needed to get through another weekend here. We're dreaming of being home and can't wait for you to meet her!

Speaking of, I'm being summoned as we speak. Keep checking and hopefully I'll be posting from MN SOON!!!! :)

Still in Haiti

2009-07-08T16:11:00.000-07:00

Hey friends,
I've tried to post a few things, but between an internet connection that often doesn't post the things I just spent a while writing and a toddler that is very attached to me, the posts have been few and far between.

We're still in Haiti and feeling desperate about it. As I'm sure I've mentioned, the only thing the Embassy still needs is the DNA results, which we found out today that the results have been sent to the EMbassy. So we wait. We wait for the phone call or email from the Embassy, which we hope will be each day. This afternoon I packed one suitcase, which felt good. We're so hoping and praying to be home by the weekend and are crushed to miss a good friend's wedding tomorrow night.

Maya's hanging in there. Learning tons of English and making friends with everyone. We feel very blessed to have this time with her without the distractions of home. We just dream of the comforts of home and of the time we get to introduce her to you in person.

Please continue to pray that the visa will be in our hands this week and that we'll be on our way home to MN soon!!!

And Her Name Is...

2009-07-02T11:23:00.000-07:00

To cheer us up since we think we're probably stuck here for many more days, we thought we'd let our daughter reveal her new name to you. In the video at the top left of this blog page, you'll hear me say, "Hello! Como relle?" (meaning, "What is your name?") And you'll hear her reply, "Baby. Baby ______" Just in case you can't understand her with our dazzling technology, I'll post her written name in the comments section of this posting. Enjoy!

prayers for a visa please!

2009-07-02T09:15:00.000-07:00

Hey friends!
We're down to the wire with this visa thing. We're praying non stop that we get a call to come get it today. If we don't hear today we're stuck here for the long weekend and our next chance to get it would be Monday. We're running out of patience and it's getting harder and harder to entertain a toddler in a hotel room. Please pray that we'll be home sooner rather than later!

On the bright side, we're still having a blast with our sweet girl. She shows no fear in the swimming pool, eats non stop, and is acquiring more English every moment.

See you soon, we hope!

God is Good!

2009-06-30T10:35:00.000-07:00

Hey friends!
Sorry for the lack of posts. The internet here is spotty and the computer is in a spot swarming with mosquitoes. Needless to say, I'm going to make this quick!

Last Thurs was a day of miracles. After a million things went wrong and it seemed that we were going to have to go another week without the DNA test, at the very last minute everything fell into place and the DNA test was performed. It is truly a miracle that this happened and we credit it to the fact that the chauffeur, birth mother, Dr., sean, and I were all praying with all our might-not to mention all of you.

So the DNA was sent off to the US to be tested and we paid extra for it to be expedited. We've completed all of the other steps and as soon as the EMbassy gets the results she'll issue the visa and we can come home! We're praying hard that we get it T, W, or TH, as the Embassy is closed F for the 4th and I don't think we can handle many more days here.

Baby girl is doing well, but the boredom of being in a hotel room is getting to all of us. The restaurant here can take up to an hour, which has made life difficult. We're all starting to lose patience and are very ready to be home surrounded by nutrituous food that's easy to access.

Thanks for your continued prayers and I hope to be writing from MN SOON!

love you all!

Together At Last!

2009-06-20T11:40:00.000-07:00

I wanted to give you an update on our lives this week, as it's been a huge one. We are now the proud parents of the sassiest, cutest, funniest, smartest toddler you've ever encountered!

Her birth mother was interviewed by the embassy on Wed and left Port au Prince on Thursday afternoon. Since then we've been thrown into parenthood and are trying our best to always have snacks, water, wet wipes, and toys on hand. The first night we could not believe it when we got to sleep with that sweet thing in between the two of us. We were even more shocked when, in the middle of reading, she said, "Dormi" (sleep), closed her eyes and went to sleep.

She eats as quickly and ferociously as I do and snores like me. She likes the same foods as Sean (Coffee, french fries, cheetos) and loves to sleep a lot like her dad. She had her first trip in the swimming pool today and LOVED IT. She's very self reliant and feeds, bathes, and clothes herself!

Because we're so in love and because things here have gone very well, we're not coming home without her. We will not be home as planned on June 25 and are not exactly sure when we will be back, but think it will be around the first of July. It's frustrating to have to stay here, especially because our money is quickly running out,after paying for hotel rooms, food, taxis, fees for adoption stuff, etc. , but we feel safe and are well taken care of.

The steps that still need to be taken before we go home is that the birth mother needs to find her own birth certificate, which will be ready by Tuesday, with that she and Bedeline will get a DNA test on Thursday, then we wait for the results, which e're having expedited (amazing what you can get done if you beg and say you'll pay more). As soon as the embassy gets the results (a week or less) we get our interview for the visa and then the visa is issued either that day or the next business day.

Since our arrival we have encountered so many angels and have experienced countless miracles. Everything from the Priest that works with Sean's organization being on our plane from Miami and therefore able to help us with a number of things, to the Embassy granting us the interview even though we had a ton of reasons why they shouldn't have (including that we just showed up w/o an appt) to a canadian dr at the DNA clinic making phone calls on our behalf. Even the fact that our hotel room ceiling started dripping last night, meaning we had to change rooms at 4am (B never went back to sleep after that) we think will work out as Sean's trying to use it to get us some free rooms. We have just been overwhelmed by the amazing amazing things that have happened so far. The time has not been w'/o frustration, but for the most part it's been wonderful.

Bedeline has adjusted SO beautifully. She is completely comfortable with us and is already callng us Mommy and Daddy. My creole gets stronger each day and we've started to teach her some words as well. It's an amazing joy to be able to walk around the hotel with her and answer "yes" when people ask if she's my daughter.

Love to you all! Keep your prayers, both of thanksgiving for this amazin beautiful child, and for speed of the process, coming. We cannot wait to introduce her to each of you. As for the original plan that everything would be overwhelming for her at first and we wouldn't be able to see people for awhile-this girl is happiest when she's in the car/eating/doing something new and she's won over the hearts of the hotel guests (she even got us invited to a wedding reception at the hotel tonight!) so you'll all get to see her when we return.

I'm not sure when Sean will let me announce her name, but she already responds to it and the people who have met her say it's a beautiful name. love you all and enjoy the pics!:)

Trip to Haiti

2009-06-15T19:52:00.000-07:00

Hey friends,

After reports that Bedeline has recently been ill, Sean and I have decided to fly to Haiti to make sure she's getting good medical care. While there, we will do our best to move things along with the adoption process, but are not planning on bringing her home on this trip. We will be gone from June 16-25.

Now more than ever we need your prayers and support for our safety, her health, and that this situation turns out however it is meant to be. We are so grateful and overwhelmed by the love that is continuously poured on us by all of you and know that you'll be with us on our trip.

We're not sure what the communication will be like and if we'll be able to update, but if nothing else we'll write when we return next week.

We are also celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary today (june 15th). It's been full of adventure and we're grateful for each other each day.

Love you all!

Hangin' In

2009-06-04T08:41:00.000-07:00

Hey friends,

I know that lots of you have been wondering what's going on, as there haven't been posts in the last few days. We've had a few - not setbacks, but certainly not "moveforwards" either - lately, including the fact that our lawyer's brother died, leaving her distressed and needing to take a trip to the states for a funeral.

As you can imagine, all of this has taken its toll on us, but we're plugging along and have some connections that are trying to help. We'll let you know when something big happens. Until then, please continue to pray that we will be able to bring our sweet girl home soon and that we'll have the strength and patience to wait for that exciting day. It's so reassuring to know that we have so many friends out there who are sending their love and prayers to us. We couldn't be doing this without you!

Prayers, please!

2009-05-26T17:29:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow's a huge day for our adoption process. Please pray that all goes smoothly so that we can go pick our cutie pie up SOON! Thanks.

Movement

2009-05-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

Hello friends!

After being at the Embassy just a few days our file already has its first step appointment this Wednesday. This is a crucial step, so please send prayers that it goes smoothly. It's great news that they've already looked at our paperwork there and if this step goes smoothly, we hope to move onto the medical exam and then final visa interview quickly.

My sweet co-workers threw a surprise shower for me this week, so Bedeline is now the owner of a shiny red tricycle, complete with streamers, a bell, and a basket. :)

We spent last weekend making over Sean's brother's room (he recently got married and moved out) and now have a lovely family room/play room complete with the play kitchen set from my childhood and an easel from IKEA. All we need now is the little girl to play with all this great stuff!

Have a wonderful and relaxing Memorial Day weekend, think of us on Wednesday, and keep watching for updates.

PASSPORT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

Bedeline was issued a Passport today! "What does this mean?" is the question most often asked next. What it means is that we're finished with the Haitian side of things (sigh of relief).

The steps that follow are:

1) The paperwork goes to the US Embassy in Haiti, where our approval through USCIS (immigration) has been sitting for over a year.

2) When they've looked over the paperwork, they will call the lawyer and tell her it's time to get the baby to a clinic for a medical exam.

3) I believe that shortly after the exam Bedeline will be interviewed at the Embassy (wouldn't I love to be a fly on the wall for that?!?).

4) A day or two after the interview the visa is issued.

5) When the visa is issued, she's free to come to Minnesota!!!!

So, the step here that could take a little while is the Embassy looking over the paperwork or it could happen very fast. It's my understanding that after the lawyer is contacted to get Bedeline examined, the rest will happen quickly.

I hate to give out timelines because they've failed me so often in the past, so I'll just say that we're hoping and praying that this will happen SOON!

We'll keep you posted!! :)

New pictures!

2009-03-12T18:54:00.000-07:00

Hey friends,

Just got these new pictures of Bedeline. Sean has named them "The Cheeto Series" and I like to call them "Eating Cheetos in a White Dress". We're hoping for news that her passport has been obtained in the next few weeks, but we'll see. It was two years ago today that we first heard about Bedeline and we certainly hope to be picking her up sometime soon. Thanks for your continued prayers both for her health and safety and for our patience.

In the meantime, we're keeping more than busy. Sean was in Nicaragua for work for eight days and when he got home I left for Phoenix where I presented at the International Reading Association conference. Last weekend my parents came to town and we got to spend a few days with them on Lake Superior. We're heading on a cruise of the Western Caribbean in a few weeks, something we got at a Friends of the Orphans gala last year and are excited to enjoy. Sean's brother is getting married in April, which has also been keeping us busy.

We hope you're all well and pray that we'll be posting good news sometime soon!

Another big day!

2008-12-19T19:22:00.000-08:00

Today we passed through another step. With this one complete we are now legally Bedeline's parents! While this is wonderful news, it's still not time to go pick her up. :( The next step is the Ministry of Interior, where they issue her a Haitian passport. This step has been known to take a few months, but we're hoping our lawyer will work the same magic she's worked in the last two steps, which she moved us through very quickly.

While we wait we're very excited to get to spend Christmas with our families, especially my nephew, Owen, who we haven't seen since June.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to each of you!

Another step hurdled!

2008-12-10T19:01:00.000-08:00

After not writing anything for months, it's crazy to have enough to write about that I'm putting up two posts in one night! We just heard that we've already passed through another step and the lawyer is feeling confident that we'll be through yet another within the next week or two. As you can see from my last post, this is much faster than the timetable that we'd found, which is great news. We'll keep you posted! :)

Health and Timeline Updates

2008-12-10T15:55:00.000-08:00

Hi friends and thanks for all of your well wishes in the last week! It's been much fun to hear from all of you.

We heard that Bedeline has recovered from malaria and is on medication to clear her chest of the pneumonia that still lingers. We are relieved that at least one of the illnesses is over and continue to pray for her health.

As for the timeline, we've been checking websites and asking friends that have recently brought their children home from Haiti. What we've seen and heard is that from this point to the point at which we go pick her up could be 6-8 months. I know that many of you had been imagining us packing our bags up this weekend and though we wish we were, 6-8 months is much better than the five years we were beginning to think we'd have to wait. And who knows? Maybe Haiti will surprise us and we'll get to go pick her up even sooner.

In case you're interested, I've listed the next steps below. We'll continue to post as we hear that the paperwork moves from step to step. Please keep the "paperwork people" (as we so lovingly refer to them), Bedeline, and us in your prayers. Thanks and Merry Christmas! :)

Civil Court
4-8 weeks

Legalization & creation of Affidavit
8-12 weeks

Minister of Interior (MOI)
3-5 months

Immigration/Passport printing & Medical Exam
2-8 weeks

USCIS Orphan Investigation
2-8 weeks

Visa Process
2 weeks

AT LAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-12-03T14:46:00.001-08:00

After sitting completely immobile in the same agency since July 2007, our paperwork was signed today!! The lawyer immediately brought it to the next stage, which is one of a few left, including the passport process. We have no clue about timelines, but are just thrilled to know that it's moving.

We had just started to talk about looking into other countries and had been urged by many to give up long ago, but we knew that this country and this little girl are for us. And so we somehow stuck it out for 18 months of waiting.

Thanks to all of you who supported us through that time and for putting up with our moodiness and/or lack of communication. It hasn't been easy, but as we heard C. S. Lewis quoted in a play last night, "The pain now is part of the happiness then. That's the deal."

And so we move closer into the "happiness then" stage. You can now begin to check here more regularly (if, indeed, anyone out there even still checks this!) and we'll let you know when our sweet girl is coming home to us.

Until then, please keep her in your prayers. She's currently very ill with both malaria and pneumonia. So, prayers for her health as well as for the speediness of the rest of this process so we can get her here and healthy would be much appreciated.

:) :) :)

Some news...and a picture!

2008-08-14T19:40:00.000-07:00

After 14 months of having our paperwork stuck in one place we have word that our paperwork may be leaving that agency within a month. We've been promised things before and will believe it when it's officially out, but we're happy to even have talk of movement. We will certainly let you know as soon as it's been signed. (Remember that this isn't the final step, but a major one.)

In other news, Sean has been promoted to Regional Director of Friends of the Orphans! He is both honored and excited and looks forward to many more opportunities to travel to the orphan homes in Latin America and the Carribean. If you live in the area and want to come to an event about Haiti, check out the website at www.friendsus.org, click on the Upper Midwest Region, and look for "Faces of Hope".

Enjoy the new picture!

June 1 Letdown

2008-06-18T19:32:00.001-07:00

I'm sure after my brief mention of potential June 1st news some of you have been wondering what, if anything transpired. The situation was this: apparently our paperwork has a stamp on it saying that it will be held for one year starting June 1, 2007. Our lawyer had seen this and was looking forward to that deadline. She went in on June 2, as June 1 was a Sunday, and asked for the paperwork to be released. When they refused she threatened to take legal action and was told that it will do no good as there is currently no legal system in place.

This most recent disappointment has been a tough blow for us as now our only hope is that Parliament, who we heard didn't pass any laws at all last year, will get together and pass this law saying that we only have to be 30 instead of 35, which is why the paperwork is currently stuck. We don't have much hope that this will happen, at least anytime soon, but are not quite sure what to do next. Not only is it difficult to wait for the joys of parenting this sweet child, but it's doubly hard knowing the condition that Haiti is currently in and worrying about her well being there.

Please continue to pray for her, for Haiti, for us, and for all other potential adoptive parents who are out there waiting.

To end on a lighter note, Sean and I just celebrated our six year wedding anniversary and the week before that went on an eventful trip to Yellowstone with my family. We are grateful every day that we are so blessed and happy in all other aspects of our lives, including having the support system that we do!

One Year Ago

2008-05-05T19:03:00.000-07:00

Hi friends,

One year ago today we were in Haiti having just met Bedeline for the first time. In some ways much has happened in the last year, but in the adoption realm we've hardly progressed at all. It's been hard not to give up hope and we must admit that there have been times when we have, but we're still holding on, and there's a small chance that June 1st may bring us some progress (too complicated to explain, just pray!!!).

In the mean time, I'm sure you've heard about the food riots in Haiti, leading to the ousting of the Prime Minister. A new PM was recently appointed and everyone's hoping for change and progress. At Friends of the Orphans, where Sean works, they are planning on a 40% increase in food costs for the year, which adds up to nearly $500,000. It's so difficult to just sit here in Minnesota eating all kinds of food and going to the Dr. whenever we need to. Our eyes have definitely been opened and we realize just how blessed we are. Please continue to pray not only for our situation, but for all the people of Haiti and the other countries effected by the food shortage.

A story about Paul Farmer was on 60 minutes last night. You can watch it by following the link below.

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=4069409n&channel=/sections/60minutes/videoplayer3415.shtml

We hope that you're all well and we so appreciate the blog checking, lack of questions and prayers. Love you!

Nothing to report

2008-03-13T15:21:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
I know it's been a very long time since I've posted and that's simply because there's nothing much to report. We're still waiting on Parliament to pass the age law, but have heard that they've adjourned indefinitely. We'll let you know when we hear something. Thanks for your continued prayers and support. Hope you're all doing well!

Recent article on Haiti

2008-02-06T15:17:00.000-08:00

Hi friends,
I know that those of you faithful blog checkers will be disappointed to see that while I am posting something, it's not adoption related. All we've heard is that the law hasn't passed and that it's not actually that you have to be 29, but that you have to be 30 in 2008, which Sean will be. It's not that the law has NOT passed (how many negatives can I put in one sentence??) it hasn't been discussed yet. We had been told it would happen in January, and realize fully that January is over. And so we wait.

Marialyn is in Haiti right now and has promised to check in on the baby and take some pictures. She's not coming home for a few weeks, but it's nice to know that there are pictures and a report coming.

This post is more about distressing Haiti stories that I've heard lately. One is that Marialyn said that the day she arrived two Americans were kidnapped and are being held for ransom. The other is about how Haitians have resorted to literally eating dirt because food prices have gone up from the rates that they could barely afford in the first place. Both of these stories remind me that things are so very desperate there and of what people will resort to when they have no food or money, not to mention medical help. So, if you think of it, tag on a little, "Watch over the people of Haiti" prayer to the ones I hope you say that go something like, "Watch over Bedeline and bring her to Minnesota SOON!"

It's hard to sit here in my cozy beautiful home with a full fridge and to know how to help, and others who have read the mud article have also asked what can be done. One way is through Friends of the Orphans, (http://www.friendsoftheorphans.org/)which is where Sean works and how we sponsor Herbie. Because he's on the inside we know it's reputable and that 100% of sponsorship dollars go right to the orphan homes. We've also been amazed at how many Haiti non-profits exist, so if orphans aren't your thing, you could always google Haiti and non-profit or relief and see what happens.

Please don't think I'm trying to convince you to give away your money, I just know that when I finished reading the article, I was left with a feeling of wanting to do more and wanted to give some suggestions if you felt the same. The link to the article is: http://news.aol.com/story/_a/hungry-haitians-resort-to-eating-dirt/20080129175709990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

Aside from the endless waiting game, things are going really well for us. Our jobs keep us busy, inspired, energized, and feeling like we're in the perfect jobs for us. This Minnesota winter has been less than fantastic with it's endless darkness and sub-zero temps, but we've filled our time watching Indiana Basketball (go Hoosiers!) and political debates. We have been feeling very fortunate to live in the Twin Cities lately since in the last month we've been to an IU basketball game, the play Peer Gynt, a concert of Luther College's Nordic Choir (this is the choir Sean sang in during college) and a huge political rally. Not a bad place to be once you get over the frostbite and light deprivation!

I hope this finds you all well and warm. Trust that I'll post something the second we hear, which I pray will be sooner than later. Love to you all.

Tiny update

2008-01-14T19:20:00.000-08:00

As you may remember we're waiting for a Haitian law to be passed that adoptive parents need only be 29 years old (Sean's current age). We heard tonight that the Haitian legislature began meeting last week and that this law is one of the first on the list to be passed. The lawyer also said that there's a chance that the papers will be signed on the same day that the law is passed. Keep in mind that this is not the last step. There are two other places that the paperwork needs to pass through before we're finished, but both will be relatively quick (meaning about 6 weeks).

That's all for now. We'll let you know when we hear more!

Some news

2007-12-17T20:14:00.000-08:00

We heard today that our paperwork is impeccable and perfect, which was nice to hear, after all the work we had done to prepare it. What's not perfect is our age. We've known that Haitian law states that couples must be 35 to adopt, but had been told months ago that there were exceptions to that rule, and that we met those exceptions. But...in January a law is going to be passed changing the age to 29, an age that Sean reached just weeks ago. (Only one of us needs to be 29). One person at the agency where the paperwork has been has decided that he wants to wait until the law is passed next month before signing our paperwork. The rest of his team have signed off and it's all in his hands. The lawyer says he's doing us a favor and that this will make things go more smoothly in the next two step (yes, there are still two more steps).

We wish all of you a Merry Christmas and hope to see all of you in the new year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-25T17:51:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving we had so much to be thankful for. My brother, his wife, and their amazing baby boy came to spend Thanksgiving with us. We had a wonderful time and were grateful for the days to relax together and to play with Baby Owen. We're also so thankful for our supportive friends and family, and for having great jobs that we love going to.

Obviously we were hoping to be thankful for the arrival of a certain beautiful girl, but for that we'll have to continue to wait. On last check in the IBESR has still not signed our paperwork. We know that it will take at least six weeks after it has been signed, which pushes our travel date into January at the earliest. It's been difficult to realize that we'll be celebrating Christmas without her and the waiting gets harder each day. We were happy tonight, however, when we talked to our friend who is also in the Haitian adoption process, who said that we somehow got through the US process much more quickly and easily than he ever has. We're not sure which factor made this happen, but are grateful nonetheless.

We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving as well. Know that we are thankful for each of you, for your support, and for your prayers.

Good News!

2007-11-15T15:03:00.000-08:00

We got notice today that US Immigration has approved us and has sent our approval to the Consulate in Haiti! I know there was a blog posting months ago saying the same thing, but they had to approve two parts, and this was the second one. This is a huge relief, after the letter we got last week asking for something we wouldn't be able to get from Haiti for weeks, not to mention translation, etc. Apparently they decided we were fine without that. They are also asking for background checks on someone we've never heard of, so we're not quite sure what that's all about, but we're so grateful and relieved to have some good news.

We're still waiting anxiously for the IBESR to sign, as that's all that's holding things up now.

They say that God won't give you more than you can handle, and I think I was about to give up on the whole thing this afternoon...and then I got the email with the approval notice. This has been a long and difficult journey for us both and we know we're not at the end yet, but it's nice to think that we may be getting to the end-ish. I know that it's been difficult for all of you to watch us go through this and not know what to say or do. Know that we appreciate so much the regularity with which so many of you check the blog, these days we appreciate most the LACK of questions we've been getting, and most of all we appreciate the prayers. As a friend put it the other night, "Everytime I log on to the blog-and I do everyday-it's a reminder to send up a prayer." We've got a site tracker on the blog and are able to see the number of people who look at the blog and also what states and countries are represented. It's so powerful for us to know that people all around the country, and a few outside the US, are checking in. Thanks.

Not much to report

2007-11-13T19:17:00.000-08:00

On the U.S. side, we mailed a letter to Immigration on Friday trying to clear up questions about the things they've asked for. One of the things they want we can't get from Haiti for a few weeks, so we're hoping that will be soon enough.

On the Haitian side, our lawyer went to the IBESR (agency where the papers have been since July) a few days ago to see if they'd signed it now that the they have our psych eval. They have not. Marialyn instructed the lawyer to let us know the minute they sign.

Sean celebrated his 29th birthday yesterday! I surprised him with our first subscription to cable tv, including the Big Ten Network so that he can watch every single Indiana University basketball game this season.

That's all for now. Keep the prayers coming, please!

Hurricane Noel

2007-11-07T14:55:00.001-08:00

Thanks to all of you who have emailed about the recent hurricane, Noel. Although it caused much devastation and dozens of deaths in Haiti, all of the friends we met on our trip are safe. It's devastating to read the stories about parents having to choose one child over another as the water swept them away. The deforestation of the majority of the country played a role in the damage of the heavy rains. We are relieved that it has moved away from the area.

The lawyer received our paperwork (thanks again DHL!) on Friday and said she would bring it to the 2nd agency (the one that the paperwork has been in since July) on Monday. We're hoping that she did and that they immediately signed it so that she could take it to the next agency right away. We're also realistic, and know that "immediately" and "right away" rarely happen.

In the meantime we've been trying to understand a request we got from US Immigration asking for a document we already submitted as well as another form of documentation that we don't even understand. I'm starting to feel like it will be a miracle if this all goes through. But...crazier things have happened, so start praying everyone.

On a happier note, I just got back from a four day trip to my home town in Indiana. A group from my church here went to a conference that my dad played a major role in, so it was wonderful to see many family members (including my amazing 7 month old nephew!!!) as well as attend the conference.

We should be getting some news of something soon, so keep watching and please say (at least) a few prayers for the "paperwork people" as I call them, the baby girl, and the two of us. Thanks.

We love the Consulate

2007-10-30T15:28:00.000-07:00

I was joking in my last post when I said that we expected the Haitian Consulate in Chicago to stamp our paperwork before his morning coffee and send it right back out to us. Apparently, it wasn't a joke! It arrived there yesterday at 845 am and it was stamped and on our doorstep when I got home from work this afternoon. I'm always shocked and amazed when something goes quickly and smoothly.

I rushed the paperwork to the DHL office at the airport and had them send it off to Haiti ASAP. Last time it got there in less than 24 hours, although they call it 2 day shipping. Hopefully Noel (the storm hitting that area) won't slow down the flights carrying our papers or more importantly cause damage or destruction to any of the countries in its path.

Now it's back to the waiting game. Of course, I'm frantically calculating in my mind...if it gets to the lawyer on Thursday and she gets the agency to sign it by Friday...Friday is November 2...6 weeks from November 2 is December 14. I'm simulaneously preparing myself for the worst and reminding myself that it's rare for things to go quickly in Haiti. But it sure is fun to think about picking her up in time for Christmas!

We'll keep you posted as we track the package and (hopefully) hear updates from the lawyer!

Updates

2007-10-28T12:39:00.000-07:00

Our psychological evaluation is on its way to the Haitian Consulate in Chicago right now in both its English and French versions. It should be waiting there when they open tomorrow morning and our hope is that they will put upon it their seal of approval and ship it back to us in the overnight envelope before they have their morning coffee. As soon as we receive it we'll DHL it to Haiti. We found earlier in the process that that can get papers in the hands of the lawyer in less than 24 hours!

We heard on Friday that Bedeline continues to be healthy and that she's regaining the weight that she had lost during her illness. We have no idea how much she may weigh these days but are thinking she may be in 2T clothing by the time she arrives.

Thanks for reading!

Psych update

2007-10-24T19:41:00.000-07:00

We got our psychological evaluation completed, notarized, and stamped by the Secretary of State on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Now we're waiting (not so patiently) for it to be translated into French so that we can send it to the Haitian Consulate in Chicago for another fancy stamp. We'll overnight it there with an overnight envelope for them to send it back. When it comes back to us from Chicago we will DHL it to the lawyer in Haiti. We found last time that this can happen in less than 24 hours. The hope is that as soon as the agency has this new paper in hand they'll sign off and release our paperwork. We think that it will be about 6 weeks from that point, putting us at beginning to mid December.

The phrase "Hurry up and wait," seems to describe this situation perfectly. We seem to do a lot of rushing around to get things ready, stamped, mailed, etc. and then we have to put it in someone else's hands and wait. I'm never sure which is more painful, when it is in our hands and the pressure is on, or when it's out of our hands and we have no clue what's happening.

We have a friend who's about a month ahead of us in the process, who's going to have his two boys come home to him soon. I think it will feel wonderful for us when that happens-proof that the system does, indeed, work!

Keep watching for new details!

Finally, some news to report!

2007-10-20T06:36:00.000-07:00

As Marialyn put it yesterday, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that the IBESR (agency where the paperwork's been forever) is ready to sign our papers. Bad news is that before they can do so, they need to see a Pschological Evaluation on both of us. We hadn't known about this before, because it's apparently specific to people under 35.

So, if any of you have any advice about how to make that happen, CALL US! Our goal is to get the evals done, translated, notarized, apostilled (fancy stamp) and DHLed to Haiti by Friday at the latest. The hope is that as soon as they get the evals they sign the paperwork right away. Then there's a 2 week step, then there's a 4 week step. The few people we've told seem less than thrilled that there's another 6 weeks, but for us it's a nice amount of time to be able to get plane tickets, finally buy car seats, get things ready at work, etc. 6 weeks from today is December 1, so perhaps I'll be in Haiti for my birthday (Dec 2) after all!

We're trying to stay a bit realistic, knowing that Haiti timelines aren't always what they promise, but are thrilled to have some news. Finally, something to say when asked 72 times each day, "Any news about the baby?" :)

Happy Birthday Bedeline!

2007-10-18T06:17:00.001-07:00

Today, October 18, is Bedeline’s first birthday. Of course we had hoped that we’d be celebrating this big event together, but alas, that’s doesn’t seem to be part of the plan. There’s still no word from the lawyer who had said she’d go check on the paperwork last week. We’re not sure if that means that she hasn’t gone at all, has gone and has nothing to report, or just hasn’t contacted Marialyn with an update. We’ll let you know as soon as we hear.

Last weekend we went to Wisconsin and babysat a 2-year-old girl so that her parents (long time friends of ours) could go to a Baptism out of state. It was an interesting glimpse into what our world is going to become when Bedeline does arrive. A very good practice run!

We now have another Haitian child that we’re invested in. We signed up last week to sponsor a child through Sean’s job (Friends of the Orphans) and of course, we had to choose Haiti! Herby is 12-years-old and as soon as the paperwork goes through we get to start writing letters back and forth. We hope to meet him and see the orphan home and hospital that Friends of the Orphans sponsors when we go to pick up Bedeline. Sean’s boss has also asked us to think about leading a trip to Haiti next year! Amazing to think that a little more than seven months ago Haiti was the farthest thing from our minds. It just goes to show that we never know which way our life will go.

healthy girl

2007-10-04T07:51:00.001-07:00

Hello friends! We heard last night that Bedeline is once again healthy and happy (insert huge sigh of relief here). She is reported to have lost some weight during her illness and we're again grateful for the extra pounds that she had going into it, though we're having a really hard time imagining her without all those rolls!

We also heard that the lawyer is planning to go to the agency where our paperwork is next week to check on it, since she thinks it should be finished there SOON! Strange, after all this waiting, to hear the word "soon", though we are only allowing ourselves to be cautiously optimistic, not full out excited...yet. Once we get the word that it's out of the this 2nd agency, I believe it goes to round 3 for a few weeks and then has 22 days of translation. We're still clinging to "end of November, beginning of December", but really just praying she'll be here for Christmas. Either way, girl's going to need a whole bunch of warm clothes. She's not going to know what hit her with this Minnesota weather!

In all other aspects of our lives, we Breiningers are doing really well! Sean absolutely loves his new job with Friends of the Orphans and I've begun volunteering there as well. It's such an inspirational organization and we're so grateful to be a part of it.

My job is also going very well. I was recently promoted and am now a mentor coach to four new coaches that we just hired. I continue to do the Literacy Coaching that I have been, but coach and mentor the new folks in addition. The project that I work for is a huge success and it's rewarding to go to work each day to see the difference that's being made.

Last weekend I flew to Michigan to spend 3 days with my favorite baby boy, my nephew Owen. I had only seen him once since his birth in March and it would kill me to see new photos showing how quickly he was growing. I had a wonderful time spending the weekend on the carpet with him, trying to coax him into crawling and getting him to giggle. I look forward to the day when cousins Owen and Bedeline can play together!

Our mantra this week has been "It's October!". An obvious fact, but one that means to us that we're that much closer to November and December, and that, perhaps, good news will be coming to us soon. Keep praying for and watching the blog for good news!

health update

2007-09-23T09:16:00.000-07:00

We heard yesterday that Bedeline's stomach issues have completely gone away, but that now she has a bladdar infection and screams and cries when urinating. :( She has seen a specialist and is on medication. We're grateful that there are specialists to be seen and hope and pray that this will be her last illness in Haiti.

In the meantime we finally took the leap of faith and hung the Haitian animal art that we bought in Port-au-Prince in her room, along with the butterfly mobile that we found a while back.

We were at a birthday party last night where, as usual, we were asked for updates a million times. Each time we said, "End of November or beginning of December" we heard, "That's right around the corner!" It's so nice that November is finally right around the corner, though we're preparing ourselves for it taking longer, just in case.

I'm home with a cold and am trying to put things into perspective that if that little girl can go through all that she has in the past few weeks, I can stand a few sniffles! I hope that each of you are healthy and happy!

good news!

2007-09-18T15:53:00.000-07:00

I heard this afternoon that Bedeline is on the mend! She stopped vomiting and has started eating and drinking a bit. We are so thankful and relieved, having spent the morning brainstorming about how to make her better. Everything from somehow telling them the homemade Pedialyte recipe to calling the local hospital. Fortunately we didn't have to go to those extremes and we're hoping for continued positive reports.

This experience has made us so very grateful for our medical system that we take for granted. We can't wait to get her here so that she can have access to the medical help that she may need.

Many of you have been so helpful and supportive in these past weeks of worrying and we are very grateful. We are blessed to have such a support system! How about a new picture to celebrate good health???

medical update

2007-09-17T13:59:00.001-07:00

We heard from Marialyn last night that Bedeline had been so sick for a few days that she wasn't even urinating. She is urinating again, but is still quite ill. They continue to take her to the Doctor. That's about all we know. We'll continue to post updates as we get them. Thanks for the prayers for her health and our ever growing ulcers.

Updates

2007-09-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

Hi friends,
We found out last night that Bedeline has been sick for about a week with fever, diarrhea, and vomiting. She's been to the Dr. a number of times and has tried 3 different medicines. We're eagerly awaiting updates on her condition. A Dr. friend told me tonight that her size will be favorable in this case. I knew there was a reason for those thunder thighs aside from the cute factor!

We also found out that a friend who is also in the process of adopting from Haiti heard that his paperwork is finished at the dreaded second stage that we're currently in. His was there for 4.5 mos. If that's the trend, we'll be out of that stage in mid-October. After that comes stage three, which I think may only be a few weeks. After THAT is another stage that lasts 22 days, in which everything is translated. The lawyer is now estimating late Nov. or early December. Perhaps in time for my Dec 2 birthday, or Christmas?

Please continue to pray for not only the "paperwork people" as I like to call them, but also for the health of Bedeline. We'll keep you posted.

New Pictures!

2007-09-05T19:13:00.001-07:00

As I'm sure you've noticed, we have new pictures! Marialyn just got home from Haiti yesterday and spent her first morning home downloading pictures to send to us (thank you Marialyn!!!). There were dozens of pics in all, but we chose the best 3 to share here with all of you. We're thrilled to see that she's looking healthy, well-fed :), and is developmentally right on track. Now if only we could get her here!

another baby milestone

2007-08-30T14:41:00.000-07:00

I talked to Marialyn yesterday who visited Bedeline again on Tuesday. She said that in the few weeks since Marialyn saw her last she's learned how to stand up on her own! Even though Marialyn's camera was recently stolen, she borrowed a friend's so that she could document this for us. She returns to Indiana on Tuesday and we'll be watching our email inbox for pictures from both of her visits with Bedeline. Don't worry, we'll post them here when we've got them!

baby care class

2007-08-25T17:21:00.000-07:00

Sean and I started our day at a baby care class at our adoption agency. It was designed for families adopting internationally who are expecting babies from 3-16 mos. of age. It was very helpful and we're realizing that in some ways, the older she is, the easier the "maintenance"! We had some giggles when the instructor talked about baby size, especially when she was explaining that when taking temperatures under the arm it helps if the baby has some fat rolls. SOME fat rolls? I don't think that will be a problem. :)

Two weeks after the Haiti party, donations continue to come in daily. Latest count: $2633! Thanks everyone!

teeth :)

2007-08-19T20:01:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we got an email from Marialyn with the subject heading "bedeline" and our hearts stopped. Fortunately the email had only good news: Baby Bedeline has 2 teeth in and one on its way! She is currently eating regular food in tiny pieces, even meat! This is exciting and a bit baffling, causing us to wonder if we get to just bypass all the baby food stuff. She hasn't seen her again, but is hoping to this week.

Fortunately Hurricane Dean bypassed them! Marialyn said on the phone today that it was overcast and a little rainy, but that was it. We are so relieved, having thought that hurricane destruction is the last thing this poor country needs.

We continued to receive donations all this week and our total is now up to $2405! We are amazed at how generous and wonderful our friends and co-workers are.

That's it for now. If we hear that Marialyn has seen Bedeline again, I'll be sure to let you know.

One Country Down, One to Go!

2007-08-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

Still riding the excitement of the party last weekend (our total is now up to $2350!), we got an email from our social worker on Tuesday saying that she received word from US Immigration that we have been approved! What does this mean? We think this means that we are finished with the US side of things. We think that the US will send our approval to the US Embassy in Haiti and that when things are approved by Haiti they'll see that the US has approved us and will be ready to issue the visa. This is good! Despite all of the fingerprinting mishaps, we were still approved and without losing any time, it seems.

We've got November on the brain, since that was our lawyer's last estimate and are excited that it's really just right around the corner. Now that we've been approved by the US, we might take a leap of faith and starting getting some of those items we were afraid to get before, like the crib mattress and a giant car seat.

Sean had his first day at Friends of the Orphans today and I'm eagerly awaiting his arrival home so I can hear all about it.

We've been amazed at all of the people and businesses quite close to our home that were affected by the storms last Friday night, losing power and trees, and are feeling even more fortunate that our house was somehow spared all of that and that the party was able to go on.

Sean's home and said his first day was great! If you haven't yet, check out the website at www.friendsoftheorphans.org.

Haiti Party a Huge Success!

2007-08-12T21:59:00.000-07:00

24 hours ago we were in our backyard with 91 of our friends, under three tents, in the rain, drinking rum punch, and talking about Haiti. When the forecast called for rain we decided just a few hours before the party to rent a tent and borrow a few others. We are very glad we did because the rain came just 10 mins into the party. Fortunately we have amazing friends who battled the weather, some even biking here in the rain! A friend of ours catered the event and we had Jerk Chicken skewers, rice with beans, peppers, and onions, tropical fruit salad, plantain chips and salsa, and pineapple coconut cake. Sean and I gave a presentation in which we told a bit of the story of the adoption and our trip and then showed a powerpoint that Adam had put together with facts about Haiti. We had a silent auction in which we auctioned off items made in Haiti as well as some framed pictures that we took on our trip. In the end we made over $2,000! We ended the night exhausted, but feeling so very blessed to have such amazing friends and to have had an opportunity to tell them about this country and this family that mean so much to us. Our caterer is already talking about next year's party, but we may have to take a few days to recover before talking about that. Check out the pictures posted on the blog.

I talked to Marialyn today, who is still in Haiti until Sept 4, to tell her the good news of the night. She said she had talked with the lawyer recently who said the paperwork is still in the second stage. She said that once it leaves that stage it will only be about two weeks in the final stage, so it sounds like we may have some notice before we travel. She asked the lawyer about a timeline and the lawyer said she's thinking November. Marialyn mentioned again that the baby's birthday is Oct 18 and that we'd love her to be here by then, to which the lawyer replied, "Only God knows when she'll go to them."

I've been hearing more and more about all the different people who are reading this blog across the country. It's amazing that it's being passed from person to person and even moreso that many of you read it regularly. Sean and I thank each of you for taking an interest in this roller coaster ride that we're on. It's comforting to know that we have so much support, even from people we've never met, and that this baby girl is so loved already. If only she knew what a fan club she has!

just when we thought the paperwork was done...

2007-08-02T19:25:00.000-07:00

We got a call yesterday from our agency, saying that there was a form we hadn't filled out for US Immigration. We thought we didn't have to do this one, since it appeared to be the one you do when you have NOT found a specific child yet and we skipped to the one you do when you HAVE found a specific child. Anyway, the good news is that someone at the Immigration office in MN was looking at our file to approve it and saw that this form was missing. It's wonderful to think that someone's looking at our paperwork and that it's not just sitting somewhere untouched. So we filled out the paperwork and are planning to mail it in tomorrow.

In the meantime I stumbled across some Haiti adoption blogs saying that files are often in the IBESR (the agency we're currently in) for 4-10 months! Not what I wanted to read. And that in the past the steps after that agency had been quick and simple, but now those are taking 4-10 months as well. But today I saw a post from last week saying things are running "more smoothly" again. I think I'll stop reading those blogs. We don't know if ours will go more quickly since we're working with a lawyer and not an agency.

I talked with Marialyn this evening who hasn't seen the baby since last week because she's been preparing for her VBS and dealing with problems like delayed flights, car troubles, getting the car stuck in a muddy trench, computer issues, etc. She has 3 family members with her in Haiti until next week when they fly back to Indiana. At that point she hopes to have a bit more time to see Bedeline. She was unsuccessful at emailing the pics because the internet cafe wouldn't let her download them. We'll just have to be patient (seems to be our theme) and wait until she returns early Sept.

Sean was offered and accepted a new position last week at an organization called Friends of the Orphans. They have orphanages in a number of countries in Latin America and the Carribbean (including Haiti!) and his job will be to encourage people to sponsor children in these orphanages, coordinate translation of letters between sponsors and children, and organize trips for sponsors to visit children, among other things. This is obviously a topic he's very passionate about and he is THRILLED about the position. They were quite thrilled with him, as well, since they canceled interviews that were scheduled for later in the week and offered him the job on the spot! The office is one mile from our house, just to make things even better. He starts August 15. Check out the website at www.friendsoftheorphans.org.

Well, Sean and I need to do some work for this gigantic fundraiser that we're throwing in just 9 days. Please pray that our little pile of paperwork moves through IBESR at an unusually fast pace! Love to you all.

We're safe

2007-08-02T06:19:00.001-07:00

We’re safe. The 35W bridge that collapsed is only 10 mins from our house, but fortunately Sean, Adam, and I were all safely at home last night at 6:05 pm. We heard the sirens going past our house for hours. More later on the adoption front, but for now just wanted to let you know that we’re all okay.

baby sighting

2007-07-29T10:30:00.000-07:00

I talked with Marialyn on Friday afternoon, who arrived in Haiti on Wednesday. She said that she got to see Baby Bedeline on Thursday for a few hours. She is, apparently, even bigger than last time! She said her thighs are enormous! Marialyn saw her pulling herself up to standing. When I asked if she was walking, Marialyn laughed and said she's not sure those thighs will allow it. She's been healthy since that time in June when she was hospitalized. Marialyn said that she was laughing and smiling and seemed wonderful.

It seems even more real now that she's been seen again. I have a clear picture in my head of her pulling herself up and laughing, balancing on thunder thighs. Marialyn took lots of pics and is going to try to email them from the internet cafe when she has a chance. I'll be sure to post them if I get them. Marialyn will be there for 6 weeks and promised to visit the baby often. I told her to expect a weekly phone call from me, checking in. :) As I get updates, I'll pass them along via the blog. Thanks for reading!

updates

2007-07-26T14:13:00.001-07:00

Hi friends, we have tiny updates, but updates none the less, so I know you avid blog readers would want me to post them.

Adam got his fingerprints done successfully last Friday (insert singing of 'Hallelujah' here). Now we wait to hear from US Immigration about next steps.

There were two documents we needed from Haiti that we think US Immigration will be asking for. Those arrived via DHL (again, LOVE IT!) this week. Now they need to be translated (this time from French to English) and then we wait for Immigration to ask for them. One was particularly difficult to obtain, so it's very exciting to have it here.

Marialyn is currently IN Haiti! She goes each summer for 6 weeks to do VBS and will be near the baby the whole time. She promised she'd go visit the baby by Friday so that I could call tomorrow and get the update. She also promised to take pics and try to email them from the internet cafe. We are eager to hear what she's doing, how many lbs. she may have gained, etc. Having Marialyn so close makes the baby not feel quite so far away.

RSVPs for the Haiti party are coming in like mad and we're starting to get nervous about space, rain, heat, etc., but are so excited to have a chance to share our stories and pictures about our trip as well as raise money for this country.

On a non-Haiti note (yes, we are capable of not talking about Haiti every once in a while) Sean and I spent last weekend in Bayfield, WI with my parents. Because we're saving every last hour of vacation time for maternity/paternity leave, this was our one vacation for the summer. We kayaked at Madeline island, read Harry Potter, ate amazing food, and most importantly had a wonderful time with my parents. When I get a chance I'll try to post some kayaking pics on the blog, though, of course they pale in comparison to the current pics!

I'll try to post after I talk w/ Marialyn tomorrow and get the update and if she emails pics I'll be sure to post them. As always, thanks for your kind emails and prayers.

You asked for it...

2007-07-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

I've had many many requests lately from people who are close to disgusted with the lack of blogs. Trust me that if there was something to blog about, it would be posted. We wish there was news, but there isn't.

Well, (this is only tiny news, but good news nonetheless) today we got word that an important piece of paper that we were worried would be difficult to obtain was obtained by the lawyer. She's going to be DHLing it to us soon. So that's good! But we know that the paperwork is now at the IBESR (an agency in Haiti), which is notoriously slow. We're praying that it will not live up to its reputation this time and that we'll soon get word that it has completed our paperwork.

In the meantime we're working hard on our Haiti party and are having a wonderful time imagining Marialyn delivering the money to our Haitian friends when she's there in a few weeks so that they can start businesses, go to the dentist, pay off their house loans, etc.

Bedeline turns 9 months tomorrow (July 18). We are so excited to have Marialyn close to the baby for six weeks while she does her VBS program. She's going to try to email us pictures and call with updates, so hopefully more blogs will be coming soon.

We hope you're all well and enjoying your summer. Thanks for your continued prayers and interest in our situation!

Healthy again!

2007-07-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

Good news! The baby had X Rays on Friday, which showed nothing. As of Sunday she was laughing and playing again and she's started to eat once again. They think that the heat caused her illness, but she's on the mend!

Tomorrow the lawyer picks up the paperwork from agency #1 and takes it to agency #2, which is apparently the longest of the three. Either way it's nice that it's moving along.

We're having a wonderful time planning the Haiti party! The menu is going to be fantastic, thanks to a friend who does some catering. If you haven't RSVPed yet, please do as soon as you can so that we can plan for food. Hope to see lots of you there!

Happy 4th!

Prayers please

2007-06-28T14:47:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
It's been a week full of baby updates, though not all have been great. Yesterday we heard that the lawyer was very impressed w/ our paperwork and that we had completed everything we needed to for her. (sigh of relief) She had taken it to the first of 3 agencies and will be picking it up from there next Wednesday so that she can then take it to the next agency. This second agency is apparently the one that takes the longest. It was wonderful to have an update of progress and to know that things are moving along.

When asked how much longer, the lawyer said that she doesn't want to tell us a short time and then have us get mad if it takes longer. So, she said that the longest it should take is 4 months from now. That wasn't what we wanted to hear, but are trying to remind ourselves that that's the LONGEST. We're trying to pep each other up by saying, "She'll be here by Thanksgiving! By Sean's birthday! By Christmas!" It still could happen much faster than 4 mos, but not longer...we hope.

Adam got his fingerprint notice in the mail yesterday and as we'd feared it's not until July 20. Nothing we can do about that. We hate that it's so far from now but are relieved that it's scheduled.

Today we found out that the baby has been sick. She's had a fever, hasn't been eating, and has been crying a lot. She went to the hospital for 3 days and they were unable to find the problem. She got a prescription yesterday and got to leave the hospital then. Today she's doing much better, fever's down, crying less. She's still going to have X-rays tomorrow and there's another prescription that they're getting for her. It's very hard to hear that she's sick, but it sounds like she's getting good care. She's been tested for HIV, TB, and Sickle cell anemia, so it's a relief to know that those aren't the causes.

Needless to say it's been a roller coaster of a week taking in this information. Please pray for the baby's health, for the agencies to move with lightning speed, and for our patience. Thank you!

Haiti Fundrasier Date Change!

2007-06-25T15:37:00.000-07:00

I posted a while back that we'd be having a fundrasier for Haiti on August 4. Since then we've changed the date to August 11. Many of you should have received an Evite. If you haven't, that means I don't have your email address. Please send me your email address and I'll send you the Evite! We'd love to see all of you there!

Did you miss our first TV appearance?

2007-06-23T11:38:00.000-07:00

Landscape Smart episode 1812 will re-air on Sunday, July 1 at 8:30 AM ET/PT. If you don't have cable or plan on getting up that early, there are before and after pictures and commentary on the HGTV website. I'll try to post the link to it on the blog.

There are no baby updates to report. We did get immigration to say that Adam can be fingerprinted. They said that "as soon as an appointment is available" they'll send him his notice to go get them done. Unfortunately we haven't gotten that notice in the mail yet.

Thanks to those of you who sent ideas about what to do during our waiting time. This week we took advantage of just some of the cool things that the Twin Cities has to offer, going to a free show in the park and a cabaret show. Tonight we're going to a free jazz festival. I also gave in to a friend's pleadings this week and agreed to take Improv classes! I had signed Adam and Sean up for the same classes last fall and this friend who's the instructor had been begging me to join as well. I start next week. Look forward to much wittier posts that are written much more quickly.

That's about all we've got for now. Thanks to all of you who continue to gush over pictures of baby Bedeline. We love that already she is so loved by so many people. Keep praying for the paperwork to move quickly through all the appropriate channels so that you can all meet her soon!

A week in the life of a Breininger

2007-06-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

Nothing is ever easy in Breininger land these days. What we thought would be a simple visit to the Fancy Fingerprint Office turned into a bit of a mini-crisis (which felt, at the time, like a major crisis). Short version is: Adam (sean's brother who lives w/ us) needed to be fingerprinted as well because he's an adult in the household. However, he was not sent the form that was necessary to make that happen. So, all 3 of us showed up for that appointment and he was unable to be fingerprinted. We called in our agency for help and they came to our rescue. We hope to have a fingerprint appointment for him very soon. And we pray that it's not 4 weeks out like ours were.

We're trying hard to live calmly in this life of limbo, not knowing when we may be called to fly off to Haiti at a moments notice to become parents overnight. Not an easy way to live. I'm feeling the pressure to do lots of fun crazy things in the upcoming months, knowing that soon (hopefully) we won't be able to do those things. However, we're trying to save every vacation day for our maternity/paternity leave and every dollar for adoption expenses. That leaves us trying to think of fun things to do that require no time or money! I've been reading a ton and am thinking about re-learning French this summer. I know that sounds totally nerdy, but we're hoping to put Bedeline in a French Immersion child care so that she'll be able to learn Creole more easily if she chooses to later. I'm thinking it would be nice to be able to speak French w/ her and it would help w/ my Creole as well. If you have any suggestions about what we should be doing in these final weeks/months, send them our way.

One thing we're doing is having a Big Ol' Party to raise money for Haiti. We have a few causes that we made personal connections with on our trip and would love to raise as much money for them as we can. August 4 at 6:30 pm. Our backyard. Put it on your calendars! I'll be sending an Evite out soon.

Tomorrow, June 15, is our 5 year anniversary! Crazy to think that it's already been five whole years! We feel very blessed to have found each other at the tender age of sixteeen and are grateful every day for each other.

How about another picture??? I wish we could add video to our blog so you could hear this baby's giggles and babbles. You think she's cute in a stillframe shot? You ain't seen nothin yet! Can't wait for you all to meet her!

We Love DHL

2007-06-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

The other night, after celebrating the shipment of our paperwork, we realized that we'd forgotten to send photos of us with the paperwork, a requirement. So, yesterday we went to CVS, got passport photos taken, drove (again) to the DHL office by the airport, and for $40 more dollars shipped 8 passport pictures of us off to Port au Prince. The cost and annoyance of this extra trip is made fine by the fact that I just checked the tracking numbers and as of 4:45 pm today, the lawyer has both the paperwork AND the photos in her hands! So the pics took less than 24 hours to get from MN to PAP! Amazing. NOW we wait.

Suddenly it's starting to feel quite real. We're realizing that the crib we bought months ago has no matress, that the dresser is full of infant clothing (not 30 lb baby clothing!), that the many gadgets that friends have given us, like swings and chairs and bouncy seats are much too small, that we've mostly read books about how to care for infants. Yikes. We've got lots of shopping and reading to do! If any of you have had 7, 8, 9 month olds lately and would like to give us a tutorial, especially if you've had one who's twice the typical size, has only eaten breast milk, and who will be new to the country, please let us know. :)

Amidst this bit of panic, we are absolutely thrilled! Keep watching for updates. We hope to have some soon?!?! How about a new photo to celebrate the end of paperwork? I'll post one for your enjoyment.