Today was church day! I think Sundays may be my favorite thing here. I like watching the people, listening to them talk to one another, laugh, sing, and praise Jesus. It's just SUPER COOL! I had hoped to see Sofia's birth mother today but she wasn't at church for some reason. However, we did see her birth father and 3 brothers. So, that was fun and they all love her.

After church we went out to lunch at Le Florville restaurant in Kenscoff. It was a beautiful place with amazing food. I got Lambi Boucane which is smoked conch. It was fantastic. I have never had it before but will gladly eat it again if the opportunity arises.

After lunch we came back here and relaxed. Everyone else had somewhere to be so it was just Sofia and I in the house. It was nice and quiet. We had a lot of fun.

Well, that's about it.

Oh, Beth made no bake cookies and homemade hot chocolate last night. WOWIE WOW was it good.

Enjoy the pics: www.picasaweb.google.com/laurapk21

Sofia was her at 8 am today. I was so excited. We played a lot. She got to talk to Papa and she loved it. We took a nap together, ate a big lunch, played with the lotion, and all kinds of stuff.

I received my FIRST Sofia offered kiss today. It was fantastic. She is so adorable.

Not much more to speak of. Tomorrow is church and Sofia is coming with. She gets to see her birth family again. I love those moments. Her family is wonderful.

Well, Enjoy the few pics I took today! www.picasaweb.google.com/laurapk21

Today was a little more active day. I waited around Beth and Willem's until 11 am(ish). Rachel and I ran a few errands, which included getting water for the orphanages and something for the sink from the hardware store.

She, then, brought Sofia and I back to the house for a great afternoon of playing, tickling, laughing and most importantly, CUDDLING. Sofia loves to be held and I love holding her.

She reminds me so much of Renee when she was a baby. Their sweet personalities, funny smiles, and all their crazy playfulness. It's quite possible that I have the two most amazing little girls ever. I know Renee isn't so little anymore (she's 14) but she will always be my baby.

I can't wait to complete our family with the homecoming of little Sofia.

I am desperately trying not to think about the day I have to leave here and say goodbye to my darling Sofia as well. I know it's not for another two and a half weeks but the thought still lingers everyday. I try very hard to cherish every moment we have together yet my mind still thinks of the moment I have to say goodbye.

OKAY, I can't think about it anymore. Sofia and I played peek-a-boo and all sorts of things today and I can safely say she wore me out. We hoped to talk Papa today but, I'm sure, his work kept him very busy. I miss his sweet face. Maybe I will get to talk to both Chris and Renee tonight. We'll see!

I am uploading todays pics right now. We were only at the baby orphanage for a few minutes so there are only pics of Tanoushka and, of course, Sofia. www.picasweb.google.com/laurapk21

Have a great night

Bonjour -

Jodi a Sofia e mwen despanse anpil tan ansanm.
If I have this right it should say in Creole: "Today Sofia and I spent a lot of time together"

It's been a pretty uneventful day here. I thought I would be going to the orphanage but it turned out that Rachel had some things she needed to do. So, we spent the day at Beth and Willem's. It was nice to not have to do anything but entertain Sofia. We ate cookies and put lotion on and tickled each other. We talked to Papa and Aunt Betsy on Skype. She laughed at Papa's silly faces and listened intently to Aunt Betsy when she was talking to her.

Today was a very cool day here on the Mountain. I wore a jacket for the first time. I had to put jeans and a long-sleeved shirt on Sofia. There's really not much more to say about today. Hopefully tomorrow will be more eventful.

TTYL
Laura

Pics are up: picasaweb.google.com/laurapk21

Hey there

Today was a good day. Got up, had breakfast, went to the orphanage, came home around 5. The kids are CRAZY! Oh boy, I'm just utterly exhausted each time I come home the orphanage. But I love it. I uploaded pics from today. You may notice that Kenjany has made it in LOTS of pics. Apparently she felt that today was her day to monopolize the photos and clearly, she did. I love her so much. Rachel told me today that Sofia doesn't like to sleep alone so Kenjany sleeps with her every night. They seem to love each other very much. I watched Kimberly, Marley and Dru in true sister action. i love to watch how they take care of each other. It's so sweet. Those girls love kisses. Speaking of kisses, Tanio is a kisser. I'll bet he kissed me 100 times today. And little Tania is so quiet and submissive it's beautiful. She loves her brother and they play, almost exclusively, together. they chase each other and wrestle and laugh and laugh. What a fun day!

Enjoy the pics: picasaweb.google.com/laurapk21

PS I might get to make curtains for the big orphanage while I am here and paint the baby orphanage. I'm real excited.

Well, I feel like a jerk since I haven't posted in a little while. Things have been crazy here. BUSY BUSY BUSY.

Well, I'll start with Sunday. It was a good day. Church was great, as expected, the weather was beautiful and people were amazing. unfortunately Sofia did not get to come to church with us. We were very sad. Her birth mother was also sad. As soon as she saw us she asked about Sofia. I wanted to cry when we had to tell her that she could not come. Sofia came to us after lunch. She was very tired so she napped a good deal of the time. It was a good day!

Monday - Another busy day. Sofia got eat breakfast with us. (Crepes with banana caramel sauce) SHE LOVED IT!!! We did stop by the baby orphanage to put together a swing and a few toys. We went to the Haiti Historical Museum. It was really great. We learned a lot about the history of Haiti. I'm really glad we went. Rachel took us to the IBESR so that we could see where our paperwork is. She asked someone to check on our paperwork and call her. We haven't heard anything yet. As the day lingered on we began to feel sad that this would be the last day Chris and Renee would see Sofia. They would be going home Tuesday morning. You can't imagine how hard it is to know that you will be leaving your baby in another country not knowing when you will be back for a visit or, more importantly, when she will be home with you. It was heartbreaking to watch Chris and Renee give their final goodbyes. Sofia is our daughter and leaving her behind is beyond any pain we have ever felt. We know the pain of infertility but this is more than that. It's difficult to explain how we feel. If you are reading this and have never been forced to leave your child in someone else's care, in another country, for an indefinite amount of time, and not know when you will see them again, you cannot truly understand the pain and loss. All we ask is that you pray for us on our journey and pray for all the other families that are in their process of bringing their children home.

Tuesday - VERY HARD MORNING! We left Beth and Willem's house around to 6 am to take Chris and Renee to the airport. It was an agonizing drive for me and I'm sure for Chris and Renee as well. It was really hard to say goodbye. I want to be here but being away from the family I adore for 3 weeks is hard. I wanted to be strong because I knew how hard it was for Chris and Renee to leave without me and Sofia but all I wanted to do was sob. I feel incomplete without them near me. I feel alone. I feel unsafe without Chris here. I feel strange without Renee. She is always with me! My emotions are everywhere as I write this. I should move on. (Chris and Renee - I love you and miss you like crazy)
After leaving the airport, Rachel and I ran a few errands. We went to the baby orphanage and to the big orphanage and back to the baby orphanage and back to the big orphanage. Whew! It was a lot.

I am trying to upload pics from Sunday, Monday and Today on the picasa album but I'm not having much success. The internet is doing strange things tonight. It's been raining hard so it's being a little funky. Please check www.picasaweb.google.com/laurapk21 often for updates. Please enjoy!

We had a super busy day today! We went sight seeing with Rachel. We left Beth and Willem's around 10:30 am and did not return until 6 pm or so. We travelled up a couple of mountains and then down again, went to Port-au-Prince, to the White House, saw the view from Hotel Montana, and to the orphanage. Renee even got her hair texturized by Rachel. We took several amazing photos today. It's turning out to be easier to upload them to a web album so I'm just going to leave a link for tonight.

http://picasaweb.google.com/laurapk21

Enjoy! BTW, the kids were awesome today!

Again, we did not go to the orphanage today. We stayed at Willem and Beth's to play with Sofia. Enjoy the pics!

I'm gonna try this again! I couldn't get the pics to upload last night! Apparently they are too big and I need to make them smaller.

Hey there everyone

Well, today was pretty relaxed. We spent the early part of the morning updating the blog and editing video, etc. Rachel dropped Sofia off around 10:30 or 11. She was a little unsure at first but warmed up pretty quickly. She was beautiful today! Her smiles, laughter and excitement were more than we could have asked for. She is completely in love with Chris and can't seem to keep herself out of his arms. It's super sweet. We went to the Baptist Mission for lunch and did a little shopping this afternoon. It was a great time. I think that's about all we have for now please enjoy the pics. BTW, if you would like to see all the pics we've taken up to this point go to our picasa web album. http://picasaweb.google.com/tvchris

Wanted to share a little bit about each of the kids we saw yesterday! Unfortunately we were not at the baby house and didn't get any pics. I'm real sorry!

Kimberly- Her silly personality made us laugh many times yesterday. She clearly enjoys imitating us and the TV. We can definitely see stand-up comedy in her future.

Marley- She is a serious caretaker. There were many times she was seen carrying Sofia around and playing with her. she was also ALWAYS by Dru's side. She loves to be held constantly.

Dru- WOW, the faces! Her eyes are so expressive it makes me laugh every time I look at her.

Kenjany - Little Miss Personality! She and Chris spent the entire afternoon calling each other a baby. She pointed and me and said, "Mama Sofia," at Renee and said, "ser(sister) Sofia," and to Chris, "Papa Sofia baby!"

Tanio- We couldn't believe how much he has come out of his shell. Lots and Lots of smiles. We had never heard him talk as much as he did and of course, he loves to torment Tania.

Tania- The Enforcer- If any of us called for Sofia or any of the other kids and they refused to come, she would make sure they obeyed. She brought Sofia to us countless times. Gotta love her. She has one of the sweetest smiles I have ever seen.

Hope you enjoy!

Here is a video we pasted together of all the kids watching TV.

Hey there everyone,

Sorry for the delay in updating. We had some computer issues last night. I attempted to update but it didn't work. Oh well, I'm not going to write much. The pictures say it all. It was a good day! FYI, Rachel got a TV for the orphanage and we got the distinct opportunity to witness the excitement of watching Veggie Tales. For some of them, it was for the first time. SUPER FUNNY!!!!! As you will see in the video we took they were very loud during the show! They all yelled several times at the characters, "Don't look at me! Don't look at me!" I was quite possibly one of the funniest things we have ever seen.

Enjoy!

Well, today has been crazy and exhausting, Rachel brought Sofia to Willem and Beth's house around 3 this afternoon and, as we knew would be the case, she is even more beautiful than before. She tried really hard not to cry when Rachel left and did very well considering she didn't remember us. She still seems so tiny! It's great to watch Renee and Chris with her. They clearly ADORE her!

The problem at this moment is that I am beyond exhausted and can't think clearly. We don't have a real plan for tomorrow so we are excited to see what it may bring.

I think what I will try to do is make it through dinner and go to bed. My body does not like flying and I haven't felt well today. MUST SLEEP!!!

Here are some pics of Sofia from a few minutes ago.

We've made it to Haiti! We're at Willem and Beth's waiting for Rachel to arrive with Sofia. We're not sure of the game plan but we'll keep you all updated, of course. Not much more to say yet, but we're glad we're here.

Indy to Charlotte, Charlotte to Ft. Lauderdale... we are now within 12 hours of seeing our little girl again. We're a little pooped, a little stinky, but a lot excited. This time we get comfy chairs for the 9 hour layover, and FREE wireless in Ft Lauderdale! Yay! Okay we know these pics are not exciting, but we said we'd blog as much as we could, right?
We'll (hopefully) have much more Tuesday night. Can't wait till then!
Chris

Well, one week from today and we're on our way! We are very excited but super WORRIED. I can't tell you how rough last week was but I'm hoping this week and the next month will be much better. Thankfully we have some very sweet friends who will love us through everything.(you know who you are- J, B, T and A)

As this point I am begging for prayer as my heart is broken over many things.

Laura

Hey there everyone-

Wanted to post a link for everyone with pics from our trips to Ayiti last year. We visted in May, September and October.

http://picasaweb.google.com/tvchris

Enjoy!

Welcome everyone-

As you all know from the email you received, we are going to Haiti March 17. We are very excited about the possibility of seeing everyone's dossier move while we are there.

Chris and Renee will be staying one week, however, I will be staying through April 15. My goal is to update this blog daily or at least bi-daily with pics of everyone, video and hopefully paperwork updates.

I can't tell you how excited we are to be visiting again. We have truly been blessed time and time again to be able to do what we are doing.

Attention Adoptive Parents:

Chris, Renee and I will be attempting to communicate using skype while I am there. If you have a skype account and would like for me to call you email me your info and we can try to set it up. It has also been told to me that the orphanage has internet. IF this this true I can try to call you from the Orphanage and you may actually be able to SEE and HEAR your child/ren.

All we ask is that you pray for us on our journey and pray fervently for ALL of our dossiers. Only God can bring our children home to us.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. - Jeremiah 29:11