Well......after a very long break from blogging - I'm BACK! Life has been crazy for too many reasons around the Hixon home. Having Katiana home is NOT one of those reasons! She is simply an amazing young girl who seems to have found her place! Honestly I prepared for things to be more difficult, with all the books and experiences I was learning from. This preparation really opened my mind to the variety of possibilities and potential challenges of older child adoption. While I am grateful for the time I had to prepare I still feel some sadness over the long process that steals time away from families and children waiting. I am also filled with deep gratitude for the blessings we are receiving as our family is changing!
This week we received the MOST WONDERFUL NEWS about our little Marie and Roberto! THEY HAVE PASSPORTS!!! This really is the last step required from the Haitian government! This is such a huge step - Freedom from the process that has been part of our lives for the past 24 months!!! Really, Marie and Roberto have been part of my daily thoughts for the past 31 months....I can't believe they were only 4 and 5 years old when we started this process......now they are 7 and 8!
I requested the services of a wonderful Doctor in Haiti a couple of weeks ago. She sent me this picture of Marie and Roberto with a report from a check-up she did. She mentioned in her report that we may want to do a bone x-ray to check their ages.....as she did the same thing I did two years ago, and that is - QUESTION their ages based on their sizes. The good news is Roberto weighed in a 31.5 lbs when the last report I had said he was 29lbs. At 7 years old (if he is that) that is pretty little....... Marie is 40lbs and is 13months older than Roberto. She reported that Marie was very talkative but Roberto didn't speak a single word. Well.....this could be why Roberto doesn't gain much weight.......he is not the squeaky wheel demanding attention! The picture brings so many emotions to the surface for me. First, it resembles early pictures we received of the two of them - sad, no smiles, frail, hurting, scared.....I see all of these things in their faces. I love that Marie has her arm around Roberto.....that too has been a consistent theme in pictures we have received over the past two years. I'm sad that they don't seem happy - but I'm sure it is because they are at a DOCTOR's office and they are not thrilled about that! HOWEVER, I have really been worried about them since our last visit in September. We were only able to spend one day and night with them and I have been concerned about what ideas they must have about us. I wonder, if they wonder, what having a family *really* means? Can you even imagine having your family come visit 3 times in two years. AND this family looks and sounds different! And from their perspective.....they must really think we are kind of stupid given they talk to us and we smile with dumb eyes trying to figure out what they are saying.....they must really think they got stuck with a bunch of crazies.....as I can't imagine they are old enough to even understand the concept of a different language! It is what it is and I can't change it......but I wish some sanity would be enforced to the process of international adoption! I can't tell you how many times I have wondered where the justice is in this process! A process that should be celebrated is questioned over and over and over by every person along the way holding power. Ugh......I didn't mean to turn this into a negative post.......I'm really, really, trying to be positive as we enter the last step of getting our children's visas. Things haven't been going so good for many of my friends in this last step. I pray for them. I am also praying we get visas in a reasonable amount of time. My definition of that is 2 - 3 weeks -- unfortunately, many of my friends have been waiting 10, 12, 14 weeks! I really need your prayers......I just can't stand much more of this wondering what they are wondering!
Please join us in sincere prayers for all the families waiting to get their children home from Haiti. Please pray for the children, the caregivers, the families and the people with the power to do the right thing!
