Sometimes a photo speaks louder than words...

I would like to interupt this trip report to say...

This is my baby and his daddy, what more could I ask for??

Finally Thursday

Can you tell I've been dreading this part of the post? Thursday was the happiest day of my life and also the saddest day of my life. It started out yet again with the sweetest smile in the world from none other than the star of this blog, Kobe Loudince. This morning though he stood up in his bed and held his arms out to me to pick him up, when I did he laid down next to me on my bed and stared at me for a minute or two, then it was off to start the day!



Kobe is a super cool kid. He likes the outdoors, singing, dancing, playing soccer, frisbee, animals...



Again it was a day filled with play. He was super cute in all his outfits and I changed his clothes like 5 times to get in all the cute outfits I brought for him. He was a like a super model for the day.



For lunch we went to Mommy Duncan's down the road from the creche. It was fun and all the families took their kids.



It was so hot!! We ate lunch and the kids saw a baby kitty that was wondering around. They all went nuts!! Kobe loved the cat and had a blast with the other boys "playing" with the kitty. I was a little worried that the kitten was not loving the attention but when we started to walk away kitty followed us. Madame Jean-Louis helped Little Lou pet the kitty nice, since he was more interested in wapping his hands at the poor cat.



The boys were so cute playing with the little kitty.



After that we took a little tour of the Catholic Church on the property. It was beautiful.





Sometime during our visit to Mommy Duncan's Loudince figured out how to kiss me. His sweet little kisses were the highlight of my life.

Stay tuned for more about Thursday!!! Ahhh the suspense!!

And now the rest of the story (of Wednesday)

Little Lou loves the thrill of the chase. I couldn't tell you how many times he and I would be playing and it would turn into me chasing him and end in him falling to the floor giggling and eventually me falling to the floor giggling right along with him.



He enjoyed hiding behind the chair and me "finding" him. Toddler hide and seek I guess.



Kobe loves to play outside with the big kids. He would run over to the 3-6 year olds and they would grab his hands and take off to play in the dirt. He also likes soccer and frisbee.



That pretty much sums it up. We just had a great Wednesday with him - it was pretty much a full day of Little Lou play. It was awesome. He's just a cool kid and I am not just saying that. I am a mom that can admit when my child is naughty. Tuesday night he worked us over pretty good and managed to get held while he slept the majority of the night, that was not real *cute* on his part. But magically Wednesday morning he had his mommy and daddy wrapped tight around his pinky all over again!! We love this little boy so much!

Stay tuned for Thursday!

Wednesday in Haiti - Part One

On Wednesday morning I again woke up to the beautiful (handsome) smile of my baby. There really is nothing like being a mom even if only for a week. He and I had some breakfast and then I passed him off to the aunties for a bath and fresh clothes. While he was taking his bath and playing with his friends Nate and I went on an ox cart ride. It was interesting - surely something not to be missed.





This one is of a house with a solar panel on it. I found it ironic that they don't have electricity through much of Haiti but so many people have cell phones. His business was charging people's cell phones...smart man he is.



The market was packed with people, it was so much fun. So many of the people smiled and said "Bonjou" to us - which is "good morning". Overall I found the Haitian people to be very sweet and welcoming to us, especially at the creche their hospitality was second to none. They went above and beyond to make us comfortable. We were told over and over that we are now family. It was an awesome experience.



We saw some children walking on the road to the village school that was set up at Mommy Duncan's - Madame Coindy told them in Kreyol to hustle they would be late and the gate would be shut so the older girl was picking up the younger girl in this picture and they ran off down the road to get to school.



When we got back to the creche - sweet Little Lou colored the most beautiful materpiece for me - and made a huge mess of the huge box of crayons.



We also fingerpainted - it was so fun. I have handprints and footprints to frame and I kept his little onesie that had paint all over it.

Thank goodness for non-toxic fingerpaint. He never actually got to lick it off his hand, much to his dismay.

That's all for now, I have more of Wednesday to come....

Story of Meeting Kobe Loudince - Monday & Tuesday at the Creche

Wow! What a week we've had. Meeting our son for the very first time was pretty cool. Nate and I decided it felt like we were in Haiti for a month but it seemed to go so fast, it's like some sort of strange time warp. So this is our story, I'll throw in some photos to keep you interested.



We went to Haiti with a lot of baggage!



It was so fun to meet Kobe for the very first time. He was pretty overwhelmed by it all and cried at first but who could blame him? Nate held him first and we were both so excited to see him and touch him. I couldn't stop hugging him and kissing him. When I held him in my arms it felt so real to be his mommy!



I'm not sure who held on tighter, me or him.



On Tuesday I woke up to a smiling happy baby. He was still a little unsure of why we were still there and he was sleeping in our room. I took him out to the common area and he and I sat together alone and woke up a little. There was a gecko on the wall and he went totally wild trying to get me to look, when I finally did he laughed so hard. Later I found out that to see a gecko is good luck.



Thanks for the cutie jammies Jill - his diaper buns were so adorable in them!!

By the end of Tuesday he knew who mama and papa were and called us that few times. He was also very attached to us and extremely possessive.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for Wednesday and Thursday.

I can't help it!!

I have to show you just one reason why we are so very in love with our little guy!!!

**Edited to add we were doing nothing special to make him smile like that he kept putting the frisbee over his face and then laughing like it was the funniest thing ever, I think it was partly because we kept laughing because he just kept laughing so hard. Probably thinking "what a couple of freaks aren't they too old for peak a boo?"

Bisous Bisous

You say it Beezoo Beezoo and it means Kiss Kiss in Kreyol. Kobe learned how to kiss me yesterday. The mouth wide open tongue kiss that only a mommy could love. It made it all that much harder to say goodbye last night. I am getting tears thinking about it. So for now we are in Miami and I will post photos soon.

Haiti Rocks!

Ok I'm listening to the kids say prayer before they eat. It's so cute. I enjoyed watching Teacher John in class today. I learned my shapes!!! Seriously Teacher John is awesome and he's sitting right next to me and doesn't know I'm typing about him. The kids have SO much respect for him and he truly LOVES each and every child. Darline is a perfectionist and wanted to have each shape just perfect on her paper. She's very patient and attentive. Witchy was very attentive as well, every once in awhile he would look up and give me his killer smile!! Witchy is such a sweet boy. Lucio was busting some moves to the kids music that John played at the end. Glafira did so well coloring her shapes and cutting them!! Richnighter also is so good in school. All the kids are really.

Kobe manages to eat his plate of food at lightening speed then he eats bites off everyone else's plates and then he sits on an auntie's lap and eats her food as well. Melissa this really explains why he is the fattest kid at the creche. And he really really is. The first day my arms were so sore I could hardly lift them to brush my teeth but now I have biceps of steel.

After his nap today Loudince was being so cute and smiley. I have so many great photos of him and ALL the children. I wish I could post some but it would take hours so you'll all just have to wait until I'm home!!

We are off to Mommy Duncan's for lunch today with all our kids, I can't wait!!! And Loudince will get another lunch so that's a relief.

Shortest blog post ever (from me)

I just wanted to say it makes me feel like a million bucks when the older kids run up to me and say "Loudince Mama"

That's all.

He likes it he likes it not....

Kobe is a passionate boy, let me tell ya. This is a man on a mission he knows what he wants and nothing will stop him from getting it.

He Likes:

Peanuts
Raisins
Beans
Rice
Water
Most food in general (yes crayons is a food group)
Licking everything (quite disgusting)

He Dislikes:

M&M's
Being told no
Sharing his "I-Pod"

He's a funny boy today, very active. I can see how he is the big chief around here, everyone knows him. An auntie told me today that "Loudince Mama does him good" - I think she was trying to say it's obvious he is enjoying having his mama and papa here.

In other news we enjoyed the ox cart ride today. It was pretty fun - not my favorite mode of transportation but all in all it was pretty cool to get out and see the sights. We took a ton of photos and video. It was market day so the marketplace was packed! Lots of people were walking up the road. The Haitian children are so beatiful and got a kick out of posing for photos and then looking at them on my camera. As we were riding past different homes the little kids would yell to each other in Kreyol and come running and waving. It was pretty cool.

Last night the children put on a little dance for us and it was really adorable. They all did so well. And after the dance they would strut their stuff to music and then shout out the color of the little basket they were holding. "THIS IS OR-A-NGE" in their cute little accents. I of course video-ed the whole thing!!

We filed our form in Port Au Prince yesterday that was an experience, and Nate drove in Haiti!! I (of course) video-ed it. For those of you who will never see the video, he drove three feet backwards and to drive in Haiti takes MAD SKILLS!!!

Ok I'm off to play with my baby!!!

Haiti Diaries Day 2

Ok so Kobe is the cutest thing ever!! I'm not sure if I mentioned that already. We got a great video of him dancing to his "i pod" - thanks for the idea Raime!! I would have never guessed it would be such a hit! He was very smiley today and after he woke up from his nap and had a bath (we were gone in Port Au Prince) his auntie put him down and he came running to me!! It was the greatest thing ever and the aunties cheered and said bye bye to him and he was cool with it.

I had a lot of fun with the kids tonight, right now they are having a dance night so I better go watch!! Sooo cute!!!

Live From Haiti

Updates for a few of my peeps -- haha!!

Asa- What an awesome little boy he kept coming up to me wanting up, I held and cuddled him a lot. And yes he really does say mama and papa - I showed him all your photos.

Mackson- So adorable - the first time I saw him I walked into the baby room and most of them were sleeping on the floor, not Mackson he immediately looked at me and stood up and pointed at his family photos and said "Mama" - NOT EVEN KIDDING!!!

Darline- So cute and absolutely LOVED her card from Katy LOVED IT!!! I am her favorite now she keeps looking at me and giving me a shy little grin.

Lucio and Lovedidine- What sweeties - they didn't want to stop playing outside today to come get their cards - maybe tomorrow!!

Maria Dakar- Loves to have her photos taken, loves does not even describe it.

Roseberline & Dounelson- what a cute pair of children - Dounelson is so sweet and Roseberline is such a character.

Ok sweet little Kobe is drifting to sleep on my lap as I type so I better go put his sweet buns to bed.

Goodnight!!!

Haiti Diaries Day 1

We are here!!! Kobe is sooo cute!! And sooo heavy! He and I just took a nap but he's still sleeping! Ummm I'm not really sure what else to say other than we are here and he is so cute!

Getting ready to go to Haiti!

Well we are getting ready to go to Haiti! I really should be putting our suitcases in my car right now but blogging is more fun.

We have over 200 pounds of donations (like baby formula) we are taking down in our luggage - that translates to four 50 pound checked suitcases, two 40 pound carry on suitcases, and two heavy backpacks.

We are staying at a friends house tonight closer to the airport we fly out of and will be leaving bright and early tomorrow morning. Arriving in Miami late tomorrow afternoon/evening.

As most of you are arriving at work on Monday morning we will be arriving at the orphanage!!! Wish us luck as we meet our son Kobe for the very first time! Between filing our forms in Port Au Prince and visiting the village of TiMache on an ox-cart ride we should be very busy. Hopefully I will be able to keep you all updated nightly on this blog!!

Keep checking!!!

Mr. Handsome Speaks!!

We got our May update today!! Kobe said his first words!!! Yay!!! I think he probably said "Mama" and "Papa" - what do you think?

He gained more weight, eating doesn't seem to be an issue for him.

AND he was moved into the toddler room!!!

What a big boy he is getting to be. I'm so proud of him for saying his first words - you go Little Lou!!!

Whoa!!!

Have you checked out the countdown lately? If not check it out!!! First malaria pill - CHECK!!! It didn't even make me sick! We got all our bags packed up with a little help. Here's a picture from May for you to enjoy this week while I anxiously tick off the minutes!!!

What's in a name?

Kobe Loudince

The name Kobe Loudince is highly sensitive, promotes cooperation and diplomacy, and makes everyone feel safe and appreciated. Flexible and passionate, Kobe Loudince promotes adaptability and survival against all odds. The name indicates understanding, compassion, and intimacy, and tends to draw support with tact and subtle persuasion rather than force and confrontation. Having an intuitive ability to avoid land mines and pitfalls, and a strong sense of balance, this name promotes a careful and competent decision-making process.

To some people, the name Kobe Loudince feels weak and incompetent. As a result, it is often underestimated.

Kobe Loudince's most positive characteristics: Cooperation, tact, flexibility, tolerance, insight into the human psyche.
Kobe Loudince's most negative characteristics: Fear. Lacks confidence, lacks aggressiveness when needed.

• Kobe Loudince's Vowel Vibration number is 3.
This number increases or decreases the impact of the Dominant Impression.
• Kobe Loudince's Base Vibration number is 8.
This number represents the overall tone, or rhythm, of the name. it too has a significant impact on the Dominant Impression.

How does it feel to know you're about to meet your baby?

I've waited my whole life to be a mom - no really - just ask my mom! Being matched with our baby boy was pretty cool and planning a trip to meet him has been interesting. We are only a short time away from being in Haiti and meeting him. I'm not sure what it feels like for parents in the delivery room when their baby is born but I'm pretty sure this is completely different. We have seen his sweet face, his smile, his eyes - we know so much about him. I have gone through feeling anxious to get the trip booked, I've been excited to go to Haiti, I've been super excited to meet him to the point where I just don't think I can focus on anything but my daydreams of what it will be like.

As of yesterday I'm so nervous, it's not even funny, like very first rotary basketball game when I was in 3rd grade nervous - thinking about it makes my stomach a ball of nerves. It does feel real now - we have a son and we are about to meet him for the very first time, I can't wait, but I'm so nervous!!!

I have never, in all my life, been so excited!