The End.

Well it's time to do this. For some reason it's a little bittersweet to say "The End." This is the end of the Bringing Home Kobe story. Now it's time for me to edit and put it into a book to treasure forever. I started a new family blog that is private. I'm still trying to decide if I want to go public, if you have not received an email invite for "Life In The Fast Lane" - please email me or comment with your email address and I will send out the invite. I have several pending invites so check your junk mail - Jodi, Annie...etc. and if you don't find it there let me know and I'll re-send.

I am going to leave this blog online but do some re-organization because I found it so helpful during this long exhausting wait to read stories of children coming home. So I will put in a few search terms and keywords and leave it online. Maybe it will encourage someone along the way.

Bon Voyage!

Old Friends in New Places

These pictures are from Kobe's visit with his great friend Peterson from Haiti. Both boys weren't quite too sure what to make of it. They smiled ear to ear the second they saw each other but were oh so very confused at how this happened! When we picked Lou up from the creche Peterson asked me "Loudince fly?" - which is what they say when they are going home and I told him yes but that "Peterson will fly soon!" and Peterson did fly soon after Kobe and is home with his brother Alder and sister Aurrora.

Who teaches him this stuff?

Seriously. Kobe cracks me up. I have to get a clip of him saying this but suddenly yesterday he figured out the word "Hungry" it's so cute so now he's constantly saying "Ma-MA - hungwee" he says it until he gets fed too.

One month!

Yes today marks one month that our littlest darling has been home. It's so fun having him around. I get tears in my eyes often watching him learn something new or conquer fears that were very real on his first day home (like our dogs!). Here is a list of some things that may be of interest to you:

-At first Kobe would spontaneously burst into song, Happy Birthday, to be exact at completely random times. Nobody has had a birthday in our household in the last month.
-Kobe now corrects me when I use a creole word and he would prefer that I use English.
-Kobe visited the doctor and the hospital to get blood drawn - he hated it. Absolutely HATED it. Truth be told, so did I.
-Sometimes I think I need to get out of the house and breath alone and I think I may start running or something - my next thought is I should get a jogging stroller to take Kobe with me. I like him that much.
-I sometimes want to curl up with him at nap time because I just want to watch him sleep.
-Every single night after he goes to sleep and right before I go to bed I go in his room and kiss his cheeks and tell him I love him so much. Every.single.night.
-I love that he loves me. Nothing beats walking into a room and having your baby look up and exclaim "MAMA!!!!" with a huge smile. Nothing will ever beat that.
-Kobe's imagination is blossoming, he plays pretend all over the house and will bring me a baby to hold and feed.
-He's learned how to ask for a drink, go potty, wash his hands (?)...etc to be able to get up out of bed at night.
-Kobe mastered riding a trike within the first week and is onto his two wheel bike (with training wheels).
-Sometimes, only every once in awhile, when I put him into bed he scoots over and pats his pillow for me to lay with him. I have never said no.
-Kobe has been to Glacier National Park to the top of Going to the Sun Road, to the Park, boating twice, jumped off the boat into the water once, and stayed up way past his bed time with no nap to watch one beautiful display of fireworks, his first as a United States Citizen.

He amazes me every day with the things he is learning. His MP3 player is still his favorite toy and when he spots it he lights up with excitement. I still can't believe I get to be his mama forever.

Kobe is a US Citizen

Kobe Loudince received his certificate of citizenship in the mail today! Nate and I were super excited and so was Lou because it had his picture on it and he loves to see pictures of himself! :-)

More photos...

I know all I have time for is showing off photos now days. Anyway...enjoy!

Eating s'mores one tasty morsel at a time.

Jumping on the trampoline...more on that to come!

His gorgeous face, skin, eyes, nose, eyelashes, eyebrows...oh you get it? Ok.

A new bike for Kobe!

Kobe is learning how to ride his big boy bike after mastering the trike in the hallways of Nate's school in about 15 minutes. This big boy bike is a little harder for him and he gets going just fast enough then accidentally jams on the breaks which, btw, really makes him mad.

Sleeping Angel

Adorable.

Two, Deux, Dos...

Two weeks down forever to go!!! Kobe is an absolute joy. Really he's the highlight of every day for me. Not to say he doesn't have his moments because he does, he's two ya know!! We expect normal two year old behavior. He's so fun and so sweet and man oh man that boy loves his mommy. Yesterday Nate was making breakfast and Kobe snuck out of the kitchen and into my bed and whispered "love you mama" and kissed my cheek then went back to the kitchen. It was completely melt your heart adorable. Even when he's sleeping I can whisper "Beezoo Mama" and with his eyes closed he lifts his head and puckers up for my kisses. It's serious cuteness. He sleeps well, he eats great, he plays hard, and loves the bath. Honestly, what's not to love about our little Haitian bundle of cuteness?

Fun times!!

Today was a great day. We got a pool for Kobe to play in with his cousins and he had a blast. Enjoy the photos.

Craziness = Fun

I would have never thought our guy could have even more personality but today he obviously is feeling even more comfortable at home. He chased me around the house pushing his dump truck all morning squealing and laughing. I was putting away laundry but every once in awhile I would hide under a bed or in the shower and he would get quiet and then yell "MAMA????" So I would say something and then he would find me and just laugh and laugh and laugh! It has been a great morning and now he is napping!

For you families traveling soon - I cannot stress enough to be bulking up on your vitamins and take vitamins with you because the nastiness that is going around down there is miserable. I am finally kicking it but Nate came down with something last night and was freezing cold in our 90 degree house and huddled under a down comforter. I sent him to Urgent Care this morning because after the shenanigans he pulled last Fall it's extremely dangerous for him to get sick - turns out he is very lucky he went in because he has bad strep and his throat was swollen almost shut - they gave him a big fat shot and now he's sleeping on the couch with strict instructions from the Mommy not to kiss Kobe Loudince until he is better again.

Happiness and Sadness

There is clearly some sadness in our house today. Little Lou is just not his normal self - I tried showing him some photos of his friend and he just points and cries. He misses them. I don't blame him one bit. This kind of change is hard on a little guy. He has fun and is so happy then it's almost as if the memories flood his mind because he gets very quiet and just spaces out. At nap he was crying hysterically and all I could do was hold him. Poor baby. Since I don't have the language to express to him that it's ok for him to be sad I just have to show him with my love and body language that it's ok and he's safe and loved oh so much.

He's laying quietly in his bed right now - I hope he is able to fall asleep and have a good rest. He's got so much going on in his little life right now.

Workin' It...

Kobe has learned how to work it. He climbs out of his bed and comes to check in to make sure Nate and I are not playing with all his toys while he is supposed to be sleeping. Tonight he needed to go to the bathroom then proceeded to sit on the toilet and tell us to look at everything. Then he had an itch and needed me to put cream on his head. Then I said "That's all Kobe now you need to dormi sleep - ok?" He let out a little giggle and said "Oui" and I gave him a kiss and now I think he's going to sleep. We'll see if we have another visit.

EDIT: Approximately 2 seconds after I clicked Publish Post I had a visit and just put him back in bed. Oh dear this could get ugly.

Lists:

I still have this nasty NASTY cold but here are some lists for Kobe's adoring fans....

Loves:
Grapes
Grape Kool-aid
Watermelon
Anything with peanut butter
Anything with ketchup
Hot Dogs
Cookies

Likes:
Corn
Green Beans

Hates:
Rice (??? I know!)
Hamburger
Chicken

Grape Kool-Aid

Kobe loves grape kool-aid, now if only it had some nutritional value. I am currently listening to him sing "the wheels on the bus go round and round..." To say he is doing well is an understatement. He has been overwhelmed and has had a few tantrums but overall he is handling all of this change in stride. He likes to push a dump truck all around the house and was just coming in to me and chatting away then saying "Buh Bye Mama" and I would say "Buh Bye Kobe, Bon Voyage" and he would say "Oui Mama Bon Voyage" - so stinking cute. He did this over and over. Yesterday he learned how to pedal his trike. He calls it his "machin" - which is car in creole. As far as attachment goes, he is doing really well with us. He clearly knows who his mommy and daddy are and clings to us whenever he is overwhelmed or other people are around. He absolutely will not allow anyone else to hold him or even really touch him, which is totally ok. He is sleeping very well and loves to listen to music all day and when he is falling asleep.

Photos!

The part of my brain that forms coherent thoughts and spills them out in writing has still not received sleep so here are several photos, which is the real reason you came to look at my blog! Don't let all of this tired talk make you think Lou is not sleeping well because he is! It's just that I managed to catch a cold, broke my toe, and tonight busted my butt off the end of our slide so I'm just a little beat up and tired. Anyway, Kobe is doing great. He definitely has his moments but he's two so you can't really blame him. He enjoys wearing Daddy or Mommy's shoes around the house. It is safe to say he is attached at our hips constantly - he has to be with us at all times which is totally ok with me!!

Home!

We are home! Last night was a short night and today was a long day so I'm exhausted. I have some pictures on Facebook - I will post some to the blog tomorrow, maybe. I'm not making any promises because my boy is commanding all my attention - it's wonderful! Things are going great!

Last post?

This could be my last blog post before we get home. I'm not sure what kind of opportunity I will have tonight so here is the plan:

--We have all our adoption documents and the sealed envelope for USCIS and his passport with Visa.
--Tomorrow around noon we will have our birth parent(s) interview.
--After the interview all THREE of us will head to the airport and eat a ham sandwich at the little shop upstairs and drink an ice cold Coca Cola.
--We arrive in Miami around 9pm and go through immigration.
--Friday morning early we fly home.

Finally! A breeze!!

The breeze is nice! I caught a peak of Alexandro today, he's so little and so cute! Faline is growing, and gets lots of hugs and kisses. She's very sweet and easy going.

Lou is in school this morning and all will be happy to hear he is not asleep but instead VERY VERY VERY awake! Not in a good way he's running around and keeps escaping...huh. I guess Daddy will have to work on that since he is the teacha. It's really cute because Lou says Good Morning Teacha Jean.

We are ready to fly tomorrow, all THREE of us!

And then there were two...

Five kids left today to go home with their families! It was awesome to watch them leave. I got a bit teary watching Darline pull her gorgeous suitcase out the door. I took a ton of photos for the families and they waved at me as they drove off. So that leaves Nate and I, we decided we feel a little like we've been stranded on a tropical (very tropical - hot, humid...) island. We visited last year in June, June 16th- 20th to be exact and it was nothing like this time - it was totally bearable. This time it's HOT!! If anyone is wanting to deliver something to me please get on the next flight out and bring a cheeseburger and ice cold Dr. Pepper.

Here is a small update for some families:

Emmi- Is doing WONDERFUL!!! She is so smiley and giggly, she knows exactly who you are and said she loves you. She knows Mama, Papa, JJ, Willy, and Sierra and says all your names.

Peterson & Alder - Put anything that could be gotten into or broken in your house up HIGH, Peterson loves to get into things. Alder hangs out and is a pretty laid back dude. Both are doing very well and the first thing he told me was that he and Lou are friends I think. It was in Creole but he pointed at Lou, they both smiled, and then Peterson hugged Lou.

Wiguerson & Ronese- For Wiguerson read the above on Peterson, he loves to push the limits and is a total boy! He and Dounelson play together a lot and have been playing with a frisbee most of the afternoon. Ronese is quiet but I have caught her smile but she wipes it away as soon as she knows I'm looking. She didn't want me to pick her up but let me rub her back and deliver a kiss on her forehead "from Mama and Papa"

In Haiti!

We are in Haiti! It's like an oven down here and hot humid oven that makes you miserable and sticky. But we don't care because our boy was waiting for us with a HUGE smile! He keeps saying MAMA!!! PAPA!!!! We sing "Old McDonald had a farm..." and he sings "E-I-E-I -YO!!" We have it on video and I can guarantee it will be YouTubed in the near future. Tomorrow the rest of the group leaves so we will be all by ourselves for the rest of the week. Lou is super attached to us and refused to let us leave him for a bath so we had to give him a bath and now he's eating his second dinner. He's so smart he knows his colors, his alphabet, and can count to ten!

Well I'm going to keep this short because someone is waiting to do actual work for the creche on the computer...what I hear right now is Lou saying "PAPA" "PAPA" -- he wants to eat again. Oh he just walked up and said "MAMA" and showed me his food in his mouth...how sweet!

Our pilot had a lead foot.

We are at our gate in Denver dining on delicious airport food and waiting to take off for Miami. Our pilot drove so fast when we landed, even I was a little nervous - I think he had a connecting flight he was late for or something it was crazy. We took a corner to come into the gates and I thought we were going to come up off the ground again.

In more fun news they didn't like that we had diapers and no baby at the airport so Nate got strip searched...ok not actually strip searched but he had to get patted down (lucky guy) and I had to answer a whole bunch of questions about where we were going, why, where our son is...blah blah blah. Oh well. The guy was totally nice about it.

Best Summer Ever!

Tonight is the eve of the biggest day of our lives so far! We leave bright and early in the morning for Miami - we plan to eat delicious Cuban Cuisine at La Carreta. We arrive in Haiti early Monday morning, spend a few days adjusting to our new family, and arrive home Friday afternoon at 1:30. For us tomorrow marks the first day of the best summer to date!

I hope to post from Haiti so keep checking for updates.

Kobe Loudince is coming home!

Kobe's Visa was received today! We will be traveling to pick him up on May 31, 2009 and home on June 5, 2009.

We are getting everything packed up and ready to go!!!! Thanks to everyone for all their prayers, happy thoughts, and positive vibes - it worked.

Well...

If you pray please say a prayer.
If you think happy hippy thoughts think happy hippy thoughts.
If you send positive vibes send positive vibes.

The bad news is we did NOT get a Visa today. The good news is we fully expect to GET a visa tomorrow. Either way our boy is coming home but we still don't know when. Our biggest hope is we will get news as early tomorrow afternoon as possible that our Visa is in hand.

The Golden Ticket

Lou Lou's Visa appointment went well and as long as no printer cords are lost or ink runs out the Director in Haiti should be picking up his Visa anytime after 2:30PM Haiti time tomorrow.

We do not have travel dates yet. Which is so disappointing but we are going to get through the next few hours and days because we've waited a whole lot longer than just the two years it's taken so far. The glitch with that is with such short notice prices for plane tickets out of our town have skyrocketed and so we may have to drive 5 hours to another state to fly in and out.

Lou will be home soon!!!

Think Happy Thoughts!

Lou's Visa appointment is tomorrow morning at 8AM in Haiti!!

Think happy thoughts!!!

A Good News Wake Up Call!!

I woke up this morning to an email from USCIS Haiti that said we are approved!!! I cried. Instantly. Then pulled myself together!! We still don't have a date to travel but I'm certain it will be soon.

What's next? Our file is passed on to the consulate where Lou Lou will have his Visa appointment - then a day or two later the director will pick up the Visa. Once it is in her hand we will be allowed to travel.

Last weekend we went to the closest big "city" (LOL I guess you could call it that) and shopped 'til we dropped for clothes for the little bambino. He is going to be the cutest kid ever!

April Update

Well with the news from last week this update wasn't nearly as anticipated as previous updates. The update in fact does say we are in INS. INS is also known as USCIS - which stands for United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. We also received some much appreciated photos of our growing boy! The part of the update that made me cry was this:

Departure preparation The staffs have been encouraging him to look at the pictures of his adopted family. (They) are frequently telling him he will be going home soon.

Wow. That really hits home. I am completely speechless, there are no words to accurately describe how excited we are. Wow.

So when is he coming home?

We just don't know yet. I know you all want to know - and so do we! Nate and I have learned over the course of this adoption that it's unpredictable so we don't know yet when Kobe will be home but we are fairly certain it will be soon!

The other day I told Nate that since we were not out of MOI yet that we should probably prepare ourselves to spend the majority of the summer without Lou. Because that is what it takes mental preparation or as my dad would say we had to do our mental psyching. It's what you do to brace yourself for a major let down. What we got instead was thrilling news.

I'm really weird when I get good news on the phone - I felt much like I did when Vivian called oh so long ago with our referral. My world kind of spins and on the inside I feel like I need to jump up and down and scream and cry but on the outside I stay fairly calm but pace around a little bit. In this case I paced my office at work and my face turned bright red from excitement.

So in an effort to keep our "mental psyching" over the last two years we have refrained from buying clothing, toys, and filling our yard with kid stuff. Kobe is our first child and it would be quite depressing for us to have a yard full of toys and nobody to play with. Not to mention we wouldn't get anything done because we would be playing on the toys ourselves, anyway what I'm trying to say is that today I present to you the swing set - go big or go home baby because when we do kid toys we skip the small stuff...Thanks Papa and Granny for helping us finish this monster - if Nate and I kept going at the pace we were Kobe would be long graduated from college by the time we got it done!

PS: Yes as a matter of fact Nate and I were swinging and sliding all afternoon, ya know - to make sure it's safe and sturdy. It is.

Adoption News Bundle Pack

We our out of MOI!!!! Have been for a little while it seems since we also have his passport. Oh no that's not all his birth parent interview happened this week. Oh yeah and we're in INS.

Now today goes down in good news history. I have to go make lists or something, I don't know but I have a lot to do.

Good Times...

Wouldn't it be fun if this was how the typical conversation went:

Kind stranger: "Hey when is your son going to be home from Haiti?"
Me: "Oh that's so nice of you to ask, he will be home on May 31st, 2009 at 4pm in the afternoon"

Instead it goes like this:

Kind stranger: "Hey when is your son going to be home from Haiti?"
Me: "Oh umm well I am not sure, I wish I knew, but...
Kind stranger: "What do you mean you don't know?"
Me: "Oh well we are getting closer!!!" (smiling really really big and hoping he will drop it)
Kind stranger: "But haven't you been trying to get him home for a long time now?"
Me: (clearly not having fun anymore and not smiling) Yes. (wanting to add thanks for pointing it out jerk)
Kind stranger: "Well I just don't understand how they can keep you waiting this long when there are so many kids who need homes...."
Me: (eyes glazed over staring off into space can't think of anything to say) "Yeah. Goodbye." (wanted to say "go away please")

In MOI!

Don't rub your eyes - you read that right. We are in MOI... :-) Yahoo!

Seriously! Could he get ANY cuter?!

I mean honestly.
This is the boy we know and love.
I think I just fell a little more in love with my son.

Big boy in a little coat...I mean body.

We got the most fabulous of updates this week.
This little guy is the prince of the crèche. His mom will never believe it, but Little Lou
actually engaged me in play and enjoyed laughing with me.
He was very cute in the pre-school, although definitely not into it. There are a few kids at
the school who are on the younger age spectrum and they basically just
walked around and picked up toys and threw them. Fun times.
He is an adorable kid and really growing into his personality.
The auntie pictured here is his favorite and his mom and dad have met her on both of their visits and know that Lou is a favorite of hers. She takes him around everywhere whenever possible and he relishes in the special attention.
This is what I wrote in my notes about him while I was there: "Big boy TRAPPED in little boy body. But he is very affectionate and makes eye contact much much easier than he used to. He is doing fantastic.

This came from my favorite A.S. -- S.W. - you know who you are!

Labor of Love!!!

First of all my dad is amazing!!! He's the best dad in the whole world! He made Kobe's bed. It's been a year in the process but is finally in Kobe's room ready for Kobe to sleep in it. So here are some pictures from the process:

First he made the under dresser and drawers.

Then he made the head board and foot board and fitted it to the under dresser.
Then he stained it and hauled it to our house - it took two trucks!
After bringing the bed in the house and putting it together he screwed a few braces in to keep everything in place.

Then in family tradition he signed the bed: "Sweet Dreams Kobe ~ Grandpa Allen ~ 3-1-09"
Then the bed was made with great care.

And his room is officially ready.