Mother's Day 2010- Four children make for one very happy mom!

We had an amazing weekend!  Honestly I could not have had a better time.  We spent the weekend in Glenwood Springs at a fun old hotel, swam in the hot springs and played hard at the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park!  We missed Tyler, but considering he was having a fabulous time in Hawaii we were all okay with that.  Morelson has been home three months this week.  To have this Mother's Day with him and to have had it turn out as amazing as it did is the best gift I could have ever received!  He was SO fun and completely engaged all weekend.  He just followed our lead and allowed himself to try new things and enjoy new surroundings.  He has amazing big sisters!  Both Brielle and Lacey love him dearly and he loves them dearly in return.  It was a picture perfect family weekend getaway that I'll always treasure!  It didn't take long to plan or completely break the bank to pull off, yet it was full of all the same stuff "those" type of vacations you hope will bring.  True, lasting impressions, the ones where your kids are having a blast doing something really silly and unexpected.  You buy something in a little shop that truly strikes your fancy and leaves you feeling a bit guilty.  You get to spend some one on one time with your husband and because it was at a place new to the two of you that spark comes back!  I'm happy, my kids are happy, and my husband's happy because we're all happy!  Mother's Day 2010 was just one of "those" days, a day in which every last ounce of you is content.  I started the weekend with excitement and hope, and I end it with immense satisfaction!

75 days home!

Life is really good right now here at the Hilldale household!  Morelson has been home for 75 days after waiting 750 days for him to join us!  Morelson's transition into our family is nothing short of a miracle.  I feel I should call the local news, police station, etc., and tell them that there is a real life hero right here in our town that deserves a huge gold star, a street named after him, heck maybe a key to the city!

In just 75 days we have a English speaking, T-ball playing, hot dog eating, country song singing Haitian American boy!  Talk about gusto, you haven't seen anything like the drive in this 42 lb. ball of energy!  To say that Morelson is happy go lucky would be a gross understatement, he's like every clown in the circus rolled into one!  We honestly have a one man comedy show at our house 24/7.  The kid is F-U-N-N-Y!  Now are there times I would like to tone down the funny, YES!  But Morelson's personality is HUGE, and I'll take that loving, happy, smiling, crazy, all over the place boy over a wall flower any day of the week!

After our first trip to Haiti and our first meeting w/ Morelson, Rob and I always say that we will learn much more from Morelson and Haiti then they will from us!  We have been completely humbled by the strength and courage that Morelson has shown over this past couple of months.  Do we have a long ways to go YES!  His transition has not been perfect but any means.  It has however been much easier than many other families are experiencing and for that we feel very fortunate.  Full attachment takes a very long time, but he is attaching beautifully and we see no red flags in that area at all.  Academically he continues to amaze us.  His desire to learn and challenge himself continually is simply remarkable.  His social interactions are completely on par w/ his peers and there have been no issues acclimating him to school in America.  He is always appropriate around other adults, he doesn't cling or go to others for assistance that should come from us.  He is cautiously trusting, I am thankful for this trait.  Considering he is SO outgoing and social I was worried that he would open up to anyone and everyone, he does not do this.  He has built a good relationship w/ his teachers and let's go with them, but can simply wave or smile to other adults at school and leave it at that.  He doesn't need to engage w/ every adult that pays any attention to him, and believe me he gets LOTS of attention!

Bedtime was a HUGE issue for many weeks, I honestly didn't think we would see a night where he went to sleep w/o us for a long time.  I am happy to report that we have now had a full week of "normal" bedtime behavior.  We play a game, brush our teeth, read a book, give good night kisses and wishes and leave the room.  YAHOO!!  This is  B-I-G!  I am so happy for him that he now trusts enough to fall asleep alone, and I am SO happy for us that we can now have a small amount of down time before we fall to exhaustion at the end of the day!

Like I mentioned before we still have many hills to climb.  Discipline is a challenge as Morelson can push buttons you didn't know you had.  Emotionally he is not 6, yet cognitively he is all of that and some!  This makes disciplining very tricky.  We find ourselves flip flopping between treating him as a four year old w/ many things and then having to raise the bar w/ others and treat him as a 6+ year old!  It's a good thing that Rob and I are a strong team, I don't see how you could do this any other way.

I'm excited and hopeful for what the future holds, it looks VERY bright around here!!!

An Amazing Music Video On The Journey Of Adoption.

One Month Home

 

  

 

It's hard to believe that one month has already passed since we boarded that obnoxious military flight out of Port Au Prince with Morelson and headed home.  A lot can happen in a month and it has!  I will always strive to protect Morelson's privacy and personal story as much as possible, but with that said there are many things that I believe are appropriate to share here as a record of "our" story.  Right now "our" story holds Morelson as the main character and what a character he is!

I will start by saying this little boy has brought some serious fun into our lives!  No I'm not going to try and tell you all that it's been a total cake walk as that would be a flat out lie.  I will say with total honesty that at least 85% of every day is going extremely well!  Bedtime as of today is still pretty U-G-L-Y!  We also struggle some with those oh so dreaded letters of N-O! 

We can see Morelson becoming more and more comfortable every day.  Rob and I had an established relationship w/ Morelson through our many visits and I believe that we would not being seeing the success that we are if we hadn't had that bond. 

ONE MONTH HIGHLIGHTS:

1.   When we don't understand what he is telling us in Creole or very broken English we get this "oh- my- goodness- Mama/Papa!  In his VERY dramatic voice!

2.   His new favorite food is bread.  Not just any bread though.  At first this bread had to be hot dog buns, we have now moved away from hot dog buns to Challah rolls from "Papa's Market" (Whole Foods.) 

3.   We still really like figs (bananas) but are down from a high of 9 to about 2 a day.  

4.   School is bon (good!)  He just this week began really talking to the other kids and since they get a chuckle out of the accent I'm thinking we are going to hear a lot from him!  He already knows every child's name and tells me multiple times daily...  "Mama, T-T-T for Tanner, and K-K-K for Kyla, etc. etc.  He LOVES sharing the beginning sound of words.

5.   Play Planning ROCKS!  It is simply an amazing way to teach children to read and write.  This morning when he discovered that his remote control cars needed new batteries he took a play plan from the stack I have handy and began "planning" our trip to the store.  He drew a picture of himself playing w/ the cars, and then said "I am going to buy batteries," while drawing a line for each word.  When I said "you'll need to read your plan back to me so I can write your letters, he again says "I am going to buy batteries," as he points to each line and says the corresponding word.  I am truly impressed with this after only attending school for a meager 10 days! 

6.   Morelson is writing both his first and last names w/o a model!

7.   He still loves his "musica!"  Our favorite right now is both Classic Rock and Blues, and this boy can both dance and carry a tune!

8.   Morelson LOVES to help Papa cook and he is the best cleaner-uper!

9.   We are discovering that Morelson is ultra competitive!  I'm hoping we can find a way to properly channel this, he wants to play "football" aka soccer.

10.   Morelson lights up the room when he walks in, he has made MANY friends already!  We've got ourselves a little guy with a REALLY big personality!

February 5th was our GOTCHA DAY, Morelson is home!

 

 FEEDING THE STINGRAY'S AT THE AQUARIUM

When an event SO big has taken two years and a tragic earthquake to come to a happy ending  it's hard to find the words to summarize how you feel.  Our little boy is home for good!  The strength and perseverance that it took the two weeks prior to our big day is truly something that only Rob and I can ever really know.  It was a bonding experience like no other.  The two of us shared a gamut of emotions that no one should have to go through in such a short period.  Well more on that later........again our little boy is home!  Morelson is a treasure like no other.  He entered the U.S. with a smile and it hasn't left his face yet!  He could be the poster child for fun loving, inquisitive, infectious laughing "grab life by the horns" kinda boy!  Our family will never be the same and we wouldn't want it any other way!

Week One Run Down:

1. Bananas must be a super food, Morelson has put away over 55 of them in 7 days!

2. The "Machine" is a huge hit, there is NO keeping this boy home he loves to go, go, go!

3. Snow is acceptable, we can't say we love it yet, but it's all good in small doses.

4. School rocks!  M loves the kids, the routine, the songs, the activities and writing his name.

5. Bedtime not so much, other than the nightly bath going to bed is the day's low point.

6. A Big brother and two sister's are the best, ahh...so many people to shower me with attention!

7. Listening to music and dancing to an ipod comes first, lego building second.

8. Morelson has full blown Creole conversations ALL DAY long, I honestly think we have learned more Creole in a week than I ever thought I could learn!

9. The dreaded dog is now a good buddy!

10. Morelson laughs and giggles more than tickle me Elmo, MUCH MORE! 

Morelson early January 2010 at his orphanage in Les Cayes...he had no way of knowing that he would be home in America very shortly.  The earthquake that ravaged his homeland would be the very thing that sent him to us earlier than expected.  His and ALL of the other children's homecoming would turn out to be a bittersweet experience.

Monday, January 18th, 2010- Martin Luther King Day, a day we will forever hold so near and dear to our hearts.  This is the very day that we were told our son would be coming home to us very shortly, probably by the end of the week!  We have waited for this moment for two full years now, and now that it is here it is such a surreal feeling.  My mind is racing....will he come home traumatized by the events unfolding in his country, or will he come home feeling a sense of peace has been granted to him?  We love this little boy with all of our hearts and souls.  He has provided us with so much joy and hope already.  We have longed to have him here with us in our home, his home and soon that will be our reality, our new family will begin to unfold.  This day is marked with a tremendous amount of  sunshine, the kind that warms you right down to your little toe!  We love you MoHi, and our dreams for you on this very special day are as big as your precious eyes!  Mwen renmen ou pitit mouin!

 Dye Mon, Gen Mon.

An old Haitian proverb meaning, beyond mountains there are more mountains.

It is pretty impossible to even know where to begin this post.  It's Friday, the devastating earthquake we all have heard and seen so many horrific images from happened three days ago on January 12th, 2010 at 4:53 p.m.  I don't feel any different today than I did three days ago when first hearing the news coming out of our son's country.  I am bearing a grief that is the heaviest I believe I ever have known, and ever hope to know.  We have grown to love Haiti.  Not in the way you "love" Disneyland or the beach in Mexico, or your favorite hiking trail.  No we love Haiti as the homeland of our dear sweet son.  An island of tenacious people, with the biggest most endearing smiles I have ever witnessed.  A rugged place with a combination of beautiful mountains, bustling cities, oceans and plateaus, a few rich and privileged, and millions of poor.  

Thousands, many of thousands, of Haitians are now dead.  They are being dumped into mass graves w/ miscellaneous earthquake debris thrown right on top of them.  They are not being photograhped or identified in anyway, there is not the time or resources for such a thing.  They are still digging mostly with their bare hands to free the trapped people that have managed to cling to life.  Thousands of people are waiting for much needed medical care at make shift clinics, the majority of the people offering care are typical Haitians w/ no medical training.  There is help trickling in, and although the news channels report thousands of people coming in from numerous countries, the devastation and need is so widespread that the majority have to wait far longer than imagineable for any form of medical attention, and then that attention consists of Tylenol, cardboard splints, and some gauze.

Haiti a country all ready so broken. Tormented for years w/ mass poverty, political unrest, no infrastructre. It's only the hopes and dreams of the Haitian people that keep it clinging, just on the brink, but alive, hopeful and full of smiles, the Haitians have managed to "maintain."

Now their strength and courage has again been shaken, shaken by that of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake.  How will they recover from this?  A "full" recovery, and I mean a recovery that could even take them back to Tuesday afternoon before the quake hit.  An afternoon that was still riddled w/ poverty that we don't have any way of truly grasping, you don't, don't even try. It's harsh, foreign, so far removed from anything we can deal with, and yet it's better than what they have now.  I wish we could go back to Tuesday afternoon, as dire as it was, it's better than it is today.  But of course we can't this is the new reality for Haiti.

This "new" post earthquake Haiti has left the Island of Hispaniola needing to find a renewed norm of surviving amongst such despair.  How or when will the government rebuild?  Will any kind of infrastructure be able to emerge?  Where will the children go to school?  What will happen to the most likely thousands of newly orphaned children?  Will our already matched children be able to leave Haiti and make room for more needy children?  We aren't going to have answers to these questions for a very long time I fear.

Life in Haiti will go on, and it will again be full of those beautiful smiles we have grown to love.  Our son is safe, all of the children that we consider to be his "siblings" are safe.  Marie the orphanage director that is a strong, resourceful woman is safe and will care for our children in this roughest of times.  Our dear friend Veniel and his beautiful family are all safe, their guesthouse is destroyed and although five people lost their lives in the rubble at Wall's guesthouse that horrific day, they too will pick up the pieces and their spirits and find a way to survive.  Our hearts are heavy, but our hopes are yet again high.  I don't know what the future really holds for the only land our son has yet to know, but I do know we will NEVER forget, we will continue to love, and support and maintain pride in our hearts for this island of people that have granted us the most precious gift on the face of this earth!