Nick's Funny Farm

Nick has decided that since we live in Haiti we should probably have a bit of a farm.  Makes sense right?

Before our last maintenance guy left, he built a chicken coop, and I'm pretty sure that's where it all started.  Nick saw the chickens and for what ever reason had to expand upon it.  He began talking about goats all the time and the fact that he wanted to get one.  He even told my Mom that that is what he wanted for his birthday.  I thought it was a phase that would pass.  But once the yard guys heard he wanted a goat, suddenly there was a whole list of goats for sale that he could buy.  The temptation was to much, Nick gave in and bought a Mama goat who is pregnant, with his birthday money (thanks Mom).  Rikerns told him about three weeks ago that based on the tit size of the goat she would be giving birth in about a week.  That has yet to happen, but probably will while Nick is gone which will make him really sad!

Wedly Herding the Chickens!

We actually currently have 3 goats, Nicks mama goat, one that someone Amy helped gave to her, and one we bought to eat, but decided to fatten up first.  Soon we will likely have 5!

The boys trying to see the goats!

When ever we go for walks in the community, all I hear the whole time is "that's a nice looking goat."  "look at that goat."  "my goats way fatter than that."  "My goats way happier than that."  Etc.  Honestly the man is obsessed with goats!

Then Nick told me he wanted to buy some bunnies so that we could start eating them because they are cheaper and apparently all the nannies would love it!  I talked to one nanny and she had never eaten a rabbit before and thought the idea was crazy.  I agreed and assumed this was a phase, until one day a bunny hutch was being built and a guy showed up with 3 male and 3 female bunnies on the back of his moto.

Now if you haven't heard much about bunnies, apparently they multiply quite quickly.  One female bunny has already been eaten, accidentally by our dog Roxy.  This will greatly lower our numbers, but still, fairly soon we will have a whole herd, flock, gathering, or what ever you'd like to call it of bunnies.

Nick also had a short dabble in the kitten owning business.  While I was in the States, a nanny brought a kitten to give to another employee, and Nick asked if he could have one too.  I was so excited, and apparently Eventz LOVED it, but Nick let it outside and Roxy chased it before I got home and we have never seen it since.  We are on the waiting list though, so the next time her cat has kittens we get one!

RIP Mrs. Orange Rabbit

All of this is in addition to our dogs.  We have always had Roxy and Toby, our two dogs, but during all of this "Expansion", Roxy had 8 puppies, so we really looked like we had a farm.  Four of the puppies disappeared/died, three were given away, and we kept one, who Nick named Tiffany.  Not sure I'm a huge fan of the name, but I don't have anything better and he's the Gwo Chef (big boss)!  Sorry if anybody named Tiffany is offended, Nick likes to give pets human names, like our last female cat who he named Larry.  Long story.

Nick plans on keeping one of the baby goats for Eventz to have as a pet.  I plan on keeping two female bunnies, one white and one black for Eventz to have as a pet (no this has nothing to do with our races, which everyone says when I tell them that).  When Nick grew up, he had goats, when I grew up I had rabbits.  We want Eventz to have the same things we had in our child hood!  Getting pets for our son makes it feel more like home and less like we are depriving him.  The last kitten we had slept in Eventz crib with him, so we hope the next one will be just as friendly as that!

So while Nick is in the States taking a break from all of the craziness in Haiti, I am supposed to keep a close eye on all of his animals and let him know instantly when the baby goats are born.  I'm sure there will be pictures at that time!  His task is to buy a bunny water bottle and leash and harness for Snowball and midnight, Eventz future pet rabbits!

When I told Nick we needed a harness so Eventz could walk his bunnies, his response was "yeah that'll make him fit in here!"  I'm not worried about whether or not he fits in, but if their on a harness he can take them out and play with them easier!

If anyone in the Ridgefield area has a bunny leash, harness, or water bottle they'd like to get rid of, Nick would love to not have to search for one!

Yes Nick, I was being serious and really do expect you to come home with these items!!

All these things sound weird, but there is a potential to do good with this.  Now I have no idea what Nick is actually going to do with all of his goats or how many he will end up having, but a goat is a pretty big possession here.  If we had enough of them we could potentially give them away to help people out.  I'm not saying this is what we are going to do, but who knows!  Likely we'll probably just eat them all!

Stay tuned and I'll let you know what the next animal Nick decides we must have is!

A day off!

This past week (or year) has been hectic and busy.  Both Nick and I have been running non stop, working from the moment we get up until we go to bed.  Our poor boys have gotten a bit neglected this week and they are starting to show it.

Techniqually there's supposed to be one long term staff at COTP at all times, and since Nick and I are the only ones here right now, we really shouldn't leave.  But we were tired, and Nick is about to leave for two weeks and needed to spend some quality time with the boys and I first, something that is IMPOSSIBLE to get here.

So today we left.  We took a trip to the pool in town to regenerate and it was great!

This is only the third time I have been to the pool since living in Haiti.  The first time was an epic fail.  Turns out a Church was doing baptisims that day and Nick and I didn't realize what was going on until too late.  Those poor men, every time they talk about thier baptismis they'll be reminded by the fact that there was some white girl in a bikini there watching!  Yup that's my life!!

The second was a few weeks ago.  I was complaining to Nick about how bored I was, how I needed to do something fun, how I was getting claustrophobic.  He volunteered to take a day off and keep the boys so that I could take a girls day and head to the pool.  I grabbed all of the interns from this Summer and we had a great day off!

Before leaving today I was a bit worried about how it would go.  Wedly hasn't been in the truck (except for one exception) since the day he came here 10 months ago, and that may have been his first time ever in a vehicle.  He's never really gone any where or done anything.  He loves playing in our inflatable pool with two inches of water, but he normally just stands in it and rarely sits.  I didn't know how he would do in a big pool.




And then there's Eventz, our little water dog.  We knew he would want to be in the water the ENTIRE time, but the problem is that the shallow end is 4 feet deep and we have no floaty toys or anything for them to play on!  We weren't sure how it was going to go and knew full well that we may come back even more tired than we were prior; but we were ready to cool off a bit and get some good food!

So we lugged up our crew, packed lots of extra swim diapers and kids snacks and made our way into the heart of down town, to a little block of paradise in the middle of chaos.

The boys were amazing and had a blast!  It only took Wedly about 5-10 mins before he jumped right in the pool and loved every minute of it.  Eventz was in the water the entire time as expected, but it was so hot that we wanted to be in with him so it was fine!  We came back feeling so much better than when we left!

I'm so thankful for a little time off to spend with my family.  These next few days after Nick leaves when I am the only long term staff down here are going to be ridiculous.  How am I supposed to raise two boys on my own while simultaneously running an infant care center with 48 infants and toddlers, and a staff of 80, especially during payroll time?  And this doesn't even include helping the people at the gate or setting up projects and activities for our short term volunteers.

Please pray that I am able to get through these next few days with dignity and grace and that I make good decisions (since there's never really any right or wrong ones).  I am actually kind of excited for these next few days, even though I'm going to miss Nick and be more than ready for everyone to return.

ADDITION: so a little bit ago Carla came upstairs and told us that Martelly, the President of Haiti was apparently in town today at the Hotel Kristof.  Nick instantly turned red.  We had originally gone to the Kristof, but when Nick went inside to pay, we were told that the pool was closed.  Nick said that there was a guy that looked directly at him and he thought to himself, "geez, that looks like Martelly."

As soon as I heard him say this I started harassing him!  So from what we've heard (who knows how true this is) if we get a Presidental Waiver, we'll be able to start our adoption even though we aren't fully qualified.  Nick has joked around since we decided to adopt Eventz saying that he was going to meet the President and convince him to let us begin the process.  Nick has even made sure there are a lot of picture of Eventz on his phone so he can show him what he looks like.

Today was Nicks day and he blew it!  We even had Eventz with us to prove how cute he is and how good of parents we are!  I'm trying to convince Nick to go back to the hotel first thing in the morning to see if he is still there!  We're pretty sure that it's about 1 in a million chance that this would actually be what we need or that if it were what we needed that he would actually sign it!  Oh well, maybe next time we casually run into the president without any security around, Nick will remember what he looks like and try to talk with him!

Thank You

I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has been praying for my family since my Grandpa became ill with Liver cancer about two months ago.  When I found out, we were in the midst of having the largest group COTP has ever hosted here.  It was an awful time to leave, but I felt like I had to go back for a few weeks.  I found out Sunday afternoon and was on a plane by 8:00 am Monday morning.  It was very abrupt, but I'm very thankful that I was able to go when I did as he passed away earlier this week.

His diagnosis was a shock to us all as he had always been fairly healthy.  We knew he had less than a year, but were again shocked at how quickly it took over his body.

The funeral will be today, and although I'm sad I'm missing it, I don't need to be there to remember him or say goodbye.  I know him, and he could care less whether or not I was there, in a good way of course!!

Please continue to pray for our family as we continue to grieve our loss!

Thanks,

Nikki

Potty Panic

One of our volunteers here right now has a game on her ipad called "Potty Panic."  Now before you judge, you have to hear me out.  Basically this game has little people who run onto the screen and you have to direct them to the correct bathroom (male, female, handicap) before they have an accident.  Some times they come on the screen flashing red and that means they REALLY have to go.  Your people can't run into each other or they have an accident, and only one person can be in the bathroom at the same time.

This game was all sorts of fun...

Until...

The next day when we played a live version of it that lasted day and night for a week.  And in this game, you couldn't turn off the sounds (or the smell for that matter).

A sickness has been spreading through our compound and many of our kids, and us volunteers have gotten it.  For about 5 days we had between 4-6 kids in the volunteer house who we were keeping a close eye on.  It hasn't been fun, and I even found myself laying on the bathroom floor one night crying because I was in so much pain.

But luckily it seems to be passing and we are all getting much better.  One of the hardest parts of this past week or two is that our nurse is gone, so that leaves me in charge of all medical decisions.  Thankfully we have an amazing intern here right now who has been an enormous help.  I could not have gotten through this past week with out Carla.

Together the two of us are in charge of drawing up and administering all of the meds for our children.  We have also done a Malaria test, a urine test to check for a urinary test infection, and filled about 5 new prescriptions for our kids.  We also have had to deal with pink eye and ring worm.  Our days have been full of checking children's fontanels to see how dehydrated they are, checking temperatures, deciding the best course of action for each individual child, and determining, when/if it's necessary to take a child to the hospital.

I have been to the hospital many times and seen parents holding their half naked children on their laps in the court yard trying to collect a poop/urine sample to be tested.  I've always kind of laughed and was thankful that wasn't me.  But my time came yesterday and I sat in the court yard, holding a little girl on my lap, trying to catch both urine and poop/diarrhea in a tiny medicine cup they gave me.

Although this past week has been busy, I have really enjoyed parts of it; not the diarrhea, vomiting, or insane stomach cramps; but I love distributing the meds and going in each room and being able to play with the kids that way.  It's crazy to see how much I have learned since being here.  Carla and I know way more about medical stuff than we ever thought we would.

Please continue to pray for these next two weeks as Carla and I continue to be in charge of all medical decisions.  Please pray that when Nick leaves in a few days, and I am the only long term staff here that I am not over whelmed.  And most importantly, please pray that Carla and all of the babies are completely healthy by then.

Timoun Update

When Nick and I were talking about the possibility of bringing Wedly into our home, I made the comment "It's not like adding a child doubles the work load because they entertain each other and the seconds not nearly as much work as the first."

Boy was I wrong.

It has been a few months since the last time we had two children and apparently I forgot that having a second isn't doubling the work load, it's more than that!  I don't know how Nick and I had 4 kids last December for a month on top of everything else, especially when two of them were tiny 4 lbs newborn twins.

I forgot how much of a process a bedtime routine is when there is a second child.  It goes from a fun time of playing in the bath, to a pretty big process.  Some times Nick and I play zone defense, where one of us baths, combs, and brushes teeth, while the other dries, diapers, and pajamas.  Other nights we do man to man defense where we each take one of the boys and follow them the whole way through the process.  Personally, I prefer man to man, but Nick likes zone defense better, so we switch off!  Each night it slowly becomes less of a process and more enjoyable as each of the boys learn the new routine and Nick and I get our system down.  It's even becoming a bit fun again!

Overall, both boys are doing much better now than they were two weeks ago.  I decided that I was going to do very little work for two weeks and just focus on the boys. After I got back from my trip, Eventz was throwing big fits all of the time and Wedly was still transitioning to his new routine.  I was so glad to be able to spend some quality time with them and get them both on track again and am happy to say that Eventz fits have completely stopped!

I tried for about a week to switch Eventz to Wedly's nap schedule, but the boy is stubborn and in love with his morning nap, so I finally gave up.  I however, couldn't continue with them taking naps at different times because as I was trying to put Wedly down for naps, Eventz would come barging in, dragging his giant nerf gun behind him, laugh uncontrollably, and start crawling all over Wedly.  Or as I was putting Eventz down, Wedly would come in and start talking to Eventz.  Finally I decided to try and see if Wedly would sleep at the same time as Eventz, and surprisingly it worked like a charm!  Both boys now sleep 11 hours at night, and then take two naps for a total of 3-4 hours.  Wedly doesn't always sleep the whole time, but lays there quietly until we let him get up!

They are also slowly learning how to play together!  Eventz constantly wants to play with Wedly, but Wedly wants nothing to do with him and gets upset if Eventz even looks like he is going to touch him.  This afternoon however, Eventz crawled on his Thomas the Train and Wedly pushed him all over the house!  I was so excited to see this.  Over the past few days I have noticed that I haven't been saying "BOYS" quite as much as I was at first.

Now for a little individual update on each!

Eventz is doing amazing!  Nick and I fall more and more in love with him each day.  I tell Nick all the time how glad I am that we are adopting him.  He is amazing and can do no wrong in my eyes!  He will forever be my little baby.  The boy's getting ornerier every day.  He's not necessarily naughty, just very adventurous and always on the go.  I was eating lunch down stairs and Eventz kept going out the front door.  I chased after him multiple times and brought him back.  Once I finished my conversation for about 20 seconds before I went after him, but he was already out of sight.  I yelled to Nick who was in the office, but was told that he was not in there.  One of our nannies pointed to the back of the building, so I went over there, and sure enough Eventz was haning out in the special needs room with his friends and one of the nannies.

I'm pretty sure Eventz is going to think his name is Dezoid (trouble maker) because I call him it all the time!  He walks/runs all over the place constantly.  If we leave our front door open he runs out to our patio and climbs up his slide, teetering over the edge like a little maniac.  The boys going to cause me stress when he's older, I can tell already.  He has been climbing up the slide since before he even knew how to walk.  I have been trying to get him to play with playdoh, but after he learns he can't eat it, he much prefers to just carry his container to the top of the slide and then throw it down and come down after it!

Twice this past week Nick and I have caught him putting two different dead beetles up to his mouth that he was planning on eating!  Luckily we stopped him before he was able to eat either.

Nick made the comment the other day that if they ever want to find water on Mars they just need to send Eventz up there and they'll find it instantly.  He is a water junky and can't get enough of it!  His favorite part of pool day is grabbing the hose and squirting himself right in the face with it.  He also loves when we dump water on his head.  The other night we had both boys all ready for bed, diapered, pajamaed and everything.  Eventz however decided that he wasn't done with bath time, so he crawled back in, pj's and all!  Some times he'll crawl into his little inflatable pool even when theres no water in it and then give us this pathetic little look that makes us feel so guilty that we have to fill it for him!

Eventz was taking a nap in Nick and I's bed the other day.  I was in the living room working on the computer, when all of the sudden I saw Eventz out of the corner of my eye, giant smile on his face, running past me and straight out the door.  The look on his face said "I hope she doesn't see me so that I can crawl up the slide."  Apparently he knows how to get off of our bed now!

This past week Eventz learned to say Thank you and Bye Bye, his 2nd and 3rd words!  Seriously, the kid went from saying uh-oh, to thank you!  He even says it unprompted when I hand him things!  Every time I ask him to say Mama, he says Dada with a giant smile on his face.  Drives me nuts, but he (and everyone else) sure think it's funny.

We were playing with the boy's tool set the other day, and I was trying to teach Eventz how to put a bolt on a screw.  The next day Nick and I watched in amazement as Eventz put the bolt on top of the screw and tried to twist it on.  Unfortunately he doesn't quite have the motor movement yet to complete this but the fact that he was trying was pretty precious!

Eventz fully understands both English and Creole and will follow directions in both.  I think that fairly soon the boy will be speaking better Creole than both Nick and I and it'll probably drive us nuts, but make us proud all at the same time!

He loves to go to nightly prayer and singing, although I think the nannies are starting to get annoyed by our (or at least Eventz) presence.  Going to the baby house for Eventz is like going to the park!  He feels the need to run up and down the hallway the ENTIRE time and laugh loudly as he's doing so.  Since he's new, all of the kids are drawn to him like a magnet and follow him where ever he goes, which is all over the place.  One of us is constantly chasing him trying to get him to stay put while the nannies give us a look that says "control your kid."  When we don't go the rest of the children sit and listen intently, clapping along to the beat.  But when we are there, it's utter chaos all because of our son!

We couldn't have asked for a better child, he's amazing and fits so well into our family.  I realized this past week that he is very much like his uncles Chris and Jason.  I could see him sticking to a hobby even after multiple surgeries, and pleading from his Mother to stop!  He is so adventurous, has no fear, and loves a good thrill.  If he falls down, he laughs, gets up, and does it again!  It makes me really excited for both of my brothers to met their little nephew some day so that they can pick on him in only the way that Uncles can!

Wedly's self confidence has improved so much since he has moved in with us.  He used to come up for play dates with Eventz and I, and after every thing he did, he would look at me for approval.  He no longer does this.  Wedly has always craved adult interaction more than he does interaction from other kids.  We are really working with Wedly to get him to play with Eventz and we are slowly seeing improvement here.

Wedly's also learning how to play with toys.  When Nick or I are on the ground with him, he will play just fine, but the second (and I do mean second) we walk away, Wedly quits playing and follows us where ever we go.  If I'm doing the dishes, brushing my teeth, etc, Wedly has his little arms wrapped tightly around my legs.  Where ever I go, he is right there as a little shadow.  We try to encourage him to go play with Eventz and the toys even if we aren't there with him, and he is slowly starting to do so.

So far I have seen Wedly take an interest in three toys.  He loves trucks and pushes them all over the place and says Vroom as he does so.  He likes to sit across from me and then we push them back and forth together.  He also loves this nasty, old, pink, doll stroller that he found on our balcony.  He pushes it up and down our patio all the time, running behind it and laughing the whole time.  Wedly has basically claimed this as his toy, and if Eventz tries to touch it, even if Wedly wasn't playing with it at the time, he'll get upset and try to steal it from Eventz.  The third toy that he likes is this stuffed puppy that sings and talks to him.  He pushes it's buttons all the time and talks back to it.  When it shuts off it says Bye, and Wedly always responds with a simple little bye!

Wedly has become amazing at doing peg puzzles since he has been up here!  He didn't know how to do them before, but now can buzz right through one in less than a minute, that is unless Eventz is by us because he takes the pieces back out which drives Wedly nuts and throws off his whole focus!  He also loves to sit and listen to books.  I read him his first "Lift the Flap" book yesterday and was impressed at how well he did looking under each one!

He loves to help me water the plants on my balcony.  Some times if I'm not paying close enough attention I'll suddenly realize that he has watered the same one 5 times and it's overfilling with water!

For the most part he has done really good in his big boy bed.  He did roll out once though.  We always put him down for naps and bed time in his bed, but several times now I have gone to get him up and some how he has ended up in his cot on the floor.  At first I thought maybe he was doing this in his sleep, but after he did it during nap time I realized he was doing it on purpose.  We had him sleep on his cot for several days before switching to the bed so that it would be an easier transition, but apparently he prefers the tiny cot to his own personal queen sized bed.  We have since put his cot in the corner of his room between his bed and the wall.  However today when we went to get him up from his nap, he had pulled it onto his bed and was sleeping on top of it.

Wedly likes to repeat things that he hears.  We have been trying to get him to talk way more.  In order to improve his language skills, I speak to him for the most part only in English.  His favorite phrashes are "ALLLL  DOOONE," "Ev-entz, pa touche (don't touch) Ev-entz" and "Ev-entz, no Ev-entz."  Although when he says these it sounds more like "Onion, nan nou ne onion."  Wedly loves to count to ten with us, but the only one he knows to say on his own is 2. He has been singing some of his favorite songs more though and I have noticed them becoming a little more clear.

We tried to potty train Wedly for a while, but weren't making any progress.  I have since decided that he probably isn't ready and plan to wait about a month before trying to start again.  I was hoping that as he moved up here we would just have that be a part of his new routine, but I don't feel he is ready any more.  Hopefully once he is fully comfortable up here he will be more ready and successful at potty training.

When ever any of the kids from his room see either Wedly or I, they all point and shout "Edly Ale" (Wedly left).  I have been telling them "Wedly pa ale, li la wi?" Wedly didn't leave, he's here right.  So now they say "Edly ale.  Li la!"  It's interesting to see that they recognize that he is gone.  Wedly's nannies miss him and he always runs over and gives them hugs whenever he sees them.  I even had one nanny tell me she was mad at me because I stole her baby.  Our nannies really do love our kids!

The other day I had a nanny watch them for 1.5 hours while I did formula program.  While I was gone one of my boys decided they would draw me a picture!  I'm not sure where they found a crayon, because we have never used crayons up here, but they found one and drew all over one of our walls!  I will never know who the artist is.  I have tried getting it off, but haven't had any luck yet.  If anyone has any suggestions of how to get red crayon off of a cement wall, I would greatly appreciate it!

I am so thankful to have both of these boys in my home and have been enjoying watching them grow and develop every day!  They are both amazing.  It's been entertaining to see how to boys with VERY different personalities fit into the same home!

Big day for Marck

For Previous Stories about Marck Read...

Marck H. Finley
Marck Update

Today Marck had a really big day.  He has been doing so much better recently and in fact even spent the last few days with out any oxygen at all.  Marcks passport, as well as both of his parents passports and all of his Med Visa's paper work are finished, and today the three of them traveled with Amy and Jenn to the Dominican Republic to a hospital.  In August there will be a visiting team of cardiologists there who we hope will be able to preform a much needed surgery for him.  Since our nurse is going to be gone for 3 weeks, we took him there early to ensure that he is able to continue getting quality care.

Marck is still incredibly tiny and not gaining weight.  He needs to be much bigger before any doctor will do surgery.  Please pray that they are able to fatten him up while he's in the hospital at the DR.

We recently had a doctor do another ECHO on Marck and found out that he has one of the worst heart defects a child can be born with.  We are praying that the visiting team will in fact be able to preform this life saving surgery (or likely surgeries) that Marck desperately needs.

Please pray for Marck, Mona, and Mackenson while they are in the DR.  Pray that he gets the best care possible, gains weight, and is able to have his surgery.

Mona and Mackenson, Marck's parents, strongly believe that God can do miracles and are confident that their amazing little boy is going to be just fine!  Marck already is a miracle baby and is touching many peoples lives!  We love this family immensely and pray for the best for all of them!

Family Traditions

Now that Nick and I have a family it's time for us to start some of our own family traditions.  Both Nick and I growing up would go to the Ridgefield Parade for the fourth, and then some sort of bbq followed by a fireworks show.

 Well, it's Haiti, so first of all we are the only ones for miles around who were even celebrating yesterday.  And second, theres no parades or firework shows any where, unless we want to hop on a plane to Florida and leave Eventz and Wedly behind.

But at the last minute, I found some ways to make the 4th fun for the Timoun (children).

We made Red, White, and Blue cupcakes with Red, White, and Blue frosting and sprinkles.

Every body has "their thing" that they are known for and always bring to every family get together!  I just found mine!

In other words, if you ever invite me to a 4th of July party, expect me to bring red, white and blue cupcakes!

I know, boxed cupcakes, I'm really out doing myself! But hey, at least my timouns will enjoy it every year and have something to look forward too!

We also made party hats and 

Wedly put all his own stickers on his!

Eventz may have had a little help decorating his hat.  

We made 2 in one drum/maraca instruments.  The timoun can either beat on the top of their cans and they'll be drums.  Or they can shake them (their favorite) and the rocks inside will hit against the metal making a fun maraca type noise.  Who needs a parade or fireworks when you can make enough noise on your own?

And what would the Fourth of July be if we didn't spend at least a little time playing on the play ground. Just in case you don't know, if your 16 months and just learning to walk, it is absolutely necessary to climb up the slide holding a large stick thats about as tall as you are!

We did end up having a bbq.  Nick grilled up some hamburgers and bratworths (a special treat here).  We also had baked beans, corn, and of course, red white, and blue cupcakes, which were a hit!

 The boys defiantly got a lot of attention dressed up with their hats, beads, and instruments, which they of course loved!

Eventz was so excited yesterday that he didn't even take a nap!

And then wanted to party all night in Mommy and Daddy's bed, which was oh so fun!  It was as if he knew there was supposed to be something else after the bbq but just couldn't figure it out!

But who can resist this little face!  Some day he will expericne a real forth of July, fireworks and all!  I can already tell this little bugger is going to be a pi-row and scare the bajebbers out of his mother.  The timoun has no fear what so ever!

We were happy to include Wedly on the family traditions that we are beginning this year, but are even more excited about the fact that this time next year, he will be at the Ridgefield Parade with his Mom and Dad, and the Nazarene Church handing out free hotdogs to all who pass!

It was a great day.  I'm slowly learning how to create our own family traditions in a place like Haiti that is so different than anything we have ever known!  But regardless, the boys had fun and I'm looking forward to next year when Eventz will actually be more help than work when it comes to making cupcakes, hats, and instruments.

Mr. Wedly Stuart

Last Saturday, Mr. Wedly Stuart moved into our home with us.  Wedly is being adopted by some of our friends back home.  He and Eventz are distant cousins; Wedly's Grandma and Eventz Mom are first cousins. I have no idea what this makes the boys, 3rd or 4th cousins maybe?  Wedly will be staying with us until his adoption is complete.  We have no idea how long that will be, but we are praying that he is at least home with his new family before Christmas.

So far the transition of having him up here has gone really well.  Eventz loves having someone to play with all the time.  Both boys are learning how to share which is not a skill that comes natural to either of them, and has me constantly saying "BOYS" each time I hear one of them start to fuss!  Wedly's true personality is beginning to show a little more each day as he becomes more comfortable in our home!

The most difficult thing so far for me has been managing naps.  Both boys wake up at 7am.  Eventz likes to take a nap from 9:15-11:30, Wedly sleeps from 12:00-3:15 and Eventz again from 2:00- 3 or 4.  Both boys are on such a great schedule for them that I don't want to change either of theirs, but nap time is the only time I get anything done, so something has to change.  Eventz has to have his first nap, or he lets the whole compound know about it.  Plus it's great having him sleep early because then I can get stuff done with the kids down stairs before they take their naps.  Wedly, however, is too old to sleep  as much as Eventz.  Neither of them will budge on nap time, so I constantly have been having one of them to entertain.

Eventz and Wedly could not be more opposite.  Eventz loves to play and goes non stop.  Wedly doesn't really know how to play yet and prefers to just be held and loved on.  Each day he does begin to play a little more, but since he's never really had toys before, he doesn't know how to do so on his own yet.  I'm sure Eventz will teach him though.  Eventz crawls up our slide constantly, and yesterday I saw Wedly attempting to as well.  Eventz has already taught Wedly how to play with toys in the bath, which was new concept to him.

Last night I heated something up in the microwave and it blew Wedly's mind.  He just stood there staring at the timer as it constantly changed, and at one point even reached out to touch it, as if he was checking to see if what he was looking at was real or not.  Wedly has never seen a microwave before and was enthralled by the flashing numbers!

The first few days Wedly was up here he slept on his cot from downstairs before we transitioned him to his big boy bed (which is a queen, lucky kid).  I was a little nervous about this transition after waking him up from the worlds longest nap and finding him like this....

Comfy Huh?

Eventz Helping Wake Wedly up from his nap!

Please pray that Wedly's transition to our home continues to go well and that Nick and I are the best temporary parents we can be to him.  Please pray that his adoption finishes soon and that he is home in time to celebrate Christmas with his family.  Also pray that his living with us doesn't affect his or Eventz bonding.