Adoption is Not For The Weak...

Oh God, I need to not have this pain in my back! This was my prayer at 3:45am this morning as I tried sleeping sitting up while rocking our son who had been crying off and on since 2:00am. Roosters don't just crow at dawn, dogs don't have owners to bring them inside when they bark all night and the mean parrot in the open air lobby wakes up early and let's us all know. I don't remember ever falling asleep but soon dawn was breaking as I drifted off, praying again that this would be the morning the girls would sleep through til 8:00. It's tough to start a day in the deficit but getting down to breakfast wasn't too bad. We made it with very little pouting from our little man. The language barrier causes a lot of miscommunication. When you can only say "yes" or "no" to a point rather than offering another choice, communication goes south and then he begins his shutdown stand-off. Many times he goes there and we don't understand why and we never will until we speak the same language. After breakfast, we got our first giggles. Then it happened. There was an incident and he proceeded to cry for almost 90 minutes. At first in anger and then from pure exhaustion. Out little man didn't sleep last night and it was catching up with him. The day was off and on not at all what the family had hoped it could be. We adjusted our hopes and expectations for having fun and being a playful family. I took the Kasia and Mathea to a Haitian market which resembles a WalMart style store crammed into an small Walgreens Pharmacy (a lot like the stores in Mexico!) We bought Pringles and sandwich fixins for our lunches. We went outside the gate and gave hugs to my friend Maxo who paints gorgeous paintings and will try to get any souvenir we ask for. He gave Tracy a necklace, Kasia a necklace and Ellie and Kasia got free bracelets! So much for them saving their money for souvenirs. Ellie paid for a gorgeous painting that fits her room. It's even stretched so she can hang it as soon as we get home. The girls went swimming, Mathea got a sunburn, they met English speaking girls staying at the hotel who were welcomed new playmates and we again had delicious Haitian cuisine. Fried pigs feet, beef stew, rice and black beans, pikliz, wilted greens and fried plantains! Poor Picky Ellie ate white rice and white bread. She's trying. The family is asleep after very cold showers that cooled us all off from the humid day. They are burning trash which brings on headaches and it's sprinkling ever so slightly. Tomorrow is our Embassy appt. This is when we file Christopher's visa application so that they can begin getting his visa as soon as he's ours. AWESOME news today...Out lawyer just needs to pick up 1 more completed form and Christopher's dossier is complete. You hesrd me right, we've been told it's done. We will then wait until June 1st when IBESR opens their doors to new families again. For those we haven't told, the week before we came we heard that IBESR would not take new cases for the month of May in order to expedite the kids already in the system. We know there is no rhyme or reason to this Haitian adoption system from our eyes. We just pray that this month isn't lost waiting to bring our little man home. We pray that it works to our advantage and we pray for the IBESR officials - that they have our children's, their children's, best interest at the heart of this process. Good Night noises everywhere.