January 5th will forever be etched in my heart. We arrived in Haiti. Found the orphanage director holding a sign with our name and in a flurry of activity we were loading up our luggage in her car and on our way. We had no idea if we were headed to her house to unload and unwind a bit or straight to our little boy. Communication was difficult, to say the least. We learned quickly that driving in Haiti is a chaotic, herky-jerky adventure, although we never felt unsafe, the driver was very good. We also learned that there is absolutely no road rage in Haiti which is very refreshing.
Okay, wow, got sidetracked there. Anyway, we had no idea where we were going until we stopped outside a gate. The driver honked and someone came and opened the gate for us. I immediately recognized that we were at the orphanage, based on pictures we have. After we unloaded our luggage (not safe to leave in a car) we stood there for maybe 5 seconds before a door was thrown open by Claudy (kloe-dee). He came barreling down the stairs right towards us, gave us high fives and promptly started showing us what was in his bag he was bringing for his stay with us. I was speechless, it felt so surreal that I was finally face to face with this precious child. He was so outgoing and sweet! He then helped himself to our luggage and gave them a thorough check. :) It was at that moment Nate handed him his white hat and to this day, Claudy still wears it.
It was time to go to the director's house, so we climbed in the car. Claudy was flip-flopping all over the place because of the driving so I drew him close to me with my arm around to hold him steady. My heart soared when he willingly settled in and let me hold him. After about 15 minutes, we were both a sweaty mess so Nate took over, again, Claudy willingly settled into Nate's arms. We were in tears.
The next few days were a combination of getting to know our son, going to the Embassy to file a form for immigration, going to two courts and visiting the orphanage. There were wonderful moments of bonding and falling in love and then, not so wonderful moments because we missed naps or communication was shoddy or simply because he's four. ;) All in all, we know without a doubt that he is our son. We still have a lot to do, a lot to plan for and find our new normal once he's home. One thing we do know for sure is that we miss him so much. As our plane was taking off for home it was heart wrenching knowing we were leaving our son, a piece of our hearts, behind. We were not prepared for just how hard it was going to be to leave him.
Thank you all for the love and support while we were away, it meant so much to have so many cheerleaders. I also want to thank my parents for loving on our kids and taking such great care of them while we were gone. The peace of mind we had was priceless.
I have a quick update to share: as I was typing this, I received an email from our agency coordinator saying that should have our adoption decree tomorrow!! It's only been two weeks since we were in court, it usually takes about 6!! So thankful for more movement. One step closer!
Blessings!
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