First, I apologize. It is not going unnoticed that the blog is lacking HAITI PHOTOS (the good Troy kind) and HAITI STORIES (the happy, funny, sad, interesting, and amazing.) But,we're sort of all wound up tight and whirling about in our own little tizzy-fits. We need to settle down and breathe deeply.Troy will look for and post some new photos later. Right now he is busy dealing with drama between cooks in the kitchen.
Yesterday I wrote my four serious and professional newsletter stories, I crossed like five more items off the big list. I feel like we're the four year old child, when sent into a disastrous room to clean it ... he just stands in one spot frozen and unable to act. All we can do is sit and stare, we don't know where or how to start. When I don't know where to start, I just go take a nap. And thus, the vicious cycle never ends.
Everyone acts out in their own way under stress. Troy and I tend to communicate poorly, conversations sort of go in circles because when we are both stressed we are not good at expressing ourselves clearly. I get snappy and intolerant of my children. I am trying hard to be calm, I recognize that I need to watch myself. The dog senses stress and gets gas. That is lovely. Noah has had an interesting 24 hours. He has dumped an entire bottle of bug spray (liquid) into a toy box, then added water to the bottle to rub around on more items. He put toys into the dogs big water bowl, he has turned the hose on and soaked himself and everyone around him (before 8am today), and he has emptied a bottle of sunscreen into Phoebe's crib and the area around the crib. WHY? Well, he does not want Phoebe getting sun-burned while she sleeps ... and, I guess he wants more attention.
He got it. Lots of it.
Troy suggested we need a shock collar for him. He was JOKING. Sort of.
Now --
Updating you quickly on things other than our multiple personal issues-
Madame Felius (We're now calling her Madame Pierre because she is not actually married to the guy named Felius and he is not nice enough to her for her to have to go by his name - that is strictly opinion, but trust us ... if you watched him for awhile you'd agree.)
Mme PIERRE is doing really well. You will be so pleased to hear that she uses her walker to walk and is improving daily. She is still sleeping here at the mission and taking a lot of meds for pain, infection, etc. Troy takes her back to her surgeon on Friday for a check up. At that point they'll decide the next step ... whether it be physical therapy or ??? something else. She is cute, sweet, and very grateful to be seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. We're so happy for her!
The latest with Jean - We are in the process of determining if he would be willing to go to Port for a battery of tests and asking both he and his mom if they will cooperate. It is weird to force a 17 year old kid (that is not your kid) to do something he does not want to do. AND, while we all know getting some tests would be helpful in figuring out what to do for him --- it is hard to know how far to interject ourselves if he is unwilling to cooperate. I am not too cool with physically restraining a child that is not my own. We had something close to that happen on bath day once and by the end of it I was bawling. Anyway, someone asked if getting HIV meds is difficult. Uh, we have no answer because we have not tried. As far as we know he was diagnosed HIV+ a few years ago (long before we got here) and has never taken any anti-viral meds at all for it. We have a connection to Lori who has a legit medical clinic with a great history --- so working UNDER her watchful eye we think we can get meds for Jean by using Lori's good name. We have run this past her and she would sort of baby-sit us and be our advisers. So -- I guess just pray that Jean WANTS to go get help and agrees to cooperate. He is not an easy patient. I thought it was just me -- but Lori has seen him and she said he is very difficult and has been from the start. The whole thing is terribly sad and discouraging.
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Babies in the formula program- The twins were here yesterday. I will let Paige post her new photos and stats. All the babies are doing well, all are gaining weight at a satisfactory rate. :-) Yay for good news.
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Baby Emmanuel- The cousin came back (finally) but Licia said we need the grandma to do death certificates. Then someone in Cazale told Licia they know Emmanuel's dad is NOT dead. SO, apparently the mom is dead and the dad is not. So now we wait for the dad to show up and say that Emmanuel can be placed for adoption. Emmanuel continues to live with L and L at the rescue center. Women here will say a guy is dead even if he is not LITERALLY dead. They basically mean, "he is dead to me." That is all fine and good, but it makes knowing the truth really, really difficult. Argh.
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Tomorrow may turn into a big day for us. We need to do some things in Port ... too many things really. We also HOPE to have a meeting with Isaac's birthmother to go over some things with her. I would rather wait and see if it happens before I say more. But in the meantime prayers for clarity in communication and God's Will to be done -- would be greatly appreciated.
Nap time. ;-)
~Tara
P.S. Having my first two babies at 17 and 22 might not have been the greatest thing ever - but I sure did not turn into a swollen old grandma during those pregnancies. We have coined a new word here. If calf-sized ankles are called "cankles," it can be assumed that THIGH sized ankles would then be called "thankles." We're seeing amazing amounts of skin stretching and fluid retention - surpassing cankles and moving into a whole new realm of granny-like-puffy-goodness.
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Photo? Yeah. I have one. But I think I am too vain to post it. What happened to my youth?
