Bo Bos

Ruthlande's favorite "game" lately is to give me "bo bos" (kisses). It's really cute. Last week, I was kissing her little cheeks, saying "bo bos" and she starting reaching out to me with little fish lips. The same kind of kisses that my kids gave when they were babies. So, I kissed her and then laughed. She thought it was hilarious! So we did this over and over again. I'd say "bo bo?" She'd give me a kiss and we'd both laugh as I said "merci bo bo!" After a few times, she started saying "bo bo bo bo". So cute!! Now, she likes to do it all the time. If I play along, it's an easy way to get giggles!

She also seems to like peek-a-boo. My neice was playing with her yesterday and she actually started covering her own eyes too (the first time I've seen her do that). It's so fun to see her being playful!

I can't believe that our trip is coming up so quickly. I feel like there's so much still to do. I can't wait to see how happy Ruthlande will be when she sees her mama again. I know she's missing her so much. Today I was wearing a tank top and she starting pulling it down, trying to suck at my chest. I remembered that Sara told me that Ruthlande was breast fed until just this past April. Oops! Trust me, sweetie, there's nothing there for you! It just made me even more sure that it's time to get her back to her real mama before she gets even more attached to me. I feel 100% like that was the right decision. Can't say that about much in life, so I guess I should savor it, huh?

Countdown to Haiti

Well, I'm trying to get ready for the trip - I had to make an appointment for Ruthlande with Dr. Ruge and I'm trying to get myself set up for travel immunizations. And, of course, I need to start thinking about what I need to pack. We fly out of O'Hare on the 24th (we'll be in Haiti on the 25th), so that's not much time to get everything arranged. Luckily, Scott and I are used to doing things last-minute, so it's nothing new for us.

Yesterday was a fun day. Jaden has been asking me to make him a "Mama Chante" video. "Mama Chante" is what we call Ruthlande's video of her mama ("chante" means sing in Creole - most of the video is Ruthlande's mama singing to her). So, he laid down on a pillow on the floor and we sang goofy songs that he made up and then we read a story while my mom recorded it all. Then, of course, we had to make Danielle a "Mama Chante" video too. They really loved it and it will be a fun thing for them to watch while I'm in Haiti. Jaden wants to make some more videos of Ruthlande too - he says he's going to miss her when she goes home. I'm sure it's going to be really strange around here once she's gone.

We took a trip to the park yesterday evening - the weather was absolutely perfect and the kids found some little friends to play with. I just wish that Ruthlande could walk so that she would enjoy it a little more too. She likes to be outside, but she can't really participate in much, of course. She's not too keen on sitting in the grass, so she usually just stays in the stroller. I did put her on my lap while I went on the swing the other day and she did enjoy that for a few minutes, but then started fussing. She doesn't like to feel off-balance - I think it's partly due to her issues with balancing herself while sitting up.

Anyway, yesterday was a good day. Today, we're going to my nephews birthday party, so we've got another full day!

We're Going to Haiti!

Due to the amazing generosity of our friends and family, we have reached our goal. We have already been promised enough to cover Ruthlande’s travel expenses!! Honestly, we cannot thank you enough for the outpouring of support that we have been given. It amazes us!

If you were thinking of making a donation and hadn’t let us know about it yet, I encourage you to still donate to Childrens Medical Missions. If you go to their website, you will see that they have 11 children with donated medical care in place and they just need the money for flights for these children. They also have 4 children needing to go home in July. We can tell you from our experience in caring for Ruthlande that these children are a blessing and that the medical care that they receive here is life changing and often (as in Ruthlande’s case) life saving! These kids would not have a chance for help in their home countries, but here there is hope. So, further donations will be gratefully accepted!

Thank you again for all of the generous donations that have already been promised!!

The Hewitts (and Ruthlande too!)

Let's Get This Sweetie Home to Her Mama!

Ruthlande is doing amazingly well and is ready to go home to her mama now, but we need to raise the funds to get her there! We could wait until the end of August and send her with someone, but we really feel like she needs to be home sooner than that – she is definitely attaching to me and I’m afraid that the longer she spends here, the harder the adjustment will be for her when she gets home. A month and a half is a long time in the life of a one-year old! This must all be so confusing for Ruthlande. It’s not as though we can just explain it to her. Sara at COTP has told me many times how much Ruthlande’s mama is missing her and can’t wait for her to be home.

So, I’m going to escort Ruthlande to Haiti myself. I’m sure this will make the trip much less scary for her. Plus, I’ll get the chance to meet her mother and, as a bonus, I’ll get to check in on Noah too. But, we don’t have the money to pay for the whole trip (and Childrens Medical Missions West doesn’t have the money either), so we're doing this on faith. We know God will work it all out!

For flights and hotel, (I’d have to stay in a hotel one night), everything will cost approximately $900. If you feel led to help out with the travel costs, please email me at nicolehewitt @ hotmail . com (leave out the spaces - I couldn't figure out how to use a hyperlink to do this!) Your donation would be made to Children’s Medical Missions and would be tax deductible (check out their site at http://www.cmmwest.com/

Thank you so much for reading this and for prayerfully considering helping Ruthlande go home!

Fun in the Pool

Well, we've had a lot of fun this past week. We finally got some use out of our pool - we opened it a bit late this year because of everything going on. I was so excited to get Ruthlande into the pool. I was really hoping she would like it! Well, she wasn't so sure about it at first, but she warmed up to it pretty quickly. Now, she's a definite pool lover, just like the rest of us! It's been so much fun to see the kids being more and more daring when it comes to swimming in the pool. Danielle's willing to "swim" by herself (with water-wings, of course), Jaden's swimming with his face under water, eyes open (again, with water wings), and Ruthlande went from being scared to being excited about the water in a matter of minutes. I grew up with a pool in my backyard, so there's nothing better to me than family time in the pool!

Jaden's birthday party was yesterday and we all had a lot of fun. Hard to believe my little Buddy's five already! Even harder to believe that Noah is almost three - I'm beginning to doubt we'll have him home before his birthday, which is pretty depressing. I guess I should be used to the delays by now, but I just can't help but be frustrated. Now we might have a problem with getting our I-600 (which is part of the process that happens in the US) and it just feels like we might never bring him home. I just don't know how it got to this point and how new problems seem to crop up just as soon as an old one is solved (or sometimes even before the old problems are solved). I can't help but wonder when it will all end - when will we get our little boy home??

For now, we just wait. And wait. And pray...

Gimme those fireworks!

Well, party #2 went really well - we had a lot of fun and Ruthlande seemed to do even better than at the last party. Of course, Scott had her in the front carrier for a long time, so she was snug as a bug in a rug in there.

On the way home from the party, we saw some nearby fireworks, so we pulled over into a parking lot to watch them. I was really glad we did because the kiddos really enjoyed them. Ruthlande especially loved them. She kept reaching her arms up toward the sky like she thought she could grab them. Every time a new one would go off she would smile and babble at it. It was so cute! I was afraid that the loud noises might scare her, but she had nothing but love for fireworks! I'm glad she got at least one opportunity to see them in her lifetime!

Party Time!

The month of July is a big month for us. We have lots of family parties going on! We went to the first (a birthday party for our twin neices, who are 10 hours younger than Jaden) yesterday. I was actually very impressed with how well Ruthlande did. She's still a bit wary of strangers. I always remind people that her first two weeks in the US were spent in the hospital, where there were tons of new people coming in and out. Most of those people were there to poke or prod her. It's no wonder she gets nervous when she sees someone new now!

So, the first hour or two of the party, Ruthlande was quiet and a bit nervous. Someone at the party touched her hand and she broke out into instant tears! But, as the party went on, she must have figured out that no one there had any IV tubes or catheters up their sleeves - she relaxed and turned back into her normal, cute self, chattering and smiling away at people. She won their hearts in no time. I even got lots of cute pictures of her sitting in the grass, smiling. Up until yesterday, the words "sitting" and "smiling" did NOT go together - Ruthlande does not typically like it when we sit her up on her own and don't help to support her. So this was a great moment for me (and for her, of course!).

At any rate, I was very happy that she eventually warmed up to the party because we're going to another one on the 4th, we're having a party for Jaden at our house on the 7th and then we're going to a third party for our nephew on the 14th. Guess we'll have her turned into a party girl in no time!

Today was Jaden's actual birthday, so he got to open his presents from our family. Boy, was he excited!! I love this time - I know eventually he's not going to be impressed with anything we give him, but right now he ABSOLUTELY LOVES every gift!! Ah, I wish it could last!