Not feeling well

Well, I guess we went too gung oh with the food for our little guy. He has such a good appetite and he will eat anything. We may have introduced too many different types of food at once. He has a tummy ache today. We have gone through many diapers today. lol
So for the next couple of days it will be bananas and toast to see if it helps.
Thanks Kathy, we went to Shang Hai restaurant yesterday. It was good and a nice treat. Maybe we will try out new cactus.
Mildred - he is wearing 18 - 24 months right now, I don't know how long he will be in those.
Thanks for all the tips for sleeping, changing diapers, etc. everyone. It helps!
We are now going to give him medicine for worms. We are not sure if he has them or not, but it won't hurt, says the doctor. His belly is a little distended. He is also malnurished from having a lot of starch, but not much fiber, veg. or fruit.
He is adjusting very well - we love him so much!!!

Thats it for another week

Well, we got Jaxon's passport today and picked up the translated copies. Unfortunately we were a little late getting to the notary (there is only one in Kigali and they close early on Fridays). Have to wait until Monday now.

Jaxon is having a great day. I prayed throughout the night that the wall between him and Marcy would break and it seems that today Jaxon rounded the corner. He has been running too her and loving her. I am soooo happy to see it, as does she. Thank you again Lord!

We posted a few more pictures. Have to say we are getting a little home sick for Canadian food. Not much variety here.

Tomorrow we may try the local pool if it is a hot day.

Thank you for your prayers. Continue praying for immigration we want to get home as soon as possible.
Adios for now.

Little with big attitude

He is little. The sisters at the orphanage said there was a mistake and his birthday is in August, not in June, like all the paperwork says. And even maybe Sept. or Oct. They are just guessing.
But oh, the attitude!! He makes these looks with his eyes and mouth (which makes me laugh) and if he doesn't get his way, he has a screaming tantrum. He not only screams, but he has the high pitched noise that I have never heard before. I am afraid that neighbours will call the police. When we are out in town, women and men yell at us, and ask "why is he crying?" What are you doing to him?" I guess African kids don't cry much. It is so embarassing!!

I'm trying to write what I wrote yesterday, before I lost connection and I lost 5 paragraphs. But I don't know If I remember. I am now at a internet cafe and Mike and Irakoze are wanting to leave.

Thank you for your messages and comments. It is nioce to hear from you. We feel cut off from the world.
Thank you Kelly for all the clothes. That was such a blessing. So far, they all pretty much fit. Also to Bev and Amanda.

We have been very blessed here, with meeting people to help us. Our first day here, we were at the cafe (like starbucks) and it was late and dark ( and in Africa, it gets pitch black) our waitress helped us get a taxi and negotiated it to be cheap. (you have to negotiate the taxi fare or you will get ripped off) and know we are friends with her. We went into a store to ask where we can use a computer and she said to come behind the counter, you can use mine. She then told us where to find a church. We then went to church and made connections there as well. We then met a lady at the Minister of Family (Gov. Office) and she has been taking us around and giving us a lot of tips. We are going to meet up her again.

The african people for the most part are very friendly and think that us adopting is great. However we get about one or two comments a day that he cannot be our child, and that it's not right. "no, he is black, he is not your child" or they will ask me "is the father black?"

Thanks to Kathy (and Julie) so much for the townhouse. What a blessing!!! Kathy, you have been such a blessing. Thank you for all you've done :)

Please continue to pray for Immigration and IraKoze's Visa. I don't know how long they are going to keep us here.

Well, Mike and Irakoze really wants to go now. Bye for now.

Bonding is Happening

I never thought the bonding would be so difficult. It is! Last night, I tried to put him to bed - he srceamed blue murder, for about 15 mins. Then Mike came in the room, he stopped and within 10 mins, he was asleep. Then, I cried for 20 mins. I am so, so glad he has bonded with Mike.....

Sorry guys but I am finishing this post started by Marcy as she wrote this huge post on a computer that some visiters let us borrow, and it erased most of what she wrote :(

Marcy is having a very hard time of it as Jaxon seems to have a selective club of people he will let in. For example, the people who have been staying with us had 3 daughters 9 and under. He would only let the oldest girl even touch him. He loved playing with her but if either of the other girls tried to play with him he would have a fit. He seems to be warming up to Marcy with each day, but it is very hard to see her hurt as he has attached to me like she would want him to her. I try to give them more and more time alone together to hopefully form that bond.

I got home at noon and Marcy said that Jaxon said "Mama". :) I pray the walls will come down quickly.

The first night he was great! Went to sleep and slept through the night. The problem was that about 2:30 he started to move, and move and move. Not much sleep happened after that for us.
Pretty tired yesterday. Jaxon had a pretty good day although we have found out the hard way that he doesn't like his diaper changed and he doesn't like baths. Screams blue murder!! And everyone within earshot (especially when we are on the town) yells at us or gives us a naste stare. Rather embarrassing, as it seems our African child is the only one that cries, or so the people seem to imply.

Last night we had a playpen for him to sleep in and so the night was so much better for Marcy and I. He slept through the night and when we woke up at 6:30 Jaxon was standing quietly in the pen just waiting for us :)

I hate to cut this short but I am already very late getting back to Marcy and Jaxon. We may try swimming tomorrow??? Until tomorrow then.

Praise God!!!

I didn't read all of what Marcy said yesterday, but yesterday when we went to the minister's office to inquire about our final letter the minister's assistant suggested that we might not get Jaxon because there was suggestion in our documents that the mother is still out there somewhere and that the police report would not be enough. It took the wind out of us for a moment, but then we reminded ourselves that God is in control and not this lady. We prayed and then carried on with our day. A lady, whom I am convinced God put in our pathway, called this morning and told us that a connection she has in the minister's office texted her and said our documents were ready. She picked us up right away and we all went together to the minister's office. We got there and as we were told they were ready for us.

One problem though......our names were wrong on the document :( Thank God this lady's contact came in and after some wrangling they typed up a new letter and got it signed. YAHHHH!! PRAISE GOD!!!! We went to the orphanage and picked up, now wait for it..........OUR SON!!! And we don't have to take him back.

He was in a much better mood after a good nights sleep and he is at this moment at the house with Marcy. I snuck out for an hour because he still has a little trouble with me being away from him, but he is getting better. I promised Marcy that I wouldn't be long so, thank you for all your prayers. Please continue to pray for our first night sleep with Jaxon, for the passport (should get tomorrow) and the visa in Nairobi.

Talk again tomorrow.
Mweregwe

It's all coming back to me now!!

Once you've been in Africa, you never forget Africa. It's not that I did forget, but when you come back, and see the view, the people, smell the smells, memories just flood back. It is taking some adjusting. The first couple of days were hard, but I'm getting there. I never grew up a city girl, but I have become one. And city girls don't do well in Africa. lol The Geckos crawling on the walls in your house, dead birds in the bedroom, dead dogs on the side of the road(that was there for days before someone picked him up). The language barrier has been tough, but we are learning. And also getting around town is a challenge. We walk or get taxis. A lot of the taxis are motorbikes, you should see it, they drive CRAZY-no such thing as a center line. The first day, Mike and I decided to walk to this cafe (it is starbucks times 10 - not kidding!!) and my calves still hurt. They don't call this the land of a thousand hills for nothing. It is gorgeous here. I am now filling my longing or homesickness for Africa since Malawi 15 years ago. Africa should be a place for everyone to visit at least once. I am glad my son is from such a special land. :)

The food is very, very expensive. We bought a package of weiners for $10, 500g of dry macaroni for $9, very small mustard for $5, cereal is $15, etc. Coke (as in pop) and bread is cheap. Hence the term "coke and a bun" is a very good idea. We ate this every day in Malawi. So if I walk all the hills and not eat much - it'll be a good weight loss program!! lol

(by the way, I should tell you, this is Marcy - Mike has written every other post. So hello (or "Jambo" to all my peeps) lol

SO... do you want to hear about our son?? I've kept you waiting. He is a great little kid. We visited him at the orphanage on Sat for an hour. We picked him up on Sun morning and took him to church and kept him for all day. He was so good. He was actually stunned and in shock, but very good. He took food from us and we got one smile from him. We picked him up today (mon), and he cried all morning, so we took him back to the orphanage and just played with him there in his environment. The poor little guy is confused. He laughed a couple of times today at the orphanage, but then it is almost if he caught himself laughing, and suddenly stopped, and became serious again. The kicker is he is a "daddy's boy"!!! Big time. He wants nothing to do with me. It's sad, but I know that it will come with time. At least he is bonding with one of us. If Mike leaves the room , he screames. And if Mike is holding him and I try and take him - he screams!!
He is the happiest when we give him food. And it's different food than he receives at the orphanage. We gave him a sippy cup and he holds onto that for dear life. They have nothing for themselves at the orphanage, and very few toys. When we drop him off, we take his sippy cup and toys, because the other kids will want them. There are SO many kids there, waiting for a home. It is sad, but I am glad that the orphanage is giving them a home.

Well, I have to go, thank you for your prayers. Please keep praying, because Immigration says his Visa will not be done in the 2 weeks. But we serve and love a God that can work miracles, and we have put this in his hands. It has been a struggle this whole journey, God has been faithful, and I will continue to trust God, to help us the rest of this journey. His name "Irakoze" means "thanks to God"

Half Way There!

It is 8:30 am back home and Marcy and I are now sitting in Heathrow Airport in London :)

Can't see much from in here, but we are here. I have seen a great deal of the city (from the plane :\ ) . The flight was good, but tough to sleep in those tight spaces. First class booths looked very appealing.

Next stop is Niarobi, but probably won't have time to hunt for a computer.

I think those goose/butterflies are getting bigger.

Big thanks to Carol and Trevor ( and the fam) for taking us to the airport.

Well, Cheerio and all That. Tah

6-5-4-3-2......

Two hours and counting before blast-off!

As the song goes, "I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again." It is still hard to believe. We have been so busy getting ready over the last few days that we didn't have much time to really think about it. Except, when we were trying to sleep.

Now that we are done doing all the running around and packing the reality of the adoption is starting to over-flow. I feel like I have butterflies the size of canadian geese flying around in my stomach. I mean, in a little over a day we will be in Rwanda, and a couple of days after that we will have our son. WOW! CRAZY! Whooow, down boy, down! Tried to fly out my throat there.

Next time I put up a post we will be in Rwanda. Be talkin' to you soon.

Bon Voyage!

Our departure date is set and our tickets bought, we are on our way ready or not. :D

Yes, it is true we have our tickets to go to Rwanda. We are set to leave this coming Wednesday evening and should arrive in Rwanda Friday morning. We could have left this Sunday, but we would have killed ourselves trying to have everything ready to go. Especially with it being a long weekend and all.

I don't know if it is because we have been mad-atter (my own word for trying to get so much done) or what but it feels so unreal as yet. Marcy says she is ecstatic, nervous, stressed, and a few other things all at the same time. I'm not sure what I am at this point. Maybe once we are on the way to the airport. :\

SO MUCH TO DO YET BEFORE WE LEAVE!

Thank you all for your prayers. Please continue to pray that flights will go well (all our luggage arrives with us) paperwork all gets were it needs to go, and that it will all be processed quickly causing no delays.

Talk to you again soon before we leave.

SAY WHAT?

We don't know whether to laugh or cry today.

You may have noticed that there is a picture of a different little boy where Jaxon's used to be.
Our lawyer e-mailed us this morning to tell us that she had the police declaration and was taking it to the minister tomorrow, and then she said, "there is a problem."

We thought, "here we go again, what now?"

She went on to explain that the orphanage made a mistake and that they took the picture of the wrong child to send to us and that they were very sorry. :(

Apparently there was another boy with the same first name and the nun grabbed the wrong one from his nap. The picture that is posted now is, as far as we know, the right little boy. Say Hi to the real Jaxon, we hope.

All you can do is laugh at this point ovber all this craziness. God what next?

Just a taste II

Mwaramutse, Hello again.

Well, since we talked last we found out that the minister wanted the police declaration after all.

Welcome to our world!

So, the police went out yesterday and did an "investigation" and they didn't find anyone. The police then wrote the letter to give to the minister. :D

Can the celebrations begin??? Until the minister gives us the green light, as you can understand, we will be cautiously optomistic. Hopefully tomorrow we can book our tickets XXXXX (fingers crossed).

This is just the latest of the many things that have happened in the last year through this process. Not sure what God is trying to teach us exactly, but we continue to put it in his hands and trust in Him.

Murabeho for now.

Just a Taste

It has been a week since our last post and, just to give you all a little taste of the roller-coaster ride we have been on through this whole process, yet another dip in the ride.

Once we got the court decision we thought all that was left to do was to buy our plane tickets and off we would go. This was not to be the case, however. Our lawyer in Rwanda sent us an e-mail saying that there was no police declaration that Jaxon was an orphan. The police declaration is a letter signed be the chief of police stating that they have done an investigation into seeing if they can find any living relatives or not. If they do then we can't adopt Jaxon. If they don't then he is officially an orphan. She told us that we would have to speak to the police to get them to do the investigation into whethter or not either of the parents could be found.

Yes, we were shocked as well.

All sorts of things were going through our minds as you can imagine. Needless to say we did not book our tickets this week. Instead we spent the week trying to get answers as to what we should do next.

Finally, on Thursday night we called and spoke to our lawyer ( 2:00 am ) and she told us that this same thing happened to another couple last week, and when they went to the police they were told that because there was a new police chief they were not looking into any cases of children orphaned over a year ago. They could not get a police declaration. They then went to the minister and explained their situation and the minister gave them their final letter.

Our lawyer said that she would take a letter to the minister explaining about the police declaration and that we could then call the minister a couple of days later to get her response.

Please pray that the letter will be well received by the minister and that we will get a favorable answer. Once we get this then we can buy our tickets.