The excitement is simply bubbling over right now!!!! I can’t
believe it, but the countdown has begun and the planning is in full force. I am
running from one activity to another and in all of the in-between moments, I am
soaking up snuggles with Aftyn, Haley and Aiden. Not only am I working on
packing for the trip to Haiti, I am finalizing plans with three fabulous women
for a retreat at our church, leading thirteen 5th graders through a
week of vacation bible school, packing 800 snacks for vacation bible school in the
mountains of Haiti, packing for our kids to stay at their aunt and uncles for
when we are gone to Haiti. And just to round out the craziness…we are headed
out of town this weekend to camp with two families from our church!!! So pretty
much…life is fabulous…but it is crazy.
After the little ones are tucked into their beds at night,
it is my time to flit around the house and prepare for the twins to come home.
I listen to praise music and pull out the supplies that we will need. I have
stacks of little socks, shoes, shorts, jeans and snuggly fleeces all laid out
and prepared to pack. I set out the twins’ teddy bears on their beds and
vacuumed their room one final time. I can’t wait to see their little footprints
smooshed into the carpet. I polished the fridge today and look forward to the
tiny finger prints that will decorate it soon! These are the things that I
think as I am preparing my nest.
The countdown has begun….but is difficult to know what
number to use. It is THREE days from our departure date for Haiti. It is FOUR
days from the time we will be reunited with the staff and children at the Mission
Haiti orphanage. It is FIVE days from our mountaintop experience at Toussaint,
Haiti working with the children and staff there. It is TEN days from being
dropped off at the orphanage and being reunited with the twins!!!!! This is the
GOTCH DAY that adoptive families speak of. It is the first day of the rest of
our lives together! And then finally, we are ELEVEN days from arriving home to
reunite our family at the Sioux Falls Airport!!!!! Unbelieveable. (I get choked
up just typing this.)
We are thrilled to tell you that we are anticipating an
incredible homecoming that night at the airport! I know I shared this already,
but we welcome all of our family, friends, coworkers and prayer supporters to
join us there. We will be arriving from Chicago on American Airlines Flight #3469
at 5:20 pm. We are asking that all people wait for us at the bottom of the
escalator. (Except for our kiddos, Craig’s immediate family and my immediate
family, and some photographers.)
As we are traveling home that day, we will have access to Facebook
and will keep you all posted if there is any change in our plans or if we are
delayed in any way. We plan to greet the people at the airport but want to
gently remind everyone that the boys are going to likely have quite an
overwhelming day. They will be experiencing many things for the first time. We
are not sure what their reaction will be but want to be certain that everyone
remembers my blog from October of 2013 that gave a bit of insight into the
first few months home for us. It will be a time of cocooning with our boys. A
time when Craig and I (and eventually our kids) will be the only ones holding
them, feeding them, changing them and tucking them in at night. We will be the
only ones to kiss their owies and attempting to help them with their fears. It
is a time of them learning that we are now in the role of Mama and Daddy.
Here is the blog discussing this a bit further:
Here is an excerpt from that blog that I think is
especially important to share with all of you:
“We will be cautious at first with visitors...we will
need to begin with close family only and then we will gradually progress to a
larger circle of friends when we feel the twins are ready for that. Believe me
when I say that when we come home with the boys, I will want to show off their
handsome faces to all of the people that have been praying us though...but we
have a responsibility to do this right...and we only get one shot at this.
Please, please do not be offended when we tell you that we can't let you hold
the twins for the first few weeks when they get home.
The twins missed out
on developmental stages that they would have naturally had if they would have
been in our family from day one. We need to be the ones to hold them, change
them, feed them and comfort them for a very long time. It is almost like
reversing the clock so we can give them all of the nurturing and love that they
missed. The twins are used to being independent and this might be a tough
transition for them. They will be learning how to be a part of our family.”
We also wanted to take this opportunity to share with
all of you that we were able to secure August 23, 2014 for the boys’ baptism
and for the official Welcome Home Party. It will be held at Abiding Savior Free
Lutheran Church from 3:00-5:00 pm. We will begin with the baptism and then will
have a time for socializing to follow.
Many people have asked how they can help us with the
transition with the twins and we are still learning what to expect. There are a
few things that we have thought of so far and would welcome help in these areas
if you are willing and able.
·
Prayer
for a smooth transition and successful bonding.
·
Meal
preparation-call in advance to arrange if possible.
·
Older
kiddo assistance as needed for transportation or outings (I would like to make
a list of people willing to assist with this if we need.)
·
Date
night assistance list as needed (for when we are able to break away for small
segments of time)
Your prayers are more important than ever as we are
preparing to travel and transition home. We can’t wait to introduce the twins
to all of you! Thank you for walking along with us as we journey down this
path!
Anticipating their arrival,
Rebecca
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