Happy New Year!

I just wanted to say Happy New Year to everyone. I will be leaving for Florida in 3 days and 4 hours! Then on to Haiti to get Lilly. This will be Brandons first time seeing his baby girl. I will try to update the blog as often as possible. I do not know when we will be home to Utah. We are hoping in two weeks. This is my favorite picture of Lilly so I thought I would share it. I hope everyone has a safe and blessed 2007.

Heidi

9 more days!

Only 9 more days until we get our little Princess! I am getting very excited. Look at how her hair is growing! Soon I will need to know how to braid it. She does look a bit healthier too.

Going to get Lilly!!

The time has finally come. We will be traveling on January 4, 2007 to Haiti to pick up Princess Lilly. We should be there for 2-3 weeks and then she will come home with us. I am very excited to finally be reunited with my daughter. Finally, we will be together.

1 more

New pictures of Lilly

These pictures were taken by another mom who was in Haiti last week. Soon we will be with her. They are saying the end of this month!

surgery update

As some of you know I had surgery last week. I just wanted everyone to know that I am doing fine. Resting up and saving my energy for the Disney trip and to go get Lilly.
We are waiting to hear a more comcrete date of when we can go pick her up. Hopefully by the end of December.

update

I heard from the agency today. There has been a step added to the hHaiti process. We are still hoping to go for Christmas but it may be January. One of the mom's went to visit her babies last week. She said Princess Lilly is being spoiled as usual.

1 Year since LID

I never thought I would be sitting here without Rory tonight. Funny how the last year has changed so much. It will probably be another 6 months until I see her precious face. A year ago we were so excited. Going thru what we thought was our last Holidays without her.
Now a year later we know that there is nothing certain. Nothing except that God will make things turn out just perfect.
In May of this year, when we thought we would see Rory for the first time, I was looking online just playing around on adoption sites. And then I saw her. The most gorgeous child I had ever layed Eyes on. I knew right then why the timing wasn't right for China yet. If we were at the place we thougt we would be I would not have found my Lilly. The bright spot in these past few months. Someone I cannot picture my life without.
Even though this wait is hard and we want Rory home as soon as possible. I know that God intended for us to have both these beautiful angels. Just in his own time. We look forward to this next year with excitement and curiosity. I no longer think constantly of only what my experience in it will be but the experiences of my daughters. How they will have their lives changed this year in ways they could never have imagined. Sisters from around the world.

New Pics

These pictures were taken last week by Lisa who was visiting Lilly's Orphanage. Thank you Lisa! I can't wait to see Lilly soon!

Lillian Chrystelle is 1 year old!!!

Happy birthday princess Lilly. We miss you.

Our little peanut

Hi everyone. We are still waiting on Lilly's visa it will be another 3 to 7 weeks. Let's just hope the first week in Dec. We got her height and weight today. She is 23 inches long and 11.5 pounds. Great for a small 6 month old. She turn 1 in 5 days!!! We will talk to the doctor about it but I am sure she will grow once she is home. A friend of mine is picking up her daughter this week. The beautiful Valencia Jade is finally going home to Maine. We are so happy for her. Also we are eagerly awaiting new pictures of Lilly. We have not recieved any since the begining of September.
No news on China. I think it will be at least another 6-8 months if not longer.

WE ARE OUT OF IBESR!!!!

Ok our biggest hudle is over. The Hatian office that decides if you can adopt a speciific child (Lilly) has said that we can. We now apply for the Visa. They have decided that we should apply for a regular visa. This means she must be doing ok physically. This is a prayer answered. She should be home in about 4 to 6 weeks. Pray that it is home as soon as possible. It is a good day!

Poll results so far

ok Here goes,


Refferal // Rory's age at refferal

Me April // 7 mos.
Brandon Feb // 8 mos.
Randy April // 9.5 mos.
Aunt Barb March // 8 mos.
Aunt Katie May // 9.5 mos
Raquelle June //
Jenny Krebs Feb. // 8.5 mos.
Jennifer (new) Feb. // 11.5 mos.
Janet // 9.5 mos.
Kodak // 13 mos.
Salem // 12 mos
Conner (Michelle) Jan // 9 mos.
Emily (Michelle) March // 7 mos
Steph April // 11 mos.
Dianne April // 9 mos

Still Waiting

Audrey called today and we are still waiting for 1 more signature. Then we wait for the Visa. It is looking like we will miss her first birthday. This makes me very sad. I know she will not know the difference but I know. She will not get to look at herself smashing a cake on her 1st birthday. We will of course celebrate later. Just wait until next years birthday. Hopefully she will be home by Thanksgiving. They keep saying it won't be long but it feels very long. She is back at the orphanage. Marie (the director) says she seems to have put on a few pounds.
In other news we know nothing about China. We are now taking random guesses. I think we will go to China in July of next year. Maybe I will start a poll.


POLL

Ok Rory will be 7 months old at her refferal and we will go get her in July. When she is 9 months old.

Anyone else care to guess? You can just post in comments or I can post them here if you email me your guess. i need to pass time.
Heidi

Closer to getting Lilly!!

Hi everyone. Well I had a very busy but fun weekend. My cousin is now married and on her Honeymoon. My family threw me the most beautiful shower. I will post pics soon. I got so many presents. I had to leave 3 suitcases full for my parents to bring out at thanksgiving. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE!!! It was such a wonderful shower. It had a book theme. The girls are definitly going to be spoiled.
This morning Audrey from TFN called. The woman that is in IBESR temporarily has been told she can sign out 7 files. Lilly is one of them!!! Yeah!!! We also heard from Marie that we should be out on Friday, Monday or Tuesday!!!! I am so happy. Then we can apply for the medical visa. We are told that should take a week possibly two!!! Then our baby can come home!!! They think she may need surgery on her intestins. We have a doctor here for her and when she comes home he will be giving us a refferal to a specialist who has delt with Haitian adopted children with intestinal problems before. I really feel she will recover from whatever she has.
Anyway my husband is off from work next Friday the 20th till at least the 25th but can get more time if he needs it. My last day at work is next monday so we are thinking that we will fly tp Haiti sometime between the 20th and the 25th and just wait it out. We are waiting to hear more from Audrey tomorrow but it may finally be getting close.

Lilly Update

We are officially in IBESR!!! Our # is 15041!!!! IBESR is the haitian government office that signs off on the papperwork. Once thru this Lilly Will get her new birth certificate!1 It will list Brandon and I as her parents!! It will also say Lillian Chrystelle Rain Smith. Yeah!!! Audrey said that Marie expects her file to be out in 10-15 days. The doctor wrote letters, as did we to expedite her file so we just are praying it works. Then we will either get a medical visa or a regular visa whichever comes first. I am hoping we can pick her up in 3 to 4 weeks at the most. She is still in the hospital and will remain there until we can get her home. But Marie said she is doing better. Keep praying everyone.
Heidi

updates

Not much news here. We are waiting to hear if Lilly will be expedited or not. There are a couple children going home to there forever families this week at Lilly's Orphanage. Congratulations everyone!! It is so nice to see them finally going home. We did get some new pictures of her. I will try to post them soon. She looks good in them. This has made the director quite busy though so we have not gotten anywhere this week. Audrey from the agency we are adopting Lilly thru is going to Haiti next wednesday so I hope to hear more then.
Nothing new in China. We are still not expecting to travel at this rate until next summer. It is all this way for a reason though. I have a feeling Lilly may require some spoiling upon her arrival.

We are out of REVIEW!!!!

We just heard that we are out of the review room in China!!!! This is a huge relief. One step closer to Rory. Basically it means that China has reviewed our Dossier and sees us fit to be parents. Yahoo!!!! This actually makes me feel a little better.

Also in other news Princess Lilly has a chariot!! My mom and sister surprised me with a new stroller. It is pink and grey and only weight 12 pounds, just like Lilly!! It is perfect for travel. I can't wait until it arrives. I love it. Thanks Mom and Katie!!

And finally yesterday we got a new family member. A new baby kitten. Brandon says she is a worker. She will take care of our fall mouse problem...it has not started this year yet. She is a caloco tabby mix. We are trying to decide on a name. We are probably going to go with Minnie. She is very fiesty and is quite funny to watch. She definatly keeps me occupied.
Wishing everyone ahappy labor day.
Heidi

Fever is gone!!

We just heard thday that Lilly is out of the hospital...and has no fever right now. (Thanks Steph!!!) Hopefully the paperwork is speeding along. But as you know...its tough to get information out of Haiti.


Brandon

Update

Well China did a whole 9 days of refferals this month at this rate Lilly will be three when she meets her sister. I am sure God has a plan here but I cannot help but be frustrated with China. Don't they care about those babies???
Lilly is still at the Orphanage. She has had a fever off and on and so they are doing more tests. We need them to help with expediting her paperwork. She really just needs to be home. How much more testing can that little body handle? We were told that the director would have more information on Monday.
Meanwhile Brandon and I have cashed in some Frequent flier miles and some DVC points and booked a trip to WDW with my family for christmas. I am obsesively planning trying to ocupy my time. We heard yesterday that Alexei will be able to join us for part of it. We are hoping that she will be able to meet Lilly for the first time on the trip. Please please please let that baby be home by then. I really feel that once she is home she will get better quick. So if she can be home by November then she should be fine. Anyway this is what I keep telling myself.

Lilly update

We got news today that they are expediting our file in Haiti. This is great news however it is Haiti. So the director of the orphanage thinks that she will be home sometime in November or December. We just need to pray that Lilly can hold on that long. She is having a sonogram of her stomach tomorrow. I will let everyone know when we hear something.

Getting our girls

Hi everyone...

We learned today that Lilly has Botulism...which is contracted from the Clostriedium bacteria. Does anyone have experience with infant botulism?? If so...please let us know...or email me privately at brandon.smith@noaa.gov

Thank you!!!

News

I got a message from the family network today. Audrey there told me good and bad news. First Lilly has a bacterial infection in her stomach.could be anywhere from a week to 6 months in Haiti time. Audrey wanted to make sure we were prepared. HAHAHA Obviously we want her home tomorrow. We need to get her to her pediatrician and get her on some good medicine. I will be sure to keep everyone updated. This caused her to have a fever again. She went to the doctor yesterday. They said that she does not need to go back today. The good news is that because of this they are trying to get her paperwork expedited so she can come home as soon as possible. That Please pray that she can come home soon.
Heidi

Dossier in Haiti

We got confermation last Friday that our Dossier made in safely to Haiti. Now we wait to get into IBESR. that then takes about 4 to 10 months. Yes I know that is a long time. At that point Lilly will legally be ours!!! After that we wait for her visa. usually a month or so. As we know Haiti is not the fastest place on the planet. We could use alot of prayer that the process goes smoothly and is on the shorter end. Basically we could have Lilly home anywhere from 6 months to a year. I hate the thought of it taking a year.
China still has nothing to report. We are waiting to see the next batch or 2 of refferals to decide if we are going to join my sister and my parents at Disneyworld in Dec. I am about ready to just book it. I really don't feel that we will have Rory by the end of the year. There are always those rumors that they are speeding up though. I'll believe it when I see it.
Heidi

Dossier

We have turned in our complete Dossier for Lilly today!!! Now we have to wait. Hopefully it will be on the short side.

9 months old

Lilly is 9 months old today. I hope she is having fun today. I miss her.

News

Not alot to report. China did do some referals this week. They haven't changed the CCAA website though. There are so many rumors and speculations going on it is crazy. All we can do is pray that Rory is safe and is happy and that we will get our referal soon.
We are finished with the Haiti Dossier. It should be to Haiti sometime next week. PRAY that it doesn't get lost or something. We really need to get our babies home.

Rock Star Baby

Baby Jean

Jenny I finally got the one of Jeff to work. He is looking at you and Todd!!!!

I miss those littlle fingers.

I don't have any new news. We are still not finished with the dossier. It should go out soon though. Maybe a week??? Haiti is not such a safe place these days. Not that it ever was, but the amount of kidnappings in July are more than all of 2005. So we are not sure if we will go to see Lilly in October as we had planned. We are waiting to see what happens.

China has not kept to a year. They have not done a thing since they did the batch a month ago and the rumers are not good that they will finish July this week. I guess you could say that I am a bit sad this week. I just want my babies home.

Princess Lilly

The kids

My buddy Yveline

A sea of munchkins

Valencia Jade

Pictures from Haiti

Who is the crazy lady???

Maybe she's ok.

Do you like my new dress?

Home

We are home from Haiti. I miss my little princess so much. It is so hard everytime I look at the clock I think about what she should be doing right now. I know her nanny loves her as she loves her. I know she is being cared for. I just want her home though. We are almost done with our dossier. We ran into a few delays but now it should go smoothly. We should have it in by the first week of August. Then we wait....
China seems to be in exactly the same place as before we left. There are all sorts of rumers going around about wait times. I am ignoring all of it. I am to the point where it doesn't matter. They will eventually get to us. I am still hoping it is by Christmas but I would be surprised.

Last day thoughts

Hi,

Well we have made it to the last day in Haiti. I am very sad to leave my baby girl. After the garbage and the rodants, the gangs and the bugs I cannot say I am not happy to get to my nice home. The povery here is startling. In the few days we were here we ran intro 4 babies that people were giving to orphanages trying to get into an orphanage or had AIDS and could not be placed. It has been an eye opener and I think I am a better person for it. The rodent thing probably made me stronger. The people here are beautiful and very kind and proud. They are more than willing to help in any way they can. Overall I am glad we came.
I love my daughter so much and I do not know how I will leave her tomorrow. I will come back in a few months and she will have grown so much. But that beautiful smile will be the same and those big brown eyes. She looks very different from her photo on Rainbow kids. Someone asked is that the same baby. I laughed and said that I was absolutly sure that it was my Lilly. I could never replace that smile.

Greetings from Haiti

These are some pictures of Lillian Chrystelle with her elephant. She is giggling in the first picture. There is a man at Wall's that let us use his computer and camera to post this. Thanks Kermit! We will try and send more tomorrow. She had her first chocolate cake today. Mom I think we may have another chocohalic on our hands. The people here are so nice. Very helpful. I bought a carved elephant for the baby today. Miss everyone.
Heidi

Hello from Haiti

Hello everyone. I met Chrystelle today. She is so beautiful. Great big eyes. She is very tiny maybe 10 pounds she doesn't sit up yet but she can hold her head up. She has a mohawk. It is so cute. I love it. I will post pics as soon as I can.

We are leaving fpr Haiti!!!

Wow we are leaving tomorrow morning. I am very excited to take this journey. We are finished packing. I am going to meet my daughter! I don't think it has sunk in yet though. It is a very surreal feeling. I will try to keep this updated while in Haiti. We will be in Florida tomorrow night and by 10am on Thursday I will be with Lillian Chrystelle Rain Smith!!!! That child will probably think I am the strangest thing she has ever seen. Little does she know her mother.
The most recent news is that she is doing very well at the orphanage and she is eating and eating...they said they can't believe how well she is eating. I can believe it she is a member of this family and even if she doesn't know it food will be a very big part of her life.
Well, the next time I post Dianne and I will be in Haiti. Please pray for a safe and wonderful trip.

1 week from today

Wow, in exactly 1 week from now I will be holding Chrystelle. It is hard to grasp. I guess I need to start getting everything together. I cannot believe that I will be in Haiti. It is funny where God takes you in life. I had thought for the past year or so that I would be in China this summer. Haiti had never crossed my mind. Had we been in China though who knows if I would have found Chrystelle. God definitly works in his own way.

This is my favorite picture of my gorgeous step-daughter Alexei. She is not so patiently awaiting for her sisters to come home.

The first time we saw her face!

This is the Picture I first saw of Chrystelle. We love that what Birthmother named her. She chose a beautiful name. I cannot imagine looking at that beautiful smile for 6 months and then having to give her up. I know that it must have been the hardest thing she has ever had to do. We are planning on naming her Lillian Chrystelle Rain. We have always thought of her as our Lilly but we couldn't bare to take away her mothers gift of her name, so we use both. Rain means abundant blessings from above. If you know a little about our Princess you know that she was very sick after her mother left. There have been many times that we were unsure of weather or not we were going to lose her. The Lord has held her in His hand though out all of this. She is now doing well. She is back at the orphanage and they say she is getting better every day. Her blessings as well as ours are very abundant.

Shopping

Today we went shopping for Haiti. Only 9 days until we leave. I am so excited. I got the baby a few outfits this weekend. I am taking 3 to 6 months because they keep telling me she is so thin. Dianne, my friend who will be traveling with me, bought a ton of diapers. It is getting close now. Getting our girls

We bought a miniivan!

Ok so we are currently adopting two little girls. Lillian Chrystelle Rain from Haiti and Aurora Grace from China. We are so excited. I am taking my first visit trip to meet baby Chrystelle in only 10 days. She will be 8 months old on July 2, 2006. I can hardly believe it. I am going to Haiti!!!
We are still waiting for our refferal for Rory. Our LID for china is Nov. 9, 2005. We should be getting it in Nov. But who knows with China. We keep our fingers crossed.
This blog is the story of our journey to our little girls.
Today we bought a minivan. It is crazy I think the minivan makes you a Mom. HAHA,