Haake Home

Haiti Mission Team Doing Well

2011-06-09T19:17:00.000-07:00

Mike's team at NWHCM has arrived and all are doing well. Today the team visited the mission's high school and a local prison. Tomorrow the team will go to the town of Ansefoluer where they will see a voodoo temple.

Abby and her walker

2010-02-28T12:49:00.000-08:00

Ruuska Village

2010-02-14T17:43:00.000-08:00

I had to post this video. I find it amazing. I think it may be the best journalistic piece I've seen covering the earthquake. The quality is film-like. I was somewhat shocked by the source. But if you think about it, they are not worried about skewing left so the story is presented with refreshing honesty (no UN lovefest here). It's a bit long but totally worth it.

This is the lady who facilitated our adoption. We stayed in her village for a time as well. She is an amazing woman and a miracle worker in our eyes.

True insight is woth a 1,000 journalists

2010-02-02T07:54:00.000-08:00

in-sight: The capacity to discern the true nature of a situation

Here is a quote from Tara Livesay, an adoptive mother and missionary in Haiti.

"I have been reading the news articles about a few of the real and/or perceived cases of children being taken illegally. There is a reason we've avoided the media as a general rule --- much of it is exaggerated, inflated, sensationalized and untrue. (And of course I wish that no one would do something illegal but I bet you we don't have the whole story.) They need stories for ratings so they can sell advertising at a higher price. That does not exactly set them up to report with integrity and total honesty.

Haiti is an incredibly difficult place. It was before the earthquake. Now it is difficult times ten. UNICEF would like you to believe that there are lots of "safe spaces" (whatever the heck that is) where they can put children. They want you to think that there is a great risk GREAT RISK of children being used for sex slaves and domestic servitude in the USA and other countries ... they want you to believe that Haiti is the safest place for them to be protected.

We have only been here four years plus a year of going back and forth a ton. BUT in these years I can tell you that we have seen horrific abuse of children. Neglect, sexual abuse, restaveks ---- it is rampant. Sexual crime is NOT a crime in Haiti.

For example A 30 year old man can have sex with a 8 year old girl here and there is no legal process for pressing charges. It is culturally acceptable. Working with women I can tell you that they do not control their own bodies. The men call the shots. In my neighborhood there are restaveks working at 5am sweeping the fricking street for the people they live with. There is no way in hell Unicef or any other yahoo that has not lived in this culture and seen it with their own eyes will EVER EVER EVER convince me that Haiti is a safer place for an orphan. Never. Also, sitting somewhere else and reading news stories that the media produces is not a good way to decide that UNICEF is good and on the up and up. The media has something to gain from making stories more dramatic. Unicef has something to gain by keeping orphans as orphans. No Orphans equals no Unicef afterall."

(Reposted from http://thehowertons.blogspot.com/)

Ronel's Story

2010-01-31T12:27:00.000-08:00

Read the story of this poor child named Ronel who was been orphaned and rejected by his government and about the blessed people who love him and are trying DESPERATELY to bring him home. And what is stopping the them, the US govt.'s willingness to kowtow to ridiculous and unnecessary paperwork required by the defunct Haitian govt. under the thumb of UNICEF.

http://thehowertons.blogspot.com/

Another perspecitve

2010-01-31T12:24:00.000-08:00

Read this guys great commentary on stinky, stinky, stinky UNICEF.

randybohlender.wordpress.com

Another perspective

2010-01-30T07:07:00.001-08:00

The Livesay's life's work is to serve the people of Haiti. Please check out their blog post about UNICEF. It is eye-opening.

http://livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/

Adoption IS the answer!

2010-01-29T07:31:00.000-08:00

What are blogs for if not to disseminate your wisdom to the world. I have been so hot and bothered by the ignorant and anti-adoption sentiments I have been seeing and reading coming from the government, news media and now popular media (Yes, I'm talking about you Dr. Phil). So here goes...

1. Adoption is NOT human trafficking. It is THE ANSWER to human trafficking. Stop painting adoptive parents with the same brush as pedophiles, pimps and slave dealers. Yes, surely children that are left in the hands of a government whose ability "to provide basic services and security for citizens, and to control rampant crime in the capital, Port-au-Prince,continues to be compromised by limited resources, an untrained and poorly equipped police force, entrenched government corruption, and perennially weak government institutions" as described by the US State Department, will certainly be at great risk for abduction and exploitation in the wake of a major disaster. The answer is not to turn these kids over to the ridiculous government leaders that they were born victims to in hopes that now in a crisis they will somehow prove themselves not to be the buffoons they've been for the last 200 years but instead for the US State Department to work closely with US based charities already on the ground to identify children in need of families and put as much pressure as humanly possible on the inept Haitian government to expedite these children to safe, loving and stable homes in this and other developed countries. This brings me to my next point.

2. Stop using the ridiculous and loaded term "true orphan." Now class, everyone close your eyes and imagine all the children you know in America who have two dead parents. Go ahead, I'll wait. I thought of one. He lives with his older sister. Now think of all the children that are in the foster system or have been adopted from this country or others who have at least one living parent who is either unable or unwilling to raise said child. I would need about 5 hands to count them all. So, why are we so hell-bent on using this standard of "true orphan" when referring to children who need a home and a family now, not in 3 or 4 years but now. Especially in the wake of the biggest disaster the country as seen in modern history. My son has two living birth parents. They starved him and left him for dead because he had cerebral palsy and was deaf. But they are very much still alive. Does that make ME a child trafficker for taking this child from his home country with their full knowledge, consent and participation. Of course not. "True orphan" is not the standard we use in America and should not be the standard we set for international adoption either. (*Note: When my son is old enough to read and understand this post, I will remove this entry. I would never describe his past situation to him in these raw terms although they are the truth.)

3. A word about the screening process for adoptive parents in the US... A "home study" is a rather expensive process that results in a 7-10 page document that gets sent to the Department of Homeland Security who fingerprints you with their fancy schmancy finger printing computer and matches it against the super duper database in Washington to ensure you are not some sort of terrorist or on a most wanted list. By the time the US Govt. waves its wand at you and calls you worthy you have had the following examined:

Your head (by a shrink)
Your heart, skin, lungs, and blood (by a doctor)
Your spirit (by a clergy member)
Your bank account (by the US govt.)
Your tax statements (by the IRS)
Your ability to provide a steady income (by your employer)
Your lack of criminal background and lack of sexual offenses(by the State Police)
Your character (by your friends and neighbors)
Your upstairs, downstairs, attic, basements, back yard, front yard, and closets (by a social worker)
Your vehicles(by a social worker)
Your family history and your current views on life, love, and parenting (by a social worker)
Your dog (by a veterinarian)

And I've probably forgotten something since this was a few years back. Point being, all these licensed and certified professionals have gotten together along with the secretary of state and the Haitian Embassy in the US (via a paid translator) to give you (literally) their stamp of approval. Let me tell you that stamp does not come cheap or easy. We are as transparent as one can be. We are not emotional light-weights who jump into this process blindly lead by our bleeding hearts. We are also not scheisters who have circumvented protocol to exploit the vulnerable. We are NOT the bad guys. Which brings me to my next point.

4. UNICEF sucks. Please do not allow your precious children to go out at Halloween time in their darling costumes and stump for this political organization that does not support the values that you hold dear. First of all, in case you have been living under a rock, UNICEF if part of the UN. 'Nough said. When I spent a great deal of time in Haiti, trying desperately to jump through the fiery hoops that lead to the receding finish line of bringing MY(the govt. had already granted us the adoption) child home I never once heard of any UNICEF clinics, orphanages, schools, literacy or vaccination programs. I did however, hear of UNICEF lobbyists in the government offices doing what they could do to foul up adoptions. UNICEF is anti-adoption, anti-religion, and anti-American. If they were truly dedicated to their mission to "advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential" they could not possibly run around the globe spending a great deal of their energies and big time bucks opposing adoptions. And I'm so sick of hearing "but they're a well-established organization." Well so is the KKK. In a CNN article out today (http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/01/29/haiti.restavek.sende.sencil/?hpt=Sbin), a young Haitian restavek (child slave) was rescued by some American doctors. Her captors were trying again and again to steal her back. She was obviously terrified of them. She was living in a hospital tent. A UNICEF worker came to her a day later and talked with her. The worker told her that she didn't need to go back with the captors if she didn't want to (thanks guys) and then they left her there in the tent again. When asked if she could be anywhere in the world right now, what was the girls reply? "America." Eventually they sent her away with a man that they thought was her actual father who was supposed to take her to her actual mother. An American doctor who was treating the girl said he wished they had waited till her mother came forward to claim the girl and bring her back home. Common sense right? Who knows if this girl will remain with her family who cannot care for her or go back into servitude again. Job well done UNICEF.

Whew, if you are reading this you have a great deal of perseverance. I probably could rant on but would it really help? If feels good to get this out and written down but I doubt it will help me sleep at night or any of the thousands or Haitian orphans who will sleep outside tonight. I have tried to contact the Secretary of the Bureau of Public Relations at the State Department to share with him my perspective. I'll let you know if he returns my call.

Cincinnati Children's Museum

2009-12-28T20:11:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2009

2009-12-26T11:43:00.001-08:00

Kerwin with his Dune Buggy

Big Blue Christmas!

Abby enjoying the gifts.

Look how I can stand up!

Kerwin loves his new clothes, shoes, googles, and Dune Buggy.

ASL Classes

2009-11-24T19:00:00.000-08:00

American Sign Language Classes

For beginners (all ages welcomed)
Thursday evenings from 7:00-8:15
January 21- March25

First Alliance Church Family Life Center
2201 Old Higbee Mill Road
Lexington, KY

Cost: $40.00/person
Please pre-register by January 7th
Contact Rebecca Haake at
rebeccahaake@hotmail.com

Busy Weekend and Annual Review

2009-11-16T17:50:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful but busy time this weekend. My cousin plays basketball at Lehigh University and her team was playing two games in Nashville this weekend. Additionally, UK (football) played against Vandy Saturday afternoon which was just icing on the cake. A whole host of Haakes and other family members descended on Nashville for a weekend full of fun and sporting events. We ended up 2 and 1 for the weekend. Lehigh beat Lipscomb by a decent margin, UK squeaked by Vandy and then Lehigh lost to Vandy on Sunday. My grandma flew in from Pennsylvania Thursday evening and is staying with us through Thanksgiving. It is wonderful to have her here in addition to my regular host of helpers.

Abby is absolutely adorable right now. She is scooting around backwards (she hasn't quite figured out the forward crawl yet) and trying to figure out how to go from crawling to sitting and back again. She's starting to babble (dada and teetee) and blows lots of raspberries. She also loves to hear herself yell. She is still fascinated with her wrists and does the "princess wave" all the time. She is just a joy to us all. Kerwin continues to have a good year at school. I am so impressed with his teacher this year. She is very no-nonsense. She lets the kids know exactly what is expected of them and she holds them to it. The first week of school Kerwin came home quoting the teacher: "Tina says, 'No socializing, pay attention to the teacher.'" He is making good progress in both his reading and math. Today was his annual review for his Individualized Education Program. It was hard to believe that we are on his third IEP. He has come so far in such a short amount of time.

Mike continues to be busy with taking a good deal of the responsibilities with Kerwin, teaching, coaching softball and leading a high school group on an annual mission trip to Haiti. I am working 2-3 days a week in a preschool. This is my third year there and I love my job. But I am always ready to rush home to the baby after work. It's stressful being a working(and breastfeeding) mom even if it is only part time. Mike and I have found the transition from 1 to 2 kids to be a very big one. As always we are so thankful for our supportive families. Until next time...

Back to Blogging

2009-10-29T19:33:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent pictures of the kids and I when we went out to LA to visit my sister.

With Abby now 6-months-old I find myself with more time for things like the computer, so I have been feeling the urge to pick the blogging back up again. We recently passed our two-year anniversary of bringing Kerwin home. I got nostalgic and went back to read many of my past blogs. It reminded me how much I loved having an online "diary" to help me remember things in the life of our family that I may otherwise forget with the passing of time. I think it will also be nice for the kids to be able to read when they get a little older.

So...quick update. Kerwin is in second grade. He is really liking his teacher and classmates and is improving his academic skills every day. He just finishd a season of baseball and football starts this weekend. He is walking mostly without his walker but still needs it in crowded places or for long distances. He still wears braces on his ankles and on his legs at night. His sign language is progressing wonderfully. He has long since passed us in his signing abilities. We are still taking classes but it has become a bit tougher with the baby. Speaking of the baby, she is as cute as can be. She is very social and loves to be outside or in busy places. She is a good baby and lots of fun. She is sitting up and tring to grab anything in her reach.

I took the kids out to Los Angeles to visit my sister on our Fall break. They were angels during our travels. It was a little harder once we got there and had to try to function with Abby still on Eastern time but we managed. We got to hang out with some old friends of mine from college which was great. I was so glad we got to see Rachel's new apartment. We also visited the Farmer's Market and Santa Monica pier. That's where the pictures were taken.

Kerwin has had 2 Halloween parties already and has 2 to go. I will try to post pictures after Trick or Treating but I'm having camera issues. Until then, enjoy my favorite season!!

Heading home

2009-07-31T03:46:00.001-07:00

We are just about to head to the airport here in Port-au-Prince. It has been an eventful last few days, we had VBS in the towns of Chansolme and Ansefoleur. On Wednesday we were supposed to take a boat to the island of Tortuga but the waves were too high so our trip was canceled. Our group instead worked around the mission: playing with babies, painting the new special-needs orphanage, and assisting with some surgeries. Please pray for our team as we travel because we had several people who were sick yesterday.

Good Sunday in Haiti!

2009-07-26T20:02:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! We had a great Sunday in Haiti. This morning we went to the mission church across the street. During Sunday school, everyone from our team shared a brief testimony or verse with the Haitians at church. Then half our team stayed in the church while I preached and then half our team lead children's church. Brenda from our group also interpreted for a group of deaf people from the community. The deaf people were very excited as this is the first time many of them have been able to come to church and understand what's going on. In the afternoon, we took the special-needs orphanage kids on a ride around the courtyard in a "train" here at the mission. They had a great time! And then later in the afternoon a group of Americans (including many from our group) here along with a few Haitians who work at the mission played an exhibition soccer game against a local professional soccer team. We were excited to only lose 4-1. Tomorrow we will be traveling to the city of Chansolme to do a VBS and deliver food.

the last couple days

2009-07-24T20:00:00.001-07:00

We have had an eventful last couple days. We visited the mission's orphanage, held a VBS for the deaf students, delivered food up in the mountains, worked in the baby and special-needs orphanage among many other things. Tomorrow we will be hiking to a waterfall to swim and then we will be going to church on Sunday. Everyone is healthy, doing well, and having a great time!

Hello from Haiti!

2009-07-21T20:05:00.001-07:00

Hello from Haiti! Everyone is doing well so far. Yesterday we rode the bus in and arrived at supper time. It rained very hard last night, but everyone got a good night's rest after a long day of travel. Today the group was involved in a variety of ministries at the baby orphanage, special-needs orphanage, and elderly home. Tomorrow we will be traveling to the mission's orphanage a few hours away. We had a great time at team devotion and everyone seems to be growing spiritually and getting plugged into the ministries here in Haiti. We will spending the night there tomorrow night and will return to the mission Thursday morning. The Internet has been sporadically working, but I will try to update when possible.

Pictures of the kids

2009-05-09T12:41:00.000-07:00

When my sister was in, she took beautiful pictures of the kids. I don't have time to upload them all here at the moment but you can see them on her blog at www.tylerandrachelhisel.blogspot.com. They are just adorable. Thanks, Rachel!

Abby at 2 days old

2009-04-17T09:09:00.001-07:00

1 more picture

2009-04-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

pictures

2009-04-16T15:52:00.001-07:00

Abigail

2009-04-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

Abigail was born this morning at 1:30 A.M. weighing 7 lbs. 2 oz. Mom and baby are doing fine and recovering. We will try to post some pictures soon.

Change of Plans

2009-04-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

I'm now scheduled to be induced tonight at 9:00. We'll accept any prayers you can give for us. Mike will update the blog soon. Maybe even with some pictures (hopefully none that are too embarrassing).

Baby News!

2009-04-11T16:15:00.000-07:00

I am scheudled to be induced Wednesday morning at 6:00 am. So we should have a baby by tax day.

Quick Kerwin Story

2009-04-03T08:33:00.001-07:00

Kerwin has continued to change, grow, and challenge us since the last time we blogged. But here is a cute story about how much he is learning. Because American Sign Language is not just English put to hand movements, it is a separate language with it's own syntax (sentence structure), it is difficult for deaf children to learn to read becuase they have to learn an entirely new language. So at school, Kerwin is learning ASL for communicating and English for reading/writing. He is learning how to write sentences with all thouse little words like articles and helping verbs. The other day, he got out of the shower and was putting on his clothes and looked at me with his look how smart I am look and signed: "I...is...cold." It was so cute. I praised him for making such a good English sentence and then correted his grammar. He is very proud of himself for learning so much. And so are his mom and dad!

In other news

2009-04-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

I had a doctor's appointment with ultrasound today. Everything looks fine. I'm still officially due in two and a half weeks and Abigail weighs about 6 lbs. 13 oz. So everything is looking good. So far I've had a smooth time of things. I now have extremely swollen feet and ankles but besides that am feeling pretty good.

I want to also say a big thank you to everyone who has thrown a baby shower for us, attended a baby shower or just given us wonderful gifts. We have received such a strong show of love and support from our friends and family. Of course, if you've been reading this blog for any time you would expect nothing different. We are so blessed and truly appreciative.

Random Writing

2009-04-03T08:24:00.000-07:00

This is a brief essay I wrote for a YMCA fundraising kickoff. The director of Kerwin's baseball league asked if I could come and speak but because it was right in the middle of a work day, there was no way I could make it work. So I wrote this instead. The event was eventually cancelled due to the ice storm so I thought I'd share the essay here:

When we brought our son Kerwin home from Haiti in October of 2007, we already knew he loved sports. On my very first trip to Haiti a year and a half earlier, I played a form of soccer with him as I held him up, dangling his atrophied legs over a ball so he could take a flailing kick at it. When we played with him at the mission where he lived from the ages of two to six, he would always head back to the storage closet to rummage through the box where they had a collection of balls and other sports equipment. He would search for the hand pump and begin to blow up a flat, second-hand basketball. As we waited in Haiti’s capitol Port-au-Prince for his passport to be granted, one of the first movies he learned to love was Air Bud.
Just through observing, Kerwin quickly taught himself to imitate the proper technique for shooting a basketball, swinging a bat, throwing a spiral, and diving to dig out a spike. He is a very athletic child and has great eye hand coordination. He also has spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy which mainly affects his muscle strength and control from the trunk down. He uses a rolling walker to get around most of the time. Kerwin also has severe to profound hearing loss.
When Kerwin was two years old, he weighed nine pounds and suffered from severe malnourishment and neglect. At five years old he was just beginning to pull himself up like a toddler beside tables and railings. Today he is a three-sport superstar in the Toyota Bluegrass Miracle League, the NFL Flag Football League, and the Jump Start Basketball League. Kerwin began playing baseball last spring and to say he loved it would be an understatement. It was the highlight of every week. Every night before bed we would talk about what the next day would bring. Kerwin quickly learned the signs for each day of the week and would say, “Monday, school. Tuesday, school. Wednesday, school. Thursday, school. Friday, school.” And then with great excitement, “Saturday, BASEBALL!”
We have been thrilled with the addition of the fall baseball league, the flag football league and the basketball league. Kerwin has been equally excited about each one. It is wonderful for us as well, his parents, grandparents, family and friends, to get to watch him participate in something he loves so much that we do not have to initiate, assist in, or make sure that appropriate accommodations are made. As a parent of a special needs child, you spend so much of your time and energy advocating for your child. What a blessing it has been for us to participate in these adapted programs that are well-organized, well-thought out, and well-run. From our whole family, we would like to say a huge thank you to the YMCA for its support of athletic opportunities for children with special needs.

Rebecca Haake
January 24, 2009

We're back!

2009-04-03T08:01:00.000-07:00

First, let me make my feeble excuse as to why I haven't blogged in, oh let's just say a few weeks. After the ice storm, the wireless internet that was so freely coming to our home stopped coming and we have had to seek out other places to use the internet. This means I check my email and things like that at work and at my parents but don't really have the ability to sit down in the evening and write these high-quality posts that you are so accustomed to. Surely, I jest. Point is, I've been too busy (lazy) and cheap to actually get internet access permanently installed at our house. So anyway, my sister has been bugging me to put up some pictures from Kerwin's birthday which was back in February so here goes.

These are from our family party at my parent's house.

Pictures from his birthday party at the "Fun Center"

Ice Storm 2009

2009-01-28T14:39:00.000-08:00

School has been off here since Monday so Mike and I both have been off work. Kerwin's school technically never closes because they have residential students who are there on campus so the teachers have to come in for those kids. So Monday we drove Kerwin down to school since his bus wasn't running. He ended up having a good time. We came and visited his classroom for the last hour of the day. He was excited to have us there. We knew Tuesday would be worse weather-wise and it was so we all stayed home together all day yesterday and didn't go anywhere.

Well, last night during the first half of the UK game, we were all snuggled up on the couch under blankets watching the Cats lose to Ole Miss and then our lights flickered on and off several times and then went completely off. We had a feeling it might happen because we had seen the green glow of an electrical box blowing earlier in the evening and we had a heavy coat of ice on everything. So I had gotten the candle lighter out and ready and sure enough, we needed. So we lit every candle in the house and set about packing to head to the place were the power never goes out: my parents' house. Even in the great ice storm of 2003 when Mike and I lost power for 5 days, my parents' house was toasty and warm the whole time. Well just getting packed was a challenge and then getting our car de-iced all while sliding around on a skating rink and getting rained on. Plus Mike's started having really bad back pain yesterday so he is doing all this while barely able to move. So here are some pictures from the icy part.

We spent the night at my parents' house and got up this morning to find that even UK was closed today. So my mom took the day off and we all stayed home together. Then around 9:50 the second round of winter precipitation hit but this time it was big beautiful snowflakes. So here are pictures from the snowy part.

Check out the sled Kerwin is using. It was my dad's when he was a little boy. It actually worked pretty well because we had the right combination of ice covered by snow.

When I Grow Up

2009-01-22T19:00:00.000-08:00

On the way home from physical therapy, Kerwin began to tell me all the things that he was going to do when he grew up. He has recently been interested in how old Daddy is and talking about being 29. His ideas were so cute. I told him when we got home we should write his ideas down in a story. So this is what we came up with. I wrote the text below the pictures in case you can't read them.

When I am 29, the same age as Daddy, I will coach basketball. Mommy and Daddy will sit up in the stands and watch me coach and they will cheer. My job will be a teacher.

I will drive a red truck and my dog will sit in the back with the tailgate up. The red truck will be big. Also I will be a farmer. The farm will be close by. It will have horses, cows and cute baby horses, girls and boys. The cows wil be named JK and IK.

When I grow up, I will have a big bed to sleep in, a TV, a chair, a couch, and big shoes. I will visit Uncle Tyler and Aunt Rachel.

Harlem Globetrotters

2009-01-17T21:01:00.000-08:00

Grandma and "Grandpa Fishing" got us tickets to see the Harlem Globetrotters for Christmas. We went tonight after Kerwin's basketball game. He really enjoyed the show and we had a great time. Thanks Mom and Dad!

BASKETBALL

2009-01-17T20:46:00.000-08:00

Kerwin's basketball league started today. He has been talking about this for over a month. I'm so glad it is finally here and he had a great time. He made six baskets. He also had a great cheering section there. I know I've mentioned it before but it so worth saying again. We have such a great family! We wouldn't be the same without them.

Pre-game hamburger

Warm-ups

Kerwin taking the ball to the hole

Kerwin's entourage

Kerwin and "Grandpa Red Car"

Orthopedic Checkup

2009-01-17T20:34:00.000-08:00

Kerwin had an orthopedic checkup visit this week. Basically, the doctor said he was pleased with the progress and we would wait another 4 months before deciding to do another round of Botox or whatever. He did get a new pair of knee immobilizers to wear at night. He was a little bit excited about them which is a good thing because they are really annoying and he gets tired of wearing them. The good news is the doctor said if they just get to be too much for him we can have him wear on leg at a time and alternate each night. We took some pictures of them.

Bowling

2009-01-17T20:27:00.000-08:00

Christmas Pictures

2009-01-17T19:58:00.000-08:00

Here's proof that we actually did celebrate Christmas this year. And since I have yet to take down my Christmas trees or decorations I figure it's not too late to post Christmas pictures.

Kerwin leading the stretches before a big game of Hot Hoops

Kerwin "blowing the wistle" to start the game

Kerwin consoling Daddy

Max's shades

Tom and Jerry

2008-12-29T20:58:00.001-08:00

I was thinking today about how much Kerwin loves Tom and Jerry. He just sits and laughs and laughs. It started one day when we rented a Tom and Jerry video for him. We thought he would enjoy it because it's all action and no dialogue. He watched it over and over again. Then we realized that it was on TV on a regular basis so we started DVRing it (I loooove DVR). I will have to post some video of Kerwin actually watching the show. It's so cute.

We had a great Christmas. We visited with both sides of the family and we are now enjoying a few days at home before we all go back to school. It is so nice that Mike and I have the same breaks (for the most part) as Kerwin. It makes things so much simpler.

I am still feeling great. I am sleeping great and taking full advantage of my time to rest before baby gets here. Baby has been starting to get much more active and I can feel [her] quite often now. The first time I felt [her] kick was at Kerwin's school Christmas party. They had the music going really loud for the kids and I was sitting still watching the kids play a game and I finally felt something. I had been waiting for a couple of weeks thinking it should be any day. So I was ready for it. I go back to the doctor in two weeks. They will do another ultrasound and hopefully we'll be able to see the heart this time and get some confirmation on the gender.

Hope you had a great Christmas. We are looking forward to a blessed 2009.

Kerwin in the paper

2008-12-13T19:45:00.001-08:00

Early on in our adoption process, a friend of ours from church, Andy Olsen, approached us to ask if he could write a story about Kerwin and our family. He was not sure exactly what would come of the article at the time. Andy followed us to Haiti last summer and has spent many hours with us documenting Kerwin's first year and a half with our family. Now Andy and his wife Erika are working for Northwest Haiti Christian Mision in various capacities. Tomorrow the article wil come out in the Lexington Herald-Leader. It will be a three-part series on the front page running Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. So check it out if you can get the paper. If not, you can see the article at Kentucky.com.

It's a girl???

2008-12-13T19:35:00.000-08:00

I went for an ultrasound yesterday and as best they could tell everything (brain, internal organs, weight, heart rate) looks fine. Now onto the imiportant stuff. Unfortunately, our new little one was being unccoperative already. She (we are calling her a she) didn't really give us a good view of the parts but the tech seemed to think that it was a girl. I'm going to have to take her word for it because my untrained eye was having a hard time telling that it was even a baby. The heart was also difficult to see so they want to do a follow-up ultrasound next visit. So hopefully we'll have a better view next time. For now, we are registering for pink and will start to consider girl names. Yeah!

Top 10 Ways to Raise A Psychologically Healthy Deaf Child

2008-12-02T19:11:00.000-08:00

Our sign language instructor gave us this list at our last class. I thought it was good information for us and perhaps for those who support us along our journey.

Top 10 Ways to Raise A Psychologically Healthy Deaf Child
10. Educate yourself on issues related to hearing loss. Find someone who will give you unbiased information about all options.
9. Find a communication method that your child will clearly understand. Use that communication method whenever your child is present.
8. Seek support from family, friends, and professionals to deal with your feelings about your child’s hearing loss.
7. Assume your deaf child can do anything a hearing child can do. Help your child learn to be his/her own advocate.
6. Teach your child about your family, values, and culture. Involve your child in all family activities.
5. Look for and praise your child’s strengths, efforts, and positive actions each day.
4. Teach your child about personal safety, body parts, appropriate touching and ways to ask for help.
3. Introduce your family to deaf adults and children who will be positive role models for you and your child. Include your child in social activities.
2. Participate in your child’s education. Ask your child’s teacher for ways to enhance learning at home.
1. Balance firm and consistent rules and consequences with unconditional love, respect, and acceptance.

By Lisa A. Marshall, Ph.D.

Thanksgiving in LA

2008-11-25T08:53:00.000-08:00

I have arrived in LA to visit my sister for the holiday. Mike and Kerwin will be celebrating at home with his family. Mike's dad came down to stay for a few days with Mike and help pick Kerwin up from school and take care of him. We have been talking via the web cam each night. It does not work nearly as well as a video phone which we are going to have to break down and buy pretty soon so that Kerwin can use the phone. To see what I've been up to check out my sister's blog at

www.tylerandrachelhisel.blogspot.com

So far we saw a huge Christmas tree lighting at the Grove complete with real "movie" snow and a flying Santa that narrowly escaped about three major mishaps on the way down. Completely worth going to just for that. Besides that we were looking at a little TV screen (couldn't get closer to the stage) and the sound was awful so that you could only hear the singers and not when anyone was talking. It was hosted by Jon Lovitz so we just guessed what he was saying all night. Natalie Cole sang one song but the rest of the music was unremarkable. Well actually one of the groups was remarkable because they were so horrible. Yesterday I visited Rachel at work. Tyler was also working on the set of the show Bones. Tonight we will go to a Lakers game (Tyler my brother-in-law is a HUGE fan). And then tomorrow we will have our Thanksgiving dinner. I am hoping that one of my roommates from college who lives out here will be able to join us. She and her husband have a little baby boy who I have not met.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

What a difference a year makes

2008-11-20T19:24:00.000-08:00

Kerwin is continuing to make progress with his physical therapy. I was just thinking the other day as he was standing with his ankles and knees (close to) straight that putting a before and after picture beside eachother would be truly amazing.

January 2007 at the mission
Look at those poor little feet.

Late Summer 2007 at the Visa Lodge
See how he would try to pinch those knees together for balance.

Tonight in Kerwin's bedroom

It wasn't until after his first Botox injection (May 2008), that Kerwin was able to stand up without holding onto anything for the first time in his life.

Now he is able to start and stop walking without falling, walk backwards, walk side to side, go up one step without holding on, and jump the tiniest little bit.

Thank God for this country and the opportunities we have.

One Year Anniversary!

2008-10-14T18:13:00.001-07:00

So here is our one year anniversary post as promised. Tomorrow Kerwin will have his second Botox injection procedure for his legs. Thankfully, this time he does not have to be casted following the procedure. We are hopeful that the results will be as good as the result of the previous injection which really helped his walking.

But in celebration of all the wonderful events of the last year, I will provide a year (or so) in review through pictures.

Kerwin at 2 years old
Our first family picture - October 2006
Barbara Walker - Miracle Worker
Summer in Haiti 2007
Grandpa Red Car visits
Aunt Rachel visits
Grandma Green Car visits
Kerwin gets his visa!!!!
Kerwin's first day at home.
We all watch as UK beats #1 ranked LSU
Second family picture
First Halloween
First Christmas
Seventh birthday
Spring break in California
Kerwin at summer hippotherapy
Vacation at the Outer Banks
Kerwin and Rolgard at the ball field

Well there's a quick trip through the last year or so. Of course there is tons that I left out. We are just so thankful that God has allowed us to be Kerwin's parents and we are so thankful for all the blessings we've received in the last year and a half. We have had INCREDIBLE support from family and friends. We have experienced bonding with Kerwin like we could have never hoped for. Kerwin has made great strides physically, emotionally, developmentally, and academically. And we have grown in faith and in numberous other ways over the past several months. Thanks to everyone who is reading this blog and who has cared about our family through this season of our lives.

Pictures from the pumpkin patch

2008-10-07T20:43:00.001-07:00

Here are some shots from our trip to the pumpkin patch on Friday afternoon. Kerwin gets done with school at 1:00 every Friday. Mike was on fall break and I was off work that day so we took the afternoon and went to an orchard about an hour from our house. It was such a beautiful afternoon and we had such a good time. We picked tons of apples (Jonagold) which I didn't even know if they were for eating or cooking but they have been great for both. I've made two apple pies already (my first attempt at this) and they turned out pretty good. I am thinking about tackling applesauce next. Kerwin loved the play area. They had huge slides, a corn maze, a rope maze, John Deere big wheels, a swing set, a dirt climbing mountain, and "rat race." Enjoy the photos!

Can you believe this?

2008-09-30T19:09:00.000-07:00

Check out this kid playing baseball. Is this amazing or what. I can't believe tomorrow is October. Kerwin came home on October 13th. Be watching for a big one-year anniversary post!

And baby makes four!

2008-09-13T11:58:00.000-07:00

...Five if you ask Kerwin because he counts the dog. Yes, we are expecting our second child. I am due around April 21st. I had my first OB appointment Thursday and everything looks good. I am feeling fine too. I am more tired than usual but I haven't really been sick at all.

Kerwin hasn't gotten into the whole baby thing yet. I think he is getting used to the idea but I don't think he will completely understand what's going on until closer to the time.

Kerwin had his first baseball game of the Fall league today. He played the whole game without his walker. He fell down a lot but he enjoyed the freedom. Rolgard and Erin are both helpers for his team so he is very excited about that.

For those of you who don't know who Rolgard is I should probably explain. When Kerwin lived in the orhpanage, Rolgard worked there in several capacities. He was kind of the guy in charge (made up the schedule, solved the problems those sorts of things). He also worked directly with the kids each day. American physical therapists and occupational therapists would come down on short term mission trips, work with the kids and then write treament plans for them. Rolgard would spend time with each kid implementing the plans that the therapists had written. The kids loved him. He gave them lots of one-on-one attention which they crave and he was the only male working there so he was kind of the father-figure for them all. So of course, Kerwin loved Rolgard. He was the only person Kerwin felt really attached to at the mission (in my opinion). Fast forward to this summer, Rolgard with the help of Erin, our friend we met last summer at the mission, has been accepted at Bluegrass Community and Technical College with plans to transfer to Jefferson Community College next year to take their Physcial Therapy Assistant program. This will allow him to work with special needs kids in the future with a background in physical therapy without having to go to school for 6 or more years. While he is attending BCTC he is living with my parents in their downstairs apartment. Kerwin has had a great time getting to hang out with Rolgard again. It is truly amazing that God has worked out all the details in this process.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2008-09-06T08:27:00.000-07:00

Daddy and Kerwin being "silly".

I've been looking back at previous blogs to see what was going on a year ago. Last year today my mom arrived in Port-au-Prince to spend two weeks with. Apparently in the excitement I forgot to acknowledge my husband's birthday. So this year I want to be sure to do it right. Thank God this year we will all be together for it as well. My inlaws are coming down to visit today and we are going out with my parents to eat before the UK game which I am going to with the guys (except for Kerwin who is staying with the Grandmas).

I could never have asked for a better father for our son. How important it is for Kerwin to have a loving, present, and involved Daddy. I am so happy that we have taken this journey together. I love you, Honey!

For a special birthday post here is a list of the top 10 things Kerwin and Dad do together.

1) Play baseball, football, basketball, soccer, golf, and anything else you can do with a ball.

2) Go to CiCis Pizza.

3) Go to softball practice.

4) Watch UK football on TV. (Mike watches and Kerwin plays until they make a touchdown and then jumps around and celebrates).

5) Go to the playground.

6) Read books.

7) Do homework.

8) Kerwin helps Daddy do anything from coaching softball to pumping gas.

9) Get icecream. (Kerwin always gets vanilla).

10) Play games.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIKE!

HIV Facts

2008-08-23T19:30:00.000-07:00

This is not a typcial post for me, but for some reason I had a thought this morning as I was getting out of the shower. We committed to Kerwin knowing about his CP and hearing loss. However, we did not know what other issues we may have had to deal with but we he was ours no matter what. In the process of the adoption he visited several different doctors and had blood work drawn. Even though we didn't suspect anything to show up, we were so relieved to see HIV negative, Sicle Cell negative, and a host of other negatives. However, today I let myself think "What if?" And then I thought about other orphans living with HIV. Will they ever have the chance to be joined with a loving family an be given all the opportunities that parents fight for for their children? Well tonight, I came across a blog that I had never seen before and here this woman was copying a post she had read on the blog of a family who had adopted a child with HIV. It was suggested that each person who saw the post should tell two more, so that more people will be educated about the truth about children living with HIV. Please help educate others about this misunderstood topic.

But isn't HIVContagious?

HIV is a very fragile virus, and there are very specific ways that it is transmitted. HIV is only transmitted when the virus enters the bloodstream. This only occurs through sexual contact; through the use of contaminated needles or other sharp instruments, or receiving a transfusion of HIV-infected blood products; and from a mother who is HIV-infected to her child during pregnancy, childbirth, labour and delivery, and breastfeeding. HIV transmission does not occur with normal household contact. It is not transmitted through tears, saliva, mucous or other bodily fluids. It is considered a "communicable" disease - meaning you can't simply "catch" it. In addition, when an infected person is on treatment, the levels of HIV in the blood are brought so low that they are considered undetectable - meaning the possibility of transmission - even through contact with blood, semen, or vaginal fluid - is that much more remote.

Aren't these children going to die after their families bring them home?

Many people don't realize that the prognosis for children on treatment for their HIV is excellent. They are expected to live long, normal lives. In fact, in the west, HIV is now considered a chronic illness rather than the terminal disease it used to be. Sadly, this isn't the case for those HIV infected children living in resource-poor settings, where 50% of infected and untreated children are not expected to live past the age of two.
Is it true that you can have HIV and not develop AIDS?
Absolutely! There are over 30 medications approved by the FDA for the treatment of HIV, and more are in development. These medications bring the levels of the virus so low in the body that the virus can be considered undetectable in the bloodstream. Patients receiving treatment for HIV can expect to live long, healthy lives without developing AIDS.

What about all of the children who don't get adopted?

We recognize that adoption is only a band-aid answer. It is one small piece in a big puzzle - we are working to provide holistic HIV+ orphan care through our Hope Houses launch in Ethiopia.

What if I catch HIV from my child?

Many people don’t know that HIV is a very fragile virus. As soon as it leaves the body, it begins to die. There are no documented cases of HIV transmission through casual household or school contact. HIV+ children can (and do!) share cups, baths, pools, dishes, bathrooms, etc.! In addition, when children are on treatment for their HIV, the amount of the virus in their bloodstream can be brought so low that it is considered “undetectable” – meaning the amount of the virus in the blood, even through contact with blood, has been brought so low that the possibility of transmission has become even more remote.

What if my other children touch her blood?

Most households with HIV+ children find that this was one of their initial worries and, in fact, becomes not much of a worry at all once their kids are home together. There are very few activities where the blood of one child would enter the bloodstream of another child. Families simply train their children never to touch another person’s blood or “owies” and practice universal precautions in their homes (using gloves when dealing with blood, covering all sores with a band-aid, etc.).

What if no insurance company will cover my child?

Here’s the great news! It is a legal requirement that all adopted children be added to group insurance plans without pre-existing condition clauses in all 50 states! And many states also require that private insurance plans do the same! In addition, all 50 states have funding programs that will assist with the costs of HIV treatment within specified income guidelines. For specific information on your state's programs and insurance requirements, please request our State Fact Sheet for your state.

Here's the address to a blog devoted to bringing children with HIV home to their forever families.
http://www.fromhivtohome.blogspot.com/

Good day in Haiti!

2008-07-22T15:14:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

The LCA group went to Ansefoleur for VBS today and then we walked through a voodoo temple. We rode in the back of a pickup truck for about an hour. VBS there went really well and we had a good day. Many of the kids came back and played with the children in the baby orphanage and special needs orphanage this afternoon.

Yesterday we all rode a sailboat to Tortuga Island for a VBS there (only 1 person threw up on the boat). It was very hot over there, but the kids there seemed to enjoy our VBS.

Tomorrow we will be going to the mission's main orphanage in Port-de-Paix (about a 45 minute drive). Continue to keep us in your prayers.

Thanks,
Mike Haake

Hello from Haiti!

2008-07-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

The LCA team has made it safely to Haiti. We had a long, but good day riding the bus across Haiti yesterday. This morning we went to church and did our VBS program at children's church. Everyone is doing very well and having a great time so far. Tomorrow we will be riding a sailboat to Tortuga Island to do a VBS there.

So what's happened since the last time I blogged

2008-06-22T17:09:00.000-07:00

We've had sporadic internet use since the last time I blogged so that and a lack of motivation on my part has led to about a month hiatus but I'm back. The main thing that has happened since I last wrote is that Kerwin now has his casts off. He had them removed this week and there does appear to be a good bit of benefit from the Botox. He is able to get quite a bit of dorsiflexion as my PT friends say. Now we hope to maintain that flexibility with stretches and the wearing of his braces. He is actually having to readjust his walking, yet again, and is still having a bit of trouble getting used to walking with the casts off. By the end of the six weeks, he was walking so well with the casts on that I thought that walking would be a breeze once they were gone. However, nothing with this(leg) process ever seems to make sense to me. Kerwin is now enjoying baths again (he's in the bath tub right now at my mom's house) and we are looking forward to swimming soon.

Kerwin has been doing hippotherapy (therapy on horseback)for the last few weeks and loves it. His favorite horse is name Shaker and he tells everyone that he gets to ride forward, backward, sideways, and standing up. He also gets to stand up and pet and groom the horse and then feed him some carrots at the end of the session. It is a great program and so peaceful in the therapy barn. It's also really great for him physically. He has to work very hard to sit up straight and stand on the horse. Last week we were really excited because his classroom teacher and her daughter came out to watch him. He has been asking about seeing her ever since school let out.

Kerwin went to two weeks of summer school/camp. He enjoyed it but came back tired, hungry, and grumpy everyday. To tell you the truth, I'm kind of glad it's over. Mike is staying home with Kerwin and doing some tutoring as a side job. I have been working some PRN this summer but I am also enjoying a much more relaxed schedule.

We are getting ready to go to the beach this weekend. We can hardly wait. I think Kerwin is going to love the beach. He enjoyed the sand so much at the Santa Monica Pier this spring. I think he'll enjoy this so much more because he will have buckets and shovels and can really build stuff with the sand. We will probably also go fishing off the pier, crabbing, golfing, and see the local sights. Hopefully, I'll have some great pictures to post after vacation!

Our friend Andy Olsen has been working on a story for the Lexington Herald Leader about Kerwin and our adoption process. It is supposed to run some time in July. I will try to let everybody know what day it will be running as soon as I find out.

A beautiful day for flying

2008-06-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

The whole group before flying

Kerwin with headphones on

Mike actually flying the plane... AHHH!

Our house...If you've been there maybe you can find it

So yesterday I was a party for ARK Rehab, a company that I do some work for. One of the owners of the company is my friend Monica who was the one who invited me to go with her to Haiti on a short term missions trip several years ago. It was on that trip that I met Kerwin and after that trip that God called us to adopt him. So Monica will always be special to us. So anyway, yesterday we were at this picnic at the local minor league baseball team park and she asked us if we wanted to go up flying tomorrow in her dad's plane. We didn't have anything else going so we did. We had a wonderful time. Kerwin loved it and Mike even got to do the take off. He did not do the landing, thus I am here writing this blog. We got to see all of Lexington, downtown, the UK football stadium, the Legend's baseball stadium, and we even flew over our house. It was actually very easy for us to identify it since it was so clear and we were down so low. I could even see our white car parked in front of the house. I was the only one who got airsick and I spent the last half of the flight trying not to lose my lunch. I'll know better next time...Dramamine! But is was a beautiful day and a great memory. Thanks Monica and Louis!

Kerwin working around the house

2008-06-22T16:43:00.000-07:00

We spent last weekend up in Northern Kentucky with Mike's family. Saturday, I helped trim up the doors at Mike's grandmother and great aunt's house. They had some new carpet put in the but the guys never came back to do the doors. So instead of hiring someone else to do it, Mike's dad and I cut them off ourselves. Well, Kerwin really wanted to help so we let him clean the dust off the doors after we sawed them and help carry them back inside. Then after dinner on Sunday, I went to work on a chair at their house. It had several layers of upholstery on it and the last one was looking kind of ratty. So I helped take of the ripped fabric and put the chair back together again. Well, Kerwin wanted to help with that too so I let him put all the screws back in. He loved it. He learned out to hold the screwdriver steady with one hand and turn it with the other. He was so proud of himself for helping.

Kerwin Running

2008-05-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

I wanted to put up a video of Kerwin running with some kids at the UK baseball game. I have written about how well he was walking before the casts were on but I hadn't uploaded any video. Those of you who saw Kerwin in the orphanage will be amazed at his progress. And this is just his walking. I will have to put up some other video of him telling a story. He's signing so much now.

(I have no idea why this posted the video twice but it took forever to upload so I'm not messing with it.)

Doing better

2008-05-19T18:48:00.000-07:00

I just read the previous post and it sounded like I was despairing. I guess I was a little. Well I just wanted to update everyone to thank you for the prayers and let you know that Kerwin is doing much better now with his casts. He is walking more normally now (albeit slower than before). His spirits are back up and he is more like his old self again.

Quick Update

2008-05-11T12:48:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update on Kerwin's procedure. The day went great. He did wonderfully, the procedure went well and we were done by lunch time. While he was recovering a UK basketball player (Ramone Harris) came through the hospital and signed his cast.

Now we are dealing with the casts. Kerwin HATES them and wants them off and we have six more weeks. He is more sedentary and is crawling a lot. He walks really slowly when he actually walks. Most of the time he "bunny hops" with his walker rather than actually walking. I think it's just really hard for him to drag those casts around. I know he feel heavier when we pick him up. But he just isn't his old self and it is breaking our hearts. It would be better too if we could say we are 100% sure that this is what we should have done and it's definitely going to be worth it in the end but now I'm not even sure of that. Please, we would really appreciate your prayers for us in this time.

Another first

2008-05-06T21:52:00.000-07:00

Okay this one is a weird one. Tonight was the first time in 11 months of being together that I cut Kerwin's toe nails. Due to his previous situation of no shoes, lots on concrete and lots of dragging the tops of his feet along the gravel and concrete, he had really stunted the growth of his toe nails and just had stubby little filed off nails. However, since he's been home, I have begun to notice growth. Tonight as I was putting his leg braces on for bed I realized that they (the nails) were very long and desperately needed cut. Hence, another first.

On a slightly more important note. Kerwin goes in for his Botox leg procedure tomorrow at Shriner's Hospital. He is very excited about it. I think we may have overplayed the coolness of the casts and underplayed the inconvenience of them a bit too much. I hope he is not disappointed when he realized what a pain they are going to be. I'll update more tomorrow after the procedure is over and we get home.

Also my grandma is coming in tomorrow from Pennsylvania. I am very excited about her staying with us for a few days.

More to come...

Our brush with celebrity

2008-04-29T20:27:00.000-07:00

On my brother-in-law's blog (tylerinla.blogspot.com) he keeps a running list of celebrities he brushes shoulders with while living in LA. Typically this is not an issue for us but while touring the Warner Brother's lot while on vacation, I did happen to see two stars who I am very familiar with. One is John Stamos of Full House and more recent, ER fame. I and my mother-in-law are huge ER fans so this was a BIG DEAL! He was extremely nice and immediately came over to shake Kerwin's hand and to talk with him. He asked if we wanted to take a picture and he didn't really have to twist our arm too much before we agreed. Then after that excitement who should drive by but Kelsey Grammer of Cheers and Frasier. He was shooting a WWII movie on the lot and i was definitely not given permission to take pictures of him. There are very particular about what you can and cannot take photos of at the Warner Brothers lot. They actually lock you camera up while you are riding the little cart so you can't take pictures of anything unauthorized. That's why Mike's dad had to go sprinting back to the cart to retrieve the cameras so we could get the picture with Stamos. Anyway, the WB tour was great, I recommend it. Our guide was Tanya from Australia. She was cute and fun. Oh, and I we also toured this museum on site that has a whole floor dedicated to Harry Potter. It had lots of props from the movies. I'm a fan of the books so that was fun for me.

Pictures from WB...

This is were the monkey "Marcel" on Friends shoots his movie with Jean Claude VanDamme

This is the barber shop from Adam Sandler's upcoming movie. The premise sounds ridiculous like all of his movie's I guess. I'm actally a bit of a fan.

Us and John.

Us on the Friends couch.

This is Luke's diner from Gilmore Girls, another one of my all time favorites. FYI - When this picture was taken, Kelsey Grammer had just driven by dressed as Patton. Ha!

More pictures from Cali

2008-04-29T18:01:00.000-07:00

Santa Monica Pier

Playing "Chicken" with the waves

Kerwin being Kerwin

Driving the cars at Disney...very serious business

The obligatory Mickey picture

More Disney...

Success at Last!

2008-04-29T17:45:00.000-07:00

I tried for a long time to get vacation pictures and video up but it just wasn't working with our computer. So I got frustrated and just stopped trying altogether. But Mike assured me that things were working better now. And it appears he is right. This is a video of Kerwin on the kiddie roller coaster at Disney. I think it speaks for itself. The rest of the day was a blast as well. Uncle Tyler got to come with us and everyone had a great time. Kerwin was so well behaved. I was reminded of this as I watched a 10 year old through the biggest tantrum I have ever seen in the middle of the park. The child just laid down on the sidewalk and cried and screamed and kicked. Anyway, Kerwin walked around the entire park all day long and didn't get tired till it was just about time to go. We also got to go to the front of the line because Kerwin was on his walker. All the Disney folks were so nice. I give them major props. It was almost magical. I have to admit I got a little sentimental as I stood there in the dark, holding my son, in Disneyland, with Tinkerbell and fireworks flying over out heads, Cinderella' castle in front of us, piped Disney music in my ears, and the narrator talking about how are dreams come true. I don't know about dreams, but our God is Truth! I am still amazed on a near daily basis how He has brought our family together. He is good all the time!

First Day of Vacation

2008-04-02T22:39:00.001-07:00

I've been trying to update the blog for days here but our internet connection has been spotty. It seems to be working really well right now so I'll try to post quickly. In the morning, Mike and I went to a taping of the Price is Right. We waited a long time outside in the cold (yes it was cold and I was way under prepared for it). We got there around 8:30 for a 1:15 taping. It was fun and possibly worth the wait just to be there and say we did it. We didn't get picked to be on the show. We decided you had to be either crazy, old, or in the military to have a really chance of getting on the show. Plus being in a really large group and being one of the above really helps your chances. There is a lot more I could write about the experience but it would go on forever. If there's anything particular anyone wants to know just let me know. Mike's parents and Kerwin went out for breakfast,to a museum and then down to the Graman's Chinese Theater. Then they came and picked us up. We went out for a late lunch/early supper, made a quick stop off at our hotel and then went out to see a Dodgers game. Kerwin had a blast at the game. He got a new pair of sunglasses and a baseball. We split a Dodger Dog and talked a lot about the game. I think Kerwin is starting to get a feel for the rules of baseball. We headed back to the hotel exhausted and fell into bed.

Here are some pictures from Tuesday. The first is of Kerwin's injury. He fell here in the hotel room and took a big chunk out of the inside of his cheek. So our first vacation picture is of his boo boo. The rest are from the baseball game. Enjoy!

SPRING BREAK!!! - UPDATED

2008-03-31T09:35:00.000-07:00

Well we have been on vacation for the last three days and it has been lots of fun. Friday, I picked up Kerwin from school, went home and packed/cleaned, went out to dinner with my family and then headed up to Northern Kentucky for the weekend. Mike's brother was moving out of his apartment and into his newly purchased home. The move went really smoothly and his new place a great. Saturday evening we had dinner at my cousin's house just over the border in Ohio. We had a great time hanging out with her and her husband and their two kids. Kerwin especially loved playing on their swing set and in the play room. Kerwin and my cousin's little boy had a blast playing with a toy that shot Nerf darts really far. Of course they were playing inside so they first tried to catch them and then tried to shoot them at a target. Yesterday we went to church in the morning with Mike's grandma and then out for lunch. During the children's sermon, I walked up with Kerwin and interpreted for him. The pastor was talking about when Jesus appeared to the disciples after His resurrection and Thomas doubted. So translated into English it went something like this.

Pastor: "...Now the disciples were all in the upper except for one. Thomas was not with the other disciples."

Me interpreting: "All Jesus' friends were upstairs waiting but someone was missing. T-H-O-M-A-S, Thomas. Where was Thomas?"

Kerwin answering: "Maybe downstairs."

I love it. He is really starting to get more complex stories and he often tries to answer questions with book reading or in Sunday School. He is also telling longer stories. He is making sentences now that are sometimes 6 and 7 signs long.

We are getting ready to leave in a few hours for California. We are going to be doing some sight-seeing, visiting with Uncle Tyler, and going to Disneyland. I'll blog more and post some pictures while we're there. Unfortunately, I won't be able to gloat too much about the weather in LA. It's only supposed to get up to 65 all next week. So much for all those shorts I packed. I think I leave most of them here at my in-laws. Until next time...

The Final Frontier...Sort of!

2008-03-18T19:23:00.001-07:00

This Friday we go to court to finalize Kerwin's Kentucky adoption. This will be when we officially change his name and he will receive a KY birth certificate with our name as the parents! That's it for the adoption paperwork, well almost. After that we just need to get him a social security number and change his name on all sort of things like insurance and school papers. Will it really ever end?

Brag Time

2008-03-18T18:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm new at the parenting thing so I don't really know all the rules about bragging about your kids so I'll just plead ignorance if I'm breaking them. But, I just have to say for those of you who may be new to the blog, this is a kid who weighed 9 pounds at 2 years old, lived in a special needs orphanage from 2-6 years old and only knew about a dozen words in sign language when we got to him in June. Here's a video of him reading and here are some highlights from his report card that we just got today. It might get a little long for some of you, but for those from the mission who have known Kerwin since early on I think you will be so happy for him. We are such proud parents!

Work Habits
Kerwin is delightful! He is so curious and interested in many things. He likes to run small errands - taking things to the office or to other teachers.

Pre-Reading
Kerwin confuses a few lower case letters of the alphabet - mainly b and d. He is making steady progress in reading and sight vocabulary. He understands the stories we read in class and often makes comments on things that happen in the stories.

Language
Kerwin is making such rapid progress in this area for having been signing for such a short time. He asks and answers questions and is able to tell about things he sees and experiences.

Handwriting
Kerwin's handwriting is improving. He has been working hard on making his letter correctly and leaving a space between words.

Writing
Kerwin often draws pictures of things he sees. He drew pictures to illustrate some of the vocabulary related to our earth unit. He is beginning to label pictures - mainly mom and dad and asks for spelling for some pictures.

Math
Kerwin is working on counting and constructing sets of 1-10. He is also working on writing numerals 1-10. He confuses 7 and 8 when counting.

Science and Social Studies Development
Kerwin enjoyed the winter activities and experiments with snow and ice. He understands the concepts of liquids and solids, temperatures and is able to name some landforms and types of water found on earth.

Birthday and Easter Egg Hunt Pictures

2008-03-18T18:55:00.000-07:00

Grandma "Blue Car's" birthday was last week. Here are some pictures from that and the church Easter Egg Hunt.

Random pictures

2008-03-18T18:52:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken while sitting at an intersection several weeks ago. One out of the driver's side and the other out of the passenger side.

More Birthday!

2008-02-26T19:41:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from Kerwin's other birthday party. We brought the kids home with us from school, played games at the house, and then went out for pizza and cake. One of Kerwin's little friends was sick and didn't get to come so we only had three kids in all. At times I felt like I was herding cats. I would get one paying attention and engaged and the other would be wandering off. One little guy kept getting up and sitting down with other people at the restaurant. Luckily we had a pretty good adult-to-child ration at all times. We had a good time but I was exhausted. Luckily, we only have to do this kind of thing once a year. I can't believe Kerwin is seven already. When we started the process of adopting him he was only five. Five still seemed young. Seven feels like he is growing up too fast. (And I'm starting to think of myself as old too!)

Kerwin's sing language is coming along very well. He is able to communicate a really wide range of things now. He is also becoming a really good little artist. He can draw objects and people that are recognizable and have a lot of detail. Tomorrow he goes for a private speech-language evaluation. I am interested to see what they say at this place. The do not do sign language at this facility but are all oral. While Kerwin's first language will always be ASL, I would love for him to be able to communicate orally and with sign. However, this will not be easy for him to pick up. It will take a lot of work. Now, I still want him to continue to learn ASL as quickly as possible so that he can get caught up with his peers in the area of language.

It's getting late and the week is still not even half over yet so I've got to get to bed. I hate getting out of rest at the beginning of the week. Soon I want to post some video of Kerwin reading. He is learning quite a few sight words and is able to read some simple books from school. Check back soon!

Just some cute pictures...

Birthday party pictures...

Kerwin's First Birthday at Home

2008-02-16T15:23:00.000-08:00

We had our family over today to celebrate Kerwin's birthday. He enjoyed the party and got some fun new toys: the new Snow Buddies movie, a golf set, a fishing pole, a guitar, some trucks, and a big chest to put all of his sports equipment in. Tuesday we will have another party with some friends from school.

You Must Be An Adoptive Parent If...

2008-02-14T17:39:00.000-08:00

1. The fact that there are 143 million children
without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.
`
2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love & family.
`
3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.
`
4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child
there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you.
`
5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families
who've experienced the blessing of adoption.
`
6. It drives you crazy when people ask you
about adopted child's "real" parents.
`
7. You've been "pregnant" with your adoptive child longer
than it takes an elephant to give birth.(2 years!)
`
8. You'd no idea how you'd afford to adopt,
but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing He'd provide. (& He does!)
`
9. You've taken an airplane half-way around the world
with a child you just met.
`
10. You believe God's heart's for adoption.
`
11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart & family
is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.
`
12. You know what the word "Dossier" means
& you can actually pronounce it correctly!
`
13. You've welcomed a social worker into
the most private parts of your life.
`
14. You shudder when people say your child's so lucky that you adopted them,
knowing full well you're the blessed one to have him or her in your life.

I saw this on a friends blog and had to steal it. So very, very true.

Haiti Reunion Weekend

2008-02-11T18:07:00.001-08:00

This weekend we (Mike, Kerwin, my sister Rachel, and I) went to Lafayette, IN for a reunion with other family connected to Haiti through adoption. Many of the kids, like Kerwin, were adopted through Barbara Walker and Reach Out to Haiti (see the picture above). Other kids were adopted thought other orphanages and some families are still in the process of adoption. We spent the night Friday and then got up Saturday morning and spent the day at the indoor water park. Kerwin had a great time. He was so excited to see his friend David as well as Barbara and Lawanna. He enjoyed the water park for the most part. However, it was a little bit cold so he was shivering most of the day. He loved the hot tub but I kept making him get out of it because I was afraid his little organs were going to get cooked. That evening we went out as a group to eat dinner. Kerwin had a great time sitting with some of the boys after dinner. Then we headed for home and got in late Saturday night.

On a medical note, Kerwin had his first eye exam and passed with flying colors. It's so nice to have a medical evaluation that does not require a follow-up (at least not for 3-5 years). As far as his legs are concerned, we are waiting for him to have a Botox procedure but the earliest we can get in is May 7th. So for now, we are continuing with exercises and wearing his braces.

Coming soon...birthday parties (plural)!!! Stay tuned.

Superbowl Party!

2008-02-11T17:52:00.001-08:00

We had a great time Super Night. Besides the exciting and delighting end to the game itself, we had a great time with friends and family. I have been promising the interns that were in Haiti with us this summer that I would have a chicken tortilla soup night. So I made good and we had a great night. Kerwin was so funny. He went to bed at half time but the next morning he asked us right away if New York won. His teacher said he came into school signing "New York won! New York won!" It was so funny to see him get so excited about the game. In case you didn't see it there was a Pepsi commercial that was totally in ASL. I missed it because it was before the game. So I added the address here in case anyone wants to see it. It's based on a common joke in the Deaf community.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffrq6cUoE5A

Snow Pictures

2008-02-11T17:48:00.000-08:00

Here are pictures from the last time it snowed. We have a little on the ground now and they are calling for more tonight.

It's been a while

2008-01-20T17:56:00.000-08:00

We've kind of had a slow news months since Christmas. Kerwin is back in school and Mike and I are back to work. Kerwin transitioned back to school really well. He has been to see the audiologist for a check up and everything is going fine. He is making good progress with his legs. He has been wearing his braces every night and several hours during the day. You can really tell a difference in the tone of his legs. He goes to the eye doctor this week to get the mandatory Kindergarten screening. We don't have any concerns about his vision so I have been pushing this appointment back to allow for some of the other more pressing ones. Kerwin had an MRI of the brain last Friday. We have not heard from the doctor yet to get the results. I honestly keep forgetting to call and bug her about it. But the MRI was mainly precautionary just to make sure that there isn't anything going on that we don't know about. Also, the neurologist thought that she may be able to tell us the cause of Kerwin's CP based on what she sees with the MRI. We went to Cincinnati Children's Hospital for the MRI. They really are wonderful. We had a nice experience. Kerwin's nurse was a friend of my mother-in-law who was along with us. And then, we got to see Gail, a friend who goes to Northwest Haiti Christian Mission often and works at Cincinnati Children's. She knew Kerwin from when he was still in the orphanage and sometimes Gail and I will transport gifts into Haiti for each other.

Some highlight from the last few weeks:
-Kerwin's first sledding experience
-Mike's first skiing trip this winter
-I have a new (additional) job coming up in February. I will be working 4-5 days a week now but all while Kerwin is in school. I still get to put him on the bus in the morning and pick him up every afternoon.
-Kerwin went to an LCA basketball game with his Daddy
-Kerwin got his first professional haircut (it's very cute)
-Kerwin is being much more interactive in Sunday School now; he is raising his hand to answer questions and loves playing with the other kids. His teachers say is he doing better in school as well.
-Kerwin can say pretty many sounds with lots of help and cues. Some of his best words are bye-bye, up, mama, dada, and Bobo (character in a book)
-We had an ARC meeting at school and Kerwin is getting PT, OT, Speech, and one-on-one reading help
-Mike and I start ASL classes again on January 28th
-We are going to have a deaf tutor come to our house to help us with reading to Kerwin using ASL
-I am very happy with my job working as a preschool speech therapist. The job has been a huge blessing
-Mike spoke in LCA's chapel about our adoption experience. Kerwin went up on stage with him and stole the show
-Our friends the Swenzels finally have their son Jamesy home with them. They had been in the process of adopting from Haiti for about 3 years.
-Mike's grandmother turned 85 yesterday and we had a party for her at my in-law's house
-Kerwin's Grandma Sweigard had a birthday and she can now order cheap meals at Bob Evans (congrats mom!)
-Kerwin went to see two movies at the theater: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium and The Game Plan. The Game Plan went over much better than the first. Lots more football and physical comedy.
-I went to see Wicked in Cincinnati. Loved it!
-Kerwin's Uncle Tyler moved to LA to finish his college career with a semester of film school. It's sad for him to be so far away but we are looking forward to him becoming a famous film director and we like checking him out on his blog: www.tylerinla.blogspot.com (shameless plug)

I'm sure there's more but we'll wrap it up for now. More coming in February: Kerwin's birthday party, Haiti Reunion with Barb and other adoptive families, the next treatment step for his legs...

Until next time

The Newport Aquarium

2007-12-28T15:45:00.000-08:00

Check out the monster turtle behind Kerwin!

Kerwin and I in front of the jellyfish. (Kerwin is signing jellyfish)

Kerwin with Grandma and Grandpa

Kerwin got to pet some small sharks.

He said that the sharks were his favorite. Even though the aquarium was packed we had a good time. I think Kerwin has had more world exposure in two months than most kids have in two years. Tomorrow we head for home.

Festival of Lights

2007-12-27T06:47:00.000-08:00

We went with Grandma and Grandpa Haake to the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo last night. We went out to eat first and then on the way there Kerwin fell asleep in the car. So we had to wake him up to take him in. The first picture is how he looked at the beginning. However, within about 20 minutes he began to cheer up. We watched a Polar Express 4D movie and he seemed to really enjoy it. He also enjoyed the manatees (Grandma's favorite) and the polar bear. Because it was evening, most of the animals were asleep. I'm sure he would love to go again some time in the daytime.

More pictures from Christmas break

2007-12-27T06:36:00.000-08:00

Kerwin looking for snow in our back yard

Kerwin with Max

Kerwin plays in snow for the first time in PA

Kerwin decorates cookies with Grandma

Kerwin and Daddy having trouble waking up

Kerwin takes a call on Christmas

2007-12-27T06:26:00.000-08:00

All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth

2007-12-26T08:59:00.000-08:00

December Update

2007-12-09T18:45:00.000-08:00

Pictures
-Kerwin and Mike playing air hockey
-Kerwin and Mike in the rain at Southern Lights
-Kerwin petting the pony he rode
-Kerwin in the Lego room

I know it has been quite a while since the last time I wrote. I see that other moms' blogs that I check have not been updated as frequently during the Christmas season so I don't feel quite as bad.

Things are just moving along here. I feel like we have finally begun to fall into a routine of school days and days off. We still have more than the usual amount of medical appointments to go to but other than that we are on a pretty normal schedule. So, again I will try to hit the highlights.

Kerwin got his hearing aids a week and a half ago. He seems to be hearing a lot of speech now but it is somewhat difficult to tell because he doesn't respond to very much. He will go back for a formal test in January once he's had some time to adjust to them. In the last few days he has looked at us when we say his name. But he has only done this a few times and we call his name all the time. He is doing a good job of imitating letter sounds. He will try to repeat words but they are not so great at this time. He was making a really great "w" sound today in the car and we are working on his "m" so he can say mama. He doesn't seem to hate the hearing aids but he doesn't seem to love them either.

They are somewhat like the school bus which he has also been tolerating well. School is going well. He is learning new things and new words. His sentence length is increasing. I am excited because his PT, OT, and Speech through the school are getting ready to begin (finally). I had to be a big nag and force an ARC meeting but they school was really great once we held it and they are going to begin all of his services immediately. He lost a tooth at school last week. If you look really closely in the Lego picture you can see it missing. He now has two missing teeth and about three loose teeth. Poor thing, he can hardly eat.

This weekend we spent most of Saturday at home and then went over to my parents to watch the pitiful UK basketball game and then for dinner. But after dinner we went to Southern Lights out at the Horse Park. Kerwin sat up front on my mom's lap and he was fascinated by the lights. Then he got to ride a pony, see the model train display and go through the petting zoo. It was a really late night but he had fun. On Friday night we took Kerwin to Gatti Town for the first time. He had such a good time. He loved getting to watch a movie while he ate dinner. The movie was "Racing Stripes" and he absolutely loved it. He actually came really close to pronouncing "zebra" (he got the 'br' part in the middle right) and he was so enthralled by the zebra beating the horses in the race. He has been to Keeneland before so he understands the concept of a horse race. Then we went back to the arcade part and he had fun playing there. He rode the carousel, shot the water guns, got on the bumper cars, played skee-ball, shot basketball, played air hockey, and took a "helicopter ride." When we counted up all the tickets we had enough to get a giant blow-up bat, a bouncy ball, and two "poppers."

And if all of that isn't enough to be thankful for we have one more HUGE blessing. While in Haiti, we realized that we were not going to be able to continue to pay for all the travel and living expenses that we were acquiring while there. Additionally, we knew there would be some fairly big medical expenses to deal with once we got Kerwin home. So we decided to apply for a grant to help us dig out way out of the debt we were incurring. The process was several months long. During which time the foundation came back to us several time to ask us more questions and to see how we were doing so we thought that the chances were good that we would receive something Well, we got a call last week to find out that we not only were going to receive a grant but we were going to receive a grant much larger than the foundation was typically able to give. There had been a special circumstance in which an anonymous donor had come to the foundation wanting to make a significant contribution to two families in memory of his wife. We were chosen as one of those special families. We are so thankful for God's provision. From the beginning of this process I felt like I had a word from God that he would give us our son with all of the paperwork and finances that were needed for the process. However, I was somewhat prideful in the fact that we had paid for our adoption and all the accompanying expenses as we went leaving us with no debt. And then the Haiti stay began. I stopped working, we saw all of our savings go and then we began borrowing. While in Haiti, my main concern with being there was financial. Otherwise, we were healthy, happy, and we had our son. Of course we wanted to go home but generally we were okay. Then we got home and I was still not working and we had many more expenses than we ever had in the past. Now as each day goes by I see more reasons for our stay in Haiti. How would we have been able to see, feel, and testify to God's provision if we felt as if we were self-sufficient; if we felt that we could meet all of our own needs? Now we see so much more clearly the bigger picture and this is only a FRACTION of the whole picture. All glory belongs to you, God! Also we send a big thanks to Shaohannah's Hope, Kathy, and the gentleman who gave the money for allowing God to work through you to bless us.

So that's us for now check back later for more Christmas season news.

Hitting the highlights

2007-11-24T18:27:00.000-08:00

Pictures:
1) Kerwin's first time bowling
2) Kerwin as a pilgrim at the school Thanksgiving feast
3) Kerwin playing the mandolin and singing on Thanksgiving night
4) Kerwin playing with the water works at the Cincinnati Children's Museum
5) Kerwin shoveling rocks in the construction area at the CCM

I have been intimidated by thought of blogging because so much has happened since the last time I posted. But I am back at it now and I will try to hit the highlights.

Our open house went great! We had so many folks come and Kerwin had a great time. He loves having people over which is great because we do too. My grandma came down and stayed at our house for two weeks which was wonderful because Kerwin really got to know her and she helped me so much with getting ready for the party. She even helped with taking the school run several times while I was at work.

That's another development. I now have a part time job. I took a contract with the Berea school district and I am working with preschoolers. So far everything is going great. It seems like a really good place to work.

Last Wednesday, Mike and I were both off but Kerwin had a half day of school. So we dropped him off and hung out for a few hours and then came back to visit his classroom and go to the school's Thanksgiving feast. It was really fun and everyone loved my dessert which I had just learned how to make. It was super easy to make so I gave the recipe to everyone. They typed it up right away and passed it out to everyone who wanted one. They didn't know what to call it so one of the teachers named it "Kerwin's Mom's Pumpkin Fluff Cake."

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. My mom had a big meal at her house with my all of my grandparents, an aunt, a cousin, and then all of Mike's immediate family plus grandma and great aunt. So now Kerwin has met all of his great grandparents; he has five. Thanksgiving night we drove up to northern Kentucky to celebrate with Mike's extended family. Kerwin had a good time and seemed right at home with all those new people. He just ran around playing with his toys. Then he got to play the mandolin and sing into the microphone. It was so cute. He had all the motions down, he was really rockin' it.

Friday we went out for breakfast with Mike's dad and then went to the Cincinnati Children's Museum. Kerwin had a great time. He played with lots of different things and was VERY well behaved. Which I really appreciated after seeing the way everyone else's little brats were acting. I was again reminded of how thankful I am for Kerwin. I only intervened with other people's children when there was violence involved and that was twice. The first time I had to break up a fist fight between 4 year olds. The second time, I had to stop some little hoodlum from whipping my kid in the face with a stuffed rat tail as he crawled through the tube on the way to the slide. I couldn't get to where they were so I just yelled (really mean and loud) into the tube, "STOP, STOP IT." It got the intended result but the other parents were less than impressed. They were encouraging their children to stay away from "that lady." But give me a break, my poor, less-than-confident child was being assaulted in a dark tunnel by a kid with a rodent. The good news is, Kerwin was completely unaffected and continued on his way to the slide after he took his whipping. I was kind of hoping he'd have at least taken away the kid's weapon and chucked it. I guess I didn't give him much time to react. I was all over that kid. Besides the aforementioned incident we all had a great time. Kerwin loved playing in the water, the ball area, the construction area and with the wooden train set. When we stopped playing and finally left the museum, he was so hungry. He couldn't talk about anything else but eating. After eating, we went back to Mike's parents house and they had "card party" at their house. A few of the neighbor kids who are right around Kerwin's age came over. He had such a great time with them and they stayed over pretty late.

Today he was tired and grumpy when we left him with grandma to go the UK game (ugh, we lost in quadruple over time). But by the time we met them for dinner he was all smiles again.

We have a big week this week: a play date with a new friend tomorrow, riding the bus to school for the first time Monday (I will still pick him up in the afternoons), an appointment with Shriner's Tuesday to find out what course of treatment they will take for his legs, and an appointment at Cincinnati Children's to get his hearing aids on Wednesday. I'll post again soon to keep you updated. Please pray for these appointments and that Kerwin will adjust well to his new hearing aids.

The first (and second) day of school

2007-11-11T11:29:00.000-08:00

Kerwin started school on Thursday at the school for the deaf. It's about 35 minutes from our house and so far I have been driving him. I think in the near future he will start riding the bus. There is apparently one other little boy that rides the bus from our county to the school everyday. And I met the bus drivers and they seemed very nice. Kerwin and I and my mom went to the school on Wednesday in the morning for a visit. Everyone was extremely nice. They made Kerwin feel very welcomed and he had a really good time on his visit. We had been telling him all week that we were visiting school on Wednesday and then starting school on Thursday. However, I don't think he understood that I was not going to stay with him until Wednesday night at bedtime. He cried about a tear and a half that night and I was afraid that the first day was going to be really tough for him. We prayed that he would be confident and not scared and would have a great day at school. The next morning we got up and got ready for school with no problems. He was excited because our friend Andy was going to be at school for the first day taking some pictures. So with the usual amount of goofing around, we got ready for school and out the door. When we got to school he had no trouble separating. He remembered the room and the teacher got him sitting down and engaged right away. I gave the teacher my cell phone number, gave Kerwin a quick hug and was out the door. I got a call from Andy during the day and he said he was doing just fine. When I went back to pick him up that afternoon, everyone was telling me how wonderful, cute, smart, talented, etc. that he was and how happy they were to have him. I think he had a really great first day and felt like he fit in immediately.

The next day, I was anticipating no problems. I dropped him off and left to drive to a job interview. (Which, BTW, I was offered but haven't decided on yet. I have one more interview lined up for Tuesday). Friday is a short day at school which I thought would be good for Kerwin being that it was his second day and he's never had be in school for that long, ever. Well, when I got to school the teacher said, "We saw a little bit of a stubborn streak in him today." Which is second-day-of-kindergarten code for, "Your kid was a real brat today." I was not at all surprised by this but I did feel bad that he acted that way and caused a lot of frustration, I'm sure. Later the teacher and I were talking in the bathroom on our way of the building and Kerwin was trying to get out the door before we were done. She said, "He's probably had enough of me today." Which is think is second-day-of-kindergarten code for, "I've had about enough of him today." I think we may go through a few more rough days before he gives into the fact that school is here to stay and he must participate. He saw what another student was working on and wanted to do that instead of his work so he closed his eyes and wouldn't participate. There is no way that I would put up with this behavior at home but it's hard for me to regulate what he's doing when he's at school. It seemed so abstract for me to say on Friday afternoon, "Now, Monday when you go back to school don't act like..." I hope for everyone's sake that this was a fluke. I guess we still need prayers for school.

Kerwin was dedicated (kind of like a baptism without the water) at church today. It was especially great because both sets of grandparents, his great-grandma, and his aunt and uncle were there and then we all went out to brunch afterward. It's one more afternoon of play and then back to school tomorrow. Please add your prayers to ours.

Kerwin update

2007-11-06T21:31:00.000-08:00

There are so many sweet moments in life. It's a shame that when I sit down and try to remember them I come up with very few. Today, we had a busy day of running around but I went to the firehouse to vote. Kerwin enjoyed meeting the firemen, seeing their uniforms, and looking at the fire engine. One of the firemen gave him a hat, sticker and coloring book. When we got home we put on our firemen hats, watched ourselves int he mirror and pretended to be firemen. Kerwin wanted to go to every mirror in the house to check out how he looked. So cute!

Tomorrow we are going to visit the Kentucky School for the Deaf and, if all goes well, Kerwin will start school Thursday. I am a bit anxious about him starting school. I don't know how he will do with separating from us and for the whole day. Please pray that he will have a great time at school and be excited about going.

We ended up, after two less than satisfying visits at UK, going to Cincinnati Children's Hospital for Kerwin's audiological evaluation and hearing services. They completed a full audiological assessment and confirmed that he had severe to profound hearing loss. They made his ear molds and we go back on the 28th of this month to get his new hearing aids. I was so impressed with "Children's." They are so pediatric focused that they know just what to do with kids. And Kerwin is so bright that he responded really well to them and did a super job with is evaluation. Plus , they have a Northern Kentucky outpatient facility so we didn't even have to go to the main campus in town. We are praying that these aids will allow to hear speech and learn to speak. He will likely not be able to hear some higher frequency speech sounds like f, s, ch, and sh. But we will wait and see how he does with them.

We are still working on Kerwin's home stretching program for his legs. I can see improvements in his range of motion in the two weeks that we have been doing them. He doesn't hate them as much as he did when we first started. We go back in on the 27th to see the doctor and find out what the next course of treatment will be.

We went to the dentist and it was a really good experience. They had a really fun waiting room and Kerwin loved it. He did great in the chair and his teeth and x-rays looked good. We don't have to go back for six months. It was the first appointment without a follow-up. Yee-haw!

My grandma is coming in to visit this Friday. She will be meeting Kerwin for the first time and staying with us. I am very excited. I love my grandma so much. We have been fixing up the upstairs spare rooms so that she will have a place to stay. Now that Kerwin is home, our old spare bedroom is in use. It is so exciting to be going into the holiday season this year with him home. He has been such a great joy to us since the moment we met him. We are having such a great time being a family. We are growing closer every day. Kerwin is becoming even more secure in his place in our family and our hearts. He is very generous with both giving and receiving affection. He is a very sweet and (for the most part) obedient child. I can't imagine being blessed with a nicer kid.

Open House

2007-11-06T21:20:00.000-08:00

My mom and sister are hosting an open house to allow people to officially meet Kerwin. Feel free to drop in Sunday, November 18th any time between 3 and 6 pm. The party will be at our house. If you need the address or directions, please send me an email at rebeccahaake@hotmail.com. We hope to see many of you there.

Family Pictures

2007-11-06T20:56:00.001-08:00

This weekend, we went to Waveland Museum and Tyler (my brother-in-law) took dozens of fabulous pictures. I was so impressed. Here are a few.

A fall day

2007-11-03T07:18:00.000-07:00

Fall is my favorite season. Here are a few pictures of my guys playing in the back yard. (Did I mention that Kerwin LOOOOOOOVES his daddy?)

Bike riding

2007-11-01T19:35:00.000-07:00

This is my first crack at uploading a video to the blog. If it works I will try some more. This is just a short video of Kerwin riding his bike.

Halloween

2007-11-01T19:24:00.000-07:00

Kerwin and Grandpa

Kerwin's picture of Mom and Dad

Kerwin's cowboy costume

Carving a pumpkin with Grandma and Aunt Rachel

Fun Pics

2007-11-01T19:13:00.000-07:00

Kerwin at the park (in Bengals game day attire)

Kerwin's first trip to the Olive Garden

Kerwin at the Harvest Party at church

Adoption Prayer Request

2007-10-24T18:19:00.001-07:00

I talked today with friends of ours who are also adopting from Haiti. When they began their adoption, they were told that there was a birth mother who had given the child up for adoption and that there was no father in the picture. Now they are hearing rumors that the birth father is back in the picture and he is not willing that the little girl should be adopted. To their knowledge the father has had no contact with the girl in years. They are obviously very upset with this news because it could certainly slow or stop their adoption process for a period of time. Their orphanage will continue to work with the lawyer to process their adoption till such a time as these rumors are confirmed or denied and then they will proceed appropriately from there. They are continuing to believe that God will bring to completion the work that He has called their family to. They are asking that many would join with them in praying that God will unite their family soon and that the enemy would not be allowed to interfere with their adoption process. Please join me in praying for Chris and Lisa (mom and dad) and Gigi (their daughter).

Shriner's Hospital evaluation

2007-10-23T20:12:00.000-07:00

We went to Shriner's Hospital today to get Kerwin's initial orthopedic evaluation. He was seen by the nurse, the doctor, had x-rays taken and saw the physical therapist all in one visit. It was so nice because they have everything in-house so they just moved us from one exam to the next really quickly. The x-rays showed that his pelvis and spine were fine. The doctor said that he does not want to jump into any treatment at this point. Instead, he wants us to participate in a month-long home physical therapy program to see what shape we can get the legs into with routine stretching. Then he will see Kerwin again and re-evaluate him to see what progress has been made and what the best course of intervention would be at that point. He did not seem to be leaning toward surgery but instead would consider bracing or casting the legs for a period of time to lengthen his tendons. But the big hit of the day was with the PT. She gave us a loaner walker until we can come back for a full PT assessment and order another one. But the loaner is beautiful. It is brand new and shiny green. Kerwin loves it! He was immediately flying up and down the halls in it. He is a bit reckless. We will be working on control here in the near future. But it will give him so much independence to always have something for balance. Especially since he will be starting school in the near future.

We have an appointment on Friday to get his referral process started to send him to the Kentucky School for the Deaf. I am so anxious for him to have someone else to learn sign language from: someone who is actually fluent in American Sign Language! He will learn so quickly in that environment. After a few days, he will be teaching me. I'm going to have to work hard to keep up.

Tomorrow is the pediatrician and Occupational Therapy evaluation. He did such a great job today and we were there nearly four hours. I hope he is not too burnt out when we get there tomorrow. Hopefully there will be lots of fun new toys like they had at Shriner's.

Kerwin at the pumpkin patch

2007-10-23T19:43:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Aunt Rachel took Kerwin to the pumpkin patch Saturday while we went to the UK game. He was upset at first because his daddy was not going with him. (He did not care that I was not going with him). But by the time he got to picking out the little pumpkins he was feeling a bit better. He enjoyed the horses and told me about them later. There were two horses and black and a brown one and he wanted to ride the brown one.

Keeneland

2007-10-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots from our trip to Keeneland today. Kerwin enjoyed the races but didn't much like the waiting around in between. We watched about three races and then we headed back to Grandma's for dinner. It was a nice day for me because I ran into quite a few old friends today while around town and at Keeneland.

Before we went off to the races, we stopped by Mike's office and met some of his coworkers. Kerwin still doesn't much like all the introductions. If is is one or two people he will usually look at them, smile and wave or shake hands. But when it's a large group he usually turns his head into Mike's neck and hides. He will wave and look briefly but only if we beg him. He had a blast at Grandma and Grandpa's house. He still loves to just run around and explore. I think some of the houses here look like castles to him.

Audiologist

2007-10-17T18:36:00.000-07:00

The trip to the audiologist was not all that enlightening. She basically never tried anything that he actually COULD hear. Instead, she just tried a few sounds that he could not hear. Basically, she concluded that he has no functional hearing, which I already knew. This was a fairly preliminary evaluation and he will need a more conclusive test called an ABR (Auditory Brainstem Response). This is done while the child is completely at rest or under sedation and measures brain activity in response to different auditory stimuli. Basically, it tells what a child can hear without the child having to respond accurately to the testing stimuli. We will have an ENT appointment at the end of the month and then schedule the test. What we did find out is that the hearing loss is not due to any kind of physical problem such as scarring or malfunctioning of the ear drum. The integrity of the ear drum has not been compromised. The problem is in the nerves that transmit the sensation of sound to the brain. It is likely that Kerwin has heard at one point or another. His "talking" is a good indication that he may be able to learn to speak with hearing aids or a cochlear implant but the audiologist is not hopeful that hearing aids will benefit him that much. For now we will continue to teach him as much sign language as we can as this is his only means of true communication. It's just such a shame that a child as bright as he is has gone this long without being taught a language. But I am reminded by my wiser friends that the amount of ground that he has made up in the last four months is truly phenomenal. We continue to be proud of him. He was such a good boy at the appointment: just the model patient. He is still thrilled to be at home and he is an absolute joy to us.

After his appointment, we went and visited grandpa down on UK's campus and had to go to BOTH of his offices to see all his coworkers so he could show off his grandson. Then he took us out to eat a really good Cajun restaurant downtown. Then we stopped by grandma's office so she could show Kerwin off to all her friends and then we finally headed home.

I got to rejoin my wonderful, supportive, praying, BELIEVING Bible study group last night and it was such a blessing. So of course I also had to bring Kerwin to show him off. The ladies surrounded us and prayed for us and praised God for the miracles that he has performed in our lives. Thank God for that group of women.

The last few days in pictures

2007-10-15T16:21:00.000-07:00

I've always thought Kerwin was such a happy child. Well, he has been about 10 times happier ever since we got home. He is the absolute joy of our family. He loves his grandparentes and aunts and uncles so much. He hasn't stopped smiling and laughing since he got home. He wakes up every morning with a smile on his face. He has now become quite the comedian. He has learned that he can make us laugh with his antics so he will do them over and over again to crack everyone up.

Firsts: McDonalds, boating, fishing, the park, riding in the wagon, Walmart, sleeping in a room alone.

Tomorrow we will go for his audiology appointment. This is the only medical appointment we have this week. I don't think it will be too tough on him. I am excited about getting the ball rolling with his hearing. I hope we are able to have hearing aids made soon.

The best week of my life

2007-10-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

Not only did Kerwin go to his first UK football game today. It just happened to be one of the greatest wins in the school's history. I was so excited just to be at the game today I almost cried. Then to actually knock of the number one team in the country, it was almost too much to take.

We had fun before the game. We played around the house this morning and went by Mike's office to pick up some papers. Kerwin had a great time running around the empty wide hallways in the school. Then we went over to my parents' for a big pre-game lunch. Kerwin enjoyed exploring the grandparents house. He got a fishing pole and hat from my dad and a really cool water gun from Rachel and Tyler (my sister and her husband).

We are off to bed for another big day tomorrow: church in the morning and fishing in the afternoon. We wanted to get out on the boat before it got too cold. It should be another fun day. I am looking forward to the coming week when we don't have quite as many activities planned. All day I just kept marveling at the fact that we are home, we are all together and WE BEAT LSU!!!

Pictures from travleing

2007-10-13T20:05:00.000-07:00

Kerwin in the Port-au-Prince airport
looking at his visa
taking a real bath at the hotel
checking out the "big airplanes"

The Happy Haake Home

2007-10-12T17:52:00.000-07:00

This is Rebecca. I am officially back on the job of keeping up the blog. Thanks to those who kept it updated while I was traveling. Kerwin has just fallen asleep in his own bed in his own room for the first time ever. Our trip home could not have gone any smoother. Kerwin was a perfect traveler throughout each leg of the journey. He loved the "big airplanes" and had a great time playing in the airports. He especially loved the hotel we stayed in last night. He thought it was really cool that we got to share the bed. As Kerwin fell asleep and I talked to all the members of my family on the phone, I began to feel the weight of 16 months of stress and anxiety lift from my shoulders. Even in Miami, I felt like I was home. From the moment we stepped on the airplane from Port-au-Prince, everyone we met was nothing but warm and kind to us. The flight attendant brought us freshly baked chocolate chip cookies from first class. The immigration workers in Miami kept welcoming Kerwin to America and kept saying, "We've got a new American here!" I have never felt appreciation for our country in such a personal way before. Of course the sights and smells seem so much more wonderful. Everything looks cleaner. I was able to sit and talk with people in the airport and on the plane who understood me as an American. And I am quite sure that I was not ogled once today: woohoo! (Correction: My husband has just informed me that he ogled me today, twice).

Today was fabulous. We had a great welcome waiting for us in Cincinnati. Kerwin was thrilled to see Mike and I was so excited to see my family again that I finally let those pent up tears fall. I had been intentionally saving them up over the last few days. We made a stop off at Mike's parents' to meet his Mike's Grandma Stahl and Aunt Betty. Kerwin had a blast at his grandparent's house. It must have seemed like a castle to him. He went in every room, petted the cats (you don't pet the animals in Haiti), watched the giant flat screen TV, played the drum set, played with the sports equipment, and met the neighbors. He was a little upset when it was time to head to Lexington. He finally got a little fussy when we were driving home on I75 (which coincidentally makes me a little fussy too). He got uncomfortable in his car seat and would not be consoled with toys. He was just extremely tired from three super early mornings in a row with very full and exciting days. He fell asleep just as we made it to Lexington. He slept all the way through town until we made it to our favorite Mexican restaurant which will forever been known as "Rincon" in this family. It is official: Kerwin is our son. He loves chips, salsa, and fajitas! He also ate the rice and beans (almost a Haitian meal). After dinner we headed back to see the house. Kerwin got to meet Max our yellow lab and see his room in person for the first time. He really liked his play kitchen set. He only had time to get into a fraction of his toys. Then we went outside to play with the dog and have a little pickup football game. Kerwin also got to try out his new bike. He loves it but it will be a challenge and good exercise for him to learn to ride. Finally after all the friends and family left we had a quick bath, a short book reading, prayers and off to bed. He was so excited that it took him a little while to settle down enough to go to sleep but he is now snoozing away. I don't think he was the least bit scared to sleep in his room alone. I doubt that he has ever slept in a room by himself. He took to the family like he had known them him whole life. He acted like this had been his house forever. I am more amazed everyday at the ways in which Kerwin, Mike and I fit together so well. I was so proud of the way he handled our travels. He has the same "go with the flow" attitude that Mike and I have. We are so thankful that God has a perfect plan for our family. We are so thankful that he has brought us together in this way and blessed us like he has. We are also so thankful for each of you who have provided such a great source of comfort and encouragement to us in this adoption process. Now we continue the process of building a Christ-centered household and we know that you will be important to us in that process as well. We are so richly blessed. Praise the Lord with us for his goodness, faithfulness, and great love.

Becky and Kerwin are in America!

2007-10-11T20:35:00.000-07:00

Update from Mike: Becky and Kerwin have safely arrived in America and are in their hotel room in Miami. Kerwin did great all day and was very excited about flying in the plane and being in their fancy hotel room. They will be leaving very early tomorrow to go to the airport and will be in Cincinnati at 12:20. Anyone who would like to come to the airport and meet them with us is welcome to come.

WE HAVE A VISA!!!!!!!!

2007-10-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

This is latest news from Mike: we have the visa! As I write this, Barb is driving over to pick Becky and Kerwin up and take them to the airport to leave for Miami at 4:30 (5:30 American time). The end is finally here!!!! If all goes as planned, they will spend the night in Miami and fly into Cincinnati tomorrow at 12:20. Pray there are no problems from here on out.

I've Hacked into the system!

2007-10-11T07:08:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone. This is Rebecca's sister Rachel. I hope she doesn't mind but I don't know if she will have time today to post lots of updates. Mike just called to let me know that the meeting at the Visa office went well this morning. They were told to come back at 1 o'clock to pick up Kerwin's visa. If all goes well they hope to get on the 4:30 flight from Port au Prince to Miami. They would most likely spend the night in Miami and come home tomorrow after noon.

Please pray that they are able to get their Visa at 1 or sooner and that there are plenty of seats for them on the flight. My family and I so very much appreciate all of the prayers and encouragement that has been offered through this blog. What a blessing it has been to have so many people be excited with us, sad with us, nervous with us, and all the other crazy emotions we have experienced on this roller coaster ride. Hopefully tonight we can all rejoice together!

Rachel Hisel

P.S. Becky, you thought a password could stop me, HA!

Update!

2007-10-10T15:15:00.000-07:00

I heard this afternoon that the document in question has been received. All the other papers are in order. We are scheduled for a visa interview at 7:00 tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow we will cross the final hurdle. I can't believe the end of this process is almost here. I can't wait to feel the relief, not to be waiting for anything. Hopefully, the next time I get on we will have great news. Until then...