First week with a full house

I really wanted to get some cute pictures to share before I wrote a post about our first week.  Most days I am so busy I forget about taking pictures, and when I do run to get the camera, a little tiff breaks out! 
Yes, we definitely know that we have three two year olds in the house.  Three two year olds that have not had the time to grow and change with one another, but have been placed together without their consent!  Some days they do well, and then some days we wonder if they will ever play nicely together.  We take solace knowing we are only one week in, and that they need a lot of time to adjust and get comfortable with one another. We are having fun seeing Fritzlin and Loudena's personalities come out, and are beginning to identify when they need some extra attention or how to get them to stop crying during meal prep.  Three children hanging on your legs screaming while you are making breakfast is not a great way to start the day.  
Zion Hope is adjusting to not being our "baby" any more.  We are trying to be intentional about taking her on errands up front with us so she gets mommy and daddy time, and one of us always reads to her alone at night so she knows that is her guaranteed alone time.
 
We are busy.  We would be anywhere we were living with 9 children, but making meals with food we are unfamiliar with and having not having access to grocery stores like we are used to, the heat, the bugs, and many of the other things that are unique to Haiti, make it even more difficult.   We are tired every day and we feel challenged and stretched and overwhelmed.   We know that we can only do this with the strength that God provides for us.  Only through Him.  We are encouraged through His people every day and are so grateful for words of encouragement, prayers, and your love. Unfortunately Paco has been quite sick, so has spent the past several days with a volunteer nurse and then our COTP nurse.  We are praying that he is well enough to return to us soon.  Jacob just hangs out and sucks his thumb most of the time.  He is a happy baby, and appears to be adjusting to life in the Grace House quite well.  They are all so precious, and we feel blessed to be caring for them.
Our older kids are doing well.  They are helpful with the little ones at times, and they have their school and play times, also.  We had a family meeting last week and they are all happy to have the babies here.  They did say it is more chaotic, and it is.  They enjoy their times with their friends, walks and bike rides, and attending "futbol" games.
We are all needing to stretch our Creole more and more each day.  We are enjoying it when we can, because it makes it so much easier with our Aunts.  They help us learn, and we struggle along together.  We are enjoying our meal times with them, working together, and worshiping together.  Their songs are beautiful and a favorite time of worship is the Creole singing.


So, I wrote this post over a week ago and never finished it.  That is the story of my life right now!  A few updates:  Paco is living at our house again and doing better each day.  The two year olds are doing better with sharing, but are definitely keeping us on our toes!  Each of them is demanding in their own way....part of being two and figuring out boundaries and limits!  Jacob is wanting to explore more and more and is no longer content to sit in one place for long.  Here are a few pictures of our life this week.

 Jacob and his sweet smile.

 Some of the boys!

 Fritzlin looks like he is not sure what to think of this girl sitting next to him!

 I thought it was hard to get a nice picture of our family before!!!  More chaos!

 Malachi loves helping out.

 The only way we get all of our work done is by employing two little ones to sweep!

 Do they look ready for bed?  No clue why Zion Hope has these pj's on.  She usually sleeps in just a diaper!

 She is laughing....and doesn't he look innocent?  He isn't, by the way, but he sure is cute.

 All enjoying a "regular" cup of water without their sippies.  Yep, a lot on the floor.

 Zion Hope loves our friend Wilson and this is one of his goats.  The only reason he is being friendly is that his rope is wrapped up on our porch and he can't get anywhere.

 Loudena just finishing up her new hair do.

 Still a Tigers/Twins war in our home!

 God provides us with glimpses of beauty just when we need them.  I was having a rough night and was having a very rare moment at home alone, and He gave me this sunset to enjoy. 

 Little Paco.  He had to have an IV when he was sick so they gave him a stylin' mohawk.  We haven't decided if it will stay or go!

 These three can get into some trouble when they want to, but aren't they cute together?

 Wilson came to fix our fan.  He had a lot of help.

Please continue to pray for us!  We would love for you to pray for us to make more time for individual quiet times with The Lord.  This has always been important to us, but seems more and more difficult these days.  Time with our family is also important, and we need to figure out how to facilitate that in better ways.  As we get to know our Haitian children, we learn more about their specific issues and struggles.  We need wisdom to know how to deal with these things!  We need to continue to progress in Creole.  With everything else that is going on, it is hard to push your brain to learn more.  There are some days that this just feels overwhelming.  We went to a soccer game late in the afternoon today for a fun family outing.  When we returned for a late dinner, every one of the Haitian babies cried through dinner and our kids just talked loudly over them while they cried.  It was a Calgon moment for sure.  When things get loud and stressful, we need to pray and deal with everyone calmly...please pray that we can do that!

Thank you so much for your prayers, financial support, encouragement, and love!

The babies are here!

I have been wanting to write a blog post for quite a while, but there is always something that keeps me from doing it.  We will try to be better about updating you on what is happening in our lives.  
There is so much going on right now!  I will just hit on a few things, and then hopefully will be able to share a link with you where you can watch a video I think you will enjoy.   Our babies and aunts are now here!  So exciting!  So challenging!  Much laughter, some tears, and many, many dirty diapers!!!  Things are going well.  We are forced to use our limited Creole all day long, and are learning more each day.  It is difficult, but good.  Our children are doing well and helping out with the new members.  Zion Hope is learning, slowly, that she is not the only "baby" anymore.  She, Loudena, and Fritzlin are all 2, which makes things interesting at times.  Jacob and Paco are both just under a year.  We are learning about each of their different personalities and loving our time with them.  I could go on and on, but I want you to have time to watch the video!  I hope to post more pictures of our first week soon.

Prayer requests:
Our family has taken turns being sick with a fever for the past week.  Now that we have all had it, we are praying that we will be healthy for a while.
Paco has been sick for a while, and continues to be.  Please pray that he will be healthy soon and we can really get to know him without forcing him to drink or checking his temperature. 
Pray that our aunts will really enjoy their work with us and that our relationship can be filled with sweet fellowship and bonding.  We have already really enjoyed our times of family worship, singing, and prayer with them.  We laugh a lot together....especially when we can't understand one another!
Pray for Dan as he prepares and preaches each Sunday.  That the Holy Spirit would guide and that God's Word would go forth in power.  
We really want to speak Creole well.  It is difficult, but we are learning. Some days it feels insurmountable, but the past few days we can tell that we must be learning because our aunts understand us even better than last week!
It is hot and getting hotter.  That might sound like a strange thing to mention, but life feels more difficult when you are always sweating.  Please pray that our bodies would adjust to the heat, and that we will be kind, loving and patient even in the heat.
We get emotional at times.  We are homesick.  We are overwhelmed.  I am told that the song that was sung at the dedication talks about us not doing this alone, but that we need Jesus.  So, so true.  Pray that we will stay connected to The Vine!
I hope you enjoy this link to the dedication we had for The Grace House.  You can meet our aunts and kiddos, too!

http://childrenofthepromise.org/grace-house-dedication/