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HAITI OR BUST

Home From Haiti

Life In The Fast Lane

Carson moved up a rank to Tiger at the Blue & Gold Banquet. Yeah Carson !Thank you Boy Scouts for your generous donation to Hope for little Angels of Haiti!

I love my princess nightgown & new earrings !

Thank you Tammy for my beautiful blanket!

My new favorite thing ! Trying to jump rope :)

What a week ! I'll try not to drag this post out but I'm limited on posting time so when I get A chance I throw it all out there. I'll try to hit the big parts of the week first !

We met Thursday with an adoption attorney to start Vania's domestic adoption process. The meeting went well & it feels good to lay everything out to someone who's experienced & say here's what we have help us figure this out. This is so new for everyone in the adoption arena that I think the challenge will be up to the attorneys & the courts & the rest of the powers that be to figure out how to process these children with so little info. & documentation. We are working from a small white envelope given to us when Vania was released to us in Miami our home study & any other info we could find in our filing cabinet. Our attorney said that the proof of relinquishment by Vania's mom is something she feels the judge will request. All we have is a monthly update with a check mark by " relinquishment by parent to orphanage ". Even though we know this to be true, we have no formal document. So our attorney is looking into seeing what we can get from our placing agency. All though the process is still vague for us I'm glad to have a professional to help & share the burden in figuring out all the STUFF out to get this adoption completed !I'm definitely a person who likes a checklist . And when there isn't a checklist or guidelines I am LOST !

The next thing is that we had Vania's ENT appointment Friday. That was pretty easy except for the wait . No procedures or blood draws = no crying :) Long story short her tonsils are HUGE & she will be getting them out ! She is a little anemic so they will have to wait until her iron levels stabilize. Unfortunately we have not been able to sneak her iron supplement into anything. That stuff is just gross !! So I'm going to start trying to crush a multivitamin and sneak it into chocolate pudding :) Once her iron levels are fine she will have her adenoids & tonsils out at Children's Hospital. Just a one night stay & estimated 2wks for recovery.

I also wanted to give a BIG thank you to Boy Scout Pack #277 for their donations to Hope For Little Angels of Haiti Orphanage. We were able to send Hope $200.00 this past week from collections taken up by the pack after the earthquake. Very awesome guys !!!!!

Some fun things to mention.... I finally got my Talliah Wiijahd Black Earth ( I'm sure I butchered the spelling :) products in the mail for Vania's hair ! I absolutely LOVE to play with her hair ! It is sooooo fun. Haven't a clue yet if they work better than any other hair product but it's fun experimenting :)

Adam & I took Vania to Wendy's after our attorney appointment. A very nice lady came up & asked if we had adopted her from Haiti. We replied yes & she said that she was also Haitian. Her mom had grown up in Haiti. She was born here in the U S . What was so cool was that she thanked us for adopting Vania. Little does she know that we are truly the ones blessed to have an awesome little girl joining our family but it was nice have her give us her "blessing / Acceptance " of some sorts.

I have to tell you this.. right after I got done writing this post a person 32in tall with big brown eyes came over & turned the computer off ! AHHHH :) Luckily it saved itself ! Did I mention she's FAST !!! Until next blogging time..... ( probably when she's fast asleep ) !
Bambi
Grandpa Steve's Butt- Cream
AKA : Aquaphor & Maalox blended to perfection !

Last Monday Vania has a diaper rash going on so Grandpa Steve , who is also a pharmacist called our local CVS & asked them to make up some special cream for Vania. We went in to pick it up & as soon as we got into the store I received an important call from the pediatrician. So just dropping by to pick up the diaper cream turned into trying to keep Vania occupied in CVS & out of harms way while trying to soak in & listen to the doctor give me lab results for some of the additional blood work they had ordered. There really is never a good time for phone calls :) CVS was very patient. As soon as I was done talking to the doctor, I grabbed the diaper cream, put back the 1o pairs of gloves I let her put in & out of the cart to keep her occupied & headed for the door ! Once we were all buckled in I read the front of the container & had a good laugh !!!!
I wanted to thank CVS . I know a lot of employees have been praying for Vania & for Hope Of Little Angels from Haiti. Grandpa Steve says they call & ask for updates sometimes 2x a week ! They had also sent down a lot of supplies for the Orphanage with Tiffany & I when we went to Haiti last October !!
There is some new info from the doctor. According to Vania's bone x-ray they think she is anywhere from 24 months to 30 months. So the original birthdate we were given of 7/21/07 would be the more accurate one. He will send all the info to the pediatrician so it is on record if we decide later on to try to legally change the birth date.
As far as adjustment, our biggest challenge has been naptime & bedtime. We have decided not to give her a nap. It takes just as long to lay her down as the time she spends sleeping :) We have also decided to let her stay up & lay down with the kids who have all been bumped to a 9:00pm bedtime. She seems to do better when all the kids lay down. Although we still lay with her for about 10 min. before she falls asleep. But the last couple days this has worked well & she has not gotten up at 4am :)
We have an ENT appointment March 5th . We are still concerned about her snoring & coughing through the night & have gotten her snoring action on video . Mama wants answers !
We have received a little info on where to proceed with the adoption from here, but I'm still a little confused so I won't post details until it's clearer. It looks though like we have 2 options. 1) through Haiti or 2) through the State. More on that as it unfolds.
Here are more fun pictures of our sweetie .......

I love to play with my cousin Kylah !

I love Grandpa's Bacon & eggs & Grandma's dress up clothes !

I love Grandma's yellow hat ! It makes me look like the Gorton's Fisherman :)

I love eating cantaloupe with Grandpa ! And know if i smile I get to look at myself on the Camera :)

I LOVE MY POPPIE !!!!!!!!!!
Boogie Down

I don't know what makes me laugh more. Vania trying to imitate Beyonce's moves or her back up singers ! :)
Fan Mail

I hope Vania is ok because of earthquake in Haiti. If shes going to be ok I hope she likes America. I heard this of you guys because my mom's friend is your sister Erin. These other cards that are coming are for Vania from me & my class.
Sincerely,
Wade Cowan

There are so many people to thank for praying & supporting our family to get Vania home. On the top of my list is Wade Cowan. His mother Christie is a friend of Vania's aunt Erin & she had shared pic. of Vania & our family's experience with her family. So as the quake unfolded Wade decided to get his class to make cards for her & sent them to us from Iowa. It was very uplifting & touching to know that someone whom we had never met was rooting for Vania to come home ! Thanks Wade !!! We will keep all these cards & someday I will tell her how excited everyone was for her to come home :)
Kids Gone Wild

Yes, we were off of school again today due to the snow ! It is still snowing & I'm hoping that the snow plows are able to keep up so school can resume tomorrow :) I know bah- humbug right ? The fact of the matter is , we have not had one week where their has been any regular schedule since bringing Vania home. This is the second week in a row the kids have had 2 days of during the week & we are all driving each other crazy. Not to mention our options of getting out are limited due to the weather . This mama likes routine & warmer weather :) So today was not such a good day. Many tantrums & bickering from all parties here in the Estep household. Snow day or not tomorrow I am heading up to my mom's for some much needed adult conversation & COFFEE !!

Vania had her appointment at Children's Hospital International Adoption Clinic last Friday. It was indeed a long appoinment. She fared well for the first half which was just a basic medical exam, Denver Developemental Test, meeting with physical therapist & meeting with nutritionist. Then the doctor did a PPD test to test for tuberculosis . That sent her over the edge. She was highly offended and cried the rest of the trip :( After I settled her down we made a quick bathroom trip which resulted in her getting her fingers pinched in the door. So.. back to tears.
Next stop the lower level of the out patient clinic for an x-ray of her hand ( to determine age based on bone growth ) & MORE bloodwork. More tears :( We had some done initially through our pediatrician. Which by the way all came back normal, INCLUDING the one for Sickle Cell ( which had been marked as positive on her inital medical report from Haiti ) ! The only thing low was her iron level, so she is on an iron supplement. Her stool cultures have also all been fine.
Only three more appointments to go. We did ears yesterday. All good. In March we have Hematology, ENT & eyes. Whew !

Anyway to the pictures.......

Her first homecoming party .Thanks Cathy ! Love the cake
Vania loves balloons & chasing/ hitting :) people with them !

She loves reading her picture books & can repeat most anything !

Making cookies with Mama. Any time I am cooking she tries to eat all the dry ingredients. Yesterday it was dry potatoes for the scallop potaoes I was making. She ate them like potato chips. Then wasn't to fond of them when served on her plate :)

Playing with cousins Eli & Kylah

Aunt Lindsay showing her how to take a photo

Lots of sweet kisses !

Well, off to bed for now. Bon -Wit !
Bambi