Our adoption coordinator and a group of adoptive parents traveled to Haiti on January 11th. They returned home last week on the 18th with heavy hearts, adorable photos, and great travel stories. I should have been on that trip. I had been planning on joining the group up until a month before they left. I suddenly felt like I shouldn’t go. I was still exhausted from the previous trip. I realized it would be a big financial burden right after Christmas. Our kids at home were dreading our departure, and I started to wonder just how good it actually was for Georgia and Talley to have us for a week, only to be dropped back off at the orphanage. I opted not to go.

Late Saturday night, we received updated photos and info on our girls. I was heartsick when I saw the pictures. I am not sure what I was expecting to see, but I felt ill looking at my daughters. I felt a huge wave of regret wash over me. I should have been there. I should have been the one taking their photos. They both looked so much older than when we saw them in September. I felt an unexpected sorrow come over me, and vowed that I would not miss another Parent Trip. Even though they take so much out of us, they are beyond worth it; to be able to make one more week of their lives better, while they wait to join our family.

I also missed visiting with the other adoptive parents and volunteers. There is a deep feeling of camaraderie that exists between adoptive parents traveling to a third world country. You make life-long bonds in mere days. I also missed the crazy roller-coaster ride that is Haiti. I vow here and now to have that adventure again come April. Until then, I will gaze at the new photos of my girls, and keep them in my prayers.

Here is how they are doing:

Georgia was much more relaxed around the volunteers (previously she has been afraid of them and would not make eye contact; often crying in their presence). She let a couple of the women hold her, and even approached them. She was playing with the other children in the orphanage and sharing her toys with them (previously she had nothing to do with the other children in the orphanage). At 3.5 years old, she weighs 21 lbs and was 32 inches tall.

Talley was afraid of the volunteers (where previously she was happy and unafraid). She cried and screamed while they tried to get her photos, weight and height measurements. She needed to be calmed down by the staff at the orphanage. She has taken on a toddler look, and seemed to have lengthened. She was standing next to a chair and could walk holding hands. At 18 months old she weighs 18 pounds, and is 26 inches tall.