Adoption approved by Dean in PAP

May 12, 2011

This morning I was up at 5am. I wanted to go down to the main house right away and see our baby girl. We waited till 7:30 and then I said let’s go! Victor was not confident that I was able to get us down there alone. He wanted to wait for the others but I said worry pas... follow me LOL! It was kind of funny because I had memorised the walk... Turn left, then right, then left and continue left. So when we got to the turn right... i asked him if we should go that way or the other right LOL! He looked at me with a empty cloud ... heheh! We did get there and went straight up to see Berline. She was still sleeping so I went to spend time with Djeff (Théo). We is such a sweaty. He loves to be held.

 Nikki preparing pancakes for breakfast at the guest house.

When Berline woke up, I asked the nannies if I was able to feed her. Well that did not go well at all. I don’t think one bite went in her mouth. Just on her clothes, face and mine LOL!

Before leaving for PAP, we decided to do a little photo shoot in White. We had fun!!!



Around 9 am, we left with Magalie and Theriault for Port-au-Prince to go to court. I thought Victor was going to have a heart attack. He was driving like a maniac. Our heads were spinning in the back. Half way down to PAP, we dropped off Magalie and she left us with the driver that we did not know at the time that he was actually the one who works on our adoption dossier with her.

When we finally arrived to court after 1 1\2 drive, we walked up to the entrance and we were refused. We were not dresses properly. I guess you cannot have shorts and tops with no sleeves. Nobody told us that. We left the orphanage and they all saw us... We sort of thought about it in our heads but because yesterday was so informal at Judge Bob, we did not really think that we were actually going to a government building. Theriault wanted to turn around and come back tomorrow. I said NO! We are going to stop and buy clothes. We were in Port – au – Prince, in the middle of the rumble and went inside a store, I bought a shirt and long black pants for $50 and Victor bought a pair of jeans on the side of the street. I looked like I had a Halloween costume on. The clothes did not fit that good.

We waited about 2 1\2 hours in line. Everyone was passing in front of us to see the Dean. It was crazy. Almost empty room and all of a sudden, about 20 people came with papers and they all go to see her before us. Finally we were next in line and next thing you know, someone got in front that slipped the guard some money in his pocket. When we finally sat down in her office, she asked us a few questions. She asked, why do you want to adopt, why did you chose Haiti, What do you do for a living, how will you be able to take care of her if you both are working. She then asked us for more pictures of Berline. Magalie had only put one picture in our dossier. Thank god I had my camera and had 300 pictures already LOL! She then smiled and told us we were approved. At that point, we were so relieved! Now our dossier goes into Parquet and Courts. We are praying hard that this wait will not be long. We need to bring our little princess home. When we got back in the truck, it was about 3pm. We had not gone to the bathroom, drank water or ate... We stopped on the side of the street for water and deep fried banana... yum yum!

After that painful day, our little sweet girl, Théo and Nathan were waiting for us to start the Birthday Party! They are all turning 1 year old. Théo’s birthday was actually the day before. His’s was very special. It was funny to see their reaction with the cake. Théo did not like it at all. I think he was scared by the whole thing. Berline on the other hand was intrigue.

When we got to the guest house, our evening was not over. We had to have a slumber party with Baillee and Kaylee. These girls have so much energy. Last year Koffee was too little. This year, he really opened up to us. He’s such a great boy.

Meeting with Judge Bob today and Théo's Birthady

Wednesday, May 11, 2011


Today is Theo’s first Birthday! I asked Susie and she said they normally do the Birthday’s for the month all together. She asked us if we wanted to do Berline’s birthday at same time because we were here and her birthday is June 14. She said it would be Théo, Berline and Nathan’s. 2 of the volunteers baked the cake this afternoon, however we had to go sign in front of Judge Bob today and we only arrived late. She said we would have the party tomorrow after we arrive from court. We drove up to Kenscoff to see the local Judge. We were supposed to see him the day we arrived but his son was in the hospital. When we got there... to our surprise, we drove up to his house. He was planting flowers in front of his house. We got us to come inside. It was like entering a cool room. The house was made of cement. We sat at the table and he wrote a paragraph in a book. He then got us to sign the middle part of the page with our passport number and our home address. That was it. I asked him if we could take a picture with him and he started jumping up and down... He was so excited!!! He reminded me of Eddy Murphy when he acts all crazy in his movies.

Being with Berline today felt really real to me. I am going to just love being her mom! I think I already have the diaper thing all mastered LOL! Victor is not there yet, but I am hoping he will hahaha! He watches but did not get his hands dirty. Victor was able make her fall asleep in his arms. I tried but was not successful. She is like a little fish... she just flops and jumps. I think she is more comfortable in his arms because they are bigger hahah!

We got to know the Team of 11 that are staying at the guesthouse with us. They are producers from California. They made the film, Like Dandelion Dust, film about adoption. 2 of them have adopted as well. They are really nice people. One of the guys sort of did a photo shoot with us.

Victor went to the Baptist Mission (shopping area) today with the team. I had already went last year so I stayed with my little princess and Théo. We just played upstairs on the balcony.

Walking to main house in the morning to see Berline (Kyanne)

Signed adoption papers in front of Judge Bob.

Love at first sight!

May 10, 2011

When we arrived at the airport in Port-au-Prince, I was quite surprised how normal it felt. It was nothing compared to when I went last year after the earthquake. While we were driving, you could still see all the tent cities. It’s really sad to see the tents after a year has gone by.

We had all planned to get ready downstairs before we would be introduced to Berline and Brandon had called Melissa ahead and she was waiting for us downstairs when we got in. She was there with her smiley face. I just went in shock!!! Tried to get the camera out but had to go get her first. It felt so wonderful to have her in our arms...it felt comfortable and perfect!

We immediately fell in love. I don’t know how it is to give birth, but this feeling that I had when we first laid eyes on her, was the beginning of the rest of our lives together.

We stayed on the balcony all day playing, hugging and kissing her. She’s such a pleasant girl. We had Théo (Djeff) out on the balcony with us as well. Théo is Liette’s son. They will be friend when we bring them home. He is such a wonderful little guy. He is calm and he likes to cuddle. On the other hand, Berline is quite the active little one. I’m not sure if daddy is going to be able to keep up with her. He was quite tiered when we arrived at the guesthouse.

I am extremely happy to see the Jordan family (guesthouse). I missed them so much. Nikki got us to stay in Bailee and Kylee’s room aka ‘Princess Room’ I am so thankful that we got to stay with them.

Nothing is ever easy when it comes to Sylvie and Planning!!!

So I finished by having a 1 1\2h hr of sleep. We had came back from Dinner early because we wanted to go to bed early so we would be all rested up for today. Guess that did not happen.

I booked another one way ticket with American Airlines. By the time I got off the phone with Red Tag, she could not guarantee that we would be reimbursed for our original flight. Lets just say I was not sleeping. While all of this is going on, Victor was sleeping, when I woke him up to let him know that we were only leaving at 3:30 and then at 7 am, he was a bit confused. I said, worry pas... we’re getting there in the morning to see our little Kyanne Berline. After Nicole told me that we were passing court in the afternoon, I did not want to screw things up. When I tried to go to bed, I was thinking of my friend Liette who is also adopting from GLA. She is waiting for her dossier to get out of IBESR... hopefully it will be soon... anyways, to get back to what I wanted to say... Liette is the total opposite from me. I always make mountains out of little pumps. If it would have been her in this situation, she would have simply emailed GAL this morning explaining of the flight change and would have assumed that they would change the court date for her. Sylvie on the other hand, had to make this all dramatic and pay an extra flight to get there in the AM. Sometimes I should sit back and let things flow but I dont have it in me. I had it in my heart that I was going to see Kyanne in the morning and I am going to see her. I will actually be there 1 1\2 hr earlier than scheduled previously.

We woke up at 3:30 to get to the airport early enough so I could try to see what I can do with our flight with Insel Air. Like the other time I flew to PAP, we were all over weight and had to stuff our carry-on bags so we would not get charged extra fee for our checked luggages.

When we got to the Insel Air ticketing booth, there were 2 guys waiting for their flight. We asked them where they were going and they said PAP!!! I was freaking. We waiting 10 minutes for the agent to arrive and he said it was scheduled for 8:30 am, however it would only leave at 2pm WTF!!!! Anyways, all that to say that we confirmed that we would still have our return flight with them on Saturday.

So right now, I am sitting at the airport writing this post so I don’t forget any of the details. I guess life would be boring if everything would go according to plan.

Oh and one more thing, poor Nicole was home talking to me till 2 am on FB. She wanted to make sure that we would be there in the morning. Thank God for her and her connections with GLA LOL!

Next post, I’ll have met my little Kyanne!!!! I guess part of mother hood is having no sleep so my first time seeing her will be with no sleep... just like giving birth for some mothers I guess!!!

Trying to get to Haiti

We managed to get to Miami today. We saw all kind of signs of our little girl today. On the plane, we were watching a travel shows and they were in Berlin. As well, when we landed we passed by a plane that had big letters on it... ‘ Berlin’.


We spend the afternoon at the beach today. The water was so warm; it felt we were in a hot tub. We then took a stroll down Lincoln Ave and had a nice supper. We came back to the hotel to pack because we thought we had to leave bright and early in the AM but for some reason they changes the flights and now we might only be leaving at 3:30 pm. I called Red Tag and they had no idea what was going on so they said they will call us back. Do we leave in the AM or PM... I don’t have enough on my mind right now that I had to add this little stress LOL! Oh well, one way or another, we will see our baby girl tomorrow. We can’t wait.

So a few hours passed and Nicole found out by James that Brandon is picking us up at the airport in PAP in the AM and we go in front of the Judge at 1pm. I’ve been on the phone with Red Tag all night and I think I might just have to book another flight to get us there in the morning. American Airlines leaves at 7am (in 6 hrs.) No sleep, meet my girl in the morning and court in the afternoon. Sounds like a lovely day ahead of me. :O)

Best Mothers Day Gift!

Melissa emailed me right after lunch today to let me know Victor and I could travel as soon as next week! Unfortunately, if Nicole and Renée would be coming, we would have to wait at the end of the month to go for availability at the guesthouse. She also pointed out that if we wait at the end of the month, our dossier will not be moving until then. So we decided to go next week just the 2 of us and get the ball rolling and get her home sooner rather than later. Hopefully when we travel for the second time to bring her home, we’ll be able to bring Nicole and Renée with us.

So this is it. After almost 3 years of dreaming of this moment, it’s really happening Tuesday, May 10th. We will be flying to Miami on Monday May 9th and will be going to Haiti the next day. We are extremely happy but a little nervous at the same time. I only have a few days to pack, so I won’t have time to sit and rehearse what I am going to do LOL! I guess it will all come out naturally... hopefully.

Waiting for potential dates to travel to Haiti.

I went shopping on the weekend to get her a cute white outfit to take pictures when we meet her. I can already picture her all cute and smiley! I downloaded all the videos I had on my video camera and digital camera so it’s all ready for when we leave. I will have so many videos of her for souvenirs when she grows up.


I don’t know what happened to my brain but since I found out that our dossier is out of IBESR and that we are finally ready to plan our first trip to meet her... I completely lost my train of thoughts. I am no longer able to concentrate. People talk to me, I hear them but I don’t have a clue what they are saying...

Melissa from GLA emailed me this evening to let me know she got my email. As soon as she can give me dates, I will be booking the flights right away. We are hoping that Nicole and Renée can come with us to Haiti so we can meet Berline (Kyanne) for the first time as a family. Lets cross our fingers that they can come!

Here’s Melissa’s email:

From: GLA Adoptions

Date: Tue, 3 May 2011 15:39:24 -0500
Subject: Re: CORMIER Family - OUT OF IBESR
To: Sylvie Cormier


Hi Sylvie!
Needless to say, it's been a little bit crazy for me since I've been back from my holidays, but I just wanted to let you know that I've read your e-mail and as soon as I get a chance to take a good look at the calendar, Iwill let you know about possible dates to come.


I haven't had a chance to talk to Dixie, but I will run the idea by her about Nicole and her sister coming as well and I will let you know what she says.
I'm so excited to see you soon and be able to witness this precious milestone for you!


Talk to you soon...
Melissa Friesen
Acting Adoptions Coordinator
God's Littlest Angels, Haiti