Racy Racers

My girls like to run, they call it running club. Whenever we are out and about and they see anyone jogging or running they say longingly, "There's someone doing running club". It's not that they are very good at running or very fast, they are just persistent and slightly obsessed at times.

When Sweetpea first came into our family she thought running club was as close to torture as she had ever experienced. Due to her low muscle tone and difficulty with balance and coordination she really struggled with running a couple yards much less the distance that the others like to put in.

Slowly, as she has done a lot of therapy she has gained muscle mass and core body tone as well as benefited from increased balance and coordination (at least where her feet are concerned). She is not tripping and failing nearly as much and she has stamina now.

Yet, even with all these great gains she was not keen when spring came and we popped outside to start running in earnest. She threw some really stinky fits, and stood there and watched in amazement that the others were having a really great time and she seemed to be missing all the fun. Poor girl did not know what parallel universe she had landed on.

Well, she has persisted and slowly she has been able to make some progress with her running. I still think she thinks it insane but she does it with a willing and eager heart.

Today, for the first time in BUTTON history all girls ran 1.1 miles. This is BIG news. The most they had run heretofore was just over half a mile. They really wanted to break that mile barrier and so they did, all of them, even my newest button. I was so proud of her, I could not wipe the enjoyment of that amazing feat off my face and she knew it!

They are now considering what their running team name should be.....Great Wall Running Princesses is in the lead at the moment. In the pictures you will also see our little friend who is staying with us running as well along with the Great Baba, Father Spectacular!

This isn't stop sign ballet, they are really all stretching but it struck me as funny how they were all clumped together around the sign.

An amazing end to the story

I cannot wait to share how gracious God is. The money has all been supplied. There, that is the punchline and it indeed is amazing to us, because it was not by our strength or by our doing but by God's gracious and sovereign hand. We have a lot to boast on, and none of it is about us.

I sadly admit that I took the news and situation and went into a struggle over it. My heart was so bleak that I did not see any way and I was confounded. I literally cried out, "I cannot make this money appear out of thin air!" Yes, I know it looks very foolish and yet that is where I was.

My sweet husband shared our burden for the smaller sum with one of the pastor's at our church. This pastor has been such a sweet help to us through all the ups and many downs of this adoption journey and has offered great counsel and wise advise to us. The next day this pastor left a message with my Beloved, telling him not to worry, that the amount would be taken care of.

What a huge relief! What a kindness to us to hear this good news.

But........we had gotten it wrong! The message was not that the smaller sum was to be covered but that the entire sum was no longer a barrier and that the demands of the ss agency would be met in order to get the paperwork to the court.

The impact of that news hit me like a physical blow. It felt like the difference between being forgiven a debt of a few dollars and a debt of a lifetime. I know that sounds like an exaggeration but that is how visceral it felt to me.

How silly I must look to Christ when I fell immediately into disbelief and had no faith at the first sign of the problems when all along he had a plan to take care of it. He is so patient with me and so loving.

--------------okay there is a really neat post script to this amazing story too. After my last distressing post to the blog I got an astounding email from a person who reads the blog but who doesn't know us from a hill of beans and says that if we are in need of that money they would be in a position to help us with it! I read it and I was deeply shocked. It was as if God was saying "yes, but I CAN make money appear out of thin air". Superstop. What an amazing God we have and what a unique person to follow God's heart like that to help total strangers?!?!

Bang Nation

Spring silliness is running rampant around these parts and all my girlies got it badly today...........and the result was that they all wanted to "match" Sweetpea in a unique way.......by styling their hair to match her bangs. None of them have bangs and they are forever hearing her say that she can't wait for long hair like her other sisters......today they rewarded her with all wanting what she has and they don't - bangs! What lovely silliness we had. Sweetpea felt so loved and special by this act of "matching" by all her sisters."Matching" is a big thing around this household. I have not really aided and abetted except when the top buttons were very little and we had a couple of dresses that matched. Yet, they seek out things that go together and try to wear them all at the same time. It gets a little ridiculous when I hear them calling from one bedroom to the other to find out what color socks someone is wear on a particular day so that the person dressing might see if they had the same colored socks clean at the same time. We do now have a few things that match, like 4 of the same t shirts and similar hairbands. Even my mom who was adamant about NOT matching the girls even went against all her rules and bought them not one but 3 matching items, one of them being a 3 piece outfit x 4! Go figure, Grandmothers cannot be relied upon to hold to their guns especially if they have found a good sale!

F.R.U.S.T.R.A.T.E.D.

Oh this is going to be a venting post, so be warned and wary.

This week we received some very frustrating news regarding the process of the adoption. Let me preface this to say that this is the first domestic adoption we have done and while being very well versed in China adoption processes and set backs we are operating with the understanding that this final adoption will be a)more open and b)more easy to understand and access information. We are finding our assumption to be false......leading to some head scratching but not mass frustration up until this week.

The players are: the state court for which we have a date on the 19th, the lawyer who we are paying lots of money to represent our case and do all the work for us so that this is done well and expediently, the social services agency who do the homestudy and post placement visits and all the reports to the court, us the prospective parents and the child who has lived with us for 5 months now.

The lawyer contacted the ss agency and told them they needed this big, all inclusive report done on our case and that it had to be into the court 10 days before our courtdate. He did not communicate this with us in anyway. The ss agency calls us in a panic and tells us they need to do this in a hurry and that it will of course cost a lot of money, like $750! We asked why it wasn't done before and why after all these many months was this the first that we or the ss agency has heard of this very needful thing?

Well, I must thank God for our social worker because she is amazing and wonderful and has been the entire 4+ years we have known her. Yet again she comes to the rescue at the last moment and pulls this report together, not withstanding a very busy personal life, and without having to interview us again because she knows us just that well gets it all done. We fact check the document and get it back to her with some minor corrections and we think we are good to go......except for the fee or course.

Well now the frustration factor reaches a crescendo. The ss agency contacts us and says that basically the paperwork is complete but that they will not release any of their work to the court until we pay the fee. The next day it is not just this fee but a much larger fee of $1800 for services that they had already performed and services to be performed throughout the course of this adoption. The final tilt was that they wanted all monies up front or they would hold our adoption paperwork hostage thus submarining our court date and putting us into possible jeopardy.

I calmly reasoned with the woman that trying to find $1800 in the next 24 hours was going to be impossible and that it was a little untimely to demand full payment at this juncture when it was never mentioned before.

I wanted to throw a fit but I did not. I need to keep this woman on our side until the finalization.

Then she went for my weak spots and said that all the ss agency was really concerned with was for the best of the children they serve. That if our inability to pay caused us to lose custody of Sweetpea and necessitate a return to her first family then that would be okay. The child would be the same in either family ------------------WHAT!!!!!!!?????? This is from a woman who has read every detail of this case from the moment we first began the adoption process. She knows the intense trauma and hardship that was visited upon our lovely Sweetpea at the hands of her first family and she disregarded it in light of the larger need to get paid on her timeline.

I was undone. I was shaking badly and had to compose myself to get through the rest of the call in order to not say what was on my mind.

I feel so defeated and frustrated today. The echo's of fourth button's adoption sound loudly in my ears when at the final week before flying to China the adoption agency imposed another fee and without payment threatened to implode our union with our soon to be daughter. It seemed heartless then and it seems heartless now.

I just don't get it................and I cannot make that money appear from anywhere.

Wondering why no blogs???

Have you been checking in and seeing no blogs? Well there is a simple and not great reason why there has been a dearth of words from this side of space.

I am too mentally besieged with things to process that blogging has fallen to an all time low priority. So very sorry for those who have been such great readers.

So, just because you have been so faithful in waiting I will give you an update.

The unemployment thing continues to drag on ad naseum ....... causing my previously mentioned mentally besieged state. If I am not in prayer begging God for daily mercy to cover our need then I am trying in vain attempts under my own power to make something out of nothing. Please pray that the health program that we applied for to cover the kids would get going very soon. Right now we have done everything in our power to stockpile and safeguard but with all the special medical needs of our dear ones we NEED medical coverage.

We have a court date for Sweetpea's first adoption hearing, May 19th. Wow and wow. It cannot come soon enough and now that it is upon us I am nervous for it. This is the hearing that will terminate her first adoptive parents' parental rights, and then they will have no more say over her life. If all goes as expected we will then have to wait another 6 months and more social worker visits and reports before the final court date to make her forever and always a part of our family.

Speaking in that vein we are experiencing a wonderful phenomenon where we can see all her growth in these past 5 months and rejoice in it. How? you may ask. We have brought a fifth child into our home for a short stay. She is an 11 year old girl who was adopted from China 4 months ago but her single mother is struggling with this adoption. We know this family a little bit and were able to offer to take the child for respite care while the mother gets some rest and regathers her strength.

This lovely, vivacious child can wear a body thin in no time flat. She has a lot of the same behaviors that Sweetpea had when she first came home. Sweetpea just looks at me like I've lost my marbles that I am allowing such behavior in this other child that I would not have allowed her. The big difference is that I am not this other child's other and so I simply am providing basic care for her, but for Sweetpea I am her MOTHER and that is an entirely different kettle of fish - for this child I would climb to the moon.

My sweet husband and I were sitting together last night and marvelling at the changes that have overcome Sweetpea and I think I will detail some here for you as well:

• she no longer thinks about life in terms of how much everything costs
• she eats much less and is much happier about what she gets to eat and doesn't fuss as much about what she doesn't get to eat
• she no longer talks about going back to the Philippines or to Singapore
• she has learned to run, awkwardly but steadily
• she can show genuine concern over the error of her ways
• she can show true compassion
• she is learning to read expressions and emotive language, and rightly interpret them
• she is able to be content with not having to compulsively talk and or move
• she listens more
• she tells me when she is sad
• she prays and asks Jesus to help her become like Him

What a great progress report for only 5 months of being in our family. God has been so good to us.

And they sang......

One of the highlights from March was a benefit concert that the kids participated in to help orphans, mainly in China. They worked diligently to learn the song for the "Adopted Children's Choir" which performed during the benefit. The whole night was a great success, realizing much awareness brought to the plight of the older orphans still living in China and their need to be loved and cared for, and ultimately to have the chance to be adopted into a family. It also raised a lot of contributions towards a summer camp that reaches out to these same orphans and gives them a respite from institutional living for several weeks every summer, all run by volunteers mostly from the US. Yet, I think the highlight of the night was the children's performance when they marched on stage in their colorful costumes and proudly represented their birth heritages. It was simply delightful.

March 16th - Fourth Month Milestone

When the older kids were small I loved counting their ages in months. Now that I have bigger kids new to the family I love to count their coming into our family by months too. It helps me keep perspective otherwise I am apt to fall into greater expectation on the newest treasure than can be borne. It also gives me a moment to pause and reflect on what God has done over the time we have been together. I have found myself not being able to recall memories correctly because I cannot locate Sweetpea inside of them. Of course she was not in the memory as she was geographically elsewhere when that memory was made but it just shows me that my heart has begun that shift of "knowing and being known" that happens when you bring a child into your heart through adoption.

Blame it on the time change!

As I sit here my mind is buzzing with the events of the past 3 hours. It is a daily homestretch of trying to get everyone into bed that has worn me out!

Why must everyday end with dinner? A dear friend of mine said that if she were to want anything in the world it would be a personal chef to make meals for her family. Me too. While I enjoy cooking I also find it at times a strain to get the meal on the table with a peaceful heart. I am blessed with a family that loves most everything that I create and are great eaters. I have a few food allergies to navigate but really my life is easy and sweet when it comes to feeding the hungry youngun's and my main man. On top of that they APPRECIATE me so much when I pull a meal together out of thin air. I get the best rewards from my sweet girls and they are by my side now most days in the kitchen "helping" the dinner preparations and with getting the table set. How lucky am I?

After dinner it is a sprint to get the table cleared and clean, the kitchen cleaned to a degree and then everyone shuffled upstairs for bathing, brushing, potty, pj's and bed. Tonight we were turning off lights right after the 9 o'clock mark, an hour later than our 8 o'clock bedtime!

As I tucked the last button into bed and kissed the sweet wet head goodnight I sighed in gratitude. Then I went into the bathroom and saw that my day was not yet done as a tornado had touched down and wreaked havoc when my back was turned. Even then I was not disgruntled but grateful that the mess was made as they had attempted obedience for all the other little things that entail getting to bed successfully.

We have had a good day, I pray they will have a good night with sweet dreams, and some small hope that all will stay in their beds through the night.

Wipeout Wednesday

Another HDO under our belt but I must say that we are sorely out of shape for these marathon endeavors! Today we did not get home until after 6 pm. Dinner was lucky to have not been a repeat of lunch's pb&j had it not been for Baba's cancelled scan and infusion of energy into our midst. He pulled together a feast of mac & cheese with hotdogs that was downed by a pack of voracious wolves that were roaming our dining room. They fell into bed with relief and anticipation.

I too hear my bed calling but wanted to blog a note first. I feel after such an intense day I need a little unwind time. I recall that my mom used to get off the 3-11 shift at the ER and sit up watching Johnny Car*son. I couldn't understand it when she was so tired why she just didn't go to bed, now I understand it better.

Today I taught the early body science class again. The mom who was going to teach this section has the flu so when she called me yesterday afternoon I threw together a curriculum for today's class. I was hoping it would be not be noticeable that it was last minute and I was so pleased that it turned out better than expected. I cannot express how great these kids are (two are mine, of course). They are so eager to absorb all this information and experience these great science experiments for the youngest set of scientists in our group. May they always be this way. It makes teaching them such a joy.

At HDO the 2 oldest buttons are in a knitting consortium and that has caused the 2 littlest buttons to want to learn how to knit. So today in a quiet moment I took a project I had just begun but had no further plans for and began to teach Sweetpea to knit. She is enthralled with her new-found skill, and especially to join the ranks of the "big girls". Her 2 rows were as you would expected but if she continues I think it would be good for her dexterity and fine motor coordination. I'll keep you posted if we knit anything grand, like a pot holder. In the picture you'll see that she is biting her lower lip, she always does this when she is concentrating. She is also sporting a hairband to keep her long bangs out of her eyes, she gets annoyed with them easily.

On the job front my Beloved has found a posting for a job in Chicago. Same career path as he is on now so that would be good for him. We don't know any real details yet but he is going to apply for it and see what comes of it. We are running at 6 weeks out from his layoff date. He is getting a few hours here and there but even unemployment hasn't kicked in. Thankfully we are still covered with medical, which is just the incredible kindness of the Lord towards us. Please continue to pray if you feel so led.

Sweetpea goes to her first HDO

Today our homeschool coop started again for the spring term (affectionately called Homeschool Day Out or HDO) and Sweetpea attended for the first time. It is a great blessing to have this wonderful coop. Yet, even the seasoned hard core ones of the family know that it is a day of the week that beats all others.

Poor Sweetpea did not know what awaited her when she woke up this morning! She thought it might be some fun outing from all the excitement that was brewing throughout the household. Backpacks were being readied, violins and music checked, lunches packed, water bottles filled and mom was slowly and surely loading it all in the van........must be something good.

We got to the facility early, and we are so very blessed to have a wonderful facility that is loaned to our group. We helped with some of the smallest details of set-up while I gave Sweetpea a tour of where we go and what the lay of the land looked like. Then we had a 15 minute window of playtime before getting to class.

She is not taking any classes this time because she is not ready for it. She is just coping with the strain and stress of our lives as it is, she does not need to have to interact or attend for another teacher at this moment. I don't need to try to get compliance from her just yet either, we can just sit this one out and learn the ropes slowly and steadily.

She enjoyed sitting with me in all the classes and did an amazing job being quiet for the most part. We have very gracious teachers who do not have a big thing about absolute quiet so we were able to learn to communicate with our hands and to whisper softly by having lots of opportunities to practice.

She enjoyed being around a lot of different kids. Some of these kids she has a vague relationship with and a basic operating knowledge of how to interact with them. All the other kids were just flashing danger signs to her and by the afternoon she was showing signs of distress at having to handle it. Still, I was amazed that she was doing so very well with the whole scene.

By the time we packed the car and headed for home we were all spent. She had used every ounce of her ability to contain all her emotions and distress. She hit the wall, in a figurative sense. For several hours afterward she just rollercoasted up and down through the gamut of negative emotions searching for a place that would make sense. I could not get through to her on any level, she was just locked in this state and none of my attempts at helping her made any effect. I could tell by the pain behind her eyes that she really wanted me to help her calm down but then she would physically bar me from being able to do anything that might help.

Thankfully I felt very filled with love and empathy for her and so it was a rough end to a long day but not one that threw me overboard. I look and see that as an evidence of God's grace to me.

My biggest regret about today is that I left my camera at home! How could I forget such a vital piece of equipment? I failed to document the day for the annuls of history. Bad mother. Bad.

The Learning Curve

This morning we woke up to a winter wonderland and before we got down to business of schoolwork we jumped into our snow suits and headed out for some shovelling fun.

Sweet Sweetpea is still so new to snow. She is on the up side of the learning curve. For instance the first item she put on were her big mittens and then attempted to get the rest of her suited up, much to her frustration.

The other thing that had us in gales of laughter was her take on a snow bank. We overheard her instructing our littlest Button that a snow bank was a place where you went to get money out of with your hand. When we said we were going to put all the kids into the snow bank three of them screamed and ran away while Sweetpea just stood there and cheered!

We all laughed and she joined in with us not knowing that she was the delight we were all celebrating.

One Hundred Days of Blessing

We are rejoicing and celebrating our 100 days together! It is a great thing to remember how far we have come and to look back closely at the days when Sweetpea was so new to us and to see such progress. It is a great thing indeed.

There is a Chinese tradition that we follow in our family called the 100 Day Celebration. When a child is born in China, traditionally, the first 100 days the child is held in seclusion in order to protect it's health and give it the best chance at a fighting start. Also for those days it is not given it's formal name, it might be called a nickname or crib name but the name it will carry with them into adulthood will not be pronounced upon it until it reaches the maturity of these 100 days. When the child has reached the 100th day the family prepares a celebration and invites family and friends to come and meet the child giving the visitors red eggs and candy. A feast is usually prepared and during this feast the patriarch usually welcomes the child into the family and pronounces declares the name of the child.

In our family tradition we give this a twist and celebrate the 100th day from when the child comes into our family. It is a time to recall the goodness of God's faithfulness and to see how the days have gone. It is a rich tradition for us. Each of our daughters have celebrated their 100 Days and have great memories and pictures from it. Now Sweetpea will also have this wonderful treasure to tuck into her memory bank and know that she is forever part and parcel of this family, you can see our family taking shape right before your eyes. It is a time to lay aside the moment of striving and thank God for what He has already done.

We are truly grateful, humbled and filled with awe at how God has moved in our lives, all of our lives. We are, none of us, the same for having loved Sweetpea. She is being transformed before our eyes and we can take no credit.

Happy Birthday Little Brother......

We want to wish my littlest bro the best birthday today, especially because he is an avid blog follower....... here's looking you in the eye (standing on a step stool, I know!).

I just remember when you were this small and cute. How I got to hold you and dress you and feed you. You were my very favorite baby doll. I love you bro, happy day!

Going Above and Beyond

This week has been a trial to my heart. Sadly it is due to the realization that I have let things slip and that has created problems in Sweetpea's transition to our family. Generally there is the time of long illnesses that has been endured that has swayed me from my diligence but since regaining our footing I have been lax in getting back to the basics with her.

In honesty it is selfishness that causes me to not pick up on the daily therapy and get back into the routine. There was also a little denial that she had held it together so well with all the hospitalizations of the different ones of us that she was doing okay....... perhaps.... maybe......... not so bad.....

There has come a reversal in her demeanor recently. A going back to the familiar and known behavior for her that had diminished greatly almost to my hope of extinction----even though I know that it is entirely too early for that type of progress.

The intimacy that we had created doing therapy daily, several times a day, had allowed her space to change and explore a new life that she had never experienced before, and she was blossoming. Yet the selfish part of me cries over the cost of tending this precious orchid, a bloom I am slowly coming to understand but have little to go on. I wish that she was fully transplanted already and blooming hale and hearty so that I could step back into a more casual role of parenting.

Today, loud and clear, I got the message that there are no shortcuts to this transplant process. It will take toil, labor, sweat, tears, pain and self-sacrifice. (Those are terms I generally try to avoid in my comfortable life.) I may not like the cost but I will keep my eyes on the prize and be steadfast. We both went back to step one today and while there was resistance from both sides I know that we will regain the ground that was lost and continue forward.

I am sadly a product of this instant gratification, microwave society. I guess this is one way to nullify it's footprint on my life. The other would be to live as a hermit in a mountain cave with no modern convenience and I am WAAAAAY too social to do that!

Another Threshold Crossed

Today a minor but important-to-this-mama threshold was crossed. First, a back story to get some details.

When we were in the agonizing wait for Sweetpea to come we became more and more disillusioned with the parents from the first family. They were not exactly stellar with following through with what they said and they were prone to change their minds at a whim. This did give us a great opportunity to trust God more for the whole arrangement.

When all was said and done and Sweetpea was on the plane heading to us there was a slight little hiccup with her ticket- it was a round trip ticket instead of a one way. They also had given themselves a lot of buffer before the return trip and booked it for Valentines Day. This made me nervous only because I felt I couldn't trust them and that they had a little yoyo string tied to her.

Now that that date has come and gone I find myself relieved that one less thing can easily pull her from our arms. They still have the legal ability to do so, but now they would have put forth more financially, something they are not willing to do. I am glad the yoyo string is cut and the ticket is null and void. So I will sip a cuppa tea and celebrate another threshold crossed even if I am the only one counting it.

It's all Good

We have wonderful news to report...........no one is ill in our house!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey that is praiseworthy around here. This past week the pallor of illness lifted from my Beloved's face and he is regaining his vigor daily. Now, he is humbled by what vigor is defined by these days but at least he is on his feet and heading for a full recovery.

It has been a time of great reflection for me. As we have gone through this extended time of illness I have felt like the phrase keeps bouncing around me head "this is not a real crisis, if this had been a real crisis the emergency signal in your area would have alerted you to stand by for further instructions". Perhaps it was delirium brought on by too little sleep or just an old PSA announcement that got weirdly lodged in my head but somehow I felt comforted by it. I was glad that what we were experiencing was not as all consuming as it appeared to be at moments from the inside. I was glad that we would all get through this unscathed and slightly wiser. I was profoundly grateful that this was NOT the crisis that I should be consumed by and fret over, that in the end God had it all worked out for His glory.

There was another theme that ran throughout the course of this time frame and it came from a much healthier source and that was:

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Duet.
33:27

When I first ran across that passage in my devotions I thought it was a very old fashioned verse one that I had not heard for a long time. I did not think much that it applied to me. Yet, it kept repeating itself over and over during the course of these weeks that have turned into months. I now take great comfort in this old fashioned verse. I have found rest in those everlasting arms that held me and mine. I have found security and strength in those arms. I am forever grateful that I was upheld during this time, that I got to float when my normal tendency is to fret, and I got to witness the faithfulness of God for myself and my family time and time and time and time and time and time and time and time and time and time and time again.

God is sooooooooooooo good. I am so grateful. I could sing of His love forever!

Gong Xi Fa Xai to you and your family!

Happy Chinese New Year.

It is the end of the festival for Chinese New Year and today is Lantern Festival, one of my favorite memories from China. We celebrated with a picnic lunch and read aloud of a favorite Chinese novel. The kids were given hong bao, the red envelopes by their Baba and did their crazy happy dance. Their piggy banks are enriched on this day each year.

Coming Along

We are ever so slowly getting back on track after this long winter of illness. Finding that daily we are chipping away at what feels like an avalanche of stuff that had been shoved aside by the urgent and life sustaining demands during the last month. I cannot yet look at the whole mountain of stuff because it would send my head spinning into utter despair but each day taking on a little corner of untidiness that is a reminder of what we have passed through will get it done before long.

I am feeling pretty much back to normal. I still have a lingering cough and my energy is not yet fully back but I am functional. I am trying to pull us back into a normal routine so that the kids will benefit from regular school hours and routine. It also gives me a small sense of accomplishment, that if nothing else has been accomplished for the day at least the educational part has been covered.

The kids are all back to their bouncy selves. I marvelled at how well Sweetpea did with the whole hospital experience. I wondered as we went through it if it wasn't a little insulated capsule of bonding that we got to experience to speed our way through to a better place relationally. One story in the hospital is endearing to me. When we woke in the early morning she was really thirsty and I gave her small sips of drink. I asked her if she would like a popsicle as she was allowed to have them. She said no she did not want a popsicle as it was before breakfast. I asked her who made that rule as I had never made such a silly rule and certainly if I was offering her a popsicle it was not against my rule (at least for this one day, all others would be exempt of course). She just could not hurdle over this "rule" in her head that there were to be no popsicles before breakfast. As I knew that she was not going to get "breakfast" as she knew it I really wanted to get something into her. It became almost a battle of wills over this popsicle thing. I got the popsicle and opened it. Sliding into the bed beside her I told her that she could either "eat it or wear it" and began to apply it like lipstick upon her lips. She could not resist long before her grins turned to giggles and her giggles turned to licks. Soon the popsicle was no more and her lips were bright red. She still was in shock that I, her mother, had forced her to eat a popsicle before breakfast. I had broken a cardinal rule. She was sure that I would be in trouble somehow, but she was innocent even if she bore the evidence of guilt on her face. It was one of those special moments with your kids when an inside story is forged and made even sillier by the keeping and telling of it. It has been a special thing between us.

Bringing them all HOME SWEET HOME

I am in really high spirits tonight as I was able to bring all of my family home today.

Sweetpea rallied very well this morning and by noon the doctors checked her over and gave us walking papers to get out of Dodge. It looked at that moment that my Beloved would still have another test scheduled for the afternoon so we did not think there was any hope that he would be discharged today. Just as I began to make arrangements to get the two of us picked up and taken home his doctor walked in and wanted to discuss things with him.

They nicely agreed to relocate their discussion to our room and I was able to be part of the team. It made a difference when I heard that he was cancelling the afternoon test and wanted him to stay another day to get more antibiotics and rest. I asked if perhaps he could do those two things at home just as well as in the hospital if there was not further testing he wanted to do. This doctor was so kind and agreed that he would discharge my Beloved so we could all go home together!!!!!

We were a merry band of leavers. The father and the daughter in their wheelchairs waving farewell to all the good people of hospital land. We thank you and we wish you well but we do not wish to see you again for a very looooong time to come.

SuperV brought our car with our other kiddos in it and as we loaded she hopped out and into BeautifulB's car for a ride home so we could go directly home and put these sick people back into their own comfy beds. It was cause for celebration.

As soon as I had Sweetpea bathed and sleeping sweetly in her own bed my body cascaded with exhaustion. I did not realize that I had been running on so much adrenaline until it stopped and I felt so very tired. I am so happy to be in my own bed tonight with all of my own under one roof. For this I praise God who has kept us through all these days and his faithfulness cannot be measured.

Sweetpea goes into the hospital

Sweetpea is now also admitted to the hospital. She is in the pediatric unit but it is on the same floor as her Baba and he is able to shuffle over and visit with us. Today did not go as planned and she went from being a little sick to being really sick very quickly. I was so glad that I was not alone when it happened and that there were others around to help pray and reason with me as I had to make the decision of what to do and how to help her.

We had gone to church this morning and I knew that she was running a temp. As she doesn't go to children's church and she doesn't have much contact with other people I felt it was okay to do so. She drank some water and slept on me during service but I noticed that she was getting really hot by the end. I took her out to get some water and to be able to talk to her. As service let out and I waited for the other kids to come to where we were I held her in my lap. Sweetpea was turning the most strange color of purple I have ever seen. Then suddenly she threw up all over herself and me. Kindly some people were able to get towels to help clean us off. She felt a little better after that and I planned to go home and wash us up and put her to bed.

I asked SuperV to drive us home as other friends had taken the rest of the tribe off for playdates and happier times. As we drove down the road Sweetpea started moaning pitifully and told us she was going to hurl again. I was able to get her out of the car and to a clear place before she profusely did what she needed to do. Poor girl was limp in my arms. This happened several times and the last time we stopped (as we had already determined that the ER was the place to go and not home) SuperV found a police officer and asked him for an escort. Well, that's where the story gets interesting and I was glad she was driving and not me because it became a high speed chase in reverse as we followed the police car pell-mell down the street blowing through red lights, turning corners seemingly on two wheels and screeching to a halt at the doors of the ER. I am sure it was more sedate than all of that but with my adrenaline pumping that was my take on it at the moment.

Sweetpea was taken into the ER and they did a really good job assessing her with all the complexities there are to take in. After a few hours she was still not responding as they expected and some of her blood work came back out of range so they issued us an invitation to stay with them overnight. OH JOY!

The other kiddos are tucked safely into bed at SuperV and MarvelM's house and are doing well. Sweetpea is sleeping a lot as her body has been through the ringer. I will be spending the night here by her side as they will be giving her more medicines and blood draws through the night. This is an excellent hospital and I am relieved that she is getting the best care possible.

One of the pastors from church stopped by this evening and brought a balloon. She saw it when she woke to go potty and when I tucked her back in bed it went to bed with her. So sweet.