Roxanne

Roxanne grazing with the kids

Roxanne relaxing in her paddock.



Last week was a very long week; although we have been so busy it also seems like the week was here and gone in a flash. 

Monday Amelia went for a blood draw, which is never pleasant.  Since was taken of Levoxyl six months ago she has been growing more emotional and prone to meltdowns. 

Tuesday we found out our beloved shetland pony, Roxanne, had to be euthanized.  She was only our pony for 7 months, but Nikita and Micah had grown especially fond of her.  She became completely blind over the winter, and was scared of every noise.  We also found out at the end she had Cushings Disease, which would explain why she had trouble keeping weight on.  She was taken away Tuesday night, and Nikita was able to say good-bye to her Wednesday.

Wednesday we also found out we have to switch gears in our adoption.  We have found out, though, that an orphanage in our country of adoption does possibly have some girls with Down Syndrome.  We are excited to see what the Lord has in store for us. 

Thursday Amelia had her annual physical.  She received two vaccinations.  On Thursday I also called our school district to sign the triplets up for school next Fall.  Jamie and I have been discussing it for a number of weeks now, and we decided to put them in public school next year.  It was a very hard decision for me, although I know we have a great elementary school and they will enjoy themselves.

Friday Amelia saw her endocrinologist, and even though her blood levels were in a decent range, he did agree to put her back on Levoxyl.  We will continue to check her blood every three months, and see if her temperament improves in the meantime.

Saturday was our tag sale!!  We made $215, thanks to the generous donations of many items to sell.  I am trying to remain positive, because that is a good amount.  BUT, we need $6000 before our adoption can go anywhere.  We have paid $250 and $300 to the two agencies involved for start up; we will be paying the $1500 for the home study this Wednesday when the social worker is here. We even have the $890 filing fee for the immigration paperwork and fingerprints. But we need the placing agency fee of $3000 and then almost immediately the first part of the country fee, another $3000.

That would be 26 more weeks of  $215 tag sales, which is way too long to wait!!! Anyone know of a good loan shark?  Or is that an oxymoron??

This week I am busy cleaning and getting us all ready for the Social Worker visit Wednesday at 3pm.  Soon after that we should have our completed home study, and then...we wait on the funds.  I trust God has a plan to help a little girl in West Africa become our daughter.



Already?

Amelia was our first experience with adoption, and it could not have gone more smoothly.  It was 8 months from meeting the social worker for the first time to meeting our daughter for the first time.  The funding fell into place and the timing was perfect.

Our next three adoptions had their ups and downs, times of not knowing how we would pay for it, and times of having to really push some people to get their part done in the process. 

And now it has begun again.  It is so hard to know if delays and roadblocks are of the Devil, since there is no way he wants an orphan to be placed into a loving Christian home...or are these just the normal trials of an adoption? I Peter 5:8 " Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."

In our particular situation, the baby girl has special needs and because of this she needs a family as soon as possible.  That means whoever has a home study and the fees in hand becomes her family.  We are not done with the home study, and we certainly do not have the fees in hand.  We will have the home study in a few weeks, but we really have no idea about the funds.  This is so frustrating...we cannot apply for grants or adoption loans without a home study, but need a large portion of the funds as soon as it is ready.

So perhaps the little baby girl I have already named is not my daughter.  There are other little girls in that country who need a mom and dad...but I was so sure the Lord told us to pursue this little baby.  Not that it still is not possible, but I just don't like feeling like I am racing other potential families to get it all together first. Who will our daughter be?

So we keep pulling together the home study paperwork, keep planning a tag sale fundraiser for this weekend, keep praying for the funds to come NOW, and wait to see what the Lord has in store for the Lindsay family.

Loving their big sister

Leif wanted to cuddle with Amelia on the couch when she wasn't feeling well this week. 

 

Yesterday she was on floor and Dante came scooting over to climb on her back. 

He was giggling like crazy!

How can those two guys not adore a big sister like Amelia??

There are some things in life money can't buy...

$1750 Home Study fees
$3000 Placing Agency fees
$8000 Country fees
$  820 Immigration fees
$5000 travel fees

Knowing that we have obeyed God's will and in turn have a new daughter:
PRICELESS

Yes, we are adopting for a fifth time.  However, since we refuse to have a credit card baby, we will have to do fundraising and apply for grants. 

Please pray for us throughout this process.

Bunnies, Baseball, and Balance Beams

"Look Ma, no penny!!"

We had a wonderful Easter, and Leif enjoyed the egg hunt at Nana and Poppy's house.

Spring has sprung, and so have the activities.  I am sure we are not the only busy family!

Amelia, Micah, and Sunny started their second year playing in the Challenger Division of little league baseball.  I forgot the camera for opening day but caught Amelia at home afterwards.

I also forgot to remind Jamie to take them to team photo night yesterday.  I suppose that is not necessarily a bad thing since we are already missing two of the baseball caps.  I do have all three shirts stashed in my dresser though!  Their first game is this Saturday.

Last Saturday that had the baseball opener at noon, and the assessment rounds for Special Olympics that evening.  I did know where all three of their leotards were. 

Unfortunately, I am not sure they all got put away afterwards. 

  Sunny was in a bit of a goofy noncompliant mood.  On her balance beam routine she kept collapsing and laughing into her volunteers arms and would not cooperate.

It was all for show, and she did love it when she was given her participation medal.  The games in Boston are coming up Father's Day weekend.

Leif and the Penny

Our family went through the usual round of colds from February into March, including little Leif. By the first week of April I was concerned that Leif still had an awful cough, even though his nose was perfectly clear and he was having no fever. He certainly was just as bouncy as Tigger, just always coughing a loose yucky cough.

On April 7th I took Leif and Amelia to the doctor, where she was diagnosed with a sinus infection and Leif was given antibiotics for his cough.

It did not get better, and grew worse. Three times he had coughing fits while eating and threw up. (All over me twice, but who's counting?) I took him back to the doctor on Tuesday, where he was prescribed a stronger antibiotic. The doctor then asked me if Leif ever puts anything in his mouth.

Really?!?! He is a nine month old baby boy. Everything gets the mouth test. We were sent to a hospital for an x-ray, just as a precaution to rule out the possibility of him having aspirated on something.

"Rule Out" became "did you know he has a coin stuck in his throat?"

We had gone to a hospital that is not quite as busy at the larger one with a pediatric emergency department, since it was to be a quick trip. Unfortunately it meant we were at the wrong hospital if we wanted the best treatment for him. They decided to send us to the other one, but since he was now in their care it meant they were responsible for him if something happened on the three mile drive between hospitals.

They insisted on transporting Leif via ambulance.

And then we began the hurry up and wait. Amelia had come with us, but she was great. She does still have some fear of people in scrubs and white jackets, so anytime she was given a friendly greeting she said, "L-E-I-F" and pointed at Leif. Just making sure they know who the victim is here.

Leif in his johnny waiting to be sent to the OR.

By 5pm we were all ready for Leif to have an emergency endoscopy to remove the coin. I was quite nervous; our simple trip for an x-ray was not supposed to end in my son being given anesthesia and a surgical procedure with a long list of could-go-wrongs.

Sleeping off the side effects of the anesthesia

Amelia was pretty upset that we let the doctors wheel Leif away while we just watched. When they were done and they called is in-- 7pm now-- the nurse tried to tell us Amelia could not go into the recovery room. I said she was not leaving the hospital without seeing her baby brother.

He was fine, it was a penny lodged in his esophagus. It had been there at least 4 weeks, so he was getting pretty raw and had some coughing fits while waking up. He was admitted and kept overnight for observation.

And now we are home again. He still has the cough; it should be gone within a week. You might think that after this experience our bouncy little guy would be "...a Humble Tigger...a Sad Tigger, a Melancholy Tigger, a Small and Sorry Tigger."

Nope. He is still "Tigger, a Friendly Tigger, a Grand Tigger, a Large and Helpful Tigger, a Tigger who bounced, if he bounced at all, in just the beautiful way a Tigger ought to bounce."

And Jamie and I are praising God that He has been watching over our little guy through it all.

Doing it All

Today for the one millionth time someone said to me, "I don't know how you do it all".  I never really know what is meant by that phrase.  What exactly do they think I accomplish in a day?

The kids dress themselves in the morning.  They get their chores (mostly) done and beds (mostly) made.
So I have decided my definition of it all is really quite simple.
There are 2 things I must get done every day:

1. Pray
2. Feed the kids (preferably 3 times)

Everything else is a bonus.  A "yay me" moment. 
Dante made it to school-- yay me!
I got a load of laundry done-- yay me!
Most of the bills were paid this month-- yay me!
and so on...

That is how I get it all done.
God is in control; I feed the kids.