For Pete's Sake, Finish the Week...

Oh my word, some of you are mad at me (in love).   I'm sorry I haven't written in a while - it has been a little nuts around here with my mom being diagnosed with breast cancer, a trip to Tulsa for my sister's adoption fundraiser dinner, my grandma having a mild heart attack and Brian having to go to the hospital for a kidney stone - oh, and did I mention we just adopted THREE kids.  ha ha ha    But, other than all of that, we're doing great!

So, not gonna go back to a play-by-play but I'll just finish up that first week by telling you that there were some REALLY hard moments and lots of really great ones.   I was very overwhelmed for the first three days, but then began to function somewhat normally by the fourth day.  I don't want to throw any particular child under the bus, but one of them was definitely being much more difficult than the others.  (:   BUT, that's to be expected when a child's entire world has been turned upside down.

As the weeks have gone on (they've been home five weeks now) things have become "normal".  We definitely have moments of siblings fighting - but who doesn't?   We still have one child who brings more "excitement" to the table than the others.  We have a biological child who needs to work on having grace with the adopted one who is struggling the most.  We have typical stuff going on around here.  Brian and I have said so many times that there are many non-adoptive families we know who have a LOT more drama going on in their homes on any given day.  We are really doing great and are SO blessed to have these children to love.

Our friends, Lana Reed, Mary Anne Locke and Kenda Benward blessed us with a sweet "Welcome Home Shower" on Monday, the 28th.  It was wonderful to have friends come out and meet the kids for the first time.  We were so grateful for the many gift cards we received and the kids absolutely LOVED the cake and kept begging for more.   On the way home they were talking in Amharic and I'm positive they were saying, "I had FOUR pieces of cake, how many did you have?"  LOL    And so funny cause the next day, Kenda took the left over cake to Bennet's school and she got ANOTHER piece.  Ha!!

We have been slammed with so many doctor and dentist appointments.  Our insurance company has not approved us yet so this has been a bit of a hit financially.  We are going to a wonderful doctor's office called, Mercy Clinic, and they work on a sliding scale so that has been a blessing.  We had to bite the bullet and go to the Health Department for the dental work cause we just couldn't wait.  Even after we get approved, our insurance company makes you wait 90 days for a cleaning.  UGH.  So, even though the Health Department also works on a sliding scale, it has been quite pricey since both girls have had to go twice and Kaleb has had to go FOUR times.

Bennet has a suspicious lump behind her ear.  The clinic sent her to a specialist and he prescribed a strong antibiotic to see if that would affect it, but it didn't.  While we were in Oklahoma for my sister's fundraiser, we had blood work done (because her father-in-law is a doctor and did it for us as a gift - so thankful), and those results came back fine.   So, we go back to the ENT doctor here next week and find out what the next step is.  They may biopsy it - ouch!   Please keep Bennet in your prayers as we try to get to the bottom of this.

Like I said, we spent last week in Oklahoma for spring break.  The kids were AMAZING during the 9 1/2 hour drive.  So proud of them.   My grandma ended up having a mild heart attack the day we got there so the kids met her for the first time in the hospital.  Bennet said, "Oh my goodness, she is SO cute".   Grandma Dot is 90, and in Ethiopia, you don't see old people very often.  The average life span is 45 years, I believe.

My sister's family is adopting a darling little boy named, Crew Dawit, and the fundraiser they had for him raised over $7000 for their adoption expenses.  Woo hoo!!   I sang a song I wrote called, "This is Religion" - it's a song that "Sierra" recorded on our very first album.  Brian and I wrote it over 20 years ago.  I warned him back then that I wanted to adopt some day!!  LOL    It was an awesome night and our sweet kids were so well-behaved and just loved being there with their relatives and new friends.  They didn't want to leave on Saturday to come home.

They also got to meet my dad for the first time - Grandpa Foy.  We had lunch with him at The Cracker Barrell and they loved spending time with him there and then getting to see him again at the fundraiser.  Everyone in my family is so loving and kind and supportive towards our adoption and we are BLESSED by it.  Oh, I will say that we noticed we were being "looked at" a LOT more in Oklahoma than we are here.  I've never felt like we were being watched here in Tennessee, but we definitely felt it there.  Very interesting.

So, I think that catches us up and I'll try to do better about writing and letting you know how we're doing for those of you who are praying for us and want to know how your prayers are being answered.  Please, please, please keep praying for us.  We need it.  Everything is great, but it's still an adjustment and there are good moments and difficult moments.  These kids are amazing and every day we are confirmed that they belong with us.  You just have to laugh when Kali and Kaleb do "a show" and start singing their guts our for anybody and everybody who comes over.  LOL    There is no doubt whatsoever that God knew exactly what He was doing by putting the seven of us together.  

There are MANY more of these precious children out there...you should take a look.  (;