A Blur - Week 1 & 2

Sunday, February 21st, we landed at Bluegrass Airport and were well received by family and friends.  It was a wonderful homecoming!  After some meet and greet time and some precious, tender moments with Jeremiah, Caleb, and Rachel, it was time to FINALLY be a family of 5 and head home.  Yes, that means our mode of transportation is now a 1996 Chrysler Town & Country mini-van complete with 3 carseats.

Matthew & Megan were our first official visitors as they followed us home from the airport to bring some things we didn't have room to transport.  Obviously, not wanting my first domestic act upon returning home to be cooking, the gentleman ventured out to find some of my personal favorite cuisine.... McDonald's.  Yep...  we did it right, Jeremiah and Rachel's first meal in the good ol' USA was chicken nuggets and french fries.

It didn't take Jeremiah & Rachel long to explore and find that many of the toys in our house make noise.  They felt it imperative to locate all of these toys, bring them into the living room, press the button on one and immediately do so on the next, so that there was a continuous conglomeration of NOISE!!!!  If only the joy this activity brought for the children was the same for Jon and I....  by the grace of God and shear exhaustion from jet lag we enjoyed tolerated this for the first week.  As you can see from the pics, I felt the need to introduce much more quiet activities... play dough and paint. 

Tuesday, February 23rd, Miss Rachel woke up with a fever, runny nose, and yucky cough.  Since we knew she had pneumonia while in Ethiopia and the spot on her lung had returned in the chest x-ray, we felt it would be wise to seek medical care.  Her fever kept creeping, so I took Rachel to our primary care provider at 11 a.m.  I was not in any way prepared for the aftermath that followed.  Rachel's pulse ox was low, so she actually had a breathing treatment, we tried giving her tylenol and she threw up all over the place, and we became quarantined in the little examination room while KY's International Adoption doctor was being consulted.  At that point, we learned we were headed to UK Children's Hospital for what we thought was an admission to get some heavy antibiotics and knock the pneumonia quickly.  What we learned upon arriving at UK was we were being admitted under the assumption that Rachel would be kept in isolation and treated for TB.  UGHHHHHH!!!!!  We spent a dreadful, horribly night in the hospital.  Aside from the kind nursing staff that did the best they could since the doctors/residents kept them in the dark the majority of the time, the whole experience ranks up with the worst in my life.  Jon argued medical facts with the infectious disease doctor assigned to our case, and the combination of jet lag, separation from my sons, and Momma Bear protective instincts led me to be much more vocal with the doctor than I typically would be.  Whether considering us irrational and crazy or after consulting with the radiologist to learn her chest x-ray was clear, we were discharged in record time!!!!  And we all said "Hallelujah!!!"

Finally, we were able to be home, enjoy one another, begin to adapt and adjust, and REST!  We had a Sunday visit from Papaw & Mamaw and Mama Spaulding.  Mama Spaulding wasn't feeling well and was unable to meet us at the airport, so she was definitely itchin' to let the spoiling begin.  The boys loved their airplanes and Rachel her doll.

Other visitors for the first couple weeks included members of our wonderful Adoption Support Group from Southland Christian Church.  We have been meeting with these fine folks to learn, share, pray, support, and love one another once a month.  They are a tremendous group of people and such wonderful blessings.  The Crume's, Smith's, Roberts', and Frederick's were so kind to bring us yummy, tasty dishes!  I can't begin to explain how wonderful it was not to worry about food as we were recouping from travel and adjusting to our new family life.  Because these people are so dear to us and the kids were doing so well, we were able to attend our March monthly meeting even though we were still shy of 2 weeks home.  It was wonderful!!!!

As I said, the first two weeks are a blur.  I wish I had the soundness of mind to capture in writing every one of the kiddos firsts, every feeling, every thought, but my heart felt them no doubt!!!!  Enjoy some pics of our first trip to the park and my fave thing of all.... CUDDLIN' TIME!!!!  (Harder to physically do with 3, but oh... how good it feels!)