Coming Up For Air

Saturday mornings--at least for now--seem to be my quiet time. Granted, there is peace and quiet around here in the evenings, but there always seems to be so much to do...preparing lessons, running out to the store--alone!, meal planning, housework catch-up (now there's an oxymoron if I ever heard one!), column writing and, of course, sleeping!
For now, if Saturday mornings are all I get for blogging, I'll take it; knowing that this too shall pass. A few important updates to share:

• We had our first post-placement visit and it went very well, even though Baby Girl decided to have a messy diaper right in the middle of it all! Our case worker wondered what our *intentions* regarding adoption were and we told her that we had no plans in the near future to adopt again. (I have to admit that just writing that out loud scares me. I know how God feels about me and my plans!) However, she seemed relieved because of the number of children we have and that whole snafu with DCFS approving our homestudy and getting an exception for this adoption and yada yada yada. The whole thing still leaves a sour taste in my mouth and presently, I simply don't have any additional energy to direct towards fighting it.
• The Captain took Baby Girl for her labwork and although we found out that she needs one MORE vial of blood still, the one they drew that day went off without a hitch! Praise God! And...more of a praise even still...ALL of her blood work results thus far have come back normal!
• Speaking of medical results, we also finally got in to see the ENT. He's the same ENT who helped us with Hannah's hearing loss and with Mr. T's tubes in his ears. When he examined her, he found both of her ears to no longer be actively infected, but to be full of fluid. So, she's on allergy meds and nasal spray to try and clear that up. More importantly though, we were looking for information on the *special need* that allowed us to adopt her in the first place. In Ethiopia, she was diagnosed--by observation--with a floppy airway, something which is not uncommon and children typically grow out of by their second birthday. In the first year, however, it can cause multiple breathing problems and failure to thrive symptoms. But in the US, this diagnosis is made by scoping the throat to actually see what the airway looks like. And when our ENT examined her, he felt that she was not showing signs of that diagnosis, but that her problems seemed to be centered more in her sinuses and ears. He ordered several xrays and they called us with the results this week. It seems that the funny Darth-Vaderesque breathing she makes is not being caused by her airway, but from a pair of extremely enlarged adenoids, which is totally manageable! We have a follow-up exam in November to do a re-check on her ears and create a plan of attack. Once again, The Captain and I have been privileged to see God's hand at work here. Without the original diagnosis in Ethiopia, she would probably not have been on the "special needs" list, which would have made her ineligible for us to adopt due to our family size. As The Captain said, this one just slipped through the cracks so that she could join our family. Otherwise, she would have been scooped up in no time. God has been so very good to us.
• Speaking of God's goodness to us, I have to publicly thank all of you who have sent meals (or coordinated sending meals!) our way over these last few weeks. It has been a godsend and I'm not sure how it is I will ever be able to thank you all enough. Just know that I've been singing some serious praises for you all. We love you and God loves you more.
• In other news, Mr. T seems to be coming out of his Baby Sister funk little by little. He actually sits and plays with her every once in a while now.
  
• As for homeschool, I've been fairly silent about it what with everything else going on, but I have been so pleased with the girls' progress thus far. We are only a couple of weeks away from the end of the first quarter and so far so good. We've been able to do some wonderful projects and are enjoying reading real literature together. I'll try to share more about this sometime.

Most of all, however, is that through all of this the Devil has not prevailed. And there were many times when he tried. But my God is bigger, stronger and tougher than ever and He has drawn us closer to Him than we might have thought possible. And for that, I am grateful.