Tabitha's Surgery

I'm writing from Cincinnati (well, actually Florence, Kentucky.)  Tabitha's surgery was this morning, and all went well!  Her ostomy bag is GONE FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (Can you tell I'm happy about that?)  The surgery went smoothly, and her wake up was much better than last time.  Last time she woke up very angry; this time she was calm and not upset.  She's pretty grumpy and really wants to eat, but other than that she's doing well.  She's already started watching Dora DVDs, so all is well as long as no one gets between her and the TV!  :)  Heath and I are taking turns staying with her and staying at the hotel with the other kids.  My mom is here helping us too, which has been great!  Plus my friend Kelly and her boys are here, so everyone has a playmate.

Tabitha still has the catheter through her abdomen.  The urologist wants to keep it there until we're sure that normal cathing will work OK.  As long as all goes well, they'll take that out before we go home, and we'll be back to cathing every 4 hours.  My biggest concern right now is figuring out the bowel stuff.  Before her operation in May she had no chance of bowel control; now she has a chance for it, but we just have to see what happens.  They can't tell us for sure whether or not she'll have it.  For the next few weeks she'll probably have very bad diarrhea because of the colon not having worked all summer.  After that things should settle down, and we should start to figure out what we're dealing with.  Dr. Levitt thinks she may be hypermotile (colon moves too fast).  This is not what I wanted to hear.  That is very hard to regulate, and we'll have a lot to learn.  No matter what, she'll always have issues with constipation and/or diarrhea because of the way her colon works.  So we will always be dealing with some combination of laxatives or enemas or strict diet to try to keep things working right.  And it's not something that's figured out once and for all.  So I'm pretty sure there's going to be a lot of continued frustration on my part trying to deal with it all.  Once we get her system regulated, only then could we even hope to see if she'll be able to potty train.

So while we're figuring that all out we could very well be back to where we were when we first adopted her . . . constant poopy diapers.  Only now she's 4 instead of 2, so it'll be that much worse.  You know, I was sure once we got rid of the ostomy I'd never complain about anything else again, and I am indeed THRILLED to be rid of it!!  But please pray for me over these next few weeks...months....years.  I do not like dealing with any of this, and sometimes it just feels like a never-ending nightmare.  Fortunately, Tabitha usually takes it all in stride and isn't bothered too much.

We'll be here for the rest of the week.  We're hoping she'll be discharged on Friday, but we'll see.  Meanwhile we're very thankful that her recovery is going well, and for the fun stay we're having.  Hopefully all continues to go well.  I'll post again if we have anything new to share!

Tabitha in the pre-op room

Tabitha watching Dora after surgery

Lisa

Please be in prayer for my aunt Lisa.  She's my dad's sister, only 45 years old, and she was recently diagnosed with cancer.  She'll be having surgery on Monday the 29th, the day before Tabitha's.  You can visit her caring bridge site by clicking here.  Thanks for praying!

One Month

It was one month ago today that we met our little Rayanna for the first time, and it's been 3 weeks since we arrived home with her.  On the one hand it's gone really fast!  But on the other I feel like she's always been with us.  She has eased her way into our family with very little fanfare!

HOWEVER, the honey moon is definitely over.  While I'd still call her an easy baby, she's starting to show us she's not all flowers and bubbles.  For one thing, she has not taken a real nap this entire week!  A couple of days were my fault (letting her fall asleep in the car and trying to skip her pre-nap bottle), but the other two days there's no excuse!  The last few nights she's also waken up once or twice.  She goes back to sleep fairly easily, but after such a perfect start it's not fun to have that happening!  She's also been more grumpy.  While we can now put her down without hysteria, she's taken to the more usual toddler behavior of whining and fussing when she wants to be picked up.  She also would hardly eat today (except her bottle) and got very mad and loud when I tried to get her to eat her baby food!  But, nonetheless, she's usually still pretty content and happy.  It's just that I've had my bubble burst, finding out she's not perfect.  ;-)

She's continuing to become more interactive, and she's working hard on all her motor skills too.  She's pulling up and cruising all around now.  She's also starting to get inquisitive, which means I need to work on some more serious child proofing!  Until now she hasn't seemed curious about anything, but now she's starting to get into things.  Even though it's a hassle, I'm so glad to see her interested in her environment and learning new things!

She really is a precious little girl and a delight for all of us.  Here's a picture of our little sweetie, one month after gotcha day.  (I tried to catch a smile, but it wasn't happening today.)

Back Online! (And slightly shaken!)

Well, we finally have our cell phone and internet service back!  Turns out a tower was hit by lightning during the big storm Thursday.  I really realized how dependent I am on it when I couldn't use it for almost 6 days!  I couldn't contact anyone at all, for anything!  Couldn't pay bills, look up information, or even look at my calendar! I've always been one to value "real" things and want a hard copy of everything.  Only recently did I surrender to an all-online calendar and email storage.  Perhaps I should go back to my old ways!

Today we had (hopefully) our final ostomy problem.  We were at Borders perusing their going-out-of-business sales when Tabitha announced that her bag was leaking.  I figured she meant urine, since the valve occasionally opens by accident.  But, no.  Much to my dismay it was the OTHER bag.  Somehow the velcro closure had decided to open of its own accord, and there was liquidy poop all over the inside of her dress and running down her legs.  Fortunately we made it to the bathroom without an audience and were able to clean her up well enough to finish our errands.  It was my first shopping outing with all 4 kids, and it would've been smooth sailing if not for that.  GROSS.  Hallelujah....we only have a week left!

Anyway, the "slightly shaken" part of the title comes from having my first-ever experience with an earth quake!  Actually, I guess there was supposedly one here last year, but it was much smaller and I was asleep and didn't know anything about it.  This time was quite different!  Heath's mom (Stephanie) was here, and we were in the living room with the kids when the house started shaking!  My first thought was a wind storm, but it was perfectly sunny weather outside.  While it kept shaking, my mind raced through all the possibilities I could think of, but came up with nothing!  It only lasted about 3 seconds, but it was the strangest feeling.  Stephanie figured out what it was; otherwise I don't know if I would've ever thought of that.  I mean, this is Maryland, not California!  It turns out (if you haven't seen the news) that there was a 5.8 quake in Virginia, and it could be felt from New York to South Carolina!  Yikes!

In less dramatic news (but just as exciting to me), I have our school planning pretty much finished.  When we get back from Cincinnati we'll be ready to go!  Ethan starts 2nd grade, Jesse starts kindergarten, Tabitha starts preschool, and Rayanna hopefully continues to be an easy baby.  =)  I've got my schedule all made up.  It'll be great, as long as everyone cooperates and I don't plan on having any free time.  Ai yi yi.  It'll all be worth it in the end, right fellow home schooling moms?  =)

Our Cincinnati trip is just days away.  Besides the obvious excitement of getting rid of the ileostomy, I'm excited to see a couple of friends and my mom too!  It should be a good trip.  I had been worried about taking a trip so soon after getting back from China, but I think it'll be fine.  We've had lots of wonderful meals brought by families from church, Rayanna's been a pretty good baby, and this transition has gone much easier than expected.  I think this first family "vacation" might turn out to actually be fun!  =)

Offline!

Sorry if I haven't been responding to emails and phone calls.  Since Thursday afternoon we have had no internet or cell phone service at our house.  And since we don't have a landline phone that leaves us pretty cut off!  Assuming a Sprint tower went down or something but no idea when it'll be back.  Currently writing from McDonald's and in a hurry.

So if anyone needs to reach us urgently . . . I don't know . . . send a telegram????

=)

Doctors, Doctors, Doctors!

Before adopting kids I think our only visits to doctors were for shots.  (Well, that and the occasional need for dermabond and/or staples in our boys' heads.)  Since Tabitha joined our family we've become very familiar with doctors and hospitals though!  Rayanna seems that she won't need nearly as much medical help, and yet . . . we'll still have seven doctor appointments in her first two months home, not counting Tabitha's surgery!

Today I took the girls to get their hearing checked.  Babies in this country have their hearing checked at birth, but that wasn't done for our girls (as far as we know), and we have reasons to question hearing for both of them:  Tabitha because of her speech delays, and Rayanna because of the unexplained doctors' comments on her referral.  So I made an appointment for them both at the ENT for a hearing check.  I thought we were actually seeing the ENT, but I guess I mistakenly scheduled us only for the audiologist's hearing check.  It was really quite useless.  Tabitha was too shy to cooperate in the sound booth, and Rayanna just didn't react to much.  The doctor doesn't want to say that she has a hearing loss though, because it could just be that her developmental stage isn't where it needs to be for her to react as expected.  (The test they do on newborns can't be done on toddlers because they're too active; the child must be perfectly still and quiet while the device is put into their ears and the test is run.)

So, here's the plan:  the week we get back from Tabitha's surgery in Cincinnati, she'll go back and see the ENT this time.  He'll clean her ears and check her palate and nose, since she has sounded congested for a couple of months and always has a nasally voice.  Then, at the same visit, we'll go back to the audiologist and hopefully she'll cooperate with the hearing test this time.  For Rayanna, we're going to go to the Kennedy Krieger Institute, where they can do a test that actually monitors the brain waves to see if the brain is registering sound.  No cooperation required!  (They also have an international adoption clinic that will do a developmental evaluation and some other things, so hopefully we can do all of that at once.)

I also just called the opthamologist about Rayanna's possible tear duct problems.  The earliest they can get us in is September 27th, and the visit will take 2 hours!!  I can only imagine what "fun" things they have planned for her.  =(    Any volunteers for babysitting during these appointments will gladly be accepted!  Dragging four kids to doctor appointments is torture for all of us, the doctor included!  (Fortunately, I was able to drop the boys off with Heath at work today so they were spared the agony.)

On the 28th we leave for Cincinnati to get rid of those awful bags!  Hooray!  I am SO excited to be done with all that, and I know Tabitha is too!  She seems to have a small infection around the hole where one of the tubes goes through her skin into her bladder.  We've contacted her urologist about it; just pray it doesn't get any worse.  I'd like to make it these last 2 weeks without any further complications!

I'm actually looking forward to our trip out there.  We're all going so that we can be together as much as possible.  We'll switch off who stays with Tabitha and who's with the other kids, and we'll do some fun stuff in the area like we did when we were out there in February.  Also, my friend Kelly is coming from Illinois, and it'll be great to see her and her kids!  And my mom might even come too!  So we'll turn it into a big party for everyone.  =)

I'm hoping 2011 will be the last year of constant medical issues.  I know there will always be some things to deal with, especially for Tabitha, but I really hope it slows down!  Fortunately, none of this is life threatening, and all the kids are in very good health.  We're quite thankful for that!

The Things That Really Matter

This morning at church I feel like I really "met with God."  I hate to admit it, but even though I've been a Christian for almost 20 years and have gone to church pretty much every week, I don't always feel like I'm spiritually involved.  Sometimes I just go because that's what we do, you know?  I worship, I learn, I fellowship, but I don't always feel like much is happening on a spiritual level.  But every now and then I feel like God really does something supernatural in my life that wouldn't have happened on my own without the body of Christ.  Today was one such day.

Of course it was a fun and exciting day since everyone was eager to meet Rayanna!  I think she was a little overwhelmed by it all, but it was very exciting for so many people who'd been praying for her and helping us with the adoption process to finally get to meet her!  The service was a prayer and worship service, and we were led through the "ACTS" prayer:  Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication.  There was so much I needed to talk to God about in each of those areas.

God is so worthy of our adoration!  He is the only One who never changes, who is always loving, always holy, always perfectly and completely GOD.  And He is also the only One who really knows me and who loves me perfectly and completely.  Why do I take Him for granted so often?

There's always so much to confess to God.  It seems that no matter how many times I've confessed before, each day brings new opportunities for further confession.  Since we are also to confess sins to each other, I'll go ahead and share one of my main struggles.  I really struggle with anger as a parent.  I find myself yelling and losing my temper with my kids all the time, and failing to love them as I should.  One day this week was especially bad, and I felt like I couldn't even confess because I had failed so many times and repented so many times, but I just keep failing over and over again.  I kind of gave up on myself for a couple of days, thinking it would never change.  But this morning at church I felt God's grace reaching out to me once again.  I was reminded that I am RIGHTEOUS in His sight by the blood of Christ!!  Is there anything more amazing?  Why doesn't He get tired of me?  Why doesn't He give up on me?  Why should I be forgiven, when I've treated His forgiveness so lightly?  I can see why He forgives a new believer, who has only just realized their sin and need for a Savior.  But to forgive someone who's known Him so long and yet continues to fail over and over and over?!  That is truly AMAZING grace.  We sang "Our God" at the end of the service, and I was reminded that His power will indeed triumph over my sin.  I have the power of the God of the universe inside of me!  "And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?  And if our God is with us, then what could stand against us?  Our God is greater, our God is stronger; God, You are higher than any other.  Our God is healer, awesome in power, our God, our God."  AMEN.

Adoration....Confession.....Thanksgiving.  There's so much to be thankful for.  Our biggest rejoicing right now is of course over our new little Rayanna.  She is an absolute joy, and it has been amazing to see God's hand in bringing her into our family!  I tend to focus on what's wrong in life, knowing that pretty much everything could be better than it is.  But I need to take time to just thank God for the infinite blessings He has filled my life with.

And finally, Supplication.  The one is where we (I) usually spend the majority of our prayer time, right?  Rather than focusing on personal desires our pastor had us focus on asking for healing and the needs of the hurting.  I prayed for physical healing for my aunt Lisa, who has been diagnosed with what sounds like a very bad type of cancer.  She's only a decade or so older than I am, and we're all taking this news pretty hard.  I prayed for spiritual healing for a couple of people close to me.  And then we were to pray for the hurting throughout the world.  The hungry, the homeless, sick people, military families, and so forth.  I thought of my brother who deploys to Afghanistan next month.  I thought of the poor people who struggle even to find food.  I thought of the many orphans throughout the world.  I couldn't hold back the tears when I pictured those rows of babies in cribs at Rayanna's orphanage.  Will they ever have a family?  Will they have someone tell them how precious they are and how much they matter?  Will anyone tell them about Jesus' love for them?

This very special time of prayer and worship today, focused on others instead of self, forced me to put my petty little complaints in perspective; to quit my whining about what's wrong with "poor Erin's world" and focus instead on how I can pray for and serve those who are in desperate need; to stop complaining and sulking about my problems and instead praise God for who He is and the absolutely wonderful things He has done for me.  It realigned my thinking off of self and onto the things that really matter.

I really feel like God did a work in my heart today, and I'm eager to serve and praise Him this week with a renewed spirit and a heart of joy.  Thank You, Lord, for Your unfailing love and for Your mercies that are new every morning.  I love You.

Rayanna's Accomplishments

Rayanna had a very productive day yesterday!  She crawled all around the living room for the first time, pulled up on the coffee table to stand several times, and even willingly ate baby food!!!  She's on a roll!  She's eating much better, sleeping very well, and really coming to life!

Her ear infection is better, and her eyes are a lot better than they were but still tearing a lot.  The pediatrician wants us to see an opthamologist to see if she has a clogged tear duct, which would mean a quick surgery to fix it.  And Tuesday is our appointment with the audiologist/ENT to check her (and Tabitha's) hearing; I think we'll also do her blood draw that day for all the lab work to check for a million and one things.  By then we'll be done with the antibiotics and eye drops (which she HATES), and have nothing else until the next round of shots.

Here's a video of her laughing and crawling.  (Don't mind the dog.)

Our First Days Home

Well, so far this adoption has been 150% easier than the last one!  I don't know if it's the difference in the girls' ages, Tabitha's medical needs, their personalities, or just my frame of mind, but this time has been a piece of cake compared to the last one!

The big kids love their new little sister.  They all want to hold her and help feed her.  Tabitha's a little aggressive with her love, but other than that they're all getting along well.  Ethan's old enough that he can really help a lot, and even Jesse is great at entertaining her and playing with her.  We've had a few successful times of getting her to sit on the floor without being held!  Once Heath and I are out of sight she'll stop crying and be content for quite awhile.  I think she's very used to being alone in a crib, so once she can't see us she goes back to the complacency of her early life.  She's coming more and more alive though!  Last night I was tickling her and she just laughed and laughed.  It was so cute!

Ever since we got her, her eyes have been goopy, and the last couple of days she's had a fever.  Her doctor exam was today, and we found out that she has conjunctivitis (pink eye) and an ear infection!  Not to mention she's getting her molars.  With all of that, plus the huge changes she's undergone, it's unbelievable to me how good she's been.  She does get fussy, but nothing like I'd expect from a baby who's dealing with so much!  I can't wait to see what she's like once she's settled in here and healthy.

She's still not eating much.  I'm hoping once she feels better she'll have more of an appetite.  And we'll start working more seriously on getting her to eat solids.  She still refuses anything but her bottle, and even that she doesn't want very often.  Hopefully it's just from the sickness and stress, and she'll improve quickly soon.

Wednesday we go back to the doctor to check her tuberculosis test (PPD).  I was ready for a lot of screaming when the nurse pricked her, but she barely fussed!  She cried a whole lot more than that when I put her in her car seat!  On Wednesday, if her fever's gone and eyes/ears are better, she'll also be getting shots.  I hate to do that to her when she's just learning to trust us!  But since the PPD didn't bother her much I'm hoping the shots won't be a big deal for her either.

Heath's going back to work tomorrow, so the real test begins.  How to manage 4 kids?!?!?  But I'm not terribly worried since things have been going so well.  Honestly, I'm more worried about having to go back to managing Tabitha's ostomy and urine bags!  It's been SUCH a nice break from that while we were in China and then these few days while Heath's been home.  But I guess reality is about to come back, and I need to prepare myself.  At least it's only for 3 more weeks!!

I feel so incredibly blessed today.  Four beautiful children, the world's greatest husband, a beautiful home, wonderful friends, salvation by God's grace, and so many other things as well.  These past couple years (with Tabitha's issues) have been extremely difficult for me, but I feel like we're starting a new chapter of life, and it's gonna be a good one!

Home Sweet Home!

We've made it safely home and are now a family of six!  We got home around 1am last night (Thursday morning). I can't decide which was worse . . . the 48-hour trip and spending the night in the airport on the way there, or the 28-hour trip home with a "lap baby" and not feeling well.  I got a cold the last couple of days in China, and that airplane air is horrible!  Plus, when you're holding a baby and trying not to wake her up, it is VERY difficult to get comfortable!  I thought I would go crazy several times and was so tired I was physically weak and had to have Heath carry Rayanna lest I drop her!  We also had to claim and recheck our luggage at both layovers which just added to the fun.  But the long flight on the way home did have TVs for every seat with hundreds of selections, so that helped the time pass.  It was 3 hours from Guangzhou to Beijing, 13+ hours from Beijing to Newark, and then a 5-hour layover!  Our final 1-hour flight from Newark to BWI was delayed, but fortunately they were able to switch us to a flight to DC instead, so we got home about the same time.  However, our bags went to Baltimore, and we are still waiting for them as of 9:00 pm Thursday.  If we ever go to China again we are flying DIRECT, and maybe even first class.  At this point I think it would be worth every penny!!!

Heath's dad was nice enough to pick us up and drop us off at our house so we could sleep before getting our kids.  We dragged ourselves inside.  I noticed the boys' light was on so we went to turn it off and saw a note on the floor outside the girls' room:  "Beware!  Pink Inside!  Welcome Home!  Love, Kelly et al"  We opened the door and were absolutely astonished!  Our dear friend Kelly Hills had painted and decorated the girls' room!  She'd asked me awhile back if we were going to paint it since it was still blue from when the boys had it.  I said I'd like to, but I never got around to it.  And when Kelly paints, she means business!  It is absolutely gorgeous!!!  She even made curtains and added little accessories around the room.  I got all teary eyed standing there admiring it and knowing how much work she put into it.  What a wonderful surprise.  Today whenever I walked in there I just felt so cheerful!  It's really, really awesome.  Kelly, you are truly an amazing friend.

After this great surprise we then attempted to go to sleep.  But Rayanna lost a bit of her "perfect baby" status last night.  She would not sleep.  She just screamed!  And this wasn't her sad/scared cry, it was angry!  Didn't she realize how absolutely exhausted we were and that anyone in their right mind would simply pass out in bed at the first opportunity?!?!  At 2:00 Heath took her into the other room, and we were going to take shifts staying up with her so we could each get some sleep.  But, being the wonderful guy that he is, he never woke me.  So I slept from 2-10, and Heath and Rayanna slept from about 5-10.  I'm really hoping that's just jet lag and not a new problem!

Once we were all awake we went to pick up the kids.  They had a great time with Heath's parents!  Mom & Dad, thanks so much for keeping them for us!!  Everyone enjoyed meeting Rayanna (though she's been really crabby today due to her lack of sleep).  It was so good to see them after so long.  It was a very nice break, especially from the medical stuff, and I felt truly refreshed and excited to see them again.  We loaded up their truckloads of stuff and the dog and headed home.  The older kids have all been excited to hold Rayanna.  Tabitha's a bit vigorous in the attention she gives her, but everyone really likes her.  I think the fact that she's more of a baby than a toddler will make this transition a lot easier than the last one.  She can't really do anything to make anyone mad yet!  And she certainly isn't going to dominate the household like another little girl did a couple years back!  ;-)

We got some groceries, unpacked a little, and played outside.  It was so nice out this evening!  (Either that, or I just got used to southern China humidity and anything feels good compared to that!)  Now the kids are all in bed, and Heath and I are just waiting for our luggage.

Timeline results:

From referral to meeting Rayanna:  5 months and 4 days

Entire adoption start to finish:  1 year, 4 months, 2 weeks, and 3 days

I'm so thankful for each of you who prayed for us, encouraged us, supported us financially, or helped in any other way.  We appreciate all of you!  God has truly blessed us with four beautiful children, and a wonderful trip to China.  Safety, financial provision, health, joy . . . so many blessings that I know I don't deserve.  Thank you, Lord, for your amazing grace!

It feels good to be home, and I'm very excited to begin our new life as a family of six!

Our Last Day

Well, our time in China has come to an end.  Today was a non-eventful day....did a little walking around, went to the pool, had dinner at a "French" restaurant, and now we're packed and ready to go.  We head out from here at 8:30 tomorrow morning and get home in the wee hours of Thursday morning. 

 

This has been a really good trip.  Other than our night in the Beijing airport, everything has gone really, really well.  Rayanna is an absolute delight, we've had a very nice time here, made some new friends, and get to go home with a new daughter!  Praise God for so many wonderful blessings!

 

I was holding Rayanna as she went to sleep tonight, here in our quiet hotel room, and I got to thinking that it's the last time I'll have so much peace and quiet!  Having a baby who needs to be held all the time is one thing when she's the only child and you have no other responsibilities.  But when we're home with 4 kids and all of life's demands I know it'll be a lot more challenging.  I'm very thankful that she's such a contented baby...hopefully she will stay that way, and the transition will go well for all the kids.  I'm very excited to see them, and I know they'll love their new little sister!

 

Thanks for all the prayer and encouragement and for following along on our journey!

Monday

Today was a pretty fun day.  This morning we had our consulate appointment.  We had to leave at 7:10, which meant waking up Rayanna, but she did well.  We took the (quite anti-climactic) oath, which basically just says that everything we said on our documents is true.  We turned in our papers, and they'll have Rayanna's visa ready tomorrow.  After that we tried to go to an interesting market area, but it turned out to be a modern shopping area.  Loud, busy, modern, and expensive.  But the cool part was when we turned down a back alley and explored.  We got to go through these tiny little roads and see the "neighborhood."  That was very interesting.  The amount of contrast here amazes me.  There is old and new, rich and poor, andh one extreme is usually right next to the other. 

After we got back Rayanna took a really long nap.  When she woke up she drank a full bottle, and then about an hour later she drank another full bottle!  This second one was the first one she's cried for.  Every other time you can't even tell she's hungry.  She hardly ate yesterday, so she seems to be on an every-other-day eating schedule!  But we were very proud of her for downing two full bottles today!  =) 

For dinner, Clint & Angie (the couple who adopted the same day as us from the same province) came to our room, and we had Papa John's for dinner.  We just couldn't take any more of the humidity and decided to take the easy way out.  And it was good!  Well, Angie and I took the easy way out . . . Clint & Heath walked to Papa John's and got the pizza, but Angie and I stayed with the babies in the air conditioning.  Thanks guys!  :)   The babies played and even interacted a little bit, and we all talked for awhile.  Heath got Rayanna to laugh by tickling her, which you can see in one of the pictures.  After our friends left we went down to the pool.  I was shocked, but Rayanna actually enjoyed it!  She didn't smile, but she splashed around and didn't act at all afraid of it.  The water was pretty warm, so I'm sure that helped.

Tomorrow's our last full day here!  Yay!  This has been a really nice and relaxing trip, and we couldn't ask for an easier baby.  But I'm ready to see my other three babies too.  I'm glad we'll be going home soon!