OK, I know I said I wasn't going to post anymore until China, but this is important. =) I have been amazed at God's financial provision for this adoption! When we started the process I questioned how on earth we were ever going to come up with the money. We'd used up all our savings on the last adoption (and still needed help), Heath had been laid off for awhile, and we still hadn't sold our house. But nonetheless, we applied. As we went through the process we have had SO many people helping us financially. Just this week we received two more substantial gifts! Not only do we have enough to complete the adoption, but we also have spending money and enough to pay all our bills while we're gone! God is so good, and the $30,000 that terrified me is NOTHING to the God of the universe! He must laugh at my silly worries! A BIG thanks goes to all of you who have helped us out; God has used you to be a great blessing to us, as well as to Rayanna. Thank you so much.
Please pray for me in this last day or so with my kids. It has been a rough week. My hope was to spend this week making fond memories and enjoying a lot of time with the kids before our lives are once again changed forever. Instead, all we've been doing is fighting! It's terrible! I guess everyone's feeling the stress, whether consciously or not, and taking it out on each other. (Well...the kids and me, that is. Heath's been at work missing all the "fun.") I know I'm the adult here and need to set the tone, but I'm really struggling. I feel like crisis after crisis keeps knocking me down: for example we've had three leaks in a row of Tabitha's ostomy bag, major behavior and emotional drama with one of the boys (who shall remain nameless), and SO much bickering and fighting I can't stand it. Instead of spending quality time with my kids, I keep finding myself hiding from them! Please pray for me to rise above these challenges and for us to have a peaceful, enjoyable last day together. And pray like crazy for our adjustment period! Thanks.
Well, this really should be my last post now. Next time I'll be writing from China!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Itinerary
Just a quick post for anyone wanting to know our itinerary. Remember, China is 12 hours ahead of here (EST), so most of this will happen while you're sleeping. =)
Friday, July 22--get kids settled at Heath's parents' house; spend the night there
Saturday, July 23--arrive at BWI at 5:00 am; layover in San Francisco, layover in Beijing, then onto Nanchang. By the time we get to Beijing it will be Sunday there.
Sunday, July 24--arrive in Nanchang 9:40 pm, go to hotel
MONDAY, JULY 25--MEET AND ADOPT RAYANNA! (Babies are scheduled to be brought to our hotel room at 11:00 am, paperwork to be done at the Civil Affairs Office at 3:00 pm. But all times are subject to change.)
Tuesday, July 26--Tour Nanchang
Wednesday, July 27--Visit Orphanage!
Thursday, July 28--Tour more of Nanchang (but I'm thinking we might choose to rest instead)
Friday, July 29--Paperwork finished; fly to Guangzhou 2:00-3:25 pm. Go to hotel.
Saturday, July 30--Rayanna's medical exam (no shots this time, we do them once we get home); photo and paperwork
Sunday, July 31--Tour Guangzhou
Monday, August 1--Consulate appointment
Tuesday, August 2--Rayanna's visa ready
Wednesday, August 3--fly to Beijing at 11:00; fly to Newark; fly to Baltimore
Wee Hours of the Morning Thursday, August 4--go through customs; come home!!!
Friday, July 22--get kids settled at Heath's parents' house; spend the night there
Saturday, July 23--arrive at BWI at 5:00 am; layover in San Francisco, layover in Beijing, then onto Nanchang. By the time we get to Beijing it will be Sunday there.
Sunday, July 24--arrive in Nanchang 9:40 pm, go to hotel
MONDAY, JULY 25--MEET AND ADOPT RAYANNA! (Babies are scheduled to be brought to our hotel room at 11:00 am, paperwork to be done at the Civil Affairs Office at 3:00 pm. But all times are subject to change.)
Tuesday, July 26--Tour Nanchang
Wednesday, July 27--Visit Orphanage!
Thursday, July 28--Tour more of Nanchang (but I'm thinking we might choose to rest instead)
Friday, July 29--Paperwork finished; fly to Guangzhou 2:00-3:25 pm. Go to hotel.
Saturday, July 30--Rayanna's medical exam (no shots this time, we do them once we get home); photo and paperwork
Sunday, July 31--Tour Guangzhou
Monday, August 1--Consulate appointment
Tuesday, August 2--Rayanna's visa ready
Wednesday, August 3--fly to Beijing at 11:00; fly to Newark; fly to Baltimore
Wee Hours of the Morning Thursday, August 4--go through customs; come home!!!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
One Week From Now!
One week from now Heath and I will be on our way to China! I'm sure I'll be feeling a lot of things at this moment....exhaustion (because I'm sure I won't sleep much the night before), sadness at leaving the kids behind, gratitude for my in-laws and the fact that for 12 days I don't have to empty any ostomy bags or break up any fights, excitement and nervousness at meeting our new daughter!
Although this trip will be very similar to the last one (pictured here), there are some big differences too.
Although this trip will be very similar to the last one (pictured here), there are some big differences too.
Obviously, since it's just Heath and me going this time the dynamics will be very different. Probably easier than last time, but also lonelier. It was very special to have our whole family together to welcome Tabitha into it, and to have Stephanie (Heath's mom) and Amy (Heath's cousin) sharing that with us. This time it'll just be us, and we won't be able to take a "new family" picture until we get home. On the other hand, we'll have plenty of time to focus on Rayanna, and I imagine the whole 12 days will be a lot more peaceful than it was last time. =)
I know we have so many people praying for us, and we are so thankful for each one of you! Please also remember to pray for the kids, that they'd do OK being away from us for so long. (The longest we've left them before is 3 days.) And pray for Bob & Stephanie a lot! They're about to be suddenly back to the stage of life they were in 20-30 years ago, parenting young children! Pray especially for Stephanie, since she'll be handling Tabitha's medical care. Just pray that no complications come up while we're gone. And of course, pray that our kids behave like the perfect little angels they are (ha ha ha), and Mommom and Granddad aren't done-in by this adventure!
We're still waiting on our itinerary. We don't even know which day we're meeting Rayanna, or any of our in-country travel times. Our agency promised to have it to us next Monday at the latest, but I'm going crazy! If this were a normal vacation trip, I would've had every day planned out months ago. So having to wait until 5 days before we leave to know what we're actually doing is killing me!! Not to mention, we only have a "cost estimate" and don't know the actual price until then either! Oh well, I guess it's good for me to just go with the flow and learn to relax. I'm sure they'll get it all figured out and we'll have a great time. =)
I still have some shopping to do, and lots of packing, but I'm getting there. We should be ready on time, and hopefully without forgetting anything important. On Friday evening we'll bring the kids to Heath's parents, and we'll spend the night there too since we'll have to leave for the airport at 3 am or something like that! So my goal is to have everything ready by Thursday, so that Friday we just throw in the last-minute items and can relax and have fun together before we go.
I doubt I'll be blogging again before we leave, so plan on my next post being from the land of Zhong Guo!! Zai jian for now! =)
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Test
And a bonus picture of Rayanna =)
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Taylor Family Reunion
This week we had the wonderful privilege to get together with my mom's side of the family. My grandparents are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary this year! (Congratulations Grandmom & Grandpop!) To celebrate, they treated us to a vacation!
There were about 20 of us who came, and we all stayed at the Canna Inn. It was really neat! It used to be a barn, but it was converted into a large house. The owners kept a lot of the original look to it, so it's a very unique place to stay, full of character. (I failed to take any pictures of it though, so sorry I can't post it here!)
We arrived on Sunday afternoon and had a chance to get reacquainted with some relatives we hadn't seen in a long time. My little cousins had grown up into teenagers! And I finally got to meet my aunt's husband for the first time! :)
On Monday we had a professional family photo taken outside the Inn. They turned out really nice and will make a nice memory of our time together. My favorite is the one we had taken of my grandmom, my mom, me, and Tabitha: four generations of mother/daughter relationships. After the photography we went to the nearby State Park to swim and relax and enjoy the 4th of July.
On Tuesday most of us went to Hershey Park. Although I'd been to the Hershey Chocolate Museum there twice I'd never been to the park before. It was a lot of fun. My mom and I spent the day mainly at the kiddie rides. My mom even did the bumper cars! The boys and Heath and I enjoyed the wave pool for a little while. That felt awesome on such a hot day! My brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins did some of the bigger rides or spent the day at the water park. We finally made it home about 8 pm. We were truly exhausted, but glad we'd had such a fun day.
On Wednesday some of us went to the Harley Davidson factory. We got to take a tour around the actual factory. It was pretty amazing to see how they make the various parts of the bikes! Heath was disappointed that we didn't get a free bike as a souvenir, but it was really interesting to see how they're made. Afterward, Mom kept the kids so Heath and I could have a lunch date at Friendly's.
In the evenings, we played games, talked, and relaxed at the house. My grandparents planned all of this for us and made it a very special time for each one of us! Grandpop also spent time sharing from his heart about his and Grandmom's love and care for all the family, and their desire for us to walk with the Lord. They are a very special couple, and we love and appreciate them so much! Happy Anniversary, Grandmom & Grandpop!
There were about 20 of us who came, and we all stayed at the Canna Inn. It was really neat! It used to be a barn, but it was converted into a large house. The owners kept a lot of the original look to it, so it's a very unique place to stay, full of character. (I failed to take any pictures of it though, so sorry I can't post it here!)
We arrived on Sunday afternoon and had a chance to get reacquainted with some relatives we hadn't seen in a long time. My little cousins had grown up into teenagers! And I finally got to meet my aunt's husband for the first time! :)
On Monday we had a professional family photo taken outside the Inn. They turned out really nice and will make a nice memory of our time together. My favorite is the one we had taken of my grandmom, my mom, me, and Tabitha: four generations of mother/daughter relationships. After the photography we went to the nearby State Park to swim and relax and enjoy the 4th of July.
On Tuesday most of us went to Hershey Park. Although I'd been to the Hershey Chocolate Museum there twice I'd never been to the park before. It was a lot of fun. My mom and I spent the day mainly at the kiddie rides. My mom even did the bumper cars! The boys and Heath and I enjoyed the wave pool for a little while. That felt awesome on such a hot day! My brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins did some of the bigger rides or spent the day at the water park. We finally made it home about 8 pm. We were truly exhausted, but glad we'd had such a fun day.
On Wednesday some of us went to the Harley Davidson factory. We got to take a tour around the actual factory. It was pretty amazing to see how they make the various parts of the bikes! Heath was disappointed that we didn't get a free bike as a souvenir, but it was really interesting to see how they're made. Afterward, Mom kept the kids so Heath and I could have a lunch date at Friendly's.
In the evenings, we played games, talked, and relaxed at the house. My grandparents planned all of this for us and made it a very special time for each one of us! Grandpop also spent time sharing from his heart about his and Grandmom's love and care for all the family, and their desire for us to walk with the Lord. They are a very special couple, and we love and appreciate them so much! Happy Anniversary, Grandmom & Grandpop!
Travel Approval!
The adoption process has seemed to go amazingly fast for me this time. And now we're leaving in just over two weeks!!! That is really hard to believe! We will be going to China July 23rd and returning August 3rd. That is so soon!
I feel a little overwhelmed. I had all these plans for what I was going to accomplish this summer after we finished school, and now it seems I have only 2 weeks of summer left, since August will definitely not be a month with much free time! Within those two weeks I need to go through Rayanna's clothes and see what we still need (after hopefully getting the latest update on her sizes), finish setting up her room, shop for the "required gifts" we need to bring with us, pack the three kids to go to the grandparents', pack for Rayanna, pack for Heath and me, take care of a few doctor appointments, and of course get all the adoption documents gathered and the fees paid for travel. But I was also hoping to get next year's school planning done before we leave, as well as get a bunch of cleaning and household projects taken care of. Oh well, I think some of those will have to be skipped. BECAUSE WE LEAVE IN 16 days!!!!!! I can't believe it!! So exciting!!!
Thanks for following along on our journey. I do hope to update this blog while we're there, so check back frequently if you'd like to see how things are going!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Medical Update
Well, our summer of "fun" continues. The ostomy and catheters continue to cause mishaps at times, but I only have an occasional meltdown, so I guess that's progress. :)
Last night we had a bit of an adventure. Tabitha woke up from her nap acting sick and feeling really hot. She often has a very high body temperature, so I didn't worry too much about it. But she just lay on the couch acting miserable until about 5:00 when she threw up all over herself and the couch. (Yay! Now we can add vomit to the list of bodily fluids I get to clean up this summer. So fun.) Anyway, I asked Heath to pick up a thermometer on his way home since ours had broken. He got one of the super-accurate fancy-schmancy ones that you just run across the forehead. SO NICE! (Anyone else remember sticking the mercury-filled glass tube under your tongue and holding it there for what seemed like hours?) Anyway....her temperature read 105! We tried it on ourselves and the boys, and we all got readings around 98 or 99. So we gave her some tylenol and called her doctor in Cincinnati. Normally we are not the type to bother with a doctor for a little stomach bug, but we'd been warned to watch for fevers because she's at high risk for infection with all her tubes and what not, and infection could be really bad because of her kidney problems. So the on-call doctor Heath talked to said to go ahead and take her to the emergency room. By now the temperature read 106, and we were getting worried.
We decided that Heath would take her to Johns Hopkins ER, which isn't too much further than the Frederick one but would definitely be more helpful if it was something serious. The two of them left, and despite Heath's hurried driving and flying over bumps, Tabitha didn't even wake up. Heath was getting worried about her lack of response. But when they got to the hospital, she woke up and was acting totally normal, plenty of energy, happy, and even talking to the nurses! When they took her temperature it was only 101. So of course they probably thought we're the type of parents who freak out and bring our kids to the ER for every little illness or injury. After looking at her long medical history the doctor did assure Heath that we did need to be very careful in her case, and it was good to bring her in. But I still don't think they believed her temperature had been that high. Oh well.
They ran blood and urine tests, which showed she'd been fighting something, but didn't show anything serious. So, it seems like it was just her body way over-reacting to a stomach virus, and nothing more. Either that or it WAS something more, and God answered prayer and quickly zapped whatever it was and made it go away! Either way, we're very thankful that she's OK and was able to come right back home instead of having another hospital stay.
In related news, we have her surgery date set for August 30th. We couldn't get in soon enough to have it done before we go to China, unfortunately. So a few weeks after we bring Rayanna home we'll get to go back to Cincinnati for surgery. Hooray. But, at least we can start counting down the days! (Notice my latest "ticker" at the bottom of the left side of the page.) =) She (and I) will be SO happy to get rid of all the bags and tubes. We survived June....just July and August to go!
Last night we had a bit of an adventure. Tabitha woke up from her nap acting sick and feeling really hot. She often has a very high body temperature, so I didn't worry too much about it. But she just lay on the couch acting miserable until about 5:00 when she threw up all over herself and the couch. (Yay! Now we can add vomit to the list of bodily fluids I get to clean up this summer. So fun.) Anyway, I asked Heath to pick up a thermometer on his way home since ours had broken. He got one of the super-accurate fancy-schmancy ones that you just run across the forehead. SO NICE! (Anyone else remember sticking the mercury-filled glass tube under your tongue and holding it there for what seemed like hours?) Anyway....her temperature read 105! We tried it on ourselves and the boys, and we all got readings around 98 or 99. So we gave her some tylenol and called her doctor in Cincinnati. Normally we are not the type to bother with a doctor for a little stomach bug, but we'd been warned to watch for fevers because she's at high risk for infection with all her tubes and what not, and infection could be really bad because of her kidney problems. So the on-call doctor Heath talked to said to go ahead and take her to the emergency room. By now the temperature read 106, and we were getting worried.
We decided that Heath would take her to Johns Hopkins ER, which isn't too much further than the Frederick one but would definitely be more helpful if it was something serious. The two of them left, and despite Heath's hurried driving and flying over bumps, Tabitha didn't even wake up. Heath was getting worried about her lack of response. But when they got to the hospital, she woke up and was acting totally normal, plenty of energy, happy, and even talking to the nurses! When they took her temperature it was only 101. So of course they probably thought we're the type of parents who freak out and bring our kids to the ER for every little illness or injury. After looking at her long medical history the doctor did assure Heath that we did need to be very careful in her case, and it was good to bring her in. But I still don't think they believed her temperature had been that high. Oh well.
They ran blood and urine tests, which showed she'd been fighting something, but didn't show anything serious. So, it seems like it was just her body way over-reacting to a stomach virus, and nothing more. Either that or it WAS something more, and God answered prayer and quickly zapped whatever it was and made it go away! Either way, we're very thankful that she's OK and was able to come right back home instead of having another hospital stay.
In related news, we have her surgery date set for August 30th. We couldn't get in soon enough to have it done before we go to China, unfortunately. So a few weeks after we bring Rayanna home we'll get to go back to Cincinnati for surgery. Hooray. But, at least we can start counting down the days! (Notice my latest "ticker" at the bottom of the left side of the page.) =) She (and I) will be SO happy to get rid of all the bags and tubes. We survived June....just July and August to go!
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