Wow! Sorry!

I hadn't realized that it had been so long since I posted. No terrible reason, just busy with many things as we adjust to life as a larger active family!

Medical reports for Tsion seem to say that the hydrocephalus is static, not changing and that she may not need surgery after all. Good news. The downside is that the neurosurgeon wants us to get a second opinion from a pediatric neurologist who specializes in seizures - but has yet to make that referral - a week and a half later! Needless to say, I have been on the phone! If they just give me the name, I will call myself and get things going. The doctor here was very willing to say that the doctor there might have a totally different opinion and he wanted to defer to the specialist. Sigh. So, we are back where we started, trying to get Tsion in to a pediatric neurologist! I have been working on this since before the kids got home and we really haven't made a whole lot of progress in this arena. So far we seem to know, we hope, that this isn't an emergency. But I really feel like that is all that I know. Sign. So, I will keep calling until we get in with the right person.

Aman is doing very well. Still not quite getting it on how things work with his diabetes, but that will come with time and continued teaching.

Ben is doing well, though under the impression that girls don't do much of significance and that boys cannot do any work that he deems "women's work". He was scandalized to see Dad cooking, and to hear that Mom played rugby in college, and that girls CAN score goals in soccer. That is making the girls really go to great lengths to prove him wrong and make his jaw drop! LOL! It is humorous, but you don't expect to hear it from a nine year old! I know, cultural differences. Still strange to live with!

Alex and Kiley are fully into drama rehearsals and getting ready to move to the theatre set in another week and a half. Steve is actually at his play tonight - it is opening night. We got to see the final dress rehearsal last night - fondly known as "family night". It was great fun and the play was wonderful. It was very fun to see how the kids reacted to it all, and to seeing Dad up there! Many giggles and amazement as it all progressed. I am amazed at how good he is! Not that I didn't know it, but hearing him with and English accent in a complex Agatha Christie play - well, just amazing.

Faith got her own digital camera, much to her delight! The kids have been working for a neighbor picking gourds and pumpkins this week, and have each earned a fair amount for quite a lot of work - three semi loads of gourds went out today! Hard to believe that we did that much! But Faith finally earned what she had been saving for, so there are many, many photos of all sorts of things now!

I am working hours that I can pick up when Steve is home. There are continued fees with the post adoption work, as well as medical bills and all the preparations for winter, so extra hours do help. I get to drive to the upper peninsula of Michgan tomorrow, basically spending much more time on the road that doing therapy, but if they pay me for it, who cares? And I have been working with the horses a bit more. I really find it a great stress reliever and love our huge friends. And chatting with my brother and comparing training methods and horses has really lit a fire. The mini pony learned a lot in a short time, and then I was able to walk Faith through what I had done and why, and then she could do it all with this horse that is really hers! She was so proud. Kiley even got on our mare that had a foal this spring, and began to get a bit more comfortable in the saddle (or actually in the "bareback", but how else do you explain it?). I keep hammering in that training these animals and yourself involves many hours, and some of the kids get it and some don't. We keep teaching diligence, patience, perseverance and a good work ethic. It takes time for all.

This week was also marred by tragedy for some of our friends. A child (16 years old) was killed in a car accident last week Sunday in the wee hours of the morning. It really threw me for a loop. I didn't know the young man, but I know his younger siblings, his step mom and dad. We live in a small community, and it affects so many people. I took the four younger kids with me to the funeral home - two kids at soccer and two at play practice, but we really had to extend our condolences, so we went. To look at all those teenagers, some of whom I knew, just shaken to the core - enough so a seventeen year old tough guy let me hug him and then proceeded to sob on my shoulder - it was so hard. They shouldn't have reason to be going through this. The sadness of drinking and driving and kids, it just stinks. I cannot even begin to imagine what they are all going through. I haven't quite been able to put it all together in my own mind - in the same week that my eldest turned 15 and keeps reminding me that shortly he can start driver's edge. Ugh. These kids are barely older than Alex! I don't really have words - it seems like it shouldn't have affected me quite so much, given that i had only met the boy in passing, but I think it is the significance. I see that it has shaken the community. Even having only been here three years (in a community where most families have been here for generations) I was amazed at the number of people I knew that I was greeting. The interconnectedness is telling. We rely on each other. We work together, we are connected one way or another. That is life in a small community. So if you would, please pray for this young man's family. I cannot imagine. I just cannot fathom, and hope never to know what they are experiencing.

Another friend has gotten two referrals of children and is hoping to travel before the new year. I sure hope that comes! I am so excited for them and the children that are coming to a loving home.

Well, my brain cells are running on empty. Life is good, crazy busy but good. There is so much, so many good things, in the midst of a very intense time in our family's life, that it makes it hard to remember to post it all. Harvest time, preparations for winter, future plans, schooling, adjustment, and on and on. In some ways I really look forward to winter because some things really slow down. Some things get harder, but some slow down. Right now I have to get to sewing part of Alex's costume for The Frog Prince of Spamalot! And some sleep. Hah!

God bless you! I hope there is some part of our journey that can benefit someone else, that somehow this is an active part of God's tapestry! Have a great weekend!

No news...

Tsion's MRIs (three of them) were done today. It was a long day, basically waiting in the waiting room while she was sedated through the whole thing.

And of course, we have no information and will begin the long waiting process until next Wednesday when we meet with the neurosurgeon to discuss the findings and where we go from here.

Sigh.

It was stressful and agonizing. I stayed with her (they only allowed two to come into the MRI room and I needed Zeri to interpret for us) until the gas took affect and she was sound asleep. She was quite the trooper and the staff was amazing - no IV until she was asleep and very gentle and sweet. I think she must have been scared, though she insisted she wasn't even nervous. But...

So, it was a long day. Thanks (huge, huge thanks) to my mom who took six of the kids (since we had two), and then John, my dad, left work and took two of the boys to their first soccer practice since the tests were going on and on and on. and then he ran them to the house and waited until we finally arrived. I don't know what we would have done without them.

Everyone is well and content with how the day turned out. I, on the other hand, am trying very hard not to think about all the things they could have found on those tests. Too much knowledge (neurology coursework and professional work) can really make one a bit spastic about these things.

We serve a big God, one who can see this entire tapestry. He knows what is going on in our daughter's body. He created it. He knows what is to come. He knew all along when he placed her in our family what was to come. This is not a surprise to him at all. "What, you mean her epilepsy seems to be caused by a malfunction in her brain? No way! I never would have thought of that!!!". As Pastor Mark would say, God isn't standing there saying "Oh, myself!". (Instead of "oh, God" or something like that - it is funny now, but it took me hearing it a couple times to get it.)

Well, it isn't much of an update, but it is what we have.

And it is Zeri and Solly's second Gotcha Day! Yay! Nothing special given all that went on today, but I think we will do a cake or cookies tomorrow!

God bless, sleep well!
Christy