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AUGUST 2006

Today is August 1st and referrals are in.  The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before October 31, 2005.

The CCAA has finished the placement of children for families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before July 13, 2005.  Families included had a login date of 6/28/05 thru 7/13/05.

A blog I follow called the “ Naked Ovary” got their referral of “MP”.  After the long weekend in Atlanta, nothing like referrals to put the spring back in your step.  This was a fun batch of referrals; I believe 3 families were referred twins.  We follow the blog of one family, "Salsa in China" and they were referred twins.  To put things in perspective, when we started this journey we were expecting our referral at this timeHowever they are still 182 days from our login date of 1/11/06.

Today is August 5th and I got up bright and early and met Teri at Kennestone.  Colin was doing pretty well, considering.  Teri took me to pick up my new laptop computer.  This weekend is “tax free” in Georgia and Tennessee, but I could not find my laptop in Tennessee.  We decided we wanted one to take to China so we can keep everyone up to date on our travels and keep our website up to date too.  After many phone calls and driving to several stores in Atlanta we found one at Circuit City and got it.

“Listen and attend with the ear of your heart.” ~ St. Benedict

Today is August 10th and I haven’t kept track of much over the last 2 weeks because the only thing that has been on my mind is my brother Colin’s health.
  The last 3 days have been almost unbearable, if I wasn’t working I was searching on the internet or talking to Teri about options or speaking to our old pediatrician about what to do.  We have all been so worried.  Last night I told Teri she needed to be prepared to go to Emory and meet with Dr. Hefron and ask why Colin had not been transferred, but then we decided instead that she would pursue Piedmont as we felt Emory must have turned Colin down.

I went to bed just praying for a “change”; I didn’t ask for specifics I just said “Lord we need a change”.  This morning when I talked to Teri Colin was much worse, but our prayers were answered.  A cousin to Colin and Christi went to Emory and spoke to Dr. Hefron and this afternoon Colin was transferred to Emory.  To say I was relieved was a HUGE understatement.  These last 2 weeks have been an absolute roller coaster and to finally have Colin in a place where we know the care is good and that something can be done, there are no words to describe the relief I am feeling.

Today is Saturday August 12th and Aunt Betsy is driving down from Cincinnati and I am taking her down to Atlanta.  She is going to spend the week down in Atlanta with Colin.  She arrived mid afternoon and we headed off to Atlanta.  We got there around 5 pm and were able to see Colin briefly; he was in ICU and was in pretty bad shape.  Because he is in ICU, we can’t stay in his room and we can only visit during scheduled times.  We met up with Teri, Christi and Mitch who was the “guardian angel” who got Colin into Emory and we all went for dinner at a cool Atlanta eatery.

We checked in on Colin and then found our way to the hotel and called it a night.  This afternoon when we were trying to find our way to Emory, let’s just say we saw some of the “less desirable” sites in Atlanta.  At one point I suggested we just asked directions and we pulled into a service station and then slowly everything came into focus and I began to see bars on the doors and I noticed the people in the parking lot and we pulled off very quickly and counted our blessings that we made it out without sliced tires or getting shot at.  NOTE: never leave home without your cell phone and make sure you have the numbers of the place you are going.  I called the switchboard at Emory and they walked us thru turn by turn and we found the hospital.

Today is August 13th and we met up with Christi and we all had breakfast at the hospital.  We camped out in the waiting area of ICU and I programmed Aunt Betsy’s cell phone and showed her how to use it.  We were able to visit with Colin briefly a few times and he did seem a bit better today.

During the afternoon I took Aunt Betsy to eat at Captain D’s and we got some yarn so she would have something to do.  She is going to knit Ladybug a blanket.  I got everyone settled and then as much as I hated to leave Colin, I had to come back home.  The drive home from Atlanta was just awful, as I was leaving Emory I said to God, “if I can find my way out of hear then I guess I should be leaving, but if I can’t find my way I will take it as a sign that I need to stay.”  Amazing as it may seem I found my way with no map and not really knowing where I was, when I found the connector road to I75, I knew it was okay to keep driving.  I got back home as it was turning dark about 9:30 pm, totally exhausted and still very worried.

Today is Saturday August 19th and the past week is a blur.  I received updates every day from Aunt Betsy, but still my whole week was spent working all day, getting updates in the evening and trying to get my house in order and catch up.  I left for Atlanta about 8 a.m. and arrived at Emory around 10:30 and was able to visit Colin briefly.  He is in a private room and looked better and he had been walking some and eating some regular foods.

How cute is this...


Pottery Barn Changing Table


Pottery Barn Side Table


Stanley Contentment Crib


Marmalade has discovered he can sleep behind my monitor!


The wait has been so long, the ladybug flag is faded and worn.

 
 
We left the hospital by 11:15 and picked up Aunt Betsy’s things at the hotel and headed home to Tennessee.  We arrived back home about 2 pm and Aunt Betsy hit the road.  She called me from Berea and made it home as it was getting dark.  What a “trooper” she is or should I say AMAZING!  Thank goodness for Aunt Betsy, she really helped out so much by spending the week in Atlanta with Colin.

I was pretty numb after my down and back trip to Atlanta so I vegged out the rest of the day.  Since coming home from California on July 18th I had only been home on 1 Saturday.  There is no place like home.

Today is Sunday August 20th and as much as I wanted to go to church I didn’t.  I just did a few things around the house and rested.  I have been running hard for nearly a month and it was good to have a break.

Today is August 21st and our Secret Pal has the best timing.  Today we received some goodies in the mail…take and toss spoons, take and toss bowls and a sassy spinning photo frame.    This long wait has been so hard, but participating in DTC groups and exchanges has really helped.  It seems the surprises come at the best times.

Today is August 24th and referrals are in.  The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before November 30, 2005.

The CCAA has finished the placement of children for families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before July 22, 2005.

To put things in perspective, when we started this journey we were expecting our referral in July or August.  However they are still 173 days from our login date of 1/11/06.

Today is August 26th and we worked in the yard.
  As you can imagine with me being gone the better part of the last month and a very busy month of June and Mel traveling quite a bit for work; our yard needed some TLC.  We spent the better part of the day weeding, trimming, mowing and just a general cleanup.  Then we got ready and headed off to Atlanta to see Colin.  We got in around 7 pm and spent some time visiting with Colin and Margie and Teri who were there.

We went to dinner at our favorite Atlanta restaurant Bahama Breeze and then checked into a hotel as it was nearly midnight by this point.  Needless to say we had a full day!

Today is August 27th and we got up early and headed home to Tennessee.  On the way home we stopped at the outlets in Calhoun and did a little shopping, this helped break up the drive.

I spent the afternoon ironing and finished packing for our vacation next week.

Today is August 28th and to keep my sanity the last few weeks I have found relief in a little retail therapy.  I have found several cute outfits on Ebay, Gymboree “Prep Club” and “Strawberry fields”.  I also purchased the changing table on Overstock.com back in May.  It is a Pottery Barn product that had been discontinued.  I got quite the deal and it goes well with the Stanley Contentment Spindle Crib that we hope to buy soon at a local Children’s Furniture store.  A few months back I purchased the spindle side table on Ebay and it was a Pottery Barn product too.  You can see some of the photos here and others in our “shutter fly” albums.

Notice the “thread baron” Ladybug flag.  I put it out when we were DTC in December of 2005 and in just 9 short months it is nearly faded and literally falling apart.  I have purchased a replacement, but it will not be flying until referral rumors are in for our LID of 1/11/06.

Today is August 31st and we will be leaving for a much needed vacation on Saturday!

 

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