Summertime Life: Somewhat Normal for Now

But really, who's to say what's "normal"?  Summer vacation never really seems to "normalize" for me--I love my kids and I love the fun things that summer brings (pool time, 4th of July, outdoor concerts, beach days, water parks, watermelon).  But I never really feel like we are "settled" into any semblance of a routine, which makes me feel a little undone.  Yes, Amy, it's called "Summer VACATION."  Vacation means we are vacating that which is normal, right?  So I'm trying to get over it.  Get over the continually messy house (people live here, OK?), get over the constant grazing in the kitchen, get over the never-ending pile of soggy pool towels needing laundering, get over my summer hairstyle that never really varies from the basic ponytail--unless you count "wet ponytail" as another style. 

We are on the fringes of massive life changes.  We will be--Lord willing--closing on our new home in VA on 19 July.  Packing starts on the 25th (possibly as early as the 22nd).  When the packers are done, I will need to do a thorough scrubbing of the house so that it's completely ready for our new tenants.  Tom's change of command is on the 29th, and we will basically change our clothes after the ceremony, climb into our vehicles, and set the GPS for north.  Our fingerprints for the adoption are taken, and we are awaiting that final piece of paper (immigration approval) so that we can get our dossier through the final authentication stages through critical review at our agency, and sent on to China (hopefully--again Lord willing--before we hit the road).  We're coming, Isabel, really we are!   

Every day I try to stay focused on the to-do lists, but I am easily distracted.  The reality is that I want life to seem "normal" right now, since our past few months have been anything but that.  And yet (as I mentioned above) I am unable to conjure up "normal."  Each day brings new adventures, final appointments...laundry...final music lessons, writing farewell notes to friends I'll miss dearly...laundry... mentally making lists of things to pack in our vehicles for the drive, setting out on the dinner adventure each afternoon (emptying out the freezers and pantry before the packers come--what can I make with a can of tuna, a jar of tomato sauce, and some dried Chinese mushrooms...hmmmmmm....)...oh, and did I mention laundry?

So I'll just roll with it.  We are definitely living the "normal" Air Force pre-PCS life.  And that is most definitely an adventure that constantly reminds me that our sovereign God is even bigger than the US Air Force. 

Happy Summer to you!

What a Week.

If you are a follower of this blog, then you know that my last post was written in the throes of Lilly's first VEPTR expansion in Philly. And I think I left you hanging just before Tom and I began our whirlwind househunting weekend while Lilly recovered from surgery with family in New Jersey and Jared and Anna spent the first few days of their summer vacation with friends in Florida. That's where my blog updates abruptly ended.

And, as you may have noticed, it has been awhile since I have blogged anything. This is not because there is nothing to share, nothing happening in our lives. Not because we dropped off the face of the earth. Not because I want to keep my loyal readers in the dark. Oh no. That is not why. Mainly it's because I'm lazy. Yes. Oh, and maybe because Facebook is a shorter and sweeter way to shoot out quick updates. But even my Facebook page was a little quiet until this past week.

I guess the main reason(s) I have not been blogging is this: We are getting a house ready to rent. And have been searching for tenants. And buying a house in another state. ANd preparing to move in roughly 7 weeks. And adopting a 4th child on the fast track. And doing "normal life" with 3 active kids, now on summer vacation. And dealing with some medical issues for Anna (hearing loss in the left ear). And, this week at least, entering a total time warp and unexpectedly spending a week in a hospital room with Lilly and her mystery illness involving high fevers and infection of unknown origin.

OK, so that's why. I know, a sorry excuse to neglect the blog. My apologies.

Oh, one more reason not to blog from the confines of this hospital room--I had no internet access. That is a truly VALID excuse, don't you think? My rockstar husband, however, who happens to work in this hospital, managed to have the computer folks here extend the WiFi to our floor, so now I have internet access on my iPad (my mother's day gift from my awesome man.)

So I am now without excuse, sort of.

Since there is WAY too much to give you great detail on each of the things we are currently up to, let me just give you a quick update on each:

The VEPTR Expansion: it went well, she grew another inch, and her recovery in NJ with loving grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and friends (and without Mama and Daddy nearby) went really well. Big kudos to Auntie Em for her amazing ability to juggle multiple children of multiple ages and keep Lilly happily distracted and greatly entertained.

The Move: Our house hunting weekend was ultimately successful. It was a whirlwind that started on a Friday when I left Lilly in NJ, drove to Philly to pick up Tom, headed to Northern VA (through old stomping grounds in suburban Maryland that were strangely familiar yet also oddly different in many ways after 10 years), and stopped briefly at the Tomatz' house (friends who moved to N VA from FL last summer)where we dropped off our suitcases and hopped into our realtor's car. For the next 36 hours, we drove all around the Vienna, Fairfax, Herndon/Reston areas of VA and walked through easily 20+ houses, some gorgeous, some not, some convenient, some not. Took lots of notes and looked at lots of photos online. In the evenings we enjoyed great food with the Tomtatz' and turned their living room into our command central, commandeering their computer and printer for our hunt. Our realtor was wonderful--let us know if you need a recommendation for a good one in the DC area--and made extremely efficient use of our limited time. The bottom line: on our 3rd day of looking, we put a bid on our first choice house, waited a few days for a reply, then--when learning our bid was not accepted on house #1, put a bid on our second choice house, around the corner in the same great neighborhood as the first one. Things are now rolling along on that front--inspection completed, awaiting appraisal, and we should be closing by 22 July.

Renting the House: Our initial tenants had to back out of renting it as he got a job elsewhere in FL, so, momentarily panicked, we rapidly put the word out and created an ad on militarybyowner.com. Within 12 hours of our initial panic, we already had a [phone call from a military family in Japan who were eager to send us a security deposit and sign a lease asap. They are excited about the house and the neighborhood, and we are excited to have a military family that is interested in renting for at least 2 years. Praise God!

Anna's Hearing: Anna starting complaining a few months ago that she couldn't hear well out of her left ear. This coincided with the onset of another viral illness, so I attributed the hearing issues to the virus and assumed it would clear up with time. Several months later, however, the issues persist, and she complains of hearing static, "morse code," and strange noises rather than voices or actual sounds in that ear. We had a hearing test administered,and have a followup hearing test scheduled for Monday. We will follow up with ENT and possibly some radiology studies top see what is happening with her...

And, finally, Lilly's surprise hospitalization and a week in a time warp. Which is another post of its own that will have to wait until another time to draft.


PS--but I am still lazy.

Finally...A Look Ahead.

The past few weeks have been purely packed.  Not one spare moment in any given day to slow down or even hardly to breathe.  I am only able to sit at the compter right now to type this post because I woke up unable to sleep tonight...my mind swirling with the many plates currently spinning in the air.  Thankfully, God has graciously prompted me to protect my early morning quiet times with Him to keep me grounded and give me strength and wisdom as I tackle each day's To-Do list.  Were it not for that, I might be needing some strong medication about now! 

Let's see...how to even begin to tell you what's happening here.  Just like my to-do lists, I think I need to tackle this blog post issue-by-issue:

Lilly's Next Surgery
Lilly and I head to Philadelphia again this weekend for her first VEPTR expansion surgery next Tuesday.  I hate to say it, but with everything else going on (that you will soon read about), this has seemed like a minor blip on the horizon.  Now that it's almost time to go, however, I am thinking ahead to the hospital stay and the surgery itself.  This one is a MUCH more minor procedure than her big surgery in February.  Tom will stay back with the older two kids as they complete their FINAL week of school.  Lilly will have a pre op consult with Dr. Campbell on Monday, then on Tuesday he will go in to lengthen the 3 rods she now has in her back so as to keep up with her growth.  I am eager to see how much she has grown since her last surgery and how much this surgery will add to her height.  The expansion surgeries typically involve a quick one-night hospital stay, much less pain, and a much quicker recovery. 

The House Hunt
We are hopeful that her recovery will indeed be quick and fairly painless so Lilly can hang out in NJ with Grammy and Pop Pop and her aunts and uncles and cousins while Tom and I do some house hunting.  Tom is going to fly up to meet us later in the week following surgery so that we can then head south to Northern VA for some house hunting in preparation for our PCS this summer to the DC area.  We have a realtor sending us listings in the Vienna/Falls Church area, and we have been busy looking at floor plans and photos, plotting them on a map, comparing area schools, looking into swim teams, etc.  We are hoping to find something suitable and affordable during our quick house hunting whirlwind weekend.  We are excited to see our good friends the Tomatz's who moved to DC from FL last summer...Heather has been helping me look into the various neighborhoods we are considering. 

The House Rental
Meanwhile, after much thought, discusssion, and prayer, we have decided to hang onto our Florida home and rent it out.  So we have been busy reseaerching FL landlord-tenant law, preparing the house for "showing," and screening potential tenants.  God has blessed us with a family that we know from Lilly's preschool who are interested in renting our home, possibly for as long as 4 years.  I am now working on drawing up the lease and getting things finalized. 

Getting the house ready...wish I could always keep it so clean!

And, last, but absolutely NOT least...

The Adoption
Our paperchase is coming along really quickly.  It is amazing what having a photo of your child does to your motivation level and sense of urgency in completing dossier compilation (not to mention the previous experience of having done it once and knowing better how to acquire all the necessary components to the dossier...).  Our agency has been awesome, fully on board with our goal of getting our dossier to China before our big move this summer, so that the move will not complicate the approval process too much.  As far as it depends on me, the paperwork is moving at lightning speed, and all but 2 of the required dossier documents are already in various stages of the notarization-certification-authentication process.  Most of them are already submitted for authentication at the Chinese consulate in Houston.  Our social worker is coming later today (hopefulyl after I get some sleep!) for our home study, which is the last puzzle piece needed to apply for our immigration approval for Isabel.  Once we have our immigration approval from the USCIS, our dossier can go to China.  Just yesterday I put Isabel's first care package into the mail--some candy to share, a little doll, a little puppy, some hair barrettes and bows, and a little photo album of our family--immediate and extended--with labels in Chinese.  The arrival of this care package will be the first notification to the orphange and to Isabel that she has a family waiting for her.  Her birthday is coming, so I plan to send another care package soon with a birthday-party-in-a-box complete with disposable camera so the caregivers can snap some photos of her enjoying birthday treats with her little friends. 

First care package to Isabel

Our agency is hopeful that we may be able to travel sometime later this fall to meet and bring Isabel home.  Oh, how I hope so!  Just enough time to get ourselves settled in our new location, get the kids settled in their new schools, and investigate what options there are in that area for Isabel's educational needs when she arrives.  Then, hopefully and Lord willing, we can bring her home before the holidays and begin the new adventure of bonding and attachment.

And, because I'm insane and obsessed, a few things percolating in my mind
Because running and exercise in general are part of my overall mental health, I am also looking ahead at upcoming race opportunities...maybe the Marine Corps Marathon in October, maybe the Philadelphia marathon in November.  Each of these races has a charity group that I would love to run for--Love Without Boundaries and the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House.  We'll see how the timing of our China trip shapes up and whether fitting one of these into my calendar might work.  Then there is also the Nation's Triathlon in Washington, DC on September 11th, which sounds amazing to me, but my wise man (resisting the urge to shake his head and roll his eyes at his hopeless wife) has already said "not this year..."  He's right...maybe 2012 for that one!