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!

The Time Warp Week: The Back Story and the Nitty Gritty

So, last week, doing normal life at home after our crazy previous three weeks, I noticed that Lilly was starting to act a little whiney and clingy. Didn't think much of it...we all have good days and bad days, and she just seemed to be a little off. I attributed it to just the irregularity of a summer schedule, and a week that was particularly heavy on doctor's and dentist appointments for several of the kids. Lots of time running around, doing things that aren't necessarily fun. I also, of course, felt some mama guilt over the amount of time I seem to spend lately making phone calls, answering e-mails, scanning documents, etc. for the wide array of things we have going on (see previous post...)

One of those medical appointments happened to be some booster shots that Lilly was due to receive. Those happened on Tuesday. Tuesday night, Lilly had low grade fevers. We figured it was the MMRV vaccine, gave her tylenol, moved on.

Wednesday, we did some fun things--library, Niceville splash park--in addition to the running around, and she was mostly ok. No more low grade fevers, just a little clingier than usual.

Thursday, we went to her usual Thursday morning OT appointment on the other side of town. She was acting much more clingy than usual, and was quite noncompliant during our session, which was cut short because we had to go straight to her dental appointment. Lilly's anxiety at the dentist (where one might think they were pulling her teeth out one by one without novacaine should one hear her wails from the waiting room) is almost equal to her anxiety about needles. While at the dentist, I noticed that one of her surgical incision sites (still under steri strips) was looking a little funky.

Friday was a pretty fun day to play with friends and have a family date night at the beach (it was Daddy's pick). By late Friday afternoon, it was clear she was coming down with something, choosing to simply sit in my lap at the beach and at dinner, rather than playing in the sand or playing in the fountains as Destin Commons with Jared and Anna.

That night is when the high fevers began. Friday night--103.8. Yikes.

Saturday Anna had a swim meet at which I was signed up as a timer. Tom stayed behind, got Jared to drop off for a week at Boy Scout Camp in Tennessee, and nursed Lilly through the day of fevers up and down. We figured surely the fevers would be over later that evening. Not so. continued high fevers through the night...102-103-ish. Even as high as 104 at one point.

Sunday, ANna and I were back to the meet, Tom again playing nurse to our feverish one. He had decided if her fevers continued to spike so high, he would take her to be seen at the ER. We were starting to be concerned it wasn't just immunizations, and it wasn't just something viral since there were no other symptoms of viral illness and the fevers were just so high and lasting over the course of so many days. Knowing on of the possible complications of the VEPTR is post op infection, Tom decided to wait no longer and take her in.

And so began our time warp week.

She was a very sick little girl. Initial blood work showed a white call count more than 3x the normal level. The ER folks immediately got a pediatrician and orthopedic surgeon involved in her case, arranged transport by ambulance to the local off-base hospital for MRI. So, as Anna and I were leaving the meet after our second long hot day in the sun swimming (Anna) and timing swimmers (me), Tom texted me to tell me he was with Lilly in the ER, awaiting an MRI to get a look at her hardware to make sure there were no visible pockets of infection around the rods--a possible complication of her surgeries.

Anna and I met them just in time for me to sit with her and hold her ankle (her hand was too far up into the tube for me to reach) for a 1 hour and 45 minute MRI session--her first ever without sedation. She did really well. I was stinky from sweating in the sun all day, and was freezing in my light weight clothes that had served me well in the hot summer Florida sun.

Sitting there by her side for that long stretch gave me the first of what would be many opportunities to pray fervently for my child and to reflect on God's character, as I envisioned possible emergency air ambulance transport to Philly and yet another major surgery on her tiny body.

Making what could be a really long story much shorter, here is a snapshot of the week from there:

Sunday: MRI at Fort Walton Beach medical center, admitted by midnight to Eglin AFB hospital for IV antibiotics. Her white blood cell counts were up to 30,000. Yikes.

Monday: more blood work to look at white coounts and other markers for infection; consultation with Dr. Brothers, Eglin's orthopedic surgeon, who also consulted with Dr. Campbell at CHOP. They agreed that Dr. Brothers should go ahead and--with sedation--clean out Lilly's incisions, re-dress them, and culture them to check for infection. Results: basic staph, which is pretty much everywhere on our skin and not a cause for enormous concern. No sign of anything deep in the tissue; incisions healing nicely.

Tuesday: more blood work. Lilly is a tough needle stick--tiny little veins, big huge loud lungs. Not a pleasant experience for anyone involved (especially at 5am), least of all Lilly. Anyone in military uniform or scrubs was quickly becoming "the enemy" and I feared I would soon be considered "one of them" because of my role as the one who had to hold her down and convince her that everything they were doing to her was for her good.

They decided to tag some of her white blood cells with radioactive isotopes which, when re-injected into her bloodstream, might give them some clues as to where the source of the infection might be. Because we knew she had much blood work in her near future, they decided to insert a PICC line, allowing them vascular access without continued fishing for veins with sharp needles. Nothing by mouth was ordered starting Tuesday night. The PICC line would be inserted tomorrow at Fort Walton Beach.

Wednesday: Ambulance transport arranged, yet again, to FWB Hospital, then a long wait in their facility as they determined whether they had the right equipment in the right sizes to insert a PICC line. A long day of fasting for both of us. Finally determined they could proceed; I again felt like such the bad guy as Lilly angrily fought the administration of the versed (meant to make her calm and a little loopy--in reality it only lowered her decibels a few notches as she screamed "No! I'm not brave yet! I'm not brave yet! Don't let them mama, I'm not brave yet!" :( ) My heart was breaking for her. Sedation--by injection into her leg--followed, and--at my insistence--I stayed in the room for the procedure. Painful to watch, it took easily 4 times longer than they thought it would. Lilly's sedatives were beginning to wear off by the end, and she looked at me with pleading eyes that said "get me out of this place." We thought the worst was now over and no more needle sticks would greatly reduce Lilly's trauma in this ordeal.

We weren't done yet.

Thursday: One of Lilly's surgical incision sites looked MUCH worse this morning. Dr. Brothers cultured it superficially, and scheduled her for OR time later in the day to For the second day in a row, NPO (nothing by mouth) was ordered so they could sedate her later in the day to actually open up a few of her incisions and probe more deeply around her hardware for any deeper pockets of infection. This was the day they had also planned to re-inject her white cells (drawn successfully through the PICC line early that morning) into her bloodstream. The problem: by the time the white cells were back from Pensacola where they had been "tagged," the PICC line had clotted off. It was no longer a viable vascular access point to administer meds or to re-inject the white blood cells. The OR time that had originally been planned to simply open incisions now also turned into a race against the clock (so the blood cells wouldn't expire) to get 2 IVs inserted, white cells injected, next dose of antibiotics administered.

Friday: finally a day without anything too scary. Simply watching the make sure fevers didn't return and continuing on IV antibiotics.

Saturday: cultures from Thursdays' procedure came back showing simple Staph infection, showing sensitivity to a wide array of antibiotics. Plan made for discharge Sunday (that would be today). Lillly awakened this morning saying "Today is an esasy day" and knowing that she would soon go home too gher "comfy bed." By noon, we were receiving dis hare instruction9s and receiving her oral antibiotic to cointinue at home for the next 4 weeks. \

It was a wonderful birthday -resent foor Anna to have her sister home--and it felt jhust SO good to be in our house (even with it as messy as it is) and be in my kitchen and simply be all together (Jared made it back from Scout camp too)...

But we weren't done yet.

Roughly 6 hours later, we were on our way back to the hospital. This afternoon, Lilly started acting like she didn't feel good and she wanted to just chill out in front of the TV. I gave her her next dose of antibiotics and took her temp. I can almost kick myself for doing that. 101.4. Didn't want to believe the thermometer was right, so I took my own temp. 98.6. Tom didn't want to believe it either so he tried a different thermometer. 101.8, his own temp with the second thermometer was 98.4.

I took the dog for a walk because I didn't want to think about what I knew was coming. Tom, meanwhile, called the doc who has been working with us at Eglin. When I got home and saw his face, I knew we were packing back up and headed back in. The birthday cake I had in the oven for Anna had 4 minutes left to bake. We let it finish, let it cool a bit while we packed back up (my clothes were all still dirty from last week...I scraped the bottom of the drawer to find something to wear tomorrow) packed up the lovely dinner that a friend of our friend Tiffani had prepared for us and headed back. I asked Tom if we couldn't just enjoy one night i our own beds, but knowing that the oral antibiotics were not keeping the infection at bay, he knew we couldn't afford to let her miss any more doses of the IV meeds.

Before we could enjoy Anna's birthday dinner together at the hospital, therefore, Lilly had to endure 3 more needle pokes in the attempts to draw blood for lab work and insert a new IV. Her poor arms are scabbed and bruised from all that she has been through. My heart is literally breaking for her.

At the same time, I know folks are praying, and God is graciously giving me His peace and His Holy Spirit to remind me of His presence. I know all things work together for our good and His glory, and am patiently awaiting His leading. Praying that He gets the glory in this situation, in our hearts, in our attitudes and in our love for others.


I am feeling blessed indeed, by visits from friends, meals prepared and delivered (even by some folks I don't even know.) Neighbors are helping with Tad and the yard work, and taking care of Anna and Jared.

Words cannot even begin to describe my emotions about all of this...another post will have to address those...

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.

Philly Logistics a Little Rough This Time

This will not be a long post, but wanted to fill you in on our first day in Philadelphia, and specific prayer requests for the next several days:

Sunday:

• We arrived safely yesterday after mostly uneventful flights. Lilly snoozed during the second leg of the trip, and was pleasant during the entire trip.  We got word just before our connecting flight departed that the Ronald McDonald House was full for the night, and that the staff there would attempt to secure a room for us at the Omni Hotel in downtown Philadelphia at special rates for us.  I would find out once we hit the ground in Philadelphia whether that worked out.  

•  Once we landed, I had a voicemail confirming that we could stay at the Omni.  Although it is technically located on the same street as the RMcDH, it is located in the heart of Philadelphia's historic district (2 blocks from the Liberty Bell), roughly 4 miles from the RMcDH, and 3 miles from CHOP.  There was a possibility that a room would open up at the RMcDH for Monday night, so we could only stay at the Omni for one night at that rate.  If no room opened up at RMcDH, we would have to re-book at the Omni to get the same rate again. 

• So, we made the most of our lovely location last night, heading out to see some sites and find some dinner.  The historical sites were all closed since it was Sunday evening, but we were able to see the Liberty Bell through the glass, and I splurged on a "budget" (20-minute) horse-drawn carriage ride around the historic district for Lilly and me.  Lilly was mainly interested in the horse and the "poop bag" attached on his harness, but the guide gave some great history for me and it was a really pleasant ride.  Until the end.  When we arrived at our disembarking location, the guide led Lilly to pet the other horses in the row.  The final horse proceeded to attempt to eat LIlly's hair ribbon, and when I quickly jerked her away he turned his slimy mouth onto my shirt, nipping it and leaving behind a nasty brown streak of saliva all over my shirt and dripping onto my pants.  Yuck.  The driver of that horse looked dumbfounded, but made no attempt to help or apologize.  I left feeling angry, but thankful that our hotel was just around the corner.  We quickly changed clothes and headed back out in search of Chinatown, which I had noticed on the map was not far away. 

• We picked a good restaurant--you could tell because it looked like a dive on the outside but was filled with Chinese people enjoying dinner.  Lilly was so excited to have some jiaozi and noodles. She easily ate 3 times more than me, and I wondered if she would ever stop!  The waitresses were all taken with her and gave me the Chinese menu (but I was happy they gave me the English menu too since I never was very good at deciphering Chinese menus and this one used traditional Chinese characters rather than simplified).  The food was delicious.  Forget Philly cheesesteaks!  Philly Chinatown was way better.
• Back to the Omni for our complementary "Milk and Cookies" that they provide for their younger guests.  Then bath and to bed.  

Monday:

• So, not having a car here (but having a large suitcase, a stroller, a back pack, a small backpack for Lilly's toys, and a car seat that I brought so she could get safely in a cab from the airport to our lodging) and no longer having a room after check out this morning meant that we had to leave our luggage in the Omni before heading out on foot for CHOP.  It was a little misty this morning, but not raining outright, so it was a pleasant morning for a little hike to Lilly's pre op consults.  I was thankful for the chance to stretch my legs.  45 minutes later, we arrived, a little early for our appointments.  Thankfully we had a little time to kill, because I received word en route that the RMcDH once again did not have room, and the Omni also did not have any rooms unless I wanted to pay $300 for the night.  Plan C was the Ronald McDonald House of Southern New Jersey, a little bit farther away but only $15 a night with dinner.  Call made; room secured. 
• Pre op consults with Dr. Campbell went well--she has grown as inch since February, and everything looked great on her x-rays.  Anesthesia cleared her for surgery tomorrow, and she survived (with much wailing and gnashing of teeth) the blood draw for lab work.  
• Weather was great for a long walk back to the Omni to collect our luggage, grab a cab, and head to the other RMcDH.  Along the way (as Lilly snoozed in the stroller), I ducked into the downtown Macy's to snap some photos of the beautiful lobby and pipe organ I had heard about. 
• Our cab ride from the Omni to the RMcDH was NOT the highlight of my day.  The driver pretended he knew where we were headed when I gave him the address, but it was quickly apparent to me that he had no clue.  I knew we were going WAY out of the way.  Finally he admitted he was lost and began asking pedestrians about McDonald's.  His English was not great, and people had no clue why he wanted to know where McDonald's was.  I tried to show him on my GPS phone where we needed to go but he waved it away.  He did eventually stop the meter, but only after he had racked up a $30 fare (for what should have been only about a 5-mile ride).  We had to call the House for directions.  When we finally made it, he claimed that I could not pay with my credit card because he had stopped the meter.  The RMcDH folks were wonderful, and spotted me the cash.  I called in a complaint on him.  And I felt humiliated that my first impression here was not so good.  
• Dinner, however, was yummy, and the house has great play areas, computer area (hence this blog update), laundry facilities (taking care of that horse drool as I type), and a shuttle back to CHOP tomorrow for admission and surgery (no more crazy cab drivers for me, thank you.  The 3-mile walk, however, will be missed...)
• We are bracing for a long fast tomorrow, since Lilly can have nothing to eat after bedtime tonight, and nothing but clear liquids until 9:30am tomorrow.  We show at CHOP at 11:30 for an afternoon surgery.  Surgery itself should be a breeze, but Dr. Campbell has a long and more complicated surgery before hers, so I am praying that one goes smoothly and LIlly's case is not pushed to Wednesday.  

Thanks in advance for your prayers for:

• Good rest tonight;
• Supernatural ability to entertain Lilly and pass the time while we both go without food in the morning (I fast when she does--not fair to eat in front of her);
• Dr. Campbell's first case tomorrow--building a ribcage from a clavicle for a little girl who has no ribs on her right side.  Yowzers.  
• Dr. Campbell to have wisdom as he determines the best way to lengthen Lilly's rods, safety under anesthesia, and a smooth recover.
• Logistics of leaving luggage at the House while I spend the night in the hospital with Lilly tomorrow night, then retrieving items on Wednesday when Tom's sister, "Aunt Judi" kindly comes to whisk us up to Grammy's house.
• Logistics of Tom coming on Friday and our house-hunting this weekend, that Lilly would be ok and adequately pain-free for us to leave her with her cousins so we can be quicker in our house hunting efforts.
• logistics of Jared and Anna with good friends at home.  

All for now. . I guess it wasn't so short after all...thanks for hanging in there with all these words and no photos!

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!

Catching Up on Recent Events, Part III--Purely Photos

Struggling with a little bit of insomnia tonight, I am saving my words for another post to outline what lies on the horizon for us.  Before I can do that, my OCD compels me to first at least post photos from the past few weeks (Easter, Mother's Day, end-of-year concerts, graduations, etc...) so you can visually fill in the gap between my last written post and my next:

Some of the wonderful folks in our weekly LIFE group.

Jared's End-of-year symphonic and jazz band concert.  What a handsome guy!

First care package goes into the mail for Isabel.

Mother's Day at Henderson Beach State Park:

Amy and dear friend Cindy.

Anna's First Piano Recital:

Anna and her lovely piano teacher, Lisa Olson

Lilly's Preschool Graduation Ceremony--made me teary!

Lilly with two of her fabulous teachers, Ms. Testa and Ms. Pollard.

Fun at home and with friends:

Lilly and her friend Libby take Tad for a walk after playing dress up!

Feeding the turtles outside Jared's trombone teacher's house.

Easter 2011

The egg hunt!

Lilly and Miss Kathleen have a laugh!

The Easter Bunny came to Happyland Preschool.

The annual cul-de-sac egg hunt.  Jared was a little sheepish to be taking part, until he realized we had done the older kids' egg hunt as a scavenger hunt challenge.  It was fun to plan and watch!

Found one!

Me too!

The Crestone Cove moms.

Kathleen has planned and hosted this hunt for several years...she is amazing!

Resurrection Sunday morning.

Heather and Trey with Amy.  We had dear friends come for brunch on Easter Sunday.

Catching up on Recent Events, Part II: The Boston Marathon

Author's Note:  As I type this post, I am listening to Fox News re-hash the news of Osama Bin Laden's death.  It seems surreal and somehow not right to be proceeding to write this post...but I'm going to do it anyway!  Momentous events in the world...and here are momentous accounts of my own little slice of the world!

So, picking up where I left off with my past post, on the morning of the race, I awakened around 6am, ate half of a bagel, drank some black coffee, and had a bite or two of cantaloupe.  I had been uncertain exactly what I would eat for breakfast, since the race was such a later start time than i am accustomed to.  Normally the races start early in the morning and I really don't eat much at all before running.  But I knew that with a 10:40am start time, and a good 4 hours or so of running ahead, I would need some good fuel.  I was encouraged to eat simple carbs with low fiber and low fat for my pre-race meal, and that seemed to sit pretty well.  I chatted with Milo, the somewhat eccentric owner of the Bed and Breakfast where I was staying, as I ate, trying to have normal conversation and not let on just how much I was beginning to feel nervous.

My friend Tim came to pick me up at the B&B around 7:45am, and had a plan to drive me to a drop-off location about a mile or two from the start line at Hopkinton.  That is how he had gotten to the start in previous years, and he knew many locals chose to do this rather than take the early morning shuttles from Boston Commons.  He said there would be many runners doing this and it would be easy for me to find my way to athlete's village.  I trusted him, and opted for the extra sleep to avoid the long shuttle lines and many more hours in the cold before the race.

We passed several school busses transporting runners on our way, which assured me our timeline was sound for getting to the start.

He dropped me at an exit ramp where we saw a few other runners hopping out of cars, and off I went with a "thank you!" and wave to Tim.  On my own now, carrying a green plastic gear bag, breathing deeply the chilly morning air, relishing the sunshine, and feeling twinges of nervousness mixed with excitement at the day ahead, I began my warm-up walk to the athlete's village.

There were not hoards of runners walking as I was, but I did see a few so I knew I was headed in the right direction.  It was good to stretch my legs a bit and warm up.  As I  walked along, one of the policement directing traffic called to me "would you like the bus to pick you up?"  Thinking it might be nice to avoid a 2-mile walk before the  26.2 mile run, I said "sure!" and he hailed one of the passing school busses (I later learned they almost never allow runners to hop on elsewhere!) who stopped to let me board.  The bus dropped us about half a mile from athlete's village, with plenty of time to walk there and get situated, use the port-a-potties, and check my little green plastic "baggage" bag at one of the school busses designated to transport runners' gear to the finish line.

With 27,000 runners, the athlete's village was understandably quite a zoo.  Set up on the hillside campus of a local school, the place was crawling with athletes all stretching, eating, drinking, waiting in line for port-a-potties, and excitedly awaiting the announcements over the blaring loudspeakers for their time to head to the start corrals.  I had plenty of time to get myself stretched, get all of my gear into my plastic bag and checked into the appropriate bus (each bus was assigned a range of bib numbers, and each window of the bus received a smaller subset of those numbers, so it would be easier to find athlete's assigned bag at the finish).

They had divded us into 3 starting waves, based on entry time.  Within each wave there were 8 corrals, again based on entry time.  I was assigned to wave 3, corral 1, which was the latest starting time--10:40.  Despite the cold breeze, I stripped down to my running skort, a sleeveless top, and a long-sleeved jacket (which I had planned to toss once I was warm enough).  Two pairs of sweat pants tossed into the large bags designated for donated clothing, I headed with my wave to the start area at our designated time.

As wave 2 began to run, the wave 3 runners got into place in our appropriate corrals. The awesome benefit of being in the first corral of wave 3 was that I was literally lined up almost right on the start line.  Even though each runner's bib will activate his or her personal time clock as they cross the start time (so the time it takes to get from your corral to the start line doesn't count in your net race time), it was so nice not to have to start the race in the midst of a crowd and have to shuffle along at a slower pace until folks spread out enough to hit our strides.  Instead, those of us in the front of wave 3 felt like we were the "elite" runners at the start, and had nothing but open road--and fresh spectators lining both sides of the route--at the start.  Awesome feeling.

Finally, we were counting down the seconds until the gun signalled our start and we took off.  The first stretch of the race was actually downhill, and it was easy to get into a much faster than usual pace at the start.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous--chilly but clear and sunny--and the crowd support was amazing.  Spectators lined both sides of the road as we made our way from Hopkington, through various small towns that line "Main Street" on our way towards the city of Boston.  Click on the link to see the course:

Boston Marathon Course Map

I think I ran with a smile on my face for pretty much the whole run!  It was exhilarating to be there, running in THE marathon of marathons, with no pressure, really, to perform.  My goal was simply to enjoy the day, to run my best, and to take it all in.  All of which I managed to do.  With the first part of the course largely slightly downhill, it was easy to hit an early fast pace, and I actually clocked my best ever half-marathon time at the halfway point.  I had read warnings not to let those early downhills drain you of your reserves for the later steeper climbs, but I really didn't take much caution...just let my legs go and enjoyed a faster pace than usual for the first part of the run.

As the miles ticked by, I enjoyed reading the signs and posters the spectators had crafted to support friends and loved ones, and had fun listening to the crowds cheer specifically for people who had taken the time to write their names on their bibs or their t-shirts.  I had meant to wear my name for this reason, but had forgotten the sticker I had made.  Oh well.  I actually found that I was sort of glad NOT to have my name on my shirt, as I watched a woman named "Kerrie" feel the need to wave and acknowledge each and every cheer offered for her. I think I might have found it distracting.  I was glad, however, when--around mile 14 or so--I started hearing cheers of "Go AMY!" as I ran by.  I was taken by surprise at first...and even more surprised as the cheers continued from both sides of the road.  Wondering how these people knew my name, I turned my head slightly to realize that a woman who was approaching me from behind was sporting the name "Amy" on her jersey.  I smiled and told her it felt good to have some folks cheering for me by name! 

Anytime I was tempted to focus on the inevitable aches and twinges of cramps that can start to sneak up later in the race, I would remind myself that the finish line was not the main goal--enjoying the WHOLE experience was the goal.  That always helped, and as I hit the hills starting around mile 18 (culminating in Heart Break Hill around mile 21), I was feeling fine.  The hills--for which I had mentally braced myself--were really not all that bad.  A series of climbs, with plateaus in between, the hills did slow me down a little, but I really kept my pace fairly well and felt fine as I climbed.  In fact, as I crested the final hill, I wondered "could that have been "Heartbreak Hill?" because I wasn't sure.  I overheard someone else behind me ponder the same question aloud, and when someone else said "Yep!  All downhill from here!' I thought "Wow!  That wasn't so bad!" 

One of the coveted landmarks of the race is a gigantic CITCO sign, which marks the "one mile to go!" point.  It is visible for quite a distance before you actually pass it, so it sort of taunted me...knowing that at some point we would only have a mile left, but it kept popping into and out of view behind buildings...until finally I was passing it!

One of the highlights, for me, was passing a platoon of active duty army guys in their full BDUs, wearing packs and combat boots, and carrying the flag, who had run the marathon in formation.  I passed them just as we were rounding our last corner before the final stretch to the finish line.  When I passed them, they were standing still.  Shortly after I passed them, they began to run for their finish.  As they passed, the crowd support was amazing.  That helped to carry me the final few hundred meters! 

Finally, I was on Boyleston St, with the blue finish line in full view.  3:50:39--another Boston Qualifying time (just barely!) and within 30 seconds of my best time from Tallahassee last February.  What a great feeling to be done!

After we crossed the line, I felt like we were cattle being corralled as they guided us through the stations to get our mylar blankets, give us water bottles and gatorade, snack bags, and on to the baggage busses.  It was really crowded at that point, and hard to walk...not good for leg muscles and feet that were beginning to cramp up and spasm!  All I wanted to do was to stretch, but there was no room and nowhere to go.  So we shuffled together until finally the corral gates were opened and I could sit down and stretch. 

Tom was getting e-mail and text message updates on my progress as I ran, which was cool.  Here is the breakdown of my splits for the entire run:

 5K:  24:01
10K:  48:51
15K:  1:14:35
20K:  1:41:53
1/2:    1:47:36
25K:  2:08:49
30K:  2:37:59
35K:  3:08:19
40K:  3:37:38
Finish:  3:50:39

My rankings were: 

Overall: 13,608th out of 23,879
Gender:  4404 out of 10073
Age Group: 845 out of 1807

So, overall, not too shabby!  Not my absolute best run, but considering all that has happened in our lives so far in 2011, I'll take it!

Here are a few of my favorite signs and t-shirts of the day:

• "Run Faster! The British are Coming!"
• "Pain is just a fancy French word for bread!"
• On a t-shirt worn by a white-haired guy who PASSED me: "Fastest Geezer!" (the crowds loved that one)
• One little boy shouted (in his Bostonian accent) as he handed out twizzlers (rather than the typical orange slices or gatorade) "Hey runners! Here--eat something you'll remembah!"
• As we passed through the campus of Wellesley, a college for women, the famed Wellesley Scream Tunnel of cheering was intense.  I was marveling at all the posters these young girls had made that said "Kiss me, I'm _____" and many things filled in the blank (I'm Irish, I'm Italian, I'm a runner, etc).  What surprised me even more was watching one older guy, smiling as he ran, who actually took many of them up on the offer and kissed his way down the row of screaming girls.  Took his mind off the pain of the run, I'm sure!    Read about it here. 

All in all, it was a great run. I managed to make my way back to my B&B on the T, stopping in at a sports store to buy a pair of Vibram 5-finger shoes on my way (with an Boston marathon participant's discount!), got a quick shower, then headed out to enjoy dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with my old college roommate from Hopkins, Anne Marie Largay Poulin and her family. What a great way to cap off a great day. I thoroughly enjoyed my evening catching up with Anne Marie, meeting her husband Brent and their cute kids, Maggie and Sam.

The next morning, stiff and sore (didn't sleep well because my muscles were so filled with lactic acid), I made my way to the airport on the T, and was happy to be homeward bound!

Here is the view of Boston as I was crossing the river from Cambridge into Boston: