Sometimes Drastic is the Way to Go

If you've followed along for a while, you know that itchiness is a big issue in our house.  Our little guy, Matthew, struggles with lots of allergies, including some mystery allergies.  For over a year and a half, he has been itchy and we haven't known why.  We have tried everything - antihistimines, lotions, wet pajamas (with dry ones over them) to help him sleep, seeing a dermatologist and allergist...but still he itches.  

The last three weeks have been horrible.  Matthew was breaking out in hives on a daily basis.  His cheeks were red and splotchy, and he just obviously didn't feel well.  We tried a new antihistimine but it turned him into a zombie.  A cranky, screaming zombie.  I was about at the end of my rope.

Last Sunday afternoon, the boys were in bed and I looked at Brad and said for the hundred thousandth time, "What are we going to do?".  Just so you know, asking your husband that over and over when he really doesn't know the answer is super helpful :)

Brad actually had an idea this time, though.  It was something we have been kicking around for ages but something we could never really bring ourselves to do.  A costly, drastic change.

We wondered if maybe it was the dog.  We wondered if our couch and carpet, with all the dog hair and dander, could be causing him problems.  We knew that unfortunately, we wouldn't really know unless we made a big change.

We finally reached that point, the point where we had to do something.  

So, this is the before...

This is the during...

And this is the craziness that we are currently living in!

I've got to admit, I hate it right now.  We are going to put down laminate wood flooring but it doesn't come in until next week.  I miss our couch but you know what????

IT WORKED!

Matthew has not been itchy since we made the change.  It is amazing!  He goes to sleep without saying he's itchy.  He hasn't worn wet pajamas in two nights!  He doesn't need extra lotion, washcloths, baths in the middle of the night, and he hasn't taken any medicine since Tuesday.  I'm so shocked.  If I would've known this, we would have done it so long ago.  I am so thankful that it seems we've found a solution.  We go back to the allergist on Monday and I hope he will test Matthew for dogs, cats, and maybe some environmental allergies.  

What a difference this will make to our lives!  Hopefully we will not be getting up 4+ times a night now.  Last night, Matthew SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!  I can only hope that easier days are ahead!

{9, 27, 40}

I think maybe I should have called this post, "Holy smokes three kids really seems like a lot when you post about all of them at one time oh dear what am I going to do???"

:)

9 Months Old Today

Oh, my dear little girl...I think of her every day and wonder what life is like for her right now.  I pray every day that she is loved, that someone will hold her and smile at her and care for her.  I am aching to have new pictures, to see how she has grown and changed.  Hurry home, sweet Hannah - before Mommy buys all the little girl dresses in the whole world :)

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27 Months Old

Oh, Nathan, what a little adventure you are!  Every day it's something new with this kiddo.  Today he said to my mom, "Der do, Nana!" ("There you go, Nana!").  Words are coming more and more easily with each passing day.  His laugh is contagious, and I will do just about anything to get him smiling enough to show his dimples.  Today was a big milestone - first success in the potty!  He appeared in the kitchen without a diaper, so I asked if he wanted to go to the potty.  He said yes, and he meant it!  I thought maybe it was a fluke but right before nap I put him on the potty and success again.  I hope we will soon be on our way to being a diaper-free house (if only for a few months!).  

Nathan is sweet, loving, charming, and adorable.  He melts my heart with his hugs and kisses, and is becoming quite the independent little dude :)  Never a dull moment with this kid around, that is for sure!

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40 Months Old

Matthew loves to play with the electric train with his Daddy.  When Brad arrived home from work the other night, Matthew ran up to him asking to play with the "big train."  Brad responded, "Oh, maybe we can do that."  Then he winked at Matthew.  Matthew ran over to me and very excitedly reported, "Daddy said yes with his eyes!"  He then spent several minutes trying to wink...that was my favorite!

Matthew is such a character!  He loves to sing at the top of his lungs, loves to ask questions, wants to eat all the time, and is just such a big boy these days.  Today for the first time (as in, ever), he ran laughing to his bedroom and shouted, "Come on, Nafe!"  He's starting to kind of like this big brother thing :)

Korea, Here We Come!

Last night I had a dream that we got our travel call to go and get Hannah...from Korea (except in real life she isn't in Korea, she's in China!). I can hardly believe we get to take two amazing trips in the next year.

Back in January when we won a trip to Korea, part of me really wondered if it was too good to be true.  But the tickets are booked, we didn't pay for it, and in September we will spend 11 days in South Korea!

Our first three nights will be spent in Seoul (we did have to pay for hotels for this as we wanted to stay extra nights).  We arrive on Thursday, and on Friday we hope to be able to visit Holt and Eastern, the boys' adoption agencies, and possibly even meet their foster families! This would be an amazing gift.  I have really longed to be able to thank them in person and to let them know how much we love the boys.  I pray this works out!

On Saturday we'll be on our own exploring Seoul, and then on Sunday we take a domestic flight from Incheon Airport down to Jeju Island.  I found this map which seems to be very similar to the tour we will take, except maybe for the small loop.  It will be amazing to see so much of Korea!

I am really excited to spend a couple of days on Jeju Island.  From what I have read, it is beautiful and very scenic.  I am looking forward to seeing the sights!

After that we fly to Busan and either drive or take the train for the rest of the trip.  There are so many things on the itinerary, and while I'm excited to see it all I think we're going to come home exhausted!!!!  I don't really care though, what an adventure it will be - a once in a lifetime opportunity to explore the place where our boys were born!  We really hope to travel to Korea in the future with the boys and I think this trip will help us to feel more confident about doing that one day.  I am so thankful we get to go!

Worth it All

The paperwork continues.  Just when I thought I was making good progress, we had our first home study visit and our social worker provided us with a nice double-sided list of more documents we needed to provide, fill out, or send away for.  This adoption has by far been the most labor-intensive - I used to hear people say what a nightmare the paperwork was for adoption, and for our first two I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't bad at all.  The difference this time is that 1) we are adopting from China and the requirements are much different, and 2) we are working with two agencies.

This is my trusty little file box :)  I got it for Matthew's adoption and have used it each time.  The boys keep sitting on it which drives me crazy!  Do they even know how many important things are in that box???!!!?  I must say, I've been pretty proud of myself for how organized I've been for this adoption. Half of me is really frustrated with the amount of work it takes...and half of me kind of loves it!  I feel so accomplished every time I send away some completed documents!

Sometimes it seems kind of unfair that we have to go through all this again.  To have your life examined by so many people, to have to prove that you are good parents and that you're ready for another child, sometimes it just seems so intrusive and unfair when there are so many bad parents out there getting pregnant every day!  But I understand that it has to be this way to protect children, so we grin and share our financial records and family history and views about this and that knowing full well that in the end, it is so worth it!

Now that I have my boys, I know there is nothing I wouldn't do to have them as my very own.  

One day I'll be looking back at this process, and I'll look over at sweet Hannah and know without a doubt that it was oh so worth it!  How I long for that day!

Thoughts About Food Allergies

A couple of weeks ago, a survey arrived at our house. It was from our Allergist's clinic and was a general survey about food allergies, how we deal with them, and how we feel about managing food allergies for one of our children. It got me thinking, so I wanted to just write down a few of these thoughts so that one day I can look back and remember.

Food allergies are strange. When he was first diagnosed, it was such a huge thing in our lives. I literally cried all the time about it. We had to completely rethink how we shopped, what we cooked, where we ate. It felt consuming. To know that something he ate could literally kill Matthew was absolutely terrifying. It felt like it would never be "normal".

But time went by, and soon it was normal. It was normal to read every label of every food, at the store, and again before we fed it to him. It became normal to carry an epi-pen around and to teach those closest to us how to use it. It became normal to think to myself every single time we walked into a restaurant, "Is this the time that we will have to call an ambulance?". Morbid, right? I am no longer held captive by the fear of it, but it is still always present in my mind.

It was strange to fill out the survey and think about how much food allergies impact our lives. There are only a few places we can safely go and eat. Our vacations are affected - we always look for "safe" places to eat and plan accordingly. We usually make sure we know where the nearest hospital is. It's not really a big deal anymore, but it does affect our lives.

Having a child without food allergies has really highlighted the differences. I can't believe how easy it is to take Nathan out! I can stop anywhere, we can eat anything, and I don't have to worry about it. It is hard to know what is the right thing to do when Nathan can have something and Matthew can't. It's not really fair to Nathan for him to not be able to eat things just because Matthew can't. But it's so hard, especially now that Matthew understands that he's having something different.

We walk a fine line trying to teach Matthew how important it is that he not eat food unless we give it to him or check it and not turning him into a crazy, freaked-out little boy :) We want him to be safe, but we try hard to make sure he knows that even though he can't have a lot of things, there are still a lot of good foods he can eat. We are very grateful to have found so many substitutes and recipes that are safe for him. For Easter I made homemade cream eggs and they were delish!

I know that more challenges are ahead, as we send Matthew off to school, and as he grows and realizes more and more what this means for him. I don't worry about those things too much anymore - God gives the grace for each situation as we get to it. I pray that he will outgrow some, if not all, of his allergies and not have to even deal with this in the future. He often says, when finding that he can't eat something, "Maybe when I'm bigger, Mom?".

"I hope so, Buddy!" is my reply.

I really, really hope so.

Look Who

Look who figured out

how to say, "Cheese"

AND

smile at the same time :)

Look who went to the doctor last week

and has to have his eye patched again

for several hours every day.

Look who is doing really well with it

now that he's bribed with chocolate

Look who always has food on his face

and his tongue sticking out.

Silly boy!

Look who loves his Daddy like crazy

and looks adorable in overalls!

Look who brings

major smiles to my face

each and every day

Except at bedtime.

But that is a whole different post :)

An "All Over the Place" Kind of Post

Yesterday we said good-bye to our trusty Malibu...

And said hello to our beautiful new (to us) minivan!

She definitely isn't new.

There are quite a lot of miles on this van.

But we think she's pretty fabulous!


I mean, doors that open by themselves?

A dvd player that magically stops all screaming children?

Seats that fold down, room for our huge stroller, the list just goes on and on.

Plus, we got a great deal which is always a good thing,

and is especially great when you're adopting.

Again.

Speaking of which, we are moving right along with the adoption!

Starting our home study next Tuesday,

almost halfway through the collection of our dossier documents.

Yes, good things are happening!

This is a totally random post.

Easter was wonderful!

The boys looked very dashing in their little suits.

Even if we did have a "black dress shoes" crisis

Just moments before leaving for church :)

Hence the sneakers!

We celebrated with family

and I found my heart was pierced in a way it never has been before

as I thought about the cross

and all that Christ has done for us.

Forgiveness.

Grace.

Hope.

The amazing truth that has changed my life inside and out.

It's not just for Easter.

Every day I find my need for God deepening.

I cannot do this without Him, and I don't want to try.

For the big things, and for the small day-to-day challenges,

His grace is sufficient.

We are still trying to get this little one well.

This was Matthew at 5am this morning.

So itchy he had woken up 5 or 6 times already.

Unbearable.

It is so hard to not be able to fix it for him.

But you know what he says to me every single time he is crying

about being hurt, or itchy, or sad, or sick?

"Shall we pray, Mama?"

He is teaching me to run to God with everything.

To trust that even if we are still in pain, God will help us, comfort us, love us.

He will make it better or give us the strength to endure.

My heart has been so heavy for so many we love

who are facing such trials right now.

People close to us who have lost loved ones this week.

My Dad having another surgery on his eye a few days ago.

Brad's Dad recovering from surgery.

There is much pain in this life,

but this is not the end.

There is hope in Christ,

and for those who trust in Him there is eternity with Him to look forward to,

with no more pain, no more tears, no more good-byes.

And the more I see of pain, and tears, and good-byes,

the more I realize what amazingly good news that is.

Yes, its something to smile about indeed!