Thursday, January 24, 2008

Hospital Bound

This is Julie (Jennifer's sister), she asked me to post this so no one was worried.

Early Monday morning, Kevin took Jennifer to the ER. The last few weeks she's been battling pneumonia and a really bad cough. Well, her body finally had enough. With a temperature of 103, coughing her head off and resulting her back to have spasms, she decided it was time to go to the hospital.
After waiting in the ER for hours, they finally decided to admit her. After further tests, they concluded she has a bladder infection and an undetermined blood infection, on top of the pneumonia. They were also going to run some more tests to check to see if her mono came back. She's also waiting to hear back about the strep test.
Isabella has been sleeping over at our mom and dad's house. Even though it's always fun to play with Grandma and Pappa, Bella really misses her mommy. In fact, Jennifer told me just this morning how much she misses Isabella. This is the first time she's been away from her for this long. All the other hospital stays, she's came to visit. But because she's in that stage of clinging to mommy, everyone thought it was best to not let her see Jennifer right now.
So please keep Jennifer in your thoughts and prayers and hope for a quick recovery. We're not sure when she'll be home, we're hoping by this weekend. We'll keep you all updated as we find things out.
Get Well Jen, I love you! :-)

Sunday, January 20, 2008

To Catch a Baby Broker

The title of the Dateline NBC program says it all...or does it?

Dateline examined the corrupt Guatemalan adoption system tonight just weeks after the country was officially closed for international adoption. You can check out the transcripts online at To Catch a Baby Broker.

Remember though, as you read, that the story is aimed to show the horrors of this corrupt system. For instance, at the very start of the program, the program reports:
"I knew the second I saw her, that - that was our little girl. But was she? There's so much the camera does not reveal, especially in the sometimes secretive and shadowy world of international adoption."

And that's what the rest reveals.

It pains me that it has come to this -- the secret investigations, the heart-wrenching stories of betrayal and loss, the abandoned children who will never know the love of a family.

I know that is it important that we "call out" the corruption but at what cost? Is it worth stopping the 3,000 open Guatemalan adoption cases, in which, now those children will suffer in orphanages without loving homes?

My heart aches for Jason and Jennell who appeared in the episode and for all the parents who are waiting to bring their babies home.

I've emailed my thoughts on this to msnbc.com and have posted a story about our adoption, along with a family photo, on the site to show that good adoptions happen, too.

One in three people is touched by adoption. We are a community. We have to share the message -- of struggle, of hope and of love.

If you want to help spread the message, start here by posting a comment on this blog who is read by more than 100 people each day.

We can make a difference one message at a time!

Thursday, January 17, 2008

ABCs

We had some excitement in our house last night!

While Kevin was changing Isabella into her pajamas, she started singing. I always sing to her when I'm changing her. It could be Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, the ABC Song, Old McDonald, whatever. Well, during her changing last night, Isabella began singing her ABCs. She's been able to get to the letter H for the past week or so, but last night, she sang them all by herself all the way through.

Kevin yelled for me, and we tried to get her to sing them again. She could only get to K.

Well, today, I heard the proof. She sang them three times in a row all the way through!

Yeah, Isabella!

Sunday, January 13, 2008

The Funny Face Book

A great book to develop imagination and vocabulary is "Magnetic Silly Animals." Distributed by Top That Kids, this book allows Isabella to create funny animal faces using magnetic mouths, noses and eyes on 10 different animals. She can match the correct features to the animals or "be silly" and make hilarious creatures.


Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Outings

Our outings lately have been...
to the doctor's office. No one in this house can get better. Isabella is coughing her head off. I'm having a hard time breathing, and I sound like Darth Vader when I talk. Kevin is congested and can't sleep. Is there an end in sight??!!

Half the problem is this Ohio weather. Yesterday's high was 62 degrees; today 40. These roller coaster temps can't help with our breathing issues.

Sorry for the rant; just feed up with feeling crummy! Needless to say none of us have felt like getting our pics taken. Sorry!

Saturday, January 05, 2008

Fun with...

Grandma Sue and Papa Al! Friday night we all headed to a local restaurant for dinner and then back to our house for fun play time. Isabella played "chef" with Papa Al serving as the assistant, making yummy treats for Grandma Sue. Then Grandma Sue got her hair done by hairdresser Bella at her new Dora salon. Finally, before bed, Grandma Sue, Papa Al and Bella played an exciting game of hide-and-go-seek. We all had a great time! (And Isabella is talking up a storm. Her personally is really developing and she's quite the comedian.)





Friday, January 04, 2008

Still on the mend

Sorry for the lack of pics and posts lately. With all the sickness, we've been staying in bed, cuddled up in blankets in front of the television or reading books, and eating lots of soup.

Isabella is finally starting to act like herself again but still has a very runny nose and croupy cough. Today, I finally am regaining some energy-we'll see how the day goes. I go back to the doctor Wednesday for a follow-up visit to check on the progression of the pneumonia. X-rays did show that the infection is in both lungs.

Stay tuned for updates and maybe some pics if we get out and about.

Hope you all are feeling well!!!