Lisa said she's just the happiest baby and always smiling---the same description in her profile from our agency. Yea for happy babies!
8.27.2012
But wait! There's more!
I am in a wonderful Facebook group of families all waiting to adopt from GLA. We are all in different stages and one of the great things is that some families have already made their first trip down there. Lisa, one of the adoptive moms, took these pictures of Malozie (Grace? Not sure when we'll officially start calling her that!). That's Lisa's husband holding her. Doesn't she look so petite in his arms? This was in May, so you can tell she's grown since then (the bathtime/ducky pictures were from June). Mmmmm....look at those sweet toes! I just want to eat them up! (Yes, I've always had a thing for baby toes.)
Lisa said she's just the happiest baby and always smiling---the same description in her profile from our agency. Yea for happy babies!
Lisa said she's just the happiest baby and always smiling---the same description in her profile from our agency. Yea for happy babies!
August 22, 2012
We have waited for this day for so very long. When I think back to the TLC "A Baby Story" episode that made me ask, "Haiti?", this has been a very long road. The road ahead to get her home seems really short now, even though it may not be.
I want to get this down before I forget any of it. Here's how the day played out:
We spent the morning in Mt. Pleasant at the dentist. Luke and Jonah both got good reports. Afterwards, they begged to eat out for lunch, but it was only 10:45 and I really just wanted to come home. Boy, am I glad I did! We got home and I did my usual routine of walking the dogs. Right when I came in the house, the phone rang. It was a 218 area code and I usually don't answer weird numbers. The only number I knew for our agency was an 800 number, but something inside of me just whispered "what if" as I stared at the Caller ID screen. So, I answered. Amy, the owner of God's Children Adoption Agency, identified herself and my heart just stopped. After it stopped, it started racing. When she said, "I have good news!" I felt like I couldn't catch my breath. It was a quick phone call and she just wanted to make sure I was near a computer so she could send our referral. I do remember her saying, "I will let you make your own judgments, but let me just say she's precious!"
When I hung up the phone, I was pretty hysterical. I was crying and Luke was the only one in the room. I told him the email was here! Jonah heard my hysterics and came running. They were both excited, but we had to wait.
Robby and I had agreed from the start that we would not open the email without both of us being here. The only problem was, he had a CUSTOMER. Grrrrrrr! They had pulled into the driveway at the same time I had come home from the dentist. So, they had been there a while. This usually indicates a "buyer" which also indicates a long stay---decisions to be made, money, etc.
I could hardly stand it! I was just pacing in front of the window willing that customer to leave. (They weren't getting my message!) So, I started making preemptive phone calls to say "we have a baby, but I can't see her!" At least that passed some time. I put everyone on email alert and waited some more. Finally, the customer left and I called Robby. He RAN home.
We opened the email and found that GLA had used a site to upload all of the pictures. So, we clicked "download" on all of them, but still couldn't see her at this point. After they had all downloaded, we clicked on the first one, and this popped onto our screen:
After the AWWWWWWWWWs, we were all cheering and hugging and crying and talking about how absolutely adorable she is! You Moms know that feeling when you're pregnant and you start to worry if your baby will be cute. I mean, what if he's not really cute, but everyone is just polite and says he is. It's a worry I had with all 3 of mine and then of course, I thought all 3 of them were the prettiest babies I'd ever seen. Well, that was the same worry I had this whole time of waiting. "What if we get matched to an un-cute one?" Just all the what ifs.
As you can see, God has given us the cutest baby in all of Haiti!!!! Seriously!!! There aren't any cuter ones. I promise. And.....she is all ours. All of her. Those sweet kissable lips. That belly just begging to be blown on. Those cute pigtails for Mama to have fun with. All. Of. Her.
As we clicked through each picture, we just oooed and awwwed. Then.....the video. Oh, how precious is that video! Just hearing her giggle and seeing her move around. It was a priceless moment!
Poor Robby...the phone started ringing and he had to go back to the shop. He told me he would put a closed sign on the door and come right back home, but that didn't happen. He ended up having the BUSIEST day he has had in a very long time. He sold 5 stoves! God is taking care of us each and every day.
When he finally got home, we watched the video over and over again and then I left for our doctor's office. All of her medical forms were still in French and instead of waiting on the English translation (2-3 days), I took them to our doctor to translate. We are so blessed to have Dr. Latortue. He is Haitian! Yes, in little ol' Mt. Vernon, we have a Haitian doctor. Just one of the many details God has taken care of in our lives. I love seeing the fingerprints of God! Dr. Latortue has helped us with all of our medical forms for the dossier and knows all about our adoption. He has a precious wife and daughter who are excited for us, too. He was happy to read them and told me that everything, "looks great". We knew Grace's bio father is deaf, so we wanted to make sure her hearing test was good. No problems at all. Dr. Latortue even made the remark that he KNOWS the pediatrician that examined our baby. Amazing! Only God could orchestrate these details!
(Funny side note: when I got to the doctor, the receptionist, who has also walked this journey with us of notarized medical forms, etc., took the medical forms back to the nurse's station for the doctor to go over them. I had printed out the picture above and put it with the forms. From the waiting room, I could hear all of the nurses exclaiming, "Awwwwww! She is so cute! She's precious! Look at those eyes!" I just sat in the waiting room and thought, "Yep, that's MY baby!")
After visiting with Dr. Latortue, I came back home and gave Robby and the boys the "she's perfect" report. Then, we went to Mt. Pleasant for a celebration dinner and to pick up the photo prints at Walgreen's. I had uploaded all of her pictures so I could make "brag books" for the boys and for us. In the car, it was just non-stop talk about her and how cute she is. How did we get so blessed? She's perfect! At dinner, we watched the Ranger game on TV and just flipped through our Gracie book over and over. Every time we'd look at it, one of us would notice another precious detail about her. So fun!
We stayed up VERY late that night just watching the video over and over and staring into her sweet eyes. We also had fun Googling her name and finding the blog posts that had been written about her. The nurses and staff at the orphanage have blogs and they write about children as they come in. We found out that she had been in the NICU when she first got there because she was starving. I just love to see the "before" and "after" pictures and thank God for saving her and giving her a healthy start. One of the things we are most thankful for is that she came to GLA at 6 weeks old. So, for the last 6 1/2 months, she has received wonderful care, love, and nutrition. You can see it in her sweet disposition.
I'll close with this "coincidence" for my Grandpa. When Robby went to the mailbox this afternoon, this issue of "Texas Monthly" was there. Yes, God is in every detail of our lives.
Words cannot describe how excited we are to "raise our Texan".
God is good and everything He does is good. Psalm 119:68
I want to get this down before I forget any of it. Here's how the day played out:
We spent the morning in Mt. Pleasant at the dentist. Luke and Jonah both got good reports. Afterwards, they begged to eat out for lunch, but it was only 10:45 and I really just wanted to come home. Boy, am I glad I did! We got home and I did my usual routine of walking the dogs. Right when I came in the house, the phone rang. It was a 218 area code and I usually don't answer weird numbers. The only number I knew for our agency was an 800 number, but something inside of me just whispered "what if" as I stared at the Caller ID screen. So, I answered. Amy, the owner of God's Children Adoption Agency, identified herself and my heart just stopped. After it stopped, it started racing. When she said, "I have good news!" I felt like I couldn't catch my breath. It was a quick phone call and she just wanted to make sure I was near a computer so she could send our referral. I do remember her saying, "I will let you make your own judgments, but let me just say she's precious!"
When I hung up the phone, I was pretty hysterical. I was crying and Luke was the only one in the room. I told him the email was here! Jonah heard my hysterics and came running. They were both excited, but we had to wait.
Robby and I had agreed from the start that we would not open the email without both of us being here. The only problem was, he had a CUSTOMER. Grrrrrrr! They had pulled into the driveway at the same time I had come home from the dentist. So, they had been there a while. This usually indicates a "buyer" which also indicates a long stay---decisions to be made, money, etc.
I could hardly stand it! I was just pacing in front of the window willing that customer to leave. (They weren't getting my message!) So, I started making preemptive phone calls to say "we have a baby, but I can't see her!" At least that passed some time. I put everyone on email alert and waited some more. Finally, the customer left and I called Robby. He RAN home.
We opened the email and found that GLA had used a site to upload all of the pictures. So, we clicked "download" on all of them, but still couldn't see her at this point. After they had all downloaded, we clicked on the first one, and this popped onto our screen:
As you can see, God has given us the cutest baby in all of Haiti!!!! Seriously!!! There aren't any cuter ones. I promise. And.....she is all ours. All of her. Those sweet kissable lips. That belly just begging to be blown on. Those cute pigtails for Mama to have fun with. All. Of. Her.
As we clicked through each picture, we just oooed and awwwed. Then.....the video. Oh, how precious is that video! Just hearing her giggle and seeing her move around. It was a priceless moment!
Poor Robby...the phone started ringing and he had to go back to the shop. He told me he would put a closed sign on the door and come right back home, but that didn't happen. He ended up having the BUSIEST day he has had in a very long time. He sold 5 stoves! God is taking care of us each and every day.
When he finally got home, we watched the video over and over again and then I left for our doctor's office. All of her medical forms were still in French and instead of waiting on the English translation (2-3 days), I took them to our doctor to translate. We are so blessed to have Dr. Latortue. He is Haitian! Yes, in little ol' Mt. Vernon, we have a Haitian doctor. Just one of the many details God has taken care of in our lives. I love seeing the fingerprints of God! Dr. Latortue has helped us with all of our medical forms for the dossier and knows all about our adoption. He has a precious wife and daughter who are excited for us, too. He was happy to read them and told me that everything, "looks great". We knew Grace's bio father is deaf, so we wanted to make sure her hearing test was good. No problems at all. Dr. Latortue even made the remark that he KNOWS the pediatrician that examined our baby. Amazing! Only God could orchestrate these details!
(Funny side note: when I got to the doctor, the receptionist, who has also walked this journey with us of notarized medical forms, etc., took the medical forms back to the nurse's station for the doctor to go over them. I had printed out the picture above and put it with the forms. From the waiting room, I could hear all of the nurses exclaiming, "Awwwwww! She is so cute! She's precious! Look at those eyes!" I just sat in the waiting room and thought, "Yep, that's MY baby!")
After visiting with Dr. Latortue, I came back home and gave Robby and the boys the "she's perfect" report. Then, we went to Mt. Pleasant for a celebration dinner and to pick up the photo prints at Walgreen's. I had uploaded all of her pictures so I could make "brag books" for the boys and for us. In the car, it was just non-stop talk about her and how cute she is. How did we get so blessed? She's perfect! At dinner, we watched the Ranger game on TV and just flipped through our Gracie book over and over. Every time we'd look at it, one of us would notice another precious detail about her. So fun!
We stayed up VERY late that night just watching the video over and over and staring into her sweet eyes. We also had fun Googling her name and finding the blog posts that had been written about her. The nurses and staff at the orphanage have blogs and they write about children as they come in. We found out that she had been in the NICU when she first got there because she was starving. I just love to see the "before" and "after" pictures and thank God for saving her and giving her a healthy start. One of the things we are most thankful for is that she came to GLA at 6 weeks old. So, for the last 6 1/2 months, she has received wonderful care, love, and nutrition. You can see it in her sweet disposition.
I'll close with this "coincidence" for my Grandpa. When Robby went to the mailbox this afternoon, this issue of "Texas Monthly" was there. Yes, God is in every detail of our lives.
Words cannot describe how excited we are to "raise our Texan".
God is good and everything He does is good. Psalm 119:68
8.24.2012
From the mouths of babes....
I've said from the beginning that I blog for our family to have a journal of our lives together. These are the things I have to put down so I don't forget!
The boys have been so precious about our baby girl and saying the sweetest things.
Luke: "You know what Mama? Wednesday was not the best day EVER (the day we got our referral). Do you know what the best day EVER will be? When we bring Gracie home from Haiti!"
Then, he continued....
"...and I asked the Lord to make it one trip so you can just bring her home when you go."
Oh, the faith of a child. We have talked to them about the fact that as the law stands now, we will have to travel 2-3 times to Haiti for paperwork before we can actually bring her home. We also know that God can change this very easily. There is a new judge and each judge makes his/her own rules about this. So, we are all praying fervently and asking God to change that rule. Personally, it's for very selfish reasons. The idea of spending 2-3 days with Grace and then leaving her just terrifies me. It would NOT be pretty! However, I know that if I have to do it, the Lord will be faithful to give me strength. Many adoptive parents have done it before me.
*************************************
Jonah: "When Gracie gets here, I am never going to play video games again! You know why? Because I want to help you with her...you know, play games with her, play toys with her, that kind of stuff."
This is LOVE, ladies and gentlemen!
Another Jonah quote I love:
"I'm going to go read my Gracie book."
We made "brag books" for each of the boys with the photos we got from the orphanage. They love to "read" them and just look at her over and over---well, we ALL do!
*************************************
At 11 years old, most of Noah's quotes are questions and aren't as cute and innocent. Mostly, he wants to know WHY he can't go to Haiti with us and WHEN we will get to bring her home. Patience is not really something he likes to practice.
He is very excited, though, and loves to watch her video over and over.
Our boys have waited a lonnnng time (extra long in kid-years) for a baby sister and they are over-the-moon in love with her already. : )
The boys have been so precious about our baby girl and saying the sweetest things.
Luke: "You know what Mama? Wednesday was not the best day EVER (the day we got our referral). Do you know what the best day EVER will be? When we bring Gracie home from Haiti!"
Then, he continued....
"...and I asked the Lord to make it one trip so you can just bring her home when you go."
Oh, the faith of a child. We have talked to them about the fact that as the law stands now, we will have to travel 2-3 times to Haiti for paperwork before we can actually bring her home. We also know that God can change this very easily. There is a new judge and each judge makes his/her own rules about this. So, we are all praying fervently and asking God to change that rule. Personally, it's for very selfish reasons. The idea of spending 2-3 days with Grace and then leaving her just terrifies me. It would NOT be pretty! However, I know that if I have to do it, the Lord will be faithful to give me strength. Many adoptive parents have done it before me.
*************************************
Jonah: "When Gracie gets here, I am never going to play video games again! You know why? Because I want to help you with her...you know, play games with her, play toys with her, that kind of stuff."
This is LOVE, ladies and gentlemen!
Another Jonah quote I love:
"I'm going to go read my Gracie book."
We made "brag books" for each of the boys with the photos we got from the orphanage. They love to "read" them and just look at her over and over---well, we ALL do!
*************************************
At 11 years old, most of Noah's quotes are questions and aren't as cute and innocent. Mostly, he wants to know WHY he can't go to Haiti with us and WHEN we will get to bring her home. Patience is not really something he likes to practice.
He is very excited, though, and loves to watch her video over and over.
Our boys have waited a lonnnng time (extra long in kid-years) for a baby sister and they are over-the-moon in love with her already. : )
8.22.2012
1 minute, 47 seconds of pure JOY!
We were so surprised and so blessed by this video! We can see the sweet disposition and happy joy in the heart of our baby girl. I can't say enough about the staff at our orphanage. They truly love these babies and take the BEST care of them.
Blessed beyond words....
(Turn up your volume so you can hear these sweet giggles!)
Blessed beyond words....
(Turn up your volume so you can hear these sweet giggles!)
8.16.2012
FIFTEEN years!
Happy Anniversary to us! 15 years!!! Wowzers! : ) That's a long time. Well, in some ways, it feels like the blink of an eye.
Thanks to the grandparents and their willingness to Monkey-Wrangle, we had a wonderful weekend away in Dallas. We saw the Rangers play, complete with fireworks, on Friday night and stayed til Sunday. We had a GREAT hotel that was connected to a mall, so we pretty much just stayed there. Ate lots of yummy food and caught up on our sleep, mostly. We relived our days "pre-kids" when we'd sleep late, have a late breakfast, which also meant a late lunch, took a nap, and had dinner at 8:00. Funny how your life changes.
I am so thankful I married my best friend and I love him more and more every day.
8.14.2012
"Referral coming"!!!!!!
That was the subject line of the email from our agency.
This is the message from the orphanage:
This is the message from the orphanage:
We have a child ready for the McCraw family, however, we are just
waiting for a correction that is needed on the consent paper. I am
hoping it will be done this week, and will send the proposal as soon as
we have the correction back.
Such sweet precious words. I've just been staring at the computer screen---through tears. There is a baby girl in Haiti and she has "McCraw" written in her file! Such encouraging news. We have not been forgotten. Our name is not at the bottom of the list. Our file has not been misplaced.
It sounds like there's a "t" on the paper that just needs to be crossed. Please pray with us that this correction could be made asap so we can "meet" our daughter.
Thursday is our 15th anniversary.......
7.30.2012
Choose JOY!
Yesterday, our pastor preached on Philippians 4:4:
"Rejoice in the LORD always, again I say: Rejoice!"
God really spoke to my heart through this sermon. I felt like He was telling me that this is my theme for the school year. Last year, I focused on relaxing and letting go of grade-level expectations. This year, no matter what, I want to choose JOY. Homeschooling is THE biggest faith-builder I have ever walked out. God humbles me daily and I must be on my knees before Him or I will fall completely on my face.
Our pastor reminded us that Phil. 4:4 is a command from God, not a "cafeteria verse". We can't just say, "Well, I think that looks good, but no thank you." God is commanding me to choose joy no matter my circumstances. Even when I am teaching whiny kids. Even when we have the great math meltdown. Even when nobody wants to get out of bed. Especially when we have one of those days when I longingly watch the school bus drive by. No matter what, I choose joy. Only in the LORD is it possible to choose joy. No one can rob me of Christ, therefore no one can rob me of my JOY in Christ. No "thing" can cause me to lose my joy.
**The LORD would not command me to do something that He will not give me the strength to do. **
I know this won't be easy. That's one reason I'm blogging about it. Accountability.
So, what happens when I choose joy? Here are the 3 things our pastor said will happen:
1. People get blessed.
If I'm choosing joy, those around me will be blessed. #1 priority for me is my family. They will be blessed when I'm choosing JOY. I want to find a need in someone's life and meet that need. There's no greater blessing.
2. Prayer life improves.
If I'm choosing joy, I will be praying, petitioning, giving thanks, and giving my requests (v. 6) to Him. I'm not trying to figure it all out on my own.
3. Peace of God shows up. This is not the peace "with" God that comes through the initial choice of giving my heart to him. This is different. Peace "of" God (v. 8) is a calm serenity in my soul.
So, that's what I'm striving for this year as I teach my 6th(!) grader, my 3rd grader, and my 1st grader. I will strive every day to choose JOY no matter what. What about you? Where in your life do you need to choose JOY?
7.26.2012
One Proud Mama
If you would indulge me for a moment, I have to brag on my sweet Luke. During VBS, we collected pennies (any kind of change, really) for our mission project. It was a boys vs. girls contest because we weighed the pennies every day to see who brought more. Well, Luke decided to take his $25 birthday money (which he had saved for 3 months!) to the bank. He cashed it in for 2,500 pennies! I was so proud of him and his willingness to give.
P.S. The girls came back and won in the end, but like Luke reminded me, "We're all winners because we all gave!"
Good email : )
This is the email from our adoption agency I had waiting for me when I got home from children's camp. VERY encouraging. I have been praying for a while that we'll get our referral for my birthday. THAT would be an awesome gift!
Good evening,
I am writing to let you know that I have
been in contact with Dixie, Jean and Melissa at GLA regarding my
families still pending a formal match of a child. Dixie has informed me
that a number of children have just completed their psychologicals,
which are required before a child can be presented to a family. Please
know that I will continue to advocate for your family, as you wait for
your proposal.
I am hopeful a number of you will receive your formal proposals
during the coming weeks and I will continue to be in touch with GLA
regarding this. If you have questions or concerns, please do e-mail me
and I will do my best to resolve them.
Thank you for being such wonderful families!
7.21.2012
96!!!!
7.10.2012
Cat Got Your Tongue?
No, no cats here, although the youngest two have become VERY obsessed with Garfield the cat lately. We have checked out every Garfield library book and they read them from cover to cover. Then, no matter what happens in our day to day lives, there's a Garfield story to allude to. Sundays, it's a race to get the newspaper and tear it open to read the newest Garfield comic. Lasagna is also the highest requested meal right now. :)
So, in case you haven't noticed, I haven't blogged much lately. Summer always seems to start out empty and then quickly fill up. Here's a quick list of all of the fun reasons I haven't had time to sit down and blog:
So, in case you haven't noticed, I haven't blogged much lately. Summer always seems to start out empty and then quickly fill up. Here's a quick list of all of the fun reasons I haven't had time to sit down and blog:
Visit to National Boy Scout Museum with our favorite Eagle Scout
Aunt Penny's Ordination
Swim Dates with Friends
VBS
Swim Lessons
Painting
Taekwondo for Jonah
Guitar Lessons for Noah
Storytime at the Library
More Painting
Summer Library Programs
Road Trip to Jonesboro, Arkansas
Family Reunion
Arkansas Travelers Baseball Game
Still More Painting
Geocaching
More Swimming
Visit to our Alma Mater, Ouachita Baptist University
This isn't a complete list, but you get the idea. If I don't develop severe carpel tunnel syndrome from holding a paint brush in my right hand for hours every day, I'll post pictures of our finished living room (VERY!) soon.
7.03.2012
iPiccy
I've been playing around with some photo editing software. I took TONS of pictures during our family reunion trip this weekend. Here's an example of the fun you can have on iPiccy. More to come soon!
6.13.2012
This is BIG
Two days ago, the Haitian government voted to ratify the Hague Convention. This will be a very good thing for the orphans in Haiti in the future. We don't really know what it means for our adoption at this point. Dixie's post is almost like reading a foreign language because I don't understand it all. I know that countries like China who are under the Hague Convention have very strict procedural guidelines for their adoption. Without being under the Hague, countries can pretty much do whatever and require whatever they want. I'm pretty sure that since our dossier is already in Haiti, we will be grandfathered in. We continue to hope and pray that we will receive our referral before Aug. 1st when IBESR reopens.
6.01.2012
Sadness
Yesterday, GLA received 23 babies from an orphanage that IBESR shut down. The youngest baby had to be hospitalized for rat bites. Like Robby said, how bad does an environment have to be for the Haitian government to shut it down? Must have been pretty bad. These sweet, sad faces just make me whine, "It's not fair." There are so many of us waiting here in the U.S. for a baby to love and care for and so many orphans living in deplorable conditions. All GLA knows at this point is the names of the children. They put bracelets on them to remember who is who. Many of them are sick and all are malnourished. I am so thankful they are in a place where they can receive care and hopefully, forever families. The government is looking for the parents to try to send these children back home. That makes me sad, too. There's a reason these babies were brought to the orphanage in the first place and I'm pretty sure they don't need to be sent back home. For those whose parents can't be found, they will be classified as "abandoned" (such a harsh word) and processed through the adoption system, hopefully.
Please take a minute to read Dixie's blog post and say a prayer for all of these babies and the ones caring for them.
Please take a minute to read Dixie's blog post and say a prayer for all of these babies and the ones caring for them.
5.26.2012
Noah's 2nd ER trip
Our oldest made it TEN years into his life before visiting the ER and now he's been twice in the last 3 months. (First time was in March when he cut his arm at the pipe shed.) Thursday night, he went on a Father/Son hike in the woods and woke up Friday morning with his eyes almost completely swollen shut and hives from the neck up. We did Benadryl every 4 hours all day yesterday and all night last night, but it wasn't getting any better. I knew the Pediatric Clinic in MP was open on Sat. mornings, so we were there by 8 when they opened. AFTER I filled out all of the paperwork, they told me they don't accept new patients on Saturdays. GRRRRR! I started to tell the lady that I grew up going to the Pediatric Clinic and I was pretty sure Dr. Stagg would let us in. Also, Dr. Chapman was the one there today. I stayed at his house and lead a Disciple Now Weekend when I was in college and attended church with he and his wife for years. I think his daughter was even in my VBS class. Anyway, I didn't say any of that. She told me they could see Noah on Tuesday or we could take him to the ER. There's no way we were waiting til Tuesday. He was miserable.
After calling hubby and debating the merits of the hospitals in the surrounding towns, he thought we should just go downstairs (we were already at the hospital in MP) and go to the ER there. I have never heard anyone say anything good about the Titus ER and I had just told my Mom last night that I wouldn't go there unless I absolutely had to. Well, we ended up having a very good experience. There was only 1 man waiting and they got us right in. The doctor was very kind and the nurse really helped ease Noah when he had to get a shot. Soooo, 1 ER trip, 1 steroid shot, 1 steroid pack, and 1 super-duper Benadryl prescription later, he is on the mend....we hope. We will probably never know what he touched in the woods. It's not Poison Ivy because there's nothing on the surface of the skin.
I have to close this post with an AMAZING blessing from God that we received yesterday. Just to set this story up: our health insurance stinks. It's expensive and never pays out a thing. Basically, it's catastrophic insurance and that's about it. Noah's 1st trip to the ER which took less than 30 minutes and involved skin glue (which came off the next day!) was $933.00. That's with no help from the insurance company. So, I did what my Mama has always taught me to do and wrote a letter. It was a nice letter. I wasn't ugly. I just stated that in our opinion, skin glue was not "surgery" as they were calling it. I asked them to review the charges because we felt that $933 was excessive.
Ok, here comes the good part:
Yesterday, we got a letter saying they had reviewed his case and our bill was reduced by $769 for a total of $163!!!!!!! I was stunned! I wrote the letter because I knew I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least TRY to fight the bill. I never expected it to do any good though. We are so thankful the LORD took care of that bill. We have many more things to be spending our money on right now than $900 skin glue!
Never a dull moment here....
After calling hubby and debating the merits of the hospitals in the surrounding towns, he thought we should just go downstairs (we were already at the hospital in MP) and go to the ER there. I have never heard anyone say anything good about the Titus ER and I had just told my Mom last night that I wouldn't go there unless I absolutely had to. Well, we ended up having a very good experience. There was only 1 man waiting and they got us right in. The doctor was very kind and the nurse really helped ease Noah when he had to get a shot. Soooo, 1 ER trip, 1 steroid shot, 1 steroid pack, and 1 super-duper Benadryl prescription later, he is on the mend....we hope. We will probably never know what he touched in the woods. It's not Poison Ivy because there's nothing on the surface of the skin.
I have to close this post with an AMAZING blessing from God that we received yesterday. Just to set this story up: our health insurance stinks. It's expensive and never pays out a thing. Basically, it's catastrophic insurance and that's about it. Noah's 1st trip to the ER which took less than 30 minutes and involved skin glue (which came off the next day!) was $933.00. That's with no help from the insurance company. So, I did what my Mama has always taught me to do and wrote a letter. It was a nice letter. I wasn't ugly. I just stated that in our opinion, skin glue was not "surgery" as they were calling it. I asked them to review the charges because we felt that $933 was excessive.
Ok, here comes the good part:
Yesterday, we got a letter saying they had reviewed his case and our bill was reduced by $769 for a total of $163!!!!!!! I was stunned! I wrote the letter because I knew I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least TRY to fight the bill. I never expected it to do any good though. We are so thankful the LORD took care of that bill. We have many more things to be spending our money on right now than $900 skin glue!
Never a dull moment here....
5.24.2012
GLA update
So, this week we learned that IBESR (Haitian Social Services) is closed until July 31. This means that GLA cannot present any dossiers until August 1st. This post described more about why they're closed and it's a good thing, even though it means more waiting. Dixie said they will continue to give referrals of children throughout the summer and be ready to submit those dossiers on August 1st.
Here's my hope/thinking/theory (Robby's too): we feel like we'll get our referral sometime this summer so that our dossier will be ready to be presented to IBESR on August 1st. Makes sense, right? As I've said many times, it's all in God's hands and we are good with that. Right now, there are 13 dossiers sitting at GLA. We know we are one of those 13. There are many more kids there than that number, so we are confident our baby girl is there and being given great care.
Until next time....
Here's my hope/thinking/theory (Robby's too): we feel like we'll get our referral sometime this summer so that our dossier will be ready to be presented to IBESR on August 1st. Makes sense, right? As I've said many times, it's all in God's hands and we are good with that. Right now, there are 13 dossiers sitting at GLA. We know we are one of those 13. There are many more kids there than that number, so we are confident our baby girl is there and being given great care.
Until next time....
5.22.2012
Summertime Jonah
Today Jonah decided he wanted to transform into "Summertime Jonah". It was hard for this Mama to shave off those blonde locks, but I assured him they will grow back. He just decided on his own that he wanted his head "shaved like Noah". I talked to him for a while about other people's reactions. He tends to get very upset when others fuss over him or make a big deal out of him (growls angrily like a bear). So, I wanted to make sure that he wouldn't get upset because the change is quite drastic and others will notice and comment. He said, "I'll just say I have a haircut like my brother Noah."
His favorite cartoon is Ben 10 Alien Force. Ben is a boy who can change into different alien figures. So, Jonah and I talked about how has transformed into "Summertime Jonah". It will take a while to get used to this guy living at our house. : )
The BEFORE picture
During....he said, "Do you think we could make a wig out of all of that hair?"
AFTER....still my same sweet boy.
His favorite cartoon is Ben 10 Alien Force. Ben is a boy who can change into different alien figures. So, Jonah and I talked about how has transformed into "Summertime Jonah". It will take a while to get used to this guy living at our house. : )
5.17.2012
Mamas
Being a Mama is truly a calling. It's not an accident. It's not a job. It's a calling I've had in my heart since I was a little girl and rocked my dolls to sleep. This post puts it all in perspective:
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/motherhood-is-a-calling-and-where-your-children-rank
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/motherhood-is-a-calling-and-where-your-children-rank
5.09.2012
Catchin' Up
**Homeschool Day at Six Flags (photos)! Last year was our first year to go on this day and we'll never go on a different day. The weather is perfectly warm, but not blistering. There's no big crowds or long lines and the people are all NICE! It's wonderful! Last year, the boys were totally clueless and enjoyed every minute of their new adventure. This year, they each had an agenda which made things more difficult. We ended up splitting up, so I didn't get as many pictures this year. I'm bummed that I missed the family photo in front of the big chair.
**Wrapping Up the school year. I can't believe our 2nd year of homeschooling is coming to an end. I have a long ways to go before I'm a veteran, but I feel like we've got a good routine going. Our co-op is amazing and we are so blessed to have such a wonderful "family" of local homeschoolers. Noah still puts up a fight, but I just think that will be school with Noah from here on out. We have loved the Sonlight curriculum which was new to us this year. We have read TONS of great books and loved every minute of it. I'm still planning next year and not sure how that schedule's going to look. I really like the idea of year-round and taking more breaks with long stints in between.
**Extreme Home Makeover: McCraw Addition
When Baby Girl gets here, that will make 4 kiddos for us and only 3 bedrooms, so we're adding on. We have a great contractor that does business with us and he's drawn up some very creative plans. We're adding on to the north side of the house--master bedroom and bathroom. We'll probably shuffle a little afterwards and move Noah into our current bedroom so Gracie can have his room. Still thinking on that. I know a girl needs more space than a boy when she's older, but she won't need much space at first. Luke and Jonah will still bunk together, but their room is expanding which is a good thing. I am trying to be excited, but I am a bit nervous. I'm just not a spatial/artistic thinker and when Robby draws the diagrams on paper, it's really hard for me to imagine it in real life. I've always told him that the thought of building a house is very daunting to me and I think it would really freak me out. Starting with a blank canvas is just too much for me to contemplate! If you show me 2 pictures from "Southern Living", I can tell you which I like best, but just dreaming up a bedroom and bathroom in my mind is really mind-boggling. That's why we go together so well. Robby is super excited and ready to start picking things out and I'm just trying to wrap my brain around it all. As of now, the plan is to start mid-June and the contractor says it will take 60 days. I know contractor-speak. It will be more like 90 days, I'm sure, with several setbacks in between. I'm prepared for that. It will be such a blessing when it's all finished, but it will stretch me, that's for sure!
Another project I'm tackling this summer is painting the brick wall/hearth in our living room. It's very dark and I've dreamed of painting it since we moved here. I've been researching it online and it doesn't seem that difficult. It will really brighten up this room with the dark floors. We haven't picked a color, yet, but we're thinking a really light buttery yellow, similar to our living room in our McKinney house. We're going to use the same color on the living room walls and in the kitchen/school room, too. I painted the kitchen red about a year ago and it's just too dark. Needless to say, this will be an interesting summer!
**Make new friends, but keep the old: one of my best buddies that I grew up with is saying goodbye to the city life and moving back home! We grew up across the street from each other and I'm so excited that we'll live close by again. She has 2 boys and homeschools, too. It's all good!
**Waiting......still.
No news from Haiti as of now. From the timeline they gave us, the end of May would be the EARLIEST we would receive our referral. So, I'm not even getting the tiniest bit hopeful til then. I have several "friends" in our GLA Yahoo Group who've been waiting more than 3 months on their referral. I know God can do anything, but I'm trying to be realistic, too.
That's all I've got for now. If you've read this far, bless you.
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