Surgery Over!

Gracie proves once again she is one tough little girl.  I barely have time to write anything here but we'll see if I can at least ramble a little and get some pics going. She came through the surgery so well.  The dr was able to close the entire palate w/ this surgery which he originally thought would take two.  Praise God!!! --Over and over for that.  She went in a fairly happy (despite not eating or drinking for 15+ hrs), playing with all the little hospital goodies like air masks, bloodpressure arm  bands, little sticker things that go with this stuff, and even some of the nurses id tags (which they got back once she was knocked out)... However, coming back out was not near as much fun.  She has well over 100 stitches in the top of her mouth and her little lips were swollen and of course blood in mouth and nose.  She calmed down after Dan and I got there and w/ some calming drug in the IV.  We then moved to the room and she even opened her mouth when the dr came in later that night to look!  The next time she shook her head no but eventually opened. 

We were just going to stay Thurs night but she began to develop a fever in the night & was at about 103 next day.  She wasn't lookin too good at all and just sleeping a lot.  They had to take more blood and a nose swab thing (Thankfully, I was over sleeping at Ronald McDonald House as I hate to see her stuck again and all that).Anyhoo, they kept us two more nights and today (Sunday) we headed home.  She is awfully fussy tonight and I gotta go help here.  She has stiff arm restraints to keep her from damaging her mouth with a toy or her hands.  She is on a pureed or liquid diet for at least a week and think the arm bands are at least 2 weeks.  She does ok w/ them but gets really frustrated at times.  They are so uncomfortable and irritating!  Anyway, temperature down, stitches look as good as they should and she slept a few actual stretches of longer than  20-60 min last night & I didn't hold her all night so got a little zzzzz myself.  This is the worst of this process as she will be 6-7 b4 next needed surgery and that one much less impacting.  Her voice already sounds different and her cute little lips look more even as the folded in side is not sucking into her mouth as much.



view from my room on 4th floor, 4015



In playroom b4 surgery. Dropped a toy and bruised base of my big toe but just limped a little and went on...

For some reason everyone here likes it when I put this mask up to my nose. These people are weird.

This nurse has an adopted daughter from another country too and so I offered her a kiss just out of the blue.

For some reason dad looks like he was on the operating table too....

Doctor Nelson... I think he may have something to do with my sore mouth but I have no evidence.



Playing with my "robot stiff" arms.  I picked the messiest activity in the playroom w/ exception of finger painting.



My n' my wooden arms just before going home!

She really wants regular food after just liquids or nothing for last 4 days and to use utensils!  Poor baby... this will all be over soon.

November 7

Seems like a lot has happened since my last update.  We have had our share of illness the last few days and will be glad to move on.  Last weekend Gracie, Josh, and I had some kind of stomach bug that wasn't terribly bad but had me down Saturday & then we stayed home from church Sunday.  Then on Monday of this past week, Ben came down with a fever and then Zach the next day (while we were in Boise for another appointment for Zach).  By Thurs I figured out it must be strep throat and took them in on Friday.  At first the doctor really thought Mono uggg(!)..... but decided it was a bacterial infection of some kind and wi/ hours of the antibiotic both were doing much better.  Josh then came down with it on Friday night but we got him right on the antibiotic and he is fine today (Sunday). We missed church again partly because I though Josh would be still sick this morning and we didn't want to take Gracie so she doesn't get sick before her surgery.  (Though the germs are abundant around this house...) Wednesday was our middle son, Ben's, 14th birthday which he spent in bed nauseous and feverish.  However, we had a fun family party Fri night.

I don't know how Gracie has not come down with it.  Zach took her up in the Burger King playland (which she LOVED - screaming all the way from the slide to the steps back up each time)- before we knew he was getting sick.  Then keeping her away from sick kids is almost impossible. I had to put both boys in their room because she just can't resist trying to get them to play with her or stealing their food or drinks- or tv remote (most coveted thing in the house).  So far she has just sneezed a lot yesterday and today but doesn't appear to be sick at all. Her preop appointment is tomorrow (Monday) and we will also go get portraits of her and the family.  Her surgery will be at 10 am on Thursday and it sounds like we will likely bring her home on Friday.  Please be in prayer for her (& us!) on that day and the next few as her mouth heals.

Her absolute favorite thing is being outside and she will sometimes bring you your shoes and say "cluck, cluck" as she likes to see the chickens and ducks.  She actually gets quite frustrated if she can't go out so even in the rain, like today, I bundled her up and had boys take her out for awhile a couple times.  I guess cluck, cluck, ow, and ma, ma are her main really English words.  She has said many other words but doesn't repeat them.  However, this wkd she started saying "hello" and repeating it over and over like a parrot.  She also attempted "wet" and a few other words but the "hello" is very clear!  She is actually sitting with Dan "watching" an old movie.  She so rarely sits and does anything- although now she is chirping like a bird and pretending to read a magazine.  We had a skiff of early-season snow so got pictures of her seeing snow for the first time. It was just a little and she didn't seem too impressed but she will be soon.

Sick boys quarantined from busy, inquisitive one.

Busy, inquisitive one, pretending to be sick too.

Pretty in polka-dots & stripes- a cute outfit from Aunt Heidi.

The black animal is NOT stuffed & is purring.  Guess Gracie isn't the only connoisseur of warm cuddly blankets.

Not sure about this white stuff.



A quick cupcake mallard duck.... which will be threatened by the below birthday gift.



I hope this doesn't influence her.  I live with enough hunters!

Dedication and Upcoming Surgery

Hi all - This was an eventful week for Gracie.  Grandma and Grandpa McCammon came to visit, arriving on Thurs. and leaving Monday (10/25) morning.  It rained like crazy part of the time but we still enjoyed being together.  They were amazed at how much Josh, Zach, & especially Ben have grown.  Grandpa taught Gracie Patty-cake or at least his somewhat mixed up version of it.  Gramma tried to keep him in line w/ the correct words and hand movements but it didn't always work. Gracie loves the roll 'em and roll 'em part. When she saw Grpa/Grma walk in Subway the other day, she immediately started rolling her hands so for now we will call him Patty-cake grandpa. 

On Sunday during the church service Dan and I told a brief account of Gracie's "story"- from us deciding to adopt through some of the amazing "fumbles" and events that allowed us to get exactly the little girl God had for us.  After our talk, we had a dvd (made by good friends Molly & Andy Wegener) played of the time in China, our first days w/ Gracie, & a little of the wild home life she has w/ three wonderful big brothers. Then we had a short dedication in which Grpa/Grma joined us w/ the boys & Gracie up front and we all cried.  My mom and dad sent a beautiful bouquet & Pastor Will mentioned them in the final prayer so though they couldn't be there physically, they felt close. We will never stop being thankful to her birth mother (most likely, & possibly father) who took the risk of putting Gracie in a busy place where she would be found & taken to be cared for until we could adopt her.  I don't know what the consequences would be if she was caught but they can't be good.  I always try to stress that Gracie was "PUT" and not "LEFT". It was intentioned that she would be found by the proper people and that at least her immediate medical needs could be met.

She now needs to have her palate repaired.  Her surgery was just scheduled today and it will be Thurs. Nov. 11th @ 10 am in Boise.  I think I wrote before that she will need 2 surgeries to close the palate and then others as she gets older but one hoop to jump at a time!  She will be in the hospital probably 2 nights.  We of course dread this process but it will be behind her soon & likely won't be as bad as we imagine.  Anyway, here are some great pics of last few days.

The Celebrity

Gracie-land has been a busy place. We've had so much fun with family members coming to visit and see the "celebrity" (& her brothers).  Incidentally, her brothers have taken her constant front-stage position very well and seem genuinely happy to let her be there, at least for awhile.  Her ears are doing fine and the cyst incision, which is about an inch long, is healing.  She had her first real bath in 10 days tonight so that was eventful!  She is saying various words off and on but it seems almost spontaneous and it's hard to get her to repeat them much. She has said pray, amen, ow, & I think I heard peek-boo.  They pop out & she almost doesn't seem to even know it sometimes. She has really taken to praying before meals and at various other times that are not quite typical prayer times.  We are doing a little potty training- trying to at least avoid some poopy diapers. The other day, I set her on the toilet and was all hopeful that she was concentrating on the "job" at hand, when I looked at her and she had her hands folded and eyes closed to "pray".  Last night her and Ben & Zach were playing some game- cops/robbers or whatever it was, and she came running out and fell on the floor as if wounded.  The boys love to imitate her grumpy faces and then watch her make them back in fun. 

She got pretty sick last week and had a fever for about three days.  It got up to 103 Thurs. which I did not like but apparently just a virus that has passed.  She is on an antibiotic again though, just in case her ears or incision were the cause of the fever & that may have helped her quickly get over whatever it was.

We found out that she will need to have two surgeries to close her palate.   Sounds like she will be in the hospital 2-3 days and then have soft arm restraints that keep her arms from folding all the way so she can't injure the stitches.  The stitches are disolvable & for about 2 wks she will eat very soft foods like yogurt etc. There will be other surgeries as she gets older but I don't completely understand all that yet.  Eventually, her gum will need bone added, which used to have to come from the hip but now there is another much less invasive option using bone protein.. or something like that!  We don't have the surgery scheduled but will likely be early to late November.  In the meantime, we revert between laughing like crazy & being in awe at how doggone cute she is, and wondering how something so cute can have such a mischievous streak.  The other day, Josh told her no as she went for the computer and she walked over across from us, stared ahead with a deadpan expression and then fell to her knees- (reminded us of the body language of a desperate person lost in the desert when the last plane ever flies over and doesn't see the poor soul...).  Anyway, bout time for bed. She still wakes a few times most nights but seems overall less restless than she was when her ears were infected.



Me -n- Grampa Merritt.  I was sick this night but still put up a good show.Grampa coined our new phrase "wave away", which is what I do when I want one of my many servants to go away or leave my royal presence.

 


Gramma Merritt & I looking at my  "Jesus Loves Me" book I sing with (from our friends the Cimbaliks). I'm wearing the sweater Gramma brought that was made by Jean Brown, a very good friend of our family in Alaska.



I guess big Snickers isn't too bad after all.

These were my "entertainers" Aunt Lisa & Uncle Kerry. They brought the bros & I some really fun stuff.  They also taught me that it's nice to have someone sit with me when I eat so now about every time I eat, I point to the chair next to me but nobody seems anxious to sit with me at every meal...

Goodbye all too soon

Three's a crowd but four is fabulous (& all so cute, even if  I am biased)!

Sunday, October 11

Just a quick update - Gracie did really well with the ear tube procedure and cyst removal.  She was pretty upset coming out of the anesthesia for about an hour but after that was just irritable & tired for the rest of the day.  Our middle son, Ben, went along on the journey to Boise & was a very big help despite not getting a lot of appreciation from Gracie!  Her ears were in very bad shape as far as infection and fluid.  She had been on an antibiotic for a week and still both ears were infected.  She seems to feel better and is surely hearing much more clearly.  The dr figured the sound she could hear was probably similar to what can be heard under water.  This should help a lot in developing speech.  I will never stop being amazed at how strong she is and her high pain tolerance.  She actually cried tonight when she slipped on something and hurt her toe.  I think that is the first time she has really cried with us , other than a whimper or two, when she got hurt by falling or the umpteen ways toddlers hurt themselves.  It also explains why she hates her ears being messed with.  We have to put drops in each ear for a week and already I can tell the difference in her ear sensitivity so I know they don't hurt like they did.  Well, my sister & her husband are here for a couple days & we had such a fun time tonight with them.  No pics tonight. Time to get some sleep!

October Update

Sorry it has been so long since I wrote anything.  For some reason, I've been a LITTLE busy!!  We are all doing quite well and adjusting to each other.  Gracie is like a mega-volt  battery energizing the entire household.  (The cats would whole-heartedly agree!)  She is eating pretty well most days and goes to bed at night waving goodnight to the ducks and chickens through the window, turning on the nightlight, playing a few quick peek-a-boos with mom, & hugging her teddy bear from Aunt Lisa.  She snuggles in looking up at the flowers Aunt Heidi bought for her wall & surrounded by blankets made/given by grandmas and friends.  She gets a new outfit or present from someone in our church, family, or even Subway customers every week.  We went to town today and everywhere we went, someone gave her a little thing like a sticker or cookie or even a cup w/ whip cream and a straw from Wheelers!  The outpouring of support, kind words, prayers, & just interest has been so amazing.

We had a couple short visits from Gr/Grpa Merritt (from Alaska) this last week as they were traveling here and there on a fall trip. The other grandparents come in a couple weeks and Aunt Lisa & Uncle Kerry come in a few days!!

Tomorrow Gracie gets tubes in both ears and will have a small cyst removed that is related to the cleft palate.  We'll leave about 5 am and hope she sleeps for the 2 hr drive because she can't eat or drink until after the procedure.  She has had 2 ear infections in the short time we've had her and probably has had fluid and ear infections most of her life.  It is related to the cleft palate.  Next Friday, oldest bro Josh gets his wisdom teeth removed and that same Dr. will consult with us on Gracie's palate repair.  The first dr we took her to the end of Sept. did not do major cleft palate repair (which we didn't know until we got her there) but she will be the Dr. to handle the auditory portion of Gracie's care.  By God's grace, we had found the dr for Josh's wisdom teeth before we left and just found out the other day that he traveled to China w/ our adoption agency in 2005 with a team of four doctors to perform cleft lip/palate surgeries.  He is both a doctor and dentist so we are hopeful that he has lots of experience w/ palate repair and that he can lead us through the next few years in her mouth repair.  Don't know what all that will entail yet but will keep y'all posted.

Other than that, she has finally started playing some w/ her toys rather than getting into everything and "helping" with house organization and cleaning.  The boys spoil her and love to do the chase game, which involves one brother running with Gracie and another chasing her.  She also likes to pretend to sleep (way funner than really sleeping).  She also loves to ride on a brother's shoulders.  Josh has figured out that if he sits down he can get her off w/o too much fussing but she's onto that now and starts up as soon as he nears the chair.  Well, I have had a lot of trouble w/ the pictures tonight so will try to put one in but need to get to bed.  Her hair is growing and we finally have a bit of "bed hair" in the morning- yay! 

Saturday, 9/18

Hi All - Let's see, what's new to report.  Gracie is doing so well. She has everyone doing pretty much as she pleases.  Had our first shower the  other night and that was pretty exciting. Her favorite place is outside and just like the boys, sand falls out of her shoes and clothes when I change her. So much for the cute little outfits staying clean. She typically pitches a bit of a fit when we bring her in.  Yesterday she was chasing the ducks and chickens w/ the chocolate lab, Snickers, as an accomplice.  Right now she is being chased by Josh and Zach and laughing so hard, she can't breath.   She has slept w/o waking me one time the past two nights. We are anxious to get her into the specialist and find out what the plan will be for her palate surgery.  My guess is that they will want to do the surgery sooner rather than later.  I keep hoping that somehow it will close on its own but I don't think that will be the case.  She says a variety of things but not very regularly. She seems to say, "bye", "ow", "mom", and I think she said "more" the other day.  We taught her to sign "more", which was probably a mistake because I'm usually signing "done" and she just keeps pointing to her hand... "more".  She understands almost anything we say, if you just show her once - like "hot" or "put on your socks" or "no, no, no, no, no, no, no!"  She has gained some weight & is filling out with a little of that toddler pudge that she should have.  Like any 2 year old I guess, one day she loves something and the next day gives it the big frown.  The other night I tried sweet potatoes on her (all dressed up w/ butter, sugar, and salt). She took a big bite and out of the corner of my eye I saw this orange glob go flying across the counter.  I had to turn away because it was hilarious. Take care all - Sorry, I can't figure out how to make this blog site send a message out when I post so if anyone knows how to do that, email me! 

Sunday, Sept. 12

Got a few minutes so thought I'd post a little note.  Gracie continues to settle in better every day.  Found out this week that she had one ear infection and fluid in the other ear so she seems to feel much better now that we are treating that.  Though we don't know Chinese and she doesn't know English, we communicate very well.  She reads hand signals and picks up things so quickly.  We crack up at her fake phone "conversations" and a host of other funny things she does.  Last night she came running into the kitchen and I wasn't really paying too much attention but knew she sounded excitedly triumphant about something.  When I looked at her, I saw that she had finally snatched the TV remote control when no one was looking and was concentrating on pushing every button. 

We know she will probably need surgery on her palate but will not know the specifics of that until after her appt at the end of this month.  Here are some  pictures of her and brother Ben in action.

Emperor "Chair-Head" and his Queen

Home one Week Gone By

Don't have much time to post because there are so many things to do now that we are home and have a 2 YEAR OLD to chase! I am amazed at how much one child can get into in 5.8 seconds.  In summary, the 1st week was rough.  We were all exhausted from jet lag and not sleeping much while in China.  The boys did so awesome while we were gone.  Many people tell us how well they did, and I don't think they're lying!  I got sick and then Gracie wanted to be held all night but would sleep only in short bouts and then wake to make sure she was not put down.  She is now transitioned to the crib- last 2 nights. I hold her hand while she goes to sleep and no more tears the last couple nights (from either of us) and she seems to sleep much more peacefully.  She now chases the cats and pays little attention to the dogs.  Her and Mocha (my Australian Shepherd) forged a new bond last night when Gracie had two spoons w/ ice cream and did not notice Mocha licking one of them clean!  Issues w/ eating have decreased also.  I have some great pictures but no time to load them.  The boys are so patient w/ her little flips btw "I like you" and "go away"!  She's just like a woman already, Dan says.  Anyway, bottle time and bed.  Forgot how the evenings disappear w/ little ones.  Her antics are quite entertaining & if we could just get her to play for 5 minutes w/ a real toy rather than anything in a cupboard or on a shelf, it would help.

HOME!!!

We are home at last!  Lucille and Gary met us at the airport w/ the boys and it was a happy, tearful reunion. Being so far from them was the hardest part of the whole thing.  Gracie was such a trooper through all of the travel.  We got to Hong Kong about 8pm after taking the train.  The train ride was really smooth and just a neat experience.  There was another family taking the train, who adopted through a different agency but we had seen them occassionally at our hotel in Guangzhou. It was  little scary start though, because as we entered the train station a cop was running toward us (though Dan was just ahead so did not see the cop come around the corner) and when I looked behind us, I saw a guy drop a suitcase and keep on running.  Also an exciting part of the train station, was the infamous "squatty potty". This was my first experience with the hole that is the "potty".  There is no tp and talk about smelly.  Just a free tip for any of you lucky enough to try one of these out yourself, don't stand too high or it splatters on your leg!  (Sorry, that's disgusting.)  Anyway, the bed in Hong Kong was blissfully soft after the plywood w/ a sheet we had at the White Swan.  Gracie slept all night in Hong Kong.  We thought we were early for the airport the next day, since we were flying out at 11:45 we got to the airport before 10 am, though we had actually planned to get there even earlier to eat breakfast but the shuttle had already left. However, once we figured out where we were going- which took awhile, got through immigration, customs, rode the concourse, went up and down and up and down escalators, stopped at Starbucks (yes!!), we barely made it to the jet before boarding.  Then come to find out, in China you can't take any liquids on board so I had to gulp down my glorious mocha w/ whipped cream and dump our water bottles.  We refused to buy water at the HK hotel because they charged us the equivalent of $13 for a bowl of congee for Gracie the night before, which is just a watery rice soup w/ some chicken and seasonings.  We had just enough water and no breakfast (though G had her bottle/ w/ rice cereal).  This hotel cost us almost $200!!! The bed was soft but not THAT soft. We had to stay there due to proximity to airport and nobody gave us any other recommendation.

Anyway, we boarded the plane; rushed to get Gracie a bottle and she was out the first 2 hrs of the trip and we  both dozed some too.  Then we ate and she played pretty well.  Twice I took her to the bathroom to change her wet diaper and both times the seatbelt "bing" went off and I had to stumble back in the turbulence ot our seat.  She typically waved and blew a few kisses as we went.  Then, just when I figured the businessman in front of us had heard enough happy squeals and "Aiya's", we were able to get hot water for her bottle and she was out for about 3 more hours.  They turned the light on for breakfast about 1.5 hrs b4 we landed and she woke up.  We got through SanFrancisco immigration and customs (they were so nice!!) and onto the smaller jet to Boise.  She had to be strapped in for take off and landing, which I thought would be a disaster but she did great, working the zippers on a wallet I'd given her.  The wallet no longer had any money in it but let me tell you, it was VALUABLE!!
Thankfully, Josh drove us home as neither of us could keep our eyes open for very long, though we just kind of dozed. We had slept a little on the plane but had still been up basically all night, plus when we arrived it was in the middle of the night in China. 
She is pretty afraid of the animals and responds in the same way that she does if you kneel down and look under the bed.  She has some association w/ animals and it is not a good one.  It is getting better, though.  The boys have been serving her and playing with her nonstop.  She can't believe she has 3 more servants to add to her list, 5 total now.  The boys cleaned the house and it looked very nice.  I'm sure everyone who cared for them also helped w/ that.  Ben is still working on laundry today and I'm not going to stop him!  She slept ok last night and think that keeping her in our bed is going to be the plan for awhile.  She did nap in her crib for two blessed hours.  She is eating a little better tonight but was refusing most things today. 

We thought we might run into some of the other families we traveled with at the hotel in HK but never did.  We didn't say a proper goodbye so will have to email them. Hope their travel went well.  We feel sooo thankful to be home and in the good ol' USA!! I have a more educated appreciation of what we have here.  We are also humbled and so grateful to our family and friends who have prayed and served & sacrificed time and financially, so we could get her home.  It isn't a spiritual song but the one that comes to mind often is from "Grease", "we go together like ramalamalama, cadingadadingadong.  Hey baby forever (think original words are different but this is what's in my head), like shoobop, shoowadda, wadda, cadinga da ding da dong".  (How's that for spelling??)  Love to all!!! 

New Servant 1

New Servant 2

New Servant 3

Final Pictures

The deli/bakery that unfortunately has the yummiest ham/cheese pastry things.. bad habit.

Bags of garbage - wow

cool buildings near hotel - very historic area

This is amazing "Grace" who has been our rep here in China. She is a lifesaver and works very hard.

Mom is doing acrobatics to get me to smile. This camera thing is new to me.

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blowing kiss

Last Post from China

This will probably be the last opportunity to post until we get to the US.  They charge for the internet in HK and we will only be there one night.  We did some of the last of our shopping today.  Hoping we don't have to buy another suitcase to get it all home.  I'm getting a bit better at the bargaining. Gracie slept in her crib until about 3 am and woke up soaked.  I keep one eye open when she is restless as I'm afraid she'll fall out of the crib.  I changed her in the middle of night and kept her w/ us & partially slept.  Was pretty tired today.  I threw the wet diaper into the corner on the marble in the night so I wouldn't wake her anymore than necessary or Dan.  Well, of course, this morning at 6 am she wanted up right away and went straight to that diaper (being a new and interesting thing within reach) and then she wiped her face on it!! -before I could get to her.  Apparently thought it was a nice cool, wet wash rag.  Once again she has questioned whether these parents she's acquired are really certified for this job.  The other day she went and threw this paper bag and for some reason, it looked so funny that Dan and I were paralyzed w/ laughter for several minutes.  She has this long deadpan look when she's deciding whether something is acceptable to her or not.  It's hilarious.  When she is upset, there is a longgggg, silent pause w/ her eyes shut and a deep frown. 
We were hoping to take more pictures today but it was raining.  A lot of the scaffolding is made of bamboo at construction sites &  it will be built several stories high. Dan doesn't think it looks like an appealing way to do skyscraper construction. 
Forgot to mention that yesterday at the Consulate, they specially recognized a couple children due to their birthdays being close to their adoption time.  They called out Gracie's name since her birthday was Aug. 12th, the day we traveled.  Yesterday was my brother Brian' s birthday &; as many of you know, Gracie and my dad share the same birthdate.  Today was the 40th birthday of one of the dads here. Their  little Sophie is incredibly cute.  Gracie is currently trying to break a little bracelet I bought her by wrapping it around the cell phone that she already broke.  After about the zillionth request for us to fix the mangled flip top, I whisked it away into the garbage when she wasn't looking.  It is so satisfying to put one over on her occasionally because it is very difficult to avoid her overly observant eyes.  I suppose I shouldn't admit that on this blog.

We ate at Lucy's many nights. All kinds of Hollywood posters and license plates from all over including one that Christian Zimmerman gave them  An Idaho plate w/ a "Z" on it.

White Swan Hotel. Our home for 2 wks.

What can I add?

landscaping near hotel

We look so forward to leaving but can't help feeling a bit disappointed that we didn't get to see more of China.  We are taking home a priceless souvenir though, so it's ok.Well, it's late and we will be losing a lot of sleep in next few days. We fly out of HK at noon Saturday and arrive in Boise close to 3pm that same day.  We will however, have actually been traveling for about 17 hrs.  The flight from HK to San Francisco is about 13 hrs I think.  I'm sure it is going to be very challenging w/ the busy girl but we'll get through.  Guess that's all for now. Can't wait to see those three  boys of ours and friends!!!!!!!!!!!