Belane’s appointment went well. I LOVE her doctor, even though he won’t be her doctor long term. He is in the Pediatric Infectious Disease clinic and is very experienced with pediatric HIV, but he is also the international adoption specialist…we saw him for this appointment and will see him at the next, and then we will transfer over to his partner, who is the Pediatric HIV specialist and we have heard wonderful things about him from quite a few people.

This appointment was definitely a “gathering information” appointment. They took a very detailed history (as much as we could give) and surprised me with how in depth the questions were that they asked…what kind of water she had been... more

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Ok... last in the medical questions came from “3+4” who asked, “Erin, I just really want to know more about the whole process regarding the HIV status - getting her on your insurance, what doctors you have to see right away, (How to prove to my husband that it ISN'T endangering our other children). I know you've already shared a lot, but more links with information and more details about what it means when you come home (I know not every detail is our business) but that's really what I want to know more about.”

Well, the insurance was easy. It is federal law that insurance companies have to treat adopted children just like children born biologically, and... more

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Dawn asked, “Erin, Have you experienced any one being uncomfortable around Belane because of her HIV status. I am asking because our daughter who will come home from China is a hep B carrier and I am trying to plan on how to deal with others attitudes. I do plan on not telling too many others but I am trying to learn how to handle these issues. Will you have her in the church nursery? It has been suggested that we not take our daughter there. Give me advice?"

Thus far, no, we have not had anyone that I have noticed who was uncomfortable around Belane because of her HIV status, but that being said, the only people that have been around her that knew about her HIV... more

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She continues to be SO DANG CUTE with Marcus…they crack me up. The best is at night after the big kids have gone down and I am getting the little two ready for bed…they run in circles and hide under the quilt and just play so nicely together.

They are such opposites in size and personality. Marcus is 2 ½ and is in the 97th percentiles for height and weight. Belane is 3, and is in the 45th percentile for weight, and not even on the charts for height. He is rough and tough and goes at everything 100 miles an hour…she is very careful and tentative. He is loud and can be very serious…she is very quiet and very giggly. She absolutely cannot stand having... more

My head has cleared…I am catching up on sleep, the dizziness has gone away and I have settled back into my family, life and routine. I have been really wanting to get on here and blog the last few days, but I tried really hard to stay off the computer during the weekend so I could spend time with the kids, and I am still falling asleep the minute I get all the kids to bed each night.

Anyway, I knew it was time to get back to blogging when Josh complained to me yesterday that I hadn’t written anything new.

Me- “But honey, you KNOW how things are going… you live here.”

Josh- “Yeah, but I still really like to read about it.”

So, here is an update, for Josh, and... more

Health-wise, Belane is doing well. Her last blood test results weren’t great, but they weren’t awful either. (Not bad enough for AHOPE to start her on any meds). Our doctors here will definitely be starting her though, and they anticipate getting her settled on her meds and her doing extremely well.

She goes to the Pediatric HIV/Infectious Diseases clinic next week, and will see their doc who is also an international adoption doctor for a full work up. I am looking forward to getting her treatment started. I will be sharing how that goes... more

Ok, let’s see…some of the “other” type of stuff.

The documentary…that all went really well. They followed us home on Saturday, and were staying at a hotel just up the road.

They left us alone on Sunday, and then came over on Monday evening to tape our family night. I did not have time to plan anything much, so we decided to just play some games and talk about family. We played duck, duck, goose, Simon Says and “I’m going on a Picnic” (instead of just saying what we’re going to bring on the picnic, going in alphabetical order, the kids... more

We have looked through the AHOPE pictures with her several times, and she doesn’t get sad. She tells us everybody’s names, and ALWAYS points out herself first. She got to talk to her little friend that also got home from AHOPE last week, on the phone yesterday and it was really cute.

She is a very quiet little girl when she is nervous, but once she is comfortable she sings and jibber jabbers pretty non-stop. She has the funniest giggle and laugh. She is picking up lots of English words…yesterday she said clear has a bell “CAKE” when she saw... more

So now it is Thursday, and the kids have been going to school and Josh has been working LONG days, and I am happy to say that things are still going fabulously. (And, it is snowing!)

Belane is less and less jetlagged all of the time…I have had to wake her up after 2-3 hours of nap every afternoon, but then she is going to bed by 8:30 p.m. or so and sleeping all night. The first few nights she was waking up (wide awake) at 5 a.m., and kissing me over and over until I opened my eyes to join her. Today she slept until 6, which was just 10 minutes... more

Sunday was our first day home all together, and it was also our “get everything back on track” day… I washed and rebraided my girls’ hair, went through the mail and bills, looked at all the kids’ school work, helped sort the laundry which was all washed but needed to be put away, etc.

But first and foremost, I had THE MOST glorious and much needed shower of my entire life.

I had been worried that Belane would be very clingy with me and it would be hard to get things done, but she was happy to have Josh carry her around, and she played... more