Well, the title pretty much sums it up.  It was a long day.  It feels like I’m just spinning in circles sometimes which makes time just drag on.  It’s hard not to get discouraged when things don’t seem to be moving forward.  First thing this morning I got a blank e-mail from our social worker for the home study.  I e-mailed him back to tell him all I got was something blank but I still haven’t heard back from him.  I did talk to the receptionist or helper he has working in his office and got a few half answers.  I was told they were still waiting on one reference and the back ground checks from Wyoming and North Carolina. 

     The older children walked the dogs this morning.  They have three in our neighborhood they walk Monday though Friday for a dollar each dog.  It is a good, not too stressful, job for them.  I hate that I have to sometimes remember to send them over to walk the dogs though and I hate that sometimes I have to juggle their dog walking with the things I need to get done in the day.  But, I’m glad they have a job that they can learn about responsibility with.  I like that they are able to make some spending and saving money that I don’t have to provide for them.

     After the children walked the dogs we did some school.  I ordered some new school books that we really need because the older children are nearly finished with what they are currently working on.  I also called the second hand home school store near the Taylor’s and found out that I have a $25 dollar credit.  Yippie!  I am hoping it’s enough to buy Spelling Power.  I will probably pick up a few other things that are on my school list there that I’ve noticed they nearly always have.  I’m planning on packing up a few things to take down when I go to the doctor on Tuesday and hopefully kill two birds with one stone.

     We had lunch and then packed up the van and headed for band and choir.  I must say, I am MUCH happier with this bank program than the one we were part of for the past two years.  The children have learned so much and the programs at the end of the year sound awesome.  I’m happy to be sitting in my seat enjoying the music and not cringing because it sounds like nobody even saw the music before. 

     While we were waiting for some of the children to be done with band the phone rang.  I picked it up and the lady on the other end was asking if it was the Taylor’s residence.  I thought it sounded like Betty, the secretary/helper from the home study agency.  Sure enough it was.  I guess she was trying to figure out where to file our guardianship paper.  It turns out that they got the back ground checks from Wyoming today and the last reference.

     When I got home we had a lot of mail.  We got birth certificates for Mike, our marriage certificates, and an overpayment check for our mortgage. 

     Mike is working late and Titus isn’t feeling the best so I guess I need to hit the publish button and get myself into bed.

      I have a soundtrack to my life.  Does that sound strange?  When I hear certain songs I remember where I was and how I felt when I first heard that song.  So there are songs I associate with my first son being an infant, songs I associate with living in Germany, and so on.  I love the fact that my life has a soundtrack.

     So, I’m looking for a CD to start playing now so that I will always associate those songs with this special time in my life.  The songs that will make me remember all the joy, anticipation, and paperwork that makes bringing Naya home so special.  Do you have a suggestion?  Let me know of the CD you think I should buy and start playing in earnest that will become Naya’s soundtrack.

     The last week I’ve been busy doing paperwork for the adoption.  There are so many papers it makes your head spin.  There are papers for the home study, papers for the dossier, papers for passports and papers just because they think you have nothing else to do.  I have everything for our home study done except the second doctor’s appointment and sending away the verification of Mike’s employment.  I filled out all the passport forms and sent mine away.  Mike and I will have to go in person to request a new passport for Elisha and a passport for Titus.  I sent letters this week requesting our marriage certificate and a copy of my birth certificate as well as applied for Mike’s online (New Hampshire totally beats Wyoming in the area of requesting certified documents.)  Tomorrow it’s back down to the bank to have more things notarized and then send all the forms away to make sure they are right.

     I hope our social worker gets back from his time away and is ready to work next week.  I want our home study done!  I need to check my HUGE list of things to do and find out what the next steps are.  Some of the steps you can do at the same time but then sometimes you just end up against a wall and have to wait for things, like the home study, to be done before you can do anything else, I think I may be at that point.  I know as soon as the home study is done I can send it to USCIS and request our fingerprinting appointment but then it’s back to waiting. 

     There is a family that has been at Naya’s orphanage the past couple of weeks.  We are really hoping they were able to see Naya and get some pictures of her but for now we don’t know.  We are praying for their family to get their court date soon.  They got stuck in the middle of some things and had to come home to wait for a court date.  I can’t imagine the pain of having to leave your precious child in another country.  I am praying that Hunter is in his Momma’s arms where he belongs before too many more days go by!

     On another note our children have been sick.  Jubilee has an ear infection.  Her nose looks like it is a green sludge factory.  Now Beth is running a fever and overnight has picked up Hosanna’s croupy cough.  I hate to hear my little girls coughing.  Hosanna sounds nearly hoarse so we stayed home from speech this week.  I hope next week brings healthy children!

     It’s turning out to be a good Saturday at our house.  We started off the day a bit slow so we didn’t want to wait long enough to make our usual large Saturday breakfast.  Instead, Mike, Beth, Jubilee and I went to Haggen to get doughnuts. 

     While the kids cleaned up after breakfast Mike and I started in on our second online adoption class.  The first class proved to be time consuming and very badly done.  Although we ended up learning some new information I wouldn’t recommend this particular set of classes unless there was nothing else available.  The second class went much faster, probably because there was no homework involved.

     After we finished our class we made sure everybody was dressed and headed to the bank.  Mike and I took Titus and Elizabeth with us, too.  We stopped at Rite Aid to buy some blue pans so we could get our Power of Attorney and Child Specific Request notarized.  Beth found a little coloring packet that seemed like a good idea to bring to the bank so we ended up buying that for her too.  Beth was really good at the bank but Titus was getting a little tired of being out and was thinking about what he could eat.

     We rushed to Albertsons and got a few groceries.  I forgot to pick up the stuff I needed for our church potluck tomorrow so we had to check out twice.  We got home and made some BLTs for lunch. 

We also found a HUGE bone for the dog.  We cooked it just a little and then gave it to her.  Boy, she thought she had died and gone to heaven (except we don’t believe animals go to heaven because they don’t have souls)!  

     I cooked up some hamburger for the enchiladas I’m planning for the church potluck.  We are supposed to make something red so I hope this qualifies.  I had Elisha start in on a red cake I picked up but she barely started when she discovered we had no eggs.  So, I guess it’s back to the store for me.

     Tonight Elisha, Titus and I will go to a Messanic Dance class.  The girls had been taking a class that Tina made just for the children.  They had a ton of fun and I have to admit, I did too.  Elisha and I found out about the adult class so we’re going to check it out.  It really gets your heart going and it’s a great way to Praise the Lord!

¹I will bless the LORD at all times;
   his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
²My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
   let the humble hear and be glad.
³Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
   and let us exalt his name together!

⁴I sought the LORD, and he answered me
   and delivered me from all my fears.
⁵Those who look to him are radiant,
   and their faces shall never be ashamed.
⁶ This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him
   and saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷ The angel of the LORD encamps
   around those who fear him, and delivers them.

⁸Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
⁹Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints,
   for those who fear him have no lack!
¹⁰ The young lions suffer want and hunger;
   but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

¹¹ Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
¹² What man is there who desires life
   and loves many days, that he may see good?
¹³ Keep your tongue from evil
   and your lips from speaking deceit.
¹⁴ Turn away from evil and do good;
   seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous
and his ears toward their cry.
¹⁶ The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
   to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
¹⁷ When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears
   and delivers them out of all their troubles.
¹⁸The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
   and saves the crushed in spirit.

¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
²⁰He keeps all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
²¹ Affliction will slay the wicked,
   and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
²²The LORD redeems the life of his servants;
   none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Tonight at dinner Beth and I had a brief discussion that went like this

Beth: “What kind of chicken is that?”

Me: “It’s fish.”

     Saturday we started the long process of moving rooms.  We need to make a fourth bedroom in our home so that when Naya arrives we have room for her.  We started by moving the boys to what used to be the playroom, just off the living room.  It seems like it was time to purge their room anyway so we got rid of a lot of junk as we went.  Their room was really a mess under the clean appearance.

We spent much of the day just moving their stuff out to the new room and putting the toys in the living room.  Believe me, by about half way though the day it only looked like a bomb exploded in my house.  We took their bed apart simply to get it out the door and then reassembled it, after cleaning it, in their new room.  It looked much better when we got the bed in place.  

But then my husband came in and suggested he didn’t like the bed there and thought it should go against the far window.  I was so glad we didn’t have to take the bed apart again.  We just flipped it around and it fit right into the spot he had picked out.  The boys were so excited to spend the night in their new room!

They still have to put some of their things away but it’s coming along nicely.  Mike is going to find out about getting some cubical panels that we can put just behind the couch (you can see the top of the couch in the picture) to give them a bit more privacy.

The boys old room is mostly cleared out now.  It’s amazing how much bigger it looks without anything in it.  Now we are starting to fill in the gaps of the ugly paneling with some putty.  We will let it dry and then sand it smooth.  After that is done we may have to repeat the job just to make sure there are no gaps left.  Then comes the fun part, painting!  The plan is to paint the walls and the ceiling white so no matter  who uses the room it will work.  I hope to get a new light fixture too just to spruce the room up a bit.

Stay tuned for the next part of our adventure!

     Wednesday morning started out fairly normal for us.  We got up, ate breakfast, did some chores and the kids started on some school work.  I remembered that we had to go get new books for band before the next day so we drove off to Marysville.  We picked up three of the books but the music store didn't have the fourth so I figured we'd stop by another music store I knew of and see if we could find it there.

     As we drove down the road I wasn't thinking of anything inparticular, just what needed to be accomplished to get through the day.  We stopped at a red light behind several other cars and waited for the light to change.  Suddenly my whole day took on a new twist.  A man in a pick up slammed into the back of our van.  I didn't hear the tires squeal to signal he was trying to slow down or anything, just the sound of his truck smashing into our van.  I verbally asked the kids if they were ok and they said they were.  Jubilee, amazinly enough, didn't cry but she was okay too.  I called the police department to get someone to come see what needed to be done and then moved the van out of the road. 

     It only took a few minutes for the police to arrive and things became a whirlwind of activity.  The paramedics showed up and took my vitals.  They said I looked ok but wanted me to get checked out after Mike arrived.  The reports were written, the man was written a ticket, we found someone to watch the kids (thanks Spurling family!), and headed to the hosptial.

     When we got to the ER they took me right in (I think the fact that I am 36 weeks pregnant had a lot to do with that).  They were so full they put us in what we termed the "special room."  Really it's the room they use for criminals or people that are not stable mentally.  I didn't realize 'til much later in our stay that my bed also was equiped with restraints! 

     They X-rayed my neck to see if I had broken anything and fit me with a phildelphia collar.  The collar was one of the most uncomfortable things I think I've ever needed to wear.  I don't think it helped much the nurse didn't put it on right but...  I was already hot and the collar made me even more so.  The nurse brought me one of those lovely hosptial gowns and a couple of prewarmed blankets - I was on the verge of over heating.  Mike kept a good watch on the door to make sure it didn't close because there was no way for us to get out if it did.

     They checked my vitals again and got ready to draw some blood when somebody who actually needed the "special room" arrived.  They didn't have a palce for me so I was set in the hallway.  The nurse drew blood there.  I don't know if it's because of the hallway or if the nurse was having a bad day but I'm still sporting a pretty nice bruise on my arm from the draw. 

     We finally got put into a regular room (complete with TV) and had just turned it on when another nurse walked in and said she'd take me to MRI.  We had talked to the doctor and she said because of the baby the MRI would be a last resort so we told the nurse maybe she was supposed to take me for an ultrasound instead.  Yes, she found that that was the answer.  So we headed off though the hospital.  The ultrasound was like no other ultrasound I've ever had before.  The baby was first and it was okay (ear and all :))  Then they started on me and because my orgeons are all squished from being pregnant they looked clear up to nearly under my arm pits.  I was totally covered in gel by the time it was all done and only wanted to shower but at least everything was okay.

     I was taken back to the ER and set back in the hallway because somebody had snagged my room.  I asked if there was anyway we could get something to eat since it was 3pm and both Mike and I hadn't eaten since breakfast.  We shared a turkey sandwich and some apple juce that at least took the rumbling away in our stomachs. 

     Finally we were cleared from the ER and taken up to Labor and Delivery so they could monitor the baby more.  It was much more quiet up there :).  We listened to the baby's heart beat for a while and discussed if I needed rhogahm again.  Finally that was ruled out and I was sent on my way.

     I was glad to see the kids and glad for the supper Mrs. Spurling made for us.  We stayed to fellowship for a while, it was just nice to unwind.  At the end of the night we still had to head back to Marysville to pick up Mike's car and then it was off to bed.

     I think I'll be several weeks (months?) fighting with the insurance company (his).  Life will go on but I'm hoping a lot more uneventfully for a while.