Aria is Home!!!

Steve and Aria arrived at about 11am on Thursday morning!!! :) During their 12-hour layover in LA, Aria had a big "problem" in her pants... and Daddy didn't pack extra clothes in the carry-on! Oops! ;) So they took a cab to a nearby mall to go shopping. ha! Thus the new outfit for her arrival was chosen by Daddy. :)

Kevin was so excited to see Daddy!!!

And I was so excited to see them too!! Friends came with us to the airport and met us there in order to push me in a wheelchair. (There was no way I could have walked that far that day!)

Here's our family of five and Grandma!!! :)

And our family of five!!

Kien looked pretty intrigued with Aria. :) They likely knew each other before...but we'll never know to what extent.



Here's our welcoming committee!!! :)

I LOVE this picture of Daddy with his kiddos!!!



This was Aria's first ride in a car seat. She did ok for awhile, but then the crying began.

Our first time finally using 3 car seats in our mini-van!!! :)

"It's a Girl!" YES, She's Finally Coming Home!!!!!

God has been doing something else major in our lives this fall, and many of you who read this blog and pray for our family may not know yet. So I will backtrack a bit to give a recap of the story.

In early fall 2007, we received pictures of our 2 beautiful babies in Vietnam!! Kien and Aria were only about 4 months old, and they are 4 days apart. They are becoming twins. We expected to travel to Vietnam only 8-12 weeks later (which is what always happened with all other families). But to make a loooong story short.... that was not the case for us. The US changed the process for applying for a baby's visa to enter the country and become a US citizen. And then we ran into problems in early 2008. We were constantly waiting and believing that we would be getting on a plane within as little as a week. We lived that way for months! Finally, we were approved to bring Kien home....but not Aria yet. It was never supposed to happen that way. But we got on a plane in June to bring home our baby boy, not knowing when Aria would be able to come home.

We boarded the plane to Vietnam on Kien's 1st birthday and completed his adoption a few days later! And on his adoption day, we also spent an hour with our baby girl. She fell asleep in Steve's arms. I held our sleeping princess as well and even sang "Jesus Loves Me" to her. After an hour with her, we had to say good-bye. We hoped that she would be coming home within weeks, but we knew that Steve would have to go back alone when it was time.

To make even more of our long story short.... we finally got her approval this fall. So then we were faced with one of the biggest decisions we will ever make. We didn't mention it here, since it was such a huge and personal decision. Anyway, we felt that proceeding would definitely be a case of stepping out in faith....and trusting in God to provide. And that's the decision we made! We have considered her to be our daughter for over a year now. This wasn't just a matter of deciding whether or not to have a 3rd child. She really exists, and she was living in an orphanage. And we believe that we were her last chance at having a family...and she was our last chance at having a daughter. So after lots and lots of prayer... 2 weeks ago, we were told that Steve could travel that coming weekend for an adoption ceremony the following week!!!! Steve left 5 days later, and Aria's adoption ceremony took place on November 13!

My mom came back a couple weeks ago and is still here. We are planning to hire a nanny, but we still need to figure out the details. Prayers would definitely be appreciated for that as well!! ....for the decisions involved in hiring a nanny... and the finances involved!!!!

Thanks so much for the prayers for wisdom in making this big decision!!!! And thank you for all the prayers for Aria's approval so that she can finally come home to her family!!!!!!!! And PRAISE GOD for our beautiful blessing!!!! :) :)

So tomorrow morning, Steve and Aria will be arriving home!!!!!!

Status Update on Pain

I hear a lot of people have been asking about me, since I haven't posted since Thursday. ;) So I just wanted to write something really quick - but I have more to write later. I spent 12 hours at Duke on Monday, so that was pretty exhausting - and then had to go back again this morning! Again, I'll tell about that later. But regarding the pain, yes, I've still really been in pain. It's been quite miserable at times. I have had some good moments though. But today has been an improvement! I've still had some pain, but it's been so much better! I was up in the middle of the night (not due to pain), and I took pain meds before going back to bed -- so I think that's why I wasn't too bad when I woke up today!! :) And now they have increased my dosage of pain meds again as of yesterday (which will take 3 days to fully kick in ). But yes, prayers would still be appreciated for the pain! I've been in pain in my lower back and then down my legs (due to the pinched nerves in my lower back). The location varies. And my left arm has also been in pain. We stayed home from church on Sunday and I haven't been able to do much for the past few days (except spend hours at Duke!!). Until today, I have had to lie in bed for the first hour of each day before I can even move. It's hard to find any comfortable side on which to lie. And sometimes I can barely walk at all (literally - I have trouble getting from the bed to the dresser to get my pills). I hate to sound so miserably depressing.... but that is what has been happening. But I expect that the increased medication will help this week. And your continued prayers would be so appreciated too!!! I want to be able to get back to doing Mommy things and spending time with my kids. :)

Prayer for Pain

My pain started up again 2 weeks ago, and it's been getting progressively worse. This week has been pretty bad. In fact, when I woke up Tuesday morning, I was in the most pain I think I've ever experienced in my life. I could barely move. I'm often very stiff and have trouble walking. It doesn't last all day, but it usually happens first thing in the morning, then after lunch, and then again in the evening.

So on Tuesday, I had my dosing increased of "breakthrough" pain meds. Then I was supposed to call back later in the week (today) to report on how much I had ended up taking. Well, the answer was a lot!! So now my regular narcotics dose (3x per day) has been increased as well.

Please pray that my pain goes away!! I have spent too much time lying in bed, praying out loud that God will relieve my pain. I hate to sound like a big complainer, but that is the state of things this week.... Prayer would really be appreciated!! I want to get back to a somewhat normal life again. My doctor doesn't want me in pain either, so they will increase the dose as necessary. I'll be back there on Monday.

Medication and Pain Status

Everything is going well thus far with taking the medications from the clinical trial. The biggest deal has been having to take an additional 4 pills per day now. ;)

Unfortunately, I'm still having pain. It started before I began the clinical trial though. I've always been fairly stiff when I get up in the morning (ever since surgery, I suppose). But lately, I'm in a lot of pain for the first hour of the morning. It can get pretty bad, and I basically can't do much until it starts to subside. And then it tends to happen in the evening and sometimes in the afternoon as well. I do have "breakthrough" pain medication that I can take for the pain, but this has been no fun. And the location varies. I have pain in my lower back, down my legs, and in my left arm. I've also been having trouble standing still again lately. I get pain in my left leg from standing still (that had gotten better at one point and is back now).

I don't have any doctor's appointments this week! :) But next Monday will be a full day at Duke.

So for now, my health-related prayer requests are:

• for my pain to go away
• for the clinical trial to go smoothly -- and to be successful in fighting the cancer!! :)
• no side effects from the medication as time goes on (it's more likely to happen after a little time as passed)
  
• continued improvement in my left arm's mobility
  

Arm Improvement!!

On Friday, I realized that I was able to slightly elevate my left arm for the first time since September!!!! WOW!!!! :) :) Prior to Friday, I could not lift my elbow out from my side.

What a Switch!

This morning was the first time I had any type of appointment that Steve was unable to attend. He really needed to be at work today, and we decided it would be easy enough for my mom to take me. So that meant the boys came too! All I had to do today was a 15-minute IV at Duke (it was something to help my bones). All together, we were there for about an hour.

Many times in the past, Steve and I went to Duke with me riding in a wheel chair. But today, we had a fairly long walk... and instead of me riding in a wheel chair, I was pushing a stroller! :) And I was walking GREAT!! :) It felt sooo good to be walking confidently through those hallways with my boys!!! Then I set them up with snacks and a portable DVD player in the waiting room with Grandma. And when it was my turn... I had to go into the oncology treatment room alone. Steve had applied the numbing cream back at home, so I didn't feel a thing when they accessed my port. :) Hooray!! And then I sat there alone for my IV. I wasn't even nervous!!! It was pretty easy!!! :) :) When I first sat down, I commented that I had never done this without my husband holding my hand. And a woman nearby (who was sitting in a chair to accompany a friend or family member) said that she would be happy to hold my hand if I needed her to. :) But I did great!! I even fell asleep during it! ha! I was comfortably reclined in a chair with a blanket, flipping channels on the TV on the ceiling. And I did it all on my own!!!! Needless to say, I was quite proud of myself!!!! Woo hoo!! :)