Poor Baby Micah

Well, since February, Micah has been having LOTS of problems with his ears. Basically, he has had one long ear infection. He has taken 3 different antibiotics, and all three have failed. Now his right eardrum is scabbed (according to his doctor), and his left ear is starting to look really bad. Although his right ear is not currently infected, it is still filled with fluid. Micah has had reflux his whole little life, and all the ear infections are a secondary problem to that. When he refluxes, the liquid goes into his eustacian tubes (in the back of his throat) up into his ear. Typically it should drain out... but at this point, his ears have been so infected that those eustacian tubes are swollen shut and the fluid just sits there. He lets us know this by banging on his head with his hand, yanking on his ears, and when they are infected, he fuses ALL THE TIME! His doctor is starting to worry about hearing loss. According to his doctor, Micah hears things as if he's under water. Soooo...

We are taking Micah to the ENT (ear, nose, throat) doctor next week to get his hearing checked and get him evaluated for "tubes". This is where they put a small plastic tube through the ear drum to let the fluid empty into the ear canal. They stay in for a few months. He will go under general anesthesia to have it done. We don't know for sure yet if he will get them, but his primary doctor thinks the ENT will choose to do it. At this point we're hoping the ENT agrees that he needs them because it has not been fun watching him live with all these infections! Well keep you updated!

Here is a link where there are still pictures of Chronic Otits Media (the condition Micah has). The top left picture is what Micah's ear looks like now with all the fluid behind the ear drum, and the one next to it shows a metal tube placed to drain the fluid. For those of you with stronger stomachs, here is an actual video (really short) of a tube being placed into an ear with Chronic Otitis Media.

New swingset

Check out our new swing set!!! We got it for free (it was on "Craigs List"). It was previously owned, and about 30 minutes from my house. My dad and step-mom helped me go take it apart and get it, and my dad and I put it back togethor. We had to replace some of the wood and hardware, but it's awesome and the kids LOVE it!!! I hope I can get it stained within the next couple of weeks.

Korea is *closed* for 2 days this week... doubt we'll hear anything. Oh well. I'm enjoying my last few days?/weeks?/months? before our referral. Once it comes we will have so much to do. At least then I will actually have something remotely intereseting to talk about on this blog! It's been so BLAH lately. Sorry!!!

Ben's Surgery

Wow... this has been a crazy month. I was diagnosed with Mono (I have no idea how I got it), my sister had her surgeries, and on Wed. Ben had surgery on his shoulder. Thank God for my Mother-in-Law who came to help! OF course, we still watched the American Idol finale!!!! YEAH TAYLOR! I liked him from the begining... my kinda man. He's quirky and fun.

Well, I bought a gift for the foster mom. It's called a "Willow Tree" anglel (see picture). It's not much, but I like the idea. The foster-mothers are so caring and love those babies as if they were their own. We will owe her the world for taking care of our child with such love.

Anxiously Awaiting....

Well, still no referral call yet. Ben thinks June, and me, being entirely pessimistic, hope for at least some time this summer. Meahwhile, we have started thinking about names again, decorating ideas, and gifts to bring to Korea. When we travel to Korea, we are expected to bring gifts to SOOO many people. They include the foster mom and family, the Korean social worker, the founder Eastern (the Korean agency) Dr. Kim and his colleagues, the people who run the guesthouse that we will be staying in, donations for the orphanage (I think), and lots of little small gifts to carry around for people who just do us favors, etc. I've started looking around, but have yet to buy anything. I want to bring some things that are truly "American". Any ideas? The only thing I can think of is bar-b-que chicken, and that doesn't really travel well. Can't wait to go!!! To bad it will most likely be in the dead of winter when the average temp is like 30 degrees... yowza!

"Race for the Cure" was a SUCCESS!!

Renee in the Middle Surrounded by Friends
Ryan and Renee
Racing For Renee Team

Well, after lots of planning by Renee's friends... the Race was super awesome! The "Racing for Renee" team was out in full force, and the media was all over my sisters story. She was on the news and in the newspaper (a couple of times)! My sisters was very emotional throughout the entire event, and I think she really felt the support of all of her friends, family and contributors behind her. My sister did her best to walk, but because she had just received chemo the week prior, her body wasn't yet ready. However, her two older boys (ages 6 and 8) walked the entire 3 mile course, and were proud to have walked "for her". Once again, I want to thank all of my friends and family who donated to this cause. Although the race is over now, the need for donations continues... so if you weren't able to donate earlier, you can donate anytime to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. My sister is following up this fabulous weekend with a not so fun day of surgery on Wednesday. She will be in the hospital for a few days, and could really use your prayers. Thanks again everyone for everything you have done. I'll keep you updated on Renee.

Now... lets keep our fingers crossed for that referral!!!

"New" News

First of all, let me say CONGRATULATIONS to my dad for reaching his goal of $5000 raised to the Breast Cancer Foundation!!! Way to go dad! I'm super proud of you. Can't wait to see all of my family together on Saturday, and all of Renee's friends. It will be an amazing day. I've already got my cameras charging!

In other news, there was another referral in my agency!!! The family waited 2 months from their homestudy approval date to recieve their referral. Out of the families that talk in the agency's online forum, we are the next family in line to receive a referral! YEAH! We're getting closer! This week will be getting the rest of the finances in order, so that once we get our referral we can accept it, pay the fees right away, and begin our wait for travel. I'll keep you posted!!!

2 more days until the Breast Cancer Walk!

Well, there is no news to report on the adoption front. Although we are supposed to expect a 4-6 month wait for referral, I still jump every time the phone rings :) I'm such a dork! On Saturday we will be walking in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in honor of my sister Renee. Hopefully I will feel better, because I found out today that I have Mononucleosis... yuck. Go figure, I get this right before the race. On a brighter note... team "Racing for Renee" has 150 people and is, I think, the 3rd largest team. We are also in the top 5 for fundraising efforts. My dad alone has raised $4000... of course he couldn't have done this without all of the great contributors!!! He has raised more money individually than anyone else in the whole race. GO DAD!!! I've raised $430. Thank you to all who have contributed to this cause!!! If you would still like to donate, here is the link, but you better hurry up because race day is on Saturday! Thanks everyone!
Racing For Renee Donation Page

"Children's Day" in Korea (SHOEBOX UPDATE!)

So today was Children's Day in Korea. If you remember a while ago I mentioned that me and my step-mom had sent a shoe-box full of gifts to two of the children in an orphanage in Korea. The idea was started by one of the girls (April) whom I chat with on an adoption forum. She is volunteering at an orphanage in Seoul, and she asked a while back if anyone would be willing to "sponsor" a child and donate a shoe-box full of clothes/toys to them... she only needed like 40 boxes and ended up with over 300 offers!!! Anyway, here are the pictures of the children receiving their boxes and the commentary from April:

So, shoeboxes were finally delivered today! It was a really hectic and busy day, but all worth it to see the look on the kids faces. I have to note that the orphanage director asked for the boxes to be split up "evenly" when we distrubted the boxes. I wanted to make it as easy as possible for her, so I told her to do what she felt was best. So for each box that got assigned a child, some contents were taken out and put into a gift bag. The rest of the contents and boxes is going to each room mother, and they'll give the rest of the gifts to the kids separately. She did this because she didn't want kids getting jealous over someone getting more then the other etc etc.. They'll all get their boxes, but just privately. So hope you guys understand. Oh and pictures, I got SOME pictures but not as much as I wanted. I was busy handing out the gifts, so my cousin was designated picture taker, but he didn't get many as I wanted. And he didn't really get faces.....=( But it will have to do.

WE HAVE FINAL APPROVAL!!!!

So, it's official. We got our FINAL approval today... we are now, officially, waiting for our referral!!!! I'm crying happy tears because of the HUGE relief!!! The average referral wait time is 4-6 months, but it can vary significantly from that (hopefully in our favor). Now we just sit back and wait for a phone call! I can't believe we finally finished all of this... ugh! Thanks for praying for us,
Ryan, Ben, Elaine, and Micah