The Fanning Four

We had a wonderful time with our family over Thanksgiving and Bethany is feeling better! Haven't heard from the Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor yet but I will probably call today to try and set up an appointment. While my family was here, we put up the Christmas tree. I love that in our new house you can look from the outside and see the tree through the front window. I may or may not have driven around our neighborhood circle just to see it because it looked so pretty. But I DEFINITELY didn't drive around the circle twice just to look at the tree. Who would do something so silly?!?! Our official letter from US Customs and Immigrations came on Saturday while we were watching FSU devour the Gators. So, it's for real- the US says we can adopt from China! Like I've said before, the next step, is getting our paperwork to China. Tom and I got up bright an early (like we have a choice with our early riser) and went to the police department to try and get that last lette...

We're having a lot of trouble getting Bethy's asthma under control. Despite treatment (breathing treatments, steroids, allergy medicines), she is still coughing, congested, and out of breath. I took her to the pediatrician yesterday. Turns out she has a double ear infection and the start of a sinus infection. The dr. said her lungs don't sound well- very congested and she's wheezing. So we came home with two weeks worth of antibiotics, a new bottle of allergy medicine, and instructions to continue breathing treatments every four hours for the next two days. Don't worry, we don't have to wake her up at night to do them. And then after that we'll go back to breathing treatments twice a day or more as needed. She's also referring us to an ear, nose, and throat specialist. I am guessing we'll be looking at options such as tubes or adenoid removal. She said we may also need to go see a pulmonary specialist. Meanwhile, Bethy laughs and plays all day lo...

Woooooo Hooooo! We were approved by US Customs and Immigrations to bring a child from China into the US to be part of our family! I was a little nervous because when we were fingerprinted last week, my right ring fingerprint screen said "Reject". I guess one bad fingerprint isn't enough to keep us from adopting so that's good! What this means is that the US has reviewed our homestudy (a novel about our lives), our proof of citizenship, and our background checks and has officially said, "These people are legit." Thanks US- we love you too! The official notice should arrive in the mail within a week. In the meantime we're working on our second novel so that China can say we're legit too. I am putting the finishing touches on the last chapter of that novel. It will go to our new agency this week and they take it from there and will send it to China for us. If all goes well, our dossier (the novel for China) should be in China in December. That mea...

A couple weeks ago, Bethy woke up too early from her nap, so I brought her into my bed and told her it was still nap time and to go back to sleep. "Bethy, it's nap time", I repeated several times. She was quiet for a few seconds so I closed my eyes and started to rest. Then I feel two tiny hands cupping my face. I open my eyes and my sweet Bethy, who is hovering over me says, "Momma, it's wake time."

Just got back from the cruise. I've heard people talk about needing a vacation from their vacation and now I understand it. We had a good time but taking a 2 year old on a cruise is a lot of work especially when said 2 year old has just been diagnosed with asthma and momma of 2 year old gets stomach bug that lasts for three days of the trip. But memories were made, fun was had, and we are back on land! And all in all Bethy was a GREAT cruiser. She even got praised several times for her behavior by others on the ship. Our floors look done- we need to talk to the flooring guy today to see if they're totally done- we may have a few touch ups to do but other than that it looks great and we're happy with them so far. Thanks to Carpet One and John Shepard for everything. They are stellar and if you live in Panama City and need flooring, look them up and tell them we sent you!  :) I'll post pics soon but we went with this stuff called Earthscapes in the living areas and kid...

I have a friend in town and we've been having a blast. And on top of that, I've been sleeping in the new house on my bed while my husband sleeps at the old house on a mattress. He's wonderful! Here's some bullet points of what's happening: Our floors are ordered and will be installed while we are on the cruise. Before we leave, we have to get everything off the floors and into the garage. I am overwhelmed beyond belief by that task. I worked my way up the chain of our adoption agency until I got answers. They may be cursing my name, but I got some of the answers I needed, so I don't really care. Curse away! We will know more by mid week and then I will scramble to pick a new agency in 24 hours before we leave on the cruise. Bethy's asthma treatment is going pretty well but she hasn't stopped coughing totally yet.  : ( But she is sleeping much better. Our fall festival for our church was this weekend and it was AMAZING. Over 4,000 people came to it...

I promised an update so here it is- We met with our pediatrician on Saturday and she was very helpful. Basically, Bethy will have no limits and can do anything any other child can do. As long as we keep it under control, it should never become an emergency situation.  We got all of our questions answered and figured out some more solutions for getting rid of this cough. She has since had several coughless nights and everyone is happier! We're still mostly staying at our old house but I'm at the new house now and Bethy is taking her nap here. We're waiting for a second measurment of our floors. We will have our floors installed while we are on vacation in a week and a half. We're happy with our choice and the cost and were fortunate that the store owner goes to our chuch. He has been very helpful and gave us a great deal. Next week we'll move everything from our house into the garage. It's good to reorganize everything in your house every few months right? : ...