We have a Homestudy date!

Well, we will have our Homestudy done on Monday, 17 December at 10am! This date also happens to be the 10 month anniversary of Asia-Faith comming home to us! Finally we are one step closer to it being finalised!

So last weekend was spent in the hospital with Asia-Faith.
(This was also posted in our other blog, so sorry if you are reading it twice)....

On Thursday evening (or rather 3am Friday morning), I noticed her breathing was very fast - she woke up and came to our bed, which she doesn't normally do - she usually goes down at night and sleeps right through, so I knew something was not right. I woke Jason up and said to take her to the hospital to get her checked out (the other kids were sleeping and I don't drive, well I ride a scooter, but don't drive cars...), so Jason and Willow-River (who had woken up), took her to the hospital and when I called about an hour later Jason said they were on their way home - turns out another hour had passed and he still wasn't home, so I called again and was told they were admitting her and he was comming to pick me and the other boys up to take us to the hospital. I was so nervous because I didn't know what was wrong, and none of my kids have been in hospital (well, Willow-River had his tonsils out, but he was only in hospital for the morning).

Anyway, we arrived at the hospital and Asia-Faith had been given stickers and clips for her hair and was really the centre of attraction at 5am in the emergency room! She had an IV drip in and was being admitted to the hospital. The doctor had done chest xrays and taken blood and it turns out her white blood count was higher than normal, and his diagnosis was Bronchial Pneumonia.

We had to stay in the hospital for 3 days! It was quite a different experience to South African hospitals in that you have to take your own food and drinks, none are supplied by the hospital, visiting hours seem to be anytime, no limit to visitors or the number of people staying in a bed! Our first night there the bed next to me was a lady and she had 3 kids sleeping in bed with her - don't know which of them was sick, and in the bed next to her was obviously a friend who had another child with her! They left that day, and I was not on my own for long, because soon the 2 beds were occupied again. There was no tv and I couldn't even talk to the moms in the room with me as they didn't speak English and I can't speak Chinese, so Asia-Faith and I played a bit and I tried to catch up on a bit of sleep, but not all that possible when you have the fellow bedmates having their kids with them all day (not the sick ones, but the siblings), so sometimes in our room we would have up to 9 kids (if mine were there too)!

On the Friday night the boys all stayed with Kim (Jason was working till 9pm), so the boys went with Kim before lunch and stayed the night. It was Keanu-Storm's first sleepover and I was really worried he wouldn't make it through the night, and when Kim called me and said he would be fine, that it was me who would struggle the most, well, I just burst into tears! My little boy and his first sleepover! And he DID manage fine and was ok - all of them were - My Boys!!!

On Saturday when the doctor came he said Asia-Faith would probably need to stay until Monday!

Then on Sunday morning the doctor came and checked Asia-Faith over and said we could go home! (They were having a political rally opposite the hospital so it was very noisy and the doctor said it would be quieter at home for her, so I mentioned that I have 3 boys at home - it is not much quieter! LOL) . But I was just so glad to be going home! And the total bill for the hospital and medication NT$170 (about R34)....Because Asia-Faith is aborigine she has free health insurance as long as she is living in Taiwan!

Today (Friday), Jason took her to the clinic for a checkup and the doctor is happy with her, and has given a few more meds to take and she is on the mend!

I had my dance show last Saturday. Kim offered to look after Asia-Faith so we could all go to my show! Thanks Kim;O) It was such great fun! They had done the hall so beautifully and it was really well presented. Willow-River (mostly) was the photographer for the evening, and he did a GREAT job!

Great fun was had by all!!!

Today I went out for lunch to a seafood restaurant with my dance group and it was really great! I tried a lot of new foods, which included the root of the lotus flower, aloe, male fish reproductive organs (uuuggghhh), sashimi (raw tuna - eeewwww), as well as crab, baby lobster, fish (which still had its head including eyes and teeth), shrimp, pork and lamb (or maybe it was goat? LOL). It was an interesting experience and I at least tried a bit of everything....

Tomorrow I am heading to Costco with Kim to do our monthly grocery shop, but we will also be doing a bit of Christmas shopping and since Kim has now decided to also start scrapbooking, we will maybe try and find a few scrapbooking stores too! Should be fun!!!

So I hope you all have a great weekend, and I will keep you all updated as to how the Homestudy goes!!!

~* Peace and Love *~

So I am not as regular as I would like to be....

(with updating this blog....in case you were wondering....)

It seems as you get older the months come round so quickly (because they NEVER went this quick while I was institutionalised - I mean at school)...LOL

First off I have to say CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! my little sister is engaged! Her and Gordon got engaged on Sunday - isn't that great? I have sadly only met him online and not in person, but he seems like a really great guy and I am sure he will make my sister very happy... can't say if she will have the same effect... she is stubborn and rather set in her ways... just kidding! But we are really happy for them... and in Willow-River's words "It is about time!".... out the mouth of babes...

Well we have settled in rather nicely in Ilan, even though I was doubtful about our move here in the beginning (it takes me a while to warm up to a new thing), but things are going really well. Jason is really enjoying his new school and he teaches mainly late afternoons into the evenings which gives us the mornings together, although I miss our family dinner time, but hey, we can't have our cake AND eat it all of the time!

Talis-Rain and Keanu-Storm are going to the Chinese Kindergarten section of Jason's school 3 mornings a week. Talis-Rain told us he would only go if he DIDN'T have to learn! But he seems to be enjoying it...Our main reason for them to go is to learn some Chinese by being around other Chinese kids... so we will see how it goes (oh and also it is not costing us anything as the owner of the school, Jason's boss, actually asked for them to come and supplied them with the backpacks and everything!).

The 3 boys have also joined a rollerblading team! They were each sponsored an ENTIRE kit, including rollerblades, helmet, elbow, knee and wrist guards, all in a beautiful kit bag on wheels, and Jason's school, Ivy League, sponsored their "uniform"! We have been really blessed with all this. So the boys are so stoked, and can't wait for their lessons on a Saturday and Sunday afternoon!

I too have started a little something... I have finally after all these years started dancing! I absolutely LOVE it! I go 2 mornings a week at the community sports centre just down the road from us and we learn a bit of latin and then the second half of the lesson we do belly dancing! Wow it has really made me realise how unfit I am! I have just started classes on a Saturday too with the same teacher, and we learn jazz in that class! I must say I had my first jazz lesson on Saturday morning and just the warm ups just about killed me... so I have a lot of work to do, but I am prepared to do it! What inspires me most is that there is a lady in the class (who is in my class during the week AND the jazz class on Saturdays), who Jason and I were trying to guess her age, and we figured she was in her late forties maybe... turns out she is 57 years old!!!!! Now THAT is enough to keep me going - what inspiration! And it turns out our dance teacher, who I thought was in her 30's is actually 45 years old! Damn these ladies here in Taiwan certainly don't look their age... perhaps it is all the rice and tea....LOL

So I am having such fun and enjoy the "Me" time.... I was told today that we are doing a dance show on the 8 December, so it should be fun!

Asia-Faith continues to be a little blessing (most of the time) LOL .... Don't forget she is in the "terrible 2" stage, so she does have her "Oscar Performance" tantrums now and again....but for the most part she is a little treasure! She loves having her nails painted these days and her photo taken. When we go out anywhere she has to take her 2 cellphones, sunglasses and her handbag.... too cute! There is still no date set for the courts yet. Deana who is in the States at the moment, contacted the social worker who told her that they are waiting for the judge to set a date... so we wait!

I have started another blog, this one is all about Asia-Faith's adoption journey. I wanted to have a seperate adoption blog for others who are on the adoption journey to follow, and of course for family and friends too! So PLEASE take a look, http://adoptingasia-faith.blogspot.com.

Other than that we have survived a typhoon (with just one broken window), and a few earthquakes, which have been quite small, but still strong enough to rock the building!

Hope you and yours are all well, and we look forward to hearing from you all sometime:o)

~* Peace and Love *~

My brother loves me...


Man made vehicle... and yes he was travelling on the public roads with this!


Popcorn time...

Happy Birthday Jason!

Just wanted the world to know it is Jason's 39th birthday!

We had a relaxing morning (well, they did, I had my first dancing class - mixture of aerobics, latin and belly dancing! Such fun, but I feel so sore today - I am VERY unfit!) LOL

Then J had to go to work, but I made him dinner, and waited for him to come home so we could eat together:) He only gets home at around 8:30pm, so most of the time the kids and I eat dinner without him:(

Well, it is pouring with rain today! It is actually quite funny because we had a typhoon holiday and it turned out to be nothing, hardly any rain or wind at all (actually no wind and just a little drizzle), and now that the typhoon is long gone, we have got SO much rain!

Asia-Faith is fast asleep for her usual morning nap, and the boys are watching a movie, but every now and then Talis-Rain will get up and colour in his book, and Keanu-Storm is making "clothes" with paper and sticky tape:)

The other day after Keanu-Storm had been colouring for a while, he came to me and said "Mom, God never coloured out the lines when he made me!" - Don't they just say the cutest things sometimes.

~* Peace and Love *~