Saturday

We have a car and it is much nicer than the last one. Ron rented it for an entire week and I am so excited. We will be able to do a lot of things and most importantly go grocery and clothes shopping for Kiomi and family. I want to say thank you to Aunt Mandy and my parents for their generosity. I love you guys and the money will mean more than you know to Kiomi.

Kiomi, Phillipo and her niece are all in the room sleeping. I thought I would sneak out and update the blog. I was getting cabin fever.

It has been raining every day and it looks like we might be off water restrictions. The water has been on all day today. Praise the Lord.

I think we are going to try and go to church in the morning. They have a big fishing tournament here today and tomorrow and we are going to try and watch them bringing in the fish. Sydny would love to see that! We also have a birthday party to go to tomorrow (it was cancelled last Sunday)and Sydny will also enjoy being around other children.

Ms. Solis, Sydny has talked about her classmates and she wants to bring them some sea shells we found on the beach. I know she misses her friends. She also has a new friend named Dee Dee. She is the same age as Sydny and she goes with us everywhere...and yes she is make believe. It is the cutest thing listening to her talk to Dee Dee. One of her favorite things to do is to go down to the beach and push her on the swing.

I know my posts are boring but there is not a lot of excitement happening. I will try to post more tomorrow or Monday.

Kim

Friday Evening

Tomorrow Landon will be two months old and it also marks our three weeks here. Time is going by so fast and so slow all at the same time. Our flight is scheduled for next Friday on the 7th and hopefully on Monday we can find out if we will be able to keep our original flight or have to change it.

Kiomi showed up today and she and Phillipo took a long nap in our room. I am sure they enjoy the cool of the air conditioning and the softness of the bed. Poor Phillipo is covered from head to toe in insect bites. He has sores all over his body from scratching. If I had all the money in the world, I would rebuild this poor little island and give everyone a nice home to sleep in bug free along with plenty of food to eat.

Sydny has a fever again today. Ron and I have bad colds but no fever. Landon is STILL coughing. We talked to our lawyer last night and he is going to try to get us in to see a pediatrician...now I didn't even know one existed until last night. He has coughed up mucus three times. He coughs so hard you think he will cough his little lung out. Please continue to pray for him.

We are going to try again tomorrow to rent a car. It is very difficult trying to find a car to rent. We want to go back to Laura Beach and also do some shopping for Kiomi and her family.

That is all for now. I apologize if I have typos but I am tired.

Kim

got milk?

They don't here. At least not the kind of milk that we are used to. You know, cold, in a gallon jug, good ole' cow's milk. Here, milk is shelf stable and comes in a one liter box with a plastic flip open lid. It is not all milk or real milk but a milk product, a product of Australia, called "Paul's Milk". Scary. I finally found some different real milk that was twice the price, about $3.00/liter, in the same type box, and again, not refrigerated. I was so excited about the find that I bought four boxes at once. Turns out, it's not much better. In fact, Kim likes it less than Paul's Milk. I think she's just partial to the name. I chug down what I can each morning so that I get my vitamin D. The true milk expert is, of course, Sydny. She likes neither very much. Every time we make her daily chocolate milk, she complains that it doesn't taste very good. So, in addition to not eating very good, she's not even getting her daily dose of chocolate milk. Poor girl. She used to love chocolate milk. Baby brother has not been the only change in her life. Thank God for simple pleasures in life like fresh, cold cow's milk, maybe with a little Hershey's chocolate added in.

Pictures

The picture of the clinic is where we go to the doctor.

Wednesday

It is Wednesday here and we just finished up eating breakfast. Sydny has not been eating much since we have been here except for snacks. All we hear all day is how she wants something else meaning a snack. Child cannot live on snack alone. We went to the doctor yesterday because Sydny was still running a fever and he put her on antibiotics. The doctor also weighed Landon and he was 11lbs 3oz. two weeks ago and now he is 11lbs 15oz. He is almost a 12 pounder. I am glad he is gaining weight despite the bad cough. He said his lungs sound fine and that he must have a reactive airway... I will be at our doctor's doorstep the minute we get home.

Kiomi and her friend came by on Monday for a couple of hours and told us she was going to another island for a few days. She will be back on Friday. We are cherishing the time we get to spend with just us and Landon.

Those that know us well know we love Mexican food. On Friday nights at our hotel is fiesta night. I had a couple of tacos and they were yummy. Tuesday nights are pizza and pasta night and Wednesday afternoon is sushi...yuck. Ron will be eating sushi all by himself today.

Sydny continues to struggle with having a baby brother. Sometimes she can be so sweet and she brings him his blankie or pacifier. Every time I am holding Landon or trying to feed him she throws a fit and wants me to hold her. It is sad to see her get so upset. Needless to say, Ron and Landon are having a lot of bonding time.

The Embassy called us this morning to let us know our documents are in Manila where they will be processed. They are going to call us back with a tracking number at some point so we can track them coming back to us so that we will know when to book our flight home. That will be a glorious day.

By the way Samantha, we did bring roach and ant bait but I guess the ants don't mind it. :)

Bye for now,
Kim

Pictures

Sunday

It is Sunday morning here. We had grand plans to go to church with one of the other families here and then go over to their rental house for lunch. Sydny woke up last night with a fever. We gave her some Motrin and it seemed to help. Ron and I both have congestion in our chests but I am feeling fine over all. Ron is not feeling so great. Landon is the same as usual. We decided to stay in today so that we don't get their kids sick. We also have a birthday party to go to later today but we will have to see how everyone is and play it by ear.

We haven't seen Kiomi in a couple of days. I have a feeling she will come today but do not know. Yesterday was uneventful. We stayed at the hotel all day because Sydny had green snot pouring out of her along with an earache. If she is not better today we are going to the doctor tomorrow for sure. Landon only has one more day of antibiotics and I am sure the doctor will put Sydny on them.

As I mentioned in a previous post, we have ants in our room. I am at breakfast by myself this morning and the little critters keep crawling on me. They must have been all over the computer when I brought it down to the restaurant. The other day we were eating lunch and I felt something crawling on my foot. I looked down and it was the biggest roach I had ever seen. It creeped me out so much. Now when we are eating at the restaurant, I keep my feet off of the ground.

We have been able to Skype my parents and Ron's mom almost everyday. We have a webcam so they are able to see us even though I know they want to see just Sydny and Landon. My mom told me yesterday that she was going to cook us a homemade dinner when we get back to the good ole U.S. of A. I am so looking forward to that meal.

I am rambling so I will close for now. I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Kim

Landon's smile and our car....

Finally, we caught Landon's smile. Sure, he was sleeping (he smile's a lot in his sleep) but this is the first time we have been able to actually get a picture of his smile. He has a great smile and we cannot wait until he will look at us and smile. He does make a lot of facial expressions but no smiles yet.

The second pic shows our rental car in the background. Believe it or not, we had eight people, you read that right, eight people in that car when we went to dinner the other night. It was Kim and I, Sydny and Landon, Kiomi and her son Phillipo, and Kiomi's friend and her daughter. No one wears seat belts here and there are no child seats. Despite all these apparent dangers, we have not seen a wreck yet and the speed limit is 25 miles an hour most places and gets up to 40 miles an hour maximum in certain places. There are no traffic lights. We have turned in the yellow machine and hope to get a bigger, better, safer car next time we rent one for a few days.

Pictures

It is raining

and hopefully it will rain enough so that we will not have to be limited on our water during the day. Another good thing about the rain is that it really cools things down here. It is so hot and humid. Everything in our room feels wet to me.

Kiomi, Phillipo and their friend and her daughter spent most of the day with us yesterday. Our hotel room was very crowded and I asked the good Lord for patience on more than one occasion yesterday. I seem to get stressed out when there are a lot of people around me especially when we can not communicate well and there are kids running around like mad men.

We are going to call the Embassy today and start tracking our documents. We hope and pray and pray some more that we are here only four weeks. It is hard being away from the comfort of home for so long.

Sydny is feeling better today. Landon still has his cough but has not had a fever and is eating well. I am debating on whether we should take him to the hospital and get him checked out. He had three coughing spells last night. Please continue to pray for him.

I want to thank all of you guys for your posts. We always look forward to reading them. And yes Paul, I am taking daily showers.

Bye for now,
Kim

More pictures

I can only post a couple of pictures at a time because they take FOREVER to download.

Pictures

Not sure what day it is...

I can't seem to keep up with what day it is. They all just run together and when you have nowhere to be it really doesn't matter. We have spent the last couple of days just hanging out. We did rent a car yesterday and we will have to post pictures of it. It is mustard yellow and very small. It is an adventure in itself to ride in the car. I had some sort of stomach bug for about 24 hours so life was not so good for a little while. Sydny is now sick with a cold and Landon is still congested and coughing. I am sure Ron and I will get colds next.

Kiomi still comes by every day to see Landon. She stays with us 5 to 6 hours a day. We took her home last night in our yellow car so Ron got to see where she lives. I really would like to take pictures of the house but need to ask her if it is okay. She speaks a little English but not much. It is a challenge to comminicate with her so usually we do not speak which is uncomfortable.

Sydny is now having a hard time with everything. My sweet girl has turned into a little monster. I feel bad for her because she is away from home, her friends, her school, she is sick and has to share mommy and daddy. It is a challenge to say the least.

I will close now. Maybe I will have more exciting stuff to write about next time.
Kim

"Water, water everywhere....

...but not a drop to spare." That's right, we are on a very small island with thousands upon thousands of square miles of ocean surrounding us and we are under water rationing. Evidently, they are experiencing drought conditions in Majuro even though it rains at least some every day. The city has limited the hotel to one day a week for reservoir water, which is down from the normal level of 28 million to a current level of 8 million. Sounds serious. At least the hotel has the option of getting that city water once a week. All households on the island can only count on the rainwater they collect in a tank as runoff from their rain gutters. Seriously. When that runs out, you have no water. Here in the hotel, we get water from 6-9 in the morning and 6-8 in the evening. We have to plan around that. It is amazing what we take for granted. I cannot tell you how many times in two days that I have put soap on my hands and tried to turn on the water at the wrong time and all I got was a gurgling sound. Things could be worse I guess. All in all, we are doing great. Kim will update you on the current goings on soon but I had a couple of minutes and wanted to tell you all about our water situation. ron

Sunday

Yesterday Kiomi and Phillipo came and hung out with us. Phillipo slept for four hours and three of the four were in Ron's arms. I don't think he got much sleep the night before. We had lunch and watched Shrek on the TV. It was a pretty low key day. This morning as we were finishing up breakfast, the waitress came to tell us Kiomi was waiting for us outside. Ron is outside now with them while phillipo and Sydny run around.

Yesterday was one week that we have been here. Hopefully we will get to leave in three more if we are lucky. Two of the families are leaving Monday so that will leave three families still here. We all had a little pizza party out by the water on Friday night and all of the kids had so much fun. It is so hot and humid during the day but it is really nice in the evening by the water.

Landon seems to be doing a little better. He coughed up some mucus yesterday so hopefully that is a good sign that he is getting that junk out of his lungs and chest. The coughing epsiodes are less frquent but they still scare me when he has one. I blow in his face (thank you Aunt Charlene) when he can't catch his breath and that seems to help.

I better go now and visit with Kiomi. I hope eveyone has a great weekend.

Kim

Pictures

Landon did receive a haircut before we got here. They shaved the lower half of his head and left a little place in the back of his head for a "tail" to grow. Needless to say we will be letting his hair grow back in.

Pictures

Just Another Post

Yesterday we went over to another family's house who is here adopting also. We actually both had court on the same day and they have been a wonderful family to share our experience with. Kiomi was there too so she got to spend time with Landon. Sydny got to go swimming again in the ocean and had so much fun. I don't think Sydny is going to want to go home when it is time. She is going to be so brown by the time we leave because her skin just soaks up the sun. The water is so beautiful here. Parts of it are the prettiest aqua color. It is amazing something can be so beautiful.

Landon didn't cough as much last night so we were thankful for that. He seems a little more congested today though than he has been. The doctor here said he has bronchitis but Ron is going to talk to his good friend in a little while who is a doctor and hopefully he will be able to help us a little more.

I think today we are going to try to do some laundry and go to some handicraft stores to buy some keepsakes. I will post some pictures too.
Kim

Update on Landon

Just a short note...we went back to the doctor this afternoon and told the doctor that Landon's condition had not improved. The doctor prescribed him amoxicillin and ventolin. We immediately gave him a dose of the antibiotic but are checking with a doctor friend about the ventolin and whether or not it is safe to give him as prescribed and if the dosages are correct for each of the medicines. By the way, Landon is six weeks old and around eleven pounds, give or take a couple of ounces, in case anyone wants to check with a trusted doctor and get back with us on what the correct dose should be for each of these and if Ventolin should even be given to him. We are trying to get an answer as quick as possible so we can give him the drug if it will help. The doctor said we should notice an improvement in his cough within three days. Ron

Pictures

Long post...

It is Thursday morning at 8:45 am. We have been so busy the last few days and have not had an opportunity to update the blog. We went to court on Monday and it went well. It was a very emotional day for us and I am relieved it is behind us now. It was a bittersweet day. After court we had to go get passport pictures of Landon, get him a passport, go to the doctor for his medical exam and get new birth certificates. We were running all over town. On Tuesday we went to our U.S. Embassy appointment and then sent everything out yesterday to get Landon's visa. The wait now begins.
Kiomi(Landon's birth mother) and her son Phillipo hung out with us for most of the day yesterday. I forgot to tell you all that we are in a hotel room. Our lawyer called us on Tuesday to tell us they had a room for us. Praise the Lord! We are in heaven now. We are sharing our room with the ants but other than that, we are very pleased. Anyway, we had a nice visit with her. After she went home, we took Sydny down to the little beach area at our hotel and she and Ron went swimming. We then went and had dinner with some other families that are here adopting. It is amazing how quickly you become close to these other families. It is comforting to have them here with us.
Landon is 11 lbs. 3 oz. now. He is doing well except for this HORRIBLE cough he has. He has these coughing attacks and coughs so hard that he can't catch his breath. It is so scary and we feel a little helpless. We told the doctor about it and he listened to his chest and said he was fine. We are going to go back to the doctor again today and have him listen again. Be thankful for the healthcare in the states because it is lacking here. There is not a 911 or anything like that here. I want so badly to be able to take him to our pediatrician at home. Please keep Landon in your prayers.
Sydny is still doing quite well with everything. She is having the time of her life playing with all of her new friends. Before we got Landon, I kept wondering if I would be able to love another child as much as I love Sydny and I will tell you that I can. I am so in love with both of our kids. Life really doesn't get much better than this.
We love and miss you guys,
Kim

We are here!

We arrived yesterday at 10:00 am (we crossed the dateline so we are actually a day ahead of you all)and we are so glad the flying part of the trip is over for awhile. Sydny was wonderful on the plane and I am amazed at her ability to adapt to any situation. We met the birth mother and Landon yesterday. It was a very akward meeting but it went well. Landon is tiny! The pictures that we received are very misleading. He looks so big in those pictures to us but he is not. He is such a cutie. The birth mom brought her other son with her and he is one. We did find out that Landon and his brother Phillipo share the same father and mother. Phillipo was really cute. We will post pictures later but do not have time right now.

We are living in an apartment right now because the hotels are full. There is some sort of convention here. We hope to get into the hotel on Friday. We had to go buy sheets and pillows and towels. There is no hot water and I told Ron I wasn't going to take a shower in cold water so I guess I will be dirty for a week. The water is so beautiful here but there is a lot of poverty. We take so much for granted.

We went to a birthday party last night for one of the other adoptive families little girl. Sydny played in the water at the beach in all of her clothes. She had so much fun. We are going to a remote beach today with some other families and it is supposed to be very beautiful.

We go to court tomorrow morning and after that Landon will come live with us forever! It is still all so surreal.

I must go now because we have to go purchase a phone before we leave for the beach. We will try to post more later along with pictures.

Kim

We Have A Court Date

We were called this morning and were told that our court date is July 13th....We have one million things to do before we travel! Looks like we will leave here on July 9th so that we can get to Majuro on Saturday to meet our baby boy before we go to court on Monday. Please keep us in your prayers for this will be a very stressful week.

Landon Loves To Eat!

We received more pictures of Landon and he is a very HEALTHY little boy. We are so happy and thankful that he seems to be getting fed so well. We also received our Petition for Adoption this morning and we will sign it and email it back to our coordinator. Hopefully the lawyer will be able to submit it to the judge today and then we will be notified of our court date.