Bringing Home Bryant: August 2012

Yes again I am 6 days late but this time with very good reason. Our lives have been quite a mess for the past two weeks. To rewind a bit, at the beginning of July, Jeff and I decided on a whim to put a For Sale by Owner sign in our front yard. We knew there was a slim chance our house would sell in this market but due to the traffic on our road during the July 4th holiday we thought we would give it a shot. Ha ha ha. 7 days later we had a contract on our house. Needless to say we were stunned. We had 24 hours to find a new house and less than 30 days to move. So I hit the panic button a few times. I was also concerned about how Bryant would do with the move. We had just gotten settled and he has shown so much improvement. I didn't want him to backslide. In addition all of the kids are starting school. Yikes. Lots of worry and anxiety the first day and then I caught my breath. I knew this was the work of God and I had to let him be in control not me. Lesson I have had to learn over and over. If you know us or have read this blog you know Jeff and I had our house on the market a year and a half ago and decided to take it off the market and use the money we had saved to adopt Bryant. Best decision we have ever made. God led us to Bryant and has shown us that sharing his love is much more satisfying than any house would ever be. To sell our house now was just icing on the cake. We already received the sweetest gift. We felt with the quick house sale that God was leading us somewhere else and if this move was supposed to happen he would take care of it.

Our new house was the first we looked at and we fell in love the minute we drove up. It is a cottage in the country on 2.5 acres of pure beauty. We felt stillness and peace here definitely the presence of God. Stillness and peace are much needed with four kids. So we packed up and moved to the country in hopes of a little calmer and simpler life.

Two weeks ago we were in the process of packing to move to the new house and Jeff woke up with a sore throat. He went to doctor and was given a Z-pack. On Sunday he woke up with awful mouth sores and then came polka dots all over his body. At first I laughed and then I ran for the benadryl. The next morning his entire face was swollen and looked like he had been distorted by Facetime. We call him daddy aka Fat Albert now. We rushed to the doctor for a steroid shot and it helped a little but that night things turned south and he began to go in to anaphylaxis shock. So I drove 90 miles an hour to the hospital where he received a bigger steroid dose. Turns out he had severe allergic reaction to the drug and developed a condition called Erythema multiforme minor and if we had not had the steroids he could have died. I kept thinking the fine print that no one reads on the medicine bottle is happening to Jeff. It was terrifying. In addition to that he was put to bed and was supposed to cut out all stress to allow his body to fight this. Ha ha ha. We were moving in 3 days. Again I hit the panic button. This time I called Jeff's wonderful father and step-mother to help care for Jeff while I packed up and moved our family. So I put on my Wonder Woman cape and flew through 48 hours of relocating everything we owned. Thanks to the help of the greatest friends and family ever we made it all happen. Currently I am sitting in my new living room writing this blog.

Little Bryant has handled the move much better than I expected. So far he has done great. He thankfully has not slowed down on his eating which was my big concern. We think we made it to a whooping 19lbs. He is drinking Pediasure and eating better. Slow but sure progress. The little peanut is so funny he walks around showing everyone his muscles. Tonight we sat outside and listened to tree frogs and caught fireflies in the backyard. He saw a bug and it it ran away. He looked at me and said "where he go?" He is a mess. He also loves the trampoline Sara Kathryn got for her 8th birthday. Problem is he is so small he flies too high. He doesn't care. He loves it. He stands at the window and says "I wanna jump jump." Then he begs "please please."

We have had an eventful and busy month. On top of the move we celebrated my first baby's 8th birthday, our 12th anniversary, and had my precious niece Laurel came stay with us. In a few weeks Amelia and Bryant start preschool, Sara Kathryn starts 3rd grade and my Macie starts Kindergarten. Oh my, lots more changes ahead. Praying for everyone to adjust and get settled.

Been a tough two weeks. Jeff is finally feeling a little better. I am so thankful for my husband's recovery. In the midst of the madness and exhaustion I realized how quickly plans can change and how the only thing that will get you through the tough times is a lot of prayers, good friends and incredible family.