How are we doing? Part II

We are now nearly 2 weeks home...so the question we get all the time is how are we doing.

At the risk of jinxing things, we seemed to have turned a corner.  Kylie LOVES the bath.  Let me give you a small taste of just HOW much she loves it...

We weren't really sure what to expect because we only gave her a few baths in the sink in China.  And they were super fast out of necessity.

Kylie has gone from not sleeping at all anywhere to sleeping on the couch in the living room downstairs.  Steve and I spent probably 1/2 a week swapping up who would sleep on the recliner.  The other would take the bed.  We'd shut the bedroom door so we couldn't hear if she was crying downstairs.  This finally gave us the much needed rest we needed.  Then, he moved her to the pack n play downstairs and we took turns sleeping on the couch.  The couch was not my friend.  My night was Saturday before Easter and it was pretty miserable.  But I determined not to let Satan ruin that wonderful day and God blessed me with an extra measure of restfulness.

Kylie is now sleeping in her pack n play upstairs in our bedroom.  Last night was my "on" night and I didn't have to get up with her until about 1:45am.  I was able to pat her back to sleep.  She woke up again at 5:30am soaked through her diaper.  I changed her and held her in bed with me.  She fell back asleep and Steve got up to take Jenna to school (whoever is "on" during the night, the other does morning drop off) and I laid her on the bed next to me where we slept until 8am!  Praise!

So, we are doing better.  However, we are spending LOTS of time together at home so we feel like we are constantly entertaining her so we can bond.  And we are.  Pretty much one of us is holding, talking to, feeding, changing or playing with her.  So it is wearing on us.  We have been blessed by many, MANY meals from friends at church and that has been a LIFESAVER.  Each meal is delicious and delivered with much love for our sweet girl.  I will never be able to thank all the families that have assisted us in this way.  I plan to pay it forward as I can.

I got an email yesterday from a friend asking what we need and how we ended up on our fundraising.  I thought if she had those questions, my readers might too, so I'll answer them here.

We continue to need lots of prayers because this is hard.  In terms of physical needs, if you know of someone looking to get rid of 12 month girl clothes that are summer season, let me know.  Not knowing what size she was, we bought limited clothes.  She can wear 9 month, but will soon outgrow those.  I might take a trip to the local consignment store soon.  We have borrowed so much stuff from friends...we have been blessed.

As for our fundraising, after travel, we have about $9000 in travel expenses on our credit card.  I anticipate an adoption reimbursement from work in the amount of $4500, so that will cover about 1/2, after taxes.  We have two grants that we have not heard from and who will grant to families that have already traveled.  We should hear from them soon and we are praying hard that we are granted something from them.  If not, we will complete this adoption with about $4500 debt, which is pretty darn good.  Continue to pray for God's provision in this.

So that's the update from the Taylor household...now we are off to enjoy some dinner, ala KFC courtesy of our friends, the Millsaps.

Oh and if you have a chance, say a prayer for Steve's dad.  He is in congestive heart failure and the next 24/48 hours are critical.