One challenge at a time: December 1, 2011

The washer is ripping and shredding our clothes. We are out of money after Scott being in the hospital. The dryer quit and just won't heat. The home warranty won't fix anything. The washer was leaking through the ceiling into the living room, and now I have big ugly spots in the ceiling from all that. It reminds me of washing and drying our clothes by hand for the month we were in Kazakhstan adopting Michael with no washer or dryer.

Michael has had his throat closing up and is now for a time entirely on Elecare, and we can't get insurance to send any.

Gabriela is struggling with herself, and anger, which comes out mostly at me. She is also struggling with dizziness, and multiple daily episodes of blindness. The ER told us to get her into neurology, so did her psychiatrist for possible multiple sclerosis. The frequency and other symptoms make them think this is more than migraines, throat closing up, difficulty with food, numbness and tingling in her arms and legs, headaches, and difficulty walking among others. She is already on a waiting list though for neuro which is just taking too darn long.

Joseph's heart appears stable, but his asthma this winter has flared up badly. He is back on two inhalers and oxygen as well as a lot of problems with accidents day and night.

Michael's dysautonima is also causing him problems.

More prayers are needed. My nerves are frayed, and my wits rattled.

God grant me peace and provision. This has been so hard.

Jennifer

Going Home: November 15, 2011

Praise you Lord. You heard my prayers, and you answered me. With all my intense prayers, the prayers of my children, the prayers of our families, and the prayers of friends and strangers alike, God answered our prayers. Scott made it, and he is coming home to his family and children who love him.

The doctors stated that all in all Scott lost 36 pounds due to pancreatitis. The pancreatitis threw his body into DKA diabetic ketoacidosis, severe dehydration, hypertension, and has made him visually impaired. On top of that, Scott now has Type 1 diabetes mellitus as a result of the pancreatitis which is more commonly seen in young adolescents.

I pray that he regains his strength, and his blood sugars continue to stabilize especially after an A1c of 17.6.

The doctors told us there was nothing that he could have done to prevent it. Pancreatitis is just awful and not something we could have predicted. Scott was never sick before, never had diabetes. Healthy.

We pray for that health again.

My prayers were answered!

Jennifer

Pray! Pray! Pray! A Call for Urgent Prayer! November 9, 2011

Oh dear Lord, please save my husband Scott. He is so sick. My sister Diana, bless her soul, came over to watch the kids. I took him to the emergency room where the doctors told us if we had waited a couple more hours it is likely that Scott would either be in a come or dead. He was in the ICU intensive care unit at Loma Linda University Medical Center admitted through the emergency room.

I cannot be raising these five challenging kids all by myself. I need my dear husband, my confidant who understands me, my deepest love, and my true best friend.

Please pray that he makes it. I need him, and his five children need him. My heart aches!

Jennifer

Housewarming Party: October 22, 2011

Well, our housewarming party pretty much was a flop as far as parties go. Everyone we invited either cancelled, got sick, or could not make it for one reason or another.

We had only one couple who came and made our evening most enjoyable, our dear friends Daniel and Cecile. They even brought Chinese food which is a rare treat in our house. Gabriela seemed particularly happy about that. We had a nice evening of conversation. I was particularly honored that they drove such a long way to come and share in the joy of our new place.

Thank you Daniel and Cecile!!! You made the whole evening!

Jennifer

Moving IN: October 12, 2011

Well, receiving close of escrow papers and keys to our beautiful new abode was awesome. Moving in with all the hardwork that it is was well, tiring, rewarding, and challenging with all the coordinating of furniture and boxes.

Praise the Lord we had enough money to pay movers to move all the big furniture. We could not have done it without them. I was so glad to have them. They even put the children's beds together. After so much hard work and a lot of achy muscles, I was glad to not have to do that.

Settling in is a large, daunting, and exciting prospect. Where to put things and being able to find things is also challenging. Getting internet service back up was a thrill.

God bless you on your journey,
Jennifer Richardson

Miracles from Heaven and a new House: Sept 23, 2011

September 23, 2011

We FINALLY got notification of our tax refund on it's way in the mail. We prayed, talked with advisors and some loved ones, even the programs the children qualify for for assistance. God has made it abundantly clear to us that our only option is to purchase a home with the money we get. It will take all that we have, but we have faith.

We started looking for a house. We started out with one realtor who was awful and clearly trying to get us to buy a house that needed too much work, cost too much and was overpriced. We decided to let him go and move on.

In moving on, we took a drive to an open house and met our soon to be realtor Marcel Hensely. She and her team, including Tanya Polluck, have been completely professional in every way. They have been kind and generous and had faith in us. They took time to show us many houses. With our unique circumstances, unique income structure and challenes, she found us a home.

We received the check from the IRS at the perfect time and were able to close escrow in the less than 30 days we needed to prove to the appropriate agencies that we had spent the money on a home to raise and care for our five children.

I am in such amazement, awe and wonder at how our blessed God works. We own a gorgeous two story home where the mortgage is less than rent. It makes the monthly budget much more doable, especially with all the frequent doctor visits. It also makes it possible to give the children rooms of their own that some of them desperately need. Gabriela has space now when she is angry or having a particularly tough bipolar or odd day to cool off and be alone. Michael has space to be separate to keep his exposures to germs at a minimum and a bedroom downstairs to help his limited mobility. The house is big enough to accommodate the two wheelchairs that Michael uses. Shawna has her own room to feel normal and play princess dress up and ballernina. Joseph and Joshua enjoy sharin and playing all the things boys love to play like super heros, space and cars.

My husband and I have space to call our own and a bathroom we do not have to share. I also love the fact that there are no bugs, no ants, no spiders or rodents contaminating our new home. It is a clean healthy space.

Wow!! God gave us our new dream home. A truly miraculous event that has no other explanation than the gift from God that it was and the many angels who made it happen.

Our first housewarming gift was even an Angel nightlight.

Praise you Lord!!!

God bless you on your journey,
Jennifer Richardson

2010 - 2011

August 2011 Update for the year 2010 – 2011:

This post was originally written on September 8, 2011, but
for some reason I was never able to publish it to the blog. Hopefully, it will
this time.
The last year has been a challenge and a time of growth and
change for our entire family. In July 2010, we sold our home in Riverside CA
out of necessity and the bank’s refusal to continue to modify our loan. The losses
were big and real. The fear of having no place to go was even more real. We
prayed hard during those weeks for an answer to prayer. After being told by
family to literally go camping with our kids since we had no home, we knew God
had a better plan. With the help of many friends and with the grace of God, our
prayers were answered as we moved to a mobile home where we have been renting
since. With the goal of living within our means, increasing our means and
finding work, we started unpacking and settling in.
It was a time of pruning, cleansing, and growing a stronger
faith that the Lord indeed had a special plan for us as we let go of the old.
Some things were given to our neighbors, some to ministries for Mexico and the
poor, some to Goodwill and Salvation Army, some was sold at garage sales, and
frankly some was stolen. We practiced forgiving and trusting the Lord to heal
our losses.
In God’s grace, he helped us let go, move on, forgive, and
give thanks for the blessings we did receive. In the most amazing ways, God
showed us his love through others both friend and stranger alike.
We had Christmas December 2010 with a tree, decorations and
holiday cheer. We enjoyed Christmas movies and putting out Christmas milk and
cookies for Santa.
As the new year approached, we new taxes were coming up. With
the new law as of 2011 for adoption tax credits requiring proof and
documentation of all adopted children and receipts, we new we had a lot of work
ahead of us. We were pleased to find out after finally filing that a tax refund
was headed our way. We waited, and waited and waited for monthsw for a response
from the IRS. Did we get them everything they needed? Did we answer all the
questions right? Would they ask for more paperwork? We then sent in more
paperwork, over 100 pages to the IRS examiner. Then, we waited weeks and weeks
more praying that one day the funds would be released and sent to us. God’s
timing is always perfect, though it was hard to see why we had to wait so long.
The children have all grown. Michael grew about 4 inches on
average over the last year with the blessing of Growth Hormone to replace what
his body does not make. Now, Michael is closer to being 5 feet tall than ever
before. Height for Michael is such a celebration, especially after a diagnosis
of dwarfism and knowing how much lack of height can be a disability as well;
Praise God! Joseph grew with Growth Hormone as well, though slower. Michael and
Joseph both gained weight with the additional nutritional support of Elecare
Vanilla (an elemental formula for Eosinophilic Esophagitis) and Boost 1.5
respectively after really struggling and losing quite a bit of weight. It has
been an ongoing fight to prove medical necessity and get insurance to pay for
this expensive but life-saving treatment. Without it, both boys would be much
sicker. We were even more pleased to be able to receive the formulas in
palatable flavors such as chocolate for Joseph and Vanilla for Michael. When
authorization comes through and the formula comes, each time we can see growth
in the boys. Our doctors and nurses have become family. Sandra, a nurse at
CHOC, has made a lasting impression on us for her warmth and caring. Nurse
Practitioner’s like Ellen, and doctors like Dr. Boon and Dr. Chang among so
many others always have the best interest of our children at heart. Connie, the
greeter at the clinic entrance always takes the time to say hi and knows all
the kids by name. Jaime, our beloved lab tech, has a gentle spirit and gentle
touch every time our kids have to get stuck. He always gets it on the first
stick. Our favorite nurse is Sandra, who 3 years later, still remembers us as
we pass her in the hall. Ellen Schonfeld NP is on of our doctors and is as good
as they come.
Joshua has grown quite tall himself, and Shawna has already
grown into size 6’s even though she is only 5 years old. With her long
beautiful legs, she will be in size 7’s no doubt before she turns 6.
GabrielaEileen is tall and slender with an arm span longer than her mom’s,
which is nice when we need to reach things in high places. Both of our girls
have started growing their hair out long again, and now have it just past
shoulder length. Gabriela started back on medication to help with her own ADD,
ODD, and BPD. We have confidence in her
psychiatrist and treatment as it begins to start making a difference in her
daily activities.
We started using a new math program for school this year
which all the children love and are using (except Shawna because of her age)
called Teaching Textbooks. It is a computer based disc based program with
lectures and solutions for every individual math problem. The kids like it
because they can watch and hear and practice over and over again to master new
concepts unlike a traditional lecture based math class. We have seen all of the
kids excel.
We were finally able to get Michael a cooling vest and cooling
neck wraps to help regulate his temperatures. At least he is having less heat
related seizures and problems. Michael did start having seizures again, and we
are looking forward to talking with a new neurologist on Monday, September 12,
2011, whom we have waited literally months for. This follow up was supposed to
be for the seizure he had in February 2011. At least none have been
life-threatening, although Michael did end up in the ER with post concussive
syndrome after a bad seizure in August.
Joseph’s heart has been extremely stable and his ventricular
pressures in his heart, which are measured to determine how well his PH is
doing are on the high end of normal for a change, which is fabulous for him.
These have been the lowest for him ever). Joshua is doing very well in third
grade reading chapter books and making progress in school as well.
Shawna has decided she loves waterlemons (well watermelons
really, but that is what she calls them).
All in all, life is good. The kids all got some new clothes
and shoes since they grew. The best news of all was Scott’s new security guard
job. He is pleased to be with a company who is proving training for a security
license, and hopes to be finished with this training soon.
God bless you on your journey,
Jennifer Richardson