Oh how wonderful are summer days! Ri had his first ice cream cone. Can you tell he loved it?

Two buddies. I think thier bond will always be strong.



Good morning! I heard Chuck growling in the garage this morning. I sent my brave Jacob out to investigate. This is what he found!



Well.. at least ELIZABETH is not the unhappy one this time! I think there is some progress. :)

Ok.. this one is just too cute for words.

I have a moment to myself, so.. let's blog!

We have been home for 12 days and I just can't seem to get more then 2 minutes at the computer without having a little one pulling or screaming at me. So I haven't been able to keep everyone posted. Hang on, I have much to write. No pictures for now, though; just thoughts.

I am confident that we are all completely over jet lag, but I am not so confident that we (or maybe I should say me) have adjusted to our new life. I have to praise God, at the top of my lungs, for His perfect timing. We came home and the kids had one day left of school. I can't imagine living life with these 2 little ones without my 4 older ones! They have been a true gift to me. Mark has been too. I am so worn out, emotionally, that it is hard for me to get it all done. Everyone has picked up the slack and pitched in watching Ri or Elizabeth. It has been a blessing for me.

Why is it so hard on me? Well.. I think it is because Elizabeth is having such a hard time adjusting. For the first week, she was just plain exhausted. To take a 2 year old out of the country and her home for 16 days, turn her night and days around .. not only once, but twice, live in 3 different hotels, travel on 7 different airplanes, and then become a little sister to a bigger/ little brother is very difficult. Her life has been turned upside down. She was exhausted. And when Elizabeth is tired, everyone knows about it and mom is the only answer to EVERY tear... and boy are there tears!!!! So, for the first week, I understood and was pretty sympathetic. Well, we are on day 12 and the tears are still very, very frequent and very, very loud and very, very long. Now, I am attributing it to her being so sick. I just can't wait until she is back to normal to see if this is ALL jealousy or just jealousy that she can't handle due to exhaution and illness.

Sick? Well, do I have a story to share with you! If you followed our blog last time, you might remember when Elizabeth officially fit into our family. You see, our family is known for not being "normal" when it comes to illnesses. In 2005, Erin lost her short term memory, Emily had meningitis, and Sam was literally staked to the ground. That kind of sums up our family perfectly. We just don't do things normal. And... as you read the blog, China was no different with Jacob literally passing out on us. So when Elizabeth seizured and we had to call the squad 3 months after she came home, we figured it was just her way of trying to offically become a Miller :)

Well, Monday was interesting and exciting. We took Ri to the adoption clinic on Friday to have him evaluated. We figured that they are very accustomed to international kids. After talking with our family doctor, he agreed it would be a good idea. They did tons of blood work (over 25 tests), stool samples, TB test, and physical evaluation and nutritionist. We scheduled an appt at Children's Hospital for a reading of his TB test, dropping off the stool samples, and an exam by a physchiatrist and hearing/vision screening. They are very thoruough. Well, over the weekend, I noticed a spot on Ri's arm. At first I wondered what it was from, then I remembered the TB (tuberculosis) test. Yikes. What I knew pointed to a positive TB test. We didn't know for sure, but were pretty confident it meant a positive. Now what? We looked up all kinds of scarey things on the internet (the internet is soooo dangerous!). All we could think of was his health (the fears of it), then we couldn't help but fear for our kids because we knew they had all shared forks/spoons/cups... all that kind of stuff, then all the people he had been in contact with. TB is highly contageous (at least that is what we read and have since found out). So, we were very, very anxious to get to the doctor and have them read the test and do a chest x-ray on him.

Monday was the day. I woke up anxiously waiting to get ot Children's for the exam. Elizabeth woke up and was enjoying her morning milk watching a video. I had taken a moment to type something on the blog (I think). I heard some funny noise and ran into the other room to discover Elizabeth in a full blown seizure. This is her 3rd episode. The first 2, I called the squad. This one, I screamed for Emily to wake up. Poor Emily! It was 6:01 in the morning and she woke up to me screaming "I need you". I saw Elizabeth through the first seizure and actually kept calm. She came out of it, but not completely with it. She screamed and screamed in pain and tightened up a lot, gasping once in a while for air and continually grinding her teeth. I called the doctors office to see if the screaming and grinding of teeth indicated anything out of the ordinary and should she be seen. They told me to go ahead and take her to the hospital. In the meantime, we had to wake up Ri and the others. She did some "mini" type seizures in my arms. Not full blown, but intense grinding of her teeth and tightening her arms and body up against me. The kids worked together and Emily and I hopped into the van (I think Ri was with us too). We headed to the hospital and she came out of it. I thought she was fine, so 10 minutes into the trip, I had Emily turn around. We drove about 2 miles or so and Elizabeth started into a mini type thing again, so we turned around. She stopped and seemed ok, so we turned back to go home. About 3-4 miles later, she started moving her body as if convulsing, only to throw up all over me and the van. Turn around again! Well, this time Emily threatened me and said she wasn't turning home. Well, after throwing up, she was fine. She seemed back to herself. So we decided that we would head home. We went back in forth simply because we knew the seizure was due to fever and we knew she would be fine. We also knew Ri's arm had to be read and we HAD to have answers about TB. I figured that we would be at Children's and if I needed Elizabeth seen, I would do it then. Just as we decided to go to Children's instead of our hospital (Childrens is an hour drive), Elizabeth literally closed her eyes and fell against me. Now we sat trying to figure out if she passed out or just collapsed in exhaustion from the seizure. Poor Emily. I was making my 16 year old help me make decisions on Elizabeth's health. Poor thing! Well, I was pretty confidetn it was tiredness, so we went home. We got home, I changed clothes and we headed for Children's. My 16 years old driver at the wheel, and me dangerously holding Elizabeth for fear of her seizuring again. We headed into Columbus rush hour traffic.... again.. poor Emily! It was a very crazy morning. ON the way, Elizabeth woke up, threw up on me again, and then fell back to sleep. She woke up happy when we hit the hospital. You would have never known anything had happened.

Once at the doctors, Ri was confirmed to have a positive TB. We were then sent to x-ray. God is so faithful. We had been praying that his TB would not be the disease and not in his chest. We were so fearful of having exposed so many people. Our precious son has TB in what is called the latent stage. He is NOT contageous. It is the infeciton and not the disease. Someone who has the disease has probably coughed on him and infected him. God answered our prayers. Ri is safe and so is everyone else who has loved him already! He now has to take 9 months of medication in order to make sure that the infection never becomes the disease. It will be a long 9 months, but oh how thankful I am for the medicine and that we have adopted him. I sat back and thought of what would happen to ourlittle guy if he was still in the orphanage. Would it ever had been discovered? Would he ever have been treated? Or, would it have become the full blown disease and his life be taken? God is so good. I praise Him!

Well, since I began this blog, Elizabeth has woke up and screamed for 45 minutes. She has finally fallen asleep again. Please pray for her. After Ri's appointement, we took her into the Dr. Each time, in the past, when she has gotten a cold and/or seizured, it has become pneumonia within 2 days. I was trying to catch it before it headed that direction. But, Monday, she checked out just fine. Today, we were back at the doctors. She has mucuous in her lungs and appears to have bronchitis. Poor thing. The past month has been tough on her little body.

I need to sign off for now. Pray for Emily. She is whitewater rafting tomorrow with her youth group. This mama has a tough time knowing her daughter is on a raging river! She is in His hands, but, admittedly, I will rest better when she is in mine :). I can see mine, though I KNOW His are the only ones that are strong!

After an exhausting day, we decided to go on a hike through our woods to visit some good friends. Mark thought the little ones would enjoy a ride in the wheel barrel. He amazes me sometimes. He pushed that thing all through the woods, over logs, through briars, through the field... telling Ri and Elizabeth they were going through a jungle. They loved it, Elizabeth giggled most of the way while Ri wasn't completely sure of it all. They were so cute riding in it. I didn't have my camera, but I had my cell phone. It amazes me how decent the pictures turned out. I need to remember to use it more often.

The last picture is of the two just after the hike through the woods... or should I say the "ride" through the woods. They were full of little burrs and lots of sweat, so Elizabeth took the liberty of fanning off Ri. It was adorable!

I feel like we've been home so much longer then 8 days! We have our nights and days back, but by the end of the day we are pretty tuckered out. I have to admit, though, it may have nothing to do with jet lag. I may just be tuckered out because of running after TWO toddlers!
When we knew these 2 would be virtual twins, most people responded with sympathy and questions like "how are you going to do it?" and giggles about how tired I would be. Inside, I thought they were all crazy. I had had 4 biological children in 5 years! There is no way it could be tougher then that! THe thing is, I forgot to take into account that I am 11 years older!! Not to mention I now have 3 teenagers and a preteen to boot! I don't know which takes its toll more... 11 years older or the teenagers! :) Either way, my body is telling me that I am tired. I am sure hoping it is still jet lag. I am very, very blessed though with my children and my husband. ALL of them pitch in ALL the time to help with the little ones or with picking up around the house. I can't imagine doing this without them.
So... how are the kids doing? Well, Ri is doing incredible. It is as if he has always been with us. He is an amazing sleeper! He goes to bed very easily and sleeps completely through the night. Often he sleeps 11 hours at night. He also take a power nap in the afternoon. It is incredible. He has adjusted to the animals and has even mustered the courage to pet our dog, Chuck. The other day I walked into the kitchen and found him sitting on the cat and playing with her head. It was a very funny sight. We have the BEST cat in the world! She lets the little ones carry her around anywhere and do anything to her. Keep in mind, Ri was terrified of the cat when we first came home. Now he squeals and chases her. Very cute! He is potty trained but still wears diapers at night. He still has loose stool, so he is being checked for parasites, ovum, bacteria, and viral stuff to locate what the reason is. He eats fairly well. He has slowed down on his eating quite a bit since we got home. But if you have gerber puffs around... look out! He loves those as well as cheerios. He is still Daddy's boy, but Mom is quickly rising to the top. As much as I want to hit the top of his list, it is so much easier on me to be just plain 2nd. Elizabeth has me so high on her list with the next person being far down the ladder... I just can't imagine dealing with 2 clingy toddlers. Ri, though, I don't think will be clingy and terrified like Elizabeth. He seems so much more calmer and accepting. But, I have noticed that he is becoming jealous of Elizabeth. There are more and more times when he screams to be held when she is in one of our arms.

It thrills me to hear from those of you who were anxiously awaiting to hear we arrived home. I will attempt to keep the blog updated often. I know how much I enjoy following those who are home too.

I think we are on the final stages of jet lag. At least, we have our nights and days back. We are still feeling the effects, but it is better everyday. I am so thankful. Ri is a very, very good sleeper. He goes to bed easily and generally sleeps through the night. Elizabeth has slept hard the last 2 nights. It has been so nice.

So.. how are Elizabeth and Ri adjusting? Well, Ri is doing wonderfully. He is full of smiles and giggles often. He has a temper and he loves to throw anything in his hands. We have to work on those things, but boy is he a sweet natured boy! Elizabeth is dealing with the effects of exhaustion. For the first time ever, I heard the words "my mommy" out of her.

Hang on.. my little girl needs some attention right now.

We made it home! We arrived in LAX airport around 5:15 Thursday evening to a wonderful welcoming home party! What a site it was to see the Masyrs and the Lennards holding banners and balloons and cheering as we arrived. They whisked us out of the airport and took us for pizza and even had a cake made for us. It was so much fun to spend time with them again! It made the previous 20 hours of flying seem like nothing! It was great seeing all the kids together again and meeting Colton and Carson for the first time. I couldn't believe how much Cheyenne and Faith had grown! Oh how I wish we all lived closer together.

Elizabeth and Ri both did wonderful on the plane rides home. The other 4 kids amazed me. They were right there filling in to help Mark and I out any time we needed them! It was so great having them along. They were incredible!!! Elizabeth only had a small meltdown on one plane ride... it only lasted about 5 minutes (intense) and then about 10 minutes of whimpering. She was such a big girl. We finally arrived home at 7:07. Our plane in LAX was delayed an hour and a half, so we arrived later then expected. We arrived home with Mamaw, Papaw, and Uncle Paul ready to embrace us all. Aunt Susan came as we were getting our luggage. How wonderful it was to see them. We discovered that they had been hard at work while we were gone. They mowed our yard, shampood our carpets in our house and our vehicles, washed and waxed both vehicles, filled up our gas tanks, power washed our garage and our porch and the front of our home, and filled our refrigerator with food. We were blown away. They constantly amaze me at their generosity and their love!

Ri was reserved, but not completely afraid. When we got home, Mark took him for a walk around the house. When he got inside, he ran around and giggled and smiled all morning. He and Elizabeth have played a lot. He seems to love it here, though he is terrified of our dog and our cat. Today, he seemed to get a little brave with the cat and even walked up to it and played near her. Mark took him for a walk in the woods. It is something Mark loves to do with the kids. But as soon as they got into the woods, Ri became terrified. It was the first time Mark had really seen fear in him. It made us wonder why. But today, Mark was able to take him for a walk and Ri seemed to enjoy it. As we were walking outside this evening, we heard an owl. Ri kept pointing in the direction of the owl as if he wanted to go search it out. That is one of Mark and Elizabeth's favorite things to do.

As for Elizabeth, she is still wonderful with Ri. But... she is exhausted and out of her mind. She has had more meltdowns since we got home then she has in the past 2-3 months! The meltdowns are very intense and she literally is "out of her mind". They last a good 1/2 hour to an hour with no break in her intensity. She is just plain exhausted. Please pray for her as she tried to adjust... again... to the 12 hour time change.

We are so thankful for our friends and our family. We are blessed beyond words!

As much as I am excited to get home, I am very sad to leave China. This trip has been wonderful. We have seen much. It has been such a joy to walk around the streets of China. I have been amazed at how safe we feel. It has been great for the kids. The experiences they have had will help mold who they are. They have become quite the travelers.

Yes, Emily still feels like she is to teach English here. I am glad to hear that. But as mom, I do not like the thought of my baby living in some of the areas I have seen. I looked hard at some of the housing and it made me quite fearful for her. She will be giving up much to serve the Lord if she is called to come here. Praise God for I know that if He calls her, she will be happy and safe.

Jacob is good. Mamaw - the smiling picture is for you! Ri is leaving his birth country today. It makes me very sad. As much as we hope to allow Elizabeth and Ri to remember their heritage, I know it is impossible to give them what they need to remember it. I have watched Elizabeth while we are here. It is a foreign country to her.

Well, we leave the hotel in 4 hours. I have much to do. We will by flying out of Guangzhou heading to Beijing at 12:50 today. We then catch a flight in Beijing at 8:30 for LA. We land in LA at 5:45 and get to visit with our dear friends who adopted with us last time. I can't wait to see them all! Then we catch a flight at 10:50 LA time and arrive at our airport at 6:14 am on Friday morning (Ohio time).

I can't wait to see everyone! Thanks for following our journey. PLease pray for us as we make this next leg of travel. We will arrive home in 36 hours!

Jacob - putting a little scare into our life.

I think about life a lot these days. Ri and Elizabeth remind me of how we take life for granted and all that we have for granted. Today, I ponder my chilrens lives and then sit in awe that God would allow us to raise them and would give them breath every moment. I was reminded, for a brief moment, what it might be like without one of my children. I didnt like it at all!

Well, for those of you who know us, we never do anything normally. Jacob just needed to remind us of that fact. Today, he added to our memories. I have shared with you that he has been in a great deal of pain. This morning, not much changed. He was still pretty miserable, so he and I stayed in the hotel while the others went for a walk. Mark is simply amazing, and so are the 3 older kids. They took Ri and Elizabeth. The walk was 4 hours long! When they got back, Mark had Jacob take a warm bath to try to help him feel a little better. Then he thought that going for a walk would do him some good. The two of them left for there walk. A few minutes later Emily heard Mark screaming for me. I ran to the door and found Mark walking very fast down the hall with Jacob on his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. Mark pointed to him and said that he passed out.

My first thought was "we're in China... what do we do now?". Just as Mark started to tell me, Jacob started moving and saying something. By the time he got into our room and laid on our bed, his eyes were somewhat focused. Still... what do we do? You realize how truly alone you are when your son has just passed out in a country in which you can't speak the language and you can't find your guides name or number! You also realize that God is the only one who can help. I started cooling him off and we stood by his side until he was completely back with us. We desparately wanted to check his heart rate, but had no idea how to. I remembered that one of our "neighbors" was some kind of a doctor. I knocked on his door (before realizing the do not disturb light was on) and discovered he was a physicians assistant. He came to the conclusion that Jacob passed out because of the heat and as a result of his small pinpoint hole in his heart. By the time my heart had slowed down, I had already thought it might have been because of the warm bath.

Rewind a little bit, back to Jacob passing out. Evidently, they had gotten to the lobby (we are on the 5th floor). Jacob got out of the elevator and started walking, but then said he felt light headed. Mark headed him back to the elevator because he was beginning to look like he was swaying. In the elevator, he passed out. All the way up to the 5th floor and down 2 hallways before he woke up. (Boy is Mark strong!!). We had debated all day about whether to get Jacob seen by someone here. We found out that there is a clinic at the White Swan. After Jacob passed out, he took an hour nap. We woke him up so we could decide whether to take himthere or not. I told Sam and he said that if we didn't, he would pay for it. What a great brother! The kids were very concerned.

So... Mark, Jacob and I headed to the White Swan. All the way, Jacob seeemed a little out of it. But by the time we gotthere, he was doing better. We got to the clinic and a wonderful older Chinese doctor opened the door. 40 RMB ($6.00) later, we discovered that he passed out because his blood pressure was so low (105/54)and we had medicine to help with his other problems. We were so very thankful to have gone. As of now, our son looks like a new boy. We are pumping fluids in him to help with the low blood pressure.

As always, please continue to pray for him.