Play date with Anne and Sarah

Among the rest of mess they had with all of the toys on the floor. They found the stash of bubble wrap.

We met Anne and her daughter, Sarah, at the first Chinese New Year (CNY) event in Boston in January. Anne came up to me and said she thought our daughters looked very similar. We compared the girls birthdays and determined they are a couple of months apart in age. Then we found out that their finding places were within hours of each other. Their appearance may be just the particular trait of their Chinese ethnicity in that corner of China. We both discovered we were going to another CNY event the next Saturday so we could chat again then.

Roma and I attend the second event. We find our friends Kate, Rich and ZuZu and we enjoy the festivities. Roma and I bumped into Anne and Sarah. While we were talking, Kate comes up and introduces us. We told her we already met. It so happens that Anne and Kate were travel mates to meet their daughters. What a small world. I invited Anne and Sarah for a play date at our house.

During the conversation while the girls were playing on the play date we also found out that Anne and I share a birthday (not the same year). Many of you may know already that my middle name is Anne. When Anne had to change Sarah's diaper, I noticed the direction she had Sarah on the changing table. I asked if she was left-handed. That would be way too coincidental to both be left handed. Ah, but alas, she is a righty.

Does it look like Roma and Sarah had fun together?

Some more pics.

For my friend Deana

I have a friend that is fighting for her life from Burkitt's Lymphoma. Deana and I have never met in real life but I consider her a very dear friend. We met online many years ago on an adoption support bulletin board. She and her husband, Jack, adopted 2 boys domestically. In fact she was planning on coming to my house for a party back in 2006, but the birthmother from her first son had decided at the last minute that she could not parent the second child. Thus, Deana stayed home to become a mother of two.

This morning I read an update on her CaringBridge site http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/Deana (also see it pasted below) which made me realize that I need to get the word out for you all to send your prayers, positive thoughts or whatever that you do to help Deana fight this disease. If you are on Facebook and you haven't joined the FaceBook cause http://apps.facebook.com/causes/225649?m=48fc3623 , please do so to show her and her family how much we are here for her support.

Thank you,

Jacqui

I am not going to lie, this is a tough update to write, but Deana wants me to share.

Deana's OK, but we've come to another obstacle, which we WILL overcome. The doctors have not been able to isolate the viral, bacterial or fungal illness in Deana's bloodstream and she has developed respiratory failure to a point where she is now intubated. For at least the next 3-5 days, Deana will be on a ventilator (tube down her trachea) for breathing. There is a lot of fluid in Deana's lungs and her cough is pronounced and creates incredible pain for her, so the doctors advised that we intubate, allow pain medication to do its job and the antibiotics to do their job.

Deana and I spoke to our boyz this morning before the procedure. When we hung up, I kissed her, and was ushered out of the room. When I returned, Deana was unconscious but restful, with even more equipment, lines and tubing attached.

Doctors have also opted to put in a "central line" in her femoral vein (thigh) because Deana's blood pressure is just too low and her veins are not cooperative with the IV lines (for blood, platelets, and fluids) attached to her central venous catheter (CVC or PICC).

Deana will be semi-unconscious during this time. Her heart rate is very high and her blood pressure is susceptible to dropping more. Doctors are taking every precaution.

The nurse told me Deana would probably not wake up much, if at all, over the next three days. Then, just as I was about to leave the room, as the nurses were washing Deana and changing her sheets, Deana awoke. She made eye contact with me. I grasped her hand gently and told her how much I love her and I saw her try to form the same words with her lips amidst all the tubes and tape, then she closed her eyes and went back to sleep. Deana is the strongest person I know and has A LOT MORE FIGHT IN HER.

Deana and I have befriended many people at the hospital, but one stands out among the rest. He's a young CNA, in his early 20s, and has a fantastic personality. He and I laughed incessantly about one-liners in movies we both like and Deana just loved having him around (no he does not look like Sam Elliot, more like Denzel Washington).

The reason I mention George, is today was his first day working in ICU. I came up behind him and greeted him, as he was standing just outside Deana's room. He seemed to be in a mild state of shock. "Jack," he said. "She was fine a couple days ago, what's happened. This is @#$* unbelievable" I told him what occurred and he became speechless. He then told me this was his first day in ICU, and it was hard. I placed my hand on his shoulder and I told him to look to Deana for strength, and to have a great day.

Hug your family, and do it often. Thank you for your countless prayers, as they fill Deana's lungs with hope and strength. They also see me through, hour by hour.

Much love,

Jack and Deana

Play dates with TyTy

No yellow snow was injested.

This pic is cool only because the camera caught the snow splash.

He got himself with the snow in the face.

Yes, he chose to dress up with Roma's princess attire.

Now that I've been laid off my job and I've got Roma home with me 24/7. She and her bud, Tyler, from PlaySchool miss each other. Rachel and I have agreed on a trade-off. I take Tyler to my house for an all-day play date and Roma gets to have a day at PlaySchool. Here are our escapades from the past week and today.