In the Hospital...

Michel has been in Isolation the whole time we have been in the hospital, b/c they were unsure of whether or not he was contagious!!! Yesterday, late afternoon we got the glorious news that he is no longer isolated, all of his viral panels came back negative!! So, we aren't contagious!!! We never were...it is isn't viral!!! YAY!!! So, I guess that doesn't explain the other kiddos illnesses, but their symptoms were all very different anyway!!! Of course, anyone who thinks that they can protect their child or themselves for that matter from all the bugs and virus' that are going around, better be living in a bubble!! Our Dr. here in the hospital, said if you don't want to ever be around sick people, then you need to never leave home, you can't go to Target without exposing your child!!!

Anyway, right after we got that news, we got our first visitors...other than my mom who brought Michel and I clean clothes...

Here he is with his visitors:

Quotes that I love...

"People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will forget tomorrow, Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God, It never was between you and them anyway..." - Mother Teresa


Life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it.
-John Maxwell

Children will not remember you for the material things you provided but for the feeling that you cherished them.
-Richard L. Evans

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.
Mother Teresa

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. C.S. Lewis

Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours.
C. S. Lewis

Just a few...I am getting really bored, can you tell? Michel is sleeping now, finally. He has had a lot of pain this morning, so sleep is good!!!

Sick, Sick, Sick...

Well, we are at it again...Another sick Christmas for the Lott family. Last week, 3 days before Christmas, Mina came down with a bad case of pneumonia...which is pretty bad, b/c Mina is never, ever sick. Seriously, in the 3 years that we have had her, she has never been sick...she woke up the Tuesday before Christmas with a 106 temperature. We immediately called her pediatrician, they sent us straight over to the Children's hospital in Atlanta. They immediately got a chest x-ray and then started an IV for labs and also took urine samples, just to cover all of their bases. At the end of the day, they sent us home, with a diagnosis of...something viral. WOW, gotta love that technical diagnosis SO, we went home, it was after 9 pm at that point, so we put her straight in bed. The next morning, when she woke up, she was vomiting mucous, and couldn't stand up, she was so dizzy, she fell every time she tried. Again, seeing how Mina has never been sick, I got worried and took her back to the pediatrician. Best decision EVER. She had developed a pretty nasty pneumonia. They put her on lots of meds, and by Christmas Eve, she was feeling much better.



Here she is in the ER!!!

However, by Christmas Eve, Michel had spiked a fever. His symptoms were a little different with Mina, and because of his asthma, he develops pneumonia VERY VERY quickly. His poor little lungs can't stand any little bugs, they just give in!!! SO, he started with a very high temp, and late Christmas Eve we took him to the ER. They said there was nothing they could do, the fever was just his body fighting off something!! Just to keep an eye on him, and nebulize him every 3 hours, because he was really wheezy. So, we headed home, and started nebulizing. Christmas day he woke up feeling better, no fever, and felt good enough to open his presents...so that he did. After we opened all of Santa's presents, we went to Emory's family and then mine...I guess the long day started to get to him, by the time we got to my parents house he was soooo tired, still no fever, just worn out...Probably the 1st sign that he was developing a pneumonia. So, after a quick stop at my aunt's house we headed home and put him to bed...Saturday was great...he played, no fever, he played some more, he and Aidan shot each other with NERF guns and had a blast...but by 11pm his fever was back with a vengeance. His temp was 104.9 and it was obvious he was miserable. We gave him tylenol and motrin every 4 hours, nebulized him every 3 and by 11 pm the next night, he couldn't breathe. We rushed him to the nearest ER, his asthma was out of control. I was devastated when I walked in and the ER was packed, I mean packed. They walked us over to the peds ER dept, and there was only standing room. UGH!!! I knew we were in for a long night, b/c I had told them he was having difficulty breathing, they triaged us immediately...YAY!!! He had a 105.5 temp, 86 SPO2, and was very much out of it, he had no idea where we were, or really at one point who I was...that was very concerning. So they immediately found us a room, and got everything going, he had an IV with fluids and antibiotics and 4 liters of oxygen going within 20 minutes of us arriving, chest xray was next, it came back with a nasty picture of pneumonia...they transferred Michel by ambulance to the nearest pediatric hospital to continue being observed...they thought with a round or 2 of IV antibiotics that we might be able to go home by Monday morning. No such luck...the ER doctor immediately admitted Michel to the ACU floor, where we are still sitting. His new doctor on this floor told us to settle in for at least several days, we will see. We had many improvements overnight last night, he still has fever, but they are not near as high, PRAISE THE LORD!!! No more oxygen, he is breathing room air now!! YAY!!! No more fluids, he is adequately hydrated now. YAY!!! So, this is where we are: still very diminished lung sounds on his left, and still nasty crackly sounds on his right. That is not good, and is not improving as fast as they would have hoped!!! But, we are breathing room air, so something is getting better!! His asthma is still out of control, so he is still getting around the clock breathing treatments!!! UGH!!! Last night was the first night that we both got a decent amount of sleep. I had not slept in almost 72 hours, because I had been dealing with sick kids, and spending all my time in the ER, but last night helped a lot!! I feel much better today!!! YAY for that too!!!

Anyway, thought I would give a quick update on how things are going...it is miserable to have a sick child, but I am so thankful for my parents and in-laws who are watching the other 3 kiddos so that Emory can keep working while we are stuck here!! It's so wonderful to have family that is understanding and willing to help at the drop of a hat. My sister helped my mom so she could come see Michel and bring us some clothes, she has been calling and checking on him, even in the midst of having a pretty sick kiddo herself, my younger brother Parker, works here at the hospital, and has come by several times to love on his nephew, which Michel has LOOOVED!!! Parker has also sent by the child life specialist who brought by some toys for whenever Michel feels up to playing!!! Thanks to Parker, Michel and I are getting lots of special treatment, everyone knows Parker and they all LOOOOVE him!!! :) That is always GREAT!!!! My in-laws had the kiddos all day yesterday, and my parents kept them overnight and all day today, I feel so bad b/c they are juggling between my dads work and also a dr.'s appointment for my little bro JI!!! Again, we are so lucky to have lots of help from our family!!!



Here is Michel, disconnected from all of his wires, he is a happy, happy boy!!! A free man!!

Okay, I will update more as we have it!! I was hoping maybe we could go home today since we no longer needed the O2 and fluids, but they said probably not until tomorrow night at the earliest!! UGH!!!! Thanks for the prayers!!!

Christmas at the Lott's

I cannot believe that it is already the week of Christmas!! WOW!!! We have been so busy, I cannot believe how time flies!!! We spent this past weekend in Alabama, we went for my family Christmas. It was great...we got to spend a lot of time with my great grandmother, and my grand parents. My Great Grandmother has been really sick lately, and has taken several big spills. She is 95 years old, and this is the 1st time I have ever seen her, and thought she was starting to look old. She has never looked old, always been healthy as a horse. It was very hard to see her like that, very hard to know that at times she didn't have a clue who I was!! It broke my heart!!
Anyway, please just keep her in your prayers!!!

On a lighter note, we had a great time with our family, it is always nice to get together with our whole extended family, we always have a blast!!!

We are home now, and I feel like I have so much to do between now and Christmas day!!! But, I am sure that I will get it all done!!!

Okay...I will post more later!!!! Have a great week!!

Blog Auction....

So, one of our precious clients, has decided to have an online auction to support her upcoming adoption. They are trying to raise money, so that they can add a precious child to their family. Infertility is hard in so many ways, not only can we not have biological children, but we also have to come up with like $30k for each child we want to add to our families. Adoption is expensive, and adoptive families have to come up with creative ways to fund their adoptions. I thought this idea was GREAT!! She has many wonderful, talented friends that have donated these items to her, and now she can auction them off to you...so you are helping a family, and getting a really GREAT item all at the same time. She has all sorts of items listed...baby items, things for you, gift certificates, etc, etc, etc....

Please check out this online adoption auction!

Another day in the life of the Lott's...

Oh my...is there constant drama with this family or what!! So, Carr has cellulitis and MRSA. It is affecting a very important body part. We spent the morning at Scottish Rite, they put him on antibiotics, and if he doesn't have significant improvement by tomorrow, then we will be admitted for IV infused antibiotics. YUCK!!! So, we are praying that these abx, will knock the infection right out of him!! Poor baby, it is a very sensitive area, it hurts to walk, sit, be held, etc. In fact, I think he is most comfortable when he is sleeping, and I am not sure that he is even comfortable then! Poor guy!! Please pray for healing, pray that he will get some relief....I feel like it always one thing after another!! Other than that, we are GREAT!!!

We had 2 clients match last week, we are super excited about both of them. Each of these clients are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their little ones, both expected this month!! Both are little girls!! YAY!!! We have another 2 clients being presented today and tomorrow on situations!!! Please pray for them, we are so excited for these couples, and are anxious to know if these are the babies the Lord has planned for them!!! I will keep you posted!!!

Okay!! I hope all is well!!! More soon...

Trying to keep up...

So sorry, it is really hard to keep up with 2 blogs, a business, 3 dogs and most importantly 4 children and a hubby!!! HA!! We have had a crazy December so far. Mina turned 7 this past Saturday, pictures to come very soon!!! Emory is graduating, finally. This Wednesday is his last day of school!! YAY!!! Please pray that he can finish all of his finals quickly and painlessly!!! Carr and I have been sick for over a week, UGH!!! I cannot wait to officially feel better!! Last Wednesday, my sweet little nephew had his left ring finger CUT OFF. Yes, I said CUT OFF!!! We were at church, and another child slammed the door on his precious little finger, it actually amputated the tip of his finger. Praise the Lord they were able to sew it back on! Obviously he has been in a lot of pain, so please keep him in your prayers!! Bless his heart, he has had a rough start to December as well!!!

Work has kept me SUPER busy!! We have lots of new clients, but PRAISE THE LORD, we have also had a lot of matches!! I have gotten to know my clients so well, I adore them, it's amazing how close you can get to someone through the adoption journey!! I love my job, I feel like the Lord has blessed me with some incredible friends through this all!!! We have been able to meet several of the clients and babies that we have been able to help match, I love it!! That is the BEST part of this job, seeing these families come together!! I love to hear their stories and how they are impacting the lives of their birth mothers, and their families!!! GOD IS SO GOOD!!!

Okay, I will update pics tomorrow!!! Stay tuned!!!!