Prayers and Healing Thoughts Needed

Dear Family and Friends,
Our lives have been turned upside down in the last few days. We spent ten days in Taiwan finalizing Camille's adoption. Our trip was a wonderful adventure until the last two days.

Camille and I were bitten by a bug (probably a spider, possibly a brown recluse?). Camille's bite on the back of her head quickly became severely infected and she started having very high fevers. We went to the emergency room in Taipei where they told us she had an ear infection (despite the swollen area the size of an orange on the back of her head). Luckily we were scheduled to leave Taiwan the next day. After arriving in Okinawa we went immediatedly to the Naval Hospital where Camille was taken to the operating room. The surgeon removed the infected area from her scalp and she was placed on IV antibiotics. She was released from the hospital yesterday (Tuesday, May 30th) I also had to have the area of my bite surgically removed on Monday. A visit to the surgeon today revealed that Camille may need to return to the operating room if the healing does not progress at a quicker pace. We have had excellent care at the Naval Hospital and are grateful for the support of friends and neighbors here.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. This has been a very scary situation for us and hopefully it will all be over very soon. On a happy note, Camille's adoption will be finalized tomorrow during one last visit to the U.S. Consulate in Naha. We feel so lucky to have her as our daughter and desperatedly want to see her make a quick recovery. We are really looking forward to our upcoming move to Florida and hope to see all of you very soon.
Love,
Lucia, Adam, Noah, and Camille

Happy Mother's Day

To all of the mothers out there, those waiting and wanting to become moms, to the grandmothers, the great grandmothers, to the women who "mother" in special ways, to all of the birthmothers who gave their children life and love through adoption....I want to thank you. Thank you for the many ways you have brought joy, comfort, healing, and compassion into our crazy world.

Mothering is the most rewarding, humbling, exhausting, and exhilerating experience I have ever had. Nothing prepared me for the overwhelming rush of emotions I felt when I held my children for the first time. Nothing prepared me for the overwhelming sense of resposbility and worrry. Yet I can't imagine it any other way. On Mother's Day I celebrate my two beautiful children...I wouldn't be a mama without them. I also think about Camille's birthmother and thank her.

We will be celebrating Mother's Day by preparing to return to Taiwan to finalize Camille's adoption. We leave on Monday and will be gone for about two weeks.