Highs and Lows

Well, let me start with the lows so that I can perk back up and include some fun pics. In the last couple of days, Fin was denied for individual health insurance and her daycare fell through. For the parents of adoptive Chinese children reading this, this is something to be aware of. Fin had a positive PPD test (for TB), but a negative x-ray. This is very common among children from China that were vaccinated against TB there; those antibodies set off the PPD test here. However, she is required to take 9 months of medicine anyway so that she can get into school. She was denied insurance coverage until she is off that medicine for 6 months... so 15 months from now. She is still under mine, so she is not without insurance, but if you want to consider options of coverage, talk with your insurance broker before you travel!

As far as the daycare, I was misinformed by someone at the daycare. The location that provides summer daycare and afterschool, only takes kids starting at 4 years, which Fin will not be until the end of September. The other location is more of a private school for pre-school age kids and they are not set up for after school only and not really for short-term either. So, she is not starting anywhere on Monday and I am not sure what I will do. I went in on Friday afternoon to turn in the remainder of my paperwork and was told all of this. My best bet for this week is to find replacement individual care and try to figure out the rest of the summer. (Her sitter of the past 2 weeks is out of town.) That has been working well. I will make some calls on Monday to try and figure this out.

Now, that is all of the bummer news. On to the fun stuff!

Friday, Fin stayed with Lorna and had a blast. They spent alot of time on the beach. She has the golden tan to prove it! They made "meatballs" in the sand and Fin sat at the water's edge and let the waves wash up to her. Lorna said she ate a big lunch and took a good nap and behaved all day. What a good girl! When I came in after work, she was happy to see me, which was nice. I don't have any pics of the day because Lorna sent her camera back to school with her daughter and I didn't think to leave mine with her.

After I (with Nancy in tow) picked up Fin and Lorna, we all went to dinner then to Lynnhaven mall for some back-to-school shopping. I guess in Fin's case, it would just be "to school"! That's right, her first day of school is a month away. I can't believe it! I was looking over her clothes this morning wondering what to send her in for that big day. Anyway, we went to Macy's first and had the most luck there. The stuff was very cheap and there were some cute things. It took all three of us to wrangle Fin, shop, and juggle purses and shopping bags. The most fun was when Fin, down to only a t-shirt and panties for sizing purposes, would take off in search of something she wanted to try on. What a sight! A half-dressed, beach-disheveled little Chinese girl streaking through the racks with a whispery blond calling out and running after her. Yeah, we appointed Lorna the designated kid-fetcher. We went to a couple of other stores without much luck and we were all pretty tired, so we called it a day... after a ride on the little electric car Fin had been eyeing. Actually, I was pretty excited. Nancy took her out to the car while I searched in Old Navy, but they came back after only a few minutes. It seems Fin wanted her mama to witness her race. Awwwwww!

Fin was fascinated by the Pink Lady:


"No way I'm starting this thing! I saw what happened to Jimmie Johnson's car last week."



"I had to do it for my fans and sponsors."


We received a great package on Friday. The kids that were in the Sunday School class Fin was in when we went home to Madisonville Presbyterian sent her cards. This was about the 3rd time she opened up the big envelope and looked over the cards. She likes taking the big stickers off and rearranging them and she REALLY likes the glitter.