Life with Lyme

You may or may not have noticed that my blog has been just a bit pitiful lately. For those of you who may be wondering why, I thought I’d provide an explanation…

I think I’ll just blame it on my sister. She and I have spent our lives doing things together—sharing a room, sharing a car, going to college together, etc., etc. Unfortunately, it seems that in recent years we have taken our sharing too far. About three years ago, she discovered she had hypothyroidism. About the same time, I found that my thyroid was also an underachiever. Thanks to God’s goodness and the wonders of modern medicine, that revelation was hardly life-changing. With periodic blood tests and a daily pill, the problem can pretty much be corrected.

Ah… but we still felt like junk. As many of you learned through Niki’s recent post, she had become quite ill and eventually discovered that Lyme disease was to blame. If you know anything about Lyme, you’re aware that overcoming it is anything but simple.

You probably know where I’m going with this by now, right?

For years, I’ve struggled with fatigue and other minor health complaints. Niki kept saying, “You have Lyme disease. You need to get tested.” [Side note: As a teen, I was bitten by a deer tick that tested positive for Lyme. A doctor prescribed a round of antibiotics as a precaution, but I was never tested to see if I'd actually been infected.]

Anyhoo, given the number of years that had passed since the tick incident, I simply didn’t think my symptoms could be connected to Lyme. “I’d be dead by now,” I reasoned. But then, my body began working harder to persuade me with muscle pain and twitches, joint pain and stiffness, mental fog and slight issues with memory, and extreme fatigue. Over the past year, I’ve had tendonitis in my arm and hand, plantar fasciitis, hip bursitis, and stubborn bronchitis. My doctor tested me for lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and a few other things, but all he discovered was that there was inflammation in my body for some unknown reason.

When I started feeling a pinprick sensation on the soles of my feet when I got out of bed in the morning, I began to suspect that Niki was right after all. The blood tests agreed.

So that’s the reason why my blog has been so lame lately. Some days or weeks are better than others, but in general, if I have enough energy to take care of Evangelle and keep the house clean, I’m doing well. As much as I would like to put more time into blogging, it’s really just better for me and my family if I go to bed instead!

Lord willing, I’ll be able to get in to see a doctor who specializes in treating Lyme disease at the beginning of the year. Until then, I’m trying to improve the way I feel with my diet (gluten & dairy free) and lots and lots of supplements.

I thought I’d write this post for two reasons:

1. To explain why my blogging will probably continue at an irregular pace
2. To let people know that Lyme disease is far more common than many doctors believe

From what I understand, Lyme mimics a number of other diseases, and as a result, people often go undiagnosed for years. I personally know around 10 people who are dealing with Lyme disease and many of them had to go through a number of trials before discovering what was making them so sick.

My general practitioner didn’t want to test me for Lyme since he believed the disease was rare, so I went through my sister’s doctor instead. Niki and I both had our testing done through IGeneX, Inc., a lab specializing in Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. 

The evil creatures

Make that 3 reasons:

3. To encourage people to take guarding against tick bites seriously!

Where my family lived in Northwest Indiana, tick bites were a common occurrence, and we thought little of them. Our feelings on the matter have changed considerably! Tick-borne illnesses are on the rise in many states, so take care of yourself and your children by watching out for the evil villains.

Learn more about guarding against tick bites HERE.

In summary, God is good, things could be much worse, and I know He’ll use this particular challenge in my life to help me trust in and rely upon Him more fully.

Evangelle Goes Bananas

Here at the Griffin household, we like to do our part to keep the banana industry in business. Evangelle loves eating bananas, lots and lots of bananas. If we discover that she doesn’t care for a particular food, all we have to do is add some banana to it, and she’ll eat it up.

Now that Evangelle has approximately 4 ½ teeth to work with, we decided to see if she was ready to progress from eating the mashed version of her favorite food to eating bananas big-girl style. As it turns out, she was ready for the challenge…

Hmmm…let’s see how this works.

 

Hey, it doesn’t fit!

 

Ok, that’s better. Open wide!

 

Wow, this is hard work!

 

Yum. Sweet success!

 

Proverbs 31-Inspired Baking

I want to be like the noble woman of Proverbs 31, I really do, but I have to admit I’ve always felt somewhat hindered by a few of her outstanding character traits. In addition to that whole early-rising thing (although Evangelle is certainly helping me in that area!), I’ve also found her business savvy to be just a tad bit intimidating.

I don’t know anything about real estate or which fields would be worth buying. I think my sad little overgrown garden serves as sufficient proof that I lack the skills necessary for planting and tending a vineyard. And although I have taken a few sewing lessons, I’m still a long way from being able to sew linen garments or sashes that anyone would be willing to buy.

But…I have discovered in recent years that I do enjoy baking and decorating cakes. Maybe I could do something Proverbs 31-ish with that?

With that thought in mind, I’ve begun taking steps to turn my hobby into a little side business (probably very little). While I worked on getting the necessary license for selling cakes from home, I gave my friends the opportunity to help me expand my cake decorating portfolio by making their cakes at cost, and a few of them were kind enough to help me out.

Here are a few photos showing the fruits of my labor… 

Birthday cake for a young man

For a grasshopper-themed baby shower

This one was just for fun so I could try some new techniques

For a 2 year-old who loves trains

For a German Chocolate lover

A special cake for the 90th birthday of a WW2 veteran

A sweet 16 cake for a young lady who enjoys music

This week, I’m excited about having the opportunity to make a wedding cake for some dear friends who are getting married this coming Saturday. It should be fun, but a wedding cake is also a big responsibility.

Prayers for my sanity will be much appreciated!

Working Out the Wobbles

Our little girl is turning into a big girl far too quickly!

Over the last couple of weeks, she’s been working on moving away from all fours to getting around on her own two feet.

Those are small steps for Evangelle, and a giant leap for the Griffins!

Anybody know where I can start buying energy in bulk?

Bathtub Beautyshop

Evangelle’s considering a new look, so we decided to work on a few options last night. What do you think?

Sleek and Sophisticated…

Kewpie Doll…

Boing! Just a little bit of everything…

 

What’s Happening in Evangelle’s World

At 15 months of age and after four months at home with us, Evangelle continues to delight Joseph and me each day with her progress. Here’s a quick update on the top news and events from her little corner of the world…  

1. She learned to say “Wow” this week. Super cute.
2. Each day she seems to become a bit more balanced when she stands up on her own. I’m pretty sure her first steps can’t be too far away.
3. Four sharp little teeth now! There’s a good-sized gap between her two top teeth. Joseph thinks it’s quite adorable and hopes it will stay there. 
4. Every day is a good day for dancing. If I’m not playing music for her, she seems perfectly happy to dance to the music in her head.
5. Speaking of music, she has recently begun “singing” along with me when I sing. I’d post a video, but that would mean you’d have to listen to me singing too. Oh, well, just trust me, it’s truly precious (her singing, I mean).  
6. She graduated to drinking from a sippy cup.
7. Sometimes when I’m lucky, she’ll voluntarily give me a kiss on the cheek.
8. Other times, she makes me laugh by giving me zrbtts instead. (See HERE if you’re unfamiliar with what a zrbtt is.)
9. She likes bugs—eating them, that is. I’ve twice discovered her chomping on the remains of some unidentifiable insect. While I try to control my gag reflex, Joseph just laughs and says it’s good protein.
10. Shoes are apparently her thing. Although she’s a total wiggleworm when I try to dress her or fix her hair, she sits completely still and eagerly points her little toes when it comes time to put her shoes on. Her papa sent her the cutest pair of Skechers last week, and as you can see, they made her feet feel very happy.  

So You Think You Can Dance?

Evangelle certainly does. All it takes is the slightest hint of music or a little drumming on the table to set her in motion.

Recently, Evangelle joined her aunt, uncle, and cousin for their nightly routine of prayer and singing before bedtime. While they provided the vocals, Evangelle decided to show off some of her moves.

I thought the result was too cute to keep to myself…

Not So Fast!

Joseph, Evangelle, and I just returned from spending one week in glorious Santa Clarita, California. I love that city for so many reasons—the tea room, the array of cupcake bakeries and coffee/tea shops, the beautiful scenery and amazing weather—but most of all, I love Santa Clarita because that’s where The Master’s College makes its home.

I’ve been working on a master’s degree in biblical counseling at Master’s for the past few years, and the summer sessions on campus are always a highlight of my year. Being able to spend a week or two at a time immersed in biblical teaching provided by godly professors and deep fellowship shared with precious friends is a great blessing and encouragement to me.

This year’s highlight was even brighter than usual since Joseph and Evangelle were able to join me for my cross-country adventure. I spent the mornings in class, then we would set out as a family each afternoon for a little sight-seeing. In spite of the upheaval caused by traveling and teething, Evangelle was a trooper and seemed to enjoy every last bit of attention my friends and fellow classmates were willing to give her. She really is quite a ham!

Throughout the week, Joseph and I kept remarking how quickly Evangelle seems to be growing. Even though we repeatedly plead with her to slow things down a bit, she continues pushing ahead to her life as a big girl. The day before we left California, she decided to commemorate our visit with two big events—the appearance of a new tooth and this…

Standing on her own for the first time!

As much as Joseph and I love having a “baby” girl, we’re also grateful to see God at work in Evangelle’s growth and development. We’re doing our best to cherish every little moment!

My Favorite Sound

While my husband was out of town on a business trip over the last few days, Evangelle and I were able to spend some quality girl time together. We made sure to fit in plenty of the usual girl stuff like dancing, shopping, drama, and a few tears.  

But most importantly, there was giggling, lots of giggling…

We’ve had much more fun around here since Evangelle finally realized that
she’s ticklish!

Evangelle’s Favorite Things

One of the fun and interesting aspects of life with Evangelle has been learning about what she does and does not enjoy. Fortunately, she has such a happy and generally easy-going disposition that after 3 months together, we’ve been pleased to find that the first list is quite a bit longer than the second. We’ll see how long that holds out.

If you have a little one, are planning to have a little one, know someone with a little one, OR if you’re planning to go and bring home one of those amazing little ones from Ethiopia (hint, hint), I thought you might enjoy seeing this list of Evangelle’s favorite things.

Food

So far, Evangelle’s diet consists mainly of fresh fruits, veggies, and oatmeal. I think she’d eat bananas all day if we’d let her, but we try to make sure she gets in a good variety from day to day. Because she experienced malnutrition in the first few months of life, I’ve been especially concerned about giving her as healthful of a diet as we possibly can to promote growth and keep her immune system strong. I’ve been incredibly grateful that so far she seems to really like healthful foods, and I’m hoping we can train her taste buds to stay that way. 

When we’re out and about, we’ve found the HappyTot line of baby food to be incredibly convenient. The squeezable pouches were perfect for travel, so we stocked up before our trip to Ethiopia. They’re all organic and contain no added sugar, and Evangelle loves all 3 of the flavors that we’ve tried. 

And, oh, my, does this girl love her HappyBaby Sweet Potato Puffs! They’re made with whole grains and sweetened only with fruit juice, so Mommy is pretty happy about her eating them too. You can find them in some grocery stores, or you can buy them in larger quantities through Amazon.

Hair & Skin

Caring for Evangelle’s hair has been surprisingly easy so far. We really like this line of organic coconut and hibiscus hair care products from Shea Moisture. The scent is amazing and may be part of the reason that I have so many people telling me that they want to eat Evangelle up.

You can find Shea Moisture products at Target and Walgreens. 

I wash Evangelle’s hair with the Shea Moisture shampoo once a week and then I do a conditioner wash halfway through the week with Bee Mine avocado cream conditioner. Another adoptive mom said that it had worked wonders on her daughter’s hair, and it seems to be working great for us too.

As you can probably tell, I’m one of those hippie moms who’s pretty concerned about keeping her daughter away from chemicals and artificial products as much as possible, so I was happy to learn that I could use coconut oil to moisturize both Evangelle’s hair and skin. We massage it into her hair once or twice a day, and we use it in place of skin lotion after her bath and before bed.

Evangelle personally recommends using it as a snack while having your hair done.

On our way to D.C. for our flight to Ethiopia, I picked up a tin of this Night Night Balm at a Cracker Barrel store, thinking it might be helpful as we transitioned Evangelle into her new sleeping schedule. It’s made from essential oils like chamomile and lavender that are supposed to have a calming and relaxing effect, and it has a very pleasant scent.

Whether it makes a difference or not with Evangelle’s sleep, I really don’t know, but I do know that she gets very happy when she sees the tin coming out before bedtime. I only use a small amount on her cheeks, neck, and chest, so one tin of Night Night Balm lasts a long time.

Headbands with large bows and flowers have become quite popular for babies in the last few years, but Joseph and I aren’t exactly fans of the kind where the embellishments are bigger than the baby’s head. I found this set of 15 crocheted headbands with smaller-sized daisies on Amazon for a good price. Unfortunately, the price has increased by $5 since I bought them, but I think it’s still a good value for the number of headbands that you get.

I enjoy having so many colors to choose from, and Evangelle seems to have taken a liking to them too. She’ll try over and over to put one on her head. She hasn’t figured out yet how to get it on, but it’s certainly cute to watch her try!

Toys

Before we brought her home, the majority of toys that I’d bought for Evangelle were soft or plush because I thought that’s what she’d prefer at her age. I was wrong. What she likes best right now are plastic or wood toys that she can use to hit together and make a lot of racket! 

She loves these stacking cups that a friend sent to her.

And she’s gotten a lot of enjoyment out of these linkable rings from Bright Starts.

Books & Music

You can check my recent post on Baby’s Hug-a-Bible and Rain for Roots for more details on why Evangelle and I like this storybook and album so much.

I hope you’ve enjoyed taking a peek at a few of Evangelle’s favorite things. Maybe a little one you know would enjoy some of them too.

Post-Adoption Report

Just when we began to enjoy a break from the adoption paperwork, the time to file our first post-adoption report has already arrived!

Each country has different requirements regarding these reports, but since we adopted from Ethiopia, we’ll need to provide annual updates until Evangelle is 18 years old with the addition of a few extra during this first year. 

The post-adoption report will include a questionnaire on Evangelle’s progress and development, a variety of photos, and a visit at our home from a social worker. Not too bad, really, when you consider how great a blessing it is for us to have Evangelle as our daughter.

As I read through the questions about her adjustment and development, I was reminded again how gracious God has been to us as a family. Evangelle has been home for just over 10 weeks now, and Joseph and I continue to be amazed by how well she is doing.

Here are a few of the milestones regarding her growth and development that we were able to share with our agency…

• Transitioned from crawling “Army style” to crawling on hands and knees
• Able to pull up to standing position with the help of furniture
• Says “dadada” and “mamama”
• Understands and responds to phrases like “Wave hello,” “Blow kisses,” and “Clap your hands”
• Mimics faces really well!
• Gained over 3 lbs.
• Two bottom teeth

And to help you better visualize it…

We definitely should have added comedic skills to the list of her strengths. =)

I just want to say again how thankful I am to each one of you who has kept our family in your prayers over the past several months.

The only explanation I can give for why Evangelle has done so well thus far is that God has obviously been hearing and answering prayer! 

Funny Face

From the time she wakes up in the morning until she pokes her little thumb into her mouth before going to sleep at night, Evangelle keeps us laughing with a nearly endless array of funny faces. I thought I’d share a few of them with you today…

We call this her scrunchy face.

And this one—the Kissy-Fishy Face

Working on her whistling skills…

Looking at Mommy through the window

Fierce or friendly?

Not sure what this one is.

So happy she could burst!

Precious Memories

When we finally laid eyes on Evangelle in April after 4 months of being apart, she was wearing a traditional Ethiopian dress which had been given to her by the staff of Acacia Village as one of her first Christmas gifts.

Although we were not allowed to take photographs of her at that time, once we returned home the following week, my extremely skilled brother-in-law Taaron Parsons, was kind enough to capture these beautiful photos of Evangelle in that special dress…

With a handmade tablecloth from Ethiopia as a backdrop,
Evangelle was ready for her photo shoot.

She is the queen of funny faces.

Showing off some of her flexibility

Her continual happiness is a wonderful gift of God!

Her eyes—so dark you can barely distinguish the pupil from the iris—draw the attention of most everyone she meets.

Our favorite photo of all—We love the daydreamy expression on her little face.

What a Wednesday!

Every week I think, “Ok, this will be the week when I can finally get back to doing regular blog posts.” Some of you may remember that Precious Adornment wasn’t originally an adoption blog, and I want to return to sharing biblical encouragement that will help inspire Christian women to live passionately for their Savior (Don’t worry though; I’ll still keep you up to date on Evangelle’s life!). But somehow in spite of my good intentions, life keeps getting in the way. 

I really thought this would be the week. I had plans to post Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, but Wednesday did everything it could to get in my way. Even though I’m late in posting this, I will not allow Wednesday’s plot against me to succeed.

The Unwelcome Relapse

Remember how I told you on Tuesday that I was recovering from bronchitis? Well, I wrote that post on Monday night, but by Tuesday afternoon I realized that I was definitely feeling worse again. The congestion and heaviness in my lungs was increasing, so I returned to see a doctor after being advised by friends that the Z-pac I’d taken probably hadn’t finished the job.

I had just returned home with a new round of stronger antibiotics for treating bronchitis when one of the friends we’d made in Ethiopia alerted me to a new concern—whooping cough. Yikes! After a trip to Ethiopia a couple years ago, she said she eventually learned that she’d brought home more than a new child; a stubborn case of “bronchitis” was later revealed to be whooping cough.

So on Wednesday, I made yet another trip to see a doctor, this time to make sure I wasn’t about to cause an outbreak of infectious disease in Western North Carolina. Joseph was out of town, so Evangelle tagged along with me. Our doctor, who is quite the character, informed me that he had the perfect boyfriend lined up for my daughter, an 11-month old Nigerian boy who was also his patient. I wasn’t sure he’d understand, so I didn’t bother to tell the doc that Evangelle has already kissed dating goodbye.

Praise the Lord, the doctor ruled out whooping cough, but said my lungs didn’t sound good. He prescribed an inhaler, told me to take the new antibiotics, and to be sure to take seriously my need for rest. I’m not sure if he’d forgotten I had a one-year old child in my arms when he mentioned that last point.

The Unexpected Eruption

I had a couple more errands to run before returning home, but since our little outing had already gobbled up Evangelle’s afternoon nap time, I decided to save the grocery shopping for another trip. By now it was nearly 5 o’clock, and I was getting hungry…just one more stop at a Chinese restaurant. Some take-out would surely simplify the remainder of my evening. Well, that’s what I thought anyway. 

Evangelle and I sat down on a bench in the entryway of the restaurant to wait for my meal, and that’s when Wednesday really got interesting. My little munchkin was sitting on my lap, drinking some water, and playing happily, when suddenly, without warning, Mt. Evangelle began to erupt. The poor girl lost every last bit of her lunch, and there we sat, both of us, with more food than I thought her little belly could even contain splattered all over our clothing, the seat, and floor.

The Unbelievable Mess

I was stunned and immobilized by the mess, so I called to request help from the woman who had taken my order. What a sweet lady she was! She brought paper towels and a trash can and even held Evangelle for me so I could attempt to clean her up without having to make more of a disaster by moving from where I sat covered in sweet potato puree. 

After 10 minutes and half a roll of paper towels later, I was apologizing my way out of the restaurant with a half-naked child in my arms, half of her clothing in a plastic bag, and the not-so-simple take-out in another bag.

Needless to say, by the time we made it home, Evangelle and I were both exhausted. After seeing that she had a normal temperature, I wanted to feed her and then lay her down closer to her actual bedtime, but her crying made it clear that the bottle and bed couldn’t wait. She slept from 6 p.m. last night until 8 a.m. this morning and awoke happy, smiley, and apparently perfectly healthy.

The Undeserved Blessings

Wednesday certainly was a doozy of a day, but I can’t help but be grateful for God’s goodness through it all. The fact that I have access to doctors and medicine in the midst of sickness, the fact that I’ve been given the opportunity to experience all the gory details of motherhood, and the fact that I’m alive and able to breathe (congested as my lungs may be) for another day are all gifts from God’s hand. Even in the wake of a wild Wednesday or any other day of the week, He is still worthy of our praise! 

Big-Time Birthday Fun

I am sorry to have disappeared for so long. About two weeks ago, I came down with a cold which quickly developed into bronchitis. A doctor prescribed antibiotics for me, but I was almost completely wiped out until this past weekend.

Shortly after I became sick, Joseph and I learned that the congestion Evangelle has been experiencing since we brought her home had moved into her lower respiratory system, and she too, was put on antibiotics. This wasn’t exactly the kind of mother/daughter experience I’d been hoping we’d share!

Praise the Lord, we are both significantly better now, and I finally had the energy to sort through and post photos from Evangelle’s recent birthday. As you might imagine, we thought her first birthday was an event well worth celebrating. So celebrate, we did!

We wanted all of Evangelle’s closest friends and family members to be there, but that would have been quite a crowd for one birthday party…so we had two birthday parties instead. =) The first with family, and the second with friends who have loved Evangelle before they ever even saw her face. It was a special time for all of us.

Here are a few of the highlights from Evangelle’s first birthday experience…

“Am I turning one already?!!” Evangelle had the chance to share a pre-birthday celebration with Uncle Taaron, Aunt Niki, & Addison at Five Guys.

Evangelle’s first 1st birthday cake – I had much grander designs in mind, but time simply wasn’t on my side.

The birthday girl in her birthday chair

Pretty excited about getting some new baby lotion!

She had no idea what it was, but she was impressed nonetheless.

So happy to be together for this special day!

Enjoying one of her gifts from Daddy & Mommy the day after the party

Cake #2: I had a bit more time to prepare for this one, so things got a little fancier – A dark chocolate cake with cherry cream cheese filling, pink ombre buttercream frosting, fondant bear topper, and reused candle =)

First Dr. Seuss book!

It’s going to take some time for her to grow into them, but I can’t wait to see Evangelle wearing these! Such a sweet gift.

Thanks for the Beanie Baby, Nana & Papa!

Evangelle had fun trying out her new pool and bathing suit. I see a lot of summer fun and sunscreen in her future.

It’s so hard to believe our baby girl is already one year old!

Every day God gives us with Evangelle is a gift, and we’re excited to see what He has planned for her future.