She had a fever which spiked quickly and caused her to have a febrile seizure. It scared the living daylights out of us. There was one doctor, two nurses, and an EMT on board, and all came to help. They gave her oxygen and got her cooled down. We had three more hours to Detroit and two hours to Springfield. She was fine after about an hour and we kept her temperature down by giving her medication. I spent the rest of the time in the air with one hand on her bare back to monitor her temperature and make sure she was breathing okay.

Even though we were pretty sure the seizure was just brought on by fever, I was still a little afraid it might be altitude related. It was a long five hours for me.

When we got to Springfield we were greeted by a big group of family and friends. I took one look at them and burst into tears. I am swiping tears just remembering. It was such a joy and relief to be home!

We took Lydia to Urgent Care later that night and she just had a virus... a mere sore throat, which caused the fever, which caused the seizure. The pediatrician said that febrile seizures are fairly common in small children and most likely she will never have another one. I certainly hope not.

Lydia has absolutely blossomed since we've been home. Three weeks ago her favorite game was walking back and forth to us. As of yesterday, she is walking all over the house. She continues to enjoy solid food and is developing some favorites and not-so-favorites. Last night I gave her small pieces of pizza. At first she wasn't eating it but then it disappeared. Kyle caught her tossing it behind her back. It was smooshed between her and her seat! She jabbers a lot but I don't think it's in any language but baby. I do think she is calling Sydney something like "Didee." She roams the house yelling, "Didee, Didee." She is going to Kyle and Syd and loves to play with them but if I'm near she still prefers to be held by me.

Yesterday we discovered that Lydia is fascinated by bubble gum but is a little afraid of the bubble. She would stand about three inches from my face but when I blew a bubble she would wince and duck. Then she would laugh and come right back to see it again. Syd and I blew bubbles and laughed hysterically for about twenty minutes. As you can see, we find her very entertaining. I still think that Lydia is a little clown. She loves to laugh and make us laugh. We went to Uncle Kevin's concert this weekend and every time the audience clapped she looked surprised like, "What did I do?"

Many of you know that when Kyle went back to work on the Monday after we got home, he was laid off from his job. The reason given was that business was so poor that they couldn't afford payroll. We kind of walked around in shock and panic for the first two days. It seemed like the worst possible timing. However, we eventually came to the conclusion that while there isn't a good time to lose your job, this wasn't entirely bad timing. If it had happend before we adopted, we may not have been allowed to adopt Lydia because of income requirements. It also gave Kyle extra time to bond with Lydia and I think it really helped. Kyle did get another job similiar to what he had and started yesterday. We are very thankful and thankful for eveyone's support and prayers.

Thanks, again, for sharing our adventure. I think sharing it made it all the more fun.

Love,
Carmen, Kyle, Sydney and Lydia