Rattins living Coram Deo

A friend shared with me how "strange" (and scary) our decisions appear to those observing our lives. Most people are barely surviving residency and then for me to decide to adopt, to decide to adopt a child with special needs, to decide to adopt this child from the uncertainty of Liberia, to decide to start my Master's of Public Health during residency... it all seems crazy and overwhelming to the observer. But what my friend did not take into account is that God's calling on our lives will not always appear sane. Our choices are neither noble nor insane if they are what God has called us to. These choices are simply obedience to sovereign God! We are not living for life in this world, we are in fact aliens to this world and shouldn't settle down and get too comfortable because our joy is in heaven. God calls each of us to "not waste our lives" but live each day with an eternal focus. With an eternal focus, we should not only adopt a child with disabil...

Little Gracie is doing quite well keeping her glasses on and looks so cute in them too! :) She seems to be surviving Mama going back to work and is enjoying her time with Grandma and Daddy. She has been more "needy" of late, but seems to be catching on that Mama can be gone for a few hours and will come home!

We are finally settling into more of a routine - or as much of a routine as possible given that I am still on vacation. Between winter weather, nearly daily doctor's appointments to see every specialty possible, lab visits for lab work, parties, swimming therapy, and church responsibilities, this 3 year old is busy. Through the busy-ness, however, she remains focused on people and loves to spend time with her extended family with periodic huge grins, hugs, snuggles, and slobbery kisses for Mama and Daddy to reconnect in the midst of all her adoring fans. She is learning certain important lessons these days, such as: root for the winning team! Go Patriots!

Gracie decided that the New Year needed a little spice and excitement. So, shortly after 2007 rang in, she had a seizure which then lasted 2.5 hours! She had to be paralyzed and intubated and put on the ventilator and shipped down to Boston Children's Hospital. Needless to say, her family was very concerned and the trip to Boston seemed to last an eternity. At Children's, she was in the medical intensive care unit and spiked temperatures to 105.4 degrees! Poor baby! She had every test in the world done to try to find a source of her infection - nothing has come up yet except that she now has a terrible cold/bronchitis. She only stayed on the ventilator till Monday afternoon and was out of the ICU Tuesday evening. We spent the night on the neurology floor and convinced them to let us go home Wednesday evening - maybe one of the shortest stays in the history of ICU patients at Children's (per the chaplain). Those three plus days in the hospital, mostly in ICU, felt like s...

Gracie is making leaps and bounds daily - it is so rewarding and amazing to watch her develop before our very eyes! She took her first steps the other day (supported) and has been working on feeding herself snacks. She is quite bonded to us and still enjoys meeting new people as long as mama and daddy are around. She is bonding to her grandparents and aunts and uncles with still a clear sense of who her parents are. We have been so blessed by our friends and family - this child will never want for a cute outfit or fun toys while we are in the States! We even are blessed to borrow this gait trainer which will help her learn to walk "on her own" and gain some independence!

The First Rattin Family Christmas photo!