IEP Meeting and a Link

SEE ADDITIONAL NOTE BELOW PICTURE!
Well, it could have been better and it could have been worse. We will meet again on May 19 to continue this process. I will say, I've never been a part of a county who makes things as stressful and difficult as this one does. BUT, my girl is worth every second...take a look at this sweet face. You'd fight for her too, wouldn't you........

On another note, please visit this blog. http://wwwourchinagirl.blogspot.com/
We met this family while in China. They have an AMAZING story...absolutely amazing!!
I can't wait to see God work in this situation.
Thank you for checking in on our girls. We are having a lazy, rainy Saturday!

Follow-up with the Surgeon

We went back to the hospital today for a 1 week follow-up. Dr. Boyajian said Anna's palate looks good, he sees no holes, and really doesn't expect them at this point! Thank you God! We were so hoping that he would say that! She still has to wear the arm restraints and stay on that hated, liquid diet...but we will do it! I'm not going to mess up his artwork in Anna's mouth. Here is a picture from today of my littlest beauty. Keep praying for her to eat and for her mouth to continue to heal as well as it already has.


I've also got a Lauren prayer request...I mean, aside from the usual ones. : ) We have her annual IEP meeting at school. This is the meeting that stresses me out to no end every year! And this year it is a bigger deal than ever! Lauren turned 5 so she is supposed to go to kindergarten this fall. We don't know if that is the best thing for her right now. We will meet with a team of 9 to discuss Lauren and classroom possibilities at 1pm on Thursday. Please pray for us. Pray that God will give us a clear direction for her. We want whatever is best for Lauren and sometimes that is not clear. But we are praying that He will guide us through this process. The whole thing seriously makes me feel ill. It is this time every year that I ask myself why I'm not homeschooling her! Thanks for praying us through it! I've attached a picture of my #3 beauty too!


And so I don't leave out my big girls, they are good too. Actually, Emily has strep right now. And it came in the form of a rash instead of fever and sore throat...weird! But she tested positive for strep so she is on antibiotic for that. I was so happy (not!) to hear that it was strep...now we wait for the other 3 to get it! And of course we found all this out after sitting for 2 hours in the waiting room for Anna's appointment. So when we left our pediatrician's, I got in the car and said, "Oh Man!(Yep, too much Dora!) Emily has strep and we just sat in a packed waiting room for 2 hours! Who knows how many people we infected!" And do you know what my sweet Sarah said to make me feel better about it?? "Oh mama, don't worry! They won't know it was us that gave it to them!" Who is raising this child????
And with that, I'm going to bed!

3 Days Post-surgery

Anna continues to do well. She is tolerating the arm restraints amazingly well. She wears them all day and night and rarely even notices them. Now, the diet is a different story!! She HATES the liquid diet...... and that syringe?? She hates it even more! Today we have not even picked the syringe up! It just makes her mad to see it. She is drinking everything from an open mouth cup. Today she has had pediasure, a vanilla shake from McDonalds, and pudding mixed with half and half. Getting food in her has been a huge struggle. She is not accepting food from me very well at all. In fact, tonight she ate the pudding that I gave her and that is the first time she has taken food from me since Thursday. As far as how she is feeling....she seems to be healing nicely. She doesn't seem to be in pain. (She only cries when we try to feed her.) Her activity level is normal. We think we may be hearing some new sounds from her...no real words, of course, but we like hearing new sounds. So, prayer requests?? First, that she will do better with her food and allow me to feed her. Second, that her mouth will heal perfectly and no holes will open back up in her palate. (That is why we have a liquid diet and the arm restraints) We see her surgeon on Tuesday AM and are hoping that he will say everything looks great! I will be sure to post after that appointment. Thank you for your prayers.

Home Sweet Home

BEFORE
If you look back in there you will see the gap in her palate.


Waiting for the doctors to come get her.



Recovery Room----This was about 5 minutes after we first saw her.



Anna's crib at Children's National Medical Center



Thursday morning--Emily and Sarah came for a visit and Anna perked up considerably!



AFTER
Swinging with Mimi this afternoon


We made it home about 1pm today. Anna was happy to be here. As soon as she saw her crib she pointed to it which is her way of asking to get in. I put her in there, she rolled around for about 30 seconds, stood up and was ready to get back out. So much for that nap I was already thinking about! : ) She has acted pretty good since coming home. She definitely wants more to eat than she is able to have. I think it may be a long 21 days!! She has figured out how to get out of the arm restraints in about 30 seconds flat! We are now putting them on and then putting one of Emily's long sleeve tee-shirts over it. Works today because it is 65....I don't know what we will do on Sunday when it is 82! Any ideas? I've included pictures taken over the past 2 days....the aunts were requesting them! I haven't tried to take one of the inside of her mouth but I have looked in there. It actually looks really good. I'm not a nurse, don't like "nursey" things, but it wasn't that bad to look at. Hopefully I will be able to get a picture soon. Dr. Boyajian is an amazing surgeon. Thank you all for your prayers. Keep praying for pain management and for her to adjust to the diet and the arm restraints.

WE ARE OUTTA HERE!!

heading home.more later......

A long night....a new day

Good Morning. We all survived the night but no one got enough sleep. Anna prefers to sleep on her tummy and her respirations would slow when she got into a deep sleep. Needless to say, that kept me from sleeping at all! Around 2:30 Shawn got up to take a turn because I couldn't stay awake any longer. Anna did fine through the night. They had her IV running so she really wasn't all that thirsty. We turned it off about 6AM to help encourage her to drink more. She has tolerated both clear liquids and pediasure but they want to see her drinking more. Br. Boyajian has surgery this AM but we should see him midday. We are going to try to get her to drink a lot between now and then so he will let us go home....of course, right now she is sleeping so we have to get her to wake up first. She is definitely feeling better this AM. She has been waving to the nurses and checking out the room. We are happy to see her moving around more. I will post here when we know our discharge plans. Thanks for all your prayers. Please keep praying for pain management. We discontinued morphine and are going with tylenol with codeine now. Pray that Anna will continue to feel better and that she would drink for us.

Progress

Anna was moved to her room at 5pm. She is doing better but is still sleeping most of the time because she is still on morphine. Our plan is to get her off the morphine through the night and transition to tylenol. She has had almost 4oz. of juice through a syringe and tolerated that well. She has "no-no's" on her arms which keep her from putting her hands in her mouth. She also has packing in her mouth that they will take out in the morning. We are still expecting her to be able to go home tomorrow as long as she keeps drinking.
Mimi went home and has the big girls- all three were excited to see her. Please pray for Anna to have a restful night and to continue drinking. Thank you!!

Recovery

Let's just say that Anna was less than thrilled upon waking up in the recovery room. She seems to have calmed down a bit now. Please keep praying for her comfort. She has sutures in her mouth and tongue and is still hooked up to a bunch of monitors. Once she is more settled they can move her to a regular room. She is a feisty little girl! And I'm sure she's quite confused about what is going on. Thanks for your prayers!

She's out

The surgery is over!! Yeah!! The surgeon came out earlier than expected and said everything went well. He was able to successfully close her palate without complication. We'll be able to go back and see her as soon as she wakes up. Please pray for her pain management! We'll let you know how she's doing after we see her. Thanks for praying!!

She's out

Tubes are in

The ENT doc came out and said everything was going well. The tubes are in her ears and we expect to hear from the surgeon sometime after 2- we'll keep you posted.

Anna has been taken to surgery

Anna was taken back at 11:25. We were with her when they put her to sleep. She went to sleep very quickly and easily. We should see the ENT soon, after she puts the tubes in her ears. The palate repair should finish up around 2pm. We will post an update as soon as we can. Thank you for your prayers.

Surgery information for AnnaGrace

Anna's surgery is scheduled for 10:30AM tomorrow. We have to be at the hospital at 8:30. Anna will be able to drink a bit of apple juice before 6:30 and then cannot have anything after that. We will leave for the hospital at 7AM because it will be rush hour and the hospital is deep in the middle of DC. We can take our computer and update from the hospital so I hope to be able to get online after they take her back for surgery. The surgery itself is supposed to take 2 1/2-3 hours. We have utmost confidence in Dr. Boyajian. I have heard over and over what a gifted surgeon he is. Thank you for praying for our little girl!

Doctor Anna

Anna~preparing for tomorrow!! More details later....


In the meantime, go to this site http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ and pray for Stellan. He is currently in open heart surgery. The girls are wearing orange in honor of him and to remind us to pray.

My 4 Beauties

As of this week, I will have been the mom of 4 girls for two months. And what does a mom of 4 girls do?? She buys matching dresses, of course! I found the CUTEST dresses at Gymboree and all 4 girls can still wear their clothes. Yes, I did earn a sizeable amount in Gymbucks because of this purchase...but seriously, how long is Emily going to be willing and able to wear a dress that matches her 18 month old sister? And they do look incredibly beautiful! So expect to see these a lot this summer because I love being the mom to 4 girls and I love matching dresses!



Sarah and I took the pre-surgical tour at Children's today. It was a great tour and the hospital is very nice. We saw every step of the surgical process today so everything will be familiar on Wednesday. And I realized today that Wednesday is exactly 2 months since they put Anna in our arms! It is hard to believe she has only been with us for 2 months. I can't imagine our family without her. She is so very, very precious. Thank you for praying for her as surgery approaches. I will post an update on Tuesday night with the anticipated time for surgery.

Anna's First Trip to Woody's

Our family's first trip to Woody's with Anna Grace (yes, we have our "Tuesday Son" Ethan with us too!)



Love those ice cream kisses!!



Lauren with her mouth covered in ice cream! This is what she looks like on a Friday night, after a long week of school and therapy and no Friday nap!



Anna thinks she likes this cold stuff...maybe! I'm thinking Woody's looks like good post-surgery food!


Our big kiddos decided to entertain Anna and Lauren...and the rest of Woody's!




FINALLY! Some warm weather for us! Today was beautiful! It was 70 and sunny...and I loved it! After dinner we went to Woody's for the first time this year. Woody's is a little, hole in the wall, local ice cream place. They serve soft-serve ice cream in vanilla, chocolate, and twist. And we took 7 people and spent only $12.50! Gotta love that!! Anna is still getting used to ice cream. According to our guide in Xian, children in China are not given cold stuff to eat until they are 5 or 6. Anna sure acts like she is not used to eating really cold stuff. She likes it, but it startles her too. Everyone loved their ice cream as you can see from the pictures. Life is good. I love having four girls....have I mentioned that? : ) Yeah, maybe a couple of times! We are preparing for Anna's surgery. Only 5 more days until surgery day! I am hoping to get a few things cooked and frozen this weekend so dinnertime will be easier. The first 3 weeks after surgery are the most critical. If we get through that without her palate opening back up, we should be good. Anna will be on a liquid diet and we will only be able to feed her with a syringe...yes, for 3 weeks! Should make life interesting. But it is all worth it. Once her mouth heals we will begin speech and then the fun will start! I have a feeling when this girl starts talking she will never stop...and I can't wait to hear the things she will have to say. She is already so funny. I can't imagine what funny things she will say. Please be in prayer for her as surgery day approaches. Pray for her surgeon, Dr. Boyajian and his staff. Pray for her recovery. And pray for me to have patience during the weeks following surgery; staying at home day after day is not my thing. For those of you who know me, I know that you are shocked to hear that! : ) Thanks for all your prayers. We appreciate it more than I can say. I hope to post from the hospital to keep everyone up to date on her surgery.

He is Risen.....He is Risen Indeed!

We had a wonderful first Easter with Anna Grace. I am so thankful that she is here with our family where she can hear all about what Jesus did for her. All four girls wore Chinese silk dresses. They were such beauties. Have I said how much I LOVE having four girls???

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and that you took time to think about what Christ did for us. He is Risen...He is Risen indeed! And "because He lives I can face tomorrow" and anything that the future may hold.

Daddy and his girls!

EASTER FUN con't....

We had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard after lunch. Yes, it was COLD, as you can see from the coats! But that didn't slow the children down. Everyone had a blast racing after the eggs in the backyard. Even Lauren got in on it this year. It was a fun afternoon!

More Easter pictures

Anna with her basket


How CUTE is this child?? She is playing peekaboo from the bathroom!


Anna loved the slide in the backyard.



Our two littles checking out their eggs


Anna---trying her best to get one more piece of candy


My two littles ...check out their matching shirts....thank you Jennifer!
Emily and Sarah have one also...look at the egg hunt pictures above.

Cute pics!

My four beauties after church on Sunday.


Anna is constantly finding something to get into. The other day it was the water cooler. She walked by with a teddy bear counter in her hand. She stopped and backed up, looked at the bear and then looked at the grate that you set your cup on. It has 3 squares cut in it, just the right size for a teddy bear to go through. So, of course, she pushed it right through...and then pushed about 15 more in. And yes, I just watched and took pictures.

I find that I often let her do things for longer than I would have let my other girls do it. I think it is simply because I know she hasn't had the opportunity to explore the world like my other 3 have. She missed out on a lot of things the first 17 months of her life. So now I spend more time cleaning up her messes, but it is worth it! She is thriving and happy...and so are we!

More below!

Catching up!

Anna riding on Mommy's back at the zoo


Emily and Sarah with Jacob and Josiah


Yes, Anna is asleep! Emily took her to Lauren's bed yesterday and held her until she fell asleep! There is something to be said for having older kids to help you! She loved having Anna sleep on her as much as I do.


Anna reading her Bible that Mimi and Grandy gave her for Easter.


Anna and Emily enjoyed swinging in the front yard with Grandy and Grandma


Yep, the posts are starting to spread out! Sorry! Life has been hectic and I've not even been taking that many pictures. But I do have some that I need to share. My sister, Lisa, and her family came up last week. We had 2 jam-packed days and had lots of fun but I didn't take but 3 pictures. That stinks! But I know they got more than I did so hopefully I will have some to share soon. While they were here we went swimming, took Anna and Lauren for their check-ups at the doctor, went to the National Zoo, and watched Sarah dance in the Easter Pageant...yes, like I said, 2 jam-packed days! But it was fun! After they left we cleaned up and washed sheets because Mimi, Grandy, and Grandma came on Friday. They came to see Sarah dance in the Easter Pageant as well. And Grandma(my grandmother) hadn't met Anna either! So we had a fun weekend with them. Sarah is dancing in 10 performances at our church...yes, TEN, and she is loving it! I will take a picture of her and post it later this week.

Anna is doing FABULOUS!! She is growing (she's already gained a pound!) and learning new things every day. She signs about 6 signs and is learning new ones every day. She picks up on things so easily; we are amazed! We got a call last week that the surgeon had an opening come up on April 22 for a palate repair! So we are taking it! Anna will go in that morning and surgery is scheduled for noon. It should take 2 1/2 hours and we will hopefully only stay one night. The doctor said she will be discharged on Thursday as long as she is drinking. We've heard the first 3 weeks are tough but not unbearable. We did learn that she will not be able to use a bottle or a sippy cup during that time. That is a problem! She LOVES her bottle...you know, the one we started her on in China?! She was on a sippy at the orphanage and we put her on a bottle for attachment. Now we have to get her off of it in 2 weeks. Should be fun! : ) As her surgery date gets closer I will update more details. We feel very, very good about the doctor and I have talked to many moms so we are ready. I can't wait to hear what she has to say to us once she starts talking. I have a feeling when she starts she will never shut up! And I will love it!

I am enjoying being a mom to 4 girls so much. We have a rough patch here and there each day. Lauren and Anna are still learning to share mom's lap, Anna is learning that the world really doesn't revolve around her, Emily and Sarah are realizing that school is NOT over for the year, and I just wish it would get warm and stay warm. But my overwhelming thought, even in the middle of those rough spots, is how very, very thankful I am that we went to China. We had many people that thought we were crazy when we started this process. I mean, I do have busy days with homeschooling and taking care of Lauren. But we knew God called us to this adoption. Now Anna is home, right where she was meant to be. And not a day goes by that I don't thank God for urging us onward in the midst of the questions we were receiving. How awful to think that we might not have moved forward with our adoption after Lauren's diagnosis! I still firmly believe that when God calls you to something, He will equip you to do it. He is proving that to us each and every day. If you feel like God has placed something on your heart and it may not even make sense to the world, trust Him. Move forward in faith that He will equip you to do all that He has called you to. He won't let you down, I can promise you that! Enjoy the pictures.