LAUREN LOST A TOOTH!

My girl lost her first tooth tonight! Shawn was brushing her teeth and when he pulled the toothbrush out of her mouth, the tooth was stuck in it! We did not even know it was loose! I can't believe she is old enough to lose a tooth! When did she grow up?

Anna's post-op went well. She has been cleared to eat a regular diet and we are all much happier! The doctor said her mouth looks great; we think so too! We have already scheduled her next surgery for Sept. 2. He will re-do her lip. Until then we won't have to visit the doctor at all.

Emily and Sarah are doing well too. We are trying to get school finished up. I think it is going to run later than usual since we went to China mid-year. But that's okay....we all agree that it was worth it!

Keep praying for the school meetings for Lauren's placement next year. We are still in the midst of that process and it is terribly stressful. Thank you for all your prayers!

Happy Mother's Day

What a special Mother's Day this was for me! I have my sweet Anna home. Last year I awoke sad. I knew that I had a daughter in China who didn't know a mother's love. She had no idea there was a family in Virginia already praying for her. Thank you Lord, for this precious gift of a child. What a tremendous blessing she is to us. I wonder how long I will be in awe of this miracle called adoption. I wonder how long I will watch Anna and wish I could let her birthmother know how much we love her. I wonder how many children are in China today, and throughout the world, who don't know a mother's love. Thousands of children who woke up this morning and it was just another day like all the rest. These children have never been loved the way we love our children, but they do long for it. I pray today that God fills them with a love that only He can give. And I pray for the families that will one day be traveling to get them, just as we did 2 months ago. Adopting Anna has changed my heart. It will never be the same. I hurt now for children I have never seen...and I'm glad I do. Thank you Lord for pricking my heart towards orphans. I pray you will continue to use me to make a difference in their lives.


We've had a fun week! The girls often get distracted with their new sister and I find them off playing instead of doing school work. We've found that Anna LOVES playdough. She has had a good time playing with 2 of her big sisters. Enjoy the photos....I did!
People are still asking how Lauren and Anna are doing. They are much better than they were the first morning home! : ) They still have the most fun in the bathtub. But Anna follows Lauren around the house a lot. And Lauren gave Anna an unsolicited kiss a few days ago. That was HUGE! She doesn't give those out very often, even to me! Today they sat in the rocker together and watched Dora. I'd say they are getting along just great! Happy Mother's Day to all the moms. I hope you had a good day. I had a great one. I am so thankful for the 4 little girls that God has given me. I could not feel more blessed than I do today.

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......