The Winner Is.....

Julie Young!!! Congrats Julie on winning the necklace and thank you for your support. Thanks to everyone that participated. Every dollar is appreciated.

Sending love & hugs to Elli,
Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna

Fundraiser Experiment...

We are having a fundraiser/giveaway on Elli's blog. If you would like to check it out - please do ;-)

Thanks,
Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna

Birthday & Pre-School...

Yesterday we celebrated Anna's 3rd birthday with a small party with her brothers and cousins. Since we are soooooo cramped in the rent house, we had it at my mom and dad's....8 kids and 10 adults - there is no way we could pull that off in our house! Thanks Momma ;-) Anyway, the kids had a good time. The gift of the night...a Cinderella light up stick...go figure? My guess is that it has Cinderella's picture on it and it looks like a mini-light saber - what could be better? Oh yeah and she loved the incredibly gaudy Cinderella pink streamer ponytail holder from my sister. Sorry if any of you have these, or like them....just not my personal taste and my sister is well aware of that. We are very basic bows, barrettes type ladies...but Anna sported it very well and yes, I will let her wear it...to the mailbox!

See what I mean?

Today was Anna's first pre-school speech session. Since she is 3, she no longer qualifies for the "in-home" therapy and is transitioning into the school system. Thankfully, the school system is working with us and allowing us to only come for speech right now. Eventually, I will let her go more but not yet...still holding this little bird in the nest.

I know that it will be beneficial for Anna to go and I WILL put her best interest ahead of mine, but she is sooo tiny and the fact that she isn't verbal yet, I am just not comfortable with it just yet. I do want her to be transitioned to go more before Elli gets home because I think it will be very good for Elli to have some time with me alone without having to compete with Anna 24/7. Then we will start transitioning Elli into Anna's class. I know that Anna has a lot of ground to cover before she starts Kindergarten and I want her to be as prepared as possible. We want her to excel to her abilities whatever that may be. We know that she is sharp, she just hasn't been able to convey what's in that cute little head of hers just yet.

Anna and I went to the school this morning for her first day. She will only be going on Tuesdays for now. She was very excited to be going solo with Momma. I don't think she understood where we were going, but she just knew she had her new backpack and Parker was at home with Daddy. We got to the school, put on her jacket, backpack and I had to snap a couple of pictures for you guys ;-) She was so excited as she was taking it all in.

Seriously, how adorable is she? This is 'one' of the moments I wanted to put her back in the car and come home...simultaneously excited for her because I knew she was excited.

No, she isn't pointing at the "Welcome to Pre-School" sign, but rather saying "light!!" She loves lights.

We walked into her class and she squealed as she remembered the room and the teacher from our IEP meeting. All the other kids were seated on a rug in the center of the room ready for a story. Anna went straight to the middle of the carpet, right in the middle of all the kids and started hopping around. The teacher introduced Anna to the other kids, who were too cute, and they all said, "Hi Anna!!!" She then started walking around the circle waving and saying, "hi" to each kid...yeah, I was swallowing pretty hard at this point. She didn't want to sit on the carpet with the other kids and the teacher let her do her own thing. She walked back to me where I was bent down on the floor and sat in my lap. "Oh no, I missed my 'slip out' moment," I thought. She started whining, laying her head on my chest. I got up on my knees where she had to lean against me, but couldn't sit in my lap. After a minute or so, she walked away and sat in a chair. They divided up into small groups and when she got her paper and crayon, it was time for me to leave my little baby all alone in a room full of strangers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my heart was ripping out of my chest...the torment!!!!!

"Hi, Hi, Hi" (wave, wave, wave).

Paper, crayons...good to go.

Okay, a little dramatic I know, but it was painful...painful. I do not like not having "supervisory control" over my kids, especially when they are tiny...did I mention how tiny she is? She wore a sweater size 24 months people...jeans - 24 months...and a diaper!!! She is a baby! I know, a 3 year old baby, but still a baby to me. But, no tears from either of us and I left.

I drove to the library and tried to get interested in a book...not thinking about her or the strong desire to constantly check my cell phone. The time passed and I was ready to go back and pick her up...hopefully finding her very happy and no evidence of tears!

I walked to the office door and there she was looking out the glass waiting for her momma! She yelled, "mama!" when I opened the door and wanted me to pick her up. Of course I obliged and the speech therapist told me she did really well...good girl! We told everyone good bye and we will do it again next week.

Growing pains are hard...on all of us!

Yeah for Anna being a big girl & for momma not making her mascara run!

Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna

Happy Birthday Anna!!!

This day is not only the day of her birth 3 years ago in China, but also the day that we were officially matched with Anna 2 years ago. We cannot imagine our life without this tiny little gift. She loves to dance, sing, jump, flip, dress up and be the center of attention. She gives some of the best "love", has the sweetest smile and is the perfect size to cuddle. She can throw a Spider-man web, fight with light sabers and wear a tiara, all at the same time. Anna is an answered prayer, a symbol of love and encouragement to keep fighting for those forgotten. She has given us more than we could ever give to her. Many, many hugs and kisses to our perfect little girl Anna Mei Yi!

Happy Birthday Anna!!

Daddy, Momma, Carter, Jacob & Parker

Smile for Elli....

Rodney holding our baby nephew Sam (my sister's baby), Me holding Anna, our sole niece Caroline (my brother's daughter), standing our nephew Jack (my sister's son), Parker, Carter, Jacob and our nephew Harris wearing the tie (my brother's son). Harris LOVES to dress up - ties, suits, the whole bit...cute!

As we were gathering pictures for our dossier, I wanted to include a picture of Rodney and I with our niece and nephews. So, Sunday after church, we gathered the wild bunch...which was a task within itself, for a photo. Just think in a few months, there will be 2 more kids in the photo! Rodney's sister is expecting (due in March) and of course Elli. Can you imagine a sleep over at my house!?!

They really are all good kids...very smart, funny and yes, spoiled rotten! I was very fortunate to grow up close to my cousins which was a rarity when I was young...now my kids are getting to grow up with their cousins and I am soooo thankful. They love to play and argue over everything! But the do love each other.

We love all our babies ;-)

Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna

Freedom....

We took Anna to her 2 week post-op visit on Wednesday. Her surgeon said that he was pleased with her healing. The sutures are dissolving and the tissue is "holding". The areas along her gum line are filling back in and he said we could lose the "no nos"!!! Freedom!!!!

Anna is still getting used to actually being able to bend her elbows. She will bring me her sippy cup for a drink and I tell her to do it herself. She gets a sheepish grin, remembering that she can. Anna is now able to eat normally and is she ever. The first evening, she was eating chips, crackers, cookies, pop-tarts...her favorite snacks. Anna is just like her momma; she loves her carbs!

We won't know exactly if and when Anna will need additional palate surgery. When Anna is about 5, we will be able to "hear" if Anna will need more surgery. For the next 2 years we will be working feverishly on her speech therapy and praying that she will require no more palate reconstruction.

Now for an Elli update, or at least Elli's papers update, the courier took our dossier to the US State Dept. and picked it back up on Wednesday. She then carried to the Chinese Embassy and is suppose to pick it up today! She is mailing Fed-Ex and it should be delivered to me on Monday. Good news ;-)

Sending love & hugs to Elli,

Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna

My Little Energizer Bunny...

If I had just had surgery, on my mouth on Tuesday, I honestly think I would still be in the hospital begging for morphine! It honestly hurts me to see the inside of her mouth; the stitches, the gum line pulled away from her teeth, the swelling...ouch!! But, not our little Anna. She is one fierce fighter. Anna doesn't let anything keep her down for long - I have called her my little energizer bunny!


We arrived at Jewish Hospital in Louisville at 6:00 am...yeah, that's 5:00 am my time! Anna was in a good mood and hadn't begged for any food, which is not typical of her normal routine. They took us back around 6:30 to do the pre-op questioning, weighing, temp, etc. One of the nurses was giving Anna stickers, crayons, coloring books to pass the time. The nurse picked out Dora and Piglet which Anna could have cared less about. Then I noticed a Spiderman roll of stickers. I showed Anna and she of course started her Spiderman chanting. She clung to her sticker until she fell asleep on my chest. The ENT physician and her plastic surgeon both came in to see us before they took her back around 7:20. She was asleep when the nurse took her from me. She raised her head and laid it back on the nurses shoulder. She never cried or fussed...thank you God! If she had started crying, it would have been bad on all of us.


The ENT came out around 7:50 to tell us he was done and the tubes went in fine. The palatoplasty was beginning and should last around 2 hours. At 8:40 her surgeon came out and told us he was finished. He said that Anna was awake and very upset, but they were giving her something to make her rest. I of course wanted to go to the Recovery Room then, but I knew I couldn't. Around 9:15, they told me I could come back. As I walked into the room, I could hear her. The patients in the "step-down" recovery area were all looking at me with this, "oh, that poor baby" look on their faces. As I rounded the corner to go into the recovery area, she was fighting a nurse trying to hold her. There were about 5 nurses in the area trying to move the bed out of the way, putting a reclining chair in the area for me and trying to console Anna. She had the same recovery nurse as last time, who knew me immediately as I entered the room. She told Anna, "here's momma, here's your momma."

Anna was bleeding some, but not as much as last time. Her face was pretty swollen and her lips were cracked at the corners. Her eyes were blank and she looked very confused. I tried to talk to her, but she was so mad at the arm restraints, the confusion and I am certain the pain. They gave her another dose of IV pain medication and it wasn't long until she was sleep on my chest. After about 45 minutes, they let Rodney come back to sit with us.

When he walked in, he started trying to talk to her. She in a pitiful little voice said, "button". Button is one of her favorite words. Rodney nodded and answered back, "button," as he pointed to the button on his shirt. He sat down and she then said, "necklace." My husband is not a terribly sentimental guy. But, when Carter was about 4 years old, made him a necklace. It is not pretty but Rodney wears it everyday without fail. It is just a black cord with six green beads and 1 yellow bead. It is one of the funny things about Rodney that makes me laugh at him but also makes me love him. It does not match his personality or his clothes for that matter. But he is faithful in wearing it. One day, he had forgotten to put it on after his shower. He came out of the bathroom and Jacob asked him where his necklace was. I think it means a lot to the boys, mainly Carter and Jacob that he wears it. Anna has since day 1 been fascinated with Rodney's necklace. When she said, "necklace" in the Recovery Room, he pulled it out from under his shirt, she raised her head and he put it on her. She then laid her head back on my chest and drifted off to sleep. She still has it on.

They clipped the tongue string, which was not a pleasant experience for anyone. During her very upset episode, she had managed to swallow the string. I had to flick the string that was at the back of her tongue where the nurse could get the scissors in to clip it. Then when she pulled the string, she had swallowed about a 10 inch string down her throat....the whole thing just wore her out. She quickly fell back asleep, hair soaked with sweat and "snubbing" during her sleep. You just want to cry for her because I am sure she just doesn't understand what has happened and why we are torturing her. Hopefully, she won't remember....she still loves me, so I guess she doesn't.

Anna's surgeon had a certain floor that he wanted Anna on, so we had to wait until someone was discharged on that floor and the room was cleaned. We were in recovery for 5 hours! It was a long time. The staff made us as comfortable as possible, but it just wasn't very private and there were other patients, who had just had surgery and I am sure feeling bad themselves wishing that the crying baby would stop. No one was rude to us at all, in fact they were all very sympathetic, but I am sure they wished their recovery period was a little more quiet.

After we got to the room, Anna and I laid in the bed and she rested pretty good beside of me as long as I was touching her. She would throw her hand up on my face or on my arm just to make sure I was still there. She wasn't interested in drinking anything and mainly wanted to sleep....so Anna slept the majority of the afternoon.

After being with Momma while groggy and grumpy, Anna is ready to play with Daddy when she is starting to feel "energized"! Notice the black cord necklace ;-)

Just 12 hours after surgery, Anna is willing to give us a sweet smile!

She rested really, really good during the night. Only waking up a few times. We kept the pain meds coming because I did not want to be playing "catch up" on pain management. If I had just had surgery, I wouldn't want to start hurting before I got my next dose. They were really good about bringing her what she needed, but not pestering. At times the night nurse would just walk to the end of the bed, ask me if everything was okay and leave. They didn't come in and check her BP every hour because she went nuts when they came rolling in the room with the BP & temp machine.

She woke up Wednesday morning in a really good mood and hungry. She ate a whole container of yogurt, half a container of chocolate pudding, drank some milk and a little bit of juice. We were discharged at 1:00 pm and headed home. We had to stop at the grocery to pick up some PediaSure and some foods that Anna could eat. We go back in one week for a post-op visit and to see if she will be ready for solid foods.

We just love this girl so much. How can you not just want to hug this sweet baby?

Last night, Anna ate some baby food (she likes it for some reason?!?!), pudding and drank some PediaSure. She slept all night and woke up this morning ready to go. She has ate 2 packets of grits...my little southern belle...PediaSure and now on a cup of milk. Anna is now running...let me repeat that, running around the house with a light saber! The swelling in her face is minimal now, her eyes aren't swollen at all now and her lips are looking pretty close to normal now. She isn't drooling very much at all and the bleeding is pretty non-existent.

This morning with a little PediaSure drool on Anna's dress & chocolate donuts on Parker's mouth, they were happy to be together again.

Anna has proven once again to be very strong. We are surprised how well she handles every obstacle that is thrown her way. She is determined and strong willed. And she does all this while being just down right gorgeous! We are so proud of our little girl and so thankful that her surgery was successful.

Happy to be home with a healthy little girl & sending love to Elli,
Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna