Catching Up: MORE doctors, Moon Festival, and More

I can't believe it's been TWO weeks since I updated. Is anyone still reading? Anyone?


I thought August was going to be very busy with school starting, but August actually breezed by pretty well. September...that's a different story. It's been good, but very busy.


Sadie has had two doctor appointments in the last two weeks. First, we went to Atlanta to see a hand surgeon there. You may know my first two experiences with surgeons weren't great. I found this doctor from someone I share a yahoo group with who also had a daughter adopted with radial club hands. I LOVED this doctor! He spent 40 minutes with Sadie and I, explained things very well, answered many questions, and was wonderful. I got some new information on Sadie's hands and specifically her bones. Some of that information is "store away in your brain" kind of info - you might need it one day, but it doesn't affect anything now and doesn't necessarily require treatment for every single thing. But good to know and things neither of our previous doctors found. He's is going to do some surgery on her hands beginning in December. It looks like three surgeries, with the first being very minor and an outpatient surgery. I'll give more details later. I really thought and prayed long and hard whether to do any surgery to her hands other than remove her floating thumb on her right hand. I think she's perfect just the way she is and I know God thinks so too! But, I feel at peace with the decision to go ahead and think this will be best for HER in the long run for several reasons.


This past week, we visited the kidney doctor at Children's. I'm glad to say that everything there checked out great. The doctor we met with was very nice, had good information, and said her kidneys worked beautifully. He wants to follow her as she grows (every year or couple of years) just to make sure her kidney that's located in the pelvic region grows as she grows so that by the time she's an adult, it can do the work of an adult kidney. But, he doesn't forsee any difficulties. He said go about our lives and just check in with him from time to time.


What else has been going on? I've been working like a crazy person at school preparing things for the next step of working on my National Board Certification. I joined a Bible Study on Wednesday nights which will be the first group I've had since I adopted Hannah. I'm very excited about that, and I figure if the girls get in bed a little late one night a week it will be okay. They love playing in the nursery there and I have missed being a part of a group at church. I will also say that while my intentions are good to read God's Word, I have realized that I do a lousy job of studying if I don't have a group holding me accountable and some kind of structure to what I'm doing.



On the "just for fun" side of things, tonight we met with several other local families to celebrate the Autumn Moon Festival (A chinese holiday). We met at a local park, had dinner, let the girls play, read a story about the moon festival, tasted chinese desserts (umm..duck yolk? Sadie liked it - I think she was the only one) and then paraded around the park in the dark with glow-necklaces and flashlights. Oh yeah, we glanced at the moon as we passed. At least the adults. I'm not sure any of the girls even looked up as they RAN around the park. They all had so much fun!

And on a different note, some of you may remember when I went to prison in March. Prison Ministry - really! Well, Kairos (the ministry I've been involved with) is holding another ministry weekend at Tutwiler Prison for Women next weekend (September 18-20). I am not directly involved this time, but I will be praying for the team, the women who will experience God's love and grace (some for the first time) and the logistics of the weekend. So actually, I AM directly involved, because that prayer support is important work. Will you please join me in praying for God's power and love to become real to the women that weekend? You can be involved too! Thanks!

Happy Birthday Hannah!!

Hannah is now 5! She's been anticipating this day for months and I think it met her expectations. She came running in my room (at 6:30!!!) this morning yelling "It's my birthday, it's my birthday, it's my birthday, I'm 5 today!!" over and over and over.... And she kept saying "today, everyone is going to celebrate ME!" We had a treasure hunt in our house for her to find her present from me. I wish I had it on video - it was priceless! She was a WILD girl..running around the house searching for clues. Then she was a WILD girl playing. I was exhausted by 8:00 a.m.!! And I was thinking that I still needed to finish cleaning a bit, needed to get the rest of the things ready for her party..and she was going CRAZY! Ah..we had a new movie we haven't seen, so it was the perfect day to pull it out. I put in Finding Nemo, and she happily watched the movie and Sadie half watched / half played (but she wasn't WILD so her playing was okay!). Ah, peace. I was able to clean, get things ready, and shower. After a few errands (including picking up her cake which was really late so we had to sit in the car and sing songs and play games while waiting), grandma and granpa arrived and she once again became WILD. She was so excited. We had lunch, then had her party. She had a gymnastics party at Head Over Heels. It was a lot of fun and she completely enjoyed every minute. Sadie loved it too. I was a little concerned that Sadie would have a hard time with Hannah opening presents. She's never been to a birthday party and I was afraid she wouldn't understand...but there was no reason to fear. Sadie was quite content with the cup of candy (party favor) provided and the discarded wrapping paper. You gotta love two year olds! It was so sweet to see all of Hannah's friends with Sadie too. They were so nuturing and caring to her. Of course, Sadie *thinks* she's as big as them and can do whatever they can do. And for the most part, she does. She impressed a couple of the other mamas with her ability to unwrap small tootsie rolls. I wasn't suprised - I knew my sweet-tooth girl would find a way to get into that candy!

Anyway, Hannah had a great day and was exhausted! It took her a total of 4 minutes to fall asleep when she finally got in the bed tonight. I can't believe she's FIVE! That's like - she's a real KID (as oppossed to toddler / preschooler)! As I was saying a thank you prayer tonight for the incredible gift I have in this spunky kid, I had to whisper a prayer for another woman on the other side of the world and wonder if she marks this day too? I know she does. How can she not? And she actually (we think) kept Hannah for four months when she was born. And at that time Hannah was relatively healthy. Even with the cleft lip and palate (which makes feeding in newborns difficult) and most likely extremely limited resources, she found a way to feed and nourish her through those first few months. She gave her life! And for that, I am extremely grateful. I pray she finds a peace in her heart today and that she knows that little baby is now thriving as a five year old. Happy Birthday sweet Hannah!

Here's a few pictures from her party:

Yes, that is a wedding dress. Hannah has been begging for one..and grandma provided one as her birthday present. She was so excited. Now she justs wants a suit for her little friend at school so they can get married! The only thing is, she hasn't let HIM know of the plan yet. details, details..

Just Have to Brag...

This is my 2 year old with no usuable thumbs cutting with scissors! She watched Hannah for a minute, then asked for the scissors and took off! Simply Amazing!

Pictures and Quick Update

All ready for kindergarten in her "adorable" outfit and sparkly shoes - that's totally why she's smiling so early in the morning!
It was a big day for Sadie too - her first day to stay without Hannah

Sitting outside her classroom waiting for the 7:45 announcement to enter

Just hanging out at home. The girls both sleep in their own beds, but *my* bed is a favorite early morning hang-out spot.

What a week! It was been a good week, but tiring. The first week is always like that. I have been back at work all week. The kids came Thursday so had two days. As far as I'm concerned, I really like my class this year. I have a sweet group of kids. Some are not too sure of this whole school thing yet, but I'm confident they'll settle in a routine quickly. Hannah has had a great two days in kindergarten. She was so confident walking off. I walked her to her classroom the first day, and let her go by herself today. Honestly, she would have been fine going by herself the first day...but *I* wanted to walk her down anyway. The first day of school she woke up and said "YEAH! I get to go to kindergarten so I can wear my new sparkly shoes and my new outfit...I'm going to be adorable!" ah..priorities..as long as you look cute, it'll be a good day. ha! :-) I haven't caught sight of her during the day yet, but a couple of my co-worker friends have and they've said when they see her, she always looks happy. I'm not suprised. She loves her teacher and has had happy stories and songs to share in the afternoons.

Sadie has done well this week as well...she had Hannah with her the first 3 days and then stayed by herself these last two days. Can I just say, it feels great to know she is with someone I trust and to know she's getting lots of attention and love during the day. Thanks stephanie! Her last two days have been a little tougher though - she's not been feeling well. After visiting our after-hours clinic it turns out she has an ear infection. But, after a couple doses of antibiotics, she seems to be feeling much better. And speaking of antibiotics..here's my public service announcement. Did y'all know Publix is giving away free antibiotics? No insurance co-pay or anything. There's only about 5 antibiotics they give away, but they are pretty common ones. Amoxicillan is one. I don't remember exactly what they all are..but they don't even ask to see your insurance card. free..really! I hope your children don't need them anytime soon..but even with good insurance (like I have), it's nice to get something free if you do.

I started this post Friday night, but I'm sure it'll be Sat. before I actually post it since the pictures are taking a while to upload...and I'm tired!

Headed towards the big K!

I know this is two posts in a row on Hannah. I have some things to update soon on Sadie too and she's doing GREAT. But, I'm just feeling all sentimental about Hannah right now I guess. In less than one week, she starts kindergarten. Kindergarten..the big K...I really didn't think it's be that big of a deal to me. She's been in the school system since she was 3 (well, really about 3 weeks before her 3rd birthday!) in the preK program. She spent this past year in the same school she'll be in for kindergarten. I really thought I'd look at it as just another grade jump. And I did until recently. But I guess this week it's hit me that she's not a preschooler anymore. Kindergarten starts the big world of "elementary school". And it is different. Class size is bigger, not as many adults per classroom, new skills, higher expectations, not as much hand-holding as we do with our little bitty ones, more independence. And you know what though? I'm really not very nervous. I feel really really good about it. I love our school. It's a wonderful place to work and I think it's a wonderful place for a five year old (almost!) to start her journey through school. I'm thrilled with her teacher this year (but to be honest - there are so many good teachers!). And you know what else? She's READY.

One thing I've been a little concerned about for kindergarten prior to this moment was her age. She will most likely be the absolute youngest child in her class. She turns 5 August 30th. The cut-off date to start K is to be 5 by September 1st. I know of many parents who choose to delay kindergarten for their children who are very young for a year. And in many cases, it's a good choice. It's a choice I might have made for Hannah if circumstances were different. But, because she was already in the PreK program at her school and because that same PreK program doesn't accept children who are old enough for kindergarten (for a good reason I might add!) AND because not working is not an option for me (my kids and I all like to eat!), my only other choice would have been to pull her out of the school and put her somewhere else for a year, then bring her back to the school. To me, that was going backwards and didn't make any sense given her situation. So, I've known basically from the time I got Hannah, that at this moment, she would go to kindergarten ready or not. But like I said, she is READY! She's a quick learner with things that involve memorization. She's known her alphabet and numbers since she was 3. She's known most of the sounds for the letters for at least 1/2 a year now. Not due to any great effort on my part - she simply absorbs and remembers things like that. This summer she learned to create rhyming words (that was tough..but she did it because she wanted to and was determined. I did not work with her - she just kept constantly..CONSTANTLY saying "do these words rhyme?") She can tell you her whole name (and her chinese name), her phone number, her address, and my name. She can write her name. She can draw and cut and glue. She can follow directions and routines (in my opinion - far more important than the academic stuff at this age anyway). She's independant with almost every self-help skill needed: bathroom, hand-washing, clothing fasteners, opening her milk carton and snack, etc.. except she can't tie shoes yet (but I also know she certainly won't be alone in that area and she has velcro tennis shoes now anyway). She loves to look at books and make up stories. She puts on "shows" at home. She knows that a clock tells you what time it is and a calendar tells you what day it is. If you would have asked me in April, what was I concerned about for her transition to kindergaren, I would have told you: social skills and language. Socially, she has seemed to lag just a bit. Understandable..but I wanted her to have more confidence, be less sensitive when things didnt' go exactly her way, and handle conflicts with peers appropriately (i.e. - without falling apart). And I've talked before how she still has concerns with speech and language.

But this summer - she has again made huge jumps forward in both of those areas. See previous post about her and her little t-ball friend...yeah, I think she can handle conflicts. She has walked down the halls of school with me all week as I've been getting my classroom ready. She stops and talks to everyone. She tells them she is in kindergarten and she can tell them exactly where her room is (it's a big school so that's quite an accomplishment! But then again, this is the kid who gives me directions to go places and tells me when to turn right and left - accurately!)
Socially, she's going to be fine. Maybe too fine - I hope she doesn't get in trouble for talking too much! Hannah knows how to answer questions that could be perceived as sensitive with confidence. Questions like: why doesn't your mommy look like you? Where is your daddy? What happened to your mouth? You know, those questions parents of adopted kids know they will have to face one day. Hannah doesn't get them a lot..but she has gotten them and she can answer them. She's compassionate and knows how to make good choices. (I'm NOT saying she always makes the right choice- but she does know how to). Language..well, she still struggles some with that. That's why she's still in speech. But it's so not a big deal. She has some weird word order sometimes and her questions skills still need fine-tuning. Sometimes she asks "how" when she means "why" or she answers "when" like it's a "where" or things like that. But with a little patience and clarification, her teacher will be able to make Hannah understand what she's asking for. (And her teacher this year will be great at that!).

Today, I had Hannah's end-of-session final conference for speech. We do it every semester so this was her summer semester conference. I was shown a report on a language sample that was done earlier this summer that measured Hannah's growth in language. And the speech student's advisor and I talked about Hannah's progress not just this summer but over the last two years. It's amazing. She is now only scoring about 6 months behind her peers in language. That means at almost 5 years old, her language ability is about that of a four and a half year old. That's HUGE! There are still some speech articulation delays..but that also has improved dramatically. In fact, I noticed this summer that I was no longer interpreting for Hannah to people we don't know. In the past, if Hannah got into a conversation with a new friend or someone who wasn't very familiar with her speech patterns, I found that I often had to interpret some of what she was saying. I'm not sure when it hit me that I hardly ever do that anymore. Even though she has errors in her speech, the majority of the time, people understand her and she can stand on her own. She also has the confidence to try again when they don't. She'll say, "no - I said...." and repeat it. Her progress is nothing short of a miracle. I mean, this is the kid who two years ago couldn't make ANY sounds except vowels, m, and w. I'm so grateful to her surgeon and cleft team, to her wonderful speech therapists she's had (she's never had a bad one! they've all been great!), her preschool teachers, and mostly I'm grateful to God for placing this incredibly spunky, persevering, determined little girl in my life and then allowing me to see His work in her. Yeah, she's ready for the big world of kindergarten! And I'm so proud of her!

Bowling and Baseball

Hannah's t-ball team had an end-of-season bowling party. They still have 2 more games (one tonight got rained out so I guess we will have two next week), but as a group we decided to skip practice this week and party instead. What fun! It was Hannah's first time to bowl and she loved it. And I have to say, watching 4 year olds bowl in general is quite entertaining. Hannah did get 1 strike during the night and was quite proud of herself. She was especially proud though of her trophy and ball her coach presented to her and to each of her teammates.

I have to tell a funny story from last week's game. Maybe you'll think it's funny, or maybe you just had to be there. At the beginning of the season, Hannah did great batting and running. She did great standing on the field too as long as the ball didn't come right by her. But the few times it did come right by her, she'd just watch it and stand still. She didn't actually TRY to get it. Well, some of the little boys on the team would of course run and grab the ball. Then, Hannah would be upset that she didn't get the ball. So, first we worked on the attitude of "It's okay if you don't get it..you're part of a team, you support your teammates, you might get it another time". Then I started telling her "It's okay if you don't get it, but if you really want to get the ball, you have to actually run towards it and not stand still". Her coach has been encouraging her in practice and in practice she's managed to get it a few times. But, that all eluded her during games until last week. Second inning (out of 3 they play) has Hannah in the outfield. Ball flies by her and she RUNS with all she has and beats 3 little boys out in getting to the ball. She grabs it, runs in, holds it up, and screams "TIME" with a HUGE grin on her face. She was quite happy with herself and decided she was going to keep going. So, during the 3rd inning, she and another little boy A. were in the infield right next to each other. I like this little boy and Hannah likes him too. They've become good buddies. But he is all boy and all about playing baseball. While their coach has been encouraging Hannah to run for the ball, he's been encouraging A. to NOT run for it all the time! He tells the kids "A. - you get the ball if it goes on this side. Hannah - you get if it goes on this side." Then to be really clear, he looks at A. again and says "do not run in front of Hannah to get the ball..if it goes over there, let her get it." Like I said, I really like this kid, but he's serious about his ball playing. He can't help it. Every single time he runs in front of Hannah to grab the ball. She's getting frustrated, wiping teary eyes, but holding it together remarkably well. And she keeps trying and he just beats her every time. Until...

The batter hits the ball, it lands in front of Hannah. She reaches for it, but A. has zoomed in too. It's on the ground, it's a struggle..hard to see who has it. Then, as A. stands up, you can see the ball is in his glove. Hannah doesn't hesitate - she reaches in his glove, pulls the ball out, thrusts it in the air, and yells "TIME!". Then she turns to A. and yells "you are not being very nice to me. Be NICE to HANNAH!". He yelled something back and they both glared at each other through rest of the inning, which was thankfully almost over by this time. Ah -nice to know she can stand up for herself when the need arises. I thought it was funny and I still chuckle thinking about it. You absolutely have to love 4 year old friendships though because who is the kid Hannah wanted to spend all her time with at the bowling party? yep..same kid. As soon as they saw each other, they hugged and ran off to play and be silly.

I have to say, when I signed Hannah up for t-ball this summer it was because she'd been asking to play baseball for a year. In her words, she wanted to "hit the ball and you watch me and say YEAH!" I hoped that she would like it and that it wouldn't be too much for her with too much pressure or focus on competition. I have to say, it was exactly what she needed this summer. It gave her something to do with her peers her age which she would have really missed this summer otherwsie. Her coaches were wonderful, her teammates were wonderful. It was a good blend of fun, learning new skills, encouragement, and challenges. It wasn't a huge time committment (which is important for ME!). It was something physical, which she NEEDS or she climbs the walls. It was just an all-around positive experience. (well except for the bugs..but hey, I can't have everything perfect!)

Photos!

Here's what we've been doing in our "free" time in between all those doctors appointments mentioned in the last post....(some of these are a few weeks old, but I guess it's been a while since I posted some pictures)

Vacation Bible School (Hannah is singing with the group at their end-of-week performance)

Riding Bikes

Practicing climbing stairs at the park

Play date with our friend Ana Claire

More t-ball practices and games (it looks like in addition to Hannah, I have another future t-ball player too!)

An after-game treat by way of the local ice-cream man

Hanging out in Auburn for a weekend (which was a little hard for me as an Alabama fan, but I managed!) Just kidding! We had a great time. We did absolutely nothing productive. Our schedule went something like this: arrive in Auburn, eat lunch, swim, nap, play, swim, play, eat supper, play, watch fireworks, eat ice-cream, go to bed, wake up, eat breakfast, play, swim, play, eat lunch, go buy bubbles at wal-mart, take a nap, blow bubbles, swim, play, eat supper, swim, play, eat ice-cream, go to bed, wake-up, eat breakfast, swim, blow bubbles, and go home! It was a perfect mini-vacation! Thanks for the invite Tricia!

Visiting the zoo for Children's Hospital's Cleft Clinic's annaul "Family Fun Day". We had fun and saw quite a few lifeline families and other adoptive families there too. Sadie enjoyed the carrosel with Carley while Hannah was more into the foam and the water. Sadie also enjoyed playing a bit of peek-a-boo with sweet little Kimmie. (We did see a few animals, but spent most of our time in the Children's zoo playing and letting the kids get wet - it was a hot day!) For lunch, we ate across the table from a family from Florida who were about to bring their little boy to Dr. Grant for surgery. He had already had surgery in Florida that did not go well and so they looked elsewhere and found Dr. Grant. It made me once again appreciate how wonderful he is! He's an amazing surgeon, but also has such a great bedside manner. And he communicates with parents and kids in plain English! As soon as Hannah saw him, she ran to him calling his name to give him a hug. She told me later "Dr. Grant is the best doctor in the world!" I think I agree.

Doctors and More

Well, if you're reading this, then you got the invite so WELCOME!
I was going to save this post for a few days and instead post some pictures of our Fourth, our play date wtih Ana Claire, and some other fun things. But, I'm having issues with my camera. Every time I connect it I get an error message..it's never happened before so who knows? Hopefully I can get it resolved soon. Until then, no pictures.

So, here's what we've been up to lately other than the fun stuff:

Let’s see: 2 Adoption clinic pediatricians, developmental specialist, family therapist, ultrasound technician, opthamalogist, audiologist, orthapedic intern, orthopedic physician , x-ray technician, occupational therapist intern, occupational therapist (three times), regular pediatrician, plus untold nurses to weigh, measure, draw blood, give shots, and provide stickers afterwards!

9 appointments with doctors or therapists (some combined multiple of the above people)

Snacks, treats, and small books and toys to keep us busy

Trips through the drive through at McDonald’s for lunch after some long mornings in clinics

A few tears, but more giggles

Well, we know our way around both Children’s South and Children’s Hospital! We have been busy the last few weeks with a variety of appointments. And these are all just for Sadie.
Besides that, I have been to the endodontist once and oral surgeon twice (once for work done, once just to check up on it). Hannah has been to the pediatrician (and was the recipient of some of the shots - those “five year old shots”) and has started back in speech therapy for a short 4 week summer session (twice a week.).

I can see the end of the tunnel though…we only have a few more appointments scheduled. Sadie goes back to the orthopedic doctor next week and the occupational therapist in a couple weeks. Hannah goes to the dentist at the end of the month and has 6 more speech sessions this month. August is FREE (well..we start back to school so it’s not exactly free..but you get the point). I have guarded the month of August with all I have, insisting no appointments in August unless someone gets actually sick. No routine or healthy kid appointments allowed - we’ll be busy enough. :-) In September Sadie has two more follow-up appointments - one at the nephrologist (that’s kidney doctor) and the geneticist. Oh yeah - I forgot, Hannah goes back to the cleft clinic sometime late October and Sadie goes back to the regular pediatrician in November and then in December is Sadie’s 6 month follow-up at the adoption clinic…and…Sadie will have a few more OT appointments this fall and Hannah will do another semester of speech probably starting late September or early October (twice a week for about 8 weeks) and….okay, who am I kidding? It’ll be a while before we’re finished. But it is slowing down now that we have most of these initial visits out of the way. Actually, I’ve already cancelled one appointment last week . It was Hannah at the adoption clinic. They usually don’t see kids after the first year, but because Hannah was still having significant delays in speech and language this time last year, they were going to evaluate her early this summer so we could come up with a plan for summer services if needed. But, for a variety of reasons, her appointment got pushed back until July. And she’s made huge progress this past year. And, she’s plugged into services already this summer. And she’s followed by speech therapists at school, at the cleft clinic, and at Univ. of Montevallo. So the poor girl has been evaluated enough. The day before her appointment, I was questioning why we were keeping this appointment when someone from the clinic called and was asking about what I was hoping to get from the visit (aren’t they great? I love that about them!) and honestly, I was like..well, nothing. I know what her needs still are regarding language and feel like we have a good handle on it and she’s getting what she needs. So, I asked what kind of assessments they were planning and when she told me, it was basically the same stuff she’s already had. So, I cancelled the appointment and they were very understanding and supportive. Sometimes, a morning spent playing outside and a visit to story time at the library are just more important than another evaluation, ya know?

Okay, back to Sadie. Her visits have been mostly good. Where do I start? Adoption Clinic - good reports. We love these people! Sadie is healthy- all her lab work came out great. She didn’t have many shots in China though so is now on a bit accelerated “catch up” shot regimen. Not so fun for her, but she’s a trooper. At our first visit the pediatrician noticed an “ear pit” on her left ear. To me, it looks like a freckle. I’d have never thought anything else about it. But, she said it could be indicative of something going on with the kidneys and so she sent Sadie for an ultrasound. Sure enough…her kidneys are sort of misplaced. Her left kidney is a pelvic kidney which just means it’s in the pelvic area and never rose to where it should be. Her right kidney is slightly higher than it should be. According to both the dr. and the technician…it likely means nothing except her kidneys are in a slightly different spot. Many people have a pelvic kidney and some don’t ever know it. All initial indications are that her kidneys are working fine as there are no symptoms of them not. But, just to be safe, they have referred us to a nephrologist to get everything checked out. We go in September. We have also been referred to a geneticist to rule out syndromes that can accompany a radial club hand. I’ve been told there are no obvious red flags that would indicate a syndrome, but that it’s always a good idea to get it checked. I agree especially now that we have the kidney thing going on in addition to the hand. That appointment is in September too. Between our first and second visits to the adoption clinic (about 5 weeks apart), Sadie gained 1.2 lbs. As she’s still less than 5% on the growth chart for her age, that was a good thing. The family therapist at the adoption clinic gave us a good report and thought Sadie was well on her way in terms of adjusting. The developmental therapist and I agreed almost completely on how Sadie was doing in her development. She’s actually a good bit delayed in many skill areas, but is already starting to make some jumps. Interestingly, she was not delayed at all in fine motor. Her use of her hands (which is supposed to be her special need!) is age appropriate at this time. It’s amazing what she can do..use a fork, spoon, take off shoes, zip and unzip, just about anything she wants really. Gross motor and language are actually the concerns right now. I see an improvement just in the time I’ve had her so I’m not too concerned. The plan is to give her lots of opportunities to move and talk! She definitely has a good role model for both of those in Hannah who loves to be moving and talking all the time! Seriously though, she’s managed to learn to climb up stairs just this week at the park…and is saying a lot more words too. Hannah, who you have to remember has had two years of speech therapy, is now taking on the role of therapist. I often catch her “playing speech” and saying “look at me. Say…ORANGE JUICE” or “say light..no, not Night..make your L sound”. It’s pretty funny! The dev. Specialist recommended we look into speech for Sadie this fall…so we will wait and see how she’s doing and then if I think she needs an extra boost, will try to get her into speech the same place Hannah goes (same day and time would be awesome! But that might take some um..sweet talking and fingers crossing!) She is also recommending a few sessions with Physical Therapy to give her a jump start. That remains to be seen if we can get in before school starts. I’m on the fence with that one..it wouldn’t hurt and insurance will probably cover it. But, I’m not sure it’s necessary at this point either with the fast progress she’s starting to make. So, if we can get a couple sessions in before school starts, fine. If not, I will probably decline and give it 6 months to see where we stand. Sadie’s audiology appointment was great - she hears just fine and there are no concerns there. Her vision appointment was okay. She tested as just a little nearsighted. He doesn’t want to do anything yet, but wants to see her back in two years and retest.

The orthopedic visit with the hand specialist was..so-so. The official diagnosis is she doesn’t have a radius in her left arm or a thumb in that hand and she has a “floating thumb” in her right hand. That official diagnosis is exactly the same as the “un-official diagnosis” I had before even going to China. It’s also the same as I could see with my own eyes. So, we all agree on that. What we don’t agree on yet is what to do about it. The dr. wants to splint her (which is where the occupational therapist comes in - we’re currently seeing her every couple weeks to make new splints for Sadie) at night for several months (maybe even up to a year) and then do surgery. She wants to do quite a bit of surgery and to be honest, I’m not convinced . I agree with a couple things she wants to do, but not everything. Basically, I want a second opinion. She didn’t really take time to answer my questions and didn’t want to spend any time with Sadie to see what she could or couldn’t do with her hands already. I don’t know a lot about hand surgery. But, I know enough to know that it’s very complicated and you have to be careful to make sure you increase function and not decrease it and I know enough to know I have a lot of questions. I feel like she’s probably a competent surgeon, but I need someone to take the time to answer the questions…so, I will be seeking a second opinion. The girls’ regular pediatrician has already given us a name and referred us to someone he knows to look at her, so I will be setting up that appointment soon. The good part of that visit came with the occupational therapist she connected me to for the splints. I agree with the splints,..they should help regardless of what surgery. The splint prevents further tightening of her hand and will actually stretch it out some without surgery. If Sadie later has the surgery on her wrist, the results from the splints should make it easier. Sadie doesn’t mind her splint and puts it on willingly at night. Although at our second visit, the OT had to make a different kind of splint because Sadie (aka Houdini) was somehow getting out of the first one in the middle of the night. I’m telling ya’ll - the things this girl can do with no thumbs is amazing!

The regular pediatrician visit was routine. Sadie did have to have a TB skin test (which is fine..it was simply a routine test for internationally adopted kids) and some shots and as I mentioned, Hannah also had shots. Other than that - no big deal. Well, medically no big deal. The visit was definitely a big deal to Hannah. Somebody PLEASE tell me their four or five year old is as dramatic as mine about shots! Sadie didn’t cry for her shots, but she had some sympathy tears for Hannah. Regardless, we survived and Hannah’s Blue Card for school has an expiration date of 2015 - so we don’t have to go through this again until she’s 12!! At that age, can’t I just drop her off and pick her up when they’re done? Just kidding! (sort of) Anyway, both girls are healthy. Hannah doesn’t go back for another year or two. Sadie goes back in four months for some of those catch-up shots. It remains to be seen how Sadie does with winter this year, but experience with Hannah is that we see our regular pediatrician less than any other professional because she almost never gets sick. I’m sure after her performance this week, the nurses are thankful that Hannah is a healthy child! :-)

So, don’t we sound busy? I’m just thankful we’ve had the summer to knock a whole lot of these appointments out. And like I said, I’m guarding my month of August! But really, despite all our visits to the doctors, it hasn’t seemed bad. We just take it one step at a time and do what we have to do that day. And then try to do something fun too. Sadie’s emotional adjustment has been great and that makes a huge difference. It makes things feel easy. I mean, who wouldn’t love a 2 year old that sleeps through the night, eats well, is pleasant and compliant mostly, who runs to you in the morning with arms outstretched saying “hug!“, whose laugh is contagious, who smiles and says “Tank oo” (thank you) every time you hand her anything, and who hasn‘t thrown a temper tantrum yet?? (maybe we’re still in the honeymoon phase…and we still have the age of 3 to get through, but I’ll enjoy her easy-going personality as long as I can)
And Hannah, well, she gets a little jealous from time to time. There’s some normal sibling rivalry stuff. She’s a bit more spirited and not quite as ..umm. ..easy-going (I like to think of it as she’s passionate!) But, when I catch her “reading” to Sadie or playing “speech” with her or I hear them giggling in the other room together (when they’re supposed to be sleeping), or when Hannah stands as tall as she can and proudly announces “SHE’S MY SISTER!” to literally everyone we see….it makes me smile and makes me so grateful that these two have each other. A few weeks ago I had put them to bed and gave Hannah instructions to “be quiet and go to sleep”. A little while later, I heard her get out of bed. I walked into her room ready to tell her to get back in bed. I stopped at her doorway just in time to see Hannah standing over Sadie’s bed, looking over her safety rail, standing on her tiptoes trying to kiss her. It was too sweet!!

So, this is probably more details than most of you wanted. I’ve had several people ask how things went with some of our appointments and I usually say “fine.” Things are fine, but the details seemed a bit much to get into with some quick conversations. So, here it is..our summer at the doctors! I myself have learned a lot through this summer about medical care. I’ve learned how much I appreciate living within close driving distance to a major children’s hospital. I’ve been reminded how much I appreciate having such good insurance. I’ve learned how wonderfully supportive and helpful many in the medical profession are. But, I’ve also learned that while they know more about technical and medical things, I know more about my kids’ personalities and functioning on a day-to-day basis. I’ve learned to listen carefully to what they all have to say, but then consider what I know to be true as well in making decisions.

Well, hopefully next time you check back, I'll have the camera thing figured out and can have some pictures up here!

Going Private

Hi friends,
I've been planning to make this blog private for quite a while now. It's nothing that anyone has said or done..in fact, everyone who has commented on the blog in real life or on the blog has been so supportive. And your support and prayers have meant so very much to me as I went through both adoptions. But, Hannah's getting old enough and aware enough now (and has a sensitive personality) that I need to be a bit more careful and selective with sharing on the internet. I don't ever want her to hear something I've shared on the blog from a friend at school or someone in the grocery store, etc. And while Sadie doesn't yet understand enough for it to effect her, one day she will. And it's a safety issue. I love all of you friends who keep up with us this way..but with it being a public blog, I never know who might be reading it and learning details of my kids. I almost did this last year, but really wanted to leave it public so friends who I might accidentally forget to include or other adopting families that I didn't know could follow our trip to China for Sadie. But, now the time has come and the only thing that has been stopping me is the task of gathering e-mails. But several friends lately have made their blogs private and inspired me to just go ahead and do it. So, my goal is to switch this to a private blog this weekend or early next week. Some of you will be getting e-mails when the switch is made inviting you to read the blog. All you have to do is go to my blog site (this same site) and you'll be prompted to add your e-mail address and then you'll be able to read it. But, I know I will miss some of you because I'm not the greatest at keeping up with e-mail addresses. So, if you'd like to continue reading, please comment on this post or send me an e-mail at DeEtte530@juno.com If you do it through the comments, don't forget to leave your e-mail address so I'll know how to add you. Thanks!

Fun at Home

Just some pics of some of our recent activities. In between t-ball and all the doctor's appointments we've seemed to have and VBS 2 weeks for Hannah (including this week) and sumatanga and the zoo and...well..anyway, we've been ATTEMPTING somewhat to spend the time we have free at home. Sadie has a need for things to be calm or at least not too overstimulating at the moment. Hannah, while calm is definately good for her too, also has a need to be BUSY. Or maybe, *I* have a need for Hannah to be busy. :-) So, we've tried to be home, but doing fun things as much as possible. Here's just a sample.

We pretended to be architects and created buildings from marshmallows and toothpicks. Hannah was very into this and did a great job.

Sadie was into this too - but as a two year old, it was in a completely different way. She was more into using the toothpick to stab the marshmallow and deposit it into her mouth!

Sadie enjoyed some afternoon painting sessions

A few days earlier, Hannah had made a clay bowl and spoon and enjoyed painting them.

Hannah's been learning to "sew" with plastic canvas. It's a slow project..maybe an all-summer project. We'll see. But, she's had a good time with it. It takes a lot of focused attention, so she's just doing one circle (or sometimes half a circle) around each time. At this rate, she'll finish in October! ha! But, she's enjoying it, it's developing good skills, and it's keeping her busy for 30 minutes in the afternoons. Definately a worthwhile project.

Sadie wanted to "sew" too. She's using a piece of cardboard wtih large holes cut out that she can push the string in and out of (a homemade lacing card). I know my school OT's will be proud that we're working on fine motor skills this summer!! :-)

These next few pictures I want my school librarian to see. She read my class and Hannah's class this really fun book last spring called Aint Gonna Paint No More. Hannah LOVED it. (So did my class) and sang it for days (it's a book but with a bit of song in it too). It's about a little boy who gets into the paints and paints his whole body...mama is not too happy! It's cute and I bought it for Hannah (through Scholastic if you're interested). Well, it totally made her day when I told her she could do that - paint her body. So, we read the book and then went outside with fingerpaints, plastic garbage bags, and paints. They started with the paintbrushes and soon ditched those to use their hands. They both LOVED it. Sadie was a bit more um..reserved..in her painting as you can see, but she laughed and smiled the whole time. Hannah went all out as you can also see. If you want to try this at home, it's so easy. The crayola washable fingerpaint comes right off with the water hose and a washcloth. Definately a fun hour...try it!

Getting ready to read the book

"I just can't STAND not to paint my HAND"

Sadie getting going...

Hannah - in full swing

Sadie - the final result

Hannah - the final result

And finally, for a less messy activity, we've been reading...a lot. I love to read. Hannah loves to look at books and be read to. Sadie likes to look at books..probably not as much, but she's 2. She's starting to really enjoy picture books. Our new rule in the car is no toys, only books (does not apply to long trips..just short around town trips). I figure they get to engage in literacy, and I get a car that's not cluttered with a million little toys. I got a plastic tub and had the girls decorate their "book box" with stickers. We then chose 10 books to put in it (wtih the idea we'll rotate them with books in the house from time to time). The box fits right between the girls' carseats. I actually stole this idea from another friend when I saw she had one in her car. The girls love looking at their books in the car and there's almost no fussing over them. It's also sweet when Hannah decides to read to Sadie. We're also doing the summer reading program at the library so we visit once a week to check out books and get logs signed and receive prizes. In addition, I'm trying something new with Hannah. I mostly still read picture books with both Hannah and Sadie, but I started wondering if Hannah could handle some simple chapter books (me reading to her..she doesn't read on her own yet). That's a big switch because the simple chapter books have very few pictures and the ones they do have are simple black and white drawings. I figure it's good for Hannah to use her imagination...and for her to practice paying attention by listening. She's GREAT at talking..we're practicing the listening. :-) Anyway, we read Stuart Little first this summer (a chapter at nap and a chapter at bedtime) and she enjoyed it. We checked out a Stuart Little movie from the library afterwards. Now, we're about a third of the way into Charlotte's Web. I'm sure we'll watch the movie of it too when we finish. I figure we may have time for one more simple chapter book before school starts. Knowing what I know now (I hadn't read either of those books since *I* was a child)- I'd probably read Charlotte's Web first if I had it to do over again. Hannah enjoyed Stuart Little because of the idea of a little mouse and all the trouble he managed to get into trying to live in a world of big people, but there were parts of it that were just over her head. (There was some humor I enjoyed however!) So far, while Charlotte's Web has some vocabularly that's new to Hannah, the actual story is not over her head (although..it does get into death a little..when the sheep tells Wilbur the pig that the farmer wants to kill him at Christmas for supper..but knowing the end of the story that it doesn't happen, I'm okay reading it with her). Well, there's your free book reviews about simple chapter books for 4-5 year olds if you're interested!

Sometimes I'll grab a book in the afternoon and sit on the couch to read for a few minutes. I used to always reserve my personal reading for when the girls were napping or in bed, but decided I wanted them to SEE me read sometimes. So, I'll sit and read for 15-20 minutes some afternoons. Hannah and Sadie are free to do what they want during this time (within reason!) Sometimes they play with their toys in the living room. But often, they'll grab books and sit with me on the couch and "read" for a while too. I love it!!

Well, I hope everyone enjoys this week. I can't believe how fast summer is flying by. Sadie had her orthopedic dr. appointment last week and this week, she goes back to the adoption clinic on Wednesday and to see an occupational therapist on Thursday. I'll post more about all that at the end of the week. I also had an appointment this morning for some minor oral surgery. I'm feeling fine and appreciate the sweet friends who helped take care of my girls and me today.

CAMP!

We had a wonderful time at Camp Sumatanga yesterday. We parked by the lake for a picnic and to throw things. Yep - that's what my two wanted to do. They threw pincecones by the trees, rocks on the gravel road and in the lake, and the ball in the grass. Then, they dug in the dirt with sticks and swirled the water around with their sticks. Hannah found a feather and amused herself for quite a while with the feather in the water. Sadie found a leaf and tried that in the water. Hannah tried to climb a tree (that wasn't meant to be climbed and I was laughing so hard!) and they ran in and out through the trees. We had planned to visit several areas of camp, but they completely amused themselves for well over an hour in this one spot. Oh, and we saw a tiny, tiny baby frog jumping in the grass. Then, we went to the playground for a few minutes and headed off to meet the group we were visiting. The junior high kids were swimming when we got there, so the kids changed into their swimsuits and lifevests and had a blast. After drying off and changing back into regular clothes, it was time for worship with the junior highs. The kids did great. It was long and loud (but completely energetic and fun for the big kids), but Hannah and Sadie hung in there despite that it was well past their bedtime. They sang a little, colored, and really behaved wonderfully. Hannah had a couple comments while I was talking, like when I said my girls were sweet, she piped up with a "yes we are!" but was mostly quiet. And how incredibly sweet was it that afterwards when they took up their offering, they said a portion of it was for Shaohannah's Hope? Thanks Holly and team for being so nice to the girls and so supportive! And for finding non-permanent markers and crayons for them to color with! ha! And thanks Jennifer for all your help - especially swimming and while I was speaking. After we were finished, I had promised the girls we would stop for a snack. I know they were getting hungry by then from all the activity. The girls were exhausted but Hannah held me to my promise. We stopped for donuts. Sadie was already asleep and never woke up, but Hannah ate hers barely before crashing! It was midnight when I dumped their dirty, tired, but happy selves in the bed. Ah - what fun! Before Hannah fell asleep, she said "Mommy! We can come back one day? I LOVE camp!"