Good Website for Hurricane Gustav

Here's a good website to follow the progress of Hurricanes Gustav and Hanna.....

www.myfoxhurricane.com

Please be in prayer for the people in the paths of these storms and pray that the storms will downgrade in strength!

I got "windy" tonight and put up 4 new posts. It helps me relax to "chatter" at you. Hope you enjoy reading them.

I know I talk about Esther Marie a lot but want to focus on my other three beautiful children more, so watch for upcoming blogging about all of them.

Hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

How's The Patient Doing?

Esther Marie is doing well today after the second hospital stay...but for much of the day, she was clingy and whining. (She is feeling better tonight and singing now as I write this!) She has had a slight fever, but it's less than 100. Her eating has picked up and she is drinking, but not enough yet. We are working on that. As I said in a post last night, I am exhausted...I feel like a total blob...no...a total emotional blob is a better description.

I focused on Emmie today, holding her and playing with her and that's about all...but that was what was important! I needed to make her feel secure....and hopefully, it helped. She has been laughing, which is good. Having the kids around helps...because she loves when they are here. Yesterday at the hospital when Dr. G came in to check on her, neither he nor I could get her to smile or even look up. But when Jasper walked into the room with our other kids, a huge smile exploded on her face and she lit up like a Christmas tree, squealing and jabbering away. She was SO excited to see them! Dr. G asked...so THIS is her real personality???? (laugh) Yeah!

Wonderful Miriam from our church has been emailing people to let them know what has been going on with us and letting them know how to pray. She has lined up some families who are going to bring us meals for a few days. I am still blessed by all the offers of help that we are receiving...from family, church friends, and even from a teacher at Joshua and MaryAlyce's school! I cannot say thank you enough!

Gustav = Katrina? I pray NOT!

So today is the THIRD anniversary of Katrina...hard to believe!!!! And now Gustav is moving in and then perhaps Hannah. (By the way, my Hannah is SO excited that there is a hurricane with her name...finally!)

Katrina was SO devastating to so many people and cities, not just New Orleans. I have family in both Mississippi and Louisiana who it really affected, as I'm sure many of you do. And now there is the possibility of more turmoil entering their lives. I am praying that the storm will turn away from the Gulf Coast area and will weaken. In August, we went down to the coast to visit my brother Patrick. While there, we drove around for awhile to see all the destruction that still remained. It was heart-wrenching!

So why am I talking about it now...and on this blog? Well, this new storm is hitting "close to home" already since my brother Stephen, who is in the Army National Guard in Louisiana, has already been called to active duty and sent to New Orleans! He was there for Katrina...IN the Super Dome...with the crazy crowd of people there, his life in real danger. I have read they are not opening the Dome again as a shelter...good! I am sure this brings back a lot of bad memories for Steve.

We love you, Stephen and are praying for you and thinking of you! I pray this storm will dissipate and end up being nothing...nothing like Katrina anyway! Thanks for serving our country, Stephen! You're one of our heros!

Another Blog Site?

I keep wanting to comment about all sorts of things...the Olympics, politics, the weather, nutrition, current events and just life in general....but I don't want to do it on this blog. I guess it seems like it just doesn't fit in with the family issues...since this is a blog about my family.

I am toying with the idea of starting a second blog since I enjoy it so much. So what's stopping me??? I am hung up on what the name of the blog should be! Any suggestions? Let me know what you think.

Funny...and Smart!!

Emmie was standing in the kitchen just a few minutes ago and we looked over at her and her soggy diaper had fallen down to her knees. (yeah...she is wetting good again after the dehydration!) Anyway, she smiled and knew it was funny...as she waddled along with it hanging like that. Finally she let it slide on down....blop...to the floor. She stepped out of it, picked it up, toddled over to the kitchen sink and stopped.

Jay was standing at the sink making coffee...so she put her little arm around his leg, pulled him out of the way (of course he let her) and she threw the diaper away. Next...and this was the funny part to us...she then put both hands on his legs and pushed him back up to the sink where he had been standing....funny....and what a smart girl! Jay wondered....do you think that desire to put things (or people) back in their place will stick as she gets older???? Who knows??? She's a bossy little thang!

Please pray for me!

I am totally, emotionally fried...and close to feeling that way physically as well. The surgery last week and the "emergency" this week were certainly difficult and emotional, but I got through those. I guess everything is just cumulative and the stress of it all can really wear you down when you feel under attack.

After two difficult days, we were so relieved to leave the hospital. Of course, none more than Esther Marie who was waving bye-bye quite a bit as we pulled her in the little wagon through the hallways to the elevator. She seemed to be doing fine, along with the rest of our kids, who were with us at the time. As we left the hospital, everyone seemed happy and content, so on the way home, we stopped by Sam's to pick up a few, much-needed things.

After getting home, the kids had homework to finish, Joshua needed a bath, he had a few birthday phone calls and we needed a light supper. Have you ever been running behind and looked up at the clock only to wonder where the time has gone? Well, this was one of THOSE nights! It was nearing 10:00 and no one was in bed...so that added to my stress level. Finally, we got them all off to bed..and just as the last older child was going up, Esther Marie woke up screaming....sigh. She had been fretting quite a bit earlier in the evening and indicated she wanted to eat, only to spurn it all after a few small bites. We gave her more medicine for pain and she fell asleep.

So back to the crying....Jasper went upstairs to console Esther Marie and it didn't work. He said she rolled and screamed and cried and thrashed about...wanting to be held, only to fight against him to be put down again. He finally brought her downstairs and she screamed and cried for an hour....Jasper holding her at first and then me for most of that time. She didn't want me at first...I had to just take her from Jasper's arms...sigh. I did all sorts of things to try to get her to stop crying and feel secure.....looking at a book and singing seemed to be helping. I can tell that she is mad at us or something....probably in her mind we are the ones that let others "hurt" her...just when she was starting to bond with us and trust us. Now I can see we have fallen a few steps backwards in that bonding process, and we are going to have to work on building her trust again.

Just as Emmie started to settle down and stop wailing, MaryAlyce started screaming up in her room! She can pitch one dandy of a fit...that's for sure...and tonight she decided to really let it all hang out, so to speak. Jasper couldn't console her and Esther Marie was getting quite upset because of sissy's crying.....sooooo, we swapped children. I spent another hour trying to console MaryAlyce and help her to feel secure....and also trying to get her to calm down from her fit that she was having.

This is the way it goes many nights in our house, sometimes night after night. I am sitting here like a zombie and it is after 1:00 a.m......and I still need to review some things for the kids so I can send their "purple folders" back to school tomorrow. Sometimes I am stretched so thin, I feel like a total failure as a mother.....I guess tonight is one of those nights. If you could pray for me, I would really appreciate it. That ole devil knows my weaknesses and insecurities and he knows I am tired and vulnerable. I just feel like he is hitting me below the belt with all he has to give...and knocking the wind out of me. Being a mom to four beautiful but very complex children is certainly worth all the effort, but sometimes it is SO hard! Thanks for listening...and thank for praying!

Leaving the hospital to go home soon..for the 2nd time.

We just saw Dr. G and he said Esther Marie can go home soon. We are happy about that. She is better hydrated and feeling better, so we are going to go home and see if we can keep her eating and drinking better. It's about 5:00 on Thursday and it's Joshua's birthday, so we just want to get out of here and go home. Jasper picked the kids up from school and they are here now...having a snack in the room. Esther Marie just took a short ride in a wagon. We are waiting for the nurse to take out her IV needle and give us our "going home instructions."

I will write more probably later tonight. Please keep praying for her and us...she still is running a fever and hurting when her meds wear off. I will be happy when we get through this recuperation period!

HAPPY 11TH JOSHUA WILLIAM CHEN!!

Joshua....Happy 11th Birthday, sweet boy!!!

Daddy and Mommy love you very much and are so proud of you!!!

We look forward to celebrating with you this weekend, after sissy gets better. Thank you for understanding and for being our great "little man."

You are the perfect son and brother for our family...we will love you always!!!!!!

Esther Marie is Back in the Hospital Again!!

I guess we didn't get enough of the hospital last week, because here we are again!!! Esther Marie was admitted this morning for overnight observation and to help alleviate some dehydration she has. You might be wondering at this point....what happened and why is she back there???

Well, this morning we went to the doctor appointment as planned at 8:00 a.m. Things were going well and Dr. W, who has been our pediatrician for over 12 years, was checking Esther Marie out to find out why she was still running that fever. He said her ears looked clear...no ear infections...thank God! Her lungs and heart sounded good. He started to look at her throat and barely put the tongue depressor on her tongue when he said...hey, she's bleeding! Well, I thought he had hit that spot on her tongue that I thought was the thrush, making it bleed......NOT!

She was bleeding profusely from the mouth and the blood was pouring out!! Things happened so fast at that point, and I have to admit that I got pretty upset. The thought that she was going to end up back in surgery flashed through my mind. Dr. W was very professional as usual and kept his head in a crisis situation. He called for an ambulance and we were transported to the hospital very quickly. I am SO glad that Jasper was with me because he was a rock and was so calm during the storm, so to speak. He stayed with Esther Marie, mopping blood up, when I had to leave the room to have a good cry. Dr. W's nurses were SO understanding and sweet and I appreciate them so much. One thing that touched me immeasurably was that Dr. W took the time to pray for Esther Marie and us while we waited for the ambulance to arrive. God bless him! The paramedics let us carry Emmie out to the ambulance and they kept the siren off to keep her calm. I held her in my lap on the way to the hospital.

At the hospital, she was examined and the roof of her mouth was covered in blood that had clotted. Again, it was shocking to see and it scared me. She had stopped bleeding by that point and that was a relief! One of her surgeon's from last week came to see her and decided she should be kept overnight for observation. The nurses came in and tried to put an IV line in her foot....but it didn't work. Then they tried the other foot....and that didn't work. It was taking entirely too much time! Esther Marie was screaming and crying and so scared. At that point, I was very upset, so I left the room to pray and Jasper stayed with her. I was like a mother tiger with claws out and was wanting to protect my baby. So instead of saying something I might regret, I left the room. Finally, they called in another nurse who was successful in getting the IV into one of her hands. (I later found out that they were having so much trouble because she was pretty dehydrated and her veins were collapsing!!)

It took awhile to get into a room, but we were finally taken to a very nice room on the 6th floor. Esther Marie was SO stressed by this time that she was clinging to me for dear life! If anyone came close to her, she whined and cried...no matter what the reason. She finally fell asleep around 1:00 p.m. and slept until 5:30!! Jasper and I had not eaten all day so he got us something from the cafeteria...and I teased him by asking if he wanted to have a romantic, quiet lunch with me....seated in the hospital room with our sleeping child! We had a good laugh and I was glad because the day had been so stressful.

So our other three precious children are tucked in at Susan's and Victor's house once again, and I can safely say all the kids involved are NOT unhappy about that! (Susan and Victor...thank you and we love you!) Tomorrow is my little man's 11th birthday and he is so patient and understanding...thank you, Joshua. I was going to take cupcakes to school tomorrow at lunch time, but we are going to have to postpone that and do it another day. Hannah cried when Jasper told her what happened today and I'm not sure how MaryAlyce reacted. I know this is emotionally stessful for all of them...they are worried about their baby sister.

So Dr. G, the surgeon who fixed her palate last week, came by and took a look at her mouth and says he has no idea why she was bleeding like that. Apparently, the roof of the mouth is not connected to any major arteries. He didn't see any damage or anything that concerned him. So we are watching for more bleeding and Emmie is getting hydrated with the IV drip.

I have NO clue why this happened, but I do know it's a good thing because we didn't realize Esther Marie had gotten dehydrated...it happened pretty quickly. She needed to be here on that IV! And we are SO happy that the bleeding happened at the doctor's office where Dr. W could make all the decisions. Imagine if THAT had happened at home! God is SO good and totally watching out for His (and our) little Esther Marie!

It's 11:15 p.m. and I have been trying for hours to get this posted. Esther Marie began to relax some and is less clingy. (meaning....she is not choking us any more by holding on so tight!) She has eaten some creamy chicken soup, some vanilla ice cream and had a little Sprite. We are trying to get more fluid into her. She is sleeping peacefully right now and is much less hyper-viligent...yippie! We have had two fantastic nurses...Paige and Sara....they are wonderfully helpful and sweet.

Hopefully, we will go home tomorrow morning some time. Please pray for the dehydration to go away, for no more mystery bleeding to occur, and for all of this trauma not to damage the bonding that has formed between us so far. Thanks to everyone...your prayers matter!

Why is Esther Marie Still Running a Fever???

Day 7 running fever, but why?

We are not sure, so we will be making a trip to see the pediatrician on Wednesday morning at 8:00. I spoke to the surgeon's assistant this afternoon and she said we need to have it checked out....Emmie should not be running a fever any more because of the surgery. There are several possibilities like ear infection, throat infection, etc. As I mentioned in another post, she looks like she has thrush...yuck! That might be the cuprit! How about the lack of energy, excessive crying and sleeping a lot? Well, Dana said this is common. After the initial trauma of the surgery...they bounce back some...only to "crash" again and feel terrible for two or three more days. I guess that is where we are right now.

Bring out the bubbles!!! These are what took her mind off her pain and the constant monitoring while we were in the hospital. She loves them! Her first nurse gave her a bottle and showed us the wonder of a little soap, and the kids brought her some more later along with a get well balloon. I guess we'll try them again....she really seems to need the distraction!

We'll let you know what the doctor says...and thanks for praying!!!!

Finally....some photos! (see below)

I have finally posted some photos with the blog entries about the surgery. I also used Smilebox to add several....with captions and music even. The photos view better in full screen. So check them out when you have a chance. You've heard the saying.....a picture is worth a thousand words....and so it is! More coming soon!

It's Tuesday and it's been raining and raining now for days...especially yesterday and today. We owe it all to tropical storm Faye. We really needed the rain to help replenish our water supplies after the terrible drought last summer. I'm glad we are snuggled inside, safe and warm and dry.

Esther Marie is still feeling bad and has more "down" time than "up" time, although we have captured some smiles here and there. Her fever seems to be hovering around 100 degrees most of the time....just enough to make her crabby and lethargic. She is sitting in my lap now with her head on my chest as I type this. And with the drooling, I'm soaked! I probably held her 5-6 hours yesterday while she slept....and even more counting the time she was awake. She wakes and cries when we try to lay her down...thrashing all around. Her ears are still draining so I think sitting up feels better. Her eating is on and off, but she has drunk more water today....which is very good! Try swallowing and focus on it while doing so and you'll see where your tongue ends up and why she is avoiding the swallowing action. Owie!

I poked around on the net some last night and we think Emmie might have "thrush." She has some white spots in the roof of her mouth and one big one on her tongue. I have a call in to the nurse to ask about this. I guess she is going to be hit with several questions from a "nervous Nelly" mom!

One cute thing I wanted to share is that Esther Marie likes band-aids....Dora ones...and each morning, she points to the box and says "more"....wanting a new one on each ankle and one on her finger that has the stitches. Band-aids make you feel better, you know....you should try it!

That's all for now......hope you are having a great day!

Surgery Day Photos...Cleft Palate Repair for Esther Marie

Make a Smilebox photobook

Sunday...A Tough Day

Just a short post to say that today is harder and Esther Marie is not feeling that great. The novelty of the arm restraints has worn off and she is rebeling. Her fever is up and her mouth seems to be pretty sore. It is making her cranky and wanting to be held a lot. She has been sleeping a lot but mostly when we are holding her. She has eaten some today, which is a good thing. She likes cold applesauce...I think the cold feels good on the roof of her mouth. She is still not drinking enough, but we don't see any signs of dehydration. We will see what the night holds and if the fever doesn't go down without meds, I will be calling the doctor tomorrow.

Morning Breath....ALL DAY! Whew!

Esther Marie has terrible breath right now.....they had to put some packing into the cavities in the roof of her mouth after the surgery. It will eventually dissolve away, but for now, it is collecting germs and smelling more and more every day. We are not allowed to brush her teeth during the healing time and the doctor said it wouldn't help the smell anyway. He told me not to use Listerine either...like I would even think of doing that! (laugh)

So the next time you see us and are close to Esther Marie, that's what the smell is!

On another note, we can already tell a difference in the way Esther Marie sounds when she is talking (vocalizing)....YIPPIE!!!!!!!!!! The "buzzing" sound is gone and she sounds less nasal!!! Thank you, Dr. G!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cleft Palate Surgery Hurts, BUT It's Worth It...Saturday at Home

I am exhausted (it has been a LONG day) but I want to write to let you know how things have been going since we have been home from the hospital. Esther Marie was thrilled to get home to see her brother and sisters and her toys! She felt pretty good on the way home from the hospital because the nurse gave her medicine right before we left. She was happy to leave and smiling and waving bye bye to everyone! Jasper and I were happy to leave also. She was even "singing" along with the music on the way home from the hospital!

Now home, we are having our ups and downs...and basically Esther Marie is "up" when she is on pain meds and "down" when she is not. Last night was rough....with constant thrashing and moaning...even with pain meds. I can see that nights are worse than days as far as the pain goes. I wish Esther Marie could talk and tell me what is hurting and how much it is hurting! She is still running a fever and that makes it worse. Jasper and I were pretty exhausted on Friday and went to bed early even though we had tons of stuff we wanted to do. And then with Esther Marie sleeping between us and MaryAlyce in and out of our bed too, we basically woke this morning feeling like we had not had very much sleep. (sigh)

Today it has been raining and we stayed in all day...just focusing on the kids. I missed three days of school and two nights of homework with three children and I can tell it. Joshua and Hannah have been working on homework this afternoon. Joshua is supposed to be "star student" this next week at school and I just found that out today! I don't think I can do that this week under the circumstances. He is supposed to have a poster. I will be doing good to get cupcakes there on Thursday at lunch time to celebrate!

Anyway, Esther Marie was fairly perky this morning and held out her little arms to have the restraints put on after she woke up. It was so sweet it just broke our hearts to put them on her. She has not done any screaming or crying about it, except when they were first put on her at the hospital. She seems to accept that she has to wear them. We are trying to take them off every two hours to give her a break...also when she is sleeping.

This afternoon Emmie was fussing quite a bit and fell asleep in my arms while we were sitting on the couch. She reached out and grabbed my arms to pull them around her, which is something she has started to do just since we were in the hospital after her surgery. She didn't want to be put down, so I sat there and held her while she slept for a couple of hours. When she woke, she just kept her head laying on my chest and was so quiet....I knew she was hurting.

Today, we started putting ear drops in her ears to help keep down infection and to keep the tubes clear. She didn't like that at all and cried....she had to lay there for five minutes on each side after the drops went in to make sure they went down into her ear canal. She didn't fight it but just laid there whimpering. She is such a good kid! The rest of the afternoon, even with medicine, she was "down" and finally she fell back to sleep and took another long nap in the bed. When she woke, she was hurting again and clingy. I tried to distract her by giving her a bath and afterwards, she was sedate and clingy again. An hour later, she perked up after some more medicine and then she ate some dinner. She has been eating and drinking much better since we got home from the hospital. I think the familiar surroundings are helping.

It is about 10:30 p.m. and she is sitting in her daddy's lap with her arm restraints on...watching him draw on the computer. I guess she will be up for awhile because of the two long naps this afternoon and early evening! It's very cute when she keeps asking "what's that?"

There are a couple of good things about her having this surgery....1) She had her mouth repaired, her ears and her finger....she needed those things done...and 2) she bonded A LOT with me while we were stuck in the hospital and she was depending on me for so many things. Every time someone came into the room to do something to her, she wanted her mommy! She would not sleep in the hospital baby bed very much...she wanted mommy to hold her. Jasper was there also but I was the one trying to take care of her the most...and now that we are home, she is clinging to me. It might not sound like a good thing to you when you are reading this, but it IS a good thing!

As you continue to pray, please pray that the pain will diminish and her mouth will not hurt so much. I hate having to keep her on constant medicines for pain, but will do so to make her feel better. We can tell when she is really hurting because she is drooling a lot....meaning, she doesn't want to swallow because it hurts too much. Also, please pray that the fever will go away. Thanks to everyone for your encouragement, your help and your prayers!

It's Friday Afternoon and We Are Headed Home...Yippie!

It's Friday and we have been busy this morning learning about how to take care of Esther Marie when we get home today. Yes, they are going to release her...yippie! We are SO ready to go home! I am sure that anyone who has been in a hospital knows how it feels. I have felt out-of-touch and it's been surreal. Days and night blend together, especially when you have a hurting, crying child.

But.....the doctor just came in and said we can go home....it is now 1:40 p.m. We are already packed up and part of our things are in the car. They have to take the IV line and the monitoring line off and once she is dressed, we will leave. Hopefully, it will be in time to get our other children when they get out of school today.

The nutritionist came in already and went over all the things that she is allowed to eat and all the "no-no" items. She has to eat really smooth items with no seeds or pulp. And things like smooth peanut butter are off limits because it is too sticky.

I seem to learn something new each day about what they did during surgery. There are still some gaps in her mouth apparently and those are filled with a packing material that will dissolve away. The doctor just told me that her breath would be bad though because of that packing stuff and so don't worry about it. No brushing teeth for awhile! They will see us for a follow-up visit in three weeks....I had thought it was two.

The last couple of nights have been rough because of the pain and the fever she has been running, but she is off the morphine and now taking Tylenol or Motrin for the pain and to keep her temperature down. Apparently, running a light fever is normal after a surgery like this.

Well, the nurse just came in with the discharge papers and took out the IV line. Jasper is dressing Esther Marie as I finish this up and she is so excited to be leaving. She blew a kiss to the doctor when he was here and she said bye-bye to our nurse and gave her a big high five. So we will be heading home now and to pick up our other children from school....and we are glad!

I have some photos to post and will try to do that later. Thanks for your prayers...and please continue to pray that the surgery spots will heal quickly and the fever will go away and that the pain will fade away quickly too.

Love to all!

Sarah

Surgery Day for Esther Marie...Cleft Palate Repair, Ear Tubes and Finger Surgery

I typed this last night and fell asleep before I could get it posted. It has been difficult to get anything on the blog site because Esther Marie has been feeling so bad and has been so clingy. She is better now and so I will post this (Thursday night) and then will update with more information soon. We ended up staying two nights at the hospital instead of one, and Jasper and I both stayed with her instead of just me. If you have been praying and checking the blog for updates, thanks for your support, prayers and patience.
________________________________________________

Hello everyone! I am actually typing this blog post from the hospital...they have wireless internet, even in the room. This is the first chance I have been able to get online (just before midnight on Wednesday). Esther Marie is finally sleeping better so I wanted to give you an update about her surgery day.

We arrived at the hospital around 7:45 a.m., after we dropped the other children off at school. We went through all the normal check-in stuff, and they let us stay in a holding room while we were waiting. Esther Marie was a little anxious when someone would come in the room, but she was laughing and playing while we waited. As time passed, she got more fussy because she was hungry (no food/drinks past midnight). Around 11:00 AM, the nurse came to take Esther Marie to surgery. We got to walk down the hallway holding her, and then had to give her over to the nurse named April. That was SO hard for me to do! Esther Marie went to April and didn't even cry when we waved bye bye as she was carried away. (I found out later that she did cry before anesthesia was given but at least she didn't get upset when she left us.) I had prayed that God would give her a peace when I handed her over to be carried away, and God honored that request!)

When we gathered our stuff and went out to the day-surgery waiting area, my cousin Amy was walking up at just about the same time. She came to the hospital to wait with us during the surgery and to help with our other children, if necessary.

The surgery began around 11:30 AM....with the ENT doing his procedure first. The nurses were very good about calling us to let us know what was happening. When he was done, he called us and said....Esther Marie had a ton of wax in her ears...impacted.....and he cleaned all that out. He said this seems to be a problem with Asian children and we would probably need to have that done on a regular basis. There was definitely fluid in her ears...thick, gunky and tons of it! The right ear was particularly bad. Both Dr. G and Dr. R said she was definitely going to feel better now that it had been cleaned out! Dr. R did put tubes in her ears...she HAD to have them! Please pray that the hearing loss that was detected before surgery will not be permanent!

The cleft palate repair went very well....although Dr. G told us after surgery that the opening was much bigger than he expected so he had to work harder to get it closed up. She did have good muscles and enough tissue so he feels it is a good repair. She had to have "two flap" surgery versus "one flap" surgery. This was more complicated and therefore, Esther Marie is in more pain. She has a lot of drainage and is on morphine for pain.

Around 2:35 p.m., we were able to talk to Dr. G to find out about all of this...and around 3:30, we went to recovery to see our baby. She was sitting in the nurse's lap and when she saw me, she reached out and wanted me. THAT was special! Her face was swollen some but not like what we expected. The major swelling was her bottom lip and her tongue. She also had the normal oozing and bleeding from her mouth and ears (because of the tubes). She was pretty much out of it and on oxygen, so I just held her and she slept while we waited for our room. They had one for us, but it had to be cleaned.

Let me interject right here and say thank you to Amy for picking the kids up from school, getting them something to eat and then taking them to the library so they could do their homework! She was an awesome help to us! Thank you also to Susan and Victor for allowing us to call them at the last minute to say we needed our other three children to spend the night at their home. They graciously accommodated us and we appreciate it so much!

After waiting for quite awhile in recovery, we were finally taken to a room. We were beginning to get settled in when we found out we had to change floors and rooms. Why? Well, when answering a bunch of questions asked by a nurse, we told them that Esther Marie had recently been exposed to chicken pox. It was indirect exposure, but nonetheless, they had to take precautions in order to avoid exposing other children to the illness. It can cause real problems for children with immune system disorders or weaknesses. So we waited again for quite awhile for another room and finally got settled in around 8:00 p.m. Poor little Esther Marie kept getting so upset by all the commotion! She didn't know what was going on with all the moving around!

So it is after midnight and here we sit in her room....she's sleeping, which is a good thing. She is still on her IV drip and oxygen. And she is in a lot of pain! They have been giving her morphine to help manage the pain and that knocks her out. The goal is to get her weened off the oxygen and eating food and drinking liquids. ...so that we can go home. We will see what tomorrow brings!

Esther Marie's New Baby

We bought Esther Marie a sweet Asian baby doll before we left for China and we have been waiting for the right moment to give it to her. We decided the right moment was before her surgery so she could have this baby with her at the hospital and then afterwards during her recuperation time. It's so sweet to see her snuggling it! I wonder what she will name her when she understands she can do things like that??? (smile)

Thank You!

Thanks so very much to everyone who has sent an email, signed the guestbook and/or left a comment on the blog telling us that you are praying!

It means so much knowing that we have a fantastic prayer covering over Esther Marie and our family!

Surgery Time!

Surgery time for Esther Marie is 11:00 AM. She will be the second surgery that Dr. G is doing. The time is not exact because once the first surgery is done, he will start hers...so it could go earlier or later than 11:00 AM.

We will need to arrive at the hospital at 7:00 AM. That will be interesting getting everyone up earlier than normal. I hate having to be there so early because Esther Marie is not going to be allowed to eat or drink anything and she is not going to understand that.

Anyway, thank you SO much for your prayers! Hopefully, Jasper will be posting an update tomorrow night to let you know how things went since I will be at the hospital all night with Emmie.

PS....As you are praying for Esther Marie and our family, please pray for Lizzie and her family. Lizzie is having surgery on her fingers on both hands. Thanks!

Again...WHY is Esther Marie Having Surgery?

I have realized in the last few days that many people don't really understand why Esther Marie is having surgery and what it is all about. I have been sharing that she is having surgery on Wednesday and asking people to pray and they ask...What is the surgery for? She looks fine.

She does look good, but that's because she had surgery in China to repair her complete, bi-lateral (double) cleft lip. I am guessing that Cleft Lip Patient 7 (click on the link) is what Esther Marie looked like when she was born.

A Cleft Lip may be unilateral or bilateral, complete or incomplete. The goals of cleft lip repair include re-establishment of muscle continuity and re-creation of the normal landmarks of a lip. The skin, muscles and mucous membranes are surgically moved from their abnormal positions and joined back together again.

This surgery tomorrow is to repair the INSIDE of her mouth...her cleft palate....which means the open roof of her mouth. She has two openings (holes) in there that are open from her uvula to her gum line. There is a ridge down the middle between the two openings (bi-lateral, complete) If you click on the "cleft palate" link, you will see patient 1 showing a single opening in the palate. Esther Marie has two openings.

A Cleft Palate may be unilateral or bilateral, involve the soft palate only, soft and hard palate, and extend thru the gum where teeth will eventually erupt. The goals of cleft palate repair include re-establishment of muscle continuity in the soft palate, and re-approximation of the palate lining across the cleft. The palate lining is shifted from the sides to the center and stitched together. The bare areas left on the sides heal in spontaneously.

How does having this open palate affect Esther Marie and why does it need to be repaired? Well, she can't speak clearly because of it. Her speech is nasal sounding because of air that moves through the openings, and food and liquids get in there and can come out her nose. So she definitely has to have this repaired. Both her soft and hard palate are affected..and this is a major surgery. Her mouth will be held open with some type of clamps for about three hours during the surgery; therefore, her little face will be quite swollen when they are done with the repair. There will be bleeding and oozing and it is quite painful. Her recovery is 4 to 6 weeks and she has to eat very soft foods for 4 weeks. She also will be wearing arm restraints for two weeks so she doesn't put anything into her mouth (i.e., straws, forks, toys, etc.) that could damage the repair that has been done. A puncture would be devastating!

Click here to view some before and after photos of cleft lip and palate patients...and to read more about this birth defect. This site explains things much better than I am able to. Esther Marie will end up having more surgeries for various issues, including a bone graft later, braces and maybe jaw repair. Cleft issues are on-ongoing and the child requires periodic evaluations to determine what other treatments/surgeries that they need.

Esther Marie will also have the ENT doctor clean the ear wax out that is impacted close to her ear drums. She has tested for some hearing loss in the low tone range and hopefully, this ear wax is the cause. She may end up with tubes in her ears if the ENT doctor determines she has too much fluid build-up, which is a common problem in cleft children.

One of Emmie's fingers is curling because of some scarring that she has, so Dr. G will do some repair work on that finger so the curling doesn't get worse as she grows. He is the same doctor who is doing the palate repair.

The surgeries will take 3 to 4 hours and we would really appreciate your prayers during this time and during her recovery, especially the first two weeks. We are waiting on a phone call from the surgeon's nurse who will let us know the time of surgery. I'll post that as soon as I know.

Another Long Doctor Visit on Monday

Yesterday, Esther Marie and I were at the International Adoption Clinic for three hours! It was her follow-up appointment where we received her medical report, including results from blood tests.

From the moment we got out of the car, she was anxious. I am always amazed that a child this age can recognize a place, but I know she did. She had her blood drawn at this facility and that was one of those traumatic events for a little one.

We saw the occupational therapist and she evaluated Emmie's fine and gross motor skills. Her fine motor skills are actually more on target than her gross motor skills. Since she really doesn't have language, Amy was not able to evaluate that really. We had already seen the other group and they placed her in the 9-12 month range for language. As far as gross motor skills and strengthening those, Amy suggested buying one of the large exercise balls so we could do some activities with that.

We had a follow-up visit with a doctor and she went over the blood work results. After titers testing, it looked like most of her immunizations were good. We only have to re-do one. We talked some about what to expect at the hospital before and after surgery, so that was good...but it did overwhelm me.

We also had a follow-up with Leigh Ann, who is the bonding and social specialist at the clinic. We talked about Esther Marie's lack of fear...and the broken collar bone. She is SO very active and daring that it makes me worry that she is going to get hurt again. We went over some possible ways to help her learn the consequences of throwing herself off furniture!

It was a good visit and I was particularly glad to find that her parasite tests were coming in negative! We have two more results we are waiting for.

Cute Adoption Cards!

copyright 2006 Heartsong Cards

I found this website which sells several different types of cards which celebrate adoption, so I wanted to share it with you.....Heartsong Cards. They have announcements, notecards, thank you cards, adoption day cards, posters, etc. Check it out!

Cuts in Foreign Adoptions Causing Anxiety in USA

USA Today ran an article written by Wendy Koch in their August 13th edition about changes occuring in the world of foreign adoptions.....Cuts in Foreign Adoptions Causing Anxiety in USA. All over the internet, you will find all sorts of reasons and speculations about why it is taking 2 to 3 years to adopt a "healthy" or "non special needs" child from China. I think this article explains it well so take time to read it if you would like to understand better. You do need a great deal of patience to adopt a child from a foreign country, that's for sure! Here's an excerpt from the article:

The face of adoption is being changed by a combination of factors, including more aggressive efforts worldwide to stop illegal child trafficking. As part of those efforts, the U.S. government is more closely scrutinizing requests for U.S. visas for foreign children.

At the same time, several nations that have sent many orphans to the USA - namely China, Russia and South Korea - have begun encouraging more domestic adoptions, and limitig foreign ones, as their economies improve.

The following are some revealing statistics. The top 4 countries referenced are China, Russia, Guatemala and South Korea.

Fiscal Year.........Total Foreign Adoptees........From Top 4

2004....................... 22,884.............................. 78%
2005....................... 22, 728............................. 79%
2006....................... 20,679.............................. 76%
2007....................... 19,292.............................. 70%

Source: State Department

Emmie Gets The Gold!

We have a "first"....not an Olympic event, but Esther Marie gets the Gold in my book!

So what was the event??? Emmie went "potty" in the big toilet this morning after having a shower with me. WOW! I was SO proud of her and she was pretty proud of her little self...clapping with a BIG smile on her face. I don't know if she'll keep it up, but at least it's a start...a good start!

Just HAD to share this "first" on the blog.....and don't worry, I did NOT take a picture to post! (laugh) Although I wanted to. This was a totally spontaneous event anyway. I guess some time after the surgery, we'll start working toward earning a certificate like the Dora one shown here.

Update Information About Surgery on the 20th

Ann, Lizzie, Emmie and Sarah (photo taken on June 10th....Gotcha Day)

Thanks for praying for us...our two precious angels will be having surgery the same day...next Wednesday, August 20th.

I spoke with the surgeon's assistant today to ask about the surgery time next Wednesday for Esther Marie. Initially we had been told the surgery would be at 1:00 so we would need to be at the hospital around 11:00 a.m. Plans change....

Now Esther Marie will be 1st or 2nd for surgery instead of last since she is no longer the oldest child having surgery. So Dana says we will be need to be at the hospital at 6:00 or 7:00 a.m....ugh! That will be interesting trying to juggle 4 kids that day. My cousin Amy is going to drive to Birmingham to hang out with us at the hospital so that will be a good thing. I will enjoy having her company and we can catch up since I haven't seen her since she met us at the airport on June 20th.

We will find out the exact surgery time and what time to be at the hospital on Tuesday.....the day before surgery. I just pray that Esther Marie won't have to wait too many hours without eating before the surgery. I feel anxious about all of it, so thanks for praying for Esther Marie and for us. And thanks for praying for her little friend, Lizzie, who is having her surgeries the same day. Ann and I are two anxious mothers and your prayers mean a lot to us!!!

New Gadgets On My Blog Site

For anyone interested in China because you are adopting from there, because you are glued to your television watching the Olympics, or just because you love to travel, I have added three new "gadgets" to my blog page in the right-hand column.

So what are they???

• Chinese Word of the Day (you can learn Chinese and impress your friends!)
• More China News....reports, news, currency
• Discover China....beautiful photos of china

Just some more blogging fun for you to enjoy.....so check them out!!!

Two Princesses in a Tent

Last week before school started, we set up the much-used, but well-loved Princess Tent for the kids to play in. This was a birthday present for MaryAlyce when she was about three and it has seen much use. Now Esther Marie is enjoying it also. Even Hannah still loves to get in it...it's just plain FUN! Anyway, they had a good time for several days and I'm sure they will look forward to the next time we "pop" it out!

Early Intervention Evaluation

Tuesday I took Esther Marie to an early intervention program which she was referred to so that she could be evaluated in several different areas to see if she would qualify for the program. If qualified, she would be eligible for free services until she turns three years old...next April.

It was a GREAT visit and the ladies there were so nice!! Esther Marie was a little shy at first but was quickly put at ease. She was in a room full of adult ladies (6 including me) and she happily played and didn't want to leave when it was all over. They gave her several manipulative kinds of toys to play with and asked me tons and tons of questions about her and what all she is doing......"does she feed herself?", "will she get her shoes if you ask her to?", etc. I had meant to take some photos like I have at doctor's appointments, but I was so involved in answering questions and watching what was going on that I forgot to. I have been trying to chronicle everything with photos.

Anyway, needless to say, Esther Marie charmed everyone and they thought she was SO cute! They did say she would qualify for the program based upon her lack of speech development which they said was at about a 9-12 month old level. They kept commenting about how smart she is and about how she watches everything and imitates very quickly....a sign of high intelligence. Of course, I knew this already but it was nice to hear them say it...she is a very smart girl!

We were also invited to participate in a music program at the center which will start the week of her surgery and will last for 12 weeks. We will miss the first week and maybe the second one, but after that we should be able to attend regularly. They said it helps with language and with bonding. This should be a fun mommy/toddler activity for us each week.

I am excited about this whole program and look forward to it beginning some time soon after she recuperates from her surgery. A speech therapist will come to our home to help her. I'll keep you posted about her progress.

Reached It Last Night!

The blog has had more than 2000 visits in just under three months....WOW!!!! I am amazed!!! When I first began to write, I didn't know if anyone would take the time to visit and read it. Welllllll........visit 2000 came in around 10:15 last night. I actually think it was hubby who is in Texas as I write. I generally think of him as #1 in my book, but last night being #2000 was great in his book. Now I am wondering how long it will take to reach 2500??? Anyway, thanks to all of you who read my blog!

Turn About Is Fair Play?

We are watching men's beach volleyball right now....Tuesday AM....and Jasper and I had this same thought....

....since the women's team wears bikinis....why do the men wear long shorts with sleeveless t-shirts?

President Georgie Bush had photos taken while he was hugging up to the women on the ladies' beach volleyball team...it was highly publicized.

Soooo...where are the photos of Mrs. Laura Bush hugging up to the hunky guys in their Speedos??? (giggle)

Hey...what gives? Isn't turn-about fair play? Of course we are joking...but we did think the photos of the Pres hugging the young ladies were inappropriate...what do you think?

Pssst.....hey you, yes you....

...don't forget to sign the guestbook or leave us a comment! We love "interaction" on the blog and hearing from you. You don't have to leave your last name and you can click on "anonymous" to post a comment and just sign your first name after the comment you type.

Your identity is safe with us...so join in! Then you'll officially be a "blogger"!!

(p.s....thanks to Hannah for drawing a "blogger girl" for me!)

Miscellaneous Thoughts and Happenings

• We are enjoying watching some of the Olympic events....gymnastics is a favorite. Joshua is taking news articles about the Olympics into school for an upcoming project.
• Jasper is traveling some now and it is something I have to get used to. I am a whiny baby when he is gone. Fortunately, it is for his consultant job so it won't last forever.
• I was supposed to go to the grocery today but it is raining so I am going to put it off. Loading and unloading groceries for a family of 6 in the rain is not my idea of fun!
• Esther Marie tells me "I love you" in response to me saying it to her...mostly when we are snuggling. It's not totally clear but I know she is saying it....so precious!
• MaryAlyce read a "level 2" book last night for homework and told me it was "too easy" for her.
• Hannah took her lunch to school today...she wants to take it more often. She is concerned about the quality of meat they use for the school lunches.
• Esther Marie is so good about her nap times and bed times now. We have a routine and she is actually pleasant when I tell her it is "night night" time and we go upstairs. This is refreshing!
• My sister in law sent me a message recently to tell me that my nephew Jonathon got his driver's license and he has also grown a beard. It made me feel "old"! (laugh)
• When MaryAlyce told Grandma Q. that she was bored, Grandma asked what things she liked to do to keep from being bored. She replied...well, I am not bored when I am EATING!
• Joshua starts boy scouts soon and he is a Webelos 1. He was finally able to go to scout day camp this past June and he earned some belt loops. He is excited about getting back together with "the boys."
• Hannah has started writing a book and has been typing, typing, typing. It will be interesting to see how far she gets. She says she wants to be a writer or a fashion designer.
• I love it when Emmie runs over to me spontaneously with a big smile and lays her little head on my leg and pats on me. It melts my heart!
• Jasper is a "rock" and I depend on him every day. I don't think I could handle four children without him. God bless single moms!
• My cousin Maggie called me yesterday. It has been years since I have heard from her. It was good to catch up and I realized having a blog helps me stay connected with a lot of people.
• I worked on my appointment book last night entering everything going on with the kids and Jasper and I was exhausted when I was done!
• Joshua turns 11 on the 28th of August.
• Esther Marie and her friend from the orphanage, Lizzie, are both having surgery on the same day. Esther Marie will have her palate repaired and Lizzie is having surgery on her fingers...to have some separated. It's interesting that they are both having their first surgeries on the same day! Thanks for praying for both of these precious little ones!

Speech for the Future

Today Esther Marie has an appointment with a state funded program which helps children who are developmentally behind. This program was recommended by the cleft clinic. Jasper met with them this past Friday, and today I will take Esther Marie so she can be evaluated to see if she qualifies for the program. Since she is almost 2-1/2 and really isn't speaking English, she will qualify. Once she has been qualified and had her first surgery for her palate, she will begin speech therapy. With this program, a speech therapist will come out to the house weekly or twice a month (not sure yet), to help teach Emmie to speak. They will show me exercises to do so that I can work with her also between visits. We had a similar program with MaryAlyce and it was great, so I am looking forward to getting her started. She is eligible until she is three and then she will go for help at the public school. I am sure we will also need to get some additional help, especially next summer.

After the appointment, I will give you an update on what they said about her and her development. Her surgery is next Wednesday, the 20th...so please be praying. Thanks!

All of Us Together

A Very Special Group of Kids!

Thank you to the children in our church (grades 1 through 6) who got together and raised more than $300 for Esther Marie's upcoming surgery. I finally brought my camera to church so I could take a group picture. We will never forget the love you have shown and the prayers you have said for our little Emmie. We pray that God will richly bless each and every one of you throughout your lives!

A Sweet Little Cake

Isn't this little cake sweet? Jasper surprised me with it on Saturday night after the kids went to bed....cake, coffee and a romantic movie. Ahhhhh...some special time alone! And we did what most "romantic couples" with four children do.....fell asleep on the couch halfway through the movie! (haha)

Today after church, we went to Macaroni Grill for lunch with all the kids in tow. We had a gift card that we used and it was an enjoyable lunch out to celebrate our anniversary with our lovely family. The children were especially thrilled to have something besides Taco Bell or the dollar menu from some fast food place! Even baby Esther Marie enjoyed it! It has been a lovely anniversary weekend!!!

Beijing Olympics...Opening Ceremony

Last night our plans to go out to dinner for our anniversary changed....we are going to celebrate on Sunday after church. We try to be flexible with life (and four children) and this was one of those times. We decided to stay home and watch the Opening Ceremony for the Beijing Olympic Games....One World, One Dream! So we made breakfast for dinner, curled up in front of the t.v. in the den with trays and watched the whole thing....even the whole parade of athletes....more than four hours! I was amazed at the spectacular show before my eyes, as were Jay and the children. I felt it was important for our family to watch this historic event so the children could learn more about Chinese culture. I sat there wishing I had taped it, but hopefully I'll be able to purchase a copy from somewhere. Esther Marie can look back and say....hey, that happened the year I was adopted. And Jasper and I will remember it because it happened on our anniversary...08/08/08!

On another note, I am always torn when I watch something like this. I have to question the cost of such an event...the lavishishness of the display....all for 17 days of sports. (Closing Ceremonies will be on August 24th.) I have been to Beijing, I have seen the poverty there. I have seen other parts of China in need of much and babies crowded in an orphanage in need of better care, food, surgery and homes. The cost of the opening....$300 million. The cost of getting Beijing ready for the Olympics....$40 Billion...and that estimate is believed to be signinficantly higher. Is it really worth it when the average salary of Chinese workers is a fraction of what you and I live on? How could that money have been better spent and did the ceremony have to be SO elaborate? I made the comment to Jay that it was truly "sensory overload" and he agreed. It's a question that we all should think about!

Anyway, watching the Opening Ceremony made me think of these photos that I had taken in Hong Kong and I wanted to share them with you. Evidence of the upcoming games was all around us in Hong Kong and in China.




According to the Wikipedia site, the official logo of the games, titled "Dancing Beijing," features a stylised calligraphic character jīng (京, meaning capital), referencing the host city. The mascots of Beijing 2008 are the five Fuwa, each representing both a colour of the Olympic rings and a symbol of Chinese culture. The Olympic slogan, One World, One Dream, calls upon the world to unite in the Olympic spirit.

Check out the games and the medals at NBC's Olympic website.

Welcome Back to America!

One of my older brothers, Daniel, and his family arrived in the States on Tuesday night. They have been living in Germany for the past few years and will now reside in the U.S. again.

I just wanted to take a moment to say "Welcome Back to America"! We love you and look forward to seeing you soon!

Daniel with his son, David.

Annette (Daniel's wife) with daughter Ellen and son David.

How About 27 Pieces of Sculpture?

Today is Jasper and my wedding anniversary....August 8th.....married 27 years. (Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart!) I guess it must not be a very important milestone year (according to the internet) because I looked around online to find out what the "traditional" gift idea was and the spot beside number 27 was blank. Is that the list writer's way of telling me I don't need to give him anything or did the person making the list just run out of ideas??? Perhaps I need to get in touch with Hallmark! We don't usually exchange anniversary gifts at this point in our marriage (neither one of us need anything) and I don't really want any more jewelry....not that I have drawers overflowing with the stuff, but I have more than enough. We just prefer to spend time together and have dinner out...with or without the kids. This year it will be with the kids since we won't be leaving Esther Marie with anyone yet while we go out.

Okay, back to the gift thing......the list I found did say that you could give a "modern" gift of sculpture. Hmmmmm.....not sure about that one. I guess I could head downtown to the art museum and borrow something, but I am sure they would frown at that idea. So where does one buy....sculpture??? Would that be just anything that looked sculptural....like a banana or an orange? Just kidding! I don't think Jay is into owning sculpture, so guess I'll just stick with dinner out and figure out a more personal gift for him that I don't have to buy....like...no kids in our bedroom for a night! (haha)

It seems hard to believe we have been married that long...the time has just flown by. We have had our ups and downs over the years, but through it all, we have had a lasting love that was formed during our six years of dating during high school and college....when we became "best friends". I cannot imagine my life without him and I know he feels the same way! God willing, we will have at least 27 more together......hopefully longer!

I love you, Jasper! Thank you for 27 (plus six) wonderful years together!

Out the Door...And On Their Way!

It's the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! YIPPIE! HOORAY!

Hannah was SO excited that she woke up around 5:00 AM. She's a 7th grader this year. She had on a new outfit and new shoes...and was carrying a new backpack. (She tore hers up last year from all the heavy books.) That "hot" green seems to be a favorite this year. Her schedule in hand, she was ready to take charge of the world. Well, okay...not the world...but team 7-2 at least...at the middle school. Hannah rides the bus and met at the corner of our house and waited with a whole group of kids. They boarded and drove away around 7:03 this morning. She'll arrive home churning with all sorts of things to tell us and I look forward to hearing all about it.

Joshua (4th grade) and MaryAlyce (1st grade), armed with backpacks from last year, headed out the door around 7:40 this morning. School starts this year at 7:50 AM. Each year. school seems to start earlier and the days they attend increase. Can you say "year round school coming" ? Anyway, both of them were excited to get going and looking forward to seeing old friends from last year. Jasper drove them this morning...just a short drive. We live less than two miles from the elementary school, so Joshua and MaryAlyce are not eligible to ride the bus. (I haven't figured THAT one out yet. It's not like they can walk because we don't have sidewalks and they would get run over if they even tried to walk. But don't get me started!) MaryAlyce wants to move just so she can ride the bus....oh, and have MORE closets! I hope when they get home they'll tell me all about school and won't just say it was "great" and they had "fun." It's usually harder to get information out of these two than Hannah.

Anyway, Jasper has buried his head in his work so that leaves Esther Marie and me to fend for ourselves and get used to the new-found quiet around the house. What a weird feeling! Let's hear it for 3:30 when my house will get back to the noisy "normal" that I am used to!