Playing Catch Up and COWS!!!!

The holidays were so busy that they just slipped right past us and now we are almost through January! Ella was so different this year. We all were I think. No jetlag and culture shock like the last Christmas. Ella was thoroughly amused by everything that Christmas had to offer. She loved the lights and the presents. She LOVED the food and the family. Mary wasn't quite as jealous of her little sister this year. Adam made it home on leave for Christmas so together it added up to a very wonderful holiday. Yes, it was a "cheaper" holiday than in years past, but that didn't stop everyone from having a good time. Here are some pictures from Christmas.






I got what I wanted for Christmas! ALL of my kids home!















Adam left to head back to the base on January 2nd. I don't know when we will see him next. He (again) left a mess when he left. We are going to start calling it the Adam Quake! You can turn a boy into a Marine but you can't take the boy out of him!! It WAS really good to see him and spend some time with him. It made me realize how much I miss him being there, even though he is a SLOB and keeps leaving a mess!

Everything is getting back to normal in our house now. As "normal" as it normally is anyways. I guess you would have to live here to understand "our" normal. It's still chaos, but without all the commotion, we simply wouldn't know what to do with ourselves! The kids are back in school (yeah!) and I have time to focus on Winter Guard, which I really, really AM enjoying. I love working with the kids and with the other guard coach. I don't know why I didn't start doing this a long time ago! Ella gets to go to some of the practices (since she goes to work with me on Mondays and practices are on Monday nights). Mary gets a little bummed that she doesn't get to go. She wants Baba to take her to a couple of the competitions so they can watch. Ha! Maybe Mary is going to end up being in color guard after all and NOT a cheerleader like I feared.

We fixed up the playroom into Mary's room. (I will post some pictures soon!) We got some Pooh stickers and a Pooh border to put on the walls to accent Winnie the Pooh's tree that is painted on the wall and ceiling and I made some curtains out of Pooh material that my sister had laying around. We ordered a Pooh bedding set on Ebay which should be here this week, so for now Mary just has a flowered set. She loves having her own room again. What a difference! No more fighting to go to bed! No more bickering as to who gets to turn off the light or turn on the night lights! They both really love having their "own" space, especially Mary. I think she likes the whole "big sister room" and is eating up all the Pooh stuff we are finding! We took the television out of that room so they can't watch movies in there all the time, but we HAVE let them take the little movie player in there once or twice if they don't like the movie we are watching. It's weird, but they are actually getting ALONG better since the move. We were a little worried about how Ella would do in a room by herself (since it is probably the FIRST time she has ever had a room to herself), but she seems to be okay with it. She likes still being downstairs with us so if she needs something, we can still hear her. I was a little nervous about Mary being upstairs (well, the boys are there too), but I put the baby monitor next to her bed and the receiver next to mine and it seems to make both of us feel better!

Ella celebrated her 4th birthday decked out in pure pink! She was wearing a pink princess outfit and had to have a PINK cake. Mary didn't like the idea that Ella was "the same age" as her and continues to remind us that she is still the "big sister". It's funny actually. I remember having the same kind of arguments between my brother and I when we were the "same age" for three months out of the year! Here are some pictures and a video of Ella, the pink princess and her birthday present "Tutu the dog".







Here is a video we took on Ella's birthday. In it, she is saying "Today is my birthday. I am four years old. I'm a big girl!". It's funny.



Ella's speech is still progressing with leaps and bounds. It's interesting to compare it to what it was a year ago. When she first came home and went to the office with me, we played the same "Good morning Cows!" and "Good night Cows!" that Mary use to play, but it was more like "Mo'in Now" and "Ni Nite Now". Her speech was difficult to understand and there was virtually NO hard sounds. This morning I noticed the amazing difference. I yelled "COWS" and Ella said "gooD MorNiN coWZZZ"! (The upper case letters represent the accent she put on the sounds.) Absolutely incredible the difference! I'm so excited to see where it will be a year from NOW!

Here are some pictures from recent.




Here are the girls with their Chinese buns in their hair (thanks to Auntie who made them special for them)!





...and here is what it looks like when you take the Chinese buns out!!

December 2, 2008-One Year Ago Today...

...GOTCHA! Yes, it was one year ago today that we first met our little Ella and she was shoved (literally) into our arms. I won't ever forget that day. Our suitcases arrived mere moments before we had to leave to get Ella so at least we had clean clothes to wear and the doll that I had brought special for her (which she hated).

We got to the civil affairs office early and the officials that were bringing Ella were stuck in traffic. There were several children their with their nannies, awaiting the arrival of their new families. We got to play with them and hold them as we waited. Then the families arrived and total chaos broke out. God I remember that moment with Mary. Some of the kids had tears. Some went willingly without much of a fight. It was nice to see the creation of all those families from a different point of view.

It was about then when our guide, Evelyn hung up her cell phone and said "they're here". We stood there, staring at the door. She kept going out in the hall to look. Then she came running in "Here she comes!". The chaos behind us sort of disappeared. The first time we saw her face, it was like seeing an angel. We crouched down (while Canaan snapped a bunch of pictures) and the nanny tried to explain to Ella that we were her Mama and Baba. They tried to get her to walk to us on her own, but in the end, they gave her a good shove and we picked her up. Then the tears started! She was scared. She didn't understand. It was very hard. She let each of us hold her. She seemed to like Canaan and she liked the snacks we whipped out to try and get her to settle down. She wanted nothing to do with the toys we brought! Then she clung to Rob and wouldn't let go. She wouldn't let me hold her. She wouldn't even let me touch her. That hurt me so bad, although I knew it could happen. I guess I still hoped for the "perfect union".

Back at the hotel room, she would not let Rob put her down. He finally sat on the floor with all the toys and she sat on his lap. Canaan and I sat on the floor too. We played with some of the toys then tried to hand them to her. We must have sat there for hours, slowly moving closer to Ella. Little by little, she let us touch her, then eventually play with and hold her. She was still unsure of us, but it was a BIG milestone. We had a couple of potty accidents because we didn't understand her, but nothing major.

Now, bath time that night was a MAJOR production! She had several layers of clothes on which she did NOT want us taking off. She screamed as we peeled away layers but settled down once we put her in the tub. She played with some of the toys and let us wash her (a little). She preferred to wash herself which was still a sight I won't forget. She scrubbed her skin, then would scratch it to see if it was clean enough. She did that all over her body. Then, something else I will NEVER forget, she washed all the toys and set them on the edge of the tub, THEN washed the tub itself. It was the strangest thing we had ever seen!

I remember some of the giggles and smiles she had once we got her in her pajamas. I also remember laying her in the middle of the bed and laying down next to her. She scooted as close to me as she could get, put her hand around my arm and fell asleep. She never took her hand off me that entire night. I guess she wanted to make sure I wasn't going to leave her. Unfortunately from then on and for a few weeks after, she wanted nothing to do with Rob which hurt his feelings quite a bit. At least now I know how he felt when she first wanted nothing to do with me. It hurt. I empathisized with Rob after that.

Today, she is almost not the same child! She is vibrant and energetic! She lights up a room with her crooked little smile and she is STILL (after a year) fascinated with everything in the world around her. She finds enjoyment and content in the oddest places and truly appreciates everything she has. She is one amazing little girl who is destined for greatness in this world.

November 19, 2008

The girls continue to get bigger by the day. Mary doesn't like to eat a lot, but is growing like a bean stalk! Ella loves to eat and is still so petite. It's interesting to see how different they are. The different regions of China sure do produce some different little girls! Then again, would I really want them to be identical?

Mary's writing and letter recognition is really taking off. Her handwriting is really developing thanks to some of the projects they do at daycare. It's so hard for me to help her with her writing though since she is left handed. Canaan can at least help her being a South Paw himself.

Ella is really starting to have things "click" with colors, shapes, letters and numbers. It's only a matter of time until she has caught up to Mary. The time Ella gets to spend at preschool three days a week helps a lot. Her speech is still improving. Some of the sounds she makes are almost funny. She tries to say sounds like SH, K, T & N and they usually come out pretty "juicy". She hasn't quite grasped the control inside her mouth so she often slobbers when she talks. I think it's kinda cute. You can tell she is trying though! She DOES still have the small hole in her palate so there is still some loss of compression in her mouth, not to mention occasional food or liquid that comes out her nose! I guess that will always be a characteristic that makes up our Ella.

Here are a couple pictures that we took while playing with my new camera phone. They always want to take pictures when I whip out my phone!



This one was taken at thier cousin's Court of Honor for Eagle Scouts. Ella was really BORED! Can you tell????

October Update (Now into November!)

Again, it seems like time gets away from me so fast, but for the past month, it's not been for lack of chaos! My color guard team has been has several performances, mainly football games and I've been spending a lot of time with them. Mary has actually gone to a couple of the football games with me and really had fun. I think she liked spending time with Mama and she really loves the girls on the team. Well, that and everyone kept giving her candy and snacks!! It was actually cool having her there. She was pretty well behaved given the chaos that high school football games are! I think she will end up being a cheerleader (instead of color guard) though. She just seems to have "that attitude" that is perfect for being a cheerleader! Ha! Ella is going to be my color guard. She is fascinated with it. She also loves all the girls on the team and really enjoys going to practice.

I got to go to San Diego earlier this month and watch my eldest child graduate from Marine Boot Camp. Boy was that an experience. It's so weird seeing my "boy", now a man. When he came home on leave, Mary had no problem recognizing him (even though he looks and certainly ACTS different). Ella was quite confused though. Once Adam took his hat off and bent down, you could see the wheels turning in Ella's mind. She touched his face and stared deeply at him. It took a few days for her to really recognize that he was indeed her big brother. Here is a picture of them all the night Adam got home.


It was so good to have Adam home, although he just wasn't the same boy that left three long months ago. He had changed oh so much. His leave seemed to fly by and before I know it, he was gone again. Here are a couple more pictures I was able to snap off before he left.





And this one is my favorite! I call it "Her Hero".


Ella's speech has been taking off! She started preschool and she loves going. New sounds are coming out of her and it's truly amazing. She is making some great progress. She likes her teacher and she likes her new friends. She comes home and tells us all about it (and half the time we have NO IDEA what she's talking about)!

-Continued into November...
I've worked on this post several times, but never seem to get it finished and posted darn it!

The girls had a great time with Halloween. Ella was very confused on the whole pumpkin carving thing. Confusion rapidly turned into fascination though. Here is some of the pumpkin madness!



Here are the girls and their pumpkins!

And here is Ella, completely fascinated with her first pumpkin...


Ella got to wear Mary's old Chinese "Princess" outfit (that Mary outgrew) and I made a new outfit for Mary (a traditional Dong Festival Dress). The new dress made me curse (a lot) at my sewing machine but I think it (might) have been worth it! Both girls looked absolutely amazing! Mary really looked regal though in her festival dress! She got plenty of ooohs and aaaahs every where we went. Ella figured out real quick that if she smiled and held up her pumpkin, that people would say "oh how cute" and put candy in it! Didn't take her long to figure THAT one out! Here are a couple of pictures of the girls in their Halloween "Chinese Princess" dresses. Eat your heart out Cinderella, Snow White and all you other princesses!

Princess Mary


Princess Ella


Ready for Trick-or-Treating!

Catching up and Reminiscing

September 25, 2008
Well, Ella's mouth continues to improve. The hole that appeared on the side of her palate seems to have closed back up (hopefully for good). All of the tissue that was used to fill in the hole in the center of her palate has fallen out, but it doesn't look like it's a total loss. The donor tissue pulled her own tissue towards the center and it looks like it may have been enough to close it. I saw a small hole towards the front of her palate, but the surgeons that saw her today (in Chicago) said the surgery was a success. (Either they didn't see the hole I saw or the hole has since closed over!) Now on to speech therapy!

Ella is SO glad to be able to eat normal things again. Mary has been SUPER jealous that Ella has been allowed to eat ice cream, pudding and jello for dinner!

Every time I have written the date today, I kept thinking there was some significance to this day but just couldn’t remember what it was. It just hit me! It was one year ago today that we received the call telling us that there was “a little girl that needed a new Mama and Baba”. One year ago today I first saw the face the beautiful angel who was destined to be my daughter. It could not have been a more perfect match for our family. I will never forget that phone call and how my life changed so much the instant I saw Ella's sweet face. She has changed so much in the nine months she has been home. I swear her personality GROWS with each day that passes. She is energetic, vibrant, happy, fascinating, inquisitive and loving.

Here is her referral picture (the first time I saw my beautiful daughter's face)


And here is Ella just last weekend


She is amazing, isn't she?

The worst case scenario...is reality

Ella has been slowly recovering from her surgery and was actually doing well, until last Saturday. She was super fussy while we were over at a friends picking vegetables. Completely unconsolable. When we got home, I gave her some tylenol and looked at her mouth. It had been bleeding some and a fissure now appeared in her palate, not where the hole use to be, but right next to the teeth line. It almost looks like it split open along where it was originally repaired (in China). Darn it! I started feeding her some soup and one of the times she opened her mouth to get another bite, I noticed something hanging down from her palate. Oh no! Oh, yes. It was a piece of the donor tissue that the surgeon had used to close the hole. I had her take her tongue and gently push it back up, but sometime during her nap it looks like it came out completely and she swallowed it.

I called the hospital and left message for the on-call surgeon. I didn't know what to do. I've never done this before! I had no idea what to expect. When he called back, he confirmed what I feared. The surgery was failing and there was nothing that we could do about it. I felt so bad for Ella. I can't believe we just went through that difficult surgery for nothing. The reality was that she was going to need the surgery again. Sigh. This isn't fair. I can't help but think "Hasn't she been through enough???". I'm so sad for her.

We received a message from the surgeon that actually did her surgery on Tuesday. He instructed us to leave the arm restraints on and keep her on the liquid diet through the 14 day mark. Yes, it's hard for little Ella to do anything and she is so tired of soup and applesauce, but with her mouth in flux right now, it's best. It stopped bleeding by Tuesday and was actually looking pretty good. Unfortunately this morning she spit out another huge piece of tissue. As the stitches disolve, the tissue is just falling right out. There is still a piece of tissue up where the hole was, but at this point I'm not expecting it to stay. The donor tissue just didn't adhere to her tissue. We are going to have to start over. Poor Ella. She's been through so much in her three short years. She deserves a break.

Here is a picture of her palate on Monday (before the second part of the tissue came out. You can see the fissure on the right side by her teeth.

Pictures from Chicago

Waiting for the plane at the airport


Playing at the Ronald McDonald House


Being silly


Look, it's Ronald! (Ella didn't like him too much)


Playing at the Shriners Hospital


Playing outside at the hospital


Cool tree house!


Making a big mess with oranges!


In Pre-Op AFTER they gave Ella the loopy medicine


The day after surgery (after a nice bath)


At the Ronald McDonald House (after being discharged)


Happy to be going home!