And...

we are finally home!!! Praise the Lord. This surgery was not as expected and the recovery is so much worse than we were told. Poor Gracie is still in so much pain. I am praying we don't end up back in the hospital.

Surgery and our girl~

August 24 was a day both my husband and I were dreading, it had been on our calender for a month.....

Circled and starred, it sat there mocking us~

From past experience with Grace we knew she didn't do well with surgeries and we also knew it would be a long hard recovery for our girl.

But, it had to be done.

Back up to when we brought her home~ She was a little bitty thing, having lived through the big earthquake back in 2008 in China. Kerry got her in Xian in Sept 2008, he knew she wasn't feeling well and when he came home, he was right, he had pneumonia and her and I were in the hospital and then sent home with breathing treatments.

Once she was better we did the whole "cleft clinic" thing and we planne don having her palate repaired along with a lip/nose revision to help her breath better and ear tubes to help with the chronic infections she had.

That surgeyr did not go well~ the doctor decided once he had started the surgery that her palate was so wide he would do the bone graft....at age 2. Almost unheard of in cleft kids...

She came out of that surgery looking like a truck had hit her and later that night, she lost over 40% of her total blood and couldn't reproduce more fast enough.

Two transfusions later and she was doing a bit better.

SO yes, we were dreading this next surgery and had put it off once becaus ewe had moved across a couple states.

But, it had to be done, she was not making progress in speach anymore and this would help~

We found a new doctor here and he actually knew the two previous surgeons we had seen. (small world, right?)

We decided on a P Flap surgeyr and he was thinking of taking her tonsils also. But once I told him how she does in surgery he changed his mind.

Gracie knew what was going to happen, we were very open with her, she is after all almost 5.

She was very calm in pre op and took things in, asking questions when necessary.

But, she was so trusting, didn't even flinch when they had to draw blood.

And the God thing, we just so happened to get an amazing life coach who had been to China as a nurse and worked with Show Hope...so she knew how to talk and act with Gracie. And when it came time to go to the OR, our big brave girl asked this nice lady to walk with her....and she did.

She also came back after and prayed with me. How amazing is that??

Grace's surgery lasted only an hour and a half, but it was a long hour and a half...

The doctor came out and spoke with us~ and he told u he DID take her tonsils and adnoids out....sigh~ Not sure why he did this and without telling us until after the fact, especially when he had said he wasn't going to do it~

We went back and she was not a happy camper, she was in a lot of pain and just wanted her mama to hold her and by gosh I didn't care about all those wires or the beeping going on, I picked up my girl and rocked her to sleep.

We do have pictures of her after surgeyr and in her room, but for her privacy I am keeping those off the blog~

She did have a rough go of it in the room. I spent the first night with her in NICU, Kerry the next in a regular room. The third day they wanted to keep her another day, but we know our girl and knew she would do better at home, with her normal routine and her own bed. So we skipped out of there and came home~

And we were right, she is drinking fluids. (even though it is only with big sis and whiel having a tea party)

She is getting the rest she needs and will recover fully given time.

Thanks to all our friends and family for your prayers and help!!

Still Here~

Just sitting in the hospital waiting for Gracie to drink fluids. If she
can do that,we are headed home~

Prayers would be appreciated!!

Pre Surgery fun~

 Kind of a contradiction, right??

But we have to keep doing the normal things. Gracie is very scared. Her earlier surgeries were done at a young age. I don't think she remembers much about them.

And she doesn't do very well with anesthesia at all. That I remember. and it scares me.

But, she has to have this surgery. No questiona about it. It must be done.

  Jake's idea was that since he is always on my blog, I have to be also....Me? I am not so sure but agreed....

If you happen to have a moment, say a prayer for our Gracie J, she will need them!! We will be heading out at the unheard of hour of 5am for Children's, with surgery at 7:30.

It's the Weekend~

Around our house that means lots of fall baseball activities~

Jake had his first game on Saturday. They did well.

That's my boy!! So proud of his jersey and his team.

And the Little's, they love watching big brother play. Rachel, she is the team cheerleader. Always shouting encouragement and cheering.

Always saying, "He out mama?"

And JJ, she just loves to sit and color while we cheer on the  team.

And then around inning 5 or so, Rachel gets in on the coloring thing, because apparently a girl can only do so much cheering before she needs to get her color on!!

But it's all good and Jake, even though his team lost by a point, was still happy. And that makes it all worth it.

And if you haven't heard about a new project yet that my friend Ruth is organizing,  head on over to the $1.44 site and see what it's all about. (just click on the picture)

And I'm not just saying that because we were chosen to be the first recipients. I am saying that because I hope this turns into something huge and will help many adoptive families in the future.

A Mystery?

We received Josh's finding ad today. I knew after reading his referral documents that we had a bit of a mystery, and I still can't figure it out....

He is from a very small town with a very small orphanage. As you can see only four ads were placed in this paper....Our girls' finding ads~ Literally a hundred, if not more~

We knew from his referral that he was born May of 2006, he was found on Sept 2006. That means his birth parents kept him for 5 months. I can't imagine the heartbreak they felt....knowing he needed surgery and maybe they couldn't afford it?

I wonder if they think about him daily, or maybe even keep tabs at the orphanage?

But the real mystery to me is if he was found in Sept. why wasn't he taken to the orphanage right away?

Our referral documents show he wasn't admitted until January of 2008. We also have the name of the finding person. And a name for who kept him after he was found....so many unanswered questions, I wonder if we will ever know the answers? Or how we can find out more....or will he even want us to investigate?

What I do know is that we love our little guy and can't wait to bring him home!!

Tears of Joy ~

If you've been a reader for awhile y'all know we are adopting again....and that Gracie is having surgery next week, and I fractured my wrist and broke my finger...in addition to our basement flooding, twice.

So my sewing for a fundraiser, it's on hold temporarily.

But, I have a friend...a wonderful encouraging always there for me friend who came up with an idea....a brilliant idea, that will not only help us but others after us.

Want to know more??

Click on the picture above and it will take you to the blog where you can read more!!

Pre Surgery Visit~

Our local Children's Hospital always has pre surgical tours for children. And with this being Gracie's fourth surgery in four years we thought we had better attend.

It went well on the elevator trip up tp the unit....but as soon as we went to start the tour she got a bit nervous and the other kids we brought along....they started getting restless.

Gracie liked seeing all the equipment and loved the scrubs.

Hope liked pestering everyone with her idea's and being a doctor....because she is a natural leader.

Me, I am a bit nervous for my girl. I plan on walking her to the OR. They are nice about that and understand the whole adoption/abandonment thing. And who wouldn't want to wear the super cool scrubs in pastel blue?!?! You know that's the real reason I do it!! LOL (just kidding of course)

Gracie's surgery just happens to fall on the other kids' first day of school and wouldn't you know it, I have to have her there at 5:30 am!! I usually don't even go to bed until then!! LOL

Looks like I will be pulling an all~nighter.

But I promise to have my darling hubby take pictures of the kids in their first day of school best!!

No updates ~

on the adoption front...still plugging along.

But, we have been quite busy. I am now the proud owner of a purple splint on my typing hand, courtesy of our lovely cat. (or maybe my own clumsiness)

And Rachel, she is sick. We have been up now for over 12 hours. She has the flu and it isn't pretty. My beautiful always on the go girl is now laying around crying and moaning. It's pretty sad.

if you get a minute, prayers would be appreciated. I hate seeing my girl sick~

Fall baseball Fun~

Jake has baseball practice twice a week until games start, which leaves me and the littles searching for things to do while we wait for him.

We started at the Farmers Market...

Then dropped Jake a B-ball and went for Ice Cream!!

Which as you can clearly see was very yummy!!

Mine was rasberry with chocolate....

Rasberries are considered healthy so it didn't count as an sweet...right?!?!

When all else fails~

Bubbles can cure any stage of boredom.....

I gotta admit this tired mama  mama is ready for school to begin~ The lazy days of summer will be over soon and I am ready to get back into a routine.

Although with school beginning that means we have two surgeries coming up, fall baseball starting up and Jake....well he has an acting job!! Who would have guessed, right? It's all he ever wanted to do and now it looks like he may have that opportunity.

Always a great idea...frog in a bottle..LOL  Seriously we saved him from the mower and did let him go soon after. He is now happily living in our garden hopefully eating bugs~