Video Video Video

We got video of our boy today.  We have been waiting on an update.  And he is so adorable.  I just want to hug him and kiss him.  In the video they feed him a piece of cake and try to get him to answer questions.  The boy is about the cake.  He is my husband's child.  He is so into eating the cake that he totally ignores the man asking him questions.  In video number 2 he is on the playground and the man is trying to get him to talk to him when he really just wants to burn off that sugar he just inhaled.  He is so stinkin' cute.  I wish I could show you a pic.  In the last second of the video the man gets him to say "Hello."  He says it in English.  It is so cute.  We are just in awe of God's wonderful blessing on this Thanksgiving.  Please continue to pray for us.  We will be placing a shirt order next week, if anyone still wants a shirt email me or post a comment here. Kim

Sweet Boy News!

I am about to get all Southern.  Our boy is cute Ya'll.  He is absolutely the cutest boy I have ever seen.  We saw some pictures that a mom took from last winter.  He is absolutely just the cutest and will break all the ladies hearts.  All of them.  He has an absolute head full of hair.  Just like Flo!  I am so grateful to the families that have traveled to this orphanage and chose to take pictures.  We are more in love with each picture.  We are praying that our home study goes smoothly and we can proceed to the next step.  We are still fundraising so spread the word about our t-shirts.  We will be doing some more fundraising in the next few months. So don't fret if you can't get in on the t-shirt one.  Remember prayers are always needed.

Flo is so excited about this adoption.  Even more so than I expected.  Back in the summer she had a little break down about being the only Asian family member.  It truly broke me.  I just was so heart broken.  I cried with her.  She was just I think frustrated with the surgery and exhausted from not being able to sleep well. (We have sleep issues for about six months after surgery.  I think it is anesthesia.)  She just did not understand any of it- the abandonment, the adoption, the whole thing.   This happens to all adopted kids at some point, but it came sooner than I expected.  We talked a long time and I just held her and let her know that there are many things about this we don't understand but God had a plan for her before she was born and we were part of His plan.  We love her forever and when she is old enough we will follow her and support her if she feels she wants to pursue finding her Chinese roots.  She ended that conversation with not understanding why she had to be the only Asian family member.  I think this adoption is going to really have a major impact on our family, but for her it is like a dream come true.  People tell us all the time that AG looks like me and I know it has to hurt Flo. With brother here we will now get, "They look so much alike."  Flo will have a big grin on her face!  And I can't wait! She may not have been born from my womb, but she loves like me and she hurts like me.  She aches for those in need and those that are hurting! She is my girl!

We have another meeting next week with our Social Worker.  Please continue to pray for us and our sweet boy!

Orthodontist Appointment Yesterday!

It appears that our girl is moving right along.  More adjustments and the doctor says she looks good.  We think so too! This momma thinks she always looks good.  Just for understanding, the doctors always say that to us as the cleft continues to change and have more of  a normalcy look to it.  Normalcy is children without cleft.  So here it is.  We noticed as her cleft is filling in and her teeth are coming together, she has this weird gap in her gum line.  This one tooth is super exposed in the front.  This is the tooth we prayed for by the way.  The one that wasn't there. God just told it to show up to mess with the doctors and answer our prayers.  Anyway, this guy has part of the gum missing from the cleft and the our orthodontist told us yesterday that once she gets her second, I said second, set of braces off she will go to a periodontist and have him fix the gum.  Whoo hoo a new doctor.  We have not met this guy yet and hope to meet him in four years.  Flo just looked at me with her mouth wide open, like what?  We were thinking the same thing, but I just said, "okay".  We will do whatever it takes to make her happy with who she is, but if at any point she says no more, especially, at age 13 or 14, I will have to say okay, enough she has decided she is done.  I am amazed and in awe of these beautiful parents that continue to adopt cleft babies.  They do it over and over again.  I am amazed at the sacrifice they make knowing what it entails.  I have no regrets adopting our little Flo so many years ago, but she has been through so much and I am not sure I could do it again and again.  These are wonderful people that God has chosen to deal with all of this SNs ups and downs.  I find these families just amazing and I thank each one of them for adopting these precious children and changing their lives forever.  We are so blessed by our Flo and we have met wonderful people on our Cleft Journey and I know God has been a part of it all.

She is crossing her eyes in the first because she did not want me to take her picture.  Her sister told her to do it so I would leave her alone.  I love big sister's.  We got a reverse band yesterday and he said it will address the under bite.  His goal for this set of braces is to eliminate the gap on top and fix the under bite as much as possible.  I am not sure what the next set will do, but we are so happy we are one-third done with this set.  Flo is hoping to get them off before we go to China.  I don't think that is going to happen, but she is still hopeful.  Thank you for following us on this journey.  I may show some real change next month when the under bite has really moved.

The Life of a Clefty Girl!

We are getting closer to our 5 month mark!  Our sweet Flo is now almost two months into her braces.  It is amazing how much her smile has changed so far.

  The life of a clefty girl.  Here Halloween is upon us and she once again has to let us know how much she hates having braces and missing out on her favorite candies such as-  Laffy Taffy and Tootsie Rolls.  Sad times, sad times for her. This time last year she was wearing her appliance to stretch her upper bite so she could have surgery in June.  I am not sure when she will have a care free, candy frenzy Halloween again, but I know when it happens she will have a beautiful smile.  I plan to take another photo on November 10th to compare.  I felt that October 10th the change was not that noticeable.  This journey is always a roller coaster and I am sure it will continue to be as our little girl continues to change. She is still the same girl underneath all of that plastic surgery and dental work, but she does not look the same on the outside. I still look at her baby pictures and miss that little crooked smile.  Sometimes I wish I could see just a glimpse of it.  As we all laugh at her daily antics I think of how our lives have changed since she entered it. She will thank me for all of this when she is older.  She will be glad that we were given the opportunity to take a little spitfire in Xi'an, China  around the world to live in a very lived-in house with a very lived-in car who also had access to doctors that changed her world.  God is awesome the way He can just move mountains when He wants something to be done.  He moved the world for us to have Flo and I am grateful each day! He is rockin' the world some more and I will share that later on a different page.

Three months out

Here we are once again with some face changes.  The surgery recovery has been great.  She did great and really the only reminder of it all is the scar on her hip. I really expected it to be smaller, but instead it will be permanent reminder for her of what she went through this summer.

Our new adventure includes a bite plate on the bottom and braces on the top.  The under bite is so severe that without the bite plate she would knock the brackets off the front of her teeth.  The orthodontist is optimistic that the bite plate will come out in 3-4 months. This set of braces will be on 6-9 months.  The next set will come about 2 years after these. So she will get a brief reprieve.  It is hard being Flo but sometimes God has mercy on us.

On August 20th, Flo's birthday, she was supposed to get her braces.  Instead the ortho decided she needed a plate.  She got a full three weeks without the appliance and no braces.  It so rocked. My husband was convinced that has never happened to anyone anywhere.  He thinks Flo has exceptional luck.  He could be right. 

Today Flo's response, "I don't  like my braces or bite plate."

We will see how her face changes once again.

FACIAL CHANGES OVER THE LAST WEEK!

WEEK 3 Post Surgery

The swelling is going down, but boredom had set in.  This is what it had come to.

Saturday of last week Flo had had it.  I think Mark had to.  We had to get her out of the house.  We decided to go to Macon.  We love going to museums down there.  They are rarely busy and the people there are always so nice.  We also really like to go to Mass down there.  St. Joseph's Catholic Church was built in the early 1900's and it is absolutely breathe taking.  We all love it.  Anyway, we took her to the children's museum and to Mass in Macon.

We went to lunch at Arby's, but we had to make a pit stop at Wendy's for Chili.  This is Flo's new favorite treat.  She eats a Frosty and a cup of  Wendy's Chili.  I did not even know that they still serve Chili in the summer time but they do.  Looks gross, smells gross, but she loves it. We showed her how to take the crackers and mush them in the Chili.  She did not know about that.  I cook Chili at home a lot in the winter time, but we normally have cornbread with it.  So, the cracker thing was new for her. We had a great day and I think everyone had fun.  Flo was exhausted by the time we got home and she was ready for bed.  That was a good night for all of us.

We have spent the last week dealing with sleep issues.  Flo has had some issues sleeping.  She just can't go to bed alone.  It is just a little more than the rest of us can deal with at times.  We spent several days trying to get big sis back to health.  She has had some Asthma issues this week.  We spent a whole afternoon at the Asthma and Allergy Clinic.  She seems to be getting better.  I think as the temperature rises her Asthma gets worse. We stayed low key inside most of the week. AG's asthma seems to get worse with the heat.

We did have a mostly uneventful week.  I tried some new food recipes this week.  We are far from Chicken noodle because she is very done with that choice.  I introduced her to steamed squash and we added a shredded chicken to the menu as well.  She seem to be doing well with the soft foods and we have had only one melt down.