Adoption Day #2

Thanks for everyone's well wishes. Physically, Lia is doing really well recovering from her last surgery. She was off the pain meds completely by the following Monday (her surgery was on a Wed.). Unfortunately, the stress of the surgery and her hospital stay seems to have triggered some fears and sleeping issues that we weren't dealing with previously. We've been assured that these are completely age-appropriate behaviors and that they are typically brought on by stress in a child's life. Of course we tend to jump to the conclusion that any fears or behaviors she displays are adoption-related, but we also need to remember she is a toddler and often times toddlers go thru phases where they are afraid of the dark, or afraid of the window curtains, or afraid of the bathtub, (or in our case, all three of these at once!) But even now, those fears seem to subsiding with each day that passes, so we are hopeful that this is a short-lived phase she is going through. In the meantime, she is getting most of her sleep either in our bed with us, or on her little Mickey sofa that flips out into a small bed in our family room:

In other news, today was our court hearing to finalize the adoption in our state. In Washington, you only have to have custody of the child for six months in order to finalize, so after our six month post-placement, we decided to file the paperwork and finalize. The judge was so kind and he, our attorney, and the court clerk were all smitten with our girl. They closed the courtroom to just us and afterwards we took some photos for Lia's scrapbook. 

HOORAY!

Happy Birthday, Happy Mother's Day, and Get Well Soon...

Wow...busy week! Today is Mother's Day. My first "official" one. Last year I had been matched with Lia, but had not yet traveled to get her, so it was bittersweet. The four years prior to that were even more depressing as I waited...and waited...and waited...for a match. There is a lot of "hype" around Mother's Day, and I've received a lot of congratulatory messages from friends and family which is lovely, but the fact of the matter is while I am so happy Lia is in my life and I feel so blessed to have her call me mama...I can't help but think of her birthmother and the terrible decision she had to make, that ultimately led me to my daughter. I pray that somehow she is at peace with her decision and that her heart somehow "knows" that her sweet baby girl is in good hands and receiving the care she could not provide for her.

Speaking of which, thank you to everyone who held us in your thoughts and prayers this week as Lia underwent palate surgery #2. We arrived at the hospital at 6:30 on Wednesday morning, and she was rolled back to surgery just before 9 am (I cried, but she didn't thanks to the drugs they gave her beforehand). Around 11:15 we got the news that she was out of surgery and in the recovery room. Unlike last time, she was still asleep for a good hour in the recovery room...we hoped this was due to the change in her not getting morphine, which seemed to have caused a lot of extra anxiety (to put it mildly) last time. Unfortunately, she still had a very rough time coming back out of the anesthesia. Our poor girl screamed and fought everyone - us, the nurses, and pretty much the entire world for about 2 hours. Around 2 pm she finally started calming down. There was a lot more blood this time too. Not to be graphic, but rather than the blood running down the back of her throat like it did last time, this time more of the surgery was up at the front of her mouth, just behind her teeth, therefore a lot more blood ran out of her mouth - for hours. It was pretty traumatic for her and for us.We spent the night and all day Thursday (my birthday) at the hospital as well. She slept most of Thursday with one or the other of us holding her...

Lucky for us, her surgeon happened to be the on-call ENT at the hospital that night, so he popped in to check on her around 9 pm and decided she was in good enough shape to go home. So after signing all the release papers and a visit to the 24 hr pharmacy across town, we got home around midnight.

Since being home she has been perking up a bit more each day. She's still not eating much and can only eat very soft or pureed foods for the next couple of weeks. She's on several meds, so we did have one Mother's Day vomiting episode this morning (lucky for me she was sitting on daddy's lap at the time!) But other than that, she's been fairly chipper, and wearing her arm restraints without too much fuss. We appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers as she continues to heal. Our hope is that this surgery "takes" and that we won't have to go back again for several years.

Updates - April

April has been a busy month for us. Catching up with friends and family, Easter activities, and a flurry of doctor visits...a lot going on! Lia really enjoyed finally meeting her Grandma W. in person. They had Skyped over the last eight months, but this was their first time playing together. Lia had a blast!

Lia is still Tinkerbell crazy! She loves all things Tinkerbell, from the movies to dolls to clothing and every other marketing ploy those marketing gurus at Disney have come up with! The Easter Bunny did his job well and brought a couple of mini "Bell" dolls for her basket. We can now go nowhere without them...

Easter Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day (one of the first we've seen this Spring!). So we dressed Lia up and snapped some photos. The dress was the first piece of clothing ever bought for Lia back in April 2007. Just after my dossier was sent to China, my sister picked out this dress for her. She looked so darling in it.

Early in the month we learned that Lia had an raging ear infection going on, which we needed to clear before we could move forward with scheduling her next palate surgery. Unfortunately, she ended up having an allergic reaction to the antibiotics, so we ended up at the doctor (again) for rash cream. On the bright side her ears are now cleared, and we are scheduled for her 2nd palate/ear tube surgery on Wednesday. We will be going in early in the morning and likely staying one night at the hospital. Prayers and positive vibes appreciated for Wed/Thurs.!

Ending this post with a video from earlier this week. Lia has been practicing her animal names and noises. Her speech is coming along well...

Egg Hunt 2011

Today our local group of China adoptive families met at a park for an Easter Egg hunt. It was a sunny, but cold and windy spring day. Since this is Lia's first Easter in the U.S., we had to practice with her a bit about collecting eggs and placing them in her basket. She was the youngest child at the hunt, (although there were quite a few 3 yr olds)...so the 2-3 yr olds got a head start, and then the older kids joined in. The older kids were told they could collect 12 eggs, and then they needed to help the little ones to make sure everyone was getting a (semi) even number. I have to say this was a very polite and kind-hearted group of kids. They all chipped in to help one another and make sure everyone was getting eggs.

Once she got the hang of it, Lia had a blast! Here are some photos from the day:

Sunday Snapshots

We visited the ENT on Thursday. Lia had been putting her finger in her right ear quite a bit (the one that the tube fell out of in January). And sure enough, she had a raging ear infection going on. No fever, no other symptoms, but we did get some medicine as we want to make sure this is completely cleared up before she goes in for her palate touch-up at the end of this month (or beginning of May). Her ENT said her left ear tube is also about to fall out, so it is good timing for this next surgery, as new tubes can be put in at the same time. She is such a good girl and takes her medicine like a champ!

We had a great weekend. My parents were in town so Lia got to spend lots of quality time with Grandma and Grandpa. They chased each other around the house, and blew bubbles, and read books, and there were lots of hugs and kisses to be had for everyone. Good times. Steve's mom arrives Thursday for several days, so Lia will be receiving even more "grandma love" this coming week! Here are some photos:

Grandpa and Lia checking out the wind chimes on our patio

First warm-ish day of Spring...Lia was chillin...

A bedtime story with Grandma!

Bubbles! (video)

Recent Photos & Updates

Sorry I've been so bad about blogging lately. With the advent of Facebook, it seems like most folks follow our happenings there now. However, I know that there are a few people who don't have (or can't access) Facebook who still check here for photos and updates, so I'll try to continue to post a few times per month.

Our lives have been busy, busy, busy with a very active 2 year old, her speech therapy and doctor appointments, library storytimes, and other activities. Unfortunately, I threw my back out about a week ago, while lifting Lia into her highchair, so I have been "out of commission" for the past week. Thankfully Steve has been able to (literally) "pick up" the slack so to speak... Anyway, onto what everyone wants to see anyway - PHOTOS:

Celebrating Daddy's birthday at a fancy (a.k.a. dark!) restaurant...

Always laughing...

With her friend Mickey, on her new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse sofa/bed

Feeding her new bunny (thanks Renee & Sierra!) some goldfish crackers

Trying out her "big girl bed" for size...

One night later - back to the overstuffed Pack'n'Play!

Saturday morning, vacuuming and chatting on her "phone"