We saw the pediatric cardiologist today, bright and early 8:15 am. I have read on other blogs of families with kids with medical needs and how they are so good and patient at the doctor appointments, like they have done this all before. Well, our little guy followed right along. His only question to me is, "Mama, Xinran......and he motions like he is getting a shot,?" Once I say no, he goes right along with the program. They listened, examined, hooked him up to wires, did and echo cardiogram and he just watched with patience and grace. He got a glowing report with this doctor too!!!! Actually the words the doctor used were, "He had a perfect repair. His heart looks perfect and he is a perfectly normal little boy!" PERFECT repair.....praise God! We don't even need a follow up appointment.
So this "special needs" little fella, turns out pretty "normal". Now we do have a ways to go with the palate surgery he is going to need and speech which he desperately needs, but all in all, a"normal" kid. If you have ever considered adopting a "special needs" child please don't let those words scare you. Yes, there are needs out there that are vast and comprehensive but the majority of these kids' needs are pretty ordinary. What they really need.....love, a family, a chance, and to be told about their savior.
To celebrate our great doctors' reports and Xin's excellent behavior, we all went to see Karate Kid today. So cool....all filmed in China. We had seen so many of the places in the film, which made it even better. Xin loved his 1st movie and watched the entire thing. They spoke a lot of Chinese and it was neat to see him listening. We may have missed a lot of his typical baby-book "firsts" but I have so enjoyed seeing the joy on his face when he experiences something new for the 1st time. A blessing of older child adoption!!!! We are thankful for a great report and a fun day!!!!!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
ENT and we are OK
Yahoo! We visited the ENT today and Xin got a glowing report. There can be several problems associated with cleft children and thank the Lord he had NONE!!!! He will need tubes put in only as a preventative measure as Xin is going to need a corrective surgery on his palate. The ENT will insert the tubes at the same time as the palate surgery. This will help prevent any fluid build up that may occur with the surgery. He thinks this will be the only set he needs. Praise God for this good report! Off to the cardiologist tomorrow and we are praying we get a good report there too.
After all the medical stuff I will post pictures of our trip to the beach last week! Much more fun than doc appointments!
After all the medical stuff I will post pictures of our trip to the beach last week! Much more fun than doc appointments!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Happy Father's Day!
Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there! Especially to my husband, thank you for being a godly father to our 4 children and for caring for our family in the manner that you do. I am blessed to have you as my partner and our children our blessed to have you as their Daddy! We love you!!!!
And to my Dad, I love you Dad and I thank you for all the years of love, sacrifices and time and energy you spent with me and now with my children. I am blessed to call you my Dad!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Memorial Day Weekend 2010
This is a few days late as my darn old back went out and I have been laying flat for the past couple of days and feeling as if I was in labor without an epidural! I think I have turned the corner and can now come back to the land of the living, moving and breathing. I have a GREAT chiropractor and it was such a God thing" how I ended up as his patient. He works magic and prays for you too!!! Can't beat that combo!
Anyway, we went to the lake this weekend and it was Xin's first time. He had a ball. What is not to love-water, boats, toys galore and food enough to feed an army. Oh yeah, and attention from Nana and Poppy. I can't believe he has only been home for a month. He is really very adaptable and has continued to do well. He even saw a parade of over 500 motorcycles that go through the small town that my parents live near. Very patriotic and he came back waving an American flag!
The princess in her private pool
The girls enjoying the lake
Checking out what a lake really is and thinking about maybe going in.
The princess in her private poolThe girls enjoying the lakeChecking out what a lake really is and thinking about maybe going in.
Sam is in!
He is in and he is loving it!!!
My sweet big girl!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Medical Update on Xin
Over the past week we have had several medical appointments for Xin. He had his first "well" check-up and I am happy to report he is pretty ...well. He is in the 5% for height and 25% for weight. A rather small little dude but probably not for Asian standards. These are the American charts. He still had fluid in his ears and so he was on a second round of antibiotics. I see tubes in his future. His lead and iron were normal-yeah! I guess he didn't do a lot of chewing on toys when he was little! The pediatrician confirmed there was still a "sound"-not a hole in your heart sound but a sound in his heartbeat, so she referred us to a pediatric cardiologist. Not to worry she said, so I will go with that advice for now, or at least try to! After receiving 5 shots in GZ the poor guy still needs 4 more to get caught up-ugh!!!!!! We are doing that when Jaida has her 4 yr old check-up in Oct. Won't that be fun to have TWO 4yr olds getting shots?!?!?!
We also saw the cleft doctor, for lack of a better title. He is Chinese and one of the best in the country so we are glad to have him close by. He feels Xin will need a surgery we weren't planning on here in the near future. He is lacking the capability to close the air off from his nose when he speaks so he talks very "nasally"-again lack of a better word. This surgery would reattach his muscle to give him that capability and provide better quality of speech. He referred us to speech therapist for further testing. I asked on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the worst case-where was Xin? He said a 3-we will take a 3!
Enter speech therapist and testing done yesterday. Well, he did not fair so well but I didn't expect him to-he doesn't know the English language yet nor is he familiar with American items-toys, scenes, tools, etc. It would be like placing an American child in China after being there 3 weeks and showing them and asking them questions concerning the items. So he pretty much failed the comprehension part and did not fair so well on the articulation part either. She did a test where it registered the amount of air coming out of his nose when he said words starting with B's-things we say with our mouths and .....oh boy......the little ball in the tube shot to the top and bounced off-not good-lot-o-air through the ole nose. So she confirmed the Dr's diagnosis of needing a surgery. She said she really did not want to start therapy until the surgery was complete because it would be useless without the capability. Think tennis lesson with a broken arm. The good thing was I learned what we need to work on as far as the English language, for example, pronouns, opposites, ing endings, shapes, colors......and so on! He really is catching on though, he might not be able to point to the color red but if I show him something red and ask him to show me another red he does. All in time!
So, we will go to the ENT and the cardiologist in a few weeks. I am thinking tubes will be needed but that can be done the same time as the palate surgery. Hoping and praying there will be no need for additional heart surgery. If you have extra prayers in you, we could use some for no further heart surgery. Thank you, thank you!
All in all, not too bad. Xin continues to learn and grow and blend into his new family. We are very thankful for the good care and attention Xin received while living in the Beijing Children's Welfare Institute. A HUGE answered prayer!!!! We will be forever grateful to the wonderful people who worked there during our son's first 4 years.
We also saw the cleft doctor, for lack of a better title. He is Chinese and one of the best in the country so we are glad to have him close by. He feels Xin will need a surgery we weren't planning on here in the near future. He is lacking the capability to close the air off from his nose when he speaks so he talks very "nasally"-again lack of a better word. This surgery would reattach his muscle to give him that capability and provide better quality of speech. He referred us to speech therapist for further testing. I asked on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the worst case-where was Xin? He said a 3-we will take a 3!
Enter speech therapist and testing done yesterday. Well, he did not fair so well but I didn't expect him to-he doesn't know the English language yet nor is he familiar with American items-toys, scenes, tools, etc. It would be like placing an American child in China after being there 3 weeks and showing them and asking them questions concerning the items. So he pretty much failed the comprehension part and did not fair so well on the articulation part either. She did a test where it registered the amount of air coming out of his nose when he said words starting with B's-things we say with our mouths and .....oh boy......the little ball in the tube shot to the top and bounced off-not good-lot-o-air through the ole nose. So she confirmed the Dr's diagnosis of needing a surgery. She said she really did not want to start therapy until the surgery was complete because it would be useless without the capability. Think tennis lesson with a broken arm. The good thing was I learned what we need to work on as far as the English language, for example, pronouns, opposites, ing endings, shapes, colors......and so on! He really is catching on though, he might not be able to point to the color red but if I show him something red and ask him to show me another red he does. All in time!
So, we will go to the ENT and the cardiologist in a few weeks. I am thinking tubes will be needed but that can be done the same time as the palate surgery. Hoping and praying there will be no need for additional heart surgery. If you have extra prayers in you, we could use some for no further heart surgery. Thank you, thank you!
All in all, not too bad. Xin continues to learn and grow and blend into his new family. We are very thankful for the good care and attention Xin received while living in the Beijing Children's Welfare Institute. A HUGE answered prayer!!!! We will be forever grateful to the wonderful people who worked there during our son's first 4 years.
Friday, May 21, 2010
My "lived-in" home!
So, this post is NOT for those of you who have wonderfully tidy and picked up homes. As a matter of fact, if your house is immaculate please don't look at the pictures that follow. And how DO you do it?-keep it tidy that is-please leave your comment and let me know how it is done!
The pictures that follow represent my well lived-in abode. It drives me crazy at times and at times I don't even see the clutter -I just step right over it! I know someday they will all be gone and my house WILL be immaculate....and lonely! I will wish for the days of dolls, cars, dirty socks and little voices yelling my name constantly. So for now, I will try to put my type A personality aside and lived thru the clutter that fills our days at present. After all, it isn't just a house, it is a home.....a well lived-in HOME!
Ah.... the island. And a great view of the entire scene...cars, pen and clutter. This island collects junk,aka crap, constantly. We had a mudroom with desk and cubbies built so as to avoid this but alas..........sigh.........
Notice the dirty socks on the stool, countless receipts for heaven only knows what, catalogs I THINK I am going to look at in my spare time-HA!-and the pile of recycle stuff to the left of the sink in back-"Al and Tipper Gore" here are doing our part for the environment! Actually, this happens to look pretty good-some days there is NO island to be seen under the mound of cr--.
Doesn't this make you want to stop over for a cup of coffee or better yet dinner. You could sit ON the dirty socks, amongst the legos or even in the stadium seating....that is if Xin and Jaida would share their chairs.
The pictures that follow represent my well lived-in abode. It drives me crazy at times and at times I don't even see the clutter -I just step right over it! I know someday they will all be gone and my house WILL be immaculate....and lonely! I will wish for the days of dolls, cars, dirty socks and little voices yelling my name constantly. So for now, I will try to put my type A personality aside and lived thru the clutter that fills our days at present. After all, it isn't just a house, it is a home.....a well lived-in HOME!
This is our dining room. We have lived here for 5 yrs and have probably dined in it 8 -10 times. Instead it is a great place to do legos and set up the soccer stadium for "baby Xin" and "baby Jaida" to catch some pretend soccer games. Today the chairs were filled with the real Xin and Jaida too, along with their sunglasses and cell phones!
This is Ollie! Ollie was 1 yr old yesterday-note signs on pen and kitchen chair in back that state this fact. The kids celebrated his bday with treats and a new toy. He is in the pen, which by the way sits in the middle of my kitchen....for almost a yr now, because he chews, still, everything he can get his teeth on and he "pottys" still too. This way he can share "family" time and still be under my watch! Also note the play kitchen set-photo right-Xin and Jaida cook here with plastic food and dried beans which inevitably drop on the floor and get crunched under foot!
Ah.... the island. And a great view of the entire scene...cars, pen and clutter. This island collects junk,aka crap, constantly. We had a mudroom with desk and cubbies built so as to avoid this but alas..........sigh.........WOW!!!!!!!
Notice the dirty socks on the stool, countless receipts for heaven only knows what, catalogs I THINK I am going to look at in my spare time-HA!-and the pile of recycle stuff to the left of the sink in back-"Al and Tipper Gore" here are doing our part for the environment! Actually, this happens to look pretty good-some days there is NO island to be seen under the mound of cr--.Doesn't this make you want to stop over for a cup of coffee or better yet dinner. You could sit ON the dirty socks, amongst the legos or even in the stadium seating....that is if Xin and Jaida would share their chairs.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
A different kind of crown for the princess!
Ok, so Jaida has had a HARD time lately! To say the least. This new brother thing has just rocked her "princess world". Friday night we were excited to go to some friends house for a cookout. Julia had to call to say we would be a little late-Jaida had a train stuck in her head. Thomas the Train to be exact! Here are the pictures of our unhappy Princess and the desperate attempt to save the hair and undo the wad wrapped and twisted around Thomas and his motorized wheel.
A close up of the train/crown.
A full blown family affair as you can see. It did come out, along with a wad of hair, but not too bad considering. She doesn't have alot of hair as it is poor thing and a princess needs her tresses!!! Thomas on the other hand did not fair as well. We had to pry the wheel off to save the hair and now Thomas doesn't move. He has already been replaced with strict instructions NEVER to run a moving train in your hair again! Who would have thought? Jaida sweety, we love you to pieces anyway!!!!!!
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