Pre-Op appointment at Childrens Hospital

Today was Annabel's pre-op appointment at Children's Hospital. She was suppose to have her surgery this coming Friday....but it had to be postponed. She has a bit of a cold right now so they will not risk surgery. Her operation requires putting a breathing tube in her while she is being operated on. They cannot put the tube in if her throat is irritated in any way from coughing. So we will know more later in the week. We were told she needs at least 2 full weeks of being healthy before surgery so I think we will just wait until after Christmas for the next attempted date. I hope we don't spend all of winter scheduling and canceling surgery dates due to our winter crud. haha We spent about 6 hours at the hospital today being seen by so many different doctors and nurses. They were very thorough and extremely helpful. She is in such great hands. The last appointment was so funny. She was soooooo ready to leave that when the nurse opened the door she darted out and down the hall. We all just laughed and said "See ya, I am so out of here". Besides having a cold, she is doing amazing. I have her involved in a couple of children's groups now and she really enjoys the other kids. I purchased a sling this weekend and she absolutely loves me carrying her around in it. It has really helped my back too. I wish I had it in China. Since being home, Annabel has only gained a couple of ounces. She is only 2% on the weight chart so today we met with the nutritionist, along with many other specialists, and she gave us some great ideas on how to beef up her calorie intake. She has grown in height a little bit though and her head measurements have grown as well. They were very pleased about that. All in all it was a great day. We met a young woman with a new baby born just like Annabel with bilateral cleft lip and palate. She was so scared. But I really think that seeing Annabel and talking with us helped ease her mind. She couldn't believe that Annabel looked like her son just one year ago. Modern medicine is just amazing. His surgery is later this week. I pray is goes well for them.

Annabel's Toddler Shower

Today was Annabel's Toddler shower. I had a combined shower with a friend from my church named Jennifer who just had a baby girl. We had such a great time. It was a Mexican potluck and it was fabulous!!! I am so grateful for my mother-in-law for orchestrating the entire event. I know she worked herself to the bone to make sure we had a wonderful day...and we did. Thank you so much Jan. And thank you to those who helped her make it so perfect. It meant more to me then you will ever know. Annabel was a ham of course, especially when Mark played our adoption video. Annabel watches it all the time at home and knows the pictures by heart. Each time her picture came up she went nuts. She definitely knows herself in photos and on video. She loved the Mexican food and loved playing with all her new toys when she got home. As you can see she got more gifts then she knew what to do with. We have really been holding out on buying toys and clothes since we knew the baby shower was coming up. So thank you to everyone who attended and thank you for all the wonderful gifts. It meant so much to me that you came to celebrate with us. I also want to thank all my other dear friends who could not come today who have taken the time to mail or stop by with presents for Annabel over the past few weeks. You have all been so generous. It has been such a joy opening each and every gift and reading each card. You have all made Annabel feel so welcomed and warmed my heart with your kindness. She loved it all today and especially flocked to her new dolls. Which is so wonderful considering she was terrified of dolls when we first received her. She has been feeding her babies all evening. Thanks again for everything. I feel very blessed to have so many amazing women in my life. God Bless!!!!

Another fun filled week

Well have you ever watched the movie Ratatouille? Today was our first time watching it and I have to say Annabel really made me laugh. Our little friend, Kendra came over to play so I put the movie in to help entertain them. Annabel doesn't really like TV but I thought she might like the rats. Well the funniest thing happened. As soon as the rat started pulling on the boys hair to operate his arms, Annabel went nuts. She started squeeling at the top of her lungs and pulling her hair. Not hard enough to hurt, just enough to get her hands around what little hair she has. She then started hitting her self on her head. Kind of like you would if you thought there was a rat on top of it. It was probably one of the funniest things I have seen since she has been home. The only thing I can imagine is that she thought there really was a rat on her head. Eventually, she figured out it was just on TV and settled down and just laughed hysterically. You will notice that I also included a picture of Amber in uniform the night of her Pass in Review for ROTC. She refused to get in the picture with the boys but thanks to Chief Peterson (I bet you like the sound of that don't you Pete?) she finally smiled. I thought it was going to take a bulldozer to push her closer to David in the photo. Teenagers are so funny. It cracks me up because we have known Curtis (on the left in uniform) since he was 2 years old. That is my friend Tammie's son. Now they are in uniforms and towering over their parents. I can't believe how fast they grow up. The funny thing is that the high school TV station was there video taping. We were in the front row so if you get a chance to watch it on TV you will probably see me moving around aimlessly trying to get Annabel to sit still during the silent review. It was quite funny. She did really great though. The best though was when the drill team came out with their weapons and my friend Laura's 4 year old son told everyone not to talk or else they would shoot us. Kids say the funniest things. Annabel is doing great though. She had her first encounter with other children this week at preschool story time. She had a blast and I look forward to taking her back next time. As you can see, Annabel and Mark both operate on the same wavelength....go go go, then crash, crash, crash. I couldn't resist that picture. They both look like they are resting so peacefully.