Dedication and Upcoming Surgery

Hi all - This was an eventful week for Gracie.  Grandma and Grandpa McCammon came to visit, arriving on Thurs. and leaving Monday (10/25) morning.  It rained like crazy part of the time but we still enjoyed being together.  They were amazed at how much Josh, Zach, & especially Ben have grown.  Grandpa taught Gracie Patty-cake or at least his somewhat mixed up version of it.  Gramma tried to keep him in line w/ the correct words and hand movements but it didn't always work. Gracie loves the roll 'em and roll 'em part. When she saw Grpa/Grma walk in Subway the other day, she immediately started rolling her hands so for now we will call him Patty-cake grandpa. 

On Sunday during the church service Dan and I told a brief account of Gracie's "story"- from us deciding to adopt through some of the amazing "fumbles" and events that allowed us to get exactly the little girl God had for us.  After our talk, we had a dvd (made by good friends Molly & Andy Wegener) played of the time in China, our first days w/ Gracie, & a little of the wild home life she has w/ three wonderful big brothers. Then we had a short dedication in which Grpa/Grma joined us w/ the boys & Gracie up front and we all cried.  My mom and dad sent a beautiful bouquet & Pastor Will mentioned them in the final prayer so though they couldn't be there physically, they felt close. We will never stop being thankful to her birth mother (most likely, & possibly father) who took the risk of putting Gracie in a busy place where she would be found & taken to be cared for until we could adopt her.  I don't know what the consequences would be if she was caught but they can't be good.  I always try to stress that Gracie was "PUT" and not "LEFT". It was intentioned that she would be found by the proper people and that at least her immediate medical needs could be met.

She now needs to have her palate repaired.  Her surgery was just scheduled today and it will be Thurs. Nov. 11th @ 10 am in Boise.  I think I wrote before that she will need 2 surgeries to close the palate and then others as she gets older but one hoop to jump at a time!  She will be in the hospital probably 2 nights.  We of course dread this process but it will be behind her soon & likely won't be as bad as we imagine.  Anyway, here are some great pics of last few days.

The Celebrity

Gracie-land has been a busy place. We've had so much fun with family members coming to visit and see the "celebrity" (& her brothers).  Incidentally, her brothers have taken her constant front-stage position very well and seem genuinely happy to let her be there, at least for awhile.  Her ears are doing fine and the cyst incision, which is about an inch long, is healing.  She had her first real bath in 10 days tonight so that was eventful!  She is saying various words off and on but it seems almost spontaneous and it's hard to get her to repeat them much. She has said pray, amen, ow, & I think I heard peek-boo.  They pop out & she almost doesn't seem to even know it sometimes. She has really taken to praying before meals and at various other times that are not quite typical prayer times.  We are doing a little potty training- trying to at least avoid some poopy diapers. The other day, I set her on the toilet and was all hopeful that she was concentrating on the "job" at hand, when I looked at her and she had her hands folded and eyes closed to "pray".  Last night her and Ben & Zach were playing some game- cops/robbers or whatever it was, and she came running out and fell on the floor as if wounded.  The boys love to imitate her grumpy faces and then watch her make them back in fun. 

She got pretty sick last week and had a fever for about three days.  It got up to 103 Thurs. which I did not like but apparently just a virus that has passed.  She is on an antibiotic again though, just in case her ears or incision were the cause of the fever & that may have helped her quickly get over whatever it was.

We found out that she will need to have two surgeries to close her palate.   Sounds like she will be in the hospital 2-3 days and then have soft arm restraints that keep her arms from folding all the way so she can't injure the stitches.  The stitches are disolvable & for about 2 wks she will eat very soft foods like yogurt etc. There will be other surgeries as she gets older but I don't completely understand all that yet.  Eventually, her gum will need bone added, which used to have to come from the hip but now there is another much less invasive option using bone protein.. or something like that!  We don't have the surgery scheduled but will likely be early to late November.  In the meantime, we revert between laughing like crazy & being in awe at how doggone cute she is, and wondering how something so cute can have such a mischievous streak.  The other day, Josh told her no as she went for the computer and she walked over across from us, stared ahead with a deadpan expression and then fell to her knees- (reminded us of the body language of a desperate person lost in the desert when the last plane ever flies over and doesn't see the poor soul...).  Anyway, bout time for bed. She still wakes a few times most nights but seems overall less restless than she was when her ears were infected.



Me -n- Grampa Merritt.  I was sick this night but still put up a good show.Grampa coined our new phrase "wave away", which is what I do when I want one of my many servants to go away or leave my royal presence.

 


Gramma Merritt & I looking at my  "Jesus Loves Me" book I sing with (from our friends the Cimbaliks). I'm wearing the sweater Gramma brought that was made by Jean Brown, a very good friend of our family in Alaska.



I guess big Snickers isn't too bad after all.

These were my "entertainers" Aunt Lisa & Uncle Kerry. They brought the bros & I some really fun stuff.  They also taught me that it's nice to have someone sit with me when I eat so now about every time I eat, I point to the chair next to me but nobody seems anxious to sit with me at every meal...

Goodbye all too soon

Three's a crowd but four is fabulous (& all so cute, even if  I am biased)!

Sunday, October 11

Just a quick update - Gracie did really well with the ear tube procedure and cyst removal.  She was pretty upset coming out of the anesthesia for about an hour but after that was just irritable & tired for the rest of the day.  Our middle son, Ben, went along on the journey to Boise & was a very big help despite not getting a lot of appreciation from Gracie!  Her ears were in very bad shape as far as infection and fluid.  She had been on an antibiotic for a week and still both ears were infected.  She seems to feel better and is surely hearing much more clearly.  The dr figured the sound she could hear was probably similar to what can be heard under water.  This should help a lot in developing speech.  I will never stop being amazed at how strong she is and her high pain tolerance.  She actually cried tonight when she slipped on something and hurt her toe.  I think that is the first time she has really cried with us , other than a whimper or two, when she got hurt by falling or the umpteen ways toddlers hurt themselves.  It also explains why she hates her ears being messed with.  We have to put drops in each ear for a week and already I can tell the difference in her ear sensitivity so I know they don't hurt like they did.  Well, my sister & her husband are here for a couple days & we had such a fun time tonight with them.  No pics tonight. Time to get some sleep!

October Update

Sorry it has been so long since I wrote anything.  For some reason, I've been a LITTLE busy!!  We are all doing quite well and adjusting to each other.  Gracie is like a mega-volt  battery energizing the entire household.  (The cats would whole-heartedly agree!)  She is eating pretty well most days and goes to bed at night waving goodnight to the ducks and chickens through the window, turning on the nightlight, playing a few quick peek-a-boos with mom, & hugging her teddy bear from Aunt Lisa.  She snuggles in looking up at the flowers Aunt Heidi bought for her wall & surrounded by blankets made/given by grandmas and friends.  She gets a new outfit or present from someone in our church, family, or even Subway customers every week.  We went to town today and everywhere we went, someone gave her a little thing like a sticker or cookie or even a cup w/ whip cream and a straw from Wheelers!  The outpouring of support, kind words, prayers, & just interest has been so amazing.

We had a couple short visits from Gr/Grpa Merritt (from Alaska) this last week as they were traveling here and there on a fall trip. The other grandparents come in a couple weeks and Aunt Lisa & Uncle Kerry come in a few days!!

Tomorrow Gracie gets tubes in both ears and will have a small cyst removed that is related to the cleft palate.  We'll leave about 5 am and hope she sleeps for the 2 hr drive because she can't eat or drink until after the procedure.  She has had 2 ear infections in the short time we've had her and probably has had fluid and ear infections most of her life.  It is related to the cleft palate.  Next Friday, oldest bro Josh gets his wisdom teeth removed and that same Dr. will consult with us on Gracie's palate repair.  The first dr we took her to the end of Sept. did not do major cleft palate repair (which we didn't know until we got her there) but she will be the Dr. to handle the auditory portion of Gracie's care.  By God's grace, we had found the dr for Josh's wisdom teeth before we left and just found out the other day that he traveled to China w/ our adoption agency in 2005 with a team of four doctors to perform cleft lip/palate surgeries.  He is both a doctor and dentist so we are hopeful that he has lots of experience w/ palate repair and that he can lead us through the next few years in her mouth repair.  Don't know what all that will entail yet but will keep y'all posted.

Other than that, she has finally started playing some w/ her toys rather than getting into everything and "helping" with house organization and cleaning.  The boys spoil her and love to do the chase game, which involves one brother running with Gracie and another chasing her.  She also likes to pretend to sleep (way funner than really sleeping).  She also loves to ride on a brother's shoulders.  Josh has figured out that if he sits down he can get her off w/o too much fussing but she's onto that now and starts up as soon as he nears the chair.  Well, I have had a lot of trouble w/ the pictures tonight so will try to put one in but need to get to bed.  Her hair is growing and we finally have a bit of "bed hair" in the morning- yay!