April Showers

Hi everyone!  It's been a long time again for me to get back to blogging.  The April showers have mostly been snow and we're pretty sick of it.  Grace continues to change and is growing so fast.  I can't believe how much bigger she looks sometimes.  We were sick a LOT this winter so hoping that will turn around. Dan calls Gracie the germ "transporter".

We still haven't taken her in for the second minor surgery on her mouth. It is supposed to be an in-office thing but we were insanely busy through the winter & just not quite up to the idea yet.  She also has a cavity, which isn't surprising because her teeth are pretty messed up w/ the palate issue.  Her teeth didn't look good from when we first got her.

She loves being outside still and so with spring coming, that can happen more often.  We took a little trip to Oregon over spring break to see the grandparents and aunts/uncles/cousins.  It was a nice break and she loved the green grass.

We have some other trips planned to see family this spring and early summer.  She is Miss demanding, let me tell you - so just sitting down doing this has me about ripping my hair out.  Josh gave her some cookie cereal (health food) so that should keep her happy for awhile.  Her night terrors have subsided but we still have some bad nights - last night being one of them.  We are working on some "life skills" of playing alone for small amounts of time!  This is not a skill she is highly adept at yet!!!  The boys continue to do so well with her and she's very attached to them.  Her and Snickers, the choc lab, have become pals. Gracie lays on Snickers and gives her dolls or medicine. Snickers is a big teddy bear and really the only pet that will hold still when the "G-force" is nearby!  Well, lots to do today!  Her very first Easter celebration is coming up and I already have her dress ready to go.  So fun!

November/December 2010

Wow!  Guess it has been almost 2 months since I posted anything here.  Let's see, where to start.  Her hair has grown out quite a bit and if possible, she is even more adorable.  She is trying new words every day.  The first consonants, like J, T, B.. are hard for her but she can say most vowels.  She even said "Ap-ple" the other day when that's what she wanted!  She has recently started to say "Oshw" (Josh) Daddy, which sounds a lot like it should be hard to write the difference.  She is very inquisitive and active.  She's strong-willed and likes a lot of attention.  She loves baths and showers and runs around telling everyone "Baaa" when she is going to take one.  When she looks at books she points out things and once you say them, like "bird" or something then everyone in the house has to say that word.  It's pretty funny.  The boys adore her. They do get a bit tired of her fussing at times & she runs around following everyone and taking in every little activity.  Boy, it was tough to sneak Christmas candy w/o her little hawk-eyes observing!! Her eating has really slowed down to the point that "war" breaks out at some meals to get her to eat.  It's actually a nice change from the early days when she was so undernourished.  Measured her today and she grew an inch in about a month!!  She's adorable and people constantly remark at how beautiful she is and how "spirited"!  My prayer for near-future is that she'll take a bit more interest in playing by herself w/ toys.

Gracie had a very nice first Thanksgiving at the Logan's.  Her mouth was still healing so she couldn't eat just anything. She actually had some granola fruit bars, fruit salad, and rolls (which were here favorite).  She isn't big on mashed potatoes or just about anything else that was on the Thanksgiving table. 

Her mouth healed pretty well overall.  It was a very painful couple weeks for her.  She was extremely cranky for several days and didn't like sleeping in the arm bands at all.  The stitches in the very back and the very front did not hold.  However, we were thrilled to hear that fixing the back part is just an office visit because the tissue is so soft, I guess.  They will lightly sedate her and she will NOT have to wear arm restraints. I think we'll have this done mid-March or so. The front part, just behind her teeth was not closed all the way & opened even further.  This part will be fixed when they put bone in the gum when she is 5 or 6 years.  We will be working with an orthodontist very soon, probably having the first consult in the spring but don't know how soon she would need to start with the apparatuses to keep her upper jaw as wide as possible as she grows.  Because of the closing of the palate, the upper jaw doesn't grow as large as it should so the orthodontics will help that.  Anyway, we know that there are probably several surgeries ahead for her but we'll take it as it comes!

Christmas was pretty wild with her. I thought the Christmas tree would be a huge problem but the main issue was the candy canes, which she desperately wanted.  I let her try one thinking that she wouldn't like them but of course, she loved it!  They were too crunchy for her to eat though so we eventually just got them out of sight.  She rode the snowmachine with Josh and I to get the Christmas tree and she did not appear frightened at all!  She was just wide-eyed and observant.  When we brought the tree in the house she ran around screaming and laughing/dancing.  I don't know what she thought or related it to but she could tell it was an exciting, happy time. Snow isn't scary to her anymore and we really should get her out in it more but it has been a REALLY cold winter so far.  We have lots of snow and the driveway is tunneled in. Christmas Day was kind of stressful for her.  You could see that it was kind of overwhelming to her & she was kind of a little stinker.  She played some with her new toys but mostly wanted the boys' Nerf guns!

Seems like we bond more each day and week.  She definitely knows that I'm "mama" now and keeps tabs on my whereabouts.  Anyway, so much to write but have to run. 

Surgery Over!

Gracie proves once again she is one tough little girl.  I barely have time to write anything here but we'll see if I can at least ramble a little and get some pics going. She came through the surgery so well.  The dr was able to close the entire palate w/ this surgery which he originally thought would take two.  Praise God!!! --Over and over for that.  She went in a fairly happy (despite not eating or drinking for 15+ hrs), playing with all the little hospital goodies like air masks, bloodpressure arm  bands, little sticker things that go with this stuff, and even some of the nurses id tags (which they got back once she was knocked out)... However, coming back out was not near as much fun.  She has well over 100 stitches in the top of her mouth and her little lips were swollen and of course blood in mouth and nose.  She calmed down after Dan and I got there and w/ some calming drug in the IV.  We then moved to the room and she even opened her mouth when the dr came in later that night to look!  The next time she shook her head no but eventually opened. 

We were just going to stay Thurs night but she began to develop a fever in the night & was at about 103 next day.  She wasn't lookin too good at all and just sleeping a lot.  They had to take more blood and a nose swab thing (Thankfully, I was over sleeping at Ronald McDonald House as I hate to see her stuck again and all that).Anyhoo, they kept us two more nights and today (Sunday) we headed home.  She is awfully fussy tonight and I gotta go help here.  She has stiff arm restraints to keep her from damaging her mouth with a toy or her hands.  She is on a pureed or liquid diet for at least a week and think the arm bands are at least 2 weeks.  She does ok w/ them but gets really frustrated at times.  They are so uncomfortable and irritating!  Anyway, temperature down, stitches look as good as they should and she slept a few actual stretches of longer than  20-60 min last night & I didn't hold her all night so got a little zzzzz myself.  This is the worst of this process as she will be 6-7 b4 next needed surgery and that one much less impacting.  Her voice already sounds different and her cute little lips look more even as the folded in side is not sucking into her mouth as much.



view from my room on 4th floor, 4015



In playroom b4 surgery. Dropped a toy and bruised base of my big toe but just limped a little and went on...

For some reason everyone here likes it when I put this mask up to my nose. These people are weird.

This nurse has an adopted daughter from another country too and so I offered her a kiss just out of the blue.

For some reason dad looks like he was on the operating table too....

Doctor Nelson... I think he may have something to do with my sore mouth but I have no evidence.



Playing with my "robot stiff" arms.  I picked the messiest activity in the playroom w/ exception of finger painting.



My n' my wooden arms just before going home!

She really wants regular food after just liquids or nothing for last 4 days and to use utensils!  Poor baby... this will all be over soon.

November 7

Seems like a lot has happened since my last update.  We have had our share of illness the last few days and will be glad to move on.  Last weekend Gracie, Josh, and I had some kind of stomach bug that wasn't terribly bad but had me down Saturday & then we stayed home from church Sunday.  Then on Monday of this past week, Ben came down with a fever and then Zach the next day (while we were in Boise for another appointment for Zach).  By Thurs I figured out it must be strep throat and took them in on Friday.  At first the doctor really thought Mono uggg(!)..... but decided it was a bacterial infection of some kind and wi/ hours of the antibiotic both were doing much better.  Josh then came down with it on Friday night but we got him right on the antibiotic and he is fine today (Sunday). We missed church again partly because I though Josh would be still sick this morning and we didn't want to take Gracie so she doesn't get sick before her surgery.  (Though the germs are abundant around this house...) Wednesday was our middle son, Ben's, 14th birthday which he spent in bed nauseous and feverish.  However, we had a fun family party Fri night.

I don't know how Gracie has not come down with it.  Zach took her up in the Burger King playland (which she LOVED - screaming all the way from the slide to the steps back up each time)- before we knew he was getting sick.  Then keeping her away from sick kids is almost impossible. I had to put both boys in their room because she just can't resist trying to get them to play with her or stealing their food or drinks- or tv remote (most coveted thing in the house).  So far she has just sneezed a lot yesterday and today but doesn't appear to be sick at all. Her preop appointment is tomorrow (Monday) and we will also go get portraits of her and the family.  Her surgery will be at 10 am on Thursday and it sounds like we will likely bring her home on Friday.  Please be in prayer for her (& us!) on that day and the next few as her mouth heals.

Her absolute favorite thing is being outside and she will sometimes bring you your shoes and say "cluck, cluck" as she likes to see the chickens and ducks.  She actually gets quite frustrated if she can't go out so even in the rain, like today, I bundled her up and had boys take her out for awhile a couple times.  I guess cluck, cluck, ow, and ma, ma are her main really English words.  She has said many other words but doesn't repeat them.  However, this wkd she started saying "hello" and repeating it over and over like a parrot.  She also attempted "wet" and a few other words but the "hello" is very clear!  She is actually sitting with Dan "watching" an old movie.  She so rarely sits and does anything- although now she is chirping like a bird and pretending to read a magazine.  We had a skiff of early-season snow so got pictures of her seeing snow for the first time. It was just a little and she didn't seem too impressed but she will be soon.

Sick boys quarantined from busy, inquisitive one.

Busy, inquisitive one, pretending to be sick too.

Pretty in polka-dots & stripes- a cute outfit from Aunt Heidi.

The black animal is NOT stuffed & is purring.  Guess Gracie isn't the only connoisseur of warm cuddly blankets.

Not sure about this white stuff.



A quick cupcake mallard duck.... which will be threatened by the below birthday gift.



I hope this doesn't influence her.  I live with enough hunters!

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!