One week left....

In just one week, the final set of casts will come off. I can hardly believe it, but I'm so ready for that day to come. I'm actually releasing control and I'm going to let Steve return to St. Louis without me. Can you believe it? I'm going to stay home and attend some wrestling "stuff" with Tucker. He actually has his body fat assessment on that day and I don't want to miss it for fear of the outcome being bad. I don't think it will be bad, but I just want to be there.

So to think that in one week Amelia will have her first "real" bath in just over eight weeks, or is it nine? Who's counting anyway. I keep talking to her about it and she doesn't seem to really care.

She's adjusted to the short-legged casts pretty well. She doesn't care for the "shoes" and takes them off now. I just let her go and tell her that she'll just have to slip and slide around if she' doesn't want to wear them. Right now she's standing up on the hardwood floors playing at the vanity so she seems to have adapted just fine.

I'm working on getting things decorated for Christmas....trying to stay ahead of the game! HA HA HA HA HA....I crack myself up!

Holy Baptism

After two cancellations, trying to arrange numerous schedules and not being successful, we finally had Amelia baptised on September 21, 2008. We schedule this event two times before and had to cancel both for various reasons, surgeries, casting etc. I decided I'd like to get it done before the casting and surgery this fall and set out to find a date. Unfortunately, Matthew was away at school, so we had to go forward without him. We have three amazing pastors at our church, so I never have a preference on who does the baptism. I just call the office, ask for dates only, no pastor schedules and we get who we get. Well, it seems that of all the times, our extension pastor, Jenn Lucas, was going to be at the main campus on this date and she performed the baptism. It was lovely and a long time coming. Amelia did very well and Elise was a little more than chagrined that she was not up on the big screen in front of the congregation. Fortunately, the very last photo was one of both of the girls at the beach, it's one of my favorite photos of them and I'm so happy they included it in the slide show.

We had the family come to the house afterwards for a nice brunch and it was a perfectly lovely day. We even had a few friends stop by to congratulation our girl.

So Amelia has had her first sacrament. I will continue to pray that she will experience many more.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Look at me....return trip to St. Louis

We just returned from good ole St. Louie and Amelia is now in her final set of casts. Hallelujah and Praise the Lord!!! This set is short-legged and she is now allowed to bear weight.

Elise wanted to go back to St. Louis so badly, so she went along this time. Fortunately, I was blessed to have my sister accompany me on the trip. I'm a brave woman, some might even say fearless, but traveling the six hours, alone, with two toddlers, is not my idea of fun or smart. So, the four of us piled in "Betty" (the name of my Envoy), and off we went.

Traveling this time of year is different. By the time we arrived in St. L, it was already dark and raining~yulk. We checked in and decided to venture out of the hotel and by pass Applebees for dinner. We trudged down Euclid and found a nice Pasta House, ate a delicious dinner with a lovely glass of wine and headed back to the hotel for some serious "bed jumping". Yes, that's right. Elise only wants to come along to jump on the hotel beds. I don't allow that sort of shenanigans at home, but someone else's bed is just fine to jump on. She had a little trouble getting her groove on and the first jump found her bouncing on to the second bed with too much momentum and hitting the wall. Couldn't help but laugh at that one. She quickly regrouped, reduced the height of her first bounce and landed the second bounce with a perfect 10. Amelia cheered her on since she could only sit on the bed and observe.

Once again, we had the "strategic" 7:30 a.m. appointment~no waiting~and went directly into a room when we arrived. Amelia starts to get a little weary since she knows the casts are going to be cut off. Mind you, the saw just makes a great deal of noise but it won't cut her. The gentlemen who was doing the cutting is so very nice and does an excellent job. As I sat on the table with her, I started to ponder the possibility that there may be things shoved down into those casts. Over the past week, Elise has caught Amelia storing various items down in her casts. I've retrieved a puzzle piece and a few other toys. I prayed there was nothing embarrassing down there. Fortunately, all that come out of one cast was a tootsie roll wrapper. She was probably trying to hide the evidence. It made for a pretty light moment.

Next came the tough part...removing the "buttons". I've renamed the buttons, discs. There is no way that huge, bump-of-a-thing, can be called a button. Silly me, thought they would just come in and snip the stitches and remove it. Ha~ Silly Me, is right. As I sat on the table, with Amelia between my legs, holding her feet up, the resident doctor just YANKED the first button off. I was shocked, so was Amelia. Fortunately, it happened so quickly, there wasn't much time for a reaction. She whimpered very so slightly, but continued to eat her goldfish. Then came the second foot. This one didn't work out so well. He couldn't pull the stick out. So he sat there, pulling and tugging on that "button" while I held her foot up. Amelia was whaling, Elise was crying and had to leave the room and things were starting to get a little dicey for me. Finally, he had the good sense to realize that stitch wasn't coming out and he cut it close to the foot. After he left the room, I had to head to the sink and get a nice, cold cloth to drape across the back of my neck. Candy said I was looking a little peeky.

After the drama, I took a baby wipe and cleaned her little toes, the toes that have been couped up in those darn casts for over six weeks now. Her skin was flaky and instantly started to fall off around her. Amelia started removing the larger pieces her self. As I cleaned her toes, I gently massaged her legs and took notice of her feet. I was thrilled with how straight they looked! It was is an amazing difference.

Now she is in short legged casts with blue velcro shoes and she is allowed to stand and try to walk. To say the least, her legs are very weak. But she's already standing and trying to take some steps. The casts are heavy and the shoes are bulky, but she is so very excited. The first time she stood up she smiles, looked up at me and say..."Look at me! I'm standing!" My heart exploded for her. Her spirit is amazing and her determination will be the force that has her running by summer time.

It's good to be home and sleep in my own bed. Steve is returning in two weeks to have the final set of casts and I plan on staying home. During the return trip~I finally figured out that I have been to St. Louie eight times this year. I guess I've been so caught up in the day-to-day work, that I just wasn't thinking about how many times I've driven there. Or maybe I'm just in a state of denial~a place I like to go to cope with stressful situations. I always return from denial, it just takes me some time. I'm giving up control and letting Steve do this trip. I will be hard for me, but I'm going to do it! Pray for me ;-)

Enjoy the trip pics. I've also included a video of Amelia doing a somersault in her casts. Nothing stops her. She can't wait to join Elise in dance class~won't that be a hoot!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow Somersaults:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSr-3YcBiuk

Button, button, who's got the button????

Another trip down and a few more to go. Amelia's casts were changed this week and she got a new set. She wasn't suppose to get the casts completely changed, was only suppose to get a fiberglass overwrap. But between the two of us, we destroyed the old ones.

I love Dr. Dobbs' nurse, Kristina. I was feeling pretty bad about my motherly responsibilities when it came to keeping these casts in tact until she told me a few of her "worse" cast stories. After the the stories about fly larva, cockroaches and cast removal with a steak knife, I was feeling pretty good about myself.

The very nice gentleman with the saw came in and I had to sit on the table with Amelia and hold her. This requires that I sit behind her and straddle her. Thank goodness I can still sit that way! She's so dramatic...she whimpers the entire time he is sawing, but she can still eat a pretzel. Go figure!

He removed the top part of the cast and I was able to see her legs. Poor thing! She's lost all of her muscle tone, they are dry and itchy and kind of dark. I massaged them for her but was not allowed to put any lotion on them since that can lead to skin break down. Millie was still doing pretty well with everything~no drama~YET! Then they took the legs out of the bottom of the casts and she freaked out over the sutures on the top of her feet. "Look Mama! Look!" She kept repeating and pointing. Then came the bottom of her foot and seeing the "button" for the first time. I have a picture in my mind of a "button", a very small button on the bottom of my child's very small foot. I've got one word~YOWSA! That's some heavy duty button on her feet. IT'S HUGE!

All in all, everything looked pretty good. One of the sutures on the left foot looked a little infected so they treated that and the skin looked pretty good. No harm done this time. We just have to stay really dry for the next 2 1/2 weeks. They recasted her and put bright pink fiberglass on her legs. The button stands out on the bottom of her casted feet, and appears as a rather large bump. She's still not allowed to walk or stand and frankly I don't think she'll have the desire with that gigantic button on the bottom of her foot. The next set of casts will be short legged and walking casts! HOORAH! We're on the down hill side now~or at least I like to think so.

I have to admit, her attitude is amazing and she doesn't seem to be too worse for wear. She's a trooper, my Millie Moo!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Two weeks down....two~four weeks to go

We've gotten through our first two weeks with the casts, but not without incident. I can't blame it all on Amelia~I'm also to blame.

Relaxing in the hotel before dinner...she's very comfortable!

Sorry, I just can't seem to handle the sponge baths~that's what I'm suppose to be sticking to but I have failed as a mother in that department. She just gets so very dirty some days and I can't help myself. I bought two bags that were specifically made to cover a cast to keep them dry while bathing. So I put the bags over the casts, sit her on a stool in the tub (so she's not submerged) and give her a nice bath. Well, nice compared to a sponge bath (my grandmother called it another kind of bath ;-). But those bags don't work very well if there are holes in them, which I discovered on Monday night when I removed them after my version of a "sponge bath". Needless to say, the cast was very wet.

So, long story, very short...Amelia will be getting those casts replaced tomorrow in St. Louis by Dr. Dobbs nurse since between the two of us, we have destroyed them. Amelia played a pretty active part in this little incident too. For instance, she lays on her back, stick her legs up in the air, puts her hands down in the casts, by her toes and pulls on them. I've tried to capture this on film but have not been able to so far. We won't go into the break dancing and log rolling that she performs for people when she wants to show off. I'll also leave out the fact that she decided to crawl down the concrete drive a few times leaving a lovely trail of white plaster of paris.

Waiting for her "sponge bath", no one should be able to lay like that...especially with those casts!

So you see, it's not just me being a germ-o-phob mom, Amelia's done her fair share of destruction too! I had to re tape the casts within the first three days home due to all the crawling she was doing!

I've taken several trips to St. Louis with just Millie (yes, Millie!). Let me digress for a moment. We tend to give nicknames in the Clevenger family...every one's name seems to morph into something other than their Christian name. So Amelia has gone from Amealwah, to Mealwah, to Millie to Millie Moo. I know it sounds korney, but I love calling her Millie Moo. She does not like to be called by her Chinese name and will shout "NO", when I call her Yuan Yuan. But she likes Millie! Go figure!

Back to the trips. I decided to try the trip on our own and was delighted at the outcome. I was blessed to see a different side of my daughter when she was by herself. We were able to bond in a new way and I fell in love with a child that I had not seen before. So when people say that children act differently when they are without their siblings, I couldn't agree more. So, I've taken this opportunity to travel alone and get to know my Millie Moo in a different way. It's been such a blessing!

Next time I'll have to ask for two double beds...how am I suppose to sleep in a king size bed with her sleeping like that? I'm sure I'll figure out something. After all, I am the mother!

She's sleeping now and I'm heading that direction. We have the early appointment tomorrow and will be back on the road to home ASAP. It's a power trip, but worth every minute! I can't wait to see what color casts we leave with. Hopefully it will be pink or blue and we'll skip the orange this time.

You signed up for this....(my rant for the day)

"You signed up for this!" or "This is what you wanted!"

These are things that I hear quite frequently when it comes to my adopted daughters. Let's face it, there are times when I'm overwhelmed and tired, sad and frustrated, crazy and mad. All very normal, natural feelings for any mother. But it seems that since my daughters are adopted, I don't have a right to feel this way according to some people. According to them, I should not vent my feelings concerning anything to do with them~particularly anything that may seem bad. It's almost as if feeling anything but pure, unadulterated love and jubilation in the fact that I have these two little girls is simply not allowed. Talk about sending someone on a serious guilt trip...this mentally send me right to the "express lane", "Do not pass go, go straight to martyrdom".

Before I go any further in this rant, let's get a few things straight. I LOVE my children, all four of them. I would lay my life on the line for anyone of them. I would go to the ends of the earth to provide for them the things that they truly need to be healthy and successful. There is no difference in any of them. But they are different; not one of them share a single strand of DNA! The girls share a mother and father, but not a birth mother and father. The boys are a product of both of our previous marriages~not related in any way. So you see, all four of my children are siblings through marriage, adoption and the love the Jesus Christ. But do you think anyone says anything like this to me when I vent about my son or stepson? Of course not...who would even thing of saying anything about that? Everyone knows how difficult teenagers and step children can be, but adopted children must be different, right??? WRONG, right now, my daughter is lying in her bed pitching a ROYAL fit because she doesn't want to take a nap that she so desperately needs after having surgery last week. But according to some people, I should just smile and be content with her misbehaving because I chose to adopt her. This type of behavior should not frustrate me one little bit. Things that make you go "Hmmmmm????"

This brings me to an even bigger problem (at least from my perspective). Many people in our society don't want to deal with those "bad" feelings. If you are feeling bad, you must have something wrong with you, so go to the doctor and get a pill to fix it. Please take note, that I know and believe that mental illness is a very real and painful issue. I would never begrudge anyone that seeks help for any medical condition. BUT, I also believe there are far to many people out there that are just popping a pill because society doesn't want to see any sadness or anger or any of those emotions that just make some people uncomfortable. I can't believe that it is healthy for a person's mental and physical being to not experience any and all emotions. To mask those emotions with a pill seems risky to me.

I have a few EX-friends that believe that because I simply express my emotions (good, sad, mad or indifferent), makes me bi-polar. That's right~bi-polar. Ask me where they got their medical degrees and I'd have to say they simple read one of those wonderful self-help books and decided that since I didn't fit into what THEY believe to be normal behavior, I'm mentally ill. We won't go in to the fact that they are living in loveless, self-serving marriages that are held together simple because they don't have the courage to face the tough and difficult issues and they don't want their Christians friends to think they are anything but perfect. Or that they chooses to limp through life pretending their families and lives are perfect, when I know for a fact that they aren't. I'm not advocating divorce or anything like that, but let's me REAL. People in glass houses should NEVER throw stones and these people have a catapult inside their home. As for me, you get the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. A spades, a spade to me baby. And I'm gonna tell you that. If that makes me mentally ill, then so be it. I'd rather be that than a fake. Because faking something ALWAYS catches up to you~sooner or later.

Another point, do you think these same people that say these things to me, say them to the parents that give birth to a biological child that has special needs? Oh, I think not, that would be so POLITICALLY incorrect! They would never say that to a biological family! They would offer support and empathize~never say, "Hey, you new the risk when you decided to give birth to this baby!" Just burns my backside when I think about it. Of course I knew my daughter had club feet. Did I know it was atypical clubfeet (in about 2-3% of clubfoot cases), with nerve damage in both legs? Did I know that she would be well over two years old before she would ever walk, let alone run? No, I didn't know any of these things! It wasn't stated in her medical records. We stepped out in faith, with God's guidance, knowing we could get through anything with His help. But that doesn't mean it's always simple or happy or gleeful around our house! Some days are just plain hard~when a teenager is grumpy because someone ate the last peach and HE thought it should have been saved for him (gotta love weight loss during wrestling season), the four year old is taking toys away from the two year old because she can and the two year old is screaming at the top of her lungs, MINE MINE MINE! Meltdowns abound, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord! Welcome to the funny farm!

So the fact that I'm a wee bit older, with small adopted children doesn't give me the same rights as parents that have children in their younger years. Because let's face it, had the invitro treatments been successful and I had given birth to let's say, multiples, I would have faced the same scrutiny. "You chose to go through this!" It just doesn't seem fair to me.

Rest assured, I have my safe zones; friends that I can say anything to, that understand and let me say the things I need to say. For if I did not have them, if I couldn't say the things that I really needed to say in a loving, caring and nurturing environment, then I would have to medicated!

That's my rant for the day....please know that I love my children dearly, but they all drive me crazy to some extent! I guess that just really makes them mine! If you are so fortunately that this doesn't happen to you, then God bless you. You must have the patience of Job! I admit that I do not, but I pray for forgiveness and guidance on a daily basis. That's me, broken and imperfect. Only by the grace of God, can I be successful as a mother, spouse and friend. Kudos to you if you don't.

Isn't this a lovely way to come back to blogging!

ATTT Surgery

Amelia had her ATTT (Anterior Tibial Tendon Transfer) surgery this week. Dr. Dobbs was very happy with the surgery and the flexation of Amelia's feet. We are so happy to have this behind us, but the next four weeks will be tough. She is not allowed to bear any weight on her feet for four weeks. For a little girl that has just started walking, this is devastating. She has been in plaster casts for the past two weeks to stretch her feet and tendons before the surgery and she actually got to the point where she could walk in them. I've included a video at the end of the slide show showing her walking. It's rather choppy, but you can get the jest of her attempt.

We covet your prayers for patience and acceptance during the next four weeks. I've been a little absent from blogging, I plan on changing that. Enjoy the photos from the hospital. They are a little grainy~must have had the aperture setting on.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy Adoption Day

It’s challenging for me to believe that an entire year has pasted since Amelia was placed in our arms. My brain has difficulty grasping the fact that we were in China, this time last year and became a family of six on this exact day. Then the haze clears and I realize where I am and what the date actually is ~ then I hear the bickering from two small, Chinese children coming from an unknown location in the house and reality hits and it hits hard.

July 16, 2007

This post has not come easy for me. I’ve agonized over what to include since I’m not sure of the audience. There are those that have never experienced a difficult child, or adoption and they can never begin to comprehend what this year has been like. I’ve even thought of not including a post since this year has been…well…less than stellar. However, there’s that part of my brain that understands the importance of said post. Ultimately, the most important person that will be affected by this post will be Amelia. Things need to be said so she knows and understands the importance and impact of this year on her and our entire family. So make the post I will with the caveat that it’s not meant to be anything more than a milestone that needs to be marked for my daughter’s sake. Like the content or not, it’s what the last year has been from my perspective.

July 11, 2008

I’d love to say this year has been a joy and delight, but that would be a lie. Those that know me, know lying is not an option. It’s been difficult and even grim at times. From the time we arrived in China last July, we have endured much more excitement than we planned for. From culture shock, early departures and disruptions, it was not exactly a happy trip. As anticipated, Amelia’s behavior in China was only a snapshot of what was to come when we arrived home. Amelia is a strong-willed child that wants what she wants and wants it now. If she doesn’t get it, she tends to voice her displeasure for an extended period of time. On a high note, that period of time has decreased from several hours to only several minutes of crying, screeching and whaling.

In her defense, I have to acknowledge the frustration that she has had to experience from not being able to walk. The weakness and nerve damage that she has in her legs has been far more than we anticipated. We’ve adjusted to this unforeseen condition and believe we are on the right track with her treatments. We will travel back to St. Louis this fall to start her treatments. We covet your prayers for all of us during this time. I’ll keep you posted when I know more.

I truly believed that we were prepared for the challenges of adopting a slightly older child and one that was in an extraordinary foster program. Amelia came to us very spoiled. I know that sounds contradictory to what everyone hears about Chinese orphans, but I would encourage you to check out Half the Sky. They have an amazing program in Amelia’s orphanage and Amelia definitely benefited from having the love and care of some amazing nannies. Believing I was prepared and then actually living through the experience are two very different things.

I believe I survived the guilt I was experiencing from the help and support of some very wonderful friends that I could open up to and that had experienced the same things with their biological children. This information helped to lessen the burden I felt over the “adopted child” label that I worried about. What a relief it was to know that Amelia not being my biological child had nothing to do with the struggles that we were encountering.

My social worker believes that Amelia is lucky to have us for parents. Her words to me were, “Isn’t she lucky to have you! If she would have had a first-time-parent, imagine the havoc she could have caused in their lives!” All I can say to that is, you might want to ask Amelia about that. But seriously, I have had to be very stern with her! It’s broken my heart at times, but I knew that if I didn’t stay the course, she would be running this house. And a two-year old running any household is not a good thing. I kept saying to myself, “If you don’t stop it now, what is she going to be like when she’s twelve???” Then all that would pop into my mind was some sort of “boot camp” for teens. Not a pretty picture my friends.

The physical impact this last year has had on myself has been nothing less than staggering. I have never weighed more, nor been in such rotten physical condition. I’m slowing getting into a workout routine and that is helping. The weight problem has to do with the “stress eating” that I have fallen in to. I’m not proud of the amount of time that my head has been stuck inside the freezer compartment eating ice cream directly out of the ice cream tub. I’ve laughed and told friends that there has been a lot of chocolate and wine consumed in our house over the last year. I said it jokingly, but there is some truth to the statement.

Our days are getting better. Amelia walking has helped her disposition tremendously. She clearly loves me and lets me now it continually. It’s rather sweet and I get so many comments from people about how much she loves me. I can’t leave the house for 10 minutes that she doesn’t chant, “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy” and ran to me when I walk in the door. She would sit on my lap constantly if I would let her. But again, I have to put limits on her or she carries a little leniency to the extreme and would stay on my lap all day long.

I believe she has adjusted to our family very well and fits in nicely. She’s going to be our opinionated, stubborn child. She can sulk with the best of them and we often laugh at her when she plops down on the floor and stares at us with that “I-just-might-hurt-you” glare. What she still hasn’t fully comprehended yet is that I am more stubborn and more strong-willed than she is. I refuse to have my life dictated by a two year old, so the war wages on. I can see the end in site, but it still might be some months out. This troop refuses to pull out ~ God has placed this child in my life for a reason and I intend to stick around for the long term. I have fallen in love with her and I believe that she truly loves all of us. She tells me she loves me daily! It’s music to my ears, especially when we are having a tough day.

This post has gone on enough…I limit myself to two pages in Word~ I’ve reached that limit.
I love you Amelia SiYuan Wells. I’m glad God is allowing me the privilege of being your mother. My prayer is that I continue to do God’s will in my life and in yours.

Running through the sprinkler together...

Beach Vacation

We just returned from a week at the beach...all six of us. We had so a great time...we hated to leave. Amelia was a trooper and enjoyed every minute of it!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Bug bites and bubble baths

Bath time has turned into a sporting event at our house. If I so much as mumble "bath"...the hysterics begin. Clothes begin to fly...feet shuffle to the stairs...voices become high pitched while squealing "bath,bath,bath". Mind you, this is all Amelia. Elise doesn't become interested in the bath until she figures out that Amelia is heading upstairs and she might possible get one of her "favorite" bath toys. Yowsa...

I'm so excited that I can finally give Amelia a "horn". Her hair is finally growing and not so dry. She even has that "Don King" look in the morning. Makes me laugh when I first see her.

I know this is a little disturbing...but she seems to like it. The more bubbles, the better.

Finally, what's up with my kids and mosquito bites??? The first summer that Elise was home I took her to the doctor for what I thought was some sort of growth/reaction...it was a mosquito bite. Yep, boy did I feel stupid. Here I am...the mother of two boys ages 10 & 12 and I don't know what a bug bite looks like. But look at this poor child's cheek! This is TWO days AFTER the mosquito was shooed off the poor girls face. We try to make sure that they have on bug spray, but it was 4 p.m.~still way early! Lesson learned...all children must be appropriately doused with bug spray by 4 p.m. The sign is now posted in my kitchen

Summertime Playtime

Check out this video of Amelia's first attempt at playing hopscotch. She so wants to be like her Jei Jei!

It's a rather long video and there's lots of other "stuff" happening~that's just a small window into the things that go on at our house! It's rather interesting sometimes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln2kl9gS4QY

And She WALKS.....

The Morning Look

Yes, our little Miss Amelia is walking! That's right, she started walking with her AFOs on Wednesday, June 18th! It was so exciting and she was so beside herself with pride. The therapist was so proud of her! I was so shocked and surprised! We didn't even have to ask her to walk, she just looked up at me, smiled and started walking toward me. Suddenly, I felt this pressure in my chest. What could it be, I thought? Then I realized it was my heart, ready to explode for joy for my little girl. She fell into my arms and the pure delight on her face was something I will never forget! We hugged and laughed and cried all at the same time!

It really was one of those special moments that I will never forget! I'll never forget the smug little smile on her face right before she let go of the chair and walked to me. I'll never forget how that smiled changed when she fell into my arms and the transformation that followed. Amelia seems so much happier now that she is mobile. It really is amazing. Her gait isn't really pretty, for us, it's beautiful, amazing and incredible.

Doing Pullups...

Now she's walking all over the house without any help at all. She is even walking without the assistance of her AFOs. The AFOs give her a flat foundation to stand on, but they can also make her dependent on them. Imagine my delight when I watched Amelia walk to me without her AFOs. Another special moment.

I talked to the doctor in St. Louis and they were thrilled to hear she is walking. They also said that the more she can walk without the AFOs, the stronger her legs will get!

So hip-hip-hooray for Miss Amelia~she's motoring all over the place.

I just can't stand how cute she is!!!

First Haircut

Lots of firsts this week, more on that later!!!! We went to Cookie Cutters and got Amelia's first haircut. She did great! She looks like a little girl now without that scraggly hair. It was hard for me to get it cut since it took so long for her hair to grow! I just love the way she looks!

Make a Smilebox postcard

Riding the Carousel at the zoo....

Another trip to the zoo and Elise was adamant about riding the carousel this time. So, on the way out, we stopped and rode the carousel. I wasn't sure how Amelia would take it since she was clinging for dear life to my friend, Joan, on the train ride.

This shot is before the carousel started to move. Needless to say, she had her arm so tight around my neck I thought I might choke. With that in mind, remember that I am on the carousel with her. Are you getting the picture??? Yes, I was squatting up and down as her lion went up and down with Amelia's arm tight around my neck.

Looking at the giraffe's with Joan.

Cookin' with Cinderella

I've been promising Elise for days that we would make cupcakes. Since a "friend" had passed on a "friendship bread" starter to me 10 days ago, today was the day to make our friendship bread. So after yoga and after we picked up Tucker from summer gym, I helped Elise with the recipe.

Well, it didn't take long for Miss Amelia to want in on the action. Before I knew it, she had crawled right up on that IKEA stepstool and was right beside her Jie Jie "helping". It really was a sweet moment. Elise was kind and generous with Amelia and Amelia was sweet and giving right back. It was a rare moment as they tend to want to bicker a little bit.

Enjoy the video. My Cinderella's are learning to cook!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Summer time....swimming time

Amelia has a new love....the swimming pool. I didn't think it was going to be so much of a hit with her on the first day. She was very resistant to being in the water without me holding her. But on day TWO...this is what we saw....

It was so refreshing to see that genuine smile on her face. As you can see, we are deep into the "What's that?" phase. She's also talking a ton. I can get a three word sentence out of her if I poke and prod. By the way...that sound in the background is not static. That is the sound of cicadas singing in the trees surrounding the pool. I didn't think we were going to get the little buggers this year. We were invaded about 4 years ago with a huge brood. But alas, they are EVERYWHERE around our house since we have long standing trees.

We have planned a family vacation to the beach. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to it!

Control, Control, Control

Yes, the battle continues. Just when I think that we are making progress and I grant a small liberty to Amelia~the battle for control starts to rage again. You would think that after ten months she would figure out that I won't give up!!! I can only imagine what the teen years will be like~maybe I'll be old and worn out by then!?! NOT!!!!

Here's the story...I'll attempt to describe this "event" with some humor. Believe me, it wasn't humorous at the time!

Saturday was Matthew's graduation from high school. The ceremony was in the morning and we were having an open house in the afternoon. The girls did not go~for obvious reasons~way too much confusion! So they stayed at home with their aunt. I decided to put Amelia down for her nap at the normal time and let her enjoy the last half of the party. My reasoning was that if I let her stay up until 2 p.m. then I might as well let her skip her entire nap~skipping naps is not a good option around her. It makes for grumpy and unpleasant toddlers.

I put Amelia down at 1 p.m. with little resistance (just the normal wailing when I leave the room). Unfortunately, people started arriving at around 1:30 p.m. and the noise level escalated way earlier than I expected. Naturally, Amelia voiced her disdain for the fact that she was napping when there was action going on in the house (she voices her disdain when there's no action) so this wasn't a surprise to me. As per my usual response, I ignored her "unpleasantness" since I refuse to acknowledge her nasty demands (it's more like screaming).

Fast forward about 30 minutes and I head to her room to change her into her party dress and take her down stairs. Imagine my surprise when I walk into her room and see her bare butt sticking up in the air as something drops from that bottom!!! Yes, she pulled her diaper down and pooed in her bed. This action still stuns me~I really don't know what to say about it. I still can't find any humor in it. If I had been even one minute later, who knows what kind of a mess I would have found. Fortunately, there was only a small amount of "stuff" on her brand new, very expensive brace! My head just spins when I think of it! Now imagine all of this happening when I have a house full of guests!?!

So I learned my lesson...I can't let her go to bed without her no-nos on. We put them on her so she won't undo her brace~if she undoes it, then she risks relapsing. A relapse is what we are dealing with now ~ which means more casting and surgery. As you can imagine, messing with the brace is unacceptable. But she continues to do so. She's a smart little girl~just very manipulative.

After this little "episode" I now know that she will pull down her diaper if she wants to. I guess that means she can pull her pants down for potty training. Looks like "Potty Training Boot Camp" is right around the corner!!!!

The battle rages on...it should be an interesting summer. Maybe the our one year anniversy will bring some progress~I'm not holding my breath!

New Brace and AFOs

We did a "power trip" (there and back in a day) to St. Louis last week to pick up Amelia's new brace and AFOs. Steve went with me so I had someone to share the driving with~it made the drive much easier! We're already seeing a difference in Amelia's ability to stand~she'll even stand unprompted! We can't really see a big difference with the nighttime brace other than she can't really untie them. They are hook and loop tape so we are waiting to see if she tries to undo them. Hopefully she'll be walking without any help before long. We are also going to start physical therapy next month.

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Mother's Day 2008

This was my first Mother's Day with Amelia. I always think of the girls birth mother on this day. It makes me sad and glad all at the same time. It's difficult to describe all the emotions surrounding this day for me. No psycho-babble today....check out the family blog for a slide show of some pictures of the day!

Battle of the Brace~sleeping~CONTROL....

We've been experiencing "sleep issues" again. The past week, Amelia has decided to wake up in the middle of the night/morning and begin her "Mommy" call. Yes, she chants..."Mommy! Mommy! Mommmmmyyyyy!" Over and over and over again. If I do not respond in what she believes to be a "timely fashion", the screaming begins! And I do mean screaming! I had thought we were over the hump~ HA!!! I even went so far as to vocalize that we were getting along so well lately. I guess she showed me. Which is what so much of Amelia's behavior is about~Control!!!

Markell shoes on a Denis Brown Bar

Which brings me to my next topic....the dreaded brace that she wears 14-16 hours a day. It's a wonderful contraption~unlace, loosen bucket, force chubby foot in, wench down buckle, re-lace and wah-lah, you are finished. Can you hear the sarcasm???? Steve HATES this thing~he actually breaks into a sweat when he tries to put them on Amelia. I have sort of mastered it and can whip through it rather quickly.

Nice screw....wrecking havoc on my hardwood flooring....How does a little girl get that off after I wench it on. Do I need lock tite???

Amelia doesn't fight us on the brace. Well, not really~she uses a more passive aggressive way to fight us. She will bang the shoe/brace against the floor, mattress or whatever to loosen the massive screws on the bottom and then she takes the shoe off the brace. Imagine my surprise when I check her before I go to bed and find her shoes unscrewed!?!? It's very irritating.

I'm also a huge stickler on her wearing the brace 14+ hours. Honestly, she should probably be wearing them around 16 hours. We usually get 12 hours at night and then 2 hours at nap time. So I've been extending the time in the morning and right after nap time. It's been working out o.k.~but it means that I have to put the brace on her at around 7:30 p.m. since she is an early riser. Not such an easy task since summer is almost here and it's daylight until 9 p.m. So now the brace has been going on later at night which translates into wearing it later in the morning. Do you see wear I'm going with this???? Needless to say, we are in another transition phase that hasn't been much fun.

The new Dobb's brace is in and we will be getting it fitted this week. Amelia will also be wearing AFOs during the day and hopefully it will assist her with walking. If you do go to the link to check out the brace, know that there is some controversy about the bar and this video. If you know anything about braces and braces, the second brace is clearly too small for this little girl which will cause her to be uncomfortable. Amelia can crawl like a champ with this bar and she can stand quite well.

There is also another site you can check out . This is a family with three children~all born with club feet. She is a tremendous resource for families that are dealing with club feet. The biggest difference for us is that Amelia did not have the benefit of treatments during infancy, which is what US born babies get. Amelia was living with her feet for 16 months before any treatments. So the protocol is slightly different~like wearing AFOs during the day. Many people would say that this is not appropriate procedure. But since Amelia has nerve and tendon damage~her case is different. On and on I could go about the different perspectives.

So we are moving forward with the brace and AFO until we have the tendon surgery in the fall.

Earthquake in China

I'm sure many, if not most of you, have seen the international headlines about the earthquake in China. Amelia is from Sichuan Province, Chengdu, to be exact. The epicenter was about 60 miles from Chengdu. Half the Sky is the US agency that provides programs for the children many orphanges around China. Amelia's orphanage happens to be one that benefits from the work of this great organization. HTS has been sending daily updates to anyone on their mailing list. This is the latest update that I have received....

Dear Friends,
I dearly wish I had more good news to report. The very best thing I can tell you is that we have not had a single report of injuries from the welfare institutions.

As of this morning (Friday) there were 19,509 people confirmed dead. The State Council today said there will likely be more than 50,000. Today’s government report describes one terrible scene after another: thousands homeless, thousands missing, thousands injured, thousands trapped or buried alive. Hope for survivors is dimming. There is an urgent call for body bags to prevent the spread of disease. There have been over 4,400 aftershocks.

HTS Director, Child Development, Ma Lang has arrived in Chengdu and sends this note:I am deeply touched by your moral and emotional support. I only slept twoof the past thirty hours. The first thing I did after landing was todonate some medicine to the Chengdu Red Cross. It was very much appreciated – exactly what was needed. They gave me a wish list for further donations: antibiotics for children and adults, medicine for diarrhea, cold capsules (not instant medicines that must be mixed in water), bandages, gauze, tape, iodine, cotton swabs, herbal medicine to stop bleeding and some for pain relief. Other much-needed donations include tents, tarpaulins, warm clothes and shoes. People in Chengdu are doing everything they can to help with the earthquake rescue. I saw all sorts of vehicles carrying things to the donation centers. I registered for blood donation and was put on the waiting list – the blood center was overloaded with donated blood and it’s difficult to transport the blood to the hardest-hit areas. More to come… Lang

Here is the confirmed information we have regarding welfare institutions:The following institutions not mentioned in yesterday’s note suffered no serious damage:Chengdu 2nd SWI, Chengdu 3rd SWI, Ziyang SWI, Neijing CWI, Chengdu SOS children’s village, Leshan SWI, Ganzi CWI, Guang’an SWI, Suining SWI.

The following report damage, but, again, no injuries. Your generous donations will help meet all of these requests for assistance:

Bazhon CWI – Severe damage to building; children are fine. Meishan SWI – Cracks in buildings, have evacuated all children (50+) to tents. They have adequate food, water and clothes but request 20 cribs and bedding. Guangyuan SWI – Damaged buildings, all children have been in tents for 4-5days, often in the blazing sun. They request food, baby formula water, diapers, bedding and other daily necessities. They urgently need drugs and food supplements to protect against disease and heatstroke.

Nanchong SWI – There was substantial damage to buildings, all children (100+, more than half under 6 years-old) are living in tents. They need more tents, disposable diapers, children’s clothing, wagons, cribs and bedding.

Deyang CWI – Dormitory for school-age children was severely damaged. Although the other buildings seem fine, pending inspection, all children and staff have been moved to tents. There has been constant rain and much that was pulled from the buildings has been ruined. They request bedding and children’s clothing. They still have disposable diapers left from our assistance during the winter storms but will be running out of those as well as infant formula in the coming days.

Mianyang Zitong CWI (update) – Children have been moved back from the military base to a safe building in the institution. There is adequate food and water but they request clothes, bedding, infant formula, diapers and medicine for colds. They are now caring for 66 children, 23 of them under 2 years.

Sadly, 24 new orphans – earthquake survivors - arrived at the institution yesterday. We are still unable to reach these orphanages: Abazhou CWI (52 children) and Mianzhu SWI. Please give what you can to help the children who survive go on with their lives.If you would like to donate to Half the Sky’s Children’s Earthquake Fund,it would be great if you would do so at Global Giving.

My apologies forgiving incorrect information yesterday; the Ford Motor Company is generously matching EMPLOYEE gifts to Global Giving, not ALL! Still, it is an easy and convenient way to make a donation and helps HTS by handling processing of your gifts. Now maybe some other corporation would like to step up and match ALL donations?!http://www.globalgiving.com/pr/2100/proj2086a.html

If you prefer to donate directly to Half the Sky, of course that’s fine.Here are the various ways: You can donate by calling Half the Sky (+1 510525 3377) or on our website:http://give.halfthesky.org/prostores/servlet/Categories?category=Children's+Earthquake+FundIf you would like a Canadian tax receipt, please donate athttp://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s86248If you would like a Hong Kong tax receipt, please call us at +852 25205266 or online athttps://www.paydollar.com/b2c2/eng/charity/payInfo.jsp?charityId=4947Thank you for your tremendous support. Although it is heartbreaking towrite these reports, we are so honored to be in a position to help duringthis terrible time.

with love,Jenny
Jenny Bowen
Executive Director
Half the Sky Foundation
www.halfthesky.org

Half the Sky was created in order to enrich the lives and enhance the prospects for orphaned children in China. We establish and operate infant nurture and preschool programs, provide personalized learning for older children and establish loving permanent family care and guidance for children with disabilities. It is our goal to ensure that every orphaned child has a caring adult in her life and a chance at a bright future.

It really is a horrible situation. So many people in such a small area can only mean that injuries and the death count will continue to climb. Join me as we pray for everyone's health and safety in China.

Another trip to St. Louis, another unexpected outcome

We just returned from another trip to see Dr. Dobbs in St. Louis and to say that my expectations were not met is an understatement. I've spent the last 24 or so hours processing what happened and I think I might be able to put everything that happened in to words. So here it goes.

Thankfully, we had an uneventful trip, arrived in the early evening before rush hour traffic, checked in and headed to dinner. We ate al fresco which was really nice for the girls. They could get out and run a little bit and after riding for 5.5 hours, they both needed to move around.

Dessert was Klondike bars in our room. I promised Elise a sundae but service was so terrible at the restaurant that we opted for something from the hotel convenience store over waiting and waiting and waiting for our waitress to return. I wouldn't say the Klondike bars were a success, but it appeased their desire for ice cream.

Naturally, I slept horrible. Lucky for me that Elise chose to sleep with Aunt Candy (he he!) and I had a bed to myself. I think I woke up every hour because I was so fearful of missing our 7:30 a.m. appointment. That would be a total nightmare, having to reschedule! Wow, I can't even go there!

We arrived in plenty of time and we were the second patients in the waiting room. The other family was a Chinese woman and caucausian man. They were very curious about Amelia in a sweet way. Amelia was more than willing to entertain them. It was a pleasant conversation~at least for me it was.

When we were called back to the exam room a Chinese doctor arrived to ask us some questions. Well, let me say that he hasn't been in the US long~I had a very difficult time understanding him and I caught myself almost looking at Amelia and asking her what he said. Yes, I know, politically incorrect~but I was struggling. You know how you have to really focus on the person talking, look them right in the face and run what they just said through your brain about 3 times before you can finally process enough of the words to form an answer? That's what I'm talking about!!!!

He looks at Amelia's feet, looks at her legs, has her stand etc. Then he orders an x-ray of her spine. As shocked as I was to hear this, I wasn't totally surprised. I had asked the doctors when we arrived home if she had a sacreal dimple~but she does not and her spine is fine. The head nurse was very attentive while Amelia walked down the hall to x-ray. I mentioned it to her and she said that she had never seen a gait like Amelia's before. Hmmmm....not sure what that means.

Finally Dr. Dobbs showed up and informed me that due to the abnormalities that were discovered in the EMG/nerve conduction study, he recommended that Amelia have the tendon transfer (Anterior Tibial Tendon Transfer (needed in 20% of club foot cases) - where the tendon is moved from the first ray (toe) to the third ray in order to release the inward traction on the foot) now and not wait until she is 3+ years old. Since the nerves and tendons are damaged, her foot will continue to return to the "turned-in" position even after being corrected with serial castings. I knew that she would probably need the surgery eventually, just not now.

My head is spinning and he continues to tell me that she would still need 2 sets of castings to stretch the foot and tendon to prepare her for the surgery. Each cast would be on 1-2 weeks depending on how often I wanted to return to St. Louis. Then the surgery would take place on an out patient basis. He assured me it's very minor surgery. She would be in and out within an hour. She would then be put into long leg casts for 4 weeks and after that, she would be put into short leg casts for 2 weeks.

Mentally, I'm calculating the number of weeks this process is going to take and I'm up to 8-10 weeks. We have been kicking around a family beach vacation this year. Matt will be leaving in the fall for college and we figure it's our only opportunity to go as a family of six. But Steve has said he won't take Amelia to the beach in casts since she won't be able to enjoy the water etc. and neither will we. My beach vacation is fading before my very eyes. The thought bubble holding all of this information has formed and ~POP~ it explodes. All those thoughts become words and start to spew right out of my mouth. Dr. Dobbs then tells me that we can wait to start the process this fall without any problems for Amelia. I think about spending 10-12 weeks inside my house with two toddlers, not being able to go to the pool. Only going outside if it's not too hot so Amelia won't sweat too much in the casts and for me~it's a no brainer! We're waiting! Destin, here we come!!!!!!!! Sorry, another thought bubble just exploded.

We did get Amelia casted for a new night time brace and her AFOs. I'm working on getting things shipped to me so I don't have to return to St. Louis. I calculated that for us to drive there, spend the night and eat, it costs around $500! Yep, not kidding! So hopefully we won't have to return for the AFOs and brace.

I can't say that I'm disappointed with the outcome of the visit. Just surprised and adjusting to a new direction. Seems we are constantly doing that with Amelia. But hopefully she can start wearing the AFOs and it will make her legs stronger and she will start walking. Then maybe, just maybe, she won't need the serial castings and can go into the tendon transfer. This would cut down the number of trips to St. Louis, etc. etc. etc.

That' it for now~but you never know what might change next....

Almost walking....

This week, I have watched Amelia stand and balance for well over ten seconds. It's been so exciting to see the sheer delight and surprise on her face when she realizes what is actually happening. She will even take a step, but then falls down. Consequently, I don't count it as walking yet. But the standing is a very good thing! She's still pretty unsteady and you can tell she's really struggling to keep her balance. If you look at the next set of photos, you'll understand better what some of her challenges are ;-)

She likes the step stool

See how her feet are not flat....try not to notice the "budda" belly :-)

Our next doctor's visit will address this problem.

Look at that face. She is so shocked, but excited!

Trying to take a step....

She does a great job catching herself

I'm sure she will be back in casts next week. I'm also pretty sure that she is going to be less than pleased. We covet your prayers during this time....for ALL of us!

Digital Scrapbooking

I've been playing with Photoshop and created this....

It's a photo of the girls at the zoo.

We are getting ready to head to St. Louis again. I'm sure there will be casts this time, at least I hope so.

On a positive note, Amelia has been standing a little all by herself. She can balance for about 10 seconds or so. Then she tries to take a step and falls. She will only try to stand if we ask her to. So, it's been a good week for her. I'd post a photo but I can't get to the camera before she falls.

EMG test results~from a layman's perspective

Yesterday was the big day for Amelia to get her EMG/Nerve conduction study. To say that I was worked up over it is an understatement. I hardly slept the night before last and I was a bundle of nervous energy all morning. I much prefer having test done in the morning~gets them over with! But alas, our appointment was at 2:45 p.m. I started to post last night, but I was so emotionally exhausted that I just sat outside and watched the girls play and then it was couch potato time to watch American Idol and DWS Results.

I was able to talk to the nurse in St. Louis to make sure I had the necessary information for the test and she did tell me that there were particular things that Dr. Dobbs would be looking from the test. She also said the test would not change Amelia's treatment plan, it would let them know if she would be more likely to relapse after treatment. Now I was really confused. I couldn't really understand why we waited to start the treatment, but it's too late now. This just goes to show how shocked I was when we got this information in St. Louis. No sense crying over spilled milk, if you will.

Naturally, they requested that we arrive 15 minutes early to "fill out" paperwork. So we arrived 25 minutes early since you never know how expressway traffic is going to be in Cincinnati and on the surface streets are always a crap shoot. Let me start off with saying one of my biggest pet peeves is having to wait around for a doctor. Drives me insane~especially when they tell you that if you are 15 minutes late for your appointment, you will need to reschedule. This is how the timing went:

3:15~called back to room by assistant. Room is very small for two parents and one toddler~big machine in middle of room, extra big bed~not your normal hospital bed (this was in a rehabilitation area so I image that many patients need the extra space on the bed). I can already feel Steve tensing up since he is claustrophobic. Can you see where this is going????

3:30~nurse arrives and starts asking us questions. The best question was, "Are you her legal guardians?" Oooh~I hear all my friends gasping, because you know me~I've got a bit of a "smart" mouth. O.K, I've got more than a smart mouth, I'm downright obnoxious sometimes. You know all those "thought bubbles" most of you have but keep them to yourselves? My thought bubbles EXPLODE and the words just pour out into the room much to every one's surprise ;-). I just stared at her for a few seconds with this look on my face, "are you kidding me?", it was a rather pregnant pause. Then I just answered, "yes". Again with this look on my face~"That was a really STUPID question!"

She was a very kind nurse. She just oohed and aahed over Amelia~"She's so sweet!" All the while I'm gritting my teeth because we've had one of those mornings where nothing has please Amelia and she spent most of it crying. Actually, most of it would be an understatement. By the time I changed her out of her PJs, she had cried so much that her pants were went from the tears and slobber dripping down from her face. She just took an ugly stance yesterday and wanted to be carried everywhere I went. Sorry sister, get those legs moving and build those muscles. Besides, my back is finally feeling great and I don't want to regress any.

3:40~nurse returns with the sedative to help her relax. She tells us she won't be put out, just relaxed. I'm beginning to freak a little bit since Amelia has has about a 20 minute nap. She also states that it takes about 20-30 minutes for the sedative to take effective and then the doctor will be in. Are you doing the math here????? Fortunately, she put a Dora video in for Amelia and she sat in her stroller and watched it. It didn't take long for it to hit her since she was so stinkin' tired to begin with. I didn't take my camera but I had my phone so these shots are from that. Not very good, but good enough.

Hey Mommy, that's Dora and Boots up there on the wall~weeeeeeeeeee!

4:10~doctor arrives WITH a resident doctor. Now there are five of us in the room~it's really really crowded now in this tiny room. We got through a series of questions~blah blah blah. I tell him what the doctor in St. Louis needs to know and he told me that it was stated on the referral, so I can relax over that little tid bit. They ask one of us to hold her during the test, we start to "paper-rock-scissors" for the job. The doctors were just staring at us like we were insane.

What's that guy talking about~electrodes what???

Amelia was great during the beginning of the test. She just sat on my lap and watched what the doctors were doing to her legs. She didn't like them taping the appliances to her feet, it annoyed her. She really didn't like them marking on her with an ink pen. She kept pointing at the spot as if to say, "Hey, get that off of me now!" But she never cried, only touched and jabbered.

These are my feet. I can pull them over my head.

The test took about 45-50 minutes. The sedative started to wear off towards the end of it. Amelia was pretty alert when they were sticking the needles in her legs to test the nerves. She started to whimper a little but kept it together. The only time she cried was when Steve left the room to call home since we were WAY over the time we thought we would be there and our cell phone was ringing incessantly from the sitter and from Tucker.

Finally, they told us that her muscles are in good shape. There isn't any problems there. The test did show that she had some damage to her peroneal nerve in her left leg at some point in the past. The nerve was repairing itself though.

Praise God! She does not have any problems! So now it's just a matter of getting her legs stronger so she can walk. I'll be contacting my friend who is a physical therapist for some advice! Thanks for praying for us! We head to St. Louis in two weeks. Hopefully the casting will start then and we can get those fiberglass casts behind us before the pool opens!

Uhhhhh, I don't think I can keep my eyes open much longer

Tomorrow

We head to Cincy Children's tomorrow to have an EMG/Nerve Conduction Study done on Amelia. This is not a procedure that I am familiar with, this is what I do know:

Getting ready for the big "cry", baba told her "no" about something...

The EMG / electromyogram is a test that evaluates the electrical activity in nerves and muscles. This test is helpful to determine if abnormalities exist in the way nerves transmit electrical impulses or abnormalities to the muscles themselves.


The EMG test consists of two parts:

Nerve Conduction Study / NCS which evaluates the speed and amount of electrical activity along a nerve


EMG study which looks at electrical activity in muscles at rest and also when they are voluntarily moved (if possible) to determine if the pattern of activity is normal



There are many things about this test that make me very uncomfortable~electrical current being sent through the muscle & pin electrodes being stuck in the muscle. ICK~this is going to be a real bummer for both of us.


I'm making sure that they will sedate her~otherwise, they will have big problems with me and Amelia. I'm talking sedation for both of us too ;-)

I'm learning to edit my photos....can you see the difference? This one isn't the best, I'm still learning!

I failed to ask the doctor in St. Louis how this test will impact Amelia's treatment of her club feet. Chalk that up to travel fatigue and shock at not being familiar with this procedure for club foot babies. But I am awaiting a call from St. Louis to explain all of this to me.


So please pray for an easy test tomorrow and that the doctors will find no abnormalities. To be honest, we think Amelia may have some neurological problems. She is not walking yet and we had hoped she would be. She has been out of the brace for four months now. Her strength is improving and she does balance while standing, but still no steps. Steve and I are not pessimist, just realistic. We are just trying to prepare ourselves for a different path than we originally anticipated. But we pray we are wrong and that Amelia just needs some intensive PT to get over this hump. That's another problem with older children and club feet, doctors in the US are accustomed to treating infants and not toddlers. This is due to the fact that we seek and receive medical treatment for this condition as soon as a child is born. Consequently, the doctors in the US do not exercise a different treatment protocol for older children and I have discovered it is different. Hence the reason we are now going to Dr. Dobbs since he does in fact treat older adopted children from other countries as well as treating children that have had incorrect treatment for club feet.


Digressing a little here....Dr. Dobbs uses the Ponseti method for treating club feet. Dr. Dobbs and other doctors around the US a treated by Dr. Ponseti himself in this method. It is very specialized and many doctors do not execute it correctly. Therefore, it's imperiative to locate a highly recommended doctor to treat your child. When we returned from China, we did have a doctor that was trained in the method, but she moved to Utah.


Amelia isn't feeling the greatest right now, she has a cough and a temp. Pray that she is well tomorrow and they will still perform the test.


Off to preschool with Elise!

Blingin' my blogs...

My blogs are dull and boring. I use the templates provided by blogger since I don't know any better. But I've been following a few blogs that are just so pretty and I love looking at all of their new "stuff". So I decided it was time for some changes.

I've tried to find someone to bling my blog. But I get no response to my emails. I guess they are just overwhelmed with requests. So I decided I was going to give it a try. This is my first attempt. I'm going to try my hand at making a new Header tomorrow. It should be fun because it will involve digital scrapbooking and my new Photoshop software.

Woohoo...just another reason to be on the computer.