Today at the Pediatrician............

Well, no shots today. That was VERY good news for Matthew. The reason because of it isn't good though. Matthew's lungs didn't sound good. I purposely didn't give him a breathing treatment this morning so she could hear what he sounded like. (what we've been hearing) She said she heard it loud and clear. She said that within the last 48 hours something traumatic had happened within Matthew's lungs. (yup) We have to give him his meds twice a day for the next week. We have given the daycare NEW orders for his Albuterol w/spacer every 4 hours until further notice.

This asthma thing is just scary. I have diabetes and I can "feel" and/or know that "something's just not right" with my sugar levels 90% of the time. I'm ok for the most part. (just drink coke or OJ or candy skittles) But for Matthew? Asthma is like a firecracker that has been lit but you don't know when it will get to the end for the "big one". (if that makes sense)

Our pediatrician truly cares for our kids. She is of Asian descent also and has a special relationship with the Asian kids. I can think of at least 2 different parents of Asian kids who see her. They all love her. Including me. She point blank told me today that if today was the pre-op for Matthew to be "cleared" for Children's Hospital, there was no way she could/would do that. His lungs have to be totally clear before putting him under.

Matthew has done pretty well today. He got his sugar free lollipop and a Spiderman sticker and he was happy as a little lark. *plus no shots, which was even better*

Just know that Matthew is doing ok. He's getting his treatments and is breathing well. His oxygenization (sp?) level was ok too. Just something we have to go through. It'll get better!

Did I forget to mention?

Christmas Eve, Matthew started getting the "sniffles" and getting all congestiony on us. Gave him a treatment both in the morning and in the evening. He was good to go. Then on Christmas, with all the excitement, he got two more treatments because he was sounding "croopy" (hope you all know what croop is). Well, when we sat down to eat Christmas dinner (lots of ham marinaded in sugar-free Apricot and Pineapple preserves with real mashed potatoes and brocoli) Matthew had just woken up from a nap that was very much needed. He went potty, washed his hands and sat down with us to eat. He was just staring at us. He didn't know whether to speak, eat, or what. I asked him if he was ok........no answer. I asked him if he was still tired, no answer. I asked him if he was hungry and he looked at Daddy and I and just about busted into tears!! (he doesn't do this......that's why we knew something was up)

Ahhhhhhhh, mommy got it. I asked Matthew if he needed a treatment (breathing treatment) and he shook his head up and down over and over again. (He NEVER has done this. I put my hand under his nose and he just wasn't getting much exhaling out.) Kinda scary! He made no sounds, no crying, no nothing! We gave him a treatment and he was good as gold again. Like nothing ever happened, he sat down and ate EVERY SINGLE thing on his plate!

Ok, fast forward to today............yesterday I called the pediatrician to tell her that we needed to give Matthew breathing treatments (they keep track of how many and what we give him) on Monday and Tuesday. (Wednesday he was totally fine.) She called and I had left from work already. So today I get in and there is a message on my phone today. About Matthew. They are concerned. They want to talk with me as soon as I get this message. (Ha, at 6:30am in the morning? Don't think they have hours like that.) Anyway..........called them. Spoke with the pediatrician and we went over Christmas day. Found out something VERY important!!!! Maybe some of you know this, but we sure didn't!!!!! Asthmatic attacks come and go, and will happen more often after sleep. (didn't know that) ALSO, Matthew not being responsive to us on Christmas day was a full blown "attack"! (Trust me when I said, WHAT?) I was a little dumbfounded when she said that. She said you don't have to be gasping for air and scared like older folks are. Younger little ones react different. Apparently Matthew does.

Matthew goes in tomorrow for some shots and his "3 year old" checkup! She will listen to his chest tomorrow. She said that if he had a good asthma attack, the lasting effects of it, she would be able to hear still. Last night he was wheezing ever so slightly.

I tell ya, it's weird. Neither daddy or myself knew what was going on. No gasping, no heavy breathing, labored breathing, nothing like that. No lips turning purple/blue, no anything!!!!! I'm beginning to think that Unspecified Asthma is a sneaky little devil that has absolutely no rhyme or reason to it. Although, when Matthew gets "croopy" it seems to happen more often and apparently with more intensity!

Any other parents out there gone through this before?! I'd sure like to hear from you!


Oh, one other thing. February 1st is Matthew's NEW surgery date! Yes, the surgeon called and changed it again! Trust me, I said, this better be the last time. They said, hopefully so! *we'll see*

OH, another OH........Matthew goes to another Oral Maxiofacial Surgeon on Monday! Please say a prayer that this surgeon WILL take Matthew's one tooth out! We already had one surgeon say no because of his graft in his mouth from the palate surgery.

I know this is LATE, but GOD JUL! Merry Christmas!

Oh my gosh, you talk about a whirlwind of Christmas flutter in our house! Let's start with last Thursday night. Rebecca and Matthew had a Pre-school Christmas Program! OH MY GOSH were we in stitches! It was so cute. So entertaining (I knew it would be) and so full of overexcited kids. See our Rudolph?



Rebecca was such a trooper compared to all the other "boys" (all boys and only 2 girls in her half of the 4 year old class) who were screaming their songs to us from the stage. Rebecca was Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and everyone, as soon as she put her nose on, just oooooo'd and ahhhhhh'd. She is the shortest person in her class but let me tell you something, SHE CAN AND WILL HOLD HER OWN! Saw that twice while some of the boys were jockeying her for her position on stage. She didn't miss a beat and TOLD THEM SO too! hehehehe....*s* That's my girl. LOL (Rebecca's class did a song about God (never really heard it before, and Rudolph)

Anyway, taking pictures at the preschool audiotorium was just HORRIBLE! Just horrible. The lighting was bad. Most of my pictures came out dark and it didn't matter what setting I put it on. (Night, child, regular, general, etc.) So most of the photos are on our digital camera. We'll offload more later.

Matthew was part of the WISEGUYS! hehehehe....*s* He was so cute! He knew all of his movements to his songs and even though he really didn't sing much, he did every single movement! His class was cute! I can see that he's already a LADIES MAN! *good grief* Their class sang, GOD IS SO GOOD and O Little Town of Bethleham.

THEN, we move on to the church program. OH WOW! I'm bragging about me now. I don't get to do that much. I have to say, it's like a bicycle for me. You get on the musical ride and keep on going. I LOVE music! It's just that simple. The ladies ensemble did Mary Did You Know (accapella)! Daddy got it on film and I just heard it yesterday for the first time. WE WERE AWESOME! One little flat part, but our fearless leader Caren, got us back on track. My only thing was I was right in front of the mic and it picked me up!!!!!! I don't like that. I was always taught that when you are with an ensemble or a choir, YOU ARE TO SOUND LIKE ONE VOICE! Other than that, it was good. Our candlelight service was really nice.

Tonight is our rehearsel for the ladies ensemble again and I'm sure we will debrief about Monday night's performance. We've been asked to sing at a couple of venues. The best one is the Catherine's Foundation big annual dinner that is coming up soon (like in May) and we will also be at the singing "competition" (can't say you really say it's a REAL competition but) for the tri-county area for church choirs. Now THAT should be interesting!!! I asked Caren, our leader if we can do Agnus Dei or Handel's Messiah or Mass in G's Kryste Elison. hehehehehee......*giggling* She about jumped outta her skin and said, HA, HA, are you kidding? (funny me) I said, NOPE! ROFL (I really was)

Rebecca got another badge for her Awana jacket. She is the ONLY 4 year old who remembers her scripture verses in her CUBBIES unit. We are so proud of her. Not only does she learn them but she RETAINS them too! Her memory is VERY, VERY good. Momma needs to sew on her patches, that reminds me. *ikes*

Anyway, we hope you guys had a GREAT Christmas. We have LOADS and LOADS of pictures of the kids opening up presents. Especially Matthew as this was his FIRST Christmas with us! OH HIS EYES! I have to upload one of the photos of him opening up his first CARS car, Ligtning McQueen.........oh just you wait! They are coming but until then, just see RUDOLPH BECCA!

Time is FLYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, finals are outta the way. (Pray I passed, please!) Matthew's surgery has been moved. Don't remember if I said anything in past posts, but it's now January 7th. We are just waiting on our surgery scheduler, Anna, to confirm who will be there, and when and what they will be doing and so on. (Should be ear tubes, nose/lip revision and a tooth extraction) Gosh, I feel for Matthew. Here it is, Christmas and look what he gets to do AFTER the holidays! Geez.........

Mom and Dad will be with him on January 7th. I will try SUPER hard to get him to drink something so he can go home that day!!! That's all he has to do in order to go home! Drink or eat something. Sounds simple enough. I remember back in September when Matthew had his fistula worked on, the first thing he wanted when he woke up was some water. (from having that tube thing down his throat during surgery, to keep his airway always open and to get oxygen) Let's hope for a repeat of that, shall we?


Well, gee, I get to taddle on myself! YEE HAW! I'M SINGING AGAIN! I LOVE IT! It's all kinds of music. I'm singing with a Women's Ensemble with the Southern Calvert Baptist Church and will soon be singing with the Praise Team also! GET THIS! After an over 10 year ABSENCE from singing in public, by myself, in front of crowds, and crowds of people, I WILL DO THAT AGAIN! They want me to do special music too! I am so psyched! YOU HAVE NO IDEA!!!!!!! I use to do this all the time. Until my parents died. Then I stopped. Why you say? Lots of reasons. (alot)

I tell ya, just giving a short synopsis of myself to the women's ensemble about myself, and how I came to singing and what not was really interesting. They were really impressed..........but that's not what I was going for. That was me, ions ago. Does that make sense? Yes, I've sang for "important people", for dignitaries, for friends, for weddings, for funerals, for who knows what else........but out of everything? I think singing for my mom was the best! She would always tell me the truth of how I sounded. If it was a good day. If it was a bad day. I miss that....

Well, just a quick update as I am about to head out. Storm is a brewing for us northeasterners! BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES FOLKS! ROFL

Momma Kooky

Lots of chit-chat

Well, November 28th, came and went. That is mommy and daddy's wedding anniversary. It's number 9 this year! Yeah us! It was quite an evening, to say the least.

Can you believe it's December already? I can't! November flew by and now December is proving to be just as quick. There are so many things to do. So many places to go. So many people who want us here, there........oh if I only had two of me! Heyyyy, that's an idea. CLONE ME! That would work. This weekend is FINAL time for my pre-calc class. Right now I have a high A in the class. I'd really like to pass the final so I can keep my 4.0 GPA. I'm hoping and praying! Then, I need to race home and bake a HUGE batch of cookies for the ladies dinner on Saturday at our church. Then on Sunday night..................OH YEAH...............Raven's game! Yep, at Baltimore! I can't wait. PURPLE? HERE I COME! Go Ravens!

Oh gosh, and next weekend? Oh and this coming week? (at work) There are retirement parties to attend, Christmas parties, luncheons, oh CALGON take me away already!!!!!

OH the biggest update? Matthew's surgery is hereby postponed due to time. Time for our plastic surgeon. He has two long surgeries on the 21st, and then he would have had Matthew also. Plus rounds, plus the Craniofacial team visits. YES, he's a very wanted man! So, we are trying to coordinate EVERYONE now. The ENT, plastic surgery, and now, a pediatric dental surgeon. (extraction of a decayed tooth)

We are waiting for the surgery scheduler to phone us back with a confirmation. So keep your fingers crossed.

Momma Kooky

Matthew's 2nd surgery is scheduled.

Well, it's done. The plastic surgeon and the ENT have said December 21st is the day they will do Matthew's new surgery. We have to be there at the crack of dawn and hopefully, Lord willing and the creek don't rise, we'll be outta there by evening time. It all depends on if we can get Matthew to eat something or drink something. If he can't do it, he will stay the night.

As usual, Momma had questions for the plastic surgeon. I wrote him a nice long email and do you know that he emailed me back in 2 hours?!?!?! Dr. Ananth Murthy at Children's National Medical Center is thee BEST plastic and reconstructive surgeon! I love him and trust him wholeheartedly with our son, Matthew. Matthew likes him too. Anyway, his part of the surgery will take about an hour and a half, barring any unforeseen things happen.

The ENT (Dr. Pena, a lady) is a really cool doctor too. Her part of the surgery will take approximately 15 minutes. (again, providing everything goes well) She will slit Matthew's eardrums, insert the ear tubes and that's it! Oh, he will also be fitted with some super dooper ear plugs. NO, and I mean, NO water is to go into his ears! Not even by accident!!!!! I've been there, done that when I was little. (twice actually)

So for the moment, Matthew will be "under" for about 2 hours. Maybe shorter. I'm glad for that. Mom and Dad will be up there with him. Aunt K will have Rebecca, most likely. Or Cousin Jksn. :o)

I'm praying that Matthew's scarring will be minimal and his hearing will be opened up TREMENDOUSLY as soon as the ear tubes are inserted!!!! I'm hoping his speech gets 100 times better because of this. I know, I'm expecting alot, but hey, the Lord can do miracles! I believe it, it can happen to my Matthew!

Momma Kooky

Children's Hospital - UPDATE

Yesterday, we trekked up to Children's Hospital for the 2nd Craniofacial team visit. It went well, overall, but we did get some not-so-great news too. We went to dentistry and were told that Matthew needs to start using a "real" toothpaste. One with fluride in it. He has one tooth that is literally decaying in his mouth because of a poor start to dental work. (meaning, not having dental help at a young age) We go to a pediatric dentist next week, so we'll see what they want to do about this tooth. It's the tooth that has grown in north to south instead of west to east (like normal teeth). Other than that? He was ok.

Next stop? Hearing and Speech. OH BOY! This is where Matthew had a VERY intensive hearing evaluation. I mean, VERY aggresive/intensive hearing tests. They did everything on him! Matthew comprehended EVERYTHING! *much better than back in May* The one test that totally scared me. Literally, scared me was the one where they measured what his eardrum was doing. In a word? NOTHING! He "flatlined" the test. Meaning, in a normal person, if they make a sound, it will bounce off the eardrum and you will see a rise and a fall on the test. Kinda like a mountain. Matthew? He had one, solid, dark line that did absolutely nothing. No rise, anywhere. My first thought was OH MY GOD, why?! Then the audiologist explained that because Matthew has fluid on BOTH ears and one ear infection, still, it could be because of that. NOT TO PANIC! YEAH OK, SURE! *are you kidding?* The other test Matthew failed twice was the range of high, medium and low ranges of pitch. Matthew cannot hear in the low range. You literally have to raise your voice to him in order for him to hear you. The audiologist demonstrated on Matthew. I tell ya, hearing the low pitch and staring at the speaker where it comes from and Matthew never looked at it. I just wanted to cry. Literally. Just sit there and cry. (It's me, all over again. I had problems with my left ear, hearing when I was smaller. I had two sets of ear tubes. 1st and 3rd grades.)

Ok, on to speech. Again, the speech pathologist tested Matthew. He has no t, k, d, g, s, r, h.......can't remember the rest. So, what does this mean? He needs speech. He needs to start therapy immediately! He is in his first year of pre-k. There are only 2 years of pre-k and then on to kindergarten. So, we are in contact with the Calvert County Public School system, speech department. We will find out more on Monday when Matthew starts this and talk with his speech teacher. This is good. But overall, he failed the speech/hearing evaluation.

Then we had some lunch. And a hour later, we end up at the ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) doctor. We had to wait a bit as there were numerous kids/parents in this area. Once it was our turn, we had the doctor's intern talk with us. He was really nice!!! Loved Matthew, but I don't think Matthew liked him (or the doc). Matthew is very sensitive and feisty when it comes to his ears. Ever since we got him in China, he's been this way. Matthew still has an ear infection in his cleft ear (left) and fluid on his right ear. (didn't know that) Since he's had 5 ear infections in the left ear in 8 months, it was determined to be in Matthew's best interest to get him some tubes in his ears to allow drainage to happen. December 21st, is the tentative appointment for his next surgery for this.

While I was tending to the details of the surgery part of ENT, I told daddy to go take Matthew to Plastic Surgery. It was so late in the day, we weren't sure if they would be open anymore. Well, daddy told the plastic surgeon what I was doing and he suggested Matthew's nose and lip revision be done at the same time as the tubes going in. GREAT!!! *Matthew won't have to be put "under" so many times.* So that is where we are today. Trying to coordinate Matthew's next surgery. Tentatively set for December 21st. It's suppose to be an outpatient surgery (in an OR though), but for Dr. Murthy's part of it, we aren't sure if he will be able to go home right away or what. Again, Matthew has to at least drink before he leaves! Hopefully I will be able to get him to do that so he doesn't have to stay.

What was ODD to me was that a psychologist/sleep therapy person spoke with us. I thought that was very odd. I had to do a doubletake and ask the man "What did you say you were?" He said a psychologist, I said, "yeah, I got that part of it. The first part of your title?" LOL He chuckled a bit. Never heard of something like that. Dad and I asked him where was he when we had Becca 3 years ago!! We could have used him BIGTIME! LOL Anyway, he said Matthew was a typical normal child. We are typical normal parents. Whew..........good thing. TAKE THAT 1st ADOPTION AGENCY! :p

I have mixed emotions about this. I want Matthew to get the care he needs and whatever he needs medically, but at the same time, it's another surgery. It's another "scary" time for him. It's another time of seeing your child slowly zonk out by anesthia. That's scary! I trust Dr. Murthy. I trust Dr. Pena. (Dr. Pena is a lady and really nice! Explained everything to us in great detail about his surgery.) We started scheduling his surgery around Christmas because both dad and I are off then anyway.

Matthew is still on Cefdinir, Xopenex and Pulmicort. Will be for another week. Hopefully this ear infection will clear up and everything will be a GO for the surgery. I want my little guy well and hearing normal. (as well as normal can be for him)

Momma Kooky

Tough Week for Matthew!

After Saturday's party, (Matthew turning 3 years old), Matthew came up to me Saturday evening and said, "Momma, my belly hurts." I just figured he had to go potty and told him to go. (He did.) Nothing new. Then Sunday morning came. He woke up stuffy and he wasn't his calm, smiling little boy we all know and love. He didn't feel like doing anything. He was clingy with me.

By Sunday evening, he was stuffy, breathing really hoarse, coughing and trying very hard just to get air. I knew it. He was sick. Out came the Nebulizer and we gave him a breathing treatment of Xopenex. Boy, what a difference. He slept pretty well. But was still coughing. I tried to get him into the doctor's office. I did.

GOOD THING I DID. He was getting less than 95% oxygen intake. (that thing on the finger test) Boy, you talk about people coming from out of the woodwork! Nurses started coming in. The nebulizer came out. Albuterol liquid came in. The doctor listened to matthew's heart about 3 times. Poor dude. She said he was very congested, wheezing and not breathing very well. (which we knew, that's why we were there) After the treatment, being weighed (still under 28 pounds), height, had a temperature check (which was near 100)......I tell ya, our children don't cry out loud, or yell because it hurts.....they just get real sick, real quick.

Anyway, after being diagnosed as acute unknown specific asthma, 1 ear infection that was so red she could barely see his eardrum (yes, in his cleft ear again. this makes 6 now since being home.), and apparently an upper respiratory infection....we were sent home with meds that totaled half of our CAR PAYMENT! *yikes*

Today???? This new antibiotic Cefi-something........is potent! I asked them to PLEASE give him something that would knock this out because Matthew is going on Tuesday to Children's Hospital for extensive hearing tests!!!! He has a follow-up visit at the pediatrician on Monday. I hope his ear is better. They also cleaned out his right ear really well. And will do more cleaning inside the ear canal on Monday too.

Goodness. I hope the ENT sees his ear. I'm wondering if Matthew needs an ear tube in his cleft ear. I just don't know. I had 2 sets of tubes when I was little. Both times they helped like CRAZY!

Well? Matthew is doing better. Still getting 2 breathing treatments a day, with 2 meds mixed together and still getting his antibiotic. Poor thing. I keep imagining him being in China. Would he have received this attention? His ears? Would he have grabbed them like he did here and someone notice it like I did? And the asthma? Would they know? Would they have a nebulizer to use? I try not to think too hard about it, but it's there in the back of my mind.

Thank you Lord that our son is here with us. That he is receiving the care he needs. I pray for all the other orphans still in China. Please hold them in your tender hands Lord. Let them know and feel the love of a strangers hand/arms giving them a hug. Please keep the orphanages warm this season. Let the children be warm and have healthy water to drink and healthy food to eat. Amen.

Momma Kooky

THE BIRTHDAY BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3 Years Ago On This VERY day @ 1pm!

Becca came into our lives! We got "the call" from our adoption agency and were told of our precious diva. Little did we know just how "DIVAFIED" she is! ;op~





Name: Guang Qiu Yang (chew yang)
Birthdate: 9/26/03
Weight: 8.7 kg (19 lbs.)
Height: 68 cent.
Orphanage: Guangchang Social Welfare Institute (SWI)
Province: Jiangxi, China

Ah, the good ole days. I remember standing on the second or third floor of this hotel that was quite nice.......babies started arriving! Crying, arriving, looking all over the place. I recognized our friends child first. (Aly S.) Her momma was next to me. Couldn't miss her. I didn't see Becca. WAIT.....in the middle was a very chubby baby, wrapped in a HUGE pink snowsuit with bright red cheeks looking all around, and eating something.

THERE SHE WAS! My daughter. Oh my gosh. I wanted to race down the stairs and get her, but we weren't allowed to do that. We had to wait for the official room, with the official, official, the nannies, the paperwork......I remember thinking to myself, am I fit to be a mom? Will she like me? Will she like daddy? God, what do I do with her?! Will the "motherly instinct" kick in? Will she cry? Will she love us? Oh Lord........help us!!! Just then? We got the go-ahead to go into a conference room at the Lakeview Hotel. There were about 6 parents/families in that room waiting for their children.







We sat, and about 5 minutes later, THE BABIES CAME IN!!!! REBECCA WAS THE FIRST ONE IN! She was so hot! Bright, rosy red cheeks. Crying. Not happy. Her little life was about to be turned inside and out, upside and ALL around. They called her name and daddy and I stood up to go and get her. That was one of the most proudest days in all my life. I was MOMMA! I am MOMMA! Rebecca went to me at first and cried her eyes out. Screamed her lungs to death. Kicked like nobody's business. Sad thing was, someone was suppose to take pictures of that FIRST MOMENT. (They didn't.) This fist, is just a memory! *sad*

Daddy got to hold her. Cried the dickens off everyone elses baby! Everyone was staring at us. Like we didn't know how to keep her quiet. Other babies were crying but not like Becca. Three solid, whole, complete days of crying. NONSTOP except to sleep. No eating, no drinking, no pottying, NOTHING. She was grieving and grieving HARD! Finally, we had to ask our guide for help. She sat little Miss Becca down on a bed, talked to her in Chinese VERY harshly, fed her some prunes and within 30 minutes we had her first POTTY experience! WE HAD LIFT OFF! :o)




We saw a piece of her personality and her little self, each and everyday after that! It was nice.

And now look at her?! Reminds me of a song...."Isn't she lovely" by Stevie Wonder.

Momma Kooky

Somebody's having a HUGE birthday!!!!!!!

Yep, Matthew's FIRST birthday here in the states will be this Saturday, November 10th! (Actual birthday is November 12th.) We're having it a tad early for one of his best friends.......Alex. Little Alex is having his cleft surgery on the 12th, so he needed his CAKE before, because we know it just wouldn't taste right in a blender! ;0)


Matthew will be 3 years old. YEAH! He's potty training pretty hard now. What an accomplishment since we got him in March! THAT'S RIGHT, March of this year! His vocabulary is HUGE now. He's already had one surgery out of the way. He's in daycare having FUN, FUN, FUN! He has a doggie named Charlie to play with. A bratty sister, I mean, wonderful sistah named Becca Boo to be reckoned with. What more could a boy ask for! (oh yeah, and PLENTY of food.....without hiding it in pockets or in jackets *which he use to do being from a orphanage*)

Um, apparently a boy could ask for something else.....BACKYARDIGAN PARTY STUFF! Yep, that's the theme for his party! Anything and everything Backyardigans! Whether it's Tyrone the moose, Pablo the penguin, Austin the (I'm not sure what Austin is or any of the other ones for that matter).......anyway, lots to celebrate! Lots to have fun with. Pictures of his first party will come, I PROMISE! I'll borrow someone's camera if need be!

What a delight to have a son who is like Matthew. It's amazing to me how some kids are dealt a "throw away" label on them but if they only had love and compassion to pick them up, look what they COULD be! Matthew was a child like this. For those of you who know him personally, look at him flurrish! He is over 3 feet tall now. In a 2T pants (length wise, around middle he can't fill them out yet). He's healthy. He's soooooooooooooooooooooooo loved! What a difference for him and for us! I just wish that for all the orphans! Especially the one's who wait, and wait and wonder when their mommy and daddy will come and get them.

Ok, tears are just rolling down now. I do this to myself every once in awhile. I just can't tell you how much adoption has meant for us. You have to experience it for yourself! There is NOTHING similiar like it! NOTHING!

Please send our Matthew a little note telling him HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We'd sure appreciate it. I know he will too! We'll make sure he knows what you wrote and who did it. Honest. Thanks in advance!!!

Momma Kooky

Just thinking about the past a bit...........

Ok, I'm sentimental somewhat. Yeah, yeah, big deal, right? For normal stuff, yeah, but for your kids? I mean, adopting them from another country? It's a huge thing. I was just going back and rereading every little thing about Matthew's trip this past March. I found myself tearing up at certain parts. Especially seeing his "blank" face look when we got him. And seeing the hints of his mentos that the "Mother" Nanny had given to him to keep him quiet and occupied. (semi laughing)

You wanted some photos? How about of our son's first pictures? These are the FIRST and only photos we ever received about our child when we (or should I say, GOD chose him for us) chose him. Enjoy.......... (In order, Matthew's visa picture, Orphanage photo 1, Orphanage photo 2.) THIS IS OUR BOY! :o)

JUST A WORD OF WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*This blog is under a serious reconstruction and possible name change! Be on the lookout for future OH MY GOODNESSES or jawdropping happenings!*

Rebecca's Results..........

Well, after a very long conversation with one of Rebecca's pediatricians, we know have the results of her tests.

Her bone xrays of her little self came out very well and are ok. They were able to tell us ALOT about her. (and maybe some we didn't want to know about) Her bloodwork was THEE best!!!! All clear there. They were worried about 2 particular chromosonal genetic heredities that could stunt her growth, but they are normal! (thank you Lord)

The end result? Apparently her biological parents are very short. Therefore, Rebecca will be short. They are estimating her total height (from her xrays) to be around 4'6 to 4'10. (possibly even up to 5'0, but that's on the high end) Short is ok! I'm 5'4, so that's ok.

There is one extra thing we were able to find out from her skeletal frame as well. It's something we were fearing, yet wondering about if the information we were given for her, from China, was correct. Her chronological age from her xrays say she could be actually younger than she is. (I WILL NOT get into this unless it's in private emails.) For Rebecca's sake, her birthday is her birthday! SHE IS 4 YEARS OLD! END OF STORY! Dad and I feel VERY, VERY strong (and united) on this! She knows her birthday. She knows what month it's in. She knows what day it is. She knows how old she is! AND THAT'S FINAL!

So, to this, we say, THANK YOU LORD for the tests coming out very well for her! God made short people so we could look after tall people! hehehehehehehehe.....*s*

Matthew's just about over his sinus/ear infection stuff. So glad. Poor guy, he's getting use to the augmentin taste! Ewww......smells like coconuts. Don't ask me to taste it! Yuck!

Just gearing up for Matthew's party and resting from a yucky week of quizzes, homework, classwork, midterm exam, and doing family stuff. Maybe we can relax? naa, not in the vocabulary! Until then?

From the mommy files

A little memory from our last trip to China

Every morning when we were eating breakfast in Chengdu, there was a song playing. I kept trying to find the artist and what the songtitle was but to no avail. The melody of the song was one of those earworms that you never forget. The search was not made any easier by Rebecca who made up her own words to the song. The melody was correct but the words all wrong. She wanted us to get the CD so we could bring it home. After we got home I have had a few search sessions online to find the song and now I have finally found it. So.... Here it is as a karaoke video from YouTube.



By the way..... Rebecca was singin..... Nanee da pee, nanee da poo....

The daddy flies..... I mean files......

A packed day of Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins!

Today we took a leisure day. Yesterday the kids went to a friends birthday party and boy did they have FUN! They had the chocolate on their faces and lootbags to prove it! LOL

Today, we took the kids to a farm to pick pumpkins. Just a little place in northern Prince Frederick. The rule for the kids was if they couldn't hold it, they couldn't get it. (I honestly thought that would work!) Little did I know they would put their 2 heads together and test and see just how big of a pumpkin they could hold!!! They started small and went big...........meanwhile Dad and I were just laughing our heads off!!!! These 2 kids were bound and determined to get the "big one"! You had to see it to believe it.

Anyway, they ended up picking 2 pumpkins. Matthew held his for all of 2 seconds and then proceeded on dropping it. Momma to the rescue! I caught it. Matthew wanted it. So Momma held it until we paid for it. Rebecca's pumpkin was slightly bigger and daddy carried hers to the checkout. It was nice. Apple cider, jellies, jams, sauces, homemade stuff, hotdogs, sodas, moonbounce, mums, hay, you name it, it was there. We actually hung around for a bit.

Right now, the pumpkins are outside, cooling in the sun. We will get to carving them sometime soon. Rebecca wants to go ghoully, Matthew wants something with a BIG smile. (one he saw at the farm) Daddy and Mommy will get to carve these bad boys, so stay tuned for pictures. (no pictures from the pumpkin farm though. didn't think about it when we went)

The mommy files

A surprise we didn't know about.................

.......this is about our sweet (yet diva-fied) daughter, Rebecca. Yesterday was her 4 year old checkup with her pediatrician. For the most part everything went well. 4 shots in her little legs though. *plenty of screaming for everyone within a radius of 500 feet to listen to* But what caught us off guard was something like this: We feel there is a concern with Rebecca's growth.

Huh? *they were never really worried about it before*


BREAK: If you need coffee, a soda, by all means, go get it.....this is a little long.


See, back in 2004, when we got Rebecca from China, she was malnourished and quite stunted in growth. (Even to the point that her head, at 15 months, wasn't fully closed up at the top of her head. Like babies have their tops of their heads close by usually 1 year old.........at 15 months, hers was NOT closed up and wasn't truly even together yet.) So we knew that she had some possible growth issues because of not being fed appropriate foods and given formula from the start. Her orphanage did what they could, I'm sure. But.....being as poor as they were, they made due with what they had.

Enter the picture at 2 & 3 years old.........Rebecca's head is fully closed up, she's been on vitamins and mineral supplements........eating well. She grows in a "normal" manner for a Chinese little girl. Mind you, still far below the "average American girl growth charts" but she's ok. (in the <5%) That was ok.

Enter to yesterday, at age 4 years old. She gets measured. (like normal) Her weight is holding at 30 pounds. (same as last time) Her height is still holding at around 35 inches. HUH? Excuse me? Rebecca has truly only grown from last year to this year between 1/4 to 1/2 an inch! That's it! I thought, ok. Our pediatrician said she would be a little shorty. That's ok. Um, apparently it is......but they are erring on the side of caution to be sure. Let me explain..

Rebecca's measurement for the time that she has been with us, were faxed over to Children's Hospital (in Washington, DC) yesterday for an endrocronologist to look at. More information was given to him and he suggested a full work up on her genetics to make sure something wasn't being OVERLOOKED. Her not growing that much could be one of three different things. 1) she's just going to be a late bloomer; no biggie there! 2) there is something genetically wrong; we are being evaluated for that right now. 3) her biological parents were small people, therefore, she will be small; again, no biggie there.

As a result of yesterdays meeting/consultation with her pediatrician and the other doctors (2 from Calvert, one from Children's) they said we should go ahead and rule out anything genetically wise. So that's what we are doing. Rebecca had BATTLE SCARS YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!!!! We have the "hard of hearing" ears on today to prove it!

Rebecca had a Bone Age Density work up and a (oh my, how was it said) either Cryo work up or Karo work up for Chromosomal makeup. To put it bluntly and in MY terms, they will look at every part of her genetic makeup to see if there is anything wrong or if she's just going to be SHORT!

Poor Becca Boo.......4 shots, 1 drawn out blood test through her hand (couldn't find any veins in her arms worth beans) and some pictures of her BONES! We will also be able to find out what her TRUE chronological age is! Not that we are wondering, mind you, but her birthdate IS estimated! Could be interesting. Hopefully it's boring as all!!!!!!

Pray with us that her tests will come back ok. If she's short, she's short! I'm only 5'4. The pediatrician doesn't see Rebecca over 5'2. (that's a MAX) We will find out the results of all the tests in about 2 weeks. Until then, we wait and pray for her!
We'd appreciate your prayers too!!

Some of you have been asking. YES, Rebecca was from the NON SPECIAL NEEDS (NSN) program in China.

The mommy files

YEAH for Matthew!!!!!!!!!!!

He had another post-op review yesterday with his urologist. Dr. Kalloo is so wonderful! She is so full of energy and has a sense of humor like I don't know. I guess when you are working with uh, well, the lower half of the human anatomy, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR!

Matthew passed all his stuff yesterday with flying colors! He doesn't have to go back to her ever again, unless he needs to. Other than that, NOPE. He's finished. Mr. Happy is happy, the hernia scar/incision is healing very nicely, and the undescended little booger is right where its suppose to be! YEAH US! (Yeah Matthew.) He's been a real trooper through all of this, I tell ya. The poking, the prodding, the squeezing, the "feeling around for something that suppose to be there, but it's not", etc. He's been good about it. I'm so glad this round is over.

Now.............for the next round. Since Matthew's surgery, he's had a BLAST of consinents coming from his mouth that he's never been able to produce before. (Even dumbfounding his plastic/reconstructive doctor at Children's.) In November, we will head back to Children's for another FULL work up from the Craniofacial team. We are truly hoping that the speech therapist and the hearing folks will work with him and be able to figure out if he needs tubes in his ears and/or speech help. We try very hard to help Matthew pronounciate correctly, but I tell ya, there is only so much you can do as a parent. This isn't our domain. When he just can't hear the first part of a word and misses it totally...........well, what do you do?

This kind of help will be so beneficial for him! So, we head back to Children's on November 20th. All day affair again. Making the rounds from the dental folks, to the ENT's..........(What, about 7 docs all-in-all.) Here's hoping he blows them away with his charm and wit! ;o)

The mommy files

Matthew's first day back .................at daycare.

His day started off peachy! Then he was dropped off........oh boy! I knew he'd start pitching a fit. (Last week, we had to pick up Rebecca early, so we went to Matthew's class to see his little friends and his teacher. Well, crying commenced immediately!! He hugged momma's neck like nobody's business. He didn't want to go back. Well............he did that for daddy.) Daddy said he put up a fuss for about 5 minutes. He's never really done this before. Actually? If you think about it, this is a VERY good thing. He recognizes that Mommy and Daddy are definitely HIS parents and is very attached to us! *good thing*

Matthew said he had a good day yesterday and that he had fun. (and used the potty) YEAH!!!!!!!!!!! He learned how to drink from a straw last Saturday! So quickly after his surgery too!!!! Interesting! It took him awhile to figure it out, but he did. We were in Annapolis. I was teaching him and then Rebecca showed him. About 5 minutes later, as we were driving to the Eastern Shore, we hear, MOMMA? DADDY? Matthew's drinking from a straw! GOOD BOY! hehehehe....*s* Gotta hand it to momma becca. Sure enough, he was drinking from a straw. Gosh it makes life better!!!

NO MORE SIPPY CUPS! They are a thing of the past. Not only because of the sutures in his mouth (which are disappearing), but because he can drink from a straw now. Matthew calls them "baby cups". Can you believe we will celebrate his FIRST birthday here in the states in November!?!?!?! He wants a BACKYARDIGANS birthday party. I thought it would be Spiderman, but nope. 3 years old!!!! WOW!!!!

Next year, Rebecca will go to Kindergarten and the year after, Matthew will go to Kindergarten and Becca will go to first grade! Life is flying by! I tell ya!!!

**Pray for us as our family goes through some major transitions......we need confirmation on several areas of what to do, where to go, etc.** Thank you. Sorry to be so clear as mud, but once things start happening, we'll post it and you'll see what we meant! :o)

The mommy files

BECCA BOO'S BIRTHDAY TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today our daughter turns 4 years old! YEAH! And next year she starts Kindergarten. YIKES................


She had her big girl Diva Princess Party over the weeekend. Had little boys and girls all over the place!!!! Today it's just family!


4 years old............my gosh. I can remember getting Rebecca at 15 months old in China. This scared to death little girl, who cried for 3 days straight, who fought us tooth and nail to eat or go potty, oh thank Heaven those days are over!! She eats just fine now and will tell you if she doesn't want something. Also, potty training is a thing of the past! HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just one in pull ups now. (Matthew)

Happy Birthday big girl! Happy Birthday!!!!

Mommy and Daddy

Children's Hospital - TODAY!

Oh my goodness did Matthew wake up on the WRONG side of the bed today. He was horrible! Didn't want to get up, didn't want to go potty, didn't want to get dressed, didn't want to eat, etc. Anyway, he did most of those things. Took awhile, but he did. We ended up going to DC early today. We knew how hard it was to get a parking space at the METRO centers, so we went in like we usually do, early and by 8am. We ended up going and taking the metro to L'Enfant Plaza and looking around. I mean, LOOKING AROUND.........seeing who was close to metro stations (work places) and what "attractions" were close by.

We opted for the Air and Space Museum but before they opened (at 10am), we walked the mall and Matthew was feeling his "normal" self, so he went and chased the geese on the mall and looked at the "big upside down pencil" standing in the air. ROFL Yeah, looking at the monument through a child's eyes, I guess you can say it's a "big upside down pencil". I thought that was funny. Matthew loved the mall. He loved the fact that we could let him out of the stroller and he could run 'til he couldn't run anymore. *sneaky laugh*

After the mall, we called my brother to see if he wanted to meet, but he was quite busy, so we went ahead and walked to the Air and Space Museum. IF YOU COULD HAVE SEEN MATTHEW'S FACE AT THE FIRST CEILING MODEL OF AN AIRPLANE! This is what mom and dad heard.........."MOMMA, DADDA, lookie! AIRPLANE UP DAIR!!" Do you know how many times we heard that? Do you know how many planes are "up dair"?!?! ALOT! Even the newer exhibits are "up dair"! Oh my. He loved the museum. Absolutely LOVED it. He saw Freeze Dried Ice Cream in a bag and said, "No ice cream, momma." I asked him if he wanted any, and Matthew said, NO! hehehehehe.....*s*

The best exhibit as of right now is the American History exhibit. It has the first phonograph, the first record, the hat Abraham Lincoln wore when he died, Jackie Kennedy's gown from a inaug. ball, Dizzy Gillepsie's trumpet thingie, and oh, I forgot his name, but a famous musician who I realized, when I looked at his "score" of music they had from him, HE COULDN'T READ MUSIC!!!!! (When I said that, another music lover noticed the same thing. Most of us started talking about that. Interesting.) Loved it!

Ok, getting down to business...........Matthew went to Children's today for post op "look sees" today. We were only suppose to see just Dr. Murthy, but we ended up meeting Dr. Kalloo there too. So we saw her too! She was like, come on, let's see how Matt's doing.

Dr. Murthy's results: Matthew's fistula fix is holding! HALLELUJAH! The graft is still in place and doing well. Newly formed "tissue" is surrounding it. (Just like it's suppose to.) He was VERY pleased at what he saw. We did show him Matthew's "NO-NO's"........HE BROKE THEM! Dr. Murthy was dumbfounded. Matthew is the ONLY child who has broken a set of NO-NO's!!!! He still has to wear them for at least another week. NO IF's, and's, or but's! Oh, and Matthew's weight is ok, but Dr. Murthy said, if he's hungry and he wants eggs, GIVE HIM DOUBLE! *no quarrels there*

Dr. Kalloo's results: Matthew's "down under" work is doing well. Incision where the hernia was is good and just about totally healed. The undescended teste is doing ok. Um, "Mr. Happy" isn't. We have to see her in two weeks for that. She will do a procedure on Matthew that is "in/out" from the office. Oh boy. Poor Matthew. Without getting into it, it just means one thing.....MORE PAIN! *sigh*

A good day today. Good news for the most part. Please continue to pray for our friend in the earlier post. Thank you.

The momma files

A friend of ours had to make a phonecall...........

and she told us that her and her 2 daughters wouldn't be at Rebecca's birthday party because of a family emergency. Then she went into the emergency.

I know this man. I know this family. Their hearts towards adoption is SO HUGE! They have two Chinese daughters of their own. We met them when we had NO children and were invited to a "playdate" with other adoptive families in the southern MD area.

The dad in this family is a diabetic, type 2, just like me. He's older (older than me), and was struggling with his diabetes......................His diabetes reared it's ugly head earlier in the week. He has now lost a foot to the disease. He's been transferred from a local hospital to Georgetown Univ. Hospital. I know alot of the readers of our blog are christians and pray. I'm asking you to pray for this family. He's still in ICU and has been there for quite a while. His kidney's have tried to shutdown. He's on dialysis. He's doing a tad better, but anyone who knows anything about Diabetes knows things can happen QUICKLY and without warning.

I've been in touch with the family. (The mom) I feel so bad. I feel bad because him and I, even though we don't know each other as well as the mom and I do, we share that same disease! God knows it's ugly! I hate it! It takes too much from people! It's not fair and it strikes ANYONE at any age! You don't have to be fat, skinny, tall, short, have a history of it in your family, or not. It will strike with whom it decides.

Please, if you remember in your prayers, please pray for "D" and his family. God knows who this family is. He goes for another surgery tomorrow. When I find out more, I'll pass it on. Their girls are both under 10. Pray for the mom as she goes to the hospital and still tries to keep the girls on a "schedule" as much as can be done.

Almost a week now.............

Well, so far so good. Matthew had one tiny set back that Daddy figured out more than Mommy did. (from the "down under" stuff) But nothing big. It's been fixed, Matthew didn't like it. Other than that? Life is good. Matthew is doing well but is liking Mommy staying at home. I can see that. Actually? I'm liking staying home with him. He's such a doll. He asks me all kinds of things. Loves to talk more now. His vocabulary and working with consenants are great! He has a J now. His R is getting there too. There is only one thing that is worrying mom and dad at the moment.

We've seen liquid come out of Matthew's nose just once since the surgery. We aren't sure if that was a mishap, like you or I drinking coke and it goes up your nose type of thing or something else. I know our surgeon said that the liklihood of another fistula forming was pretty high. (Although we are praying it doesn't happen!) We are doing everything right. I just don't know until we see the surgeon on Friday. We will go downtown to Children's for an appointment. Hopefully it will be GREAT news! We need some about now. ANYTHING! *besides bills from Children's for Matt's surgery*

Rebecca is in her rare form as always. Since we pay more attention to Matthew, especially mommy, she does just about anything and everything to get our attention! It's really OLD already! Anyone with kids (more than 1) knows about this!!! Daddy tries to teach her what is going on, especially with Matthew, but who knows with her. Her birthday party is coming up soon! She's having a PRINCESS party. You know the Diva must have her Princess party! *oh good grief* (When I was little, it was all about the birthday cake! Who cared about the "theme" or what you got, or where you went..........oh, but I do remember my first Burger Chef birthday party and McDonalds party! DOES THAT DATE ME OR WHAT?!?! *Alright, don't answer that!* Your old too because you remembered it!;o)

Charlie is living large! Literally. He's lost weight being in our family! He's gone from 91 pounds, down to 87.5. He's pretty healthy. *yes, he went to the vet last weekend* Just a distemper shot and he was good to go. His hip dysplaxia is present and pretty obvious, but not stopping him from doing anything. We have him on some organic/herbal stuff which is helping alot! He can run with the BIG DOGGIES! We take him for walks just about everyday and he goes to a dog park every weekend and the kids playground park every weekend. The kids LOVE him! LOVE him! He is estimated to be about 6 or 7 years old which makes him getting into his "older years". I must admit, he's a perfect match with our family.

Kitties are good. Driving the dog crazy, or vice versa, but Poodie, Livie, and Oliver are doing just fine.

Did I cover everyone? Oh yeah, Daddy is good. We are moving on our 6 month post placement for Matthew also! YEAH GOD! *very happy about that*

The mommy files

I knew it was bound to happen............

a meltdown. It happened this morning. After we had breakfast, I told Matthew we would go "bye-bye" for a bit. Nothing long, just an errand and home again. Had PLENTY of stares from folks and a couple actually asked me, "What's wrong with his arms?" LOL It's amazing how folks KNOW it's not right to stare, but yet, they do and then ask what's wrong. I just said he had surgery in his mouth and they don't want him putting fingers inside. End of story.

Anyway, Matthew had a major meltdown. I knew it was coming, just didn't know when. It happened today. As I was changing him and putting the medicine on the places "down below"/suture sites. He had had enough! That was it. I was kicked, pinched, you name it. He did it. Matthew was crying/screaming just about as much as Monday evening. But this was different. Different cry. More like, TEMPER TANTRUM time. I let him have it. Literally. If I had surgery, if I had pain like he did, I'd be unhappy and have a meltdown too. I put him on the floor gently and let him have at it. (He couldn't hurt himself. Diaper was on. No-no's were on.) After about 2 minutes, he was done. I asked him are you finished? Matthew said yes. I said good, now can we go "bye-bye"? He said yes and away we went. He's been excellent since then.

Right now, he had a milkshake (that melted by the time we got home) from Burger King and it was CHOCOLATE! He drank that and said he was tired so I put him in bed. He's sleeping. I tell ya, after the past couple of days, for him to have a 2 minute meltdown..........well, BIG DEAL! I asked him later was he hurting and he said no. It was pure temper.....pure I've had enough temper. He gave his hugs and we went to do our errand. Man......what a trooper!

You know? I never said anything until now, but while him and I were in the hospital on Monday night, I asked Matthew (when he wasn't hurting anymore) was it better to be at the hospital with Mommy or back in China. He looked at me and said w/Mommy. Then he put his arms up for a hug. I can't imagine my boy having surgery in China with NO ONE with him. Not one person. He would be there all alone. I know he did that twice, but NEVER again!!!! I promised him that. Daddy too.

So today is an ok day. Just the one meltdown. Who knows when he gets up. I don't tell him no or don't do that. Why? What for? He's had surgery and enough pain for a grown person to go crazy over! He's entitled. As long as he doesn't hurt himself, go right ahead. And when he's done? We'll go do something else. :o)

The mommy files

Hungry!

Our little boy is hungry! Last night it was pathetic. Mom, Dad and Becca ate and Matthew drank. He started crying. I had to remind Matthew that it was only for a short period of time and that I would try and make him soft foods tomorrow (which is today). Soft scrambled eggs should be a hit with him. He's so hungry! A smoothie for dinner was ok, but he wanted FOOD! REAL FOOD!

This morning he wanted to go with his big sister to daycare, but he couldn't. He wasn't happy about that either. He was REALLY upset when it was time to "wash and medicate" the sutures "down below".........we have to do this every time we change his diaper! He cries. It hurts. We know this. But we MUST do it or infection will set in. We don't want that.

Right now Matthew is playing with legos and watching Lilo & Stitch. He likes both. He has his no-no's off for the moment. He KNOWS the rule! No touch mouth!!! He hasn't really touched it, or come close, but even when I just leave the room for a minute, I put the no-no's back on because we don't want to go through all of this again!!!

Charlie the doggie is watching over Matthew pretty intently too. I think Charlie knows Matthew is "sickly" for the moment. It's interesting to see.

The mommy files

Last 24 hours..............HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

As of 9:30am this morning, Matthew was released from Children's National Medical Center. (Thank God) It took quite awhile to get to this point though.

Yesterday around 5:30pm:

Matthew was sleeping pretty much until about 5:30pm.....about 3 1/2 hours after surgery was completed. His "coddle of pain blockers" (for "down below") was starting to wear off and OH MY GOSH WERE WE AWARE OF IT! We were in a room in which they call a holding room. (1/2 way from operating table to regular room, sort of) Matthew woke up from a sleep just screaming for all he was worth! Apparently the block wore off, he wee weed and that's what started this. From 5:30pm to 11:30pm, different pain meds were tried.....fentanol (sp?), then Tylenol 3 w/codiene and finally morphine! Thank God for the morphine!!!! It kicked in and Matthew ended up falling asleep, as he was crying. All the walking, craddling, holding, hugging, riding in the radio flyer wagon in the world wasn't enough for our son's pain! God did we feel it, in many different and horrible ways! (Not like him mind you, but watching your child in pain and there isn't anything you can do about it is SOOOOOO VERY hard to watch! Especially as the nurses try to work on him because every bell, button, flashing light and knob on the IV thingie is going off!!! That and your child's heart rate fly from 95 to 185 at the drop of a hat and the IV thingie says in bright RED/yellow lights TACHY.) Blood oozing out of his nose and mouth because of being so upset as it is plus the palate doing this on top of it and your son panicking over that! OY!

TODAY:
Anyway, the nurses changed shifts and helped us so much! All the nurses helped us alot but the night nurses helped us greatly! It was just Matthew and mommy by then. Jackie and Rose helped us move to an isolation room for more privacy and to be closer to the nurses station. By midnight, Matthew was sleeping, semi tolerating the pain and going in and out of sleepyland. Mommy got some much needed sleep finally until more alarms went off when Matthew occluded his IV lines. After that, Rose was on board then and said for me to sleep and she will look after Matthew. It was hard to trust anyone with your child, but Rose was a mom too. A nurse and very forgiving and graceful with her child patients. (and parents) I said yes. 6am rolled around and Matthew was already up and "flirting" with Rose! Yep, my son was back! The nurses coming on at 6am were so funny towards Matthew. Said he was a little cutie! Yep, that's Matthew.

The breakfast of choice was apple juice and milk! For Matthew, this was a good feat for him! He drank both. Tried melted ice cream, but nope, didn't work. The doctor came in at about 9am and took out Matthew's "pack" inside his upper palate and it was sutured to his teeth to keep in place! Matthew did NOT like having that removed but he just kept saying OUWEE, OUWEE mommy. 4 clips and it was over! We could go home!!!

Surgery:
(His palate looks GREAT! NO HOLE! Matthew's palate has a VERY new and innovative graft inside it (grafting of a new plastic piece). Only a hand full of patients have this at CNMC! Matthew's fistula was definitely MORE INTENSIVE than anyone knew. His hole was a finger's worth from what you could see inside his mouth. BUT, once the surgeon got past that, he said it was HUGE and wide open! What China did? I have no clue, but I know what is there now!!!! He closed up the first layer of soft tissue, put the plastic in and then put another layer of skin. He said the body would absorb the plastic with no problem. This is why this part of the surgery took longer than expected.)

(The second part of the surgery took longer because Matthew's hernia was much more bigger than the urologist thought. She had to put it all back where it should be. More intensive then she thought as well. The rest of the urological issues went just fine.)

So, we are home, we are ok. Matthew is doing ok. He's on meds. Pain is there, but much better than before. Mom and Dad are ok. Becca is trying to be calm around Matthew. (easier said than done)

The mommy files

An unhappy little boy......

That and a semi stressed mom is what I left at the hospital couple of hours ago. Matthew got through his procedures really well and was awake and semi alert when he got to the recovery room. However when the pain meds started to wear off he got more and more discomforted and fuzzy. It is a little hard for a almost three year old to comprehend that a few hours of pain makes for a lifetime of gain. One thing is for sure... It is very tough to watch your little son in pain and not being able to give him sufficient comfort to make it better for him. If everything is well with him in the morning he will be able to come home, if not he'll be admitted for at least one day.

Roy

Surgery update as of SUNDAY NITE!

Here is the latest in what the surgical ward/recovery nurse has told us as of today. Monday, Matthew's surgery was moved up to 10am. We need to be at Children's Hospital by 8am. (Parked, signed in and waiting.) Things will get rolling as Roy and I sign him into the surgical ward. Matthew WILL be staying at least until Tuesday. (Best case scenario is that he goes home Tuesday. If one thing goes wrong, he will stay indefinitely until the doctors see fit to discharge him.) The main reason for him staying awhile is because his surgery will take a while to do. Appx. 4 hours. Going in at 10am and coming out at 2pm, being in recovery for up to 2 hours afterwards, Matthew may not feel like drinking anything for dinner. If he cannot drink something, he will not go home..............but also, his hernia side of the surgery. He will have 2 incisions on his lower abdomen where they "pushed" all the intestines up where they should be. They do not want infection to set in.

Today was Matthew's day. ALL DAY.....he got his favorite breakfast, bacon and eggs w/hasbrowns, for lunch he wanted a hot dog and for dinner? PIZZA! He wolfed it down too!!! The blender is cleaned up, ready to go, momma has so many fruits lined up in the refrigerator for Matthew's smoothie's, it's quite interesting to see. Ice cream is freezing......oooo, forgot to turn on the ice maker. Will do that as soon as I'm done. Other than that? NO MORE FOOD or DRINK for Matthew until after the surgery! Roy and I will take turns going to eat breakfast at Children's tomorrow. (being a diabetic, uh, YEAH, like I have a choice?) All the kids in the surgical ward have to fast for surgery so there is NO FOOD and NO DRINKS allowed in that area.

Daddy's doing fine. Becca? Oh my gosh was she in rare form today! (Knew she was going to her Aunt Kimmy's house.) Matthew? He's fine. He says he's going to see Dr. Murthy tomorrow. He truly likes him ALOT! I'm glad.....Mommy? Well, I'm trying to keep myself together. Putting Matthew to sleep will be the hard part. That's like the "real" part to me. Maybe it has alot to do with my parents dying, whatever, who knows. I'll be fine. I just keep telling myself to GET OVER IT already. It usually works.

Anyway, I've told some, now I tell all, CALL OUR CELL PHONES and leave messages on the voicemails! We will get back with you when we make it to the cafeteria! If we need to get messages out to folks, we have our avenues! YOU WILL KNOW! Just hang tight.

Thank you for praying for our son. Please keep up the good fight for him. Prayers are always welcome for him and for us!!!

I think that's all for now.

Everything looks like a GO!

Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork! LOL, thank goodness Matthew doesn't have to do all this paperwork. And there is surely going to be more on Monday, I'm sure.

Matthew went yesterday to the pediatrician for last minute pre-op stuff and was given the OKIE DOKIE sign to go. I've spoken with Children's Hospital and we had to fax one thing to them but other than that, it looks like a go on their half too. So now we wait for our Surgical Ward Nurse to call us with details about Matthew's 24 hours leading up to the surgery.

Gosh, so many things run through a parents mind. I tell ya. Racing, like Indy or NASCAR wouldn't be able to keep up with my brain at the moment. I'm just waiting to get home to start doing things there. (Taking away sippy cups, do Matthew's bedroom/tidy up, pack for Matthew, myself and Rebecca, getting my recipes in order for Matthew, etc.)

Becca is going to my sister's house Sunday night and she will take care of her for Monday and possibly beyond that if need be. (hopefully not though) We will try our darndest to keep everyone up-to-date on Matthew on Monday. NO CELL PHONES are allowed in the surgical ward where we will be. LEAVE A VOICEMAIL on my cellphone! (Yes, we have new ones that let you do that.) I will get back to you, or Roy will. If we start calling some folks, that means something has happened (not a good thing) and will be asking for MAJOR prayers! I hope this doesn't happen, but it would be nice to get ahold of our closest family/friends (if need be).

Charlie goes to the vet on Saturday. Poor thing. POOR THING? HA! Yeah right! Guess who had the runs (outside mind you) this morning because he got into our BRAND NEW LOAF OF WHEAT BREAD?!?!?! Yep, Charlie! At least he has good taste! But good grief!

TMI (too much information), I know. He is a member of the family now! So you get to hear about HIS antics too!

Ok, a little humor amongst some seriousness. That's a good thing.

Until you hear from us again..........don't know if it will be this weekend or on Monday.........stay tuned. AND, keep praying for our son, please! Thank you for your outpouring/tenderhearted prayers for him. He's come a long way! Thank you.

The Mommy files

Pre-op Surgical Tour at Children's Hospital

Sunday afternoon, the whole family went to Children's Hospital (CNMC) in Wash., DC. It would have been really nice had we known that the shuttle from the Brookland-CU Metro stop wasn't running on weekends. *ugh*

Anyway, we ended up taking the metro bus to Children's and lots of folks (even a homeless man) helped us. Thank you Lord! It was Matthew, Rebecca and a little girl named Marlo who were on the tour. (2 families) It was really nice to walk through every inch of what will happen on Monday. The nurses in the recovery unit were so helpful and answered so many questions. We went from the atrium to the beds where Matthew may be staying if he stays the night.

The kids put on masks, gowns, hats, shoe covers, etc. Doctors came by. Doctor Bear was around...........Matthew loves doctor bear! The kids were "dressing up" and looking over everything and able to touch machines and so forth. It was really neat for them to do that.

After the tour, the lady leading the tour had teddybear cookies and punch for the kids and each child was given a little present. I tell ya, everyone was up and happy and at ease about both surgeries. If you think about Marlo on Friday, please pray for her in and out surgery. (herniated kidney) She will be operated on and then released providing everything goes well. Her parents are really cool!

Matthew will go for pre-op lab work Thursday and there are loads of paperwork for our pediatrician to fill out and then, providing no fever and no signs of sickness, Monday morning, we'll go to Children's. Oh, the surgical nurse will call us either Saturday or Sunday night. NO FOOD for Matthew after midnight Sunday night. NO DRINKS except water up to about 4am? Something like that. I'm sure he will be asleep for most of the way to the hospital.

Daddy and Mommy are looking forward to the surgery because his palate will be fixed, and no more food will come out, but at the same time, I don't want him to feel pain. Or be uncomfortable. That will hurt us more so than him. I know once we get into the "sleepy room" (induction room) for Matthew to fall asleep, that will be hard. What parent wants to see their kids be put to sleep?! *sigh*

We'll be ok. Just please pray for our son! Pray everything goes according to plan and that there are no surprises or anesthesia problems. We thank you in advance.

Matt & Becca's mommy

Update

Just letting ya know that Matthew's first pre-op stuff starts happening September 6th. He will have the "standard" routine pre-op check with our own pediatrician. Children's Hospital has sent the packet we are suppose to get and we should get it by the end of the week. Not only that but they have faxed over to our pediatrician, some stuff for Matthew. So everyone is on the same page. YAY!

Matthew knows he's going to the hospital. Not sure if he knows it's for a surgery though. He may think it's just for a visit, like we've been doing. (with the Craniofacial team) Hopefully, everything will be set to go and nothing will hinder us from keeping the September 10th date.

4 hours of not knowing what is going on with your child..........thinking, wondering, pondering the good (and the maybe not so good)...........man, I want this to happen, but at the same time, it's hard. I don't want to see my son "put to sleep".

It's things like last night that make me think of this. Matthew just all of the sudden, without warning, gave me the biggest hug and said, UP momma. So I picked him up. He just held his head in the crook of my neck and hugged me for the longest time. (ugh.....trying to hold back my tears) Things like that make all the cares of the world just melt away. Everything bothering ya, just melt away........

We are truly blessed with our kids! AMEN!

from the Mommy files

A New Iversen! A New Iversen!

Ha! Gotcha, didn't I? LOL

Nope, it's of the four legged kind. My brother had to give away his beautiful English Yellow Lab and we decided to take him. He's a beautiful blond haired, dark eyed, 85 pound boy named Charlie who is VERY docile and VERY, VERY trained. He knows so many commands, it's unreal.

Not sure how the 3 furry little four legged cats will take to him, but he could care less of cats. I'm hoping we can all live and let live without bloodshed. *please Lord*

Charlie has already met the kids at their Aunt Kim's house and the kids LOVE him. He is really good with the kids. He is enough to knock you over with just his tail, much less the rest of him. He's a cutie pie though.



MATTHEW UPDATE:

Matthew didn't have the best weekend. He was stung by a wasp, not once, but apparently twice. Dad removed the stinger. Matt screamed bloody murder, literally. The wasps came out from our walk up ramp from the driveway. 4 of them. Not only that. We dealt with that ok, but this morning, Matthew woke up with one side of his head HUGE!

He was bitten by a bug. Most likely a mosquito? We put meds on it and sent him to daycare as he was fine and jumping around like normal. Well, around 2:45pm, they called. His head was bigger than when he came in. So Daddy took him to the doctor. A bug bite. (yeah, we knew that) He is on Benedryl and Hydrocortisone. If this doesn't get it down soon, we might have to take him in again.

I tell ya, having Chinese children, and mixing bug bites with them isn't a good thing! Mosquito bites leave scars on the kids. I hate it. I really do. We are praying his head goes down. It's the left side of his face. (cleft side, of course) It doesn't hurt him, but it's just big. Looks like he has a mouthful of something on that side. :o)

Anyway............pictures of Charlie and the kids will be forthcoming. Stay tuned!

Ki

Prayers for Matthew's surgery, coming up!!!

Before I forget, in my telling you about the kids, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE lift Matthew up in prayer for us. We are just about at the 3 weeks *mandatory* countdown to his fistula surgery (failed cleft palate surgery failure) and urological issues.

From the MOMMY files:

As the time grows closer, I tell ya, as a mom, it scares the hebbie jeebie's outta me that I will be able to walk with him to the operating table, put him down, and they administer "sleepy" stuff to him and watch him drift off to neverland. So many things run through your mind. Will he wake up? Will something happen? Will he have an allergic reaction? Will he hemorrage? Will something go wrong? Will they find something MORE wrong with him then previously thought?

Oh wow, don't get me started. My mind races, trust me. I need to concentrate on Matthew but at the same time, Rebecca is having a birthday party in just under 2 weeks after Matthew's surgery. I'm trying to get things done beforehand. Even gathering SOFT foods for Matthew, but it's going to be hard. Little Matthew LOVES, and I mean, LOVES food. ALL KINDS OF FOOD! Restricting him to liquids and having him in arm restraints for 3 weeks is NOT GOING TO BE EASY BY NO MEANS! I've also been told that those arm restraints are NOT to come off, even for bedtime! *should get some earplugs now* (note to self, CVS around the corner) :o)

I know that Dr. Murthy (plastic reconstructive surgeon/Craniofacial team) and Dr. Kalloo (the lady urological doctor) are awesome and VERY capable of helping Matthew. I have complete confidence in them, but there's that darn BUT! Prayer. That's all it is to it, prayer.

For 4 hours, on September 10th, at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC, starting at 9am I will be doing nothing but praying for Matthew. And I won't stop until he's out of surgery...........which they say will be at least 4 hours later. *You wanna join me? BE MY GUEST!* (Mapquest works wonders)

Ok, I need to stop here. I'm rambling, my thoughts are everywhere and I'm about to cry my eyes out.

Surgery lab work starts in about 2 to 2 1/2 weeks. We truly need for Matthew to have NO FEVERS, no sicknesses, and NO ear infections (which have been quite common since we've brought him home in March 2007). Just no NOTHINGS wrong with him so the surgery will proceed as planned. *trust me, it took awhile for the teams to get together for this surgery, so PLEASE LORD, let nothing hinder it! Please!*

Stay tuned...........
Ki

Another good weekend with Uncle T and Aunt S.

Over the weekend we just took off for somewhere on the Eastern Shore. We got home on Friday evening and decided, let's get outta here. So we did. We headed towards "Downtown Mayberry" (no RFD, whatever that means). It was nice. The kids were their normal selves. Fidgety, mine, no mine, I want, no I want, MAAAAMMMMAAAAA, DADDDDDDDYYYYYYYY, oh, and then it was Aunt S, Uncle T..............I have to admit, it was nice, even if for only 2 days, that the kids went to someone else for their rantings and toddler fury. *ahhhhh*


Did we go to the beach? No. NOT HARDLY! Mamma would say a definite, NO to that one. (In season? Are you seriously kidding?!!!!) We hung out, did the shopping thing, the eating here and there thing..............dontcha just love the "kids eat free" thing?! I know we do. It was nice. Daddy and Mommy both LOVE the Eastern Shore. We love looking at the HOMES books of the Eastern Shore too.

We went to our church, Oak Ridge Baptist. It's nice to go there. The pastor there is so down to earth and meets everyone right where they are. Doesn't speak OVER you, or is precisionistic in any way, shape or form. (His wife is something else too. OH yeah, if you think about it, or read this, say a quick prayer for them right now. They are leaving for a missions trip to Kenya. *8/2/07 to 8/18/07* I know they'd appreciate it.) The music is TOTALLY AWESOME and energenic......amped is what I think they call it.

Then, we came home. *yeah, home* said with little enthusiasm. (big sigh)

Ki

Totally Awesome Antics, huh? Might have to rethink that!

You know when you think you have everything under order and everything is just the way you like it and so forth? The kids clean their rooms, play, put their toys away, listen to the parents.............eat lunch, and then go play some more?

Then you hear total silence in the house and that OH MY GOD, IT'S QUIET IN THE HOUSE, FIND OUT WHY voice (more like alarm) goes off within every ounce of your body?! Well, that happened yesterday about 5pm. Total dead, DEAFENING silence. Then, without a shadow of doubt, you hear daddy's voice echo/bellow out all over the house, WHAT IS THIS? What are you doing?

Um, for a dad who rarely yells, much less raises his voice, to hear something like that is like, well, UH OH..........better go find out! OH YEAH, was it worth the charge? OH YEAH!!!!!!!!!! DEFINITELY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Picture this............two kids, crying now, mind you.........(because they are totally BUSTED BEYOND BELIEF!) Two kids, dressed in the day attire........shorts/shirts, full of petroleum jelly........and lotion.........and GOO! (all non-toxic of course!) This goo project is now running to the floor. (Making the carpet smell of sweet lavendar) Matthew's face is WHITE from lotion. Hair is plastered (and I mean plastered) to his head like the GREASERS from the 1950's! Rebecca's front part of her hair is just as bad.........not so full of lotion, but so incredibly knowing she's about to be in totally hot water!

I tell ya, if you don't cry, you laugh, if you don't laugh, you cry......and if you do neither............as I did, YOU JUST GO AND START THE BATHTUB! Matthew was definitely the first one in the tub. Crying the whole way. Saying sorry mommy. Becca, in the background just wailing away............Daddy who just had to walk away for fear of laughing, I think.

Totally awesome antics? I might have to rethink that one! SERIOUSLY! Lord, what's next?!

Ki

Our trip to Children's Hospital for Matthew

Wow, what a long day. Matthew, mom and dad did fine. The doctor answered all 31 questions that I had written down for him. (Plus some from dad.) Matthew was on HYPERDRIVE OVERLOAD (darn those Spiderman snacks!) doing circles around the doctor! One good thing was that the doctor could see Matthew's fistula "UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL" because daddy was holding him upside down! Also, Matthew was ALL TALK for Dr. Murthy! I think the doc was amazed and shocked how well Matthew could speak since last seeing him! He wanted to hear Matthew say Bye, Bye, about 5 times! He was definitely impressed!!!! LOL

Gosh, so much to say in a short article. Here goes......

Because of the time it will take to fix Matthew's fistula, Dr. Murthy will NOT do a nose and lip revision. The fistula needs to be the functioning item to be fixed (and we totally agree) and also because the fistula will have part of his nasal cavity upset as it is, we don't want to do more harm when it's "puffed up" (swelling). We are good with that. It will be every bit of 2 hours JUST for the fistula alone!!! He has to fix the inside, inside part of the palate, and then the outside, inside part of the palate! *stay with me! Just think about it.......layers inside your mouth!*

THEN, as if that wasn't enough, Matthew will have his urological issues dealt with, which will also be 2 hours worth. (give or take some time) OUCH!

The week before we go to the hospital, our own pediatrician will do last minute PRE-OP stuff for Matthew. 24 hours before surgery, we will be called by the hospital to say what Matthew needs to eat/drink (or not). And on September 10th, we will drive to Children's Hospital at a VERY EARLY TIME! (As daddy would say, before the chickens pass gas!) At 9:30am, he will be operated on. The OR is reserved for a little over 4 hours for him. He will be in recovery for a short time, and then back to his room the rest of the time. *Mommy will be with him the whole time.* (Providing everything is ok and normal *talking about going home*.) If he can eat food/liquids the next morning/day, Dr. Murthy will release him, not sure about Dr. Kalloo. (not sure how long she wants Matthew in the hospital) If Matthew cannot, or will not eat, HE WILL NOT BE GOING HOME! It will be difficult for him to eat after surgery!

Here's the catcher! 3 weeks, NOT 2! 3 weeks at least of wearing TOTAL ARM RESTRAINTS for Matthew!!!! Arms straight out, not able to touch the mouth! AT ALL! NO SPOON feeding, nothing in the mouth for at least 3 weeks!!! NO SOLID FOODS for 3 weeks!!!! NONE! Everything has to be liquified! (Boy is Matthew going to NOT like that!!!!) NOT A HAPPY CAMPER!!!! And the urological issues? OH GOODNESS! Potty training or not, he WON'T be a happy camper for at least a week after his surgery. Mom will be nursemaid for at least a month! Oh boy!

PLEASE SEND YOUR BEST RECIPES for blended smoothie's! or blended food! I could use them!

It was a pleasure to go to Children's Hospital today! The folks there are so nice! So helpful! I'm so thankful the Lord led us there for Matthew! Dr. Murthy is such a humble, sweet man, young and KNOWS the cleft kids! He understands their problems and sufferings! I am so, so thankful to God for him!

Mom

The Great News...

I guess we have kept you in suspension for long enough so we'll break down and give you the great news. Matthews surgery is now scheduled and pending our confirmation he'll be going under the knife on September 10th. He will be cut, nipped and tucked in all ends of his little bod, all at once poor guy. We figured that it would be better for us that he hates us from the pain just once and not from multiple surgery dates. Please pray that he will not hate us to much for doing this and that all "systems" will be "go for launch". Also pray that us parents keep our wits about the whole ordeal and that Rebecca will take it in strides.
The kid's daddy

While you wait for the Great News....

Today we took a little field trip to Sears Portrait Studio and had our pictures taken. Here are a couple of samples from the session. Enjoy!




The Dad!

The "almost" great news?

Still waiting folks...........sorry. I guess perfection takes time! LOL


It's about Matthew, so still stay tuned! BY the way.........Matthew has now grown PAST his sister. He's taller then Rebecca now. I tell ya, he's going to be tall! He's skinny and tall! Rebecca? Well, she's more shorter and um, solid. :o)

Matthew goes to Children's Hospital this coming Wednesday. Keep us in your prayers. Oh, also an "unspoken" prayer request. Please.....thank you. We appreciate it.


Ki (aka, MOM)

COMING SOON...............GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!!!

Stay tuned! It's just about here, but just working out logistics! STAY TUNED!


Might have something by this afternoon! :o)



Momma

Happy, Happy, Happy!!!!!

Oh I just love Matthew's doctor at Children's Hospital!!! (Dr. Murthy) He's been in constant contact with us via EMAIL! (It's like someone told me, what doctor do you know who will EMAIL you about your son and keep talking with you!!!!) He's been AWESOME!!!! EVERYTHING IS A GO!!!!!!!! Surgery is a GO!!!!!!! We meet at Children's Hospital on July 18th, 11am. (gotta make sure we are at the metro by 8:30am though........or we will never get a parking space!) We have a "double booking" appointment for Dr. Murthy to go over everything with us. (so far, what we know, Dr. Murthy wants to do some lip revision/nose revision, fistula repair, possible tubes? Not sure about this.....And Urology wants to do, a circumsion, herniated groin fix (putting the intestines back in place), undescended testical fix. Gosh, isn't that enough. Yes, he will be hurting up and down! Motrin will be his FRIEND! Momma will be his nursemate at home, providing everything goes well at the hospital and he can come home with no problems. *fingers crossed*) We will also start pre-op stuff with Matthew.

NOW........we just need to keep Matthew sick free, medicine free, well, you know the routine........from now until we walk into Children's Hospital the day of his surgery. I'll be staying with Matthew during his stay at the hospital. Daddy will be with Rebecca/working.

Right now, we are working with another lady to get an OR appointment. It may not be ASAP........they said the summer months are BOOKED SOLID. So I'm thinking we are looking more like from September to November? Which is fine by me. Things are falling into place now and I tell ya, YOU ARE YOUR CHILD'S OWN ADVOCATE! Someone once told me that and now I fully believe it! That and praying for my son to be helped! I think God had more to do with all of this than me! ;o)

So, as soon as we they can get the OR booked, we will have a date! YEAH! YEAH! :O)

Matthew will no longer have to endure foods/liquids coming out of his nose anymore! HALLELUJAH! As I told the doc, now that he is in daycare, the kids notice him doing regular "cleft kid" type of stuff. Thank you Lord for this taking place now! AWESOME!

Kristen

YEAH! We have movement on Matthew's pending SURGERY!

We finally got an email from one of the Craniofacial doctors and it's the one who has been thee nicest to us from the beginning. (Dr. Murthy) He wants to meet with us and Matthew for a re-evaluation because of the Uroglogical issues that Matthew is having. Surgery could be right around the corner! THANK YOU LORD!!!!!!!!

Please pray that we can get EVERYTHING fixed, including the major thing (besides the herniated groin), the FISTULA! (hole in the roof of his mouth) Right now, he is almost finished with his augmentin for the infection. This makes his 3rd infection since we brought him home in March! *sigh*

I'm hoping we can get Matthew's hearing re-evaluated also........or we may have to wait until October or November. He speaks without saying the beginning of words. Like his favorite person in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD........SPIDERMAN. (comes out idamonmon) Please, oh Please Lord, I'm hoping for some speech help soon. One thing at a time, I know..........I just want our boy to not fall behind. Right now, he IS behind in speaking well.

Keep your eyes, fingers, toes, anything else, CROSSED for us! I make the call today to see Dr. Murthy at Children's. PLEASE allow this surgery to move forward to fix EVERYTHING! AMEN!

Mom

Poor Matthew.......

On Thursday, June 21st, I ended up having to take my boy to the pediatrician because he had been coughing for awhile (almost a week) and the stuff running out of his nose, well, let's just say a beautiful, colorful rainbow of white, yellow,green and RED! Sure enough, we wait for our pediatrician to see Matthew and she looks at his nose and hears his chest and says to me, "Momma? Matthew has a huge severe Sinus Infection." Huh? A 3 year old with a sinus infection? (didn't think they could really get one so young, but I guess wrong) AND, to boot, most of the fluid associated with a sinus infection was draining into his "cleft" ear. (Left ear.) It wasn't infected, yet, but she said there was alot there and she was sure that he could feel the pressure from it. Awwwww...........goodnesss.

Needless to say, the best part of the trip to the pediatrician's office was the spiderman sticker/sugar free lollipop for Matthew, but for mom? It was how Matthew gave our pediatrician a HUGE HUG as soon as she walked into the room we were in. I thought that was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She was so impressed with him. hehehhe.....*s*

So, our little man has his prescription of Augmentin (wow, it's expensive!) and doesn't like the taste (what else is new). He's doing well. OH more of an update????? THE POTTY TRAINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Go Matthew, Go Matthew, in the potty, using the potty........ LOL)

Saturday, he only had to have 2 pullups on! YES! He went potty the rest of the time on his own!!!! HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!! He's grasping the concept!

The kids (and parents) had a MARVELOUS time at Uncle Tom and Auntie Sue's house! The kids got to swim and dump water on each other in a pool they got for them. We did the SHOPPING thing.......it was just a GREAT weekend. Let's just say that Mom and Dad are "thinking" ALOT about the area where we were over the weekend. (looking at homes and such....) You never know................. *huge snicker w/grin*

OH, for you Becca fans? She's just fine. Into everything, getting in trouble, getting her brother in trouble, getting herself in trouble, being spoiled, getting "talked to" by teachers and her own parents.......life's hard at 3! Ha!

Mom

STOP THE PRESS! STOP THE PRESS! YES!

Yes, our Matthew has gone through one night totally and bone DRY! He's trying! He really is! YES! YES! *momma and daddy doing the snoopy dance* He's in his BIG BOY pull ups and knows what potty means and what to do in there. I'm sure there will be some set backs, but he's done it once, he can do it again!!!!! Go Matthew! Go Matthew! Go Matthew!

Wow........he might surpass his big sister at this rate! He has been pointing "down there" when he goes potty, so he is understanding the concept. He doesn't like to be wet either. Kinda funny! What a HUGE difference from China to now! HUGE!

Look out Becca Boo, looks like Matt will pass you up on being totally out of diapers! UH OH! :o) (Mommy and Daddy will be SOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy!) LOL

Ok, let the regular programming continue.........

You ever have one of THOSE days? (snickering)

Matthew gets up first, he's groggy but knows Dora the Explorer and Go Diego Go will be on soon so he gets up on the couch and waits patiently. THEN, just out of the blue, like the light bulb just turned on, Matthew points "down there" and Mommy says, "You have to go potty Matthew?" and he says YES. OH BOY......Mommy grabs Matthew, heads off to the potty and puts him on there. With boys? Momma learned quickly that when they say they have to go, it means NOW and point the "lilly" in the right direction!!!! (LOL) DO YOU KNOW HE WENT?!?!?! YES HE DID! No accident, no just by chance, HE ACTUALLY WENT, just like when we first got home from China! Can you say, YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE HAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was so proud of himself! He had to go and tell a sleeping Daddy! So, obliging mommy said, ok! ROFL

Picture this, Daddy sound asleep, Mommy puts Matthew on the bed and he runs over to Daddy and falls all over him! YEAH! What a way to wake up!!!! :o) (so proud)

Then, Rebecca wakes up. So here she comes. And the sibling rivalry commences! *laughing because you have to know what I'm talking about in order to know how sarcastic I'm being* What a day, what a day!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh and now everyone wants breakfast! Momma's turn! *like usual, (rofl)*