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