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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!