More to Praise :)

It's so hard to believe that we almost didn't consider Ellie-Kate's file... Her description indicated that she had spinal biffida occulta (a very scary sounding condition), dislocated hips, and a heart condition (also pretty scary sounding...). Praise God that He drew us to her eyes and pushed us right out of our comfort zones into the realm of completely trusting Him that we would be able to take care of her and those intimidating-sounding conditions. I can't even begin to imagine our lives without her. She fits into our family so incredibly well-- she loves sports, music, and playing with fun baby toys... she loves to "read," and she has the most amazing sense of humor and sweet spirit. She loves to laugh, and she loves us.

We are especially blessed that all of our medical visits have gone so well. We had the last appointment with a specialist today, and I am so excited to share that the cardiologist did not detect a heart murmur and feels confident that the hole in her heart has, indeed, closed. We did not put Ellie-Kate through an echocardiogram to confirm that assumption because the rest of the doctor's examination went so well. Ellie-Kate didn't like the visit one minute, but we were so grateful that this lingering issue proved not to be a major one for us at all. We're going to follow up with this doctor (as with most of the others) in a year, but, for now, we're not looking at any additional treatments or surgeries as a result of the medical conditions that landed Ellie-Kate on the special needs list in the first place. Truly, praise God!!

On the "other news" front, I (Christie) am taking another turn at being sick. (heavy sigh!!!) I didn't feel well on Friday, and I went back yesterday after just getting more ill over the week-end. I'm now on a more aggressive antibiotic for sinusitis and pretty advanced bronchitis. I'm starting to feel stronger now, and I'm grateful to have much of my voice back. Although I don't like being on the sidelines, on the bright side, all of this "downtime" in quarantine provided me with the chance to almost finish journaling our China trip (now up to 44 pages of handwritten notes!!) and to catch up on my soaps :)

Chelsea and Emmy finished school last week, and Chelsea is already off to visit Grandma P. in Virginia for this week, and Emmy is doing a four day basketball camp. The rest of the summer is filled with other camps, 4-H stuff, and a trip to Indiana to visit Grandma B. and Great-Grandma Groscost. Ellie-Kate is looking forward to much more time outside on the swing set and going for strolls. Britti is finishing up with finals as I type this post, and she's looking forward to lots of time in the sun (heavy sigh), sleep, and catching up with her friends.

Thanks much for all of your prayers and support!! I'll be posting more pictures very soon :)

Christie