Hi everyone--
We're delighted to report that Emmy and Ellie-Kate survived their respective ear adventures with good hearing. On Thursday, Emmy went in for a re-check on her ruptured ear drum (from last week's ear infection), and the doctor determined that everything looks good and that she won't have any long-term damage. Praise God for such a good report after the drama of last week!!
Ellie-Kate went to the same ENT practice (but a different doctor) for ear wax removal from both ears on Wednesday. Although she didn't like it one bit (and I have to say that I didn't enjoy the experience either as I held her down for the procedure!!), the doctor was able to remove all of the ear wax. We were able to get into the audiologist right away after we told the nurse that we drove up from Athens, thus enabling us to avoid yet another drive to the big city. Anyway, we drove from the Westerville campus to the main campus of Children's Hospital, and we got right into the audiologist. After some relatively stress-free testing, she concluded that Ellie-Kate's hearing was "excellent" on her left ear and "pretty good" on her right ear. She (and the ENT specialist) said that Ellie-Kate likely had an ear infection a few weeks ago and that it was clearing up in her right ear. (No one could have diagnosed the ear infection b/c the ear wax prevented anyone from seeing into her ears.) In any case, both ears passed, and we're set until we go in for a re-check in four months.
We had a pretty relaxing (even boring!) day today. We had planned to attend the International Street Fair in Athens, but most of us stayed home due to rain. (Britti, Chelsea, and one of Chelsea's friends braved the weather to find little activity uptown due to the rain.) The rest of us hung out here at home, playing Barbies, doing puzzles, and climbing up the stairs (Ellie-Kate's new favorite activity!). Later this afternoon, Chelsea and a few of her friends/classmates shot a video for a Spanish class project, with Britti, Emmy, and Ellie-Kate's assistance. (Roger and I slipped out for a dinner at Casa.)
Ellie-Kate has discovered a passion for being outside, and she longed to leave the house, in spite of the rain today. She's also loving balls, and she's already working on her throwing arm and kicking leg :) After she starts to walk, she's going to be running everywhere!
This next week promises to be busy, with many end-of-the-year activities. Also, Grandma A is coming for a visit, and we're excited for her to meet Ellie-Kate for the first time in person (as well as to watch a few soccer games, attend the AWANA awards night, and help us with celebrating Roger's birthday). We'll try to get more pictures up next week-end :)
Hope that everyone's doing well! Thanks for visiting our blog to stay in the loop with us :)
Christie
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Happy Mother's Day!!
Hi Everyone!
We hope that everyone had a great Mother's Day today, especially all of our new friends just back with their children from China! It was so wonderful to have our new addition here with us today :)
Emmy started feeling better on Friday, and, even though she's still weak and running a tad of a fever, we are so happy that she's on the road to recovery. We're hoping that she can return to school tomorrow, and we'll have more news about the condition of her ear after we go back to the specialist on Thursday.
We had a pretty quiet week-end. Christie took Chelsea's Girl Scout troop to Burr Oak for our anual "camping" trip from Saturday to Sunday afternoon. Britti had a commitment with a grad student conference at OU, and Emmy and Ellie-Kate got to hang out at home with Daddy :) After Christie and Chelsea got home, we all went to Ponderosa for a great buffet dinner and capped off our evening with the season finale of "Amazing Race." (btw-- it was so cool to watch it over the past few weeks as the competitors raced through China. We kept saying "We were there; we were there.")
One of the best parts of the week-end, though, was watching Ellie-Kate kind of take her first steps!! (We have to say "kind of," though, because they were more of diving/falling than definitive steps, but it's still progress!) She is sooooo cool!!
Overall, it was a super Mother's Day week-end, with Emmy's recovery and Ellie-Kate safely in in our home. Enjoy the new pictures!! The following pics of Ellie-Kate in the red and white outfit were taken today; the pics in the black and white outfit were earlier this week.
More soon--
Christie and Roger
We hope that everyone had a great Mother's Day today, especially all of our new friends just back with their children from China! It was so wonderful to have our new addition here with us today :)
Emmy started feeling better on Friday, and, even though she's still weak and running a tad of a fever, we are so happy that she's on the road to recovery. We're hoping that she can return to school tomorrow, and we'll have more news about the condition of her ear after we go back to the specialist on Thursday.
We had a pretty quiet week-end. Christie took Chelsea's Girl Scout troop to Burr Oak for our anual "camping" trip from Saturday to Sunday afternoon. Britti had a commitment with a grad student conference at OU, and Emmy and Ellie-Kate got to hang out at home with Daddy :) After Christie and Chelsea got home, we all went to Ponderosa for a great buffet dinner and capped off our evening with the season finale of "Amazing Race." (btw-- it was so cool to watch it over the past few weeks as the competitors raced through China. We kept saying "We were there; we were there.")
One of the best parts of the week-end, though, was watching Ellie-Kate kind of take her first steps!! (We have to say "kind of," though, because they were more of diving/falling than definitive steps, but it's still progress!) She is sooooo cool!!
Overall, it was a super Mother's Day week-end, with Emmy's recovery and Ellie-Kate safely in in our home. Enjoy the new pictures!! The following pics of Ellie-Kate in the red and white outfit were taken today; the pics in the black and white outfit were earlier this week.
More soon--
Christie and Roger
Friday, May 8, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Rough week...
Last Sunday, we had a terrific time at the baby shower that Sharon Fales hosted for us in her home. So many friends from our church were there, and we were so happy that they had the opportunity to welcome Ellie-Kate into our community. Even though she won't be able to personally remember the shower, I know that this warm and generous welcome meant a lot to our family and that it will mean so much to her when we show her the cards and pictures in future years. Thanks much, Sharon! Also, a big thank you to Carol Jones, Sandy Waldron, and Pam Scholl for serving on the "shower team" and co-hosting the event with Sharon!!
Unfortunately, the week took a rough turn on Monday. Emmy was feeling a bit under the weather so we kept her home from school. We figured that she was just exhausted after the dance recital and baby shower. However, she woke up around 11:30 p.m. on Monday night with horrible ear pain. Fortunately, we had never mixed the antibiotic that we took with us in the event of an ear infection in China so we mixed it and gave her some right away. On Tuesday, though, she was much worse, and we discovered blood on her pillow and dripping from her ear. We took her to the doctor right away, and we learned that her ear drum ruptured and that she has a really bad infection.
After three days of antibiotics, ibuprofin, and resting, Emmy isn't better. We were able to get her in to a specialist at Children's today, and the doctor said that we need to treat the infection aggressively. He prescribed an additional antibiotic, and he said that we need to take her in for IV antibiotics if we can't get her fever under 100. (It hasn't been under 100 all week!!) After consulting with her doctor here in Athens, we decided to wait until morning to take her in, if her fever still hasn't broken. We wanted to give the new antibiotic a chance to work.
Please pray that we'll have wisdom to know what to do for her as well as the ability to attend to both Ellie-Kate and Emmy. Please also pray that we can get through this time of illness and get everyone healthy at the same time again! We praise God that Ellie-Kate came to us with an impressive imune system--everyone else in the house has been sick at some point since we returned from China except our little baby girl.
We'll post cute shower pictures over the week-end. We wish everyone a great Mother's Day, and we thank you for your love and support!!
Christie
Unfortunately, the week took a rough turn on Monday. Emmy was feeling a bit under the weather so we kept her home from school. We figured that she was just exhausted after the dance recital and baby shower. However, she woke up around 11:30 p.m. on Monday night with horrible ear pain. Fortunately, we had never mixed the antibiotic that we took with us in the event of an ear infection in China so we mixed it and gave her some right away. On Tuesday, though, she was much worse, and we discovered blood on her pillow and dripping from her ear. We took her to the doctor right away, and we learned that her ear drum ruptured and that she has a really bad infection.
After three days of antibiotics, ibuprofin, and resting, Emmy isn't better. We were able to get her in to a specialist at Children's today, and the doctor said that we need to treat the infection aggressively. He prescribed an additional antibiotic, and he said that we need to take her in for IV antibiotics if we can't get her fever under 100. (It hasn't been under 100 all week!!) After consulting with her doctor here in Athens, we decided to wait until morning to take her in, if her fever still hasn't broken. We wanted to give the new antibiotic a chance to work.
Please pray that we'll have wisdom to know what to do for her as well as the ability to attend to both Ellie-Kate and Emmy. Please also pray that we can get through this time of illness and get everyone healthy at the same time again! We praise God that Ellie-Kate came to us with an impressive imune system--everyone else in the house has been sick at some point since we returned from China except our little baby girl.
We'll post cute shower pictures over the week-end. We wish everyone a great Mother's Day, and we thank you for your love and support!!
Christie
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Catching up :)
Hi everyone--
We have had a really hectic past few weeks, but we continue to have MUCH to praise God for in our lives, especially the fact that we were able to travel and get Ellie-Kate BEFORE this whole swine flu mess. I feel so sorry for the poor folks who have now been delayed b/c of new travel restrictions due to the flu outbreak, and I am incredibly grateful that we were able to bring Ellie-Kate into our lives exactly when we did. Anyway, in this post, I'll bring you up to speed as well as share some recent photos.
First and foremost, Ellie-Kate is doing GREAT!! Her new words include "nighty night" and "hi." Moreover, she's definitely showing signs that she's attaching strongly to us-- imitating us, looking for us and at us directly in the eyes, looking at us to see if others are "okay" (or refusing to go to them at all), etc. Beyond this important emotional and psychological issue, she's physically doing much better as well. She's getting stronger everyday, and she's crawling as well as pulling herself to a standing position and walking as she holds on to furniture. Her record on standing free of holding on to something is 15 seconds!! Yes, she's still a bit behind, but she's certainly come a long way since we first held her in our arms in Kunming!! On Thursday, April 23, we met with a pediatric ophthamalogist, and he said that she's a bit far-sighted but that she doesn't need glasses right now.
We also met with a pediatric orthopedic specialist that day as well. Although the April 3 x-rays still showed a difference between her right and left legs, the one on April 23 revealed that both hips are right where they need to be!! Praise God!! However, we still see a difference in the way that she's handling her legs, and our case worker with Help Me Grow (a program in Athens) observed the problem as well. Thus, we're likely going to get a referral for physical therapy to help with conditioning her muscles so that she can use them as she begins to walk. Otherwise, though, we're not going to have to have any surgery for her spinal biffida occulta or hips so we're definitely celebrating!!
Beyond meeting with doctors and the Help Me Grow staff, Ellie-Kate has been getting a crash course in "Little Sister of Busy Older Sisters 101." She got to attend her very first play performance last Saturday (April 25) when she went to the high school to watch Chelsea as the Queen in Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. On Sunday, her 15 month birthday, she had her very first babysitter, Lindsey, when the rest of the family went to the final performance of the play. (See pic of Ellie-Kate and Lindsey on her 15 month birthday above.) Although Ellie-Kate was good when she went to the show, it was nice to watch the last one without chasing Cheerios!
During this past week, the older girls have been in rehearsals for the dance recital so we've been driving back and forth from Athens to Nelsonville multiple times a day. Ellie-Kate has been a trooper, but we're all glad that the driving is over!! On the plus side, Chelsea and Emmy both did a terrific job as dancers, and Brittany choreographed two delightful tap pieces. Roger and I went to the show by ourselves last night, and Ellie-Kate got to go today. (She did super during the first act, but she had to be walked around during the second half of the show.)
I'm posting a couple of pictures from Cinderella and the dance recital as well as a few candid photos from around the house. I'm starting to feel a bit more caught up, and I'm going to strive to take even more candids during our "home time" this week. Also, we're excited about our baby shower tomorrow, and I'll try to post some pics from that event ASAP too.
Again, thanks so much for caring about our family and, especially, Ellie-Kate. As of tomorrow, we'll have been home for four weeks, and we have had her with us physically for six weeks as of Monday. Although time has passed quickly, we praise God for every day with her and the other girls. What an incredible blessing that she has been to our lives, and we will never, never take these beautiful girls for granted.
Take care, and we'll post again soon.
Christie
We have had a really hectic past few weeks, but we continue to have MUCH to praise God for in our lives, especially the fact that we were able to travel and get Ellie-Kate BEFORE this whole swine flu mess. I feel so sorry for the poor folks who have now been delayed b/c of new travel restrictions due to the flu outbreak, and I am incredibly grateful that we were able to bring Ellie-Kate into our lives exactly when we did. Anyway, in this post, I'll bring you up to speed as well as share some recent photos.
First and foremost, Ellie-Kate is doing GREAT!! Her new words include "nighty night" and "hi." Moreover, she's definitely showing signs that she's attaching strongly to us-- imitating us, looking for us and at us directly in the eyes, looking at us to see if others are "okay" (or refusing to go to them at all), etc. Beyond this important emotional and psychological issue, she's physically doing much better as well. She's getting stronger everyday, and she's crawling as well as pulling herself to a standing position and walking as she holds on to furniture. Her record on standing free of holding on to something is 15 seconds!! Yes, she's still a bit behind, but she's certainly come a long way since we first held her in our arms in Kunming!! On Thursday, April 23, we met with a pediatric ophthamalogist, and he said that she's a bit far-sighted but that she doesn't need glasses right now.
We also met with a pediatric orthopedic specialist that day as well. Although the April 3 x-rays still showed a difference between her right and left legs, the one on April 23 revealed that both hips are right where they need to be!! Praise God!! However, we still see a difference in the way that she's handling her legs, and our case worker with Help Me Grow (a program in Athens) observed the problem as well. Thus, we're likely going to get a referral for physical therapy to help with conditioning her muscles so that she can use them as she begins to walk. Otherwise, though, we're not going to have to have any surgery for her spinal biffida occulta or hips so we're definitely celebrating!!
Beyond meeting with doctors and the Help Me Grow staff, Ellie-Kate has been getting a crash course in "Little Sister of Busy Older Sisters 101." She got to attend her very first play performance last Saturday (April 25) when she went to the high school to watch Chelsea as the Queen in Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. On Sunday, her 15 month birthday, she had her very first babysitter, Lindsey, when the rest of the family went to the final performance of the play. (See pic of Ellie-Kate and Lindsey on her 15 month birthday above.) Although Ellie-Kate was good when she went to the show, it was nice to watch the last one without chasing Cheerios!
During this past week, the older girls have been in rehearsals for the dance recital so we've been driving back and forth from Athens to Nelsonville multiple times a day. Ellie-Kate has been a trooper, but we're all glad that the driving is over!! On the plus side, Chelsea and Emmy both did a terrific job as dancers, and Brittany choreographed two delightful tap pieces. Roger and I went to the show by ourselves last night, and Ellie-Kate got to go today. (She did super during the first act, but she had to be walked around during the second half of the show.)
I'm posting a couple of pictures from Cinderella and the dance recital as well as a few candid photos from around the house. I'm starting to feel a bit more caught up, and I'm going to strive to take even more candids during our "home time" this week. Also, we're excited about our baby shower tomorrow, and I'll try to post some pics from that event ASAP too.
Again, thanks so much for caring about our family and, especially, Ellie-Kate. As of tomorrow, we'll have been home for four weeks, and we have had her with us physically for six weeks as of Monday. Although time has passed quickly, we praise God for every day with her and the other girls. What an incredible blessing that she has been to our lives, and we will never, never take these beautiful girls for granted.
Take care, and we'll post again soon.
Christie
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