4 & 5 Months Home....It's almost (her 1st) Christmas!

Ya'll still there? I know I said I was going to update but I never got around to it. Surprise, surprise. Lately life seems like a never ending to do list that I will never complete! I either need to figure out how to add about 4 more hours on to my day, or I need to get used to the fact that I am just going to go to bed each night without getting everything done. And since the first option ain't never gonna happen, I need to start seriously considering the second option.

Our family is getting on really well these days. Addy is still transitioning into our family, and we seem to be passing from one phase to the next. Sometime during the fourth month home, Addy started coming out of her shell. She would look at me and smile HUGE, or give the flirty eyes, or just look at me to see if I was looking at her. It was like one day a little switch flipped in her and she decided she was comfortable enough to join our family. She has gotten even more lovey as the days pass, but with that comes some new (not always fun) phases of development that I am assuming she just has to pass through.

A few months ago if a lot of folks came over to the house, she would just sort of zone out and withdraw. Well, now she is zoning out a lot less than she used to, and when people come over now, she gets pretty overwhelmed and can't wait for them to leave. It's strange. It's like she is going through all the phases my babies went through, but she is two. She is passing through them pretty quickly, so it's like baby attachment on warp speed. But at the same time, her cognitive and speech development are behind, so she is still like a ten month old. I know. It's confusing. It's pretty hard to get your head around, so I have reminded myself more times that I care to admit that I can't put a number on her development. She is what she is, and she is progressing. I would like it to be faster most days, but that's because I'm her mom and I hate to see her behind. But, she is progressing so well that her therapists are pretty blown away!

On a medical note, Addy's neurologist called me last week and we talked for about 30 minutes. She told me that all of Addy's chromosomal testing was returned and everything was normal. That means that all her chromosomes are present and accounted for, so the abnormal development of her brain and eye are not due to anything going haywire in her chromosomes. The neurologist feels that most of the damage to Addy's brain was due to lack of nutrition. There might have also been a virus that played part in the damage, but she feels the lack of food played a major role. Did you get that? Our baby's brain didn't develop properly because when her birth mother was pregnant with her, she probably didn't have enough food to eat to support the life that was growing inside of her. I can't sit on that thought for too long, or it gets me depressed.

So as we approach the "most wonderful time of the year", we are thanking God that our Addy girl made it through some VERY difficult circumstances and that she is with us now. She is safe, loved, fed, warm, happy, and nourished. I can't believe that last year we put up a stocking with Addy girl's name on it thinking that she "might" be home for Christmas pf 2010, never in our wildest dreams imagining that she would actually be home for Christmas 2009. What a gift the Lord has given to us.

Photoshop

So I know my new blog title/header thingey is total cheese, but I am trying to muddle my way through Photoshop. I just managed to get the stupid program open, and this header is the first thing I created. It's pretty fun, and VERY overwhelming.

I hope to learn more soon so I don't have to subject you to my cheesey amateur PhotoShop creations!!

Oh yeah, Addy's doing great. I am going to update again soon. Maybe tomorrow. For now, I need to go to bed because my 5am run is going to come early in the morning.

Just a test.

to see if my new computer is working!

3 months, Mickey and Addy's brain.

Well as you can see from the ticker on the left, Addy has been home now for a little over three months. Some days it seems like she's been here forever, and some days I look at her and think that we're still just getting acquainted. It's REALLY weird.

I'm pretty cure that I have Addy's cries figured out now. She is still non-verbal so I have to gage her needs by her cries. She is a very regular eater and prefers that I not wait until lunch time to start making lunch. She prefers it to be ready BY lunch time so that she can sit down promptly at 11:30 and eat it. I'm not kidding. But I have to remind myself that she was hungry for the first two years of her life and she may not ever fully trust that food is available. I hope that one day it's not an issue and that she can relax and know that she will not go hungry here, but if she never does, she never does. I think she will though.

Last week we were in Orlando at Disney World for our eldest's fifth birthday. I was so nervous that Addy would be so confused and over stimulated. She did GREAT! She loved to be pushed around in the stroller all day and enjoy the outside. It was pretty hot outside, but that didn't phase her. Her favorite thing all week was the spectromagic light parade at magic kingdom. She could see all the lights in the dark and she got so tickled!! I don't know if she saw or understood much of anything else that went on last week, but I could tell by her face that she could see the lights on the floats. It was really cute! I'm pretty sure she can only see a few feet in front of her, but we had prime seats for the parade, so that helped!

And for an update on Addy's health/medical status. We were given a diagnosis of congenital CMV when Addy got home from Ethiopia, but when we did her MRI last month, it was clear to the CMV specialist at Texas Children's that Addy does not have congenital CMV. WHOA! We were blown away. We had just gone with the diagnosis that the first doc gave us, never questioning it. Her MRI was abnormal, but showed NO clarifications, which would be present with congenital CMV. The specialist was also looking for congenital rubella, and toxoplasmosis, but nothing was present. She called us the day after the MRI and told us we needed to be seen by neurology the next day. We were prepared for the worst since they wanted to see us so quickly.

We spoke with the neurologist for about two hours that next day and basically what we found out is that Addy has a mal-formed brain and there are about 1,000 reasons why that could be. The neurologists think it is something genetic, like a syndrome or something, but they are not sure. So, now we begin genetics testing to see if they can locate where her brain development when haywire. If they cannot locate something genetic that tells us why her brain is mal-formed, and her retinas are scarred, and her right optic nerve is not developed, then they may assume it was something viral (birth mom got sick while she was pregnant) or damage from severe malnutrition.

I guess the bottom line is that we may never have a diagnosis for Addy, or know why her brain and eye developed the way they did. And we will have to be okay with that. Because the Lord knows, and one day when Addy is in Heaven with her maker, she will have a perfect body and brain. She will be able to see the streets of gold with her own two perfect eyes. She will be absolutely perfect. Actually, she already is.

We are alive...

Sorry that I have not posted in so long. We have had a LOT going on the last month, and the blog is the last on the list unfortunately. I am going to get an update on here very soon, but just know that we are all well! Addy is doing great, and opening up to us more and more each day.

There has been an change on Addy's diagnosis that I will fill you in on soon.

I'll be writing soon, and it will be long so get ready.

Home for TWO Months!

We can hardly believe that Addy has been home for two months. It actually seems like she has always been here. It is VERY strange how the Lord can weave a child you have only known for a short time into your heart, where they are no different than children born to you.

Addy is doing great! She is getting more comfortable with us each day, and is a little happier every day. She still grieves, and who knows how long she will continue, but we are trying to learn a new kind of patience. Addy is trying to take steps and can stand on her own for short periods of time. She is SO much stronger than she was two months ago. She has grown 1.5 inches, and gained 2 pounds. Considering it takes Catcher a year to gain 2 pounds, we are ecstatic!

Our thank you letter to LifeSong for Orphans was featured on their blog today. You can read it here: http://lifesong.squarespace.com/home/2009/9/24/thank-you.html

Thank you for the continued prayers for our family. Please don't stop, our Addy girl still has a long road ahead of her.

Day 7....Dubai to Houston.

So we woke up Saturday morning to this sight....

All we could think about was the fact that we have a little girl now!!! She was SO cozy in bed with mom and dad. Andy said she pretty much snuggled/kicked him all night. If you've ever slept in a bed with a toddler, you know what a scary experience it can be!

Addy slept in a little while mommy and daddy got showered and ready for the long flight home. Mentally preparing yourself to spend the next 16 hours on a plane can be kinda rough. I just had to not think about it!

Our hotel in the airport was fabulous....if you need info on it, read my previous post about Day 6. After we got ready, we got Addy up, dressed and were out the door of the hotel and in the terminal of the airport. It was awesome. We stopped in one of the stores to get two gifts that Addy could give her brothers when we get off the plane in Houston. Then we headed to the McDonald's at the end of the terminal. We hit the same McDonald's on the way to Ethiopia for our last western meal for the week. Somehow though, the quarter pounders and fries weren't as good this time. Probably because it was 7 in the morning. They didn't serve breakfast.

After McDonald's we headed to our ate and got checked in. Sad to say that this time around we weren't bumped to business class. Just regular ole economy! BUT, at least we were sitting together, thanks to my husband! He visited the Emirates desk the night before (when Addy and I were getting settled into the hotel room) and told them that our little girl is blind and that we needed to be seated together. It took them all of two minutes to re-arrange seats and put us together. Thanks, Emirates!

(Mommy did not sleep a wink on the plane)

We boarded the flight and I heard one of the flight attendants tell another one that there were 51 children on board this flight. She was already frazzled and we hadn't even taken off yet! Poor thing! Andy, Addy and I had three seats on the left side of the plane together, which was good because it let us stretch out a little. Addy was such a trooper on the flight!! She really didn't sleep all that much, but she only fussed twice. She was amazing. The 16 hours were a blur, I think because I was so sleep deprived. However, I was never able fall asleep on the plane. I think it was the anticipation of seeing my boys again! I couldn't wait to get them in my arms!

(Daddys view for a few hours of the flight)

I have a few memories of the flight:

• The little boy who was a few rows in front of me who kept running to my seat (I was in the aisle) to get me to smile. It was funny the first few times and then it wasn't anymore. I would have told him to go back to his parents, but he was about 2, didn't speak English and his parents were asleep anyway.



• The smell. VERY clean airplane. 16 hours, foreign spices and body odors. nuf said.



• Countless trips to the bathroom. Sometimes to use the bathroom, sometimes to change clothes (after Addy spit up on me), sometimes just to go be by myself. I would wash my hands in the warm water, then just look in the mirror, talk to myself, whatever. I was trying to not go crazy.



• Helping another lady on the plane (who we happened to meet on the way TO Addis) with her baby. She and her husband adopted a baby, and he had to leave Addis early, so she was on this flight by herself with her new baby and no help! I washed bottles for her, helped the baby a few times. Once she lost her glasses and I held the baby while she tried to find them all around her seat. She was one tough momma to make that trip alone! And when we landed in Houston, she still had ANOTHER flight to go. whew!



• The little boy who kicked my seat for the last hour and a half of the flight. Thanks, kid!



• The candy bars...the flight attendants came through a couple times and handed out some candy bars to keep us going.



• Filling out Addy's immigration paperwork on the plane as we are descending towards Houston. AH! The anticipation!

When we landed in Houston, it was SO surreal! We could smell Houston air, and it was fabulous! Air pollution and all! It was America, and we were so lad to be back! I strapped Addy in the sling, and off we went, looking for immigration. When we got the the immigration lines, we weren't sure what line to be in, so we asked a supervisor and she said to follow her. We did, and she led us right to the front o a line! She said she was proud o us or adopting. Thanks, lady!

We got our passports checked and then sent to a room in the airport where they could process all o Addy's paperwork. She came into the United States as an immigrant, so we had some extra steps to do. After that, we went to baggage claim, got all our bags (thank you Lord), and then got in the line for customs. We brought coffee in, so we had to go through the agriculture scanner, and then we were done! Ugh! It took more than an hour to get off the plane and through all the checks!

At last, the moment we had been waiting for...through one more set of door and I would see my boys' faces. We turned a corner and I saw my sister standing there. She started crying as soon as she saw Addy, and I did too! I handed Addy to my mom, who was also crying, and scooped up my little boys! Oh, it was good to be home. Addy was SO confused, poor baby.

We made our way home to be greeted by some family and friends that we love dearly! They had a little party set up in the back yard complete with cookie cake that had an American flag and and Ethiopian flag on it! It was delicious and adorable!

Well, that's our trip to pick up Addy and bring her forever home! Hope you have enjoyed our story so far....its only the beginning!!!