Spring 2008

Video of our China Adventure

First Gotcha Day!!!

Today is Marygrace's Gotcha Day! I can't believe it's been a year, we are so incrediably blessed with the most amazing daughter. God truly had a plan for her to be in our family she fits in perfectly. We celebrated Scott's Birthday and Gotcha Day by eating out at our favorite Chinese restaurant and I've spent the rest of the evening creating a video of our pictures in China set to music please click on the volume symbol in the lower left hand corner to hear the music! It's been an emotional day, I just can't thank the Lord enough for all of my blessings!!!

Nov/Dec Pictures

Some thoughts from Mom

Last night I had the opportunity to rock Marygrace back to sleep in the middle of the night. It was pure heaven and thoughts just raced through my head as I thought about the last year. Marygrace is an amazing sleeper and rarely does not sleep at least 10 hours (more often 11 or 12 hours) without getting up in the night! This is a very good thing for her mom who needs her sleep and doesn't function well without it. Marygrace lets Scott and I read to her and rock her in the rocking chair each night for about as long as a typical active 2 1/2 year old will tolerate, but last night was different. She let me comfort her while she totally relaxed every muscle in her body. Her head was nuzzled next to my chest and I could feel her chest rise and fall. Although I was tired this moment was too precious to end it by laying her back in her crib. It brought back memories of endless middle of the night feedings with the boys, I can't believe I actually miss those moments. Like most sleep deprived moms I couldn't wait for those nights to end. But now with three big boys I realize how quickly they grow and how precious those times were. There is nothing more innocent than a sleeping child. Exactly one year ago, I was in the hospital recovering from major abdominal surgery to remove a tumor. At this point we didn't know yet if the tumor was benign, the doctor thought it was a sarcoma. I had pictures next to my bed of my children including little Yong Lan Fei (Marygrace) who was waiting for us in China. I remember being so afraid and wondering would I ever get to meet my daughter and hold her in my arms. Exactly one year ago I cried out and prayed to the Lord for healing and that I would be there for my husband and children and that Marygrace would come home and be apart of our family. The next day we received the news that I had a benign ganglion-neuroma and although rare it should not return and other than healing from surgery I had a clean bill of health.I don't know if a miracle occurred or not, but to me it sure felt like a miracle!You know the rest of the story - our baby did come home and I have held her in arms!Last night I cried out and prayed to the Lord tears of joy and thanksgiving for all the blessings in my life! I am the first to admit life is hard, being a mom is hard and most of the time I feel overwhelmed, but I thank the Lord that he woke me up in the wee hours of the morning and gave me the opportunity to experience his grace. Today although I am a little tired I can't stop smiling for God is so Good!!!

No more surgery (we hope)!

Marygrace had her second implant surgery yesterday. She now has two good ears!!! They won't program the second implant until Jan. 18. The second surgery went as well as the first. If you saw her today you would have no idea she had anything done and I haven't even given her tylenol. We are so blessed to have this litttle girl be apart of our family! We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with lots of joy, hope and peace!!!

Second implant surgery is scheduled for tomorrow

Marygrace has been doing well. She is learning to listen and make sense of sounds. She is babbling and making clearer sounds. Tomorrow morning she is scheduled to receive her second implant. We are excited that she will have two good ears! Please pray she stays healthy (she has had a slightly elevated temp 99.2) and that surgery will go as planned and without complications. We hope you all are doing well during this busy time of the year. God Bless you all! I will update tomorrow.

She Can Hear!

The device is programmed and on! She responded by looking up and turning to look for the source of various sounds during the programming appointment. She does'nt seem upset or scared. She is wearing the device and not pulling on it at all. We are so excited! The device is turned up gradually. She will wear it at this level for a couple of days and then we will bump it up every 2-3 days as tolerated. Now it's time for the hard work - learning to listen and make sound associations! At home she responds to several noisy toys, the phone and microwave. She makes the funniest facial expressions demonstrating her shock and amazement. We will try and post some videos soon! Please praise the Lord with us as we rejoice that our daughter can finally hear us say "I love you" and hear us sing "Jesus Loves Me" to her. There is no doubt that he does love Marygrace! How blessed we our to have her be apart of our family and experience this incredible journey with her!

Sept.- Oct. 2007

Marygrace is doing great!!!

Marygrace is recovering amazingly well! The surgery began at 3:00 P.M. yesterday and we left the surgery center at 7:00 P.M. We could not believe how quick the procedure was. Marygrace was easily comforted in daddy's arms (of course) with a few kisses from mom where her IV was. She is very dramatic and wants everyone to kiss the spot where her IV was. She is eating and drinking and slept a full 12 hours! Praise God!!!
If you saw her, you would have no idea that she had surgery yesterday. We are anxiously waiting for Nov. 7 when the implant will be programmed and turned on. We can't wait to see her face when she hears our voices for the first time! Thank You all for your prayers. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family! I will try to post some pictures from the past month later this week. There was a shower for Marygrace at church earlier this month. It was so much fun for both of us and we were very pampered and spoiled! Thank you to everyone who made that such a special day for us!

Surgery has been moved up to Oct. 15!

Marygrace's surgery has been moved up to Oct. 15. There will be a three week recovery period before the device is turned on and programmed. This is scheduled for Nov. 7. We appreciate prayers for Marygrace and the surgery to be successful! We will continue to update her blog with any news.

Aug. - Sept. 2007

Surgery Scheduled!

Marygrace will have have her first cochlear implant surgery on Oct. 23. This is the same day that we decided she would become part of our family last year. What a special day for Marygrace! We are thrilled that she will have the opportunity to hear and we are especially thrilled that she is a part of our family!!! Please pray for the surgery to go well with no unforeseen complications. They will turn on the implant 3 weeks after the surgery and Marygrace will have to learn to listen and connect sounds with the source. It will be a very scary and exciting time for her. We will measure her progress over months not weeks, but hope that over the next year her speech and language skills will develop. Also, please pray that we will be approved for her second implant before the end of the year. We would love not to get hit with a new deductable and have to hit our out of pocket limit next year. Merck is also switching insurance Jan. 1 and there is some concern that a second implant may not be covered. Thus, it would be great if we could do it before the end of the year!

Daddy took these great pics!

Family Camp July 2007

Marygrace is a candidate for cochlear implants!

Yes, we found out the good news on Friday. The results of the MRI and CT scans Marygrace had on Aug. 1 were normal for both. These were the last tests that needed to be done to determine her candidacy. We are thrilled! The doctors office is now working on insurance approval. The first implant may take place in Sept. or Oct., which is just around the corner. We are so grateful to all who have prayed for Marygrace to have this opportunity. The technology today is wonderful and we are optimistic with the implants and therapy our daughter will experience near normal hearing and speech-language skills. We appreciate continued prayers for success and no complications! We hope you are all enjoying your summer, my boys have only one week left before school starts. I'll try and post more pictures soon!

I'm Caught Up!

I'm caught up posting pictures through July 4th! We are having a great summer and hope you are too. We will be going to Family Camp for a week on July 15 and our looking forward to our first vacation with Marygrace! I may not post for awhile, no news is good news!

Misc. Pictures June 24 - July 4th

June 2007

Pictures from Grandpa's Camera