Here's Where The Story Ends

It's hard to believe Emi has been home with us for 3 months now.  I can still remember when Eriks was about 21 or 22 months old and we started discussing our next adoption.  Never in a million years did I think it would've been nearly 4 yrs after that that our baby girl came home.

I am a little sad to end this blog.  It's kind of like saying goodbye to an old friend.  But our journey to Emilija is over.  She is here where she belongs.  It took a long time to get here but it was all worth it.  I can't imagine our lives without her.

In recent weeks I have really started to think about her birth family.  Eriks really generated it when he was asking some questions and we told him we knew who his birth family was but didn't know who Emi's was.  He said, "Because she was left at the gate?"  Yes, because she was left at the gate.  More than anything I wish there was a way I could tell them that their daughter is on the other side of the world being loved more than they could possibly imagine.  To tell them that it has never felt like she wasn't a part of our family and that we are so thankful to have been given the opportunity to love her.  She like Eriks is such a blessing in our lives and I will be eternally grateful for her birth parents making the heartbreaking decision to abandon her as well as thankful to China for giving me such a wonderful gift.

To all those still waiting, your time WILL come and when it does, you won't forget how long you waited, but you will say that every minute was worth it.

To those who like us are home with their children, this has been the most incredible journey we could experience.  I know all of us have different stories but we all share one thing in common - we adopted beautiful, precious children from China.

I want to say thank you to everyone who has supported us on this very long and often bumpy road to Emilija.  I have made many friends in blogland who I couldn't imagine having gotten to this point with out.  We were all in the same boat and when you're there it's easier to understand how hard this whole process really is.

I do have a new home where I will chronicle my life with my kiddos.  If you want to continue following us go:

HERE

Again, thank you for following our journey to our beautiful little girl. 

They Rocked the House!!!

 I'm still on cloud 9 from the U2 concert on Tuesday night at the Georgia.Dome.  It was freakin' fabulous!  This was my 2nd live viewing of U2.  The first time I saw them perform was in Chi-town back on May 10, 2005 on my wedding anniversary (and Bono's birthday) with my wonderful husband.  If I could afford it, I would follow them around the US to see as many concerts as I could.  Kind of like a Parrot*head or a Grate*ful Dead follower.

I took my sister to the concert as an early birthday present to her.  I knew she wanted to see them in concert.  So she came down from Indy for a few days.  She had a really good time and thought the concert was the bomb.  She's still not sure if it's the best concert she's been to but U2 is the best show I've ever seen.  

The above picture is from the Georgia.Dome but I did not take it.  My sister took all the photos and has yet to upload them somewhere that I can view them and copy them.  I took this from the web.  

Tomorrow is the 3rd anniversary of Emilija coming home from China and will also be the last day I post on this blog.  But don't worry, I have a new home.  I'll post the link to it tomorrow so that you can follow.

Three Word Sunday - Winery Edition

Today we went up to the Blue Ridge Mts. in the NE part of the state. Unfortunately the leaves really weren't changing yet (sigh), but we hit a few wineries there and had a good time drinking and doing some sisterly bonding. Then went and had dinner and it started raining. Glad we got through most of the day without it.

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

Seriously, I really want to blog more but Emi's doctors appointments are at the top of the priority list. Last Wednesday she had her ABR and CT Scan done. The nurses had a hard time finding her veins they were so small. I'm sure the fact that she couldn't have anything to eat or drink, therefore making her a little dehydrated also made it more difficult to find them. So the 1st stick didn't work to start the IV and so it took a 2nd one in the other arm which thankfully worked. The anesthesiologist came in and pushed some meds and she immediately went limp. They did the ABR and then the CT.

The results of the ABR were pretty much as we suspected. She is profoundly deaf in the right ear and severely deaf in the left. The good news is that her left ear is as it should be internally which will allow the ENT to place an ear tube which will help keep some of the fluid off of her ear drum which likely will make her hear better. This was found out with her CT Scan. However, she still will likely need a bone conductive hearing aid that will transmit sound through her skull behind the ear to the cochlea which will allow her to hear as well as anyone who doesn't have a hearing problem. She has qualified for the state's speech and hearing therapy programs which will allow us to do home therapy rather than have to go somewhere for it. This will be really nice as we do enough running around as it is.

Emilija's palate repair surgery is scheduled for Nov 11th. Unfortunately it was pushed so far back because we need several different doctors in there at once. The plastic surgeon that will actually do the repair, the dentist that will place the opterator, aka palatal prosthesis that will protect the roof of her mouth after it is repaired to help prevent the sutures from tearing or her playing with them with her tongue. It will also help her get used to having a closed roof in her mouth. And then hopefully the ENT will place her tube too so that she doesn't have to go under again.

Below is a photo of Emi taken while we were waiting in the carpool line at Eriks school last Thursday. I was trying to find things to keep her happy because about 30 minutes waiting gets pretty boring for her. I can text on my phone or play with my i*Touch so I'm happy.

My sister will be here very late this evening to visit and to go to a really awesome concert next Tuesday. I think we're going to go to the mountains in the NE part of the state this weekend in hopes of catching some fall color!

Three Word Sunday Post

ENOUGH SAID!!!
We've had over 3 1/2 inches of rain today alone! The rain is supposed to last for yet another 2 or 3 days. My neighbors backyard is flooded. I'm pretty sure that I can say for certain that Georgia no longer has a drought going on.

I'll be back in a few days after I've finished studying and taking an exam for a class.

Long Overdue Update on Emi and the Rest of Us

It's hard to believe the Emi came home almost 9 weeks ago. Where has the time gone? In that short 2 months that she's been home so much has happened and she has changed so much.

So here's what's new with Emi:
- She is "talking" more. Because of her open palate she still can't form letter sounds but the good thing is that she is making more and more sounds. It's not the same babbling all the time. We can tell that she's trying to talk but the words just aren't forming yet.
- She likes to stick her finger up her nose. Yup, that's right, up her nose. No idea why this started a few weeks ago. But when we tell her yucky, she smiles at us.
- She is starting to learn to climb the stairs in our house. Not wnat I wanted yet. That menas I have to keep a closer eye on her.
- She picks up her baby dolls and kisses them, but still isn't really keen on kissing us. It's been weeks since she's given me a kiss. When she's ready, she'll do it. But I'm glad she's at least kissing her baby dolls.
- She's starting to run and she's fast!!
- She likes to stand in her crib and jump up and down. It's actually more bouncing but it's funny as all get out.
- She tries to climb over the back of the pew at church. She was doing this on Sunday and I just took her foot down and she put it right back up. The lady behind us thought this was so funny she actually started snorting while laughing. Eriks after church said she sounded like a pig.
- Emi loves to dance! She just shakes that little booty of hers back and forth. It's so stinkin' cute!
- Not only is she dancing, she's turning her self in circles. Usually with her hands up in the air. With football season upon us, I think it's her version of the Colts/Hoosiers/Longhorns victory dance :-)
- She loves baths. So much so that when it's time to get out she throws a HUGE tantrum. She likes to stand up in the tub and we're constantly telling her to sit back down. Then there's also the splashing of water everywhere. She laughs the entire time she's splashing!
- She loves having her teeth brushed. If she sees you with a toothbrush in hand, she wants hers. I'm thinking if I allowed it, she'd walk around with it in her mouth all day long.
- She's into anything and everything. Definitely a toddler.

We're working on getting her surgery/surgeries (not sure which yet) scheduled as well as some tests but the healthcare system here in Atlanta frustrates me to no end. We're working with the craniofacial team at Children's and some of the doctors take our insurance and others don't so we're stuck trying to find another doctor who will not only take our insurance but also work with the other doctors. Plus then there's Emi's microtia (the ear deformity) and trying to find a pediatric ENT that specializes in microtia has been a nightmare. Still not sure if Lane has weeded through that or not. I could scream. I had hoped we would had her surgery to fix her palate over and done with already. I've got to call the Dr's office today and get it scheduled.

Now the update on the rest of us. I'm studying to take a final for one of my classes. Then keeping up with all the other stuff. Lane's busy with work. He left for Germany this morning and will be back Friday afternoon.

Eriks is a busy beaver. He loves school. When I picked him up at school yesterday he said, "I never want school to end." Sounds good to me. He's busy with gymnastics & karate. He also lost his 2nd tooth last weekend at my parents house. It was really loose and I told him to just give it a yank. He did and it came out. He's looking forward to more of them falling out.

Well, that's it for now.

3 Word Sunday - 2nd Sunday in September

The photo of Emi was taken today while she was napping. Lane went in to check on her and found her sleeping this way. My guess is that she was sitting in her bed babbling to herself like she does all the time when we put her down and just crashed hard, face first into her blanket in a sitting position.

The photo of Eriks & Lane was taken last week when we were in Indiana.