Eggs=Yum!

Someone woke up ready to chow down! She ate one egg and two small peach slices! She did spike a fever in the night but the nurses do not seem too concerned. They feel she might have some upper respiratory stuff going (lungs sound clear so no pneumonia). Doctor should be in later this morning or early afternoon.  She is standing up in her crib and playing with Blake and as I type she just started shaking the crib back and forth.  I think someone is ready to break out of this joint!  Lets get out here baby girl!

Loving the look on her face in the picture in her crib!  "Really Mom.  I am so over this place!"

Home Sweet Home

Apperently my last post did not publish nor save and I have left you wondering what is going on!

We were released from the hospital around 4:30 on Saturday afternoon and after a quick stop at Culvers for dinner and a swing through Walgreens for meds, we made it home at exactly 9:00.  We were all very happy to be home!  Kara played for a bit before crashing for the night.  We are so thankful for all of the wonderful nurses at the hospital, but it sure was nice not to have Kara checked on every few hours.  I have spent much time in hospitals and it kills me when they come in to check on you in the middle of the night to see if you are doing okay.  I'm sleeping, I'm good!  (Love all my nursing friends and I know it's your job!).

Kara has been running a fever off and on since the surgery. Partly due to all of the stress and partly because she hasn't been up and moving so her lungs have not been opening all of the way and they are a bit sticky.  Thankfully the boys just came home and the running around and playing is about to increase!  The three kids were very happy to see each other.  Alex and Kaleb had been pretty worried about Kara (the surgery, the dreaded IV, Us being gone longer than expected) so they were very happy to have us home.  Special thanks to Mom and Dave for keeping them entertained while we were gone-lots of swimming, computer time, Grand Cafe for lunch-it's a tough life!

Kara is sleeping in a more normal pattern since we have been home which is great.  She is still off and on food as her little mouth is pretty sore.  She will be on soft foods for about three weeks and then she can chow down again.  She has been drinking really well so we are thrilled she is hydrated even if she isn't so hungry.  We will be giving her meds around the clock to keep the fever down and the pain to a minimum.  We will be keeping things pretty calm and quiet around here for the next week to help everyone get back on track.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers during Kara's surgery and recovery!  We appreciate all of the love!

Mercy Me!

Hello!
We are all set up in the PICU at Mercy Hospital in STL.  Kara's surgery went quickly and best of all really well.  Dr. Forsen went first and had her ear tubes put in in no time flat.  Dr. Marsh and his team went next and we were visiting with him at 9:10 am (start time was 7:10 am).  He was pleased with the amount of muscle Kara had in the roof of her mouth and he was able to close everything up nice and neat.
Kara was very unhappy when she woke up and gave the nurses a rough time and her ticked off Kara stare.  One nurse in particular could get no where near her and Kara kept a close eye on her.  I think she was the first person Kara saw and she quickly blamed her for the pain.  The nurse was very sweet about it!
We were sent up to our room here in the PICU where we will be until at least tomorrow afternoon.  The only way to break out of here is for our sweet girl to drink and eat a decent amount.  What is she eating?  Great question!  For the next two to three weeks she will be on a soft food diet.  So far she has ony gotten down about 6oz of pudding milk.  That's pudding watered down with milk.  She has slept fitfully and we would love for her to take a big nap.  Fingers crossed!  She just had her second dose of pain meds.  I have had a quick nap and Blake is snoozing now.
I won't fib to you: today has been one tough day.  Watching her go through this pain and not being able to make it better hurts our hearts.  We are looking forward to coming out on the other side and making these next few weeks a distance memory.
Thank you all for your continued prayers for a smooth and quick recovery!  Here is a picture of Kara on her "happy meds" right before going into surgery.  She was a trip!

Catching Up and Kara's Surgery

Hello Friends! We have been very busy enjoying our summer together by hanging out at Grammy and Grampy's pool, playing with friends, and just relaxing! Summer always seems to fly by and this year is no different! This past Sunday, we were blessed to have Kara's Baptism in the same church that the boys and I were baptized. What a blessed day surrounded by family and friends! Kara did pretty well~but got a little antsy towards the end. Thankfully, Father Luke is a seasoned professional and took it all in stride. Kara wore a beautiful silk dress from China and looked very sweet.  We also celebrated Alex and Kaleb's 9th birthday!  So hard to believe they are 9 years old!  Blake and I also celebrated our 11 Anniversary.  Whew-it's been a busy summer!

We will be heading down to St. Louis tonight for Kara's cleft palate and ear tube surgeries.  The surgery will take place tomorrow at 7:00 am.  We would appreciate any prayers and good thoughts you can send our way.  The surgery should last about 2 hours from when they take her back to when she heads to recovery and we have an amazing team of doctors and nurses on the case which helps put us as ease.  If all goes well, we will be heading back home on Friday and will spend two weeks recovering.  We will keep you posted and thank you for your prayers in advance!
Now-here is what you really want-Pictures!  : )  

Kara's Baptism

Alex and Kaleb's first photos-Hard to believe it's been 9 years since they were born!

Celebrating our 9th birthday with frozen yogurt from Orange Leaf-Yum!

Celebrating Father's Day with our AMAZING Dad!

Movie Night in the living room

These beautiful photos were taken by a photographer at Your Reflection My Style in Bloomington.  The cost of the sitting fee was donated to families with children with Cleft Lip/Cleft Palate issues.  Love the cause and the photos!

Happy girl!

11 years ago these two young kids tied the knot!

Hello Again!

Hello Friends and Family! So sorry for the absolute silence on the blog front! It has taken us a good two weeks to get back on Illinois time and for Kara to get into a good sleeping routine. Whew! She has turned the corner on her sleeping and is a night owl like the rest of us! She has been going down for bed around 10:15 (I think I just heard a gasp out there. :) ) and wakes up around 5:30 am to come to bed with us and then sleeps until 8:30. It's a beautiful thing! We took her to our doctor and he was so pleased with her development and her ability to work around her cleft palate. They ran some blood work and we were thrilled to find out that all of the markers for her vaccines in China were right on track and she didn't have any surprises in her blood work other than she apparently had chicken pox at some point. Blake and I joked that they probably rubbed all of the children together pass it along to them all to get it over with at one time. I cannot imagine having to deal with chicken pox over and over again! We will be heading to St. Louis at the end of May to meet with the Cleft Team at Mercy Hospital. Dr. Marsh will complete the palate surgery in June and he is one of the very best in the nation so we were thrilled to be able to get into his office! Kara loves her brothers and we wait in the driveway every afternoon for them to get off of the bus. She is quite the ham and loves all of the attention from all of the kids as they get off the bus at our stop. I have their picture on my phone and when I ask her where the boys are, she will look at my phone and smile. The boys are doing really well with her. It's quite an adjustment as they are not use to little ones and we are proud of them and how they love on her! She is finally growing some hair! I will post a picture soon so you can see it. I know I will miss her sweet bald head when I look back at the pictures in China! She still dislikes her bows and so I don't push it too often. She will pull them out of her hair and then look at me - Oh this girl is going to give me a run for my money! We are heading to our friend's wedding this weekend and she will have a big old pink bow on her head, at least at the wedding! Alex and Kaleb will be turning 9 next Wednesday and I simply cannot believe it! Where in the world has the time gone? They will be heading over to the Middle School next year and I think it is going to be harder on me than on them. I won't be able to pop into their room to see what they are up to or to give them a smooch in the hallway between classes. Oh our babies are growing up too fast!

Complete!

After a long 13.5 hour flight with a semi unhappy baby, we made it to Chicago ahead of schedule! An hour ahead if you can believe it. We zipped right through baggage, immigration, and security and had time to grab a quick bite at McDonalds before the boys and Grammy and Grampy came in carrying signs of welcome for Kara. What an awesome and tearful reunion it was! Such a blessing to have our three beautiful children together and in our arms! When we arrived home, Uncle Chris and Grandpa Don and Grandma Judy were waiting to greet us. There were hugs and kisses all around. Thankfully, we all napped at some point in the car on the way home so we are really hoping to get back on Illinois time quickly with a good nights sleep tonight. We had dinner together as a family of 5 (thanks for the meatloaf Mom!), Kara had her bath and she is sleeping soundly in her bed. Ahhhhh. Now it's time to snuggle up with Alex (Kaleb's turn tomorrow) and get some sleep! So thankful for this day and for the many blessings in our life and for all of you for your good thoughts and wishes!

Shamien Island and our last few days in China

Yesterday we spent a few hours on Shamian Island. It's much like what I would imagine Charleston, South Carolina to be like. Muggy, lots of greenery, colonial style buildings, and lots of boulevards. It was a lovely place even though it was raining off and on all day long. They have many cool bronze statutes along to main drag. We tried to have Kara pose in a line of childlike statutes but as you can see, she wanted no part of it! We picked up some sweet Chinese dresses for her to wear as she gets older, some fun gifts for the boys, and what I thought would be fun but have turned out to be a bit annoying, squeaky shoes. We had our COnsulate Appointment on Thursday where we took an oath on Kara's behalf stating that she would be a model U.S. citizen signed a few more papers and will be free to leave Guanzhou after 4:30 today once we receive her Visa! We will be flying to Hong Kong tonight at 10:30 and will arrive there at 11:30. We will spend the night at the airport hotel and then fly home to Chicago at 11:55 am China time on Saturday and arrive at Ohare at 1:50 on Saturday. Of course this after a 14.5 hour flight so this may well be the longest day of our lives! Asking for your good thoughts and prayers for our flights, pilots, and for understanding for our fellow passengers! Also for Kara to have a comfortable and quiet flight! ; ). We cannot wait to get home and get the boys in our arms. We have missed them so much! Thanks to all of you for following along on this amazing journey!