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!