Our Doctor Visit to See What is Next

We went to see our surgeon today for Piper to be reevaluated to see what is next.  Her palate is pretty much half repaired and the one side is open to the nasal cavity once again.  She wants to wait for 3 months from her surgery date before she does any other surgeries because she wants what is there to be fully healed.  She wants to use tissue from the left side of her mouth where palate was repaired and from the sides of her cheeks.  She also doesn't want to wait too long because what is repaired can shrink some and she doesn't want to lose the length in the back of her mouth.  The length in the back of her mouth she said is going to be great for speech for her.  We tentatively set surgery up for June 5th.  Her 2nd birthday is in May.  We really want to enjoy it with her since this is the first birthday that we will all be together.  I really would like to have a Welcome Home/2nd Birthday Party and invite all that have been part of our adoption journey to celebrate her.  We go back on April 22nd for her to be reevaluated.  If any changes need to be made with the surgery date we will make any changes then.  Please pray as we make these upcoming decisions on her surgery.

Chinese New Year

Today we decided to celebrate Chinese New Year with our girls and take them to a Chinese New Year Gala where one of our friends daughters does Chinese Dancing.  My older three were really excited to go.  Piper woke up in a grumpy kind of mood.  She really has never woke up like this before.  We drove to the school where the event was going to be held.  We walked in and we were definitely a minority there.  There were a lot of Asian People there.  We sat down and waited for everything to start.  When they began they were speaking Mandarin.  Piper immediately looked up and stared.  She was okay for a little and then really started getting upset and squirmy.  I got up and tried to stand in the back with her.  She was definitely out of sorts and not herself.  She would not come to me at all.  She kept running and walking away from me.  When I got close to her she would cry and throw herself on the floor.  I thought it was part of her mood but honestly I think it was EXTREMELY hard for her to hear the language and experience the surroundings.  She remembers  and that is what she was surrounded with for most of her little life.  They had crafts for the kids to do and they were excited to do them.  We let them do a few and then we needed to leave.  Piper was not getting any better.  She definitely struggled with this event.  She fell asleep in the car on the way home and was much better when we got home.  It just may have been too soon for her to experience something like this. We gave our girls red envelopes and a Chinese Dress that we had gotten for each of them in Ch*na.  They loved it!!   We ordered Chinese food to celebrate.  Here are some pictures from our day. 


HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  The Year of the Snake